Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all rights go to Hiro Mashima.
1
Underestimating a dragon's greed would be far from the first mistake Lucy Heartfilia had made in the past couple of months. Though, the blonde thought staring into the towering slitted pupil thrice her size, it might have been her greatest. It might even be her last, though she had slight reservation on that thought.
Lucy had thought of herself very clever – since she did run away from her esteemed family and took on the life of a treasure hunter, determined to make a name for herself that wasn't just Heartfilia. During the months of pouring over ancient texts and joining in a partnership with a group of treasure hunters who called themselves Fairy Tail, Lucy had thought herself ready to take on the most legendary of treasures in all of Earthland. Everyone knew of it, even with the occurrence happening well over two hundred years ago. An ancient city, Magnolia, known from the far reaches of the earth, famous for their unbelievable riches had been overrun by a dragon named E.N.D. The drake had been attracted by the unsurmountable amount of gold, burning the city to the ground and locking himself away with the treasure within a mountain the ancient civilization had carved into to gain their vast riches.
Lucy could not fight the dragon with a sword and shield, just as she couldn't even hope to win at all with brute strength. But what the blonde could wield was her mind, she was very clever indeed. It was what had gotten her this far, after all.
So when she was scrambling backwards, fifty graceless steps for every single one of the monstrous beasts own, her mind spinning and unfocused from the musty thick air and the roaring of her blood in her ears, she paid attention. Doing so she noticed something, the dragon was monstrous beyond her imagination but one thing caught her eye, he seemed prey to any creature who thought to much of himself.
That would be his vanity.
So Lucy began to babble praises and flattery, the dragon's monstrous steps slowed and the snap of his mighty jaws began half-hearted and nearly playful as he stalked Lucy through his mighty treasurey. Lucy's feet slipping on gold coins as she continued to stumble backwards. But when she became quiet, the dragon's large green eyes would darken and the air around her would become hotter as the fire in his belly grew with his annoyance, interest of keeping Lucy alive vanishing like water on a hot day.
E.N.D was monstrous in size, he stood on four strong legs and two humungous wings were tucked neatly at his sides. His scales were the very embodiment of fire itself, mostly red but orange and yellow and even white and few tinges of blue. They glittered in the dim light of the cave. His head was triangular with slanted green eyes flaked with gold and even black. Two huge burgundy horns petruded out of his temples, smaller spikes ran along his jawline and down his spine. His long, seemingly endless, tail was tipped with a deadly black blade. He had a broad chest and thick torso, his whole body laced with sinewy muscle. He was elegant yet dangerous and undeniabley beautiful.
E.N.D the monstrous, Lucy said; E.N.D the terrible, she quipped; E.N.D the magnificent, she flattered. Your scales are as red as the blood of your victims, and, More deadly than a thousand thousand plagues, left her lips. She said words like gallant, and legendary, and wise, and stunning, and clearly stretching her vocabulary to its limits.
This wasn't good, not at all. E.N.D had made a ruckus when Lucy had accidentally woke him from his century long slumber. He had made the mountain quake with his furious roar, each of his steps sending tremors through the earth. His snarling and growling had most definitely been heard from outside of the mountain, her company had most definitely heard and were probably throwing a fit. She knew Erza would be trying to come in and valiantly save her, she prayed to the stars the temperamental red head was held back. E.N.D had begun to relax, he didn't seem in the mood to gobble her up just yet. And someone else entering his domain and touching his treasure certainly wasn't going to help.
She wasn't quite sure how it happened, but Lucy found herself nestled atop a mountain of gold coins, E.N.D surrounding her. His warm breath fanning over her entire body as his nostrils were right in front of her. His tail wished back and fourth near his head as Lucy scrambled for more compliments. His enormous form was curled around her, one gigantic green eye fixated on her. She was trapped.
She continued babbling praise and compliments till her voice had gone hoarse, her mind scrambling for new and original compliments. Flattery was the only thing keeping her alive so she kept on talking, even with the back of her throat beginning to burn.
Eventually, E.N.D blinked heavily, the thumping of his tail slowing as his breathing began to slow. Excitement slithered into Lucy's chest, if the dragon fell asleep she could easily escape between the gap of his tail and head. But when she made a move towards the opening, E.N.D's huge eye focused on her, black pupil narrowing as he stared at her. Lucy's voice stuttered, seeing as she hadn't been incinerated, she pretended to just be settling down into a more comfortable position.
