So... I had absolutely no intention of writing another Fairy Tail fanfiction. Especially not so soon after finishing the last one. In fact, I already started writing a Dragon Age fic that I've wanted to write for what feels like two years now. I've wrote three chapters, found by accident Sweet Home manhva, got weirdly nostalgic over Fairy Tail and... well, here we are.

I'm not sure where I'm even going with this. I guess depending on the reception of this first chapter I might consider writing an actual story out of this and not just a vague one-shot.

I've also been obsessed with horror genre lately so... well. There's that.

Oh, ps. English is not my native language so bare that in mind ^.^'

Is anyone there?

Chapter 1:

"What would you do if the world ended?"

Natsu shot up, cold sweat covering his back, sheets tangled around his feet. He panicked, mind hazy with sleep and echoes of the dream – nightmare, really – and he tried to jump to his feet, only to smack face first into the hardwood floor. Something screeched at him and he didn't know if it was an echo of the nightmare or an actual sound from his surroundings.

He blinked, his hearth racing a moment longer before it slowed down, and he sagged against the hardwood floor a moment later. How long he just lay there he wasn't sure, though it was certainly more than a few minutes.

He couldn't remember what the dream was about. Only brief flashes of a time long gone, blood and a person – no, not a person; something – with his face. He shuddered against the floor and only then he moved, dragging his arms tiredly underneath himself and kicked at the sheets around him, trying to free his legs even as his heart started racing faster at the thought of being bound down.

"What would you do if the world ended?" he muttered to himself – the only part of the dream he clearly remembered and sighed, back pressed against the bedframe. No matter how hard he thought about it he knew it was a memory of something. Someone asked him that once. At the time, it hadn't been anything more than one of those unnecessarily deep what-if conversations.

Who asked him that?

"Natsu?"

The dragon slayer twitched, somehow managing to completely miss the door of his room opening and he looked up at man who stood in the doorway.

"Are you alright?"

The dragon slayer huffed at that, eyes turning to the boarded window as if he could see outside.

A double-layered question and he couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah," he looked at the redhead who still didn't move from the entrance, "Yeah, I'm alright, dad"

Who wouldn't be alright in an apocalypse?

Igneel offered a smile, lifting his arm and Natsu looked at the bowl, steam still rising from it. "Mind if I come in?"

Natsu quickly shook his head, finally pushing himself off of the floor and taking a seat on the bed, enough room for Igneel to sit down and the dragon in human form sat down with a sigh, handing the half-filled bowl of rice to him.

What would you do if the world ended?

Two weeks ago, the world ended. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say two weeks ago was the beginning of the end.

People started turning into monsters. Their magic gone wild, uncontrolled, twisting them into something not natural. It seemed innocent enough at first, some reports of a nosebleed here, of a headache there. Then people passed out. And some never woke up. Not as themselves at least.

The father and son hadn't realized it was as far spread as it was. Didn't realize it was everywhere. Their house at the edge of the village was largely ignored, no one bothered them much because they knew that the two didn't like the company. No one really knew them. Because the two encountered too many dragon hunters to really let anyone know them anymore.

That's why they didn't really notice the signs earlier. Natsu heard that some of the local pets went missing but they lived surrounded by a forest. A wolf pack that wondered too close – he rationalized.

It wasn't a wolf. It was something far worse. Because wolves don't knock on your doors in the middle of the night. Wolves don't leave the pieces of your friends outside of your front doors. Natsu could feel the bile rising at the mere thought, the rice in the bowl in front of him losing any taste despite the fact it was the first thing he ate in over a day. Happy died before it even began. All that was left of him was a tail.

"Is anyone… inside?"

That was their first introduction to a monster. It knocked on their door like nothing was wrong. The face of a human, the body of a six-legged mockery of a cat, the size of a horse. And it stood on their porch like nothing was wrong. A pleasant voice of a young woman.

