Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Pairing(s): Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Gajeel x Levy

WARNINGS: Slight AU , Shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned


Firelight and Shadows

By V. Shalyr


Scroll XXVIII: Live Ink

Moody

"Z has been acting a little strangely since the two of you returned from the Land of Snow," Erza said, observing the Dragon Slayer over her teacup. They were all seated around one of the tables in the guild hall. Well, all but one, but he'd be back soon.

"He has been a bit moody," Natsu admitted. His eyes followed his partner's movements before the job boards.

"He has?" Gray asked, surprised. "He seems pretty much the same to me."

Not that he was all that good a judge of when the Black Wizard was acting weird. Zeref had never been normal to begin with.

"Maybe moody isn't the right word," Natsu said, frowning. "He's got a lot on his mind, but he's dealing with it. I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you."

Unfortunately, it wasn't really anything any of them could help him with. And the only thing Natsu could do was be there and do his best to keep him firmly anchored in the present.

Although it was kind of hard to be upbeat when his partner looked at him every now and then like he was walking on a knife's edge over despair. Natsu hadn't seen that expression on his face in a long time, not since the early days, and he didn't like seeing it now.

"He's not at all prophetic, is he?" Gray asked, just in case this was something they had to worry about.

"No, it's nothing like that."

"Well, that's one thing to be grateful for."

Natsu frowned, but said nothing more on the subject as his partner returned with a job notice in his hands.

"Would this one be all right?"

Natsu looked over the paper while Z drew up a chair for himself and sank into it in a gloomy, preoccupied way that had everyone else frowning as well. It was a local request, a fairly straightforward search for some rare book or other. The person who had posted it apparently ran a bookstore specializing in writings on magic, and there had been a few problems with those as well.

"Looks simple enough," Natsu said, pocketing the job request. "We can drop by the place later this afternoon for the details."

Z nodded, poured himself some coffee from the pot in the middle of the table, and stared down into the brown liquid like he was trying to find the meaning of the universe in its depths. Something was definitely troubling him, and Natsu didn't seem to want to tell the rest of them what that was.

.

Lull

Things had slowed down since the magical plague had been dealt with. The outbreak had left both wizards and non-wizards feeling drained, and nobody was up to doing very much. Wendy and a number of other guild wizards were still helping out at Morys Rose, and additional teams of couriers had been recruited to distribute the antidote throughout the affected areas.

Of course, being Fairy Tail, the quiet probably wouldn't last very long.

Their wake-up call came in the form of a petite but elegantly dressed young woman with her golden hair in the longest braid any of them had ever seen. It circled once on the top of her head like a woven crown and continued down her back and past the backs of her knees. Her pink and crimson dress looked like it belonged on someone going to a ball, and she had a black velvet bag slung over her shoulder.

She stood in the doorway for a moment, surveying the occupants of the noisy, crowded room, and then walked straight to Makarov, her chin up and her back straight.

.

A Slayer's Bride

"I want to meet a Dragon Slayer," she declared. She was talking to Master Makarov, but she spoke loudly enough for everyone in the hall to hear. "A real Dragon Slayer, not one of those second generation ones. Your guild has three of them. Is that correct?"

The three wizards in question paused in whatever they were doing around the guild hall to listen.

"That's right," the guild master said, linking his hands behind his back and inclining his head towards Wendy, who had been discussing tarot cards with Cana only one table away. "Wendy here is a Sky Dragon Slayer. I'm sure she can help you with whatever you need."

"Oh no, that won't do at all," the girl exclaimed, shaking her head. "Aren't there two others?"

Wendy's brow furrowed. Should she feel offended by this? She might not be as formidable a fighter as the other two, but she was still a Dragon Slayer. When push came to shove, she could hold her own just fine.

"Well..."

Zeref glanced at Natsu when the old man's gaze flickered in their direction, and the Fire Wizard sighed.

"Guess I should go see what's up."

Gajeel got up from his seat at the bar and made his way over as well.

"Was there a particular reason you wanted to meet a Dragon Slayer?" Makarov asked.

"Yes, there is."

Which was obvious by this point, since a regular fan wouldn't have reacted that way.

"My name is Arianna," she said, looking the two men over from head to toe. "And I'm here to marry one of you."

