Underneath all the flames, scales, claws, and horns.. It was..

"Natsu..?"

The small utter of that name caused both Ultear and Meredy to freeze, their eyes widening. The violet haired women then dropped from her fighting stance, before slowly creeping over, and kneeling next to Jellal. Her eyes caught sight of the familiar face, and she let out a soft gasp. "Natsu.." She whispered,"It is you.. How-"

The transformed mage in front of them suddenly threw his head forward, a loud snarl escaping him as he renewed his struggles, attempting to bite the both of them. The two mages stood up, backing a safe distance away as they watched his frantic thrashing.

Meredy frowned from her own spot, noticing how Natsu was acting. "Jellal.." She whispered,"He's acting like an animal.."

Jellal turned towards Meredy, before hearing a thump. He turned his head towards the scorched grass, seeing Natsu had given up struggling once more. Instead, his eyes were staring straight at them, waiting to see what they would do. The longer he stared, the more Jellal saw what the girl meant.

In those olive eyes, there was no sight of the loud and eccentric mage Jellal once fought. All he could see was blank, feral instinct, and a desire to kill. Every action from Natsu was not planned or prepared, it was all by instinct.. He really was just like an animal..

Dear God.. Who did this to you?!

For a few moments, the blue haired man just stood there. For once in his life, he didn't know what to do, he had no idea that their mission would go this way. At the sight of his hesitation, Ultear narrowed her dark eyes. "Jellal," She declared,"We have to do something, we can't leave him like this."

"I know," He replied quickly,"I just don't know what."

Jellal took a few breaths, before sliding his leather clad foot forward. Instantly, Natsu bared his sharp teeth and growled loudly. The noise was so loud and sudden, it sent any nearby creatures skittering away as fast as possible. Jellal felt compelled to do the same, but instead he took a deep breath, and slowed his movements down as much as he could.

"Hey Natsu.." He whispered, beginning to move closer. "I know you don't really understand anything right now, but I promise, everything is going to be okay.."

Natsu obviously didn't understand him, and Jellal's closer proximity was only making him more defensive. Now, the red spines on the slayer's back rose up as well, much like a dog raising its hackles.

Jellal could feel the heat rising in the air, he forced himself to continue forward, and gently whispered,"It's alright.. We'll take you back to our guild, and we'll help you, okay? I promise.. I promise.. I just need to..."

Finally, he was close enough. He moved quickly, blue symbols swirling around his hand as he grabbed the pinkettes head. Natsu let out a violent scream, his whole body thrashing and releasing bursts of flames in a final, desperate attempt to escape what his animalistic mind believed to be his end. But soon enough, Jellal's spell forced its way into his mind, sending the dragon off into unconsciousness.

Jellal them moved, lifting the limp young man onto his back. Despite all the added appendages, Natsu felt to light in his arms. The blue haired man frowned as rage filled him. He wanted to find the monsters that did this and destroy them.. But he couldn't.. Not yet.

Natsu needed them.

Turning to face his guildmates, he let the emotions flow into his gaze. "Let's go home." The two women nodded, and followed after their leader. Despite the determination the blue haired male displayed, they were fearfully wondering the same thing.

How were they going to fix this?

Two Weeks Later

It seemed they were still no closer to answering that question than before.

All Jellal could do was stare at the sealed door in front of him, at a complete and utter loss as of what to do. It just doesn't make any sense… There aren't any spells on him, no seals either.. What happened to him?! He thought with frustration.

No matter what they had tried, Natsu remained violent and enraged, like a feral beast. They had to keep him inside a prison cell, locked with magic seals. It hurt to treat the young man as a wild animal; But if they were honest with themselves, they knew that Natsu practically was one.

The bluenette looked down at the raw meat in his hands, cringing slightly at the blood staining his skin. They had tried to feed Natsu other food, they really had, but he simply would burn it all to ash. If this is all he'll eat until we can fix him, it'll have to do.. Jellal thought sadly. There is no other option.

He pushed the heavy door open, allowing light to filter into the darkened room. Instantly, Jellal was hit with a wave of heat and a loud growl. He made sure to shut the door tight before he turned towards the source.

There, in the furthest corner from the door, was Natsu. He was on all fours, black claws digging into the concrete floor and wings raised in a threatening pose, and spines burning with bright fire. His lips were curled to reveal his large fangs, and his slit eyes stared at Jellal with a mixture of fear, and anger.

Jellal forced himself to smile at the sad sight. "Hey Natsu.." He said softly, as calmly as possible,"I.. Brought you food. I bet you're hungry again."

He moved closer, causing the young man to push himself further against the wall as quickly as he could. Jellal cringed, quickly tossing the meat closer to the animalistic pinkette. This caused the continuous growling to suddenly cease, as his scale speckled nose twitched at the smell.

Natsu peeled away from the corner, carefully putting one foot in front of the other as he crept towards the meat. Every few inches he'd stop, watch Jellal for several seconds, and then repeat the cycle again.

Finally, after what felt like hours he reached the food. The dragonslayer looked up at Jellal, and then back down at the meat. Then, his clawed hands snatched it up so fast that Jellal barely caught the act. Those sharp teeth then sunk into the bloodied flesh, tearing off a chunk and swallowing it whole.

