Two stories help inspire this one.
Reflections of the Soul by Lionheart021
Broken Dragon by digemsmack
I love colder and more serious Natsu stories so my idea and the inspiration I got from those two stories helped me develop my story.
Talking
Thinking
It was pouring rain. Thunder rumbled above like the heavens themselves were weeping. In a clearing, in the middle of a forest, a young man was on his knees in front of two headstones. The young man had his head dipped as he was staring at the ground in front of the graves. He was shedding tears uncontrollably, but the rain made it impossible to tell whether the wet ground was caused by his tears or the rain. He slowly lifted his head to look at the graves and his face showed nothing but anguish.
On the graves read the names Lisanna Strauss and Happy Dragneel. The two most important people in the young man's life. This young man was none other than Natsu Dragneel the resident fire dragon slayer of the Fairy Tail guild. It had been a week since they had received the news of their passing.
The 16-year-old boy had never felt this much utter negativity before. So many negative emotions swirled around his head. He felt nothing but anguish for the death of his loved ones, despair because he knew he would never see them again, fury because he wasn't allowed to go on the job that killed them, and hatred for the world at large for taking them away.
They were his only family in the guild he was a part of. The master of the guild Makarov Dreyar lied to him when he had found Natsu wandering the woods those years ago. The man had promised him family and a place he would be accepted. What he had gotten was humiliation for telling them he was raised by a dragon and scorn for not knowing how to read the language of the country he was in, even though Igneel had taught him how to read and write.
Those in the guild didn't respect him and looked down on him for being different for their belief he lied of his parentage. They deemed him an idiot that was too stupid to walk and eat at the same time. They saw him as a person that sought to cause unneeded destruction.
He loved to fight yes but he didn't cause the damage on purpose, his magic was hard to control and was fueled by emotion. Emotions were raised in a fight and there wasn't anything he could do about it. He had no real friends there for the first year he was in the guild. Gray did nothing but look down on him and pick fights with the salmon-haired fire mage. There was also Erza who liked to throw around her authority and tried to control what everyone said or did. She had beat the language of the land into him. As well as regularly beat him and Grey for fighting but be a hypocrite and fight Mirajane.
When Natsu was a week away from leaving the guild, she had appeared. Lisanna his ray of sunshine, his first friend. She had believed who his father was and how he was raised. She also didn't look down on him for his lack of education, she even helped him with things he had struggled with in the civilized world. She had also brought with her a demon though. Her older sister Mirajane was another who had decided to look down on and bully Natsu. When Lisanna and tried to defend him at different times it had made Mirajane angry and she would lash out at Natsu harder the next time she would see him.
He had pushed on though and decided to stay with the guild if only for his relationship with Lisanna to bloom more. It was then a year later when he had found a large egg and for a week the girl had helped him care for it until it and hatched his flying cat Happy. The blue cat had become his best friend next to Lisanna. They were like one happy little family.
But some god above obviously hated Natsu and loved to see him suffer. For his true family had been taken away from him. He was alone again. After Igneel had left him he had been alone before he joined the guild. Even after he had joined the guild, he hadn't been alone per se, but he had been lonely since no one seemed to like him all that much. All he wanted was for someone to genuinely care for him and stay by his side.
The sorrow that Natsu was feeling slowly began to change to per utter rage. He grits his teeth as he began punching the ground in front of his face. He kept punching it harder and harder as his body began to steam. His drenched form started to heat up from the fire within him. He kept punching the ground like it was the reason his loved ones were gone.
Soon his whole body was covered in steam and that steam soon turned to flames as he stopped punching the ground as he lifted his head up and roared to the heavens. His magic pulsed and the flames consumed his entire being as he kept roaring. The ground around him cracked from the magical pressure. His roar soon turned to a howl of pure sorrow.
Natsu soon fell onto his back as he stared up at the cloud-covered sky. He could feel something different about his magic. It felt different, it felt off, but above all else, it felt similar. Like he had felt something similar before. He couldn't place it.
After another 10 minutes, Natsu decided he would take a job. He wanted to get away, away from the guild, away from the graves of his loved ones. He needed to vent and a job where he could go all out would do just that for him.
Inside the guild known as Fairy Tail, the mood was still somber. Everyone was still grieving the two lives lost a week ago. One person who was watching everything in his guild was the 3rd guild master Makarov Dreyar. He always felt sorrow when his children were hurt and here two of them had died. He had locked himself in his office to cry in solitude the night after they received the news from a wailing Mirajane and a depressed Elfman.
While he still felt sorrow for his children's deaths his mind had taken a new turn the past couple of days. He had started to become worried for the resident dragon slayer.
When Mirajane and Elfman had revealed why Lisanna and Happy weren't with them Makarov had quickly looked to where Natsu was and saw something that had made his breath hitch and made him feel nothing but worry. The spark that the boy had always carried in his eye had been snuffed out. Learning of the deaths of his closest family and looked to have broken the boy.
Natsu didn't even make a sound as he had gotten up and walked right out of the guild.
Makarov knew he had failed the boy in more ways than one. He also knew the boy had long since lost any affection he had towards the 3rd guild master. He saw it in the boy's eyes every time they had to interact. The boy had lost all respect for him after he came to the guild after being promised family.
Makarov knew he should have intervened when the boy faced scorn and hurtful treatment after he told the guild about being raised by a dragon. Makarov did have his doubts but after hearing the detail the boy gave, he believed the boy's story but had said nothing in the boy's defense. An inaction he will regret until the day he died.
