"Alright there, Natsu?"

He glanced over and grimaced at the look on the Fairy Queen's face. It was mischievous – playful. As if she knew something about him that he didn't. It made him admittedly nervous for some reason. But that look melted away fairly quickly, and was replaced by a kind, reassuring one. "Don't worry so much," she said. "Lucy's arm will recover just fine. She'll have a nasty scar, for sure, but…she'll be fine otherwise."

"No one said I was worried," muttered Natsu, rolling his eyes. Levy made a disbelieving snort that made his lips twitch despite his irritation with her butting into his life.

He'd arrived at the Archives late in the night. Far too late to be demanding to be let in for sure, but he'd not really had much of a choice when Lucy's arm had felt like it was burning from the inside out and she'd been feverish enough to make even him sweat. Gajeel had been rather cranky about letting him in, but Levy had been more than willing despite the sleepy look on her face when Gajeel had brought him back. In fact, she'd gone right to work, tending to the injury and manipulating her light, warm magic to help with the injury itself.

What better magic was there outside of sky magic than that of a Fairy Queen, after all?

Now, the next morning found Natsu impatiently sitting once more in the main entrance to the Archives. He wasn't allowed in the Archives themselves – the magic wouldn't allow it – and he couldn't go and see Lucy where she was resting in the residential part of the Archives thanks to Gajeel's strict denial before anyone could even ask.

He was grateful for Levy's company, something he'd not expected. She'd seated herself on the floor right beside him, her bare feet smudged with dirt and ash that had flecked off of him. He'd still not bathed after their adventure with the necromancer. He grimaced at that, immediately uncomfortable with the idea of the ashes still cloaking his skin.

"I've never seen that scarf before," Levy suddenly mused. "But Gajeel said there was one you always used to wear when he was younger…is that it?"

Natsu stiffened, really not liking the direction of their conversation. "Yeah," he grunted warily, and Levy hummed.

"So you really did go to Tenrou then," she murmured, and he glanced at her. "Gajeel thought you might have, after what we heard regarding what happened." Natsu wasn't surprised with the amount of knowledge she had on the matter of Grimoire Heart. Such events had to be reported to the Keeper of Archives, after all, who record every event that took place in Fiore's history. "I'm grateful that everything turned out okay."

Natsu, rather than responding to her words, said, "That necromancer…he recognized Lucy. He knew who she was – Layla's daughter, I mean."

Levy's lips twitched, and she looked straight ahead of her. "Perhaps," she said carefully, "he met Layla before her death. It's possible. Necromancers are an odd group."

"Odd," snickered Natsu. "Not odd. Bastards who don't respect other people's space." And life. He didn't understand them, no matter how much his demonic blood somehow resulted in his associations with them. It was a common thought among the public; where there were demons, there were necromancers, playing with the bodies of those the demons left behind.

But Natsu didn't get it. Why would someone play with the lives of others in such a way?

He supposed the thought might have been a question lingering from Zeref's reign of terror.

A sudden shift had Natsu rocking forward a little, his sharp eyes locked on the entrance to the residential portion of the Archives. He sank back, curling himself around that piece of Lucy so deeply carved there. She was somewhat confused, and he instinctively smoothed it away. His heart swelled with that odd warmth that he always associated with Lucy, and he welcomed it.

"Lucy's awake," he said, glancing at Levy finally. She looked startled, but pleased, and rose to her feet gracefully. Natsu copied her, rumbling and happy that Lucy was awake. Levy smiled, looking beyond amused, and disappeared into the tunnels to check on the young woman. Natsu, left alone since Gajeel had left a while back to check the area for any threats to the Archives and to Levy, impatiently rocked back and forth.

He'd been surprised that Gajeel had left him alone with Levy after their last visit, in which his identity as a demon had been revealed, but pleased. Maybe it had something to do with the scarf wrapped around his neck? He wasn't sure, but he wasn't complaining.

It was some time before he perked up, feeling Lucy coming closer. He shifted back and forth faster and faster – and then promptly stopped when Lucy appeared, Levy only a step behind. "Luce!" he said cheerfully – enough so that she jumped and stared at him before laughing. The sound was one he liked, just as he'd thought for some time.

