So, this is my first fanfic. I haven't done any writing since high school and that was limited to essays and such so, I'm hoping this goes well and you all like it, if you have any tips, suggestions or feedback then feel free to leave a review, for reference in x794 Erza is 22, Natsu (physically) and Gray are 21, Lucy is 20 and Wendy (physically) is 15, with that said let the story begin.
Fairy Tail is owned by Mr Hiro Mashima, this story is mine though.
"This is talking."
'This is thinking/internal speech.'
Lines are hard scene changes.
0=0=0=0=0=0 are scene changes that happen at the same time.
Somewhere in Fiore, June x794
It had been some time since they had left on their Century Quest. They had completed their main quest but took a detour on the way home to help someone with recovering a relic. It had been fifteen months since they last saw the Guild that they called family and they were aching to get back, but Fairy Tail mages never back out from a quest.
"Gods, my ankles hurt!" Complained a beautiful blonde woman as she pouted at her companions. The busty woman was wearing a pink Heart Kreuz shirt and a short white skirt with black thigh-high thin heeled boots. Her pouch for her celestial keys on one side and her whip on the other.
"Well, you're not exactly wearing the right shoes for walking Lucy." Replied a raven-haired guy, his voice muffled as he was shedding his shirt, causing Lucy to grumble at him. His nearly removed shirt was a form-fitting navy blue accompanied by black pants with a belt and black combat boots.
"Would you like to borrow a pair of mine?" Asked the armoured red-head as she held out a pair of boots to the blonde who waved her arms and shook her head. The red-head wore the latest model of her custom Heart Kreuz armour consisting of two gauntlets and elbow guards, a single pauldron on her right arm with her left side unarmoured to display her blue guild mark, a breastplate and armour plating covering parts of her blue skirt, black knee-high boots and a sword on her hip.
"No, no I'm good Erza." She turned to a pinkette who was chatting away to a young bluenette next to him. "Natsu carry me." She pouted cutely with puppy dog eyes and her arms outstretched, playfully begging Natsu.
Natsu glanced at the blonde and shrugged his shoulders. He took his backpack off his back and motioned for her to jump on, jolting forward slightly as the woman happily leapt onto him. He was wearing a skin-tight black shirt without sleeves tucked into maroon pants and black boots, a red coat with gold trimming and gold flame on the sleeves. Around his neck was a chain holding a Lacrima encased in a pendant, containing what little remained of Igneel's power. A small memento of what was granted to Natsu after his death at the claws of Acnologia, a small but brilliant fire can be seen burning away inside the lacrima. His trademark scarf was currently packed away in his backpack. Turning his attention back to the youngest person of their group he continues their conversation "Where were we, Wendy… oh yeah, how are ya doing with the training tips I gave you?"
The bluenette smiled happily at her pseudo-older brother "I think it's going great, right Carla?" She looked down at the white-haired cat in her arms. The cat was in a burgundy dress while Wendy herself was in a red and white blazer with a white dress shirt under it and an orange bowtie, a black skirt that has a white stripe near the bottom of it, dark blue thigh-high socks and scuffs.
Carla glanced up at her and gave her a small proud smile. "You have gotten much better, child, but you still have some ways to go." Her words caused the blue-haired girl to smile even more as she continued to talk to Natsu.
While this is happening the seventh and final member of the group was flying beside them while poking fun at Lucy. "If you weren't so heavy, Lucy, then maybe your ankles wouldn't hurt."
Lucy turned her head to the blue exceed and swatted at him like he was a fly, angry at his insult and for interrupting her enjoyment of Natsu's natural warmth. "Shut it Happy! You annoying cat!"
She kept trying to bat him away, but he just flew just outside of her reach while snicking each time. In an effort to appeal to Carla, the blue cat had started to wear some clothes instead of baring all of his feline glory, He was adorned with a simple blue hoodie with white sleeves and a small green Fairy Tail emblem on the front, blue pants that had white cuffs, and his green bag still on his back.
Erza, upon finally noticing that Gray took his shirt off and is about to discard it, turned to face him. "Gray put your shirt back on." she demanded sternly, she sighed softly and shook her head, her long red hair waving behind her. "I can't help but wonder how much that habit of yours costs you in clothing."
"…uh yeah… you probably don't want to know." Gray replied as he quickly put his shirt back on and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Probably where most of his money goes to ya know?" Natsu chimed in with a wide toothy grin.
"Oi butt out of it flame brain." Retorted Gray sharply. "So how much further do we have to travel Erza?"