The light in the boy's eye had almost gone out before and the child almost been ready to leave the guild but the arrival of the Strauss siblings and more importantly the arrive of Lisanna had made the spark come back and grow as the boy stayed and made his first bond.
Now that both she and their adoptive 'child' the flying blue cat named Happy have both perished, Makarov feared that Natsu would leave the guild at best and fall to the path of darkness at worst.
He could not let that happen though. He may have been inactive before but one of his children needed him and he would do his best to make sure they stay on the righteous path. He won't stop the young man from leaving if his heart was set on that but if Natsu started falling into the darkness he will intervene. If the dragon slayer hated him more for only intervening now then so be it as long as the boy was safe.
That is when Makarov felt the magical aura of the person who was currently occupying his thoughts. The guild doors were pushed open to reveal the drenched form of Natsu Dragneel. His expression was emotionally neutral with no positive or negative emotion visible on the boy's face. His eyes were blank and showed none of the expressiveness they normally carried.
Makarov looked at the boy but made no move to talk to him, wanting to see what Natsu would do. He could see the whole guild was watching the boy to see what he would do as well.
Both Erza and Grey didn't make a move towards Natsu or try to get his attention. Both seemed to want to give Natsu some space.
Natsu took in the room seeing who was or wasn't present. He didn't show any emotion as he walked into the guild and walked straight to the request board. He started scanning it looking at every job that was on the board. He then stopped on one and seemed to look at it more intensely than the others. Natsu reached up and snatched the job from the board.
He turned on his heel and walked to where Makarov sat on the bar. Natsu stopped in front of him and without saying a word he lifted the job request up for the guild master to read it.
Makarov moved his eyes from Natsu to the request and read it. His eyes widened a little while looking at the job. It was a monster extermination quest. Natsu had taken some of those before but mostly for the weaker monsters, this one though was a wyvern extermination. From the description of the creature, it looked to be a fully matured one. This job would be ranked at about an A+ just below an S-class job.
Makarov knew one of two things were going through Natsu's mind my taking this job. Either the boy wanted to prove himself showing he would have been useful on the S-class job that killed his family, or the boy wanted to let off a lot of steam. By the way, Natsu was acting he couldn't tell which and he didn't know what worried him more. It was with a heavy heart that he took the job from Natsu and stamped it for approval.
Natsu took back the request and with a slight nod, he turned and walked out of the guild back into the rain.
Erza came up to Makarov after Natsu had left with a worried expression on her face.
"Was that a good idea master?" Erza asked him with worry coloring her tone.
"I honestly don't know." Makarov sighed at that. "Natsu is in a delicate place right now and I will do what I can to help but he needs to grieve in his own way as well."
Erza nodded at that as she looked out the entrance of the guild where Natsu just exited from.
Above the rest of the guild on the second floor sat a blonde spiky-haired lightning mage. Laxus Dreyar grandson of Makarov watched everything that had just happened with a contemplative look on his face.
He had toned down his attitude this past week considering the situation. He may be arrogant, but he won't talk down about the dead. He had seen the resident fire dragon slayer's body language and saw how broken the boy looked. When he watched how his grandfather reacted, he knew Makarov saw it as well.
Laxus wondered what was going on in the head of Natsu Dragneel.
"RAAAA!" Natsu yelled as he clashed with the wyvern. They were on top of a cliff overlooking the town that requested the job. Natsu hadn't come up with a plan to fight the wyvern only deciding to utterly crush it.
The creature rushed at Natsu at high speeds. Natsu took in a deep breath and roared out his breath attack. The flames shot at the rushing monster. It flew through the flames without much trouble as it launched into the dragon slayer who flew back from the hit. He got his bearings in the air as he landed slightly unsteadily on his feet.
He looked at the creature that had taken to the skies above him tracked it. He caught on to the flight pattern after it had taken a few dives at the dragon slayer.
He predicted where it was going a launched another roar at the wyvern this time without holding back and worrying about hurting the creature too much.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu bellowed out. His aim was true as it hit the unprepared wyvern head-on. It howled out in pain from the temperature of the flames.
Natsu could see he had damaged the wyvern by the burns he could see on it. It dove at him again with a new ferociousness. It opened its jaws and clamped on to Natsu's midsection and started to shake to boy viciously. Natsu was trying to fight back but the teeth of the creature dug in deep into his flesh with each shake tear into him deeper and deeper.
Natsu lit his hands ablaze and started bashing the head of the wyvern over and over. His flames were hotter than he had ever used them before. He put all his strengths behind the hits.
After several of those, the wyvern threw Natsu across the cliff. Natsu laid on the ground trying to get up he was panting from both exhaustion and pain. He looked at his wounds and his gut was bleeding profusely from the different locations. He grits his teeth as he felt the pain increase as he tried to get to his feet.
He failed in that regard and could only get to his knees. He was panting harder now as sweat trickled down his brow. He looked across the cliff and the wyvern was looking at him with nothing but hate. Natsu's vision started to swim and he couldn't focus.
He started to feel hot all over. Something that hadn't happened since before he learned his magic. His chest started to burn, and it spread throughout his body. He stared at the creature and it started to change. He shook his head to get rid of the vision, but the wyvern kept changing.
It soon became a black blob with different grinning mouths. Each started to say different taunts and jabs at his person.
"You are weak."
"You are why they are dead."
"Igneel left because you were worthless."
"You are pathetic."
