Hello everyone, I am back with a new chapter for you all to either enjoy or despise with all of your hatred. Whatever works for you all.
Now, for this chapter we will be returning with Romeo as well as "Draconian Enigma"'s main Earthland 129-G. So hopefully I don't screw this up, but I will be doing my best.
Oh, and for those who do know and read his story, this will take place in a different point in his story, just to clear confusion in case anyone asks "But isn't his Natsu in another timeline at the moment?" or the like.
Anyway, let's jump right in shall we?
Enjoy, or not, I don't care you all have your opinions.
Everything belongs to their respective owners.
Chapter Thirty: Romeo and 129-G
'EARTHLAND 129-G'
A faint groan emitted from a certain dark purple haired fourteen year old, consciousness slowly returning to him while his eyes slowly opened up. Flickering his eyes opened, he once more let out a small groan of slight pain and tiredness while slowly sitting himself up.
"Ow… everything feels so sore…" Romeo muttered out, closing his eyes once more while lifting his arm to rub his head, trying to get the small headache he currently had to go away.
He opened his eyes once more and lowered his arm, only to be confused by his surroundings.
"Huh?" He let out as he took notice of his current location. From the way things looked, he seemed to be in an infirmary. Multiple beds were present in the room, all of them currently empty aside from the one he found himself in. Looking down at himself, he saw he was wrapped in bandages, most notably around his abdomen, with small white bandages placed elsewhere on his body such as his forehead.
Needless to say, the All Magic Dragon Slayer was confused.
"Where am I?" Romeo wondered aloud, unsure of where he was or who healed him up, 'It… looks like Fairy Tail's infirmary… I think? How did I get here? What Earthland did I land upon?'
A nearby door opening to his left grabbed his attention, causing him to turn his head towards the entrance… only to be surprised by what he saw.
The person who entered looked to be a woman around eighteen years old, who was carrying what seemed to be folded up clothing in her hands. She possessed a rather curvaceous figure that would make many men drool at the sight alone. She wore a blue sun dress that hugged her curves. But what stood out to the young teen was her long blue hair and brown eyes, catching Romeo off guard further.
'Wendy? She's older on this world?' Romeo thought to himself in surprise, not expecting to see an older version of one of his crushes- er he meant friends. Yeah that was it.
The eighteen year old Sky Dragon Slayer didn't notice him awake just yet as she closed the door behind her. It was only after turning around facing away from the wooden frame did she see the now awake All Magic Dragon Slayer, getting her eyes to widen up a bit.
"Oh! You're awake!" Wendy told the dark purple teen, running towards him in order to do a checkup better. Leaning in a bit, she had a slight look of concern over the still healing Dragon Slayer before she spoke up again, "How are you feeling? Nothing is in pain is there?"
"Uh… no, not really. I'm just feeling sore." Romeo managed to respond after a bit of hesitation on his part, unsure what to really say to the older blue haired woman before him. She didn't seem surprise about the fact a Romeo that was no doubt different from the one she knew was in front of her. Did this world know about different realities possibly?
Hearing that seemed to ease the older woman's nerves, smiling at the younger teen as she leaned back.
"Well that's good to hear. You were in pretty bad shape when we found you in a crater in the park. You had broken bones, pierces organs and the like. It was a miracle you were still alive at all." Wendy told the younger male, who flinched a bit from being told that.
"I guess so…," Romeo responded before he gained another look of confusion looking at the older Wendy once more, "If I may ask… how long was I out for?"
"You were out cold for a week. We were able to heal much of your wounds, but all the scars you had will remain." Wendy told him with a slight sorrowful look, not liking how they couldn't heal this other Romeo completely. Hearing this got his eyes to widened.
"A week? I was out for that long?" Romeo asked once more to make sure he heard that correctly. Getting a nod in response, he let out a groan while he leaned back into the bed he was on, "Great. I've been inactive for a week. That's something I don't like hearing," He looked back over towards the older Sky Dragon Slayer as a small smile formed on his face, "But I'm at least I'm alive so I can't complain that much. Oh, and don't worry about the scars, they were there long before I ended up in that state."
That didn't seem to make Wendy feel better, getting her to wonder what the Dragon Slayer before her went through to receive the scars that littered his body. Figuring that she will have a chance to ask later, she managed to smile once more as she walked over and placed the folded clothes she had onto a nearby desk before facing towards Romeo once more.
"Alright, from the looks of things you should be alright to move around. I got clothes here for you to change into since your old ones… well… were nothing but rags. I'll go tell the others you're awake. Feel free to join us down below once you're ready." Wendy told him with her kind smile still on her face.
With that said, she walked out of the infirmary and closed the door behind her thus leaving Romeo to his own devices once more.
Figuring he would follow her advice, he managed to get out of the bed relatively easy despite the soreness he still felt all over. Walking his way over towards the folded clothing, he grabbed a hold of the pieces of clothing before he went ahead to put them on.
A few moments later he was once more fully clothed while changing out of the old infirmary clothing they had most likely put on him due to his old clothes having been completely torn up. Looking down at himself, he was now wearing black baggy pants and a dark green sleeveless shirt. Also to the outfit were a pair of dark greenish military style boots. Nothing too crazy, but for him it worked.
"Alright, not too shabby," Romeo admitted with a small smile on his face. He then looked towards the entrance that headed to the hallway that no doubt led to the main hall of the guild, 'Guess I should head on down and get some answers. Wendy wasn't that surprise to see another version of myself, so they must be aware of different alternate realities.'
With that in mind, he made his way out of the infirmary to head towards the main hallway where no doubt everyone else of Fairy Tail of this Earthland would no doubt be gathered at.
'IN THE MAIN HALL'
"So he's awake now?" Mira questioned from her spot close to the bar, as the blue haired eighteen year old nodded in confirmation.
"Yeah, he seems to be mostly healed other than being sore. At least that's what he's told me." Wendy replied back to the white haired woman, as well as everyone else that were listening in to the Sky Dragon Slayer.
Currently in the guild hall, not many people were present other than some of the most known Mages of Fairy Tail. Kinana was with Mira, helping to attend to the bar, Natsu was at the bar also along with Lucy, Lisanna and Sayla, Levy was sitting at a table nearby with Jet and Droy, the latter currently on a strict diet that everyone's trying to enforce, Erza was also nearby keeping a close eye on Droy to make sure he didn't try anything to get out of it, Gajeel was close by standing around as was Elfman and Gray with the latter recently returning from a job he took, Juvia and Ikaruga were also at the bar, close by at their own table were the Connell family, Cana was also close sitting on her own table with her usual alcohol on hand, Happy, Carla and Pantherlily were around being next to their respective Dragon Slayers, and of course Makarov himself was also present sitting on the bar with a mug of beer in hand. Other than them, everyone else was either elsewhere in town or out on jobs. So relatively quiet compared to most days.
"At least he's alive. From when you found him he looked to be on death's door." Natsu responded, remembering how he and the rest reacted upon Wendy bringing in this other version of Romeo through the guild doors. The teen had the appearance of someone who went through Hell itself.
"Yeah, so how did you stumble upon him again?" Gray couldn't help but ask, as he was out on a mission when this alternate version of the dark purple haired teen crashed into Magnolia.
"Well, Carla and I were on our way to the guild when we saw a tear in reality high up in the sky before seeing someone crashing down into the park at high velocity from it before it closed. When we went to go check it out we found him in there." Wendy explained to the Ice Devil Slayer Mage, who nodded in understanding.
"Guess that explains the large crater in the park that the town is trying to fill." He muttered mainly to himself, wondering why there was a large cavity located in the normally nice and tranquil park. He originally thought someone from the guild were just having a brawl that got too carried away.
"How did he react upon waking up?" Makarov asked Wendy, wanting to know if he freaked out or something upon awakening.
"Uh… he seemed to be handling it well. He was kind of already awake when I went back in to check on him. He seems to just be more confused than anything." Wendy admitted to the others, who nodded in understanding.
"That's good to hear. Wouldn't do well if he was all panicking or something." Sayla figured.
"Has he said anything else? You know other than the usual "Where am I?" questions and all that?" Levy asked the blue haired Sky Dragon Slayer.
"Not really. He only asked how long he has been out for." The eighteen year old shared with the rest once more.
"So other than that, he didn't seem to react in anyway?" Erza asked, pulling her attention away from Droy for a moment towards the formally fifteen year old Sky Dragon Slayer. Wendy merely shook her hand no from being asked this question.
"If he's taking it this well then clearly he's aware that he's in a different reality than from whatever one he's from." Ikaruga stated. After all if he saw a version of Wendy that would no doubt be different from the one he knew, unless the Wendy from his Earthland was similar to their own, he would probably he freaking out if he wasn't familiar with different alternate worlds.
"I'm more confused about those injuries he had on him. Like what the heck did he go through to sustain such damage?" Lucy couldn't help but wonder aloud. When they saw the sight of him originally many of them were shocked from how hurt this other Romeo was.
"We can just ask him. He might have gained such injuries from some fight he was in back in his own world." Pantherlily figured, not seeing the big deal to do just that.
"Are you sure that's the case? What kind of fight did he had that caused a tear in reality that flung him to end up here?" Kinana questioned with slight worry, wondering what kind of fight did this other Romeo managed to get into that caused him to be sent here in their own world?
"Who knows, but it must have been an intense one if he managed to get beat up that bad." Natsu spoke up towards the purple haired woman.
The others were merely in thought about this, curious as to what did the alternate Romeo fight to get such injuries while also wondering what else happened that caused him to come crashing into their own Earthland. As everything was in thought for a moment, Natsu took this chance to see if E.N.D was paying attention from his mind.
'Hey E.N.D, you paying any attention to this?' Natsu thought to chat with his inner demon, noticing that he was rather quiet so far for the day. Luckily, he would get an answer as a certain demonic voice filled his head once more like he did most of the time now.
'Yes Natsu I have. I've just been lost in my own thoughts about this recent development we're dealing with. By the way, have you noticed?' E.N.D responded back from the depths of Natsu's mind, getting the pink haired Fire Dragon King to raise an eyebrow.
'Notice what?' Natsu asked back with slight confusion while hearing the demon letting out a slightly annoyed groan from the answer he got.
'The blue markings on his arms. Don't they remind you of a certain you know who dragon that died at the end of the Alvarez War?' E.N.D told Natsu, who now understood what his demon half was referring too.
'I have. And his scent, underneath all that blood he was covered in, he gives off the scent of a Dragon Slayer,' Natsu had also noticed when he first saw the unconscious dark purple haired young teenager when Wendy brought him into the guild with haste, 'You think there might be a connection?'
'Possibly. Rather interesting if there is. A version of Acnologia taking someone underneath his wing? I wouldn't have believed it if someone told me that if I wasn't shown any proof.' E.N.D replied back, his curiosity growing about their unusual guest.
They wouldn't be able to continue their internal conversation when Natsu as well as everyone elses' attention was drawn from the noise of someone coming down the stairs.
Looking that way, they all saw the now awake Romeo Conbolt coming down from the stairway, a look of slight wariness on his face when he notices everyone else that were present in the guild hall having their eyes on him. Reaching down to the bottom of the stairs, he looked back at the others with his same expression.
'Huh, Natsu and the others looked a bit different from most other ones I ran into. Sayla's here also which is rare for most timelines I've seen… don't know who the pink haired chick is though.' Romeo thought to himself while also noticing the present of this world's version of him not present, as well as others like Laxus and so on. They were most likely out on jobs or something.
Seeing how everyone still had their eyes glued onto him, Romeo gained a slight nervous smile as he lifted and waved his hand at them in a friendly gesture.
"Uh… hi?" He greeted them with slight uncertainty, not sure how these other Mages would handle his present. Sure, the older Wendy seemed to handle it well, but that was no guaranteed that everyone else would be the same way.
Natsu was the first to stand up from his spot at the bar, before the pink haired man quickly made his way over towards where the dark purple haired fourteen year old stood. Romeo looked up a bit to see the face of the Fire Dragon King. Remaining silent for a moment, it would be broken when Natsu gained a small smile before speaking up.
"How are you feeling kid?" Natsu asked Romeo, catching him off guard for a moment before he managed to get over it with a small smile still on his face.
"Oh, uh… I'm feeling pretty good. Just a bit sore that's all." Romeo replied back to the pink haired Fairy Tail Mage, who remained smiling from hearing this.
"Well that's good to hear. I'm sure you have some questions though am I right?" Natsu pointed out, figuring that this other version of Romeo would be wondering where he ended up at.
Romeo was about to respond before a loud growl emitted from his stomach, getting Natsu to raise an eyebrow as some of the others. The dark purple young teen merely gained a blush from embarrassment from this as he scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner.
"Sorry about that. Guess it's been quiet a while since I last ate anything." Romeo admitted, with Natsu merely chuckling from hearing this.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about that Romeo," Natsu told him, before the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer turned around towards where the others were at around the bar, mainly looking at Mira specifically, "Hey Mira. How about we get our guest some food."
Mira happily nodded in response, glad to do just that as she went to prepare Romeo something for him to eat. As she went to do that, Natsu motioned Romeo to follow him back towards where everyone else is at, to which the younger Dragon Slayer did just that. Natsu remained on his feet standing in front of the bar while Sayla patted the seat next to her for Romeo to sit in, in hopes of helping him feel a bit more comfortable of his surroundings.
"Come on, have a seat." Lisanna told Romeo, who looked at the available seat before looking back at Natsu, figuring that the older pink haired Dragon Slayer would want it. Seeing this got Natsu to shake his head.
