Happy Friday!
It appears that until the flashbacks are done, you can likely expect 10k word chapters, there's just too much to cover with two story lines in one arc and cutting the chapters down seems to break my flow.
And on that note: thank you to those of you that assured the jumps between the two timelines are easy enough to follow and flow well. I appreciate that.
~Onward
38
"Zeref."
The man addressed tilted his head thoughtfully, "so you remember?"
Remaining still with a supportive arm now around the princess' shoulders as she came to, Lucy swallowed the waves of nausea that made the last hour's extraordinary drain on her magic reserves impossible to ignore. She had just been getting the upper hand on Ultear when the time mage's attentions had suddenly become divided, her eyes less focused in a sign that alerted Lucy to telepathic communication. In the blink of an eye Ultear had them both transported to the chamber they now occupied, finding the green haired woman that Lucy had recognized as Fiore's princess on her hands and knees before the Eclipse Gate. Before Lucy could even get a question out though, another of the Kin had launched an assault of blackened flames at her while Ultear approached and conversed with the young black-haired man. 'Remember what…' Lucy wondered, her gut twisting further with the words, 'Natsu can't possibly know Zeref, right?' But hadn't he just addressed the black mage by name? And he had definitely been keeping something from them. But suspicious behavior or not, unanswered questions or not, Lucy's faith in Natsu could never be wavered. Despite that, she chewed her lip as she observed the exchange.
"Some. I know you're as deranged as ever," Natsu bit out.
"I see," Zeref replied with a sullen look, "so then, what will you do, Natsu?"
"Whatever I need to, to stop you."
Natsu lowered offensively, one elbow pulling back behind him and the other arm extended forward, gloves of fire wrapped around each fist. He kicked off the ground and shot at Zeref in a blur, but the maniac seeming blonde intercepted his attack with a hard strike, matching Natsu's inhuman speeds with minimal effort. Flying to the side, Natsu flipped to plant a palm on the ground and snapped his feet back under him to land in a low crouch, his forearms coming to rest lazily on his knees as he eyed the Grimoire mage. "Black flames…" he muttered, sharp eyes on the other man inhaling the residual red-orange flames of his own attack, before a grin split his face further.
"Allow me to introduce Zancrow, the fire God slayer," Ultear told him smugly, gesturing to her comrade.
Natsu paid her no mind as Zancrow threw his hands to the side pridefully declaring, "that's right! Superior to you lowly dragons in every conceivable way."
Righting his posture again, Natsu asked, "is that so?" he tilted his head considering, "that's a bold statement, if that last hit was any indication of your measly power…"
Lucy gasped and flinched away when a blast of fire erupted off Zancrow at the challenge to his power, propelling the God slayer across the chamber to collide with Natsu again, a mix of orange and black flames bursting outwards on impact. She quickly began dragging Hisui into her arms to get them both further back to some semblance of safety. Though based on her past experience, when slayers fought, such safety didn't usually exist in close quarters. The princess groaned and jade eyes cracked open to find hers, "who-who are you?"
"My name is Lucy Heartfilia, a Fairy Tail mage," Lucy told her, holding her marked hand up to present to the royal.
Hisui blinked at the pink emblem, "Lucy… so he found you," she mumbled in a bare whisper and Lucy arched a brow but dismissed the quiet remark, asking how she was feeling instead. The princess attempted to play down her state, but it was obvious to Lucy that she had injuries she was trying to hide, and there was the undeniable gash over her right eyebrow that probably pointed to a concussion to consider.
"Haru, are you there?"
"Lucy—are you okay?" Haru's voice sounded breathless in her head.
"I'm fine, but we need Wendy here, soon, the Princess is injured."
"We're on our way there right now. Has Natsu gotten to you yet?"
"Yes…" Lucy's attention flicked back to the men locked in battle, and Haru questioned her further, when her unease filtered through. "Sorry, yes he's fighting one of the Kin, but Haru, Zeref is here too."
A snap of Haru's own anxiety flickered through Lucy's conscience before he clamped down on it, quick enough that she almost missed it. "We'll be there soon," he promised simply.
Another loud explosion sounded behind them and Lucy reflexively hinged her body forward over Hisui, as resulting waves of heat fluctuated through the room. "Is that Natsu? Is Natsu here too?" Hisui asked softly, attempting to crane her neck to get a look at the battle.
Nodding, Lucy shifted Hisui's weight to one arm so she could get a proper look over her shoulder to check on the pink haired dragon slayer. She wanted to get back into the battle to support him, especially with Ultear still present to potentially throw herself into the mix. But her magic was completely exhausted from fighting both Grimoire mages before opening the Gate at the threat to Hisui's life. If Zeref fully awakened, it would be all her fault and that thought made Lucy more nauseous than any over-drawn expenditure on her magic reserves. Natsu appeared to be holding up just fine though, having entered drive state and manifesting lightning to course through his fire, preventing the God slayer from ingesting his spells. He danced agilely around Zancrow's attacks, with a nonchalant air around him as he easily countered the other fire slayer's assaults, and it was obvious his opponent was getting increasingly pissed off by the minute.
"What the hell are you?!" Zancrow demanded, as he flexed his fingers and wrists attempting to dissipate the paralysis afflicting his limbs after the last strike.
"Just an inferior slayer, wasn't that what you said?" Natsu said with a dangerous grin, launching in to swing a brutal talon kick to connect at the blonde's neck with a sickening crunch.
The Grimoire mage was sent flying to land hard on his back rolling back a few additional meters before releasing a pained groan, Lucy tore her eyes from the battle again when she felt Hisui struggling in her grip. "Stay still, Wendy will be here soon to help," she assured.
"I can't just let you all keep putting your lives on the line for me, it is my role to protect all the people of Fiore—"
"Not in this condition you don't." Lucy interrupted bluntly, "I'm sorry, but right now, you would just be a hindrance… Haru and the others will be here in no time."
Hisui nodded despondently, looking devastated even if she knew Lucy was right. The battle had quieted behind them and the room remained silent for a moment, before an enraged shout broke the quiet, "fuck you, you pink-haired reject, you could never defeat a God!"
"That's cocky coming from someone at my mercy."
"We'll see about that, fire God's bellow!"
Lucy peered back over her shoulder to observe as the fight picked up again, and realized to her terror, that the breath attack hadn't been aimed at the Natsu, but at them. With a startled shriek and no time to escape, Lucy instinctually threw her body over the princess'.
Natsu bolted across the room in an invisible flash of pink and red, jaw open wide as he tried to gather the black flames to inhale in a desperate attempt to protect the girls. He choked on the inhale as his dragon magic rejected the black flame's signature and took the brunt of the attack in turn. Driving his feet into the ground refusing to allow the strike to reach his comrades, Natsu grit his teeth as he gradually lost ground.
