Chapter 17: Awakening

AN: I've been gone for a while. I'm not going to bother giving excuses or reasons, so here's the next chapter! Added an author note to the bottom, please read it.


[Clover Town Park]

Clarissa didn't know what to do. She wasn't strong, she didn't have magic, nor could she see anyone around to send help. Everyone else in the park had already ran off. She could only sit, huddling the other children behind her while she watched the blonde-haired man pick Myou's unconscious body up, his clawed hand tightening around her throat. She desperately wanted to do something, but at the same time she knew if she tried anything, she would be leaving the other children in her care open to attack. The best she could hope for was that someone from Fairy Tail would reach Natsu in time to send help.

She had completely forgotten about the Lacrima that she had used to call Fairy Tail, leaving it lying in front of her, showing those that were left at the Guild just what was happening. She could barely hear their angry cries over her own screams for the man to put Myou down.

The blonde man lifted Myou's limp body up in front of him, his sick smile sending shivers down Clarissa's spine. "You don't have to worry about little Myou here, she isn't gonna feel a thing."

One of the two cloaked figures stepped up behind the man. "Hurry this along, Jackal. I felt a spike in energy not but a few moments ago." A woman's voice stated excitedly while she bounced on the balls of her feet, her cloak fluttering in her excitement.

Jackal perked up and looked behind him at the cloaked woman. "Seriously? How much stronger than before? This should only take a second, but it'd be better if he-" He was cut off when suddenly he someone was in front of him and grabbing ahold of the wrist holding the girl in the air. Jackal's eyes widened; he hadn't even felt the man appear until he had gotten ahold of him. The speed that he must have been moving would have had to have been incredible. If he hadn't heard him with his enhanced hearing, he should have been able to feel the magical energy approaching, but neither had happened.

"Drop the girl." The voice was distorted, almost as if two were talking at the same time, and Jackal had to look over the man standing in front of him twice before his brain caught up to what he was seeing. Black and red scales covered almost the entirety of his body, two short horns jutted out from his forehead and curved back over the top of his head, leathery wings aloft behind him, the black vest he wore was torn in several places and barely hanging on. But it was his eyes that drew Jackal in. They were blood red and initially seemed completely devoid of all emotion, but he could see the warring emotions just underneath the exterior. It didn't fit the picture he was getting from the man. For despite the relaxed posture and calm voice, the fury he could feel rolling off him in waves, almost a physical presence.

Jackal was nearly in awe at the intimidating presence in front of him, so much so that he didn't move or speak. "I'm going to say it one more time." Jackal shook his head to clear his mind. "Drop the girl, or lose your hand."

This only made Jackal's smile widen fractionally. "I see you haven't fully awakened yet, not if you still have feelings for this human child." Yellow magic seals started to appear across Myou's limbs. "I'll just have to fix that!" Jackal yelled out.

Natsu growled and in a burst of speed, jabbed his free hand's claws into Jackal's wrist, forcing the blonde to let go of Myou as he cried out in pain and jumped away. Natsu leapt back with Myou in his arms, inwardly panicking that the seals were starting to glow, though outwardly his eyes merely widened. Jackal's mad cackling didn't distract Natsu as he put his clawed hand on one of the magic circles.

Everyone watched in surprised while Natsu pulsed his magic around himself and Myou, fire and black energy swirling around them briefly before collapsing into the circle. The magic circle shattered, making Jackal yell out in anger. "Let's see you get rid of the rest of them before they go boom!" As he had claimed, the remaining magic circles started to glow ominously. "Now, EXPLODE!"

A high-pitched whine rang out briefly before Myou and Natsu were surrounded by a cloud of dust when they exploded. Jackal started to laugh when Natsu let out a bestial roar. The cloud of dust dissipated to show Natsu wrapped around Myou, his wings curled around her small form with red and black fire swirled around them. After the dust had settled, Natsu's eyes snapped up to Jackal with a snarl, anger dancing through his eyes.

One of the cloaked figures shuddered at the amount of sheer energy rolling off of the pink-haired Dragon Slayer. "So much raw magical power." A female voice whispered out from the shorter of the two.

Natsu stood slowly and walked over to where Clarissa knelt and uncurled his wings from Myou to show her still unharmed but unconscious. "Hold Myou until I'm done." He commanded the older woman, his intense gaze frightening the orphanage matron, however she nodded quickly and accepted the young girl from the man in front of her. There was nothing else she could do, not against this intimidating version of what she assumed was Natsu. In all her time knowing the man, he had never given her a glimpse of this intimidating form.

Natsu stood up and walked stiffly towards the blonde, stopping an arm's length away. "Who are you, and why are you attacking us?" He growled out menacingly, his eyes boring into the yellow cat-like eyes of the man standing across from him.

"You still don't remember us?" Jackal's eyes widened again, though his smile did falter momentarily. "The illustrious Natsu Dragneel hasn't figured it out yet? You're really as dumb as they say you are, aren't you?" Jackal leaned forward to inspect the scales on Natsu's arms while he spoke. "Don't worry, that'll change when you fully awaken. You may be fully transformed, but your memory hasn't come back yet, otherwise you would remember everything."

Jackal threw himself forward with an excited war cry, his clawed hands slashing at Natsu. Natsu brought up his forearm to block the attack and watched as the attack scraped against the scales on his arm, emitting sparks. The mixed fire erupted from his fist and he threw a punch at the blonde and was immediately put pushed back when Jackal deflected the attack and countered with his own clawed attack again.

The two traded blows, deflecting and countering with their own attacks until an opening appeared for Natsu and he kicked Jackal away, the man flying between the two cloaked women, who casually followed their comrade's flying body with their eyes and made no move to help him.

Natsu stalked towards the downed man, but stopped before the two cloaked women. "You're not going to do anything stupid like your friend, now are you?" He asked in a near growl, his eyes darting between the two. Though he couldn't see more than a shadowed glimpse of their features, he could tell that he needed to be wary of all three of these people, not just the one that was attacking him. He had the distinct feeling that if he let his guard down, either of these two wouldn't hesitate to snuff out his existence.