"I'm fine on my feet. Go on, sit down and relax." Natsu told him.
"Are you sure?" Romeo asked once more just to make sure if Natsu was alright. Mira while she was preparing a dish for the younger Dragon Slayer heard this as she looked at him from her spot.
"No need to be shy, don't worry we won't bite." Mira told him with a teased grin on her face. The others merely shook their heads from this.
"Really Mira?" Lucy questioned, with the white haired beauty merely chuckling to herself from her words before she refocused on what she was doing.
Romeo merely shook his own head from hearing that, but nevertheless seeing that it was alright simply headed over to the seat before placing himself upon it. With that out of the way, Romeo looked around at the others with a slight look of puzzlement while trying to figure out how to really start another conversation with the others.
"Uh… So… you all don't seem surprise over seeing a double of someone you know." Romeo figured he would point that out to see if this Earthland knowing about different alternate timelines was true or not.
"Well that should be obvious, otherwise you would have a lot more of us freaking out or something. Nah kid, we know about different realities and all of that. Heck, we even know a couple we considered our allies." Sayla told the dark purple haired young teenager, referring to 121-M and 137-C when she was talking about their alternate versions of themselves.
"I'm not a kid," Romeo grumbled out a bit to himself, getting those who heard this to found it slightly amusing much to his slight annoyance, 'At least I was right, they do know about different alternate worlds. Makes things a bit easier and less awkward I suppose.'
"So kid," Gajeel spoke up from his spot, getting Romeo annoyed further from being referred to as kid once more before he turned his head around to look towards the Iron Dragon Slayer who went on to speak still, "I've noticed you got a particular scent coming from you similar to what Dragon Slayers have. You're a Dragon Slayer yourself aren't you?"
That got Romeo to freeze for a moment while those who already didn't realized it like Natsu and Wendy due to picking up the same scent widened their eyes from hearing about this.
"Wait really?" Ikaruga questioned with surprised as she looked over at the dark purple haired young teenager with the same expression still intact on her face, "You're a Dragon Slayer like Natsu and the other two?"
Romeo, seeing how that was now out in the open merely grinned sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head once more.
"Yeah, I'm a Dragon Slayer. Kind of odd I know for someone like me to be one miss…," Romeo trailed off as he gained a look of confusion on his face, facing towards where the pink haired swordswoman was at, "Forgive me, but I don't think I know who you are."
That seemed to get on the pink haired woman's nerves slightly, before she managed to ease herself before introducing herself to the All Magic Dragon Slayer.
"My name is Ikaruga, former member of the dark guild Death's Head Caucus. I'm sure you have heard of them before." The pink haired woman shared with the dark purple haired young teenager with a grin on her face, figuring he would recognize who she used to be a part of.
"…Nope. Doesn't ring a bell." Romeo casually admitted not really caring that the woman was originally from a Dark Guild, considering that if she was here with the others then she must have turned over a new leaf or something. He was unaware of hurting the woman's pride while she gained a tick mark on her forehead.
This got a few like Mira, who was just finishing up making the All Magic Dragon Slayer's meal, and Sayla to giggle a bit from the amusement. This didn't go unnoticed by Ikaruga who turned her glare towards the purple haired Etherious woman and the white haired Demon Take-Over Mage.
"What's so funny?!" She exclaimed in anger at them, as the two teasing women looked back at the alternate version of the Dark Mage Natsu recruited to live here in their own world.
"He doesn't even know your former Dark Guild, that is what's funny." Sayla told her, getting Ikaruga to glare at them with anger while she gripped the handle of the sword she had on her hand.
Everyone else merely shook their heads in amusement from the sight, while Romeo only had a puzzled expression on his face. Figured she had her fun messing with the pink haired woman, Mira turned her attention back onto the dark purple haired teen before placing the plate of food down on the bar right in front of him.
"Here you go Romeo." Mira told him, getting him to snap out of his confusion as he noticed the food now before him. He looked up back at the older woman with a small smile on his face.
"Thank you, Mira." He thanked the Demon Take-Over Mage before he figured he finally get some food into his stomach, rather slightly viciously might one add, not bothering to try to eat in a normal respectful manner that he normally would due to how long he's been without food for a while.
Those around him were a bit off guard by how Romeo was eating, figuring that he would have eaten in a more respective manner. Instead he was eating as if he hasn't had anything in days. Which unknown to them wasn't too far from the truth.
"Geez, you must have been hungry haven't you?" Happy asked the All Magic Dragon Slayer, who looked at the blue Exceeds way and swallowing before speaking with a sheepish grin on his face.
"Heh, yeah. It's been a while since I had a proper meal let alone eaten anything for that manner. Always been on the move without really having the time to relax." Romeo shared with them before he went to eating once more.
His words confused the rest however, with some of them raising an eyebrow from learning of this new information.
"How come? Why were you on the move for? Didn't you just come from your own Earthland?" Levy asked with slight suspicion in her voice.
That got Romeo to freeze for a moment, realizing how he might have sounded. He couldn't tell these guys the actual truth about what he faced or why he was out and about traveling through the multiverses, so he tried to come up with something on the spot.
"Uh… well you see, I was just out exploring different worlds, and I was so focus on seeing such differences compared to my own world I just went without really eating much." Romeo told them, hoping that they would but that excuse.
Sadly, it didn't seem to work if the deadpanned expression they were giving him were any indication, causing Romeo to feel a bit more nervous underneath their looks.
"Really? Then how did you end up in that terrible state you were in when you came crashing into our city?" Erza questioned, narrowing her eyes at the younger Dragon Slayer in the building, seeing that he was obviously not telling the truth or at least not the full truth. This only got Romeo to be a bit more nervous before he managed to calm his nerves before speaking up.
"Well… on one of these worlds there was this really strong enemy that was causing havoc on the planet. So I faced them in hopes of stopping them. I managed to win but a resulting explosion pushed me into a portal that was opened up beforehand launching me to here apparently." Romeo told them, hoping that would be enough to ease any suspicion they may have about his words.
The others remained suspicious about this for a few extra moments. However, in the end they decided to take what they could, figuring that Romeo wasn't fully really to explain about why he was out and about traveling to other alternate worlds.
"So, you're just traveling out and about on your own?" Cana asked from her table to see if they can learn more about their temporary otherworldly guest.
That got a frown to appear on Romeo's face, which didn't go unnoticed by the other Mages as he looked down at his nearly empty plate of food.
"No… there were others who were with me. But we got separated when we arrived on a different planet that wasn't Earthland. I don't know where they could be." Romeo admitted, figuring he would come clean with that at least. It's been a while since he last saw them, he hoped that whenever Observer, Acnologia and E.N.D were, they were alright.
"Others were with you? What happened?" Makarov asked the alternate version of their own Romeo, who turned to look at the small old man with his frown still on his face slightly.
"Well… we ran into some trouble on this other world and during that fiasco we got split in the chaos. I ended up back on another Earthland while the others… well I don't where they ended up or where they could be at all…" Romeo admitted once more.
Some of the other Mages frowned at this, seeing how this was clearly troubling the younger Dragon Slayer. They may not know who these others may be, but they must know one another well if this Romeo before them was worried over them.
"Although, I'm kind of worried for these other worlds whenever the others may end up, considering how much trouble they can be." Romeo also figured, knowing that Acnologia and E.N.D would probably be getting into some sort of mess knowing those two. The thought got him to smile a little in amusement at it.
The Mages raised their eyebrows once more.
"What do you mean?" Natsu asked him, getting Romeo to look over at the pink haired man once more with his smile still remained on his face.
"Well… you see two of the others I know aren't exactly the most uh… how can I put this… friendliest people out there. Their behavior can easily draw trouble and unwanted attention towards them." Romeo shared with those around him.
"If I may ask, who are these others that you normally travel around with?" Sayla requested from Romeo who looked back at the demoness once more, 'He doesn't seem weird out or confuse by my presence or my horns. Perhaps he knows his own version of myself back in his own reality?'
"Ah, well…," Romeo figured he would try to explain, figuring it was alright to share about the others to the Mages present, "One of them is a being called Observer, he's kind of a mystery even now and hard for anyone to really get a read on him. I was with him the longest when I first met him back home during my own journey. Our first meeting… didn't exactly go well but we're on better terms now." Romeo shared, figuring that it was best to keep it a secret how Observer tried to wipe out all life on the planet in order to start anew as the Constellar put it before Romeo managed to knock some sense into the Celestial alien entity.
"And who else?" Juvia asked from her spot, hoping for him to continue as the dark purple haired teen went to do just that.
"Well… are any of you familiar with a being called E.N.D?" Romeo asked to see if this world was aware of Natsu's other half or not. He wasn't sure if they did or not despite Sayla's presence since anything could be different on these different Earthlands.
That got the others to be slightly surprise while Natsu looked at Romeo with a raised eyebrow once more.
"You know E.N.D also?" Natsu asked him, surprising that this version of Romeo was not only aware of his own E.N.D but was apparently traveling around a version of his demon half.
'Oh! He knows and travels with another me? Cool! I bet he's just like me!' E.N.D stated happily from this revelation. Natsu didn't respond to the demon's voice as Romeo looked at him again.
"Oh, so you do know about E.N.D?" Romeo asked as the others nodded, with Sayla speaking up once more to explain further to the dark purple haired All Magic Dragon Slayer.
"Yes, Master Natsu and E.N.D are one and the same, the former currently in the latter's mind," Sayla explained to Romeo while some of the others nodded in agreement, showing truth to her words while she went on to ask her own questions once more, "May I ask, does your own E.N.D have his own body separated from your own version of Master Natsu's own? And is he a pervert like our own?"
'Master?' Romeo thought in confusion from hearing this, before shaking that away to focus on answering the female Etherious's questions, "Yes, Natsu and E.N.D, while still the same person had their personalities and bodies separated from one another. And no, E.N.D isn't a pervert. He hates those kinds of people actually and can't stand their antics. He tends to complain about Natsu and the girls when they… you know… do that, a lot. Talks about it a bit too much to my liking."
'…Wow, this is the fastest that I ever disowned another version of myself.' Natsu heard E.N.D grumble, clearly no longer happy about hearing this other version of him and what he's like.
'I have a feeling neither of you would get along if what Romeo says about this other you is true.' Natsu thought back towards the demon who merely grumbled back, not disagreeing with his other half in the slightest about this. Ignoring that for now, Natsu spoke up again towards Romeo who looked back at him when he saw the Fire Dragon King speaking towards him, "Is there anyone else or is it just this Observer person and your own E.N.D?"
Romeo widen his eyes a bit when he asked that, unsure if he should tell everyone that Acnologia was the other person who was normally with him and the other two. Figuring something out, Romeo proceeded to answer.
"Oh yeah, there another who's usually with us named… Ack. His name is Ack." Romeo responded with a slightly sheepish smile, unaware how E.N.D would also called Acnologia that also in order to hide his identity to others who feared the Black Dragon.
"…Ack." Gray questioned with a blank expression from hearing this. Who names their kid Ack? Clearly parents who wanted everyone to hate their kids if he was allowed to think.
"Yeah, Ack. That's his name." Romeo replied back with his sheepish smile still on his face.
'…He's clearly f**king lying.' E.N.D told Natsu who nodded in agreement with his demon half.
'Thanks E.N.D, I noticed that.' Natsu responded mentally to the demon. He'll try to get more answers from Romeo about this "Ack" later, seeing how Romeo didn't seem willing to go any deeper into talking about his third ally.
The conversation would take a turn when Romeo's eyes drifted towards Natsu once more, this time his eyes landing onto the sword that Natsu had on his waist alongside the Boltok pistol that was holstered on his hip. The katana was mostly black in color, aside from the handle where it had a red colored wrapping around it, probably for better gripping. Natsu noticed this, as he looked down at his bladed weapon before looking back at Romeo.
"Something caught you eye?" Natsu asked, getting Romeo to snap out of his daze as he looked back up at Natsu.
"Oh, sorry about that, it's just… I don't think I ever seen a sword like that before." Romeo admitted as he glanced back at the katana Natsu had on him.
"You never heard of it before?" Ikaruga questioned at the dark purple haired young teenager, as once she realized what the katana was even she knew about the blade.
"I don't think so? I'm not sure if this weapon even exists back in my Earthland. If you know it, I guess it's a well known weapon?" Romeo asked as he looked back towards Ikaruga, before his attention was drawn to Natsu once more when the pink haired Etherious went to answer.
"You could say that. This is the blade Durandal. It was made for me by Igneel, capable of killing all dragons." Natsu while shifting his eyes back down to his weapon explained to Romeo, who widened his eyes from hearing that.
"Whoa, that's interesting to hear. Capable of killing any dragon?" Romeo asked once more to make sure he heard that right.
"That's right. Durandal is capable of cutting through anything," Natsu explained further before he looked at Romeo once more, "I'm kind of surprise you would be interested. By any chance are you a sword user yourself?"
"Huh? Oh uh, I wouldn't say I'm normally a sword user, but I have had used swords before. Each one ended up destroyed through during my fights." Romeo admitted with a grin on his face, rubbing the back of his head from admitting this to the others.
"You used swords before?" Erza questioned with interest from hearing this, while in the background Droy, thinking that no one is looking, pulled out a bar from his pocket to enjoy the high sugary snack.
"I have." Romeo responded as he looked back at Erza.
"So that means you know how to properly fight with a sword then right?" Ikaruga also asked, getting a small smirk to form on her face while in the background Azlack shot the snack Droy had out of his hand, getting him to cry anime tears from the loss of his delicious yet unhealthy snack much to the Connell family's amusement.
