Wake up to reality. Nothing ever goes as planned in this accursed world. The longer you live, the more you realize that the only things that truly exist in this reality are merely pain. suffering and futility. Listen, everywhere you look in this world, wherever there is light, there will always be shadows to be found as well. As long as there is a concept of victors, the vanquished will also exist. The selfish intent of wanting to preserve peace initiates war. and hatred is born in order to protect love. - Madara Uchiha

I do not own fairy tail whatsoever. That honor goes to Hiro Mashima

Dragon Emperor

"MOM! DAD! NATSU!" A boy screamed as he ran through the burning flames of his village. His hair, which was once blacker than the night, now marred a dark maroon color, frantically looked around with his onyx black eyes.

"ZEREF!"

The boy, now known as Zeref, turned around swiftly, and cried in relief at the sight of his twin brother. "Oh thank god, I thought you were dead!" Zered cried as he embraced his brother. in a tight hug.

"It's alright brother, I'm so glad to see you alright." Natsu replied, his relief being very clear in his tone as he hugged his brother back. Natsu pulled back immediately after that, worry plastered on his face, "You are okay, right?"

Zeref chuckled somehow, even as fire surrounded them and screams filled the air. "I am okay, Natsu."

Natsu sighed in relief, his worry now lessened, "Come on, Mom and Dad are still out there! We have to find them!." Zeref nodded, and the two sprinted towards their home. It was not an easy journey, even if it was a very short one. Corpses of their friends and neighbors blocked their paths, more than once tripping on some of them, and other villagers flailing around in agony as they were yet to succumb to the sweet and caring embrace of death. It sickened them to their very core, how much blood there was surrounding them and dismembered limbs stood in their path. Finally, after what seemed to be hours, they arrived at their little home, the once beautiful stone and straw structure now smoldering and blazing in fire.

"MOM! DAD!" Natsu yelled. The two brothers waited tentatively, hoping for any sort of reply from the familiar voices of their parents, from any which direction, but nothing came to their ears. All that greeted them was the sound of the burning embers of fire and the screams of the villagers that had yet to perish.

"Do you think that they…" Zeref couldn't finish his sentence, a lump forming in his throat at the mere thought of it as he tried to choke back the tears. Natsu's eyes widened at his brothers words, understanding what he was trying to say yet could not. "N-no, we can't lose hope yet- I'm sure they are around somewhere."

They continued searching, hoping to find any sort of clue as to where their parents were in all of the bright flames and the blood stained ground. A scream interrupted their searching, however they did not dwell on it long for they recognized the voice of the screaming person. "MOM!" The two raced as fast as their little legs could carry them towards the direction of the scream, wanting to get close to the one person they believed would keep them safe from death.

When they entered the clearing, they realized why their mother was screaming. A dragon stood before them, gazing at their mother with bloodlust clouding its bright red eyes. Its red scales glinted almost mockingly at them, being the same shade as the blood that stained the streets. They were petrified, how could they not be? Not when a bloodthirsty dragon was staring their mother down as though she were nothing more than just food. Which, in all honesty, was probably EXACTLY what it thought of their mother.

"MO-" Zeref's voice was muffled as a hand roughly clasped onto his mouth, and pulled him towards a rock that had yet to be grazed by the ever growing fire. "What do you think you're doing, you fool?!" Natsu hissed. "Do you want us to die as well?"

"We have to go save Mom!" Zeref whispered angrily in reply.

"There's no point Zeref, we would only be added to the amount of bodies that the damn thing had devoured. Why the hell do you think that there are so many limbs and limbless bodies and organs splattered all over the damn road!"

"We still have to try Natsu! We can't just let her die!"

"And what chance do we stand against a dragon who devoured the entire village and can blow out flames as though it were spit!" Zeref stopped. He's right, what can two 9 year old boys do to a probably 1000 year old dragon? Tears threatened to spill, but he held it back quickly, and he turned to Natsu to apologize only to find him not paying attention at all. A look of terror and insanity etched on his face as he peaked from the side of the rock they were hiding behind. Deciding to take a look at what was going on, he tilted his head so that it wasn't visible yet was able to get a good look of what was going on. His mind shattered.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Their mother screamed, as she was flung around inside the dragon's giant maws, becoming nothing more than a toy to it. It seemed to take joy in the woman's suffering, and continued on, not allowing the mother of two to feel the sweet and calm embrace of death.

Finally, after 3 minutes of playing with the mother, who was somehow miraculously yet unfortunately alive, the dragon flung the woman up into the air. It was then that Natsu and Zeref finally caught the eyes of their mother. Her eyes however, had not responded to her shock, choosing to remain in the droopy and broken state it currently was in.

