Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima, Tiamat is loosely based on Tiamat from Forgotten Realms which Belongs to Wizards of the Coast, LLC. The traits of the chromatic dragons have been altered to match the dragon slayers in the Fairy Tail Universe. Drakan belongs to Surreal Software.

Chapter 28: Full Disclosure

Wendy and Carla materialized on the Tartaros Cube, a tired Doranbolt at their side. Wendy had defeated one of the Demon Gates, Ezel, and had also deactivated the Face pulse bomb with only Carla for help. It had been very close and if Doranbolt hadn't shown up when he did they would not have made it out alive. They had been too tired to escape the blast radius from the explosion they had created to destroy Face once and for all. Wendy could not wait to find Natsu-san to tell him everything that had happened knowing how proud the Fire Dragon Slayer would be of her. She had even activated Dragon Force for the first time!

They looked around for the other mages from Fairy Tail when they began to hear Warren Rocko in their heads.

"Everyone listen up. Tiamat is here. Natsu, Gajeel and Gray are facing her as well as 4 of those Demon Gates. They are fighting close to the castle entrance. Natsu and Gajeel might be injured. Orga and Sherria you need to get there as soon as possible. Justin, teleport Natsu out of there. He is Tiamat's objective. Please hurry, but be careful. Happy saw her use a kill spell."

"Lyon and Loke should already be there.", Lucy added, "They headed that way about 10 minutes ago."

'Tiamat was after Natsu. If Natsu was the mate then who was the child she had been talking about?', Zeref was furious with himself that he had not asked more questions of the Dragon Goddess when he had the chance. He wanted to go before Acnologia arrived and he could feel him getting ever closer but he could not deny the cold anger that was coursing through him. He needed to know if Tiamat had anything to do with the changes he had sensed in his brother. He would stay and observe, if it seemed her plans were in direct conflict with his he would interfere, Acnologia be damned.

"Makarov here. Sting, can you hear us? What's the plan?"

"Sting here, all active Slayers and S-Class prepare for battle. Dragon Slayers and S-Class, go in hard. Try to surround her. Distract her so the God Slayers can get in position. Rogue, try not to give her your magic. The last thing we need is for her to get another power boost. Defensive spells only. Levy, you're on support. Stay out of sight if you can, but keep the Slayers fed. Exceeds, I want you to provide support as well. If it looks like someone is falling fly them out of there fast. Take them to Porlyusica. Everyone else take out these damn soldiers once and for all."

"Doranbolt here, I can teleport Natsu out as well if needed.", Doranbolt began to run in the direction Warren had indicated. He would not teleport there, he didn't want to risk running out of magic before he got to Natsu.

Wendy clenched her fists to her sides, her posture determined. She started to move towards the castle she had flown out of an hour earlier.

"No, absolutely not, child!", Carla tried to hold her back, "You've already done enough."

"Carla, they're hurt. They need me.", Wendy said simply, no doubt in her voice.

"You're exhausted, you could barely stand a few minutes ago. Doranbolt, stop her!", Carla pleaded.

Doranbolt stopped and looked back at Wendy. He could tell from her demeanor that she had made up her mind. He wasn't going to try to stop her, she had proven herself out there today. She was no longer a little girl to be protected at all costs. She could hold her own. He waited for her to catch up to him.

"I'm going, and that's final.", Wendy stated. "Warren, this is Wendy. I'm headed over there now. I'll heal them if I can."

"Erza?", Makarov called out.

"I am fighting a Demon but I...will make my way there... as soon as... I am able.", Erza replied, a strain noticeable in her voice.

Natsu had saved them all more times than they could count. All of the mages were determined that this time, they would get to their Fire Dragon Slayer in time. They refused to let Tiamat take him away from them.

"This is Silver Fullbuster, I'm a Slayer type mage as well. I promised my son I would help so tell me where you want me."

"Your son?", Makarov asked cautiosly.

"Yes, Gray is my son. He disappeared just now, I'm not entirely sure what happened."

A chorus of "What?" could be heard from all the connected mages.

"Isn't Gray with Gajeel and Natsu?", Makarov asked in confusion.

"Well he was, until I grabbed him and pulled him away.", Silver explained.

