Chapter 3


The fiend jumped onto the wall and crawled up to the ceiling of the hall far above.

Laxus was the first to take a shot. He charged his fists with lighting and shot bolts at the demonic entity that had all of a sudden descended upon them. But Natsu dodged the bolts of lightning like it was a piece of cake, sliding left to right and right to left in succession so fast that it almost seemed like he was disappearing and appearing from spots all over the ceiling.

Amidst the confusion and panic and also the indecisiveness of the mages to attack their own guildmate that was appearing to be anything but their guildmate, most had taken a defensive stance and weren't attacking at all, just trying to protect the less combative of their guildmates from the demonic entity.

After a while of chaos, Gajeel and Gray's attempts at clearing out the hall of the more vulnerable mages to be attacked were successful, and only Laxus, Mirajane, Gajeel and Gray were left in combat positions. When they were needed, Gildarts and Makarov weren't in the guild building.

Laxus gunted in annoyance as all his expertly taken aggression against Natsu had been proven unsuccessful. He slid into the resting quarters and grabbed an unconscious Erza and took her inside where the rest of the mages had been taking cover.

"FLIES! RATS! RODENTS! FLIES! RATS!" Natsu cackled in a deep and hoarse voice.

He dropped from the ceiling and engaged in close combat with Gajeel and Gray. He easily dodged and evaded their physical moves and was able to counter with strength many times over.

He spun rapidly in air as Gray slid under him with a dashing kick, and planted a highly debilitating fist to his face, sending Gray flushing to the corner and collapsing more walls in the process.

Gajeel cursed and shot iron rods at the demon but the end result was the same as with Laxus, with Natsu emerging completely untouched. He laughed and cackled maniacally and endlessly all throughout the attempts at subduing him, further making concrete the horrifying assumption that this wasn't their guildmate they had known all this time. Rather, whoever or whatever this was, was something far more diabolical and fallen from sanity. The enemy only wore their friend's skin much as a trophy as a terrible reminder that Natsu had been conquered.

Mirajane ran upto Gray and helped him up, looking extremely concerned through the process. Less than half of that concern was towards Gray though, and more was directed at whatever it was that used to be Natsu, that cheerful and happy idiot that she was so fond of and cared deeply about.

She looked at the figure jumping across walls and sliding on the floor at insane speeds, dodging and countering every move that the mages threw at him, playing with the fighters as if it were a circus meant to entertain only him. It also squirted Natsu's blood all over the place through that devilish eye that it wore in Natsu's left eye socket, which additionally threw in anger and outrage on behalf of Natsu further into the disturbing mix of emotions Mirajane was feeling at the moment.

She looked back at Gray who had a massive claw mark over the left cheek where the demon had struck him. Mirajane took her handkerchief and placed it over his wound, applying pressure desperately.

"Are you alright Gray?" She asked worriedly, her soft voice quivering. "Oh my God, this is deep…"

Gray moaned and sat up in the indent that Natsu had made in the wall when he had sent Gray flying against it. He lethargically looked at the demon puppeteering his best friend's body around.

"That asshole can't be Natsu. It just can't be. He is only using Natsu's body and his strength. And the concern and respect we all have for Natsu as a shield."

He tightened his fists. "I… I can't attack him. I just can't. What if… Natsu is still inside there somewhere? I can't manage to hurt him."

Mirajane looked back at Natsu. Gray was right. She imagined herself fighting that thing at that moment, and even though that creature was anything but Natsu, merely his body, his familiar face, his cheeks that she had pinched jokingly and lovingly so many times would absolutely prevent her from attacking him with complete intent. Although, with Natsu's own power and raw strength combined with the demon's, she didn't think she would be of any use in fighting him even if she tried her hardest.

'But I have to do something.' She thought anxiously. 'I can't let this demon hurt Gajeel and Laxus and Gray anymore. I can't let him hurt Natsu anymore. This spirit has to go.'

She stood up. She determined that she would make that demon spit Natsu out. There is no way this godforsaken spirit would take one of her most favorite and beloved people in the world away from her. She wouldn't allow it. Natsu belonged to her. To people in the guild. Natsu belonged in the light, and no matter how much this measly curse of Zeref's would try to pry him towards the dark, she would hold onto him and not take a single breath of comfort until he was safe and sound by her side, under her care and protection.

Given the fact that she harboured a demon within herself that she could control, she knew a thing or two about these beings. They were weak, pathetic, and scared to death of compassion, kindness and love. Those would be her weapons. Her compassion, selflessness and love towards Natsu Dragneel.