The events that took place were forever embedded in their minds. The dragon opened its mouth wide, and positioned itself underneath their mother before allowing the lady to slide into its throat, forever being trapped inside the belly of the beast.

Although it may have seemed impossible, a fear, greater than any other that they have ever felt, dawned upon them as they realized that their parents were gone. Forever to be inside the stomach of the red fire dragon. "No… Mom…" Zeref uttered, his onyx eyes wide with fright and his entire body trembling. "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

Natsu's gaze fell upon his brother, fear creeping crawling down his spine as Zeref cried. He knew the scaly dragon had heard him, and yet he could not blame him. However, there was also something hidden underneath all of the vulnerability, all of that fear. It was something dark, something… scary, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

His musings were cut short when he heard the dragon's neck crane towards their direction. "What is this?" It spoke. Natsu's eyes went incredibly wide at that, Zeref was still too busy crying in misery. "Two little boys that wouldn't even suffice as an appetizer…" The dragon continued to stare at the rock that they were hiding in, amusement filling its eyes as the two children believed that they could hide from it.
Finding no point in hiding now that they were found out, Natsu summoned every ounce of strength he had in his body and emerged from behind the rock. "Oh yeah? How the hell are you not fat after eating all my friends and family, you overgrown garden snake!" Natsu glared hard at the red dragon, hoping to have conveyed his fury to it. The dragon merely chuckled. "To believe that you, a child no older than 9 years old, has the courage to talk in the mannerism you do to my face. THE MIGHTY IGNEEL!"

"Yeah, and what of it you stupid gecko! The only thing you're mighty at is shoving that tail down your own throat!" Zeref, who was still hiding behind the rock, could only gape in shock as he saw his twin brother TRASH TALK the very dragon that ate their mother not even 5 minutes ago. Zeref made a vow to himself that day to never cry in grief again, to never be so useless and afraid that he couldn't even move a muscle. Zeref quickly wiped off any tears that fell out, and sported a grin that was bigger than any he had ever conjured up before as he stepped into view. "Exactly! Your flaming butt must be the reason why you are so grumpy right now! I wouldn't be surprised if your poop hurts when it comes out of your sore butthole!"

Zeref may have overcome his fear of death, but he won't ever overcome the fear of his mothers beatings when it came to profanities and manners.

Igneel started fuming, flames suddenly bursting on top of his head and his eyes looking like the very flames of hell themselves. "HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME! FIRE DRAGON KING IGNEEL! I WILL DEVOUR YOU JUST AS I DID YOUR PEOPLE YOU LOWLY MONGREL!" As soon as the gargantuan dragon finished those words, the heat that surrounded the area increased exponentially. "NOW BURN IN MY FLAMES AND SUFFER FOR THE REMAINING SECONDS OF YOUR LIVES!"

Zeref and Natsu looked at each other, one with acceptance and the other with defiance. "LIKE HELL WE'RE GOING TO DIE TODAY! WE'RE GOING TO LIVE, AND WE'RE GOING TO KILL YOUR SCALY FLAMIN' BUTT WHEN WE DO!" Natsu roared back, his rage taking over him at the mere thought of dying to Igneel without avenging his mother. It was the catalyst for the awakening. The ground began to shake as pieces of the earth began to rise as Natsu roared to the skies. "DO YOU HEAR MEEEEEEEEEE!" Magic exploded around Natsu, surrounding both him and his brother in a protective barrier while it ascended towards the very heavens itself. "HUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!"

"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!"

"FIRE DEVILS RAGE!" A blast of crimson fire struck into the side of the angry dragon, sending him crashing towards the ground with a loud thud.

Natsu and Zeref looked around, trying to find out what had caused the dragon to fall and save them from the blast, however too much smoke resided because of the collision. "Wha- what the hell was that?" Zeref asked.

"I'm… not sure." Natsu suddenly crashed onto his knees, the barrier surrounding them dissipating as a result. "NATSU!"

"I'm *pant* okay *pant* just need *pant* a minute…" Natsu wheezed out, feeling the toll of using so much magic at once crashing down on him. "Hehehe…" A cold sweat broke out onto the brothers bodies as they heard a sinister chuckle from behind. Slowly, almost mechanically, they turned their heads to the source of the chuckle, and once again fear struck their hearts. A demon stood behind them, gazing at them in amusement as they knelt with mouths so wide open they could be mistaken for fish.

The demon looked to be around 6 feet tall, with two horns protruding from its skull and blood red flesh that surrounded it. There seemed to be no skin, and the claws that stood out looked as though it were made for killing. Its blood red eyes glowing in front of the black sclera, and razor sharp teeth that looked like they could easily chomp into the arm of the hardest scales of a dragon, grinning in their direction. "You looking at something, kiddos?"