"You mean Natsu and Gajeel are fighting Tiamat and 4 demons alone?!", Makarov sputtered.

"Well, 3 demons. Technically I'm one of the original 4.", Silver chuckled nervously.

"Sting here, Silver what kind of Slayer are you? Am I to understand you are now on our side?"

"I'm an Ice Devil Slayer. I'm on Gray and Natsu's side."

"Good enough for me, head back to where you were before and help the other Slayers try to surround her. Don't hold back.", Sting replied.

"Understood."

Silver ran back towards where he had left the two Dragon Slayers earlier. He was worried about Gray. One moment they had been talking and the next Gray had let out a shriek as his body disintegrated into small particles that darted in the direction Silver was now headed. He had been about to follow when he heard the voice in his head and not sensing Keyes anywhere decided to join the attack. Silver heard shouts and doubled his efforts just in time to see Gray's particles entering a red gem stone. A humanoid creature with five dragon heads, that he assumed was Tiamat in another guise, was holding it in one of its hands. The creature was looking at the stone with apprehension.

Tiamat looked down in disbelief as the gem stone began to glow and shake in her hand. The hardened surface attempted to accomodate the new contents but its structure was too rigid to allow any expansion. Its shaking was becoming more pronounced and more urgent until the gem exploded, sending a myriad of sharp edged fragments and dispelled magical energy back at her. She winced in pain as she felt the blood begin to trickle down her body from every fragment that had managed to pierce her skin. Her heads pounded from the impact of the dispelled magic. 'Damnit!'

She shifted back to her Dark Lady avatar but her wounds were reflected in this body as well. She was running out of options and she knew it. Acnologia was coming and she had already wasted too much power getting rid of the demons. She cursed herself for allowing those other mages to leave. She knew they would return soon with reinforcements. Trap the Soul had been her ace in the hole to get Natsu to come with her and it had literally just blown up in her face. She now understood why she had no longer been able to feel her connection to Natsu, the son of a bitch had managed to sever it and bind himself to his own mate while she had been recovering from her injuries. She looked at the two boys noticing their reconstituted bodies. She watched them and tried to figure out what they could have done to override her claim on Natsu.

"What happened? How did I get here?", Gray asked Natsu trying to understand how he had gotten back. They had not gotten up from the ground yet. It was a rather disconcerting feeling to have your body dissolve into many small pieces and then put itself back together.

"I think she was trying to trap me in that gem to force me to leave with her but she wasn't counting on you showing up as well."

"I take back every bad thing I ever said about the Soul Bind.", Natsu whispered as he beamed at Gray.

Gray snorted. "I seem to recall you saying the exact opposite when Franmalth tried to remove your soul earlier."

Natsu shrugged, he didn't really dwell on the past.

Gray rolled his eyes at the fire mage. He took off the scarf and wrapped it back around his mate's neck, where it belonged. He removed the Soul Crystal and placed that around Natsu's neck as well. "Be careful where you leave that, Squinty Eyes."

Tiamat's eyes were immediately drawn to the pendant, it didn't look that different from the gem she had held in her hand a few minutes ago. It had to be a Soul Crystal. If Natsu had bound his soul with his mate's there was nothing she could do about it. It certainly explained why her spell had backfired. She clenched her fists in frustration. Nothing was going the way she wanted.

"My stuff! Where did you find it?", Natsu ignored the insult and fingered his scarf happily.

"My dad gave it to me. He'd been holding it for you.", Gray responded.

"Silver is your dad?"

Gray nodded with a closed expression. Natsu punched him in the arm playfully.

"I tried to tell you he smelled like you but you didn't let me finish. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just a little overwhelmed."

Natsu moved to comfort his mate. It had been a very long day for both of them and he knew he had put Gray through a lot, not to mention finding out your father was alive after all these years. He offered a quick hug and let him go but Gray grabbed him right back needing the reassurance of Natsu's body against his own for a while longer. He gave him a quick kiss which turned into a longer one as Natsu responded, neither one ready to let go of the other yet.

"Are you two serious right now? Really not the fucking time.", Gajeel growled at them.