It struck him that as of lately, he'd come to like almost everything about Lucy Heartfilia.

It was odd when she wasn't around, uncomfortable and like a thorn in his side. It had been particularly noticeable in the incident with Grimoire Heart, but even a few moments ago, when she wasn't in his field of view…

He remembered then her concern that she'd be sent back to her own time at some point and felt something dark and ugly bubble up before vanishing as Lucy furrowed her brow, feeling it immediately. He didn't need her knowing things like that – knowing that a growing concern was her vanishing into time just as easily as she'd shown up.

"Natsu?" Lucy questioned, but he ignored the question instead bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet and demanding, "Are we gonna do stuff now?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, sighing heavily, and Levy giggled at the interaction. "Yes, Natsu, we're going to go to work and do things now." She glanced at Levy, and Natsu felt a little flicker of guilt when he realized she still looked a little tired. She clearly hadn't gotten enough rest, and the throbbing in his arm told him that the injury was still bothering her somewhat. He opened his mouth to try and say something that would maybe send her back to bed, but Levy spoke before he could.

"Lucy, Natsu mentioned you'd gotten quite a few contracts with the celestial spirits since you were last here?"

Lucy nodded at Levy's question. "I've got contracts with six, and need to form a contract with the seventh. And overall…I've gotten the approval of nine to become the Keeper of Celestial Spirits with Natsu as the Guardian."

Levy's gaze flickered with surprise. But then she became wary, a hand reaching up to tug nervously at her hair. "Lucy…are you sure you want to do that? It's not like the contracts you hold, it's a life-long commitment. You are a Keeper until your death, whether it be tomorrow or a thousand years from now. And that doesn't even include the restrictions of the magic that surrounds the position of a Keeper. Take me, for example." Bitterness crept in. "I cannot leave the Archives except for one day a year. If I tried and ignored the warning signs, the magic would kill me."

"Lucy wouldn't have that problem," Natsu said immediately. "She'd be Keeper of Celestial Spirits. She could go where she wanted."

"But if she had to choose between betraying those Spirits and you?" challenged Levy, snapping her gaze to his. "And you'd be Guardian, so what if you had to choose between protecting the keys and leaving Lucy to perish?" Natsu opened his mouth to respond immediately with an honest answer, and Levy, knowing precisely what he'd say, replied, "You would be executed by the spirits themselves. Natsu, Gajeel has told me what the dragons are taught with regards to celestial spirits, and I know that they can be a brutal species – nearly worse than the dragons in some cases. You would be executed, regardless of your reasons."

Natsu said bluntly, "They can try."

"Natsu," Lucy said quietly enough to capture his attention, and he focused all of it on her. "There are worse things than execution." And with who you are, it's likely they would go through with it, she seemed to say silently, pointedly staring at him. Natsu made a face.

She wasn't wrong. He might have been near immortal – as far as he knew, anyways – but there were other things they could do – things that hurt him, and things that would hurt Lucy in turn. Everything he did affected her, after all. And what kind of life, if he were to save her before the celestial spirits, would she live if she had to endure a punishment meant for him? The celestial spirits were powerful. It wouldn't surprise him if they could even sever the bond that rested between them. Especially with how unhappy they'd apparently been after the loss of their last Keeper…

"Moving on," Lucy said hastily as Natsu's mood suddenly spiraled into something black and nasty, "we didn't intend to stay long. I want to make a contract with Virgo and get up to date on where we should head next, but I thought we should check and see if you'd found anything as of late?"

Levy shook her head. "I've hunted through the Archives when I wasn't working, and there's truly nothing. The only thing I could find was a few stories about the first Heartfilia. All things I knew already. I'm sorry, Lucy."

"That's okay, I didn't expect anything," Lucy reassured, smiling kindly at the worried Fairy Queen. "Besides, I think we're doing fairly well on our own for the time being." She rocked back on her heels. "I had another thing I wanted to ask about – mostly Gajeel." Natsu glanced at her, unprepared. She did? She'd not told him that. When she felt his confusion, she explained, "Acnologia. I want to know more about Acnologia and what he's capable of. I truly believe he could be the source of everything that happens in seven-ninety-seven, Natsu."