Both looked at him incredulously, their eyes still wide and mouths still agape. "What? Do I have something on my face?" Quickly falling out of their shock, they shook their heads as fast as they could, hoping to not invoke the wrath that had sent Igneel flying. "N-n-no sir. Not a speck of dust!"

"Aye Sir!"

"That's good to know, but you need to go hide now, Igneel is not going to take that long to re-"

"E.N.D!"

"And there he is, now go hide."

Both boys, in an instant, hid behind the now burnt down building. Igneel could soon be seen flying over towards their location, and his bloodthirsty eyes were set on the demon, now known as E.N.D.

"HOW DARE YOU INTERFERE E.N.D!" Igneel roared, furious about the demon's impediment. "How about you pick on someone your own size then lizard. Or are you too weak to do even that?" E.N.D fired back.

"Who are you to speak to me in that tone, demon? I could crush you like the bug that you are."

"And yet you're going after two kids. Where's your pride as a dragon in that? Why are you trying to kill two little children"

"They were supposed to be part of my feast in this village. I devoured all of their friends and neighbors, and ate their mother after I toyed with her right in front of them! It would have been a mercy for me to eat them!"

"You make me sick Igneel, toying and eating their mother right in front of them? That is something even a demon would be disgusted at. You won't hurt these kids any longer, not while I'm around."

"HA! Don't make me laugh! You demons know NOTHING about disgust! Your kind wouldn't even think to protect kids!"

"I don't care what my brethren would do, and even if I did it wouldn't matter! Your kind killed them all! I will avenge them and save these kids, EVEN IF I DIE TRYING!" Wasting no more time, E.N.D launched himself towards the towering dragon, his right fist pulled back with crimson flames coating it. When he reached Igneel, he brought his fist down on his head, causing the dragon to roar in pain. Igneel retaliated with a claw swipe, but E.N.D flew over it and went to the belly, kicking the stomach of the beast. Igneel flapped his wings harder, sending the demon flying towards the ground and crashing into a building. "Grrrrghhh!" E.N.D quickly adjusted himself and rolled onto his feet, before sending a torrent of fire towards the massive dragon. "FIRE DEVIL'S RAGE!" Seeing the torrent of deadly crimson fire coming his way, Igneel retaliated immediately with his own fire. "FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" The two flames clashed into each other, causing a big explosion.

E.N.D, under the bright flames, dashed towards the backside of the fire dragon, and gripped the tail. Swinging the massive beast, he turned into what looked like a miniature twister, before launching Igneel into the forest. Quickly regaining his balance, Igneel righted himself just in time to see E.N.D charge at him. "FIRE DRAGON CLAW!" Igneel sent E.N.D crashing into the floor, and capitalized on the situation. "FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" A beam of flames crashed down on E.N.D, its heat reaching even the two brothers hiding behind the rocks, which ever so slowly started to melt. "GEAAAAAAGHHHH!" E.N.D roared in pain, unable to consume the flames the fire dragon was spewing out. When the attack finished, E.N.D could be seen burnt around his body, his right arm disintegrated while the rest of his body was burnt with all sorts of wounds on it. Which shouldn't be possible, considering he was a fire demon. But that is what happens when a lesser being goes up against a higher being in the same element.

Igneel laughed at the state his opponent was in. "You've gotten much weaker E.N.D, you're not nearly as strong as you used to be." Igneel commented, taking great pleasure in seeing the look of frustration and rage on the demon's face. "I will crush just as easily as I will crush those kids." E.N.D's eyes went wide with rage, and forgot all his injuries as he exploded towards the demented Igneel. "I'LL KILL YOU! FIRE DEVIL DESTRUCTION FIST!"

"How cute," Igneel swiped his claws at E.N.D, causing him to crash in front of the building that the two brothers were hiding in, watching in terror as they saw their savior get beaten into the ground. "To think that this is all that remains of the once mighty demon you were. The strongest demon in existence, now reduced to weak trash." Igneel mused. "Is it because you are the only demon left in existence?" E.N.D merely glared at him in fury, panting heavily as he prepared his final attack.

"No… it's because of the vast power difference between us!"

"SHUT UP!" E.N.D roared. "YOU DIE TODAY IGNEEL! FIRE DEVIL SECRET ART - CRUEL SUN!" As the fire demon called the name of his technique, black flames began to surround Igneel, trapping him in a ring of black fire. A ball of flames built up above the fire dragon, forming into a black sun. Ominously, E.N.D lowered his left arm, though he winced in pain as he did so. "Fall…"

The black ball of fire descended upon Igneel, who was currently struggling in escaping the black ring of flames. Looking up in slight fear, Igneel attempted to eat the flames, only for horror to settle in his body as he found himself incapable of doing so. "How.. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!" Igneel cried in terror, a realization that he may die came into his head. "I AM THE FIRE DRAGON KING! I SHOULD BE ABLE TO DEVOUR ANY FLAME IN EXISTENCE, SO WHY CAN'T I EAT THESE!" Igneel began to retaliate in the only way he could, unleashing torrents of hot flames to halt the descending sun. "FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" The torrent of fire collided with the black sun, but it did little to slow its descent. Igneel tried in vain to add more magic to his flames, yet the black sun wouldn't relent.

