Summary: If the demons of Tartarus had recognised Natsu as END, the whole arc would have gone down a different, crack-ish, route….Probably why they didn't recognise Natsu.
Pairings: Implied Natsu/Lucy, one-sided worshipping Demons/Natsu, one-sided worshipping Demons/Zeref, Mira/Erza/Lisanna friendship, implied Natsu/Mira/Erza/Lisanna/Anyone, and general friendship feels.
Author's Note: For Orika, who asked me a question and it turned into this…
Jackal was just about to strike at the feeble, and incredibly pathetic, councilman when he heard a familiar voice shout out, caught a glimpse of pink hair, and felt the intensity of the fiery magic near him.
Without a second thought, he whirled round, crashed into a wall, and stumbled to his feet, as he drank in the sight of his long lost master.
Of all the places to find END….
The demon looked at Natsu in horror and then, suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, he immediately fell down on his knees and bowed deeply before him. Prostrating himself to Natsu's mercy.
"Master!" he cried out. "It has been so long! What on earth could have brought you here?"
Natsu stared at the demon with wide eyes. "Erm….." he said as he turned to look at Lucy, she stared back with an equally bewildered stare and held up her arms as if to say 'I don't know!' "We came to protect the councillor from you?" Natsu asked.
"But…..but….Master!" Jackal protested. "We were doing it all to free you! You were supposed to be trapped in a book."
"Well," Natsu said, quickly jumping into the role and doing a little improv, it was just like when he was Evil Lord Dragneel, "obviously a book isn't enough to keep me in. I'm more powerful than a bunch of papers in leather, aren't I?"
"Yes, of course!" Jackal grovelled as he bowed onto the floor once more. Happy had to cover his mouth to stop giggling at the way Jackal's bum kept wiggling in the air. "Master is the most powerful and evil of all the demons. No book can ever match that!"
"Exactly," Natsu nodded sagely, "Now, slave, tell me exactly what you and the others were planning with the Magic Council and I might reconsider ripping your tongue out and feeding it to my cat."
Happy looked nauseous and would have wailed about how he didn't like tongue and only ate fish when Charle suddenly slapped a paw over his mouth and shot him a look that suggested he should either shut up or die a painful death at her hands.
"Is it safe?" Jackal asked as he looked sceptically at Lucy and Wendy. "There are fairies in this room, Master."
"Of course there is!" Natsu snapped. "Wendy is my trusted….erm….medic! Yeah, my trusted medic, and Lucy is…my Queen! Yeah that's it! Lucy Heartfilla is my Queen of Darkness," Natsu said solemnly, "you must treat her with the same respect you treat me."
"WHAT?!"
Jackal drank in the sight of Lucy's bright red, angry, splotchy face as she shot daggers at Natsu. "Are you sure, Master?" he asked. "She's a bit too pure and light for your taste, I can practically taste the celestial magic off of her."
Lucy grimaced at the thought of Jackal tasting her while Natsu looked furious.
Natsu grabbed Jackal by the shirt collar and hauled him up. "Are you saying my Queen isn't good enough?" he hissed dangerously.
"No!" Jackal squeaked. "Not at all! She's very beautiful and Master has wonderful taste!"
"Good," Natsu dropped Jackal, "now tell me about the plan."
Jackal babbled instantly and they all frowned in worry as it was revealed how there was a secret weapon to get rid of magic, how only certain councillors knew about it, how three random members were the key to it, how the ex-head of the council had betrayed them all, how once all magic was gone the seal on END, Natsu apparently, would be taken off, and then they would rule the world in Zeref's name and give him what he always wanted….his own death.
Lucy whirled round to face Natsu with a look of horror. "Mira an Erza were sent to protect the ex-head of the council!" she cried out.
"Right, listen here Jack-Arse," Natsu growled, "I'm changing your stupid plans now."