As she started to walk towards the battlefield, Gray grabbed her hand, letting go of the handkerchief that Mirajane had given him to hold over his cheek.

"Don't." He urged. "He won't listen. That thing inside Natsu isn't deserving of your kind words. He will only be hurt by actually being hurt. Don't go there to endanger yourself. Let us fight him."

Mirajane looked back at him and smiled brightly. "I know. The demon doesn't deserve any of that. But Natsu does. Natsu deserves all that and much more. He has always fought for our sakes, asking for nothing in return. He still isn't asking for it, but this is the time that he truly needs us. I will talk to Natsu. Not to the thing that has taken hold of him."

Although she was smiling brightly, on the contrary Gray noticed that there were tears in her eyes. He knew that those were tears of a breaking heart somewhere within her due to the empathy she must have been feeling for Natsu who was suffering badly, but there were also tears of emotion, of resolve and of determination. Gray looked at her for a while, and then loosened the grip on her hand. He knew what she was saying was correct. Natsu was strong, and he was still within that demon somewhere, fighting badly to get out. He needed his friends, not enemies that would hurt him.

He stood up and brushed off his wounds, clenching his teeth. "Let's show this asshole what he gets for trying to take our friend from us. I am with you."

Mirajane nodded through her smile. She turned forward and started walking slowly towards the chaos of the battle going on before her. She felt Gray shoot forward past her, but she didn't stop him as she knew what his plan was, and her plan was exactly the same.

"Oi Ironbrain!" Gray shouted as he stood in the corner.

Gajeel looked at him, getting off of the rubble he had been laying on after having been thrust around the guildhall by Natsu.

"The fuck do you want?" Gajeel grumbled. "Are you going to fight or just cry about your little scratch?"

"No fighting." Gray shouted back.

Gajeel looked at him in confusion, and then at Laxus who was trying to engage Natsu all by himself, but was still failing, although not as badly as Gajeel had. Gajeel looked at Mirajane who was walking towards them. She gave him an affirming nod from the distance. He understood what their plan was, and even though he wasn't too sure about it, he decided to go with it nevertheless as he was getting tired being toyed around by Natsu.

Gray quickly activated his demon slayer abilities and thrust black coated ice shards at Natsu. He hadn't tried that skill before as he could only maintain it for a short amount of time and since they were fighting a proper demon, he had been keeping his skill cooked up for a more opportune moment to use against him. Maybe this was the time.

"GAAAAAAAHHHAHHA!"

Natsu roared wildly in between the cackles that had infected him as he exchanged blows after blows with Laxus who was already in his dragon force form but almost at his limit. Owing to the fact that Natsu hadn't been paying attention to what was behind him, and also owing to Gray's knowledge on typical demons being extremely weak with their attention span and mostly driven by hatred and anger and not by intelligence and awareness of their surroundings, the ice shards that Gray had fired hit Natsu square in the back.

The ice shards shattered against Natsu's back, which was what Gray had been expecting as he knew his skill wasnt still strong enough to pierce a demon of such a high level as the one possessing Natsu, but he was still extremely surprised to see that the shards did land some sort of damage to Natsu who for a moment ceased his constant cackling and seized up in momentary moans that sounded like they were borne out of pain.

After a while that it took Natsu to return to his combative mode after shaking off the daze from the direct hit, he quickly turned around and found Gray in his demon slayer form, black marks creeping up over his face and an arm pointed towards Natsu that Gray had used to launch the attack.

For the first time Natsu showed signs of anger in his demeanor. He coiled his hands awkwardly as if all the bones within his arms had gone missing, and howled loud enough to shatter eardrums. The mages around were forced to cover their ears, and still had a ringing sensation left after the howl had ceased. Natsu then readied himself to launch at Gray.

But Laxus was ready at this time. Using the last bit of intelligent focus he had left before he could give in to exhaustion after having fought Natsu, he charged up his lightning fists again and showered a barrage of electric bolts all around the spot of ground where Natsu had been standing. Laxus put in all the magic reserves he had left inside him in that one discharge, having faith in the plan that Mirajane had concocted.

The destruction and the sheer brightness that was born out of the discharge caused Natsu to fall under a spell of disorientation again, ceasing his advance at Gray and scratching around himself at the empty air to try and get rid of the blindness in his eyes.

"Gajeel!" Gray shouted while the demon was still suffering from the blinding shade of white from the lightning, and Gajeel knew his turn was up. Being in his own dragon force form that he had charged up while the rest was going on before him, he put in all his magic reserves into creating massive walls of steel beams around Natsu, tens and twenties of beams thick, essentially trapping Natsu in place.


