Natsu sat with his back leaning against the table, he was idly sipping a glass of fireball whiskey as his eyes roamed the guild he loved, his wound was no longer hurting thanks to Wendy disinfecting it and healing it as best as she can.

He had asked Lucy to have Cancer cut his hair back to the short and spikey look that it had always been. Cancer had offered to give the man a shave while he was there but the pinkette enjoyed the stubble that he had grown so he turned down the spirit's offer.

"What gave you those scars Natsu!?" Came the excited voice of Romeo, the teen was bouncing on his feet in front of his hero.

"Heh, what woman did you piss off this time, kid?" Macao asked as he took a seat at the table next to the pinkette's.

"Well, discounting the fact that we both know a lot of women who could easily do this and worse with their bare hands…" Natsu said with a chuckle as he leant forwards. "It was actually some kind of monster."

"How big was it?" Romeo asked. "I bet I could have burnt it to ash."

The scarred man gave the boy a soft smile. "If it were anywhere else, you might have, providing it didn't get close and could get your fire hot enough."

"What do you mean, Natsu?" Asked Macao, he was really curious now, he matched the dragon king's posture.

"Where I was, I couldn't summon my magic, nor my curses."

"How did you survive?" The older man asked, he was shocked that a place existed where there was no magic.

"Guns, armour, intimidation, and anger."

"Ha! I can see the headline now!" Macao shouted gleefully as he swept a hand in front of him. "Man literally too angry to die!"

"Good, but it could use some work." Natsu said, he chuckled at the man's attempt at making up headlines for the News.

"Heh, I'll come up with something later. Now, back to the story."

The pinkette grinned at the father and son. "So Levy and I were walking down this road, we had just stopped by an outpost and were heading to a new area to salvage stuff, and I could hear these heavy footsteps in the distance."

"What were they?" Romeo eagerly asked the scarred man.

"Well Levy thought they were just some guys in heavy suits of powered armour called The Brotherhood of Steel, but I told her that I could hear grunts and shit. She realised that they were monsters called Deathclaws, these monsters were ten-foot-tall, dwarfing even Elfman's manly size." Natsu said as he pointed his thumb at the mountain of man over at the bar.

"THAT MONSTER IS MAINLY!" Elfman shouted back over to the group.

"Wow!" Romeo cheered. "That's massive!"

"It gets better, or worse. Now, these monsters that are ten-foot-tall hulking masses of muscle, they are covered in some pretty tough hide, my Boltok wouldn't have even phased them and it fires a huge bullet. On top of that, they have claws that are a foot long, twelve whole inches of razor-sharp claws, one for each finger." He said as he held his hands a foot apart to demonstrate the size. "It was two of those nasty fuckers that gave me the twin scars on my cheek."

"Damn, kid, how long were you walking around after that?" Macao asked, he saw what he looked like before Wendy patched him up, they were some pretty serious cuts.

"Two, maybe three hours? I lost track of time after a while because I was getting so pissed off at everything." The pinkette replied, getting an understanding nod from Macao as Wakaba came over to join his buddy.

"So. How did it go down?" Wakaba asked as he let out a puff of smoke from his cigar.

"Had to use my sword on them since that would have been the only thing I had that would pass through their hide like warm butter. Killed the first one fairly quickly but the second one was right behind it."

"How many were you fighting?" Questioned Romeo, enraptured by the story.

"Somewhere between six and a dozen, the second one got my arm and my chest, but thankfully I had that tough armour on. It was coming in for another attack when I got my footing again, I stopped one hand but the other took my helmet off and left me with these marks." He tapped a finger against his cheek. "Long story short, after that they didn't live much longer."

"Awe, come on, don't cut out the good part, what happened next?!" Macao called out. "Don't blue ball us."

"Not much to tell. I was angry, really angry, the feeling of pain and rage overwhelmed me, to be honest when looking back, I kind of went a bit nuts." Natsu replied as the P-IVD on his forearm started to sound an alarm. "Ah shit, I forgot about them!"

The pinkette started to tap away at the device as he ran down to the basement, he opened up a viewing window to see where they were up to. "I hope I'm not too late."

The P-IVD showed the man that the Team Natsu that he was keeping an eye on had indeed mounted an attack on the Tower of Heaven. Natsu and Erza were fighting Jellal at the top of the tower, and they were losing.

The man walked into Levy's workshop, ignoring Levy and Gajeel as he made his way to the crate of Boltok ammo. "I'm making a jump Levy."

Levy glanced over at the demonic man from her workbench as she modified the new helmet. "Armour isn't done yet, I still have your laundry list of mods to install."

"I won't be needing it. Just need bullets and my gun." Natsu replied as he filled the cylinder of his Boltok.

"Is that one of the evil Jellals that McGarden and the others were talking about?" The blunette asked as she looked at the viewing screen and watched the fight unfold.

