The room was eerily quiet, all the occupants were too afraid to speak. All they could do was stare down at the two beds, one which was occupied by the Queen Kira, and the other by Princess Jen.

They looked terrible, their disturbingly pale skin dripping with sweat, labored breathing, and yellow looking boils on several parts of their skin.

Ayame's face was blank, but Natsu had learned long ago how to read her emotions. He could see the fear hidden deep beneath her icy eyes. No, wait… It was terror. Ayame was terrified, and that did nothing to ease Natsu's own nerves.

His master turned towards King Chamberlain, and demanded,"How did this happen? How could it have come back?"

Chamberlain sighed and shook his head. "I don't know… The royal family hasn't left the country since the Isolation Decree began. There was no way we could have contracted it… Someone else brought it to our Kingdom…" He stuttered out.

The king was a mess. His usually clean shaven face had the beginnings of a patchy beard, his curled hair was disheveled and matted in some places, and the bags under his eyes were extremely noticeable. This plague was affecting him as well, but mentally instead of physically.

"I… I still don't understand," Natsu quietly whispered,"Master, you never told me what the plague was…"

Ayame returned her gaze to him, eyes widening in realization. "Oh, I suppose I haven't yet…" She muttered. "You must understand, Natsu, this is one of the darkest parts of our kingdom's history." At Natsu's nod, Ayame began her story.

"It started about a hundred years ago, after a war with another nation, our country was weak. An illness, a violent and unknown plague spread throughout the kingdom. The kingdom was weak and penniless from war, there was nothing to stop it. It claimed the young, old, and weak first… And then everyone else,``she explained.

Chamberlain nodded in agreement, his hands shaking a bit. "It claimed almost half of our kingdom's lives, millions of people gone. My great grandfather created the Isolation Decree to protect ourselves and other countries. Nobody can come in or leave without express permission from the current rulers. His idea was for the country to die with honor, and not take any other countries down with us."

"But, you're all still here. Was there a cure?" Natsu asked, hopeful that the answer would be yes.

When their faces fell, Natsu knew exactly what the answer was. His heart started pounding in fear, and he looked at the Queen and Princess again. "If there's no cure, how did it go away?" He asked.

Ayame shrugged. "Nobody knows," She simply said,"Slowly people stopped getting sick and it was forgotten about. We had hoped it was gone for good…"

"Now it's back… And nobody has any idea what to do..." Natsu finished for her. She nodded again, and the room fell into silence once more.

Natsu ran their explanation through his head over and over, and something hit him. "You said the old, young, and weak got sick first…" He mentioned, looking at the king. "So it makes sense why Jen is ill, but what about the Queen?"

A pained smile appeared on the exhausted king's face. . "You trained him well, Ayame. He's just as observant as you are," He complimented, looking Natsu in the eyes. "She's sick because… Because she's pregnant. Our second child."

The dragonslayer's heart felt like it was being broken, he wished that he never asked such a foolish question. Now he felt even worse.

The king's shaking hands curled into fists. "That's- that's why I called on you, Ayame, Natsu. We have to find a cure, not just for my wife, but for the kingdom too," He frantically said,"Your predecessors were trying to find a cure, right?"

"Yes, but they never found one, your highness!" Ayame reminded him,"My own master gave up on it, even after he retired and I took his place, whenever he saw me working on it he would chide me for wasting time. I have nothing!"

Chamberlain shook his head. "That isn't good enough! You have to try! I'll give you anything you need, money, transportation, servants. Anything!" He promised. "Please, we can't let this happen again."

Ayame opened her mouth to argue, but suddenly stopped. She turned, looking at the Queen and Princess again. Something unreadable (even for Natsu) appeared in her eyes as she stared for almost a full minute.

"Fine," She declared,"Me and Natsu will try our best… But there's only so much we can do…"

The King sighed in relief. "I know, thank you…" He whispered, bowing to Ayame respectfully. "I know this seems like an impossible task, but I have faith in you, and in your student."

Ayame nodded, and waved her hand to Natsu. "Take their vitals and then meet me outside. We have lots of work to do,``she ordered, storming out of the room before Natsu could ask her what was wrong.

Still, not one to ignore Ayame's orders, he gently held his hand out and sent butterflies towards the two royal family members. A blast of blue and red magic flew out before he could stop it, making him gasp and pull back his hand quickly… He held his hand up, a frown overcoming his face.