The ball of fire collided with Igneel, and his roars of pain could be heard for over a mile away as a dark boom resonated in the field, clearing away all of the rubble and leaving the two boys out in the open, who were both shocked at what had occured. *Blrghh!* E.N.D coughed up blood, its black color spraying over the red field. "Damn…" E.N.D muttered as he fell to his knees. "It looks like I used too much magic…"

"E.N.D!" Natsu and Zeref cried as they raced over towards their savior. "You did it, you won!" Natsu cried as he knelt beside the demon. "You saved us, mister. Thank you so much!" Zeref nodded his head in agreement, and bowed to him as low as he could. E.N.D chuckled, feeling relief in the fact that the two brothers were okay. "It's alright, you two. I'm happy to-" E.N.D interrupted himself as he coughed up blood, going into a hacking fit before he lifted his head to the two teary eyed twins. "Listen… I don't have much time left. That last attack of mine isn't enough to kill Igneel, not how I am right now." E.N.D said. "I am dying right now, and I don't want to pass on without leaving at least one more demon in this world. I am the last demon alive thanks to the dragons, and I've only gotten weaker. I need one of you to absorb me, so that the demon race has a chance in coming back from extinction." Natsu's head was down, and a shadow covered his eyes, and you could see the tears streaming down his face. "Please, one of you mu-"

"I'll do it." Natsu muttered, before looking up with the most determined look anyone had ever seen on the boy. "I'll absorb your power, your soul, your ideals. I'll bring back the demon race with Zeref, and I'll kill that stupid dragon while we're at it. I'll become so strong that not even the gods could stand my wrath, and I'll make anyone rue the day they crossed me!" Natsu declared, slamming his fist to where his heart was. "I'll become so strong, that no one that I ever love will have to die again! I'll protect them with my life, and carry your legacy and become the strongest being in the world!"

Zeref's eyes shimmered, and he nodded. "That's right, we'll become super powerful and bring in an age where no one has to needlessly die. We'll create an empire where only peace is found, and everyone will be treated equally." E.N.D only sat there, staring at the two boys in admiration. How is it that these two boys fully believe they could do it? E.N.D thought, but chuckled not even a moment later. Who am I kidding, I can feel it in my flames. These two will become something special. E.N.D began to glow, and particles of magic began to surround Natsu before entering him.

"Very well then. Natsu, I entrust everything that I am to you." E.N.D muttered, as he began to disappear. "Abandon your fear, Natsu. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. Pull back, and you'll age. Hesitate, and you'll die." At those words, that would forever resonate inside his mind, something struck Natsu with a fierce fury. A beast awoke inside him, and he was itching to let it out. Natsu looked back to E.N.D, only to find an empty space with magic particles surrounding it, before flowing into Natsu. As soon as the last particle flew into his body, his mind began to fill itself with E.N.D's memories. It feels like my head's splitting in two! Natsu roared into the heavens, a shockwave following as his body began to morph. His mouth began to grow fangs, his nails turning into claws. His once onyx eyes now a crimson blood red, and his hair becoming longer.

Zeref could barely stand, the pressure of the magic that pushed down on him was enormous, and hearing Natsu's wail of pain caused a pit to form in his stomach. After what seemed like hours, which was only 1 minute in reality, Natsu fell to the ground panting. He immediately noticed that his magical reserves were much larger than before, and that all of his senses were enhanced. He smelled all of the blood that still reeked around him, and could hear the dying breaths of the flames on the ground around them. Looking up, he could see the retreating form of Igneel, flying wobbly as he escaped from view.

Natsu turned to Zeref, who was looking at him worriedly. "Looks like everything went smoothly." Natsu said with a grin on his face. "I feel so much more powerful than I was before. I could probably take down that stupid gecko right now if I wanted to!"

Zeref could only laugh in delight, happy to have survived everything they've just been through. "Yes you can Natsu, I bet you can. But we have to wait, we need to become stronger before we kill Igneel." Zeref told him, his brother nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, I can't be carrying your butt all over the place if we get stuck in a pickle, now can I?"

"What did you say?!"

"You heard me!"