"Not much further, we should be there by nightfall." She answered while requipping a map and checking it. "We need to be careful though, from what we have been told in the last few villages that we were in, there is a group of dark mages who proclaim to be the most powerful dark guild ever." She sighs and continues. "You know how that song and dance goes… But since we don't know much about them, we should be alert and aware of our surroundings as it closes on night time, I don't want us caught off guard, Natsu and Wendy." Erza turns to face the two dragon slayers as they look over to her.
"Yes, Erza?" Wendy questioned softly, her eyes snapping to the semi-unofficial leader.
"I need you two to keep your eyes, ears and noses out for anyone nearby, warn us if you sense any threats, no matter how small." Seeing both the slayers nod at her, she turned back to the front and studied the map.
Later that day
"So, are these the ruins we are looking for?" Lucy asked the group as she ran her hand over an engraved pillar. "The relic is meant to be inside, right?"
"Yes. Let's set up camp in the trees over there. It's best to stay out of sight when we have an enemy force of unknown strength and size nearby." Erza replied quietly as she pointed and headed to the tree line, the others hot on her tail. "I want one person awake and on watch while the others are sleeping, we'll go on shifts, I'll go first, Natsu next, Lucy, Wendy and finally Gray." They all went about setting up their camp and eating dinner. And after some time had passed, they all get ready to sleep with Erza taking the first watch.
By the time Natsu's shift had come around, he found it very uneventful with only the soft breathing of his team and the sound of crickets to keep him company. "So much for there being danger. The only thing around here are animals… and not the dangerous kind.' Natsu thought as he looked around. He turned his gaze to the sky as he was swamped with boredom. 'My shift is about over, so I might as well wake Luce, hopefully, she won't "Lucy Kick" me to hell and back for waking her…'
He rose to his feet and stretched his sleepy limbs while looking over to his blonde best friend. "Hmm, she looks like an angel when she sleeps…" He murmured as he walked to her side. He knelt down and gently shook her shoulder, speaking softly. "Hey Luce, wake up its time for your shift."
She quietly mumbled something about it being too early so he shook her a little more vigorously. A small smile graced his lips when he saw her eyelids flutter open. "Heya, Luce."
She frowned slightly as she yawns and looks around. She slowly sat up as her eyes drift back to the pinkette. "My turn for a shift?"
Natsu nodded and helped her to her feet. He gave her a slightly larger smile then got into his sleeping bag right next to hers.
"Mind if I stay close Natsu? It's kinda cold." The woman whispered softly as she bent down, stretching her full range of movement with a quiet groan as she worked the sleep out of her body. At his small grunt, she sat down at his side and felt an arm snake around her hips. Natsu was always very protective when he slept and it warmed her heart.
Inside the sleeping pinkette's head, Natsu was standing in a field while fires raged all around him. But they weren't ordinary fires, they were black with a heavy tint of red and dark power radiating off them. He looked around as he took in the area, calling out to his friends but not hearing any responses. However, he heard faint and low but distinct chuckling behind him. "Who's out there?" He calls out while whipping around, there was no one there yet the chuckling only got louder. Natsu started walking to the sound, and the chuckles began to get even louder and progressed into laughter as a shadowy figure rose out of the fire at his approach. "Who or what are you?" Natsu asks the shadow.
The shadow solidified into a male outline and opened its demonic red eyes as red ember markings appeared on his arms, torso and neck. "You really are stupid if you can't figure that one for yourself." Replied the shadowy figure, causing Natsu to tilt his head and frown. "Come on, Kiddo, we've known each other for most of our lives. Think back a couple of years and you may recognise the feeling and this landscape around us." The shadow continued as he raised his arms, gesturing to the fields of intense fire around them. However, he became slightly aggravated at Natsu's continued ignorance, so he cut to the chase. "Look, I brought you here because I can tell something big is going to happen soon, something dangerous and powerful looms on the horizon and you need to be careful. Shit is going to hit the damn fan make a fucking mess of the place. I know you're strong, but I don't think you'll be able to stop it alone, so you'll need my help." The shadowy figure stepped forward, revealing a tanned complexion, pink hair, and the same scars as Natsu but with the demonic red eyes and markings that glow with demonic power.
Natsu's eyes grew wide and he instantly awoke from the dream in a sweat. The pinkette opened his eyes and felt a pleasant weight on his side. He turned his head slowly and saw Lucy hugging his side to keep warm, drawing a soft smile from him as he gently pried her off him and got up and began to do stretches.
