Chapter Three: The Attacks
A/N: And it begins.
"What did you do?" Mira asks and Natsu scratches the back of his neck in slight embarrassment.
"Something stupid." They don't laugh at him and Natsu looks ahead to see their destination. "If you really wanna know what Magnolia went through, you have to see this." He says and as the group approaches the statue they realize what they're seeing.
It's a small and simple memorial. From the title, it seems to be where the demon first landed. Next to it is a statue of Natsu, they think, but they can hardly tell it's him. He looks as he did just after the battle they assume, showing the truth of Natsu's battle far better than the story itself. Below it, they can read a list of names on a plaque.
"They didn't make it." Laxus says as he reads through the names. A few of them he vaguely remembers in the sense that they may have met once, but most of the people who died are strangers. He hears Lucy gasp and Erza tries to comfort her, but that's the extent of their response. He isn't surprised she would know some of these people, she was always in town and interacting with people in a daily routine.
Everyone turns their attention back to the statue itself, made in memory of the person who saved them that day and for the demonic dragon's victims. And though it is a golden metallic color, the details are so perfect they can tell what everything on it is. They assume that if the demon were to take on a human form, it would look exactly like the statue; it has all the dragon's features that Natsu had described. To top it all off, it even has scales popping out every now and then, a clubbed tail, and two wings folded on its back.
The posture, however, is uncharacteristic of Natsu. His face is grim and his eyes are closed. One hand is across his heart while his right lays limply by his side.
"Where's your scarf?" Happy asks and he's barely fighting back tears. Natsu doesn't skip a beat as he wraps his arms around his small blue partner.
"I lost it but we found it afterwards." He informs the feline as he pets his fur in comfort.
"What's its name?" Gray asks after he successfully fights back his anger. How does his home keep getting attacked by these damn demons? And again, he wasn't there and he did nothing.
"Gratendo." Natsu states but his voice is soft. They can see his head bent down as he seems to just keep reading the names of the people lost. "We call it Lucifer."
Lucy can't just keep reading those names. She doesn't recognize them all - a boat man here, a baker there - but she's always been an empathetic person. So she heads past the statue and sees a new object. As she gets closer to it, she recognizes it to be a painting.
It's a beautifully morbid picture made at the end of the trail of destruction. The houses on the edges are curved as if it had been hit by a huge circle-like magic. Burnt and crisp, looking as if they will fall at any second. The ground is covered in black ash with small flames licking at anything that's nearby. In the corner of the page, the cathedral stands just out of harm's way. But behind it is darkness except for the sparkle of a small river, untouched by everything. The most recognizable shadow is the one towering in the middle of the path of destruction.
It looms above everything and its damaged look just adds to the monstrous appearance. Smoke rises from it steadily and Lucy can practically feel the rage in its eyes. Following the red dragon's gaze she sees the extremely small figure of a person. Seen only by the small light the flames make as they seem to flicker, low on fuel. The image shows the large dragon towering over the puny human who has a swirl of magic around him in a colorful mix.
"Natsu, what is this?" She asks as the group slowly comes to join her.
"Is that you?" Erza then asks the pinkette who just nods in response.
"Reedus drew this. Took him a year to finish."
"He remembered what it looked like after a year?" Lucy then asks in astonishment. The attention to detail is impressive and frightening.
"It's not something you forget." Sting speaks up from Natsus' side. They don't respond as they analyze the painting. It gives them a foreboding feeling and they hadn't even been there. They couldn't imagine facing it, or even fighting it with the hope to win. Gray is starkly reminded of Deliora and Lucy recalls Lullaby. The fear of facing such an intimidating beast.
Soul crushing, breathtaking fear.
They don't ask how Natsu did it. Natsu doesn't tell them.
"How did you take-over something like that?" Mira asks as she glances back at the statue.
"He didn't take-over it, he ain't a take-over mage," Gajeel says as he crosses his arms. It doesn't make any sense. Mira purses her lips as she looks back to Natsu. There's nothing else he could have done.
"How did you do it?"