"Whatever Master wishes," Jackal said humbly, "but erm….Master?" he added timidly. "My name is Jackal."
"I know I got it right the first time round," Natsu said coldly, "you're going to tell me exactly where the others are. I have a lesson to teach them," everyone shuddered at the dark furious implication in Natsu's voice and eyes, "and then we're going to rescue my friends, and then, all of you are going to obey my every word and wish even if it seems totally weird. Got that?"
"Y-y-yes, Master!" Jackal stammered.
"Good," Natsu grinned, "now give me the location and then you can help this cat-man thing over there fix his house and town, and then I want you to apologise to everyone you hurt."
"But Master-!"
"Didn't I say you were to obey?!"
Jackal threw himself on the floor and grovelled desperately, Natsu ignored him until he got his location and then both he and Happy flew off to rescue the girls, leaving Lucy, Wendy, and Charle to supervise Jackal's apology and community service.
It was really creepy….
But still, it was miles better than having to babysit an ungrateful, selfish, cat-man who was still complaining by the way.
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
Erza didn't know what was going on.
First she had been tricked and kidnapped, then she had been retrained with magical suppressers, had half of a plan explained to her, and was then being tortured, and then…..her torturer apologised.
One of the demons came rushing in, screamed at the sight of her, whispered hastily in the demon that had been torturing Erza's ear, and then suddenly they both turned pale and trembled before they released Erza.
"Where are you taking me?!" Erza demanded as she was shoved out of her cell and prodded along the corridor. "I demand to know exactly what you're…..Lisanna? Mira?"
"Erza?!"
The Strauss sisters ran to Erza and Erza returned the favour as they collided into a group hug and sobbed with relief. For a moment Erza had been almost convinced she would never see her family ever again. Now that moment had been and gone, and she had reason and motive to destroy these demons and get herself home.
"Don't just stand there crying!" One of the many demons snapped impatiently. "Move! We got things to do!"
"I am not moving a muscle," Erza said in her calmest and deadliest voice, "until you tell me where you are taking us."
"Fine!" one of the other demons huffed as they threw their hands in the air. "We are taking you to our Master. After centuries of abandoning us and making us think he had been sealed away, he has returned and he insists on seeing you first."
The demons all glared at Erza, Mia, and Lisanna jealously and Erza returned the glare with her own unimpressed stare.
"Just move!" a demon barked. "We haven't seen END for centuries, I don't want to look bad because three vapid fairies forgot to walk."
"Erza," Mira murmured, "let's just got, we'll figure it out on the way."
Erza smiled ever so slightly and Lisanna nodded determinedly. They were going to find a way out of this horrid situation and back home to their family while leaving a pile of demonic corpses if they have to….
They had been unable to escape with their incredibly huge demonic guard that grew bigger and bigger (and more excited and nervous) the closer they got to the throne room and when they entered…well escaping left their minds completely…
There, lounging across the throne like a giant cat, with a wicked grin, was Natsu Dragneel.
Erza opened her mouth to shout at him when he winked, smirked even more, and put a finger to his lips.
Erza nodded understandingly, Mira's eyes twinkled mischievously, and Lisanna smiled back. "Here you go, Master," a demon grovelled, "your harem, safe and sound."
"HIS WHAT?!" But all understanding flew out of the window at that. All three girls screamed in disgusted horror at the idea of being in a harem and Natsu's harem to boot. "Natsu!" Erza, Mira, and Lisanna growled dangerously at the same time.
"WHAT?!" Natsu screamed as he jumped out of his throne. "No! They're not my harem!" he yelled panicked. "They're my friends. Just my friends. And nothing else! No weird shit involved!"
"But why would you want friends," the demon tilted their head in confusion. "When you can have a harem instead? Is that not what Fairy Tail is for? To fulfil each and every one of your twisted desires, My Lord?"
