Chapter 82:
"Thanks for the help," Lucy said, sounding far too happy if Arthur was concerned. He eyed the red-haired woman suspiciously again. Flare's cheeks colored and she ducked her head, embarrassed, "Blondie… You were… Doing well on your own"
"We were," Arthur agreed and ignored the glare Lucy sent him, "Why are you here? After what happened in GMG I didn't think we'd ever see you again…", he grimaced, "Partially because I was certain Natsu killed you"
Flare stilled for a moment, her hair moving around her like agitated tentacles and Arthur had to suppress a shudder.
"I… Didn't know you were here…", she paused, looking at Arthur with large eyes before adding, "And Natsu didn't kill me"
"Obviously," Arthur dryly replied.
Erza raised her eyebrow, "If you are not here because of us and you didn't know those hunters either why are you here?"
Flare pursed her lips, staying silent long enough for Erza to wonder if the other girl even heard her. She was about to ask again when Flare finally spoke, "This is where I grew up"
Arthur did a double-take, "You're a giant?!"
"No," Flare said, confused, "Why would you think that?"
Lucy proceeded to slap the back of Arthur's head and the blond looked at the girl in annoyance while she shrugged to the redhead. "Sun Village is populated by giants… which I guess you know if you were raised here"
"…Yes…", she paused, looking at the buildings that were coming into view above the tree line, "…when I heard what happened here I… I wanted to see it with my own eyes… I…", she fell silent, and while Arthur could definitely see some parallels with the deranged girl from before she did seem a lot more… sane now.
"You didn't want to believe it," Erza finished for her, nodding in sympathy while Flare once again ducked her head. They stayed silent after that for a while, awkwardness rising in the air before Lucy decided to break it.
"At least we got the Moon Drip from the hunters"
"There is not a lot of that in there," Carla said, "Are we sure it will actually do something? I mean… there is a lot of ice"
Arthur lifted the bottle from his pocket, looking at it closely before he frowned. "I don't know… maybe if we use it on the Eternal Flame…?"
"It could work," Flare said, looking at Arthur wide-eyed and hopeful, "The Flame is the guardian of the village, if anything can melt the ice it is the Flame"
"Then we need to get this to the Flame," Erza declared, "Arthur and Carla, go and find Natsu's group and tell them we might've found a solution and meet us at the -", she stopped mid-sentence, realizing she didn't know where the Flame was. Flare blinked, looking at the other girl curiously before she realized what the problem was. "The Flame is in the center," she pointed her finger towards the mountain. "You can see it from here"
"On the mountain?"
Flare blinked, "Mountain? That's the Eternal Flame"
Arthur could feel that his jaw was hanging open but it took him a moment to actually close it. "Right. Of course. Everything else is huge"
"There's nothing here," Gray said, kicking a piece of the ice with his foot. "We climbed all this way up for nothing"
"I expected some altar at least…", Wendy muttered, looking at the spikes. "We could head back and see where Natsu disappeared off to, I would've thought he'd be back by now – the shooting stopped half an hour ago"
"Maybe they found something and they sent Carla to tell us," Happy supplied, looking at his reflection in the ice. He stuck out his tongue at the reflection and then laughed. "We might as well stay here if they come back," he added.
"You and Wendy stay here and I'll look around some more," Gray told them and Wendy frowned. "We are getting too separated," she said after a moment, "We don't know where the demon slayer is, we don't know who was shooting and we don't know where everyone or anyone is"
"We do have two dragon slayers with us," Happy pointed out, "Well a dragon slayer and a dragon but that just drives my point further"
"Right, you'll sniff us all out," Gray told her and she laughed, "Fine, fine… don't go too far, Gray"
"What the fuck are you?"
His answer was another deafening shriek that left his ears ringing. He grimaced and tried to move in the tight grip the bird's claws had on him. The claw cut into his skin and he gritted his teeth.
"Are you with Doriate?", he hadn't really expected an answer so another shriek didn't greatly surprise him. The bird was demonic in nature so it was a safe guess that it was with him. The cyclops monster opened its mouth, razor-sharp teeth glinting as it brought the dragon prince to its mouth.