"Gramps has an old book on it in his office," Natsu says as he also looks back to the realistic statue. He assumed Makarov had gotten the book for Mira, which explains why it was so specific on demonic take-overs.
"Wait, so you did take it over?" Gray shakes his head in shock. A demon of that strength for a first time take-over?
"Did it take you over?" Elfman softly asks and they all look at him. After all, he, a trained take-over mage, had 'killed' his own sister in his incompetence with the magic.
"No." Natsu states and looks at the painting. It brings back the old feeling of fear but also an odd level of contentment. He had succeeded, in a sense. And he hadn't lost himself. "Although it still lurks under the surface, it hasn't taken me over." He has no better explanation for it. He had searched for a reason, trying to figure out how he had managed such a feat, nothing came up but he had a few guesses. Anyone he told his insecurities to had always brushed it off and told him not to worry. It hadn't happened and that's what matters.
Lucy and Erza share a look. The idea that the demon in their friend could still take him over is terrifying. Gray missed their shared look as his gaze had drifted to the floor. If another demon ended up tearing apart his family, he wouldn't be able to take it.
But if that meant killing Natsu…
That doesn't matter, Gray affirms with a shake of his head, because Natsu won't lose to the damned thing.
The group turns to head back to the guild. It's a mostly silent journey as the group notices the newer buildings. They had hardly noticed how Magnolia had changed, and now they can't stop noticing it.
The bakery is now an antique shop, the shoe stand is now a bench. It's all different.
"Anything else you want to throw on us now?" Gray tries to sound nonchalant but the differences are astounding and he really wants the answer to be a simple no. He always thought Magnolia would just simply be Magnolia, and for it to be different puts a bad taste in his mouth.
They all feel as though they should have been there to protect their friends, their family, their home.
Sting doesn't jump for the story this time, which is odd. He had been all about educating the uneducated. All about making sure they understand the pain and misery the guild had faced in their absence. Although it partially annoyed the group, they became thankful for his bluntness. But the uncharacteristic silence puts them on edge.
"Natsu?" Lucy asks as she sees the tight look on his face. There's obviously something that they're hiding again. He has a slight frown as he tries to decide what to do and he doesn't take his eyes off the guild.
"Some time after Gratendo, we were still searching for people, not to mention clean-up and rebuilding."
"It's one thing after the other." Laxus says and it would be funny, a few of them laugh, but Nasu doesn't and Sting and Rogue are right there with him.
"Yeah." Natsu then sends a smile and it's fake. They all know it, but he's trying to not be the uncharacteristic man that they have seen more often than they'd like. "But we got a lot of help from other guilds and nearby towns. We owe a lot of people for that."
"No, we don't. You saved them and they were repaying you." Sting states and Natsu just shrugs.
"They did a lot for us."
"I agree with Sting." Rogue says and Lucy jumps at hearing his voice. He hadn't spoken ever in her presence, she partially thought he was mute.
"Shocker, Rogue." The pinkette says with a laugh and ruffles his hair. "Well, eventually we ran into issues.
Flashback
Natsu quickly got tired of the hospital. With the guild still being rebuilt, they forced him to stay in the sterile building full of other hurt people. And Natsu never thought he would miss the guild infirmary until he finds himself seldom surrounded by his family. Of course he can't blame them, they're doing their duty as Fairy Tail mages by taking care of the town, but still.
The only time he had been permitted to leave the hospital was to join the service of mourning. Everyone attended and it happened in the cathedral. Many different figures spoke, and although Natsu didn't want to, he was expected to as the person who fought and the Master of Fairy Tail.
Apparently, his speech was great and everyone was in tears, himself included, and they wanted to make a statue of him. He immediately was against it. He didn't want something like that, people still died. He didn't save everyone.
They wouldn't hear any of that. And so they made a statue.
Then, they forced him to stay in the hospital. He had left many times and tried to be out with the working people, but he was too weak to fight when people dragged him back. He even had a group of kids bring him back to the hospital (although he made it easier for them, he loves kids.) He didn't know he was so recognizable until that happened.
Bored and sitting in his empty hospital room, Natsu looked out the window towards the guild and he winced in pain from a sudden headache.
Something's wrong.
