Hi guys Azza here!
So 800k word count guys LETS GO!
Honestly, I say it a lot but again thanks guys for reading, appreciate all of you for putting up with my currently dodgy upload schedule. I'm hoping it'll get better now that we're into the new year but who honestly knows.
What I do know though is that you're all awesome for sticking with me and I'm looking forward to breaking another milestone soon!
I'll do reviews in either PM form this time because I pulled an all nighter to finish this so for those of you who reviewed with anything resembling a question I'll get to that a bit later.
Anyway, this chapter is VERY lore heavy. A lot of important stuff is in this one so hopefully you all have fun with it!
Anyway, onto the story!
I do not own Fairy Tail, One Piece or the Nasuverse.
The Tiberius Question
I still remember that fateful night, the night that would thrust me from merely being part of a much greater existence than I had ever imagined possible and into a conflict against a Primordial hell bent on wiping out all of creation by absolute Incineration.
You all might recall when my younger self first encountered Mordred, no? That fateful night under the stars as I spoke with Eliza about matters that, to my current self, were so very trifling by comparison to modern concerns.
But therein lies the crux of the issue, MY recollection of that night, and many subsequent events following that Fixed Point in Time.
Within this memory is the key to understanding several truths, not all of them solely related to myself, but of the King Of Mages and the greater scheme he has woven into both mine, and my younger counterpart we are currently monitoring's, Timestreams.
/Memory V2 – 032/
After a day of walking, the group had decided to stop for the night due to the sudden drop in temperature. Reaching a small cave that appeared to be relatively out of the way, Natsu created a large fire for the girls and Gaara to rest near as he took first watch for the night.
Truthfully, Natsu would be the only watch since he didn't really need sleep like the others, but he wasn't about to piss off the girls again. Gaara would no doubt sympathize, but undoubtedly wouldn't come to his aid if push came to shove, so he decided it was better to just endure their fury in the morning.
Once the girls and Gaara had fallen asleep, Natsu had taken Knightwalker's spear and began examining it. He had been observing Erza Knightwalker closely ever since she had arrived and it was only now that she was beginning to show signs of returning to Edolas, tiny sections of her being becoming ethereal for mere moments before returning to normal before any of the others could notice.
Natsu would never tell them openly, but Erza's presence actually helped him finally adjust properly to his new life here in the Elemental Nations. Yes, it wasn't HIS Erza, however she was basically the same woman and simply having her around helped lessen his pain and the conflict he felt whenever his thoughts turned to the purple haired ANBU he'd come to grow feelings for.
Shaking his head, he dismissed the thoughts and returned his full focus onto the weapon in his hands, lamenting the possibilities of what he could realistically do with such a weapon relative to the way Edolas now functioned.
After his brief time there, Edolas was transformed into a world that no longer bore any trace of magic and wasn't likely to ever get it back. However, that didn't mean Natsu couldn't bend the rules a little bit, Erza and Jellal had both done good for him and it was time to return the favour.
A portal opened next to him and Eliza emerged, holding a Black Lacrima crystal with an amused look on her face. Without even waiting for him to speak, Eliza sat herself down across from him with Natsu offering her a curt nod in turn.
"Do you have any idea how to breathe life into her weapon," Eliza asked as Natsu nodded.
"I simply need to change the catalyst that powers the weapon from magic to a replenishing supply of my own Aura. I've done it a few times before but not to something as complex as this."
"And you wanted my help to make sure you got it right and didn't accidently blow yourself up?"
"Well yes, but I also have another reason … I've been practicing on how to create weapons like you and Elise do but with my own powers and I want to make a staff for Jellal."
"I'm guessing you haven't gotten that far yet, have you?"
"The best thing I've managed to do is fix Yugao's ANBU mask and make it more like something I'd create but it is far from what I would accept as perfect."
Eliza chuckled softly as she nodded in understanding. Truthfully, she had been watching over Natsu's journey, as had all the higher Gods and Devils, and couldn't fault him for his idea. His gift wouldn't really unbalance anything in Edolas since the place had turned to technology anyway so providing him with some help wasn't something she had any issues with.
"Very well, I shall aid you in the construction of the staff since it won't take long to forge it from nothing. However, Knightwalker's spear on the other hand is an already complete piece of equipment and therefore requires precise tinkering so we should focus on that first," Eliza said as she held out a hand to take the weapon. "Hmm … ah I see where the changes need to be made! Now, watch closely as I demonstrate the proper way to separate a powerful catalyst from the binding circuits …"
It took Natsu and Eliza an hour to carefully dismantle the weapon without destroying it in order to reach the core itself. The core was highly unstable due to the way Faust had designed most things in his kingdom to simply drain without restraint and thus, it needed to be handled with the utmost care.
So Natsu naturally made the obvious choice when the core started to begin its countdown to detonation … and ate it.
Eliza simply gave him a deadpan look as the core exploded inside his stomach and the magic was absorbed into himself. Sure, he just gave himself a power up by eating a core overflowing with power, but the fact remains that he ate the thing without a second thought.
"Tell me Natsu, what would you have done if the amount of power within the core was more than you could handle and regulate?"
"Well, I'd be dead, wouldn't I," Natsu replied with a cheeky grin that made Eliza's eyebrow twitch.
"Most of the time you show maturity beyond your years but occasionally this side of you manifests … Where oh where did Igneel go wrong I wonder?"
"Hey, Igneel did fine!"
Eliza just brushed off his whining as the two carefully began to place the Lacrima that Natsu had channelled a precise amount of his Hybrid's Aura into before resealing the core of the weapon. After the weapon was sealed, Eliza handed it to Natsu whose touch began to turn the entire blade into a red ebony before it reverted to its original form.
"Well, I'd say that was a success, wouldn't you," Natsu said, clearly relieved that the weapon didn't blow up in his face.
"Indeed. You just created a new commandment for this weapon which I'm sure Erza will be most pleased with. Now then, onto the staff before you do anything else that makes me even more concerned for both our safeties than I already am."
"But-!?"
"Now then, since we are building this from scratch," Eliza began, completely ignoring Natsu's protests. "The most important thing to think of is moulding the catalyst that shall store all the power within it. Tell me, do you know why this is?"
"Is that to ensure we don't have to rebuild the weapon again or deconstruct it?"