A headache, a nosebleed. All the warnings one usually got. They learned that after the first monster lay dead on their doorsteps and a young boy ran into their house, terrified out of his mind. That was two weeks ago.

That boy was now a burnt mark in their living room. Because it turned and it nearly killed Igneel. After that, the two considered leaving the house but the moment they looked outside they knew it wouldn't end well.

The village they lived on the outskirts off was overrun.

"Is… anyone… there?"

Scraping against their doors, their windows. It was just a small cabin. The moment the monsters realized that there was, in fact, someone inside, they will probably die. Running wasn't really an option, even for a dragon and a dragon slayer. Not when both were crippled. The dragon with a missing leg and no wings and the dragon slayer who was almost blind. A result of the dragon hunters, years before there were any monsters manifesting from people's magic.

Igneel and Natsu were lucky so far, they had some food yet, running water, no monsters in the house. No living monsters in the house. Yet.

"You know that you're wasting the food on me?" Natsu muttered, staring at the half-eaten meal with unseeing eyes. As if to remind both of them what was wrong a trickle of blood trailed down from his nose and he sniffed, grimacing. "I'll probably just end up killing you"

The dragon gave him a tight-lipped smile, eyes crinkling closed. "You're not a waste, Natsu," there was steel to his voice that made the dragon slayer huff, cheeks tinting pink as he turned his head away. "You're the only thing keeping me alive"

And wasn't that ironic. If he was a braver man, Natsu might've killed himself by now. If only to spare Igneel the pain of having to do it himself.

Because crippled or not, the man was still a dragon and one monster wouldn't be that hard to kill.

"Don't worry so much," Igneel spoke again, one hand wrapping around Natsu's shoulder and squeezing him closer in a one-armed hug. The dragon ignored the way the dragon slayer tensed, speaking as if nothing was wrong at all, "It'll all work out. We were in worse scrapes than this and we survived"

Natsu wasn't sure if that was true. A couple of hundred monsters basically on your doorsteps seemed like the worst situation they were in as of yet. But there was confidence in Igneel's voice – the infectious hope that, despite everything, made the pink-haired teen smile.

"You know," the dragon continued, only to stop and Natsu didn't have to ask what was wrong. Blind, maybe. But not deaf. He could hear the monsters outside, and could picture their location almost perfectly in his mind. The hunters damaged his eyesight beyond repair but he was a dragon slayer. He could smell and hear better than a bloodhound. Something large was walking just outside of the window of his room.

"No… food"

Heavy footsteps didn't pause by the room window, continued to the porch instead and Igneel's hand around Natsu's shoulder dropped and instead, the dragon rested it over the dragon slayer's forearm, squeezing briefly when they realized the footsteps stopped right outside of their front door.

Natsu was not easily frightened. Came with years of fighting and training. The last time he was truly frightened had been when the hunters managed to cut off Igneel's wings and his leg. He wouldn't say he was scared even now. But he was definitely not at ease either.

The monster tapped against their door and Natsu wondered how much of a human actually reminded inside once you turned. Because to some extant all of the monsters they heard and saw showed some human qualities. There was another tap and Natsu hoped it would just leave.

"Food… I need food"

Could the monsters starve?

He could feel Igneel's eyes on him as he slowly got to his feet, placing the half-eaten meal on the nightstand. He crept across the hardwood, knowing by heart which floorboards to avoid to prevent any squeaking.

"Is… anyone… inside?"

Natsu stopped, eyes widening. It didn't hear him? It couldn't have.

"I need… food"

"Please… help"

The only thing standing between him and the monster was the front door and a bookshelf they pushed against it. And despite the small voice, sounding almost child-like he could hear how the monster breathed, could hear the porch squeak underneath its weight.

It was huge.

He licked his lips, the taste of blood nearly making him flinch. His nose was still bleeding. Or it started again. And his head hurt.

Shit. His eyes watered and he could imagine with no difficulty the way Igneel was looking at his back right now.