You could have heard a pin drop in the sudden silence.

"Uh, I think I must have heard you wrong," Natsu said after a moment.

Arianna shook her head. "No, I'm sure I was very clear. Neither of you are quite what I imagined, but I suppose that's only to be expected."

Okay, so maybe Wendy wasn't so offended after all.

Back at the bar, Levy stood up abruptly and made her way over to the trio.

"Gajeel," she said sweetly, "come help me with my luggage, will you? I brought home a lot of books from the job I was just telling you about, and they're pretty heavy."

"More books?"

Gajeel would have said more, but something strange had happened to the Rune Wizard's smile, and it was—to be honest—creeping him out.

"Uh, sure, where are they?"

After the two had left, all other eyes in the guild swiveled to the other person who should be most bothered by all this. Zeref hadn't moved since the girl's announcement. He sat frozen with his coffee cup halfway to his lips and appeared to be having trouble figuring out how he was supposed to react. After a moment's consideration, he settled for copying Levy's example and set down his mug before rising to his feet.

"Natsu, we still need to visit the marketplace."

"Of course," Natsu said, relieved to have an excuse to get out of there. "Let's go now."

Nobody tried to stop him when the Dragon Slayer grabbed his partner and hauled the both of them out of there in record time.

Arianna was left standing beside the guild master, confusion clouding her features.

"Is something wrong?"

Apparently, she wasn't very observant.

Makarov coughed. He was torn between being amused and being very confused himself.

"Sorry, but out of our three Dragon Slayers, Wendy's the only one who's unattached."

"You can't mean that boy."

"Actually, yes. Him and the blue-haired woman with the glasses. He's Natsu's, and Levy's with Gajeel."

"That can't be right. I have to marry a Dragon Slayer. I just have to."

"Can you tell us why?"

"Because I'm a princess, I need a Dragon Slayer to save my kingdom, and it's traditional."

"Ah, I don't know about the traditional part, but if you just need help with a problem facing your kingdom, I'm sure they'd be happy to help. Just make it an official job request for our guild."

.

Customs

Arianna's shocking declaration had drawn quite a lot of curiosity, and several people gathered around the table to listen to what she had to say. Master Makarov was there, of course, and Mirajane had served everyone drinks. Lucy, Gray, and Erza had joined the group in lieu of their missing teammates, and Wendy had pulled her own chair up next to them.

"I come from a small island kingdom," Arianna said, folding her hands primly before her. "We don't have a lot of farmable land, and our only export of any real value is the pearls that pearl divers bring up from off our shores. Our people are mostly fishermen, and we depend heavily on the sea to survive. Still, it's a peaceful, beautiful place, and I love it with all my heart."

She sighed, wrapping her hands around the teacup Mirajane had set in front of her. "But recently, something has been scaring away the fish and attacking the fishermen. At first, we didn't know what it was, but then... Well, a few weeks ago, I saw it with my very own eyes. My grandmother used to tell me stories about sea monsters, but I never believed her until that night."

"I'm not sure I understand what this has to do with marrying a Dragon Slayer," Erza said.

"You see, many of my grandmother's stories were based on the history of our island. And the trouble that we've been having, it's happened a number of times before many years ago. My ancestors referred to the monster as a sea dragon, although from what I understand, it's not really a dragon. More like a distant cousin—a massive sea serpent with a huge appetite and a liking for shiny things. This great beast comes from the deeps of the ocean, and it made life nearly impossible for my people. Finally, one of my ancestors, a courageous princess, took a small crew of sailors and, braving the sea serpent's wrath, went in search of help."

"I think I see where this is going," Gray said, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his chair. "So a Dragon Slayer slew the serpent."

This time, Arianna's smile seemed tired. "That's right."

"And your ancestor married him?" Lucy asked.

The other girl nodded. "It... wasn't that simple though. Sea serpents aren't dragons, but they have a kind of magic of their own. And every other generation, the spirit of the serpent returns. Or maybe it never truly died in the first place. Whose to say? That's why it became customary to bring Dragon Slayers into the family. Over time, it also became a sort of... hmmm, how do I put this?"

"A test?" Lucy suggested.

"Yes, that's it. A test for the person who would rule the kingdom."