"Indeed. You are familiar with Lacrima crystals and so you shall use one as a catalyst," Eliza said firmly as she produced one into her hand. "Look at this Lacrima in my hand and study it in detail. Every single shard must be observed and only once you have the confidence may you begin to form one of your own."
And so Natsu sat simply staring at the Lacrima crystal Eliza had procured, scanning it in its entirety to ensure he had its image burned into his mind. Once he was confident enough, he closed his eyes and began channelling his aura to create the sole image before him.
Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Eliza crouched down eyeing the crystal with an appraising gaze. The smile that made its way onto her face indicated that she had deemed his attempt successful and he honestly felt something within him stir at the sight of her appearing almost proud of him.
"Elise will be jealous, took her three tries to get this right."
"But how old was she when you taught her the art Eliza?"
"I believe she was at least fifteen," Eliza mumbled as Natsu smiled.
"Which makes her three attempts better than my single one simply because she did it at such a young age. But Elise being better than me aside, now that I have the crystal, what next?"
"Since you've got the crystal part down the next step will be much easier. All you need to do is do the same thing you just did with the Lacrima but mould the staff in your hands around the Lacrima."
"I'm guessing masters of this ability do both at once, huh?"
"Indeed. But you are still learning so it is acceptable for you to do it this way," Eliza replied as Natsu closed his eyes and began to visualize a staff Jellal might like.
He searched his memories for any indication of any kind of design that Jellal would like and he most certainly found one that fit the bill. Taking a deep breath, he began to form the staff in his hand taking his time to craft every detail under Eliza's watchful gaze.
Opening his eyes, Natsu couldn't help but smile at his work. In his hand was a simple staff made from red ebony that was about the same height as he was. The top of the staff was in fact the Fairy Tail guild mark, something that after much consideration would mean much to Jellal, taking into account his time in their guild on Earthland.
"An interesting choice but I can understand the sentimental value," Eliza said softly as she gently took the staff and twirled it between her fingers before bringing it down hard on a nearby rock, shattering it upon contact.
"I wanted it to be durable since it's not like he could just get it fixed or replace it."
"This is a marvellous weapon; I can feel the care put into every single inch of it. An amazing job for a first attempt Natsu, you should be proud."
"Well, I feared I may not have another chance as I'm sure you've noticed," Natsu said pointing over to the sleeping form of Erza whose leg was phasing in and out. "I wanted this gift to be ready for her before she left and the one for Jellal too."
Eliza simply nodded as she pulled out wrappings for the staff and began wrapping it up before handing it back to Natsu.
"I'm sure the pair will be happy with your gifts Natsu, but for now I must be off. I do believe that leaving the gifts for her to find might be a good idea, both Knightwalker and Scarlett share a mutual love of presents doubling as surprises." Eliza said with a small smile as Natsu nodded in agreement. "Very well then, we shall speak again soon Natsu."
And with that, Eliza opened up a portal and vanished, leaving him alone with Knightwalker's reworked spear and Jellal's new staff.
Taking her advice, Natsu placed Erza's weapon and the staff for Jellal next to her sleeping form before returning outside the cave. Now that he had time to himself, Natsu decided to spend some time meditating and chose to sit under a dead tree nearby.
Thinking over the past few days Natsu's thoughts turned towards both the Servants and this Otsutsuki Sect that seemed to pop up everywhere he went. Was there a potential connection there or was he simply being paranoid?
His thoughts were interrupted when his hand suddenly began to hurt like someone had dug under the skin with a superheated piece of rusted metal and was now scraping it along the inner flesh.
Opening his eyes, he was shocked to see the mark glowing brightly as blood trailed down his fingers and onto the sand. Once he had pulled himself from his shock, he heard a voice he didn't recognize.
Golden White Face
Split Into Nine
Visions Of Destruction
A Fickle Beast
Bloodthirsty Yet Playful
A Consciousness Propelled
Signs Of Curiosity
Disguised Beneath Station
Though Currently Hollow
They Strike Fear
Natsu watched in shock as a surge of magic appeared before him, a humanoid being appearing from dozens of golden sparkles of light. Wincing as the light grew brighter, he eventually covered his eyes with his right hand as the being fully manifested before him.
Slowly, he removed his hand as his eyes adjusted to the once again dimly lit area. After he stopped seeing white spots, he looked over toward the being before him and couldn't help but find himself utterly speechless.
"Servant, Ruler," the distinctly feminine voice almost giggled as he felt a slight tingle run up and down his spine. "So that's what it feels like, a rather primitive form of manifesting oneself and yet … I quite enjoyed it!"
Natsu watched as the being before him took several steps forward toward him, unable to speak as they placed a finger beneath his chin and closed his mouth with a similar giggle to when they first appeared.
"I take it that you are the one who called for me? Well, to be quite fair it wasn't precisely ME that was meant to appear but that's neither here nor there I suppose!"
Taking the time to study the being before him, he couldn't help but find amusement as the clearly fox-like humanoid's fox ears twitched atop her head in what was clearly interest and excitement.
He noticed that she wore robes that appeared like they were forged specifically for her, formal wear that was the purest of white that was only accentuated by the golden jewelerry she bore around her waist, breasts and neck.
It was clear though that part of her clothing was missing with certain spaces seeming much duller than other parts, something that just felt 'out of place' for lack of a better way of describing it.
The figure seemed to realize he was examining her and grinned, exposing another fox trait with pronounced canines that looked like they'd easily snap bone if she wished. He likewise found himself immediately averting his gaze from the grin, feeling somewhat flustered as the giggle sounded for the third time.
"My, rather bold of you to perform such an examination without approval," the fox giggled as she stepped right up to him, looming over Natsu yet not actually feeling intimidating in the slightest.
Actually, he felt rather … warm?
"Oh yes, I can see exactly why I chose to come here now … Yes yes, such potential, a being forged of both God and Devil kind no less!"
"W-wait," Natsu blurted out, finally finding the means to use his mouth as the fox-girl raised a delicate eyebrow in what he assumed was surprise. "You know I'm a-!?"
"Hybrid? Oh yes, I can feel the Aura of Balance surrounding you, even if it is in but a fledgling form. Ah, but I suppose you must be rather confused at my appearance?"
"Well … I assume that you are a Servant since you literally appeared and said you were one like … just then, right?"
"I am indeed a Servant, but I'm also rather special," the fox-girl grinned once again as a single tail came into view from behind her. "That aside, I have decided that you are someone I wish to observe."
