Sorry I took longer to update, after 4 long years I finally got a regular bday lol (Feb 29th) and there was some things to plan and attend, I really didn't want to submit half a chapter which is why I waited a bit longer.
Also, too many quotes seem to strike home with the chapters so! we have 2 quotes today. We are getting closer to another "OH FUCK" moment kiddos! Hang in there.
-A-
"One of the first signs of the beginning of understanding is the wish to die. This life appears unbearable, another unattainable. One is no longer ashamed of wanting to die; one asks to be moved from the old cell, which one hates, to a new one, which one willl only in time come to hate. In this there is also a residue of belief that during the move the master will chance to come along the corridor, look at the prisoner and say: "This man is not to be locked up again, He is to come with me."
― Franz Kafka, Blue Octavo Notebooks
"We pass through the present with our eyes blindfolded. We are permitted merely to sense and guess at what we are actually experiencing. Only later when the cloth is untied can we glance at the past and find out what we have experienced and what meaning it has."
― Milan Kundera, Laughable Loves
Previously:
Lucy woke up to the sound of steps on the hall, her arms were wrapped around herself to keep the cold away. She heard the kids whimpering while one of them whispered 'It's ok… we need to be brave' to the rest of them and she couldn't help but fear of what was coming their way.
Far away from where Natsu had found Lucy's belongings, Fairy Tail had set camp; it had been easier without having to fend the council knights who were very clearly tracking Lucy but still the sense of uneasiness for leaving they valuable friends behind lingered on them.
The guild was way passed the mountains when the pair of exhausted exceeds found them, barely making it there at dawn. The tiny forms flopped on the ground and tried to calm their breathing.
Happy was laying above his green backpack looking at the changing sky above, almost heaving when his partner's voice made it to his ears "We… made… it" Carla's flushed white fury face scrunched while trying to get her words out, she looked at Happy noticing he was in no better shape than her "Aye… now… what?"
She sat up and stretched before taking a big breath "Silly Tomcat… now we look for our friends" Happy stretched on the ground trying to pop every tiny bone on his body without much luck, and then sat up as well "Ugh… Aye…"
They walked closer and it was no surprise to find Cana sitting next to a heating lacrima outside, still drinking her weight in alcohol "OI! Look what we've got here!"
"Greetings Cana, just checking in; the guys wanted to know how you were holding up" she laughed loudly and took a gulp from her drink "All good kitty cat! Same old escaping the pricks from hell, how 'bout you and the rest?"
"So… nothing new, no attacks, arrivals… nothing at all?"
"Not at all missy… we're all peachy" Cana gave them a suspicious stare, knowing there was no way they'd flown this far only to check up on them but she didn't have an opportunity to ask; It was in that moment when they heard frantic movement coming from one of the tents followed by Mira's voice "Laxus!" the tent moved from side to side until a large hand pulled the fabric revealing Laxus gasping for air before falling on his knees.
"Laxus! Breath!" his eyes were wide open; his hands squeezed the soil under them while electricity sparked intermittently on his skin; Mira reached out to him but he raised his hand "Don't…" she retracted her hand still watching his pained expression, trying to understand what had startled him "What… the fucking… hell?"
"Woah… bad dream sparky? Don't think electrocuting Mira here counts as foreplay, you know?"
Laxus snarled at Cana and sat while grabbing his forehead with his left hand while his right one was placed above his heart "I…" his eyes were unable to focus in one place, trying to figure out what was that pressure on his chest… it felt like emptiness had occupied every corner of his heart, like if suddenly all the oxygen was sucked out of his lungs before the extreme heat burnt him from inside out… pain… that's all he could feel, but not in himself, it was almost as if he could see its shape forming before his eyes but not quite.
It transported his mind to a time where he knew nothing but loneliness, where there was no joy in his life and everything had lost its meaning… food had no taste, colors had lost its brightness and human touch was cold and unwanted… it pained and confused him because he knew he didn't feel that way anymore… so… Why?
He was dripping in sweat, still sitting on the floor on nothing but his boxers but the electricity had stopped, Mira knelt next to him and pressed her hand on his back; he loved and hated the feeling at the same time… her hand reminded him he was not alone nor unwanted but for some reason it also made him feel bad about him having everything in his life.
It didn't take long for the rest of the guild to come out to see what the commotion was all about.
"Laxus?" He looked at his grandfather's concerned face; the old man immediately noticed something in his eyes; a flicker of gold that wasn't there before, something so small that it would have been unnoticeable in the full light of day for most, but not for him... Makarov knew his grandson too well and not a hair on his head would move without him noticing the change.
It wasn't the only thing he saw there… there was something deeper that he had seen before in those eyes many years ago… desperation, lost, heartbreak, neither of them was a stranger to those but these seemed even more intense now, almost desperate and agonizing.
"I need a minute…" he tried to normalize his breathing and closed his eyes focusing on everything around and inside of him until he reached the small core of the heath he felt burning his heart; the blond man did his best to dissect that feeling and after a couple of minutes he grunted and stood up without saying a word to the rest, and got inside his tent.
"Ok, someone's in a bad mood" Makarov shook his head "That's not it... something's wrong"
"Sorry to break it to you gramps, but things haven't been right for some time now" Makarov sighed and shook his head "Cana… are you sober enough to check your cards?"
"HA I do better readings when I'm drunk gramps, come on… give me some credit" she opened her bag and pulled her reading cards and in a couple of seconds she was shuffling her deck like the master she was; it was so perfect that it resembled a dance; her cards went from her right hand to her left and then back before she slammed them on the floor and spread them with a proud smile.
Her hand reached out to pull the first couple cards and order them in a way that it only made sense for her and when Makarov saw her frown, he immediately worried; whatever Cana saw made her sober up in seconds.
"Nope…"
"Cana?"
"Quiet…" she rubbed her chin and whispered to herself "3 cards won't do…" she pulled the cards together and placed them on her forehead; the card mage bit her lip thinking hard of the question she wanted to ask, it wasn't a specific easy one, but a wide general one and she knew this wouldn't work the same way it did when she predicted Natsu's change without understanding.
She decided then to go off the books… 3 or 5 wouldn't do, so, she would draw as many cards as possible until it didn't make sense anymore and stop there. After a couple of minutes, she rubbed her temples "This isn't good… fuck"
"CANA! Get it together" she took a deep breath and shook her head "You're right gramps, something ain't right… see these?" Makarov sat next to her along with Mira to observe closely.
She didn't point in any order in particular, but she did it in the way she considered the easiest to explain "These all change their meaning depending on if they are upright or reverse, cards tell a story and it's all up to interpretation… but…"
"But?" Makarov held her hand and noticed she was shaking "These seem pretty clear gramps… self-hatred, fear, disaster, lack of balance, sacrifice, isolation, aggression, partnership, and then these two" she pointed at the emperor and empress cards "These are figures of authority, structure or nourishing depending on how they are read"
"Are we talking about Natsu and Lucy again?"
"I don't think we could be talking about anyone else at this point..."
In that moment one of the cards she had left long ago for allies started ringing, she picked it up and arched her eyebrow before responding "Sting? You do know you are not supposed to be calling us, right?"