The uneasy feeling refused to leave him even though he tried to will it away. He figured it would only leave if he checked on the guild. Although he was sure everything must be alright, he knew he had to go check. Had to.
So, being Natsu, he wouldn't be able to sneak his way all the way through the town, so he found a way through force. He walks down the road, well, limps down the road with a crutch under one arm. Many people shout out to him but he's too focused to pay them any mind.
"Hey, Natsu." Lyon steps right in the way and Natsu doesn't even spare him a glance. He just keeps going but Lyon doesn't let him. "You need to get back in bed." The growl that escapes the pinkette hardly scares Lyon.
"Let me go."
"No." The response is short and Natsu's attack comes right after. Lyon tries but doesn't put up much of a fight. He's so damaged and everyone knows that and respects him greatly for what he had done. And the others who came to back up Lyon just end up the same as the ice mage. Defeated and embarrassed on how he still managed to beat them.
They underestimated the mistake of getting in the way of a guild master and their guild.
Natsu finally reaches the guild and he notices how well the rebuilding is going. They are almost done with getting rid of the damaged area and there are some spots of new wood that's crisp color stands out on the worn structure. But as he gets closer he can sense the difference in the aura. Like a sixth sense, he knows something is wrong.
Unknown to him, inside the guild members are tied to the wall with magic-restraint handcuffs. The unknown dark guild Hydra Fang had been biding its time to fulfill its goal: destroy Fairy Tail.
Erigor, the creator and master of the guild, holds his scythe up to young Sting's throat. His voice booms through the broken guild hall.
"Where is Natsu?" He pushes the blade against the young dragon slayers throat and produces a thin stream of blood. Everyone shouts in protest for the boys safety, but the look in his eyes tells them they have nothing to worry about. At least not yet.
"He won't be here for another week! And he's protected!" Sting spits in his face, "And when he comes back, Natsu-nii's gonna kick your ass!" Erigor cracks a grin.
"Oh? Natsu-nii?" He pushes the scythe more against his throat.
"Hiek!" Sting screeches as the blade draws more blood. Once again, the members shout in protest while the dark guild laughs.
"I wonder what Natsu-nii would do for you."
Right on time the guild doors are suddenly thrown open with such ferocity they're blown off their hinges. Although, they are sure it is thanks to them already being weakened from the demons attack.
"Step AWAY FROM HIM!" A voice booms and the amount of anger in it sends shivers down their spines. A voice that is typically so positive and cheerful and happy should not be able to sound so… demonic. The person it comes from has bandages covering his entire body and holds himself up with a crutch. But the dark look in his eyes makes them forget about how damaged he is.
"So this is what the mighty Salamander has come to?" Erigor scoffs at the sight of the person who defeated him. The crazed look in his eyes does not go unnoticed by Natsu.
"Who are you?" He cocks his head and the Fairy Tail members blanch at his stupidity. They assume that he knows that man, but that's just Natsu. "Whatever. Let Sting go."
"Says the guy covered in bandages." Erigor shakes his head,"I have the power right now." Natsu silently glares at the man before looking to Sting.
"Are you okay?" Natsu turns his full attention and concern to Sting. Erigor twitches at being ignored and his grip on the scythe tightens. Sting slowly gulps and flicks his eyes to the scythe before looking at Natsu. No, he wants to say but he gives the smallest nod he can manage.
"Yeah." He croaks but the wince afterwards gives him away. Natsu sighs and knows that he's at a disadvantage. A huge disadvantage.
"What do you want, Erigor." The glare he sends the wind mage scares Sting. Although it isn't directed right at him, the dragon slayer can practically feel the full force of it and it is terrifying. The idea that he wanted to defeat this mage seems like a stupid kids wish at this moment.
"I want you to suffer." He says as his grip tightens on the young boy. He had spent almost a decade surveying and studying and preparing to destroy the dragon slayer, and as a sinister smile grew on the man's face Natsu tried to stamp down the worry. "Your scarf." Sting openly gasps and the Fairy Tail members growl but Natsu just closes his eyes for a moment. "Then I'll give you the boy."