"Not a very good test though," Mirajane mused aloud, leaning over to refill her teacup. "I mean, just because you can slay a dragon doesn't mean you're king material."

Arianna shrugged. "Of course, the court officials still have to approve. But that's not important right now. What's important is that I need a Dragon Slayer to come home with me."

"Hmmm." The guild master stroked his beard, inspecting the young woman thoughtfully. "I don't think that will be a problem, as long as you don't expect a wedding at the end of it."

"But I'm supposed to get married," she protested. "Everyone's expecting it. My father's getting along in years and Mother passed away a year ago. I don't think I could rule the kingdom on my own. I'm not prepared for that."

"Perhaps we can arrive at a compromise," Makarov said gently. "It sounds like this is about far more than monster slaying."

.

Alternative

Lucy never could understand why anyone would want to rule the world. Ruling even just one small kingdom was a huge responsibility, if you cared at all about doing it well anyway. And you had to do it well if you wanted it to last. It was no wonder Arianna didn't want to deal with those challenges alone.

"Is there anyone back home that you like? That might make things simpler."

Arianna sighed, tracing idle patterns on the tabletop with her finger. "There is someone I... sort of like, but he's definitely not going to be slaying any dragons. He's one of the kindest people I know, but he's not much of a knight. He gets queasy at the sight of blood, and I can use a sword better than he can."

"A knight, huh?" Lucy smiled wryly at that. "You know, I'm not sure you'd like Natsu or Gajeel that way anyway. I can't speak for the man who married your ancestor, but the Dragon Slayers in our guild are really more like dragons than knights."

.

Tickets

They did, indeed, have to go grocery shopping at the marketplace, but before that, Natsu and Z decided to look into the earlier job request.

Locating the rare book in question was easy. It had gotten stolen on its delivery route to the bookstore, but a bit of asking around plus Natsu's keen sense of smell helped them track down the stray parcel in no time. Fighting the thief was fun, and they were both curious to see just what all the fuss had been about.

The bookstore owner laughed when she heard their question. "It's a geography book actually, but I've heard that there are a number of treasure maps hidden in it. Well, I say treasure maps, but I suspect that what it means is maps to some of our world's natural treasures. My father is a cartographer, and I have to confess that his passion has rubbed off on me over the years. I was hoping I could decipher at least one of the treasure maps and take him to see whatever it is for his sixtieth birthday."

"Sounds like a good plan."

"As long as I can find the maps and figure them out."

Natsu smirked. "Well, if you need help with that, let us know. Z and I go treasure hunting a lot."

"Really?" She smiled, amused. "I'll remember that. And here's the payment."

She handed him a leather coin pouch and two pieces of paper.

"Those are extra," she said. "You don't have to take them if you don't want them. I won't have time to go, but I thought you two or your friends might be able to use them."

"Hey, check it out," Natsu said, turning to show Z the tickets. "I say we go."

They could use the distraction.

.

Guest

Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

"Why the hell do we have to take her with us?" Natsu demanded, not at all happy about this development. "And why do Gajeel and Levy have to come too?"

This break was starting to look more and more like work by the second.

"The gallery you're visiting is on the way to the seaport nearest her home," Makarov pointed out, sounding horribly reasonable. "Let her spend some time with all of you. I think it will help her... learn a few things. Just think about it like any other job request."

The Dragon Slayer made a frustrated growl, but it didn't seem like the guild master was willing to back down. The Dragon Slayer didn't feel much like backing down either, however, which was a bit of a problem. He had his own reasons for not wanting a bunch of other people tagging along.

"It's all right," Zeref spoke up, attempting to diffuse the brewing argument. He didn't want his partner to get into trouble just because he was feeling a bit down.

"Are you sure?" Natsu asked, giving him a searching look. We could always sneak away while they aren't looking.

Zeref coughed into his hand to hide a smile. It was nice of him to suggest it, but, "I'm sure."

"Well, fine then," Natsu said grudgingly. "They can come. But I expect to get time to ourselves, and I'm not marrying her."

Makarov nodded. "I wouldn't expect any differently. I will inform her of your decision and ask her to meet you here tomorrow morning."

.

