Chapter 26...

Natsu was sitting normally at a table with his feet up, leaning back in his chair. He was bored. He was back to wearing his usual attire, minus his jacket. Natsu then slowly opened his eye and just stared at the ceiling of the almost finished guild hall.

"I wonder what Laxus's deal is?...Gah, i'll worry about him later. I need something to do." He thought it would probably be best to go find something to do for the day. Lucy, Erza and Gray went on a job together earlier. Erza must have wanted to show Lucy how they do on a job or something. He also recalled that blue haired chick and..what was that weirdo's name again? Loke? He noticed they went with them as well. Everybody had something to do, so he should probably find out what to do next as well. He was going through things he could do in his mind as he closed his eye and hummed.

"Well our jewel situation is taken care of, the old man said everyone can go back to work. My magic has returned so I guess I might as well kick back and...Hmm..Wait." Natsu then reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar piece of paper and looked at it. It was the list of five names Frostbite gave him of the supposed Lost Dragon Slayers. He narrowed his eye at the other three names.

"Mero Serene, Treya Duella..and this Ang person."

"What do ya' have there?" Cana asked as she bent over and looked at the piece of paper from behind him.

"A list of names." Natsu said with his eye still fixated on the list.

"Hmm...Hey, your name is on here." She realized the pinkette's name had clearly been written on the old scrap of paper. "What's this list of names, and why's your name on it?" She was growing ever more curious, but Natsu sighed and folded the paper in his hand and stuck it back in his pocket.

"That's what I would like to know." Natsu said with dissatisfaction in his voice. "I'm gonna have to track down these guys at some point, and maybe find out why the hell my name is on a scrap of paper. But, that's just another mystery for me to solve on my own. You all seem to be doing fine after the Phantom Lord attack." Natsu leaned his head back and faced up at Cana who just had a blank look.

"Well, we're not the type to just sit still even after something that hectic." She smiled as she chuckled.

"Well at least you guys are keeping yourselves busy. I haven't been able to do a damn thing since I got back." Natsu stated as he faced the front of him with a emotionless expression.

"That's not true. You really saved our bacon before Jose blasted our guild sky high. And you took him out, and he was a wizard saint to boot." Cana stated. "Trust me, repairs are nothing compared to what you did."

"Eh, tomato, tahmoto." Natsu shook his head slightly, thinking it wasn't much different.

"Heheh! You're a really funny guy Natsu!" Cana laughed happily."You're power alone is the reason we're still standing here. If we never met you..I don't know if we'd still be here. Compared to us, you're strong." She smiled sadly.

"You're quite something yourself." Natsu said as she made a sound of surprise.

"Huh?"

"I heard you defended the guild, and kept everyone on their feet during the attack. You led them into battle without any hesitation. And that takes guts." Natsu said as he silently chuckled. "You got more strength then you realize. I could never do something like that. The only thing I know how to do is destroy, not protect." He sighed heavily as he finished his sentence. "I guess what i'm trying to say is..you're strong in your own way too." He smiled as he continued to stare at the wall in front of him.

"Thanks. That means a lot coming from you." She thanked him happily. "Hey, would you like to try something?" She then walked around and sat at the same table as him and pulled out a deck of cards and put it on the table.

"Card trick?" Natsu asked half jokingly.

"Something like that." She said as she took the cards, and slid them out in front of them. "Pick a card. But only the one's that seem to be giving off the most magic to you."

"Ok." He said and pointed to the second last card on his right.

"Alright." She took the card and turned it over. It showed the picture of a two halves of a mirror. It was cracked on one side, and perfectly fine on the other side.

"Hmm, cracked mirror. A part of you is shattered, yet the other part is still there." She hummed as she was looking at the card. "Another."

"That one." He pointed to the card beside it. Cana flipped it over and revealed it to be a grim reaper with an angel in its arms.

"The Fallen. Death has taken something precious to you...Sorry." She apologized.

"It's fine. Lets keep going." He said as he maintained a small smile.

"Alright, one more card." She said as he looked at the cards one last time and pointed to a card a on the far left. She slowly turned it over and swallowed slightly. It then revealed to be a blank, black space. "The Void. Someone that is empty, and has a gap in their heart." She then closed her eyes and the cards Natsu picked had began floating up, and then came together. They flashed and revealed a new card that floated harmlessly down on the table.