Natsu snarls as he rips the scarf from his throat. He knows where his priorities lie. Stubbornly, he drops his crutch and holds out the scarf in a clenched fist. Erigor openly laughs as he wraps his magic around the scarf and tries to bring it to him but Natsu just tightens his grip.
"Let him go." The growl is low and dangerous. It rumbles from his chest and if Sting weren't in the man's clutches, a roar would have followed right after. But he can't risk it.
As soon as Erigor throws Sting, Natsu let's the scarf go and catches the young slayer before he hits the ground. He breaks Sting's fall but when he lands wounds rip open upon the force of impact. The blood soaks the bandages and the pain once again courses through him like needles, a pain Natsu ignores. Instead, he scans the child for any more injuries. The neck injury isn't bleeding anymore but he still tears off a cleaner bandage to put on the child's neck.
"Your scarf..." Sting sniffs as he looks into Natsu's face. Although he's adequately applying the bandage, there is still a genuine smile across his lips. The man's calm demeanor just makes Sting cry even more.
"Your wound!" Bisca then yells as she sees the blood soaked bandages. Sting then leaps away from the kneeling man and tries to spot the injuries.
"I'm fine-" Natsu tries to laugh through the pain but a violent cough attacks his lungs.
"Natsu!-"
"Master!-"
"Natsu-nii!" Sting scrambles to try and help the older male but he doesn't know what to do. Natsu coughs into his hand in an attempt to silence himself, but as he coughs a warm liquid coats his palm. Damn. He pulls his hand away enough to spot the blood before clenching it and sending Sting a small smile.
"Salamander." Erigor speaks up with a tone that means nothing good. Using his hands, Natsu forces himself up onto unsteady feet. More people than Natsu would have liked notice the smear of blood.
"Is he really gonna fight?" Romeo whispers through his tears. Macao doesn't have an answer for his son as he watches Natsu regain his composure. Knowing the pinkette, he would not go down without a fight. But no one wants to see him die today. Erigor looks at the scarf in amusement. Everyone in Fiore knows of this scarf and its importance.
"Your connection to your dad. How important it must be to you." Erigor just wants to prolong the torture and tease Natsu. The pinkette bites his lip and glares at the man in front of him.
He doesn't know how he's gonna win this. But he has to.
"My family is here and they're more important than all of my connections to Igneel." Natsu spits out but at the end he sends Fairy Tail a comforting smile. It seems to wash their worries away and they realize that he has this. They don't know how he does, but they know that everything is going to be alright. And as Natsu watches their demeanor change, he becomes more determined to succeed. Erigor purses his lips in a slight pout and he narrows his eyes.
"Then this will be no fun." he blandly says and he presses his scythe up against the scaled material. Natsu's brows crease at the man's intentions but he stares right at the wind user. Erigor smirks as he sees the conflict in the young man's eyes. He twists the scythe until it creates a small but growing hole in the scarf. "But this will be." In an agonizingly slow motion he tears the scarf in two. The two never break eye contact. Although Natsu twitches with the urge to do something, he hardly moves an inch.
"Natsu..."
"Your scarf..." The guild members mourn for their guild master, because even though he puts a brave face on they know Erigor's actions hurt his heart. They know just how much that scarf means to him. They knew what it was like when someone even touched his scarf. And although he had gotten more comfortable with people over the years, he still remained very protective of it. Even in the past year, someone he didn't trust with his scarf decided to grab it and that taught everyone nearby a clear lesson.
"This is boring." The Shinigami complains and turns to a cloaked man beside him. "Nightsbane." The cloaked figure then shows the hilt of his sword as he steps forward. Natsu curses at the prospect of the fight and turns to the wall at his right. Raising his right hand he pulls it away from the wall.
"Natsu, what're you-" The pinkette ignores them all and slams his fist against the wall. He fails to bite back a gasp of pain as the cast shatters on impact. Sting jumps as parts of the cast fall down next to him.
"Sting." He says through his teeth as he bends down and whispers into the youths ear.
"Okay, Natsu-nii." He sends the pinkette a wobbly grin and wipes away his tears. As Natsu turns to face Nightsbane, the younger dragon slayer runs out the guild's doors. Natsu takes a moment to test both arms, clenching his fists and feeling how off the grip is, but it's acceptable.