They both startled and looked around them in surprise, for a minute they had managed to forget where they were. They separated and Natsu stood up and offered Gray a hand to pull him up.

"You ruined everything!", Natsu turned towards the shrill voice and was met with Tiamat's barely contained fury. It was a little terrifying but at the same time it made him feel good to know that he was the cause of it. He was getting ready to retort when Silver picked him up by his scarf and placed him behind him firmly. Silver, Sting, Rogue, Loke, Lyon, Makarov and Mira slowly formed a circle around Tiamat while Wendy healed Gajeel a little further behind them. He could vaguely make out Orga and Sherria in the background and he thought he saw someone in the shadows but he couldn't be sure.

"What are you doing?", Natsu asked Silver. He didn't care if he was Gray's father, he did not appreciate being treated like a child.

"Helping, now stay behind me and keep your mouth shut. You don't need to piss her off any more than she already is.", Silver told him without even turning around, his tone implying he would not put up with any crap.

"I'm not some kind of princess that needs to be rescued. I can fight too.", Natsu argued, "I'm the strongest Dragon Slayer here."

"I don't doubt that kid but you're also the one she wants. It would be bad strategy to just hand you over, wouldn't you agree?"

Tiamat decided to cut her losses, it's not like she had actually wanted to make the dragon slayer hers. She had only wanted to hurt Igneel. The child however, was another matter, him she desperately wanted.

"You want to break up? Fine, we can break up. I'll just take my child and go."

"Like hell you're taking him.", Natsu said coldly, "He belongs with us."

"What child? What is she talking about?", Silver asked

"She's talking about our child.", Gray explained.

"You have a child? Where is he?", Silver's voice rose with excitement.

"It's complicated, he's inside Natsu."

"Inside...Natsu. Your boyfriend is...pregnant?"

"I told you, it's complicated. Now is really not the time old man."

"He does not belong to the two of you. You in particular, ice mage, had absolutely nothing to do with it.", Tiamat sneered at Gray while muttering "Mislead"* under her breath. She stayed very still as the illusion manifested on top of her body while she once again became invisible. She concentrated on making her double look like she was listening to Gray as she slowly moved towards Natsu. She did not want to give away her position.

"Is that so? I forget, whose body did you use when you gave my mate the solution that induced his heat? Or when you raped and impregnated him just to get back at Igneel?", Gray's voice was getting louder with every word he uttered. It was positively dripping with venom, "Or when you beat him within an inch of his life all while keeping him bound in magic sealing cuffs? Don't you dare tell me I had nothing to do with it because you're the one who chose to put me right in the middle of it.", He finally had the creature responsible for all of Natsu's pain and torment in front of him and for the first time in his life he thought he might be capable of killing in cold blood. He tried to get himself back under control. He needed to fight smart.

Tiamat's double stared at Gray, an evil smirk on her face but she did not comment on his outburst.

'Igneel, always fucking Igneel.', Zeref thought to himself.

He was livid. Tiamat had done all those things to his brother because of Igneel. That red dragon had been the cause of more of Natsu's misfortunes than even Zeref himself. He was even more frustrated to realize that Acnologia would be arriving any moment and all five of the dragon slayers that had gone through the Eclipse Gate were here. Were they ready? The 400 year plan was nearing it's conclusion and it could all be derailed because of Igneel's fucking personal issues siccing this monster on his brother. He chose to ignore the nagging voice that tried to remind him that part of the events that were unfolding could also be traced back to him.

Gray felt a slight tug on his pants leg and he looked down to see what was causing it. Happy was looking up at him with a worried expression on his face.

"Gray?", the Exceed asked in a small voice, "What's raped?"

'Gray, you fucking moron, you shouldn't have said all that.' He'd let his anger cloud his judgment and he had not thought about what he was actually saying. 'Oh crap! Natsu.'

Gray picked the Exceed up and said quietly, "It's a vey bad thing that happened to Natsu, but we're going to help him get over it, ok?"

The Exceed nodded hesitantly.

Then he whispered, "Just don't bring it up to him, ok? He doesn't like to remember it."

Gray gave him a quick hug and put him down. He hoped that Natsu wasn't too upset with him for his outburst.

