Chapter 7: The Wheels Starts to Turn
'Thinking' – thoughts
"Speaking" – speech
'Thinking' – Dragon/God/Beast thinking
"Speaking" - Dragon/God/Beast speaking
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters they are property of Hiro Masima.
Kriim-Sauce786: I really like the suggestion about Gildarts as you will see in this chapter. As for Mira, I'm pretty sure she will be part of it, I have a plan on how to give the two of them something nice later on and it is quite in line with the suggestion you made here. I might adjust the storyline to have Griffin's Haven deal with Tartarus while Fairy Tail is stuck in Fairy Sphere, all depends on how long I want the things I have planned to take. I'll work on their relationship a bit throughout the story either showing how things might have gone sideways before they left the guild, or when Fairy Tail returns. Thank you so much for this review because it really gave me a few ideas that I think will really make the story just that much better.
skyrim Morrowind: I don't really want to have them in the guild, mainly because they don't have that much of a troubled past (the theme I want for the guild) and I think they would serve a better purpose as the antagonist of the GMG part of the arc much like in cannon. I am going to rather have a few OCs to be members, just to really spice things up when the GMG arrive. And I think once the story develops to that point you will see why I don't want them to be the top guild after the time skip (based on the events that are to come).
NinjaFang1331: Thank you very much :)
-The Fairy Tail Guildhall-
The mages of Fairy Tail were all gathered in the guildhall. They were all waiting in anticipation to hear who will be chosen to participate in the trials, but for that to happen, Gildarts, the only other S-Class mage had to arrive.
A loud siren sounded throughout the city, causing the newest members of Fairy Tail to look around alarmed. Lucy looked at her teammates with a bewildered and questioning stare, Wendy had a look of concern on her face as she sat next to Gajeel, who held his calm exterior but his eyes were alert and his senses sharp. Carla and Lily quickly made their way to their Slayer sides.
"What is going on?" Lucy asked, now confused to see the guild looking excited.
"Our Ace has returned," Gray answered with a grin, now the guild will finally know who will be participating in the S-Class trial.
"Gildarts Clive, our strongest member," Levy named the powerful man that had the entire Magnolia part while he enters. The guild waited in anticipation for their Ace to walk through the doors.
The double door opened up, revealing a large man with orange hair, wearing a large black cloak. His figure screamed power as his calculating eyes scanned the guild as if he was waiting for something.
"Gildarts meet me in my office," Makarov called out to the Ace as he made his way to the second floor. Gildarts saw that Erza was near the Master's office door, waiting for him before following him inside. Understanding what is happening, Gildarts offered the guild a smile and a wave before following the Master.
"Good to see you back Gildarts," Makarov greeted the man as he entered the office.
"Good to be back, once we are done here there is something I want to talk to you about," Gildarts said.
"All right, but for now I have the list of names I want for the trial and now I just want your inputs," Makarov said as he took a paper out of his desk and passed it on to the two S-Class mages.
"So the mages chosen are Gray Fullbuster, Cana Alberona, Freed Justine, Levy McGarden, Juvia Lockser, Mest Gryder, Evergreen and Alzack Connell, a good selection Master," Erza said as she read the list of names.
"From the names I recognise, all of them are worthy of participating in the trail, but there are some names I thought would be here that I don't see and some I don't recognise, and where are Laxus and Mira?" Gildarts asked as he rubbed his stubble beard.
"A lot happened while you were on your quest. After we announce who will participate I will answer all your questions," Makarov said with a sigh. He didn't know what he would say to his ace regarding Natsu, who the man in front of him practically saw as a son.
"I will trust your judgement on the choices Master," Gildarts said. 'I wonder where Natsu is, usually, when I arrive he tries to attack me even before I reach the guild. Poor kid, he'll definitely take not being selected hard," Gildarts thought, wondering how the hype active Dragon Slayer will react.
'I'm going to have to break it to him softly, or we might have to rebuild the guildhall yet again,' Makarov thought with a shiver in fear when he imagined the cost of reconstructing a guildhall.
The three walked onto the stage where Makarov took centre stage with Gildarts to his right, the eyes of the man once again scanning all who had gathered, and Erza to the left with a gaze that dared anyone to make a sound.
"My children, we have once again reached that prestigious time of the year. The time when our strongest young wizards strive to reach the next step in their development as a mage of Fairy Tail is here. You have all worked hard to improve your power and we have taken notice, this year eight participants have been chosen who will stand a chance to reach the prestigious rank of S-Class mage," Makarov started. A great cheer rose from the guild, all excited to see who will be chosen.