In that dark world that Natsu suddenly jolted up into consciousness, only the dust that was flying up from the black floor was visible. Natsu stood up as an intense ache filled his body all over and coughed as he tried to make sense of that place.

'It's the same place again where I heard that voice who claimed to know my parents.' He wondered as he looked around. 'What is this place? Why do I keep coming back here?'

"This is your subconscious mind."

Natsu jolted in surprise from the voice that had emerged out of nowhere apparently, as he had looked around once and there was nothing there except the darkness of void. He looked behind himself again, and this time found a man standing a few feet away. Someone who had managed to read his mind since he had answered a question that Natsu had only been thinking about.

"It is where your memories that you've forgotten all about come to clash. It isn't a very pleasant place, but you keep waking up here lately since it's about time you get these memories back."

The man walked up from the shadows and revealed his rugged form to Natsu. The latter gasped as he had a good look at the man under the source-less light that seemed to be hovering over Natsu. The man was as tall as him, draped in heavy clothing, his one arm was visible from under the cloak and was covered in bandages. The man's face resembled Natsu's, all the way to the salmon coloured hair and dark coal eyes, albeit his hair was much longer and shabbier and his eyes much dull and devoid of life. His body was slightly bigger than Natsu's and he looked as if he was slightly more muscular.

He walked closer and halted before Natsu and the heavy clothing fluttered in the strange winds that blew in that dimension.

"How are you, Natsu?" He asked. Then he answered himself. "Actually, I know that you're not doing particularly great. I have been watching you."

Natsu stepped back, sensing trickery from that man as he looked identical to him.

"Who are you? Are you the man that visited me before and claimed that you knew my parents?" Natsu inquired aggressively and put his fists up, although his fires did not ignite when he tried to. He then looked at his hands in confusion.

The man continued. "As I said, this place is your subconscious. Separate from your magic. Your fire doesn't work here. And as for the person you had heard before, that wasn't me. You'll find out soon enough who that was."

Natsu put his fists down and growled. He clenched his teeth in anger feeling disgruntled as that stranger had such control over his magic as to completely shut it off.

"I don't need my magic to beat you. I'll do it with my fists instead! Open your mouth and tell me why you look just like me? Who are you?" Natsu erupted and his voice echoed throughout the emptiness of the place.

There was silence with the two figures staring at each other for a while, after which the man decided to speak again.

"I am Etherious. Your beginning and your end. I am you. You've just forgotten me, that's all. But I never did. I have always watched you in silence from here." The man claimed.

Natsu felt himself getting angrier and angrier as the man spoke, as he didn't understand a thing that the man was uttering. Also, Natsu was getting tired of these strange characters claiming that they knew more about him than he did. Natsu didn't really doubt them for a second, as he didn't know much about his past himself, but that was something he didn't really care about. Whoever his parents were, he knew they didn't love him much if they could just abandon him with Igneel and leave. For him, his life started with Igneel and ended with Fairy Tail.

The man continued. "Whatever you are thinking is wrong. Your parents didn't abandon you. Your abandonment was a result of… extremely unfortunate circumstances. It's a good thing you don't remember it. And I can help you there."

Nats grinded his teeth and kept on listening. Not because he was interested, but because he needed to gauge if the man was dangerous or not, and also if he had any weaknesses that Natsu could exploit, because this man didn't really seem like the friendly type. Natsu trusted in his instincts.

The man walked closer to Natsu, who instead stepped back, but as soon as he wanted to step back further he felt an invisible wall stroke his back and limit his backward movement. Natsu looked behind him and found only emptiness, no wall, and then looked back at the man that was approaching him.

"I told you. I rule this place. You can't run from me here. But that won't be needed."

He halted right before Natsu and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"We are friends, aren't we?" He asked. "Believe me. I am your salvation. I can provide you with limitless power. You can destroy the world with what I have, or rule it. It's up to you."

Natsu felt uncomfortable as he didn't really enjoy that man's touch on his shoulder. It was like being touched with red hot iron. He still smirked, although sweat had started to form over his forehead.

"Joke's on you, weird guy. I don't want to do either." He replied.

The man didn't seem fazed by Natsu's reply. He advanced again. "I can give you Acnologia."

