Title: Blood Revelation
Author: Sane. Allen/Kanra Nakamura
Rated: T
Genre: Angst, Hurt and Comfort, Romance
Summary: Natsu was kidnapped by a dark guild a few days after Erza was declared to be the 7th guild master of Fairy Tail. Three weeks after Natsu got kidnapped, Zeref, who heard what happen to Natsu, pass by a castle where he heard Natsu screams. The dark mage saved him, but the fairy tail mages arrive when he healed Nastu and both of them revealed something that the other mages never accepted for a few years.
Pairing: Eventually Gray x Natsu
Warnings: Bad Grammars, OOC, Angst scene, Mention of rapes, torture, brother complex, temporary female Natsu, bad languages, gore and violence, trigger warnings, and major AU.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Brother complex mode, angry"
(Actions while singing/ actions while playing song/ scene change)
"Flashback/Past/memories"
"Emphasizing"
Please enjoy the story!
A/N: Please note that I'll be using our favorite characters, fake names once in a while.
Opening Song: V.I.P from Magi (2nd Part)
Shita o mite warau Yori mo ue o mite Zetsubou shitai
"motto" kuchiguse ga ii
(A girl with long pink-haired, tied into a high ponytail, is seen walking ahead of us down at the hallway of the palace, before stopping and look at the window beside her, revealing a smiling face of Natsu/Etherias. At the window were sakura petals flying making her eyes follow it and when they landed at their balcony garden, she smiled widely before moving away, while our view zooms to the balcony.)
Oto ni duuji o tsuketagaru kyuukaku ni Taketa ano hito eh
Ima ore wa ikutsu dai? Kikasete
(At the balcony were Wendy, Carla, Happy, and Lily, having a picnic, is watching as the flowers fall from the tree they bloom at, which is planted beside them, and flies away. They look at each other before standing up and walk towards the doorway where Invel, who adjusted his glasses, is standing at and when they passed him, he followed. Sakura petals cover the view.)
(Instrumental)
(Flash and reveals
"Blood Revelation 2
ケツち
コクつ.げる2"
Disappears)
Fushigi to tobira no mukuo ni wa V.I.P nanoru yatsu wa naku
Daremo ga kunuo no hate sa ore mo
(The next scene is Natsu standing beside Zeref, who is sitting at the chair of the throne room, leaning his cheek on his fisted hand while the elbow of the said hand is leaning at the armchair, both of them smirking. In front of them are the Spriggans standing in a straight line, either smirking, leering, or smiling. Then suddenly the rest of the siblings arrived and went towards the older ones, followed by Aoi, who flew towards his mistress and lands at Natsu's shoulder. The said princess glance at her pet before looking back at us and raised her hand, which made Aoi flew and then blue flames began to surround him and everything was white before revealing…)
Sutakkaato ni kizanda
(The Fairy Tail mages, who are standing in front of their guild, smiling sadly. Makarov and Mavis standing in front of them with the same facial expression. However, Romeo, Asuka, and Gray weren't there. Sakura petals cover the view.)
Hagireyoku aruita michi ja nai kedo
Sotto negai o kometa
(Romeo and Asuka were seen next in the forest where they created a small altar for their missing family members, kneeling and praying. Before they stood up and look at the sky, smiling and then they both walk away holding each other's hands and it tightens slowly, showing as a sign of comfort. Sakura petals cover the view.)
Ano hi, no shounen wa ima kono keshiki nani, omou darou?
Saa uchinuke
(Next to being seen was Gray leaning at the wall of his house, of Natsu's house, found in the middle of the forest looking at the small garden he created, filled with flowers that reminded him of their missing family members before grabbing a Gaillardia flower from its bush near him and twirls it and watch as the strong wind blew the petals away and Gray could only watch it, a few petals flew away as well. Sakura petals cover the view.)
Akogare o ima tsukanda
Mi o yudanereba ii kaji wa kono te ni
(Next scene is Gray and Etherias passing each other in the market of Magnolia before Etherias stopped and look back and watched Gray walk away from her with his shoulders slump before she turned and walks away, and then it was Gray's turn to stop and watches her as she walked away, images of Natsu flashes before his eyes before he closed them and smiles before walking away. Gaillardia petals cover the view.)
Mittsu kazoete the showtime
Daikansei no namari ni kokochiyoku utareta nara
(And the next scene was two cliffs facing each other, strong winds blowing. On each cliff stood the Fairytail mages and the Alvarez rulers and shields. The Fairy Tail mages are standing in line, frowning, while their enemies were smirking at them, except the princes and princesses who are smiling, the smiles, however, are cold and give them shivers. However, it was only Gray who had his eyes widen slowly upon making eye contact with the Heiress, who was smiling gently at him. Thunderflashes in the background, followed by a white flash.)
Saa tobikomou
("Blood Revelation 2
ケツち
コクつ.げる2")
(Bloody 25: Shall we start?)
(With Natsu)
Natsu yawned as she stretched her arms above her head. It's been two days since she woke up from her coma, two days of having her brother and sister fussed around her and watching the doctor and nurses' movements every time they check on her. Two days of having to eat hospital food before her overprotective siblings decided that she needs to eat something different, thus resulting in her being alone with Aoi for a few hours for the very first time. She loves her siblings dearly and appreciates their concern but she also needs some time alone!... okay maybe she won't be alone considering Aoi is always with her or eyesight... but still... being alone made her think about the events that happened to her before being hospitalized, which is important because then she will now the next step that they need to do. She has been already informed by her siblings and pet what happened and what she missed and it's great that nothing bad happen so far... however...