A hearty chuckle from a voice that was far too pleasant for the situation was his response. "Don't worry about us, we won't do anything until you and Jackal are done playing around." Natsu glared at the hooded face, catching a glimpse of what appeared to be a golden horn before he turned his attention towards the recovering man.

A glowing yellow circle appeared under Natsu's feet while he was between the two women and without another thought he leapt towards Jackal just as it started to glow in preparation of blowing up. The explosion propelled Natsu forward faster than he had anticipated, but he adapted quickly and ignited his arm in fire once again. "Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!" The added propulsion to his uppercut attack sent Jackal high into the air.

An explosion of magical energy cratered the ground and Natsu leapt up after his opponent, leaving fire spreading across the ground in his wake.


[Fairy Tail Main Hall]

None of the mages that had stayed behind could think of what to say at what they were seeing. They could only watch helplessly as Myou was attacked. As much as they had hoped he would arrive in time, none of them could realistically say if he would get there in time.

The group of mages were fortunate enough that even after Clarissa had dropped the Lacrima device that they were able to see what was happening, watching in horror as Myou's shield failed to hold back the onslaught of firepower that the yellow-haired man was throwing at it. Lucy wasn't the only one with tears in her eyes while she watched helplessly at the sight of that man reaching out to grab Myou.

When Levy had screamed in fright while on her call with Natsu, she had quickly explained that she had seen something black overtake the call before it disconnected. At least she had passed the message before they had been disconnected. Myou's scream positively radiated with energy and caused the video to waver and flicker for a few moments. When the video came back, Jackal had Myou held up in the air by her throat, that sadistic smile telling them exactly what he was planning.

The little back and forth from Clarissa, the blonde man, and the other two cloaked figures didn't give them any more hope than they had already. Then, someone seemed to suddenly appear. One moment Jackal had Myou held up by her throat, the next a winged man suddenly appeared. From what they had seen, the man had seemingly teleported into view.

"I-is that… Is that Natsu?" Kinana spoke up from behind most of the group, causing everyone to turn to look at her. "Those wings and horns, they look so similar to how he was when he showed up yesterday to take that job. The scales and the black streaks in his hair are new, though." She added with wide, fearful eyes.

"If it is, then we shouldn't have anything to worry about." Juvia was holding her hands together in front of her chest with a confident look in her eyes. "But, Juvia is worried at what happened to Natsu."

"He does look rather unique." Eflman replied gruffly, trying to bring a little lightness to what they were watching.

"Uniquely stupid." Gray muttered under his breath, though his heart wasn't really into it, his insult more of an ingrained reaction to anything pertaining to the Dragon Slayer than a real insult.


[Clover Town Park]

Natsu appeared above Jackal's flying body. "Fire Dragon's Claw!" Flames ignited, flipping Natsu through the air to slam his heel into Jackal's gut, rocketing the man into the already cratered ground. With his wings orienting him in the air, Natsu tucked into a dive with a roar.

Natsu blurred through the air, picking up speed as he descended. The resulting crash sent a cloud of dust into the air. After a few moments a dark chuckle erupted from the crater, being broken only by the sound of someone punching someone else, only to be followed by more chuckling. Soon, it was shown that Natsu was repeatedly punching Jackal in the face while Jackal seemed to be laughing in response, though his chuckles were getting weaker and weaker as time went on. Eventually Natsu stopped when it appeared Jackal was unconscious. He stood up, looking down at the downed blonde in hatred.

"Quite playing around, Jackal, and do something worthwhile." One of the women sneered, snapping her hand that caused a purple circle to cover Jackal's body. "Get up." Jackal stood up; his eyes still glazed over. "The next time you fall, you better be dead or your job better be done."

Natsu leapt back when Jackal's body started to morph. Jackal's eyes regained focus and he let out a loud roar while he grew in size, growing until he was nearly twice his previous height and his muscles bulged out indicating a dramatic increase in strength. Fur grew from his arms to encompass the entirety of his torso and his neck, his entire head morphing into that of a jackal.

Jackal leapt at Natsu with far more speed than he previously held, making Natsu bring his arms up to block the attack but the strength behind the attack still sent him flying through the air across the street into a wall. Immediately upon impact, before Natsu had a chance to respond, an explosion blew Natsu back towards Jackal. The blonde caught Natsu with an uppercut as he got close, making the Dragon Slayer skyrocket into the air with more magical symbols lighting up all over his body.

Explosions rocked Natsu around in the air until he fell limply into the ground, his prone form smoking where he landed.

"Natsu!" Clarissa cried out, finding her voice at seeing him unmoving from where he had landed. She had held a brief amount of hope when Natsu had been attacking the blonde, but those hopes had been dashed upon the blonde's transformation. "Get up!"

The Dragon Slayer slowly pushed himself to his feet, wavering for a moment once he was up. He tore the remnants of his shirt away from his body now that it was just useless shreds of cloth. He grabbed his head and twisted it, popping his neck before turning to look over at the blonde that was standing not too far from him. Jackal still held that demonic smirk, but Natsu didn't seem too disturbed by it.

"I was hoping you had more fight in you!" Jackal dropped down into a fighting stance and waited for Natsu to attack. Now that Natsu wasn't hidden by the tattered remains of his shirt, everyone could see his scales covering nearly the entirety of his body, stopping at his chin. The scales gleamed in the sunlight showing that they were entirely unharmed from Jackal's previous attacks.

Fire licked at the edges of Natsu's mouth when he exhaled, leaning forward slightly to lock eyes with his opponent. "You're going to need to do a lot better than that to take me down, Jackal." He spoke dully, almost lifelessly, in his unnatural double voice. His eyes darted over to where Clarissa knelt on the ground with Myou in her arms and the other children huddled behind her. 'I pray that she doesn't regain consciousness until this is all over.' He thought to himself. Myou didn't need to see this, didn't need to see what he was about to do.

Natsu started striding towards Jackal in slow steps until Jackal grew impatient and ran at the Dragon Slayer. Jackal reared back a fist and threw it forward, an explosion crashing outward once he was withing range. Natsu spun around the explosive punch and brought his own fist up to slam it into Jackal's side. He didn't let up there and proceeded to weave under Jackal's follow up attacks, releasing fiery strikes after every dodge.