"Yeah…? Where are you going with this?" Romeo asked as he tiled his head to the side, unsure of what the red head and pink haired women were leading on.
"Is it not obvious? I want to see how skilled you are with a blade." Ikaruga cut straight to the point, getting the others to be surprised by the woman's declaration.
"Wait really? You want to fight him in sword combat?" Lucy asked the pink haired swordswoman, not expecting the former Dark Mage from another timeline to want to do such a thing.
"Actually, I would also like to face his skills with the blade." Erza spoke up also, getting the others to be surprised by this.
"Really? Are you sure?" Romeo asked.
"Of course. I'm curious how well you would do in a fight between swords only. That is, if you accept." Erza offered him as Ikaruga nodded, having a grin on her face still.
Romeo looked around at the other Mages, while Natsu and Makarov were simply smiling from this, not seeing any reason that was wrong for them to do. The others seemly either didn't care in Gajeel's case if he agreed or not while others like Wendy looked interesting at the idea and seemed to be silently hoping that he would accept the challenge. After all, they didn't know how he fought let alone how strong he was.
"…Alright," Romeo gained a confident grin as he faced both Erza and Ikaruga with a thumbs up towards them also, "I accept your challenge."
'A FEW MINUTES LATER'
It didn't take long for everyone to head outside at the back of the guild hall, where there was enough opened space for the three way sword duel between Erza, Ikaruga and Romeo. As the latter didn't have a blade on hand at the moment, Erza simply summoned forth a spare sword from her Magic space and gave it to him.
Now, the three were on the small yet opened field with the two swordswomen standing on one side of the field with Romeo on the other. Everyone else meanwhile were standing near the back of the building a bit away from the lines of the small field, observing and watching from a short distance. The All Magic Dragon Slayer looked a bit confused as he gripped the blade he was lend to by the S-Class red haired woman. Honestly, he was unsure if he would do so well, since it has been a while since he has last used a sword let alone face another swordsman or woman in battle.
He was drawn from his inner thoughts when Makarov stepped forward before speaking aloud for everyone to hear.
"Alright, just to make sure we understand the rules right, if one is knocked down and unable to get back up, is knocked unconcious or forfeits is out. And, while this should be obvious, no trying to horribly maim each other. That is all." Makarov took a few steps back out of the field and back towards the others.
Erza and Ikaruga merely got ready in their stances as they face the dark purple haired fourteen year old felt the gazes of the others watching him and the other two older women. Some were watching intensely while others had smiles on their faces like Wendy and Mira. Natsu meanwhile had a serious expression on his face as his eyes remained on the younger Dragon Slayer up ahead.
'So kid, you think this other Romeo will be able to last long?' E.N.D asked from Natsu's mind once more to his other half, with the Fire Dragon King merely shrugged a bit while remaining having an analyzing gaze onto the alternate Romeo ahead.
'Who knows. Erza and Ikaruga aren't exactly pushovers after all. Both are master swordswomen in their own way while we don't know how skilled this other Romeo is.' Natsu thought back to the demon in his mind, the Etherious satisfied with that answer.
"I'm kind of surprise Natsu," Mira started to speak up as she looked over to her boyfriend, with the pink haired man looking back at the white haired woman with a raised eyebrow, "With this being a duel of blades I figure you would join in to see how well this other Romeo does."
Natsu merely shrugged from the words he received.
"I haven't thought about joining when Erza and Ikaruga suggested it. Plus, I think this Romeo will have his hands full enough as it is with those two." Natsu replied to the Demon Take-Over Mage, knowing that this other Romeo will have his hands full with just the two swordswomen as it is.
Mira merely smiled from that as a few of the other girls like Lucy and Sayla, while back on the field Ikaruga gained a smirk towards the opposing sword wielder which didn't go unnoticed by Romeo.
"So kid, you're not going to back out while you have the chance?" Ikaruga asked with a taunting tone, Romeo got annoyed from being called a kid again for a moment before it faded away, with the All Magic Dragon Slayer gaining a confident smile on his face once more.
"I'm not one to quiet or back out from a challenge. I'll show you what I'm made of." Romeo responded as he got into his own stance ready to face the two older women in a duel of the blades.
"I like your spirit, that's good for a Fairy Tail Mage to have." Erza replied with a smile on her own face.
"And… begin!" Makarov exclaimed loudly for the three sword wielders to hear.
With that the duel commenced as both Erza and Ikaruga dashed forward towards Romeo, whose eyes widened from their sudden take off before gaining a resolved expression on his face once more, gripping his blade harder as the two incoming women closed in.
Romeo raised his blade just in time to block the two first strikes that Erza and Ikaruga swung at him. Ikaruga quickly dashed around the dark purple haired teenager to attack him from behind. Erza meanwhile continued her assault at the front with Romeo blocking each blow swung at him. Sensing Ikaruga coming at him from behind he managed push Erza back with his blade, getting her to stumble back from the move before he swiftly turned around just in time to block Ikaruga's blade as it came down onto him. The two were now trading blows at high speeds faster than the untrained eye could keep track. Erza meanwhile quickly recovered from the knock back a moment before she saw the duel ahead of her. Not wasting time Erza dashed forward to rejoin the fray once again, however Romeo noticed this as he dodged one of Ikaruga's swings.
Then to the surprise of the pink haired woman, Romeo acted quickly when he jumped up a bit and kicked the woman's Mugestu-Ryu out of her hands, causing it to go up high into the air with the dark purple haired young teen jumped up and grabbing it with his other hand before he landed right behind Erza, who swiftly turned around in surprise from the sudden act. Romeo had his back turn when he landed before he turned around raising both blades up in a stance, ready to continue the fight between himself and the other two females.
Seeing this surprised the others who were observing, while Ikaruga only gained a look of disbelief from the sudden turn of events so fast.
'We just started and already he robbed Ikaruga's weapon from her for himself. Neat.' Natsu heard E.N.D commenting about the duel, but the pink haired man himself didn't say anything else as he continued to watch the battle before him.
Ikaruga gritted her teeth from this turn of events, but luckily she wouldn't remain without a blade as Erza, who was now next to her quickly used her Re-Equip Magic to summon forth another sword to hand to her. The pink haired former Dark Mage, seeing this, took the blade before the two refocused their attention onto Romeo, who blinked from this before he regained resolved expression on his face once again.
The two swordswomen then took off towards him once more as he charged at them also to meet them head on. Swords clashed with swords for a brief moment until both Erza and Ikaruga dashed around the dark purple haired teen before charging at his sides. Romeo quickly acted in time to block two more attacks aimed at him before the three started to trade blows once more at great speed for the ordinary eye to see.
Eventually though both Ezra and Ikaruga were able to increase the pressure Romeo had of holding them both at bay, as Ikaruga when their blades clashed once more managed to push Romeo back a bit for him to stumble back, allowing Erza to charge in and deliver a kick to his chest. This of course launched Romeo back a bit away from the two women before coming to a stop. Taking a breather he looked up to see the red head and pink haired women heading straight at him once more with their respective blades out preparing for another strike. Seeing this Romeo eased his breathing before he refocused on the two opponents up ahead, not going to let them get the win.
With that in mind Romeo charged forward once more towards the incoming female sword wielders. Lifting one of the swords he had in hand, he brought it down upon where Erza was at as she lifted her own blade up to block it…
…Only for her own sword to shatter from the force behind Romeo's swing, shocking her as well as Ikaruga while Romeo landed onto his feet before jumping up once more and delivering a roundhouse kick directly into the red haired woman's head, knocking her with enough force to cause the ground she crashed into to shatter slightly upon impact. Ikaruga couldn't get over her shock from the sight as Romeo rushed forward before slamming the hilt of the Mugestu-Ryu he had into the other woman's lend sword, knocking it out of her hand. Not even a second passed as Romeo dived down and leg sweep Ikaruga, causing her to fall and hit the ground on her back.
Groaning out a little, she tried to get back up only to see her own blade being pointed down at her by Romeo, who remained narrowing his eyes down her, a silent declaration to not get back up.
The others were surprised by this. This other version of Romeo was able to not only go toe to toe with both Erza and Ikaruga at once but the fact that he even managed to overpower them. A version of Romeo was able to do this was surprising to say the least.
Snapping out of his daze, Makarov cleared his throat before he spoke up loud enough to grab everyone's attention.
"Alright, seeing how Ikaruga is basically pinned down and Erza seemed to be out, this duel is over." Makarov told them all, getting Romeo to relax a little while Ikaruga only sighed from hearing this. A faint groan could be heard from where Erza was at face first into the ground, showing that she also managed to hear it while revealing that she was still conscious.
With that done, Romeo backed up a bit away from Ikaruga, allowing the pink haired woman to get back onto her feet while she dusted herself off. Not a moment later did she saw Romeo handing her sword back over towards her with a small smile on the younger male's face.
"Here, I figure you would want it back." Romeo told her with a grin on his face that showed he had fun with the little duel.
Ikaruga managed to smile back as she happily took her katana back from the All Magic Dragon Slayer while Erza managed to get back up onto her feet behind the two of them. She rubbered her head due to the small headache she now had from her cranium being sent to the ground like that, but other than that she was thankfully alright for the most part. Looking her way towards the All Magic Dragon Slayer, the younger Mage noticed the red head now facing his way as she started to speak with a small smile on her face.
"You did well… I'm surprised you managed to come out on top." Erza told him with her smile still on her face.
"Lewd." Mira was heard saying out from her spot with a grin on her face.
"NOT TOP LIKE THAT YOU PERVERT!" Ezra shouted out as she turned to glare at Mira with her face going red from embarrassment, oblivious to how some of the others gave her deadpanned expressions, knowing full well that Erza was a pervert herself. Clearing her throat and calming herself down, she looked back at Romeo who simply sweat dropped from hearing this small exchange between the two S-Class Mages before refocusing on the red head before him, "Anyway, as I was saying. You did very well, though you seem to rely more on brute force behind your blade more than anything else."
Romeo only rubbed the back of his head from the praise and small criticism with a sheepish grin on his face.
"Oh, well thank you. I'm kind of surprise that I managed to win, since it's been a while since I last used a sword." Romeo replied back to the red head, who nodded in understanding from hearing this.
"I see, if I may ask who taught you how to wield a blade for combat in the first place? Small errors aside you clearly know how to wield one." Erza asked, curious who taught this other version of Romeo how to use a sword.
"Uh… no one did actually. I self-taught myself when I was younger, figured that I could try to learn about different forms of combat as much as I could." Romeo admitted, as Acnologia when he trained him after the one year survive on his own portion didn't bother about using weapons to fight when you had your raw strength and Magical power.
"Really now?" Ikaruga asked once more to make sure she heard that right, as Romeo nodded in confirmation when he looked her way, 'Guess that explains a bit, he did lack proper coordination someone probably trained under a master would have.'
"Well then, if you want, I can teach you a bit more about the art of sword fighting while you are here." Erza offered, not seeing any reason as to not help Romeo hone his skills with a sword during his stay with them. As she pointed out, Romeo seemed to be using his strength more than the actual blade itself to win victory.
The offer surprised Romeo if his eyes widening slightly from the unexpected offer.
"Wow, I mean, I would be honored, but… those I know are still out there on who knows what kind of worlds. I need to-." Romeo started to say as he frowned, knowing that he had to leave to find E.N.D, Acnologia and Observer.
"Oh no you can't just yet!" Wendy exclaimed getting everyone's attention as she marched over to him with a slightly stern look on her face, "You may be mostly healed but you're still recovering from whatever you faced that got you to end up in that immensely damaged state. I don't think it's wise for you to leave just yet until you're fully back to health no sores and all."
"What? But-!" Romeo started to reply back only to be cut off by Wendy.
"No."
"But I-!"
"Nuh-uh."
"I really need to-!"
"Nope."
Everyone else couldn't help but find the sight humorous with the healer Sky Dragon Slayer basically scolding the All Magic Dragon Slayer like a parent to a child, finger raised and all.
'Man, imagine how it would feel to shove your head into her breasts.' E.N.D told Natsu who groaned from hearing the demon talk like that about Wendy.
'Really, you're going to talk about Wendy like that now?' Natsu responded to his inner demon with slight irritation from how perverted he was being towards the blue haired woman.
'Oh come on, you know it would be great to squeeze those tits. Maybe do so while you ram her from behind, now that would be great to see you do to her!' E.N.D replied back completely ignoring the pink haired man's original words.
Natsu gained a tick mark from how the demon talked about Wendy like that. Sure she was pretty and filled out, and he was glad that she enjoyed her new older body but he watched her grow up since she was a timid twelve year old to who she was now. He wouldn't be getting any kind of thoughts about her like that in that way.
'Doubt that.' E.N.D casually replied back from the depths of Natsu's mind hearing his thoughts, getting the Fire Dragon King to mentally glare at his inner demon.
'F**k off.' Natsu told the demon in his mind who simply mentally pouted in response, thinking Natsu was being a kill joy about it.
As this mental conversation if one could call it that ended, Romeo meanwhile only sighed after Wendy shot down any attempt of him objecting otherwise. It was clear that the eighteen year old Sky Dragon Slayer wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"…Fine," Romeo conceded with a low voice before he looked back up at the older woman, "I'll stay for a few days to fully heal. I… guess it has been a while since I just laid back and not be in any rush."
That got Wendy to smile, glad to hear him willing to stay for a bit longer before he took off again into the infinite multiverses to find his missing and separated allies.
