Disclaimer: The following story is a fan made work of fiction. Fairy Tail and Mahou Sensei Negima! are owned and written by Hiro Mashima and Ken Akamatsu respectively. Please support their official releases.
Chapter 2
Trouble in the Woods
Asuna cried out in pain as a demon's bladed weapon drew a thin line of blood across her left shoulder. The horrid being's pig-like snout curved in ecstasy, snarling in joy as it licked the freshly blooded weapon.
There was only one way Asuna could respond.
"Get off of me, you sick monster!" Asuna screamed with all of her might. The orange-haired girl swung her magic canceling fan as the scream tore through her throat, putting the full force of her anger and pain behind the strike. The blow caught the demon across its toothy mouth and dispelled its summoning magic, sending it back to whatever demonic plane it called home.
The young teen gave a snort of satisfaction. She might not possess Setsuna's wondrous grace or Negi's overpowered magic, but what Asuna lacked in skill she made up for with sheer determination.
Still, Asuna could not help but feel worn out. She and Setsuna had been battling the demons for almost fifteen minutes straight and the non-stop movement was starting to take its toll. No amount of physical education training or after school sports could have prepared her for this marathon of a fight. Her breaths came hard, and she had to clutch a hand to her shoulder as the wound flared with pain.
Asuna stumbled backwards in the pool of shallow water that covered the ground. A blistering curse left her lips as she felt the cool water begin to soak her clothes. The shallow water covering this area was making it difficult to fight. What had initially been an annoyance was quickly turning into a mud-filled nightmare.
Steadying herself by thrusting her fan into the ground, Asuna caught a glimpse of Setsuna to her side. The black-haired teen's sword was a blur as it slashed out to her left and decapitated a nearby demon. The creature's body disappeared as its summoning spell was broken by the swordswoman's magic.
Breathing heavily, Setsuna had a wide-eyed look of confusion on her face. Seeing it did not make Asuna feel any better. Asuna was the novice in all of this magic stuff and being confused by it was her new normal. But Setsuna was an expert in this sort of thing. If even she did not know what was going on then they were probably in serious trouble.
"Hey, Setsuna-san, what gives?" Asuna called out to the other girl. "A minute ago these guys were weirdo perverts, chasing me around, trying to rip my skirt off. Then something changed and now they're trying to rip my head off!"
"I do not know, Asuna-san. I have never encountered something like this in all my time as a Shinmei-Ryu swordsman," Setsuna replied. "I have encountered both perverted demons, and demons with an insatiable lust for blood, but never have I seen one turn into the other with such unnatural suddenness."
The black-haired teen's confused gaze narrowed as she spoke. It soon settled into an icy calm that Asuna had never before seen on the other girl's face. Setsuna's breathing slowed as her gaze sharpened, and in moments it was like the girl had never even been fighting in the first place. Were it not for the fact that they were still surrounded, and that Setsuna's once pristine uniform was ripped and torn in places, Asuna might have sworn that to be the case the case.
Maybe it was because the other girl was used to this sort of thing but Asuna was still unable to catch her breath at all. Even with the pause they had just bought for themselves by killing those last two demons could not calm her racing heart. Her hands shook with energy and Asuna could feel her heart pounding inside her chest.
To make matters worse she couldn't stop herself from thinking about Konoka and Negi. Asuna and Setsuna were just buying time for their young teacher to reach Konoka. The two of them had chosen to fight these demons so that the brat could race ahead and get to Konoka faster.
Meanwhile Asuna and Setsuna had no way of knowing if that had been the right idea. For all they knew Negi could be close to reaching Konoka that very moment and this fight would be over in seconds. Or, knowing their terrible run of bad luck, Negi had run into that weird white-haired boy again. In which case the kid was probably fighting for his tiny little life while she and Setsuna were stuck and unable to reach him.
"Dammit!" Asuna cursed to herself. If that was actually happening then the boy had better be victorious. Because if Negi screwed up and got them all killed, then as sure as hell had fire Asuna would haunt his for eternity. She had allowed the kid to bring them all out here. She had put her trust in him to save their friend. If the worst did happen, and that damn brat did get them all killed, then haunting his minuscule ass for eternity would be only the beginning of her revenge.