"Gray Fullbuster," Makarov announced the first name.
"The competition will be a breeze," Gray said with a confident grin as congratulatory shouts came from the guild.
"Cana Alberona," Makarov continued.
Though more cheers sounded Cana kept quiet with her eyes focused on the ground in front of her.
"Freed Justine," Makarov announced the next participant.
"I will follow in Laxus' footsteps and bring honour to the Thunder Legion," Freed said with a serious expression. 'I will win this for all those who believe in me,' Freed thought as he remembered Natsu's words to him.
"Levy McGarden," the next name was called out.
"Me?" a bewildered Levy asked while Jet and Droy cheered the hardest for her.
"Juvia Lockser," Makarov said.
"Juvia was selected?" Juvia asked surprised, not expecting that she would have been selected.
"Mest Gryder," Makarov continued.
Mest merely had a confident grin, ready for what lied ahead.
"Evergreen," Makarov announced the next name.
"The true Fairy Queen will soon take her place," Evergreen said with a confident smirk.
"And last but not least Alzack Connell," Makarov finished the list of participants.
"I'll shoot my way to the top," Alzack said as he rested one hand on a holstered gun.
Cheers filled the hall with shouts of encouragement and congratulations. The three mages on the stage allowed for the commotion to continue for a short while until Erza stepped forward and with a commanding "Quiet," the hall once again descended into silence.
"Now for the trial, each participant is allowed a partner, however, this partner must be a member and they cannot be an S-Class mage. Prepare yourselves for in one week all participants and their partners will meet at Hargeon where we will leave for Tenrou Island," Erza said once the guild was silent.
"Remember, this isn't only a test of strength but also one of spirit and quick thinking. Good luck to all of you," Gildarts said.
"Now go, train with your partner so that you are ready for the trial," Makarov finished. He cast a quick glance at Gildarts, and after receiving a small nod the two senior wizards returned to the Master's office.
"I'm sorry Ever, but Freed and I had an agreement that whoever gets to go to the trail, the other will partner up with them," Bickslow said, scratching the back of his head while his dolls chanted "Were sorry."
"No need to be sorry, I already have another teammate in mind," Evergreen said with a grin before turning to Wendy.
"Wait me, are you sure?" Wendy asked surprised.
"Of course, for one you are a strong mage and your supporting spells can easily give anyone the advantage," Evergreen replied with a smile.
"A wise choice Ever, Wendy will serve as a resourceful and powerful partner," Freed agreed.
"Then I will do my best," Wendy said with a smile.
While the group was busy talking Carla suddenly froze and a haunted look filled her eyes. A black-haired man surrounded by death, a bright glow of power engulfing her field of vision and a menacing cloaked figure. 'A precognition, but what could these horrors be' Carla thought with a terrified look in her eyes. She quickly shook the fear from her posture, not wanting to alert anyone without just cause.
Suddenly a massive pressure descended on the guildhall and the mages in the guild could hear a loud shout coming from the Master's office.
"What did you just say," Gildarts' voice travelled across the hall. A few moments later the pressure receded and a bewildered guild with wide eyes all around stared up at the second floor. It didn't take long before a frowning Gildarts came down the stairs and walked straight through a wall, the wall shattering into tiny cubes around him before he disappeared into the woods.
"I'll go find out what happened," Erza said as she made her way to the Master's office.
-Earlier in Makarov's office-
When Gildarts entered the office, Makarov motioned him to take a seat, a serious expression on his face as he took his own seat.
"Master, from my mission, I am sad to inform you that I failed. I came across a beast that I stood no chance against," Gildarts said as he sat down. Makarov's expression turned from serious to surprise for a moment upon hearing his Ace, the man who had the power to easily be one of the Ten Wizard Saints, had failed a mission because he faced a beast that easily defeated him.
"This is quite disturbing news, I might have to inform the council that a team of Wizard Saint's would be required to complete this quest," Makarov said with a frown on his face.
"I haven't even begun the quest, on my way to the quest I came across this monster. I barely even saw it before it took my arm and leg as well as an organ. There was nothing I could do against it. After that, I needed to recover and while I can still use magic with my prosthetic, it will be quite some time before I will be proficient enough to go on 100-year quests again," Gildarts said as he opened his cloak up to reveal a metal arm and leg as well as a bandage around his torso.
"Just what was this monster, to have such devastating power?" Makarov asked with great concern.