Sights

After only half a day, Zeref was already regretting not accepting Natsu's offer of sneaking off. Despite everyone's words of advice, Arianna hadn't given up her original plan quite yet, and for whatever reason, she seemed to have set her sights on Natsu. She wasn't especially obvious about it, but she wasn't exactly discreet either.

And it was starting to get under Z's skin that she was just there all the time. It wasn't like he believed anything would actually come of her actions. It was just that, coming on the tail of his recent spate of nightmares and morbid contemplations, her presence was more than he felt ready to deal with.

In fact, he was quite startled by the strength of his own dislike.

"Here," Levy said, handing him a cup of hot coffee. "Natsu asked me to bring this to you. He'll be out as soon as he finishes getting directions from the innkeeper."

Z accepted the cup with a quiet "thank you".

"Are you okay?" she asked after a moment of silence. "You left so quickly."

The Black Wizard looked down at his coffee then back out at the stretch of road they could see from where they were waiting for their companions in the shade of a tree in the inn's front yard.

"I think... I'm a bit... upset. Is that wrong of me?"

Levy looked at him rather sympathetically.

"I'd say it's pretty normal, and I'm not sure if there can be a "right" or "wrong" here in how you feel. In fact, I think you're being very patient with the whole thing."

Zeref said nothing. He didn't think he was being especially patient at all, although a person had to know him quite well to notice that he was feeling irritable.

Although it was... therapeutic to sit on Natsu's lap during the coach ride downtown and watch the blond girl scowl.

.

Showcase

Talk about doing something he thought he'd never do, Natsu thought. The line outside the art gallery was so long that it circled the block. Who knew so many people were interested in art?

"She didn't follow us, did she?" his partner asked anxiously.

"No."

Z relaxed and let out a soft sigh. When he opened his eyes, he found Natsu watching him with an amused quirk to his eyebrows.

"She's a little annoying, but it's kind of funny watching you do all those little things to piss her off. Of course, you do realize that it only makes her more annoying in the long run, right?"

Z looked away, feeling slightly ashamed. It had been rather petty of him. Of course Natsu had noticed. He knew him better than anyone.

"Maybe letting them all tag along was a good idea after all."

Zeref frowned in confusion. "Why is that?"

"You'll be back to yourself in no time," Natsu said vaguely. Really, Z had been so busy being irritated with their unwanted guest that he'd completely forgotten about being depressed. As for Arianna, she could make herself a real nuisance, but Natsu was starting to suspect that it was just because the two of them confused her.

In any case, they had a couple hours to themselves and Natsu wasn't going to let unhappy thoughts spoil them.

When the Dragon Slayer failed to elaborate on his cryptic comment, Z stored his bewilderment away for later contemplation and tried to focus on the gallery. With Natsu beside him and no Arianna constantly attempting to intervene, it was actually quite easy. He felt calmer already, almost peaceful. Huh, maybe that was what Natsu meant.

"I don't understand what's so unusual about these paintings," Natsu said, standing before one of the hanging canvases. It wasn't even especially colorful, just white with a few strokes of dark blue. "I mean, it looks kind of like a ship, I guess..."

Z smiled a little. He glanced around to make sure no one was looking then sketched a glowing symbol in the air, which hung briefly before the painting before fading away.

"See?"

Natsu's expression cleared. "So it's the word for ship written so that it looks like a ship? Okay, that is pretty cool. So what word does this one come from?"

"Let me see... This one is actually composed of two characters. Normally, they are written like this..."

.

Flat

They noticed the bird first because it was facing the wrong way. The little ink drawing occupied the lower left corner of a canvas featuring a tree—or it did until they looked away then back again, and then it didn't.

"Uh, Z, did you see that?"

"Yes. It... flew away."

The two wizards exchanged curious looks and followed after the bizarre, lopsided critter. It was a bit hard to see, black as it was and no bigger than a postage stamp, and its dimensions seemed off, almost flat. It flitted from canvas to canvas, rode for a moment on the hem of a woman's shirt then the brim of a man's hat. They caught up with it just before it could slip through a back door of the gallery, and Natsu reached out to pluck it out of the air.

Z cupped his hands and Natsu deposited the tiny creature carefully into them. Two pairs of surprised eyes stared down at what appeared to be an ink drawing given life. It twittered and flapped at his loosely curled fingers.

"Weird," Natsu muttered. "It smells just like ink."