Natsu narrowed her eyes as she looked at the window in her room. Everything is working as planned and so smoothly without a hitched… though she wasn't expecting it to go so well, she also wasn't expecting Erza's reaction towards her. This, of course, made her wonder what's wrong with the Titania. Despite the pain that she felt, Natsu could understand Erza when she attacked them a few years ago, but attacking an 'innocent person who was just around the teenager of their guild was something she couldn't. Why did she? Was it because she's insecure, distrusting, or did something happen between the years she didn't see her former teammates, resulting in the titania acting like a total villain?
"Penny for your thoughts?" Natsu blinked, lifted her head, and looked at Aoi, who was perching at the foot of the bed.
"Hmmm?"
"You've been frowning for the past 15 minutes and I've been calling you for the past five. Something's bothering you." This statement just made the Dragon Slayer mage smile sheepishly.
"Just wondering..." She mumbled. "Everything that has been happening is according to what we want... but... it seems so easy... especially with the Titania's reaction."
"What are you saying?" Aoi blinked as his mistress glance sharply at him.
"I fear that with how smoothly we progress... something bad will happen at the end of it, and it won't end well for us... especially for Zeref." Hearing that, the phoenix sighed before jumping down from his perch and laid down on his mistress lap.
" Aren't you supposed to be the optimistic one?" He muttered.
"In front of my siblings? Yes... with you... no." That admittance made Natsu sighed sadly as her bird looked at her with narrowed eyes.
"Are you that worried about your siblings?"
"Considering that Zeref-nii used to be a dark mage because of me years ago? Yes." This made the two silent for a short while before Aoi exhaled sharply.
"Then it's a good thing that I never really told your brother about your visitor." Hearing that made Natsu to raised her eyebrow. It's rare for Aoi to never tell Zeref anything, especially when the two of them made a pact to share everything related to her, and if he didn't share it with her older brother then it's probably dangerous should Zeref knew about it, but what?
"What?" Natsu asked, tilting her head to the side, with that Aoi told Natsu about her 'visitor' that always visited her when her siblings, aka cousins, are not around. Throughout the tale, the Heiress felt her heart skipped a beat, and by then the end of it, she was gaping slightly as she blinked in shock while her heart felt like it was bursting out of her chest. "Gray Fullbuster has been... visiting me?"
'And touching your hand slightly, but telling you that would trigger a panic attack.' Aoi mentally added, but outwardly he just said. "Yes..."
"A-any idea why?" Natsu stuttered looking at her lap and trying to calm her beating heart. 'Shit and here I thought that my crush for him is all gone.'
Aoi merely sighed, before shaking his head. In all honesty, he never knew the reason why the ice mage keeps on visiting his mistress during her time in a coma and what's surprising is that he never came back to visit again after that slight breakdown. He's pretty sure no Fairy Tail mages knew about Natsu's waking, not even Mavis, whose ghost didn't even bother to visit (and Aoi should know, he's a phoenix! His magic is of high caliber than the First Master of Fairy Tail.), not even the Mayor knew that she already woke up. So he couldn't have stopped visiting because he learned that his Mistress is up and ranting (he wants to say screaming but ever since Natsu became the heir of the Alvarez Empire she's the epitome of calm... sometimes), meaning something else is at play. The Phoenix is not sure whether this something is good or bad.
"Not really. He could be doing so because he's guilty or needs some sort of balance." He answered Natsu's question, not really inclined to tell her anything and add something that would worry her more.
"Balance?" Natsu asked, frowning slightly. "Balance as in our term where a condition of the magic, sanity, and emotion are equal in portion?"
"Yep." Aoi confirmed, popping the 'p' despite having a beak instead of a mouth, and remembers the whole time Gray visited the room. "During his time here, he would have a huge amount of agitation, frustration, or any negative emotion. He then would look around as if there is something in the room that could remove whatever that emotion is and he found it just by looking at you. Gazing, touching, at you relaxes, calms, him as fast as one, two, three."
"I see," Natsu mumbled, frowning deeply, and wonders what's wrong with Gray.
"Did you ever do something before?" Aoi questions, making the Pink haired Princess look at him. "Before this whole thing happen, did you do something with him? Because it seems that his balance is you." Natsu sighed heavily before slightly shaking her head in denial.
"Not really. We did do an occasional friendly spar when either of us is stress or annoyed by something, but that's it." She answered, rummaging in her memories of every moment she spent with Gray years ago. But as far as she can see, there's not that much that says she's his balance or whatever, Aoi, however, has a different thought for that.
"That's it!" Aoi declared, pointing a wing at Natsu's face, said Mage blink at the wing, nearly getting crossed eye because of it. "Your sparring with him, be it friendly, training, or even a negative feeling spar, is enough to create a balance for him! A balance that he's searching and yearning for! A balance that he can only found with you!"
"Why would he search for a balance? I mean, can't he just go and gets a new one?" Natsu blinked while her pet hummed.
"This is just my assumption but there are two reasons why he's searching for the balance you two have. One, his magic got used to spar with you and found it incompatible with other magic to spar with, fighting is different as the magic will register them as dangerous, but sparring? The magic will register that as safe and merely doing it for fun, release, or get a sense of home, this would result in him rejecting balance that would have form. Two, subconsciously, no matter how many times he sparred with someone else, he knew that you are more compatible with him and subconsciously, both he and his magic that no one could replace you."
"But that didn't happen to me," Natsu mumbled tilting her head to the side. At that, the flaming bird nodded and said.
"Because you've found your balance in the form of your family. He could have found it with his friends but for whatever reason he didn't, perhaps he couldn't, until you arrived, which made me think that his magic subconsciously imprinted on you."
"And by imprinting... Gray knew who I am because of his magic." Natsu said, looking at her lap before biting her lip and fisting her hand in frustration. This information is bad news! Gray knew who she is, subconsciously at least, but once he consciously listens or tries to figure out what's happening with his magic and mind around her, he could connect the dots! The ice mage is not dumb, Natsu knew that he could be smart, and once he knew her true identity their plans would be all for naught. She can't allow that to happen, no matter what her heart is telling her to. Their plans need to proceed, for the happiness of her brother.