"Ah. I think that I understand what happened."
The sound of Setsuna's voice brought Asuna's increasingly angry line of thought to a screeching halt. The other girl understood something? Huh? Had Setsuna been talking this entire time? Dammit. Asuna really did need to pay better attention when the smart people were speaking.
Blushing furiously to herself, Asuna started listening what the other girl was saying.
"Thinking back, Asuna-san, I did feel something happen a short time ago. Some sort of magical resonance shortly before the change occurred. Its appearance coincided with the enemy's change in demeanor. Although it is just conjecture at this point, it is my guess that the resonance I felt has caused this change within our opponents. Although I myself feel unchanged. It is most curious, especially considering my own... situation."
Asuna blinked in confusion. Most of what the other girl said had gone over her head. Setsuna's speech had sounded smart and probably would have meant something to Negi, but Asuna was not him. She was still just a newbie when it came to magic. One who was constantly in over her head as well. The one certain thing she had picked up was that it was best to just go with the flow and hit things until it all worked out
"I don't get it," Asuna said, and she meant every word. "But basically, uh, something happened and now they're different, right?"
Setsuna nodded. "Correct, Asuna-san. Furthermore, unless I am completely off and there are other factors involved as well, the resonance has also made these demons more powerful."
"Great! That's just what we need right now. On top of some crazy sorceress kidnapping Konoka, a super powerful little emo boy who can turn people to stone, and Negi leaving us to go fight the emo boy, we now have a bunch of powered-up demons that want to kill us!" Asuna threw her hands into the air, almost losing her grip on her fan as she gestured emphatically. "Fantastic!"
"Indeed. I hope that sensei is not running into similar entanglements on his end. Otherwise, things might prove to be too much even for him."
Setsuna looked to be just as worried as Asuna felt. Yet the other girl's eyes never stopped roving the enemy's lines, just as her battle stance never wavered in the slightest.
"But sensei will have to deal with the enemy on his own. I hate to say it, Asuna-san, but we may be in trouble. Our foes still have us surrounded despite the losses we inflicted in the earlier engagement. And although I do not know why, they seem content to let us make the first move. Perhaps this too was part of their plan. Rather than it being us who are keeping them here, it may be they who are keeping us here."
That thought caused Asuna's stomach to flip. Then her determination to save her friend came roaring back, taking control of her emotions in a burst of adrenaline. Screw the magical resonance crap. That could be worried over later. This was only another fight, little different than chasing off schoolyard bullies, and that was something Asuna knew how to handle.
She conveniently ignored the fact that most schoolyard bullies were neither ten foot tall monsters, nor said bullies usually in possession of equally large and sharp bladed weapons.
Asuna gripped her fan with both hands tightly and gave Setsuna a fierce grin. "If that's the case then let's change things up and take the fight to them. Just follow my lead and be ready to act."
Setsuna gave a quick nod of assent, and Asuna turned her gaze back to the demons. She looked around, searching the enemy's lines for someone to go after.
When you wanted to start a fight, picking your initial target was the most important part. You had to pick someone who was stupid, or someone who was quick to anger. Best of all was if you could find someone who was both an idiot and quick to anger. That would make things into a piece of cake.
After looking over the ranks of demons surrounding her and Setsuna, Asuna felt that she had found a target. She lowered her fan in the demon's direction and raised her voice to taunt him.
"Hey spit-face! I see you looking at me. Yeah, you, the ugly one who looks like a pile of rotting bacon. You want a piece of this? You want my blood and flesh? Well too bad! All you'll ever get is a peek, because a coward like you isn't tough enough to take me down."
Her little speech ended, Asuna used her free hand to pull down the lower half of her eyelid as she jeered at the enemy. When taunting someone, especially when it was someone male or older than her, adding a little physical insult to the taunt usually made it a sure fire hit.