At that point, Natsu felt his smile fly away. Acnologia, the black dragon of misfortune had always been in the back of his mind, but he had somehow forgotten about him for now. In his defense, Natsu didn't even know what was going on with him in the real world. He couldn't remember anything ever since having fought the two spies and returning to Erza, after which everything had been blank, just like that place he was in. So not having his wits about and not being present in the current time was a given. But Acnologia he remembered, and remembered well. That was the dragon that had taken Igneel from Natsu. Natsu had watched as Igneel faced off against Acnologia single handedly for the sake of justice and was torn up mercilessly right before his eyes.

Natsu felt heat crawl up his body as he remembered how that filthy dragon had taken away his only parent from him. His will to fight. His will to live. Natsu could never forgive him for that. The hatred and frustration that he carried for that dragon was significant. Immense. If only he could get a chance to pound that dragon to a pulp, he would make sure that nothing was left of him.

The man called Etherious seemed a bit taken aback by what he saw. He could definitely feel Natsu's magic flaring up. He looked the dragon slayer up and down and withdrew his hand from his shoulder. "Interesting. I had made sure you couldn't connect with your magic here. Yet, you seem to be producing heat out of nowhere."

He looked back at Natsu's face. "You are a strong little mage, aren't you?"

Natsu stared at him angrily. "Shut your trap. How will you help me take Acnologia."

The man smiled. "Good. But for that to happen, you have to let me take over you. This squabbling between me and you makes us both weak. Let me infest your magic. Let me out of your subconscious, and you will have strength to single handedly take down the black dragon, and then much more. Watch him suffer for what he has taken away from you."

Natsu stared at him expectantly. "What do I have to do?"

The man produced a knife from under his robes. Natsu realised it was similar to the throwing knife he had been attacked with. He handed that to Natsu. "Stab yourself with this, your chest and your right shoulder. That demon that you chased off managed to break off the shell that contained me within your left shoulder, but the rest are intact. Do it, quick!"

Natsu rolled the knife around amidst his fingers. He still didn't really understand what that demon that hit him with the throwing knife was thinking. How did he know that Natsu had a demon inside of him that he could free with the knife? Where did he get that intel on Natsu? Why was his mission to let that demon out? And that knife thrower was a demon of Zeref's, so what relation was there between Natsu and Zeref? Why did Zeref want that demon within Natsu to be released? And how in the hell had he been carrying a demon all this time within him and never knew about it? Did Igneel know about it?

Although all those questions were worth pondering over, he didn't really care, just like he didn't care about his life before Igneel. All these things were irrelevant when it was about Acnologia. He knew he was getting tunnel vision right now, but that was something he was ready to gloss over if it meant that he could rip apart Acnologia limb from limb. If this is what it took, then this shall be it.

He lifted his hands grasping the hilt of the knife and pointed it against his right shoulder, at the same place that his left shoulder was hit on, and he pushed the blade against his skin.

"Aghh.." Natsu grunted. The pain was immense, much worse than anything he had ever felt. He couldn't have imagined he would be subjected to this much pain ever in his life, but here he was. It burned worse than anything. He pulled the knife out and positioned it over his chest. His hands shook as the anticipation of the pain, probably even worse this time, shook him to his core, but the thought of him being able to bring even more pain to Acnologia was solace enough.

The man piped. "Good. Once more. And then we are one."

"This is for you, Igneel." Natsu whisphered.

As soon as he was about to thrust the knife deep into the middle of his ribcage, he heard a familiar voice and stopped.

He opened his eyes and stared at nothing in particular as he continued to pipe his ears for that voice.

"Mirajane?" Natsu mumbled.

"...I know. The demon doesn't deserve any of that. But Natsu does. Natsu deserves all that and much more. He has always fought for our sakes, asking for nothing in return. He still isn't asking for it, but this is the time that he truly needs us. I will talk to Natsu. Not to the thing that has taken hold of him..."

Natsu stood silently, basking in the strange sensation of relief as that familiar voice brought him joy. He kept his ears open as he heard more familiar voices.

"...Let's show this asshole what he gets for trying to take our friend from us. I am with you. Let's free Natsu."

"Gray…" Natsu mumbled.

Etherious looked around ins light panic, as even though he had made sure that no outside influence could enter that place, these voices had still made their way through.

Natsu stood up straight and looked around. He wasn't sure where those voices were coming from, but it was definitely his guildmates. His friends. His brothers and sisters in arms. Those were the people who were forever ready to do anything for his sake, and never ask for anything in return.

He felt as if a fog had been lifted from his eyes as he realised something.