Lucy was indeed a fool, she had underestimated a dragon's greed. Not only was this gargantuan creature greed encompassed not only gold, but anything he found pleasing. Lucy was running out of compliments and E.N.D seemed none to tired of hearing them.
The next time Lucy's voice faltered as she grappled for another compliment E.N.D rose to his feet. He towered over Lucy, the blonde feeling like a tiny mouse next to a humungous house. She found herself rising as well as the dragon's movements caused the gold around them to cascade downwards, if Lucy stayed still she would be swept along the gold avalanche as well. But this could be her chance to break for it, if she snuck between the red dragon's legs she could make it out the small exit she had come in from.
But she was to slow, before she knew it her path was blocked off by E.N.D's claws as he scooped her up. Lucy begged and pleaded, miraculously coming up with compliments she had yet to use in the hours of babbling before then.
"Do not fret, thief." E.N.D rumbled, his growling voice rattling Lucy's bones. "It is just, I can't help but notice your eye keeps on traveling to that hole on the wall, the one where the draft is coming from. I would hate for you to be distracted by it. I'll just remove the temptation so you can focus on pleasing me with your words."
He set her down surprisingly gently on one of the walkways that crisscrossed E.N.D's hoard, far away from the exit as one could go. She couldn't even see it anymore, not with a stone beam on the other side of the gaping room blocking her view. Lucy looked left and right, prepared to abandon all caution and just run when E.N.d interrupted her with a single claw at least seven times larger than herself and he said in that deep rumbling voice, "Let's not be hasty, thief."
He pressed his index claw to her midriff, barely a whisper of a touch yet it had her heart hammering as terror filled her, it felt as if the dragon was pressing his entire weight onto her with that single brush of his claw. It took her several long moments to realize that he was guiding her downwards, his touch becoming more persistent the longer she just gaped up at him till he practically just shoved her down to her rear.
"Stay, little thief." He grumbled, his green eyes alit with dark humor as he turned his back on her and began rummaging through his mass hoard. Lucy could do nothing but obey as she stared dumbfounded as the red dragon began snuffling through the mountains of gold, chuffing in satisfaction as he found whatever he was looking for. He searched for a good five minutes before he turned back to her, several long golden poles in hand. He delicately picked one up, the sight of the thing made Lucy's stomach drop. The spear was long and sharp, her body frozen in place as the golden weapon got nearer and nearer to her body, but E.N.D simply drove it into the stone ground a few feet away from her as easily as one would shove a toothpick into soft soil. It took her a moment to realize she hadn't been skewered and before she could calm down, the dragon had already shoved another spear a few inches away from the first. He drove another into the stone, and another, and another.
Lucy could only watch, pinned by his eyes that just dared her to try and run, as the dragon steadily made a decent sized square around her with the spears. He ducked out of view for a moment, coming back quickly with, yet again, another glittering gold item. This one was just a long round slate of gold, he approached Lucy and carefully placed the slate atop the upstanding spears, his claws hovering as the thing wobbled. Lucy had to cover her mouth with her hands to stop a scream as the slate wobbled particularly violently before it settled. She supposed they're were worse ways to go than being crushed by gold.
The dragon turned from her once again and she could only watch in horror as he slashed above her only exit, his claws digging deep into sandstone causing a cave in within the tiny tunnel. That was the only way out that she knew of besides the main exit, but there was no way she's be able to get there without the dragon's attention. Besides, it took at least two dozen men to swing the huge metal gates open. Even if she got to the gate she couldn't hope to get it open.
E.N.D had trapped her.
"Now, thief." E.N.D rumbled, settling down in front of her. His giant claws settling on either side of her gold prison, as if she wasn't caged in enough already, head turned so he could stare at her with one giant green eye. "where were we?"
But Lucy didn't quite hear him, to busy desparingly over her situation. She was stuck, she had no way out, and her life was in the claws of a rather grumpy dragon.
"Well?" The dragon snapped when she didn't start speaking. The air around her suddenly getting hotter as the dragon got angrier. His tail swaying to and fro as he snarled at her, "Do you presume I do not know who you are? Little thief! Conspiring with others to steal from me? Me? And when I show mercy - when I decide to find you interesting enough to not immediately kill you, you balk at me? You will do as I command, little thief, and when I tire of you make no mistake I will eat you."