The demon in question grinned nastily at Asuna's remarks. Sharp yellow tusks jutted out from cracked lips as bloody rivulets joined the drool. The massive monster was wielding a spike club covered in dirt, and its mismatched armor could have come from the junk pile of a medieval European museum. It started to lumber towards her in a slow, thumping charge.
Oh, gross! Asuna could not help but be disgusted as the creature began to move towards her position. She knew that she and Setsuna could handle the beast, but the more she looked at it the more Asuna just wanted it to go away. The thing looked like Chamo's inner self. It was a demon Chamo! Unfortunately, Asuna did not have time to dwell upon this sudden realization.
Moving as one, the entire group of demons charged the two girls in absolute silence. It was broken only by the jangle of weapons and armor, and the splash of water beneath their deformed feet. Asuna grit her fan tight. With a scream that tore through her throat, she and Setsuna met the charge with one of their own.
The battle was on.
Asuna caught spit-face under his jaw with her fan. The magical tool nullified the demon's power and sent the creature back to the demonic plane in an instant.
To her side, Setsuna slashed the pig man's snake faced partner and the two demon's behind it with a single cut. The special techniques of the Shinmei-Ryu sword style cut a swath of destruction through the enemy's lines with every slash of her blade. The other girl's strength was unreal, but there was no time to admire it. The next group of demons was hot on the heels of the first group.
Asuna slammed her fan onto the outstretched arm of a tentacle demon with a powerful downward blow, drawing a silent roar of pain from its lips as the creature disappeared. Continuing the downward strike and gaining momentum as she did, Asuna whipped her fan around and to her left, batting away another demon's club and crashing it into the thigh of a third just like a golfer hitting hitting a golf ball.
She took a moment to appreciate her work. Asuna had no idea how her power actually functioned, but so long as it allowed her to cut through the demonic ranks with ease and keep up with Setsuna's sublime skills then she did not really care. If it was not broken and continued to work then there was no need to question it.
The two girls fought against the larger demons with everything they had. They kept close to one another at all times; sometimes standing back to back, at other times covering each others flanks as they moved in a circular pattern. The demons who had charged them from behind had caught up to them, trapping the two girls in a tight encirclement.
Then came the moment that nearly ended things horribly. Cut off from Asuna by a short and bony demon that moved like lightning, Setsuna stabbed her sword through its throat and twisted the blade. The creature died with a brief gurgle, its body hitting the ground with a thud and splashing Setsuna with water. The black-haired swordswoman was uninjured and already looking for her next foe. Yet in death the monster nearly had its revenge.
The bony creature had managed to grip Setsuna's sword with one of its powerful claws right before the girl was able to twist and pull the blade out. The sword snapped off just above the hilt with a metallic ring. Setsuna lost her balance and stumbled to her left as the demons closed in on her.
A dagger of fear plunge itself into Asuna's heart. Surrounded and cut off, there was no way she would be able to make it to the other girl in time. Asuna swatted her fan at the demons around her, attempting to defy fate and keep their attention away from the off-balance swordswoman. But in the end it was useless. They surged in, redoubling the pressure on Asuna and buying time for their comrades to finish the black-haired swordswoman.
Unfortunately for the demons, just because her sword was broken did not mean that Setsuna was unarmed. Abandoning the broken blade without a moment's hesitation, the dark-haired girl had thrust her free hand into her torn shirt. She drew from within its tattered confines a gleaming pactio card.
It was the one Setsuna had made with Negi just before the boy had left. Even though its powers were still a mystery, the card's mere presence meant that the swordswoman could keep fighting.
A piercing yell cut across the battlefield. It echoed with magic as Setsuna cried out for her pactio to gift her with its artifact. "Adeat!"
The card disappeared in a flash of light, exchanging its tiny form for that of Setsuna's new magic tool; or in this case, Setsuna's magic tools. A small wakizashi now lay gripped in each of her hands while fourteen identical blades hung in the air around the teen swordswoman. Each glittered with a sharp brilliance, beautiful in their deadly simplicity.