In his drive for hatred and destruction, he had forgotten what true joy was. In his confused and faded mind, it felt like Acnologia suffering and counting his final breaths as he perished slowly was joy. But it was Mirajane's sweet voice calling Natsu's name that brought him happiness indefinitely. It was her motherly care that he had forgotten the sensation of in this dark and desolate world that made him feel at home. It was her delicious cooking that she would specially prepare for him. It was Gray's snarky but still encouraging words in the time of hardships that pushed him forward. And it was Erza's smile, her love, her touch, her dedication towards him that brought him the strength and determination to rip the world apart if he needed to, just to keep his friends safe from harm. That was the power that could never be exchanged for anything. That was the power that he needed. Not the demon's power.

He looked up ahead at the man who was still staring expectantly at him.

"Don't listen to them." He urged. "They are weak, and they will pull you down to drown too."

"You bastard…" Natsu grumbled.

He felt angrier than before, but not at Acnologia. That dragon had coming to him what he deserved, but it was a long road to get there. He felt angry at the man before him. He had successfully fooled him into believing that selfishness and hatred was what he wanted. He had played on his emotions. And he had the nerve to call his friends weak to his face. Natsu clenched his fists and grinded his teeth. This man, even though only a part of his subconscious, deserved no mercy.

Etherious looked panicked for the first time in that conversation. He bared his sharp and long teeth and growled in anger, his handsome facial features just now turning fearsome and terrifying.

"No… No! They are ruining everything!" He bellowed in his voice that wasn't gentle and calm anymore, and was horribly hoarse and deep. He put his hands forward, and suddenly metal links appeared around Natsu's wrists that restrained him.

Etherious then vanished into a flash of bright flames deep into the darkness of the void.

Natsu looked angrily at the chains around his wrists. He prepared himself and ventured deep into his mind and body. He crawled his will through spaces deep within himself, looking through every nook and cranny for his magic reserves. He remembered that the demon had made sure that Natsu couldn't reach his magic here, so Natsu would prove him wrong. He had the audacity to call his friends weak, so Natsu would prove him wrong there too. He would show that spurred on by the voices of encouragement from his friends, Natsu would break out of his little prison.

He growled loudly and flexed all the muscles of his body at the same time, almost having made contact with his magic reserves. As soon as he did that, a bright and beautiful flash filled the entire darkness of the void, sending all the blackness and blindness out the window. Fires emerged from Natsu's body, and dragon scales started to appear over his skin. Soon he felt his arms getting stronger and bulkier, then his feet and torso, a half of his face, and then finally he produced a tail and wings that flapped actively, sending intensely hot flashes around in the darkness filled room. The restraining metallic link and the knife that was lying on the floor both proceeded to melt and then turn into dust as the heat crept up through the floor and beyond.


The demon roared and bellowed as he struck the iron pillars in front of him, shaking them violently and sending pieces flying into the air. Gajeel used up all his remaining ounces of strength in growing more iron walls up outside of the ground that quickly replaced the ones that had been shattered, but soon found that the demon could keep up destroying his pillars longer than he could keep them coming. He knelt to the floor with exhaustion, just watching helplessly as the fiend broke through the last of his defence and almost escaped captivity.

Gray stood right outside the enclosure, gauging the only pillar of iron that was left between him and Natsu. He quickly pushed almost all his magical resources through his right hand and morphed it into a long needle made out of thin black ice that he cocked back, ready for attack.

As soon as the last pillar of iron shattered the pieces hit Gray square in the face like a shower of shrapnels, but Gray shook them off and kept his eyes peeled for anything that would make an appearance from the gap that had been opened in the enclosure. As soon as he saw the first glimpse of Natsu through the crack, he plunged the needle made out of demon slaying magic right into the wound that Natsu had over his shoulder with the black material slithering out of it. Gray knew he couldn't pierce Natsu's skin, so he had made sure that he would pierce Natsu over a wound already made in his body. Also, since the plan was to subdue Natsu and not injure him, he only used a thin needle.

The demon suddenly halted all his activity and stood frozen as the needle pierced his body and went right through, dripping blood behind him out of his back. Gray's idea had worked. Had it been any other weaponry, it wouldn't have frozen him this way but since his magic speciality was specially made to work against demons, Natsu seized up in pain and weakness and stood limp.

Gray stared at Natsu's face, in the deep and disturbing depths of the dark quivering eye that Natsu had grown out of his left eye socket. He looked at his other eye that he remembered had been normal, but that one was shut completely. He continued to look at Natsu's altered form as his lifeless limbs shook and quivered every now and then, and hoped to God he hadn't hurt him too much. Natsu then opened his normal human eye that was shut and focused it over Gray.