"Acnologia, The Black Dragon," Gildarts' reply sent a shiver of fear down Makarov's spine.
"I thank all the gods out there that you managed to return alive," Makarov said with a great amount of relief evident in his voice.
"Yes, it was some miracle that allowed me to make it out of there, I think it might be since he didn't even see me as a threat," Gildarts admitted. An eerie silence fell on the room ass Gildarts frowned with disappointment in his failures while Makarov's mind was plagued with worry for if any of his other children would encounter this monster. Then his thoughts turned to Natsu. The boy was always searching for his dragon, following every rumour or whisper.
"Where is Natsu, I should tell him about this and warn him to not search this Dragon out," Gildarts said as he started to stand up, but hesitated when he saw Makarov flinch at Natsu's name.
"Master?" Gildarts asked as he saw the troubled expression on Makarov's face.
"Things have happened while you were away. As you saw, Erza was the only S-Class mage here and some of the mages you thought would have been participating were not on the list," Makarov carefully started.
"Yes, Mirajane, Mystogan and Laxus weren't here and I didn't see Elfman or Natsu's name on the list," Gildarts answered.
"Well, Mystogan returned to his world," Makarov started. He and Gildarts were the only two mages in Earthland that had known of Mystogan's origins.
"So I take it his mission here is done," Gildarts said, while it was bad that they had lost such a powerful mage, they both knew he had to return to his home eventually.
"Laxus was excommunicated. He tried to usurp the title of Guild Master by instigating a civil war within the guild. If only I had been more forceful with him after I excommunicated his father and he started lashing out," Makarov continued, trailing off at the end.
"You did what you believed to be the best, now what about Natsu, Mira and Elfman. Those three don't have any missions like Mystogan nor do they have the troubles that Laxus had?" Gildarts asked. He once again took notice of Makarov flinching. Something was wrong.
"Master, where are they?" Gildarts asked with a more forceful tone.
"Two years ago Lisanna was thought to have died on an emergency S-Class quest. A few weeks ago, when Mystogan returned to his world, it was revealed that she never died and had instead been transported to Edolas. It was a happy day when she returned, if only that lasted," Makarov began saying the last part as a whisper that Gildarts was still able to hear.
"If you thought she was dead, but she turned out to be alive that should be wonderful news. Why did you say 'if only that lasted'?" Gildarts asked an uncertain tone entering his voice as if he was unsure whether he wanted to know the answer to the question.
"It seems like Edolas changed her," Makarov answered with anger and disappointment in his voice.
"What do you mean by that, and what does it have to do with the whereabouts of her siblings and Natsu?" Gildarts asked, letting some of his control over his magic slip as he got annoyed with Makarov continuing to avoid his question and his worry for his surrogate son increasing.
Makarov gave Gildarts a hard stare as a chair turned into tiny cubes due to the destructive Crash Magic Gildarts was busy leaking. Gildarts took a deep breath, raining in his magic before he settled a hard gaze on Makarov.
"Lisanna repeatedly attacked one of our newer members. The final straw was when she hurt her enough to land her in the infirmary for a day," Makarov stated, completely changing Gildarts' hard gaze to one of surprise and disbelief.
"I don't believe it, Lisanna is a sweet girl, she won't randomly attack someone," Gildarts said as he recalled the kind soul she had and her love for caring for animals.
"That is the sad truth, there are even witnesses who saw her attack Lucy the last time," Makarov said.
"And what happened to her after this?" Gildarts asked in a monotone voice as he started to think of what this would have to do with where Natsu and the Strauss Siblings were.
"I kicked her out of the guild, there weren't any other options left. Mira and Elfman immediately followed her," Makarov said, still holding out on Natsu's departure.
"Where is Natsu," Gildarts asked with enough aggression in his voice to startle Makarov. While he was aware of the father-son relationship the Ace and Dragon Slayer shared, this amount of anger was a lot more than Makarov expected, especially since he didn't even confirm that Natsu left the guild. Something was up.
"Natsu left the guild, h…" Makarov started but he was interrupted by an enraged shout from Gildarts.
"What did you just say?" Gildarts shouted as his magic flooded the small office, quickly spilling into the guildhall and turning the Master's desk into tiny cubes that scattered on the floor.
"Calm down Gildarts, I will explain everything but control your anger or the entire guild will be destroyed," Makarov ordered. Makarov could feel the pressure lessening, now only being felt in the office.
"Natsu left the guild. He followed the Strauss siblings when they all left," Makarov started.