"Observe," Natsu repeated as he watched the tail lazily swish from left to right. "Observe 'how' exactly?"
"You are special, your someone who has so many threads around them that even I have to concentrate to single out specific strands. Not only that but you are a Hybrid, a being of Balance!"
"And that relates to you observing me … how?"
"You can feel it, can't you," the fox-girl asked as she pointed at his left hand. "Those seals glowing means only one thing you know?"
"That you're my Servant," Natsu muttered softly as the fox-girl nodded sagely.
"Being bound by anyone would normally result in me burning them apart on a conceptual level, but since it is someone as unique as you, I shall allow it."
"Um …"
"I am not a being used to speaking to mortals, as you can no doubt tell," the fox-girl continued without even bothering to clarify her earlier statement. "Nevertheless, I have come forth in order to …!"
"In order to … what?"
"…"
"You alright?"
"This must be some sort of mistake," the fox-girl muttered as she narrowed her eyes, becoming rather frightening just by doing so as her golden eyes blazed like the sun itself. "I do not FORGET!?"
"Uh … I don't mean to interrupt, but can I say something?"
"YOU-!? Y-you may," the fox-girl stuttered as she held back what was clearly about to be a rant.
"I don't really know why you chose to appear before me but its obvious that you chose to of your own free will. With that in mind, perhaps we should … do whatever Masters and Servants do for a bit and maybe you'll remember," Natsu said awkwardly, completely out of his depth as the strange Servant pondered what he'd said as they watched his eyes swish back and forth.
"What are you doing?"
"Huh?"
"With your eyes, why are you doing that," the fox-girl asked before quickly realizing that he was looking at her tail and looked at it herself. "I fail to see why you believe my tail to be so intriguing-!?"
Pausing mid-sentence, the fox-girl looked back to Natsu with a strange glance that held no trace of any kind of emotion, almost as if her eyes were blank as she formed some sort of conclusion in her head.
"Of course … my tails!"
"Tails," Natsu repeated as the fox-girl spun around and started hitting him in the face with her overly soft and fluffy tail. "OI!"
"Perhaps if I can regain more of my tails I shall recover my full memories along with them!? I know what I am, yet not why I specifically chose to come here," the fox-girl exclaimed as she stopped hitting him in the face with her tail and spun around to drag him to his feet. "Already I can feel emotions I have scarcely recalled in millennia bubbling forth! Truly this was something I deemed necessary to happen, of that I am most certain! I merely must discover the hard truths of the matter to discern WHY I have appeared before you here!"
"Yeah … sounds good," Natsu blurted out as his head struggled to stop spinning after the powerful tail whips he'd received to the face. "So, I guess we're allies now?"
"Obviously," the fox-girl snorted in response. "I doubt there is any other being within the next ten realities worth being partnered with one such as I, you should feel honoured!"
"Believe me, I do, but I don't even know your name …"
"Ah," the fox-girl replied as she took a step back and carefully eyed Natsu, clearly wary of speaking any further. "For now, you may call me either Ruler, or by my nickname."
"Which is?"
"In this particular form, I am often referred to as Taiyo so that will do."
"Alright then … Taiyo," Natsu said as he managed to stop the world from spinning as the Ruler Class Servant stepped up toward him and extended a hand out to him. "Hm?"
"I hope you prove to be as entertaining as I believe you to be," Taiyo said as Natsu gently shook her hand. "I look forward to seeing where you take us, though don't expect me to start calling you Master, alright?"
"Fair enough."
"Good," Taiyo grinned as they finished shaking on their newly forged contract "Now then, I refuse to be lacking in details so inform me as to why we are currently camped out in the middle of a desert!?"
/Chaldea – Present Time/
As the memory ceased, not a single person present had the means of voicing their questions on what they had just seen. Natsu turned back to face the completely shellshocked staff of Chaldea, Romani and Da Vinci included.
"I'm sure I don't need to spell out what the contradictions between my version of events is and the Natsu currently on the ground?"
Romani was the first to recover as he marched over toward Natsu and grabbed him by the coat, shaking him violently in the process as the others found their voices. The entire room devolved into a cacophony of madness until Da Vinci silenced them all by smashing her staff into the ground.
"ENOUGH! And let him go Romani!"
"After what I just saw he'd better start talking if I let go," Romani snapped back as he reluctantly let Natsu go before returning to his seat. "Start talking … NOW!"
"I take it that you all know who that was, right?"
"Considering the fact that we have two different versions of her reincarnation here that have literally ZERO to say that's positive about her, yes," Da Vinci replied which elicited a sigh from Natsu.
"Look, we don't have the time to do a full history lesson on my past with her however it is relevant because-."
"Because she's the one responsible-!?"
"Shut up Romani," Natsu snapped back as the Doctor fell silent. "Anyway, as I was saying … I know that it looks bad, but she isn't the one responsible. Having her as my Servant wasn't the issue, however it is the first sign I can think of where history was completely rewritten to such a degree."
"It appears like such a minor change at first glance, you got one Servant and the Natsu at Marineford got another. Yet upon reflection, a different Servant changes literally EVERYTHING about your time during the Realis Holy Grail War," Da Vinci said as she started pulling up multiple screens worth of data.
"There were a LOT of changes, many battles that Mordred fought were either completely different or non-existent. That alone means that Time itself has been suffering grievous damage as a direct result."
"Even consider how Vortigern Pendragon was defeated not half an hour ago, that fight simply wouldn't have occurred the way it did if Mordred wasn't the one present," Romani muttered as everyone started thinking back on other times Mordred played a pivotal role.
"I think the best example would be for you all to see this memory next," Natsu said quietly as he turned back to face the monitor. "This memory is from when I went off by myself at Water Seven. This should give you all an idea as to why I'm saying this change is significant, if my Servant alone wasn't enough."
Everyone looked back up at the main screen as Natsu's memories were projected onto it, a fuzzy static being replaced by the rather charming city they'd seen not too long ago.
This always felt like a rather strange encounter.
I didn't understand why he was there; we never did get a solid answer even all these years later. I ended up just assuming it was the Mage King and his penchant for playing eighth dimensional chess or whatever other bullshit was up his ass at the time.
Have I ever mentioned how that guy makes me feel like hurting something?
Anyway, my deeply seething rage aside, I remember splitting off from the Straw Hats after we arrived at Water Seven and naturally ****** came with me, she literally despised mortals and refused to deal with them without me present.