Natsu then turned it over and it revealed two paths in a flaming labyrinth.

"Trials by Fire. I've never had this card appear before." Cana said in astonishment.

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked confused.

"The cards react to your emotional state. After revealing the cards one by one, a different emotion fills a person. Depending on what they feel or remember from whatever the card represented, the cards fuse into a manifestation of what the persons feelings were, and show me what the outcome will be if they stay their course, based on the emotions the cards got from the person. But this.." She narrowed her eyes at the card.

"What's it mean?"

"You will go through a painful ordeal to prove you're convictions, and how far you're willing to go for them."

"..Heh, sounds about right." Natsu scoffed slightly and had an empty look in his eye as he smiled, looking down at the table. "These cards..they help you to get to know a person right?" Natsu asked her.

"Well..I guess. Sorry if it seemed a little intrusive." She apologized.

"Hey its no big deal. This was pretty interesting actually." He smiled a little as he stared at the card. "To tell you the truth.." He began to say as he stared up at the ceiling. "I don't even know what kind of person I am half the time."

"Eh?" Cana was confused at his response.

"I Wonder what kind of person i'd be if.. " He thought.

"Natsu?"

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking that people have a side they don't show others." He didn't want to answer a question with another question, so he decided to roll with something else.

"Yeah?"

"Take Erza for instants. She seems all authoritative and strict on the outside, but I think she actually has a more..fragile side to her." He said, thinking about the scarlet swordswoman. "And Mira, she acts like a bonafide sadist towards some of the members, but I think that's just a front. If people see her acting nice, she thinks they think that she's soft."

"Quite the deduction detective." Cana chuckled.

"Hey, I gotta know about people before I can trust em'." Natsu shrugged as he put his feet back on the table and sat back.

"..What about me?" She then overlapped her hands as she rested her chin on them, and put her elbows on the table.

"I think you can't hold your liquor worth shit after the 22th shot." He made an amused grin as she huffed.

"Hey, I drank before that match! I was handicapped for your information." She protested.

"Sure." Natsu nodded sarcastically.

"Say that after we have a rematch." She challenged.

"I'll take you on any day of the week." He maintained a confident smirk as she matched it.

"Well until then, I think we got off topic." She wanted to know what his view of her was.

"Right. I think.." He took one last look at her before speaking. "..You're smart, and can have a good time when you want too. You're practically wasted half the time though." He chuckled the last part as she made a pouting look.

"So i'm just a another drunk huh?" She huffed as she sat back in her chair.

"No."

"Huh?" She then looked at him in surprise.

"You're very helpful, thoughtful of people, and can handle yourself in a fight. You're one of the few people I actually trust. And.." He looked away as he bobbed his head a little. "I guess it's good. At least I like that part about ya'." His words left Cana a bit taken aback, and..something else.

"Well uh, gee..thanks Natsu!" She chuckled sheepishly as she was trying to laugh it off. Her heartbeat was a bit out of whack than usual. Maybe she drank to much. Maybe she was just being self-conscious. But it almost (in her mind) sounded like he said he liked her or something along those lines. But maybe she was just jumping to conclusions. Either way, she had to confirm in the most non-obvious way. "I-I bet ya' say that to a lot of people." She kept laughing weirdly. Natsu was confused at her behavior.

"No actually, you're the first person I've said that too." He simply said as he blinked with a blank look.

"O-oh." She started feeling a little warmer around the face than usual. "Huh?" She then noticed something was..growing out of their wooden table as it took form. Her eyes widened when it finished forming and it was a small wooden sculpture of her kissing Natsu. Passionately. She immediately slammed her fist onto it, smashing it to pieces. Natsu nearly fell out of his chair from her sudden actions.

"Wh-wh-what? Did I say something-?" Nastu thought he must have pissed her off.

"H-huh!? It-its nothing! Just a fly landed on the table, ehehehe." She nervously chuckled. The spot she had embedded her fist in was smoking from the impact. Natsu's mouth was open and had blue lines running down his head out of concern for his well being. As well as the supposed fly she just obliterated.