Jackal refused to back down and slammed his foot down, another magic circle spreading under him and Natsu. "Your punches are weak, little Dragon Slayer!" He called out mockingly to the shorter man.

Natsu slipped under another punch and lammed his own fist into Jackal's ribs, resulting in a loud crack as bones broke. Jackal made to jump away while he activated his trap, but Natsu grabbed his foot and slammed him back into the ground onto his back before he could get too far. The explosion that followed was enough to send both of them into the air briefly, though their fist fight continued as soon as they landed.

A particularly nasty kick to the inside of Jackal's knee made the man buckle with a cry of pain and fall to a knee. Natsu was quick to capitalize on it and leapt onto the larger man's back, his arm wrapping around Jackal's neck in a chokehold. A sinister look crossed over Natsu's face as he leaned in to whisper to Jackal while black fire leapt out and encompassed Natsu's body, but weren't spreading to Jackal. In fact, they didn't seem to be harming him at all as his fur wasn't reacting to the heat.

Jackal began to scream, much to everyone's confusion as he hadn't seemed to care when the fires had hit him previously. But it was quick to tell why when his body started to bubble and ripple, all the while his body getting smaller and smaller. Once the bubbling stopped, Jackal was back down to his regular size and was lying unconscious while facing those that were watching. His eyes were entirely white and a black wispy substance floated out of his mouth. He released the body without another thought. Still kneeling on the ground, Natsu held his head and groaned while swaying precariously. With a gasp, his head flew back and he stared up into the sky.

Natsu stood from the fallen body before heading to the others. He ignored the cloaked women, both of them darting back away from him so he wouldn't attack them. He strode over and picked up the Lacrima, looking into it and seeing the small picture of Fairy Tail staring back at him with wide eyes. "I think you've all seen enough."He stated blandly before crushing the Lacrima in his hand.


[Fairy Tail]

Lucy gently set down the Lacrima with a shaking hand, letting out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding. In truth, the time that they had been called until the time that Natsu had shown up and seemingly taken care of the problem and shut off the video couldn't have been more than half an hour but it had felt so much longer than that.

"Something isn't right." Levy spoke up in a quiet voice after a few long minutes of silence.

"What do you mean?" Juvia asked curiously as she hadn't spent too much time around the Dragon Slayer in question. "He won, right?"

"That may have been Natsu, but…" Levy tried to find the right words to say. "But that wasn't Natsu. Does that make sense?" She asked, gesturing towards the Lacrima.

Kinana spoke up in defense of the Dragon Slayer. "I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that it definitely was Natsu that took care of that Jackal guy and shut off the video. After getting a better look at him while he fought… Longer horns, more scale things, and a creepy voice to be sure, but that was how Natsu looked when he came in yesterday before heading off with Myou to the job. Clover Town, too from the looks of it, which is where the job he took was, and where that Clarissa woman said they were."

Levy let out a frustrated groan. "That's not what I'm saying. I know that was Natsu, I'm not arguing that-"

Wendy's soft voice cut in unexpectedly. "But he didn't act like Natsu usually does." She added. "He's rash, makes gut decisions, and is flashy in just about everything he does. He barely used his magic, in fact he used it less and less as the fight went on."

"Yeah!" Lucy yelled out now that she had found her voice again. "Natsu isn't so emotionless. He's been a little down lately, and I know a large part of that has to do with me, but he always finds a way to smile!"

"Does anyone have any way to get in touch with Erza and the others? They need to know what they're running into!" Levy suddenly leapt up from her seat and looked about frantically. "Who all went to back him up?"

Makarov decided to make his presence known by clearing his throat confidently. "Mirajane, Erza, Lisanna, Milliana, Jet, and Laxus are all headed that way."

"Laxus!" Freed's voice cut through the air in a shriek, his head darting to look around to see that it was true that the blonde Dragon Slayer had disappeared. "Why didn't he say anything!? I would have gone with him!"

"This is Mirajane's Lacrima, so she's out." Lucy offered. "Also, I don't think Erza carries one, or at least I've never seen her with one."

Levy shook her head. "Jet nor Lisanna have one and I have no idea if Millianna does, so it would be hard to get in touch with her even if she did." She turned to her Guild Master. "What about Laxus?"

Freed spoke up confidently. "Laxus allows me to carry his on me, so he won't have one on his person."

"We'll just have to leave it in their hands." Makarov reasoned aloud. "Laxus and Jet should be there the soonest with the others not too far behind. When everything is figured out, I'm sure they will send word about what happened. Try not to worry too much." He gave them all a soft, grandfatherly smile to reassure them all.


[Clover Town Park]

Natsu calmly walked over and picked up Myou from Clarissa's arms, giving a gentle smile over to the children, pretending not to notice their fearful looks. His gentle smile looked more sinister than calming to the children "Why don't you take the kids back to the orphanage, everything here is going to be alright. I'll hang onto Myou. I left my backpack in your office, go ahead and contract the workers still there to fix up the mess I made, there should be enough money in the bag to take care of everything." His voice was still a mixture between his normal voice and a much darker one, but his words seemed kind enough that Clarissa nodded woodenly. She didn't want to be around any of the three people that had attacked them and wanted to be away with her children as fast as possible.

"C-come along ch-children." She called out shakily, standing up on unsure legs. "We… lets all head back home, okay?"

Natsu watched them all head off while he held Myou over one of his shoulders. Once they were out of sight, he walked over with Myou to sit her down at one of the picnic tables, gently helping her lean forward onto her arms to make it seem like she was just sleeping instead of having been knocked out. After a moment at looking at her, he unwound the scarf she kept wrapped around her neck, the same one that had once been given to him by Igneel, and propped her head on it to make her more comfortable while she slept.

Once he was sure she would be comfortable, Natsu adjusted his attention to the remaining two women and walked over towards them. "Now that the violent one has been taken care of…" He trailed off, gesturing with a wave of his hand as if it would be too much work to explain what was clearly going to happen.