Gray broke an inadvertent smile as he saw that the human eye had started to move and work by itself, not depending on the demon eye for movements.

"It's working. He is dazed enough for us to be able to talk to him. And… I think he is coming back to normal." Gray exclaimed, watching the dark material that he had pierced his needle into shiver and then pull back some of itself back into the wound from over Natsu's body. His demon slaying magic was working, and was reversing the effects of the demonic hold over Natsu's body. He thanked God that he was able to strike right then at that point in time, because if the demon had taken control of Natsu any further, Gray couldn't have made it with his still juvenile magic skill. With no time to waste, Gray looked back at Mirajane and invited her over to Natsu since it seemed safe to talk to him.

"Mirajane, do your thing–"

He was halted as he suddenly sensed movement. He looked at Natsu again.

Natsu's hands suddenly shook and he grabbed the needle that he was impaled with with his left hand, and started tightening his fists around it. A flash of black flame ignited on his hand that further started to melt the demon slayer ice weapon.

Gray, whose needle was essentially his own arm grunted in pain as the demonic force was attempting to melt his arm away from him. As Natsu's black flames touched the needle and burst around its structure, the claw marks that Natsu had left over Gray's cheek started to flare and pain intensely as well. Gray grinded his teeth and grabbed the hand of Natsu that had been holding on to his needle weapon, and squeezed it in an attempt to try and free his right arm that he thought was going to be cleanly amputated, but to no avail as Natsu's sheer strength in that form beat Gray's own about a million times over. Even though his magic was sufficiently causing the demonic hold to retreat, it was still strong enough to fight and keep its place.

Mirajane, who had planned this whole thing all along so Natsu could be calmed enough so she could speak to him, quickly ran over and grabbed Natsu's head and turned him to face her. Her hands burned with intensity that she had never felt before, sheer pain travelling all throughout her body as she touched the demon's cursed skin, but she never let go. That was her friend. Her younger brother. He was one of the most important people to her in the world, and she was going to get him back, no matter the cost.

She quickly activated her own demon form, and found the burning sensation and pain go down slightly. As her own demonic powers were the remnants of a demon that Zeref had created, just like the one within Natsu at the moment, she knew she could sync with Natsu better that way.

She hid away the feelings of sheer horror and panic that she experienced when the black demonic eye of Natsu's locked at her face, and just focused on his normal eye and felt relieved to find out that it was looking at her too. Natsu's real eye. The one that would never look at her with the contempt and malice that the other eye was looking at her with.

"Natsu… it's me. Mirajane. You remember me, don't you?" She spoke to him sincerely, confident beyond doubt that the man within the facade of the demon could hear her clearly. She trusted Natsu for that.

"Do you remember Lisanna? You and her used to be great friends. She had made me promise to her that I would never tell you this, but until the day she left us, she had loved you intensely. She loved you with all her heart and her might, and she would always tell me what a kind and caring person you are. And even if I had never known you in my life, I would still have blindly believed her every word on what kind of a man you were, because even though she was younger than me, she understood people far better than me. And as her elder sister, let me tell you that she would have never fallen for you if you weren't completely and entirely pure of heart. I trust Lisanna, Natsu. You are a man who is completely pure of evil. Your will is so strong and bright that something like a demon would never be able to take over you. You are one of the strongest and kindest people I know. You are someone that Lisanna chose. There is no way she would have loved you if you had a single shred of darkness inside you." She urged.

Mirajane only later realised that talking about Lisanna, her beloved and late younger sister had brought tears to her eyes, but then she saw that Natsu's normal human eye that he had been looking at her with was tearing up as well, no matter what the other eye did. If mentioning Lisanna was making Natsu listen to her, then she didn't care how many old wounds it would open inside her. Mirajane smiled through her tears as at that point she knew that no matter how much Natsu was suffering from inside and in pain, he was still trying his hardest to break free. He was listening to her. She knew that reminding him of Lisanna would push him harder to bring himself back. He wouldn't want Lisanna to see him like that. Mirajane knew that Natsu would always want Lisanna to look at him the way he had always had been, bright, kind and full of cheer. She was proud of Natsu for that.

