Fairy Tail has ended. Feels a little weird because I've been reading it since the beginning and now it's finished. Did you guys feel satisfied with the ending (if you've read the manga)?
I try to upload weekly! If you have any question message me, I try to reply all the time!
This story will still be going on even after the end, so I hope you stay interested in it.
Chapter 19: The First Attacks...
It had been a total of three days that had passed since Natsu and Lucy entered the outer ring of the Moutain Range.
In those three days, they had collected more than fifty Magical Beast crystals at the third rank or more. They had also stockpiled hundreds of non-lethal berries, which had been found the hard way as Happy seemed to each everything edible, and managed not to get injured by any weak beast attacks.
It was now early morning; the sky, painted with golds and oranges, gently faded to become blue. Natsu and Lucy were always awake at this time, while Happy slept a little longer.
Natsu hopped down from the branch that he had perched on for the last three nights. Tonight he and Lucy, along with Happy, would be half way to the outer ring and middle ring border. That was if no problems popped up, or they walked slower than usual.
"I feel as if I have not spoken to you in a long time, boy," Dezeus' rough voice filled Natsu's head, slightly startling the salmon-haired teenager. "I am also very aware that you have not trained in the destruction element for a rather long time."
"Yeah, I had a few questions about that," Natsu picked up the sword, hooking it onto the strap on his back. "Recently, it's been hard to feel any destruction in the area. When I look around the only damage particles I see are the ones in Happy and in me, but not in anyone else. They are not even on the ground which is stupid because there have been several earthquakes."
He heard Dezeus murmuring slightly, too hushed to make out any words, but still a murmur, "The girl does not have a single ounce of destruction in her?"
"Dezeus! That's beside the point," Natsu yelled back gruffly, still sleep deprived of the night before.
"The reason you cannot feel any of the destruction particles is that she is blocking them - unintentionally, of course - but, nevertheless she is. She takes them in and changes them to light energy," Dezeus grumbled, "That is what her kind do..." he added faintly at the end, thinking that Natsu couldn't hear.
"Her kind? She's human, what are you talking about?" Natsu inquired, his brain slightly overloading with all the riddles-like sentences Dezeus said.
He waited several seconds for a reply, but none came. He huffed, feeling anger bubble inside his stomach.
Lucy appeared from the coverage of the bushes, now changed into new clothes that they washed at a near by stream. Natsu still had no top, and he didn't feel a problem with it at all, but Lucy had argued with him that he needed to find a new top or at least cover up himself.
"I have a theory," Dezeus began, he seemed to be in a broad chain of thought. "She may be being targetted because of who her father is."
"That is plausible," Natsu nodded his head slightly, making Lucy stare at him in wonder because she didn't see his mouth move.
He didn't get a reply for the powerful spirit, so he walked towards Lucy. He was prepared to go and move towards the boundary of the outer and middle ring, but Lucy was still slightly against it.
Having only been in the forest a few days, she felt like something was off. At all turns her and Natsu took, she felt like there was a presence watching them; stalking them. Like they were harmless animals, prey, and that the stalker was worked animal, ready to have its fill.
Happy also felt the presence, and he enlarged himself to the size of a fully grown panther to try and scare the enemy off. Happy's correct size was unknown because he was always changing how he looked, and his power was steadily increasing and growing at an alarming rate.
"Are we ready to go?" Natsu pumped his fist into the air, giving off a small grin.
"We should stop by a stream to get clean water, and also collect some herbs and fruits," Lucy stated, counting off things that the group needed on her fingers. "Maybe gather the meat for tonight along the way, but, apart from that, we should be all good!"
Lucy let out a long sigh, smiling a little as she picked up her bag.
"Alright, alright," Natsu placed a rough hand on the top of her head, ruffling her blonde locks a little. "After all, you're in charge of keeping us all healthy."
The trio slowly began moving through the forest's outer ring. The sound of fallen twigs and dry leaves crunching beneath their feet seemed to be much quieter than usual.
Natsu could barely sense any Magical Beasts; the few he could sense scattered out of the range of his wind magic before he could deem them a threat.
Happy stalked along beside Lucy, his large paws creating prints on the ground. His large eyes gazed at his surroundings, carefully surveying the area.
The three moved with caution, unaware of the enemy that walked alongside them...
"What do you mean they've gone, you big oaf?" Gajeel stared down at Lisanna's daggered eyes that could probably cut his throat. "They were not supposed to leave until Gray and Juvia do!"
The large boy clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, his sharp eyes portraying his annoyance. But the white haired girl didn't mind, in fact, she seemed unfazed by them.
"Listen," Gajeel said in a rough voice, tapping on the door that his right hand held. "Blondie and that flame freak left a few days ago, and Gray and Juvia left after that. They did what they said they were gonna' do, I ain't got a problem with that."
"Of course you don't," Lisanna seethed angrily, tapping her foot against the floor. "You are just a bumpkin from a low-class family; you must be used to people leaving."
Gajeel growled like an animal, his red eyes flickering madly. He flung open the wooden door, and as he stepped out onto the corridor, he slammed it behind him. Lisanna backed away from him.
"I understand you miss him," Gajeel spoke slowly, his words dripping with venom. "I guess you love him, and that you want him. But, bring my family into this again, and I'll cut your legs from under you."
Lisanna gulped and nodded, before dashing off down the corridor and up the stairs to her room.
His room door opened from behind him, and a small, blue-haired girl, wearing orange glasses and holding a tome in her hand, came out. She had a side bag on her, filled with rations and money and a few sets of clothes.
"Was threatening her necessary?" Levy asked, peering up from behind the magical tome. "I don't think it was."
"She'll never talk about my family again though," Gajeel replied gruffly, walking into the room and picking up his bag.