The dragon prince huffed, "Not happening"
Chaos energy wrapped around him, burning the claws that held him and the demon bird screeched, claws opening and Natsu quickly found himself in free fall.
His control and coordination might be worse than a three-year old's but he did have the raw power behind it. And he was quite frankly done with playing games. He'll get answers from Doriate one way or another. He could hear Acnologia and Himmel telling him to not use his magic extensively for a while at least and he had no trouble seeing Acnologia's glare if he found out about this and hear Himmel's 'I told you so' if this went south.
But he didn't really care at the moment. Dragon's are prideful beings. And his pride was bruised enough with everything that happened on this mission already. He sunk through the void just before he touched the ground and reappeared above the bird, hands spread like wings behind him. The thing must've heard him because it turned its round head and its one eye flashed white, energy beam two times bigger than Natsu speed at him.
"Chaos dragon's Wing Attack!", Natsu shouted, the already ready spell moving towards the white beam in black and red arches. It exploded on collision, black smoke wrapping around them both. The demon bird stopped moving, eye looking at the smoke and likely waiting for the small shape to fall down and to the ground.
"Chaos dragon's sword horn!"
The eye snapped up just in time for that same small shape to pass through the eye, piercing the white tissue and tearing it with Chaos energy. Natsu exited on the other side of the skull, bone fragments and gray tissue clinging to his blood-soaked skin and he was once again in the free fall, the birds falling beside him, dead. The void opened beneath him and he disappeared into it.
The demon hit the frozen roof of one of the houses and bounced off of it before sliding to the paved road beneath, red blood pooling around it.
Gray turned another corner, wondering why he even insisted on going anywhere. He was so lost in thought that the large man that was running as fast as his legs could carry him didn't even register until he slammed into the ice mage.
Gray was sent flying into the nearby wall and the unknown mage sprawled over the frozen pavement. Doriate cursed, jumping to his feet and glaring at the other mage. Gray was getting to his feet as well, glaring at the other mage. Doriate didn't say anything, his skin pulsed with white light.
"You little cockroaches," he finally uttered as Gray slid into a combat-ready stance. "First that pinkhead and now you"
Gray blinked, 'Pinkhead? Natsu?', a grin spread over Gray's face. "That's why you're running"
Doriate growled at him, two quick strides in his direction and he was above him and Gray cursed, ducking under the kick and sliding over the ice away. When he got back to his feet he frowned and Doriate grinned. "You're taller," the ice mage noted.
"You're shorter, princess"
Gray looked down, suddenly aware his pants were falling and he yelped, "What did you do?"
"My magic," Doriate spread his arms, lifting his chin and Gray frowned. Now he's cocky? "Law of Retrogression; it lowers the magical and physical skills of anyone caught in the radius"
"Well, shorter or no you're still going down," Gray declared, fist slamming into his palm. "Ice-make: hammer!"
Doriate looked at him, tense for a brief moment before he relaxed and outright laughed when the hammer that appeared was the size of a pencil. Gray looked wide-eyed. "The fuck…"
"Now then," Doriate cracked his fingers, eyes looking briefly down the way where he came from and a thought suddenly struck Gray. If he was running from Natsu…. Then where is Natsu? His stomach did a flip at the thought and he looked back at Doriate.
The man grinned, fanged mouth twisting hideously and Gray steeled himself. There was something odd about the man. Almost… His eyes widened. He felt like hitting himself. He was in the presence of such creatures enough to recognize it and it was a surprise it took him even this long.
But he didn't feel exactly like those in Lurioa or Ausul… He felt more like…
"Lullaby"
Doriate raised an eyebrow at him, incredulous and again on the verge of laughing. "Do you want me to sing to you? I should warn you I'm not much of a singer"
'Get him talking', Gray nodded to himself. Natsu is coming. He knew it.
