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 11
Natsu vs Eva
Eva watched as the pink-haired fool made his way towards her. The man had found her location rather fast. She had thought that he would take time to find her when she setup a chair to lounge in on the beach of her resort.
It was pleasant surprise when the young fire mage had shot down to it from the heights of her resort in a fiery flash. He had hit the golden sand in an explosion of flames, turning the area into an expanse of charred glass as his magic ran wild.
The other three men had not been nearly so flashy in their own descent. Eva had watched with with a certain amount of amusement as the boy's friend, Gray, had conjured a slide of magical ice. She had noticed during their own fight that her fellow ice mage never once took to the air. She idly wondered if that was a weakness shared by his companion. If so, she would make sure to exploit it in the coming fight.
He was soon joined by the boya and Takamichi. Those two had employed flight magic and descended slowly. Eva shot the big man a glare and received a nod in response.
Good. Without any interference from Takamichi Eva would be able to savor the coming fight to her heart's content. While Gateau's star pupil would lose should things ever come to blows, fighting him would prove to be horribly inconvenient. They had established a truce several years ago that had borne fruit for each of them and it would be annoying to sever it prematurely. Yet so long as he stood on the sidelines their truce would remain unaffected.
The only thing she would have to do in return would be to hold back from killing the pink-haired fool. Killing the young man for his offenses would be crossing Takamichi's bottom line. Takamichi's own look had intimated as much, and Eva had no doubt that Negi's opinion would be much the same. Only worse, as he would no doubt be more than a little displeased were Eva to take an arm or a leg from Natsu as recompense.
How annoying. But she pushed the thought to the side. The three men were holding back where they would be out of the way. Any further thoughts would be useless and only serve to help her opponent. The pink-haired fool was coming to give her a down payment on what he owed and she was more than happy to collect.
Give the man credit for being brave. He knew what she was. She had even given him a little taste of what would await him in this fight. Still the man strode towards her. Without hesitation in his steps or fear in his eyes.
Perhaps the hatchling dragon could back up his bark with a little bit of bite. It only serve to make his defeat all the more enjoyable.
The man stayed silent as he walked towards her location. Every movement he made from the sway of his hips, to the posture of his back and the positioning of his arms were captured by her gaze. Nothing escaped her eyes, and it all lead to one inescapable conclusion.
This was not his first fight. It was not even his first fight against an opponent he knew to be stronger than himself. His confident gaze shouted that he did not care. That he would find a way to beat her no mater the odds he faced.
Everything about him hinted at a deep familiarity with battle that was rare in someone so young. Take the young Springfield's class. Most of the class was only several years younger than the dragon-slayer. Yet perhaps only the battle-hardened Mana could match him in terms of experience. Neither the half-breed swordswoman, odd little Ku Fei, or the little ninja girl Kaede were anywhere close to possessing the air of assurance that Natsu gave forth as he strode towards his clash.
A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. The coming fight would be enjoyable after all.
Enjoyable enough that the anticipation of it made her want to prolong it. Battles were waged on more than just the physical and magical levels. And despite his incredible potential, the Springfield boy had been such a bore when it came to their own duel.
"So the lost baby dragon wants to play with me after all," Eva purred from her seat. Natsu gave no reaction to her words, but that was no deterrent. Her words would draw blood soon enough. "What would drive a spoiled little child such as yourself to fight someone so far above them? It's not just a strain of masochism is it? No, that would be far too simple."
Eva continued to observe him as he moved closer. Natsu's movements indicated that the man would be a close quarters combatant. Whatever style he used was not familiar to her, but that was to be expected given his origins. Their two worlds might share some similarities, but it was highly unlikely that martial styles would be among them.
Judging by the impact she had felt upon the young man's landing he also possessed incredible physical strength. Far in excess of what his admittedly sturdy frame would suggest. Eva would need to keep her distance or strike him where he least expected it if she wanted the fight to last. A straight up hand to hand battle might cause her blood-lust to rise without control. It would be a terrible waste of a good opportunity if she broke him too early.
"Did I make you mad when I placed you in timeout? Or is it that you wish to avenge your friend's three days of suffering in this very place?" She peered around and pointed towards a nearby rock. "You know, I believe that he almost died at that location towards the end of the first day. One of the Chachas managed to ambushed him from the water as he tried to find a boat. He received a slice along the side of his neck and one across his left arm before he managed to recover himself."
Not a muscle twitched out of place on the man's body. Natsu's breathing remained even and his gait stayed smooth as he neared. It seemed as though he would be a tough nut to crack.
How marvelous.
"Neither of those are the issue? Hm. Then I wonder what it could ever be," Eva mused. "If it is not the present then it has to be the past. Perhaps there is a tragedy lurking there, hidden beneath the surface. Something great enough to fray your nerves and drive you to acts of recklessness. Something that would wound you to your core and affect your mind beyond your ability to consciously control."
Eva brought her fingers together as she stared at him over their elegant steeple. "The question, though, is what. I doubt that it is the loss of a lover as you do not have that air about you. Nor is it the loss of a country, or something else of a violent nature. You lack the focus of an avenger or the burning anger of a victim."
She hummed to herself as she fell quiet. So far none of her bait had drawn a bite from the man and he had nearly made it to her. It would be a waste of all her effort if she was unable to get a rise from him.
Then the section of last night's talk about his friends came to mind. Specifically, the conspicuous lack of any parental figure mentioned beyond the elderly guild master. Eva made a guess and drew a conclusion from it. "Ah. I see now. It is that you were abandoned as a child."
Natsu's left eyelid twitched at her statement. Eva felt her eyes begin to glow crimson. Finally a reaction!
It was time to go for the throat.
"You not only feel the pain of being separated from your friends, but feel as though you have abandoned them," she hissed to him as he neared. "And guess what, little hatchling?" Her eyes glittered as she spoke. "You did."