Natsu and Zeref's heads were bashed together, comical lightning sparking between the two, before they fell over laughing. Natsu sat up, gazing upon the ruins of their old home, and turned to Zeref. "Let's get going, Zeref. We need to train as soon as possible, so we can kill that dragon before anyone else can."

"Agreed, we need to get going as soon as possible." Zeref stood up, and offered a hand to Natsu. "Let's get going, to a new adventure." Natsu took the offered hand and pulled himself up, and began to walk in a random direction. Zeref quickly caught up to him, and walked in pace with him. "There's a lot of magic in this direction. If we get there quick enough, we could see what's causing all of the magic." Natsu said.

After walking for 2 hours, both boys were dead tired, fighting to keep their eyes open as they walked. "How much further…" Zeref groaned, his feet trudging along behind him as he walked beside his brother. "It's just up ahead."

As they pushed through the bushes, they could see two figures sitting on the grass, sitting on the grass as they seemed to be gazing on the lake ahead. One was a dragon who looked to be made of the most beautiful golden flames that the both had ever seen, and the other surrounded by shadows and bones, with little tiny wisps of pale light flowing out from him before re-entering. Natsu and Zeref stood behind the two beings, wondering how they could approach them.

"We've been expecting you… Natsu, Zeref." A booming voice echoed. They jumped, startled, and saw that the dragon of fire had turned towards them, resting as its legs curled beneath it.. Their eyes were wide, surprised that the dragon of flames could even talk.

"Who are you? And how did you know who we are?" Natsu questioned defensively, his hands unknowingly catching on fire as he readied them.

"My name is Ra, dragon god of the sun, sky, and fire. This, to my left, is Ankhseram, god of life and death." The dragon now known as Ra explained. "We've seen your endeavors against Igneel, and how you absorbed and became Demon king E.N.D, the strongest fire demon and overall strongest demon in history. We were impressed at the will you both displayed, and how our attributes are incredibly similar to yours." Ra said.

"Natsu, your affinity to fire is on a level I have never seen before, your flames so pure that I could not help but be in awe of it."

"While you, Zeref, have a very high affinity towards life and death, something humans consider as black magic." Ankhseram finished, looking at the black haired child with what seemed to be approval in those hollow eyes. Natsu still wasn't convinced, and glared at the two gods with suspicion in his eyes. "And why should we trust you? For all we know you both could kill us!" Natsu exclaimed.

"If you believed that then why would you come here in the first place?" Ra countered. Natsu's mouth shut at that. "You came to us because you knew that you would not be killed. We allowed you to sense our magic, and you came towards us on your own volition. You didn't feel any malicious intent did you?" Natsu shook his head, confirming Ra's statement. "You trusted your instincts and came to us, that speaks in of itself that we will not kill you." Ra said, lightly laughing seeing Natsu's pouting face as he grumbled to himself. Allowing his amusement to die down, Ra dropped the bomb on the two boys. "We will train you in our magic, and you will be able to get revenge on that insufferable Igneel. You will become the strongest mages this world has ever seen, and will be the light that guides the world through the darkness. Tell me, do you accept our proposition and become our students?"

Shock filled Natsu and Zeref for the hundredth time that day, before their faces began to shift into the resemblance of a cats. The boys turned to each other, their backs turned into the direction of Ankhseram and Ra, as they began to discuss. A sweat drop formed on the back of their heads, as they waited patiently for them to finish. The brothers looked back, seeing the gods looking at them, they turned their heads and discussed some more, before coming out of their huddle and formed weird poses.

"WE ACCEPT!" Ra and Ankhseram's sweat drop got three time larger, as they looked at the poses the now flamboyant boys pulled off. This may have been a mistake. The two gods thought in tandem. Seeing no reaction from them, the brothers quickly deflated like a balloon, as they began to cry anime tears from their position on the floor. After their bout of comical sadness, Natsu and Zeref stood and walked over to their new teachers, who each held out an arm towards them. "We will be training in our separate domains." Ankhseram said. "Zeref and I will be going to the underworld to train on his life and death magic."

"And Natsu and I shall go to the sun, where we will train on his fire magic." Ra finished, earning a nod from both boys. "A fair warning. One day here is 100 years in our domain. So if you have something to say, you must say it now before we leave." Natsu looked at Zeref, who gazed back at him with determination in his eyes. Natsu understood, and looked back towards Ra.

"We don't need to say anything, we'll be seeing each other soon anyways."

Ra nodded his head, and with a bright flash of light, both him and the salmon haired student were gone. Zeref stared at the spot where Natsu once stood, longing and worry now filling its onyx depths. "We must be going as well, Zeref." Ankhseram said, and when Zeref told him he was ready, a hole opened up beneath them and swallowed them whole.