"Or it's probably because he loves you." Aoi casually stated, snapping Natsu from her thoughts, before sharply looking at him.
"What?" She snapped out.
"We are thinking about this too deeply because our mind knows logic. But what if the reason is because he loves you."
"That doesn't make any sense." Natsu frowned. First, it was balanced and magic, now Aoi is telling her that Gray loves her? What? "What do you mean?"
"Clear your mind, Natsu," Aoi said, before flying around the room and watched as his mistress did a short meditation and landed back on his perch at the bed once she was done. "Now think. The brain is one of the most complicated things in the whole world, no matter how many times people try we can't figure it out, but surpassing the brain is the heart."
"Like Magic... a brain and heart can be imprinted be with things that will help you realize who that person is, subconsciously or even consciously, as long as you have an imprint of that person within you, you will recognize them. No matter the changes... and if Gray loves you, loves you as Natsu Dragneel of Fairy tail then you are engraved in his mind and heart. Perhaps he loves you so much that his mind and heart knew who you are at first glance but due to the changes in your appearance, he's confused and thus losing whatever balance he had, if he has one, making his emotion go disarray, making him search for you, reached out to you, who give him balance, who his heart and mind had an imprint on."
"Is that even possible...?" Natsu whispered, face sad as she realized that, perhaps, the plan they build would fail because of her and... because she can't bear the thought of bringing pain or disbalance towards Gray. He, who is the owner of her heart, shouldn't experience this.
"Might be... but what we only have is theories, assumptions... the real person who knew what's going is Gray." Aoi tried to reassure his Mistress because he knew what she felt towards the Ice Mage, he knew that she made her heart cold towards that mage, and maybe the other mages of Fairytail as well, just so that she can bring happiness to her brother.
"Even if this is done subconsciously?" Natsu mumbled, making the Phoenix nod. She sighed in frustration.
"What if talk to him?" She asked, looking at Aoi, who blinks in shock.
"Why?"
"... I want to know why... I want to know what to do with the plan, should I revised or should we proceed."
"..." Aoi thought deeply about this. Natsu, who has been living with dark mages for three years, had gained quite a great ability to manipulate people, gain answers, evade, and changes a subject without anyone realizing it. She could get an answer from Gray but the question is... will it be okay? Because there is no way in the whole Earth land would she be able to get out of her siblings' sight so soon as she got out of the hospital. "As much as I'm fine with it... your brother and sister won't allow it, especially Zeref, who would be pretty much mad at me for not informing him about the Ice Mage."
"..." Natsu sighed heavily before saying. "Leave those two to me."
"...Okay."
(A few hours later)
"Absolutely not!" Zeref growled at his sister, who suggested one of the most ridiculous he ever heard (not for the first time and Zeref knew it won't be the last). Said sister merely sighed as if he was missing the point, well excuse him, because there is no way in the seven pits of hell or even hundreds pit of hell would he allow his sister to talk with the Ice Mage for whatever reason!
"Zeref-nii..." Natsu started only to jerk slightly when said brother pointed a finger at her face.
"No! I don't care why you want to talk to this bastard of an Ice Mage! Not now, not ever!"
"Onii-sama!" Wendy started, snapping Zeref from his rage, albeit slightly, and made him look at her. Upon seeing the frowning of their youngest sister, he winces before sighing and sat down, immediately grabs Natsu's hand. The youngest sibling in the room, pursed her lips before looking at her older sister, who was looking at her, smiling in gratitude, and asked. "Why do you want to talk to Gray, Natsu-nee-sama?"
"...I want to check on a theory..." Natsu started. "Erza's reaction towards Kira, towards me, is... shocking, so violent, and a bit weird... not only that, everything in our plan has been working so smoothly that I fear something bad will happen... I need to find out if my theory is correct."
"How is that good for nothing mage attacking you, weird?"
"What theory, Onee-sama?" Zeref and Wendy asked respectively and at once, said siblings looked at each other before looking at Natsu, who was frowning deeply.
"Because I know Erza... or I used to three years ago." The pink-haired princess started and looked at them straight in the eyes. "The Erza I know never attacks someone so violently just because she's suspicious of them, she thinks and asked first before attacking, so this side of her is weird and that is where my theory comes in. I need to check whether or not my theory with the titania being influenced by Magic is correct, or is something else at play, and if there is... what would happen with our plan? Should we revise it? or I'm just paranoid and nothing will happen."
"I think you are overreacting Natsu."
"But why Gray?" Once again, her siblings asked in unison, making Aoi sigh in exasperation as Natsu shakes her head.
"Can we have our priorities aligned please?" Aoi mumbled as Natsu chuckled before looking back at her siblings.
"I'm not overreacting... just worried..." Here, she bit her lips before sighing and said. "As for the reason why Gray... he helped me get to the hospital... I know he carried me and watched over me until we reached the doctors... I could go to Lucy but knowing her she would spend time with Levy or Cana, Erza is a no-go... thus Gray would be the best bet."
"What about the others? What makes Gray so important?" Zeref snarled, while Wendy didn't match his anger, she merely nodded in agreement with him asking the correct question for once since the whole conversation started.
"I..."
"Natsu...please don't tell me that the reason you want to talk to him is because of your feelings for the Ice mage." Here, Zeref narrowed his eyes as he demanded answers. He loves his siblings dearly, but he loves Natsu above all of them, and he knew that his blood sister bears a certain feeling towards the Ice Mage, a feeling that would either brought happiness or despair towards her. For all the years that his sister has been living with him, Zeref never feared his sister having suitors (and his younger siblings are still young, even Wendy for that), and his family love but once (he still haven't been able to move on from Mavis) and he knew his sister loved Gray Fullbuster with all her heart (probably also one of the reasons why he bore a huge amount of hatred towards the ice mage), thus he is not worried about men going after her hand just for the sake of title or power or for her body (he'll kill them if that was the case) or because they really love her (he'll torture them, twice, before killing them for having that thought because no one is good enough for Natsu, not even a certain mage) because she won't hand it over to anyone except for one person.