"I won't know until I question him, but the fight is much more brutal than it should be, considering he has one of Erza's swords."

"Why not shoot first and ask questions later?"

"Because if I did that, I could be making a mistake." Natsu replied as he put six spare rounds into his pocket and placed the revolver on his left hip.

"And if he lies to you? Remember that he was able to deceive the entire magic council back then."

"Then I'll force him to tell the truth, simple as that." The pinkette said tiredly, he could really use a decent rest but he needed someone from that universe, someone who died long ago in his own.

"And if he pisses you off?"

"Then I'll feed him some lead."

"You know Natsu, you've started to become increasingly short-tempered."

"You're one to talk Levy." He replied, giving the blunette a smirk that said 'two can play at that game'.

"Do I need to kick you through another portal?"

"Heh, I gotta go before shit really hits the fan." He said with a chuckle, he requiped his clothes to set of clean ones, a maroon singlet and black pants.

"Don't track blood on my clean floor when you get back." Levy said as she got back to working on the helmet.

"I'll try not to." Natsu replied as he opened a portal with a few taps on his P-IVD.


Tower of Heaven, Universe 357-M

A heavily wounded, bright pink-haired assassin laid spread eagle on her back, blood seeping from her wounds as she slips in and out of consciousness.

To her great surprise, she had been bested in combat by the redhead knight, the only loss she had ever had. Even during the Cabria War, she had never been defeated.

She wasn't sure if was hallucinating or not when she started to notice cracks forming in the air not far from her, it sounded like glass slowly cracking.

The swordswoman's head rolled to the side as she tried to focus on the strange anomaly, the lines were growing and spreading out like spider webs.

Crack

The walls of reality shattered in front of her eyes as a vortex of immense energy formed in the rupture. The vortex slowed and stabilised, forming a perfect swirling mass between the cracks.

The pinkette heard someone or something step out on the other side of the anomaly, she couldn't see as the mass of energy blocked her sight completely.

The rift snapped shut, revealing a pink-haired man with sword, similar to her own, on his back and a gun on his hip. Her eyes widened as she took in his back, she recognised the man as Natsu yet this one was different, taller and older.

She watched his head slowly turn while his back remained facing her, it revealed two long scars along his cheek followed by an onyx eye that bored into her very soul.

In that onyx eye she could see an immeasurable depth of darkness, of power and strength of will. There were untold amounts of rage caged behind that eye and it was in that moment that she felt fear, a feeling she didn't even feel as she lay there dying, but staring into that dark void… she was afraid of what this man would do.

"Ikaruga Ryu… It has been a while."

The air left her lungs at his voice, it was low and commanding, the way her name rolled off his tongue made her shiver, she wondered if she was hallucinating due to being close to death.

"How do you know me?" She asked, it felt like a stupid thing to say given who she was saying it to.

"I've met another version of you long ago, in this very place. You are a smart and cunning woman, so I am sure you have realised who I am."

Ikaruga gave the man a weak nod as she watched him approach her dying body, her voice was weak and barely audible but she knew this Dragon Slayer could hear her perfectly. "You are Natsu, but you aren't the one that should be here."

"No poetry? I guess it is to be expected from someone so close to death's door." He said as he walked to her side. "But yes, you are correct on both accounts."

Her eyes wandered the man's body, it was larger and tougher than the boy she had seen today, she would have enjoyed seeing what he could do if she wasn't dying. Her eyes lingered on the embers on his arms. "What happened to you…? you seem like a completely different person to that boy."

She coughed up some blood which spattered her pale cheeks as the pink-haired man knelt by her side. "A lot can happen in the years to come. I am here to give you a choice."

"A choice?" Ikaruga wheezed out, the light in her eyes slowly fading.

"Die here, alone and with no one to give two shits about you, you'd vanish from the world. Or, you can come with me, find a new home."

"Why would I choose to go to a weak guild like yours? You don't even have the guts to take a life."

"Ikaruga?" Called out a new voice.

The swordswoman's green eyes slowly drifted to the stairs as she murmured the name of her partner. "Fukuro…"

"Huh, I remember him, it's the owl man isn't it?" Natsu said, gaining a weak nod from the pinkette next to him. "Anyway, that is where you are wrong, we aren't afraid to take lives, in fact, I did it earlier today and yesterday."

"Is it just you?"

"No, a lot of us were against the idea of not killing, believing those that were irredeemable should not be allowed to live another day."

Ikaruga felt the man's warm hand gently come to rest on her neck, he was feeling her pulse to gauge how much longer she has to live. "I have a deal to make with you, you come with me and you'll be free to do what you want as long as you don't go back to a dark guild or an assassins guild. You don't even have to join up with Fairy Tail, just let us take care of you until you are fully mended."

"And my other option?"