With a wordless cry of rage, Setsuna sent the encircling blades zipping into the crowd of demons as she made her way back to Asuna's side. The sixteen blades started their deadly dance, drawing grunts and hisses of pain from the demons they slashed and stabbed.
Together again, the two teen girls fought in a mindless fury. They dodged spells, batted aside blows and cut down every demon which came into range. The girls never stopped moving, because even Asuna realized that the moment they were to get bogged down would be the moment they had lost the battle.
Yet no matter how many demons they killed, more would always come into view. As the fight wore on Asuna knew that they couldn't keep this up forever. Either the demons would run out of bodies or the girls would run out of energy; and as she heaved in air through burning lungs Asuna knew which possibility was more likely.
"Setsuna-san, we need to make a break for the forest," Asuna yelled to the other girl as she slashed another demon across the front of its legs. "We're gonna get creamed if we stay down here much longer."
Setsuna nodded her assent as she stabbed her dual blades into the armpits of a short, masked demon. Swiping a once white sleeve across her face to mop up the sweat and water dripping into her eyes, the dark-haired girl used the other arm to indicate a specific direction.
"Asuna-san, get behind me and follow close. We'll only have one shot at this."
"Got it. I'll be right behind you. Let's go!"
Asuna matched action to words and placed herself behind Setsuna as the dark-haired girl darted in the direction she had indicated.
Between their artifacts and righteous anger the two teenage girls pushed their way through the crowd of enemies. They made it to the forest's edge in under a minute. And as Setsuna dealt with the last foe in their way Asuna could see a demon free forest's edge.
The twin-tailed girl passed Setsuna as she finished the demon with a lightning fast stab. With no other demons even close to catching up to them, escape was theirs for the taking. Asuna was out of the water and only a few short steps away from reaching the forest's raised embankment when a cry rang out from behind.
Turning, Asuna saw a sight which caused her heart to skip a beat. A wolf-man demon had come from out of nowhere and locked blades with Setsuna. The girl's twin sword's had gotten hooked by the serrated edges of the demon's massive blade. The demon was currently using its superior strength to keep Setsuna's swords in place as it pushed her backwards. The wolf-man wielding the large sword used its leverage to pin Setsuna's hands against her body and, in one brutally quick move, drive the black-haired girl to the water covered ground.
Barely keeping her face above the ankle deep water, Setsuna was snarling and trying to push back at the much larger demon. Her right leg kicked out at the monster's shin as she kept the fiend's giant sword from digging into her body.
"Setsuna!" Asuna yelled as she dashed back to her friend. The of them had managed to come so far and do so well. There was no way Asuna was letting the damn demons get her friend when the two of them were so close to getting away. She raised her fan and prepared to slam it into the demon's ugly face.
"Get away from her, you great bloody -" Asuna's scream of rage was cutoff just as it began. A bellowing roar filled the air as a massive jet of flame shot past.
The enormous blast of fire shot out of the forest behind her, sweeping across the demon's upper body and setting it alight. The wolf-man's flesh lit like a candle doused in gasoline. Then it screamed.
It flung itself into the water, rolling over and over as it screamed at the top of its lungs. The creature's anguished voice rose and fell as it rolled over and over on the ground. Black, acrid smoke rolled off of it as its flesh melted down to the bone right before Asuna's eyes.
A long moment passed before the creature stopped moving. Its charred body lingered in the ankle deep water before finally disappearing.
Asuna stared in macabre fascination at the spot where the demon had just died. That had been different. Very different.
Aside from a few grunts and snarls, the monsters had remained silent when she and Setsuna had hit them. Nothing the two girls did seemed to cause the demons more than a mild bit of discomfort. But those flames were different. The scream the demon had let out when the flames touched it had been horrifying, chilling the young girl to the bone and making goosebumps appear on her arms.
"Asuna-san, behind you!"
Setsuna's voice snapped Asuna back to reality. Looking over her shoulder, Asuna flung herself down as another gout of fire, even bigger than the first blast, lanced out from behind her.
