Natsu knew he was alive, the pain he felt throughout his body was the only proof he needed, he pricked his ears hoping to gather as much information as possible, he needed to know which of the cycles of hell he was in.
He expected to hear the screams of pain of the poor souls who were tortured in that place, the sick laughter of their torturers, the sound of the butchers feeding on what was left, but he was surprised, the only thing he could hear was the rain.
The more time he spent awake, the more his pain subsided, and the sensations returned to his body, Natsu did not feel cold, or the rainwater wetting his body, he was lying on a soft surface, a blanket kept him warm, with a slight surprise he realized that he was practically naked, only a tight cloth covered his bottom.
There were two people standing by his side, both were men, but they were very different from each other, one emanated an overwhelming power, which invoked in his mind images of stars, and meteors, Natsu was surprised, he did not expect to find a Star Lord in the mortal world, the other man was clearly a demon, emanating from the depths of his soul, the icy winds that swept the cocytos.
Two other people were close, though too distant to be able to discover what they were.
Natsu opened his eyes, and was faced with a white ceiling
"It looks like he woke up Jellal." The demon approached the bed. "I will warn the girls." Without waiting for an answer, he ran for the door.
Natsu forced his weakened body to obey him, and even though every move he made was extremely painful, he managed to stay seated, after his head stopped spinning, looked around, he was in a small room, with walls painted white, in there was a dark wooden wardrobe on one wall, and beside the bed a desk of the same color, standing by the closed door, was the man who had stayed behind, the one who was staring at him coldly.
He looked young, around twenty-five, but being a lord of the stars, he might as well have been over five hundred, he was tall and strong, with blue hair that went up to his chin, a red mark took the right half of his face, outlined one of his blue eyes, which looked like two stones of ice.
"Can you hear me?" Despite speaking calmly, each of his words was filled with violence, Natsu looked at him. "Good, I have a warning for you." Golden energy began to emanate from his entire body, spreading across the room. "Two people are coming to this room, the moment you do anything to threaten them, I will kill you. "
Natsu resisted the urge to laugh, but before he could say anything, the door opened, the black-haired demon entered, followed by a redheaded valkyrie.
When the last woman walked through the door, Natsu had to struggle to prevent his surprise from appearing, she was beautiful, golden hair that fell to her waist, dark brown eyes, and a defined body that was breathtaking, but what surprised him was not her beauty, but what she was, one of the few Princesses of the zodiac, direct descendants of the King of heavenly spirits.
Their eyes met, and her face went completely red, but she didn't look away.
"Where's my armor?" In the end it was he who broke contact, now he was facing the Lord of the stars, and as if he had remembered that detail at that moment he asked. " Why am I naked? "
"You have been unconscious for almost three days." The Valkyrie answered it, who approached the bed. "Your armor, as well as your clothes were filthy, and starting to stink, so we needed to take them off."
"I understand, but I would appreciate, if you could return them."
"Unfortunately we can't." The princess of the zodiac approached, her voice soft and melodious, seemed to dominate everything and everyone in the room. "We will keep your armor safe, and far away, until we determine if we can trust you."
"I see." Natsu leaned against the headboard, ignoring the twinge of pain that ran through his back. "Where am I?"
Two things were going through Lucy's head, one was the image she had upon entering the room, of a very handsome man sitting on the bed, with a muscular chest showing, and the other was the fact that he seemed to have nerves of steel, he was in a tiny room, with three of the most powerful people in the city, probably from the Kingdom, but he remained calm, as if he were talking to children.
"You're in Magnolia, Fiore." Lucy pulled the chair from the desk, and sat down, Erza stopped behind her, one hand on the backside of the chair. "You fell from the sky, and almost killed us in the process, so we brought you to my home. "A twinge of guilt passed over his face so quickly that Lucy was sure that only she could tell." Who are you? "
The stranger hesitated for a few minutes, but finally he settled on the bed and looked at everyone at the same time.