"You die, simple as that, whether it be by my hands due to you re-joined a dark guild or something like that, or you die here, having bled out."

"And how would you keep me alive long enough to get back?"

"IKARUGA!?" Shouted Fukuro, he sounded much closer now.

"Well, you'll have to help me test something out, I'm no Sky Dragon Slayer but I have been working something that would help save lives when it is needed most."

"How? You are just a Fire Dragon Slayer?"

"Not anymore Ikaruga, I'm the King of Fire… So I have room to mess around and see what different aspects I can develop and what they can do."

There was silence for a few moments as Ikaruga contemplated her options, should she die where she lay or should she go with this man wherever he came from, he gave her the freedom to do as she wished.

"Remember, there is no light side or dark side where I come from, even if they use the terms Light guild and Dark guild still. It's just a long scale of greys, as long as you stay in the lighter side of it then we won't have any issues."

"Ok." She said weakly, her eyes focusing on the man. "Do it, help me and I'll join you."

"Heh." He gave her a pleased grin, happy with her choice. "And here I was thinking that I'd have to jump between realities to find one that would accept, good thing I managed to get it in one."

The large, owl-headed man came into the room and saw the two pinkettes, something was off about the scene, he had just done battle with this man yet he was completely different. "Get away from my partner! MISSILE HO HO HOU" He shouted as he launched his jetpack at the slowly rising pinkette.

Ikaruga saw how the man's eyes went from the bright and kind onyx to almost pitch black as his inner darkness rose from the depth, the fear she had felt when she first looked into those eyes became intensified.

"You'll have to wait a minute, Ikaruga, while I deal with this vermin." Natsu said calmly as he watched the jetpack that rocketed toward him, he had no intention of moving out of harm's way.

"I'm not vermin! I eat vermin like you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!" Fukuro shouted at the man, only to be shocked when his jetpack came to a dead stop, meeting the immovable right hand of the dragon slayer.

"Come on, hit me with a real attack, like that fire that you tried stealing from me." Growled the pinkette as he threw the rocket-pack into a nearby wall, destroying it.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" The owl yelled as he fired the spell at the man.

"Pitiful."

Ikaruga saw a faint red glow in the eyes full of disdain as they stared daggers into her partner. The vortex of fire collided with the man and engulfed him, blocking him from her view.

"Pain Sensitivity Increase X10."

BANG

The vortex vanished as the owl man screamed out in pain, he had lost his right arm at the elbow. The culprit was the scarred pinkette who stood beside the near-death woman, a large revolver in his hand.

"Fucking moron…" Natsu muttered darkly. "How DARE you use my own fire dragon-slaying power against me."

"But you said…!"

A savage and dark grin spread across his face, his eyes going red as his sadistic demonic side came to the surface. "Oh, I know what I said."

The pinkette shot the other arm off the owl man, decimating the elbow with a single bullet and causing him to scream more.

Bang Bang

Both of Fukuro's knees were destroyed, causing the large owl man to fall flat on his stomach with no way to defend himself, the amplified pain was burning away at his nerves as he watched the demonic man slowly walk toward him.

Natsu pulled out the spent brass casings and tossed them aside as he kept his burning red eyes on the man. He removed one of the last two rounds from the cylinder and placed it into his pocket.

"Let's play a little game." The pinkette said, his tone and volume lowering as he spun the cylinder and flicked the revolver to shut it. "I have no idea what position that bullet is and you have a one-in-six chance to die. Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

The Boltok's muzzle came to rest upon Fukuro's forehead, his eyes went wide at the cold sensation and the look in the demon's eyes. He started to mutter and whimper to himself as his death was moments away.

"Pathetic."

CLICK

"And lucky too, how long will your luck hold out?"

Fukuro watched as Natsu's finger slowly pulled back on the trigger, causing the cylinder that held his demise to rotate.

CLICK

"Can you feel that? It's coming, the hot lead with your name on it. Only four more spaces left for it to hide."

CLICK

Fukuro didn't know what would kill him first, the bullet or the heart attack from the anticipation and the shock from each click.

"Three down, three to go. How long will you last?"

CLICK

The dark grin on the demonic man's face only grew, his black markings started to glow red, betraying his nature as an Etherious to both Fukuro and Ikaruga.

"BANG." He shouted, causing the owl man to flinch and shriek horribly. "Gotcha."

Fukuro's owl eyes were as wide as dinner plates as the pinkette toyed with him, his heart was racing and he was wondering how much longer he had to live.

Bang

The owl's head was kicked back by the force of the bullet as his brains shot out the back of his head. It fell forward, limp and lifeless with a massive hole where the back of his head was.

"Man was lucky." Natsu said as he reloaded the revolver while walking back to the woman. "Now, sorry for the interruption that has only brought you closer to death, I'll allow you to pick now, die here or come with me."