"Let's get this over with." He holds up his hand in a teasing way. Natsu then walks out to stand parallel to his opponent. He manages to walk just fine and mask his limp, the only hint of pain is a slight wince when he stops. "Don't hold back, you'll hold it against yourself after you lose." He smirks cockily and everyone rolls their eyes in a collective sweatdrop.
"Salamander." The man sneers as he pulls out the pitch-black katana and holds it to his side. Natsu bends down, getting ready, but his body isn't ready. The person launches and then vanishes, smelling the air he senses the man behind him, but his body aches as he somehow manages to turn and face the man.
The sword strikes him, but he raises his arms fast enough to guard the attack. He isn't ready for the magic in the blade. Pain shoots through him, immeasurable pain, and yet... familiar pain that he had felt once before. It blankets his nerves and blinds him momentarily. A buzzing noise takes over him as he's forced to kneel over. Looking to his side, he sees the cloaked man slightly cowering to an invisible pain, the same way he is.
"Natsu!-"
"Master!-"
"Natsu-san!-"
"What the hell!?" Natsu gasps.
"This sword uses memories against a person." He begins and the pain subsides in both of them. As they get up from their experience, the man continues,"It reminds you of your pain." A warm liquid flows down the right side of Natsu's face, followed by a sharp pain, but it's dull compared to what he had just felt. As he touches it with his hand he feels the deep wound running from his temple to his lip. That's gonna scar.
"But you feel it too, don't you?" Natsu points out as he gets up,"Just physical pain? That's useless." He states but the man gains a hidden smirk.
"Loss." The man says under his breath and launches at Natsu. That was not the pain of loss. Just before Natsu is cut he sees the man's sneer and a feeling of foreboding floods him.
Igneel leaving him, the feeling flashes through his mind, and as an afterthought he's reminded of his scarf. The sadness of his memory goes through him once more and blankets him in the feeling. One tear falls but he hardly notices it. This- he grits his teeth and stabs his hand into a chest wound. Blood seeps out of the wound at a faster rate but the physical pain keeps him grounded.
"This-" he gets up and looks at the bent over man. "This is a memory," he looks down at him with a forced smile, "just a memory." He walks towards him and grabs the tip of the blade. His blood drips down the blade and seeps through his fingers but it's nothing compared to what he's faced.
"Wha-" The man opens his eyes in shock before the next wave of emotions cloud his mind. The feeling of guilt having not been able to save Lisanna the day she 'died' makes him get choked up. But he gets through it, he squeezes the sword harder. Anger builds up in him, anger at himself for being unable to do anything else for the people he left on Tenrou. Guilt for leaving them. Loss for them being gone. "I-I can't!" The cloaked man screams. "This is too much!" Natsu steals the sword and catches a familiar scent which makes him smile. Taking the sword in hand he turns to the dark guild, having defeated its 'ace'.
"Let's go, uh..." he turns to Erigor who just snarls.
"Hydra Fang." Erigor commands and they get in their battle stances.
"Lets go, Hydra Fang." The members launch at him as he finishes and he begins slicing them down. The negative emotions build up in him at each slice, and he feels it corroding his mental state. Helplessness: Seeing Erza go into the lacrima in Tower of Heaven. Heart break: Lisanna's death, his only true friend at the time. Repeat. The emotions repeat but the memories change. It becomes almost too painful as he relives the feelings, but he doesn't slow down as he cuts his opponents, because he has a mission in mind: hold them off. And if he's too magically exhausted, then he can act as Erza for a battle, he's fought her enough to know a few tricks.
Finally completing what his guild master had ordered him to do, Sting watches his guild get to work and save their hot-headed master from his own stupidity. They attack Hydra Fang with their might and fury while Natsu's forced to pause his attack by Alzack and Bisca.
"Hey Natsu." Bisca waves his hand in front of the pinkettes face.
"He's out cold." Alzack points out and she shakes her head. The gunners then notice that the pinkette is speaking and they lean closer to the younger fire mage.