All of sudden, Runa felt like she held a lot more power...

Too worried about current events, Natsu ignored the feeling and hurriedly took the vitals, running off after his teacher. He found her standing by one of the large windows, staring out at the lush green forest. Her fists were clenched, there was a frown on her face, and her eyes were filled with fear.

Three Months Later

Things had gotten worse…

So, so much worse…

Natsu had never seen an illness so devastating in his entire life. Mere days after they had returned from the capital of the country, the illness had spread to several towns. In less than two weeks, it had spread all over the country. Those who weren't ill had locked themselves away, those who were ill could only lie in their possible deathbed and hope that they were strong enough to fight through it.

The worst part was that there was nothing he could do. He and Ayame worked tirelessly with the court members to try and find a cure, or even come up with a serum that might help even a tiny bit.

They barely made any progress, and it got even harder when the other court members got sick as well. After two months, only Natsu and Ayame were well enough to continue to try and work on a cure.

No matter how hard the two tried, none of their serums worked. Their research combined with the research of their predecessors wasn't enough. Everyone was dying, and there was nothing they could do to stop it… Even when it took one of their own.

They had been sitting in the lab, pouring over their papers when their front door slammed open. They both looked up, too tired to even be shaken by the sudden noise. The exhaustion faded away very quickly when they saw that their visitor was none other than Maleah.

She looked terrible, her long hair messy and matted in some places, her skin pale and clammy. She heaved desperately for air for several seconds, her whole body shuddering as her head dropped to look at the floor.

Natsu frantically leapt to his feet. "Maleah!" He worriedly exclaimed, reaching out for his fellow apprentice. "What is it? What's going on?"

When the blacksmith's shoulders started to shake, Natsu's worries only amplified. Slowly, she raised her head and revealed her tear filled eyes.

"It's… It's Makera…" She whispered,"You need to come, now."

That was all she needed to say. Ayame dropped her papers and grabbed her coat, following the two quicker apprentices out of the house and towards the town as fast as their legs could carry them.

The second floor of the blacksmith's shop held a horrifying sight, one that Natsu would remember for the rest of his life.

The usually boisterous and gleeful Makera laying on his bed, his body horribly skinny, skin covered in a horrible rash and boils. It looked as if the life had been sucked out of him.

"No…" Ayame whispered to herself, quickly hurrying over to his side. "Makera! You can't die! Not like this!"

The blacksmith forced his eyes open, revealing orbs that were almost completely devoid of any color. "Ayame…" He croaked,"It's okay…"

"Me and Natsu are working day and night, we'll find a cure. Just give us a little more time," She begged, holding out her hand that swirled with a weak amount of Runa. "I'll- I'll even-"

Makera took a deep breath and shook his head. "No," He whispered,"It's okay… It's my time to go… It's too… Too late for me."

A sniffle from Natsu's side turned his attention to the apprentice next to him. Tears tumbling down her cheeks, Maleah moved to stand by Makera's side as well. "Master…" She weakly said.

Makera's smile never faded as he turned his eyes to her. "Ahh… Maleah… I'm so… Proud of you,``he whispered,"You'll take my place, and you'll do great things."

He looked between Ayame and Maleah, right at Natsu. "Both of you will, I know it…" He declared,"Don't ever doubt that."

Maleah moves first, taking his rash covered hand in hers and closing her eyes. Natsu and Ayame placed theirs on top of hers, holding onto Makera as his breathing came to a slow stop.

Natsu felt his life force as it faded away, his very magic (what was left of it) vanishing as if it had never existed in the first place. As soon as that tiny bit of magic vanished, Makera's hand went slack. He was gone.

Maleah shuddered and suddenly fell to her knees, sobbing in despair over the loss of her master. Natsu's heart twisted in pain for her, feeling disturbingly shaken himself.

It wasn't his first time facing death, but he'd never seen it like this…

The dragonslayer knelt down next to Maleah, pulling her close and letting her sob into his arms with her head against his shoulder. He couldn't help the several tears that fell from his own eyes as well.

Ayame's reaction was much different. She stared at Makera's body for a long while, clutching his limp hand the entire time. Then, she suddenly stood up straight, and stormed out of the room.