She continued. "When Lisanna left, me and Elfman took a while to get back into our normal routine after her passing. But I used to see someone else in the guild that was affected just as much as Lisanna's passing, if not more. It was you, Natsu. No matter how much you would smile and shout and act silly, I could always see the pain and suffering in your eyes. It broke my heart everytime to realise that you cared about her so much and now she had gone away from you. After that, I made it my point to look after you instead as my little brother. You somehow reminded me of Lisanna. You were just as pure and kind, always ready to help your friends and strangers in need. You didn't know it but, acting like your elder sister helped me get through the pain much easier."

Mirajane felt her voice choke up as she was promptly filled with emotions as she spoke through her heart, but she kept on a gentle and strong voice and continued calling out to Natsu.

"I know what you're going through, Natsu. I understand what it's like to lose a loved one. But just as I tried to replace the emptiness that Lisanna left with you and others in the guild, wouldn't you try and do the same? I know I am asking a lot, and it's not easy for you to just forget about Igneel. And it's not even near possible for any of us to fill the void that he has left in your heart. But please let us try. You have always put yourself in the harm's way so you could make sure that all of our sufferings would leave us. Let us try and do the same for you. I beg of you. Come back to me. To Gray. To Erza. Our guild has always been a place for the brokenhearted, people who have gone through hell and worse, and it's a rule in our guild to be the broken part of the others' hearts that they are missing. Let us help you out. Let us try to be the parts of your heart that are missing. I will promise that I will make this go away. I promise that I will try my hardest. So please, try your hardest too."

Gray felt the behemoth squeeze that Natsu was exerting on his arm loosening, and a wave of relief from the unbearable pain washed over him.

"It's… it's working. He is gaining control over the demon." He said in between his gasps for breath as the insanely unbearable pain was still a thing.

Suddenly, there was a shake in Natsu's body. He finally blinked his normal eye for the first time in a while, tears rolling down his cheek, and then tightened the other fist that was free. A burst of red and bright flame ignited on his fingers and swiftly started crawling over his arm, down his torso and then finally his legs. Mirajane looked at Natsu in wonder and glee as she realised that his attempts were working, and since the battle against the demon had started, this was the first time she had gotten to see Natsu's own flame reignite from his captured and puppeteered body. She watched as Natsu's flames encircled her too as she essentially stood very close to Natsu, and crept down over his left shoulder and pushed the dark tendrils climbing out of the wound back. The reach that the black material had over Natsu slowly started to dissipate and the curse started to burn away.

As more and more of Natsu's body transformed into his typical scaley dragon force form, his hold over Gray's arm loosened. It was getting very clear that Natsu was slowly getting back into his body and fighting the demonic control off, although the arm that held Gray's needle weapon failed to transform into a dragon's.

Mirajane watched that arm as it kept fighting the reclamation that Natsu was attempting. She knew what the problem was. Since Natsu had been cursed in that shoulder, that arm had become the very focus of the demonic power that had taken hold of Natsu. That would explain why his eye on that same side was the one that had transformed.

As Gray struggled to hold on further and felt as if he was slowly but surely reaching the climax where his hand that he had pierced Natsu with would be completely amputated from his body, Natsu suddenly roared and the fires over his body burned brighter without hurting Gray or Mirajane. His normal eye quickly jolted towards its left, watching the arm that still held Gray's without Natsu's consent, and he quickly raised his other arm that had already transformed into a dragon's and slashed at the base of the demonic arm with his claws, essentially separating it off of his body.

Gray was thrown back from the impact of the minute explosion that took place, sliding back on the debris-filled floor and halted a few meters away. The hall suddenly went quiet as the incessant demonic growling and screeching from Natsu had completely stopped.

After a while of smoke and dust settling down, Gray lifted himself up, unsure of what had just happened. He checked his right arm that he for a moment thought had been separated from his body by the demon, but it was completely intact, the way it had been before. He could hear Mirajane sobbing just in front of him, but his confused mind was too dazed to follow up there.

He sensed movement and looked beside him on the cluttered floor. He found a severed arm that twitched violently about, growing dragon scales and then the scales vanishing, only to return moments later and then vanishing again to finish the cycle. He took note of the guild insignia made out of red ink on the shoulder of the arm, and realised with shock and disbelief that the arm belonged to Natsu. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

He slowly lifted his head and looked at Natsu who was a few metres away from him, his head lowered, sitting with his knees weakly in a pool of blood, with a shivering Mirajane beside him with her arms tightly wrapped around Natsu.