"Where's Gajeel?!" Cana clicked her tongue "Hello to you too handsome"
"Gajeel! Now!" the card mage huffed and rolled her eyes "Gajeel's not here"
"Where the fuck is he?"
It was in that moment that Laxus came out of the tent, fully dressed and with a backpack; he took the card from Cana's hands "They stayed behind, blondie was being traced… Did you notice?" there was a silence on the line before Rogue's voice was heard "We did… it was…"
"Devastating…" Sting's worried voice came through "It was him I know it was! I felt the bastard burning me" Laxus stared at the ground for a second and grunted "I'm going to find him"
"Are you stupid!?"
"We have no choice asshole"
"And what exactly do you expect me to do? I am the guild master! S'not like I can pack up and leave!" Laxus' voice became deep and loud "I'd like to see you stopping your feet from moving by themselves! Let's see how long you are able to hold it off!" he cut the communication before throwing the card in Cana's face and rearranged his backpack.
"What's happening?" Mira took his arm and pulled it lightly "I'm leaving, you need to keep moving…"
"Then I'm going with you!" he pushed her away, not hard enough to harm her but to put some distance between them "No, you're not… you're staying here and keeping our family safe in my place MiraJane, the guild needs you"
"Well I need you!" Laxus grunted and rubbed his face "Just do as I say for once woman!"
"Where in Mavis' name do you think you are going?" Makarov stood in front of his grandson with arms above his chest "I… don't know really" the old man sighed and shook his head "I can't explain but I'll get there" he immediately turned to look at his team getting ready to leave "You three are staying too, to make sure everyone's safe"
"But Laxus!"
"Don't argue with me Freed… MiraJane is stubborn and I trust you'll keep an eye on her for me"
"CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Happy was shaking his paws above his head "There's something wrong with Natsu… I don't know what or why, but we need to go to him now before it's too late"
Happy closed his eyes, trying his best to hold the tears threatening to fall "But we don't know where he is" Laxus smirked at the blue cat and shrugged "I'll find him, I may need some help to get there faster if you two would like to help, not all of us can have a freaking magic cat"
"I won't be going anywhere without Wendy" Carla raised her nose and looked to the side avoiding the Slayer's stare "Cat… I can assure you she is no longer where you left her, I ain't a real dragon slayer and I know I need to be there, how do you think she feels?"
The white exceed sighed… he was right, Wendy would go wherever her team went and it was very unlikely that Gajeel and her hadn't been pulled by whatever was compelling Laxus to move. The blond man turned around and nodded to his family in an attempt to calm their nerves, but none of them would stop worrying or wondering about the fate of their friends.
The mages observed the magical looking pattern of leaves surrounding them with awe, but all the amazing golden lights around them couldn't take their minds away from the feeling of uneasiness that was left while looking at Natsu.
His friends thought he would break down, something very similar to apocalypse crossed their minds, they thought he would destroy everything around him and lose himself but instead he simply stood, snapped a bit and got back into his hard shell; he didn't make eye contact with them, he avoided touching them, even speaking directly at them and it was as if he was… simply not himself.
The man standing with them was not the one they once knew; the once joyful energetic teen who made them all laugh with his silliness and ability to get into the most ridiculous situations, the one who would take on whatever weight they had on their backs and stood up victorious with a smile plastered on his face after a battle that would have crushed anyone else's spirits was very obviously gone, and had left in place a man that seemed to have lost too much.
Erza wondered if this was partially their fault; have they relied on his carefree personality too much? How many times had they all felt relieved when seeing him approach the fight because in the end, whether they wanted to admit it or not… he would always find a way. Natsu had said once that he would never let what happen to Lisanna happen again… Fairy tail would never lose one single member of their family and he had lived up to his word, but how much responsibility had they placed on him without knowing?
The non-Dragon Slayers were even more concerned now because of the slayers behavior, they seemed to sense something they couldn't and even while gathering their things, their eyes seemed to be stuck on Natsu, following his every move and from time to time even following him around; Gajeel had tried to act normally although everyone could tell there was something inside him that he couldn't control, and Wendy had even made a tiny noise from the back of her throat that sounded almost whimper-like when Natsu walked closer to her.
It didn't take long for them to be transported to the roof of the castle; Natsu was standing as if it was nothing since now he was a bit more used to it and because he was still so shocked that his body simply didn't register the physical strain of being pulled through the realms… the rest of the team however was a different story.
They collapsed on the ground, heaving and about to faint due to the awful feeling this type of transportation provided "This… is worse… than riding a train…" Gajeel almost puked but contained himself.
"Oh… Mavis… is this how you guys feel… when we force you into transportation?" Erza was lying on her back looking at the morning sky "Ugh… pretty much" Wendy was the first one to sit up, and she had never been more thankful for her skill to recover.
"Never again… we are walking… to every mission… starting today, why didn't you tell us it was this bad!" Gajeel looked at the red headed woman and frowned "WE DID"
Erza sat up, her eyes immediately finding Natsu sitting on the ledge "Hey… are you ok?" his voice came out emotionless and distant "I'm fine, get your shit together before you meet the family, you don't seem very threatening now Titania" there were many arched eyebrows and questions to be asked, but Gray shook his head silently asking them to wait.
"Where are we?" Levy asked while rubbing her head "Welcome to the belly of the beast… home of the dark guilds" they all looked at Natsu not sensing if he was trying to be funny or not before looking down and noticing the rather large camps on the sides of the castle.
"Oh shit…" Mal waved his hand "Nothing to worry about ladies and gentlemen, the guilds have been made aware of the fact that you will be staying with us for the time being, you just need to pretend, as Gray did" Levy huffed and crossed her arms above her chest "What makes you believe they will even listen to that? I find rather hard to believe they won't try to attack us"
"They won't go against the wishes of their king Miss McGarden" Natsu scrunched his nose and sighed "Their Prince… not their king" Gajeel snorted and rested his weight on his hands "What? Are they waiting to anoint you with the blood of the enemies or something?"
Mal widen his eyes and waved with his hand quickly, in a silent plea for them to change topics which Erza immediately noticed; she pointed at the icemake mage "Anyway… What happened to you?" Gray gave an apologetic look, but he turned to Natsu first; the slayer wasn't looking at him but sighed and nodded "I got kidnapped by Natsu's weird friend to help them out… Ashbrains wasn't… ehm… doing too well"
"Why?" Gray rubbed his forehead "He… well…"
"My magic went off, it has something to do with Lucy's and what happened to her the day I left, that's the only reason I went back" She didn't buy it, none of them did and he sensed it but pushed forward.
"Natsu"
"We are pulling on each other's magic and unless she is here one or both of us could die, so, we need to find her. I can't have this derailing my plans"
"You don't have to lie to us" he clicked his tongue and turned to her, his eyes blinking in between their regular color and amber "I don't need to explain myself to any of you, I was only planning on bringing her back to keep myself alive, that's it" he stood up and walked inside.
Mal sighed and shook his head "Just… join us once you feel better, ok? You'll need to prepare your best battle face" he walked after Natsu while Helle stayed behind to keep an eye on them.
With every hard step Lucy's heart clenched, she could barely see no matter how hard she pushed her face on the bars, there wasn't much she could do. She pushed her arm through her bars and stretched as much as she could to reach the bars on the kids' cell, it was far, too far she though until she felt small fingertips brushing hers.