Natsu was no stranger to Ayame, not after all these years. He knew that this was affecting her more than either of them, because it reminded her of what was (in her eyes) her biggest failure.

After Makera's death, Ayame's resolve seemed to crumble into dust. She stopped doing research with Natsu, and instead locked herself up inside of her office. She wouldn't listen to his concerned protests, and kept desperately trying every combination she could to get an actual cure.

This left Natsu in an extremely stressful position. With Ayame locked away in her office, he was responsible for taking care of the patients in their town and any others who happened to be sick. The medics who helped him dwindled in numbers as many of them caught the illness as well. Within weeks, Natsu was stretched thin and always on the edge of exhaustion.

He returned home one night, after losing three patients in one night, feeling completely empty. He let his bag drop down onto the table and fell into a seat, rubbing his face in his hands. I don't know how much more death I can handle… He thought to himself.

After sitting for a few minutes, he decided to continue his routine. He went to the kitchen, preparing a meal for himself and Ayame. Once the food was done, he brought the plates upstairs to Ayame's office.

To the dragonslayer's dismay, he found that the breakfast and lunch he had brought up earlier in the day were outside the door, untouched. He let out a frustrated sigh, walked over to the door, set the dinner plate by the others, and then rapping his knuckles against the old wood.

"Master, you need to eat," Natsu quietly said,"We can't cure anything if we don't have the energy to help. And we're supposed to meet with some of the Royal Court members in two days, remember?"

As usual, he got no response. There was movement, his sensitive ears could hear the slow footsteps and shuffling of papers. He knew she was in there, so why wasn't she acknowledging him?

He reached his flesh hand up, running a hand through his messy hair. "One of the doctors fell ill today… So now it's just me, a doctor, and two nurses. We're trying our best but… We lost three patients today. I tried everything, but I still couldn't save them,``he whispered.

Still, he gained nothing from his Master. A feeling of frustration started to rise up inside him. "I know you are hurt about Makera's death, I was too… But I don't know how much longer I'll be able to do this on my own. I'm not fully trained…" He gritted his teeth.

"And now everyone is looking for me to end the illness and make all these big decisions, but I'm just an apprentice!" Natsu exclaimed, gritting his teeth. "I'm supposed to look to you for advice, but you're… YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING!"

Natsu felt burning hot tears start to fall down his face, his fists were clenched at his sides, and he gritted his teeth. He didn't mean to yell, but now that the dam had been broken, he found that he couldn't stop.

"I know you're in mourning, I'm sorry Makera died, but hundreds of people are dying from the same thing that killed him! What are you doing to help?! How do you expect to cure the plague while locked up in this office!? How are we supposed to save people if you won't even talk to me?!"

He slammed his metal hand on the side of the doorway. "You're my master! I'm supposed to be looking to you for guidance, you're supposed to lead ME! It's like you're not even here!"

"You told me that my friends' deaths weren't my fault, and you were right, because I couldn't have stopped it! But it is OUR JOB to help stop this epidemic! Every time someone dies, it's our fault! And- and you're not even helping! IT'S YOUR FAULT! You told me to never give up, so why are you doing it?! WHY WON'T YOU EVEN TALK TO ME?!"

He punched the wall again, biting his lip hard enough to make it bleed. In between hitched breaths, he leaned forward, and weakly asked,"How am I supposed to call you my master when you don't follow what you taught me?"

There was silence for a long time, Natsu didn't even hear the sound of movement anymore. Then, there was the faint sound of knocking on the front door.

Natsu forced himself to stand up, wiping the tears and blood away from his tired face. With one more scornful look at the shut door, he hurried down the stairs and over to the front door. Pulling it open, he found himself face to face with the faces of two young children. He recognized them right away, as he had been at their house a few days before helping their ill grandmother.

"Ben, Lisa, what are you doing out so late?" He questioned suspiciously,"Does your mother know you're out past your bedtime again?"

Ben squirmed guiltily, looking away from the alchemist. When he didn't say anything for a long while, Lisa spoke for them. "Mister Natsu, sir, can you please come look at Granny again? We wanna know if she's better now," She asked,"Papa says we can't go see Granny unless you say it's okay."

Natsu sighed, giving them a shake of his head. "I gave your grandmother a checkup two days ago, remember? She was still sick," He reminded them.