Every time this thought came to mind, the Emperor always had a mixed feeling. Delight because like stated, they only loved once, so he didn't have to worry about his sister marrying a person who would only use her for their gain or break her heart. Horror because if Natsu ever, ever decided to be with Gray she might confess to him and have her heart broken into pieces (Zeref never, ever, thought of his sister betraying him and the Empire because she would never do it, not even for the sake of her chosen one... confess or spare the ice mage, yes, but betray Zeref? No), again and he won't allow his sister to fall further to darkness. Anger because Natsu bears this kind of feeling that will not ensure the future state of her heart. And with that thought, Zeref couldn't help but wonder if his sister can let go of the love she bears or at least locks it in and try not to let it affect her life.
"...No..." Natsu answered, but she knew better than to lie at her brother, and thus she reluctantly added. "At least not yet..."
"What do you mean, Natsu-nee-sama?" Wendy asked as her sister sighed.
"My priority right now is to know whether my theory is right... my feelings with Gray can be settled after our fight or even never," Natsu told them before looking at her older brother's eyes. "What I feel for Gray... can either be touched or even never, what matters is that we get the fairy heart, the annihilation of Acnologia... the completion of the Time Magic, Neo Eclipse. Those are my priorities right now."
Meanwhile, as Natsu talked, Zeref tried to check whether his sister is saying the truth or not. He trusts Natsu with all his heart, but sometimes his sister always had something in her sleeves or a hidden motive that is either good for everyone and bad for her, or something that would benefit her entirely. While the former had a huge amount of events happening, the latter can be count on one hand. Thus making him cautious with every action his sister is doing but when Natsu mentioned the Neo Eclipse, he flinched and lost concentration. Instead, his mind when towards that particular plan of his, something that has been in his mind the whole time it was mentioned by his younger siblings, feeling guilty and selfish.
"Natsu..." Zeref started but his beloved sister shakes her head and smiled at him.
"We don't have to talk about the Neo Eclipse now, we can talk about it later." Zeref pursed his lips, before nodding hesitantly. Wendy smiled at her older brother before looking back at Natsu.
"Are you sure onee-sama?" She asked softly, her grip at the said sister's hand tighten. The Fire Dragon Slayer nodded in determination.
"Yes... We don't let you do anything you don't want to do, then I can assure you, Wendy, that I also won't do anything I don't want to do." She smiled at them, which made everyone in the room smile as well before they sighed in defeat.
"Alright... but Aoi will be with you at all times." Zeref demanded. "I don't want you to leave his sight, got it?"
"Don't worry about it, brat. Natsu won't be alone." Aoi spoke for the first time since the siblings talked. Zeref glared at the Phoenix the moment the word 'brat' left his beak, before looking back at his sister, who smiled.
"I'm surprised you didn't insist on spying on me." She remarked, making Zeref snort.
"Pretty sure the moment my eyes landed on the ice mage, he'll be dead." Wendy giggled.
"I'll make sure to keep Onii-sama calm and stop being a sis-con." She chirped making Natsu and Aoi laughed as Zeref frowned at her and mumbled.
"Not a sis-con."
"Hahaha!"
"Sure... pfffttt..."
"Whatever you say, brat."
"I'm not!"
(Three days later, Magnolia Park, with Gray)
Gray sighed deeply, his head titled up from the bench he's sitting on, gazing lazily at the clouds passing by. For the past days, he planned and planned his departure in search of the owner of his heart, only to come up blank. Gray wanted, needed, to search for Natsu, his heart knew that, his mind knew that... well half of his mind knew that... but his body is determined to stay as well as the remaining half of his mind and it's all because of the awaken pink haired 'citizen', Akabane Kira. The day after he planned to search for Natsu, he found out that the girl was already awake and surround by her family. It lessen his guilt after seeing her laughed and smile at her cousin, who entertained her, and her happiness made him decide to never bother her again with his presence, and thus he no longer saw her.
He really should plan for his departure, informed the Masters about his plan, but with his body being indecisive, he's stuck and had no way or even motivation to do as he, please. It doesn't help, that for some reason, Juvia tried to be with him every single second of the day, both in and out of the guild. He tried to talk her to about it but she didn't listen, then he told the Masters about it, who spoke to her about it as well, but she still didn't listen. Which resulted in him hiding from her, like right now (he's currently hiding in the spot of the park where he can't be seen unless they do head in this direction), or stay with a group, which is rare as he never really stayed with the rest of his guildmate aside from his team and those who went with him on the 'rescue' mission for Natsu nearly four years ago. Gray was so deep in thoughts that he didn't hear gentle footsteps coming towards him until a soft, familiar, yet at the same time not, a voice spoke.
"Hello." The Ice Mage blink before tilting his head down and looked at his left, eyes widening at what he's seeing. Immediately sitting up, Gray blinked multiple times to make sure that the person in front of him is not an illusion because there is no way that they're there. But upon hearing them giggle, the Fairy Tail Mage couldn't help but resigned in defeat, for there, in front of his very eyes, was Kira Akabane, who had a bandage wrapped around her head, wearing a long golden-brown skirt, its edges trailing across the ground, a white, off-shoulder, long sleeve ruffle crop top, and over it is a bloody red bodice that is showing her figures. The raven-haired blink at her then began to look around, because one, he's searching for her cousins and two... her beauty and grace are distracting. Once in a while, he would glance from the corner of his eyes and would note that how she looked like she glided towards him, not walking. But that's beside the point, he needs to see if her cousin is here and whether or not should he run for his life.
