Oh yeah, there's more! If you didn't like how I ended the last chapter or didn't see that coming, GOOD! Can't have you guys expecting this story to just be another run of the mill dragon Natsu story. Trying to work on making the relationship between Natsu and Mira as natural as I can under the circumstances, so if you have a suggestion to make it more seamless let me know!

If you noticed the cover art image has changed as well, and if you haven't guessed, that is Natsu's dragon form. So if anyone was really wondering what he looked like, there ya go.

Besides all that, hope you guys are enjoying this enough to keep reading, see you on the other side.

Enjoy!

Within the Ravines of Time…

Natsu lost count of the months by this point. It had to be at least three or four eyes at this point. He hadn't gotten hungry, thirsty or even remotely tired in all that time. His mind had been in a nonstop frenzy of searching for Mira for only a few years but he still had no clue how much time had passed outside, or if he was even heading back to his own time. Should he really be heading back for his original timeline? Everyone was gone, Mira was all that was left of Fairy Tail that he knew of. He still had no idea where she nor Acnologia were!

Millions? Billions? Just how many glowing rocks had he checked, maybe he'd missed it already. Now he was on the ground crashing through the vibrant images on the massive glowing lacrima as he ran through them. As he did so, he would reabsorb the lightning that was no longer needed, constantly replenishing the magic he'd used to initially activate the gems and returning the excess lightning magic to himself.

Even still he had been losing magic gradually being in this space. While his new reserves were beyond colossal in comparison to what they used to be, there was a significant drop in the maximum with how long he'd been stuck in here

In addition, he still hadn't managed to transform back into his human form. With all that time on his hands he had managed to find out some things in regards to what was going on with his body. All he could think of was that Acnologia's blood making contact with his skin beforehand triggered the initial transformation, but it wasn't enough of the dragon's blood to complete it. When his inner self had said to 'bask' in the defeat of Acnologia he'd meant in a different way. In his blood.

While Natsu may have not been the sharpest tool in the shed, with enough time on his hands and the roaring of his instincts in his own head telling him to figure it out with what he's been given, he'd had to figure out something. Eventually.

Besides that these past few months had been mentally taxing beyond belief for him. He shook his head viciously immediately after the thought. Mira was the one who was suffering right now. He'd seen it.

Several months ago Natsu had lost his temper at just how long he had been blasting the landscape with lightning as he played the hardest game of eye spy in existence. Natsu had also grown quite comfortable in his new dragon skin. Feeling more confident in his flying, and maneuverability in this form. He had been trotting through the maze of glowing images on boulders when his enhanced vision caught the barest sight of something he'd seen briefly only years ago. It was only a glimpse. But a glimpse nonetheless. A glimpse of stark white hair flashing across the surface of a small fragment from a larger boulder. It had broken off and still had a healthy dose of sparkling electricity coating the small rock.

He lowered his behemoth sized head to get a closer look and, upon picking it up between his black claws he could clearly see something on the other side. That wasn't quite right, he could feel a familiar dark aura seeping from the rock itself.

He could make out the picture mostly clearly, bar the part that the fragment was beginning to disintegrate into nothingness by the second. Being blown away by an invisible wind as it scattered like dust.

A completely black arm swept across the image on the small lacrima was gone so quickly from view he almost could've sworn he imagined it. Almost. After the arm was out of sight, his vision turned red and his body began to tremble in barely controlled unbridled rage. His chest heaved as fire escaped his lips with every breath. His fingers quaked in a surreal unbelieving way as his eyes blinked in disbelief, nearly crushing the lacrima between his claw tips.

On the other side of the lacrima Natsu could see the limp form of a chained Mira hanging on a stone slab. Her hair covered her face as it slumped forward in exhaustion, the hair a curtain of dirt and blood mixed amidst the white, hiding her features from his view. That alone wouldn't have made Natsu react the way he did.

It was the multitude of scars that littered her body. Her naked body. He seethed at this. Some spanned the length from her throat down to her navel, others zigzagging in a twisted mosaic along her arms and legs. Her stomach, while still toned, showed off a giant scar that swept from her right hip to her left. More lining her inner thighs and lower legs, some losing their form as more scars melded into larger ones.