"You are an idiot and a fool."
Natsu put his hands to his ears. "SHUT UP!" He roared out trying to stop the voices, but they would stop. They kept taunting him and talking down to him all his greatest fears being told to him.
The burning sensation around his body became worse and his body started to feel hotter and hotter it felt like he was truly on fire. Natsu howled out in pain as the burning sensation reached its peak. His eyes going completely white as he screamed to the heavens as his magical pressure cracked the ground beneath him. He sunk into the earth as a crater was made.
Across his whole body, pure white flames appeared. There was no coloring to these flames pure white like freshly fallen snow. They shined brighter than the sun. The burning sensation he had been feeling slowly disappeared as Natsu focused his attention on the black blob across from him.
He growled as he raised his hands and aimed them at the black blob. "Incinerate." Is all Natsu uttered darkly as a wave of the white flames launched at the blob.
The second the flames made contact the blob shriek in pain. It caught on fire as it shook and howled trying to get rid of the flames. Natsu watched as the black blob he tried to kill turn into the wyvern he had been fighting. It rolled on the ground shrieking trying to get rid of the flames.
Natsu watched with fascination as these new flames burn away the wyvern. The shrieking soon stopped as the creature stopped moving as it quickly burned away to nothing but ash. Not even bones were left. These new flames wiped the creature out of existence.
Natsu looked down at his bleeding gut and then to his right hand as he called upon his new flames once again. His hand was covered in pure white flames. He then pressed his hand against one of the wounds. He hissed as the flames cauterized the wound. After a few seconds he glanced down the wound he chose to cauterize. It left a very visible scar, but the wound fully closed. He then started doing that to all the other holes he has in his gut and his back. After 5 minutes he got all of them closed and closed any other wounds he had on his body.
Natsu felt nothing but drained after the intense fight and closing all his wounds he fell onto his back as slowly drifted off to sleep. His thoughts were still on his new flames as he drifted. He thought he heard a whisper as his consciousness was fading.
'Flames of the END'
Is all Natsu heard before he fell to complete unconsciousness.
Natsu's eyes snapped open. He shot up to a sitting position wincing as he did. He panted in pain as he took in his surroundings, he was still on the cliff he fought the wyvern on but he noticed the sun low in the east meaning he had spent 14 hours asleep on the cliff for the sun was still relatively high in the sky the day before.
He looked over towards where he had last seen the wyvern. His memory was correct in that he completely incinerated the monster. Not even the skeleton remained. A phrase came to his mind when he saw the ash.
"From dust to dust…" Natsu muttered out as he looked at the pile of ash the wyvern had become.
He stared taking stalk of himself. His vest was shredded by the creature when it had torn into his body. He took it off and set it in front of him. He grabbed his scarf and inspected it and saw it was perfectly fine and rewrapped it around his neck. Natsu glanced at his pants and saw there were some new scuffs but no devastating damage. He looked and noticed he had lost a sandal at some point during his fight. He sighed at that and took the other one-off knowing he would just need a whole new pair and a single sandal was worthless.
He then stood up and took stock of his actual body. The scars were still colored pink but didn't hurt too bad. This confused the young man because of how fast he was healing. He had always had a faster healing rate, Igneel had informed him that Dragon Slayers had tougher bodies and when damaged they healed faster. This was because of their magic. But his body had never healed this fast before. He then lifted his right hand and summoned his new fire. The pure white flames appeared in his hand.
"Flames of the End…" Natsu mumbled out as he looked upon his new flames. That is what he heard before he had passed out the day before. He glanced down at his damaged vest and remaining sandal and dropped a small fireball on them. The items were ash within seconds. Natsu canceled the flame in his hand as he sat back down in a lotus position.
He took a deep breath and looked into his body for his magic. After a few moments, he became aware that his container had expanded by at least 10 times. He was shocked by this revelation. Was it because of the new fire he questioned himself? The flames while different from his dragon flames didn't seem like they were even using magic though. He shook his head of those thoughts. He could ponder more about it later. He summoned his dragon flames in his hand and made a startling discovery.
His normally orange flames had taken a new color. They had become crimson like blood had taken the form of fire. He looked farther along the cliff-top where the trees were and took in a deep breath, he launched a roar at the tree line and was shocked to see the amount of damage the new flames caused. He had even held back and used only 25% of his new full power and it looked like he launched his old 80% at the trees.
He was astounded. Not only had he gotten new flames to looked like they could burn anything way, but his old flames and gotten even stronger with his magic increasing as well. He tightened both hands into fists at his sides as determination settled into his face. He will no longer be weak, naïve, or the fool. He will become powerful so that he will never lose someone he cares for again.
Natsu was walking out of the village he had just killed the wyvern for. They were all incredibly grateful to him. He had gotten his 750,000 jewel reward with a 50,000 bonus for causing no damage to the town. When they asked about his vest and he explained it was damaged in the fight they gave him a coal grey traveling cloak. It covered most of his body so his whole body was hidden away. It stopped around his Achilles's tendons. There was also a hood on it if he wanted to hide his face.
As Natsu walked away from the village he was heading in the opposite direction of Fairy Tail. He didn't want to head back there yet. There were too many feelings he was working through, and with his new flames and increase in magic, he feared for the first person to make him angry. He decided he would need some time away to train his body and mind to handle his new power. He also wasn't close to anybody else there so it wouldn't matter if he would be gone for some time.
He had to train to control both his increase in magic and new flames and a training trip was the perfect way to do that.