The young man's roaring attack was telegraphed all over his features. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"
Eva stood from the chair and slid to her left with a quick shundou, dodging the young man's fiery headbutt as she moved in a blur of motion. Doing so placed her in the perfect position to take advantage of his foolish opening. A blade of energy formed around her hand that she brought down with a slashing blow. "Ensis Exsequens!"
Asuna gasped as she stepped through the broken door and entered Evangeline's cabin. Her Pactio fan was soon held in her hand. It's comforting weight feeling very necessary as she looked around the once neat house.
The place looked as though several rival gangs of Yakuza had broken into the place and tried to settle their differences on the spot. Bits of and pieces of broken furniture lay scattered about the house. Small blotches of what looked like blood were spattered in more than one place. And the smell of burned hair made the girl wrinkle her nose in distaste.
"Eva? Chachamaru? Is anyone home?" Asuna called out into the still air. No one answered her. She moved deeper within the torn up dwelling, holding her fan in a tight grip. "Takahata-sensei? Negi?" Still no one answered her. "Natsu? Is anyone here?"
She moved from room to room, trying to find some sign of their presence. No matter where she searched, though, she was unable to find a sign of anyone else. The only bright side was that the devastation she had seen was actually quite limited in scope.
The living room and entrance way were the worst off from whatever had happened. From what Asuna could tell using her knowledge of having watched a crime show or three, it looked as though some kind of struggle had taken place in the cabin's entrance way. The trail of destruction led from it into the living room, where it seemed to have stopped.
The bedroom at top of the stairs was unaffected, as was the entire second level. Actually, it felt as though no one had been in the room for days. And that bothered Asuna.
There had been plenty of time since their return from Kyoto for the diminutive vampire to return and relax in the comfort of her own home. With such a spoiled attitude, Asuna would have thought it to be the first thing Eva did upon departing from the train station. Seeing the place half untouched and half demolished was beyond odd. The whole thing raised the hair on the back of her neck.
Asuna continued her search. She combed her way through the entire structure, looking to find some trace of either the vampire or the three men who were supposed to have been meeting with her. The search ended in front of the only fully intact door on the cabin's ground floor.
A slight tingle buzzed against her skin when she neared it. The feeling was something she was starting to associate with the presence of magic, and only magic of a certain strength. Curious as to what might be causing it, Asuna opened the door and peered inside. With any luck she could find a clue as to the whereabouts of the others.
What appeared before her eyes was a steep wooden staircase going into some kind of basement. With zero lighting to guide her steps.
Now that was not ominous at all. Oh no. Not in the slightest.
"Of course the only remaining area to search in a vampire's home would be a staircase descending into the basement. Clothed in absolute darkness, no less," the girl muttered to herself as she placed one hand on the nearby wooden rail. "I swear, if something pops out and attacks me down there then I am going to kick Negi's ass so hard that even his great, great, great grand kids will feel it."
After a moment's pause, wherein she chewed her bottom lip intensely, Asuna took the plunge and descended.
"Nivus Casus!"
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"
Natsu gritted his teeth as the concussive force from the two spells colliding with one another ripped through his body. The space between him and his opponent roiled in a storm of fire and ice as the air was torn asunder by a thunderous roar.
The sheer force of the blast sent the dragon-slayer flying backwards in an uncontrollable spin. His back slammed into the sandy beach, forcing him to grunt as he turned the remaining momentum into a flip. Natsu landed on his feet in a shower of sand as the last remnants of the elemental explosion faded into nothingness.
That attack of his had been strong to bust through any of Gray's creations. Yet instead of punching through and sending Eva flying, it had only been able to nullify the vampire's own icy attack. The girl's ice wasn't anywhere close to being as powerful pound for pound but she could summon up more of it in an instant than Gray could in an entire year. If Natsu gave her any room to pull back, the vampire came up with big spells like that one that forced him to pull out the big guns.
Being forced to use his big spells defensively was infuriating. Natsu was used to being the one on the attack, even when his opponent outclassed him. Heck, Jellal had shot off his mouth their entire fight in the Tower of Heaven while Natsu tried to punch his smug face into smithereens. But no. It seemed like the vampire had gotten all of her talking out of the way before the fight even began. Now the damn girl was seemingly content to disappear and reappear at will, tossing massive blocks of ice through the air or slashing at him with her sword hand.
Natsu peered through the haze of smoke and mist drifting through the air. So far the fight had taken them from the seaside portion of her resort, back to the top, and now back down again. Natsu preferred their current location as the clear beach gave her little room to hide. The only downside was the salty breeze interfered with his sense of smell, sometimes making him waste critical moments as he determined her proximity through the strength of her scent.
A flash of movement to his right grabbed Natsu's attention. It was just enough to save his hide as Eva was on him in a blur of movement, stabbing at his chest with that damn energy sword shooting out of her hand. Gray's got to be sitting over there watching in jealousy, Natsu thought as he read her incoming attack. His ice blades have nothing on that thing.
The dragon-slayer dodged the girl's first two swipes with a sway of his body and counterattacked with an exploding left fist. Only to grunt in pain as a third blow nicked his chest. The woman grinned as her sword bit home.
The girl's feral grin made him growl. He wanted nothing more at this moment than to wipe that smug look off of her face. He knew that look. It was the exact same one he got whenever he landed a particularly good blow onto the body of his own opponents.
She moved like no one he had ever seen. Dodging her first two blows just now had taken every ounce of speed and flexibility he possessed and she had still managed to hit him. The vampire was also using some trick to go faster than his eyes could follow, as the ancient girl vanished from right in front of him.
A sudden displacement of air behind his neck caused him to throw his body to the ground and roll to his right. Natsu continued the roll as the woman's scent filled his nostrils. The faint hum of her sword stabbing sand came from where he had just been standing.