"Kuro-nii is not here." Kira giggled, laughing softly when Gray jumped before looking at her immediately and noticed that she was merely a couple of feet away from the bench. He faints coughs and looked at the side as a pink hue appeared on his cheeks, embarrassed at being caught off guard and prayed that she won't see it, but by the way she giggles, it's pointless.
"Right... um..." Gray mumbled, before inhaling deeply and looked at her. "Your cousin is scary, so forgive me if I fear him."
"Ahahaha!" Kira laughed, sincerely, making him smile. "He threatened you then." She teased, smirking at him. Above the sky, perched at a branch on one of the trees, Aoi tilt his head slightly to the side. His Mistress feels light. They were here to asked questions about their theories and while Natsu didn't seem to forget about it, she's very sincere with her feelings and this made him wonder...hmmm.
"No... not really," Gray mumbled but Kira just laughed again before gesturing to the bench his sitting at. He blinked before scooting over and watched as she sat down beside him.
"Kira Akabane, a pleasure to meet you." Kira introduces herself, bowing her head slightly. Gray smiled at her.
"Gray Fullbuster."
It was quiet for a while, Kira looking at the view in front of her, while Gray watched her, eyeing her appearance and frowned internally at the thought that she looks exactly like Natsu, he did blink however when he saw something shimmer around her but it was no longer there and just gone.
"Is there a particular reason that you're here with me instead of your family?" Gray asked after a few minutes of silence and gathering his bearings, though he did wince at his bluntness. He saw Kira looked at him, blinking before smiling with a hint of confusion.
"Not really... Is it bad that I'm here?" She asked, the Ice Mage shake his head and looked ahead instead of her.
"Just thought you would be with the people your familiar with rather than someone who isn't and also has a part with your injury." He mumbled, Kira, sighed and hummed.
"That is true... I would prefer to be with my cousins... but I also would like to be with the person who helped me."
"Help you?" Gray blinked looking at the pink-haired girl, who smiled softly at him.
"I was told that you carried me to the carriage and then to the hospital after the red-haired mage used her magic on me." At that the male mage wince before slumping further.
"I... I'm sorry, I can't explain Erza's reaction towards your interaction with Romeo and Asuka."
"... From what I gathered, her reaction is due to my connection with Natsu." She said, looking away from him and to the trees, ignoring how Gray snapped his head towards her.
"Natsu..."
"Romeo and Asuka weren't lying. I knew him... he helped me and my village before..." And thus Kira spunned the same story she told Romeo and Asuka days ago. She watched from the corner of her eyes at how awe and entranced Gray is, that by the end of it, Kira couldn't help but wonder... was Aoi right?
"Ahahaha, I'm glad to hear that he hasn't changed." Gray smiled, looking away, happy that after years of no updates about his heart, he finally heard about him, even if it's late.
"Why would he change?" Kira asked, looking at him. "With the people, he's with, Wendy, Carla, Lily, Happy, and Zeref, they made sure that he's still the Natsu they knew. I always saw how they interacted with him, even though they're gentle, especially with his bad days, they always remind him of who he really is."
"That's good to hear... the only reason I thought he changed is because of how we part ways." The Princess in disguise hummed.
"He doesn't blame you..." Gray's eyes went towards her. "He told me what happen between him, you, and those who tried to rescue him from the guild who took him away. How everything was filled with pain, hurtful words, and anger."
"He... he did...?"
"Uh-huh, we swore to each other to never have secrets, and if we found something related to us, we will share them, especially if those secrets are what will ruin our friendship. And thus, I know how everything went...especially the fact that he knew his relationship with Zeref only because of the guild who kidnapped him."
"I see..." Gray mumbles before tilting his head up. "When Natsu revealed that his Zeref's brother, my first thought was that his lying and then the question of why would he lie entered soon after... then he said it wasn't a lie, I thought that he betrayed us, betrayed me and that this whole time he was merely pretending. It was too late for me to think that he probably didn't know and that the guild who took him did something so that he'll remember it."
"You let that ruin everything?"
"I don't know about the others but that time I was so stressed. I was thinking about what happens to Natsu, whether he's okay or not... what's his state when we find him... I just snapped and I shouldn't let it happen."
"But it did happen."
"And we, I, regret it." The dark-haired male admitted. "Natsu means a lot to everyone who knew him. He made everything alright, even when it seems that everything is all over, that we'll be defeated, he's there to prove it wrong. No matter how many times he got knocked out by the enemies we fought, he always stood up, leading us to victory and making us think better about ourselves... he's my balance." The admittance made Kira's eyes widen, while Aoi choked from his perched.
"Balance?" She asked. The Ice Mage nodded.
"With my hated towards Deliora, a demon of Zeref that killed my parents and teacher, as well as my history of losing the people I care for, I always had the tendency to be a reckless and self-sacrificing idiot, not minding the pain it will bring to those who cared for me." The mention of Deliora made them both think about the S-Class demon, where they first met Leon and defeated the monster, as well as stopping Gray from killing himself by using the Ice Shell Spell that requires the user's life. As Gray talked about the Natsu he knew, Kira and Aoi, who moved beloved the bench and covered himself with illusion magic, narrowed their eyes at him. The moment they saw the mage at the port, the ice mage's aura was full of pain, regret, and despair, unlike his teammates whose aura wasn't nearly as dark as his. But now... the moment Kira's original name was spoken, the aura was replaced with relief, happiness, and peace, just by having Natsu as the topic! And Slowly but surely, one of their theories is confirmed, but Kira still needs to learn more about this... as well as Erza's reaction towards her.