"But uh… where would I be staying?" Romeo couldn't help but ask. Would he just stay in the guild hall? He didn't exactly had any money to rent out a hotel or the like.
"You can stay at my home. There's plenty of room for you to stay there for a short while." Natsu spoke up once more, putting the offer out while Romeo turned to look at the pink haired man with surprise.
"Really? Are you sure? I don't want to intrude or anything…" Romeo replied back, not wanting to be a burden for anyone here.
"You're not intruding on anything. You may be a different version of our own Romeo but from what I can see you're still of Fairy Tail. And we are family regardless of being different worlds." Natsu explained to the younger dark purple haired Dragon Slayer.
"if Master Natsu says it's alright, then there's no need to worry about anything." Sayla also told Romeo about him staying in their home for the time being. If her Master Natsu said it was alright, then she would have no complaints about it. Besides maybe it will help them know this other Romeo more and what kind of Earthland he came from.
Romeo thought about it for a moment, still feeling like he would just be a bother to them. But seeing the slightly encouraging expressions on their faces, that helped eased him a bit. If they say it was alright… then who was he to turn down a kind offer?
"Alright, if you're really alright with it, it would be an honor to stay at your home Natsu." Romeo replied, trying to be polite when agreeing to Natsu's offer.
Natsu and the others only smiled at this.
'LATER, NIGHT'
Night has befallen the nation of Fiore, with many of those who were still present in Magnolia went back to their respectful homes to rest up for the next day.
Well, some of them did. A few such as Lucy, Mira, Cana, Levy, Juvia and Erza decided to crash at Natsu's place for the night mainly because they wanted to hang around with one another. Another girl's night as they say. Ikaruga was also up same for Sayla, including Natsu who didn't mind the other girls hijacking his home for another of their girl gatherings. In fact, the only one in the building that was asleep was Romeo, who was given one of the guest bedrooms that they had for him to stay in taking the chance to rest in the comfort of a nice warm bed not stranding in some random torn landscape.
Currently, those who were all awake were in the lounge room sitting down on the couches and other furniture or in the case of Ikaruga and Natsu, still on their feet. Most of the girls were talking amongst themselves at the moment like about a chick flick they just finished watching that a couple like Ikaruga cared little for while Natsu was lost in thought.
'That other Romeo seemed to be settling in quite well.' E.N.D told his pink haired counterpart who he was in the mind of, with Natsu acknowledging the words of his inner demon.
'He has. Honestly, I figured he would struggle trying to get used to his surroundings but am glad to see that isn't the case. Would have been a headache otherwise to deal with.' Natsu mentally replied back to the demon, who mentally nodded in agreement.
'Well, it makes sense since from what we heard about he's used to being in other worlds. Still…' E.N.D trailed off getting Natsu to be slightly confused.
'What?' Natsu responded back in his mind towards E.N.D, who would further elaborate what he was thinking about to his other half.
'That boy is hiding something. To tell the truth I hardly believed him when he mentioned how he just "happened" to come across some strong bad guy in some random timeline for him to be beaten up that much. I have a feeling there's more to it than he's willing to share. Plus, I'm getting other kinds of red flags from him. Like, what exactly happened that got him to be separated from this other me and these two other guys he talked about? And when he mentioned this Ack guy, that's completely bullsh*t, no sane person would name their kid that unless they despised them. Not to mention the fact that this other Romeo is a Dragon Slayer and has similar markings like that of that stupid Black Dragon…' E.N.D ranted on to Natsu, who understood what the demon was talking about, having the same suspicions. He also noticed what E.N.D was implying at the end there involving this "Ack" guy Romeo claimed to know.
'You think it may be a version of Acnologia that he may be traveling with?' Natsu theorized and shared with his inner demon, wondering if that was who this "Ack" guy truly was just to hide the Dragon King's identify. If it was the case, Natsu couldn't really blame Romeo for doing so since most wouldn't take kindly to seeing someone who was traveling around with that monster.
'It's possible. And if our previous thinking from earlier in the day is to go by, this other Acnologia may have trained Romeo to be a Dragon Slayer. Which means-.' E.N.D was cut off as Natsu finished the sentence for him, realizing where the demon was going with this.
'He would be exactly like him,' Natsu realized mentally. If this other Romeo was indeed trained by his own Acnologia, then whatever abilities the Black Dragon possessed such as being capable of devouring all kinds of Magic instead of a singular element like normal Dragon Slayers, Romeo would also be able to do also, 'But that doesn't make sense. No offense to Romeo, but of all the people out there what happened in whatever Earthland Romeo came from that got him the attention of Acnologia to the point of that dragon training him? And for what purpose would Acnologia do that in the first place?'
'How should I know? I'm just theorizing here like you. For all we know we could be hitting the nail on the head or be dead wrong about all of this. It's pointless unless you just ask him yourself, but I doubt he would be open like that.' E.N.D replied back to Natsu from the depths of the Fire Dragon King's mind.
"Natsu!"
The voice of Lucy snapped Natsu out of his thoughts from E.N.D as he looked over to see Lucy and the other women looking towards him.
"Hey Luce, sorry about that. Was chatting with E.N.D. Did you say something?" Natsu asked his blonde girlfriend once more, who along with the others understood now why Natsu seemed to be spaced out.
"Oh, I was just asking for your thoughts about that other Romeo, since you seemed quiet about it once he woke up." Lucy asked him, seeing how Natsu haven't talked much involving the dark purple haired teen when he was out of earshot. Which was hard to do since like Natsu he was a Dragon Slayer, so he had great sense of hearing like one expects a Dragon Slayer to have.
Natsu walked over before taking a seat on the couch, next to the blonde woman and Mira, with Sayla diving towards him to sit on his lap. Something that he, and of course E.N.D the perverted demon, didn't mind one bit.
"Well… it is interesting obviously. I didn't think we would see a version of Romeo to be a Dragon Slayer." Natsu admitted to the girls, as out of any version of themselves in the infinite alternate worlds, he doubted many would think about a world existing that Romeo was a Dragon Slayer.
"True, it is rather unusual." Cana admitted while he drank from a bottle that she stached along with many others bottles in a barrel that was lying next to the coffee table. A few of the other girls had a couple of drinks but thankfully none of them drank to the point to get drunk unlike the last few times that such a thing happened.
"I'm curious about what kind of Earthland he came from. I wonder if there are many more differences compared to our own world and other alternate worlds out there. Maybe we can get the coordinates from him while he's here." Levy wondered aloud, curious to observe or maybe even visit this Earthland to see what it is like.
"Would he even know what his coordinates are? He clearly didn't seem to possess any kind of portal gun that he just puts in buttons to go to other worlds." Juvia questioned, not sure if this other Romeo and his separated allies use the same method of traveling to other worlds like they and their friends from 137-C did.
"We can just ask him tomorrow when he wakes up. I'm sure he wouldn't mind telling us what Earthland he's from." Mira figured with a shrug, not seeing the problem with that plan of idea.
"I'm not sure if that will work." Natsu told his white haired girlfriend, getting her and the rest to be confused.
"What do you mean Master Natsu?" Sayla, who was still sitting on Natsu's lap without a care in the world asked, with the pink haired Fire Dragon King figuring he would elaborate further on what he meant.
"It should be obvious; he doesn't seem ready to tell us everything. And I highly doubt that he would be alright with telling us the coordinates of his own Earthland if he knows what they are." Natsu explained to the others.
"Natsu's right. From the way he acted and how he danced around some of his words, it's clear that he's keeping certain truths hidden away from us." Erza realized, seeing how Romeo was hesitate to fully explained what happened to him that got him to end up in that horrendous injured state, not to mention about what kind of event that caused him to be separated from his allies not to mention how he barely told much about this "Ack" guy that he mentioned only very briefly.
"To be fair, he is separated from his friends and ended up here clearly lost from his own world and where his allies could be at. Besides, it's not like he's a dangerous threat or something to us." Lucy shared with the girls and Natsu around her.
"I'm not too sure." Ikaruga spoke up from her spot, which got the rest to look her way with mostly confusion aside from a few like Erza and Natsu.
"What do you mean Ikaruga?" Levy questioned with a raised eyebrow, not sure what the former Dark Mage from another alternate reality was referring too.
"Like was pointed out earlier, he's a Dragon Slayer. Not only that but one that we don't know what kind that he would be. Plus, you should have seen it when we had our sword duel, the look he had." Ikaruga explained further.
"Uh… we did saw him. We all watched your match." Juvia pointed out towards the pink haired woman.
"No, that's not what Ikaruga meant," Erza spoke up, getting the rest to turn their heads towards the red head who had a serious expression on her face, "It was hard to recognize for you all being further away, but when he was up close, I saw the look in his eyes. It was faint but it was there. He had the eyes similar to that of a hardened warrior that marched through Hell itself. The eyes of a killer."
"Romeo? A killer?" Cana questioned in disbelief from hearing this, "No offense, I know that we don't have that no killing rule anymore considering what we went through a while back and due to knowing what kind of dangers are out there in other worlds, but out of all people I can't imagine someone like Romeo being able to take a life."
"It wouldn't be surprising considering that he's a Dragon Slayer," Natsu spoke up once more that got the girls to look towards him, "And not a normal one by even my standards. He seems to be a Dragon Slayer of an unknown element and has those blue markings on his arms… like Acnologia."
The name drop of the vile Black Dragon that tried to kill them all at the end of the Alvarez War got many of the other women in the room to widen their eyes in surprise, seeing where Natsu was going with this.
"Wait… you're not saying that this other Romeo was trained by Acnologia of all dragons back in his own world, are you?" Mira asked to make sure she heard that comparison between this other Romeo and the Dragon of Apocalypse right.
"I don't know for sure unless I ask him directly to see if that's true. But it was something E.N.D pointed out to me, and the similarities of just the blue markings alone are enough of a warning sign about that stupid dragon. And if what E.N.D thinks is true, then this other Acnologia may be this "Ack" character that Romeo barely talked about considering how nervous he looked when asked about him." Natsu shared his reasonings for thinking and theorizing like this.
"But, what on Earthland could have caused that other Romeo to be trained by Acnologia of all dragons? How would that have end up happening?" Lucy questioned, unsure on how that would have work. Like, out of all people why Romeo?
"Who knows, but if this is true, then is this other Romeo a danger?" Juvia questioned, hoping that it wasn't the case. This other Romeo seemed polite and kind, was it just a ruse.
"I don't think we'll have to worry about that. He seems to care about the lives around him, plus if that were true than I doubt he would be bearing the Fairy Tail guild mark on him. No, I think we can trust him. But just to be safe, it's best we keep an eye on him and make sure nothing happens that could potentially set him off." Natsu assured the blue haired Water Mage while explaining what they should do involving the dark purple Dragon Slayer.
That puzzled some of the girls around him.
"Set him off?" Sayla asked her master, unsure of what he meant by that. What could set this other Romeo off for him to attack them?
"It makes sense. We still don't know much about this other Romeo than the little he shared and from what we're simply guessing here. We can't be careless and assume he doesn't have any sort of berserk button that could get him to attack us. As I said before, he had the eyes of a killer, so I doubt he would hesitate to strike anything down he sees as a threat to him. Even if said threat may be us." Erza agreed with Natsu, explaining further as to why they should be careful and cautious despite how friend Romeo was. For all they knew he was a walking bomb just waiting to be set off that could cause plenty of problems.
"Even if he does end up becoming a problem, we should be fine right? I mean, with all of us and the guild not to mention Natsu and E.N.D, I doubt he could pose that much of a threat if he were to let loose for some reason." Cana asked, figuring that all of them would be plenty enough and more to deal with the alternate version of Romeo should he assume they were a threat to him.
"That's naïve thinking. We don't know how strong or powerful this other Romeo can be, and in case you forgot he did basically take Erza down with just a single kick earlier. Not to mention he managed to overpower both her and myself in our sword duel." Ikaruga reminded the brown haired Card Mage, who realized that the pink haired swordswoman was right, kind of forgotten about that already. Probably due to her focusing on her drinking, she loved to drink after all.
"So we just got to be careful and see if we can get any more answers out of him while he stays here in our world for a bit. Do you think he will really open up more though? I'm sure he will just get pissed if we try to nag on him about it." Levy wondered, knowing that those who tend to keep to themselves are a pain in the ass to deal with.
"Who knows. But one way or another, I'll make sure to find out more about him." Natsu promised, refusing to let the younger Dragon Slayer from an unknown Earthland keep secrets if those secrets may pose a danger to him and everyone.
One way or another, they will get more answers out of him.
'A FEW DAYS LATER'
The past few days have gone by rather quickly for the guild and Conbolt. Those who were on jobs had return during this time period, influencing this world's version of himself who was pretty shocked to see a version of himself who was so different. During that time, Conbolt grew more accustomed to his surroundings and to this world's version of Fairy Tail. It was rather… different compared to how normally Fairy Tail was.
The guild would still have their brawls like how most versions of Fairy Tail that Conbolt came across in the past did, though he did noticed a few differences such as how Natsu no longer participated in them so they weren't as insane as they normally be. Erza also didn't seem to mind, as from his younger days before being trained by Acnologia the red head would always try to maintain order, yet here she seemed more… laid back if those were the right words to use. Another thing that surprised Conbolt slightly was Levy, as she was much more quick to anger and not afraid to shout out her rather… profanity filled opinion on something if it got on her nerves, like how Droy tried to sneak into the kitchen during a brawl to eat to his hearts content only for Sayla to spot him and as punishment rolled him around the guild hall as if he was a ball. It was honestly kind of funny if Romeo was allowed to admit.