Ikaruga was conflicted, while she was no stranger to killing, she just watched this man make a game out of killing her partner but as she watched his eyes fade back to onyx she noticed something… He didn't enjoy doing what he had done, he didn't kill for the sake of killing but because a drawn-out fight would mean she, herself, would have died.

"You are probably wondering why I did that." Natsu said, not really needing an answer as he holstered his weapon and knelt beside the swordswoman. "Why I didn't kill him outright? Call it a whim, nothing more."

"Save me." She murmured, she could feel her life slipping away and wanted to keep living, she may not be the kindest or most pure-hearted person in the world, but she felt that wherever this man came from, she belongs. "Take me with you."

The pink-haired man gave her a nod as he placed his hand on the oozing wound. "Brother… I hope you knew what you were doing." He murmured to himself, he was about to use one of the spells that Zeref had passed onto him through the Book of END, it was a Life Magic spell that he had developed.

Ikaruga's eyes closed as she felt a strong, strange power enter her, it made her injuries numb and sent tingles across the rest of her body, and she started to feel warm as she was being healed by the spell.

Natsu gritted his teeth, using a spell that he hasn't used before was taking more out of him than some of his more powerful spells.

The swordswoman's ghostly skin was starting to return to its pale beauty, the colour was also returning to what he could see of her eyes through the half-closed lids.

"Almost done, you are almost back to full health." He panted out.

It only took a few more moments for Natsu to bring her back from the brink of death, if he had to guess, that had to be why it took so much out of him. He felt the air become dense with power as he watched the pinkette next to him gaze around.

"Etherion is firing soon." She had heard him say, completely calmly.

"Will we survive?" Ikaruga asked the man as she rose to her knees, she looked at her bloodsoaked and battle-damaged kimono. "Can't do anything about my clothes, can you? I feel that my boobs would show the second a small gust breathes against it."

"Here." Natsu said as he stood up, he requipped his long, black and red, coat and held it out to the woman. "It's not exactly your style, but I hope you like it."

"How chivalrous of you, helping poor dying me then offering me a nice, warm coat. I could almost make a poem from this." Ikaruga said teasingly as she wrapped the coat around herself and picked up her sword and eyed the one on his back, she noted that they were roughly the same size. "It's good to see that I'm not the only one who knows how to handle a sword of proper size."

"I could use more training with it, I'm good but I could be better." The pink-haired man replied as he walked past her.

"I can help you with that, as thanks for what you have done, it would be my pleasure."

"Magnolia isn't like what you would remember, I'm not sure if you have been there."

"I visit from time to time, it is a beautiful town with plenty of lovely places. How much as it changed?" Said the assassin as she followed the man up the stairs. "Why are we going up?"

"I want to make sure the fight goes in Fairy Tail's favour, and if things are going downhill I will step in." Natsu replied as they were almost blinded by a powerful light, they both clamped their eyes shut as Natsu's hand shot back to grab Ikaruga. He used his other senses to guide their way up.

"You think you could beat Jellal?"

"Magically, very easily, same with physically beating the shit out of him, on top of that I can just shoot him dead in an instant."

"Guns are so uncivilised." Ikaruga said as she scrunched up her nose. "I prefer my Mugetsu-Ryu style and my darling sword."

(AN: Just jumping in here quickly to let you know that Ikaruga will be looking like her Manga Variant as her kimono is more ornately decorated, her sword will be the Anime variant for the unique design. Have a great day.)

"I have to agree with you there, but there are a lot of cases where I need to use my Boltok, cases like when I can't use magic or can't get close enough."

"Your sword, I find it that it interests me, may I see it?"

"When Etherion stops firing and we can see again, I'll show it to you."

A few moments later, the light died down, they opened their eyes and were greeted with a crystal tower. Natsu released the pink-haired woman and she came up beside him, her high platform sandals

"Lacrima…?" Ikaruga asked as she ran her hand along the wall.

"Yes, that was Jellal's goal, to create one big lacrima to power a spell that brings someone to life. He wants to bring Zeref back to life, even though he is still alive and has been alive for the last four hundred years or so."

"What?"

"He is a man who was cursed with immortality because he created the Etherious and brought his brother back to life, he was given the curse of contradiction for this."

"How do you know all this?" Ikaruga asked as she looked at the pinkette next to her, her eyes going to his arms as they widen in realisation. "Wait…"

"Yes, I am the brother he resurrected, I am Etherious Natsu Dragneel, brother of Zeref Dragneel. This tower, that had caused such suffering, was originally designed by Zeref as a means to bring me back to life. Though he deemed it too costly to use and shelved the idea."

"Well, that answers the questions I had about what happened back there…"

Natsu motioned the woman to become silent as they reached the door to the highest chamber, he pulled it open enough to see inside. 'Hmm, everything seems to be in order, he has eaten the lacrima and is beating the hell out of him.'