"What did you do to Jackal?" The taller one asked harshly, not happy at having been ignored earlier while he busied himself with dealing with the small girl. "I can't sense his lifeforce any longer."

Natsu's blank expression bore into the glowing blue eyes, harsh enough for the woman to unknowingly take a step back. "Rather self-explanatory then, isn't it?" Natsu drawled out. "I simply burned out his magic for what he dared do."

The taller one reacted violently to that, slashing her clawed and feathered hand out to the side of her, the movement enough to jostle the hood away from her head to fall back. Natsu quickly took in her appearance, most notably her half-human/half-aviary characteristics with her feathered markings on her head and her green hair that had two wing-like pieces of hair protruding from the top. Her purple lips were peeled back showing a fanged set of teeth. "Don't compare the power we hold to the lowly magic that the pathetic humans around here hold! We are so much more than that!"

Her disgust was evident enough to make her counterpart sigh. "Calm yourself, sister." She flared her power, threatening to force the woman to do as she commanded.

The green-haired avian woman growled anyways, but Natsu's chuckle brought her up short when she heard it quietly rumbling from deep within him, the sound even more unnatural with the dual voices echoing it. "Don't take this the wrong way, but if your power is as weak as Jackal's was…" His chuckling stopped and his red eyes locked onto the blue ones a dozen feet in front of him. "Consider yourself a failure Kyoka."

The now-named Kyoka froze and a smile blossomed on her lips, her eyes taking on a look of adoration. "I knew you'd remember eventually!" She all but squealed, stepping forward with her arms wide. Before she even moved but a few inches, the magical pressure Natsu exuded forced her to her knees. Sudden fear gripped her and she looked up fearfully into the fury that Natsu's eyes held.

"You expect me to embrace you after you attack what is mine?" The power radiating off of Natsu was suffocating, altering his voice even further as he growled. His eyes snapped over to the other woman who was raising a hand towards him. She froze in movement when his attention was on her wholly. "Open your mouth to try and give me a command and I'll make you a plaything for these humans."

After seeing what he had done to Jackal, the woman let her hand fall to her side. She didn't want to test just how much he remembered or try to push him in fear that he would make true of his threat. He had been holding back his emotions until after he had destroyed the Lacrima and sent Clarissa away. Now, he seemed to be radiating anger, an anger that swirled his magical power around him chaotically, burning and eroding the ground around him.

"Master, we did what we needed to do. We wanted our true leader back to bring our kind back to the forefront of this world so you can take us back to our creator! Why would you care if a human had to be harmed to bring you back?" Kyoka cried out desperately, still on her hands and knees under his pressure while looking up at him hopefully.

"Because she is mine. Whether she is human, Etherious, undead, angel, whatever!" He snapped down at her. "Myou is mine!" Both women nodded quickly to keep from gaining anymore of his ire. Natsu stared down at them hatefully, his mind spinning in several directions at once.

He could feel a distinct magical signature rapidly approaching, near the edge of what he assumed his senses were currently capable of, gave him pause and he cursed under his breath. "Go back to Tartaros and inform Mard Geer that I am most displeased. Inform the others that I will show up once I've decided what to do with you all." The two looked up at him hesitantly, but he flashed them a dark smile that brought a smile to both of them as well. "Worry not, we'll be together again soon."

Both women nodded quickly with Kyoka rushing to grab Jackal's corpse, but ultimately left it when commanded to by Natsu, stating that he was going to use the corpse to get the Fairy Tail mages off his back. They didn't seem happy that he felt the need to converse with the humans, but ultimately decided not to push him on it and darted off. Once they were out of sight, Natsu dropped to a knee and sucked in a deep breath that he had been dying to get for some time now. His body shook ever so slightly and he held a hand to the side of his head in pain.

Minutes later a lightning bolt cracked from the sky and impacted into the ground just in front of him. Laxus looked slightly out of breath but composed himself enough to look around. He only recognized Natsu by the similar looking face and the pink in his hair. The rest of the Fire Dragon Slayer was nowhere near what he had been expecting to see when he arrived. Once he was moderately satisfied, he looked over at the fallen body of Jackal. "What in the world happened to you?" He asked heatedly.

"Myou's fine, asshole." Natsu's voice caused Laxus to flinch as he hadn't heard it like that before.

Laxus finally saw Myou sitting off to the side at a table, looking like she was sleeping peacefully. "What exactly happened to you?" Laxus asked quickly, his eyes darting over his Guildmate's new appearance.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Laxus. I know you can feel what I'm exuding." Natsu snapped at the blonde. Natsu staggered to his feet before making his way over to sit next to Myou while Jet slid onto the scene to stop next to Laxus, also seemingly out of breath.

"You going to explain what's going on with you?" Laxus asked while trying not to show that he was tensing up for a fight with his fellow Dragon Slayer.

"That depends." Natsu glared over at the duo. "How many more are we expecting?"

Laxus folded his arms across his chest. "Erza, Mira, Lisanna, and that Millianna girl. They were all headed this way when I left the Guild." Jet just stared in slight horror at Natsu's new appearance and his voice, finding himself questioning if this was even their friend at all.

Natsu sneered and his magic erupted from him, with enough outward force to cause Myou to start to roll away from him in her sleep. He barely caught himself and stopped his magical pressure before reaching over and gently stopping Myou from being pushed away even more. Once he had his power under control, he turned back to the two Fairy Tail members that had shown up to help him. "Guild of demons revers me because they think I'm going to lead them to Zeref. They figured emotional trauma would be enough to awaken what's been hidden deep within me. Apparently, I'm what they call an Etherious that is destined to join up with Zeref and cause the end of all humanity." He bit outangrily. Just saying it out loud put a disgusting taste in his mouth.

Jet tensed up at Natsu's last declaration. "Z-zeref? The same one that made all of those dark magic books and is basically the evilest person that has ever lived? That Zeref?"

Laxus tried not to show it, but he was preparing himself for a fight even more than he was before. Just hearing the name was enough to put him on edge. To hear Natsu say that those that had attacked him were going to use him to bring about the end of humanity? That was enough to seize the man's heart with fear.