"He even forgives me easily, especially with the incident where I tried to make him think I betrayed him by joining side with a person, who tried to replicate dragons and causing an entire village to be invisible." Kira smiled at that. Because, it did hurt at first, but in the end, Gray had no choice as she nearly forgot about that promise. "The other's weren't so, but he readily give it to me. He made me think that everything is alright. On my darkest moments, he's there, standing, guiding me."
"Does Natsu mean that much to you?" Kira mumbled while Gray laughed sadly.
"Yes."
"Why did you go after him then?"
"I didn't want to cause him any more pain…" He said, looking at the sky, remembering his last memories with Natsu. "He told you what happen when we separated… it took me a long time to accept the fact that Zeref is Natsu's brother. But when I did, I thought, I have no right to go after him, and even if I did ignore that, I would probably just brought him pain."
"You speak as if you knew Natsu." Kira frowned at him, before sighing. "As I said, Natsu didn't blame you or anyone else during that day, no one but those who kidnapped him."
"Even still… he doesn't blame, but I blamed myself… I always thought… what if I was stronger? Maybe Natsu would still be here, Wendy and the others too."
"What is Natsu to you?" Kira bluntly asked. "You didn't mention much about Wendy and the others, you always mention Natsu… so what is he to you?"
"What makes you say that?" Gray looked away from her while Kira's eyes narrowed at him.
"Don't take me for a fool Gray Fullbuster… I already said the reason." She growled. "Natsu is a dear friend of mine… I won't allow you to make excuses as you continue to avoid him, he misses you!"
Gaping at Kira, Gray couldn't help but blink twice as for that single moment, he thought he's talking to Natsu. But when the words registered his brain, he winced and looked away.
"Why would you want to know?"
"… My family and I are going to search for him." The Princess said softly, looking away, as she looked at the sky. "Due to what happened, Kuro-nii decided that we won't be staying here as it's probably not safe for us… especially when I was attacked for unsure reasons, aside from my relationship with Natsu."
"And what would you get? What would my answer give to you if you're leaving to search for Natsu?!" Gray shouted blue eyes pierced his heart as he was answered.
"Because he deserves to know that his friends, at least one of his friends, still cares for him."
It was a staredown between the two of them, Gray looking at her with wide eyes, while Kira smiling patiently at him, it was quiet for a few moments, before he stood up and took a few steps forward.
"I'm sorry for what Erza did… I'll try to get the reason from her." Kira stood up as he began to walk away, protesting.
"That's not what–"
"Natsu…" Gray cut in, before turning to look at her over his shoulder, giving her a sad, yet beautiful smile. "Natsu's the owner of my heart. I love him… and… I will get him." And then he was gone… Kira blink multiple times, before sitting down and sighed.
"That went well," Aoi said, suddenly sitting at the spot where Gray was sitting moments ago. "And we got one theory right… he does love you."
"…. So it would seem so…."
"What are you going to do about it?" Aoi asked after a few minutes, watching his Mistress process everything that has happened.
"Nothing… you heard Gray, he'll be getting Natsu… meaning, he has plans to leave but the question is when."
"Do you want me to watch him?" Aoi received a shake of denial at that suggestion.
"No. Leave him be, his action has no huge impact without plans." Natsu smile slightly at him before standing up and walked away.
"What about Erza? We didn't know the reason for her strong reaction." Aoi flew before perching at his Mistress's shoulder, frowning slightly when it seems that she's heading towards a dark alleyway, growing as she entered it, before sighing.
"I already had an idea… I just need to see one person to have it confirmed."
"Really?"
"Yep," Kira then stopped in front of a dead-end, before slowly turning around. "I'll tell you more about it with Kuro-nii and Yuki. Right now, we got a rat to handle."
Aoi merely watched with half-lidded eyes at the sight of the person standing behind them.
"Spying at a couple isn't a good idea, more so when you followed after the girl and with an aura that surely means that you have the intention to hurt them." Natsu grinned as said aura grow larger. She knew that she was there, hiding from the moment she sat beside Gray. She's sure that they were far enough from being heard by her, but the moment Gray left, she went closer and closer, making the Princess in disguise uncomfortable as she can only think… how much did their stalker hear.
"…"
"Not going to speak?"
"….Juvia… always did her best to make sure Gray-sama is happy and talks to her… but Gray-sama avoids her…" Natsu put her hands behind her, watching as Juvia Lockser step to the light, eyes covered with her hair.
"Juvia is fine that Gray-sama to talk with everyone because it makes him happy, even though it's only a little. But Juvia hates it when Gray-sama talks to someone else, someone we don't know or even a member of the guild."
"Do you hate me then?" Aoi jump away from his Mistress and perched at the window sill on one of the buildings as a dim light began to appear on Natsu's hand.
"Yes… Yes, Juvia hates you!" The Former Phantom Mage roared, snapping her head towards Natsu, anger in her eyes. "Juvia… Juvia tried her best to make Gray-sama happy, laugh, or SMILE! But then you appeared, making Gray-sama remember about that… that DEVIL'S KIN! That MONSTER! Saying you knew him! And he smiled! He smiled at someone he just met!"
"But I did know Natsu," Kira said, eyes narrowing, as anger began to swirl within them. No one and she means, no one is allowed to talk about her brother like that. "And isn't Gray allowed to smile and be happy?"
"Juvia doesn't believe you! You're just giving Gray-sama false hope! You're nothing but a fake! A liar! I heard what you and that monster on the window talked about earlier! I will defeat you and then bring you back to the guild and tell them what kind of a witch and liar you are!" Magic circle began to appear beneath Juvia's feet as she summon waters around her. "Also, Juvia likes it that Gray-sama is happy, but Juvia loves it when she's the reason Gray-sama smiled! A smile directed for her!"
"Hmm… your jealous then." Natsu guessed, smirking when Juvia snarled and attacked her with her magic.