He could tell by the way her worry coiled in her gut that she truly did. She really thought that the Creator of Chaos was going to appear in the middle of Fiore for the first time in centuries and not only wreck the city of Crocus, but take down the Eclipse Gate, which had stood far longer than Acnologia had.

"I could tell you way more than he could," Natsu grumbled, mostly for show. Gajeel had always listened better to the dragon's teachings than any of the others. His memory of all of the stories…despite his gruff attitude, he'd almost been selected as Tenrou's next storyteller, a highly valued and sought-after position among the dragons. That had been before Layla and everything had gone wrong, of course.

Levy beamed, quickly growing enthusiastic. "Gajeel's an incredible storyteller," she said as if reading Natsu's mind, and he eyed her with some suspicion. Only Lucy got to do that. "He knows all of the stories and myths that even we mythics find hard to believe."

"What do I know?" They all glanced over and found Gajeel ducking into the Archives. Whatever Levy had been about to tell him died on her tongue and she frowned in concern, immediately worried by the blood that dripped from his fingertips, smearing over his arm. "I'm fine," he huffed. "Just got into a fight with a chimera that decided to wander into the area. Bastard caught me by surprise." He offered his arm to her at Levy's demand, and Levy immediately ran her fingers gently along the marred flesh, unhappy with it.

"Did the tail get you?" she asked anxiously, concerned by the idea.

"Nah, just the head," said Gajeel, glancing over her head at the others. "What do I know?" he repeated, this time more warningly, as if silently telling them that if they didn't answer his question, he'd kick them all out. Well, excluding Levy, of course.

"Stories," said Lucy quickly, "about Acnologia."

Gajeel pressed his mouth into a hard line. "Ya heard about what he did to Enca then."

Natsu nodded curtly, his onyx eyes shuttering warily as Lucy admitted, "Igneel told us."

Relief unlike any other shot through him when Gajeel only grunted in response to that and instead remained focus on the matter of Acnologia. "Not much to tell about him. He's a nightmare. That's all there is to it."

Lucy rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips. "I know that. I want to know what his reasons are."

"Luce," Natsu cut in. "There is no reason. I told ya. He just wants to destroy, whether it be through the destruction of the world around him or something as small as eating a person. He doesn't have a reason for doing anything."

"No, everyone has a reason for doing something," said Lucy. She stared him down, her dark eyes sharp enough that he looked away. "Even if it's something as simple as he likes to do it. I want to know what motivation he might have for destroying the Eclipse Gate in just a couple of years."

"Well, there you go. He likes to do it," Natsu told her.

Lucy ignored her and looked to Gajeel, waiting. Gajeel had suddenly grown quiet, frowning, and Natsu, having fully expected a similar answer, was a little startled when the iron dragon said finally, "I mean, there's been stories of somethin' happening to him in the Demonic Wars that really set him off kilter."

"What stories?" asked Levy, immediately interested. She shifted a little anxiously, wanting to hear the story as if she were a child, and Natsu fought the urge to grin at the sight. She'd always been one of the kids hanging around Makarov for story time.

Gajeel rubbed the back of his head with the hand that wasn't covered in blood, looking uncomfortable. "They're not all that good of stories. Just rumors, pretty much. Just that some claim that Igneel did something that fucked him over – that really pissed him off – around the time the Wars ended. No one knows what it is, but I heard he wasn't actually all that bad before that. Sure, he sided with Zeref, but there was some particular reason for it that I couldn't find."

Natsu cocked his head, thinking back. He couldn't remember anything of the sort. He just remembered Acnologia on the battlefield, tearing into whatever he could find regardless of his appearance. He'd been capable of both human and dragon-like appearances, though Natsu had never seen his humanoid one.

"It's also been said," Gajeel continued, "that he was once entirely human."

Natsu snapped his gaze to Gajeel, fascinated now. "What?" Lucy said, echoing his thoughts.