This was the third time she had used that particular move, and the bloody gash down his back from the first time was a constant reminder as to just how painful the sword's bite could be when coupled with that damn technique.
Natsu completed his roll and hoisted his body up on both arms to deliver a flaming, spinning kick that caused her to back off and buy him some time away from that damn sword. He flipped himself upright and gathered flames in his left arm. "Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!"
"Sagitta Magica: 101 Arrows of Ice!"
The two spells collided, sending a cloud of steam into the open air. The dragon-slayer punched at the vampire's blurry figure. She caught it with the palm of her hands. Then she tried to turn into a hold and twist his arm out of his socket. Natsu countered by pulling her in close and attempting to knee her in the stomach.
The two of them continued to exchange blows in a flurry of attack and counterattack. Natsu was able to land a punch on her right shoulder with a satisfying crack. The vampire wavered for a moment before her other hand was able to chop into the side of his neck like a woodcutter hacking at a tree. They finally broke apart when Natsu slammed a solid kick that swept her legs out from under her, followed up with a massive uppercut that sent the girl flying across the beach.
As Natsu looked at his opponent through the hazy cloud in which he stood, the dragon-slayer tried to take stock of his options. The only reason he had managed to avoid being turned into a diced ice sculpture was thanks to his many fights with Erza and Gray, but it could not go on forever.
Every time he thought he had her she disappear or let loose a blast of those magic arrows to counter whatever he threw. Her big spells seemed to take longer to cast, but the damn arrows sure packed a punch when she put enough of them together. Then, whenever he was able to lock her into close quarter combat, the girl went pound for pound with him like only Laxus or Gajeel could do back in the guild.
Natsu flicked off a bead of blood from a cut above his eye before it could drip into his vision. For a moment, he saw Eva's eyes track the streak of crimson as she licked her lips. Yeah, she was a vampire alright. Only a vampire or a psychopath would lick their lips like that at the sight of blood.
It was time to change things up. "Alright, enough with the warm-ups," Natsu called out as the steam cleared up. "I think that I've got a handle on that disappearing trick of yours, and that frickin sword won't be able to save your tiny ass for long."
He clenched his fists and slammed them together in a shower of sparks to pump himself up. "So let's get this party rockin' already!"
Across the way from him, Eva summoned her energy sword and motioned him forward. The vampire's teeth gleamed in the resort's morning light as she bared her fangs in his direction.
Now that was an invitation if he had ever seen one. And Natsu would not be himself if he were to let it go unanswered. The dragon-slayer threw himself at his opponent in an all-out attack.
The energy sword gave the vampire an extended reach over his fists that, when combined with her ability to disappear at will, limited his options. The key to beating that combination started with keeping her too occupied to start it in the first place.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu led off with a blast of fire from his right fist. The blast shot towards the vampire, who moved her sword to block it. He followed it up with a fiery spinning kick that slammed into the sword from a lower angle, pushing her arm up and to the side. A wide eyed look came onto her face as he closed the distance. Natsu lit his hands aflame as he stepped into range.
"Fire Dragon's Crushing Claw!" With his hands ablaze, Natsu launched a furious series of swipes at the vampire. With him in close and her sword hand out of the picture, Eva was forced to block what blows she could with her free hand. She was not fast enough to block everything, and Natsu landed more than a few hits on her tiny form before she was able to disengage and jump back.
A laugh bubbled from Eva's lips as he tried to close back in. "So the hatchling has a bite after all. Quite impressive." The vampire flung a small number of dark arrows at his head without chanting, forcing him abandon his charge and twist violently in order to avoid them. "But not impressive enough. Now, show me what you can really do. Iaculatio Grandinis!"
Natsu met the summoned spears of ice with his flaming hands. He swiped the tips from a few before crushing the rest in a head on confrontation. Then he took a deep breath before flaring his magic power around him to vaporize their broken remnants. Some of the steam got into his eyes, forcing him to close them in order to get it out.
His eyes blinked open just in time to see her disappear. Natsu grinned. By now he had caught onto her pattern. And oh boy was he going to let her have it.
Natsu flung an arm out to his left, catching Eva by surprise just as she reappeared. Natsu grabbed the petite vampire by her wrists, twisting the one with the energy sword until it could not be used against him.
A grunt escaped her mouth as he gave both of her arms an extra twist for good measure. "No disappearing this time, little scaredy cat," he said softly. The look of frustration on her face as she tried to use her surprisingly powerful strength to break free was worth every hit he had absorbed from her prior to this moment.
Then Natsu clenched his free hand into a fist and buried it deep within Eva's stomach. A whoosh of air escaped her lungs, and the ancient vampire went limp within his hold. He cocked his arm back for another blow. "Now it's time to pay for insulting my friends, myself and beating my guild-mate within an inch of his life."
He slammed his fist into her stomach and heard her cough. The sound of something wet hitting the sand reached his ears. "Because this is what you need to understand. When you did those things, you managed to piss off a member of the worst guild there is to anger. And whenever a member of Fairy Tail gets this pissed off, there's only one way to pay off a debt. It's by accepting your punishment and by admitting that you are sorry. Now feel this fully fledged dragon's wrath."
Fire gathered in his hand as Natsu once again drew his fist back for another punch. Only this time he would be holding nothing back. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
The point blank attack picked Eva's body up and tore her out of his grasp. He could feel his blazing knuckles burn through her clothing and impact the soft flesh beneath. Flames covered her body as they fed off her thin clothing.
Natsu stared dispassionately as her body flew through the air. One of Igneel's more serious lessons repeated itself within his head as he kept his eyes glued for any sign of a counterattack.
A dragon was a creature of power and majesty. Should their ire be raised, a dragon's wrath was not intended to be pleasant. No. A dragon's wrath was intended to maim and to kill. It was meant to be a lesson to others. So that other potential foes could see the results and know that this fate would be theirs should they too anger the dragon.