With a flash of light, two figures now occupied the spot that was once vacant. A golden dragon with wings that seemed to stretch across for miles on end, and claws so sharp it could slice through a planet like it was butter. Its golden red flaming eyes peered along the platform they were standing on, a flight of stairs leading up to a throne of gold, flickers of fire coming off it once every few seconds. Looking down, the golden dragon looked down to see his new disciple look around Soleanna, stars in his eyes as he giggled madly. "Come, Natsu. Allow me to show you where you will be sleeping for the duration of your training." The dragon god said, as he showed Natsu to a room. When they arrived, Natsu was in awe. There was a bed of pure gold towards the edge of the room, giving you a clear view of the stars that laid outside and the comforting heat of the sun. It wasn't too hot, and it certainly wasn't too cold.

On the other side, there was a bathroom with Japanese sliding doors, a big shower in the far right corner, and a hot spring in the other, with bamboo and leaves surrounding it. No roof was above it, giving you a clear view of space and easily allowing you to star gaze as you relax.

Natsu was in awe, the entire room itself was as big as a mansion, and having this much space meant that he could train more on his body and fighting style. "Get rest, Natsu. Your training begins in 10 hours." Ra's voice called from the other side, before closing the door and leaving to plan out Natsus's training. The boy mentioned only nodded, finally feeling the fatigue of everything crashing down on him, falling asleep before he even landed on the bed.

It had been 1000 years since he last stepped foot onto his home, 1000 years since he last saw Zeref, and he couldn't be more excited. His training had gone beyond smoothly. He was sure that he was the only person that could challenge a god and live, with the exception of Zeref. Within 100 years, he had mastered the powers that E.N.D had gifted him when he absorbed the demon, becoming much more powerful than he had ever been with it alone according to his master, Ra. His fire curses and fire magic had nightmarish abilities, bringing out the darkest monsters and nightmares to anyone who was burnt by the flames, causing them to be in total agony before doing unimaginable things to themselves.

He learned dragon slayer magic soon after, and found that he had an unnaturally gifted talent in learning the dragon slayer arts, mastering it within a 3 year time period. Unfortunately, he had to go through the painful process of dragonification because of it. It was an excruciating 6 months, but when the dragonification had finished, he had found that his already enormous magic reserves had nearly tripled, now reaching the heights that one would only see in a dragon god. He also had the pleasant surprise of finding out that he still could transform back into his human body. He really didn't want to explain why he was a dragon to his brother.

His god slayer training came next, and that took a bit longer than the dragon slayer training, taking a near 7 years to master.

It was a long endeavor, but he had finally mastered all three forms of slayer magic.

They stuck to his fire element, and found that he could do things that were thought impossible to accomplish, even by Ra's standards. His fire had the power to venture into different domains. From burning through the fabrics of reality itself, to absorbing all the heat in the universe, essentially freezing time itself, was no small accomplishment. They began training these powers, and after 150 years of training, Natsu had finally managed to master his abilities. It was a great way to increase his magic reserves without losing any time what-so-ever.

His body had come into great shape over the years, never stopping once when training it. He mastered every martial art and taijutsu styles that were out there, and combined them into his own fighting style, which he dubbed the Tyrant's fist. With his fighting style alone, he would be a force to be reckoned with, the likes that almost anyone would fall to.

The training that took the most time was combining all three slayer magic into one ultimate slayer magic. He failed many times, often burning himself to a crisp and disintegrating limbs non stop. It took 800 years before he mastered it. He first merged his dragon slayer and god slayer magic and transformed it into the dragon god slayer magic. He then combined that with his devil slayer magic and his devil curses and formed the demonic draconian god slayer magic. He later named it the all slayer magic. It had taken a massive amount of perseverance, and many lectures on how to contain it, and nearly died multiple times, but he finally was able to make it combat ready. He sparred with his teacher non stop, always fine tuning the holes inside his fighting, but finally worked out all of the kinks in it.

He still couldn't stop laughing whenever he realized he was still technically a 9 year old, as was the age of his human form. Ra told him that he would start aging again when he went back to Earthland, and that he would stop aging when he hit 20. He had cried into tears of relief at that comment, which Ra took a disturbing amount of pleasure in seeing.

"Are you ready to go back, Natsu?" Ra questioned. "You would never be able to come back should you leave. Only I can access Soleanna, and I don't plan on leaving this place any time soon, especially since I must monitor the sun's power." Natsu tilted his head so that Ra couldn't see his eyes, a massive grin stretched across his face as his eyes widened in excitement and bloodlust. "The kinda question is that, you lizard?! Of course I'm gonna go back, I still have to see Zeref again and kill that screwed up gecko!" Natsu exclaimed, fire bursting in his eyes as bloodlust filled it. "I'm sure that Igneel has healed up enough to be back to full strength."