Natsu took notice of the blonde tensing up and leveled a glare at the man. "Is that how you want to play it, Laxus? I lay out what they want from me and you plan to attack?"

"Better safe than sorry, you have no idea how dangerous Zeref is Natsu." Laxus reasoned, not hiding his warring emotions now. "Better to take you out now than to take the chance of you really being one of his creations."

"Why in the hell would I bother telling you what happened and what I know if I was planning on betraying you in the future?" Natsu snapped, before forcing himself to stay as calm as possible by gently running his hand through Myou's hair. Absently he marveled at just how soft and tangle free it was despite the hectic time that she had before he showed up. Looking down at her, he couldn't help but feel proud that she hadn't only protected herself, but those around her for as long as she possibly could.

"What happened to the one you were fighting?" Laxus asked, trying to change the subject until the others showed up in case it turned into a fight. Before Natsu had transformed, he was sure it would have been a hard fight, but he was sure that he would have won in the end. Now? Just the sheer magical pressure that Natsu had exuded momentarily had been enough to give him pause.

"Dead, not that he was ever really alive to begin with." Natsu paused in rubbing Myou's head for a moment while thoughts ran through his head. "That's not exactly true, I guess. In essence, I did exactly what Mirajane and Elfman do. I absorbed his essence into me. He was Etherious, a demon. I took what gave him sentience." Natsu waved his free hand in frustration, not finding the words that he needed to properly explain.

"You killed him?" Jet asked horrified. "You killed the man that was attacking Myou!? He may have been a bad person, but he was still a person!"

"No." Laxus snapped over at Jet to calm the man down. "That blonde wasn't a person. If what Natsu's saying is correct, then what he did is no different than what Mirajane does with her demons."

Natsu couldn't tell if Laxus was saying it because he believed it himself, or if he was trying to convince himself of a reason not to attack Natsu. Several scenarios ran through his mind at what could be happening. The most likely situation would be that Laxus was holding out for the others to get there, but Natsu wasn't worried about them attacking him when they showed up. He doubted any of the women would attack him unless he attacked them first, Erza included.

"How did you… absorb his essence?" Laxus asked hesitantly. "How did you even know that it would work, or how to do it? There's always the chance that you could have awoken like they had planned and are currently weak and you could be trying to throw us off long enough to regain enough energy to fight efficiently."

Natsu shrugged his shoulders. "No idea how I knew it would work. I just knew that it would. Same way I know that I can eat fire, so I took a gamble. If what they were saying was true and I am one of them, at least partially, then there was a chance that it could work. Absorbing his power gave me access to some of his more recent memories and I used those memories to convince the other two to leave."

Natsu watched as the two mulled over what he had said, giving them time to think about it before continuing. "As for the latter, you'll just have to give me a bit of trust there. I could be lying to you in the hope that you will lower your guard so I can attack you, or I could have lied to them about how much I knew about them just to get them to leave before I ran out of energy. If I was aiming for the first, then it's not very smart of me to tell you any part of what I know, now would it?"

If Laxus were honest with himself, he was growing more and more worried as Natsu kept talking. Natsu was making way too much sense, and for all the growing up he had done in the few months that he had taken in Myou, Laxus didn't think that his fellow Dragon Slayer had truly changed this much. The increase in not only maturity, the fact that he was speaking better, and the physical transformation; everything coupled together made him question just who the man sitting next to Myou was. As much as he wanted to question it, he knew that in either case it would be a huge mistake. If it wasn't Natsu, then whoever it was sitting next to Myou could hurt Myou. If it was Natsu, then there was a good chance that Natsu might snap and do something drastic.

Jet didn't seem to have that sense of danger though. "How do we know you are Natsu and not some creature that these Etherious made to replace you?" Laxus growled at his Guildmate under his breath at his callous statement, readying himself in case someone attacked the other.

The demonic looking Natsu grinned, his fanged teeth giving off a sinister appearance. "If I was a copy to replace the real Natsu, would I know that you stole a pair of Levy's underwear before we disappeared on Tenrou Island and she didn't have her spare set on the island to change into once we awoke? Or about how she would react if she found out?" Jet had paled at that. Not even Droy knew, so how would Natsu? Natsu turned to Laxus and his grin grew darker. "Maybe I should tell everyone about the real reason Freed is on your team? About how he uses his runic seals to-"

"Alright!" Laxus interrupted him quickly before he could continue, his back ramrod straight. "You are who you say you are. I'm not even going to bother asking how you know about any of that, but you keep that to yourself, you hear me?" The Lightning Dragon Slayer refused to show any embarrassment and settled for a glare. Laxus would be able to keep Jet quiet, but the less he heard, the better.

Natsu barked out a laugh. While he was laughing, several knights rushed onto the scene with their weapons at the ready. "We were informed of an attack!" The one with golden trim across his armor stepped forward. "I demand that you all identify yourselves!"

Natsu gestured to Laxus for him to speak. Laxus, knowing that it probably wouldn't be good for Natsu to lead the charge on this one what with his demonic appearance and altered voice. "I am Laxus Dreyar of Fairy Tail." He flashed his Guild symbol before gesturing to the other two. "Jet and Natsu Dragneel. Natsu's daughter there…" The blonde gestured to the black-haired girl sleeping at the table. "Was attacked by some unknowns."

Natsu let Laxus explain everything, knowing his Guildmate was holding back information from the Rune Knights to keep them from asking too many questions. However, it took a lot of convincing that Natsu was who they said he was due to his rather evil appearance. Though it took time, and though Natsu couldn't show him his Guild mark, Laxus convinced them that this was a new transformation of his that he hadn't gotten fully used to just yet. Not a lie, just nowhere close to the full truth. They let the knights take away Jackal's body without much fuss and the Fairy Tail members were told that they would be sending a bill for damages to the Guild.

After the knights left Laxus turned back to Natsu, the Lightning Dragon Slayer much calmer about the situation after the knights had left. "How do you know they aren't still watching?"

"Besides the fact that we both would be able to hear them?" Natsu deadpanned before sighing. "In all seriousness, because they are afraid of me. Maybe that's the wrong word for it. They are afraid of earning my ire in my awakened state."