For most of his foes, Natsu chose not to let loose such power. It would be cruel for him to treat every opponent as a bug to be squashed. Most of of them, like that fire mage from Phantom, did not deserve it. While most of the ones who did, like the old Gajeel or Jellal in the Tower of Heaven, were able to take the punishment with few permanent affects. Only the memory of what the dragon-slayer was capable of when truly moved to anger would remain. As would the feeling of his flaming fists pounding into their bodies.
Eva slammed into the sea with an enormous splash. A hiss of steam filled the air, extinguishing the flames which still covered her small form from his last blow.
For a time Natsu just stood and watched the area where her body had hit. He swiveled his eyes along the beach as well. The blows he had landed on her just now would not be enough to end this fight.
Then Natsu felt his knees buckle as a tiny hand knifed into one of his kidneys. The resulting pain nearly drove him to his knees. He could only clutch at his side with one hand as he tried to stumble away from his attacker.
"That's enough out of you for the moment," Natsu heard Eva hiss through the cloud of pain in his head. "I might have been asking for it, but we won't be repeating that again anytime soon. I will not make the same mistake twice."
Natsu continued to clutch at his side with one hand as he tried to twist around to face her. "Fire Dragon's -"
Eva never gave him a chance to complete his attack. A hit to the side of his skull caused stars to appear in front of his eyes. A wave of vertigo followed, sweep through his stomach and making him lose his balance. Natsu felt his legs give out. He fell to his hands and knees on the dry sand beneath him.
"While I have your undivided attention, let me congratulate you. Most dragons that I have encountered have much weaker flames than the stuff you just hit me with. And trust me, that is no small compliment."
Natsu forced out a chuckle at her words. Whatever dragons might live in this world, none of them could compare to the flames of Igneel. It would have been criminal of Natsu to let his father down by allowing his own flames to lose in comparison.
Then her next words made Natsu feel a tingle of fear for the first time since the fight began.
"But no more trying to draw things out. I think that I have had my fill of you for the time being. Now it is time for you to learn your place like the insect you are."
All this time, she had been taking it easy on him? That was not possible. He could not believe it.
Then a blow crashed into his side. Followed by a second to his stomach and a third to his face. The hits kept coming as Eva piled the blows on faster than he thought possible, with each one containing the force of a sledgehammer swung by Elfman. Any thought of her taking it easy on him flew out of Natsu's head as he felt his body flying through the air from the force of her attacks.
His body flipped and gyrated through the sky as she used him in place of a punching bag. Natsu could feel his body begin to move one way. Then a fist or foot or some other part of the vampire's body was there to meet it and send it flying in some other direction. It was a beating like he had never before received.
No one he knew in Fiore could do something like this. Not Jellal for all his speed. Or even that old guy from Grimoire Heart. Neither one could hit with either the speed or the force currently being displayed by the vampire in her pissed off state.
Natsu lost track of the blows after the eighth combo. Darkness stated to creep in at the edges of his vision as the world continually moved from the rain of hits leveled against his body. Each new blow threatened to send him crashing over the edge. It was to the point where Natsu could feel his teeth rattling in his head anytime one of her slim fists connected to his upper body.
The thunderous hits began to reach a crescendo. Natsu powered through the pain, forcing himself to stay aware through sheer will. He would not let her beat him into unconsciousness. Not when he had yet to play his trump card and still had fight left in him.
With a final volley of blows, the vampire allowed Natsu's body to fall limply to the sand. The impact from the fall was almost gentle in comparison. His back lay against the warm softness of the sand, and he shut his eyes for a moment to marshal his strength.
Above him, Natsu could hear Eva breathing, lightly winded from her recent exertion. But lightly winded was far better than how his body felt after being swatted around like a volleyball for the past minute.
Now was probably a good time to use his final ability before she hit him with anything else. "Nap time's over," he muttered under his breadth.
Natsu opened his eyes and slowly climbed to his feet. Every inch of his torso felt as though it were on fire. The shirt given to him by Negi and the girls was in absolute tatters, allowing him to see dozens of areas where the imprints of tiny knuckles had left reddened marks on his thick skin. His back did not feel to be any better. By his best guess, he would probably be feeling the pain of those hits for well over a week.
Yet the only indication he gave of the pain he felt was a single crack of his neck and a flex of his arms. Then he settled into his basic stance and summoned his final technique.
"Lightning Flame Dragon Mode."
Asuna stood before some type of weird diorama, in a room located deep under Eva's cabin. The thing was rather large. Definitely bigger than anything she had made for a school project. More detailed too. The thing contained a gorgeous stone complex of some kind, surrounded by sand and water while it perched on an outcropping of stone like something out of a Greek myth.
"Definitely magical," Asuna muttered to herself. "That thing is way to complicated to be something Eva made for a school assignment. And no way in hell is that glow made from technology. Not unless Chao or Hakase are involved, and I'd like to see either of them in Eva's basement."
A strand of hair moved across her face. She blew it out of her eye as she continued speaking to herself. "Fat chance of that ever happening. The two of them probably don't even believe in magic. And if they did, they'd probably write the whole thing off as some kind of weird natural energy thingy. Or maybe something more science-y sounding, I don't know. That's something for smarter people than me to figure out."
She placed her hands on top of the thing and placed an eye against it. Every now and then she thought she saw signs of something moving within it, but the things were gone the moment she focused her attention on them. "They probably barely know that Eva's even in our classroom. Let alone that she's one of the most powerful magic users alive. I sure didn't, and I'm way more involved with our whacked out teacher and his stupid magic shenanigans than either one of those two science nutsos."
As Asuna continued to mumble to herself about her crazy classmates and the beating Natsu deserved for harassing one of them, she eventually noticed a specific spot on the floor. This spot seemed to be the source of the glow.