Her brown eyes filled with tears when she felt the soft skin brushing over hers, so close and yet too far for her to help. The screeching sound of the jail cell door made her heart skip a beat and suddenly she felt the fingertips receding and a heard a grunt "Put me down one eye freak!"
"Oh boy, I'm going to enjoy making you cry like a baby" she knew now that was Miko's voice, even if she didn't know their faces, she had heard him and the other kids… but she also recognize the voice speaking to them and it sent a shiver so deep into her core that her breath hitched "A-rlo…"
"Stop kicking boy! That won't do you any good!"
"ARLO LET HIM GO, RIGHT NOW!" when there was no sound, she knew she had gotten his attention "And who… do we have here? I can't believe my luck!"
"Let the kids be! They have nothing to do with this!"
"But they do… they've been proudly introducing themselves as Dragneels, and since fake daddy isn't here to pay… they will"
"STOP!" she stood up and walked to the door, pushing and pulling with all her strength without any luck, but when Miko's scream reached her ears she fell on her knees and sobbed "Stop… please stop…"
"Where is he!?" the kids yelled frantically at their friend but Calei's voice was louder than the rest "We told you! We don't know!"
Arlo pulled Miko and laid him on his belly, wrapping the chains to the bottom of the rock bed just as he'd done with the rest "You look up to him… don't you? Want to be just like your fake demon-daddy?" the kid was scrunching his nose, determined to not make a single sound despite of what came his way.
"Very well then, let's make you just like him" He extended a piece of fabric above the kids's back and inspected the knives until he found the one he was looking for. It was a sharp, thin knife with a black handle "This one has a very special meaning for you and me, you know?" he rolled the fabric back and moved it to the end of the table, close to Miko's feet.
"This one made your dear daddy whimper like a bitch; turns out he wasn't as strong as he pretended to be, and I bet you ain't either"
Lucy pushed harder against her cell, trying as hard as she could to fit her face in between the bars to no avail and wishing she could transform into water or make herself as tiny as a mouse just to be able to get to them "Hey! I'm talking to you!" she could hear the kids crying and screaming and she didn't know how long her heart could take.
"It's ok guys… it'll all be ok" Arlo laughed at Miko's statement and got his face so close to his ear that he could feel his warm, moist breath on him "Nothing will ever be ok for you, you can lie to them all you want but in the end none of you will get out of here alive, I'll make sure of it"
Miko smirked, despite of the position he found himself in "You know... pops will find you and once he does you're going to regret this"
Arlo used his index finger to trace the kid's ribs until he got to the fifth one on his left side where the kid's arm would normally fall "I'm going to enjoy breaking you just as much as I enjoyed breaking him" He stretched his hand to poke the young skin with his knife causing blood to trickle on the table. Miko bit his lip and closed his eyes in reaction to the pain "Oh! What am I thinking… you wanted to be just like dear daddy right? It's only fair for you to experience it exactly as he did".
As the knife moved, Miko felt almost as if he was being stabbed through muscle and bone and couldn't help but yell in pain; it got worse by the second and he didn't know how long he was going to be able to handle it. His lungs were burning but he didn't know if it was from screaming too hard or because he was actually dying, he thought he could at any moment.
Lucy screamed as hard as she could knowing it would make little to no difference "Fucking bastard! Mess with someone your size asshole!"
"Such a filthy mouth from an heir…"
Miko's breathing was ragged; when he thought they were finally over, Arlo proceeded to complete his job, just like he'd done with Natsu. The monster holding them captured switched the position of the knife with its edge facing down and started removing the large skin patch within his drawing and Miko couldn't take it anymore; he barfed on the table out of pain and screamed even harder than before.
His scream was devastating for everyone and Lucy couldn't help the tears from damping her face; he was just a kid… but even if he wasn't, this wouldn't have been fair. Her mind played images of her fingers brushing Natsu's scars softly while he flinched and closed his eyes and she knew… this was what had happened to him… it was happening again, and she was still powerless and incapable of stopping it.
The idea of Natsu going through that exact thing sent shivers down her spine… had he screamed like that? Had he tried to free himself, had he lost himself inside his mind to try to cope with the pain?...
Miko kept screaming, shattering whatever hope was left in their hearts until the only thing they could do was cover their ears. The kids felt useless, weak, and pathetic. At some point the screaming stopped; Miko was lying on the table, unmoving whit a bloody ankh like symbol carved into his skin.
"Tsk… at least the asshole did stay awake until I finished, it ain't fun if your lights are out" he pulled the chain off the table and threw him in the corner where his friends immediately pulled him into a protective hold. Arlo left the cell and walked to Lucy's; he opened the door and stood in front of her before grabbing her from her jaw in a bruising way and slamming her head against the wall.
"You're no more than something for me to have fun with until your dirty demon arrives" she gave him an angry glare "He will kill you" the celestial mage spat on his face with as much hate as she could.
He brushed the spit with his left hand before getting his face on the point where her shoulder met her neck; he smelled her skin and hummed and not a second later she felt Arlo's big, slimy tongue touch her and lick from that point to the back of her ear causing her to flinch "I can see why he liked you… I'll enjoy killing the fire in your eyes" he placed his mouth right next to her ear "You'll be nothing but an empty shell when he finds you" she was unceremoniously dropped on the floor where she used her sleeve to clean herself up, but no matter how many times she did, the feeling on his filthy tongue on her skin wouldn't go away.
Natsu walked to his bedroom and locked the door before sliding to the floor; his anxiety was attacking him again leaving a hollow sensation in his chest and he didn't know how long he would be able to stand it.
Instinctively his hand went to the back of his neck and scratched, he couldn't stop… it was almost as if his own skin was attacking him and he just wanted to get rid of the feeling once and for all, but he couldn't. The scratching didn't stop until he felt blood under his nails.
It was too much… that itching was something only she had been able to take away and he didn't know how she did it… the smell of her skin, her smile, her eyes filled with joy or the sweet sound of her voice, her taste or her shinny hair that could have put stars to shame… he didn't want to love her anymore, but not loving her would be equally bad…
He had to find her whatever the cost, and that was even worse because once he did he would need to push her away and that itching would be even worse because having her close and not touching her was too much of a punishment.
There was one more thing he worried about, not as much as he worried for Lucy but it was still a constant in his mind; his body missed her, wanted her with so much strength that he thought not even physically punishing himself would stop him from wanting her; the part of his soul that was still there, loved her with the fire of hell itself but… what about the hollow portion of his soul? What if he couldn't contain himself from kissing her and tasting her skin, what if she allowed him to… only to realize that he could somehow love her but not really… not entirely…
The pinkette felt like a true monster… because that is what evil did, be selfish and look after its own needs, take what they want and leave nothing behind no matter who suffered the consequences of their actions and he told himself… if he harmed her he would harm himself in such a way that he would make sure to regret it, it was a commitment from one of his sides to the other.
"I am really going mad aren't I…" he rested his head on the door "Making treats and promises to myself… as if I was two people… fuck, I shouldn't be surprised, should I?" he shook his head and stood up walking to the bathroom.