Seeing that much alone had made Natsu want to toss his lunch, if he'd had one in the past couple of years that is. The unyielding fury that radiated from his being began to melt the ground and warp the larger lacrima around him. Realizing he was losing a handle on his magic he had to reel it in to not destroy his only lead. Looking back to the rock between his claws he could make out her upper half. He had to use all his willpower to reduce his next breath to a mere shudder. Her right arm had long scarred over gashes and lacerations that wrapped around in rings as if her arm had been sliced thinly with a knife.

"Up." A voice he recognized all too well spoke up from just out of sight from the lacrima screen.

Mira's head lifted in response almost immediately at his command. Natsu couldn't restrain the deep rumble that built in his throat as the ground gave a slight tremor at the barely contained rage of a dragon. Looking at her features there was no mistaking that this was Mirajane. His heart ached at the sight of the right side of her face. Five scars made their way from her ear to her nose in symmetrical shape and size, cleaving directly over her left eye. Said eye was open and white, but more opaque than her remaining left eye. The eye had been blinded.

It was the look on her face that shattered his old image of her. No longer was she the once-prominent, she-demon S-Class mage of Fairy Tail, nor the kind and helpful barmaid that greeted everyone when returning or taking job requests. She was a prisoner and victim of Acnologia making her his plaything. In what ways, Natsu wasn't entirely sure, nor was he sure he even wanted to know. Her mouth hung open slightly and tears trailed from both of her eyes in an unending stream. Seeming near vacant there was still a silent plea for it all to end in her one white iris that could see.

During all of this it also appeared that whoever the black armed being was had heard Natsu's growl through the lacrima, as it was picked up and he image shifted to a different face, Mira's form still being visible in the background.

Acnologia's smirk met Natsu's eyes and the red dragon bared his fangs and clenched his jaw to the point he thought a tooth would crack.

"Well, isn't this expected? The son of Igneel lives." A low chuckle escaped the lips of the black dragon as he saw the expression on Natsu's face.

"Don't worry, she's being well taken care of. In fact, she's even helping me out with a small project. She'll live." He ended darkly as his head was thrown back in body shaking laughter.

From over the Dragon King's shoulder he could see the limp form of Mira shift slightly. Her gaze rose slightly to stare deeply into the lacrima in her tormentors' hand. Her good eye overflowed with more salty tears at what she had heard. While not hearing his voice in particular, there was only one person she knew that Acnologia would refer to as 'the son of Igneel.' That was something she had heard plenty of times after all her time spent with the being who probably wanted Natsu dead the most in the world.

Her lips parted further as she attempted to form words. Her vocal cords were still severed, and she barely had the strength to lift her head as much as she did for Acnologia's command. She had learned pretty early on to not defy him for long.

Now, however, she stared deeply into the lacrima Acnologia held in his pitch black left hand. The arm itself was entirely pitch black and void of any light or reflections in the slightest, yet still remained entirely human in shape. Inside of the lacrima, while unable to clearly see what was on the other side due to the glare from the light, she moved her mouth slowly. Careful to fully form every letter as she sounded the words out on her lips.

Natsu had stopped paying attention to Acnologia after noticing some slight movement from Mira. Her eyes stared straight into his and he couldn't tear his view from her eyes. Then he noticed her lips moving, and he did his best to figure out what she was saying.

'N-a-ts-u, pl-ea-se.' He made out. Natsu's claws had heated to that of an active volcano and melted the small piece of rock between them. A puddle of molten blue goo dripped from the claws bu Natsu's vision still only consisted of Mira. She was alive, hurt and wounded beyond belief but alive. His efforts increased a hundredfold as white hot outrage from what that black dragon had done to his family. And now torturing Mira.

A wave of magic blasted outwards from his body in a dome of intense heat and static that activated the surrounding mile of enormous lacrima simultaneously.

