"It's from my scarf," Natsu stated, gesturing a hand to the scarf still wrapped around his neck.
The man then noticed the dragon scale knit scarf under the cloak the pink haired 'Nab' was wearing. He looked down at the scale in his hand, and glanced back up to the scarf, "How did it fall off the scarf?" he asked Natsu, and then turned to Lucy, "and what potion do you own that can make a dragon scale appear fresh?"
"It's one I am still in the works of," she stated, "so far it's just reducing the power."
"I've had my scarf for as long as I can remember," Natsu stated, his words overlapping his host's, "I'd like it back, please."
"Back?" the man asked, before chuckling, and stuffing the scale into his coat pocket, "Why should I give a man staying with a witch such a valuable item back?"
"Valuable?" Natsu asked, and Lucy could feel the heat through the cloak. He was still behind her, and she knew he was probably wearing nothing but the cloak, seeing as his clothes she had lent him were still on her main room's floor.
"Of course," the man stated, "I don't know how you managed to get such a fresh gem," he said looking at Lucy, "but it is pretty obvious, seeing as I am a mage trained in ancient magics, that this is a dragon's scale, and it has much of the power from the beast it came from."
"You're just gonna take it?" Lucy asked, holding out an arm, slightly, to stop her guest from getting overly angry.
"Why of course! Once I found out how old this is," he said, tapping his pocket he had put the scale in, "I can sell it for millions! And," he smirked, bringing his face closer to Lucy's, "I'll forget about your illegal makings of potions if you give me the dragon you nabbed this from."
Lucy's eyes widened, unconsciously stepping back as if to protect the man from the said dragon. "I told you, I had made a potion, and it failed. You're not gonna get anything out of that scale. It came from my cousin's scarf." Her teeth were chattering.
"Sell?" Natsu asked.
"Of course," the man stated, looking up at the supposed beastly elf, "I'll even give you some of the profits, if you help me out in capturing the dragon."
"You're gonna sell the dragon?" Lucy stammered not even daring to look at the man's eyes. Though she had planned on taking his blood before she had noticed how innocent he looked when she first found him, how human he turned when he was conscious, how caring he was to his cat, how he placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from shivering at that moment. Sure, she still wanted his blood, but she'd never sell him out. Sure, she had thought about bragging about her new 'familiar' but she knew she wouldn't even dare to. Sure, she wanted him, deep down, to kill the black demon who sealed up her friend, and probably was the cause behind her mother's poisoning, and her father's abandonment. But even if he was a dragon, he desperately wanted to be human, seeing as he transformed every time he was conscious. Here this man in front of her was saying that not only would he take away something that was a part of him, but also any freedom he would have.
"What else would I do?" the man stated, lifting up her head, "I mean, it would make sense for this sudden surge of power in this area if a dragon were living here."
"Dragons are extinct, you know that." Lucy stated, harshly. She could feel Natsu's grip on her shoulder tighten, and the heat he was emitting was nearly burning her back. She briefly wondered why this man wasn't feeling any of it.
"Of course, I do," he smiled, "but you learn a little bit more about the secrets of the realm when you aren't a wretched witch like yourself, but a favorable member of the Black Demon Lord's subordinates." He let go of her chin, "so, tell me, where are you two hiding this dragon? It appeared that he was red. He was a red dragon, correct?" he smirked, before laughing a little, "Perhaps the famed Igneel of the past has come back from the dead? I'd love to sell a beast such as him."
"Sell Igneel?" Natsu stated, and Lucy backed herself onto his feet again, trying to get him to calm down, "Dead?" Natsu continued, and pushed Lucy off him.
"Of course," the man smiled, "why, did the dragon become your friend?" he laughed as if that were impossible.
"You can't just sell someone!" Natsu yelled, pushing Lucy aside as he marched up to meet the man's face.
Natsu was taller than him, by a little, but that's not what made Lucy begin to pull his arm under the cloak, it was his eyes. The horns on his head seemed to grow a little more, and she could see, though the man couldn't, the shape of the wings on his back pushing out at the cloak. Natsu's eyes looked nearly just like they did when he was in his dragon form. His pupils had thinned, and he glared at the man, it looked like his eyes were going to kill the intruder of her home.
"It isn't a person, Nab," the man smirked, "It's a dragon, it's meant to be sold, it's meant to be killed, it's meant to be eaten."
"I'll kill you." Natsu stated, and the fangs in his mouth appeared to sharpen, Lucy gasped, and decided his arms weren't gonna make him budge. She also nearly swore she had seen scales begin appearing up his neck, "I'll kill that demon-crap you worship. I'll burn you to a crisp if you dare hurt Igneel. It doesn't matter if he isn't a person, he's my-"
"Stop!" Lucy yelled as her fingers gripped at the cloak covering his wings. Her fingers tightened around the hold of the joint, and Natsu grunted, before taking a step back.