"My divine flames aren't something to be consumed by the likes of a lowly dragon!" Zancrow barked in laughter, even as Natsu continued to fail to assimilate his fire.
Lucy called to him, begging him to stop but if he heard her, he gave no sign of it. Then she caught sight of thin lances of gold light seeping through the lines of bandages wrapped thickly around his right arm. Though the incandescent shimmer was gone so quickly she wasn't sure she hadn't imagined it, just as suddenly, the black flames were swirling toward the pinkette as he tipped his head back and inhaled deeply again. In a matter of moments, it seemed he'd figured out how to adapt to the magic signature of the God flames, somehow finding a way to ingest them without the power warring with his own dragon magic.
Natsu swallowed the last flickers of the flame and his attention shot back to Zancrow, "how dare you attack Lucy and Hisui to get to me, you coward," he growled in a low voice.
Whatever look Natsu had turned on him, had Zancrow paling considerably and backing away from the enraged dragon slayer, but it was the psychotic smile suddenly appearing on Zeref's face at the scene between them that sent a brutal chill down Lucy's spine.
"Fire dragon-God's ROAR!" Natsu's body snapped forward with the release of a devastating mix of red and black flames that overwhelmed Zancrow and tore an anguished scream from the blonde Kin. Then, with a flash Lucy couldn't even follow, the spell was cancelled entirely just a second later. Only small embers remained to smoulder along the path of the attack and Zeref now stood a couple meters in front of Natsu with a pitch-black aura resonating around him. Zancrow was laid out behind them, unmoving. Lucy gawked at the incredible show of power, dispelling the devastating breath attack like it was child's play and Zeref looked completely unperturbed in confronting Natsu even with black and red flames swirling around him threateningly.
Instantly, the flames extinguished and Natsu sucked in a sharp breath, his hand ripped through the air to his throat, "what the—wha—" he gasped, struggling to breathe or overcome an unseen force.
"Only one way out of this, Natsu," Zeref stated in a deadly calm ultimatum, "unleash your true power."
"I—I won't do it—" Natsu spat through clenched teeth, the muscles of his neck were corded with the effort of fighting against a suffocating pressure.
"Leave him alone! Please! –NATSU!" the blonde cried desperately willing the fumes of her magic reserves to conjure something useful. This was her fault, she opened the gate, the power leaking from the cracked doors all this time, unbalancing time itself to slowly waste away the seals that bound Zeref's full power. The same power that he was now killing Natsu with.
Hisui reached out and snagged her arm with a bruising strength that seemed impossible given her injuries, effectively halting Lucy in her tracks when she leapt up intending to throw herself between the men, "you can't go, you have no magic!"
"I have to do something!" Lucy screamed back hysterically, "let me go, NOW—there has to be something I can do," her voice cracked as she collapsed to her knees, her cheeks wet with freely flowing tears, "please, I have to help him."
A warmth flooded her chest and pulsed through her exhausted body in waves, and Lucy sucked a shaky breath in with surprise at the sudden sensation. An intense heat radiated around her right arm in distinct patterns and her fears vanished to be replaced with an unexplained serenity.
"Use my power."
Tearing her arm away from the other woman, Lucy charged forward and skid to a stop at Natsu's side, her right arm extended in front of her and left reinforcing it at the elbow. She caught Natsu's eye as he wrenched his head in her direction, gazing at her with pleading eyes, wordlessly begging her to get away. She only gave him a small smile, "it's okay, Natsu," she said softly, confidently. She widened her stance to brace against the borrowed power now coursing through her and revelled in the flicker of uncertainty that crossed the black mage's eyes. Mavis' voice filtered through her head, reciting the incantation of the spell, a spell to combine the power of the sun, the moon and the stars, a spell that would deny her enemies' presences.
Natsu watched in fascination as that same bright green that he recognized from Tenrou island when she'd led the guild in the ultimate defence spell, coloured her irises again. Even after two (intense) years of concentrated training and brutal missions, he could still count on her to stand with him in any fight without hesitation and protect him as surely as he would her. Her eyes locked on Zeref, and her voice echoed with her call.
"FAIRY GLITTER!"
- Flashback –
X376
It was fortunate that Anna was able to enlist the aid of one of her closest confidants to transport them across Ishgar in intervals. Without rail transportation or magic mobiles, travelling to the Western mountain range would have taken weeks that they simply didn't have the luxury of losing. They hadn't planned on spending more than a week or two in X376 and it was already looking like they'd be spending much longer, credit to their recent revelations, but turning down the training to master Force would be asinine. In the end, it was technically of little consequence, outside their own desperation to keep making strides toward finding their guildmates. Theoretically, they should be able to pick the day they returned to… the plan, should everything go according to plan, was for Hisui to open the gate the evening of the same day they'd departed. In which case, they'd lose no time at all in X785. Their escort bid them a farewell after dropping them at the foot of the mountains, and informed them that he'd go no farther, but they'd find who they sought on the ridge. He had seemed somehow certain that the Dragon that would oversee their training would be expecting their arrival, he vanished not long after with no warmth or luck offered, simply upholding a commitment to Anna.
Natsu and Haru watched as the man's form flashed and seemingly winked out of existence before turning to stare disdainfully at the treacherous looking mountain range. "Well," Natsu broke the silence, "let's get this climbing over with..."
They both started forward, winding into the mountainous paths, if the loose rocky terrain they carefully picked their way through could even be called paths. Eventually they even adopted their drive states to boost their reflexes after the second or third time one of them slipped and barely prevented a deadly fall with bursts of their respective magics. The skies above them were overcast and it left the air around them muggy and unpleasant, to the point where Haru announced that rain would be welcome even if it made climbing more challenging. Flashing over impossible to traverse regions of jagged stone, they'd leap between sharp edges wrapped in their elements and propel upward to the range's upper ridges.
Over halfway up, thick clouds pushed in around them with a dense fog to make their ascent even more arduous. Natsu growled and loosed a torrent of fire in all directions attempting to dissipate the cloud cover, but the fog clung to them relentlessly, Haru tried to ingest the precipitation but despite giving his stores a miniscule boost, it still did nothing to improve their visibility. They conceded the effort and resolved to just staying close together as they climbed the increasingly steep cliff face.
"Hey, Haru…" Haru paused in his climb, a few feet down and to the side from Natsu, he looked up to find the fire mage looking flush, and a little perplexed. "I—uh, something feels off," Natsu told him, bringing the heel of his hand to press into his forehead.