'If you really want to sort him out, use Macro and implant suggestions into his mind to steer him in the right direction.' END suggested.

'Sounds like a plan.' Natsu replied, his eyes started to gain a very faint red glow to their natural onyx as Natsu worked his Macro curse to ensure that this Jellal goes from evil to good.

Ikaruga watched the man, curiously, she was wondering what he was up to but from the focused look on his face she decided it was best not to interrupt him.

Natsu's eyes tracked the fast-moving blunette, imparting the path that he will take once the tower explodes, once he is finished he moved back from the door. "It looks like they have it all under control."

"I didn't know you were a match for Jellal, not right now."

"Everything will crumble and give in if you hit it hard enough, well, that's what I thought back then." Natsu said as he started to go back down the stairs.

"May I see your sword now?"

"Sure." He replied to the swordswoman, reaching behind him and drawing his sword halfway.

"Pretty and unusual, it is a very gorgeous katana, worthy of you."

"Thanks, Ikaruga, it's high praise coming from someone as talented as you."

"Aw, you'll make me blush if you aren't careful."

Natsu chuckled as he looked over his shoulder. "You know, you aren't that bad, I think I'll enjoy having you around and getting to know you better."

"Well, you did only know me as an enemy and not as a person."

"Maybe you should stick around the guild, you don't have to join or anything, plus you get to mess with Erza. I'm sure you'll have an ally in Mira if you do that."

"I may enjoy that." Ikaruga said as she watched him tap away at a holographic interface on the device attached to his arm. "Is that what opened that rift?"

"Yes, I'm taking us back to my home universe, we'll be coming out on the stage."

"Is that so?" The pinkette asked as she watched reality start to crack and break down once again. "I thought I was hallucinating when I first saw this."

"It is a little gut-wrenching too, walking through them, worse when you get kicked through one."

"You got kicked through one of these… rifts?"

The scarred man turned to her. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you who did it."

"Oh? That only makes me more interested in who did it."

"A short blunette woman about yay tall." He replied as he held out his hand to show her Levy's height.

"You're joking, right?"

"Unfortunately no, it was the start of a very bad two days, and that was just the past two days…" He gestured to the two long scars on his cheek.

Ikaruga brought her hand up and gently cupped his cheek, she could feel the softness of the scars, how fresh they were. The man spoke the truth. "Would you care to tell me the story over a cup of tea?"

"Maybe, I'd like some time to relax though." Natsu said as the portal stood ready for passage in front of them. "Let's go, before this place starts to fall apart."


Fairy Tail Guildhall, Universe 129-G

Mira stood up on the stage, she was wearing a leather rocker outfit as she fiercely sang a heavy Metal song to the guild. She had black eyeliner and lipstick on as she belted out the lyrics.

She wrapped up the song and picked up an electric guitar, Seilah was another Guitarist who started to play a rapid riff, she supported Mira as a backing vocalist. Supporting her on drums was, surprisingly, the kind-hearted barmaid Kinana. Finally, there was Laki who was playing the bass.

"SING MASTER OF PUPPETS!" Shouted one of the guild members causing Mira to grin and give Seilah a nod to start playing the opening riff.

Some of the guild members were tapping their feet to the beat others were banging their heads as they all rocked out.

Lisanna had rollerblades on her feet as she skated throughout the guild, handing out drinks at a rapid pace as she bopped and banged her head to the beat.

The Conbolts sat together with Wakaba as the two older men ogled the women on the stage, a kind voice came from behind them. "Would you two like a drink?"

Macao looked over his shoulder and saw the twin-tailed blunette, Wendy, she was helping Lisanna with the bar as Mira and Kinana are up on stage. "Two beers please, Wendy."

Wendy zipped over to the bar, she was also wearing rollerblades and had enchanted both herself and Lisanna with Ile Vernier, allowing them to move much faster so they can serve more people.

"Here you go." She said as she placed two tankards down on the table and zipped off to another table in a blur of blue.

Crime Sorcerère sat at a table with Lucy, Erza, Gray, Happy and Carla as they listened to the music. Erik was wearing a pair of earmuffs so the noise wouldn't give him a headache but aside from that, he was enjoying the atmosphere.

"How often does this happen?" Asked Macbeth as the man gazed at the group on stage. He noticed strange cracks start to appear off to the side of the band. "What the hell?"

"Hmm, what's wrong Macbeth?" Jellal asked as he glanced at the man.

"To the left of the girls, towards the edge of the stage, I'm I imagining it or are there cracks in the air?"

Erza glanced over at what the two men were talking about. "Oh, don't worry about that, it is a dimensional rift opening up, Natsu would be returning from wherever he ran off to earlier."

Ultear turned to the two men. "Did you two not listen to Meredy and I when we told you about it?"

