Chapter 21:

'Where am I?' the mismatched eyes looked around.

Blue...

So blue...

'What a nice color...'

'Blue like... like what?'

'Where am I?'

Blinking didn't help. It was still blue. 'Am I falling? It feels like I'm falling. The blue is turning darker'

Darker... darker... further...

So far...

So weird...

'Where am I'

Black...

So black...

The black swirled before mismatched eyes forming pictures. So familiar... A dragon... Black and blue.

'Father?'

Black and blue flew away. Cold blue eyes – uncaring, unyielding.

''Are you dying?''

Black and blue.. or was it blue and black. Cold, unforgivable, merciless.

''Disgrace''

'Was that my voice?'

Black faded, color not returning. White returned... 'Has it ever been here?'

White feathers rained. Did feathers fall from the sky or was it the sky that was falling. Feathers burned in the air, black, black ashes. White hair and blue eyes, like a crystal. Like a sky...

'Where am I?'

White and blue walked towards the monster's eyes... Warm blue eyes – caring, warm... So warm.

'Who am I?'

''Natsu?''

White and blue.. caring, warm... So warm.

'Natsu?...' What a weird name. 'Na-tsu...'

The eyes blinked, white flashed, darkness returning. The head clear.

'Am I dead?'

The thoughts echoed through the darkness. 'It certainly looks like I am. Was that Acnologia... and Mira? A weird dream before death'

Bare feet touched the cold stone, softly but the sound still echoed loudly. Mismatched eyes looked around, darkness still around them but the gray stone floor visible.

'Is this it? It couldn't be...'

Golden flash ripped the darkness above. Thunder loud and clear while it roared like an angry dragon.

Heavy rain followed the thunder, each drop so loud it was deafening but only for a second.

Another lightning lit the black sky, graveyard easily recognized flashing into existence, gravestone he stood behind new.

He walked around to get a better look at the only thing that had some meaning around him.

Natsu Souleater

X767. - X784.

The letters were not flashy and the stone was not nicely decorated. The flowers were not there and inscription nonexistent.

'So I really am dead'

The ground before the gravestone was open, glass coffin empty save for a single withered rose.

Two man, faces hidden in the shadow threw the wet dirt on the glass. Natsu looked around at what was probably supposed to be a funeral.

Two girls stood few feet away, eyes red and puffy, black dresses hugging their bodies and umbrellas hiding their faces but blue and white hair were of the two girls he would recognize even if seeing only their feet.

Mira and Wendy stood and watched as the empty coffin was lowered in the ground, their tears mixing with the rain.

Makarov was standing on the other side, face grim as he watched the coffin. He lacked the umbrella, obviously not bothered by the heavy rain.

Another man stood some distance away, a ghost of a smirk passing Natsu's lips. 'So he showed up as well'

It was weird but he felt grateful. The two of them were never truly close but they talked more than he did with other members, even with the amount of time the other man stayed in the guild which was almost nonexistent.

Makarov shook his head in what seemed to be disbelief before he walked away, the man standing on the side following quickly.

Mira and Wendy stayed for a while before Mira gently pulled the younger girl away.

The graveyard was empty, save for the two men still throwing the wet dirt, the glass coffin already hidden underneath a layer of it.

'I guess I will join Jellal a lot sooner than I thought'

Natsu took a step back, the ground disappearing underneath him once again as the light disappeared with a final flash of lightning.

**Tower of Heaven**

Wendy continued to nibble her thumb in her anxiety, looking at the dark beach without blinking. Finding a boat she and rest of the group along Erza's old friends was easy considering said friends knew where they could find one.

The problem was Erza and Natsu were still missing.

The ground shook again. Stronger and longer than last time. It was obvious the thing would explode any second.

Happy and Carla were circling around the tower, not too close so they would be able to escape but not too far to be unable to see.

Her heart skipped a beat when Happy stopped in the air before surging towards the beach as fast as his wings and gravity would allow and a moment later he shot off towards them, Carla close behind as the ground trembled again.

Happy bit his lip as he carefully lowered Erza on the small boat, the scarlet-haired mage looking dazed.