This blast swept across the water's surface, moving across the demonic horde's front and lancing deep into its ranks. The monsters released a horrifying, howling chorus as the fire ravaged their bodies. More blasts of flame followed it, coming in rapid fire until every last demon was set alight.
Asuna kept her body buried in the warming water the entire time, hoping that Setsuna was doing the same. As she pressed herself into the muddy water, Asuna hoped that whoever or whatever was sending these blasts was on their side. Her aching body had reached its limit.
She did not know how long it took, but eventually the piercing howls of the demons died down. The crackle of burning embers filled Asuna's ears as she slowly raised her head from the watery muck. She swiped a trembling hand across her eyes, clearing them of any dirt so she could see. Quickly locating a wide-eyed Setsuna an arms length ahead of her, the two girls shared a stunned look with one another as they raised their bodies out of the lukewarm water.
Nothing remained of the demons they had been fighting only a minute ago. Motes of fine ash drifted through the air as branches and trees hit by the fire continued to burn. Asuna touched one of the motes with a finger. It broke apart instantly.
Her throat clogged as she caught Setsuna's eye once again, the same unspoken question in both of their eyes. What sort of sorcerer was capable of such a thing? And more importantly, was that person on their side? Or were they an enemy?
Asuna opened her mouth to give voice to her questions when she saw Setsuna's face turn beet red. The other girl, usually so calm and stoic, raised a shaking hand as she pointed behind Asuna.
Dreading what might be able to rattle the veteran swordswoman, Asuna turned her head and looked. She felt her heart stop as she could hardly believe what she was seeing. A creeping flush covered her face that Asuna could feel even through the heat of the burning trees.
Standing in front of her was a grinning, pink-haired young man. He was holding one arm out with a flaming thumb-up as a crown of smoke threaded its way through his wild hair, smoke which was apparently coming out of his mouth. However, neither his flaming thumb, nor smoking mouth, nor his wild hair were what had caused her heart to stop and her face to flush. No, Asuna's reaction was entirely due to the fact that said man was also completely naked. Other than a scaly scarf he wore tied around his neck the man was naked as the day he was born.
Her body frozen by the absurdity of the picture, Asuna thought faintly to herself that she could see it.
She could see everything.
Natsu grinned at the two girls he had just saved. After waking up from his forced nap and hearing the sounds of a fight, the dragon slayer of fire had made his way to the battlefield as quickly as his legs could carry him. He had arrived in time to save the dark-haired girl from getting killed by some sort of beast, and man did he feel good.
Being able to let loose and devastate a bunch of bad guys after he had gotten smacked around by that Jackal guy was a good pick up for Natsu's mood. Besides, few things made him feel happier than helping out those in need and kicking butt.
Even better, the two girls seemed to be alright. The dark-haired one did look a little bloody. And the bell wearing chick was pretty red in the face. But overall the two of them seemed to be okay.
"Pretty awesome, right?" Natsu said as he beamed proudly. If the two girls weren't going to talk then he might as well introduce himself. "My name is Natsu. Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail. And since I kicked the asses of those ugly demon guys, could the two of you help me out? Some of my friends are missing and I'm trying to find them. Have either of you seen them around?"
When neither of them answered him, Natsu scratched his head and frowned. Had his blasts made them deaf? It had happened to him before and generally resulted in hours of lost time due to miscommunication.
Thanks to Erza, though, he had long since learned a method to bypass it.
Natsu cupped his hands around his mouth, drew in a deep breath, and then yelled at them. "Oi! You two. Are you listening to me? Can you hear what I'm saying?"
Still they didn't respond. Huh. Yelling that loudly generally provoked a wide range of reactions, from anger to relief, but stunned silence was a new one. Maybe they were in shock or something in addition to being deaf.
Stopping the flow of fire to his mouth, Natsu hopped a little closer to their position to see if he could help them out. He didn't know much about medicine or fixing wounds – he left that sort of thing to Wendy – but he could at least tell if someone was suffering from anything obvious. Head knocks and broken bones were common results of Fairy Tail brawls and everyone in the guild knew how to look for the signs.