"DIE!" Juvia shouted, smirking confidently when her water was within reach of her 'enemy'.
Boom!
"Eh…" She then paused, gaping, shocked when her water burst and with only a swing from Kira's hand.
"Now, now… let's not be too hasty." The Princess said, as a ball-like wind, recedes from her hand. "You might hurt yourself."
"Who are you?" Juvia gasped, stepping back as a dark aura began to surround Kira.
"Hmmm? I thought you said I'm a witch and a liar?" She taunted, making the blue-haired girl snarled and attacked her again.
"Water ray!"
"You shouldn't let your jealousy control you… Juvia…" Natsu said as the darkness grew around them, winds began to circle Natsu stopping the attack.
"You also shouldn't think that Gray is yours." Juvia trembles in fear. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was just supposed to talk with Gray-sama, instead, she found him talking with the person that was supposed to be in the hospital, talking about the traitor and making him smile. This person made Gray-sama confessed the feelings he had towards the traitor, feelings that she had hoped would be gone. But instead, it's still there and in her mind, it's because of this woman. She planned to attack her, threaten her when she's alone, instead she found out that the woman had a monster with her, and is planning something… something that would harm everyone, especially Gray-sama. Which leads her to attack her, but… she knows magic. The woman knows magic! Everyone is in danger from her!
The last thing Juvia heard was her screams before everything went dark.
(An hours later, Akabane Household)
Zeref was pacing back and forth in their temporary living room, biting his nails as he waited for his sister to arrive. Wendy is calmly sitting at their chair, reading a book, ignoring her brother. She already talks to him earlier about their sister and it was enough to calm him for a while before he began to worry and it grew stronger the longer Natsu is missing from their side. It was quiet for a few more minutes before they heard the doorknob of the front door moved, and then it was creaking open.
"We're home~" Natsu stated, smiling at her siblings. Zeref slumped in relief, dropping down at the middle of the sofa, while Wendy giggled, bookmarked her book, and stood up from her chair, immediately hugging her, who hugged her back.
"Welcome home!" She chirped, laughing as Natsu rubs her head, while Zeref groan and tilt his head up.
"Zeref-nii?" Natsu asked, smiling, while said brother wave a hand at her.
"Don't mind me." He mumbled, hoping that Wendy won't betray him by telling Natsu that he's been pacing back and forth, however, base on the whispering and then giggling, follow by Natsu calling for him… she did betray him. "Wendyyyyyyyy…" He whined before sitting up and smiled at his sisters' faces, smiling and teasing him.
"Not really sorry." He said, while Natsu shakes her head and sits down beside her brother and snuggled. Wendy doing the same on his other side, while Aoi flew around the room, before stopping and perched at one of the nests found on top of a cupboard. They enjoyed the few minutes of silence, merely appreciating each other's presence before Zeref open his mouth.
"What happened?" He said, rubbing a hand on Natsu's shoulder while patting Wendy's head.
"Hmmm… I'll tell you about it later. We need to contact the empire first before anything else needs to be done."
"Fine…" Zeref grumbled before lifting a hand and waved it. Suddenly, there's darkness in the room and then a black vortex appeared before a crystal orb came out. There was a buzzing noise inside the orb, followed by static images, and then it's showing the image of Invel, emotionlessly looking at them.
"Your Majesties." He greeted before stepping back, just in time to see the faces of the three youngest.
"Natsu-nee, Wendy-nee, Zeref-nii!" They greeted at once, Natsu wave her fingers at them, smiling Wendy grinned as Zeref dipped his head.
"I hope the three of you are behaving under Invel's guidance." Zeref said. Happy merely give him a grin, while Carla blushed slightly, and Lily shrugged. Their reaction made him sighed in defeat as Natsu laughed and Wendy snickered.
"Carla…" Wendy admonished though it was obvious she's just teasing him.
"Larcade deserves it." The white heard girl said, pouting. The three oldest merely shake their head.
"We'll learn more about it soon." Zeref said.
"Right now… we need the empire here." At Natsu's statement, Invel and their youngest siblings stood in attention. "The fairies broke a condition and we'll make them pay for it."
"Oh?" Happy darkly said, as their eyes got covered with their respective hairs.
"While we wait here, we'll work on the plans on how to get the fairy heart," Wendy said as she began to play with the air she summoned.
"Don't take too long though, or else we might do it ourselves." The Emperor grinned.
"Keep us updated of course, as we will commence the plan to get the heart together with you attacking the Ishgar." The heiress said.
"And the main point of attack?" Lily asked, fingering one of his knives.
"Magnolia." The three Akabane's said in unison, eyes glinting.
"We'll prepare everything," Carla said before moving away from the orb, followed by the other two boys, leaving Invel alone.
"I'll inform the remaining Spriggans." He said and was about to move away when Natsu raised a hand and said.
"Have Irene and… Brandish talk to us… she might be interested to hear this." Though confuse, Invel didn't show it, instead, he merely dipped his head to the side and left, leaving the orb floating above as he went and search for Irene.
"You're very devious, my dear sister," Zeref mumbled.
"I can understand Irene… but why Brandish?" Wendy asked, looking at Natsu, who was caressing a black jewel pendant, surrounded with thin metals like root, and said jewel was resting beside a blue jewel, surround with silver rings. "Also… where did you get that? You never had that before." Zeref watched his sister from the corner of his eyes, eyeing the pendant she's caressing before craning his neck to look at Aoi, who was snickering darkly, eyeing the pendant as well.
"What happen Natsu?" He asked, looking back at his sister.
"You will know soon, Zeref-nii… you will know soon," Natsu said, smirking as Wendy hummed and eyes the pendant before smirking together with her elder sister and looked away. Zeref raised an eyebrow at that before shrugging and went back to look at the orb.