"What would possess you to kick him out?" Gildarts asked straining to keep his rage contained.
"He left by his own volition, he burnt his guild mark off with his own flames, which brings me to something that concerns me," Makarov said as a concerned frown formed on his forehead.
"Don't tell me you felt a darker power," Gildarts whispered, almost pleaded for it not to be true.
"How did you know?" Makarov asked.
"This is bad, I'm going to find the kid," Gildarts decided as he turned to the door.
"Gildarts, what is going on?" Makarov asked.
"You don't know about his darkness? How could you not have sensed the darkness that was buried beneath his bright flame? Why do you think I always taught him certain things, gave him tips, encouraged him to improve his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic?" Gildarts asked in disbelief. To think Makarov didn't sense it, the only reason could be that he didn't pay attention to Natsu in his lowest times, heck when Lisanna was thought to have died it wouldn't have been far-fetched to think that the darkness would have risen to the surface.
"Stop answering my questions with more questions," Makarov said in an annoyed tone.
"I don't have time to explain to you what I thought would have been blatantly obvious o you, I have to get to him before he loses himself," Gildarts said as he opened the door.
"Gildarts I order you to explain yourself," Makarov said. He didn't usually resort to ordering his members to do something but the situation called for it.
"I will not waste any more time on this now, every second I waste is a second his light might be consumed by that darkness. I'll be back in time for the trial, I just hope I can find him before that," Gildarts said, whispering the last part to himself as he walked out of the office and through one of the guild walls as he made his way to Natsu's house, hoping that he would be able to find some sigh of the boy there.
-With Griffin's Haven-
The day had started slow, everyone recovering from the long night of partying and enjoying each other's company. While Mira had left earlier to inform the Mayor that they had completed the construction of the hall, the other members were busy getting all their things into their rooms and just moving things around the hall according to Lisanna's instructions.
Lisanna had quickly taken control of the bar and main hall area, stating that while she is still willing to go on missions that she would rather prefer being the barmaid since she was one in Edolas and Mira will not have the time to do so now that she is the Master. She made it clear that until the guild gets more members she will still be going on regular missions but would prefer the missions with less fighting.
This suggestion went over well with the other members, Mira because that meant that her sister won't be going on dangerous quests while Elfman and Natsu were happy that they wouldn't have to go on 'boring quests' as they put it and could go on more fighting orientated missions.
Elfman was busy moving a table around the hall under Lisanna's instructions, while Natsu was starting the fire with his magic when the guild doors opened, revealing Mira with a stack of papers in her hand.
"This place looks nice so far, and now that we have a few quests we can really start decorating," Mira said with a grin as she waved a few of the papers.
"Awesome, I can really go for a monster elimination quest," Natsu cheered, not having a fight in over a month gave him the itch to smash his fist into something.
"Quests are Manly,' Elfman declared, a grin on his face as he was ready to once again test his strength against monsters that were causing good people problems.
"You can go on a quest after we finish here," Lisanna said in a sweet voice, one eerily similar to Mira's sweet voice that promised untold horrors for any who didn't listen.
"Natsu, come with me, there is a quest I want you to take. Elfman, I will give you one after Lisanna is done with you," Mira said as she motioned Natsu to a flight of stairs, hidden between the bar and stage.
Natsu followed Mira up the stair to her small office. Currently, the only furniture was a small desk with a chair behind it, two more chairs on the opposite side of the desk and a single picture of Natsu and the Strauss siblings standing in front of the finished hall.
"What is the quest, Mira?" Natsu asked as he closed the door behind him.
"Now this isn't an S-Class quest, I think we will first have to prove ourselves before we get any of those, but it is a high-level A-Class quest. In the past month, rumours had started to spread concerning a creature that had apparently taken refuge in the cave the Wyverns used. This wasn't really a problem since the creature hadn't done anything. But yesterday the lumber mill was attacked by it. No one saw the creature since it attacked at sundown. Luckily the only injury was the person who locked the place up and he only got a nasty gash on his leg. The investigation team they sent in said that there was a large amount of damage done to the mill but the biggest problem was that the power lacrima was stolen, meaning that the mill won't work until it is returned," Mira said.
"I'll go immediately, thank you for the information," Natsu said. During their construction of the hall, Natsu had visited the mill a few times and based on how most of the buildings were made of wood along with the cold temperature around the town, Natsu knew that the longer this problem existed, the more people will suffer.
"Be careful, we don't know what the creature is and we have no idea what it can do," Mira said, not wanting Natsu to get hurt.