During this time, as Erza offered to him the day when he woke up from his week long slumber, the red head helped Conbolt hone his skills with a blade, aiding him to ensure that any gaps and opening he had were well protected while showing him not to constantly rely on brute strength behind the blade and simply work on using the sword itself, as it was a part of him. Sometimes Ikaruga would join in to help, but most of the time she would be training with Natsu who wielded Durandal to further his own sword training. Needless to say during the course of his stay so far Conbolt learned fast and adapted well that impressed the red head as well as Ikaruga and Natsu.
Not only did he begun to be properly trained in the way of the sword, but there was something else that he started to pick up from Gajeel. Conbolt discovered it by accident, but nevertheless was taught with the Iron Dragon Slayer willing to take time to show him the ropes.
It was the day after his awakening from his week long sleep, he was in the guild hall seeing the sight of those who were in the guild hall at the time in the middle of their brawl, with those like Natsu enjoying his time with a few of the girls like Lucy, Mira and Sayla at the bar. His enhance hearing picked up something being worked on elsewhere in the building and being the curious dark purple haired teen he was, went on to check it out while everyone was busy with their own thing.
Eventually it had led him down to one of the lower sub-level rooms in the basement, which confused him since he didn't know the guild had something like this before he found himself in front of one of the entrances to one of these rooms. The door was open, allowing him to stick his head inside to see what was going on.
To his confusion and surprise, the room looked like a place for a blacksmith. It possessed a decent size forge to the back wall on the right, an anvil not too far from it, a table lined up on the wall to the left which had all kinds of tools scattered across from it, and on the wall hanged multiple weapons recently forged, while a suit of armor that belonged to Natsu was also hanged on the wall, which for some reason reminded Romeo of something though he was unsure what.
In the middle of it all, working on who knows what was none other than Gajeel, who was busying humming his tunes to himself. You know, the tunes that he was just awful at singing even though he refuses to believe so? Those tunes.
"Gajeel?" Conbolt spoke up with confusion present in his voice.
"GAH!" Gajeel exclaimed in shock, nearly jumping from his skin before he swiftly turned around only to see it was the younger Dragon Slayer from beyond their world, "Holy crap kid, don't scare me like that when I'm working!"
"Uh… what are you doing exactly? I've heard noise coming from down here." Conbolt questioned, choosing to ignore how the black haired Iron Dragon Slayer called him a kid despite how annoying it was. Hearing that question got the older Dragon Slayer to grin.
"Gi hi hi hi, working on some tools that Levy wanted done to help her out when she works in her workshop." Gajeel explained to the dark purple haired teen, who blinked in confusion from hearing this.
"Wait, you can blacksmith?" Conbolt questioned, finding that unusual. He didn't think a version of Gajeel would take an interest in doing something like that.
"Yep! Pretty easy to do thanks to my Magic, plus it's just fun to do to pass the time when I'm not on a job or punching someone's face in." Gajeel casually responded with his grin on his face.
Conbolt looked surprised to hear that, yet at the time couldn't help but be interested in this, something that didn't go unnoticed by the Iron Dragon Slayer who saw the fascinated look in the dark purple haired young teenager's eyes. His grin remaining on his face before he motioned at the All Magic Dragon Slayer to come closer.
"Come here kid, I can show you the ropes if you want." Gajeel offered, catching Conbolt off guard if the widen eyes were any indication.
"Are you sure? I don't want to get in your way of whatever it is your working on…" Conbolt replied, not wanting to get in the way of Gajeel's work. This only got the black haired man to wave off the concern.
"Nah, it's cool kid. Besides, you look interested in it, so get over here." Gajeel told him, his grin still remaining present.
Conbolt, seeing how Gajeel didn't seem to mind plus he would be lying if he wasn't interested in about knowing a thing or two about blacksmithing, nodded to the black haired man's words before making his way over towards the Iron Dragon Slayer to join him with the whole blacksmithing thing.
And since then, when Conbolt wasn't training with Erza, training on his own away from the others or relaxing with the other Mages, he was taught by Gajeel on blacksmithing. It was a bit of a struggle at first as his Magic didn't help shape the metal in ways compared to Gajeel's own Iron Dragon Slaying Magic, but despite this he managed to catch on pretty fast. In Gajeel's own words, he was a quick learner, making sure he paid close attention to even the slightest thing the Iron Dragon Slayer taught him when it came to forge something either it be a weapon, a tool or armor.
During all of this he managed to learn a bit more about this world's version of Fairy Tail and some of the adventures they had. From what Conbolt guessed, things started to shift different compared to some Earthlands after the Alvarez War, with E.N.D popping up in Natsu's mind and their powers becoming more connected plus how they discovered alternate realities and the means to travel and view these other worlds thanks to Levy and the invention she created. They even mentioned albeit briefly about an ally of theirs called 137-C, which for some reason rang a bell in Conbolt's mind even though he never heard of those co-ordinates before, unaware that it was the war torn Earthland he saved from Murrun a short while back.
As for the guild's perspective of these recent events involving the All Magic Dragon Slayer, they also were becoming more comfortable around the dark purple haired teen from whatever Earthland he called home. He was friendly albeit shown to get rather annoyed at something when it got on his nerves similar to Levy just minus the cussing, something that Ikaruga respected since it showed to her that he wasn't willing to take anyone's sh*t if they got on his nerves. He didn't seem to try to pried too much about subjects that they only briefly mentioned such as the mention of their allies like 137-C which they were thankful for, and to those like Erza and Gajeel they saw him as a great listener when it came to teaching him about their respectful professions, taking it seriously like anyone should.
However, despite Natsu's promise of getting more answers from the All Magic Dragon Slayer no one had any luck on really learning more about Conbolt and his life. Sure, he talked about a few things he encountered and seen in his travels back on his own home world, but other than small talk about subjects like that none of the Fairy Tail Mages could get full answers. Every time someone asked Conbolt about anything involving his travels through alternate world such as what kind of specific worlds he encountered he either quickly changes the subject or gives a lame lack lustering response that got him deadpanned expressions from the others. Needless to say, a few like Natsu and E.N.D were reaching their limit with their patience, wanting to know what Conbolt was so hesitate of telling them or was hiding.
Currently, the dark purple haired fourteen year old was once more engaged in a friendly sword duel with Erza outside in the back of the guild hall. A few other guild members were present watching the friendly sparring between the two sword users which included Mira and Sayla, who the latter would normally be with Natsu but figured it was best to keep an eye on their otherworldly guest while Natsu wasn't doing that. Speaking of Natsu he was discussing with Levy about possible further upgrades to his armor back inside in the blue haired woman's workshop.
"He's gotten better in such a short amount of time." Mira noticed, seeing how much smoother and calmer Conbolt had become to wield a blade as he block an attack from Erza. Even his movements had improved massively in such a short amount of time similar to how Natsu was able to adapt quickly to wield his sword when he was trained.
"I will admit, he's improved substantially so fast. He's clearly skilled that can't be denied." Gray, who was also present to help keep an eye on the dark purple haired double of their own Romeo, agreed with the white haired woman.
Speaking of their own Romeo, he was also with them while watching his double with wide eyes filled with awe. It was clear he was in amazement by how skilled Conbolt was, the Rainbow Fire Mage honestly didn't think that he would ever see a version of himself like this, let alone a version of himself that would be here in their own world for a bit. If the young teen was allowed to be honest, it was rather inspiring to see another him being so capable.
"I want to be like him…" Romeo muttered to himself, feeling driven to do his best to improve himself just like how his counterpart has done. This didn't go unheard by the others, who simply smiled from hearing this.
Eventually, after a short while longer both Erza and Conbolt decided to call it quits for the time being, both tired out a bit from the constant exchange of blades.
"Alright, let's take a break for now shall we?" Erza suggested as both of them were trying to ease their breathes.
Conbolt didn't respond but he did nod in agreement with a happy grin on his face while giving the red head a thumbs up. Seeing his agreement got Erza to start heading over towards where Mira was to see if the white haired woman was willing to get them some refreshments. Romeo meanwhile heard his dad calling to him so he went back inside but not before he saw Conbolt throw him a friendly wave, something that Romeo returned before he vanished from his eyesight.
"Mira, may you bring us a few drinks? We've gotten quiet thirty if I may say so." Erza requested from Mira, who simply smiled back her.
"If you're thirsty go ask Natsu, I'm sure he can help quench it." Mira replied back with a grin on her face.
"I MEANT THIRTY FOR DRINKS YOU DEMON!" Erza shouted as her face went red from what the white haired woman was implying. Sayla meanwhile merely grinned alongside with Mira.
"No need to be shy Erza, I'm sure Master Natsu would all be willing to help." Sayla joined in, getting Erza to emit steam from her head while she tried to speak out once more only to stutter in embarrassment.
Mira let out a laugh, figuring she had her fun for the time being before she turned around to head back inside to grab her and Conbolt a drink or two. Gray meanwhile only looked on in amusement, reminding him of the younger days where Mira would tease Erza constantly when they were younger before the two would clash in their rivalry fueled brawls.
"She can't help herself can't she?" Gray questioned with amusement, Erza managing to calm herself down with her blush going away only for it to be replaced with a look of tiredness.
"I swear she's going to drive me crazy one day." Erza simply muttered back but not before she let out a sigh.
Conbolt, who saw the exchange take place between the older women merely got confused, wondering what that was about. Shaking his head from the thought figuring it was nothing important, he too walked over towards where the others were at to join them as he and Erza waited for refreshments.
"Everything alright?" Conbolt asked, figuring it didn't hurt to check just in case.
"Peachy, Mira's just being Mira." Erza responded to Conbolt, who only let out a silent "Ah." in understanding. Seeing that the All Magic Dragon Slayer was with them now, Gray turned to look towards the younger teen.
"So Conbolt, how have you been feeling? Doing any better?" The Ice Devil Slayer asked, getting a grin in response from the dark purple haired young teen.
"Yep, I think I'll be ready to head out soon. Most of the soreness has gone away and all of this training hasn't damper me in the slightest." Conbolt answered the dark blue haired man, stretching his arms above his head as he said those words.
"You plan on leaving soon?" Gray questioned with a raise eyebrow, as Erza and Sayla also had similar reactions.
"Yeah, thinking tomorrow or the day afterwards. Figure I get back to traveling to other realities to find my allies as soon as I can… as soon as I figure out how to exactly find a way to do that, that is." Romeo admitted, as he didn't really have anything to leave this planet on his own, something that the others were made aware of during his stay with them so far.
"I'm sure Levy can build or lend a portal gun to you once you're fully ready." Erza told the dark purple haired Dragon Slayer, who blinked in surprise for a moment from hearing that.
"Really? She would be able to do that?" Conbolt asked in slight surprise while the other three around him nodded in confirmation.
"Levy was the one who helped us originally find out the means to view and travel to other alternate realities, so it wouldn't be a problem for her to do that." Sayla told Conbolt, who couldn't help but be impressed from hearing this.
"Huh, that's pretty interesting. Didn't think Levy would be able to create something like that." Conbolt admitted.
"You probably shouldn't say that aloud, else Levy might walked by or hear you and take it as an insult." Gray warned the younger teenager, who flinched from how the Solid Script Mage might misinterpreted his words.
"Oh, sorry." Conbolt apologize, not meaning to demean the blue haired woman in anyway.
"if I may ask Conbolt, I'm assuming you will be fully leaving once your injuries have fully healed?" Sayla asked the younger Dragon Slayer before her.
"Basically, that and once I finish doing something else I've been thinking of and working on." Conbolt admitted to them with a smile on his face, as he been planning to work on something involving the new blacksmithing skills that Gajeel had taught him.
That got the three to be confused and slightly wary, but none of them could question it as Mira returned from inside with glasses of water in hand. She headed towards Erza and Conbolt with her ever present smile on her face.
"Here you both go." Mira told them, with both of them taking the drinks with smiles on their faces.
"Thank you." Both Conbolt and Erza thanked the white haired Demon Take-Over Mage before the two wasted no time to drink down the cool and refreshing water.
Once they did that, Mira focused her attention towards Conbolt with her smile still present on her face.
"Say Conbolt, I've been meaning to ask you something." Mira started to say, getting the Dragon Slayer to looked her way with slight confusion.
"Yeah?" He responded with slight interesting and confusion, wondering what the white haired woman wanted to ask him.
"You have mentioned yourself and briefly mentioned these other three you were traveling with, but what about the Fairy Tail back in your world. So how have they been doing since you last saw them?" Mira questioned.
That got Erza, Gray and Sayla's attention, realizing that Conbolt hadn't really told them much about his own version of Fairy Tail now that they thought about it. The All Magic Dragon Slayer looked surprised for a moment before he relaxed, seeing that they were asking nothing too serious.
"Oh, well… to tell the truth I don't really have much to say." Conbolt admitted, getting the others to be confused.
"What do you mean?" Gray questioned with confusion.
"Well… to be honest, even though I am a member of Fairy Tail I was barely ever at the guild. In fact, the only times I was ever with the guild was when I officially became a member and during when we all fought together during the Alvarez War. Other than those moments, I was out and about traveling through the world." Romeo shared with them, slightly surprising them from this information. So he was basically hardly ever at the guild or with the others?
"Seriously? You mean you haven't seen anyone from them since the war with Alvarez?" Mira asked to make sure she heard this right.