The orange-haired girl wearing bells in her hair blushed as bright as the sun when he approached, her eyes dilating wide before she covered her face with both hands. A squeak escaped her lips and she quickly turned around so that he was facing her back. Natsu scratched his head and shrugged. The girl was probably fine if she could do that, so he turned to look at the dark-haired girl.
Judging from the way she held her weapons, this girl was a more experienced combatant. The short skirt and tattered shirt didn't seem to be bloody either, hinting that she was good enough to avoid most blows before they made contact with her skin. Most of the blood on her face and arms must have come from the demons she had been fighting.
Examining her as he approached, Natsu thought that she too was fine. Although for some reason she also blushed red as he moved closer.
Eh, it probably wasn't important. He might as well try talking to them for a third time.
"Let's try this again," the dragon slayer said in a boisterous tone. "My name is Natsu and I just kicked some serious ass. Nice to meet ya!" He stuck out his right hand to her and brought back his smile. "Come on, just shake my hand already. I promise not to bite ya."
After a long, silent moment the dark-haired girl dematerialized one of her swords and timidly shook his hand. Natsu made note of it, feeling the callouses on her palms gained from long use of a sword. Thanks to Erza, any woman wielding a sword made him nervous. If this girl was even a tenth as good as Erza, then Natsu needed to respect her ability.
"There we go," Natsu said as she shook his hand, "Was that so hard?"
Still wide eyed and flushed, the girl said something in a soft voice. He didn't understand a word of it and cocked his head to the side. "Huh? What'd you just say?"
The girl repeated her words and he still didn't understand. Whatever she was saying seemed to be in a completely different language. Before he could try to investigate any further, though, the girl used her free hand to point down.
Out of curiosity, Natsu looked in the direction she was pointing and promptly saw his junk hanging freely in the night's soft breeze. His first and only thought was probably obvious to both of the flush-faced girls, whose reactions now made complete sense.
"Ehhhhhh!"
Dropping the chick's hand and hiding his exposed lower half, Natsu took off running like a bat out of hell. Letting his friends see him naked was one thing. Running around naked in public was something else entirely.
"I am not like Lucy. I am not like Gray. I am not like Lucy. I am not like Gray!" Natsu yelled his new mantra as he streaked away from the two girls he had saved just moments ago, trying to make for the cover of the forest. "Where did my pants go? Ah! I left them in the old geezer's house before the fight with Zeref. Dammit you old bastard, why couldn't you let me dress first?" Natsu desperately looked around for something he could use to clothe himself and saw absolutely nothing. "Where's Lucy's gorilla spirit when you need her? Clothes, I want clothes!"
There was nothing on the forest's edge. And the clothes Natsu had seen those weird creatures wearing before he toasted them were either ash or dissolved particles of magic.
Damn! That meant that the easy way was out. Moving on to backup measures, Natsu spotted some tightly bunched bushes with rather full looking leaves. It was only a short ways into the forest from his current position.
He took off in their direction at breakneck speed. He'd seen Gray string leaves together to form makeshift clothes often enough that Natsu knew how to do it as well. Still repeating his mantra at the top of his lungs, Natsu sped for the bush and jumped into it at full force.
As he slammed into the ground with a crashing thud several things immediately occurred to Natsu.
First, bushes in the wilderness didn't usually have wooden frames or wire. Second, the ground behind the bush wasn't nearly as hard as it should have been. It was actually quite soft and squishy. Third, and most importantly, the suddenly perplexed dragon-slayer could feel something hard and metallic jabbing into an area that was never meant to have something hard and metallic shoved into it.
All of which signified that Natsu had just made a horrible mistake. And if past experiences were anything to go by then Natsu would soon be suffering the consequences of it.
He slowly raised his head from the pair of soft, fleshy mounds that had broken his fall and looked into a woman's furious, unblinking eyes. Set within a dark-skinned face framed by a mane of long black hair, the woman was giving off a vibe which reminded him eerily of Erza.