It was some kind of inscribed circle. The thing was filled with geometric shapes and lines running through it, all coming together in some kind of pattern in the center of the circle. Asuna squatted down so she could get a better look at it.
Upon closer inspection it looked like the same type of circle that Negi had used to summon her and Setsuna to his location back in Kyoto. Sure Asuna could not remember what it looked like exactly, but it seemed close enough. Probably. Or at least hopefully, because if that was not the case then her next move might be really dumb.
Asuna placed a foot on it. Then she closed her eyes as a flash of light surrounded her body.
When she opened them once more, the teenage girl found herself standing on a mist-shrouded platform at the end of a narrow bridge. "W-Wh-What the hell?" Asuna gasped. "What just happened? Where am I?"
Her head swiveled around like an owl's as she tried to figure out what had happened. She really had been teleported somewhere. Only she had no idea where the place might be, and was suddenly not sure that stepping into the circle had been a good idea. She gave a small cry of pain as her neck twisted too far.
In her sudden panic, Asuna ran to the platform's edge without looking. She was barely able to stop her momentum when she realized that what lay beyond the platform's edge was nothing but open air. "Holy crap! There's no barrier. There's really no barrier. I almost killed myself just now!"
She fell onto her rear and scrambled away as quickly as she could manage. Her heart pounded within her chest as she considered the likely result of what would have happened had she not stopped herself in time. Then her fear turned to anger at whomever was responsible to making this place.
"Seriously, there aren't any handrails? Anywhere? Didn't the frickin architect ever hear of user safety? Or death by falling from a very steep height?" Asuna winced as she rubbed her backside. "Damn whoever made this place. Damn stupid shiny teleportation magic. And damn fantasy architects everywhere!"
Getting the frustration out of her helped to calm her beating heart. More cautious after nearly falling over the edge, Asuna approached it once again. She moved slowly, making sure to stay on her hands and knees. Peering over the platform's lip, she looked down into the mist below. There was not much that she could make out.
What looked like water and a big building somewhere ahead of her. Along with a few flashes of light that were followed by rumbling noises she could feel in her chest. The noises echoed in the foggy air, almost as though in the mist below some colossal force moved in its sleep. She could feel the hair on the back of her neck raise again as the now familiar tingle of magic began to increase.
Then it dawned upon her. The cold feeling of realization as to where she had now found herself.
"The damn circle brought me into the thing," Asuna breathed softly. Then her natural sarcasm overwhelmed her awe. "That's just fantastic. Now how on Earth do I get out of this place? And where are Takahata-sensei, the idiot Negi, and that damn pervert Natsu?"
More rumbles from below drew her attention back to her surroundings. Asuna saw two little shapes flitting around in the air far below, with one seemingly following the other wherever it went. A heavy boom reached her ears every time the two shapes met.
Something about the two shapes made the hair on the back of her neck stand further on end, and Asuna backed away from the platform's edge. Whatever was making those sounds could not be anything good. In fact, Asuna would lay her hard earned money on Eva being involved in it.
Then an explosion of noise louder than any of the ones before thundered in the air as a flash of golden-red light shot up from below.
Asuna blinked as the pillar of light pulsed before her eyes. "Either that was magic, or someone down there just turned on the lava lamp to end all lava lamps."
For a moment she could only stare at the beautiful light as it shone through the fog. Then the booming came back. Only this time the entire structure began to shudder with them.
Asuna started cursing up a storm as she felt her body slide toward the edge, sending her scrambling in the opposite direction in the hope of not falling to her death below.
"Why won't you die already, you stupid dragon? Sagitta Magica: 503 Arrows of Darkness and Ice!"
"Lightning Flame Dragon's Fist!"
Eva swore aloud as she barely got an arm up in time to block Natsu's strike. His blow had torn through her arrows just now as if they did not even exist, slamming into her body with a force that rattled her teeth. The man's power and speed had shot through the roof and it was taking every bit of her vast experience to stay in one piece.
A painful explosion blasted into her arm as his fiery punch connected. As she reeled backwards, a zap of lightning magic connected to the same spot as Natsu's fiery fist. The shock numbed her entire arm and the limb dropped uselessly to her side as she jumped away to place some distance between them.
This was probably the most terrifying part of his transformation. His new attacks were treating her protective magic barriers like they were made from wet paper. They were deflecting and absorbing only a fraction of the damage they should have been handling.
She ground her teeth together as she pushed through the pain. Natsu was coming in for another attack and she was out of position. Not good. Eva tried to twist her body around in order to shift her other arm into position, but was unable to move fast enough. The man was upon her so quickly that she could not react even with a shundou. She could only watch in impotent fury as Natsu's blazing forearm impacted her chest.
"Lightning Flame Dragon's Firing Hammer!"
Negi saw the explosion of lightning and fire racing towards him. Entranced by its majesty, he could only stare at it in awe. So it was with surprise that a figure interposed itself between him and the oncoming attack.
"Ice Make: Shield!"
A giant wall of shimmering-blue ice sprang into being in front of Negi. The rolling storm of blazing magic impacted it with the sound of a sledgehammer striking a frozen lake in winter. The noise caused the young teacher to flinch, snapping him out of his trance.
Cracks spread through Gray's ice and Negi could feel the air sizzle from the flame's heat. Whatever Natsu's magic was, it was far stronger than any fire magic the young teacher had ever seen. One of his childhood friends, Anya, had been fond of using fire magic. She was talented it it too.
Natsu's made her magic look like a child's sparklers in comparison. It was magnitudes greater than anything Anya could summon even on her best day. Furthermore, his fire almost felt alive. As though there was some beast that dwelled within it, coming to live as it soared through the air.
Somehow Gray's shield held firm against this power. The shield was torn and broken, but it still stood as the attack dissipated.