Haru closed the gap to bring himself to a stop right next to his partner, "is it the same as before? The pain?"
Natsu shook his head, "kinda? No pain, but… that fuzzy feeling," he attempted to explain. Haru pursed his lips, and glanced upward to check their progress, they couldn't be in a worse spot to have Natsu go passing out again, if the pain did return. They were literally hanging off sheer cliff, and Haru wasn't overly confident that he could catch and carry his partner to the top if it came to that.
"Can you keep climbing?" Natsu nodded, though he seemed a little disoriented to Haru. The water mage gritted his teeth and unclipped the coils of rope that Natsu had requipped earlier, from his belt. He reached around the pinkette to secure one end around his waist before tying the other snuggly around himself. At least this way they'd both increase their chances of ensuring one another's safety… "come on then, we can't be far now."
Continuing their climb, Haru tried to keep a gage on the heat spiking exponentially off his fellow dragon slayer, who now trailed slightly behind him. Haru had taken to allowing the aura of his water magic to spill out a little to keep from being overheated and periodically, he'd glance back over his shoulder to check on his partner's state. So far, Natsu just kept diligently climbing, eyes focused single-mindedly on the next rock to grasp, having likely come to the same realization that if he had another episode now, they'd be in trouble. Finally breaking through the low hanging clouds to find subdued blue skies and a low hanging sun, Haru released a sigh of relief, there also appeared to be a ledge just up ahead that would grant them a safe place to catch their breath.
"We can take a break just up ahea—"
A sharp intake of air from Natsu cut him off as the fire slayer threw him weight forward a little roughly, clinging harder to the rock as he screwed his eyes shut, apparently trying to stave off a stab of pain. Haru called down frantically and careflly back tracked his path to Natsu who was had dropped his head against the cliff and was sucking in shallow breaths. "Natsu—" Haru reached a water covered palm to his forehead and retracted it quickly when his water was evaporated on contact. He cursed and carefully moved his hand in assessment over the other's body where he was clothed, gaging whether he could make contact with him without being scalded. Satisfied, that so long as he wasn't in direct skin contact, he could maintain a grip on the fire mage, he built up a combination of water and ice to coat his own skin and adjusted the rope to secure Natsu to his back. The pinkette groaned through another wave of pain and Haru could feel the fire magic eating at his frigid armour already. He turned refocused eyes upward and redoubled his efforts to move as quickly as possible to get them both to safety.
Hissing as the heat licked at his skin, Haru increased his flow of blizzard-water magic into the coating protecting his skin. He was acutely aware of the exponential drains the constant demand of maintaining the iced skin and water drive was having on his magic reserves. Haru's apprehensions were meeting their own peak when the rock face finally evened out and he found himself pulling them up over a ledge that flattened into a wide ridge hidden by a boarder of taller peaks. Quickly slashing through the ropes with a blade of water, he let Natsu drop to the ground and bit out a pained sound himself as the mountain breezes abrased damaged skin where his shirt had been burned away. Haru grit his teeth at the sensation before easing himself down onto his stomach in exhaustion, working to catch his breath. He silently berating himself for not investing in fire proofing for his own clothing with the number of missions and consequently, fights, he ended up in with the fire slayer.
Haru's eyes trailed over what he could see from his spot, feeling far too weak to move, let alone scout out the area to ensure their safety. He also begrudgingly realized he'd have to wait until Natsu was well enough again to requip their water canteens; so he simply resigned himself to the break and hoped the reprieve lasted long enough to allow their recovery. Natsu was on his side a few feet away, face still contorted in pain and breathing in short pants, but Haru was less concerned this time, having seen the state yesterday. What was far more concerning, was having to continue the climb up the higher peaks in search of whatever dragon was supposedly expecting them. Then a sound caught his attention from behind and he forced an arm under himself shakily to get a better look at their surroundings and was stunned to see a man casually walking toward them.
He had dark-red hair held back with a strip of leather to land messily just above his shoulders, tanned skin, the whisper of facial hair framing his jawline and a scar crossing down over his right eye. Dressed in simple taupe and black robes with gold details, he sauntered forward as though it were totally commonplace for a human to be present in the middle of the perilous mountains.
The man stopped next to Haru, his eyes trailing over his form or, Haru assumed more likely, the angry burns that marred his upper back, before looking over at Natsu. "Who are you," Haru asked, a little nervously, he couldn't possibly put up a fight right now, if they'd managed to stumble on to an enemy.
"When did it start," the newcomer asked, cocking his head toward Natsu, and Haru's eyes flickered over to his partner as well.
"Yesterday," he replied slowly, suspiciously, "though he was fine, until about thirty minutes ago…"
The man hummed in interest, eyes falling back to Haru's, "and you are?"
Haru's eyebrows pinched together, trying to make sense of the mysterious man in front of him. He deflected the question instead, "are you one of the council members? Anna Heartfilia sent us to find the dragon who can train us, she never mentioned another human."
"Ah, so you're a dragon slayer as well then? Tell me, who raised you?"
Jaw dropping agape, Haru stared dumbly back.
The man rolled his eyes, repeating, "who raised you?"
"Uh, Oceanus, the Water—"
"No shit!" The man burst out laughing, "So, you're Haru! –You are the last one I'd have expected to find with Natsu!"
Haru deadpanned, his face going blank, and irritation slowly bubbling up to replace the confusion, "okay, so you obviously know who we are, going to tell me who youare yet?!"
With a giant toothy grin that reminded Haru far too much of his partner, the man laughed uproariously, "you can't possibly be telling me Natsu never told you about me?" Taking in the confusion returning to Haru's face, he threw his head back and laughed all the harder, "well when that brat can stand, I'm scorching his butt!" Extending a hand in greeting, he introduced himself, "Igneel, good to meet you, son of Oceanus!"
. . .
The movement of pink caught Haru's eye, and he leaned an elbow into his knee to peer around the fire and the transformed dragon sitting before him to watch Natsu shove himself up with a string of curses. "Fucking hell, I am just about done with that shit," Natsu grumbled angrily, visibly shaking off the residual disorientation. He slowly turned to look over at the pair lounging by the fire with cuts of meat roasting on spits around it. Haru asked him how he was feeling and took in the lack of understanding on his partner's face, assuming the curiosity focused on their new company meant he didn't hear anything this time, or at least not all of it.
Without looking up from the fire or the large bone of meat he was gnawing at, Igneel asked, "ya gonna keep being rude, or join us? Haru here saved your ass, you know –should get off your lazy butt and show some gratitude."