"I'll be careful Mira, Lisanna helped me to start thinking a bit more on missions and not just charge in," Natsu said with a chuckle while scratching the back of his neck.
The quests he went on with Lisanna since she returned had changed the way he conducted missions. Firstly he didn't charge into a situation without knowing what was up, mostly because he didn't want to put Lisanna in danger, another thing is he had trained to control his flames better since her return to reduce the collateral damage while the was on a job, once again to keep her safe, not wanting to risk him accidentally hurting her with a spell that went out of control. Another thing he started doing was forming plans and creating backup plans for if something went wrong, and based on his experiences lately, things always go wrong somewhere along the line.
"That's good to hear, good luck," Mira said with a warm smile.
-At the summit of the Lonely Mountain-
Natsu stood at the entrance of the cave that once housed six Wyverns, but now it was inhabited by an unknown creature. Natsu had first gone to the lumber mill to see if he could identify the creature from the damage it had done. All he could gather from the damage and the words of the foreman, who had talked to the man who got attacked, was that the creature was fast, had long claws, and possessed some sort of magic or attack that burned through the metal casing that housed the power lacrima.
Taking a whiff of the air in the cave to try and figure out exactly what the creature was, Natsu caught a scent that burned his nose. 'Yup, definitely some sort of acidic magic,' Natsu thought. Quietly Natsu slipped into the cave and only periodically took quick whiffs, hoping to find the creature's scent quickly and not burn his nose in the process. The strategy seemed to be working when Natsu noticed a few pools of glowing acidic liquid on the floor. With the slight light the acid gave off Natsu could see a bend up ahead and a brighter light source coming from around the bend.
Taking this as a sign that the creature made its home there Natsu slowly parched the bend and peered around the corner.
There he saw his sleeping quarry. It was a long slender creature with leathery skin covered in an acidic looking slime, four long sharp nails on its claws. The creature had a long snout, large pointed ears and small eyes that told Natsu it would rather rely on sound and smell rather than sight. This gave Natsu an idea as to how he might gain an advantage in the coming fight. Continuing his observation Natsu noted that the creature had the glowing acidic substance dripping from its maw.
'So this thing had acid breath attacks, got to consider that, can't just attack from a distance,' Natsu thought as he formulated a plan of attack. So far it didn't seem like the creature had noticed him so Natsu started looking for the power source. It would be really bad if that was destroyed in the fight.
Spotting an orb that released sparks of power near the back of the cavern, Natsu concluded that it was the power source he needed to retrieve. Now all that was left was the fight. Natsu quickly dismissed the idea of taking the creature on in the cave since the chances of damaging the lacrima were too high. So he concluded that he would have to lure it out.
'Guess I will have to explore the cave system a bit to see if I will have to lure it to the outside or if I can just fight it somewhere closer,' Natsu concluded. On his way to the outside, he came across a rather large cave.
'This might work, but as Lisanna told me, have a backup plan for if something bad happens," Natsu thought back to their first mission together since she returned. Quickly mapping out the path he would need to follow to get outside Natsu returned to the cave where the creature was.
Natsu was happy to see the creature still asleep, meaning that he could get his first advantage in this fight. Knowing that creatures and beasts can be very territorial Natsu concluded that it was highly likely that this thing will wake up as soon as he enters the cave it made its home.
'Well, here goes nothing,' Natsu thought as he lit his hands ablaze and rushed into the cave. 'Step one, get its attention,' Natsu mentally went through his plan. He threw a few small balls of fire at the creature moments before it woke up. A screech of anger erupted from its maw as the fires of the intruder connected with its slimy skin. A soft whizzing noise could be heard coming from the areas the flames connected with the creature.
Not waiting for a counter-attack Natsu turned and began leading the creature to the cave he chose for the battle. Natsu's instincts screamed at him to duck, dodge, roll, anything. Choosing to do a barrel roll to keep his forward momentum Natsu barely dodged a stream of acidic liquid that flew over his head.
'This thing is fast,' Natsu realised with a start as he glanced backwards, halfway through his barrel roll, seeing the beast hot on his heels. 'Got to slow it down a bit or I won't make it to the cave,' Natsu concluded.
"Let's see how you like this," Natsu shouted as he took a spinning leap. Once he was facing the creature he called out, "Fire Dragon Roar" sending a stream of fire at the slimy beast.
He was met with more whizzing sounds and a pained screech quickly followed up with a stream of acid coming from the small inferno he caused. 'Well that sure pissed him off,' Natsu thought as he landed, dodging the acidic attack and turned the last corner before he entered the large cave.