Its magic spent, the shield fell apart in a shower of ice. The young mage saw Gray's shoulders heave as the dark-haired man drew in deep breaths.
"Frickin Natsu. He always has to go overboard. The moron never considers the surrounding environment when he cuts loose, or who else might be in it. And holy hell! What's the deal with those overpowered attacks just now? Even Natsu's not that strong."
Negi saw the ice user's eyes tracked Natsu's position as the dragon-slayer jumped into the air to pursue his opponent. Natsu grabbed hold of Eva's slim legs and threw her into the ground in an explosion of sand and flame. He then landed on top of her stunned form with a fiery kick, where he proceeded to lay into Eva with a blinding barrage of blows.
Gray continued to mutter under his breadth. "It has to be the weird magic in this air. I could feel it ever since I arrived, but I wasn't sure how to use it. That idiot is probably tapping into it somehow even though I couldn't."
Negi blinked as he considered the man's words. There was strange magic in the air?
Oh, so there was. After Gray mentioned it, Negi could feel that the air around them was somehow different. It felt more full than normal. As though the ambient magic was flowing in a raging river rather than a small creek. Now that he was paying attention, Negi could feel a difference in his own body.
His senses felt sharper and more intense than usual. As though he had consumed a powerful stimulant. Or had received an injection of magical energy from another mage. If he were to use magic in his current state then the result would probably be quite interesting.
But unlike Gray, Negi could feel no barrier to using said magical energy. It was there, waiting and ready for him to use as always. Only the quantity and quality had changed. So then why would Gray feel as though he were unable to use it?
Negi filed that little nugget of information away for further thought. Then he bowed his head to the older boy in thanks. "Thank you for protecting us, Mr. Gray. That was marvelous magic you used."
It truly was remarkable, even if it had only been able to hold against the attack's very edges. The sand where Eva had been standing had been turned to blackened glass that stretched to the area where Gray's shield had stood. The power behind it had been potent enough to overwhelm any type of barrier Negi could have summoned on his own.
The thought caused his fists to momentarily clench. An action which only made him clench them harder, for they were the fists of a child. A small child who still needed to rely on others for protection.
Meanwhile, ignorant of Negi's thoughts, the older boy nodded his head as he kept his gaze on the fight. Natsu had just thrown Eva into the air once more and was readying himself for another jump. "Anytime kid. Besides, if we hang out with one another for very long, you'll probably return the favor someday for myself or one of my friends. Things like this happen to members of Fairy Tail more often than I'd like. And I've had my own butt saved more than once by someone who I once helped in the past."
Gray flashed him a quick grin before turning to look back at the fight. Then the man gave a grunt and took off both his jacket and his shirt.
Dumbfounded, Negi could only stare at the older boy as Gray proceeded to strip himself of every piece of clothing that was on his skin. The ice user did it all in complete silence, as if what he was doing was perfectly normal. Negi looked at an equally confused Takamichi as Gray hooked his fingers into the top of his boxers. Who did that while an intense magical duel raged on right in front of them? It made no sense! Negi only peeled his eyes away when the boxers started to slide down Gray's body on a journey to join the rest of the man's discarded clothes.
Back in the fight, Eva had seemingly managed to regain control of her body after being flung into the air. Straining his ears, Negi was just able to make the words out to the spell she was chanting. "Lic lac la lac lilac: Veniant Spiritus Glaciales Obscurantes! Cum Obscuratione Flet Tempestas Nivalis."
Negi's eyes widened. He recognized that spell. It was the chant for Snowstorm of Darkness. A High spell of Darkness and Ice. Eva had used it against him in their previous duel but, judging by the magic that Eva was gathering, this one would be a far more potent version.
Eva's chanting reached its peak. The ancient vampire extended a tiny hand to channel the spells power and unleash it upon her target. "Nivus Tempestas Obscurans!" Then she moved her other hand forward and seemed to smirk at her opponent. "Sagitta Magica: 1,113 Arrows of Darkness and Ice."
Negi gasped. Simultaneous casting of two powerful spells? There was no way that Natsu would be able to overcome them both at once!
Yet the pink-haired man did not seem to panic. A burst of fire surrounded his feet, sending him soaring through the air towards Eva's magic. The aura of flame and lightning around his body flared ever more brightly.
Natsu opened his mouth wide. "Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar!"
A stream of fire and lightning far greater than any before flowed out in a torrent of power. It impacted Eva's magic and blasted through it as a howl filled the air. The vampire's tiny form was immediately obscured as the raging stream of magic washed over her body. The powerful spell shot forward unabated until it drilled into the side of the vampire's enormous building. The resulting explosion of fire and lightning sent a visible rush of dust into the air as stones began to fall from the point of impact.
Then the actual sound of the explosion rocked into Negi. Crackling staccato from the spell's lightning component stabbed into his brain while the roaring of a jet airliner provided a constant backdrop. He could it hear it even through both hands covering his ears. The noise pounded into him mercilessly as Natsu continued to pour magical energy into the attack in an unending stream of visible power.
Several seconds later, Natsu cut the stream of magic with a visible clamping of his jaws. Sweat streamed down his face as he panted. Veins in the other man's neck stood out from his skin. A lull settled on the battlefield as the dragon-slayer and everyone else looked for any sign of Eva.
A high-pitched scream tore through the quiet air, its piercing call sounding oddly familiar to Negi. The young mage turned his head and quickly located its source. Panic gripped his heart.
Praying to every god he knew, Negi placed his father's staff below his feet and took off into the air faster than he had ever flown before.
Page Break
Natsu let himself fall back to earth. His feet sank into the stuff, sticking to his sweat and blood covered skin.
None of it bothered him. The dragon-slayer could feel that his power was spent. That there was only the smallest amount of magic remaining in his body. He had thrown everything he had into that final blast and left nothing for a followup. The blast would either grant him victory or hasten his defeat.