Haru gaped at the blunt commands, these two clearly had a strange relationship. But one look at Natsu just showed a blood vessel popping on his forehead as launched to his feet, like he hadn't just suffered the torturous afflictions of Etherious and Magic trying to tear him apart internally. Stomping toward the fire he growled, "what was that? Who the hell are you to—" Natsu stopped dead in his tracks, eyes shooting open with a suddenly slack jawed expression aimed at the red-haired man. Igneel tore another strip of meat off the bone and turned to look at the pinkette with a bored expression and the meat held between sharp canines. He raised an eyebrow at Natsu's silence.
"Igneel?" Natsu choked out soundlessly, his eyes misted over, and he repeated louder this time as a mix of elation and anger warred on his face, "DAD? What the fuck?!"
"Now Natsu, is that any way to talk to your father after so many years?"
Natsu snapped, throwing himself at the humanized dragon with a fiery fist drawn back, "what the hell you shitty overgrown lizard! How could you not tell me—"
Chuckling, Igneel caught the fiery fist in the palm of one hand and tossed Natsu unceremoniously to the side with minimal effort, he hummed and prodded his chin with an elongated sharp nail, "I think you've gotten a little stronger…" he drawled. Natsu pushed himself up from his spot sprawled on his back, tears falling freely now, and Igneel finally got up and approached to pull him from the ground and into an aggressive hug.
"I don't believe it… you're really here, Dad."
Haru watched the exchange between father and son with a mild fascination, Natsu's mannerisms were making a hell of a lot more sense after all these years. He couldn't help the pang of jealousy though; it was hard seeing his partner finally being reunited with his foster father when he still had no idea what had come of his own. Igneel had refused to tell him what had become of the other dragons until Natsu awoke, as it would be easier to fill in the holes of the story Anna had begun and answer both their inevitable questions, together.
. . .
Natsu was devouring fire charred bones of meat at a pace that barely let him inhale between bites, but despite that, his attention was fully focused on Igneel who sat across from them. The fire dragon had begun explaining more of the details of the Dragon Slayer project once Natsu had settled down to a meal.
Pausing, Igneel's dark gold eyes shifted over them in consideration. Natsu alternatingly tearing off large chunks of meat from two shanks that he held in each hand, and Haru who seemed unaffected by the pinkette's lack of manners and sat composed and serene, appearing almost bored. He released a bark of laughter and announced, "I still can't get over it!"
Observing his father's hilarity, Natsu swallowed hard and nearly choked on the large mouthful, but Haru just quirked an eyebrow in curiosity. Igneel gestured between them with a clawed finger, "you're literally opposing forces! Fire and water. Not to mention your personalities, and yet it seems fitting that you be partners." Watching as the dragon slayers exchanged another uncomprehending glance, Igneel went on, "Oceanus and I butt heads like you wouldn't believe, he challenged me at every chance, and I swear he did it just to get under my scales—I mean whoever heard of such an unruly royal councillor? He was my greatest rival but also my longest and most trusted advisor."
Barely registering anything else that was said, Haru froze, and asked with a layer of dread, "was?"Uncomfortably, Haru suddenly recalled Anna snapping that it wasn't possible for him to get Grandeeney as well. 'If only Grandeeney was here,' she'd said… did that mean Wendy's dragon had died at some point? Was Oceanus gone as well?
Natsu's eyes were on him in an instant, food held temporarily forgotten in front of him as he glanced back at the fire dragon, awaiting the answer with bated breath. It seemed he was just now realizing that Igneel's reappearance didn't necessarily mean that the rest of the slayer's dragons were also alive and well.
Igneel met Haru's eyes for a moment, a befuddled look on his face at both dragon slayer's sudden tension, before his choice of words finally seemed to register in his mind. "Ohhh, no, no, Oceanus isn't here, but I have faith his scaley ass will be back to attempt to drown me at some point," he said with an eye roll and a half smile at the thought.
Haru perked up significantly with renewed hope, "so do you know where Oceanus is then?"
"As part of our mission to support you children and put an end to Acnologia, Oceanus led half of my inner council to X776. Grandeeney of the Sky, Terrene of the Earth, and Skiadrum of the Shadow accompany him, but of course, they travel in human form and will be avoiding people as much as possible. Sorry to say, I do not know what continent they travel currently."
Haru hummed in thought, Wendy would be ecstatic to learn of her foster mom's presence in their time as well, travelling around somewhere. It did leave more questions about how the foursome departed before X377 if all the dragon slayer's shared memories of the dragons vanishing in X777, but Haru was just relieved to know Oceanus was still out there somewhere.
Igneel continued on, "you may have come across Weisslogia of the Light in Dragnof, he is my Council representative for the walled Kingdom. Metalicana of the Iron and Glaciea of the Blizzard also remain here with me to support humanity in this war."
"Glaciea huh," Haru mumbled, and Igneel eyed him in silent question, but it was Natsu who elaborated.
"Unfortunately, we recently learned the blizzard dragon slayer was captured and ultimately perished in the hands of monsters that sought to use dragon power for their own gains. Haru ended up absorbing that power in one of the battles, it's kind of a long story..."
Igneel sighed, "that's tragic," he breathed, looking as dejected as if he'd learned one of his own brethren had been lost, and maybe that was how he saw it. "When we adopted you children, there were many things we never expected, one of course, was the inherent danger that would inevitably come to you for simply wielding dragon-borne magic in your current time. Another we never saw coming, was the undeniable bonds we would each form with our respective slayers. It is shameful to admit, but we originally thought of you to be not much more than tools to help us save humanity, but each of us came to love you as strongly as if you were our own… Glaciea will be devastated."
The trio fell silent, and the minutes stretched on into the evening, the flames from the fire between them casting an orange glow over their downcast faces. Eventually, Igneel let out a long sigh, "I will tell her myself," he mumbled before looking across to the boys again. "You both should get some sleep, I am going to contact some friends to help me with a new seal to END's power, one that will allow gradual access to the Etherious. A seal of this complexity will require enchanting abilities, which certainly isn't my strong suit, and with Grandeeney absent…" he trailed off in thought, scratching at the scruff on his chin with a claw.
Natsu stared back, unmoving before nodding slowly, he was still struggling with being able to reconcile his self-image with the idea of being etherious. If he were being honest, the idea of demonic power coursing through him scared him half to death. Afterall, he'd lost Lisanna to the devastating power of a demon and nearly his own life as well, all those years ago. What if he ever lost control of it? Suddenly, Mira's apprehension to using her take over abilities for so many years, made complete sense. He let his eyes flicker over Igneel and Haru as the two chatted, paying him no mind, and their relaxed presence helped him reel in his anxiety. He was in the best place he could be for his nature to be revealed, and if this power could help him protect Fairy Tail and destroy Acnologia… well then, he'd be a damn demon.