Naturally, I was more than happy to have her company.
/Memory V3 – 025/
"This place looks depressing as hell," Natsu sighed as they walked through what was essentially the slums of Water Seven. "Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't we near the source that powers the whole city? Surely that can't be healthy for all these people to live near?"
"And where else would they live if not here Natsu? The city below wouldn't take them since they would be nothing more than an eyesore," Ahnkseram replied with a deep frown. "The plight of these people aside, have you noticed there is something in the air?"
"Pheromones, not animalistic ones either," he replied pausing only to sniff the air several more times. "It's rather strange but these almost feel like the ones let off when a female wants to mate, surely that can't be right though I mean what human is capable of that?"
"This world is full of strange oddities Natsu don't be surprised if there is someone here doing it, besides look at the way every last person here is positioned."
Pausing in his steps Natsu examined the homeless people and was surprised to see that they all appeared to be looking in the same direction, seemingly unintentionally as they went about their business.
"This should be interesting …"
Following the general line of sight the people were looking, Natsu followed it inside what appeared to be an abandoned power station though it had been converted into a rather fancy looking home with hundreds of homeless children lying about seemingly in a trance of some sort.
"Ahh … you have come after so long."
Looking up above, Natsu was shocked to see a woman who could only be described as a Goddess of Beauty even despite the two large black and pink horns protruding from her head. She wore a predominantly golden robe that didn't leave much to the imagination with a slightly smaller cloth draped over her horns.
Her glowing golden eyes sparkled with mischief as she gently moved a stray lock of her black hair to the left of her face, licking her lips as she vanished and appeared several metres before Natsu before he could even comprehend it.
"Who … are you?"
"Me," the woman asked softly as she placed her hand at the centre of her rather exposed cleavage. "You want to know who I am; you can still remain sane standing before me even at this age?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh my," the woman said with a blush. "To think you held such … prowess even at such an infantile age! Truly now I do see why …"
"Natsu," Ahnkseram said slowly as he felt fear begin to emanate from the usually calm Hybrid. "We need to leave, NOW!"
"Why," Natsu asked in confusion as he felt the first Hybrid begin to panic.
"I've been wracking my brain trying to remember anything I could about these pheromones and then it hit me when she began to speak in the manner that she had been! This woman is-!"
Ahnkseram suddenly stopped speaking, his voice simply vanishing as the woman began to giggle in an almost playful manner.
"He almost spoilt the fun, no one spoils my fun," the woman said as she began to glide toward Natsu with her arms outstretched. "Now come to me … I shall release you from all the darkness hovering over you Natsu …"
"What the hell are you," Natsu gasped as he jumped away prompting the woman to pause mid-air as the golden glow in her eyes increased in density.
"I have many names however most of them are not important nor do they answer the question of what you desire. Perhaps it would be easier to simply calm you down first and explain things later; yes, I believe that would be for the best."
Just as Natsu began to feel everything shift, he was suddenly and violently thrown back into reality as a powerful blast of malice washed over the area. The woman appeared startled, even concerned, as Taiyo appeared, her pink hair flailing about wildly as four fluffy tails stood up on end, the Servant clearly identifying the woman as a threat.
"******," Natsu gasped as he felt himself be dragged back toward his Servant's side. "What was that just now!?"
"Be careful Natsu, this one is far beyond your capabilities," Taiyo replied with a snarl, barring her fangs at the woman who narrowed her eyes dangerously in return.
"I had heard rumours that you were around, but to see that you have attached yourself to Natsu's hip is something not even I could have foreseen," the woman replied, losing the gentle tone as Taiyo began to growl.
"What do you want with him, what are you planning!?"
"I merely wished to speak with the future King Of Balance and provide him with a small boon," the woman replied coldly in response. "But what exactly is it that YOU are planning!?"
"Nothing, at least nothing that would drag Natsu into harm's way."
"Excuse me for doubting you, but your track record says that is the biggest load of nonsense ever uttered by your person!"
"Believe what you want," Taiyo snapped back in response. "I didn't enter the world like you did, BEAST!"
"Hold on, did you just say that she's a Beast!?"
ADVENT BEAST
AN EVIL OF HUMANITY MANIFESTS
One Of The Seven Evils Of Humanity
The Third Pleasure Heaven Of Deeply Grateful Existence
Heaven's Hole
Primordial Beast Of Pleasure - Lust
BEAST III/R – RAPTURE
"Beast III/R, to be precise," Taiyo snarled in response. "I know this one all too well."
"As do I know you," Beast III/R hissed in reply. "However, as much as I would like to 'settle the score' as it were, defeating the Mage King and his absurd plan takes priority."
"Wait … WHAT," Natsu all but shouted in disbelief. "You, a Beast, want to HELP!?"
"Believe it or not Natsu, not all Beasts seek the absolute erasure of proper existence," Beast III/R replied softly. "For example, I merely desire to manipulate the Pleasure of all mortal existence, breaking them into an endless cycle of Lust. How can I do so if there is no existence to corrupt?"
Natsu didn't really have a response to that and so he chose to simply focus on the part of the conversation that he did. Looking over toward Taiyo, he saw that even she was somewhat confused by what Beast III/R had said, but was remaining guarded all the same.
"I had come to deliver you a lost piece of yourself, infused with some of my 'essence' woven within."
"You corrupted part of Natsu's missing self," Taiyo asked darkly as Beast III/R pulled the crystal out of her chest, eliciting a slight pleasurable gasp as she did so.
"It is perfectly safe; it merely bears an aspect of myself in addition to all that the shard originally contained. If anything, the shard is greater than it ever was before."
"If it contains any trace of you, it's already worse-!"
"Is it safe to reintegrate it with me," Natsu asked as Taiyo looked over at him in complete shock.
"Natsu!?"
"I have to get it back, you know that."
"W-well obviously, but we have to purify it first!"
"The shard is perfectly safe," Beast III/R said firmly as she locked eyes with Taiyo. "I would swear my status as Beast III/R on it!"
Taiyo narrowed her eyes and studied the unflinching gaze of the Beast for any sign of deceit. After several tense moments, she sighed and shook her head, clearly still not happy about any of this.
"If anything happens to him because of this, you know I'll do everything to come after you," Taiyo hissed as Beast III/R nodded slowly. "I take it that because of your 'essence' he'll be knocked out for a bit?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll watch over him until he wakes," Taiyo said firmly as Beast III/R nodded in understanding.