"But that was two days ago!" Ben exclaimed,"Maybe she's better now and we can go see her!"

"Listen, I know you want to see her but I know she isn't well enough for visitors yet," Natsu tried to tell them.

Lisa quickly gave a fiery glare that Natsu believed could rival even Erza's. "How do you know if you haven't given her a checkup today?" She demanded,"You can't know for sure unless you give her a checkup right now!"

"Yeah! Right now!" Her little brother added loudly.

Natsu let out a frustrated sigh and rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright! I'll go give your grandma a checkup!" He gave in, grabbing his bag from the table and leaving the house. I don't really want to be at home right now anyways.

"Yay!" Ben and Lisa cheered in unison, practically skipping down the steps and following Natsu towards the town.

Raising his index finger, Natsu quickly added,"But before we do that, I'm taking you guys home and telling your mother you came all the way here without her permission."

"Aww…."

"I'm really sorry about my grandchildren, lord Natsu," The old woman, Saoirse, told Natsu as he finished checking all of her vitals. "I knew they were impatient, but I never expected them to go that far."

The dragonslayer let out a tired chuckle and shook his head. "It's no trouble at all, ma'am. It is my job after all," He said, lifting his palm up and letting Runa form on top of it.

"I know it is your job, but you look completely worn out. You need to rest sometime too, dear," She told him, giving him a concerned smile.

As tempted as sleep sounded, Natsu pushed the idea aside, and let Runa float over to the woman. Once she landed on her shoulder, Runa began to check her more thoroughly, the information was then given to Natsu.

He had to admit, he was surprised. For someone Ayame's age, Saoirse was actually rather healthy. She was still getting progressively sick, but it was at a much slower rate than normal.

"Well, your grandchildren still can't visit, but you are doing well. Still very healthy," Natsu told her,"In fact, I'd say you're one of the healthiest I've done a checkup for today."

Saoirse sighed in relief. "Thank you, Natsu," She quietly replied,"I know I'm only going to get worse, but it is nice to hear that." She turned her head to her nightstand, her fingers brushing against the leaf of a colorful flower she had in a vase.

When she touched it, Runa's wings stopped moving. "Natsu," Her gentle voice whispered,"That flower, it is giving off some kind of magic."

Instantly, Natsu's curiosity peaked. He walked over to the side of the bed, staring at the flower. It had a green stem, with multicolored petals that seemed to change color depending on the light they were under. "It's beautiful," He complimented.

The old woman smiled. "My husband gave it to me," She explained,"He used to travel and make maps. He found it in the Forest of Draíocht, and gifted it to me when we were still courting. Silly fool, I warned him the region was dangerous but he told me that when he saw it, it reminded him of me, and so he had to take it."

Natsu recognized the name right away. The trader he had met with Ayame before the plague had many plants and artifacts from the forest. Ayame had referred to it as one of the most dangerous places in their country.

"Do you mind?" Natsu asked, motioning at Runa and then the flower.

Saoirse shook her head, giving him a wave of acceptance. With her permission, Runa fluttered over and landed gently on the middle of the flower. An overload of information filled Natsu's mind, and made him gasp in surprise.

The flower has some kind of healing properties. He realized. It's magical signature is affecting her, and slowing down the illness. A faint hope, one he hadn't felt in months, filled his chest. If I were to combine a part of it with the rest of the ingredients… Could I possibly…

Whipping around to face Saorise, he asked,"Please, can I have one of the petals of the flower? I… I need to test something."

She seemed to understand the urgency in his tone, and gave a quick nod. Natsu quickly, but gently, pulled off a single petal and placed it inside of a test tube. He placed it inside of his bag, and pulled out the prescribed medicine for Saoirse.

"Here, take this every few hours to help with the coughing and fever. Stay in bed, get rest, I need to go now, thank you!" He quickly said, hurrying out of the house and back to his own with a mission in mind.

He swung the door open and ran up to his lab, quickly pulling out the petal, and the handful of ingredients they had been using to try and slow down the sickness. He ground up, cut up, and diced the ingredients into the cauldron as normal. Once it was working, he took the small multicolored petal and added it in.

Once the potion was finished, he took a vial of infected blood he had collected for studying and poured it onto a dish, placing it under a microscope. He used a syringe to add the serum onto the dish, and then watched.