''Erza'' Wendy called carefully and the teen's eyes snapped towards her. Her brown eyes stared at her in horror that made her just as horrified in a second, her next words almost sending her into a state of shock. ''I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Wendy''

''Erza... Where is Natsu?'' Gray asked carefully, shaking the girl's shoulder while Lucy hugged Wendy, sensing the terrible truth.

Erza bit her lip, shaking her head. ''S-still inside''

''What?!'' Milliana sounded horrified but nowhere near as Wendy who gave a wail.

''He stayed inside to control the blast. I- I'm not sure how but he stayed inside to save us''

''A-are you saying...?'' Lucy swallowed, biting her lower lip.

Erza shut her eyes tight, nodding her head. ''He sacrificed his life for us''

Wendy gave a shriek and another scream as she scrambled to her feet and moved to the edge of the boat, set on jumping down and swimming back in the tower. Carla first reached her, spreading her wings and pulling the screaming girl back.

''Let go of me, Carla!'' Wendy screamed. ''He's going to die! I have to help him!''

''You can't Wendy!'' Carla screamed back almost receiving a fist in her face. ''WENDY!''

Wendy froze, staring in horror as the tower glowed before the earth trembled once again and the giant structure exploded, sending a beam of light through the gathered clouds.

''NATSU!'' Wendy screamed again, giving up her struggle in favor of sitting down, bile suddenly rising in her throat. The horror of the situation was replaced by fury as Wendy's eyes travelled to Erza's childhood friends.

''You!'' she shrieked, her finger pointed at Shô who blinked in shock. ''This is all your fault! You killed my brother!''

''B-but we didn't do anything!'' Wally protested, standing on his feet. Not a wise choice in retrospect when Wendy punched him in the face before anyone could stop her, sending the man toppling over the edge into the water.

''You brought Erza here! If it wasn't for you Natsu would be with us in a freaking hotel, scaring living daylights out of Gray and annoying Erza... and.. and...''

''Wendy, calm down. I know you're upset but-'' Gray tried to reason with the girl, surprised when fist met his stomach, the punch not strong enough to push him over the edge but still making him groan.

''Stop hitting people!'' Carla screamed at the girl.

''Why are you not angry at them?!'' Wendy pointed at Milliana and Shô who was pulling Wally out of the water.

Milliana looked ready to cry as she yelled at the enraged dragon slayer. ''Simon died as well! You think this is easy for us?!''

''This is all your fucking fault to begin with!''

People fell silent after that, Fairy Tail mages staring in shock at the usually mild tempered girl. The light of the tower brightened for a second, ground giving one last tremor drawing the attention of the gathered mages back to the tower.

The once blue crystal, now gray scattered around, hitting the water but thankfully not reaching their boat. Lucy watched the debris sadly but her eyes caught a figure, a silhouette too small and limp to be a stone, smoke rising behind making it look almost like a meteor. A meteor she recognized.

''Look there!'' she yelled, pointing with her finger at the figure. ''Isn't that-''

''Natsu!'' Carla agreed with her unspoken statement, her wings spread as she raced toward the rapidly falling figure, Happy barely second behind her.

Natsu's limp body fell from the sky to fast for the two racing cats to catch him on time as one of the rocks protruding from the water intercepted his way, the man hitting the rock head first, a sickening crunch reaching the two cats' ears.

Happy divined under the black waved without a moment of hesitation, blood rising on the surface visible only to Carla who watched from above. The following seconds seemed like minutes to the white cat and mages, worry gnawing at their stomach.

Happy resurfaced with a gasp, coughing the water that entered his lungs, his tail wrapped around Natsu's stomach while the said teen looked more like a puppet with all of its strings cut. The wide gash on the top of his head along with the blood that was coming from his nose and mouth was horrible to see, worry only increasing as the two raced back to the boat.

''He's not breathing!'' Happy cried out helplessly as he put him down, the others already made the place for the older dragon slayer. Wendy's eyes widened, her little heart threatening to fail her. Scales covered almost every inch of his torso and back, hands already completely covered. His feet and face were probably the only places not completely covered even though the right side of his face was scaled.