- Present -
Haru
"Wendy," Haru called, gesturing to the green-haired woman on her knees a ways back from the tense stare down in the center of the chamber.
The chamber was heavily damaged, streaks of charred ground offered hints of the destructive fire magic that had been loosed in battle. The Eclipse Gate loomed at the back of the room, its' heavy doors sealed tight, but a residual magic hung heavy to make Haru think it had been activated recently, but to what end?
"Leave it to me," the teen called, darting toward the princess, who had only just noticed their arrival and met Haru's eyes with relief visibly relaxing her form.
Once he knew Hisui was in Wendy's capable hands, Haru crossed the room at a run to drop into a half kneel next to their battle-worn comrades, Mira had followed, planting herself slightly in front of the trio on the floor. Lucy had her arms wrapped protectively around Natsu who had a white-knuckled grip on his right forearm, though he actually seemed to be in better shape than the blonde, if a little stunned by whatever events had just transpired. The pinkette's glare did not divert from the black mage directly across from him, to even briefly acknowledge Haru's arrival. Zeref was similarly down, and being supported in Ultear's arms, his eyes ad been wide before rage replaced the surprise and he snapped at Lucy, "how?! Why is some unknown Fairy-girl wielding one of the three grand spells? Her magic?!"
Haru's attention flicked over to Lucy who was watching Zeref with a defiance that easily matched Natsu's own, but Ultear cut in, "you aren't at full strength yet my Lord Zeref—"
"How dare you," he spat, eyes catching the time mage's but despite the brief glimpse of fear, Ultear's eyes narrowed in brazen opposition a split second later.
"We are leaving, I will not allow your full recovery to be jeopardized," she replied in a sharp voice, and before he could admonish her insubordinate attitude further, the pair vanished leaving the Fairy Tail mages gaping. Haru swore loudly, only just realizing in their shared stupor over the bizarre stand still, that they'd unwittingly allowed Ultear to escape with an underpowered Zeref. Whatever Lucy had done to him prior to his team's arrival, had clearly weakened him, and by Ultear's own statements, it sounded like he still wasn't fully awakened to his power yet. They would likely never be faced with such a prime opportunity to deal with Zeref again. And he let them get away, fuck.
Haru scanned the chamber to confirm they were now alone, aside from the random unconscious blonde man sprawled at the back wall. Mira turned back toward them and kneeled down as well to take in the state of their friends, "are you both alright?" she asked.
Lucy didn't answer, tilting her head to fix a searching look on the still mute fire slayer, "Natsu, what was that about?"
Worrying his bottom lip with a sharp incisor, and absently running a hand over his forearm that seemed to be radiating a scorching heat, Natsu glanced around between the three of them. In a bare whisper he asked, "could you ever be scared of me, Lucy?"
The blonde's face scrunched in confusion, "what kind of stupid question is that? Of course not," she scoffed.
Natsu stared back at her, her sincerity was undeniable as usual. Natsu's gaze took in Mira, watching silently before skipping over to Wendy still working diligently on healing Hisui a few meters away and finally landed on Haru. The water slayer wondered if the girls had noticed the flecks of red in his onyx eyes, he supposed not, without keen dragon sight. Haru wished there was more time to find out what had gone down between his partner and Zeref, but right now, all he could do was offer an encouraging nod. Observing as Natsu visibly steeled himself before stating flatly, "I'm Etherious."
The looks on the girl's faces were both a mystery as they absorbed the information. Haru wasn't worried about their reactions though, Lucy's love was unconditional in any form and if anyone could relate to Natsu's situation, it was Mira. The foursome all remained quiet as the admission was processed, Wendy continued to work away behind them, but Haru would bet she was overhearing the conversation as well. He thought back, it seemed like just yesterday he was watching the ritual the dragons performed to seal Natsu's etherial powers and in the same moment, it felt as though a decade had passed. So much had happened. So much was still happening.
- Flashback -
X376
The morning sun glinted off pearlescent icy blue scales, the tips edged in a darker blue, even at a distance he could tell Glaciea was significantly smaller in stature than Igneel was. Natsu watched with a mix of nervous energy and excitement as her crisp deep blue wings snapped against the air, carrying her across the sky to them. With a couple final beats of her wings, she descended to land in the hidden ridge of the mountain range, light blue eyes swept over them as she bowed her head in silent greeting.
"It's good to see you, old friend, it's been too long," Igneel told her, apparently each of the dragon king's council were spread around the continent, leading small bands of the other pacifist dragons in attempts to keep Acnologia's rebel army at bay.
"Yes, my King, I am glad to see you are well," she replied with the courtesies befitting his position. But Igneel roared in laugher and told her to cut that out, Natsu wasn't surprised his father wasn't one for titles and the conduct that came with it. She agreed complacently as though it were a request that he'd made hundreds of times before, and maybe it was. "When is Weisslogia due to arrive?"
"Shouldn't be long after you, he had some business to finish with the Council in Dragnof this morning. But I'd expect him before the sun reaches its' peak."
Igneel remained in his human transformation, looking up at her towering over them with his hands on each hip and a large grin on his face as they spoke back and forth. He looked no less imposing than if he'd returned to his true form, in any form, his presence seemed to instill respect and confidence. Eventually, Glaciea released her magic power, chilling the air around them noticeably as a bright white light burst off her before dwindling to reveal her own human form. Long pale blue hair cascaded down her back, a dark blue crystal hung at her forehead by white gold chains that adorned her head, her skin was nearly as pale as if it were snow itself. She walked over to the boys who, up until this point had watched the dragon's exchange mutely, she bowed slightly to them. "It is lovely to meet you, son of Igneel, son of Oceanus."
"Fuck's sake, Glaciea, those two brats certainly do not need your formalities." Igneel barked in laughter, and Haru echoed the sentiment, his hands up before him as though physically warding off the respects, immediately uncomfortable with her bow.
Glaciea looked back over her shoulder at the fire dragon, "despite your resistance, you are our King and that makes Natsu our prince. Oceanus is your high advisor… so as far as I am concerned, they do deserve my respects." She stated simply, and both of the boys spoke over each other quickly pleading that she not treat them as anything other than family. She looked back at them then, lips pursed in thought, "family huh…" she spoke quietly.
Natsu hummed a quick affirmative, "yeah! We're like one big extended family! You're practically my aunt!" he announced boisterously, and she blushed, the slightest tint of pink to her pale cheeks.
"Well, if you insist."