"They thought you two were drunk, Ultear." Erik said without taking his eyes off the band.

"That's rude of them. Isn't it Little Sis~." Meredy said, slipping in a little jab at Ultear at the end.

Mira finished the song and another guild member requested for her to sing Hail to the King.

Reality split apart up on stage as a rift opened up, Natsu walked out the portal to the sound of a loud riff blasting through the speakers.

A grin spread out across his face, baring his fangs as he turned and watched the women rock out. "FUCK YES!"

"So noisy." Said the pinkette swordswoman who followed him through the portal. "Is your guild always like this?"

"Sometimes, other times it is peaceful, but we are notorious for being a very rowdy guild." Natsu replied, he glanced at the bar and saw that Makarov was waving him over. "Come with me, I think Gramps wants to have a word with us."

"Gramps?" Ikaruga asked as she followed the man off the stage and through the crowd, she watched two of the guild members zip around with drinks with great interest. "They seem to be enjoying themselves."

"Those two are Wendy and Lisanna." He informed the swordswoman. "Sup Makarov, what can I do for you?"

"Mind telling me why you brought the assassin, Ikaruga Ryu, home with you?"

"Umm…" Natsu scratched the back of his head. "I guess it was a whim."

"Or you have a thing for pink-haired women." The old man suggested with an appreciative nod. "I can understand that."

"What gave you that idea?" Natsu asked, he was half shocked that Makarov thought he had a thing for pinkettes.

"Well on the list I have here there is Meredy, Chelia, Wendy in her dragon force, Natsumi, I wouldn't be surprised if Virgo and Aries were in that list, and now Ikaruga. You get around my boy."

"Ok, who has been spreading this rumour about me getting with these girls? I haven't slept with any of them."

'Yet.' END said in his head.

"Yet." Makarov had said at the same time.

"Oh for fuck sake, both you and END." The pink-haired man complained. "Look, I'm going home and getting some R&R before leaving for Natsumi's universe."

"Don't forget, we need to go and get some clothes, and find somewhere for me to stay." Ikaruga reminded the scarred man as he started to walk out of the guild.

"Fine, come on."

The pinkettes walked out of the guild, leaving the thumping music behind and walking down the calm streets of Magnolia.

"This place is much different to when I was last here, it has become much more advanced and built up."

Natsu looked over at the woman, he became lost in thought as he watched her. "Say, Ikaruga. What do you like doing, like spending your money on?"

The woman had her sword cradled in her arms as she looked around at the various buildings. "Chocolates, flowers, books and magazines, writing supplies to put my poetry to paper. Oh, and little chibi dolls, I used to have a big collection. Aside from that, general maintenance stuff for body and blade."

She surprised him with her honesty, he never pegged this woman to collect chibi dolls for instance. 'I guess one shouldn't judge a book by its cover, even this former assassin has normal wants and needs.'

To Ikaruga's annoyance, they kept getting stopped by passers-by who asked Natsu for an autograph or doted on him for the very visible latest scar of his. The pinkette grabbed the man by the arm and pulled him down the sidewalk and away from the latest gaggle of admirers. "How can you put up with all that?"

"With patience." Natsu replied, flatly. "Trust me, it does get on my nerves after a while."

"Why don't you do anything about it?"

"I see no point, it is very harmless, even if someone thinks it is best to attack a member of Fairy Tail, well they wouldn't try to attack someone like me."

"Unless they have something to prove, Natsu. There are people who would go up against strong people to prove themselves."

"Yeah, I used to be like that." The pink-haired man admitted.

"From what I had heard, you were very impulsive, hot-headed, and blunt." She accused him as she pointed at the scarred man.

"Yeah, yeah. I was, but I grew up."

"Finely I might add." She teased as she leered at him.

Natsu chuckles and looks at her. "So what do you plan on buying, more kimonos?"

"Yes."

"Ok, well since you probably don't have any money on you, I'll pay for it all."

"How very generous of you, helping poor little me in my time of need."

"Don't push your luck…" Natsu said, flatly, as he led her to a store that would best suit her.

Ikaruga gave him a light-hearted chuckle while walking past him, she went to the counter and asked the woman for custom kimonos, she had no intention of having her old guild's logo on the clothes but she would at least have control over the material and design.

The lady looked between Natsu and Ikaruga and decided that the pink-haired woman was just a new member of Fairy Tail. "You probably don't know since you must have just joined the guild, but we provide same day service on clothing for Fairy Tail at a discount, this includes tailoring, fabricating, and enchanting the clothes."

Ikaruga opened her mouth to say she wasn't a part of the guild but she was cut off by Natsu. "The enchantments are to protect your clothes, strengthening charms and minor self-repair for example."

The scarred man shook his head almost inperceivably, silently telling her not to question it as it will make things easier for them.