After a time the cloud of dust and smoke began to clear from the hole he had created with the attack. A single pale foot could be seen sticking out of it. It seemed to give a slight twitch as rubble continued to fall, but no other sign of life was given.
Natsu closed his eyes and concentrated on his hearing. The vampire mage was not chanting anything. Nor did she seem to be moving around within the hole. The dragon-slayer could just barely make out the sound of her uneven breathing.
Ugh. He might have overdone it this time. She had seemed to be pretty resilient, but not everyone could take an angry Natsu head on and come out standing. In fact, Natsu could count that number of people on one hand. Two if he was being honest with himself.
But in his defense he had been very angry at the girl, and she could defend herself better than most people he had encountered. Eva was a centuries old vampire. One who, by her own boastful admission, was powerful beyond reason. She was not the 10 year old girl her physical appearance would seem to indicate. Even if Natsu remembered Negi mentioning that the girl was under some kind of debilitating curse.
Then Natsu heard a girl's terrified screams and looked to the right. He could see Asuna falling through the air, twisting back and forth as her arms windmilled in a clear sign of panic. The girl did not seem to be slowing her descent or even preparing herself for impact. Natsu cursed and began to run, only to trip and barely catch himself.
He really was too tired. There was no way he would be able to make it to the girl in time to save her. A flash of sorrow ripped through the dragon-slayer at the thought of the young girls impending death as he could only stare impotently in her direction.
"I've got you Asuna!" Negi's cry reached Natsu's ears as clear as a tolling bell.
The young mage had hopped onto his over sized staff and was flying to meet the falling girl. He was moving nearly as fast as Natsu could at top speed, and thanks to the advantages of flight he was able to maintain the speed over the water's surface. The staff skimmed the water's surface as the boy neared the spot where Asuna would land. Then it shot upwards like a javelin into the sky.
Natsu fell to his knees and sank into the sand. Using the Lightning Flame Dragon mode for so long had taken its toll on his body and he could not make it to the girl in time. Gray's magic was not good for long distance maneuvers and Takamichi was just standing still.
It was all on the kid to save her.
Reaching an arm out, Negi targeted the screaming girl. He managed to time it just right and caught her cleanly, wrapping an arm around the falling girl from the air and placing her onto his staff. Asuna's screams died down as she clutched the thick piece of wood with one hand and the young boy with another. The staff moved gently across the sky and made its way back to land. Gray and Takamichi met the two as they landed. The girl was going to be alright.
Natsu allowed his anger at himself to come back. He punched his fist into the sand in frustration. This was something he had not felt in years. Annoyance at his own power. At his inability to wield it the it should be wielded. Feeling it left a bitter taste in his mouth when he should be enjoying his victory.
Igneel had raised him to be proud of the fire within his body. He had taught Natsu how to wield it, about the correct way it was to be used and what ways he would need to avoid. Natsu had taken his father's teachings to heart and had steadily progressed upon the path the ancient dragon had laid out for him. But right now, at this moment, Natsu could feel anger and annoyance at the source of his strength bubbling up from within.
Because Natsu was no longer just the fire dragon-slayer. He had undergone a change that his father had not anticipated.
The lightning power which now lived within his body had not come from his father. It had come from another dragon-slayer, and Natsu had never been taught how to properly use its power.
Unlike the fire which came from his soul the lightning had come from outside of it. It was neither something Natsu had earned over time, nor something he had completely turned into his own. Using it gave him a massive boost in power. As well as a decided increase in destructive potential. But after it was unleashed it depleted his magic at an incredible rate and left him incredibly weakened after Natsu released it. Even now he could feel a faint tightening spread through his muscles as the aftereffects made their appearance.
Natsu punched the ground again. This situation could not be allowed. After making sure that Eva and Asuna were okay, Natsu would take the choice of staying or leaving Mahora out of Gray's hands. This battle had made the choice clear to Natsu. He needed to master this power before it turned into a liability.
Otherwise it could someday be Happy, or Lucy, or Wendy in need of saving with no one other than a weakened nearby Natsu as backup. The thought of possibly being unable to save them due to his own lack of control was intolerable.
Then a familiar scent made its way to his nose. Its sudden appearance caused to Natsu jerk his head up in surprise. He managed to raise his hands just in time to shield his face.
"Crystallitatio Tellustris."
The sand surrounding Natsu turned to ice. Pillars jutted forth and surrounded the exhausted fire mage, trapping him in a frozen cage. To make matters worse, each of Natsu's limbs had been caught in the spell. Eva's magic had frozen his arms and lower half completely, and they were already beginning to grow numb. Natsu shot a look of disbelief at Eva as the vampire floated just out of his reach.
"What does it take to put you down," he managed to growl. "You couldn't have escaped from that attack without getting hurt!"
Natsu had hit the girl with everything in his arsenal. Nearly every ounce of magic he possessed had gone into the last blow. And what had it accomplished?
The vampire's clothes were gone as if she had never worn any in the first place. Natsu could see every portion of her creamy skin, bare as the day she was born, as Eva floated in the air. Her small body, pretty in its simplicity, stood before him without an inch of covering. Yet despite her lack of clothing there was not a single sign of a burn or scratch on any part of her naked body.
That was impossible. No one could avoid taking any damage from an explosion of that magnitude. Erza would have had a few burned locks of hair. Laxus would have had a bloody fist. Even Gildarts would have been hurt by Natsu's attack. And all of that would be if the other party had somehow managed to block the attack, to say nothing if they had taken the hit head on like Eva. In that scenario, none of Natsu's fellow guild-mates would have gotten out of it without bleeding.
Eva should have some kind of injury. Whether it be a bleeding wound or a lock of charred hair there should have been some kind of damage to her body. Natsu's attack had hit her dead on. He had seen her stunned form twitching with his own two eyes.