"Very well then, I will send you back to Earthland now. Good luck… my disciple." With those words, the salmon haired powerhouse was enveloped in a bright light, the same one as 1000 years ago, and arrived on Earthland.

Zeref stood by a tree, waiting for his brother to return. A large magical pressure bursted towards his left, and the Black Wizard, as he dubbed himself, smirked at the familiarity of it. Vanishing into the shadows of the tree, he reappeared in the center of the magical energy, its pressure now contained. "Hello, Natsu."

Natsu looked towards his brother, stepping out of the massive crater caused by his magic. "Been a minute, brother."

"It most certainly has. Your training was very fruitful I see."

"Damn right it was! I'm a hell-of-a-lot stronger than I was before."

"Still not enough to beat me though."

"WHAT YOU SAY!"

"YOU HEARD ME!"

And just like that, the two brothers once again bashed heads with one another, lightning connecting as they began to fight, forming a cloud to cover the brother's quarrel. When the cloud dissipated, Zeref could be seen with a lump on his head and a frown on his face while Natsu had a cheshire grin on his face and whisker marks that mysteriously appeared on his cheeks.

"You got lucky…" Pouted Zeref as he turned his head away from his brother. Natsu only flashed his grin at him and replied cheekily. "All skill my brother, I'm just that much more powerful than you."

Getting his fill of the teasing, Natsu's demeanor became more serious. "But we still need to find Igneel, he couldn't have gotten further from here."

The black haired brother got up, his lump fading away magically as he responded. "Yeah, it's technically been 10 days here anyways". He closed his eyes, and tried to feel out the magic of life that surrounded him, trying to feel for the one that had a flaming attribute to it.

Suddenly, A torrent of flames shot into the air not far from them, snapping Zeref from his concentration and gaining a bloodthirsty look from the pink haired companion.

"There…" Natsu muttered darkly, a demonic tint coming into his voice as his eyes glimmered in excitement of the bloodshed that was to come. Shaking his head, he turned to face his brother, who's face contrasted Natsu's own. Sorrow and guilt showed itself on Zeref's face, his eyes shimmering with reluctance, causing Natsu to nod in understanding. He knew how much Zeref cherished all life, no matter if it were bad or not. "I'll kill him for the both of us, Zeref. You don't need to do anything " Natsu said, earning a grateful nod from his twin. "Let's get going." With those words, Natsu vanished in a burst of flames. Zeref soon followed suit, dissolving into the shadows that haunt the world.

Igneel was in his cave, resting as he let his wounds recover. Slowly opening his eyes, he noticed his magic was back to being at full power. Grinning, he began to laugh, sending a jet of flames into the air. "Finally, after 10 days, I will finally be able to come out of this miserable cave. I will find those kids, and I will devour them!" Calming down, he noticed two figures staring at him, both in the shape of humans. Quickly recognizing their scent, he boomed with laughter. "YOU FOOLISH HUMANS! WHY WOULD YOU COME HERE TO CHALLENGE ME WHEN YOU COULDN'T DO SO ONLY 10 DAYS AGO!"

The two figures didn't react, only for a menacing grin to appear on one. "Because…" the salmon haired person muttered, his magic rising as it descended on the fire dragon. "We came to kill you!'' Fire erupted from the ground, surrounding the three beings that stood in the area. The boy that spoke looked up, a red tint on his perfectly tan skin with black sclera surrounding his red irises. "Do you remember me, Igneel? Because I sure as hell remember you!" Natsu roared, gold and black fire engulfing him as he launched towards the source of his hatred.

A fist connected on Igneel's maw, before he found himself spiraling into the air with pain blaring all over his face. Before he could recover, he felt a portion of his magic be stripped from him, before being blasted to the ground, his flesh rotting away alongside his magic. "BLRGGHHH!" Igneel cried as he coughed up a glob of blood, coloring the green grass with red. "You know, for someone so violent, so corrupt, I can't help but feel sorry for you, for how evil you've become." Zeref murmured. Igneel growled with rage, and flapped his wings, sending a big gust of wind that sent Zeref flying away. Igneel got up from the ground and lunged at Natsu, swiping his claws in the salmon haired boy's direction. Natsu brought his fist into motion, countering the swipe with a punch, sending them both away from each other.

"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" Igneel roared as he launched a stream of flames towards his opponent after recovering. "FIRE FIST!" Natsu yelled as he sent his attack towards the opposing flames. A brilliant light flashed as the two attacks connected, the heat drying up the land around them in almost an instant.