At the sound of rustling, Gray looked over at the source. "What's up ash for brains?" He asked quietly as Natsu walks over.
"I need to talk, Gray." Natsu replied softly, running a hand down his face as he sat down next to Gray.
"Being serious huh?" At his friend's nod Gray continued. "So, what is it you need to talk about?"
"END" Natsu replied. His gaze was glued to his hands. "I had a weird dream that everything was on fire…" He retold the dream to Gray, sparing no detail.
The raven-haired man just watched him with a slightly shocked and worried look. "Well, I'm no Cana but I think I know a bad sign when I see one…" Gray muttered once he has heard what Natsu had to say. "And that just sounds completely foreboding."
0=0=0=0=0=0
Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Magnolia, Fiore
Cana sat at the bar, sipping her beer and talking to Mirajane when she suddenly sneezed. "Huh, someone must be talking about me."
Mirajane giggled playfully and leant down on the bar. "I'm betting that it's probably Bacchus."
"No, that just gives me the urge to drink more." Replied Cana with a smirk.
Mira tilted her head and placed a finger on her chin in thought. "Oh, I wonder who it could be then."
0=0=0=0=0=0
Ancient Ruins, Fiore
"I know, but I can't help but wonder what the danger is, I can't smell or hear anything that would cause us harm right now." Natsu said as he looked around the entire area.
"I don't know man, but hopefully it was just a dream and nothing more." Gray said as he stretched out his arms and legs to regain feeling in them.
"I'm not sure, it felt too real ya know?" Natsu stated as he turned to look at his friend. "What if it was E.N.D.? You saw what happened during the war, in fact, you fought me when I lost control…"
"Yeah, I did." Gray sighed quietly. "But we both had lost something then and weren't thinking straight, not to mention that Invel fucker from Alvarez turned me against you."
"He told you I was Zeref's brother and E.N.D. right?" Seeing Gray nod, he continues. "It's not really your fault, you promised your dad that you'd kill E.N.D, and after losing Juvia, you were blinded by rage. I was the same with Lucy, but I was angry at my brother for causing all this."
"If you could change the way things ended, what would you do?" Gray asked as he turned to face Natsu.
"I'd find a way to remove both Mavis and Zeref's curses, so they can live a normal life, but I think that's a bit farfetched…" Natsu murmured quietly. "But then at least they'd have a real chance to be together, I'd also get to be with the brother that I never really knew I had until it was too late." He sighed as he looked up at the slowly lightening sky.
"Good intentions, but did he deserve it?"
"Yes, not only did he give me a second chance at life, but he taught Mavis and the other founders magic. He made it possible for them to form Fairy Tail, to give us all a home." Natsu lowered his gaze down to Gray. "I know he has done bad things, but is Fairy Tail not about giving people second chances?"
Gray sighed and nodded slowly. "I can see where you're coming from."
After a few minutes of silence, Natsu spoke up. "Gray, what do you miss most?"
Gray looked across and raised an eyebrow quizically. "From being away from the guild all this time?" Seeing him nod, Gray replied. "Well as weird as it sounds… I miss Juvia's stalking, kinda got used to it and didn't mind it after the war, you know?"
"I guess, Lucy is the same – after the war that is – both her and I nearly died multiple times, so she doesn't make a fuss when I drop by her apartment anymore. In fact, when I do, I always see a smile on her lips, even when she is concentrating on her new book." Natsu stretched and looked back at his closest friend as she slept behind him, his eyes quickly shifting to a stirring Erza. "Erza is waking up, so get ready to start the day."
"Got it." Gray grunted as he stood and stretched out. "What about you, what do you miss?"
"Mira's cooking." Natsu replied instantly as he got up and started to wake the rest of his team up while Gray chuckled in the background.
"Why am I not surprised you miss that flame brain." Gray stated rhetorically as he packed up and got breakfast prepared to cook. "Got any coffee in that bag?"
"Yeah, let me get a pot going once Erza wakes up completely." He turned to Gray after waking Wendy and Carla. "I'm thinking of having her teach me requip, just for day-to-day stuff, I don't think I'd be able to use it for combat like her."
"You sure you're up for that? You know what her teaching style is like" Gray pointed out, causing Natsu to shudder. "Don't remind me, Frostbite"
"Do you two really have to do that this early in the morning?" Groaned Lucy softly as she groggily rubbed her eyes and sat up. "You know what, don't answer that."
