After their first kiss, it had still taken a while for Natsu to properly claim Lucy.
He'd gone at her pace, much to everyone's surprise. They thought for sure he wouldn't have been able to hold back after 400 years of celibacy.
He finally corrected the myths about the Infernus, and Ethereals in general, and explained an Ethereal would never force himself on his mate.
They lacked the ability due to their obsession with her happiness and comfort. If she wasn't happy, he wasn't happy. It hurt them when their mates were angry with them.
The thought of her being fearful of him was just a "no". Absolute no. Completely unacceptable. Period! They refused to do anything that could make their mates be afraid of them.
After their first time, Natsu had absolutely fawned over her for weeks, staring endlessly in fascination much to her embarrassment.
When she asked why he was suddenly so intrigued by her, Natsu told Lucy it was because he could finally see her. This confused everyone.
He explained the quirk that Ethereals had about seeing light glowing around everyone. In their first lives, he'd thought it was a normal thing everyone could see.
He had thought that was why Lucy had been nicknamed the Light of Fairy Tail, because everyone could see her light, and her personality but that wasn't the point. In this life, it had been explained that no one else could see what he saw.
When he'd explained Lucy's light was so bright that he had never actually seen her before and now he could, the guild's girls had all turned to mush.
Her light was still brighter than anyone else, but he could make out her features and colors of her skin, hair, and eyes that he couldn't before. He described it as if the sun were constantly hiding right behind her. She looked like a damned radiant goddess and he was enjoying the view.
If Lucy hadn't been a blushing mess before she was now, every time he looked at her much to his entertainment.
He'd purposely left out how her light reacts to her emotions. She could still blind him when she was happy. He loved watching her light as they made love as it seemed to explode away from her and come back. He was loving every minute.
The team had already begun to work with Lucy easily. She just fit as far as Gray and Erza were concerned, a perfect addition and exactly what they'd been missing. She was their new sister-in-law, and they couldn't have been happier with her.
Happy had been an adorable addition as well and stuck close to Lucy mainly for her safety, per Natsu's request. Even though she was technically stronger than Erza at this point, Natsu still worried for her.
One day, Erza and Gray came back to the guildhall from a mission they'd gone on with Natsu and Lucy, with Erza carrying an injured Happy.
It was a mission they hadn't previously taken. Natsu could tell this one was a new one due to the changes in the timeline.
Some missions had been the same but there were a few that, like this one, had changed or simply hadn't existed the first time.
The mission was about a new and enormously powerful dark guild that had cropped up and needed to be put back down. They were told the guild was violent and depraved.
Erza handed Happy to Wendy who immediately started to heal the Exceed. Then, she and Gray sat at a table in silence, just staring and shaking.
It got the guild's attention.
Everyone tried to get them to talk about what had upset them so badly. Their answer stunned their comrades.
"Natsu," they practically whimpered.
He'd completely terrified them.
It had been like any other mission at first. They'd had to fight a little harder than normal but were still able to defeat their opponents.
Natsu had taken the main force but had still held back as always. He didn't want to kill anyone if he didn't have to.
The three of them joined back up and were securing the prisoners when Natsu noticed Lucy and Happy hadn't joined them.
Suddenly, he picked his head up as he heard something. He immediately became ferocious and nearly seething with rage.
They'd attempted to calm him with zero success.
He revealed his full transformation to them for the first time and burst through the trees, burning them in an instant to cinders and wilting the remaining trees nearby.
Though frightened, they had chased after him.
He found Happy who had been injured and could barely move. The Exceed had been calling for him.
Natsu cuddled the kitten close as he cried saying Lucy had been taken. Still in demon form, he handed Happy to Erza and stalked their trail, still burning everything nearby.
When they came to the tree line, what they found infuriated them all and Natsu had seen red.
Another, much stronger force of the guild had managed to capture the blonde. Four of them were holding her down with a gag in her mouth as she struggled. Another member was about to force himself on her while the remainder watched, laughing and hooting about taking turns.
In nearly the blink of an eye, Natsu had moved from the tree line to holding Lucy against him, covering her eyes and ears.
The four men that had been holding her down were ripped to shreds. Their blood covered the area. There wouldn't be much to bury.
The man that had been trying to rape her now had Natsu's bloodied fist extending out of his back holding the man's heart as it beat one final time. The man began smoldering from the inside out and dropped to ashes.
Natsu looked at the rest in a way that made their blood run cold.
"There aren't words for what I will do to you." The voice that came from Natsu's lips was NOT something anyone ever wanted to hear again. The warning was clear.
The final members surrendered in an instant and tried to stay as far away from the demon as possible. They figured if they were in prison he wouldn't hurt them.
The entire event took less than a minute.
This was why Ethereals, mainly the Infernus tribe, were so feared.
It hadn't been the fact that he was capable of killing someone. They'd known he could and had before but tried to avoid it. It was the sheer speed, raw power, and unbelievable anger he possessed.
It had been a display. A warning.
The message was received.
He could and was more than willing to rip apart a nation if someone forced his hand and there wouldn't be much, if anything, they could do to stop him.
Natsu had taken Lucy to the hospital to be checked after she passed out. She was given a clean bill of health other than a few nasty bruises that Natsu growled at.
She was still unconscious as he carried her home in his arms. True to what he'd said, he hadn't let her see or hear him go off.
Fairy Tail's members sat in stunned silence at what was described. They'd never once though Natsu could be that savage.
Natsu had warned them that while the breed as a whole was generally good-natured, they had a nasty violent streak when angered.
They hadn't believed him. He was just too gentle. The rumors had to be inflated, right?
Obviously, they'd been wrong. The Ethereals, particularly the Infernos, were every bit what they were told, even the parts they hadn't wanted to believe.
Gray was the first to speak still trembling, "All in favor of keeping Lucy safe at all costs?"
"AYE!" came the consensus.
They all agreed: a pissed off Ethereal demon was not something they ever wanted to encounter.
"That would be wise," came a soft, amused male voice from the guild's doorway.
All eyes turned to the newcomers, a man and woman.
"We're looking for Natsu Dragneel. I'm guessing he's gone home though?" the man asked. He had a darkness to him but also an air of gentleness.
Third master Makarov had thought he'd had a heart attack and died. "First master Mavis!"
The woman next to the man smiled at her former guild. "It's been a long time!" she spoke happily.
"Then, that makes you-?" the master had questioned the man, though he could assume the answer.
"Zeref Dragneel, Natsu's older brother."
**** Greetings, Y'all! I know I said I'd update yesterday but I did not get beck to my computer until after 2AM so I just went to sleep. Now I'm awake and here is chapter 17.
I want to thank y'all for reviewing! You've been wonderful! Made me cry.
There's still four more chapters. We are getting close! I'm ready to be done with this one. I need to finish my other projects!
Y'all be careful and have fun!