He opened the water tab as hot as he could to fill the tub and inspected himself in the mirror… he kind of looked the same, just his eyes were now darker, more lost even… but he really didn't recognize himself. Natsu checked the water temperature and sighed, he would have preferred scorching water to remove the stench of himself from his skin but even the hottest volcano wouldn't do that for him now.
He removed his clothes, threw them on the floor and sat inside the tub warming the water with his magic; something wasn't right… he felt it deep inside and the itchiness was still there. The Dragon Slayer went under water and cleaned his neck with the now boiling water, but nothing changed.
His head went above water and noticed he was no longer by himself "I locked the door for a reason…"
"I'm sure you did… when have I cared for your reasons to do such things?" Mal smiled at him, knelt on the floor and grabbed a sponge "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he shook his head "Helping my friend take care of himself"
"Not your friend… you've lied one too many times… also I am more than capable of taking care of myself" Mal snorted, he chewed the inside of his cheek and nodded "lied I have… I won't deny it; I still consider you a friend" he couldn't help the tiny pain in his chest at his words "You're just like your father… problematic, impulsive, idiotic at times… trying to take everything on by himself and not asking for help"
He pushed his face a bit under water leaving only his nose and eyes outside "Pretend all you want Natsu… you're not fooling anyone" he didn't say anything although he did pull himself out of the water that now reached below his shoulders and allowed Mal to keep running the sponge on the tiny bits of exposed skin "These are your friends, your family… Every time one of them has stepped away you've brought them back, every time they've fallen you've been there to catch them… every time they've cried…" he looked up and saw the look on the spirit's face and what seemed as unshed tiers "I've put you in great danger… and I'm sorry for that" Mal dropped the sponge and looked up trying to pull the tears back inside "I failed your father and Igneel and now I'm failing you too, but you can't let this pull your family apart"
It wasn't that he didn't know pretending was off the table, they have seen him react to Lucy's disappearance and playing as "leftover instinct" would do him no good, if there was ever a test to fooling the people that knows you the most he would definitely fail.
"For someone telling me I don't need to carry all the weight on my shoulders you are pretty bad at it yourself…" Mal snorted and shook his head "I think that's been clear for a long time now, one of the things you and I have in common"
Natsu got out of the tub and dried himself off before going back to his room and dropping his weight on the bed "Tell the evil witch everyone is eating inside today… we need to establish the guys' position here" Mal nodded and left the room without saying anything else; he knew tensions would arise but hoped things would work out.
As soon as Laxus' cut the communication, Sting threw the card on the table and yelled in frustration "FUCKING LIGHTNING BASTARD!"
"Well what were you expecting?" Rogue arched his eyebrow and crossed his arms above his chest "Look, I really think we should…"
"What?! Leave? Are you stupid?" Sting slammed his hands on the table causing his glass to spill "He humiliated us! He made us kneel, he made you and I fight each other!"
"I know…"
"He doesn't care for the consequences of his actions anymore and you want to go and help him cure whatever injury he's licking away in his fucking dark fortress?!"
"Sting… we don't know what that was about, Lucy was hurt… she was…"
"Do you think I don't know?!" the light Dragon slayer covered his face "I saw it… I saw him losing himself to that pain but what he is now…"
"He could have killed us, he's still the person that has come to our help when we've called Sting… he's still the same who saved us countless times and he is now our…"
"Don't…"
"Leader… the leader of our nest; we should go to him… you know Natsu and he would never ask for help if he didn't need to" Sting was about to reply when he was unceremoniously slapped on the back of his head.
"You are being an idiot…" Minerva was rolling her eyes while Yukino simply bit her lip "Is not like we won't survive without you here; you just eat all our food and call yourself the boss…"
"OI!" Yukino walked and pulled Sting out of his chair "Go"
"B-but Yuki!" she shook her head "He is our friend… Lucy too and if they need you and you don't answer their call then you are not the Sting we know" It was like a bucket of cold water, but he knew she was right. He was no stranger to desperation and what he'd felt before had been one of the most horrible feelings he'd experienced in his life.
"FINE… Rogue… call Fro and Lector… we leave as soon as we finish packing"
It wasn't a sleepless nap as he'd expected; as soon as Natsu drifted away his mind was filled with Lucy's crying face.
He saw her standing in the distance hugging herself, a golden light surrounded her entirely while she looked at him through the corner of her eye and then from one moment to the next her face scrunched in pain while the energy changed to a dark red flame starting from the ground and slowly moving up.
"No... why, why is my magic hurting her?" she seemed so fragile and he couldn't help his heart from hurting at the sight of her "L-Luce…" black thick tears fell from her eyes and stained her porcelain cheeks before falling on her sky blue blouse, her once caramel brown eyes were losing their light little by little and the pain was evident… she hugged her middle section and yelled but he couldn't hear her. Natsu tried to run to her but no matter how fast he moved, the distance between them seemed to increase with every step he took.
"LUCE!" he ran faster and suddenly stopped and took a step back, it was then when he noticed… with every step he took back she got closer to him. It was too much for his head to grasp and he fell on the ground kneeling and sobbing once more for the answer he couldn't get.
It was then when Lucy took a step forward, then another one and one after that and he simply observed while holding his breath. She was standing no more than a couple steps away from him now and her lips were moving but no sound would come out.
"I can't hear you…"
He was tumbling in bed, grunting and sweating while mumbling something incoherent when tiny fast steps echoed from the corridor outside of his room, but he was too lost inside his head to notice. Wendy opened the now unlocked door and looked inside; the temperature of the room was higher than normal, and she worried for her friend…
She had felt his distress, and for some reason the silent scream of anguish had resonated in the deepest corner of her mind causing her to make her way there. It didn't take long for her to be pushed inside the room.
"Well don't just stand there…" Gajeel was scrunching his nose, he walked passed her and stared at Natsu before sighing and sitting on the floor next to the bed, laying his back on the side of the mattress "Swear to Mavis… this punk is going to drive us crazy…"
She walked to the bed and climbed up before sitting next to his sleeping form; for a tiny second his breathing calmed down almost as if their presence was suiting "He's suffering so much… why didn't we know?"
"Don't know… cause he's an idiot…"
"Gajeel…" he grunted "Well he is… how else do you think he ended up in this situation? Excess of brains? Jeez…"
Natsu kept staring at Lucy's lips, trying to make sense of her words to no avail when she stretched her hands and finally placed them on the sides of his face; he reached out and was about to touch her when he saw his hands becoming dark sharp claws and pulled them back.
The blond celestial mage looked at him and smiled; the dark lines where tears had fallen still marked her face and seemed to have left burning marks behind, but it was as if she didn't notice. Lucy leaned closer and pressed her lips against his first sweetly but as it built up he felt something crawling inside all the way from his chest to his throat.
His eyes widened and he realized he couldn't breath anymore; his skin was now covered in red and black marks that pulsated with every movement of her lips, and every stroke of her tongue and even if he knew whatever was happening was taking precious energy from him… he couldn't force himself to stop.
"S-something's wrong"
"Of course it is…" Gajeel was resting his head on the bed and had his eyes closed, he was quick to disregard the comment as he always had with everything that didn't come from his own mouth "GAJEEL!"
"WHAT!?"
"He's not breathing!"