"Are you guys arguing already?" Erza asked while sitting up and glaring at them.
"No, Ma'am." Natsu said as he snapped off a quick salute. "Hey Erza, do you have a coffee pot I can borrow?"
Erza quickly requipped one and handed it over. Natsu got everything set to make coffee, starting a small fire to cook and boil the water on. "You got milk on ice right, Gray? Lucy, Wendy and Erza like theirs with milk." Natsu asks as he looks to his frenemy.
"Yeah, I'm not going to forget bringing that like I did the other month…" He states as he pulled out a frozen bottle of milk out of his bag, handing it to Natsu who thawed it out and brewed coffee and tea along with cooking breakfast.
"I wish you told me you could cook, Natsu." Lucy complained as she pouted at her best friend. "I would have had you cook more often."
"I thought you already knew, after all, I did cook all my food when I wasn't at the guild or your place." Natsu chuckled softly and lightly nudged the woman.
"How did you learn to cook?" Erza asked curiously while watching him cook.
"Mira taught me. It was one of her ways of coping with Lisanna's "Death". She spent a lot of time at my place during that time, sometimes Elfman too, we helped each other through it." Natsu hands Erza a cup of coffee. "That should be exactly how you like it"
Erza took a careful sip and nodded softly as the beverage washed over her tongue. "It is, thank you"
"Hey Erza? Once we are done with this ruin, can you teach me Requip magic?" The pinkette asked as he passed around the rest of the hot drinks.
"Hmm, why do you want to learn?" Erza looked at him curiously, her head tilting slightly.
"Just to make travelling and life in general easier, I doubt I can be like you – a warrior angel clad in armour with a halo of swords – when on the battlefield, but I'd still like to learn it." Replied Natsu honestly, causing Erza to blush a little at his choice of words but accept his offer to be her student. Natsu handed out the food and they all sat around the fire, enjoying their breakfast before they had to start the day.
Later That Morning
Team Natsu were slowly exploring the ruins, trying to find an entrance when Wendy tripped over something and looked at it, brushing the dirt off the stone. "I think I found it!" She called out, causing the rest of the team to come running to her.
Natsu lifted the cover of the entrance and lit his hand on fire, using it as a torch as he led the way into the ruins. Feeling the hairs on his body stand up he turned to Wendy. "You feel that?" Getting a nod in response he turned to the rest of the group. "Be careful, something doesn't feel right in here"
As they make their way deeper into the underground ruins, the Dragon Slayers' senses started screaming at them, putting them more and more on edge. Erza started walking faster as they came to a straight hallway with engravings on the walls. She went to walk down the hallway but as she was about to place her boot down on a tile, she was grabbed by Natsu. "Not there, step over it, or better yet let me go ahead and walk in my footsteps, my instincts are screaming at me and have been ever since the last hallway."
"Why?" Erza asked stubbornly.
"Poison, in the walls. I'm not sure why but I don't want to take any chances, use your Black Wing Armour to take Gray and Lucy to the doorway at the end of this hallway, Happy, Carla, you two take Wendy and me across" Natsu ordered calmly. They followed his plan and landed in front of a chamber with a pedestal in the middle. Entering slowly, they approach the object sitting on the pedestal.
Lucy looked around and hugged her arms to stop herself from quaking like a leaf in a hurricane. "Why are there skeletons everywhere?!"
"Probably got struck by the poison that pinkie was talking about" Gray murmured while gently patting her shoulder. "Just relax, we'll be ok"
She took a slow, deep breath and calmed her nerves down. "Thanks, Gray."
By the pedestal stood Natsu and Erza with Happy floating between them. The pinkette turned to the woman and pointed at the object in front of them. "Is this the relic the chick wanted?"
Pulling out a drawing done by their client, Erza held it up to the object. "Yes, it is" She went to grab it but as her fingers were about to touch it, she was stopped by a hand that wrapped around her armoured wrist. "What now Natsu?" She asked, becoming slightly annoyed.
"Something is off with this pillar… See how the relic is raised above the main part of the top, it could be some kind of trap. We could need a weight to keep it from triggering, it could even need to be just right." Natsu informed her as he looked around, trying to find something to replace the relic. "A skull maybe?"
Erza nodded and picked the nearest one up. "Shall I?" After getting a nod from Natsu she quickly switched out the relic, holding it in her hand she let out the breath that she was holding. "Seems like it worked"
Just as Natsu opened his mouth to reply, the ruins start to rumble and shake as the pedestal sank into itself and into the floor, the skull rolling away to be crushed under a falling stone. "Ah fuck…"
Everyone turned to the centre of the room where the pedestal was then to a door that opened, a boulder started rolling out off the door and towards them as more parts of the ceiling fell to the floor.
