Fairy Tail
Scarlet Dragon
Authors' Note - This is a new story I've decided to cook up whilst I'm on writers' block regarding Fiore Academy. The title, 'Scarlet Dragon' is currently a placeholder; if I can think of a better one later on, I'll change it.
This will be a hypothetical story, post Alvarez and discounting canon events post Alvarez.
It'll of course be a romance to make things interesting of course, with our beloved Waifu Erza (as you all know she's my favourite) and Natsu... and possibly some other females will be thrown in.
But be sure to let me know what you guys think; I'll be aiming to upload weekly and I have another story I'm working on... it's another Natsu x Harem... but with Kagura as the main girl... so look forward to that in the future too I guess.
The year was X792, a year after the war with the Alvarez Empire and Acnologia.
Life in Fiore had almost been returned to normal; the Magical Guilds continued to take requests, everything from working in a kitchen for a day, to slaying Wyverns in the northern mountains of Fiore.
As was such for Fairy Tail's strongest team.
Gray and Juvia had officially declared their relationship official, now more often than not going out to missions alone; right now they had taken a job to the North East, where a town had been experiencing a serious drought this summer.
Wendy, Lucy and Carla head to the East on the border with Bosco, where Wendy was needed as a healer and Lucy and Carla were chaperoning.
Erza meanwhile, was sitting back in the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, forking down on some Strawberry Cake, her favourite afternoon snack.
The guild on this day was particularly quiet; Fiore was still playing catch up on the aftermath from the war with Alvarez. Everything was settled, but that didn't mean what would normally be existent in the first place ceased to be... it would be a few more months most likely before everything was PERFECTLY normal.
As such, most of the guild was away on job requests; the younger and less experienced members would take all the more local and less financial beneficial jobs, whereas the weaker yet older members would do the same but further out from Magnolia.
The core members, which were mostly just the Tenrou Team, were left to deal with the higher difficulty jobs.
As Erza thought about this, a sudden fit of anger caused her to break her plate with her fork; they were all incredibly busy... so why?
Why was he not here to help ease the load?
Where was Natsu?
"Thinking about Natsu?" A sweet voice interrupted her thoughts; Erza looked up into the blue eyes of Mirajane Strauss, who was always left at the Guild, keeping an administrative job on top of her Hospitality responsibilities; she was the only one who kept the requests organised nowadays.
"Was it that obvious?" Erza asked, ignoring her now broken plate and continuing to shovel her cake into her mouth.
"He's been gone for over a year now" Mirajane sighed, looking distantly at the front doors, almost like she was hoping Natsu would kick them in like he always did, declaring "I'm home!" like always.
"He left after the war" Erza replied back, "What was strange is that he didn't even bring Happy with him... almost like he thought it'd be too dangerous..."
"So you're worried about him?" Mirajane asked Erza, a little surprised.
"Naturally I worry for him... but he is Natsu so I'm sure he's fine" Erza smiled to herself, "After all It'd be no exaggeration to say that even before he left he was more powerful than myself".
Mirajane smiled at that; Erza would still win in a fight... but that's because Natsu could never fight Erza seriously... it's quite possible Natsu was more powerful than Erza for many years already.
"Do you need a second slice?" Mirajane asked Erza pointedly, indicating her now empty and broken plate.
Erza looked down in surprise, "Oh... well... I should probably let this one settle first..."
Mirajane giggled and picked up to the two broken pieces of plate, "Natsu will return soon I'm certain".
Erza nodded; she was sure Mirajane was right... whether it be a month or two longer, she was certain Natsu would come home soon.
...
The year was X793, and everything was well and truly settled down in the small country of Fiore.
Everyone was once more out on jobs, but that was now a rare occasion... again Erza was sitting in the Guild Hall, alone except for Mirajane at the bar and Master Makarov in his office.
Erza stared at her strawberry cake... for some reason unable to eat it.
Today marked precisely two years since Natsu went away; for two years everyone had continued to progress forward, always assuming Natsu would one day return.
Gray and Juvia were now engaged, as were Elfman and Evergreen.
Laxus had begun dating Lisanna, and Gajeel and Levy were now married.
Even Lucy had begun seeing a man; apparently he was an editor.
Yet for some reason, Erza was incapable of moving forward like the others; everything seemed to have stopped for her since Natsu had gone away.
Day by day it seemed more and more like everyone was... forgetting about Natsu.
Nobody would bring him up, or wonder aloud where he might be... nobody wanted to know anything about Natsu.
Everyone just assumed that Natsu was going to be the next Gildarts; rarely ever home.
But Erza could not accept that; the more time that passed, the less time she spent on jobs and instead spent in her room or in the Guild Hall.
Nowadays she only took one big job a month, be gone for a week, come back with enough Jewel to cover all of her expenses and then some, then just sleep, eat cake and think and repeat.