Igneel's predicted timing of Weisslogia's arrival was spot on and just shortly after the peak of noon, the transformed fire dragon was pointing out the incoming gleaming white dragon on the horizon. Natsu leapt up to stand with his father to greet the third dragon, but Haru stayed sitting with Glaciea in a show of tacit support after she'd learned of her son's untimely death. She had cried in Igneel's arms for quite some time at the news and the boys had left the pair with as much privacy as possible, wandering away from the temporary base camp they'd set up, to explore the secluded ridge a little. When they did finally return, they found the blizzard dragon staring despondently out over the mountain range at the clear blue skies, and Igneel flopped on his side prodding absently at the coals in the fire pit.
Glaciea glanced over her shoulder as Natsu dropped carelessly onto his butt to lean against a rock near the fire dragon, and before Haru could sit, she called him to her. Igneel explained to Natsu that he'd informed Glaciea of Haru managing to take back the power she'd originally bestowed on her adopted son and she apparently wanted to thank him for the small part he'd had in allowing the blizzard slayer to rest in peace. She seemed to take some small comfort in the Twin Dragon's presence and the fact that her magic potential had passed to another, even if the events that led to it devastated her.
Weisslogia's feathery wings glittered in the sun as he touched down and folded them along his back, he gave a giant smile, "greetings fire dragons," he said as his golden eyes raked over father and son. To Natsu he said, "I had heard you escaped our dungeon, Shaurahn made all sorts of rumblings when the news broke— Despite never wanting you two imprisoned in the first place," the white dragon added with a chuckle.
"Shaurahn always has been straight edged when it comes to the Queen's decrees and proper procedure," Igneel put in with an eye roll, though there was no real disdain despite his mocking tone.
The white dragon laughed again, "Ironically, Queen Irene didn't want you dragon slayers imprisoned either… though you can't blame her, Lady Anna and we eight are the only ones that know about the existence of you true dragon slayers at this point in time."
Natsu gaped and jabbed a finger at Weisslogia, "I knew it! I thought you seemed torn when Irene sentenced us!"
The dragon laughed, "well aren't you the lively and rowdy type," he pointed with a sly sidelong look at Igneel, "just like a certain King who flat out ignores proper conduct and address at every opportunity as well." Igneel blew out a puff of fire and rolled his eyes, drawing Natsu's laughter.
Haru appeared at their side then, offering his own greetings to the new arrival, but the pleasantries didn't last long after. "Well, shall we get this started then," Igneel cut in, effectively settling the seriousness that had brought about their meeting, over them in an instant. Natsu tensed despite promising himself that he wouldn't be affected by the unnerving situation, that he would embrace all that he was and turn it to power he could use to fight for his friends.
Haru squeezed a hand over his shoulder, "are you ready Natsu?" The pinkette chewed the inside of his cheek, fighting the spikes of anxiety down and dredged up his overconfident toothy grin.
"'Course I am, let's get this shit over with, we've still got Force to master and family to find."
Igneel mirrored the toothy grin with a cocky tilt of his head, "that's my boy," he announced pridefully as the heat around them spiked and bright light burst off the red-haired man to morph him back to his daunting true form. Stretching out expansive wings and craning his neck to crack the vertebrae as he stretched back into his draconic body, "okay then boys," Glaciea called, having released her own transformation as well, "the seal is just about ready."
Natsu and Haru turned in her direction to find her dragging the tip of one pearly claw through the dirt of the mountain ridge in a large and stunningly intricate magic circle. "Natsu, if you would," she gently instructed, gesturing for him to take his place at its' center. The fire mage swallowed thickly and moved to take his spot as the trio of dragons moved to each point of a triangle that divided the circle within the complex markings. Natsu stood stiffly with his eyes still on Haru over his shoulder, his fellow dragon slayer had backed away a safe distance and found a large rock to perch himself on to observe. Haru gave an encouraging thumbs up, and his voice filtered through Natsu's head, "you've got this Natsu, we'll be onto training and back to finding our comrades before you know it."
. . .
Haru sat with his arms folded over the knees he had bent in front of him, Natsu was still in a deep sleep on his side next to him, due to the spectacular demands the sealing ritual had had on his body. The three dragons sat spread around the newly roaring fire, back in human transformations and recovering from the drain on their own magic stores. Weisslogia had already informed them he'd be heading back to the Kingdom of Dragnof as soon as his magic had replenished enough to handle any altercations should he be unfortunate enough to encounter a Rebel on his travels home. The dragons chatted amongst themselves, continuing to catch up for lost time having been spread around the continent for so long, and Haru listened absently as his eyes trailed over the fire slayer. A charcoal black line of flames spiralled up most of Natsu's right arm now, though not quite to his guild mark and a coil of rune markings coiled around just under the flames. The skin around was still inflamed from the searing heat that Igneel had fed into the spell to forge the multilayer seal.
The entire ritual had taken the better part of an hour, and as Igneel had warned, the resulting pain had been far worse than any of the sporadic episodes that accompanied the erosion of the old seals. Haru had physically flinched when agonized screams had been torn from Natsu's lungs at intervals, his own gold flames drawn to pulse around him against the shadowy aura of Etherious that encompassed him. Weisslogia had delicately worked holy white magic around the pinkette to keep the Etherious in check as Glaciea sang some sort of incantation in a melodious voice. She had literally woven the trios' magics into a pattern that had a tangible form wrapping around Natsu's body until it settled as coils encircling his arm. If it hadn't been for the tortured screams of his partner, Haru would have considered the entire process fascinating and beautiful, but he was more than thankful when the magic finally dwindled and allowed Natsu to drop limply to the ground.
"Are you interested Haru?"
Haru pulled himself out of the trance that his thoughts had conjured and found himself to be the subject of all three dragon's attentions, "sorry, what was that? I got lost in thought."
"We were just discussing yours' and Natsu's training," Igneel answered, "we think it is best that I train you together until you can both access dragon force at will, under any demands, and without unmanageable strains to your magic containers."
"Yeah, well that is why we're here…" Haru trailed off, more flippantly than he'd meant to.
Glaciea drew a finger through her long bangs to tuck the strands behind her ear, "Natsu will also require individualized guidance to help prepare him to safely begin drawing on and combining his Etherious and dragon magic gradually over the next coming years."
"Makes sense."
"So that said, if you're interested, I was offering to train you to master the blizzard dragon slaying magic you now possess, anytime Igneel and Natsu are tackling their solo training sessions."