"Just memories, just memories, just memories..." They look at each other, remembering the cloaked mages explanation about the swords abilities.
"We're taking him back to the hospital." Bisca announces much to everyone else's joy, but the fire mage struggles against them.
"I won't leave my family." He mumbles. He's so physically and mentally exhausted he fought in a half-lucid state. The duo just sighs at their master's stubbornness.
"We beat them. You need to go to a hospital." The pinkette looks up, his eyes glazed-over. "Lets go, you're the guild master. You're not supposed to be so crazy." Natsu blinks a few times and his eyes clear slightly.
"Ahh, that's your fault for appointing me as guild master." He gives a loopy smile and they laugh as they drag him back to the hospital. They see mages from other guilds and look at them in anger. When the mages spot Natsu's state, they run over in shock and worry
"Weren't you keeping an eye on him?" Alzack asks and the murder in their eyes makes everyone freeze.
"People tried, he beat all of them on a gut feeling that you guys were in trouble. If we faced him there would just be more people needing medical attention." A person says before helping to move a large piece of wood with another person. A smile graces their lips as they look down at the pinkette who's acting like he's drunk. This guy's in charge of us... what are we gonna do?
Present
Natsu keeps walking before noticing that the small group following him had stopped. He turns around to see Happy now buried in Lucy's chest and the blond barely holding back tears. Mira is right there with Lucy in trying to act strong for her brother but he can see right through her. Everyone else seems frozen in shock and Natsu just raises his brow at them.
"Luce, are you okay?" He asks as he walks back towards the group. They seem to have huddled in a form of comfort so Natsu relatively keeps his distance. She sniffs and looks at him with red rimmed eyes.
"Is it still ripped?" He snorts at the question and assumes that is what concerns her the most. But his short laugh just makes Lucy's stressed face become tighter with worry.
"Luce, you don't need to worry 'bout that." He says with another short laugh before turning to go back to the guild. As he steps forward, a light tug is the only warning he gets before the scarf is carefully pulled from his neck. The cool breeze hits him in few ways it had done before and Natsu clenches his jaw to force himself to not immediately turn on his family.
Slowly, he turns to face them and sees the scaled material cradled in Erza's palms. She's careful with it and the pinkette is thankful for that. He should have expected the thief to be Erza, although he would have accepted Lucy as well.
She runs her gauntlet along the blackened and torn material, stitched together not quite sloppily, but they can tell the person wasn't entirely sure how to do it with such a unique material. It isn't the same. Mira and Lucy peer over her shoulders and the four males try to seem uninterested but they sneak peaks of their own.
"Why is it black?" Erza asks and the look she sends Natsu means business. He can't get out of this interrogation so easily.
"I don't know. Erigor knew what he was doing, I guess." The pinkette says with a shrug before clasping his hands behind his head in either a show of comfort or discomfort with the situation. When Natsu raises his arms, Gray notices a new scar that starts at the base of the slayers neck and disappears into his shirt. The ice mage doesn't say anything but he makes eye contact with Gajeel and knows they are thinking the same thing.
That scar doesn't look good. And it doesn't match with the story.
Sting and Rogue watch the group from afar. Rogue tries to comfort his close friend but Sting hardly notices through his guilt.
He hadn't seen a reaction like this to something he had always been told was a small thing - that was how Natsu had decided to comfort him and the guild apparently just went along with it out of respect. But then again, they had only told him that after the incident. He trusted the guild members, but this genuine reaction means that he was right all along.
This scarf never changed in importance and has always been a large part of Natsu's heart. And this is his fault.
"I'm sorry, Master." Sting speaks up and they all look at him. Natsu crosses his arms and looks down at Sting. His response is typically between it's not your fault or don't worry about it. Both of which do nothing to calm the storm of guilt in the young slayer's heart.
Natsu purses his lips and screws up his face in thought. After a heavy exhale through his nose, Sting knows what he's going to hear and braces himself for the familiar words. But Natsu just shakes his head and a small smile graces his lips.
