Got to say, the year is shaping up a lot more optimistically. Still busy with everything going on, but with the vaccine rollout underway I remain optimistic everything can be settled by the end of the year. Work has also been super busy with lots of overtime, but that'll hopefully settle down a bit as well. I'm also going to have a long stretch of night shifts for almost 6 months which could potentially be good or bad, but I guess we'll find out.
On to story related things, I'm dropping a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter and I'm almost not even trying to hide it. As I said, with Natsu not a part of Fairy Tail, the things you read about in this story won't be the same routine stuff. Don't get me wrong, you will still have things like Oración Seis for obvious reasons, but when, where and how that all happens will be very different. Additionally, you will see a lot of other things in this story that you wouldn't expect to see in a standard Fairy Tail story, but then again, when have my newer stories been anything but outside the norm?
That's all for now, enjoy.
SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan.
Previously:
Finally returning back to Mercurius, Natsu and his gaggle of girls ran into two more, Cosmos and Kamika, who panicked upon seeing Natsu and resolved to follow him. Arriving at the castle, Natsu told Hisui of his journey, before heading to bed. Waking up to find Meredy and Flare had snuck into his room to sleep with him due to the strange new place they were in, Natsu was accepting of the two and headed off to test the knights Arcadios had recruited. Initially coming face to face with a skilled scythe wielder, Natsu then went through the rest of the knights, with Cosmos and Kamika observing him, before panicking at the sight of Natsu again, only for Toma to come up with an idea for a unique brand of knights.
Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Fairy Tail anime/manga. All I own are my original characters and plot twists.
'Talking'
"Thinking"
*expression*
Flashback
Techniques
Chapter 8 – Natsu Squadron
'So what did you want to talk about?' Asked Natsu, sitting across from the king.
'Well Natsu, I have had a thought recently. Given the large threat of magic users in the community, perhaps the fact that our defence does not have a special division to tackle mages is a problem. You remember what happened when you first arrived. I don't mean to tarnish the reputation of Arcadios, but purely from a logistical point of view, mages have projectile attacks which means it is dangerous to engage without any long-range attacks.' Said Toma.
'Hmm, so wouldn't it be a good idea to teach all the knights some magic?' Asked Natsu.
'While that is a good idea, it would take a lot of time to train knights who have never used magic.' Said Toma, causing Natsu to hum thoughtfully.
'What about taking mages and training them to be knights then?' Asked Natsu.
'Again, an excellent suggestion, but time is once again an issue.' Said Toma, before continuing on.
'I was hoping you would be open to the idea of forming a team of sorts made up of knights and mages who could work together. I am aware by now of your magical power and have seen we have quite a few promising new knights and was hoping to combine two strengths. Would you be interested in something like this, Natsu? Keep in mind, it would be a big job.' Proposed Toma.
'Hmm, well, I guess it would be useful for me to get some practice dealing with knights and it might be a good chance to get some training for the girls…' Said Natsu thoughtfully.
'Primarily, I am thinking your team, if you choose to accept it, would be able to travel and deal with dynamic threats. This way you would also be allowed to travel around to many different places, but would treat the castle as a home base. It would also make the streets a bit safer as well, if criminals are worried about you suddenly appearing to deal justice.' Said Toma.
'That would be cool, like a dragon dropping out of the sky.' Said Natsu thoughtfully.
'Ok, I'm in.' Said Natsu.
'Wonderful! I shall discuss this with Arcadios, and we can see about streamlining the process. Feel free to go and enjoy yourself in the meantime.' Said Toma.
'Sounds good.' Said Natsu, before heading out of the room back to his domain.
As Natsu made his way back, he was quickly putting huge plans together in his mind and was looking forward to discussing it with Hisui and the others.
'Hmm, Wendy, what are you doing here?' Asked Natsu, arriving at his room and entering, only to see Wendy and no one else there.
'Sorry, I was just waiting for you to have some time so we could talk about our dragons a bit more.' Said Wendy bashfully.
'Oh that's a great idea, let's go to the library.' Said Natsu, startling Wendy slightly.
'R-really, that would be nice.' Said Wendy, before Natsu gestured for her to follow him.
'Yeah, there were only three books on dragons, but they were really interesting. I can't wait to show you the book with abilities on it.' Said Natsu, as the pair walked towards the library.
'Do you think it would be okay for me to use the library already?' Asked Wendy hesitantly.