He'd been a madman searching for the last several months after that incident. All he'd managed to find since was a resort that looked eerily like the one him and his team had gone to before destroying the Tower of Heaven.

Besides that, there was nothing worth noting in his findings.

A loud crash of thunder and lightning snapped him back to his senses. In the distance, there was something. Natsu cursed under his breath. Had he perhaps not held back enough and destroyed another gemstone?

Taking flight and soaring towards where the explosion came from, he was able to more accurately pinpoint its location due to feeling the lightning magic still jumping around freshly on the gemstone. He was getting closer.

Even then, out of the corner of Natsu's eye he recognized something. It was a sudden flash of light. His head whipped in the direction it came from. More lights followed in quick succession and showed no signs of stopping.

Nearing the source of the dense lightning magic Natsu came upon a sight he wasn't quite expecting. Buried in the ground, a gemstone the size of a football field lay. The entire visible surface was mirror-like and had Natsu's lightning sparkling around the edges. He could make out the image on the giant stone. It was a place Natsu recognized.

The capital of Fiore, Crocus. And it just so happened to look like it was time for the Grand Magic Games. Before the giant image was the royal palace in Crocus, behind it in the dark night sky a blood red moon sat. The red glow was overshadowed by an onslaught of fireworks however, that's what that flashing had been. Still slightly curious about what time he was looking at he had a hunch as to why his lightning magic was being pulled towards the half buried gargantuan lacrima. He had a hunch. If he was right then he really could save everyone this time.

He didn't have time to hesitate on this opportunity after years of nonstop searching. Even then, there was an almost ethereal disconnect for Natsu. Initially the plan was to save all of FairyTail, but Mira was the most in danger. Yet, if his hunch was correct then he might be strained more than he would like to admit with his current limited timeline.

Well he's faced worse odds, time to collect on a dragon's head. 'Hopefully I can get my original body back by the end of this as well.' With that final thought Natsu's clawed hand reached to the image. His palm made full contact and met a barrier of sorts. This was unexpected. Whenever interacting with other stones affected by his magic he usually had full access to the other side, if whatever he wanted to send through could fit that is. Those other lacrima however, were much smaller than this one. Even amongst the large ones he has come across, this was by far the biggest one.

He leaned more of his weight onto the image, still nothing. All of his weight now, he was standing entirely on the giant lacrima beneath him. More nothing.

Against Natsu's better judgment, he got angry and flared his magic as his wings extended to their full glory and he reared back to stand on his hind legs.

Red and yellow dense magical energy swirled in a vortex around his from for a moment before he unleashed a roar and slammed his forelegs onto the image in the lacrima. There was a massive crack that appeared in the middle of the stone from the point of impact. But no other major damage. He still had a chance!

Thinking back to the countless lacrima he had struck with lightning that he could look, some even fit, through, he thought about how much magic he had to use to have the larger ones maintain a clear image for longer. Perhaps with the sheer size of this thing, he would just have to imbue magic into it. Lifting his torso up off the ground, he concentrated his magic into his claws this time, imbuing them each with millions of volts of lightning. He kept going until the claws themselves glowed a dull blue as dense lightning magic danced from claw to claw. A loose bolt would spark off and completely obliterate a nearby boulder and make Natsu slightly nervous. If he messed this up, who knew how many more years he could be stuck in here.

He was done playing this game, he had to save Mira.

Natsu slammed his arms into the cracked mirror-like surface, taking extra care to pierce his claws into the material. Surging the magical gemstone with magic in a place void of any magic at all, well it made something happen. Before Natsu knew it, his colossal dragon form had been swallowed whole by the stone buried in the ground.

Mind blown? Disappointed? Just whelmed? Let me know in a review or through PM.

I know it's probably not what you guys were expecting or wanting this chapter but you may like the next, so stay tuned. Sorry for the shorter than usual chapter, but I was in the groove and wanted to bust this out after the last chapter.

If you're ready for what comes next…no, you're not.

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Until next time, keep L-I-V-I-N' (didn't say it in the last one cause I planned to get this out the same day, you're welcome)

Published 02 November 2021