To his amazement, the flower seemed to actually be helping like he and Runa thought. The serum was attacking the illness, weakening it.

"It's working!" He whispered,"It's working! This could be it, this could be the cure!"

He grabbed a random piece of paper and scribbled down some notes. "Right now it's only weakening it and slowing it down but if I were to get fresher samples and tweak the original serum recipe, I could possibly create something that will remove the illness altogether! If I can do that, then the plague will be-"

"Natsu!" Runa's frantic voice called.

A sudden burst of power filled Natsu, just as he heard a loud crash from the other room. His heart stopped, and cold fear ran through him. "No…" He croaked, and hurried to Ayame's office as fast as he could.

The door was still locked, but he forced it open with a swift kick, and gasped in horror at what lay behind it.

Ayame, his master, collapsed on the floor surrounded by broken vials and papers. Her skin was extremely pale, and her body was covered in the same yellow boils that the princess and queen had been covered in. She was dying, and he knew it, because he could feel Runa's power transferring to him slowly.

"NO!" He yelled, falling to his knees beside her. He quickly gathered the frail, shivering woman in his arms and hurried to the lab. Once inside, he placed her on the very cot he used to use before she had given him his metal limbs, and grabbed the newly created serum.

Natsu filled a clean syringe and went to inject Ayame with it, but before he could go any further, a weak hand grabbed his metal wrist.

Ayame's bloodshot eyes glared at him. "Don't you dare," She ordered,"Don't… Don't give any of that to me."

Natsu's hand shook, and he had to fight to hold back tears. "Ayame, you're dying!" He exclaimed.

"You think I don't know that?" She hissed at him, and gave his arm a weak push. "I know I am, but you can't give that to me. If you don't have that, you have no proof of a potential cure."

He hesitated, and turned his olive eyes down to the syringe. Slowly, he pushed it back into the vial it had come from, and shut the vial tight. He then went back to his Master, wrapped a blanket around her, and lifted her into his arms.

In the silence of night, Natsu brought her to the hospital. As soon as he arrived and the doctors saw who he was carrying, he could see any hope in their eyes fade. He forced himself to not feel the same way, his Master needed him.

He brought her to one of the empty beds, helping the doctors set her up. Once everything was done, he sat beside her, rubbing her palm. On top of his hand sat Runa, her wings moving the slightest bit every now and then.

"Runa… How much of your power is still in her?" He quietly asked.

The butterfly turned to face him, her wings drooped in sadness. "You have sixty two percent of our power, Natsu." She quietly told him.

Natsu cringed at the fact. He remembered from Ayame's teachings that a master and apprentice shared their power fifty-fifty. An apprentice would only achieve full power once the master died… And now his master was doing just that.

He lowered his head, tears staining the cot that the old woman was lying on. He sighed, and looked at Runa once again. "You know what we have to do, don't you?" He questioned.

"I do," Runa replied, her usually gentle voice now strong and determined.

Natsu gave a weak grin and replied,"Then we'd better not waste any time."

The apprentice lifted his Master's hand, placing a gentle kiss on the clammy skin before letting go. He summoned Runa back to him, and then left the room. He hurried over to the tired doctor, and said,"I need you to take over for me."

"You're leaving?" The doctor frantically asked,"W-why?"

"My master is dying, and so is the whole country. Since she can't work on the cure anymore, it's up to me," He explained,"And right now, there's only one place that I will be able to find the cure: The Forest of Draíocht"

The doctor's panic calmed somewhat, and he gave a nod of understanding. "I promise, I won't let you down while you're gone," He declared.

Natsu nodded back to him, a determined smile on his face. "I know you won't," He agreed.

"Good luck, Lord Natsu," The doctor finished.

The dragonslayer left the hospital and went back to his house, packing a large bag with all the supplies he could think of. He went to his master's office and grabbed her notes, some potions, and supplies from the shelves. On the wall, he found the map he needed, he hurried to the stable and got onto his master's horse.

He pulled out the map and dragged his finger across it. Just off the coast of the country was a large, circular island. That was the home of The Forest of Draíocht, that was where he needed to go. It was a dangerous and magical place, one that few people dared to go, but that was exactly what he had to do.

At this point, Natsu knew that there were only two options left for him.

Complete the cure or die trying.