"Must have been one nasty fly." He sweat dropped. Cana then glared behind her and saw Laki whistling like nothing was happening.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU LAKI!" Cana thought furiously as she glared at the Wood-Make wizard.

"Um.." Flare nervously spoke as she came over to Natsu's and Cana's table.

"Hey Flare. You look like you're doing ok." Natsu noted.

"I-i'm alright. I wanted to know.."

"What?" Natsu simply asked.

"The smart, small, blue hair.."

"Small and smart?...Oh. You mean Levy?" He deducted.

"Yes. I wanted to learn some more things about Magnolia. And she offered to teach me."

"That's nice of her. You should do it." He encouraged.

"B-but are you doing anything and need my..help?"

"Nah, i'm probably gonna laze around for the day. Our rent is taken care of, so by all means, go do what you want." He smiled as she made a happy look with enthusiasm.

"Hai!" She then hurried toward the entrance as she thought. "If I get smarter, I can help Natsu more. Then after that i'll practice with my magic, then.." She was thinking of all sorts of things that would make her more useful and helpful. Ever since they got back from Galuna Island, she needed to get stronger. For Natsu's sake. As she left, Natsu just smiled at her.

"She's really pushing herself huh?" Natsu said as Cana smiled as well.

"I think she has you to thank for that."

"Really?" Natsu asked her in a confused tone.

"Hahaha, you're surprisingly a little dense." Cana laughed.

"You think so?" He wondered. Was she really trying for his sake?

"Excuse me, Natsu." Makarov came over to their table and stood away from Natsu as the pinkette looked down at him.

"Heya old man." He greeted.

"I was wondering if you could run an errand for me."

"What do you need?" He wondered.

"Lisanna found one of Lucy's golden keys at the bar, and she's worried she might need it." He held up one of the Zodiac's keys as Natsu took it and examined it.

"Aquarius? Trust me gramps, I don't think she's gonna miss this key for a day or two." He handed it back to him.

"Well, would you mind? I don't want it to get lost or anything." Natsu then sighed as he rocked back and swung his feet back on the floor and got up.

"Well I guess if its bugging ya' that much. I got nothing to do anyway." He then clapped his hands and a flash of light engulfed him and he was wearing green baggy cargo pants, and a green, skin-tight shirt with gold runes on the sleeves. His scarf wrapped comfortably around his neck as it draped over his shoulders. His fingerless gloves gone, he was now wearing a utility belt fastened around his waist. Also his eye patch was now covering his grey eye. The final touch was the black wristband that Mira got him as he slid it on his wrist. After all that, he stretched and nodded.

"Ok, i'll see you all later...Oh." He then turned back and grabbed the card that Cana left on the table. "I'll hold on to this if you don't mind." Cana shook her head in approval.

"Thank you Natsu." Makarov thanked the fire mage before he headed out.

"Sure thing." He said before he headed out the door. Cana just smiled as she leaned the side of her head on her hand as she watched him leave.

"You're pretty interesting, Natsu. I think you'll fit in juuust fine here."

"Oh that's a shame, I thought you were going to ask him out." Laki said frustrated.

"..You know, that doesn't sound so bad." She got up as Laki made a noise of surprise. "But right now.." She then looked at her with a demonic look. "I think someone needs to learn not to butt in on other people's conversations.~"

"W-wait! It-it was just..no..no..NOOOOO!" An explosion from one of Cana's cards erupted from a part of the guild as Makarov pinched his nose and sighed.

"I'm never going to get this place fixed."

Later, on the road...

"(Yawn), where the heck is everybody at?" Natsu yawned as he walked down the road. He came across a village that apparently was helped out by Fairy Tail wizards, so naturally he asked where they were headed. The direction they pointed him toward was a small town with a mega casino.

"That must be it." He thought as he saw the spot lights from the casino shining up in the night sky.

Later..

"This must be it?" He said to himself as he looked at the casino before him. He went through the revolving door and expected a foul stench of alcohol and expensive perfume to flood his senses, but when he opened the door he found..no one there. Nada, nothing, zip. Not a soul was within the place, let alone any staff members. He was confused so he went further in. Everything looked like it was still running. The slot machines were still rolling, the fountain was still spraying upwards, jewels were lying about everywhere, and not a single person to claim winning chips were stockpiled on a table.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Was the one question that kept popping up in Natsu's head as he looked around for any signs of a person. It was like they all vanished in thin air. Actually that wasn't too far off the mark, as he looked on the floor and saw cards lying all around. Didn't look like the usual playing cards so he decided to take a look. He bent down and turned it over his eye widened.