"My name is Natsu, destroyer of darkness, the flame of God, commander of the Fire legion." Lucy felt a shiver run down her spine when she recognized his posture, she had seen the master use it many times, back and shoulders straight chin up as if he was ready to face any threat, she was sure that if he were standing, he would have his feet apart and his hands behind his back, it was the posture of a soldier, of a commander used to being obeyed.
"And I'm Odin." Gray approached the other side of the bed, disbelief plastered on his face. "Did you hit your head too hard when you fell? or are you just an idiot? "
Lucy wanted to yell at Gray, she didn't know what was worse, the fact that he was looking for a fight with a bedridden man, or someone who was definitely very dangerous, who had fallen from the sky in a fireball, wearing the best armor Erza had seen all her life, practically unharmed, she looked at Natsu, worried about his reaction, but he looked more confused than angry.
"I don't think I hit my head in the fall, and although I have no idea what 'idiot' means." His eyes went hard, and Lucy could have sworn she saw flames swirl around them. "I'm absolutely sure that you are not Lord Odin, the last time i Saw the all father, he was still an old one-eyed man who liked to poke random strangers with a legendary weapon. "
Erza was so surprised that she ended attracting the attention of everyone in the room, Jellal approached her, put a hand on her shoulder, and shook her slightly, but the Valkyrie did not come out of her shock.
"Erza, what happened? Are you alright?" Lucy was getting worried about her friend, it wasn't always that Erza froze in surprise.
"I'm fine Lucy, I'm sorry to worry you." Erza looked at Natsu, with mixed emotions in her eyes, Lucy could recognize the remnants of surprise, a little fear, hope, and suspicion. "You said your name is Natsu, isn't it? " He nodded in confirmation. "Natsu, have you met Lord Odin?"
His eyes lost focus, as if he was lost in his memory, a wistful smile appeared on his face, and Lucy felt her heart stop, then quickly accelerate.
"Yes, during my life I met him many times, one of the most powerful Gods I met, I once challenged him to a duel, just to test my strength, and he ended up with me so quickly and in such a way that I woke up only a year later, unable to remember what happened. "He lifted the blanket enough to show his thigh, where there was a thin scar." From what I was told, this is where he nailed Gungnir, before punching me so hard that he sent me from Asgard to Niflheim. "
Erza went pale, and if it weren't for Jellal's hand on her shoulder, she would have fallen to the floor.
"No ... it's ... possible, that means you're ødeleggeren"
"Erza, what's going on? Do you know him? and Odin is not your patron God? " Erza looked at her friend, and took a deep breath, trying to contain her emotions.
"You ask a lot of questions, Lucy." She smiled, and Lucy breathed more easily. "Yes, Odin is the patron god of all Valkyries, and no Lucy, this is the first time I've seen Natsu." She looked at Natsu with a new respect, and even a little bit of fear."Among the Nordics, the legend of ødeleggeren, the destroyer, a man who defied Lord Odin, is passed, although the destroyer lost, he was able to strike a blow that almost killed the all father."
"I didn't know that." Natsu looked surprised, but he smiled a little proudly. "How's Odin? it's been almost seven hundred years since I last saw him. "
"He disappeared, four hundred years ago."
A thought came to Lucy's head, Natsu had fought Odin, seven hundred years ago, but no young Mystic would have the ability to challenge a chief God.
"Natsu, how old are you?" Natsu was surprised by the question, just like everyone else, he closed his eyes, and his brow furrowed, as if trying to remember.
"I was born a little after the Creator finished his work, so around 4 billion years ago." Lucy felt her jaw drop, lying on her bed of guests was one of the oldest people she had met. "I'm not sure of the exact number, after the first million, it is very boring to count. "
"Unbelievable." Even in the world they lived in, the only Mystics who could claim to be older than Natsu were the gods and goddesses spread across the various factions. "What are you Natsu?"
"I am one of the Creator's warriors, created by him to fight 'The Enemy', and to ensure the safety of his creation." He looked at each one gathered in the room, and noticed their confusion. "I believe the word that they used was Angel. "
""""WHAT?""""