"You're like Lullaby, the demon we killed years ago"
Doriate blinked and then shrugged. Apparently, it was far more obvious than he anticipated. It didn't really change anything in the long run. He glanced back down the road he came from. He wasn't sure why – the fight wasn't even going that badly – but the pink-haired demon made him uneasy. The way the raven-haired man spoke, amused but like it was no surprise when he mocked. 'That's why you're running', the demon was definitely Fairy Tail, and apparently someone whose opponents tend to run.
Or try to, his mind traitorously whispered and Doriate shook his head. He should've listened to Minerva when she said they were not to be underestimated. But he arrogantly thought that no surface mage could really be much of a threat to his powers. He wondered if it wouldn't be better to just get out of there, damn the consequences.
"I am a demon from Zeref's books, true," he admitted easily. It wasn't a secret. Really, he was proud of it. He was above humans in every possible way. Why shouldn't he be proud of it? The mage stilled and Doriate grinned again before deciding that he talked enough and he rushed at the mage. The little bugger was fast, even with the way his coordination was screwed up but in the end, there was only so much one could do to run from him.
His fist connected with the mage's stomach and Gray coughed, feeling two ribs crack at the impact. He flew into the trees, grimacing when he landed into the frozen bushes that cut into his skin. He stood up, pulling two leaves out of his arm, eyes trained on Doriate that was once again circling him like a hungry lion. Gray frowned. If he couldn't make anything large from the ice, he could make something sharp.
"Ice-make: shiv!", he held out both hands, the sharp spikes forming in his hand and he crouched low just as Doriate rushed at him. The demon was incredibly fast for someone his size, still surprising the mage even after the first attack and the knee met his nose even though he tried to move back. He managed to grab hold of the demon's pants before he was sent sprawling, moving his sharp shiv towards the muscle in the thigh.
And then watched as the ice shattered on impact. Gray pushed himself away when Doriate's hand came down towards him, unable to hide his shock. 'The ice was not that brittle! It should've pierced the skin!'
He rolled to the side, moving out of the way and Doriate's fist smashed into the frozen bushed. The fist that was already bloody – from his fight with Natsu no doubt, Gray concluded – was quickly extracted from the bushed with a snarl, sharp leaves embedded into the skin and Gray raised an eyebrow. 'Interesting'
He looked back down at the frozen ground for a moment before he was forced to turn his eyes back to his opponent and the smaller mage found himself on his back when Doriate's fist met his nose. He felt the blood burst from his nose, head swimming from the impact but he dared not stay still, jumping to his feet and running to the side drunkenly just in time to avoid Doriate's large form from landing on him. He dropped to the ground before the next kick connected, one hand on the icy floor and he concentrated on the magic of the ice, pulling it apart and into his hand.
The shiv he had in his hand buried into the foot this time, Doriate howling when ten inches long spike ended up lodged in the middle of his foot.
A blur from the bushes was the only warning they got before the pale pink-haired demon slammed the black-and-red fist into Doriate's jaw, shattering it and sending several teeth flying.
"That's for the bird," Natsu hissed at him and Gray blinked. He knew he was looking like a kid but seeing Natsu look like one was… surprising to say the least. Doriate visibly paled and Gray felt a smug grin forming on his face despite the pain it brought to his broken nose and likely cheekbone.
The dragon was covered from head to toe in blood and… well, those certainly looked like innards.
"You look… young," Gray noted helpfully and the dragon prince glanced in his direction. So, his glare was still terrifying even with a face like that. 'Now that I think about it,' Gray realized, 'we were around the same age when we met appearance-wise'
They both turned their eyes to Doriate who spat another tooth, glaring at them both before pulling the ice shiv out of his foot. "You asked for this," he growled and Gray tensed, eyes widening a moment later. Doriate's muscles bulged, ripping the skin and the skin started turning blue, arms and legs growing, shoulders wider.
A demon form, Gray realized and turned to look at Natsu, relaxing ever so slightly when he realized the other man still looked perfectly calm – well really, he looked annoyed but he didn't look worried about the new development.