But the proof was right in front of him. The vampire made no attempt to hide or conceal her body, and Natsu's nose could confirm what his eyes were telling him.
That his greatest attack, one that had left him spent and given him a feeling of self-loathing at his reliance upon a power he could not yet fully control, had accomplished nothing. Nothing besides causing the vampire to stare at him with a venomous glare that bored into his own shocked gaze.
"Because I am Nosferatu, young dragon," Eva hissed as she bared her teeth at him. Her beautiful green eyes began to glow with a crimson light. "And it is time you learn that not even the wrath of a true dragon can compare to my own."
Natsu summoned the dregs of his power as she rose higher into the sky. Weak flames flared into existence and slowly melted the ice from around his body as the vampire began to chant. The words were nonsense to Natsu's ears even with Negi's charm still tied around his wrist. Yet their ominous feeling was causing his instincts to scream at him in warning.
"Lic lac la lac lilac: Τὸ συμβόλαιον διακονῆτω μοί, ἡ κρυστάλλινη βασίλεια! Ἐπιγενηθήτω, ταἰώνιον ἔρεβος, αἱώνιε κρύσταλλε!"
The very air tingled from the power Eva was gathering to herself. Natsu stopped trying to free his body. He would never be able to dodge it in his current state. His only hope was to try and hit her with a spell of his own before she finished casting.
Natsu drew in a deep breath and gathered the fire within his stomach. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Eva's voice cried out in exultation just as the fire left his lips. "Πάσαις ζωαῖς τὸν ἴσον θάνατον, ὃς ἀταραξία!Κοσμικη Κρυσταλλοπηγια!"
The dragon slayer's flame rushed out to meet the vampire's ice magic. The two opposing elements touched, and for the first time since the fight began Natsu saw one of his attacks be completely overwhelmed. The frozen stream of ice coming from the tiny vampire overpowered his dragon's breath and came into contact with his body.
Darkness enveloped him.
END
A/N: Happy holiday wishes! I hope that you have enjoyed the early release, and that all of you readers are having a safe and happy holiday season. :-)
And that's it folks! I hope that it was worth the wait. I tried to make this fight the best I could. Hopefully I was able to show that, even as powerful as Natsu is, he is still not strong enough to fight the big guys in Negima. Meanwhile, Eva poked the dragon and wound up kicking his ass. But only after her hide got cooked in her arrogance. The power that Natsu tapped into during the fight will eventually be revealed (it's foreshadowing for much later on), but I'm sure that one or two of you can guess where I'm going with it. It's a thought that I had early on in my fic that was later (somewhat) confirmed to be canon.
Though Raiyoukai's call of Igneel and the other dragons hiding within their respective dragon-slayers still takes the cake in terms of brilliant calls. I mean, I personally thought that it was total nonsense. No way could it be true. Then it became canon and I was forced to eat a slice of humble pie.
Sometimes, using spellcheck on these chapters can be a pain. Names like Natsu and Negi have to be added. Terms like 'magification' need to be added. And sometimes spellcheck even goes after words that are properly spelled, but in its infinite wisdom are somehow wrong. Gah! Goddamn piece of technology. If it was not so useful for catching my more dumb and embarrassing errors in grammar I would happily shut the darn thing off completely.
On to my comments!
On Magic: This is a somewhat fascinating area to me due to the potential for change and modification it possesses. Because the magical systems in both Negima and Fairy Tail, while compatible, are wildly different.
Fairy Tail has a very simple outlook on magic. A mage, who is someone that has the ability to perform magic, calls out the name of a spell and casts it. There is generally little to no lag time, and the spell is usually simple as well. Both Natsu and Erza stand as examples in this regard. Even mages with more complicated magic, like Gray, only have a slightly modified way to form and cast their spells.
Additionally, most mages in the manga world seem able to progress relatively easily on their own. While people like Gray, Leone, Natsu, and Wendy all had someone to teach them the basics, they are able to advance their magic to greater heights with little to no input from others.
Negima's magic viewpoint on magic is a stark contrast. Negi is hailed as a prodigy, able to conceive and create new spells in a span of time that leaves other characters shaking their head at the unfairness of it all. Mages like Evangeline spent centuries crafting their unique techniques, or by forming schools of magecraft to do it over generations. Heck, there are even specialized departments of magical research and theory in the world of Negima whose only goal is to create new and more powerful spells.
So the question to me then is how do I fuse these two very different concepts. Or do I abandon one side in favor of the other?
To be honest I am still figuring it out. Right now I am using the fairy tail method. A mage casts a spell, something happens, and we move on. But I highly doubt that it will stay that way. My own natural inclination is towards the Negima style. Something that I suspect will become more noticeable as the fic goes on.
Ultimately I think that it is something that will only be known with the passage of time. And regardless, the way I do it is definitely affected by any comments or criticisms that I receive along the way. The more critical reviews that have been left so far have provided a wonderful insight into my writing that has already caused my style to change and grow. I expect the same to hold true in this area as well.
On Spells: This is a pretty simple subject. I try to use canon spells whenever possible. The fan wiki's for Negima and Fairy Tail are amazing repositories for them and I use them extensively (especially within this chapter). But should I run into a situation where I need a specific spell and it does not exist, then I will happily make one up using the established criteria. Examples: Latin for Negi, 'Fire Dragon' whatever for Natsu, and 'Ice Make: Blank' for Gray. I've done it before and will undoubtedly do it again.
Recommended Reading: This time I would like to recommend Of Gods and Men by Sablefalls. This is an Avatar: The Last Airbender fic in a postwar AU setting. Somehow Sablefalls was able to craft an amazing fic where Azula and Aang get together while remaining remarkably close to their canon selves. Give the story a read and you just might find yourself loving this crack pairing as much as myself.
Until Next Time,
Elsil