"Basically. The last I saw before me and my traveling companions went out into the multiverses was Natsu, Erza, Mira, Lucy, Cana, Juvia, Lisanna, Kinana and Sayla along with E.N.D who were all in Crocus alongside the other women that were with them. Though I'm still unsure why they were all in the Capital City in the first place, E.N.D never really gave me an answer as to why they were all there." Romeo explained to them.
Sayla, Mira, Erza and Gray gave each other slight puzzled expressions from hearing this, kind of curious also as to why Conbolt's own version of Natsu, Erza, Mira and apparently Sayla were in his world's version of Crocus. Perhaps they were just visiting Hisui or something?
"My double was with them?" Sayla asked, with Conbolt nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, apparently during Fairy Tail's battle with Tartaros, you turned over to our side after encountering Natsu and from what I could remember it's because you fell in love with him and vice versa. Since then you've been with him ever since." Conbolt informed her, surprising Sayla from this new information about her double from his world.
'Interesting. If that's the case then I was never taken by Mira as a form of hers unlike how it happened here before my freedom once more.' The female Etherious thought to herself about this development.
"You mentioned other women were with Natsu and the rest when you encountered them in Crocus? Who are they if I might ask?" Mira requested, curious to know since she had a feeling all the mentioned women Conbolt told them may be dating their own Natsu in their own Earthland.
"Uh, yeah. There was also Hisui though I guess that would be obvious given they were in Crocus and all, Kamika, Cosmos, Kagura, Millianna, Yukino, Meredy, Brandish and Irene. Not sure why Brandish and Irene were visiting them all the way from Alvarez though, unless they just wanted to see Natsu." Conbolt figured.
Though he did recall E.N.D saying how he lived in the palace, but that would have to extend to Natsu also right? And that didn't make sense to Conbolt, after all he had and lived with Fairy Tail in Magnolia… right?
"Wait, did you say Irene? As in my mother?" Erza questioned, recalling how her mother ended up killing herself during the Alvarez War. She was still alive in Conbolt's reality?
"Yeah? Are there any other Irenes that you know?" Conbolt asked with genuine curiosity. Why was that surprising to the red head?
'Are we going to ignore the fact that seventeen women are apparently with Flamebrain in Conbolt's world?' Gray thought to himself, seeing how no one seemed to either picked up on that or cared in the slightest. Like, seventeen women? How could any version of Natsu handle that? Could their own Natsu handle having that many girlfriends? Plus, how did that managed to come to pass?
"No, I don't. It's just… she died here in our world during the Alvarez War." Erza revealed to Conbolt, who widened his eyes slightly from hearing.
"Oh… I… didn't know that. I'm sorry if I brought any bad memories of that up." Conbolt apologized to the red head who merely shook her head.
"No, it's alright. It's obvious our worlds are different in many ways, I guess that's just one extra change compared to our own." Erza replied, seeing how Conbolt found it odd that her mother was dead and not alive like his own.
"So… anyway, other than meeting them in Crocus before you, E.N.D and this Observer and "Ack" guy you travel with through alternate worlds, you haven't really hanged around or kept in contact with anyone from your own Fairy Tail?" Sayla asked as Romeo chuckled in a sheepish manner.
"Basically. Really, the only contact I have had with anyone compared to everyone else was Wendy and Chelia from Lamia Scale. I have run into them multiple times more compared to everyone else when I went through Fiore a few times." Conbolt told them.
Mira and Sayla blinked from this for a moment before the two gained rather devilish grins, something that didn't go unnoticed by Gray and Erza, both worried that the two were about to mess with Conbolt about something.
"Oh really? So are they your girlfriends back where you are from?" Mira asked, hoping that she would get the kind of reaction she wanted.
She got her wish as Conbolt gained wide eyes while his face turned as crimson as Erza's own hair.
"WHAT?! NO IT'S NOTHING LIKE THAT!" Conbolt exclaimed back at the white haired Demon Take-Over Mage before turning around and crossing his arms, a look of denial on his face while his face was still red with embarrassment.
"Are you sure? I can't help but imagine that you would be rather close to the both of them if they're basically the only ones you tend to run into and stay in contact with." Sayla teased the dark purple haired teen further as his face became more redden from what the purple haired demon woman was implying.
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT SAYLA! We're just friends… that's all…" Conbolt trailed off, still embarrassed as he remained in denial about his feelings for the Sky Dragon Slayer and the Sky God Slayer back in his own Earthland.
"Aw no need to deny it. Man, if our Wendy was here to hear this, I bet she would find it adorable." Mira teased further, imagining that their own Wendy would find it a bit flattering that a version of Romeo had a thing for another version of her even though the blue haired woman obviously had the hots for Natsu even when she thinks no one else knows about it.
Conbolt merely only blushed harder as steam erupted from his head, while Gray meanwhile only shook his head in slight amusement from seeing the sight of the two older women messing with the dark purple haired Dragon Slayer. Erza only felt a bit of sympathy for Conbolt, knowing how it felt to be mess with by the mischievous demon women.
'LATER AT NIGHT'
Night has descended upon the land of Fiore. The city of Magnolia didn't have a single soul still out and about, the population getting rest for the day tomorrow to continue their lives. The guild was also closed once more for the night, everyone having gone back to their respectful homes for the night also. Another peaceful night for the citizens and Mages of Magnolia.
All aside from one.
Inside the supposedly closed guild hall of Fairy Tail, a certain dark purple All Magic Dragon Slayer was still awake and hard at work within the forge underneath the guild all. Nothing but the loud clanking of metal slamming against metal could be heard echoing through the room. Bits of sweat went down his forehead but nevertheless he continued onward with what he was trying to construct.
'To think that they managed to have such materials, where did they even managed to get these kinds of metals from?' Conbolt couldn't help but wonder in thought, as he continued to work on his little project he came up. Seriously, Gajeel and the guild had the likes of adamantium, albeit not much of it, at his disposal. Where did the guild get such metal the Dragon Slayer wasn't sure, but he knew that it would be perfect to use for what he was working on.
Though, he did feel a bit guilty for using up such rare and strong materials for what he was working on. But in the dark purple haired teen's mind, it was all for a good purpose.
Eventually, after more time had passed and a lot of patience and careful craftmanship, Conbolt breathed a sigh of relief while a proud and prideful look was present on his face as he now held up his work of art in his hands.
It was a blade that looked to be that of a great sword. The blade itself was a silver metallic color while the handle was black like charcoal. The cross guard of the blade had a bulb-like edge that resembled small heads of a dragon on each side of this section of the weapon. The pommel at the bottom of the great sword resembled that of a dragon's jaw going over the piece. And finally, at the base of the blade looked to resemble that of a head of a dragon with empty eyes sockets.
Conbolt couldn't help but smile from seeing his work. However, he wasn't done just yet as he eased his breathe, hoping that this next part to fully complete the newly crafted weapon would work.
"Alright… maybe if I infuse my Magic into it that will work…?" Conbolt softly muttered to himself, hoping if something like that will help with what he wanted to do.
With that in mind, the young teen closed his eyes before he started to channel his All Magic Dragon Slaying Magic into the great sword in his hands, causing the blade to be enveloped by the raw Magical power radiating from the former apprentice of Acnologia.
Due to the amount of power he was giving off and pouring into the blade, the room shook slightly causing the nearby forge and other pieces of furniture and working equipment to shake from the vibrations of the room. Eventually after a few moments the great sword let out a bursting flash of blue light due to the Magic being infused into it, blinding Conbolt for a moment before the flash faded away while Conbolt relaxed, causing the room to cease shaking.
Now, an aura of raw Magical power could be felt from the great sword, Magical and ancient draconic runes appearing on the silver metallic blade glowing a faint blue color while the eye sockets of the dragon head at the base of the cross guard were also now glowing a dim blue color.
With this, Conbolt gained a massive grin as he managed to accomplish what he wanted to do. Finally, he had his own weapon that he made all of his own!
"Huh, that's rathe impressive I won't lie."
"GAH!" Conbolt shouted and jumping slightly in shock before he swiftly turning around to see where that new voice came from.
Standing there at the entrance to the blacksmithing room stood Natsu, his arms crossed while a serious expression was on his face. Despite this the pink haired man had a small smile for the time being. Seeing that it was only Natsu relaxed the dark purple haired teen.
"Oh, it's just you. Weren't you asleep back in the house?" Conbolt questioned, as he wondered if he accidently awoken the Fire Dragon Slayer when he snuck out of the house so he can work on creating this new weapon of his.
"Not really, I heard you leave the house while Sayla and I were still awake, so I simply followed you and remained hidden to see what you were up to. Glad to see that it wasn't anything insidious or something." Natsu admitted, as Sayla got worried that the dark purple haired young teen from another Earthland may be up to something that didn't bode well. Thankfully that wasn't the case.
'I'm kind of surprise he didn't pick up our presence, what with his enhance senses and all.' E.N.D spoke to his other half from the depths of his mind, a bit annoyed that while Natsu could be having some sweet awesome sex with Sayla or something so he could watch the action they instead had to see what Conbolt was up to and doing.
'Probably too focus on that sword he was working on.' Natsu mentally replied back to his inner demon, knowing that one having too much focus on something can prevent them from keeping up with their surroundings.
Conbolt meanwhile only gained a puzzled expression while he still held the great sword in his hands.
"Insidious? Why would you all think that?" Conbolt questioned as Natsu lost his smile, becoming more serious at the moment while his eyes flashed a faint red for a moment, his more demonic personality coming forth.
"Really? You're going to ask something as dumb as that? Sure, you were nice and friendly with us and we got along. But you hardly told us anything about yourself not to mention the lies you keep spewing out. I'm no fool Conbolt, you of all people should know that." Natsu responded while Conbolt narrowed his own eyes at the pink haired Etherious.
"What are you talking about?" Conbolt questioned while he grew a bit worried, seeing how the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer didn't seem to but his excuses that he tended to give to everyone when they tried to ask more about himself and his Magic or about his allies.
"Your blue markings on your arms give it away, not to mention the secrecy you've been involving your Dragon Slaying Magic. And with what I saw and felt when you put power into your blade, it only confirmed our suspicions. You were trained by your own Acnologia weren't you?" Natsu pointed out and asked, tired of dancing around and wanting answers from the younger Dragon Slayer.
Conbolt widened his eyes from hearing this, before he breathed out a simple sigh of defeat.
'Guess the cat's out of the bag now,' He thought before he looked back up towards the Fairy Tail Mage, "Yes, I was trained by Acnologia. And let me guess you figured out that he's also the "Ack" guy I told you all about too right?" A simple nod from the older Dragon Slayer confirmed this as Conbolt let out another sigh from this, "Look, if you're worried about him up to something that might put your world in peril then you don't have to worry about that. Like I said, he, E.N.D and Observer are elsewhere where I don't know where they could be at right now. And no I'm not some agent of evil of his bend on undermining your home or some stupid sh*t like that either. It's just natural that I don't tell those in other worlds that Acnologia was my master at one point, how would others think if they learned that the teen standing before them was trained by the vilest dragon Isghar had ever known?"
'Got to admit, he's got a point there.' E.N.D admitted, knowing that most people would probably freak out and assume the worst if they learned that this other Romeo was trained Dragon Slaying Magic by the Black Dragon himself.
"Regardless of that, there are still other mysterious about you that you're not spilling. I want answers Conbolt. Like what is the real reason that you and your own E.N.D, Acnologia and this Observer person are traveling through other alternate worlds? How did you actually get separated? And who was it really that gave you those injuries that we found you in?" Natsu demanded. If this other Romeo was connected to some danger that may pose a danger to his own home then he and E.N.D deserved to know.
'Was I really that bad at lying?' Conbolt thought to himself, seeing how his excuses didn't seem to have actually convince the pink haired man before him. Did the others also not buy what he told them or was only Natsu who saw through it.
Regardless, seeing how Natsu won't back down without a fight, something that Conbolt didn't want to happen between them if he could avoid it, he might as well tell him the full truth.
"…Alright fine, I'll tell you. But promise me this, everything I say to you stays between us understand?" Conbolt told him with his conditions, his eyes narrowed at the pink haired man who only narrowed his eyes back at the dark purple haired teen.
"Fine. I can agree to that if it's that important." Natsu agreed, figuring it was the only way for the dark purple haired teen to tell him what he wanted to know.
Figuring that it was best to take this talk elsewhere where there's more room for them to speak, Natsu motioned Conbolt to follow him back upstairs in the main hall.
It only took a few minutes before the two Dragon Slayers arrived, the two headed to the empty bar with Natsu taking a seat. Conbolt, who still wielded his new great sword opted to remain standing a few feet away as Natsu glared at the All Magic Dragon Slayer.
"Start talking." Natsu told him, getting Conbolt to glare at him with annoyance not liking the older male's demanding tone with him. Nevertheless, he shake that off before he looked straight at him once more.
"Alright, as I'm sure you know there are many alternate realities out there, each timeline possessing many worlds, universes and multiverses within a single one according to what Observer has told me before. Supposedly, the numbers of these alternate timelines are infinite, each one having their own many powerful beings out there both good and bad or in between with so many different paths every person from the innocent to deities themselves take that differs in each reality. What we found out however… was that somewhere out there, a race of Etherious that call themselves the Fel Etherious had appeared, led by their own version of you and E.N.D." Conbolt explained to Natsu, who widened his eyes from hearing of this so far.
'A version of us leading some different breed of Etherious? That's a first. Also what the heck does Fel mean?' E.N.D questioned in confusion, not sure what that word was supposed to represent. Natsu didn't respond but did hear his inner demon and shared his confusion.