"Put it on my tab Shelley, and give her the full treatment. She'll need it as soon as possible as her kimono got ruined from a bad wound." Natsu said to the staff member.

"This way please." The woman said to Ikaruga as she led the pinkette to the back of the store.

Natsu took a seat in a plush chair, the chair felt very comfortable to the point that his fatigue started to catch up with him. It didn't take him very long to fall asleep in the chair.

No one decided to interrupt the sleeping dragon as he looked like he had a really long day. A few hours passed while he was asleep, Ikaruga had been spending that time making sure the clothing was up to her standard, though she was going about it very politely as to not cause trouble for the man who had helped her.

"Can I help you with anything else Ma'am?" Shelley asked Ikaruga as she handed her the bags with her new clothing.

"No, I'm good, thanks." The pinkette said as she walked to the sleeping dragon, she tapped him on the head with the end of her sword.

Natsu awoke with a jerk, he looked up at the swordswoman. "Looks like you are all done."

"Yes, where to now?" Ikaruga replied as she handed back Natsu's coat, she was in her new kimono. It was white with cherry blossom trees and leaves decorating it.

"We can go to mine, I will have a room for you back there. Until you find somewhere else or decide you want to stay there."

"I would like to see your residence before I make my decision."

Natsu got up from the chair and motioned her to follow as he left the store. "I live up on a hill that overlooks Magnolia, it is a bit of a walk."

"Sounds picturesque."

"Well if you plan on staying at my house permanently then you are free to decorate your room as you wish, and if you feel like making a garden or something you can."

"I can do anything?" She asked, curiously as she looked at the man.

"Yup." Natsu replied as he put his hands behind his head, he glanced at her and noticed that she had sakura petals floating around her again. "Where do those petals come from, anyway?"

"Hmm? Oh, my choker, it is enchanted to magically produce the petals which float around me in random patterns, they fade away when they fall to the ground and sit for a few seconds."

"Huh, that is pretty neat."


"This is your place?" Asked a surprised Ikaruga as they walked up the path to the house. "From what I heard about you I figured you would have something a little more… barbaric."

"To be fair, it was like that up until over half a year ago. Then I had to create a new place as Seilah needed a place to stay."

"Seilah?" The swordswoman questioned him. "Who is that?"

"An Etherious, like me. As far as I know, we are the last two Etherious created by my brother, with me being a hybrid Human-Etherious."

Natsu opened the door to his house and led her inside. "Seilah, you home?"

"Yes Master." The demonic woman replied from the lounge room, she peeked around the corner with a mirror and a file in her hands. "I was just filing and buffing my horns."

"Master?" Ikaruga questioned, she turned a pair of teasing eyes onto Natsu.

"Calm down there, she calls me Master because I am END, she calls Mira, Lady Mirajane."

The pink-haired woman stepped into the lounge room and had a quick glance around, she saw Seilah on a couch with some polish and cloth, rubbing it into her horns to give them a nice shine.

"Aren't you a member of Tartaros? You don't look all that powerful." Ikaruga said as she looked down at the woman.

Seilah looked up at the pinkette with great disinterest, her eyes narrowed at the snide look, she gave her answer blandly. "Go fuck yourself."

This simple sentence had made the pink-haired swordswoman uncomfortable, more so thanks to the uncontrollable urge to touch herself, her hands slid under her kimono and she started to fondle one of her boobs as the other hand travelled south of the border.

"Enough!" Natsu commanded, overriding the command that Seilah had given. "Seilah isn't the woman she was back at Tartaros, Ikaruga, but she still will make you do things against your will if you piss her off."

"What was that?!" The pinkette shouted, she was confused as to why she lost control of her own body.

"Macro." Seilah said, simply, as she went back to tending to her horns.

"It is a curse that Seilah and I can use, giving us absolute control over people and objects. In other words, Seilah can make you do some embarrassing stuff if you piss her off."

"Oh… I'll keep that in mind." Ikaruga said, shuddering at the thought of some of the things this demon woman could make her do. "May we go to my room?"

"Follow me." The dragon slayer said, leaving the room and heading up the stairs.

Ikaruga took one last glance at the woman as her horns shrunk back into her head, allowing her dark purple hair to fall where they once were. The demon made her way to the kitchen and left the swordswoman where she stood.

"Ikaruga, come on." Natsu called out from up the stairs.

"Coming!" She replied as she hurried up to meet him.

"My bedroom is that way." Natsu said as he pointed to the right, he then turned to the left and headed down the hall. "The rest of the bedrooms are this way."

Natsu walked down the hall as he used his nose to work out which room was free. "Here we go." He opened the door to a clean room with all the basic necessities a woman could want, like a queen bed and a dresser with a mirror.

"Thanks, I'll get it set up to my tastes." Ikaruga said as she walked past him and into the room, she placed the bags on the dresser. "You wouldn't happen to have a stand for a sword?"