Lucy had no idea how she had gotten into this mess, really. She had run away from home determined to follow her own path, she had wanted to write books and go on adventures. Her half finished draft of her journey here was in the bag she had dropped when E.N.D's eye had opened when he heard her erratic heartbeat. Really, the gold hadn't interested her that much, she had had enough of riches for one life, it was the idea of being the first to actually get inside this place in two hundred years. She knew her father would probably have an aneurism when he found out his darling daughter had confronted a dragon of all things. Even if she died, she would be showing her father that she wasn't just a pretty doll to be shown off. That had been her goal all along, to prove to herself, and her father, that she was more than a pretty face. Lucy wanted adventure, she wanted to discover new things. It seemed she wouldn't be able to do any of that though, not with a dragon looking ready to roast her alive.
"I did partner with treasure hunters to steal from you." Lucy said hastily, knowing it would do no good to lie to him. The dragon's fire subsided slightly as he eyed her, she could only hope he was confused that she actually told the truth. "But I now see our flaw" the dragon snorted. "The stories of you do not give you justice, all of them are second, third, fourth, fifth, accounts! No story could give you justice, E.N.D. If you let me leave this place, I will bring fear back to your name."
"Yet, little thief, you just said no story could give me justice." E.N.D snarled, his claws scraping into the stone on either side of her prison. His pupil constricting and enlarging as he studied her closely.
"Oh, but E.N.D, I am a very good storyteller." And that wasn't a lie, Lucy loved telling stories. She would read to the servants at her manor all the time, and when they weren't available she would tell them to the horses in the stables. She would go down to the market with her mother and tell the children there epic tales and tragedies even at the tender age of five.
"Prove it." The dragon rumbled.
"What?"
"Prove you are a story teller, little thief."
Lucy scrambled for a good story and once she got one she cleared her throat and began to speak, leaning back on the golden bars around her as she twisted a tale of a boy with a fox demon sealed into his belly. She added imagery and different voices, making sure to keep her voice steady and pronouncing every word clearly, even with her throat already aching from the hours of talking previously. E.N.D just stared at her, enraptured as she got farther along with the tale. Frankly, he was a bit to close for comfort, his nose practically touching the bars of her prison, his warm breath cascading over her body. He was a very good listener, yet he didn't so much as twitch when she told him a funny bit, her gasp when she placed in a plot twist. She made sure to keep a good pace - not fast enough the listener couldn't keep up, but not slow enough the listener got bored.
When she finished hours later the dragon just stared at her unblinking. "As you can see, I am a very good story teller. Have I-"
"Tell another." The dragon interrupted.
Lucy puffed out a frustrated breath but began to tell another story. This time one of a young woman looking for fairies. She was disappointed when E.N.D didn't even blink when it was revealed the main character's best friend was just a projection.
Once she was finished with that story, E.N.D just said with urgency "Another."
Lucy tried to recite poems, next a few jokes. Then a couple stories her mother would tell her before bed, the dragon made no sign which he liked the best. He just laid there watching her. So close she could see her reflection in his eye, she could see a pale disheveled little girl trying to be brave, yet so obviously frightened.
When she asked for water, her throat dry and aching, E.N.D simply said "No. Another story."
When she asked for food, her stomach constricting painfully, E.N.D said "No. Another."
She tried to ignore all her discomforts, and told him a tale of a boy who found a notebook that, when he wrote someone's name in it, they would die. She was close to finishing this tale when her bladder felt like it was going to explode. She had no idea how long she had been sitting here telling stories but knew it had to be hours and hours. Her voice was scratchy and her eyes heavy.
"E.N.D-"
"No. Another story."
Lucy had had quite enough. "No!" She snapped so loudly it echoed through the room and made E.N.D's head jerk back in suprise. "I will not tell another story till I have food and water, I would rather be incinerated than utter another syllable!" She growled, standing up.
E.N.D's eyes narrowed, he bared his teeth at her and Lucy could see a light glowing in the back of his throat as the fire in his gut surged upwards. She scrambled back, cursing herself for being such a fool but E.N.D just snarled at her, raising his wings he turned and flew off. Lucy could only stare at the dragon's retreating form, unable to comprehend that he had actually gone away.