"Get me out of here!" Lucy was shown to be pounding on the face of the card, it looked like some sort of force field was trapping her in there. She stopped and realized that Natsu was staring at her with a surprised look.

"Lucy?" He exclaimed.

"Natsu! Oh thank goodness! You have no idea how happy I am to see you!" She rejoiced.

"I came to bring you back one of your keys..wh-why are you in a card?" He was at a loss of how to process the situation.

"Oh it was crazy! We were just having a good time here in the casino then all of a sudden some wizards came in and started attacking everyone! They trapped us all in cards and took Erza with them!" She tried to explain as the events kept running through her head.

"Wizards? And they took Erza? Seriously?" He had a hard time believing that Fairy Tail's Titania had barely put up a fight.

"Yeah! I think she knew them. They said they were her friends." She remembered one of them mentioning that, and that Erza was quite shocked to meet them.

"Alright hold on, let me get you out." He said as he put a finger on the front of the card and it began glowing blue. All of a sudden the screen started cracking surprising Lucy.

"Wait what are you- AAH!?" After the screen shattered a flash of late enveloped her as she turned away from the light.

"Luce?" Natsu's voice asked.

"Huh?" She then opened her eyes and was staring rather closely at Natsu. She was a little pink, but looked down and realized he was holding her like a princess. She started flailing a little from embarrassment. Natsu then put her down as she hunched over to hide her embarrassment.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Y-yeah. Thanks, I owe you one." She shook her head and thanked him. "But how'd you get me out of there?"

"I concentrated on nullifying the space that kept you in the card. Magic cards basically are just vessels for magic and other stuff. Once I destroyed the dimension of the magic holding you in there, you reverted back to this...N-never mind. Are the other's here?" He shook his head and decided it was more important to focus on finding his fellow guild mates.

"Yeah, they should be." She said as she began picking up the cards.

"Finally! I thought I was gonna be stuck there for ages!" Gray was glad he was out of the card.

"Thank you for the rescue Natsu-kun. Although Juvia would not mind if she and Gray-sama were to remain in that empty space~!" The blue haired said as she felt a bit disappointed.

"You're scarin' me Juvia!" Gray leaned away uncomfortably. He had spent the last few hours trying to get her off him, and to stop "protecting" his body from their attackers.

"I think that's everyone." Natsu said as he brushed his hands in satisfaction. "Even if I missed a couple people, the magic in the cards shouldn't last that long."

"Thanks for the save." Lucy smiled.

"Still gotta find Erza." He then began sniffing the air.

"Are you seri-"

"Yes Ice brain, i'm trying to find her scent." He was getting impatient and wanted to get a fix on the scent before it vani..wait. He picked up a familiar, but faint scent.. "I think I got it." He began walking towards the door as the group followed him.

"..Oh you gotta be.." He then sighed.

"What is it? Did you lose it?" Lucy wondered.

"No, actually i'm picking it up from thataway." He pointed and they all looked over and were staring out towards the sea.

"I think one of them said they took a boat." Gray thought back.

"If Miss Erza is on the sea.." Juvia then walked forth. "..Then I will find her." She then raised a hand and summoned water from the shore and made a large sphere around a small boat that was anchored there.. "Everyone, please got in Juvia's bubble." She said as they came forth. "Natsu-kun? Which way has Miss Erza headed?" She asked him. Natsu sniffed more, and he pointed in a random direction.

"Very well, let us depart." She said as she closed the bubble around them.

Elsewhere...

"(Sigh), I almost feel sorry for you Jellal." Ultear said as she sat on a desk and was going through some papers. "Useful till the end, just like a lot of pawns on Hades's chessboard." She had a mischievous grin that anyone would clearly call suspicious. "Everything is almost set. Just one las-"

"Ultear." A voice from an old man suddenly popped in her head as her eyes widened in recognition.

"Master Hades! For what ever reason are you communicating with me for?" She wondered.