'Of course. Don't worry Wendy, I'll make sure to look after you. I can't let the only other Dragon Slayer I've met get in trouble, right?' Questioned Natsu rhetorically.
'Where is everyone else though?' Asked Natsu after a moment.
'I'm not sure. Happy wanted to show Carla around the palace and Yukino joined them. I don't know where Flare or Meredy are.' Said Wendy.
'Hmm that's weird, I could have sworn they were nearby for a minute.' Said Natsu.
-line break-
'I think he's on to us again.' Whispered Kamika.
'Well just don't blast him this time then.' Said Cosmos.
'In that case, let's keep more distance since he obviously has some way of finding us when we get too close.' Said Kamika.
'Fine, let's pull back for a little, we heard them say they are going to the library for now anyway.' Said Cosmos, as the two walked away from the Dragon Slayers.
'I'm a little surprised no one else has caught us yet. I mean, two random girls just walking into the castle, and no one says anything?' Questioned Kamika.
'Well, we were coming here to join the knights.' Pointed out Cosmos.
'Still, you'd think someone would have come looking for us or something.' Said Kamika.
'Who said no one was looking for you?' Said a girl from behind the pair.
'Who said that?' Asked Kamika, whirling around, only for Cosmos to grab her arms.
'Calm.' Said Cosmos, even as Kamika's arms twitched under her grip.
'Oh, it's you.' Said Cosmos, recognising Meredy as the one who had spoken.
'What do you want?' Asked Meredy.
'We wanted to become knights.' Answered Cosmos, slowly releasing Kamika who had now calmed down.
'Why are you following Natsu?' Asked Meredy.
'Well, we wanted his help getting into the castle.' Said Cosmos.
'You are in now, why are you still following him?' Asked Meredy.
'We didn't just want to be inside the castle, we want to be a part of it, and we think he can help us.' Said Kamika.
'Okay.' Said Meredy, before walking away.
'I, don't… what just happened?' Asked Kamika.
'Maybe she got bored of talking with us.' Suggested Cosmos.
'We just wanted to know if you were a threat or not.' Said Flare from behind the two, causing Kamika to panic and attack Flare with another fire attack, only for her hair to absorb the attack.
'Is this how you say hello? You do that a lot.' Asked Flare.
'Will you stop doing that?' Hissed Cosmos, causing Kamika to recoil.
'You know I get nervous easily.' Retorted Kamika.
'Yes and you need to work on it.' Countered Cosmos.
'Um, hello?' Said Flare questioningly, as the two seemed to forget she was even there.
'Ah, you two must be with the decorators. Come! The west garden needs to be worked on immediately.' Said a man dressed in a business suit and tie, who quickly ushered Cosmos and Kamika away.
'Bye?' Said Flare questioningly, before walking off herself.
-line break-
'So, Wendy, have you had much fighting practice?' Asked Natsu, as Wendy looked through the book on techniques beside Natsu in the library.
'Not really. I've practised my roar a few times, but Grandeeney focused more on my support abilities.' Admitted Wendy.
'That's ok. I learnt all about fighting from Igneel, so I can help you with that part. Maybe we can even work on cool attacks together.' Suggested Natsu.
'Really? I don't want to slow you down in your training.' Questioned Wendy nervously.
'It's fine, two Dragon Slayers are better than one, I bet we'll find the dragons twice as fast.' Said Natsu optimistically, making Wendy smile softly.
'Okay then.' Said Wendy, before turning back to her book.
'Hey Wendy, do you want to be a mage knight?' Asked Natsu.
'What's that?' Asked Wendy, looking up from her book again.
'I just made it up. The king said he wants me to try and make a team of mages like the knights.' Explained Natsu.
'That sounds like something difficult… I'm not sure if I could do that, I would have to go back to my guild, and it might be hard if I become a mage knight.' Said Wendy.
'Hmm, how about you just give it a try then? If you don't like it, you can stop it, no questions asked. Come on, it'll be fun.' Offered Natsu.
'O-Okay if you think I can handle it.' Said Wendy.
'Great, I'll go and let Hisui know, you can stay and read for as long as you want. Come find me if you need help with anything.' Said Natsu, before heading off to search for Hisui, leaving Wendy to read.