"HELL NO!" Natsu roared. "I'm sick of this shit so listen up. You're not putting the end of magic, you're not going to keep hurting people, and you're definitely not going to start a war with Fairy Tail. Instead you're going to reach your end goal in a new way."
"You have a masterful and cunning plan to end Zeref's life?!"
Erza still didn't understand why the demons wanted to kill Zeref or why they thought killing their creator would make him so happy but to be honest, anything to end that source of constant pain and trouble was a blessing in disguise and if Natsu somehow gained control over these demons then they should abuse it fully
"Yes," Natsu nodded sagely, "from now on, you are going to be…..good."
"…."
"…"
"…"
"WHAT?!"
"Think about it," Natsu smirked, "Zeref is the most evil thing in the world, right?"
"Master Zeref is the greatest, most evil, most powerful, being in the world," a demon said dreamily, "though!" it added hastily. "You will of course one day surpass him, Master, you too are just as great and evil and-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you say you weirdo," Natsu interrupted, bored, "the point is, it would really kill him, if all of his demons turned good and did good deeds."
The demons all looked thoughtful and then realisation lit up in their faces as they all beamed with utter delight. "Master has done it again!" one of them declared. "He has come up with a cunning and evil plan!"
"Master is right as always!"
"To make Master Zeref happy we shall behave like celestial spirits!"
"All hail Master Natsu and Master Zeref!"
"To being good guys!"
Mira's mouth dropped open. "Did Natsu…..did Natsu just do something very clever?" she whispered, surprised.
"He can do that sometimes," Lisanna confirmed, "…..though give it a minute and he'll do something spectacularly stupid to make the world right again."
As if to prove Lisanna's point, Natsu grinned down at his new demon slaves; "That's more like it!" he said happily. "You guys deactivate your weapons and dress…..less evilly, while I go and take my harem," he laughed childishly at the thought. It was apparent that now the plan had worked, everything went to Natsu's head and he thought he could get away with some terrible joke, "home and have some fun, come sex slaves!"
He then smacked Erza's, Mira's, and Lisanna's bottoms as he walked past.
As soon as they were out of the demon's view and earshot, Erza summoned a sword while the Strauss siblings transformed into some of their more deadly forms…It took most of the guild to stop them from murdering Natsu for the slight.
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
Bob-san didn't know what to make of Fairy Tail's latest insanity. After the Council had been blown to bits and most of the previous members hunted down and murdered, Bob-san half expected the criminals to be obliterated by Fairy Tail's sense of justice….
He did not expect them to simply cross their arms as they watched over Tartarus' community service.
It felt incredibly un-climatic and little unfair that they didn't get a true taste of their own medicine.
And then, having accepted a tea party invitation from Makarov, Bob-san had been greeted with the strangest sight of all the demons following Natsu Dragneel round. Worshiping him, obeying his every command, and serving his partners on hand and foot as well.
To his credit, Natsu Dragneel did look very uncomfortable with all the mentions of 'Master' but that might also have something to do with the broken ribs, swollen lip, and constant kicking he received whenever a demon referred Lucy Heartfilla as their 'Queen' or one of the many pretty girls as 'one of Master's many sex slaves'.
At this rate the boy's leg was going to be permanently black and blue.
Makarov explained everything…..sort off….not very well, but enough to make Bob-san reassured on the fact the demons were not going to turn on them anytime soon. "But surely," Bob-san protested quietly, "even for you, Makarov, it is weird to have demons serve one of your cute little guild members?"
"Not really," Makarov shrugged gruffly, "last week a hoard of bloodthirsty pirates had arrived with the sole intention of serving Erza's every need and desire, and then a week before that some other demons came to see Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy, and were being extremely respectful. If anything, this sort of thing is just a normal Tuesday for us," he sighed heavily, "I wouldn't be surprised if another dark guild of demons knocked on the door and asked to be Mirajane's slaves next week."
Bob-san sweat-dropped as he began to remember exactly why he had left Fairy Tail all those many years ago…..