"That's it, I can't listen to any more of this.", Silver was having a hard time wrapping his head around all of the things that kept coming out in regards to his son. Mates, soul binds, solutions that could cause pregnancy in males, not to mention all the things that had apparently happened to Natsu. What the hell had he gotten himself into? He turned towards Tiamat, "I really wish you were a demon."

Silver unleashed his first attack. "Ice Devil's Rage"

The other Slayers immediately unleashed their own breath attacks one after the other, not giving Tiamat a chance to respond to the onslaught.

"Sky Dragon Roar"

"White Dragon Holy Breath"

"Iron Dragon Roar"

The Cube shook from the amount of magical energy that was being thrown about and still Tiamat remained unfazed. So far the only damage they could see on her had come from the recoil of her own spell. Sherria was ready as soon as the Slayer's breath attacks had finished. Since they weren't sure whether Tiamat was immune to lightning they had decided to let Sherria attack first with Orga providing backup until they were certain how effective he was going to be.

"Sky God Boreas"

Two large spirals of black currents materialized around Sherria's body spiralling towards her open right hand. She let them expand and unite around her until there was a massive whirlwind for her to control. With a fluid movement she hurled it towards Tiamat who did not try to block or otherwise react in any way to the incoming attack. Sherria frowned, something did not feel right. She watched closely as her attack made contact with its intended target and saw a flicker as the wind went right through her. She opened her mouth to say something to Orga but he had already begun to cast his own spell.

The air around Orga sizzled as sparks of black lightning materialized between his hands.

"Lightning God 120mm Black Lightning Cannon"

A beam of black lightning seemingly exploded from between Orga's hands straight to Tiamat's location in the center of their makeshift circle. He watched with anticipation as the beam made its way to his intended target, his expression changing as the beam went right through Tiamat and almost hit the Sky Dragon Slayer. Doranbolt appeared and quickly teleported her out of harm's way.

"Fuck! It's an illusion. Where is she?", Orga roared in frustration.

Gray paled as he realized there was only one place she could be. He ran towards Silver screaming at his father to turn around.

Natsu watched Gray tell off Tiamat. He had never seen Gray get that angry at anyone besides himself and Lyon before. He had to admit it was kind of a turn on. He noticed people looking at him after Gray was done talking but he wasn't sure why as he hadn't really been listening to the words. He shrugged. He'd have to ask him about it later.

He felt a strange tingling in his chest. At first he thought it was just related to the thoughts he was having about his mate but it quickly began to get stronger, and painful. He looked around him, his dragon senses telling him there was someone there even though his eyes couldn't see anyone. He tried to call out to Silver, who was still in front of him, but couldn't get more than a grunt out. He was starting to feel dizzy. He covered his hand in fire and projected some of his flames towards where he thought he had sensed someone. As the flames wrapped themselves around a definite humanoid shape he was able to make out Tiamat's outline, her arm outstretched in a pulling motion before the fire fizzled out. He once again tried to call out, to let someone know what was happening. Natsu's arm went up to his chest as the pain suddenly became unbearable and he collapsed to his knees. He could feel something coming out of his body and he screamed in panic.

xxx

A/N: I want to thank SilverWhiteDragon for betaing this chapter for me and being a great sounding board. Any mistakes are all mine. Thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter, I liked how all of you commented on different things in the chapter. I hope that everyone that is celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow has a wonderful holiday!

Warren's teleportation works as a mass broadcast that can be picked up by anyone within the range he is broadcasting to. Zeref and Silver both have Telepathy so it would be simple enough for them to pick it up regardless. Tiamat, Gajeel, Gray, Lyon, Loke and Natsu were outside of its range so they did not hear any of it.

Mislead (Lvl 6) - You become invisible (as greater invisibility, a glamer), and at the same time, an illusory double of you (as major image, a figment) appears. You are then free to go elsewhere while your double moves away. The double appears within range but thereafter moves as you direct it (which requires concentration beginning on the first round after the casting). You can make the figment appear superimposed perfectly over your own body so that observers don't notice an image appearing and you turning invisible. You and the figment can then move in different directions. The double moves at your speed and can talk and gesture as if it were real, but it cannot attack or cast spells, though it can pretend to do so.