"You're acting like Igneel died with the scarf, Sting." Sting blinks for a moment, confused at the new response and a blush spreads across his cheeks in embarrassment. The entire group is just silently staring at him and Sting feels like a child in front of his old role models. "It's just a scarf." He says and walks towards Erza before putting his hand out. She hesitates for a moment before finally giving the male back his signature item. He wraps it securely around his neck and turns back to Sting. "I keep it as bait now." He admits and Gray narrows his eyes at the pinkette.
"Bait?" The ice mage bites. There's no way in hell that's true. He had taken it from the slayer when they were children, and all Gray had done was fake blow his nose with it.
He had yet to believe Natsu was raised by a dragon. He thought the scarf was for show.
He will never admit Natsu ever beat him in a fight, but after that stunt Gray had never touched the scarf again. Between the beating he got and the lost boy's mental breakdown, Gray fully came to understand the scarf's importance.
There's no way it became less valuable over the years. No. Way.
"When dark guilds target me, they target my scarf." Natsu rolls his eyes at that as if it were a joke they're all supposed to join in on.
"Bullshit." Gajeel snarls and Natsu turns to the other slayer. Before Natsu can retort, a voice calls him from down the street.
"Natsu-kun!" Is that you? An older woman asks and the group peers around Natsu to see the small lady.
"Marie-san!" He sends her a bright smile and seems to completely ignore the group for a moment. She's just an adorable old lady with a nice clean bun that she somehow balances on her head even though it's the size of a bowling ball.
"Just Marie is fine." She scolds him but her exasperated tone gives away the fact that her words are falling on deaf ears as they have many times before. "Come here." He bends down slightly but she swiftly taps him on the head with her small cane. It isn't a harsh attack, but Natsu purses his lips in slight pain and confusion.
"Ow."
"Matches my new rosy pink apron." The tease is clear and the group chuckles at the guild master's plight.
"You got a salmon apron? That's odd." They both then smile at each other and Marie taps his side with her cane.
"Move, move, I want to see your friends." He obeys her with a chuckle and she gets a sparkle in her eyes upon seeing them. "I'm Marie, and you are?"
"They're some of the Tenrou group." Natsu responds for them and she immediately sends him a small glare.
"Aki won't be happy." Natsu then sighs and runs a hand through his hair.
"I know." He says with a sigh and steps out of the conversation as Erza steps in.
"Hello, Marie-san, I am Erza Scarlet."
"Oh, I know who you are, dear."
"You do?" The scarlet mage asks in slight concern. She would recognize this woman had they met before.
"I've lived in Magnolia for quite some time. You stopped this rascal from burning my bushes once." The kind smile on her face sends Erza a nice grandmotherly feeling. "And you're Gray. My, how much you've grown," she says as she slightly hobbles over to the ice mage. "I hope you're still clear headed."
"Of course." He immediately responds and she laughs at him before turning to Laxus.
"You weren't a troublemaker. You're Ivan's son, right? Luke?" Laxus sighs at the older woman before nodding.
"Laxus." He says gruffly and the old woman laughs.
"I'm glad that you have matured, Laxus dear." She says and the lightning mage has a feeling that she knew his name all along. That would explain her relating him to Ivan rather than his grandfather. "Come, come, I'm sure Aki would love to see you." She says and continues through the group and down the street. Natsu fidgets for a moment before sighing and following after her. He begins to converse with the old woman and the group hesitantly follows after.
"I'm going back." Laxus says and turns to the guild. After a moment, Gajeel does the same. They all watch the duo branch off, not too surprised by the development. Mira flicks her eyes to her anxious brother before nudging his arm.
"We should finish packing." He says and Mira sends him an understanding smile before turning towards their home. The group looks to Natsu and sees he had hardly watched the interaction, far more interested in his conversation with the old woman.
A/N: Oh look how much longer these are!
Okay, anyone else get confused with Legacy Story Stats? Like, for example, there may be 20 views on chapter 10, and then 40 on chapter 11. Who jumped chapter 10? Why would you do that? Was it a waste of time? Did they just assume nothing important happened? Am I just stupid?
Well, thank you all so very much! I don't know if I've said this, but you all are the pack I always return to. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Til next time, see ya!