"Right now... we need to focus on our plans... The Dragon King Festival is coming up, and I can't wait to deal with Acnologia... and give you your happiness." Natsu hummed cheerfully as they waited, not even stopping the caress of the black pendant. Zeref sighed, and let his sisters be, as he didn't want to face their wrath... and also... he should work on his plan of Neo Eclipse... soon. As everyone waited and got distracted, they forgot about the pendant which Natsu will bring up as soon as the people she called for arrives. Though if they all look closer and use magic to zoom in, they would see the bruised body of Juvia Lockser, curled into a fetal position, surrounded with darkness.
TBC
A/N: Ooookkkaaaayyy! I've reread this story for the past couple of weeks and I'm an idiot because there are chapters that are supposed to have backstories within the next chapters after it, i.e the story of Happy's infatuation with Carla, the incident with Natsu, and nasty mages in their Empire (because I don't like giving you the ideas that oh the empire is controlled by Zeref and everything is fine and happy because that is not true. No matter where you are there will be danger right around the corner, though this darkness in Alvarez is not that huge, just enough to show that not everything is okay even in the empire). And then when I realized that, I tried to search for my notes or at least PLOTS! for this whole thing only to found out that it's no longer in my laptop because I have to reset him due to not working properly due to old age (Yes, I refer to my Laptop as him and slightly human, the only thing missing to name him), which made me think to go and buy a new one but I don't have a job because I resigned from month within just a few months of working because their management isssss... not that good, company is okay, management is a no-no.
If you ever notice that I was able to update my One Piece stories early it's because I have their stories written as drafts in Fanfiction or AO3, depends on what website I'll be posting them. I'm already doing it for the story as well. Which put me back on my main concern, the missing backstories... I have in mind to put it as different stories, just a one-shot like series but I'll only be posting in AO3 but updates for those will be rare so yeah. Okay, enough of my ranting, I thank you for whoever read it this far, you are awesome, all of you are, but yeah I'm just ranting.
A/N: ANOTHER CONCERN! For the past chapters, I've raised a concern on whether to have Natsu stay as a girl or turn our favorite salamander back to his original gender. The majority is to have her stay as a girl... soooo... I'm leaning toward that as well, hahaha but I will see because like I mentioned above that I reread the chapter, and the condition of having Natsu turned as a girl is a bit of a hinder for this one. I have something in mind, but I need to talk about it with my brainstorming partner. He actually helps with brainstorming though he just gives feedbacks and a few ideas, so yeah, not that much but he helps. THOUGH A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO GAVE ME SCENARIOS OR IDEAS FOR THIS FICTION SINCE THE BEGINNING!
A/N: Last one! A bit of a spoiler and if you don't want to know about this please skip but if you did stay can you give me an idea? The next chapter is about Natsu meeting the Dragon Slayers, all of them, but what I have in mind is to have this particular meet up in two chapters, but would guys like to have it in one chapter? Please let me know and what scenarios you would like to read.
THANK YOU!
Status:
Chapter 26: Outline 30%
Reviews:
TeamRed1: FAIRY TAIL FOREVER! Thank you sooooo much for the compliment! I want Gray to have a lot of moments with Natsu and I hope this one has a lot of it to satisfy you tehee~. And thank you for loving the cross-over with Karma and Nagisa, it was an impulse because I was vibing with the KaruNagi during that time... man that was a long time ago and I did it without thinking about the consequences and I'm glad that the cross-over is well-received _ I hope you like this chapter and please, if you have ideas don't hesitate to give me one!
Kazulia: Thank you very much for reviewing three times in one day! Highly appreciates it! And wasn't expecting it, did you really scream in your pillow? Well, high five! Because I did that too in every story that I like and found so sweet... giving me diabetes as I read them hahaha. Yes, Erza will be punished severely, but not too much, because ya know... Erza is still a lovable chara in FT... just didn't like the treatment. Now, Zeref's plan... no comment but yeah it is a plot twist to all of your knowledge and more fun for me hahaha. Gray searching was not supposed to happen but yeah, I've already rant earlier, and let's just say I put in on impulse. I'm going to keep Romeo and Asuka's actions a secret for now hahaha.
Thank you for loving the KaruNagi cross-over, it just happened but I didn't regret it hahaha. Oh please give me ideas! Especially for my last concern because I need it, pretty please! Endings... secret for now hahaha. And don't worry about the bad memories, I have it too if you notice in my rants hahaha. Once again thanks for the review, I hope you like this chapter and ideas please! don't hesitate to give me one, doesn't matter if it's later or by PM because I will put it in the oncoming chapters.
alexthe8t: Awwww thank you! Don't worry this story will not be abandon until I finished it and it will be finished... just don't know when hahaha. Thanks for the review!
Woops Yote: Thank you for that question and for giving me your opinion as well and I've already ranted it on my second A/N. A lot of you have voted for Natsu to be a girl and I am really, really leaning towards that opinion but yeah there is also the spell that Zeref cast. I have something in mind, but I need to talk about it with my brainstorming partner. In the end, to avoid spoilers nothing will be revealed about what gender Natsu is staying, but that doesn't mean your votes or opinion doesn't count because they do! I just need to check something. Anyway, thank you for the review!
RabbitHaremLover24: Thank you for your vote, appreciated it! A lot of you have voted for Natsu to be a girl and I am really, really leaning towards that opinion but yeah there is also the spell that Zeref cast. But to avoid spoilers... I'll keep quiet about it in the end. Yeah, this version of Natsu is interesting and fun because well she's basically OOC soo yeah, I have a lot of fun and a hard time doing this version hahaha. Not gonna lie, Gray is smart but he's stupid sometimes to see or understand what was in front of him until it punched him in the face. Erza's punishment will be severe but how will be a secret hahahaha. Thanks for the review, I hope you like this chapter and ideas please! don't hesitate to give me one.