Natsu disappeared down the hall, allowing her some time to unpack her new clothes and get her bearings in the room, it had an attached bathroom and a wardrobe in the wall. Ikaruga ran her hands along the walls as she gazed around. "Some flowers, different colour on the walls, maybe some paintings, and it would be just right."

A few moments later, Natsu returned and placed a stand on a set of shelves along with a maintenance kit for her sword. "There you go, I'm going to get a bite to eat then going to get some much-needed sleep."

The swordswoman waved him away as she roamed around the room gracefully, she had removed her tall sandals and now stood shorter than the man instead of equal or a little bit taller. "Thanks again."

"No worries." Natsu said as he left, he yawned deeply, feeling ready to crash any moment now as he headed for the kitchen. "How have you been Seilah?"

"Relaxed, Master. The girls and I were having a fun time while you were training." The demon woman said with a happy smile. "But now you are back, I am much better."

"I'll be going to Natsumi's universe soon to help her guild train for the games, would you like to come along?"

"Yes Master, I would love to. Can I make you something to eat?" She replied, giddily, as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

"Yeah, please, anything will do." Natsu replied with a yawn.

"Alright. Go have a shower and I'll bring it up to you." The purple-haired woman said, she briefly ran a hand across the man's newly scarred cheek, her eyes flickering with worry. "This looks like it was bad, maybe I should come up and help you shower so I can make sure there are no other injuries."

Natsu grabbed her hand gently and gave it a kiss. "I'm fine, but I won't say no to you."

The woman smiled happily as she kissed the scars, she quickly made him two sandwiches which the man wolfed down hungrily. "Better?"

"For now, come, time for a shower."

The two demons made their way up to Natsu's bedroom, Seilah made sure not to let go of his hand at all as she led the way, she looked back at the tired man. "You better get a good sleep after this, I can stay by your side if you wish for me to?"

"You're too kind for me, Seilah." He said as he gently ruffled her hair, he got out of his clothes and got into the shower with the demonic woman.

"How much sleep have you had recently, Master? You look tired." Seilah asked as she began to wash her boyfriend.

"Four, maybe five, hours over the last two or so days, last time I had a decent sleep was the day I came home from Gracia and the Mermaids."

"Master, I'll use Macro on you when you are in bed, to ensure you get a good night's sleep."

"Thanks."

"Does 10 am sound like a good amount of time for you to be well-rested?" She asked as her soapy hands glided over his hard muscle.

"More than enough." Natsu replied with a yawn, his eyes were drawn to her purple eyes, he watched them flick up to meet his as a warm smile spread across her face.

"I'll join you in bed, Master, I've missed how you hold me."

"I've missed holding you too, my Demon princess." He said with a tired smirk, causing the girl to blush.

"I'm not a princess, just a normal Etherious woman."

"You're my Etherious princess though, Seilah, you don't have to be a princess to be that."

"Thank you, Natsu." She said softly as her eyes went to the floor but she couldn't hide the happy smile that grew from his words.

Her hands went up into his hair, washing out all the sweat and oils from the pink locks. "Almost done, Master."

The man let her finish then he washed it all out and turned off the shower. He quickly flared his magic to dry them and took her hand in his as he led her to the bed.

Seilah gently pushed the man onto his back into the king-sized bed, she moved him to the middle and crawled to him, her hair hanging down and blocking the view of her soft and pale breasts. She laid down on the man and rested her head on his broad chest, relishing in the warmth that he gave off.

"You look comfy." Natsu said to the woman.

"I am, so very comfortable." She slowly looked up at the man and whispered to him, her voice full of authority. "Sleep. Dream pleasantly and only wake when it is ten in the morning."

Seilah watched as the man instantly fell asleep, she snuggled into his warmth and let his heartbeat slowly soothe her until she too fell into a deep sleep.

When the morning rolled around, Natsu awoke at the exact time that Seilah had ordered him to. He was feeling fully refreshed and ready to take down even the toughest of foes.

There was no weight on his chest of nearby, so he knew that Seilah must have headed down to the main part of the house. He opened his eyes and groaned as he stretched his body out, shaking loose the last vestiges of sleep.

His eyes were drawn to the other side of the room where he was met with two feminine figures. Two pairs of eyes, one reddish-pink and the other red, were eyeing the man hungrily. Their gaze drawn to the massive pillar of meat that rose like a great oak from the man's hips.

"Sup." Natsu said to the two salivating women.


And that is another one done, hope you have enjoyed it. The next chapter will be seeing Natsu and Seilah, maybe another person, go to Natsumi's universe and finally meet her version of Fairy Tail.

If you liked the story and would like to give feedback, maybe would like to send some ideas about plots, then feel free to leave a review. Don't forget to follow and favourite to keep up to date with the chapters. Catch you all next time.