Haru's eyebrows shot up, he hadn't even considered the possibility of being able to dual wield two completely mastered elements, he had just assumed one had to be secondary. "Yes! Yes of course I'd be interested," he said quickly. "But are you sure that's what you want as well, I mean passing your magic onto someone you didn't choose…" he added in a bare whisper, feeling the loss of the blizzard slayer like a weight on his own shoulders. He didn't want to dilute the other's memory.
But Glaciea only gave a soft laugh, "it is my belief that the magical universe seeks to meld the gaps that a loss creates. I can't ever bring my son back and I will feel that pain eternally. But you fought to ensure his magic, my magic, didn't stay in the hands of the same disgusting people who ended his life, and for that, I will be forever grateful. It would be my pleasure to see your potential with my element realized."
With a genuine smile, Haru met her gaze with determination, "then I gratefully accept your offer."
- Present -
Erza
Jellal shot by her in a stream of gold light, crashing into Azuma with a barrage of strikes that seemed to have tree arc user exhilarated. Prior to the guys showing up, Azuma had acted more as back up to Sienna's attacks, merely supplying her with a never ended magic well and raining explosions down around her occasionally. Now she could see that she'd underestimated him, that he was well with the range of her own S class prowess once faced with a battle that he perceived to be a challenge. Teamed up two on one against her, he simply hadn't been interested, but now? Well, it appeared her blue haired comrade had his hands quite full.
"Earth dragon's roar!"
Erza's attention snapped to the side where Sienna had launched herself into the air over head, pinning down the girl's location as she flipped back to dodge the torrent of earth debris. Landing bathed in a glow she shot forward at untraceable speeds, clad in her flight armour andbrandishing her flame blade, she was on Sienna as soon as the girl landed. The earth mage gasped only just catching Erza's presence in time to take a fiery slash of the blade across her torso that was quickly followed with a sharp kick to her stomach. Sienna went flying with a cry to land hard on her back, digging her fingers into the ground above her head she rolled backward and dug her feet back in under her.
She growled angrily at being overwhelmed by an opponent she'd been beating earlier, but she no longer had Azuma to keep the red head's attentions divided. Sienna slammed her palms down into the cool floor, "earth dragon's rock break!" The palace creaked and groaned in protest before a massive scar tore itself through the marble a meter wide, preceding a webbing of additional cracks to fly across the dining hall as Erza skipped over the shattering ground. She glanced back to find Sienna in immediate pursuit a greenish glow shining around her form, as emerald scales sprouted across her cheek bones and arms. 'Earth drive? …Fantastic.' Erza thought derisively.
The earth slayer leapt upward to jump and swing between the lower hanging branches of the trees, throwing herself forward toward Erza whilst avoiding the deteriorating floor. But the Knight spun quickly, getting the flat of her blade up in time to block the iron fist aimed for her head. She retracted the blade and snapped her free hand out to grasp the girl's wrist in a tight grip and pivoted to throw her to the side. With Sienna airborne, Erza jumped to plant a side kick below her sternum that sent the earth slayer sailing straight under the series of gold magic circles hovering once again in the sky.
Jellal's grand chariot fired a cascade of powerful meteor-like strikes down around the pair of Grimoire mage's, further destabilizing the ground damaged by the earlier quake. The marble finally gave way under the impacts and the dark mages fell with shared yells of shock, with a quick glance of confirmation, Jellal and Erza dove to follow. Erza bounced between falling chunks of marble, to appear directly above Sienna with her blade ready to deal a final blow. But her opponent called her vines to wrap around a hunk of rock and send it careening into Erza's back even as they continued to fall to the deep underground chambers beneath Mercurius. With a grunt of pain, the rock split across Erza's back decreasing the effectiveness of her strike which only managed to clip the earth slayer's shoulder. Both women collided with the stone floor below, causing a sizable dent and kicking up a large cloud of dust.
Having landed on top of the other, Erza quickly fixed the edge of her blade to Sienna's throat and looking down at the brunette who glared back even despite her apparent defeat. "I heard Natsu say the earth dragon is alive. If he says so, then I believe it to be true," Erza stated flatly.
Sienna scoffed, "what the hell is with you Fairies and sticking your noses into other people's business, my mother is dead, I saw it!"
Erza's eyes softened, hearing the grief in the girl's voice, "Natsu and Haru spent a year living 400 years in the past, with dragons, and they told us that all you dragon slayers were subject to memory alteration spells to make you believe your parents had vanished… or in your case died…in the year X777?" Erza phased the year as a question not knowing for sure if that was actually the case for the brunette as well. The uncertainty that crossed her face at the mention of the specific year confirmed the truth of it for Erza.
"I don't believe you!" Sienna thrashed under Erza's grip as tears sprang to her eyes, her magic flaring uselessly and finally with a sigh Erza relented that she wouldn't likely be able to convince the girl at this moment.
"You should talk to Natsu and Haru, I don't know the full story but I think you owe it to yourself to at least hear them out." The defiance in the girl's eyes faltered for a brief moment, and then Erza knocked the butt of her blade into her temple hard enough to cause her to go limp in an instant. Farther down the underground passage's massive trees were already sprouting from the rough ground beneath them, sending rumbles out all around them. Erza chewed her lip, eyeing the cracking foundation of the rock walls that housed them, "Jellal! This rock's going to come down on our heads, we need to get out of here!" she shouted desperately, she couldn't see him, just the occasional burst of gold that lit up the corridors farther down.
She didn't get a response, and her eyes flicked between the sounds of battle and the unconscious earth slayer still beneath her. Clenching her teeth angrily, she scooped up Sienna and donned her black wing armour to fly them out of the collapsing halls. After laying Sienna down in a relatively unscathed section of the hall, Erza turned, intending to track down Jellal and drag him out of the underground if she had to, but with another loud quake the center of the room collapsed in a giant hole. With a shout of surprise, Erza skipped back a couple steps and snatched the brunette back up as massive chunks of marble fractured, and numerous trees creaked fell into the gaping hole getting larger with each section that broke away. "JELLAL!" Erza screamed frantically.
A gold meteor pierced through the floor, and crashed directly into the trunks of one of the thicker trees still standing untouched, the glow extinguished and released Jellal to drop to the ground with a pained groan. Erza darted over, dodging around the crevassed floor to slide to a stop beside him. "Jellal?"
"Well—" he choked out, "that could have been a more valiant first step to earning your faith…"
Erza laughed despite herself, "idiot…" she said softly, "it's a good start."