"Then I shall take my leave," the Beast said softly as she began to shimmer ever so slightly. "However, before I leave let me give you a warning …"
"A threat?"
"No, a warning of an enemy," Beast III/R replied as the entire area started to shimmer along with her. "One of the Mage King's creations is lurking about, searching for Natsu. If he inserts that shard into himself, he will render himself defenceless, should they decide to strike."
"He'll be safe with me," Taiyo said firmly as her golden orbs met the Beast's own. "Or do you doubt my power despite knowing who and what I truly am? Are you so bold, Beast?"
"No. I merely wished to advise you of the threat so that you were aware should the worst occur, nothing more."
"I see."
"Until we meet again, King Of Balance …"
Beast III/R faded away to reveal the entire area was a dingy, run-down hovel full of malnourished children who barely seemed to register their presence.
Natsu held the shard up and examined it with Taiyo doing the same mere moments later. The pair simply stared at it for a good while before Taiyo finally broke the silence.
"I don't like this."
"Neither do I, but what's the alternative? Don't become whole again?"
"I didn't say that-!"
"I know you didn't, you wouldn't say that to me," Natsu replied softly as he gently cupped Taiyo's cheek. "After all, can't use me as your right-hand man if I'm not even a complete being, can you? Just think of the scandal!?"
"Stop being silly," Taiyo replied with a small smile gracing her features. "I do not like the thought of that … slut, corrupting you."
"You really don't like her, do you?"
"I will not tolerate any other deity controlling you, only I may do so!"
"If you said that with less of a jealous pout it'd probably be taken far more seriously," Natsu said as he leant in close and kissed Taiyo.
Almost immediately, the fox-girl wrapped her arms around his neck and grinded into him, nipping his lip hard enough to draw blood before breaking off suddenly. Panting, she motioned to the area they were in before looking back at the blood leaking from the cut to his lip and smirking, her canines covered in more of the same blood.
"I refuse to allow you to be taken by the Slut Beast, you belong to me!"
"I'll admit, you do make a convincing offer to stay with you," Natsu grinned as the fox-girl brushed a stray lock of pink hair out of her face. "I'm just glad you don't get shitty when I sleep with Seilah."
"She's different," Taiyo huffed. "She's not a mortal and she's special, and cute … and amusing."
"I'm sure she'd be thrilled to hear that," Natsu laughed as they looked back down at the crystal in his hand. "So, think we should get this over with now?"
"Yes, as much as it pains me to say," Taiyo sighed. "Who knows what other disasters await and how much of your power this may sap in the short term? Better to get it out of the way now."
"Alright then, where to?"
"Where else," Taiyo huffed as she vanished and appeared on Natsu's shoulder in an adorable chibi form. "To our bed!"
"To bed," Natsu parroted as he vanished.
/Chaldea – Present Time/
"So, your Servant changed your first meeting with Beast III/R," Romani noted with a raised eyebrow. "But what specifically was so different that you felt it necessary to show us that?"
"Simple," Natsu sighed as he rewound the memory to the specific example he was looking for. "Notice how in my memory, Beast III/R made no mention of another threat that was stronger than her?"
"That's true, she didn't do that," Da Vinci noted as she pulled up the footage from the other Natsu's time in Water Seven. "But what does this mean …?"
"Simple," Natsu replied with a frown as he started sifting through more memories. "The threat never existed in my time."
The room was stunned into silence as Natsu's memories moved toward Marineford, pausing on the moment where Tiberius had moved to attack however the battle clearly just resumed at a normal pace instead, no Demon God Pillar to wreak havoc.
"I should have predicted the Mage King's manipulation of Time; I couldn't have ever predicted he'd pull his method of forging the Singularities on my own timeline."
"Wait," Romani muttered as he seemed to begin picking up on what Natsu was getting at. "No … I don't believe it, you're right!"
"What's he right about," Da Vinci snapped as the memories on the screen started to twist and distort.
"We need to go back, all the way to the beginning," Natsu said as he snapped his fingers and the memory snapped into place. "This should explain it far better than words ever could, just watch."
Everyone looked up at the screen once again as the memory began to play.
/Memory V1 – 106/
Being forced into the ground, Natsu was immediately back on his feet the moment Ahnkseram was blown off him by the Harbingers who had re-joined the fight. As he began rushing toward, a massive explosion suddenly rocked the area which sent all three parties skidding backward.
A large, grotesque tentacle spire like creature began to emerge from the ground as a malevolent aura began to blanket the area. The creature had red eyes all over its body and was red and black in colour with its many eyes locked on everyone present.
"This is getting way too out of hand," Natsu heard Michael say as Lucifer cut in.
"What you see before you is one of the beings your future self and Merlin are supposed to be combating known as a Demon God Pillar. Because Ahnkseram broke the rule of realms it has allowed aspects of another world to seep into this one with the pillar clearly tracking the pair to this world."
"So, the Grand Servants fled to this plane to escape wrath," the pillar said with a booming voice. "Five hostile life forms detected within combat range, target hostile Grand Servants detected over seventy thousand kilometres away!"
"See what your shit has done Ahnkseram," Natsu hissed with Ahnkseram scowling back as he approached the pillar.
"Oi! What the hell are you supposed to be and why the fuck do you think you can just get in the way of my vengeance," the First Hybrid roared as the eyes of the Demon God Pillar locked onto him.
"Sensors indicate this one is the same as Grand Servant Natsu Dragneel, designation Hybrid. Further analysis required. Foolish mortal, I am part of a collective built to serve the true ruler of all creation who has deemed its cleansing as the absolute atonement for sins committed since time immemorial. I am the Demon God Tiberius one of the Demon Gods created by Solomon to cleanse reality!"
"What a mess," Natsu sighed as the tower seemed to begin glowing with a strange aura with the Harbingers moving to attack it.
"Lord Achnologia is the supreme ruler of reality for he comes from a realm outside of all, even Demon Gods shall return to the Anti from whence they came," the Harbinger of Death roared as he ran a lance through one of the eyes as a sea of explosions burst to life all around them.
"Foolish corrupted gnat! Despair as I rend you apart with cursed fire!"
Natsu was about to attack the pillar when he suddenly found himself blocking a strike from Ahnkseram who had attempted to use the chaos to land a cheap hit. The First Hybrid smirked as Natsu struggled to hold him back whilst paying attention to the other threats on the field.