"Fel Etherious?" Natsu asked as Conbolt nodded.
"Yeah, Etherious that were born and created with the presence of Fel Energy within their bodies. Fel Magic is a kind of demonic and vile Magic that from what I've seen corrupts and destroys everything it touches. In fact, Natsu and E.N.D of my world were created and revived with this demonic otherworldly energy by Zeref. Now how he got his hand on this kind of Magic I have no idea, you'll have to ask E.N.D and see if he knows. But anyway, back to the matter at hand, the Fel Etherious have been around for around at least a millennium from what I recently found out after encountering one who was behind the massacre of many worlds. Honestly, I don't know too much about them despite my many encounters with them since the others and I took it to hunt them down throughout the many alternate multiverses out there. But what I do know for a fact is that they see all life as their enemy and seek nothing but utter destruction. For that, they have been marching onward in some kind of twisted crusade to scourge all life and worlds in existence, starting with all the Earthlands and any unfortunate world they find in the process." Conbolt shared further.
Seeing Natsu, while surprised from hearing this didn't say anything, the younger Dragon Slayer took that as his cue to keep on going.
"Recently however, another threat has arisen that seeks complete conquest of all Earthlands also. Some version of the Alvarez Empire got their hands on the means to travel to other alternate worlds and have begun taking them over to bring underneath their flag. When I got separated from the others, I was fighting against a general who served under their banner. Sadly, I don't know too much about this other Alvarez either since we only recently started to run into them." Conbolt told Natsu while the All Magic Dragon Slayer recalled his battle with Marbom.
Natsu remained silent for a moment before he looked back with narrowed eyes.
"So… there's this race of demons that's actively going around wrecking and decimated countless alternate worlds and some version of Alvarez is going out conquering other Earthlands?" Natsu summed it up to make sure. Conbolt nodded in confirmation.
"In short, yes. During a confrontation between them, my allies, myself, and armies from both this world hopping Alvarez and the Fel Etherious ended up on a different world called Earth where most of the population possessed superpowers of their own. It was during this conflict between the two forces did I end up getting separated from the others when I chased after the general who led the Alvarez forces that ended up on that planet." Conbolt also informed him, knowing that he wanted to know how exactly he got separated from E.N.D, Acnologia and Observer.
Once again, Natsu remained silent as he processed all of this new information. He didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't something like this to this degree.
'So… it's like the Locust from 137-C? A force bent on posing a threat to other worlds?' Natsu thought to himself and E.N.D, the latter quickly imputing his own two cents on the matter.
'It sounds like it, but it sounds way worse. At least with the Locust those from 137-C are keeping most of their attention and are contained mostly on their world. These Fel Etherious or whatever the f**k they were called again and this other Alvarez on the other hand seem to be spreading out like a plague to other worlds if I'm getting this right.' E.N.D stated, with Natsu mentally nodding in agreement. It was clear that these two enemy forces were too spread out and expanding to be simply contained. Natsu refocused his attention back on Conbolt once more as his face remained holding a serious expression.
"…So if I were to guess right, then your injuries that we found you in came from fighting someone that was with one of these two factions?" Natsu guessed, figuring that it was most likely the case which Conbolt went on to confirm.
"Yes. It was against one of the leaders of the Fel Etherious themselves, Brolgoth I think he called himself. He… he was a monster. He wielded power and strength unlike anything I've faced before. The only thing I can think of that came close was that C'Thrax monster that the Night Cult summoned during the Alvarez War back home…" Conbolt trailed off, recalling how everyone had to come together to defeat the servant of the Void that was summoned by his enemy.
"The what and the who now?" Natsu asked once more with a raised eyebrow, not sure what the f**k a C'Thrax or whatever it was called again was.
"A cult that I constantly ran into during my travels around Earthland. They had used the world's Magic and the souls of those who fell in battle during the war to open a tear in reality itself, bringing forth that monstrous creature. It took everyone coming and working together to defeat that thing and defeating the cult for good." Conbolt explained briefly about the old enemy he and the rest faced a while back before this whole alternate reality traveling situation happened.
The dark purple haired young teen shook his head before he refocused on the main subject at hand.
"Anyway, back to the matter at hand, it took everything I had to defeat the demon lord with the use of my Dragon Force. Honestly… if it weren't for that kicking in I would have no doubt died…" Conbolt admitted, knowing that without Dragon Force activating he stood no chance against the powerful Fel Etherious and would simply have died if it weren't for it.
"So you're capable of Dragon Force also. But what do you mean by it kicking in? Have you not found a way to summon the form forth when you want?" Natsu questioned with a raised eyebrow once more, while Conbolt nodded to confirm, a frown appearing once more on the younger Dragon Slayer's face.
"You could say that. I am unable to tap into Dragon Force as I please like those who are capable of doing so like my own Natsu or Wendy. It only comes out when it's the matter of life and death, and so far, I have yet to find any means of freely entering it on my own." Conbolt explained.
'That's… odd. So his Dragon Force basically only comes forth during an extreme crisis? Why does he have that limit when other Dragon Slayer's don't?' E.N.D couldn't help but ask, not sure as to why that seemed to be the case for Conbolt compared to other Dragon Slayers.
'Maybe it's due to his kind of Dragon Slaying Magic? Since he was trained by Acnologia his Magic would be different compared to those who use a single element or even two. So perhaps there's more limitations for those who possess Dragon Slaying Magic capable of devouring all kinds of Magic.' Natsu theorized mentally. Of course, this was all just a guess as he wasn't sure and from the looks of things not even Conbolt knew why such a limit exists in the first place.
Natsu snapped away from his and E.N.D's thoughts before he refocused onto Conbolt once more, his eyes still narrowed as he learned of all of this new information.
"Okay, all of this is rather… surprising to hear about I will admit. In fact, it's rather worrying since that means at one point or another my own world may come into contact with either of these f**kers even if the chance of that happening is close to zero due to so many worlds out there. But if I may ask… how did you and this other E.N.D, Acnologia and this Observer guy find out about these "Fel Etherious" in the first place?" Natsu figured he would find that out, with Conbolt going on to answer figuring that it was best to do so.
"They appeared on our world attacking Crocus. Observer and I happened to be close by when we felt their presence, and I guess Acnologia was close by too since he arrived shortly after we did. The three of us along with E.N.D boarded the vessel they were in to take down the leader behind the attack, and it was through her that we found out about them constantly attacking other worlds and seek complete destruction of all things. When the ship was destroyed the resulting Fel Energy unleashed opened a tear through time and space launching us into another Earthland, basically starting our travel. Observer knew how to travel to other worlds, something that he for some reason didn't bother telling me before, before showing E.N.D how to do the same. According to Observer, only E.N.D was capable of learning how to do so from him, so those two were basically the only means we had to head to other worlds." Conbolt explained further. Though he did recall how Observer stated that he could only open ways to other Earthlands while E.N.D could open the way to any kind of planet.
Natsu processed this information as did E.N.D from within his mind, before he leaned back into his seat and pondered over this revelation.
'So in short, two vile enemies seek to either take over everything or destroy everything. And from the sounds of things… they sound dangerous… very dangerous.' Natsu went over mentally to E.N.D, who was quick to respond to his other half.
'All the more reason to keep training and train harder than ever if by any chance anyone from these forces show up and try to start sh*t. Wasn't expecting to learn all of this though. First a Dragon Slayer Romeo, then hearing about a version of myself who isn't like me for some reason, a version of Acnologia that took someone under his wing to train him and is still alive, and now a race of some kind of Etherious bend on utter genocide and a version of Alvarez that wants to conquer everything? What's next, a version of you that travels around calling himself Traveler to fend off a group of evil Natsus and myself from destroying all Earthlands or some sh*t?' E.N.D went over before guessing randomly, something which got Natsu to be slightly confused.
'That's… oddly specific.' Natsu noticed.
'You never know Natsu… you never know…' E.N.D trailed off, leaving his other half puzzled by his words and behavior.
Shaking his head from that, he looked back towards Conbolt who waited patiently to see if the pink haired Etherious would say something or not about what he told them.
"I will admit… whatever I expected to hear from you it was not any of this. The fact there are two large factions of enemies out there, bend of complete domination or annihilation is immensely worrying as I said a few moments ago. Even if the odds are slim to none of either of them showing up here anytime soon the fact that these demons and version of Alvarez are after every Earthland means that one day, even if it takes a thousand or some sh*t they will find their way here. And you don't want anyone to know about this why?" Natsu went over everything once more before asking, unsure as to why Conbolt would want him to leave everyone else in the dark about these potential threats.
The dark purple haired Dragon Slayer sighed before he looked back at the pink haired Etherious with a frown on his face.
"And what would good would it do other than worry them all or even freak them out that two massive sized factions are out there taking over or destroying who knows how many alternate worlds as we speak? These foes are dangerous, the atrocities the demons have committed and the kind of power I felt Alvarez possess are on a whole other level. What would telling everyone do than just make them fearful that any day at any time these bastards could show up one way in massive numbers to easily wipe this planet clean, either they be alive when it happens or it happens when they are long gone with their descendants the ones to suffer at facing against these monsters. I… don't want that. No one should be living in fear about the unknown threat that could or could not show up randomly any time to annihilate everything they all hold dear. They should be living their lives without fear or worry about such dangers or foes. If I can make sure that happens, then it's worth trying." Conbolt explains with a determined look on his face. He would not allow those to know the horrors and dangers that he has faced if he could help it.
'The kid's got a point. I guess it's similar to how those from 137-C don't tell every world they go to about the Locust threat. What good would that do other than freak people out and get them paranoid that such a threat might appear one day? Or knowing about how such horrors and nightmares exist in the first place? I don't know about you, but I would get tired of dealing with that crap pretty fast.' E.N.D told Natsu within his mind, seeing what point the All Magic Dragon Slayer was trying to make here.
Natsu sighed as he realized that E.N.D was right. After all, when he faced the horrors of the Locust and when everyone saw or were shown it, the sight of such horrors struck fear into them all. It would be the same thing with these Fel Etherious demons and this other version of Alvarez if they are as bad as Conbolt says they are.
"Alright, I'll keep my word. I won't tell anyone here what you told me. If they are as bad as you say they are, then it's wise for the others to not know about such horror." Natsu assured Conbolt, who breathed out a sigh of relief from hearing this.
"Thank you Natsu, that does mean a lot." The dark purple haired Dragon Slayer thanked the pink haired man, who smiled a little from seeing the small smile on the younger male's face.
"Now… with all of this known and said, there's one more thing I want to know…," Natsu started to say before his expression soften a bit further with his smile still intact, "What made you decided to create a weapon of your own?"
That got Conbolt to blink in confusion from the change of topic, before he smiled a little as he shifted his gaze over towards Durandal.
"Uh… to be honest I got inspiration from your own blade Natsu. It made me want a weapon of my own." Conbolt admitted with a sheepish grin while Natsu was kind of taken back slightly, not expecting his own weapon to inspire the younger Dragon Slayer in such a manner.
"Really now? Well…," Natsu looked over towards the great sword that Conbolt now wielded with an impressed expression on his face, "I will give credit where it's due, you might have just made a one of a kind blade like Durandal."
"Really?" Conbolt questioned with slight joyful eyes, getting Natsu to chuckle slightly from hearing this.
'Glad to see that even if this other Romeo has practically marched through Hell itself, he still has some innocence in him, there are many who have lost that when going through horrors and monstrous foes,' Natsu thought, recalling those from 137-C and himself to a degree from what he's face and seen. The All Magic Dragon Slayer must be one tough son of a b*tch mentally to still retain such innocent wonder after facing against the threats he told him about. Natsu refocused his attention on the dark purple haired young teenager, "Yes, I believe so. Have you thought of a name for it?"
Conbolt blinked a couple of times before he looked down at the great sword he carried in his hands.
"Uh… not really. I have been leaning towards calling it Dragonslayer, but I imagine that would be pretty corny." Conbolt admitted, not wanting to risk calling it something that would be predictable or lame. He wondered if the ancient draconic runes that appeared on the blade when he infused it with his Magic may mean anything regarding the name, wondering if the blade gave itself its own identity. However, the language was odd as it wasn't the usual ancient language of the dragons that he was familiar with. Perhaps a different form of the ancient language?
Natsu nodded in understanding, knowing well that one wouldn't want to disrespect such craftmanship by giving it a name that was cliché or boring. Looking back at Conbolt, Natsu spoke once again.
"May I ask one more thing? You were trained by your own Acnologia, how did that come to pass? How did you manage to not only grab the attention of that stupid dragon but even get him to want to teach you Dragon Slaying Magic?" Natsu asked, as both him and E.N.D wanted to know how this alternate version of the Rainbow Fire Mage came under the teachings of the Dragon of Apocalypse.
To his confusion. Conbolt lost his smile as a frown appeared on his face. Natsu was about to ask what was wrong before the dark purple young male spoke.
"I wasn't given a choice." He quietly muttered out but still loud enough for Natsu to hear it thanks to his own enhance hearing.
'Say what now?' E.N.D asked with utter confusion, as Natsu himself was just as puzzled. Seeing his puzzlement, Conbolt figured he would explain a bit more.
"Me becoming a Dragon Slayer? I didn't choose to become one, and Acnologia didn't decide to train me out of the kindness of his heart or some dumb sh*t like that. All I was to him then was a weapon, a tool to aid him in his goal. The training he put me through was horrific, and the things I had to do just to survive…" Conbolt trailed off, not wanting to go into further detail about how the Dragon King trained him and made him do just to survive and live another day.