As Natsu waited for the attack to die down, Igneel bursted through it, fire surrounding his claws as he once again swiped at Natsu. "FIRE DRAGON CLAW!" Natsu cried out in pain as the claws ripped his flesh, three jagged lines now adorning his chest, a waterfall of blood forming a pool at his feet. Staggering back, he incarcerated the wound to prevent further blood from spilling. "That one's gonna leave a mark." Natsu muttered to himself, grimacing in pain when he inhaled too sharply. "I'll have to finish you quickly then."

Gazing at the mighty dragon, Natsu began his own assault. "Fourth pillar: Severed Universe."

Instantly, everything came to a stop. There was no wind blowing across his face, no sounds of burning flames reached his ears. Even Igneel was not moving, his frame standing to a complete halt. It had all gone quiet, motionless. As though the very sands of time came to a stop.

Nothing interfered in his path as he sauntered his way up to his enemy. He began to cause damage to the dragon, breaking his legs and ripping off his claws. Even going so far as to dislocate his wings. "Disperse." As he released his Severed Universe, time came back into play as blood bursted from Igneel's wounds and the sounds of snapping and crunching reached their ears. Igneel cried out in pain, his misery being enhanced by the wings on his back that would no longer comply with his demands.

"You seem in a bit of pain," Natsu called out, gaining the attention of the downed reptile, who took note of the steam that seemed to be coming off of him as the student of Ra walked towards him. "Do you like my new technique? It allows me to absorb all of the heat in the universe, stopping time itself." Natsu explained, stepping on one of Igneel's wounds, inflicting more pain as he grinded his heel into it. "It goes to show how much stronger I truly am compared to the likes of you."

As he removed his heel from Igneel's wound and walked away, he felt the predator turned prey leap at him in a desperate attempt to do damage to him. "Adolla burst." He sighed as black flames bursted from every pore on Igneel's body, Burning his flesh as his scales and affinity to the element failed to do their job of protecting him.

The red reptile flailed in agony, the black flames proving too much for him to handle. Once more, he fell into a heap, steam coming off every inch of his body. "You won't… get away with this… boy" Igneel groaned, venom seeping into his voice, attempting to rise from his vulnerable position. Natsu merely gazed at him in apathy, his own hatred buried underneath. "Go on then. Take your shot at me." Summoning every last bit of magic he had left, Igneel called out his mightiest attack. "YOU DIE NOW ETHERIOUS NATSU DRAGNEEL! FIRE DRAGON KING SECRET ART: CATACLYSMIC METEORITE!"

As Igneel dived towards the young disciple of Ra, Natsu could only sigh with disappointment. "I'm done playing games with you, Igneel." Natsu said, as his magic began to rise to heights beyond what was normal for even the greatest of mages. "Consider this as your departure from this world."

"ALL SLAYER SECRET ART!" Natsu called out, his hands clasped together as magic and fire began to swirl around him.

"DRAGON EMPEROR SUPREME… FLIGHT!"

A summoning rune appeared on the ground in front of him, a massive dragon of gold, crimson, and black flames flying out of it, homing onto the form of the diving dragon king.

When the two reached their meeting point, Igneel was immediately overwhelmed by the dragon made of a different mirad of flames, engulfing him into the belly of the beast as it made its way higher and higher into the sky. "DAMN YOU ETHERIOUS NATSU DRAGNEEL!" Igneel cried as he was incinerated by the dragon of pure fire, dissipating along with it as the sky opened its jaws to devour the attack that Natsu had unleashed.

Natsu looked above him as the light of the sun covered his face, hugging him in its warm embrace like a mother who would comfort her child when they had a nightmare. Zeref came out of his spot behind the tree, a sad and regretful face that seemed to mix with relief and comfort.

"We did it, Zeref," Natsu said, not even turning to face his brother in favor of staring into the horizon. "We killed Igneel."

"You killed Igneel, my brother. You killed Igneel" Zeref took to the side of Natsu, smiling in hope of the future that laid ahead of them.

"We aren't going to be able to live normal lives after this, will we?" Natsu asked after a few minutes of silence. Zeref didn't hesitate for even a second. "We most certainly will not."

"Ha, then I guess we just have to make the most of it, now won't we?"

"We most definitely do, Natsu. And we aren't going to be alone in it either. Many adventures lie ahead of us, worlds to be explored, enemies to make and people to befriend. Whole oceans and seas to be conquered and mighty beasts to vanquish. Are you ready for that, brother?" As the two brothers gazed upon the horizon, they were still yet unaware of the legends and myths that they were to create. Stories that would be told for ages to come as they made their accomplishments happen, and how it will affect civilization as a whole.

"Am I ready?" Natsu let his eyes roam the charred dirt around him, the once luscious grass and trees burnt away due to his battle with Igneel, before a grin appeared and turned back. It was on this day, that the Dragon Emperor was born, and that the All Slayer first began his path to greatness beyond any other. "I'm all fired up!"