Two months had passed since Natsu began his training trip through the Kingdom of Fiore. He stayed away from large towns and cities. He went from town to town, village to village asking town mayors if they had any monster extermination or bandit camps that needed to be taken care of that hadn't been accepted by a guild yet.
Almost all of the mayors had said yes. So Natsu would use these jobs as a way to train his flames in a combat setting. He wanted to see how powerful both flames were and how to learn to control both. He learned to control his stronger dragon flames quickly, but his new flames have taken some time.
These Flames of the END were quite the puzzle. He learned that they didn't draw upon his magic, but he could use them, and they were overall stronger than his dragon flames. The more he used both flames the stronger they were becoming. It confused him on how fast he was growing in strength. He was growing in strength faster than he ever had before. It was like something had been blocking his progress like a dam only letting a small amount come through at a time, but now the flood gates were open, and he was growing faster than ever.
His new flames listened to him almost like they were a puppet, and were an extension of his will. He could change their direction, increase, or decrease output after he had hit a target, and could cause great pain to a person but leave only burns and not cause death. It was incredible how malleable they were. They did as he commanded.
Every time he completed a job, he would take the payment and tell the mayors he was a mage of Fairy Tail and show his guild mark. He would tell them to give credit to Fairy Tail that one of their mages completed the job.
Natsu learned he didn't have to say full spell names for his dragon flames anymore. All he had to do was roar to use his roar attack, slash his arms for a wing attack, and so forth. So far, the only spell he had to announce was Brilliant Flame and he only had to say those two words to use the attack. His new flames were similar but if he wanted his flames to do certain things, he had to give one-word commands: Burn and Incinerate are a couple of examples.
Natsu was walking through a random forest he still wore the cloak he was given from his first wyvern quest those months ago, he had not gotten new sandals. Since Natsu couldn't rely on Happy for ariel assistance, he started training putting flames under his feet for short-term flight. He assumed footwear would be incinerated within seconds. He hadn't gotten a new vest or shirt for the cloak did that job. He was now wearing his scarf like a belt over his waist. His hair had grown a little bit. It kept its spikiness but now ended just above his shoulders. During a couple of months traveling Natsu didn't forget to train his body as well. His toned body had gained some new bulk to it, he increased the size of many of his muscles as well as increasing the strength of them causing them to harden and tighten like a coiled snake.
Has Natsu entered a clearing in the forest a familiar scent had hit his nose. A small smirk appeared on Natsu's face. He looked ahead and saw him. The man had slicked back light brown hair and green eyes. He also had some stubble across his face. He stood taller than Natsu by a few good inches. He wore a black cloak with a black shirt underneath the cloak, he also had a pair of dark blue baggy pants that was tucked into his grey boots. This was Gildarts Clive the Ace of Fairy Tail.
"Yo Gildarts, it's been a while." Natsu calmly said as he came to a stop a few meters from the man.
The man looked at Natsu in confusion. "Uh, do I know you?" he asked the dragon slayer.
Natsu sighed out at this remembering how unaware this man could be at times. "It's me, Natsu," he told the man.
Gildarts eye's widened at that. He then looked closer at the young man in front of him seeing the spiky pink hair and realized it was Natsu. It confused him that Natsu had no smile or blue cat.
"Natsu, it's good to see you. Where is Happy?" The Ace said.
Natsu's face visibly darkened, "He died…" is all Natsu muttered out.
Gildarts eyes widened again, "Oh Natsu, how did Lisanna take it? I know she loved him too."
Natsu's already dark expression turned even darker with a hint of anger. "She died too they both died on an S-class mission they joined Mirajane on," Natsu explained to the destructive mage.
Gildarts eyes widened even more before a look of sadness appeared. "I'm sorry," is all he said knowing he could nothing to help the boy with his pain.
Natsu just nodded as his gaze was now aimed at the sky. "Yeah… I've slowly been coming to terms with it. It is going to be a while before I'm fine again but, I'm taking it one day at a time."
Gildarts gained a small smile hearing Natsu's words. He didn't need to worry too much then.
Natsu then put his gaze back on the Ace. "Hey Gildarts, how about you give me a proper fight this time. I have gotten better, and I would like to see my progress be judged by some who I will have a challenge against." He finished with a small smirk on his face.
Gildarts had expected a request like that from Natsu, but the way he worded it and his tone of speaking was completely different from before. Gildarts had to assume the deaths of both Lisanna and Happy caused the dragon slayer to change himself from the experience.
Gildarts nodded, "Sure why not." He tossed his bag to the edge of the clearing. "Let's see how strong you have gotten Natsu. I can already feel the increase in magic and how potent it is as well."
Natsu regained his smirk he covered himself in his new crimson dragon flames. "Alright!" He exclaimed his smirk widening. "I will be coming at you with all I've got."
Natsu launched himself forward as the flames surrounding him moved to his feet propelling him forward. He covered his hands in flames as well as he shot towards the crush magic-user. As he got it close Gildarts seeing the impending attack shifted into a relaxed fighting stance. Natsu came in with a right haymaker knowing it will be blocked, the second Gildarts moved his arm to block Natsu launched an uppercut to Gildarts's gut.
The crush mage unprepared for Natsu's new thinking while fighting style grunted in pain as he was pushed back a few feet. Natsu wanting to keep the momentum launched a full-powered round kick straight for Gildarts's head. The older mage was able to see it coming as he brought an arm up to catch the leg. He gripped it and pulled Natsu towards him.