"Isn't all this chaos just intoxicating Natsu!?"
"Not really since the chances of this world being destroyed just increased drastically and honestly, I'm getting quite pissed off with all the interruptions and combining that with the fact that my face still hasn't healed I'm more than furious than anything," Natsu snapped as the voice of the Demon God Pillar rang out across the battlefield.
"Warning, unidentified hostile inbound! Probability of combat operations succeeding now falls below safe parameters! Recommended course of action, upscaling of combat operations before current threat arrives!"
"Sounds like old scale face will be here any minute then the party really starts," Ahnkseram said with a smirk as Tiberius began raining down powerful blasts across the battlefield, forcing the Harbingers on the defensive.
"Count yourself lucky only one Demon Pillar slipped through since under normal circumstances with the power you hold you would have a tough time dealing with a swarm of them." Lucifer said as Natsu knocked Ahnkseram away and fired a stream of flames in his direction.
"And we don't want to add onto your burden but you cannot allow Achnologia to consume Tiberius either and this will be no easy task since the Demon God Pillars are pretty much immobile," Michael added as Natsu groaned in frustration.
"Are you sure I can't get some help from the Gods and Devils because this is starting to become quite a struggle!?"
"That would be breaking the Rule of Realms and the Law of Time Natsu. Things must play out as Felicity sees them or else disastrous results could come about."
"Time can be rewritten! Hell, even that version of myself Ahnkseram summoned said this never happened in his own time!"
"That Natsu is a different case. Most likely in his reality these same events didn't occur but the timeline corrected itself or Lady Felicity had a hand in fixing the mess. Trust me, you have no idea of the absolute chaos going on in Terminus right now as a result of this mess. Felicity is liable to have multiple seizures should these monstrous changes continue to take place!"
"Wait … she can feel every shift in the timeline?"
"Remember that she is linked to Time itself and every small change tears at her existence. The same can be said for Lord Briark who is currently working alongside Felicity to sever your reality from current Space Time so that no more of these outsiders can barge in but you need to deal with the ones that are there already so that they can begin damage control!"
"Never a dull day …"
"Just keep fighting Natsu, it's all you can do at this point."
"Gee, thanks for those kind words, I'm sure to win now," Natsu sighed as he wiped some more of the singed flesh from his face as he and Ahnkseram stared each other down with another sea of explosions set off by Tiberius in the background going completely ignored by the pair.
"Still gonna keep at it Natsu, not bad at all if I do say so myself!"
"If I could lump the responsibility on someone else I would do it in a second but I know if it were anyone else, they'd mess this whole thing up somehow. So unfortunately, it looks like I'm stuck with the job but you know it is rather fitting for someone who has spent all their life fighting.
"You spent all your life fighting because that's what you were brought back to life by your selfish Brother to do! But I wonder how long you'll be able to keep going before you burn out, much like that gross face of yours!?"
"My burnt face isn't my fault you bastard!"
"Well, it really is if you think about it," Ahnkseram replied with a smug grin which slowly faded as they both felt the oppressing force of Achnologia's power. "But enough about that, we need to wrap this up before that big prick gets here. I know that we want this wrapped up in a nice neat little bow before he arrives.
"But we both still have monstrous reserves left with endurance virtually unrivalled," Natsu pointed out. "So, how do you propose we wrap things up?"
"Quite simple really, we put all of our power into our strongest attacks and put aside dodging and blocking in favour of completely crushing each other."
"You realize how ridiculous this sounds, right?"
"Mad I may be, but do you see any other way to wrap things up? One of us has to be dead before scale face gets here to prevent him from getting the ability to traverse realms so unless you have a better idea just shut up and go with it!"
"You realize we have to take out the Demon God Pillar before Achnologia arrives too, right?"
"Why?"
"Don't ask me, Lucifer just said it was a must so I assume they have the ability of teleportation across dimensions as well."
"Well good luck with that because I'm not helping."
"I never asked for the help of a guy who'd be dead when I go to do it."
"That sounded quite cocky of you Natsu … It's time to unleash my full power in one final blow that will leave naught but that raw power of yours for me to utilize in the creation of your successor," Ahnkseram said as he raised his hand which was coated in a thick layer of Hybrid's Aura.
"You know what, maybe this is a good idea … I'm tired of hearing your bullshit Ahnkseram so I'll be glad to drive this through that thick skull of yours," Natsu shot back raising his own hand coated in the same aura.
"Arch Hybrid's Aura-!"
"Arch Hybrid's Aura-!"
"Warning threat less than 300 metres away-!"
"Dragon Monarch's Piercing Claw!"
"Impact Edge!"
The two rushed each other with the sheer power behind their attacks tearing up the ground behind them as they ran. The two raised their attacks and were inches away from clashing when both Natsu and Ahnkseram found themselves being dragged headfirst through the ground before being thrown into the nearby cliffside, finding themselves embedded into the wall staring at their attacker.
"Well well well isn't this a pleasant surprise I come hoping to consume one Hybrid and a false one and what do I find but a revived Ahnkseram now this is just a treat!"
The Raging Will Of The Anti
Forsaken Slayer Of Earthland
The Dragon Of The Apocalypse
Achnologia
As the dust began to clear, both Natsu and Ahnkseram immediately tensed up at the arrival of the dreaded Beast of Anti. A low chuckle could be heard across the area as Achnologia rose to his feet, his Draconic form gone and replaced with his humanoid one.
"Achnologia …"
"I've been waiting so long for this moment," Achnologia grinned savagely as he gazed out at the chaos before him. "All these years of waiting and here I find you lot about to kill each other off before I even have a chance to feast upon you, that simply won't do at all!"
Natsu couldn't help but feel slightly terrified of the man before him. Even though he'd spent years preparing himself for this moment, he couldn't shake off that feeling of being like an ant before the might of a Titan. Looking over to Ahnkseram he could see the fear evident in his eyes as well, knowing full well this would be where things were truly decided once and for all.
"Well, it seems my Harbingers were no match for this little party you lot have going on over here though I'm not surprised in the slightest. After all, they weren't designed to take on opponents like yourselves, merely stall you long enough for my arrival."
Ripping himself free from the wall he'd been smashed into, Natsu brushed off the dirt from his clothes and moved to stand before Achnologia with Ahnkseram doing the same. The three had positioned themselves so that they were standing in a triangle, each watching the other with varying degrees of apprehension or amusement in the case of Achnologia.