She sobbed into his shoulder. "Natsu… What have you done? Oh my god…"

Gray watched in horror as Natsu's left shoulder sprinkled blood outside, lacking the arm that was supposed to follow from it. He couldn't make way for any productive thoughts in his head as the horror of what he was witnessing only left space for sheer disbelief. He couldn't believe Natsu had just amputated his own arm that was carrying the demon spirit to get himself back. He knew Natsu had always been that crazy and unpredictable, but this was crossing all boundaries of recklessness. He also realised that Natsu had cut off his own arm so that the demon that possessed him wouldn't take away Gray's.

"You fucking idiot!" Gray erupted as he quickly bent down to pick up the arm that Natsu had lost so he could probably reattach it with healing magic, but before he could touch it, that entire bodiless arm burst into a flare of black flames and disappeared from existence.

Gray staggered on his feet, and then looked around. He strained his eyes to the room where the rest of the guild had been hiding, and saw Polyurischia was already on her way to help out.

She bent down next to Natsu and hurriedly put her hands over the place where Natsu's arm was missing, spurting blood, and began casting spells.

"He… he is still alive. It's unbelievable." She gasped as she casted the healing magic. "He has lost almost more than half of his body's blood and fluid. He should have been dead from shock and hypovolemia even before the demon left his body. Not to mention the amount of blood that the demon eye consumed while it was active."

Mirajane continued to sob as she held Natsu's limp and cold body close to her, tighter and tighter, drenching herself in his blood all over. She couldn't believe with her eyes what she had just seen. It was the most horrible thing she had ever witnessed, not to mention happening to one of the people she cared about more than anything in the world. Somewhere deep in the undesirable depths of her mind, she kept replaying the horrible scenarios where Natsu would leave her, just like Lisanna did. She couldn't handle that. Her heart continued to shatter into pieces as she hugged Natsu for dear life, sobbing and crying into his weak and shivering shoulder as she was afraid that the moment she lets go, his fragile figure would be taken away from her.

After a while Polyurischia slid a tired hand over Mirajane's shoulder and calmed her down. "He is okay. I have restored enough fluid and blood to keep him going for a while. His wounds are closed as well. He is safe."

As soon as Mirajane heard that, she broke down crying further. She didn't know why. It was good news. Natsu had successfully defeated a horrible outcome and was safe and back with her, just like before. She thought that those must be tears of relief and happiness.

"N-Natsu?"

Mirajane heard Erza behind her, and she wiped her eyes with her other arm and kept holding Natsu up from collapsing and looked back. She watched as Laxus held Erza and helped her walk into the main hall from the room she had been lying unconscious in. Her tired and grieved eyes watched the horrible situation that that man she dearly loved was in, and she felt something inside her shattering. She knew that Natsu was a fighter and he would be in situations where he would get hurt, and she understood that. But seeing him in pain and suffering just collapsed something inside of her. She couldn't bear to see that.

She hurriedly let go of Laxus's arms and slowly made her way to where Natsu was kneeling, trying her best to avert her teary eyes from the massive amount of blood that had pooled over the floor and had run down all over Natsu's torn and charred body and clothes.

She knelt before Natsu, never removing her eyes off of his lowered head and his hidden face, and with weakened arms slowly reached for his shoulder and pulled him in tightly for a hug. She sobbed as she felt relief crawl up her body when she realised that Natsu was still alive after all that. That man was the most precious thing in the world to her, even more than herself, and she could lose herself to something but she could never imagine him losing himself. She couldn't imagine herself losing him. That was a thought that she wished she wouldn't ever have to face even in her darkest nightmares. She felt her heart cracking with guilt when she realised that she hadn't been there for this man when he had just now needed her. Millions of unspoken words crossed her mind, but her lips were only capable of releasing bated and coiled up breaths as she sobbed dearly into Natsu's clothing, in that familiar scent of mildly burnt paper and wet earth that he always emanated. She slowly reached for her pocket and brought out his scarf, which she carefully adorned that man with even though she couldn't see properly through her eyes because of the tears that escaped her tired and weakened eyes in numbers.

In that fleeting moment, nothing else mattered to her apart from the man that she held onto for dear life, and his steadily strengthening heartbeat that she had been longing to hear.

The guild doors flew open, and in walked Gildarts followed by Makarov and some other figures dressed in white robes, some of them armoured.

Gray and others in the guild remembered that these were the people that had visited Natsu when the guild had last gone to Ankhseram's temple.

A female priestess, with her hood undone and her long and black hair flowing, traced the guild hall with her beautiful black eyes, finally resting them on Natsu and the horrible scene surrounding him.

"Natsu…" she muttered sadly.


This chapter was super tough to write. But reading however many reviews and alerts and whatnots i have gotten gave me the lacking motivation. Thank you for reading.