Erza scrambled forward, fingers against his throat as she tried to find the pulse, curse escaping her lips when she found none.

''Requip! Lightning Empress Armor!'' Erza grimaced as her strained reserves gave a protest but she gripped the spear that appeared in her hands as tightly as she could, putting the tip against the scaled chest.

''Wha- Erza, what are you doing?!'' Wally asked with wide eyes his expression mirrored by the rest.

''Saving him!'' Erza snapped, gathering her magic. ''Clear!''

Just as she was ready to release the jolt Wendy pushed the spear away. ''No!''

''Wendy!'' Erza glared at the girl ''What do you think you're doing? This might be the only way!''

''There is no point in doing that!'' Wendy argued much to Erza's confusion. ''What do you mean 'there is no point'?'' Erza raged. ''We can't let him just die!''

''We won't! You won't find the pulse because he doesn't have a heart'' Wendy yelled back.

Erza froze but Gray couldn't hold back the snort. ''I know he can be cold and 'heartless' sometimes but that's just an expression''

Wendy frowned and Gray had once again doubled over when her fist met his stomach. ''If you have nothing smart to say then shut up!''

''Wendy, explain it already! We don't have much time!''

''It's a long story and not mine to tell but what you need to know is that his blood is not pumped through his veins by heart but by his magic''

The next second was spent in a silent shock as the rest of the mages along with two cats stared at girl in shock

''Then where is his heart?'' Lucy frowned but Wendy didn't answer her question, simply replying with an angry ''Not now!''

Wendy's hands gained the greenish glow as the girl pushed what little of her magic was left to her healing powers, trying to mend his spine and push the water out of his lungs as quickly as possible. After a fall on the rock, it was a wonder how the spine wasn't damaged even further but it was something that would leave him paralyzed from the neck down if Wendy wasn't a healer.

Natsu's back arched suddenly as she connected the last nerve, the teen curling in on himself, water mixed with blood pooling out of his mouth from the loud and hectic coughs ripping from his lungs.

''Natsu...'' Wendy called gently, his scaled back turned towards her as he forced himself to his knees and elbows, forehead against the wet wood of the boat as he continued to cough.

His eyes reminded tightly shut even when he stopped, his mouth open as he took a ragged breath, trying and failing to get enough air in his mouth, managing only to start another coughing fit.

''You need to take slower breaths, okay'' Wendy tried to advice receiving a hesitant nod in response.

She had no idea how long did they sit in that boat, everyone waiting with tense back and wide eyes while the dragon slayer managed to breathe once again.

''I'm not dead?''

The silent question was easily heard by those on the boat. The disbelief in the voice and what almost sounded like regret made Wendy's heart gave another squeeze.

''No, you're not'' Wendy smiled sadly, running a hand over his back, ignoring the jagged surface of the scales.

The blood was still dripping from the long gash on his head, the severe concussion Wendy knew he had to stay as it was, since she had poured every drop of what was left of her magic into reconnecting his nerves before it was too late.

''Does any of you have any bandages?'' Wendy asked looking at people surrounding her. Erza nodded, bandages appearing in her hand trough requip before she wordlessly handed them to her.

''Can you sit up?'' Wendy asked carefully. The red eye turned to look at her, pupil dilating and narrowing in rapid succession, obviously incapable of concentration on her. It was a good thing she put Troia on him or this would've been a whole lot worse.

Another hesitant nod followed her question before Natsu pushed himself off of his elbows and onto his palms, swaying dangerously as he did so, squeezing his eyes in useless attempt to regain some balance.

Gray moved toward the dragon slayer carefully, unsure how the pinkhead would react when he sat beside him and put a shoulder against his own, giving him support. Natsu jerked away, sudden contact making his senses flare up in their confused state. He wanted to put his hand to hold himself sitting but the hand would not move as fast as he would have liked and he would've slammed against the wooden floor if Gray didn't catch him, on arm warping around his other shoulder in half hug.

Gray looked embarrassed but didn't move from the awkward position as Natsu reminded tense, head turned towards Gray who could barely focus to keep his eyes on his, pupils still going from impossibly wide to barely visible.