Natsu was pulled off balance as Gildarts decided to lift the younger mage and slam him on the ground. The shock of the hit stunned Natsu as he tried to regain his bearings he was thrown away. Mid-air Natsu righted himself as he turned and himself at his opponent. He took in a deep breath and roared out. "ROAR!" Natsu shouted as a torrent of crimson flames shot out of his mouth towards Gildarts who only raised a hand and sent a way of crush magic to destroy Natsu's flames.
Natsu knew how dangerous that magic was as he used his flames to launch himself out of the way. He landed on his feet as he stared at his opponent. He was still new to using tactics in battle and was trying to figure out the best approach to fight this man.
He lit his arms blaze and launched a wing attack at the man who put up his arms to block. Natsu then lit both hands and combined his fire and made a huge fireball bigger than his body. "Brilliant Flame!" Natsu shouted out as he launched the fireball at the unprepared crush user.
The Gildarts raised an arm and launched more magic at the large fireball. Natsu appeared on that same side of his body as the lifted arm and launched another roar. Gildarts jumped out of the way of the roar as Natsu rushed him again. He covered both hands and feet in flames as he launched punch after punch and kick after kick.
Gildarts blocked or dodged every attack and launched his own which every single punch or kick Gildarts threw connected. Causing Natsu nothing but damage and pain as he has caused barely any to his opponent. Natsu had taken more hits today than he had in the last 2 months. Natsu jumped back only to launch himself forward for a sword horn attack. Gildarts crossed his arms and blocked the attack as Natsu uses the flames on his feet to spin and launch a talon attack on the top of Gildarts head. He only brought up one of his arms to block the attack.
Natsu growled as he jumped back. He was getting pissed. Everything he tried ended up as a failure. Nothing he did, did any lasting damage. He started taking in a lot of air. He decided to say fuck it and launch a full-powered roar.
'Let's see if he can handle this.' Natsu thought to himself as he took in enough air.
"ROAR!" Natsu bellowed out his largest and strongest roar to date. It was bigger than the brilliant flame attack from earlier by 3 times. Gildarts eyes widened to the size of dinner plates not expecting an attack of that size or strength from Natsu. He only lifted his left hand and used a crush spell. The roar turned into cubes and disappeared into the wind.
Natsu just stared as he watched his strongest roar become nothing in the matter of a few seconds. He felt nothing but pure rage at this moment a bubbling feeling started to appear in his gut. He growled viciously as he was surrounded by his pure white flames. Aptly titled Flames of the END.
Gildarts was shocked by this new development. While he had been slightly shocked by the color change for his dragon flames, they still felt like Natsu's flames. Only stronger and way more potent. These new flames though were stronger than Natsu's already stronger dragon flames. He couldn't get a magical read on these though. He just could feel they were stronger and burned hotter.
Natsu shot Gildarts a glare the man had never seen before as rational thought soon left Natsu's mind as he wanted to crush the man in front of him. He wanted him to disappear, he wanted the man gone. Natsu lifted his hands and aimed them at the fellow Fairy Tail guild member. "Consume," Natsu announced as a wave of white flames launched towards the crush mage.
Gildarts lifted his left arm and launched the same crush spell that he had used on the roar. The two spells met and after a second of still the flames ate the spell and kept heading towards Gildarts. Both had the same thought watching that the flames.
'It ate my spell!'
'They ate his spell.'
Gildarts noticed the flames weren't just stronger than the dragon flames but there was another driving force behind the flames. He saw how they were reacting to Natsu and his command.
'They are following his will. He doesn't even need to make verbal commands' Gildarts decided then and there. 'I will increase the magic of my attack and put my will behind it as well. I will overpower these flames.'
He then lifted both hands he prepared for the stronger magic output. "All Crush" he announced as he launched an even stronger crush energy attack.
The wave of flames and the crush attack met and stalemated for only a second before Gildarts put his own will into his magic. This caused his attack to overcome the flames within seconds and the energy attack launched right at Natsu who was unprepared for the attack.
He tried to block but was launched back a 100 meters all the way into the trees. He flew through about 5 trees before he came to a stop. The trees had broken through starting to fall to the ground causing a huge commotion. Natsu laid there on the forest floor completely beaten. He had taken a beating already from the hand-to-hand combat but now the crush spell had finished the job. I felt like all his bones had broken. He knew that wasn't the case, but he was in so much pain he could barely move.
Natsu had gotten only one good shot in, while the Ace of Fairy Tail had utterly destroyed him. He had become so much stronger these last 2 months, but it was nothing compared to Gildarts. It was like an ant trying to fight an elephant.
Natsu heard footsteps coming towards him as he turned his head and saw Gildarts approaching, his bag slung over his shoulder again. He had a serious look on his face.
"Natsu," He began looking at Natsu right in the eye. "You have grown quite powerful in these few short months since I left on the 100 years quest. I can know to say from this fight you are stronger than both Erza and Mirajane combined. You could face them in battle at the same time and come out on top almost easily I would say. Even without those new white flames you have." Gildarts praised the young man.
Natsu nodded at his words as he tried to sit himself up in a sitting position but kept failing. Gildarts pitying the boy a little bit lifted him off the ground and leaned him against the tree that had stopped Natsu from being launched farther.
"Now those white flames you used; they seem to be quite special," Gildarts said while giving Natsu a serious look. Natsu met the look head on though. "They seem to be stronger than your dragon flames. The strange thing about them is that I didn't feel any magic coming from the flames. Do you know why that is?"