Doriate roared when the transformation was complete, the beast of a man now standing at well over eight feet tall, and Gray couldn't help but grimace.
"Weak"
Natsu's voice made him jump and he realized that the dragon prince sounded just as young as he looked.
"I'll show you weak!"
Doriate sounded properly pissed as well, Gray noted as he dived out of the way of the hit while Natsu disappeared into the void. 'So, he can cast something that's not useless... Of course, he can'
Natsu appeared above the demon, black claws – 'Claws?!' – piercing the skin easily and he hooked his fingers into Doriate's shoulder blade, the demon howling in protest. "Why are you here?", Natsu asked and Gray blinked. The dragon prince was not just annoyed but angry as well. Now he was starting to feel sorry for the other demon.
"You are standing at the entrance! You must not step inside the Hell's Gate!"
Both tensed at those words and Doriate grabbed Natsu's hair, flinging the demon off of his shoulder. Natsu twisted in the air, rolling to his feet when he hit the floor and springing up at the larger demon as if nothing happened. "What are you talking about?"
"You'll regret it!"
Natsu growled in frustration and twisted out of the way of the fist before rolling between the Demon's legs. Gray suddenly realized that the other demon all but forgot about him and he carefully scrunched down, pulling more ice from the ground and into his hand, forming a dagger this time. It was far easier to do it than he thought it would be considering the state of his magic but apparently taking outside magic and molding it was something that wasn't hindered. He glanced at Natsu, fists, and feet lit up in Chaos energy as he sent Doriate flying into the trees. Was he using his magic or the magic around them? He wasn't really certain how much Chaos energy around them there was but it didn't seem so farfetched. He threw the dagger at Doriate, the sharp blade lodging into the already damaged shoulder and the demon howled again, turning towards him with the rock he had in hand that was meant for Natsu but was now flying towards him.
He hissed, eyes widening. The rock was far too close and fast to actually dodge without it hitting some part of him and he watched in slow motion as Natsu appeared beside him as if by Void – but he knew the demon ran to him (how though he did not) – and push him out of the way. Gray hissed as he hit the rocks, eyes still on Natsu who punched the rock midflight, hands alight with magic and the rock exploded into a shower of pebbles.
Doriate was already on the pink-haired demon, hands ready to smash into him like he was trying to hit a mosquito and Natsu jumped above it kicking the demon into the face in the process. Gray almost missed it when something started dripping from the black claws on Natsu's hand. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Demon Lord: Nightmare Awakened"
Doriate jumped away from him as if burned. Gray blinked but a moment later he recognized the spell and a grim smile lifted his lips. Natsu was glaring at Doriate, black liquid, thick like tar dripped from his fingers and he rushed at Doriate again. The demon dodged the first kick and tried to retaliate. Natsu ducked under the wild swing, jumping and coming practically nose to nose with the demon as he gripped his head with his hands, claws digging into the skull.
Doriate dropped to the ground screaming and Gray grimaced.
'A bad way to go'
Natsu didn't let go of the blue head, staring into wide, unseeing eyes. "You're the ones who opened it up… Hell's gate, that is… It can't be undone"
Natsu's lips pulled over his teeth, sharp canines much longer than they had been revealed as he snarled at the demon. Gray blinked, watching as both he and Natsu reverted back to their adult selves. The dragon pulled his claws out of the demon's skull, tar-like substance dripping out of the holes his claws left, mixing with the blood but he didn't let go of the head, adjusting his grip before he gave the head a strong jerk. Gray expected him to break the man's neck, he didn't expect the head to come off of his shoulders. Blood erupted from the neck, spraying Natsu's already soaked front once again.
The dragon grimaced, licking his lips before she spat out blood and Gray grimaced again.
"Damn," the ice mage concluded, "An overkill… don't you think?"
"He… annoyed me," the dragon said after a moment, using the back of his hand to wipe the blood from his eyes. It didn't do much since his arm was bloody as well and all it did was smear it again. Gray shifted uneasily but didn't say anything.