''Gray?'' Natsu asked suddenly, his voice hoarse and Gray had to stop himself from jerking away at the sight of the forked tongue.

''What?'' he asked carefully.

''Nothin', juzt chekin' if it's y''' Natsu replied, frowning at his own words. Gray gave a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood while Wendy warped the bandages around Natsu's head. ''You alright?''

''Peopl' ari azking m' dat a 'ot'' Natsu frowned again, confused as he barely made sense to himself.

Erza tensed as she remembered the tower, her eyes looking at the dazed dragon slayer, blood that decorated his face suddenly didn't appear like his own.

''You killed Jellal'' she stated.

Natsu blinked, his eyes moving towards her as he leaned against Gray's shoulder, making Gray capable of putting down the arm that was hugging his back.

The group around them tensed at the accusation, Wendy almost dropping the bundle of bandages in her hand.

''Is that true?'' Lucy asked, her eyes fixed on the dragon slayer who scowled at them, the usually blank face looking lost.

''Blu'-'aired guy?'' Natsu asked Erza who nodded. ''Dan yez'' he nodded to himself, satisfied making Erza scowl even harder.

''How can you sound so happy about it?!'' she demanded. Wendy frowned at her. ''Erza, not now. He's not well''

''Don't wovy Weny'' Natsu told her, frown again on his face but this one far less confused. ''Im happy, sue m' fo' killin' a mad man''

''You're happy with killing 79 people?!''

''Uh, y' got it wvong'' Natsu shook his head. ''I didn' kill 79 people''

Erza looked at him suspiciously. ''But you said-''

''Dat I killd sevent'-nig.. nit..''

''Nine'' Erza supplied, annoyed and angry.

''Dat'' Natsu nodded. ''I killd sevent'-nine killers. I lozt kount hw many people I killd lon' tim' ago''

Erza's eyes widened, hers not the only as the people around Natsu, all expect Wendy, stared in utter shock.

''What?'' Lucy asked in shock, half wondering when she had hit her own head to start hallucinating.

''Yu herd m'. Umm.. Weny, wy can' I spe'k?''

''You hit your head pretty hard'' Wendy told him as she sat down, the bandage around Natsu's head securely tied.

''Uhm'' Natsu frowned again, obviously not happy. It was weird to see him like this, Wendy decided, showing so many emotions. She wondered if this is what he would be like sometimes if dragon slayers could get drunk.

''You told Jellal you showed him your soul'' Erza spoke again, scowl only fiercer, not caring the man was barely understanding what she was saying. This was not a laughing matter, for crying out loud.

Wendy's eyes widened as she turned to Natsu. ''You used that form?!''

''Mhm'' Natsu nodded again, deciding it was better to not speak unless absolutely necessary.

''You idiot!'' Wendy glared at him. ''You're lucky you don't have wings and horns!''

Natsu shrugged. ''He hurd me friend''

Erza knew he was talking about her but she couldn't care less. Who cared if he called her a friend? He killed a man!

Not that she knew how rarely he entitled someone with that. Wendy knew and cats as well because all three looked at him in silent but somewhat misplaced happiness.

''You killed him'' Erza protested. ''You said you showed him your soul but the only thing I saw was a.. a monster!''

Lucy pursed her lips while Gray hissed at that. Neither the raven-haired nor the blonde-haired teen were too thrilled to hear the pinkhead killed but they couldn't truly find it in themselves to be this angry. If he didn't they all would be dead.

Natsu's mood obviously darkened as well, his eyes finally concentrated on Erza with such speed and ferocity Erza couldn't help but shudder.

He didn't say anything, not after that as he pushed himself off of Gray, almost falling again before he pulled himself to the edge and lied his head on the side of the boat, back turning to the Fairy Tail mages and pulling his muffler, still somehow tied around his neck, over his mouth and nose.

He didn't need to say it. The message was clear.

'Fuck you'

End of chapter 21.

Rewritten

Next chapter: an explanation of dragonifiction and most of his training with Acnologia.

Please review and thanks for reading :)