"We think we found him." "Him" seemed to make Ultear gasp in shock.

"Really? I mean, are you certain?"

"This whole ritual is a waste of time. But stay and finish the plan, then see what happens. After that, head back to the ship, you're identity may be in danger over there."

"O-of course master!" She understood and a smile slowly grew on her face as she was gleaming with joy from this information. Finally, after all the work and researching, she may now be able to reach her dream.

"At last. The One Magic..will I finally be able to attain it?!" She then went back to her studying as she grew evermore excited.

Later..

"..I think we took a wrong turn." Natsu said while he and the others looked up at the jagged, massive tower they hit land on.

"This place is givin' me the chills." Gray said as he was creeped out by the way it looked.

"I got a bad feeling about this." Lucy gulped.

"What should we do?" Lucy asked.

"Ain't it obvious? We search for Erza." Gray stated before they began walking forward.

"Lets split up. I'll head this way, you guys head down that corridor." Natsu said as he began ascending a flight of stairs.

"Shouldn't we stick together though?" Lucy asked him.

"I can move faster on my own. If you guys find Erza..well, things will take care of themselves I guess." He then jumped up high and was heading down a hallway on his way in.

"I swear." Gray shook his head. "But he's right. He can take care of himself anyway. We should look for Erza somewhere else. This place is huge so we got a lot of ground to cover." Gray led the two. The two just stared at each other, but Lucy was getting creeped out by the blank look Juvia was giving her.

"Lets go..rival." She simply said. But it felt colder to Lucy as she sweat dropped from the remark.

Top floor...

A man in a hood was sitting on a chair in the dark. He had a confident smile as he just sat there, expectantly. He looked like he was waiting for someone.

"Soon all will be finished. My lord Zeref will finally be revived." He said to himself.

"It seems we have some visitors." A foreshadowed figure of three said as the man looked towards a security lacrima screen.

"It would appear so. Very well. Stand at the ready. It's almost time for the main event."

"As you wish." A feminine voice said as she held her sword tightly. With that, the trio took off. Leaving the hooded man alone and narrowing his eyes at the lacrima showing Natsu.

"..That's.."

Natsu was walking up the stairs and was looking around for any sign that Erza would be there. He was walking down a hall way and stopped just to look at the architecture. Looked kinda weird. But this place has been giving him a ill feeling ever since they approached it. There also was the matter of the sunken ships that sported the councils insignia. Why was this place so mysterious, and why did they bring Erza here of all places? He then made a sound of surprise remembering something Siegrain told him that one time.

"I'd stay away from Erza if I were you."

He then made a narrowed look and was trying to piece together the connection.

"What does that snake have to do with Erza? Is he the one behind this? Quite a ballsy move even for him. I wonder if Ultear has anything to do with this too. Something doesn't smell right. And I have a feeling Erza might be able to tell me-..!?" He quickly hid when some guards came rushing out of another corridor.

"Prisoner escape! Alert the whole tower!"

"Well, at least she's here." He thought out loud.

"I spotted the intruder!"

"Oh crap." Natsu scowled as a guard spotted him and was beginning to be surrounded. He looked around him and sized up his opponents.

This was going to be over in seconds.

"Ok fella's, i'm a reasonable guy, so we can do this the easy way, or the hard wa-Ah screw it, harder way's easier." He then summoned his sword and got into quick draw stance. "Azure Ring!" He shouted as he drew his sword and swiped around him in a 360 degree angle, and a perfect ring shaped shock wave blasted all the guards away from him.

"HE ONLY CHOSE THE HARD WAAAAY!" One of them screamed as he plummeted down the tower and into the sea.

"Ok, ten down.."

"There he is!"

"Aaaand a whole crap load to go. Hope you all said your prayers." He then dashed towards the group of men and looked to be slashing them at lightning speed as he ran through them. When he got to the other end of them, he stopped and sheathed his sword. They all instantly dropped like flies as they groaned.

"Seriously. I don't even know why I bother using my sword on you guys. But don't worry.." He said as he had a narrowed look. "..The first blood that will stain this sword is a dragon's. So be thankful I didn't kill you." He said before walking down another hallway. He stopped suddenly and turned to big open room. As he went in he raised an eyebrow.