"Now we can start playing, I'm a bit tired of being chased," Natsu said with a grin as fire started leaking off of him and started to crawl all around the side of the cave, leaving the entrance untouched. A grin formed on Natsu's face as the creature entered the cave and the two walls of flame that had surrounded the cave connected, sealing off any escape route with a raging wall of fire.
"Now thee fun begins," Natsu said as he charged the creature with fists ablaze, calling out "Fire Dragon Iron Fist". The creature used its amazing speed to quickly dodge the attack, but unfortunately for it, the wall of flames around the cave quickly surrounded the creature as it tried to bounce off of the cave wall. Another pained screech and whizzing sound came from the creature before it opened its maw and the glowing green acid came rushing out, being launched right at Natsu.
Taking on the challenge, Natsu called out "Fire Dragon Roar", sending a stream of fire to counter the acid. The power struggle began and a large grin started forming on Natsu's face. A small number of crimson flames began invading the orange wall of fire that surrounded the cave.
The dual of acid and fire ended in a draw. The creature took the opportunity that presented itself when the two attacks dissipated, creating a veil of dust. Gliding over the floor of the cave, using its nose and ears to pinpoint Natsu's location the creature readied its claws to strike.
"Fire Dragon Claw" Natsu's voice rang around the cave. The creature was surprised when its claw was met with a flaming claw.
"You're not the only one with good smell buddy," Natsu said with a grin. Natsu wasn't expecting the long tail of the creature to strike out like a whip, causing him to topple over and giving the creature the first chance to draw blood.
The creature tied to slam its two front claws into Natsu's chest. Luckily Natsu managed to shift to the side, only getting a set of scars on his right arm. With a roar of pain, Natsu kicked out at the creature above him, calling out "Fire Dragon Talon" to increase the damage he did. The creature was surprisingly light, being flung into the flaming wall by Natsu's kick.
Natsu looked at his shoulder and saw that four horizontal gashes were running over his upper arm. Lighting his body on fire, cauterising the wound, Natsu looked at the creature with a dark look in his eyes and a crazed gin on his face.
"Hell's flames consume all," a mix of a draconic and demonic voice said, coming from Natsu. When the creature looked at the being that spoke its instincts wanted it to run, wanted to disappear. The creature's mind shut down in fear at the visage of nightmares it saw. Natsu's magic had formed blood crimson flames around him, condensing a darker colour flame around him into horns on his head and wings behind him.
"Hell's Fire: All-Consuming Inferno" Natsu's demonic and draconic voice spoke as all the flames around the room gained a blood crimson tint to them and began spinning. The tint quickly consumed the entire orange flame, forming a blood crimson maelstrom of the fires from Hell.
As a last-ditch effort to survive the creature decided to try and run away since it knew for a fact that attacking this foe would result in certain death. The creature dashed to the tunnel the two had entered from, hoping to get back to its home.
This proved unsuccessful since once the crimson flames came into contact with the creature's skin it was lit ablaze. A horrible screech escaped its maw as the flames slowly started to consume it. Natsu looked at the burning creature with a feral grin.
Once the creature was reduced to a smouldering heap of ash, the crimson flames disappeared and Natsu's appearance revered back to what it was.
'What just happened?' Natsu questioned, moving ha head to his head to ease the headache he felt. Confused, he looked around and saw a scorched cave with a heap of ash near the tunnel that leads to the creature's lair.
'Something clearly happened, but what?' Natsu thought, taking an experimental sniff to see if there was any danger nearby. After no smelling anything out of the ordinary apart from the burning stench of flesh and leather his eyes widened.
'Did I do this?'
Hey there everyone so yeah, I went on a writing spree and here is the chapter earlier than usual and my uploading schedule might be speeded up for the long weekend. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. So here we have a few interesting things happening. The demonic power that Natsu revealed to possess makes a return, Gildarts knows about a darkness of Natsu and the S-Class trial participants have been chosen. So the next chapter will start the trials of Fairy Tail's S-Class promotion trial and the results of Natsu's first quest as a Griffin's Haven member. I will be adding a few OC's as members of Griffin's Haven throughout the 7 year time skip (I will be writing my arcs here) so if any of you have suggestions please let me know. If you want to help out a bit you can give a name, magic, gender, and some sort of idea for a back story. Remember that the guild will have members who had a troubled past and needs a place to feel safe. Let me know what you think with a review and I will see you all next time.