And a little like magic, which was only to be expected. It wasn't in the nature of regular ink to move about.

"This is incredible," Z murmured, lifting his hands higher for a closer look. "I did not know such a thing was possible."

The Dragon Slayer started to respond, but stopped abruptly and glanced at the door. Someone on the other side had gasped and he thought he caught a glimpse of an eye between door and doorframe.

"If you want it back, you're going to have to come out here," Natsu said, raising his voice.

For a long moment, nothing happened. Then slowly, the doorknob turned and a girl of perhaps ten or eleven edged into view.

"Please, please give that bird back to me," she pleaded.

Natsu looked from her to his partner then back again. "Sure, but can you tell us what it is?"

The girl worried at her lower lip. "I... I guess I could, but you have to promise not to tell anyone that you saw it."

Natsu shrugged. "Hey, it's your secret. If you don't want us to tell, we won't. We've just never seen anything like it, and trust me, when it comes to magic, we've seen a lot."

Z let go of the tiny bird and it zipped past them to land on the girl's upraised arm. She moved it to her hand to hide it from view then peered up at them, the corners of her lips pulled downward. Her dark eyes and straight, dark hair made her young face look unusually serious.

"My brother doesn't like people seeing my magic, but he's been gone for so long and it was the only way I could look for him. If I wish really hard, I can put life into my drawings. It's something I've always been able to do." She hesitated then hurried to ask, "Have you seen a boy about my age? Shorter hair, green-striped shirt? He went to buy lunch for us, but it's been two hours and I'm worried that something happened to him."

.

Fried Rice

Victor ducked into the alley, pressing his back flat against the wall and hugging the box of fried rice to his chest. It had to be cold by now. He shouldn't have gone so far from the gallery, but he knew how much his sister loved fried rice and none of the closer restaurants sold it. All he could hear was his own labored breathing and the thudding of his heart in his throat. Had he been imagining those men? What a laugh it would be if they had been his imagination. He must have run through half the city trying to make sure he wasn't being followed. Scooting as close to the corner as he dared, he peered down either side of the street. He could see a few people, but none of them seemed suspicious.

"Got you!"

A hand grabbed his shoulder and he let out a startled cry—which was immediately stifled by a calloused hand over his mouth. The person holding him dragged him further back into the alley. Victor kicked wildly, trying to hit his captor. When that failed, he bit the hand over his mouth hard enough to draw blood.

Next thing he knew, his back struck the alley wall and he slid to the ground, wincing in pain. He forced his watering eyes open and took a close look at his assailants.

There were three of them, two men and one women. Their clothes were unremarkable shades of brown and muddy green, but all of them wore masks that obscured the majority of their faces.

"Tell us where your sister is and you won't get hurt," the woman said, flourishing a switchblade knife.

Victor gulped. His legs felt bruised, but the strength was coming back. If he made a break for it, maybe he could—

The woman shrieked and dropped the knife, which landed in a sizzling, melted lump on the cobbles.

Two more strangers had arrived in the alley, one appearing from the alley mouth to Victor's left and the other dropping down from the roof of the building behind him to land in front of him. The latter newcomer sported a head of wild hair and a white scarf. He cracked his knuckles and smirked at Victor's would-be attackers.

"You've got to beat me if you want to get to the kid."

"And who are you?" the more heavyset of the men asked.

"Just a Fairy Tail wizard," the newcomer said, "on a job from his sister to help find him."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "You know where his sister is?"

"Sure, but I'm obviously not going to tell you. You're real cowards, you know, bullying little kids who can't even fight back."

The other masked men barked a laugh. "Can't fight back? Haven't you heard? That girl can bring paintings to life. Can you imagine what a person can do with that power?"

At this point, the other newcomer spoke up, his voice quiet and icy. "And you believed such rumors? How foolish. To actually believe that anyone could create life just by painting it."

For the first time since the start of the encounter, the masked strangers seemed uncertain. Put like that and with such contempt, it did sound incredibly ridiculous. They weren't wizards, and they only knew what a friend of a friend of some guy in a bar had said. Compared to that, the word of two guild wizards held a lot more conviction.

"So you going to fight or not?" the first newcomer demanded, flames blazing into life about his fists. "I haven't got all day."