"What..is..this?" He sweat dropped at the amount of stuffed cats that were lying about all over the place. "This room..is so out of place compared to the rest of this hellhole." He was unusually drawn in from his curiosity, looking to see what was around the room. "Ahh, just another dead end." He sighed. However, in a dark corner next to the outside window, a man who's body was cube shaped had a weird looking gun pointed at Natsu as he said.

"Good bye, Boy." He then shot a magic bullet at Natsu. Natsu whipped around and slashed the bullet in half as his eye had a red glint of focus in it.

"Wh-what!? He-he cut it in half?!" The cube man exclaimed.

"..Huh?...HOLY CRAP, I CUT THE MAGIC BULLET! THE MOTHERFUCKING BULLET!" Natsu was amazed at his feat as he was impressed by how fast his reflexes were. That training really paid off.

"D-don't get confident Boy!" He then blasted an explosive shot at Natsu as he was hit and enveloped in smoke.

"Hmph~! The moment you met me..your fate was-HUUUH!?" He was about to start saying something he seemed to have great pride in, but was surprised to see Natsu still in one piece.

"(Cough), (Cough)! Damn, watch where you're aiming that thing ya' blockhead!" Natsu was completely unfazed by the attack and was coughing because he inhaled some smoke on accident.

"H-how are you still alive, Boy!? That should have blown you to pieces!"

"Huh? That amount of power is not even close to my level." he narrowed his eye at him. "Who the hell are you anyway?"

"Wally is the name, and i'm a dandy friend of Erza!" He continued talking as he adjusted his hat.

"Oh? Then maybe you can tell me what's going on here."

"I can't do that Boy! I have to take you down! Millia!" He shouted behind him and suddenly a weird fur, tube-like rope came spiraling towards Natsu as it snagged his wrist.

"Nya! I will take you down!" A young girl came in with cat-like facial features, as she looked to be the one who launched that weird rope.

"Milliana's ropes can prevent people from casting magic. With this, its over now-"

"As if that would work, moron." He then comically, simply yanked on the rope and Milliana fell clumsily face first on the floor.

"Noooo! Millia, get up!" Wally exclaimed in distress.

"Nya~! That hurt! I feel really dizzy~!"

"Damn! I guess its just up to m-Huh!?" He then froze when Natsu had his sword on his throat.

"I'm tired of these pointless games, so you better fess up what you know about Erza before you're-"

"Psych, Boy!" His body then came apart and knocked Natsu back a little as Natsu rubbed the back of his head.

"Ow! What the-?!"

"Now Millia!" He yelled as Milliana used another tube on him. She snagged his leg and yanked with all her might and made him fall flat on his back.

"Ouch! Would you two-!?"

"It's over, Boy!" Wally smirked as his body came back together. He readied his gun. He then fired a bunch of explosive shots at Natsu as the room was nearly wrecked. After the aftermath, Milliana suddenly screamed in horror.

"NYAA!~ The Kitty-cats!"

"Relax we got him this ti-"

"Ok..Now i'm mad you friggin' pissant.." Natsu glared back and suddenly his flames flared around him and burned off the rope, much to the two's surprise.

"What!? But you should have be-"

"CUT THE CRAP, BLOCKHEAD!" He then dashed toward wally and slammed his fist into his head. Knocking him into a wall and injuring him severely.

"Wally!" Milliana shouted to her friend. She then looked back was horrified to see Natsu glaring and approaching her.

"Ny-wait..please!" She began to beg for her life. She closed her eyes and expected to be killed..but she met blunt force from Natsu's karate chop on her forehead as Natsu made an annoyed look.

"Bad kitty." He simply said.

"Nyoooouuch~!" Milliana said as she felt the sharp pain dealt to her head.

"I'm only gonna ask this once you two." Natsu said as Wally slowly looked up weakly. "What do you two know about Erza?"

"Er..chan?" Milliana asked slowly.

"Erg..I guess no point in trying to resist now." Wally sighed in defeat as he sat back against the wall." You see...this place was once called..the Tower of Heaven.." Natsu then crossed his arms as he listened to his story.

Been getting messages like crazy for an update for this story! Well here you are! I hope you enjoyed it! Read/Review/Rate!

Laters!