As Natsu made his way through the castle, he took some time to think about what he could do with a special unit. Truth be told, Natsu had never considered having help on his search for Igneel. In part, it was due to the initial lack of luck he had had in finding any information about dragons and if he couldn't even get people to believe they existed, he doubted he would be able to convince them to search for them. Finding Wendy was exciting because it confirmed at least one thing to Natsu, there were definitely dragons out there, considering Wendy had never met Natsu before and had her own dragon too. Unfortunately, despite confirming again that dragons were very much real, Natsu was no closer to finding them. Pausing in his search for Hisui, Natsu pulled his letter out and read through it again. After the advice to return home, there wasn't any further info about what to do. It made Natsu wonder a few things, namely, had he already found Igneel, would he receive another letter, or was the letter a lie. The last thought made Natsu frown, before he shook his head and realised, he had found a dragon, Atlas Flame, so he would keep his faith for now. Putting the letter away again, Natsu continued his search for Hisui, before finding Yukino, Happy and Carla.
'Now we should go…' Said Happy uncertainly, causing Carla to interrupt.
'Just admit we are lost.' Said Carla.
'I'm not lost, we should go… to Natsu!' Exclaimed Happy, spotting his travel companion.
'Hey you three, touring the castle?' Asked Natsu.
'Aye sir!' Answered Happy.
'We were touring the castle before we got lost.' Said Carla.
'Yeah, this place is pretty big, do you still want a tour?' Asked Natsu.
'No. I would much rather find Wendy.' Said Carla.
'Oh, Wendy is in the library, just go down this hallway turn right and go upstairs, that's the library.' Said Natsu.
'Just to confirm, when you say right, do you mean your right or my right?' Asked Carla.
'Um, there is only one right, the other side is a wall.' Said Natsu uncertainly, causing Carla to sigh.
'I see, thank you.' Said Carla, before walking off.
'What about you Yukino, how have you found the castle?' Asked Natsu.
'It's very big.' Said Yukino, causing Natsu to nod.
'It sure is, well then, do you want to come and find Hisui with me?' Asked Natsu.
'Oh, I don't want to be a bother.' Said Yukino nervously.
'It's no bother, I'm sure Hisui would love to have more people to talk to. Come on, I can tell she isn't that far from here.' Said Natsu, before walking between the two and gesturing for them to follow.
The trio's trip was short, and they found Hisui after only a minute of walking. Hisui was sitting in one of the gardens, looking through a small journal.
'Hey Hisui, you busy?' Asked Natsu, seeing the princess appeared to be reading intently.
'Natsu. Oh, don't worry about it. Please, come join me, all of you.' Smiled Hisui pleasantly, as she gestured for the three to join her.
'How are you finding the castle?' Asked Hisui, looking to Yukino.
'It's so much larger than I could have imagined. I'm afraid we got lost during Happy's tour of the castle.' Said Yukino.
'I see. I hope in time you will come to find the place less daunting. It is also nice that there are more people now as well.' Said Hisui.
'Probably going to be more to come too. I heard you are recruiting more people for the castle, even your dad asked me to make my own team.' Said Natsu.
'Is that so? Your own team?' Asked Hisui.
'Yeah, to help deal with other mages. Pretty cool right?' Explained Natsu.
'So does that mean you will be spending time around the castle recruiting?' Asked Hisui.
'Yep and probably training too. I think it would be a good idea to get the knights training with mages as well.' Said Natsu, causing Hisui to smile.
'That sounds like a splendid idea.' Commented Hisui.
'Yeah, so how have things been in the castle for the past few months, any new changes?' Asked Natsu.
'As I said yesterday, recruitment has been the biggest change, but there has also been a lot of development. I think the entire castle has been tweaked in some way or another. As I understand, there is also a great deal of construction happening around the castle.' Said Hisui.
'Well we should go and look around some time before everything is finished, who knows what we might find laying around.' Suggested Natsu.
'Are you sure you have the time for that? It sounds like you will be quite busy yourself very soon.' Asked Hisui.
'Yeah, but that's why we should do it now, before all of that.' Said Natsu.
'I suppose that it would be interesting to see the changes in progress.' Conceded Hisui.
'Let's go then, we can start from the inside and work our way out, that way I'll be able to track down all the others. Wendy and Carla are at the library, and I think Meredy and Flare headed back to our rooms.' Said Natsu.
'I'll trust you to lead the way then.' Said Hisui, standing up.
'Ok, follow me.' Said Natsu as the group walked off.
'Natsu, this new group you are forming, what would you do?' Asked Hisui.