The iron slayer turned quickly and observed his friend's unmoving chest before getting closer and noticing she was right "Fuck!" he stood up and held Natsu by the shoulders before shaking him "Fucking Salamander!" he slammed a fist on the pinkette's chest and a second later Mal appeared in the room "What the hell happened!"
Natsu felt his heartbeat slowing down, but it wasn't scary at all… it was almost like a wave of calm finally claiming him and that was better than oxygen; he pulled Lucy closer and she almost melted into the kiss when she seemed to notice something wasn't right and tried to push him away but he wouldn't have it.
He wrapped one of his arms on her back while his other hand rested on the back of her head. Lucy's hands landed on his chest softly when he felt something damping his face… the black thick tears were falling again, this time soaking his face and he pulled away for a second.
Her lips moved again but he was still not able to hear her, she pointed at his chest and what he saw finally made him gasp, finally taking one long breath. There was a pair of hand prints on his side, blue soft energy shinning on his bare skin and on his chest a pair of visibly bigger black hand prints which despite the dark color still shone.
Natsu felt a soft stroke on his forehead, but it wasn't the blond goddess touching him; a dark blue hand print was next, followed by one golden and one red which now covered his torso.
"No…" he looked at Lucy and tried to grab her again but she shook her head and smiled through the dark liquid falling from her face; he focused on her lips again trying to figure her words out when through the fog he heard his name being called on.
"NATSU!"
He opened his eyes and sat quickly while trying to catch his breath "Can you stop fucking doing that?!" he turned to Gray giving him a confused look and the ice-mage mage could see this was just Natsu and not the darker version of himself "If you try to die on us one more time, I swear to god I'm going to kill you!"
"That didn't make much sense…"
"LEVY WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON?!" she frowned "I was just saying…"
Natsu was still too out of himself to respond, but his shaky fingers immediately reached his lips, brushing them slightly; he could still feel her… her natural scent and her taste still surrounded him dulling the rest of his senses.
"I… she… what…" he covered his face and noticed it was damp, he brushed the back of his hand to clean himself up and noticed… the black liquid from his dream was now staining his hands and this just confused him even more; this hadn't been an ordinary dream.
"You saw her, didn't you?" Natsu gulped and nodded without looking at Mal "Did she say something to you?" he opened his mouth to speak but closed it immediately along with his eyes trying to focus "She tried… I… her lips were moving but I couldn't… I don't know what she said"
"We'll figure it out later… now you need to clean yourself up and get ready… It's showtime…" Natsu sighed, he still felt a bit dizzy and when he tried to stand up he faltered and almost fell when a pair of soft arms wrapped themselves around him.
"Take it easy, ok?" He would never say it openly… but having Erza's arms holding him felt nice, almost reassuring in his current state as if just by her being there with him things would somehow work out. Natsu just nodded and walked to the bathroom again to wash his face.
"Mal, get me some clothes please" Mal snorted "Wow… I get a "please" this time, you guys' presence is making a difference already"
"Shut it before I burn your hair off" the golden knight walked toward the closet and opened the doors to inspect "Hmm… something to suit the occasion…" Jellal walked closer and cleared his throat "Shouldn't we be a bit more concerned about what just happened than about what he is going to wear? Maybe he should rest a bit?"
"I know what happened… and he does too and the only way to fix it is moving as fast as we can" He pulled a blood red leather vest and a pair of black pants and laid them on the bed and a couple seconds later Natsu was there.
Gajeel snorted "The outfit's a bit dramatic… don't ya think?" Natsu scrunched his nose "Says the one with a metal and black leather fetish…" it was a small exchange that for some reason reminded them of what they used to be and caused the tiniest of smiles on both slayer's faces and a sense of calmness inside the room, because somewhere in there was their friend trying to reach out, even just a bit.
They walked outside of the room with Natsu leading, they observed how his demeanor changed from one moment to the next; he walked with his hands behind his back and his chin up as if looking down at everyone from where he stood and the second they entered the grand hall they realized why.
Every dark guild member stayed silent when they entered, their eyes looking at them with hatred and their magic auras emanating causing the air around them to thicken, but even then Natsu didn't stop. He stood in the higher portion of the room, the one with the empty throne while his friends stood behind him.
He stayed silent and observed the dark guilds one by one, almost expecting for them to lower their eyes at his presence, but they didn't, and he knew their anger was surpassing their fear for him; Natsu nodded and turned towards his team when he heard someone slamming his hand on the table "This is unacceptable!" the man raised his hands and threw a dark blue energy beam his way, but he didn't even flinch.
In a second both Gajeel and Wendy stood protectively on his back; the iron slayer shielding while the bluenette pushed the energy back with her powerful wind until it hit the man on the chest throwing against the a wall on the far end; the slayers had surprised themselves, they hadn't even thought about moving, their bodies simply reacted by the sense of danger, and moved at their own accord.
Finally, Natsu turned and emitted a soft low growl causing both the slayers to straighten their backs and relax their fighting stance "I thought we had an agreement… I plan on holding my end of the deal, but let me be clear… I am not worried about any of you trying to lay a finger on any of the members of my court because you… are no match for them"
The dark guilds were visibly upset and one of the leaders from the previous day, the lean intellectual looking man raised his voice "My lord… we've earned our place here"
Natsu smirked, not in a nice way but in a mocking dark one "Earned?... Funny choice of words, I brought you here, you haven't earned shit"
"We will not be put down because of a group of…" he didn't finish; Natsu's deep dark growl echoed in the room deafening everyone and causing his magic energy to pulse, and if that wasn't enough, instinct took over causing Gajeel and Wendy to growl along with their leader, unifying their magical energy with his and causing ripples of raw power to fill the room, making everyone freeze in place.
Once the pinkette was done, a small vibrating rumble left his throat which seemed to indicate to the other two slayers to stop and take a normal stance. The guild leader was visibly shaken and sat down looking paler than normal. There wasn't a single soul there who hadn't felt the magic energy emanating from the tree of them or feared pissing them off after it.
"I guess formal presentations are due…" Natsu smiled wickedly and decided to add a bit of dramatic flair to his words "You've now met the slayers… raised by Dragons same as I was, Black Steel Gajeel and Wendy the Sky Maiden" the pinkette could almost hear some of the people gulp and congratulated himself.
"The little one there is Levy McGarden and…" Gajeel growled his words possessively "MY mate and wife…" Natsu shook his head "Right… anyway, do not let her size fool you, she can kill you with nothing more than her brain, and if she doesn't her mate will" he walked closer to the rest of the group "I'm sure you've heard stories of her and let me tell you, those are nothing in comparison to real life… Erza "Titania" Scarlett the queen of the fairies" some people gasped, most men amazed by the Amazonian woman who had been haunting their dreams for years.
"Jellal Fernandes, former council member who helped awaken Nirvana and activate the tower of heaven, Juvia Lockhart former member of Phantom Lord's Element four and of course… you've met her partner, Gray Fullbuster, son of Silver Fullbuster who worked directly under my brother. Take a good look at the people before you, these are the ones that will be leading any action we take and shall get your full respect or else… whatever order they provide should be followed as if it was my own"
Silence took over the room and he knew by how everyone else avoided his stare, their fear had surpassed their anger once more, and that pleased him greatly. He sat on the main table, on his right was Erza, Jellal, Helle and Mal and to his left Gray, Juvia, Levy and Gajeel with Ria sitting on the other end and Nephele on her right. The tension was palpable, but it didn't seem to bother his grandmother.