Even Mirajane was beginning to grow concerned for Erza; she had no idea how to get Erza out of this funk.
...
The year was X794, everything was going great in Fiore.
All traces of the war three years ago had disappeared.
Gray and Juvia, as well as Elfman and Evergreen were now married and Laxus and Lisanna were now engaged.
Lucy had her boyfriend move in with her here in Magnolia.
Gray and Juvia were even expecting a child... the first to be born in a new generation of Fairy Tail.
Rumors had also begun that Levy was pregnant, but she hadn't yet confirmed the rumors.
Erza meanwhile just sat at a table in the guild, looking despondant as she supported her head on one of her hands.
She sighed... bored out of her mind... she knew if she took a job, she'd alleviate her boredom somewhat... but she was also depressed, so she didn't feel like travelling right now.
She had now gone into the habit of taking only S Class Requests, which paid more, once every couple of months.
It wasn't an adventure, it was a job... she felt she had long since lost motivation for many things.
Many times her friends in the Guild would try to help her, but she would often zone them out.
Why? Why was she feeling this way? Why was she so depressed?
No matter how hard she tried, she could not bring herself out of this mood.
She only broke out of her thoughts when someone shook her shoulder; looking up, Erza looked up into Mirajane's blue eyes, who as of the past year or so, could not look at Erza without concern.
"I'm closing up the guild now; want me to walk you home?" Mirajane offered, but Erza shook her head.
"I'll be alright, wouldn't want to waste your time" Erza replied back, standing up, "Try not to stay back too late".
Mirajane smiled, "Of course not".
Erza left the Guild Hall and into the night of Magnolia.
She looked up into the night sky, which was filled with hundreds of brightly shining stars... a blanket of stars... so beautiful for the eye to behold.
She walked through the late night streets of Magnolia which were barren given that it was a weekday night.
So naturally, even Erza in her depressive stupor, would notice in the corner of her eye, one street down, a figure was walking slowly the other direction... the direction of the guild.
She glanced at the figure; they were wrapped in a black hooded cloak, with the hood drawn over their head.
Given how late it was and that only the guild laid in that direction... Erza found this suspicious.
"Requip" Erza muttered out, not even bothering to utter out the name of her armor, her Blackwing Armor.
She dashed down to the other street, looked to her left to see the walking back of the figure; based on the width of the shoulders and his height she could tell it was a man.
"Hold it!" Erza called out, pointing her sword at the man.
The man stopped, turning his head slightly to glance back.
"Remove your hood" Erza ordered, "What business do you have this late?"
Suddenly, Erza could only hear the sound of laughter from the man.
"Seriously? You must be pretty wound up huh Erza" the man replied, freezing Erza.
His voice... that voice... they say the first thing you forget about a person you know well is their voice... but she had never forgotten that voice.
"Na... Na..." Erza stuttered.
He turned around, drawing back his hood as he did so, giving her that smile she had also not forgotten.
"Natsu" Erza said, silently requipping back into her usual Heart Kreuz Armor, staring at him a little in shock.
Natsu removed the teeth from his grin, giving her something that was much warmer, "Been a while I guess, huh Erza?"
Erza's lips trembled as she walked over to him, her hands cleanching into fists as her arms shook.
Natsu looked at her, suddenly a little bit more than worried.
"Erza?" Natsu asked nervously, before he was hit full force by Erza's fist, straight at his jaw.
"THREE YEARS!" Erza screamed, "THREE YEARS AND NOT A WORD FROM YOU SINCE THAT LETTER LETTING US KNOW YOU WERE GOING AWAY".
Natsu just stood there, a little in shock that Erza just punched him, before he looked down a little ashamedly, "Believe me, I would've loved to have written you guys... I was just too pre-occupied is all".
"Pre-occupied?" Erza asked, voice shaky with anger, "Three years is a long time Natsu; a letter now and again would have been nice".
Natsu nodded, "I got you... but for now we should head to the Guild to talk".
"We can't" Erza sighed, "Mirajane is closing up".
Natsu looked up in surprise, "I guess the guild is quiet tonight".
"Everyone is out on jobs at the moment except for myself, Mirajane and Master Makarov naturally" Erza replied back, trying to regain her composure.
"I see" Natsu muttered, "That's a shame; I was hoping to surprise everyone but I suppose that'll have to wait".
Erza sighed, "Listen Natsu... we do need to talk".
Natsu nodded, "My place or your place?"
Erza looked to the side thoughtfully, "It'll have to be yours since no men are allowed in Fairy Hills".
Natsu nodded, "Then we should get going then".
...
Natsu and Erza were silent as they walked to the outskirts of Magnolia.
It wasn't until Natsu opened the door and entered his shack that the silence finally broke.
Natsu brushed his hand along his small dining table, examing his hand afterward, "No dust... who should I be thanking right now?"