Natsu shook his head. "I have no idea why they don't output magic. I have been using them for 2 months and haven't thought of a reason."
Gildarts nodded absentmindedly at that as he was deep in his thoughts. He shook his head to get his thoughts in order. "That is a weird thing but it's not what matters at the moment. What does matter is that those flames seem to be special. They ate the magic of my weaker attack. They even stalemated with my stronger attack. It is when I put my will behind my attack that I was able to blow through your attack."
Natsu nodded at that, "Yeah the magic-eaten thing is new, but I have way more control over those flames than my dragon flames. It is like they follow every order I give them even when they a distance away from me. There hasn't been anything they haven't been able to consume. Magic is another thing on the list now, but they failed on the second attack. I wonder why?"
Gildarts eyes widen in realization. He turned to Natsu, "Those flames are an extension of your will. They consume anything you ask, but they have a weakness. Anything that is too much stronger than you and if the target has a stronger will. Even though you wanted to win your desperation ate away at your own will, because doubts plagued your mind. With a combination of my stronger spell plus my stronger will I was able to overcome your flames." Gildarts explained to the dragon slayer.
Natsu's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he thought over Gildarts words and explanation. He soon realized the man was right. His Flames of the END consumed whatever he commanded but if the opponent has stronger magic and will, the flames will become worthless.
"All I have to do is become even stronger and never weaken my will before an enemy and my flames will be unstoppable," Natsu said while staring up at the sky in thought.
Gildarts just nodded, "Theoretically anyway. Well, this has been fun Natsu but, I think I going to continue on my journey. See you later." With that, Gildarts walked past the downed dragon slayer into the forest and out of sight.
Natsu sighed out as he tried to relax against the tree to get some needed rest.
Natsu opened his eyes and was in a vast area of darkness. He looked in every direction but there was just more nothingness. He kept looking around and soon images and scenes started to appear around him.
As he started to take a closer look at them, he soon realized they were his memories. He started floating through them as his memories started with his most recent ones and started to get older and older the farther, he went forward. He soon discovered two doors. One looked to be made of redwood and had just a lock on the door. While the other one was made of black metal and looked like a vault door.
Both doors unlocked themselves as soon as Natsu touched them. The lock on the red door broke off and the safe door handle spun into unlocked mode.
He picked the red door to open first. He could only pull it open a crack and when he did a couple of new scenes flowed out from behind the door. Natsu looked upon them in shock. They were scenes from his time with Igneel. These are days and events he didn't remember. He soon understood what these doors had locked away. These doors were seals on his mind and held memories of his past. It shocked him that Igneel had sealed away some of his memories. He saw himself playing with other children and other dragons next to Igneel talking.
"Other dragon slayers…" Natsu mumbled out as he watched. That is when a new figure appeared. A well-endowed blonde woman with warm chocolate-colored eyes. She smiled warmly at the children and called them over to her.
"Anna…" Natsu whispered out as a warm feeling spread across his chest by looking upon her.
That is when the scene ended. Natsu couldn't pull the door open anymore so he turned his attention to the black metal door. He pulled it open about the same amount as the red door before it stopped itself as well. A scene came out of the door just like the red door. It showed a way younger Natsu playing with a teenager with black hair and eyes. The teenager smiled warmly at the child Natsu who grinned back and happily called the black-haired teenager…
"…Brother," Natsu whispered out as his eyes widened. He had an older brother. He didn't know his name yet but as Natsu turned his eyes back to the doors he realized the more he used both his dragon flames and his white flames he will be able to open these doors more and more. He will regain these lost memories and know his full past.
What Natsu didn't see was behind each door was a seed. Behind the red door sat a red seed with a flame pattern imprinted on it that was orange in color. Behind the black metal door sat a black seed with a flame pattern on it as well. This flame pattern was colored white though.
At the same time, both seeds sprouted a root that connects to the black void below it like it was the ground. It was that day both seeds had taken root.
4 months later
The Fairy Tail guild hall was now back to its normal energy. The half a year that Lisanna and Happy had passed been a difficult time for the guild. Many took some time to grieve but now everything is what it was like before the incident. Makarov had a small smile as he looked at his guild, happy that everybody was moving forward.
There was one person though who went through a drastic change by the death of Lisanna and Happy. The oldest Strauss sibling Mirajane. The Demon of Fairy Tail had hung up her wings and now was a changed woman. Instead of revealing gothic attire she now wore a conservative maroon sundress. Instead of having her bangs hang free and having a ponytail, she switched the hairstyle. Pulling up her bangs in a small ponytail and letting the rest of her hair flow free.
It wasn't just cosmetic looks that changed. Her old arrogant and demonic personality gave away to a bright and smiling personality full of positivity and sunshine. She gave up doing jobs and after 2 weeks of grieving for Lisanna took up the job as a head barmaid in the guild.
Her thoughts though were elsewhere specifically on a certain dragon slayer. Her thoughts had been about Natsu for a few months now. Well, she had always thought about Natsu. She has had a secret crush on the pink-haired dragon slayer for years now. That is why she had always picked on him and made him cry because she had always thought he had looked cuter that way.
She would reluctantly admit though that she had been jealous of her sister's relationship with Natsu. Every time she had seen them get along so well and every time her sister defended the dragon slayer jealously burned within the oldest Strauss sibling. It is why those instants show would put more force behind her bullying.