He hoped it was Igneel's eyes he felt at his back. Because someone was watching him.

"No one… inside"

The monster outside moved away with a heavy step and Natsu sagged in relief. One monster wasn't a problem but a fight always carried a risk of attracting too many. He waited a moment longer, making sure it was far enough that it shouldn't be able to hear them.

"I think it's gone," he whispered, shifting from foot to foot. The monster was gone but he still felt far too ill-at-ease. He turned back to Igneel only to freeze.

Ever since that hunter splashed the acid onto his face all he could see were blobs of color and contrast. Yet here he was, standing in the middle of his living room, facing the open door of his bedroom with a perfectly clear, a sharp man standing right behind Igneel.

A man with his face. The apparition smiled, mouth curving further than it should be possible, a grin literally from ear to ear. He didn't even realize Igneel moved, hobbling to him with his crutch. The dragon reached him, worried hand waving in front of his face and squeezing his shoulder but all Natsu could see was the frighteningly sharp replica of himself in the otherwise shapeless room, grinning from ear to ear and eating the rest of his breakfast.

His vision tunneled and the blood dripping from his nose flooded into his mouth. Or the blood started dripping from his mouth separate from his nose. He wasn't sure. Didn't even register that there was any blood, to begin with.

Just that grinning face on white skin in front of his rapidly darkening vision.

Natsu was not easily frightened. But now he was terrified.

He barely caught him before his head hit the floor. He saw the terrified expression when Natsu turned to look at him and knew immediately something was wrong. There was nothing behind him yet Natsu couldn't tear his eyes away from something. And maybe that was what worried him the most. Because he hadn't seen his eyes that focused on something in almost three years.

Then the blood came, too much for a nosebleed even before it started trickling down the corner of his mouth and now half of his front was soaked in the crimson liquid.

And he was unconscious.

Igneel would never admit it. But ever since he took in Natsu he was so easily terrified. The thought of losing the kid was unbearable. No parent should lose their child. Especially not like this.

"No, no, no, no"

He gently lowered him to the ground, casting one last glance to the open bedroom before turning the desperate eyes on the unconscious teen. "Come on, Natsu. Don't do this to me"

"Wake up, brat"

He had to wake up. He just had to. Igneel couldn't do this. He'd sooner let Natsu kill him, monster or not than raise a hand against him.

Tears pricked at his eyes. "Don't do this, kid"

His hands fisted into Natsu's shirt and he pressed his forehead against the blood-soaked shirt.

"I was going to tell you about this really great plan, you little dipshit," the dragon cursed, swallowed, and bit his lower lip hard enough that he tasted blood, "We don't have much food left so we'd have to leave soon. We would –"

His voice breaks, "Fuck"

"Fuck"

"We will go outside. And we'll –"

His voice breaks again and his hands move from the shirt to his arms and with that he starts dragging the teen to the couch, movement stilted and awkward with only one leg.

It was so hard to tell how much time passed when all of the windows were barred and no clock stood in the house. But he sat there, Natsu's head in his lap, for what must've been hours, fingers working their way through knotted locks and desperately trying to stop sobbing. After everything he lost, he couldn't lose Natsu.

"You better wake up, kid"

He wasn't even sure why he bothered. They didn't witness many transformations but the boy they let inside had transformed mere minutes after passing out. Maybe that was why he hoped that Natsu would... stay Natsu. It had been hours.

"You're a fighter, kid. The most pig-headed, stubborn, obstinate, mulish bastard I've ever met. So, you better wake up because I have a plan and we're both going to make it or neither of us won't"

"Shit"

Igneel's eyes widened and his eyes snapped down to Natsu's scrunched up face before the teen's unfocused eyes blinked open and moved to the general direction of his face.

"No need to insult a guy like that, you old lizard"

Igneel pulled Natsu into a hug so quickly that the dragon could swear he heard something pop. The teen was frozen for a moment but he quickly adjusted the way he sat and hugged him back, head burrowing into the place between his shoulder and neck.