"Yeah," Gajeel said, shrugging and furrowing his pierced brow in thought. "S'not a really popular belief for those who know about him. Only ever heard it from Metalicana. Not even Grandeeney seemed to believe it when they'd tell us about him. But Metalicana told me that he was supposedly a human once. I don't know how he became a dragon, but I don't think it was through any good methods. Must be the process that turned him crazy. The only mythic to ever turn into something it wasn't born at was END, and look how he's remembered."

Something in Natsu churned at he mention of what he'd done previously, but he felt something curl protectively around him, immediately soothing away that pain that always came with the memories of what he'd done under his brother's command. It was gone as quickly as it came, and Natsu found himself relaxed as he said quietly, "Not everyone goes crazy when they change. There's a bunch of minor mythics that don't. Look at the vampires and stuff."

"Yes, but that's a little different," said Levy with a frown. "At the core, they still contain aspects of humanity. Many vampires don't like what they are, what they have to do to survive. Besides, the Council has even been considering identifying vampires and werewolves and such – those that are turned into what they are through various contact with another – as a non-mythic."

"Great," muttered Natsu, "so the rest of us are still monsters, right?"

"Says the demon," said Gajeel, and Natsu bristled furiously at him.

Ignoring them, Levy continued speaking, cocking her head. "The kind of change we're discussing…END and Acnologia, if what the stories say are true…it's a change made of their own willpower. They chose to become what they are. They were already as they were before they became worse."

It took everything in Natsu not to explode.

They thought he'd wanted to become END? To kill people under Zeref's command? To be remembered as nothing more than a monster to haunt a child's nightmares? He was even remembered in Lucy's time as a mindless creature who'd killed because he'd liked to.

He suddenly wondered why Igneel had never sent out word that END had changed sides – that END hadn't been anything like the rumors. That END hated killing people and preferred life, preferred to help people.

Lucy's fingers wound through his quite suddenly, startling him, and something soft and kind touched the anger, the frustration, the misery that always came with such violent emotions. Just like that, they were soothed. Not entirely gone, but lessened. He didn't feel as if he were about to explode anymore, and it was much nicer, he couldn't help but think. He ignored the look on Gajeel's face; Gajeel had clearly noticed Lucy's action. Levy, too, but she pretended to not have.

"In any case," said Lucy, moving on from the subject so that it didn't capture anyone's attention too much, "what do you think? Do you think he could be the one to do it?"

"Knock down the Gate?" demanded Gajeel, flicking blood from his fingers. Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I think he could do it, I guess. He knows better than to come to central Fiore though. S'a part of the dragons' land."

"Does he know what happened on Tenrou Island?" Natsu asked suddenly, voice quiet. "Does he know that with the current generation of dragons is the last of the full-blooded dragons?"

"He wouldn't," Levy said immediately. "Would he?" She looked anxiously to her iron dragon, who suddenly looked rather concerned.

Gajeel pressed his mouth into a hard line, swearing under his breath. "I don't know, but if he found out…Igneel's not what he used to be. I'll keep respectin' him as the Fire Dragon King, but I don't think he could win another battle against Acnologia after Layla." He ran a hand through his dark hair, looking rather worried.

Silence fell as they group considered the idea of something like Acnologia learning that some of his old enemies had grown so weak in power compared to what they'd once been.

Even if he was still angry with the dragons, Natsu couldn't say he liked the idea of what might happen.


A very chill chapter after everything with the necromancer! ;) They don't stay at the Archives for long either, but we're going to go see a new place that's more fun soon~

On a more serious note, I will be updating Monday. I'm no longer traveling Friday and will instead be flying home on Tuesday next week, seeing as my school is one of several that has shut down. Updates may get kind of slow eventually, as I will be taking a full-time job this spring/summer...but until then, expect regular updates! I decided to release this bonus chapter for the hell of it; I need something to give me some happiness today.

Thanks to reviewers (BeautifulSamurai, Meow Orbit, ckc14, madaraswife,Uchida Akira, vaneanime, lcr0718, Bugseey, aquarius592, CodenameMise, Sydneste, FranFranWriter, and FairyTailxFanGirl!) as well as those who favorited and followed! They've really helped make my day in recent times. :)