Now though she deeply regrets her actions. The day she and Elfman returned from that fateful job, she had seen how Natsu had reacted to the news. The utterly broken look he had as he left the guild in silence made her heartbreak.
It was since then that she wanted to talk to him. She wanted to apologize and beg for forgiveness. She wanted to talk to him to hear about his pain and she could tell him about hers. She wanted to form a new bond with the fire dragon slayer. She didn't want to act upon her feelings for him though she didn't want to try and replace Lisanna. Even though she knew her sister would probably not want either of them to be sad or alone, Mirajane just couldn't think about betraying her like that.
'Right now,' a voice deep in Mirajane's mind whispered. She shook her head trying to get rid of the traitorous thought.
When she had returned to the guild those months ago looking for Natsu, she had been informed he had taken a wyvern extermination job a week before and had not returned yet. This had saddened her but the rumors about how expressionless he had been when he took the job and made her worry. She hoped he was fine and safe.
It had been 6 months since he had left, and he had yet to return. She was now worried sick about him. The rumors that had been floating around hadn't helped her either. Many said he was dead, others said he left the guild, while some said he had finally become a dark mage since the destruction he had caused was an indicator for it. Mira just wanted him home and safe.
She had been broken from her thoughts when the guild doors slowly creaked open.
There stood a figure wearing a full-body coal grey traveling cloak that ended at the person's Achilles tendons. The bottom of the cloak looked a bit torn up. They were also wearing the attached hood so no one could see the face of the person.
Many were looking at the new person wondering who they were and what they had wanted. This stranger took a few steps into the guild the hood turning indicated they were moving their head to look around the guildhall.
The opening of the hood was soon aimed at the bar, more specifically the master Makarov and Mira who stood behind the master. They took a step in that direction when someone finally broke the silence.
"Hey! Who are you and why are you here?" the resident ice mage Grey said as he stood up from his table glaring at the hooded figure. The hood moved in his direction for a moment before it was put back on the master. The figure took another step. As soon as they did Grey moved across the room at a fast pace.
"I said who the hell are y-" Grey's words cut off as when he touched the shoulder of the mysterious figure they spun and launched a straight punch right into the ice mage's gut. The mage folded around the fist as they coughed up all the air in their lungs and a good amount of spittle. The cloaked figure used their other hand to grip the ice mage's face and slam him to the ground. He let go and stood back up looking down on the mage.
Everyone was frozen in shock at how quickly this stranger had taken down Grey. Who by the way was still conscious on the ground but was trying to breathe and get his bearings.
"Don't touch me." Was all the cloaked figure said in a tone of mild annoyance.
The figure then turned and finally made his way over to Makarov who was giving the figure a look of appraisal over his beer he was currently drinking.
He then glanced back at Mirajane. "Mira dear, get this man a drink." He said lightly. Many were shocked by the master's actions. Mira quickly ran and filled another mug before setting it down next to the master. The figure picked up the mug and took a large swig of it.
"It's been a while… Natsu." Makarov said. His words carried in the quiet guildhall. Everyone was gobsmacked by those words.
The figure grunted as they reached his other hand up and pulled their hood, revealing the face of the one and only Natsu Dragneel. His pink hair a bit longer since they had all last seen him, but it was Natsu all right. The only other difference was that he wasn't smiling and had a serious look on his face.
"Being attacked at the front door was a nice greeting, old man." Natsu comment as he took the seat next to Makarov leaning against the bar looking at the rest of the guild who was staring back.
"Well, not many in the guild can feel magic as well as I can. So don't blame them for not recognizing you with the new getup and different personality."
Natsu huffed and nodded in reluctance.
"Natsu…" Natsu had heard his name be whispered out behind him he turned to the shocked Mirajane. He could see multiple emotions in her eyes. Shock, worry, relief, hope, and dare he thinks love. Those last two confused Natsu the most as he looked at the new Mirajane.
"Mirajane," Natsu drawled out. "You're looking… good." He commented lightly. His words shocked everyone more than had been before. Natsu noticing a woman was newspaper-worthy news. Even Makarov looked at Natsu out of the corner of his eye. None was affected more than Mirajane whose eyes widened in shock as a small blush appeared on her cheeks. She never expected Natsu to say something like that. Usually, he would greet her yes but say nothing about her appearance. He didn't comment on any girl's appearance before.
Natsu on the other hand had meant what he had said. She did look good. He liked the look she had now more than her older one. He could even tell she had developed a bit more in the past few months. He could see her chest add gotten a bit bigger.
The thing about Natsu is that he had started noticing girls when every guy started noticing them. He had chosen to not care and dwell on it as other things occupied his time. Now that his priorities began to change and his decision to not be the fool anymore, he decided to say what is truly on his mind.
"Natsu," Makarov said getting the dragon slayer's attention. "Why did you not return after you completed the wyvern extermination job?"
Natsu looked at Makarov almost studying him. The rest of the guild leaning in wanting to know the answer as well. Some more than others. Cana had a pool going for the reason, Makarov because he wanted answers for the rumors he had been hearing, and Mirajane because she was worried about her secret crush.
"Didn't feel like it," Natsu replied nonchalantly as he took another swig from his beer.
Many face faulted at the answer. Makarov just sweatdropped at the answer, he could see the slight amusement on Natsu's expression to know the boy was screwing with them a little bit.
"How about the real reason?" Makarov asked.
Natsu gave him a side-eye before he answered. "Learned a few things about my magic while fighting the wyvern. Decided to take some time to train." Natsu replied easily.