The blunette cringed as he watched the scene and listened to the guttural sounds. No matter how many times Jellal fed him, Natsu continued to be unable to recognize him or anyone. It was if everything that made him human was blocked off. Reduced to nothing but an animal.. And I don't know how to fix it. He thought sadly. I'm sorry Natsu, I'm sorry this had to happen to you..

Jellal pulled himself away from the saddened thoughts when he realized that the airhad become much cooler, now that Natsu's attention had turned away from Jellal. He tore into it over and over, blood covering his face and his hands. The older mage hated watching and was prepared to leave like he always did, but then he noticed something.

Natsu's claws were shrinking.

His blue eyes widened, leaning slightly closer. The claws were almost completely gone, all that remained was the black color on his much normal fingernails and slight edge on the end, some of the red scales on the young man's body were fading away, and the look in his usually enraged eyes was much calmer, almost relaxed, and his pupils were a little wider. He's changing back?

Jellal held his breath, and leaned forward the slightest bit, hoping desperately that he would change back more, that Jellal would be able to see a hint of the dragon slayer he once knew.

But the tiny movement he made caught the monster's attention, and Natsu's eyes flickered back over to him. Instantly, those eyes filled once again with violent rage. He let out a loud snarl, jerking forward threateningly as flames began to surround his body once more.

"Natsu!" Jellal called desperately, but the small shimmer of the old Natsu has vanished, leaving Jellal's tiny sliver of hope to shrivel away again.

The young man snarled again, lurching forward threateningly as his now returned claws sliced through the air only inches away from the blue haired mage.

Jellal stumbled back, grabbing frantically for the handle of the door, and swinging it open. He ran out, pulling the door shut. As soon as it clanged closed, the magic seals reinforced themselves and the door magically locked as well.

The man sighed loudly, sliding down to the ground, and pulling his knees to his chest. The growling that had been rumbling on the other side of the door had stopped, but Jellal's own thoughts still burned hot with a desire for answers.

I don't understand… The claws were gone! He was changing back! Jellal thought, threading his hands through his hair. What was causing him to revert to human again? What made him change back into a monster? What am I missing?!

Jellal rubbed at his temples and gathered as much information as he could, but the impact of what happened to Natsu still pained him too much to think straight. "I need some air," He decided, quickly getting to his feet, pulling his cloak over his face, and then hurrying out of their base.

The village that was near their base was a bustling place, and at the same time it was still very peaceful. It was a weekend, so Jellal could see many children running around and just having fun on the beautiful summer day.

He slowly circled the town, simply taking in the sights and sounds of the village as he did. He was starting to feel less stressed out, but at the same time he still felt saddened. Even if I'm feeling better, Natsu is still suffering. I need to help him, I owe it to him, to Fairy Tail-

Suddenly, a loud bark jerked Jellal from his thoughts. He jumped and let out a whipped around to face the source of the noise. He saw a larger dog on a leash whose ears were back, teeth bared, and fur raised. He barked again, and Jellal quickly raised his hands to try and calm the animal.

There was a tug on the leash, making Jellal realize that someone was holding the dog back. He followed the leash, and saw a frantic looking young man. "I'm so sorry!" They exclaimed,"He's still getting used to being around people!"

"Oh no, it's alright, I understand," Jellal promised, watching their interactions a little more closely. The dog watched Jellal and growled, but began to calm down. To his interest, it looked like the dog had many scars on their body. "Is he a rescue?"

The person nodded, a sad smile on their face. "Yeah, poor thing has been through a lot," They said softly,"It takes them a while to trust anyone or feel safe enough to calm down, and it's taking a lot of time and effort, but I know it'll be worth it!"

Jellal felt as if a lightbulb had just lit up above his head, his eyes widening the slightest bit. That's it! That's what I need to do!

He quickly made his features relax, and smiled even wider. "Wow! How kind of you!" He complimented,"What are your techniques to help them calm down? As long as you have the time to tell me, of course."

The young man brightened up at Jellal's request, and casually said,"Well… I do have a few I'm pretty good at…"

The door to Natsu's cell creaked open once more, and Jellal slowly entered. The growling began again, just like it always did. But instead of carrying a slab of meat, the blue haired man was carrying a book.

The pink haired man growled loudly, backing away into the corner and flaring up defensively all over again. Jellal took no mind, and settled down on the ground, flipping the book to the first page.

The growling seemed to stop, and Jellal turned his eyes up. Although he was still holding a defensive position on all fours, Natsu's slit olive eyes were staring at the book in confusion, and his nostril were flaring as he sniffed toward the book. When he noticed Jellal looking at him, he started growling again.

Jellal quickly looked back down, took a deep breath, and began to read. "Two houses, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona where we lay our scene…"

He continued on, and on without stopping, without looking up to see if Natsu was watching. The dragonslayer, meanwhile, seemed extremely perplexed by what Jellal was doing. After about an hour, he went from a defensive stance to sitting against the wall and listening to the story Jellal was reading.

The heat and tension began to vanish, those intimidating wings folded back against Natsu's back, the growling and frantic panting stopped, and Natsu's shoulders were no longer taut.

And as the hours crawled by, those claws began to shrink again.