'Hmm, from the sounds of things, we'd go out exploring and if anyone is up to something bad, we'd take them out.' Said Natsu.
'So does that mean you would be leaving often then?' Asked Hisui.
'Hmm, not for a while. I think it'll take at least take a few months to get some training started, then a bit of recruiting as well, or maybe the other way around. After that, it would probably take a bit of time for everyone to get comfortable with everyone else so we can make sure any group that goes out would be prepared for anything.' Said Natsu thoughtfully.
'You seem to have given this a great deal of thought.' Commented Hisui.
'Eh, not really. I just know if you are going out as a team, everyone has to be strong and friendly. Strong if you need to fight and friendly to enjoy the exploring. You wouldn't want to take someone grumpy along who just wants to go home. Oh, and someone should be a good cook just in case.' Added Natsu.
'I see, that does sound wonderful.' Said Hisui forlornly.
'I'm sure you'll be able to come with us after we get a little stronger. We could be like your special bodyguard team.' Said Natsu.
'That's very kind of you to offer, Natsu, but to have an escort I would need to have an official reason for leaving. Searching for dragons wouldn't qualify under official business.' Said Hisui.
'Why not? What if you are going to visit some king or queen in another country, they could be a dragon for all you know.' Suggested Natsu.
'Well, I suppose I shall keep my mind open to the possibility, however unlikely.' Said Hisui.
'There you go, first step training, second step recruiting, third step training again and then fourth step explore everything!' Declared Natsu, as the group arrived at the library.
'Has no one ever told you to be quiet around a library?' Asked Carla, tottering over to the group.
'Nope, Wendy, let's go! Time to start some hands-on training.' Said Natsu, causing the blue haired girl to quickly put her book away and approach the group.
'What do you mean, Natsu?' Asked Wendy.
'We're going to go looking for a place to train, just as soon as we get Meredy and Flare.' Said Natsu, before walking off.
'Did you learn anything interesting, Wendy?' Asked Yukino.
'Hm, a few things. It all sounds very strange to me, but I'm sure Natsu will help explain things.' Said Wendy.
'Wendy, I don't want you putting too much stock in teachings from that one. You are an intelligent girl and should be able to figure these things out yourself.' Chided Carla.
'Natsu is really smart though, besides, no one is as strong as him.' Piped up Happy, defending his longest companion.
'Come on guys, we've got more important things to focus on than finding out who is the strongest or the smartest now. We need to get even stronger and smarter first.' Said Natsu.
'Very well said, Natsu.' Said Hisui, causing Carla to sigh.
'Meredy, Flare, let's go.' Said Natsu, opening the door to their sleeping quarters only to find the other two seemed to be expecting them.
'Whoa, how'd you know we were coming to find you?' Asked Happy, seeing them ready to go.
'We felt it.' Said Meredy, with Flare nodding.
'Ok, first things first, let's go see if any knights are still around so we can get a warmup.' Said Natsu, leading them down to the training area.
'I think you might have some trouble with that, Natsu.' Said Hisui knowingly.
'What makes you say that?' Asked Natsu, only for Hisui to smile.
As the group finally reached the site in question, there was only one person there.
'See, I told you there'd be some knights here.' Said Natsu victoriously.
'As there is only one, you can't really say there are knights here, but I agree there is a knight here.' Conceded Hisui, recognising the knight as the scythe wielder.
'Hey, you're still here!' Said Natsu excitedly as he jogged over to the knight.
'I was hoping you would be back. I have heard something interesting about you.' Said the knight.
'Oh, did you hear about the team already? That's quick, do you want to join.' Said Natsu unabashedly.
'I would.' Said the knight.
'Awesome.' Said Natsu, looking back to the others.
'See, we're already recruiting.' Said Natsu.
'We want to join too!' Called out two voices.
'Oh it's you two, I was wondering how much longer you wanted to play tag for, or was it hide and seek?' Replied Natsu, as Kamika and Cosmos ran out of the shadows.
'It's the decorators.' Said Flare, her head dropping to the side.
'We aren't decorators, we want to be knights too, but we know magic and aren't strong like most knights. We heard rumours about a mage in the castle though.' Said Kamika.
'Wow, when you aren't being surprised you sound really cool.' Said Natsu with a laugh.
'Are you making fun of me?' Asked Kamika indignantly.