"Well… I'll be sure to not annoy you that much," Gray said, trying to sound nonchalant and was surprised and a bit disturbed when Natsu flashed him a grin. The dragon must've known how uneasy Gray was feeling but he looked more amused by it than anything. "I'll let you know if you do," Natsu offered helpfully, sending a meaningful glance at Doriate's headless corpse before once again spitting blood and trying to keep it from dripping into his eyes.
Gray cracked a smile, eyeing the dragon again. Something changed since he came back. He seemed less… serious. The dry humor he had previously that was reserved only for special occasions now seemed to be a lot more present. It was… heartening, really.
Arthur frowned, looking at his hands and trying to figure out what just happened. He glanced at Minerva's unconscious form, sprawled over the pavement. Both of them were once again their normal size. Minerva seemed to know who it was and she wasn't happy with them once she was reduced to the childlike appearance.
He rubbed his forearm, turned bloody from Minerva's spell but in the end he couldn't complain. He wasn't the one lying unconscious.
"Are you alright?", Carla asked, hovering above his shoulder, still glaring at Minerva. "What are we going to do with her?"
"I have no idea," Arthur told her honestly, "We'll have to find the others and we'll see from there"
"We can't just leave her here," Carla frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. Arthur paused, looking back at her before he rose his hand, palm facing Minerva.
"Bind," he commanded and Carla blinked before looking as the shadows twitched and rushed at Minerva wrapping around her like ropes. Arthur paused, hands still in the air for a moment before he lowered it and shrugged, "That'll do it for a bit"
Carla nodded, "Nice"
The cat wrapped her tail around the teen after that, lifting him into the air. They crossed two streets, moving towards the forest and Arthur was about to tell Carla to turn around when something caught his eye. "The fuck is that?" Arthur wondered, looking at the dead cyclops monster, drenched in its own blood and lying dead on the street. Carla stayed silent, the two slowly making their way down to the demonic bird. It smelled something awful but it was obviously not dead for long. The blood was still lazily trickling from the hole it had in its eye.
"This is disturbing," Carla muttered, watching the street floor through the hole in the skull.
"Natsu's work, I'd wager," Arthur muttered, eyes moving away from the bird and looking around. He blinked, watching the forest just as two shapes appeared out of the shadows. "And there's Natsu and Gray… wait… shit!"
Arthur broke off at a run, Carla following a moment later. She opened her mouth, wanting to know what was going on but it died in her throat when she laid eyes on Natsu.
Gray and Natsu saw them two, the former waving at them and Arthur slowed down. "What happened to you? Are you hurt?!"
"You should see the other guy," Gray informed him with a grin and a shrug, "Broken nose"
Natsu was silent for a moment, seemingly only later realizing Arthur waited for him to answer as well. "It's not mine," he gestured to the blood before nodding at the bird they could still see from here. "Most of it is from that thing"
Arthur needed a moment to process that. "Wait, you're saying you physically passed through the head?"
Natsu nodded, and stayed silent a moment longer, walking past Arthur and towards the street. "You wouldn't happen to have something I could use to get it off of my face? It's getting sticky"
"I'm not surprised," and then he realized another thing, "Most of it? And the rest?"
"A demon who could turn you into a kid. Weird shit," Gray supplied and Arthur nodded in realization, "Doriate?"
Natsu stopped his walk, turning to Arthur with raised eyebrow, "How do you know that?"
"Right! Guess who I ran into?"
"Ankhseram," Natsu told him dryly and Arthur shuddered. "Don't even joke about that. No, Minerva"
"Sabertooth Minerva?" Gray asked.