"Interesting…" Aporia wouldn't move her eyes from Natsu's "If you have any venom to spill now would be the time, I have no patience for your bullshit today Ria"
"Oh my precious boy… what exactly are your "friends" going to do when they see you pulling someone's heart out of their chest?" there was silence on the table, memories flooding their minds of the last time they had seen him "Oh… my bad that already happened, I remember the look of disgust on their faces when they saw you bathing in that poor girl's blood"
Before anyone could retort Erza stood up and materialized a sword on her hand, she pointed it directly towards her making people from the other tables gasp "Speak to him like that one more time and I swear my sword will be bathed in your blood; he is our family and I will not allow you to speak to him in such a way"
"Oh… she's spunky" Aporia smiled deviously "Is she also participating in the games for the royal seed, my dear grandson?" that caused Erza to blink a couple of times and confusion to fill the table, the words seed and grandson had opened a whole can of questions in their head "Jeez Ria… can we not talk about that during lunch, you are making me lose my appetite"
"Now who's acting virginal and innocent all of the sudden, you didn't seem to mind when you were bedding that worthless girl" Natsu felt his blood boiling and his chest constrict, the room temperature spiked suddenly but Erza and Gray tried to stand it "One… more… word…"
Aporia rolled her eyes and opened her mouth but Nephele grabbed her arm and shook her head; the table was starting to darken because of the heat and the pinkette was barely able to hold himself. Nephele cleared her throat "Honey you need to understand, she just wants to know if any of your new friends will be participating in the games, she didn't mean to…"
"Bullshit… she meant what she meant and she fucking knows it" his friends were getting more confused, all expect Gray of course who had been part of the conversation before "Well maybe he wouldn't be so reluctant if he wasn't being forced to it, but that is not a topic to discuss right now, is it?"
The tension on the table was enough to drown anyone, but in that moment Mal sensed the call he was waiting for; he maintain his unmoving face while throwing a tiny spark of fire underneath the table towards Natsu, which told him exactly what he needed to know.
"Right… we have more important things to discuss; we have a plan and I'm going to need your assistance" Ria arched her brow and rested her weight on the back of the chair "Do you now?... What exactly do you want?"
"Need Radoub" fear pulsed through her body, knowing that at any moment she could run out of magic and that if he noticed she was as good as dead along with all of her goals "I thought you wanted him to recover a bit before another play date, my dear"
"I need him for the next part of my plan…"
"Which is?" he smiled at her "None of your business"
"Then you can't expect me to help" he rolled his eyes and placed his hands behind his head "Fine... he'll get a choice, and depending on what he chooses he will live or die"
"I really don't think it's necessary for us…" he slammed his hand on the table "Well you are not here to think, are you? I want him here once we finish eating and he will either join me or die before everyone here; either way he'll serve as an example"
The rest of the table was silent, since only a couple knew what the plan was. Fairy Tail was in shock, seeing his friend's cold responses and knowing now he was fully capable of killing someone without mercy were things that still shook them to their very core, but they didn't comment on it; they knew there had to be a reason for Gray to look so calm.
Ria had no choice, refusing to bring her grandson's pray would be suspicious, and bringing him would hurt her magic reserves but there was nothing she could do about it and she knew it. Lunch went over as expected, awkward silences and stares but nothing more.
Once they were done, Ria stood up and started to walk away when Natsu stopped her "Aren't we forgetting something?" she took a deep breath "I'd like to freshen up before, if that's ok with you"
"It's not, I said I wanted him here by the time he finished, and I've said I have no patience for your bullshit today" she nodded; she hated being the submissive one at this point but her choices were limited. She had enough energy now to bring him without physically carrying him herself out of her void, so, she focused her energy and filler her surroundings with the purple fog.
Natsu could tell something was off, her fog moved slower and was less thick than before, he gave Mal a suspicious look and noticed the spirit had the tinniest smile on his face. Fairy Tail took a step back, not knowing what to expect and from one second to the other the fog started clearing leaving a sad attempt of a man on the floor.
"Ah… Remy" Natsu smiled, he snapped his fingers and Mal and Helle picked the man from the floor "I have a question to ask… if you take more than ten seconds to answer, my friend over here will fill your lungs with ice… and then I'll melt it just to keep you alive… 10 seconds more will be the guy over there impaling you with metal bars which I will also melt to burn your skin off…"
Gajeel gulped; he had been no stranger to torturing people when he had been lost… but now? He wasn't the only one that felt shaken, the rest of them were too at least until they heard Gray laughing and ice forming a path from him to Radoub, freezing his feet in place.
"Nod if you understand Remy…" Radoub gulped, tears fell from his face in panic "You have a choice here… tell me, do you want to live or die?"
"L-live…" Natsu nodded "Now… do you understand after out last talk why all of this happened?" Remy nodded "I do… I do…"
"Why… did… it… happen?"
"The council! The demon at the council! H-he tricked us all he used us to get to you" The pinkette nodded and placed his hand on Remy's shoulder "And what did I do for you?"
"You… spared me… to show me the truth"
"I showed you mercy… did I not?" Erza was biting her tongue, this wasn't her friend, this was an evil, rotten man torturing a broken mind for his benefit "You did… my lord" even Ria had her mouth a bit opened in surprise, wondering what he had done to the man that she hadn't"
"Will you serve me Remy? If I promise to give you your life back… will you join my family in the quest for vengeance?"
"I…" Remy gulped, more tears trickled down his face; the ice started climbing on his legs and he flinched from the pain "I will, I will!" he nodded and in a second the ice shattered and Mal and Helle released him, but before he fell to the ground Natsu wrapped his arms around him with a smirk "Welcome home then"
The dark guilds were impressed, Remy Radoub had been a man they had feared to stumble upon their journeys and now he was being held as a broken child, sobbing uncontrollably as if his life had been saved by some godsend man instead of a demon who had tortured him.
"Mal… take him to my chambers so he can get a proper bath, give him some clothes worthy of an ally… Wendy and Helle, heal his injuries and will someone please grab a plate of food for him? We can't have him starve now, can we?"
Gray grabbed an empty plate and filled it with grapes, cheese, bread and meat; he took a couple of wine bottles from the table "Juvs… grab some glasses will you?" she moved fast, still not understanding what was happening.
They walked all the way to Natsu's room in silence, not knowing what to expect and once they were inside and the door was closed, Mal released Remy who patted his clothes and smirked.
"Wow… the tears almost had me Rem… I almost felt pity for you" Remy walked to the bed and sat as if it was nothing "You're filthy as fuck, get off my bed asshole…"
"Not like you can't change the sheets, can I have some food now?" they all blinked in confusion; Gray moved and handed him the plate before opening the wine and handing him a glass "Good performance, a bit over exaggerated but hey, who am I to judge"
"I was over exaggerating? What about you and pyro over there… seriously? Freeze my lungs and impale me? Jeez…"
"OK… WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!"
"Metalbreath shut your piehole, will ya?" He signaled Mal "Mark them, every single one" Mal moved closer to Levy which earned him an immediate growl from Gajeel "Hands off"
"If you want her to be able to move undetected, I need to mark her, otherwise she'll be in danger" Levy smacked his arm and puffed her cheeks "Fine!... make it quick" he proceeded to mark her on her back, same with the rest.