"My first thoughts were to simply obliterate this area and consume the remains, but this feels like something special … an occasion one must be in their best form for," Achnologia laughed as he extended his arms outward. "Don't you agree!?"
"So, you hate your Dragon form then," Natsu asked, only to receive a glare in response.
"I hate it because it's no fun being invincible if you must know! But, speaking of Dragons, tell me where that bastard Igneel is!? I can smell his scent on you as well as … hmm Xicor, how interesting."
"Both are far beyond your reach Achnologia and I have no plans on letting you acquire my power!"
"How adorable, acting like you get a say in any of this," Achnologia replied with a cruel smirk. "Both of you shall be added to my collective and we shall continue to consume all there is across all of existence! With the power of the Hybrid at my beck and call I shall be UNSTOPPABLE!"
"As if you'll catch me Achnologia, don't underestimate my power!"
"Ah Ahnkseram, how foolish you truly are. I thought you were a higher being so how are you unable to tell the difference in power? The funniest part is that Natsu over there has far surpassed your own power and had I not interfered when I did, you'd be a dead pile of goo on the floor back there."
"WHAT!"
"Oh yes. See he has several advantages you don't Ahnkseram, namely all the beings that have granted him power over the years that swells deep within his core. That of course does not mean it even comes close to my power but it would still provide much more of a challenge than you Ahnkseram. You've been gone for a long time and the status quo has changed in the world which is quite ironic. You've been kicked off your pedestal by a being YOU created, makes me laugh!
"How dare you insult me, a primitive beast like you doesn't have the right to insult someone above all others like myself! I wanted Dragneel dead but now I want you to die first!"
"You sound like a child throwing a tantrum because another kid insulted him, this is hilarious! Also, this is the perfect opportunity to mention that I'm keen to chew on all the Hybrid meat!"
"Hybrid meat," Natsu said slightly disturbed under his breath as another sea of explosions rocked the area forcing all three to take to the air.
"No being is fit to declare themselves above creation itself, such actions justify my own existence and purpose!"
"Oh yeah, forgot you were here. Who or what are you anyway?"
"I am the Demon God Tiberius, one of the Demon Gods that serves Solomon, the one true ruler of creation!"
"You mean my next snack, right," Achnologia asked as all the eyes locked onto him.
"You could never defeat Solomon, let alone myself! Such thoughts may grant you mortals comfort in the short term however-!"
Achnologia appeared in front of the Demon Pillar blowing a hole right through the centre of its body as it began to vanish in a golden light. The entire exchange too but a few moments to both Natsu and Ahnkseram, both unconsciously taking a step back in response to the overwhelming display of power.
"Make no mistake … you are not prophesized to survive this battle," Tiberius' voice shakily roared as he started to fade away."We shall have the ultimate victory in the far distant future!"
The Demon Pillar vanished leaving a rather large hole in the ground as Achnologia returned his focus to Natsu and Ahnkseram.
/Chaldea – Present Time/
The entire room was silent once more, all eyes locked firmly onto the screen and the paused section of the memory. Natsu turned around to face them all as Romani rewound the footage to a closeup of Tiberius.
"Natsu … I'm certain that this is not Tiberius," the Doctor replied shakily. "This is Flauros."
"I know, or at least I should say 'I know why you think that' Romani," Natsu replied cryptically as everyone started to openly voice their confusion.
"What do you mean by that? He either is, or isn't, Demon God Pillar Flauros," Da Vinci said as she cut through the din like a knife. "We have data on many of the Demon God Pillars and that one matches almost identically to Flauros, so how can it claim to be Tiberius!?"
"Simple," Natsu replied calmly as he waved his hand, the image on the screen being transferred onto the holographic projector at the centre of the room. "The being you see before you is Demon God Pillar Tiberius in his earliest conceptual phase. Perhaps calling him a 'Proto' Tiberius would be more accurate."
"A Proto Tiberius," Romani muttered to himself, clearly thinking about something as his frown deepened. "Are you suggesting that he used Flauros as a base for Tiberius' creation?"
"Yes, that's precisely what I'm saying," Natsu replied as he pulled up several more images of Tiberius from the various encounters both he and the other Natsu had with the Pillar. "I have encountered this Pillar a scarce few times, yet all of those he was little more than a pushover and spoke in that really mute way most of the lower functioning Pillars do. But the Natsu down in the Singularity now, he's dealing with a Tiberius I never did. The Emerald Green and Gold colour scheme, his strange and volatile personality … I've never dealt with this version of Tiberius before."
"Meaning that he's a far more advanced version," Romani concluded with Natsu nodding slowly in confirmation. "I don't believe it …"
"The thing is, Tiberius couldn't have just advanced faster in that Natsu's timeline compared to mine without some help. As you all no doubt know, Cynthia and I have been studying these things for years before our deaths and have discovered just how the Mage King managed to create the Singularities."
"Using the power of Holy Grails he sent back in Time to manifest one of his Demon God Pillars, Solomon essentially creates a Paradox as he allows those Pillars to violently tear and distort the timestream," Da Vinci cut in as several examples popped up onto the screen. "I think I understand now what you've been getting at."
"Yes. I believe that this moment, the moment Achnologia took out this Proto Tiberius, was a calculated move to make me drop my guard," Natsu said firmly as he waved his hand to pull up Tiberius to the centre of the mass of projections. "I had initially dismissed him as some extra that showed up, a random outlier resulting from the Rule Of Realms being broken by Ahnkseram. However, this tiny hole was all Solomon needed to slip a Grail back through my own timestream and manifest his little pet project Tiberius."
"And he's had your entire lifespan to fine tune him," Romani paled as they all looked between the Prototype version of the Pillar their Natsu fought and the advanced one at Marineford. "And now he's done the same thing with the other Natsu, he's sent another Grail back and used all that extra Time to cultivate Tiberius' growth!"
"Meaning that Tiberius has had at the bare minimum, no less than two thousand two hundred years to grow in strength. It'd be even more if he's also held him back at the Grand Temple Of Time to fine tune him further after temporary destruction like what he suffered at the gathering of Kings," Da Vinci added gravely as the entire room looked toward Natsu in concern.
"Fortunately, I can likely still salvage this mess," he said softly as the entire room seemed to collectively sigh in some form of relief. "It will be a touchy process and I will need to confer with several others, but I think I might be able to sever Tiberius from Solomon and the original Seventy-Two Demon Gods."