"Succubus Eye Minerva now apparently", Arthur corrected but nodded, "But yea, the very same. She was laughing her ass off when I turned into a kid halfway through our fight… She wasn't laughing anymore when it happened to her. She mentioned that it was this Doriate's handiwork. I bound her up a few blocks away, wasn't sure what to do with her"
"Oh, I know exactly what I'm going to do to her," Natsu said, looking at Arthur and Carla expectedly and Carla frowned. "Let's get that taken care of and then I need to go and pick up my boots and coat. You can tell us why you're here while we do that"
"Right"
"Umm"
Natsu looked at the two, eyebrow raised expectedly. When neither said anything, his eyes narrowed. "She was right here," Arthur pointed to the very empty spot. "She must've woken up… but I bound… her… shit"
Natsu nodded, "Shit indeed. She can teleport as you well know"
"Well then we can get to the others, get your stuff and see about melting this thing," Arthur shrugged, avoiding the glare Natsu was sending his way. "If the moon drip doesn't work, Gray can have a go at removing it," Natsu added and Gray nodded, "It's a big surface but I'm pretty sure I could do it… at least move it from the Flame if nothing else"
Flare almost fainted when she saw Natsu, and Lucy couldn't blame her. He looked more than a little bit frightening. What on Earth happened? The dragon proceeded to clean himself as much as he could with limited water they had but it wasn't much. Natsu seemed less than impressed with the red-haired girl's presence but the fact he hadn't blasted her away was a good sign. They stood at the foot of the frozen Flames, staring at each other.
They were apart for barely an hour and they had no idea what happened anymore. Wendy was still gaping at Natsu and Gray was nursing his recently fixed nose – courtesy of Wendy.
"That's not enough," Natsu said as soon as Erza produced Moon Drip. She shrugged in response before smashing the bottle on the ice of the Flames. It did melt the ice. Just not nearly enough for it to be noteworthy. They all frowned at the small patch of the stone it revealed.
"Shouldn't there be fire?", Lucy asked, turning to look at Flare who shrugged helplessly, "This is where the -"
Natsu hissed, finger on his lips for silence and Erza frowned, "Now Natsu, I don't think that's -"
"I said silence," he hissed, crouching to the ground and pressing the ear against the hole in the ice. Erza blinked, looking at Wendy who shrugged.
Natsu stood up, a moment later, paler than he was a moment ago if that was possible. "I know that voice… but that's impossible"
He turned on his heel and looked at Gray with such intensity Gray barely resisted the urge to salute. "Melt it! Melt it now!"
Gray looked around, others exchanging worried glances. Gray's focus was brought back to Natsu took another step, now close enough that Gray could feel the cold breath on his face. "Now"
Gray swallowed, hands shaking suddenly as the temperature around them dropped. Erza huffed, angry, and ready to put an end to it but Wendy held her wrist, shaking her head and biting her lower lip. Gray nodded after a moment, hand resting against the ice and he closed his eyes in concentration. He felt the magic in it, concentrated on moving it through his own as he had before, and pushed it out.
It was over quicker than it seemed and he stumbled back suddenly, gasping for breath and sweat on his brow as the ice suddenly evaporated in hot steam. Gray looked at Natsu who was standing practically shoulder to shoulder to him. The dragon was standing as still as a statue with such a stony expression Gray couldn't even begin to guess what he was thinking.
The heat hit him so suddenly it knocked the air out of his lungs and his eyes snapped to the Fire that suddenly burst from the steam. He could dimly hear others gasp around them, taking a step back.
He didn't, couldn't really for he was frozen in the spot when two glowing eyes opened inside the flames right in front of them.
"Atlas Flame," Natsu breathed out, and the pure wonder in his voice made Gray turn to look at him.
The dragon's eyes focused solely on the dragon prince now and a rumbling sound left him that Gray recognized as laughter a few moments later.
"Natsu," the dragon spoke, eyes closing for a moment before he rose his head and spread his wings, looking like a giant cat stretching after a long sleep. He looked around, noting the mages around him but he didn't acknowledge them. "It's… been a while"
A weird smile crossed Natsu's features and he stayed silent a moment longer. Gray looked at him again, this time openly staring as he saw the prince's eyes water. "Over a decade"
"Really?", Atlas Flame asked, blinking before he looked at Natsu, a grin forming on the fire dragon. "We have a lot of catching up then but before that… could you tell me what happened to the village?"