Natsu scooped Myou up in his arms gently after wrapping the scarf around her neck once again. "I'm going back to my inn so Myou can rest." He stopped mid stride and turned to the two that had shown up to help him. "Thank you for rushing all the way over here so fast to help. If I hadn't been able to make it in time, I fear what could have really happened andit's nice to know that you are all looking out for me all the same." His voice had finally reverted back to how it was normally mid-sentence, much to Jet's relief as it further proved this was Natsu.

"Wait, but what about the others? They'll be here anytime and will want to make sure you guys are okay!" Jet blurted out.

Natsu turned and kept walking away, his heart wrenching at the thought of having to see those three so soon. "I have no desire to see them right now, but I know better than to think that they won't hunt me down while they know I'm here." He replied, his tone resigned enough that it brought the two to look at one another. They didn't know what had happened, but they had a couple of guesses. "I'll be at the Red Horse Inn, room 110. Remind Erza not to knock the door down, if you would." With that he left them to pass word to the others.

He made a mental note on his trip to the room that when the others eventually showed up at his room, he would have to make sure to send one of them, probably Milliana, over to tell Clarissa that he would be back once his transformation had died down. He had a lot of damage control to conduct to make sure she didn't try to have Myou taken away from him.

A shiver ran through him at that. Made him stop in the middle of the street he was walking down, froze him down to his core. If the emotional response that he had just gone through was informative, then how far would he go if someone tried to take her away while he was there to see it? "I'd probably kill them before I knew what I was doing…" He whispered to himself, half fearful that he would fully awaken whatever was inside him and reopen the rest of the memories.

With a new fear raging through him, he set a quick pace to the inn, giving a small smile and apology to the innkeeper as he passed, Myou held gently in his arms. Once in his room and having cleaned up and changed his daughter, Natsu slipped her into one of the two beds. It was only then that he realized that the sun was setting and he hadn't eaten since the early hours of the morning. Which, considering he had been made aware of what was happening near midday, meant that the women that were rushing towards them would be getting hungry as well. He popped out, apologizing once again when he scared the innkeeper, and ordered several meals and told the polite man that they would be expecting several more visitors and to direct any mages towards his room.

Just over an hour later, just after the sun had fully set, a loud knock came to the door. He contemplated briefly about telling them to go away, that he didn't want to deal with it right now, but he knew that wouldn't work and that it would just make things worse in the end.

Apparently, he was taking too long because the knocking grew in intensity making the door rattle and threaten to fall off the hinges. He quickly slid out of the bed and made his way over, keeping his voice level while he made his way over. "I'll open up, but any of you scream or freak out and I'll throw you out." The knocking stopped immediately and he could hear a few grumbled words from the other side, one of the voices far harsher than the other three.

"Myou is still asleep." He said opening the door. A flash of bright white light erupted in the hallway and a familiar ringing of metal filled Natsu's ears and instantly his demeanor darkened. He needn't have feared though because Erza was quickly wrapped up by the other three to prevent her from attacking.

Natsu tried not to hold it against the redhead. He really did. He knew what he looked like after seeing himself in the mirror after finally arriving at the inn. In the past he had attacked people for looking less evil than he himself did. But he couldn't keep the anger out of his voice when he spoke up again. "If you're done…" The redhead looked ashamed and her sword disappeared immediately.

Natsu stared at her for another few moments before pushing the door the rest of the way open for them and headed over to sit on the edge of his daughter's bed. Lisanna, being the last one in, shut the door gently behind her.

The four could only watch as Natsu gently ran one of his clawed hands through Myou's hair. Before they could inquire about anything that happened, Natsu informed them that the food on the table was for them. Though they had been met on the path coming into town by Jet, it was reassuring to see Myou alright and they quickly took seats and began to eat.

So, with a large amount of their fears pushed aside and food in front of them, the four started to ask questions about the attack and Natsu's new appearance. It took nearly a full hour for the four to feel that they had asked all of the questions and that he hadn't been hiding anything about what had happened.

"Again…" Natsu started, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion. "Thank you all again for rushing over here to help. Everything turned out alright this time, but next time we might not be so lucky."

"You call this alright!?" Lisanna snapped in a harsh whisper, barely able to keep herself from screaming out of fear of waking Myou up.

"Better than if this had happened in Magnolia, or if I hadn't been able to get to her in time." Natsu shrugged his shoulders, refusing to meet the woman's eyes. He quickly pushed through the unasked question that statement brought up. "We'll be on our way back home as soon as this… transformation fades. Myou will be awake well before then, probably by morning if my guess is right. Her magical core is just severely drained from what happened."

"What are you going to be doing when you get home?" Millianna asked quietly, a fearful tone making her voice waver.

Natsu steeled his nerves and finally looked up, making eye contact with the three women he had been dating. All three of them were clearly worried, and he could tell it wasn't just about what had happened with Myou, though it was evident that this recent issue wasn't helping their fears. After a few long, tense minutes, the Dragon Slayer turned to Erza. "I need you to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll head back to Magnolia with you and Myou once she's better." The redhead nodded sagely. Natsu was one of her oldest and closest friends, she had to make sure he knew that she would be there for him whenever he needed it. It was clear to Natsu that she hadn't caught his meaning.

"I wasn't asking. Leave this room. Go get another room if you wish, but you need to leave. If you want to wait until we leave, fine." His eyes hardened when she looked to refute his demands. "Erza. You're my friend, but we aren't together. I need to clarify my relationship with our friends here." He could see that she was hurt and he released a heavy sigh. "Erza, please. I'll see you in the morning."

Erza looked worriedly between the four other adults in the room, but nodded in understanding. She made her way over to the bed and reached out to touch Myou, but stopped when Natsu tensed up. A few heartbeats later and Natsu nodded, unclenching his jaw. Erza brushed hair out of Myou's face and gave her a gentle kiss before departing the room to find her own.

Natsu stared down at his daughter, not fully having expected to have reacted so harshly to Erza trying to touch Myou. He knew Erza would never hurt Myou. He knew that down to his very core. But just seeing the woman try to touch her had sparked that same thought that he had just before he had killed Jackal. He chalked it up to still frayed nerves and the fact that it still felt like a second voice was hiding in the back of his mind.