Igneel glanced down and could see the tear tracks on Natsu's face and his throat squeezed. "Are you alright?" he paused, but not long enough for Natsu to answer, "Do you wanna talk about it, kid?"

Natsu stayed quiet, head still pressed against him so Igneel couldn't see his expression and for a moment the dragon feared he passed out again, "What plan were you talking about?"

Igneel blinked at that, "You heard that?"

Igneel could see the small smirk that stretched his lips, a huff of what might've been amusement before he answered.

"Obviously"

The dragon smiled and eased the teen back so that he could see his face. "We can't stay here"

Something close to sorrow passed over Natsu's face then and Igneel could understand it without a problem. This was their home for the last three years. A place where they finally managed to have something like a normal life. Natsu sighed then, straightened, eyes clear as they stared unseeing in front of himself, "I gathered as much… You have an idea where to?"

Igneel nodded after a moment, suddenly hesitant. Was it truly a good idea?

"I… There is a town called Magnolia not that far from here. A two-day walk maybe," he grimaced as his eyes fell onto his lap and his hand squeezed the stump of his leg. "More, actually"

"What's there?"

A lot more people. A lot more monsters. More powerful mages meant more powerful monsters.

Instead of saying any of it – because he knew Natsu knew all of it already – he said, "Hope"

And it seemed a fitting description. Because more powerful mages meant more powerful monsters. But it also meant a larger chance that there are more people alive. They couldn't stay here, waiting to die a slow death by starvation or a quick death when inevitably something attacks and every monster in the village comes rushing in.

He opened his mouth, ready to say something else only to see Natsu's eyes half-closed, head tipping to the side only to snap back up. "Get some sleep, kid. We'll leave tomorrow"

Natsu blinked, turning his head towards him before turning it back to his room and a shudder passed through him that even though he obviously tried to suppress Igneel had no trouble seeing. "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

What had he seen?

"Yeah, of course," the dragon didn't hesitate in his answer even as he slowly climbed back to his feet. Natsu heard him move and he moved to stand up as well only for Igneel to gently push him back down on the couch. At the confused noise that left the teen, the dragon quickly explained, "I'm just going to pick up the dishes from your room. I'll be right back"

"Oh"

Igneel turned, frowning. Because it sounded like there was more. Like he wanted to say something more. And a moment later he did and it made Igneel's hair stand up. "Are we alone in the house?"

"Yes," he answered, hesitant, unsure why Natsu would even ask that. The dragon slayer fell silent then, eyes fixed on the corner of the room and Igneel suddenly felt watched. But the corner was empty.

"I'll be right back," the dragon promised and a moment later he retrieved the empty bowl of rice and left it in the kitchen sink. Doing dishes when they were going to leave in the morning seemed unnecessary. Especially since Natsu still sat staring at the same corner he stared at when Igneel left.

"Are we alone in the house?"

The world was ending. But not everyone turned into a monster over a single night. Instead, it was a slow, torturous process that seemed to strip them all of their humanity step by step. He swallowed, lying down and gently pulling Natsu down as well, aware the teen was still staring into that one spot in the corner.

He remembered a line he read in a book, ages ago. He wasn't sure why he remembered that line so clearly but it was fitting. So maybe that was why.

'This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper'

Natsu shifted next to him, pulling his legs to his chest. Igneel sighed. Tomorrow, they will brave the outside hell. Tonight… Tonight, he hoped that they make it to tomorrow.

What would you do if the world ended?

End of chapter 1.

End of the first and the last chapter? I seriously don't know if I want to continue this one or if I want to leave it open like this. As I said, I guess I'll see if anyone's even interested in this sort of thing. Well… let me know what you all think. You might see a Dragon Age story out of me soon so if you're interested in that sort of thing there's that.

It's amazing that I'm doing this instead of studying or sleeping.

Anyway…

Thanks for reading and please review :)