"Are you certain? Separating something from the Demon God hivemind isn't an easy feat Natsu," Romani pointed out as the Servant shrugged.
"This is all conceptual Romani, right now we need to deal with what's going down on the ground," Natsu replied as the screen returned to the frozen battle of Marineford. "Fortunately, I think our enemy might be able to do our job for us."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Just watch, I've got some Servants to speak with," Natsu said as he spun on his heel and marched toward the exit. "All of you, not a word of my past to anyone, especially not Ritsuka or Mash. And as for the Servant you all saw; you all know the drill with that. Maximum security restrictions, be sure to take your pills. Da Vinci, everyone is not to leave the room until they have taken one."
"Understood."
"Romani, I want you monitoring the Tiberius situation until I return. I doubt I need to tell you, but I want every last detail of what Tiberius is capable of recorded and archived."
"Yeah, kind of figured that you'd want me to do that so I've already set up the necessary auto-files."
"Good. Also, I want somebody to go wake up Meuniere," Natsu continued as everyone snapped their attention back onto him in shock. "I want him to call my Son back, they're good friends so he might actually pick up the damn call if its him."
And with that, he swept out of the Command Room, coat flapping as he went, leaving the rest of the room in a state of chaotic confusion. His last statement on how Tiberius' attack would be stopped or countered wasn't really anything to go on.
Romani and Da Vinci however, they knew better. They realised Natsu's Clairvoyance had shown him the outcome before it was even set to occur and so, if he was confident enough to let things play out, then they would trust him and watch it.
That didn't mean they'd not be sitting on the edge of their seats the entire time however as they resumed the battle on the monitor.
/Marineford – Present Time/
"Well … shit."
That was all Natsu could say as the attack careened toward his position at speeds that far eclipsed most of what he'd encountered in either this world or the Elemental Nations. He could feel all the lives being snuffed out as it inched closer and his mind raced to come up with some sort of solution, knowing full well he had to save Mash and Ritsuka at the absolute least.
He had centiseconds at best to move and get all three of them out of there. Unfortunately, Tiberius' attack was simply far too large to allow to continue since it would blow away the majority of the Allied Forces and if that happened then the World Government would secure the win.
He felt his body beginning to move to try and do something to counter the attack when suddenly, it stopped. Blinking, he tried to feel if it was some kind of trick or gimmick the attack had, yet it was clear that it was halted in place.
"Natsu," Ahnk muttered quietly as he felt the First Hybrid redirect his eyes. "Look."
It had been a long time since Natsu could say he was completely and utterly shocked to the point that he felt the need to faint. Now, he didn't faint, but he was close to it as he managed to make out the image of a sole person walking into Tiberius' attack.
"No way …"
Natsu watched in morbid fascination as the attack simply wilted away and died upon contact with the person. It was the strangest thing to see the attack be drained of all colouration before flaking off and shrinking in size, despite being made of pure energy.
"This can't be real, surely not!?"
"I'm afraid it is Natsu, your eyes are most certainly not deceiving you," Caesar replied grimly as the Rider Class Servant took several steps forward to stand next to him. "By all accounts, this makes perfect sense based on who that Servant truly is."
All he could do was hum in response to Caesar's words, his eyes unable to wrench themselves away from a Servant stopping Tiberius' attack just by walking into it!
Once the last of the attack had died down, the two tentacles that had formed the larger one Tiberius formed to fire the attack unravelled and returned to the ground so that the Demon God Pillar had four legs once more instead of two.
However, the look of pure, unadulterated fury on the face of the Pillar was something that sent shivers up the spines of everyone present after what they'd just seen. As the Pillar lowered himself to the ground, his tentacle arms shrunk back into his body until they were four medium sized protrusions and he stood on his own two legs once more.
"You," Tiberius snarled as the Servant simply grinned away at him like an idiot. "Just what do you think you're doing!?"
"Come now Tiberius, I'm merely doing as requested," the Servant replied as the Demon God Pillar grit his teeth.
"You mean to tell me that HE told you to stop my attack!?"
"No, but I took the initiative to do so knowing that it is what he would've wanted me to do," the Servant replied as Tiberius released a flood of killing intent.
"How dare you stand in my way when I could have finally killed off Dragneel and the last Master of Chaldea! You'll pay for this Grand Avenger; you have betrayed your Master by doing this!"
"Have I," Grand Avenger asked with a smirk as he chuckled to himself. "I believe that what you did was about to cut short the battle, something he specifically ordered 'NOT' to be done. Solomon might have sent you here to aid us, but this isn't his domain and you would be wise to remember that."
Tiberius grit his teeth before slamming all four arms into the earth and lifting himself a few metres off of the ground. As he did this, the two massive pieces of the rampart he tossed earlier came crashing down which shook the entire area violently for several moments.
"I'll be speaking with HIM once we're done with this war," Tiberius spat as his eyes locked onto the area where Natsu, Ritsuka and many of the other Servants were. "Either way, I'm still going to kill them!"
"Do as you please, so long as it doesn't prematurely end the battle," Grand Avenger replied neutrally as he turned around and waved to the Allied Forces. "Alright, we're done here! Go ahead and resume your battle now!"
Everyone was completely dumbfounded by Grand Avenger's actions as he vanished and reappeared back up with the rest of Tiberius Squad. It took several moments, but someone managed to pull the trigger on their gun which slowly reignited the battle once again.
As Natsu looked over at Grand Avenger, he felt something within the Servant that hadn't been there previously. It almost felt like defiance, but it was smothered by a myriad of other emotions as quickly as it had appeared.
Looking back toward the battlefield proper, he noticed Tiberius was charging forward once again and knew he'd have to face the Pillar.
He only hoped he could somehow scavenge the strength to win, his body already taxed beyond its limit today. Clenching his fists, he vanished in a burst of speed and reappeared a considerable distance across the battlefield which caused Tiberius to instantly stop and turn to face his direction.
"Alright Ahnk, we've got a minute max before he reaches us. You ready?"
"No …"
"What about you Aava?"
"No."
"Thanks guys, really appreciate the confidence," Natsu scoffed as he started eating as much of the Chaos in the air as he could.
As Tiberius charged toward him, he steeled himself for what might just become his hardest fight at Marineford yet.
Ok hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one!