Natsu forced himself to give her a small smile as he started to brace himself. This next part was going to hurt.
The impact of a close range explosion sent him rocketing out of the bushes, yelling at the top of his lungs once again. Albeit for a very different reason.
With tears streaming from his eyes Natsu ran as hard and fast as his body could manage. He heard a crashing sound from behind him as the woman undoubtedly threw away her broken camouflage set and chased after him. To make things worse, she probably still wielding one of those shooting things that Alzack and Bisca used in their magic.
Natsu needed distance. The pain radiating from his lower body told him that it was a bad idea to stay anywhere in the girl's vicinity, as her weapons were far more powerful than anything either Alzack or Bisca had ever used. A blast that blew apart an entire tree trunk to his left made him turn on the afterburners.
The only thing he knew for certain was that somehow, someway, all of this was Gray's fault.
END
A/N: As you may have picked up, Natsu's sudden arrival into the world of Negima has changed things. The demons in Negima that Asuna and Setsuna fought were artistically awesome in canon but were horribly goofy (due to constraints on what can be shown or mentioned in children literature would be my guess. But as to why a bunch of weirdo perverts trying to strip an underage girl is more socially acceptable than showing a little blood is a separate topic entirely). Expect the demons of Negima (and villains as a whole) to be less goofy and more threatening in this story. I tried to establish that from that very first scene and hope that it came across.
Old readers (or those who have checked out the old version) might also realize that this chapter was actually half of my original chapter 2 and that it has undergone extensive editing. After going back and looking at it I felt like this was actually a good place for a break in the flow. I am trying to get away from the sprawling 15k word chapters of the original fic and stick to about 10k words (sometimes more, hopefully fewer) per chapter.
To the comments section!
Natsu Dragneel: Natsu is definitely one of my preferred characters within FT. He's fun, simple, and reminds me of a cross between Goku and Vegeta from Dragon Ball. He, along with Negi, will be one of the two main protagonists of this story. So if you enjoy him, then look forward to the dragon-slayer fueled insanity he will be wreaking in Mahora.
In regards to Natsu in canon FT, the only complaints I have is that his story was wrapped up too soon. The fight with Acnologia could have been longer. His existence as E.N.D. and his relationship with Zeref could have been given an entire arc of its own. But otherwise? No complaints.
Natsu kicks ass plain and simple. He is direct and to the point, so much that people think he is an idiot. While not an intellectual like Lucy or (at times) Gray, Natsu is a feral kind of smart. He's like a younger Jack Rakan and I cannot wait to get the two introduced to each other.
Language: When it comes to language, think of there being three languages currently in use in this story. Negi is a native English speaker, Asuna and the other schoolgirls are (with a few exceptions) native Japanese speakers, and the Fairy Tail crew are something else entirely.
Japanese Terms and Honorifics: I'll be trying my hand at using some Japanese terms honorifics in this story, but only from the viewpoint of the characters who are native to Japan or Magic Mundus (even though it is likely for them to speak something else entirely, such as some derivation of ancient Greek or Hittite). I'll be following the policy that less is more, so while you can expect to see common ones such as "-kun", or "-san", or "-sensei" or "chibi", don't expect me to roll out some of the more specific ones unless I have examples from either manga to guide me (such as Kaede's "De Gozaru" habit).
I've got more than a decade of watching Japanese anime and reading Japanese manga to guide me but I am far from being fluent in the subtleties of situational honorifics – let alone the Japanese language as a whole. I'd just muck things up and come off as pretentious (if I correctly recall someone's advice from years ago) if I tried to overdo it. And if I receive overwhelmingly negative reviews about it then I might choose to drop them entirely. Time will tell.
Recommended Reading: A great thing that some authors do, but which I forgot to do in Chapter 1, is to recommend good fanfics written by other authors. This time around I would like to recommend Full Circle: Tangents by Ryder. It is a fantastic Code Geass fic written by a prolific fanfiction author, featuring Kallen and Lelouch as the pairing.
Until next time,
Elsil