The two began to walk down the corridor, taking their time as Levy wanted to read and walk. Gajeel was in charge of making sure she didn't bump into anyone, or walk into a wall, or possibly fall down the stairs.
When she was about to do one of these things, he'd grab her collar and lightly tug her to his side, and then he'd push her back out and let go of her collar. It was a simple yet effective idea of his.
Until he was the one to bump into somebody.
After walking down to the first floor, Gajeel had been too busy making sure Levy didn't crash into anyone that he went and crashed into an insanely annoying face.
"Gajeel," he looked down at the sixteen, or seventeen, year old wearing a formal shirt along with a suit vest.
"Bora," Gajeel grunted back, glaring down at the male.
"Where is Juvia, I wanted to apologise to her and see if she'd take me back," Bora sneered, not wanting to talk to the rough boy in front of him.
Gajeel grabbed Bora collar, lifting him into the air like a ragdoll, but he wasn't the one to threaten or even utter a word to Bora. Instead, he was the muscle power, used to scare Bora, who was weak from his last fight with an older student.
"She has gone," Levy said, her eyes seething with anger that this man was so ignorant. "She's gone with Gray to train because she's only a third rank, and she does not want to see you. Again."
Gajeel dropped the man on his ass, accidentally kicking him along the way.
Bora only smiled, "I wonder if that Assassin has told Lucy I said 'hi' yet."
Natsu took a deep breath.
It took a split second for him and Lucy to be separated by a Magical Beast, but it took a little more than that to realise the person that had been following them had tamed that beast.
How he, Lucy and Happy had got into this situation was beyond Natsu's comprehension. He had ruled out a kidnapping, and also ruled out some bartering or threatening from the Assassin. So, therefore, in his mind, he ruled out that this was to spark a fire in Lucy's father.
Maybe some revenge, Natsu thought to himself, as he jumped out of the way of the Magical Beast's mighty claw.
The beast was part of the dragon family. If the head shape of the dragon didn't give that away, then the large wings and chunky legs with thick, overgrown razors on its feet must be a giveaway.
Happy jumped up onto the beasts head and began to scratch away at it like he was dulling his claws on a large boulder. Happy couldn't break through the tough, bull-tinted scales of the beast, then swiped at its beady yellow eyes instead.
While the dragon was occupied, Natsu took a chance. He could glimpse Lucy fighting the stranger, but because the dragon was so huge, he wasn't able to jump over it.
He began his run around the dragon, unlatching his sword and stopping at the dragon's hind legs. He took the blade and started forcing it through the scales, which Happy couldn't break through, and slowly they began to crack.
He pulled the sword up again and then thrust it back down with all his strength, releasing an unruly yell of annoyance. Again, and again, and again until the scales broke and Natsu plunged his sword into the flesh of the beast.
Meanwhile, all Lucy could hear was the sound of her blood pumping around her body in her ears.
She was glaring at the masked man, but she could feel his heated stare and sinister grin. She was already prepped for her first attack.
It wasn't anything fancy or flashy, but she needed to give herself some time to think of a plan of action. She raised one hand and muttered some words. The cloaked figure watched her and began laughing.
"Your first spell - the game changer spell - and it didn't work?" The mans laugh echoed, bouncing around the empty woods.
"Who said it didn't work?" Lucy smirked.
She had held back her magic long enough that when she released her first attack, the light was blinding. The man scrambled covering his eyes and cursing Lucy loudly.
She then raised her hands again, this time she began slowly floating in the sky.
The man was still in shock from the blinding light and didn't notice, that below his feet, Lucy had started working on a magical circle that sapped away his energy and gave it to her.
It was a powerful attack that had taken her months to hone and years to learn. Light magic could give power to others and heal their wounds, but in some cases, it can be reversed to provide the light magic user energy.
The only two downfalls to her attack were that it was a slightly slower process than healing, and also only worked on someone weaker than her, the same rank as her, or one rank above her.
It did not affect this man.
Natsu watched as the dragon writhed in agony, then nodded to Happy, "You finish up here!"
Natsu jumped over the slumped dragon, beads of sweat ran down his face and dripped onto its scales. He looked at Lucy, who sends multiple spikes of light infused with wind spikes towards the man, slightly cutting and scratching him.
Natsu took this chance, and raise his sword above his head. He jumped from the dragon's body and yelled while slicing downwards. The man turned his attention to Natsu, who fell a few feet away from him with his sword level with his waist.
"You overestimated yourself." With that, the man opened his hand with a quick snap, and a ball of darkness hit Natsu in his gut.
"Or did I," the masked figure felt the wind being knocked from his lungs, and he was flung back against a tree. "Ignis!"
A ball of golden falls flew at high speed towards the man. He raised his arms into a cross and took the hit of the destruction magic.
Natsu kept his sword and his ears alert, but swiftly moved in front of Lucy. He watched as the figure raised from the smoke to reveal two burns on both his forearms and black, greasy hair that hung just above his eyebrows.
"That was sneaky, kid. Using the Truths of The Elements before reaching saint level. I wonder who taught you that." The man coated his arms in black, and it was gas-like with hints of purple, "Let's see how you do against this."
"We don't have to see," Natsu said, watching as colour slowly faded from the man. "I knew you were a rank seven since we started fighting, and didn't want to take any chances. So while Lucy was attacking you, I created a magical ring of my own, seeing as we're not far apart regarding rank."
"Then all you had to do was hit me into it, and bam!" The man hit his chest with two arms, "I start to waste away in your destruction circle."
The man's clothes fell to the ground because of how skinny he had gotten from the destruction ring. He raised an arm in front of his face, looking at his pale skin that began to turn grey.
"Be prepare for the hazing Bora has for you..."