Makarov nodded. "So you are the mysterious fire mage with pink hair going from town to town exterminating monsters and destroying bandit camps," Makarov said with an air of certainty. The rest of the guild was shocked by the words. Many haven't heard those rumors.
Natsu turned to fully look at the 3rd guild master. After a moment shrugged his shoulders, "Ya caught me."
Now Makarov's eyes gained a sharp look. "So, you are the one that traumatized bandits so badly they called their attacker the Devil. After so many had been brutalized, burned, and beaten to an inch of their lives."
His words shocked the guild even more. Mira had a look of shock and worry as she looked at the pink-haired dragon slayer. Many were looking at Natsu in shock and awe. Some even had looks of fear.
"Your point?" Natsu mildly asked.
"Why did you go that far with them?" Makarov forcefully asked.
"I didn't kill them, did I?" Natsu asked now looking at the man.
"No, but you didn't need to treat them like that. Why did you even do it?"
"To test my new flames," Natsu said with a deathly calmness.
"Test your new flames?" Makarov asked in confusion.
"Yes, during my fight with the wyvern, my flames changed they became stronger and more destructive. That was the point of my trip to train with them. The monsters and bandits were perfect testing dummies." Natsu said as he finished his beer.
Makarov's eyebrow twitched at the boy's nonchalance of the situation. Was the smiling happy-go-lucky boy really gone? He heaved a sigh.
"The S-class trials are in two weeks. I wanted to talk to you before I decided to nominate you. I will need to speak to you privately before I make my final decision to nominate you." Makarov informed Natsu and in this case the rest of the guild.
Natsu turned his full attention to Makarov, slightly taken aback by his words. He nodded at the words and stood up and left the guild. Many looking after him. Mira gained a look of longing as she watched him leave. She really needed to talk to him as well.
Natsu was standing in front of 2 graves. The ones he made for Lisanna and Happy. He hadn't been here since that fateful day 6 months ago. He looked upon the graves giving them each silent prayer.
"You can come out now." Natsu calmly said as he didn't move from his spot. A figure appeared at the edge of the clearing and started walking towards Natsu. He turned his head to get a look at the figure.
Mirajane stopped a few feet from the dragon slayer a nervous look on her face. Natsu raised an eyebrow at the expression. 'That's new.' He thought to himself.
"N-Natsu I have been wanting to talk to you for a while now," Mirajane informed the dragon slayer nervously.
"Ho? What do you need to talk to me about?" Natsu inquired now turning to face her fully, an eyebrow raised in confusion.
"I-I have been wanting to apologize… for a long time now," Mirajane said with a saddened look on her face.
"Apologize? For what?" Natsu asked with furrowed brows even more confused than before.
Mirajane took a deep breath as she lifted her head and made eye contact with Natsu a look of determination on her face but a sadness in her eyes.
"For everything. Every mean or hurtful word I said to you, for every time I beat you up. For everything I did wrong to you." It was at this point tears started to fall from Mirajane's eyes. Causing tearful streaks to fall down her cheeks. Natsu was caught off guard by this confession.
"I am especially sorry for letting L-Lisanna and H-H-Happy's deaths. I should have protected them; I should have let you come on the job. I am just so sorry." Mirajane collapsed to her knees beginning to wail. Feelings she that had been compounding for months coming forward and finally being released.
Natsu was shocked by what he was seeing. This was something he had never expected to come from Mirajane. Both the apology and the breakdown. The image he had of the demon in his head was now shattered and now replaced with a crying grieving beautiful woman. Natsu didn't know what to do in this situation. Well, he could guess but he didn't know if he should.
Natsu finally took a deep breath and covered the few feet between them and dropped down to his knees and brought the wailing girl into an embrace. She stiffened at first when brought into arms but quickly melted into the embrace and wrapped her arms around him and buried her head into the crook of his neck.
Natsu held her and let her release everything she had been holding back. He gently rubbed circles on her back and gently held her until she calmed down a bit. Still crying but not at the intensity she was before.
"I'm sorry I am the one who is supposed to be apologizing, but here you are calming me down." Mirajane apologized embarrassed about the whole situation.
"It's fine, do you want to know something?" Natsu suddenly asked. Mirajane was confused by the random change in topic but nodded, nevertheless.
"I never once hated you." Natsu began catching Mirajane off guard. "I didn't like when you picked on me and called me names, but I never hated you. I just didn't like how treated me like everyone else did. I always actually looked up to you a bit. You were strong and didn't take shit from anybody. I wanted that kind of confidence but I was weaker than a lot of people so I couldn't do anything about it. I cared for Lisanna so much because she treated me with kindness and didn't look down on me. I can see that you are starting to do that as well and it makes me happy." Natsu said to the Mirajane.
She had felt her heartbreak for a second when she realized she had treated him like everyone else did, but she felt hope when she heard he was happy she was now showing him kindness.
She tightened her hold on him, "I would like to get to know you better Natsu." She whispered out. "Only if you let me."
Natsu's eyes widened a fraction and he took in a deep breath he could smell the Jasmine and vanilla wafting off her. He could feel a warmth within his chest, the same he felt when he saw Anna.
"I would like that," Natsu murmured out. Mirajane gained a bright smile that Natsu couldn't see happy he wanted to get to know her better. She hadn't lost him yet.
AN: Done, longest first chapter, and longest chapter overall to date. Wanted to do this story for the longest time. So when I started writing I just couldn't stop and a week later it's done.