Hearing this only angered Natsu and E.N.D, the demon could be heard growling from within the depths of Natsu's mind. So that was all Conbolt was to the vile dragon originally huh? Just a tool to achieve whatever goals he had in mind. That sounds like something Acnologia would do.
'How did he end up training him in the first place though?' E.N.D wondered after calming down for a moment. After all, of all people why did Acnologia chose the alternate Romeo of all people? And when did such a kidnapping by the dragon happen?
Natsu repeated the question E.N.D had towards Conbolt, who raised his head up and closed his eyes as he reminisced about that fateful day. The day that changed his life and not for the better.
"It happened after Acnologia attacked Tenrou Island. At that time, we didn't know about Tenrou meeting such a fate when everyone thought those on the island were dead. The day was normal for the rest of us as we wait for the others to hear word from the island, either about the result of the S-Class trials or about them heading back to Magnolia I wasn't quite sure. I was running around, just a normal happy six year old kid waiting for Natsu and the others to return home. And then… Acnologia arrived." Conbolt started to say the small tale to Natsu.
Images of that day flashed through his eyes, when Acnologia first arrived without warning as he came crashing down into the city upon the train station. The Dragon of Death didn't even seem phase about landing on the area as it became nothing but rumble before he would continue on to rampage through the city like nothing, probably didn't even felt it when he would smash his way through a building such as the cathedral.
"He wanted to finish what he started, to wipe out the home of Fairy Tail to inflict further pain upon them. I guess he knew that they all survived, so he decided to take his frustration of being denied a kill upon our home. Everyone was running for their deal life or were crushed underneath by the dragon himself, not like he noticed since to him there were just like ants. I didn't know what to do, I was separated from everyone else due to the chaos he brought upon the city. My mind was telling me to run for safety, to get away from that monster. Instead… I ran towards him and threw a rock at his head like a suicidal idiot, grabbing his attention." Conbolt explained further.
He could still remember how he felt as if death itself was staring down at him when the eyes of Acnologia stared down at him. Like the grim reaper was before him ready to take his life away from his mortal shell. And yet instead of running away, he stood his ground since he naively though that he could buy even the smallest bit of time for everyone else to escape with their lives. Honestly, he was ready to die that day by the hands of the Black Dragon, yet fate seemed to have a sense of humor since what ended up happening was nothing he thought would happen let alone to the likes of him.
"I was ready to die, I thought that I was about to live my last few moments before Acnologia would simply squash me like a bug or something of the sorts. Yet… instead of doing that, he snatched me up in his claws before he took off into the air, leaving Magnolia behind. It would be years before I would see the city and everyone else again. According to him when he eventually told me as to why he decided to train me under his wings, he claimed to be impressed by how me, a powerless weak child stood up to him when everyone else either fled for their lives or begged for mercy. At least, that was one of the reasons he took me in. The other reason was that he sensed I had great potential or some sh*t like that, so he wanted to mold it into a weapon he could use. Honestly, I wasn't sure if he ever meant that or not though back then…" Conbolt trailed off, not seeing what else there is to say. He doubted that Natsu would want to get into specific training details that Acnologia put him through, like how the dragon dropped him off into a dangerous wilderness for a year for him to learn how to survive by himself. There were times where he nearly died during that year due to struggling how to stay alive, either it be from preventing starvation or the dangerous wildlife or even certain types of plant life that tried to make a meal out of them.
Conbolt didn't say anything else as Natsu proceeded this as well as his inner demon. Both were surprised by how just because the other Romeo stood up to the Dragon of Death despite having no Magic or any kind of power or strength to defend himself with got Acnologia to see some kind of worth in him to not only spare but to take him in even if it did end up being nightmarish for the dark purple haired young teen.
'Not going to lie, that's pretty badass that he, despite being a weak little kid stood up to that stupid dragon even if Conbolt was afraid out of his mind during it.' E.N.D admitted, knowing that most people wouldn't be able to claim being able to do that. Well, those who still lived anyway.
Natsu nodded mentally in agreement with his inner demon on that, knowing that it took plenty of guts for someone to stand up to such a monster let alone a powerless child. Still, Natsu couldn't help but feel bad knowing that Conbolt no doubt went through Hell from being trained by Acnologia alone not to mention any other horrors that he had to face during his travels even before knowing and facing these Fel Etherious demons and this world hopping Alvarez.
"That must have been hard for you to go through. Most would probably rather die than go through anything like whatever you had to go through under that dragon. But he must have changed somehow right? You said it yourself, he travels with you, E.N.D and that Observer person, so he must have turned over a new leaf or at least not be much of a jackass as before right?" Natsu questioned, knowing that the Black Dragon wouldn't be alive or with Conbolt and the other two if he was still full-blown evil.
"I'm… not really sure. Sure, he has helps saved me a few times in the past, helped us out during the Alvarez War and helps us now against these otherworldly threats, but I'm sure he still has his end goals in mind. It's impossible to really tell with that dragon." Conbolt admitted. Sure, he would like to think that Acnologia has changed… but this was Acnologia they were talking about. It's impossible to get a read on him and what he's thinking.
Natsu only nodded in understanding, imagining that it must be hard to tell what goes through the head of such a character like Acnologia.
It remained silent between the two of them before Natsu broke the silence, getting the All Magic Dragon Slayer to look towards at the older Fire Dragon King once more.
"It must be hard going through that, not to mention having to deal with these enemy f**ks that now threaten every world in existence. But thanks for giving me the answers I wanted to know, I can relax better now knowing what I do now." Natsu told Conbolt with a small smile on his face.
"Oh, uh, no problem. I should be thanking you too," Conbolt replied back with a small soft smile. Seeing the confusion appearing on the pink haired man's face, the dark purple haired teen went on to explain, "It's uh… been quite a long time since I was able to open up like that, helps get it off my chest. So thank you for listening to my craziness Natsu."
'Hey, I listened too you prick!' E.N.D shouted in Natsu's mind with an annoyed tone, seeing how he wasn't also being thanked like Natsu. Sure they were the same person and calling either of them was basically referring to both, but name recognition would be nice dang it.
Natsu smiled with amusement as he heard the demon shout that out before he looked at Conbolt once more with his smile still on his face.
"No problem Conbolt. That's what family is for right?" Natsu asked, knowing that even though they were of different realities they all still boar the same guild mark that connected them all together.
"…Yeah, you're right." Conbolt simply respond with a smile on his own.
'TOMORROW AFTERNOON'
Midday had arrived, most of the guild was gathered around saved for a few who were out on jobs. After making sure that everything about his health was all fine and dandy thanks to Wendy, it was now time for the dark purple haired Dragon Slayer to leave. He along with the rest of the guild were present within the guild hall as they waited for Levy to come back from her workshop to give the younger Dragon Slayer a tool to aid him to getting to one world to another since he would be on his own after all.
Conbolt still wore the same clothes he was given since he first arrived here, but now he also had a few bags on him filled with supplies and some money given to him by the guild. He turned it down at first, seeing how they didn't need to go that far but Makarov was insisted to help him in anyway to prepare him for his journey once more. Also on him was his yet-to-be-named great sword strapped to his back in a sheath that he made last night after his talk with Natsu.
Gajeel was kind of pissed off when he found out about him using much of the rare materials he had, but luckily he was able to calm down mainly due to Levy shouting at him. That was something the All Magic Dragon Slayer still wasn't used to seeing Levy act in such a way.
Any thought or small talk anyone had ended when the Solid Script Mage was seen walking back into the room, with her a portal gun that she had made to lend towards Conbolt for him to leave their world behind. Walking up to him, the blue haired woman handed him the device.
"Here, this will help you get to one world or another. I've spent hours out of my day to make this for you, so you better put it to good use." Levy told Conbolt, who accepted the device into his hands as he looked at it with slight awe.
"Wow, this is amazing. Thank you Levy." Conbolt replied back to her with a large smile on his face. It reminds him of the portal gun that one version of Lucy he and the others ran into quiet a while back have, just less bulky.
"Don't think much of it kid. Oh, and one more thing," Levy started to say getting the younger Dragon Slayer's full attention once more as she lifted a finger up, "If by chance you have no more need of this device, just destroy it if you do. We don't want to have the risk of such a device to fall into the wrong hands."
Conbolt nodded in agreement to her conditions. The last thing he would want is some other vile person or group to gain the means of traveling to other alternate timelines to cause trouble. Seeing him understanding got the woman to smile in a cheeky manner.
"Great, now good luck and try not to die a horrible death okay?" Levy casually responded, getting Conbolt to sweat drop a little by how casual she said those words.
"Uh, sure thing Levy." Conbolt replied back with his smile still on his face.
Levy nodded before she took a few steps away from him so he had room to open a portal without anyone getting in his way. Conbolt looked around the guild once more, his eyes landing onto those like Natsu, Erza, Wendy, Gajeel and all the others as his smile soften.
"Thank you all for your hospitality and for teaching me what I now know. I will never forget it." Conbolt thanked them all, referring to how Erza taught him how to be better at sword fighting and for Gajeel as to how to blacksmith in the second part of his sentence. If it weren't for them and of course seeing Natsu's own weapon he might not have been inspired to make a weapon of his own.
"Don't sweat it kid." Gajeel told him with his trade mark grin on his face.
"Feel free to visit us anytime when you are able too. We would like to meet your allies if we could." Wendy told him from her spot near the bar, getting him to smile a bit wider as she looked at the older version of his own Wendy.
"I'll do my best to fulfill that request someday." The dark purple haired teen replied back to the eighteen year old Sky Dragon Slayer, who simply smiled back at him.
Natsu took a few steps towards the dark purple haired Dragon Slayer once more with a smile on his own face as Conbolt look towards the pink haired Etherious's way.
"Good luck kid. Oh, and E.N.D says good luck too." Natsu informed him, getting Conbolt to nod from hearing the cheerful words.
"Thank you Natsu. And tell him I thank him also." Conbolt responded back to the Fire Dragon King, who nodded back in understanding even though he knew his inner demon heard him just now.
Taking a few steps back once more to give him some back, Natsu only watched on as Conbolt looked at the portal gun in his hand for a few moments before he simply turned the device on. Showing the cooridnates of this world, 129-G which the All Magic Dragon Slayer thought was good to know, Conbolt put in random coordinates to take him away from this planet and this timeline in general.
And like that, a purplish colored vortex-like portal opened up right in front of him. Conbolt took a few steps forward before ceasing his movements for a moment, before he turned around to look at everyone once more with a smile present on his face.
"Thank you 129-G! Good luck with your lives! And stay safe!" Conbolt explained at them while waving at them.
And with that, he turned back around and entered through the portal, the gateway between alternate realities closing shut right behind him as he did so.
Silence filled the guild hall for a few moments before the atmosphere relaxed a bit as some slowly went to converse with one another about their guest leaving them. Even Ikaruga was at least listening and adding her own two cents about the whole thing with Conbolt's stay with them.
'Here's hoping he doesn't die a horrible death to those bastards he has to face. I liked him, he got guts and was obviously strong.' E.N.D could be heard by Natsu speaking up, as the Fire Dragon King nodded in agreement.
'Yeah, and we must continue training to ensure that if any of these bastards we were told about do show up, we'll be more than ready.' Natsu mentally replied back as he looked at Durandal strapped to his waist, knowing that he still had a long way to go before truly mastering the blade and his own powers.
'Speaking of which, I know you promised him that you weren't tell the others about these Fel Etherious demons or about this other version of Alvarez, but did you mean that or are you going to tell the others regardless?' E.N.D couldn't help but ask, unsure of his other half was being sincere about keeping such threats a secret or not.
'For now I will honor his request. But should I see a need to tell the others or at least some of them, then I will.' Natsu replied back to the demon in his mind as she saw Sayla and Lucy motioning him to come over towards them to talk about all of the recent events involving Conbolt.
Natsu started to head towards two of his girlfriends, but not before he gave on last look towards where Conbolt was once at and thinking of a single thought about the younger Dragon Slayer of Acnologia.
'Be careful kid, I have a feeling you're going to need all the luck you can get.'
FINALLY! THE CHAPTER IS DONE! Now I can work on other stuff for the time being.
But yeah, there you all go. That was Romeo's time with "Draconian Enigma"'s main Earthland. As for Draconian Enigma, I hope you enjoyed it and I hoped I did a good job involving your characters and world. For those who don't know him, go check out his stories, they're great.
It's funny, originally I wasn't planning on giving Romeo a weapon of his own, but I got inspired from "Draconian Enigma"'s Natsu having a powerful weapon of his own so I decided to go through it seeing how the option was available what with Gajeel's forge and all of that. Hopefully that was alright to do. Will need help coming up with a name so if anyone has any ideas for a name that isn't Dragonslayer for the blade, feel free to let me know. I might just stick with Dragonslayer but I want to see what other options I have first, since I'm sure there are better names out there I can use.
Now, just in case anyone's wondering "Wait why didn't Romeo mention Mecha when talking about his enemies?". As of right now, Romeo and E.N.D are still unaware of Mecha being a threat, as the ones who encountered him back on the Earth of Quirks was Acnologia and Observer. So at this point of time only those two are aware that the robot is capable of traveling to other timelines and is trying to hunt them down. Just figured I clear this up just in case a few among you may be wondering that.
Now, next time we will be seeing what E.N.D is doing. Though it will be a while as I'm going to work on getting updates on my other stories out first before continuing once more.
Anyway, so what did you all think? Good? Bad? Let me know.
See you all next time, whenever that will be.