"Haha," the man nervously laughed, "You'll burn me?" Lucy could tell he was frightened, "You've got quite the temper, don't you Nab." he lifted a shaking hand, and pointed a finger at the fuming pink haired man that Lucy was now standing in front of, holding him back in a way, "You'll never hurt the Black Demon Lord! An elf such as yourself could never even scratch him." He regained his composure, seeing that he wasn't under the deathly gaze of Lucy's supposed cousin.
"And you'll never touch Igneel." Natsu replied, pushing at Lucy's grip.
"Igneel? The red dragon? The red dragon from eons ago? Don't tell me you believe dragons still exist!" he exclaimed, taking out the scale, and holding it before their eyes, "This!" he exclaimed, the sun's rays, nearly ran right through it, as it appeared nearly translucent, "This is the only proof we have of a dragon existing, right now. I'm gonna sell this. I'm gonna sell it, and I'm gonna kill the dragon you're hiding, witch! I'm gonna kill you and the dragon." he turned his attention to the furious pink haired man, "The precious Igneel you still worship, it seems, is dead! All of you dragon worshippers are insane. Dragons should be dead! Dragons shouldn't have ever existed!"
"How dare yo-" Natsu began, but Lucy cut him off.
"Then why do you think that is from a real dragon?" she asked, "Dragon's don't exist anymore! I told you! That was a mistake I made on a potion. That scale came from Nat-Nab's scarf. Give it back to him." She knew she had just put salt on an open wound, but it was the only way to try and prove to the man that she didn't have dragon's blood in her cottage, that she wasn't harboring a dragon, even if that said dragon felt the pain of her words, while the man had just smirked a devilish grin.
"Dragons live for ages," he smirked, "I'm gonna kill the last one, and sell his carcass to the Black Demon Lord, and have a feast. I read from many books in studying my magic that dragons were powerful beings, and because of that, they must have had tasty flesh."
Lucy flinched, "I'm not harboring one of those ancient beasts! They are extinct! They always will be! Why would I even want one? It would just burn up my home." she knew she was spouting nonsense now, her fear had brought her that low.
The man smirked again, and took a step closer, though didn't dare taking another, "I though for sure witches yearned for the blood of a dra-"
"Well I don't!" Lucy snapped back, not wanting the man to finish the sentence. She knew she had hurt Natsu enough, and if he had known she had wanted his blood, she wasn't sure what he would do. He was a dragon, for pete's sake, from history books she had read, when she had been able to get her hands on one, under her mother and father's care, they were unpredictable, and right now, she could understand clearly what that meant.
"I'm reporting back to the Black Demon Lord that you, Witch Lucy Heartfilia, are a nuisance, and are harboring a red dragon somewhere."
"With what proof?" she asked.
The man held up the scale, as the last of the red seemed to fade off it, "But there was so much red still on it," he stammered, looking it over.
"Dragons can choose how much power goes into their scales," Natsu stated in such a tone, the man flinched.
Natsu, no, don't you are giving him too much information! Lucy cried in her head, as she held the cloaked man back.
"Good bye, wretched witch!" the man yelled at her, as he mounted his steed, "I hope you die from that beast you're hiding. You as well, beast elf!" he rode off in the direction of the town, a victorious smirk etched into his face.
"Natsu," Lucy stammered, before turning around to face the dragon, the mage now gone from view, "don't give yourself away."
"He was gonna hurt Igneel, he said he was dead." Natsu replied, and Lucy noticed tears beginning to well up in his eyes, "He's not dead. Igneel isn't dead."
Lucy gasped, "What?"
"Igneel raised me, he can't be dead!" Natsu shouted at her, the tears slowly cascading down his face, his eyes no longer large enough to hold them in.
"Natsu," Lucy hummed, her brows slanted, as she sympathized with him, she hadn't wanted her mother to be dead either, but she was, "Igneel was a powerful red fire dragon, right?"
"He still is!" he yelled at her.
"Maybe," she chanced, "Maybe he was the dragon the mage spoke of, dragons have been extinct for a while, you're the only one that has come around in centur-"
Natsu cut her off, pushing her hands away from him as she had attempted to wipe off his tears, "Igneel isn't dead. I've been looking for him for seven years. He isn't dead." he backed away from her and turned his back to her.
"I get it, I lost my mother, too, but the dragons have been extinct for eons, and no one has seen one until… until I did just yesterday!" she cried, "You're eighteen, right? Can't you just accept it?"
"Accept it?" Natsu replied, glancing back over his shoulder, "Igneel isn't dead, he's waiting for me to find him." He spread his wings out, transforming into his given form, and jetted himself into the air.
"Natsu, wait!" she called, as he flew above the trees and into the clouds. "Dragons are extinct," she murmured, "Igneel was one of the most powerful ones there was, but he died, too."
She felt something soft rub against her leg, and she looked down to see the strangely blue cat that had been Natsu's friend. She picked up the cat, glancing behind her to notice Plue at the doorway, still not leaving the cottage. The cat was looking up at the sky, before turning to face her, it appeared almost as if he was blaming her.