"You can thank Wendy and Carla" Erza answered, "Happy has stayed with them in Fairy Hills since you went away, and the three of them would come by here once a month or so to clean the place up, open up the windows, that sort of thing".
Natsu nodded, pulling out one of his two dining chairs, gesturing a hand to it as he made his way to the other.
Natsu and Erza sat at the table in silence for a few minutes, before Erza broke the silence.
"It's been three years..." Erza muttered, "Did you plan to be gone that long?"
Natsu shook his head, "Honestly I thought one would be enough but... apparently not... things happened".
"What kind of things?" Erza asked him.
"Too many to tell in one sitting" Natsu replied back; it was a genuine answer, he had no intention of hiding what he'd been up to the past three years... but so much had happened.
"Then I suppose for now" Erza began, "You can tell me where you went after leaving".
Natsu nodded, "The start is always a good place to start now isn't it" Natsu looked up with a serious expression, "I went to Alakitasia, the Western Content".
"You went to Alvarez?" Erza responded in slight shock, "For what reason?"
Natsu shrugged, "Zeref was dead and I knew he spent centuries building the country; with him gone... well... likely as not the country would implode into a power vacuum of some kind... I went at the request of Brandish".
"Brandish..." Erza almost whispered, "She was that concerned huh?"
Natsu nodded, "As the brother of the former Emperor Spriggan, my word held a lot of weight in the absence of Zeref; for the most part I just let Brandish and Dimaria take care of everything".
"How long were you there for?" Erza asked further.
"Around a year... that's when I was supposed to return to Magnolia" Natsu replied back, "By that time we were able to settle the people down and instate a new system... a Republic instead of an Empire".
"I suppose Brandish and Dimaria are now Senators of said Republic?" Erza asked him dryly, knowing the answer.
Natsu laughed at that, "Yeah... I knew they wanted high positions... but they did what they did for the benefit of their country at least, and they're doing well with the other eighteen senators that were elected".
Erza nodded, "So what happened then? You said your original plan was to return to Magnolia after that".
"Well..." Natsu sighed, "I was made an offer I couldn't really refuse".
"That offer was?"
"Training" Natsu replied, "In regards to control and abilities, I wasn't exactly in need... but magic? I needed more of that".
"The Spriggan Twelve all had immense amounts of magic" Erza confirmed, "We were only able to defeat them through alternate methods".
Natsu nodded, "A part of their training is used to increase their 'vessel' for magic power".
"So that's all you've been doing for the past two years?" Erza asked but again Natsu shook his head.
"No... after six months they couldn't help me increase my vessel any further... by that point I was told my vessel was similar in size to August".
Erza looked up in shock at that; with Natsu's combat experience and ailities, that meant a lot.
"So you trained in Alvarez for six months?" Erza questioned.
Again Natsu shook his head, "Not quite... you see, I also wanted to train my abilities to further match my magic power level".
"So what did you do from there?" Erza asked, looking surprised at Natsu's bored expression.
"I'm sorry, but I'm kind of tired" Natsu informed her, "I only wanted to let everyone know I had returned before heading back home to sleep".
Erza nodded, "But still... you will tell me right?"
Natsu nodded as well, "I will... when I have more energy... things get a little bit more hectic from there onwards".
Erza stood up with a sigh, "I too am feeling tired... when can we expect you back at the Guild? Tomorrow?"
Natsu shrugged, "I've been on the road for a while, so I might need a couple days to fully recover; try to keep this a surprise?" Natsu asked the last bit pointedly at her.
Erza smiled at that, "Oh I think you may find I'm not the only one who'll hit you".
Natsu laughed, "Well, I guess I better prepare myself then huh?"
Erza contued her smile, "It's... good to see you again Natsu... don't go anywhere again soon... you got it?"
Natsu smiled warmly at her in return, "Don't worry, I plan on spending at least a week or two here before even doing a job request".
"In that case I'll find a job for the two of us to do" Erza said brightly, heading to the door, "After all based on what you said, you've grown a lot stronger since we last saw you... maybe we can take on an SS Class Request?"
"Sounds like a plan" Natsu giggled, "If there even are any at the moment".
"I recall seeing a few last time I checked" Erza said thoughtfully, "But regardless, I'll see you in a couple days then Natsu.
Natsu nodded and with that, Erza Scarlet took her leave.
...
Laying in bed, Erza's head was still reeling; Natsu had returned at last.
She would need to keep it a secret until Natsu was rested... meaning she was going to have Mirajane halt all requests until Natsu made his appearance... but how could she convince Mirajane?
All of that however was meaningless, as Erza quickly dozed off to sleep... and to her surprise, it was the best sleep she had in years.
Authors' Note - So there you have it, I'm sure you all have the premise? This will be a mini project for me whilst I work on Fiore Academy in the background... I plan on doing a sperate Authors' Note to detail my plans going forward, which should be out already. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all next Saturday.