"You don't know?" Natsu paused, "Frozen by a demon slayer is my guess"
The dragon nodded, "Right, right… I… remember that"
"Are you alright?"
"I was… asleep for a very long time. I'm still a bit disoriented but… the demon slayer thought I was a demon I think," the dragon frowned and Natsu scratched his chin, "You didn't fight back?"
Atlas Flame paused before looking down at the dragon, "After I left the Island, I tried to find Igneel but you know well enough the fool is hard to find if he doesn't want to be. I came here about ten years ago… My mother died here in the War and her ashes are still burning. Before he left, Igneel was looking for someone. I had no way to contact the king so I tried to find the one he was looking for. I hoped Mother knew"
"Fire dragons can talk to spirits?", Wendy asked, raising her eyebrows in wonder. Flare blinked in shock, "Eternal Flame is a dead dragon?"
Atlas Flame looked down at them again, the dragon glanced at Natsu for a moment with a knowing grin, "You got quite a following kid"
Natsu rolled his eyes, arms crossing over his chest, "Fairy Tail, meet Atlas Flame, Atlas Flame this are my guildmates"
"And yes, to both questions," Atlas Flame told the two girls, "Though Fire Dragons go through far more trouble to do it – that is the reason why I was in a trance for so long"
Natsu nodded in understanding, "And when demon slayer attacked you were not able to shake it off before he froze everything"
Atlas Flame nodded.
"Who was Igneel looking for?"
Atlas Flame paused, voice dropping and his face serious. "Do you know where he is now?"
"Igneel returned to the Island… He was certain you were dead until a few months ago"
Atlas Flame grimaced, "Acnologia's a right bastard"
"He was," Natsu agreed with a chuckle and Atlas Flame raised one flaming eyebrow, a smirk forming on his lips. "He's less crazy now," the dragon prince stayed silent for a moment, ignoring the whispering of the mages behind him before he finally added, "They would be glad to see you again – the dragons, I mean… You should return to the Island"
Atlas Flame looked at Natsu silently, not uttering a sound aside from the deep rumbling of his breathing for long enough that Natsu wondered if the dragon even heard him.
"I will," Atlas Flame agreed and Natsu felt his posture relaxing in relief.
"Wait! What about the village?! Can you melt the ice?", Flare asked, alarmed.
Natsu glared at her, annoyed at the interruption but Atlas Flame nodded. "Don't worry about the village, I just wanted to say what I had to say before I leave," he turned to Natsu, "I'll melt the ice and leave. The giants don't know a dragon slept here. I'd love to talk, Natsu, but we can't do that here. You should come to the Island. As for what you asked -"
He was gathering his magic around him, warmth like sunshine wrapping around them and the ice started disappearing.
"Igneel was looking for the most powerful demon Zeref created. The one that could tip the Balance of the Worlds and burn the mortal plane to ashes. He was looking for him to kill him"
The ice disappeared and Atlas Flame lifted into the air, "He was looking for END"
Natsu felt as if Havoc punched him in his stomach. He felt sick and about ready to throw up. But on the outside, not a muscle moved. He swallowed and nodded. The ice around them disappeared and Natsu felt as if it had moved inside him. Atlas Flame flew away, the fire of his dead Mother left behind, warming them all but Natsu didn't feel it. He shuddered, resisting the urge to wrap his hands around him. What did this mean?
He looked at the sky and could almost hear Doriate's words in the wind, "You're the ones who opened it up… Hell's gate, that is… It can't be undone"
A storm was coming.
End of chapter 82.
I hope you like it – this might be the first time in a long time I don't have to apologize for taking too long. Also, I might note here that Tartarous arc is very likely the last arc that will be in this story which means that the end is actually getting close. Though the arc is a pretty long one but yea... I thought I might mention this. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with this and those of you who are not… Well, I am sorry. I would also truly appreciate it if you asked for some sort of clarification if I made something unclear in the chapters I wrote. With the distance between each chapter and everything I'm doing lately I sometimes lose track of what I write and don't write into the chapters I post.
Please review and thanks for reading :)