Haru
With the chamber relatively safe, and no enemies around, it was as good a place as any to check in with the rest of the team, Haru assumed if any of them had gotten into too much trouble they'd have called for backup by now… but some of their most stubborn team members were also still unaccounted for. Earlier he and the girls had left the King with Arcadios after the King had informed Haru that one of the Seven had appeared and kidnapped Hisui, but that had been the most trouble he'd encountered so far. Hisui was now fully recovered thanks to Wendy's intervention, and two girls had approached to join their company spread in a loose knot about the floor in various stages of their own recoveries. Haru still couldn't decide if it seemed as though Wendy had caught the fire mage's confession. If she had, she didn't seem at all affected by the news, she had thrown herself into Natsu's arms with shouts of relief that he was okay, as soon as she had the princess healed up.
"Gray, Gajeel, can you either of you hear me?"
The rest of the Fairy Tail mages had remained, or taken to sprawling themselves on the floor for a brief respite, but Haru kept wandering in loops around the chamber for something to do with the pent up energy. He could tell it was grating on Mira's patience, but the rest of the group paid him no mind.
Finally, Gray's voice broke in, "Haru, yeah, what's up."
With a twitch of irritation, Haru drawled out the request to report on their present situation. He picked up the breathless quality in the ice mage's voice, so it was likely there were engaged, or recently engaged in battle.
"We got a pompous power-of-imagination, windbag to take down—" Gajeel spat sarcastically, he was no more help than Gray had been.
"I've got this trashcan, I don't need—"
Haru cut off the mental connection with a exacerbated breath, not needing to be subject to their rivalry again, at least it appeared they were both perfectly well, for the time.
"Erza and Jellal are good, Jellal's injured but they took down the two Earth Kin," Natsu called from his spot lounging against the blonde's side.
Mira looked over the group, "so how many of the Seven Kin does that make then?"
Eyes trailing up to the ceiling as he dropped a hand to one hip and physically numbered the Kin out on his fingers with the other, Haru relayed, "four down, one retreated, and one currently engaged, one unaccounted for."
"And Hades…"
"Hades?"
"Grimoire's guild master," Natsu clarified.
. . .
With an abrupt urgency Natsu shot up from his spot next to Lucy and she gave a start, before noticing the same dead focus on Haru, both men had instinctually moved between the recovering group and the shadowed hall they were glaring down. Lucy opened her mouth to ask what they'd sensed when an overwhelming magic pressure literally had the room trembling around them, she swallowed thickly as she dragged herself to her feet as well. Two men stalked into the chamber and stopped a fair distance away, one kept his eyes locked on them as the other glanced around the room without moving his head.
"That conniving time witch. She's gone," the tanned elder stated with a calm rage, he had long white hair and beard that tumbled well passed his shoulders and a patch over his right eye.
The second man grumbled wordlessly, eyes still flitting over each of the Fairy Tail mages appraisingly, he had bulky, ape-like features, and dark hair pulled back in a thick clothed ponytail.
Lucy was awe struck by the sheer pressure seemingly weighing down the air itself, it took a certain concentration just to breathe through the suffocating power being exerted on them. Neither of the new arrivals seemed at all concerned by their presence, the first still hadn't even really acknowledged them, preoccupied with Ultear escaping with Zeref's power. However Grimoire Heart had planned to take advantage of the black mage's awakening, that power had slipped out of their reach and the elder did not appear pleased, nor did her appear particularly distraught though. From the other corner of the chamber, Zancrow groaned and coughed on a sharp inhale as he attempted to push himself up, "M-master Had-es," he got out between pants and coughs.
The white-haired man turned a single cold eye on the God slayer, an impatient look on his face that had Zancrow hesitating for a moment. He seemed to pull his wits back, though the fear that flashed into his eyes didn't fade, "the g-girl," he pointed with a weak finger toward their group, toward her, "used power, th-that Zeref seemed a-afraid of."
"Is that right."
Suddenly the second mage's attentions seemed more keenly interested as well, his blank stare coming to land on Lucy to send a shiver down her spine. Natsu's eyes snapped over to Zancrow with a fury that had the man flinching back as much as the look his own guild master had given him. But the fire mage tore his attention from Zancrow and glared dangerously at the two men, vowing in a low voice, "I won't let you lay a finger on her."
Fire exploded off of Natsu, still mixed with the blackened God flame's he'd absorbed earlier by nullifying his dragon flames and focusing Etherious, if Lucy had understood the explanation correctly. She still had troubles grasping everything he'd explained to them about the demonic power sealed inside him, but it was impossible to think he was anyone but her Natsu when he was preparing to recklessly throw himself into danger to protect her.
Crimson scales had already crawled over his skin, and the magic pressure blazing around him seemed nearly as daunting as each of the mages standing before them. Haru had followed suit, cerulean scales shining under the lacrima that lit the space, and Mira was stepping up between them in a takeover that Lucy had never seen before. Wendy was up and chanting her support spells to bolster their abilities, though a quick glance found silvery light blue scales marking her skin in the same fashion as the guys'. Sky drive, Lucy thought in wonder, their little dragon slayer really had been training hard with Erza and the boys prior to the S class exams…
Hades tilted his head in the subtlest expression of surprise at the tangible energy the Fairies released to thrash back against their own, "it would be fitting to clash with Fairy Tail after all these years."
Lucy hadn't the slightest what the hell that meant but at the words promising their battle, she snapped herself out of her admiration of her teammates, and leapt forward to stand at Natsu's side. Her body glowed to reveal her strongest star dress and, gritting her teeth, Lucy shot a determined look back at the dark haired mage who'd been eyeing her since Zancrow's revelation.
"Interesting," the man said in a tone devoid of emotion, "tell me, can you fly?"
A/N. Surprised no one guessed that Igneel would show up, especially after I hinted that the dragons weren't all dormant inside the dragon slayers ;) So, hopefully that was a fun twist then. *Though points to Joker D. Zero and Fairytail fan who guessed on Haru getting training from the Blizzard dragon!
**NOTES:
*Bluenote is one of the Seven Kin in this story, he is not Gildarts-level power here and Hades wouldn't have the power to defeat Makorav like it is nothing (though that never made sense to me in canon) either. (Meredy is still MIA, Capricorn is already Lucy's spirit and Zoldeo shows up later).
*As response to Gildarts and Laxus not joining this mission: juggling eight fairies is plenty for me haha. Plus, all of Dragon Soul are already S class level in strength anyway, and Natsu and Haru are the big guns at this point. Not Gildarts level, but certainly stronger than canon Natsu was at this point :P
Though not to worry, they will both show up again, especially Laxus, Gildarts tends to vanish on his missions in my universe too.
*2 more big chapters should finish this arc up.
My undying appreciation this week, goes out to SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta, Joker D. Zero, Valerioux, Fairytail Fan and EternalFlame.
'Till next week,
R&R
xx. Loka Muse