The three masked strangers took a few hasty steps back, then turned and ran.

.

Artist

"You okay? Your name's Victor, right?"

Victor looked up at the Fire Wizard and nodded tentatively. "How'd you know? Did my sister really ask you to come find me?"

"Yeah. You were gone so long that she sent out an odd little bird to look for you."

A jolt of anxiety shot down Victor's spine. "She—but—so," he swallowed hard and glanced from one wizard to the other, "you two know? But you said..."

"We lied, obviously." The Fire Wizard grinned. "Don't worry, we promised Vida that we wouldn't tell. Come on, we'll walk you back to the gallery."

In a daze, Victor nodded and climbed shakily to his feet.

"I'm Natsu, by the way," the wizard added, "and that's Z. Your sister said you two were staying with the exhibit hall director, right?"

"That's right. He, um, lets us stay with him because he likes Vida's paintings."

And he'd been an acquaintance of their parents back when their parents had still been around. Not an especially nice man, perhaps, but not a cruel one either.

"She is a very creative artist," Z said. "We saw her work at the exhibition today. I was surprised to learn how young she was."

Despite his aches and bruises, a smile broke out across Victor's face. "She'll be so happy to hear that."

.

Discretion

Zeref shut the door of the room softly and turned to face the two children. He could sense Natsu moving somewhat restlessly up and down the corridor outside, keeping watch and making sure they weren't overheard.

"The two of you have already realized this to some extent," he said, his voice quiet and serious, "but I wanted to warn you both again. You must never tell anyone else about your gift. Vida, if you want the chance to live your own life and to live in peace, you must never use your magic again. Not unless your life or the life of someone you care for is in danger, and even then, only if you have exhausted all other options."

"Because those people will come after me again?"

"Because people who are much worse will come after you," Z said grimly. "People who won't be so easily tricked, and who won't forget the rumors they hear. If you keep using your magic, you and your brother will have to spend the rest of your lives running."

The two children looked gravely up at him from the couch, and he knew that they understood at least part of what he was trying to tell them.

"Are you... like me?" Vida asked. Her large eyes scanned his face as though trying to read the answers in the lines and planes of his features, wondering how he knew so much or why this mattered so greatly to him.

Z shook his head. "No. Your talent was born to you, and any problems it brings you are through no fault of your own. My troubles I brought upon myself."

They didn't ask him what he meant. Perhaps they sensed that it was a difficult story for him to tell. Perhaps they already knew from the way he spoke and the way he looked at the man currently waiting for him on the other side of the closed door.

Victor stood up, pulling his sister up with him, and both of them offered him a small bow.

"Thank you. We'll remember what you said."

"Good. Natsu and I should be going then." Zeref started to open the door then paused and added, "Look after each other and take care of yourselves."

.

Stability

Zeref stood in the hallway outside Vida's room, listening to the murmur of voices inside, the exact words muffled by the wood of the door. Aside from those half-heard murmurs, the corridor was silent.

"You done with your warning speech?" Natsu asked, his shoes barely making a sound on the floorboards.

Zeref nodded slowly but didn't move from his spot.

"They have more courage than I do."

Natsu raised his eyebrows at that. "What makes you say that?"

"Life is going to be difficult for them. It's been difficult already, and yet they can still smile and laugh, still do the right things, still be happy..."

"I'd say you're not doing too badly on all that yourself."

"It's only because I have you."

Because Natsu was solid and warm and strong, and Zeref depended on that. Depended on Natsu's stability and self confidence. That was just one of the many reasons why he couldn't imagine living without him. Or rather, he could imagine it all too vividly.

And yet... Well, between the two of them, he and Natsu wielded more power than Vida and her brother would ever know. They could do things that other people only dreamed of. If these two children could find it in themselves to keep on smiling in the face of all the troubles that likely still lay ahead of them, it would be ridiculous of him not to attempt to do the same.

Natsu put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"They'll be all right, and so will you."

And from him, those words were both an encouragement and a promise.


TBC...


AN: Partly inspired by re-watching Mushishi and partly by an outdoor art show I was at—two summers ago now, I think. There was this woman who used words in her paintings and reshaped them to resemble the things they represented. The colors she chose were a little weird, but I thought the concept was pretty cool.

.