"Ok, can you please explain now?" Erza stood in front of Natsu who smiled at her "We are going to get a Dragon"
"Yeah, that may be a problem" The pinkette turned to Remy who was munching eagerly "WHY is it going to be a problem?"
"He is not too convinced about you, he seemed to think it would be impossible for Dragons to raise humans and didn't believe your claim or your heritage, so…"
"So, he'll need some convincing…" Natsu sighed "That's fine… he'll have no way of denying it once we get there, did you mark the place?" The former council knight smiled before throwing an empty small vile Natsu's way.
"Ok, take a shower and change; you stink" Radoub stood up from the bed and bowed sarcastically before moving to the bathroom leaving a still confused group behind.
"Where the fuck are we finding a Dragon?!" Gajeel rubbed his forehead "They're dead, Salamander!" Natsu walked towards the small table and grabbed the wine bottle; he took a gulp and then handed it to the iron Dragon Slayer "We're not getting any Dragon… we are going to see the one I hoped never to cross paths with again"
"What the…" it stroke Gajeel as a lighting… he remembered the day Natsu had almost crushed Levy because of the smell on the cover of the diary and his eyes went wide "No fucking way…" the pinkette nodded and Gajeel simply sat on one of the chairs and gulped the rest of the bottle.
"What are you guys talking about?" Natsu turned to Erza and smiled, but unlike the smiles she'd seen so far this was painful and filled with nostalgia "We are going to visit the Dragon that killed my parents, the one that killed me" no one had words to reply to that, and so, silence filled the room once more while Natsu avoided their stares.
Not an hour after Levy had plastered runes all over the room to prevent any unwanted visitors and Remy was clean and clothed; as promised, Helle used her water magic and Wendy her healing powers and even when there were some scars and injuries that would be permanent he was back into good shape in no time.
"Are you sure you're up for this?" Natsu tilted his head an bit his lip "I guess we'll find out soon, won't we?" they got closer and allowed Mal to cover them with his magic again although they were not extremely excited about going through such a painful experience, they knew this would be hard on their friend and they wouldn't allow him to go through with it without them.
It happened too fast; the magical cage like sphere covered them with its golden light and in a second they were gone; when they opened their eyes again they were greeted with darkness and a sense of dizziness, not as bad as the first time, but enough to delay their moves.
Erza looked up and saw her friend, surrounded with fire, his fists shaking in anger standing before a great, dark brown dragon who seemed to be trying to blink his confusion away.
"N-Natsu…" he didn't respond, he just stood there, growling at the menacing figure before her. They all tried to stand up and although they stumbled a couple of times, they finally managed to get close enough to see, although not as close as they would have liked to since Natsu was quite literally on fire.
"YOU… YOU!" The Dragon was speechless; the fire he sensed from the young boy was indeed his king's undying flame, but the smell of the boy told him so much more than that. He could tell, this was the same boy he had killed, but he had also come back to life as something completely different… demon, dragon, human… and a hint of something else which shook him deeply.
He had heard from Remy that this boy's father had been claimed by the God of war, but claimed children didn't hold the smell of the Gods, just the smell of their elements… this boy however did and it was that particular smell that shocked him the most.
The dragon opened his mouth to speak but closed it again a couple of times, how had he not noticed when the boy was young? Had he not been in such a state of frenzy when he attacked his home… maybe, maybe he had been able to stop himself but the hate an anger he felt had clouded his judgement and dulled his senses.
He turned to see the rest of the party and immediately got a whiff of Metalicana and Grandeeney "The human didn't lie… Dragons raising children… who would have thought"
"You… killed them, no… you tore them apart!"
"I did… and I hadn't regretted a thing until today… My lord" The dragon did his best to bow, but his restrains made it difficult. Natsu was about to unleash hell on the creature and everyone could tell, that was until Remy took a step forward despite the scorching heat "Remember we offered to spare him"
"SPARE HIM!? YOU SAW WHAT HE DID, YOU LOOKED INTO MY MIND AND SAW WHAT THAT BASTARD DID!"
"I do not wish to be spared" they turned to the Dragon and for a second Natsu's flames receded a bit "I will give you anything you want, and then you can claim your revenge"
"I will show you no mercy"
"I don't expect you to; I cannot take the winds anymore, nor do I want to live in a world where I am the only one left" Natsu felt hate for the creature before him, but also pity… he looked at his broken wings, claws and teeth, his missing scales and his dulled eyes… he had lived way passed his time, surely kept alive by the magic in the place he inhabited.
"H-how long have you been here?" Wendy's soft voice broke the silent tension "I'm unsure… since the boy and his family died" the small slayer's sad expression warmed the old Dragon's heart... he hated humans but these were tiny creatures specially selected by his own nest, the last standing heritage of dragons. He could smell the sweet wind surrounding the tiny blue haired girl, a smell that followed Grandeeney wherever she went.
"Remy… show me…"
"Before you do, there's something you need to know. All her journals are behind me on the south end, but I suspect most are of little to no importance…"
"Why?"
"Because the ones she really cares for are hidden in a place where no one would dare to reach" they stayed silent for a moment before the dragon proceeded "There's a hole on my back close to my neck… she cut through my scales and skin a long time ago, she hides them there"
Natsu walked around the massive dragon and took a couple of jumps before running up his back until the scent of blood got ticker; he could tell right away where the spot was, hidden by scales that didn't quite match the color because they were dead already.
He grabbed one of the dragon's pikes and placed his hand on the scale, immediately noticing the Dragon flinching from the pain he pulled the scale off and felt the rumble from the dragon's chest; Natsu couldn't avoid feeling a bit bad about hurting him but he also felt stupid for feeling anything other than hate for the monster that had ruined his life.
Just as he had said… the journals were deep inside his skin, wet with his blood and he wondered why the paper hadn't been destroyed by it. He pulled one of the books and noticed they were shoved tight and there wouldn't be a gentle way to do it.
He whispered, mostly to himself, but he knew the dragon would hear "I'm sorry…" then he pulled the first book, throwing it to below where Gajeel was waiting, he did the same with the other three before making his way down again.
The Dragon Slayer's hands were tainted with the Dragon's thick blood, and the smell was penetrating his nose causing too many negative emotions to invade his chest. Remy didn't waste time after that and casted his magic towards the great creature making the screens come up before him.
"This is going to consume my magic pretty quickly, so I need you to pay attention… I changed it a bit form when I used this on you to make sure we get as much as we can, he will show us what he wants to show us and it may not be as clear as we want"
They all stared almost without blinking as the scenes from the Dragon's life passed through their eyes; images from their Dragons and how their nest originally was, images of the land that had once been… images of the horrible war between dragons and human and finally… Aporia.
Helle walked towards Natsu and grabbed his hand tightly, and in the pain his soul felt he could do nothing but tightened his grip on her while he watched… from all the things they had expected to learn… what they saw was not one of them.
Once the images were over, Natsu was visibly shaking and mumbling to himself. Dark flames liked his skin, causing Helle to release his hand and take a step back to observe while his skin glowered with dark ink like marks covering his arms and his face; the pinkette's form started changing, his wings came out along with his scales… they were still red but their tone was darker every time, his horns and claws came then while his eyes shimmered in amber with a reptile like iris.