He was back in moments though, with a large crate and a bucket that sloshed with water, as well as a smaller bucket. He set them all down next to the cage, the larger bucket held to the brim with water, the smaller bucket empty. With just a whisper if his claws the wooden crate was smashed open and glass jars and small packages slid through he jars. Most of the jars contained rancid meat that had long gone bad, but some had contained golden honey.
"Replenish, little thief." E.N.D snarled. "And next time you try my patience might be your last."
Lucy wasted no time in tossing the rotting meat out of her cage, as far away as she could toss it. It smelt foul. She used one of the glass jars to scoop out water from the barrel outside her prison, gulping down as much water as she could. Than she went to the packages, ripping one open revealed stiff bread. She sniffed it carefully, it didn't smell moldy, she couldn't see any discoloration on it either. Carefully she ripped it in half, the inside had no mold that she could see. The blonde gingerly took a bite, it was tasteless and flat but whatever it was would have to do. She scarfed down three loafs of the odd bread that she was pretty sure wasn't bread at all. Finally she used the smaller bucket to relieve herself the very moment E.N.D's eyes wandered away from her.
As soon as she was done with her needs, E.N.D laid down in front of her and demanded another story. If she didn't know any better, she would've sworn she saw a twinge if excitement in his eye as she told him a harrowing tale of a god of calamity, a regalia, and a half phantom.
Several days passed in this fashion, E.N.D slept rarely. But when he did he would circle his vast hoard, tidying up the mountains of gold coins and trinkets with great hands. Sometimes running his nose along the riches and making a deep rumbling sound of greedy satisfaction before he would settle in the center of the fields of gold and sleep with literally one eye open. But as soon as he woke up he would settle before Lucy and demand story after story. Lucy was struggling to think of new ones and found herself planning out what she would say when E.N.D went to sleep just to keep up.
When her entertainment wasn't needed, Lucy's mind traveled to the group of mages she had travelled with. Levy McGarden, Erza Scarlett, Gray Fullbuster, Cana Alberona, Mirajane, Lissana and Elfman Strauss, and little Wendy Marvel and her cat Charle. Not to mention Happy, the little Russian blue cat that had been following them since Lucy had tossed him a fish in a port city called Hargeon. Happy had been all skin and bone, eating scraps out of trashcans and fighting with other cats. He had taken a strong liking to Lucy right away, he would curl up on her sleeping mat at night and would follow her closely.
She hoped they were all okay, the passed few months with all of them had been the most fun she had ever had. Her and Levy were the ones who had found the secret entrance into the mountain, pouring over ancient texts with vigor. She had even been contemplating joining Fairy Tail after this was all over. It seemed like that dream had disapated with her capture.
Lucy had been paying very close attention to E.N.D over the days and realized something strange, whenever Lucy told stories of her journey here or about the company she kept, he would always steer her back to the rather tame tales of her life in the manor. It took her two days to figure out why. He was trying to trick her into revealing more about herself! Not Fairy Tail, or any of the mages she had met on her journey, about herself and her cozy apartment on Strawberry street. So, she slowed down her speech when telling him stories. Carefully thinking over every word unless she tell him something that would give him power over her. But she hadn't had a proper sleep in days, barely a few hours a day. Her mind as well as her heart and eyelids were heavy and knew sooner or later she would slip. He already had so much control over her, give him her name or where she lived and that would only increase. He seemed quite fond of the name 'Little Thief', and would call her nothing else.
"Mages." E.N.D hissed while Lucy was telling him about one of her companions on her journey here. "Always about mages, little thief." He snarled letting out a scalding breath that singed her face. His tail lashing against the mountains of gold behind him, causing an avalanche of sorts as he turned his head to peer at her with his other eye. "Perhaps one of the mages who I smelt on you when you came here? Do you think it wise, little thief, to ally with those creatures? They promised you a share of my treasure, right? Well they won't follow through, mages are just as greedy, if not more so, than I. Not an easy feet, little thief. No, mages are not to be trusted. Speak no more of their filth."
Lucy found herself clutching the gold and silver keys in her pocket. She herself was a mage, and she had a feeling if E.N.D found out about that she would be burned to ash. Holder type magic was a relatively new type of magic, it seemed E.N.D had took the smell of magic energy on her as a consequence of spending all her time with mages.