'Nope, but if you want to join us, you have to have a proper fight first. I already know he can.' Said Natsu, pointing his thumb at the knight.
'What do you mean, I've already showed you my power heaps of times, it isn't my fault fire doesn't faze you?' Protested Kamika.
'Oh, ok then, you can be the cook of the team. What about you?' Asked Natsu, moving on from Kamika to Cosmos.
Cosmos placed her small plant on the floor and seemed to whisper to the plant. Natsu watched on in interest before he felt something crawling up his leg and saw a vine on his left leg.
'So do the two of you work together then, one catches the food and the other one cooks it?' Asked Natsu.
'I'm not trying to catch food, I can catch people, just try to break away.' Said Cosmos.
Natsu hummed and tried to pull his leg free only to find it stuck.
'That's neat.' Said Natsu, before he lit his leg on fire, causing the vine to wither in seconds.
'Ok, you can join the team, but we need to have a proper fight sometime. Food is important though.' Said Natsu.
'We're not cooks.' Said Kamika indignantly.
'Fine… we need cooks though.' Pouted Natsu.
'Now then, let's go explore.' Said Natsu.
'Shouldn't we do some training first.' Asked Wendy.
'We do have this space for the rest of the day. The training of the palace knights is finished for today.' Added Hisui.
'Ok then, let me think.' Mumbled Natsu.
'Wendy, let's have a spar! I want to see you fight and it will let everyone else know about our other goal.' Said Natsu.
'Uh, um, are you sure?' Asked Wendy nervously.
'Of course. Besides, maybe you can try out some new attacks.' Said Natsu encouragingly.
Wendy hesitantly nodded and moved away from the group coming to stand opposite Natsu.
'Are you sure this is a fair match up?' Asked Hisui.
'Sure it is.' Said Natsu, causing Hisui to smile softly.
'If you say so.' Replied Hisui.
'Come on Wendy, from the top.' Said Natsu, starting to bounce on his feet.
'O swift wind that dashes through the heavens. Vernier.' Said Wendy quietly, before charging at Natsu.
Natsu was momentarily surprised at the speed Wendy charged towards him at, before recovering and squatting down slightly.
'Fire Dragon's Claw.' Said Natsu, swinging his leg in a semi-circle and causing Wendy to startle, before jumping up over the attack.
'Sky Dragon's Roar.' Said Wendy, as she floated over Natsu, before blasting a medium sized stream of wind at Natsu.
Natsu dropped down and rolled away from the attack, which battered the stone ground below.
'Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.' Said Natsu, as he charged at Wendy, who surprisingly stood her ground.
'Armour.' Said Wendy, before being bathed in a blue glow.
Natsu continued charging undeterred, only now, Wendy was also charging at him.
'Sky Dragon's Wing Attack.' Said Wendy, as both of her arms were enveloped in a small stream of wind, wrapping around her arms up to the shoulder.
Wendy raised her left arm to meet Natsu's punch, wincing at the impact, before trying to punch with her right arm, only for Natsu to strafe to the right, causing Wendy to fall forward as Natsu dropped his fist causing Wendy to fall forwards. Natsu then reignited his fist and punched Wendy in the side, sending her away and causing her to crash to the ground hard.
'Wendy!' Exclaimed Carla.
'Don't worry, she's fine.' Said Natsu.
Carla huffed and was about to start tearing into Natsu, only for Wendy to stand up.
'That's pretty cool. I wondered what you've been doing. Never heard of anything called Vernier or Armour before, but they seem really handy.' Said Natsu.
'They are, Grandeeney told me that even if I'm smaller or weaker than my opponent, I can always use my special skills to fight back.' Said Wendy, standing up mostly unharmed.
'Although, looks like the punch still did the trick.' Said Natsu, noting Wendy was pressing her left arm against her side.
'I really thought Armour would have been enough, but you must be a lot stronger than I thought.' Admitted Wendy.
'Maybe we should be the cooks.' Muttered Cosmos.
'Ok, so who wants to go next?' Asked Natsu.
'I think that might be enough for today Natsu. You and Wendy have both set a good example for the others.' Said Hisui.
'Ok, let's go and explore then.' Said Natsu.
'Where should we go?' Asked Meredy.
'I don't know… yeah, let's go outside for a change and see what's around the castle.' Said Natsu.
'What do you think you will find outside, Natsu?' Asked Hisui.
'No idea, for all I know, there could be a dragon right under our noses.' Said Natsu.