"Fuck! Everybody run! Back down the hallway!" Shouted Natsu as he took off back the way they came, his team hot on his heels and the boulder hot on theirs. "You had to fucking say that didn't you, Erza?!"
"How was I supposed to know that would happen?!" Erza shouted back at Natsu as they kept running down the hallway.
*Click*
Lucy's foot lands on a tile, causing it to sink into the floor slightly and triggering panels on the wall to open and darts to shoot out across the hallway. "Oops…" She squeaked softly.
"Oh, For Fuck's Sake!" Roared Natsu as they ran for their lives from the boulder behind them and dodging poison darts coming from their sides. "Gray! I need two ice walls to block these fucking darts right now!"
"On it! Ice Make: Walls!" Gray shouts as he quickly gets to work. "There! No more darts!"
"We still have that boulder on our arses though Gray." Natsu yelled.
"I've got that covered." Lucy called out as she stopped and turned around, summoning her magic. "Star Dress: Taurus! Lucy Kick!" Her body flashed golden as she became adorned in the celestial garments and kicked the boulder, causing it to come to a dead stop then explode in the other direction in a hail of stone.
"Nice one Luce, that makes up for triggering the darts." Natsu muttered as he slowly relaxed.
"Ok, let's get out of here everyone, Natsu lead us out of here." Erza commanded and followed Natsu as they made their way out of the still collapsing ruins.
AsTeam Natsu came running out of the entrance of the ruins, the last person making it out just in time as the entrance collapsed with a large cloud of dust.
"Everyone ok?" Erza called out as each one of them fell to their knees, panting and coughing. One by one, they all respond that they are fine, taking a break they all sat down.
"That felt like I was in a movie or something, ya know?" Natsu chuckled light-heartedly. "Still got the relic, Erza?" He Smiled when she requipped it and held it out, the relic shining in the sunlight. "Good, we can finish this quest and go home finally!" He shouted with his arms shooting up into the air.
Slowly, the dust settled around them and revealed a large number of men and women wearing dark cloaks, numbering well over two hundred. One of them walks forward. "Well, well, well, lookie at what we got here, a bunch of Fairies got the relic for us, and we didn't even have to lift a finger." Said the heavily muscled man who appeared to be the leader, calling out to his force.
The group of mages shot to their feet and readied themselves for battle. "Who are you?!" Shouted Lucy as her eyes darted at the aggressors.
"I am Akira Gravehart, and my friends here, are Obsidian Tomb, you might have heard of us" The man now known as Akira replied, his arms outstretched to the dark mages around the Faries. He snarled menacingly as he pointed at the Redhead Knight. "You've got something we want."
Erza's eyes widened and she requipped her Purgatory Armour. "No holding back everyone! This is the guild I was telling you about!" She ordered sharply, causing the rest of Team Natsu to activate their magic and power-up, ready for a tough battle.
Hopefully, you liked this, I decided to leave it on a cliffhanger for the next chapter. Please review and leave any tips, it's all welcome. so, until next time.
Post chapter 30 me here, just letting you know that I'm currently rewriting my early chapters to bring their quality up. You may notice discrepancies here and there due to this so keep an eye on the chapter names, those marked with an (R) have been rewritten and are the most up-to-date versions of the chapters.
What follows this is a bit of a mild spoiler for the coming few chapters and it pertains to a sword that Natsu acquires very soon. Until I update the following chapters, use this as the description for the sword instead of what is in the chapters ahead.
The Sword is a jet-black blade similar to a katana, however, it is dead-straight and the blade measures five feet in length with the handle adding an additional ten inches of length. The size is due to being crafted as a companion for a Dragon Slayer, and as such needs to be long enough to slice into even the largest dragons. It has an ornate sheath made from a tough ebony wood – found in Natsu's birthplace – and is engraved with dragons down the length of it. This is the final retcon of its design (I hope). It has a latent power that scales with Natsu's will. The stronger his will, the more powerful the sword can become.
That should be everything for now, I hope you all enjoy reading this ongoing story, and if you are wanting to read something else of mine, I do have a second story called "The Agency: Tale of Agent Salamander" that you can read. It's on my profile (beware some spoilers) or you can search the name up in the search bar. I'll see you all in the next chapter.