"Natsu… we…" Mirajane swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Before any of that…" Natsu's voice came out far weaker than he wanted it to. He didn't want to show them how much this had hurt him, but he wasn't in full control of his emotions at the moment. "Lisanna did you know? Before we came back from the mission, did you know?"

Lisanna clenched her hands in her lap at the sound of his voice. She made herself look up and into his eyes before nodding.

"That explains why you didn't want to talk to me that week." He stated, more to himself than anyone. "How long?"

"Just that day." It was Mirajane that answered. "But I promise that it isn't what you're thinking. Please, just let… just let me explain so you don't get the wrong idea." She paused, her breath hitching. "At least, not worse than what I can manage has already been going through your mind since you saw Mili and I kiss."

Natsu groaned and rubbed his face, flinching when a claw scratched his cheek unexpectedly. "Alright… I'll listen. Why was the first time I knew of you two being together when I walked in from a week long mission? It felt too well timed. Was Myou in on it calling out to both of you?"

"Before that, I think we should explain something." Mirajane took a deep breath to build her nerves. "I know we've all told you about how we feel and that you've told us that you feel the same way about us. But what I don't think we got through to you was just what we were willing to do to make sure all of us could stay together with you and Myou."

Millianna picked up from there. "You said time and time again that you would eventually pick one of us and that the other two would always have a place in your lives. I admit that it was a rash decision and maybe we pushed too far too fast, but we were growing desperate. I love you, and there are certain things that I'm willing to give up to make it happen." She gestured to the two women sitting next to her. "We decided that we don't want you to choose between any of us. We won't let you, not anymore."

Lisanna stood up and pulled the other two women with her to sit on the bed opposite Natsu so they wouldn't be talking from the table, sitting herself in the middle and holding both of their hands for comfort. "So we came up with an idea and I called back to the Guild when we were headed back on your Lacrima to let them know we were headed back. Myou… that beautiful girl, calling out Mama to the two of them… was not planned. We knew how she felt about us, but it was truthfully the first time I had heard her say it out loud. The kiss was planned."

"We thought you needed a shock to your system to see that we were serious about all of us staying together." Millianna whispered. She squeezed on Lisanna's hand tightly, self-hatred gripping her heart seeing wetness in Natsu's eyes.

"So you decided the best way to do it was by ignoring me for nearly a whole week, then making me think that you had decided I wasn't worth the trouble and had moved on without me, made me think you were cheating on me with one another?" Natsu wiped at his eye and saw that the scales on the back of his hand shone in the dim light.

"That's not what we-" Lisanna quickly shook her head, but was interrupted.

"How could you not see that being my reaction?" Natsu snapped, his eyes narrowing. "Especially you Mirajane." The woman swallowed at him not using her nickname, instantly seeing what he was leading to. "How could you expect me to react any different than you did yourself?"

Mirajane let out a sob. She hadn't thought about that night for a long time. Lisanna pulled her sister in for a hug, confused about what they were talking about. "What do you mean? As far as I know, Mira has never been…"

"Of course you wouldn't know." Natsu's voice was regretful at having brought up the painful memory. "A few months or so before we found out about Edolas, Mirajane started dating one of the guys in the Guild…"

"He cheated on me, had been for a while apparently. I wouldn't put out, so he found someone that would…" Mirajane finished for Natsu, tears freely leaking down her cheeks. "I swear to you Natsu, I haven't thought about that for a long time."

"Honestly, I thought for a while that I didn't have a right to be angry or upset and was angrier with myself because what right did I have after asking for a break and having all of you watch me with the others for months. Then, after I remembered your issues in the past with your relationship, I got really angry. I thought that it being another woman, specifically Millianna, was your way of telling me that it was over just like… he did with you." Natsu replied.

"We messed up; we get that." Lisanna admitted, wanting to get as much attention away from her sister as she could.

"Then what were you expecting? That I'd just see it and think it was hot and join in?" Natsu asked sarcastically. "Because I really don't see where throwing that at me from out of the blue would lead."

"We wanted you to see how serious we were and that it was something we wanted, not something we were settling for." Milliana reached out and set her hand on his knee, feeling the hard and rough scales under his pants.

"And if I just decided that I was okay with it, then we'd still have to deal with what I'm turning into." Natsu frowned. "Just so we are clear, I'm not okay with any of this. You tried to manipulate how I feel to do as you all wanted despite me telling you that I'm not comfortable with it. Now you're giving me an ultimatum that it has to be all of you. That's an impossible situation and I lose in both situations."

"I understand that it's different and isn't normal, but this way we all can be happy together!" Mirajane continued to push on.

"So either I say no and lose all of you and have to explain to Myou what happened… Or I say yes to this and hope that you don't decide that you'll all change your mind again?"

"Again, what are you talking about?" Mirajane asked.

"I said in the beginning that I wasn't okay with this group thing. At the time, you were all on board with it because nothing was serious. And I understand that feelings change, you all have the right to decide on what you want in your relationships. I just don't know how you can expect me to not think of the worst-case scenario. Maybe we'll be happy. Maybe we'll all get married and everything will be okay." Natsu admitted. "Or maybe in a year you'll decide I'm not enough for the three of you and you'll tell me that you'll also be sleeping with Gray too." He felt weak at the thought.

His last statement hit Millianna like a punch. "H-how could you ever expect that of us? We want this because we don't want to lose what we all have together!"

"You're telling me that I'm allowed to expect you three to share, but I don't have to share? How stupid do you think I am?" Natsu snapped harsher than he meant to.

"Because it wouldn't be just us sharing you, you'd have to share each of us with one another." Lisanna spoke up again, more confidently this time. "We aren't proposing that we share you, we want all of us in this together. You have to share me with Mira and Millianna, you have to share Mira with me and Millianna, and you'd have to share Millianna with Mira and me. No fighting for time with you, but all of us together. Working together to raise Myou, all four of us."

Natsu snorted. "So, you want me to believe you'd be okay with sleeping with your sister?"