Natsu looked up to the dragon's face, not in anger or hate but with a devastated look as if the word he knew had come to an end "I am sorry… I truly am" the pinkette shook his head "You're not the one who needs to be sorry… not the only one"
"Will you end me now?" Natsu nodded, he walked closer to the dragon and knelt before one of his hands placing his own atop of his in a way that the rest would describe as gentle "Your name…"
"Alakhir…"
"You did what you thought best to protect your nest Alakhir… my father... both my fathers would have forgiven you"
"He was a great king… you have some big shoes to fill kid" Natsu clenched his jaw and pressed his hand tighter onto the dragon's before letting his magic seep into his arms, then his hands and finally touching the scales and circling around the dragon until it filled him entirely.
Everyone witnessed as the majestic creature lost the color in his skin, his eyes and scales… it was from one moment to the other when his dead weight pulled on his restrains and let him hanging lifelessly from wings that now looked paper thin.
He didn't seem to suffer despite of Natsu's promise for vengeance, he seemed to have shown the creature mercy in the end, and they couldn't blame him either… the Dragon had done exactly what Natsu had, he had sacrificed everything to keep his family safe and had failed while doing so. They did wonder... the magic Natsu had used was not Igneels... it wasn't fire at all and it scared them; the dark energy that took life away looked more like Zeref's curse than anything else.
Natsu stayed there, kneeling for a minute or two before standing up and going back to his regular form; he cleaned his face from the tears that were still there and turned back with an empty look on his face "We need to go…"
"Natsu… you can't do anything stupid"
"I know…"
"We have a plan and we need to…"
"I know Mal! Can we please just… I need to go" The pain he felt was too much to handle, but that was not the only reason he wanted to leave, and the slayers knew it.
They were connected now in a way they never thought was possible, and all the emotions Natsu was experiencing were overwhelming them… fear, anger, pain… but even more important was the sense that invaded their hearts when he made way for the dark markings of his skin… something was calling out to him deep within the darkness of the endless void they were standing on, something he felt he couldn't ignore but he knew he had to.
As soon as they went back Natsu stormed his way to the bathroom to fill the tub once more, he needed to get the stench of blood away from his skin.
Gajeel and Wendy marched to the door unable to stop themselves, they didn't care if it was out of character for them to barge in to interrupt a probably naked Natsu… what he was feeling was too much, too deep, too raw and they couldn't handle it; deep inside they wondered how he was able to keep himself from burning everything around him while feeling so much; they've always thought he was impulsive and lacked self-control and realizing just how much he was in fact able to control himself was kind of disturbing.
Before they were able to, Mal stopped them "Give him some privacy"
"Privacy!? You overestimated goat! Do you even know…"
"What he feels? I have an idea, but I guess is not close to what you two know now, but that doesn't change the fact that he needs to lick his wounds in privacy; his your nest's leader now… let him keep some of his pride now will you?"
Remy was sitting on the bed for a couple of minutes, completely in silence going over everything they'd seen; his magic was a blessing and a curse because in a way he had to connect his conscience with the person he was working with; he had always been able to separate his feelings from it but now as broken as he was and knowing he had been a part of a plan that had been set in motion centuries ago with the only intention of causing harm to people that had already been hurt too much… he wasn't sure he would be able to forgive himself, so, he made a silent promise to see this until the end, no matter what happened to him.
Natsu sat on the bathtub again, scrubbing the blood out of his skin and tainting the water around him while tears fell from his eyes seeing the treason over and over in his mind.
He had known since day one his grandmother was evil, it was no surprise to him when she lied or manipulated everyone to get her way but going to the extreme that she had… he had to know why, he needed to make sense of why a person claiming to be searching for revenge against the ones who had decimated her family would be the one behind it.
The feverish dream he had resonated in his mind… Ria had told his mother she would regret her life choices if she didn't join her, and she had followed through.
The witch had manipulated the war between dragons and humans for years, and she had visited the dragon nest promising to join the group who would comply with her wishes and threatening to make the same offers to the humans but was immediately turned down by Igneel himself.
"We will not get involved in this war anymore than we already have, I've heard of you sorceress… sorrow follows you wherever you go, and I will not let you taint my nest"
"You rather have your nest dying then! The humans will show no mercy" the rumbling sound of Metalicana's deep laughter echoed in the huge clearing between the mountains "Humans will never be able to kill us! Whichever dragon has fallen under such small creatures was not worthy of being called a dragon"
He was immediately silenced by Igneel's growl "Show some respect to our fallen brothers!" he shook his immense head "You came here for an answer, and we've given you one… you'll get enough time to leave but if you overstay your welcome I'll allow my nest to do as they please"
Ria bowed and walked out of the clearing, and once outside she was met by Alakhir "Did you mean it? Will you be able to keep them safe?"
"I once made the Boetian army killed their own just to get to their king, do not underestimate me" Alakhir nodded "Then I will do your bidding"
"Your king won't be happy, he will have your head"
"And that's a risk worth taking to keep my brothers alive… I'm not a young dragon and death will claim me eventually… I've seen what the humans and their magic can do… I've lost a son because of it and I will not allow them to experience the same pain"
"How noble… you are willing to become a traitor to your people to ensure their survival?"
"I am… Tell me what you need, witch"
"There's a hill in the far south corner of the land, there's a stone house there where a man and a woman live with their 2 children…"
"Why are they relevant to the war?"
"Not to this war…"
"You are a powerful woman, why not do it yourself?" she smiled "I can't be directly involved, I have my own reasons"
"What do you want me to do?"
"I need them dead, all except for the woman, I do not mind if she is hurt, I just need her alive… make the man suffer… burn them, tear them apart or eat them, I do not care… but the last thing he sees needs to be despair"
"I will do my best to go against my king's wishes… now go"
"You will do more than your best if you want to stop the future from happening" Ria's fog surrounded the dragon and penetrated him through his eyes and nose before she disappeared. The fog showed him images of a pink haired man wielding a sword surrounded by fire and a woman with a dark aura laughing before the corpses of his nest burning them with black flames and consuming their souls.
Natsu rubbed his eyes, what came after that he knew well…
"You are ok baby, I've got you…"
Those words… those damn words that seemed to seal his destiny at every turn… he remembered trying to touch his mother's soft face before he was bathed in her blood, the life leaving his mother's eyes while more blood poured through her mouth… the sharp claw impaling her chest and stomach…
The image of his father trying to keep an unconscious Zeref safe and yelling while the dragon made his mother bounce on the ground, the cracking sound of her bones breaking on impact… he remembered stretching his hand to reach his father's and being an inch too far to touch him one last time before the dragon pulled him and tore him apart.
That had been the moment… what had determined the next hundreds of years of history, what had made his brother obsessed with restoring what he'd lost and had led to so many deaths, and the words that kept resonating in his head… "You are ok little brother, I've got you"
She had tricked the dragon, she had showed him a future that would never happen, and he was now sure she had been the one torturing him with images of Zeref. They'd all been peons… and he was determined to end this once and for all, so the next time those words were heart by his family the meaning would be correct instead of an invisible curse taunting them like it taunted him.