But a plan was already forming in her head, E.N.D's eyes had been almost constantly on her the passed couple of days (she wasn't sure just how many days but it had been at least five), she had had no chance of testing the gold spears around her for weaknesses. If she could annoy him just enough with stories of mages he would most likely go sulk and fume somewhere far away from her, so she would have a chance to try and figure a way out of her prison.
So she spoke of fancy parties she had been to and of the stuck up snobby people who had attended such parties. Of funny stories that had happened to her as a child. And every few hours she would sneak in something about mages. Trying her best not to smile as E.N.D's face becoming more annoyed by the second. His tail had increased its swaying, a habbit Lucy had learned to connect that he was annoyed.
But she had, once again, underestimated E.N.D.
It seemed she had mentioned mages one to many times. The dragon fell into a raving paranoid rage, his voice so dark and strong Lucy felt them rather than heard them. She could barely understand him as he snarled and barked out thieves and usurpers, and he heard my mountain and my gold and my little thief. He heard E.N.D snarl schemers and liars and cheats, he heard him say I'll crush, he heard him say I'll kill.
"Mine." He snarled once.
"Mine." He growled twice.
"Mine!" The dragon roared, throwing his head back and letting loose a stream of white hot flames.
She could only watch in horror as the dragon turned his back on her and charged towards the front gate. Her cries for him to stop and that she wouldn't speak of mages again fell on deaf ears as he rounded a massive corner and was out of sight. She was a fool, stirring E.N.D's annoyance wasn't going to cause him to sulk. It was going to cause him to fall into a raging temper tantrum, the dragon was nothing but excessive after all.
Lucy slid to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest, tears filling up her eyes as she stared at where the dragon had just been. He was going to go kill her friends. Because of her, the only friends she had ever had were going to be killed. She had no doubt E.N.D could easily track them down, he had stated many times that he could smell the eight mages on her, as well as two cats.
She felt the whole mountain tremble as E.N.D hit something, there was a great crashing sound that caused the gold around her to shutter. The dragon was causing a ruckus but soon his gaping form came back into view, he was huffing and puffing but seemed to have calmed down.
"You destroyed the front gate." Lucy murmured, wiping away the tears on her cheek furiously so the dragon wouldn't see. E.N.D snorted, but settled down in front of her, the familiar puff of air as he exhaled hit her straight on.
"Indeed." He said, seeming quite pleased with himself. "Let's see anyone take what is mine now."
"But now you have locked yourself in!" Lucy exclaimed.
E.N.D snorted, "You underestimate me once again, little thief, my strength is beyond your imagination. I could easily break through this stone walls if the need ever arises." He layed his head next to her cage to stare at her with one gaping eye, "Now, another story."
"It's a strange thing." She murmured, her eyes itching from crying just moments before.
"What?"
"That you like stories so much. I just - I never expected it."
"I believe all dragons tend to like stories, little thief." E.N.D said.
"Do they?" Lucy pondered. "You know, if you were a bit nicer I think people would come far and wide to tell you more interesting stories than me."
E.N.D snorted at that, his lips peeling back to show what Lucy guessed must be a smile. "What is gold but not a story?"
"What?"
"I can tell you where each and every piece of treasure in my hoard came from, how old it is, if it was loved and cared for before coming into my possession or left to gather dust. I can tell how it was crafted and can sense if even a single coin leaves the mountain. But every single gem, gold, and treasure has one thing in common."
"And what is that?"
"That they are all mine." He said, a pleased rumble in his voice as he looked over at all of the gold. "Even you, little thief will run out of stories and you to will be mine."
Lucy could only gape as the dragon grinned at her before his features smoothed and he said,
"Another story."
AN: Hello my dear readers and thank you all for reading! I got this idea last night at like four o'clock in the morning after I finished watching The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (don't judge me, I couldn't sleep). So that's where I got a lot of inspiration for Natsu as a scary dragon, and the fact that his in a mountain...and the mountains of gold...I just took a lot of things from The Hobbit, didn't I? O.O I am aware Natsu is seriously OOC but just wait awhile, he'll slide into his normal personality when he gets more comfortable around Lucy.
See any mistakes? Tell me so I can fix them! Didn't like it? Tell me why! Constructive criticism is always welcome. ^^
I had so much fun writing this you don't even know, I hope you liked it and tell me what you think? Reviews fuel my inspiration so odds are if you review than I will update faster...just saying.
Love you all and see you all next chapter!