"It took me time to get used to the idea, but… yeah that's the plan. It may take me a while before I'm comfortable being intimate with her sexually, I have no problem admitting that. I already love her so that's half the battle. Millianna wasn't even a question." She admitted with a soft pink blush. "She's already beautiful and she is already a big part of our lives. Love will grow there too."

"Mira and I are already pretty compatible…" Millianna admitted quietly. "The kiss you saw, while true that it was planned and it was the first day we had done anything like that… We put up the idea about the bite marks and hickeys to draw your eye that we were okay with it and I think I can speak for the both of us and say that it was… well really nice."

"You already know I had my brief time with other women after… after him." She couldn't bring herself to say his name, even if Natsu was the only person in the Guild that knew his name. "Mili and I… Sex won't be a problem. The emotional side will work itself out the more time we spend together. Liss…" She looked over at her sister and smiled gently. "There won't be any problems there, trust me on that."

Natsu shook his head. "How do you expect Elfman to react to that?"

"Honestly? I don't care. I want this, I'm allowed to be selfish here if I want to be." Mirajane nodded to herself as she spoke. It was true she hadn't thought about what Elfman would say or how he would feel, but she didn't think he should have a say in who she decided to date and who she loved anyways.

Natsu then did something he didn't expect, at least not something that he would expect to happen so soon after what had happened over the past couple of days. He laughed. He only forced himself to stop when Myou rolled in her sleep and he had to take a few moments to make sure she was okay. Eventually, after making sure she hadn't woken, he turned back to the three women. "There is one more issue that we have to discuss." He grew more serious and gestured to himself. "This might be permanent."

Millianna smiled and eyed him up and down a couple of times. "You definitely look more imposing and, I'll admit, a little terrifying, but I didn't fall in love with your body. I fell in love with all of you. I'm sure the way you are now has it's perks too."

"Appearance aside…" He drew in a deep breath to give him a few seconds to think about how to word things. Finally, he released it in a rough sigh. "Unless I find a way to either reverse it, or at least control it, you would all have to be okay with sleeping with each other."

"What do you mean?" Mirajane, being the braver of the three, slipped over to sit next to Natsu and ran a hand along his arm with a frown. "You're a little rough on the outside, but we're all pretty durable. A little rough grinding isn't going to hurt us."

Natsu, not sure if he was comfortable being close with any of them yet, shook his head. "No, not that… This is more like an armor, a second skin and…"

"Just say it." Lisanna said, getting impatient.

Natsu peaked back to see that Myou was still asleep and breathing deeply before continuing. "As of right now… Sex is out of the question."

"I don't… what?" Lisanna was having trouble following everything. In an act of frustration and not thinking clearly, Natsu grabbed her hand and placed it over his crotch. At first, she blushed, but her blush quickly faded and she paled dramatically. "It's fucking smooth!"

"A…are you saying that your…" Mirajane looked somewhat horrified. "That it's gone? How the fuck does that work?"

"Not gone." Natsu shook his head, removing Lisanna's hand from his lap. "Just unavailable. Covered by my transformation."

"Well, have you tried to just, I don't know, concentrate on changing just one part of you back at a time?" Millianna whispered hopefully.

"Sorry if focusing on my dick so I can have sex hasn't been on my mind lately." Natsu glared at the woman. "Been trying to focus on the three trying to kill my daughter and the fact that I'm part demon myself. Or Etherious as they call it."

"We'll have to go to Master Makarov and talk to him and Mavis about this to see what they know." Lisanna spoke up. "They would know best on what to do, especially with what you absorbed from that Jackal guy."

"Mavis is going to be harder to track down, I haven't seen her since I left Sabertooth. She could be anywhere right now." Natsu sighed and pulled his arm away from Mirajane to stop her from running her hand up and down it. "Could you not do that right now?"

"You haven't given us an answer yet." Mirajane shot back.

"I can't just jump in and say let's do it, not right now at least. Let's figure this out first, okay?" He asked, almost pleading.

"No, you need to decide right now. You have all the information and you know why we did what we did, even if we went about it wrong." Mirajane scooted closer to him until their knees touched. "We love you, and you love us. Give it a chance to work, for all of us to work."

Natsu sat in silence, drawing inward. Everything was moving too fast; his head wasn't truly able to absorb everything and make a rational thought. He didn't want to be rushed into a decision. He knew what he wanted, but he didn't know if he could just jump into it.

Almost as if his prayers for a distraction were answered, Myou sat up with a cry of shock.

Natsu spun around so fast his wing pushed Mirajane away from Myou and he quickly wrapped his arms around his daughter, whispering to her that he was there and that everything was okay and that he was there.

"Daddy?" Came Myou's hoarse, quiet, voice.

"I'm here, Little Dragon." He hugged her tighter, being careful not to squeeze too much to cause her harm.

"Where's…?"

"Somewhere he can never hurt you again. You did an amazing job protecting Clarissa and the others, Myou." He kissed the top of her head while she clung to him and sobbed into his chest, not caring about his scales. She could still feel that it was him. "I am so proud of you." He whispered.

Weight made the bed creak and Myou tensed up as she felt three pairs of arms wrap around her from all around. It only took her a few moments to realize who was there with her and she turned in her father's arms to look at them. "My Mamas!" She cried out in equal parts elation and sadness. Sadness for having been so afraid that she would never see them again, and happy that all four of her parents were with her all together. She sobbed louder again and tried to take comfort in their arms.

After a few long minutes, Millianna pulled back and turned to her left to Natsu, her voice no louder than a whisper. "Please, Natsu. Don't make us leave." Seeing the hesitation in his eyes, and despite the fear in her heart at what his hesitation might mean, Millianna grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him in and crushed her lips desperately to his.


A/N: I've seen people already commenting that they don't like how everything with their relationship seemed to fix itself with barely a chapter of drama. Thank you all for your reviews, first off. Second, to clarify, things are NOT fixed. He just went through something really traumatic and life changing. He literally almost watched his daughter die in front of him. Right now he is working damage control and having an ultimatum thrown in his face immediately after all that? Think about the character development that I have laid out for him. Does it REALLY seem like he would just accept all of this so easily?