They shared a laugh and only waited a few more moments before the door opened back up and Mirajane holding a fresh mug of beer and a slightly timid Levy followed behind her. Mirajane placed the mug on the masters' desk and turned back around to Natsu. "I don't know how personal this talk might be, but Levy has helped me research my demons in the past and some others. I thought maybe a little bit of her insight might be helpful. That and she recently got the hang of Archive magic so maybe there might be help here."
She was looking at Natsu hoping that the additional person wouldn't upset him and to her relief Natsu just smiled at the both of them and said, "I'd be happy to have her help, next to Gramps and the First she's probably the smartest person I know. I just didn't wanna bother too many others with my problems but if she's willing then I would be an even bigger dummy than you guys think I am not to accept her help!"
Both Levy and Mirajane relax at his words and gave a smile back. Levy broke the silence, "Thanks Natsu, that's sweet of you to say. I would be more than happy to give you a hand, honestly I think pretty much everyone in the guild would be. You've done so much for us, we don't even know where to start to pay you back."
Natsu started to rub the back of his head with a slightly awkward smile, "Fairy Tail is my home, all you guys are my family. I don't even want to think about what would had happened if Gramps hadn't found me in that forest all those years ago. You guys are the last family and home I have left, my parents died over 400 years ago and Igneel is gone.. well I guess technically I have Alvarez, with being the current emperor there and all… Anyway, the only thing I want is for this place to stay the same way for anyone else that needs a home."
""YOU'RE AN EMPEROR?!"" Mirajane and Levy couldn't hold in their shock wile Master Makarov just grinned at their reactions, holding his new mug of beer. Natsu was startled by their sudden outburst, and stepped back from the girls while holding his ears.
"OWW! NOT SO LOUD PLEASE!" Natsu screamed back. The two ladies quickly recomposed themselves and apologized, however they glared at him with a look that said 'explain'.
"Right, I forgot I hadn't told anybody yet. Only like 6 other people know, I haven't even told Happy. I kinda wanted to figure out this problem first because it might have a huge impact on that." Natsu started to explain as the girls looked at him expectantly. "Well it's pretty obvious, I'm kinda surprised that no one figured it out really. Zeref is my brother and he was Emperor Spriggan. He's dead, the throne goes to the successor. Usually that would be his child, but August blew himself up, not that Zeref even knew that he was his kid. Even so, in this case, he had already named his successor, me."
"So when did you find all this out? And if you haven't told anyone then why are you telling us? Not that I mind you telling me, but I don't want to cause any problems for you." Levy questioned. "And why aren't you there now? Shouldn't you be in Alvarez helping them recover instead of Fiore?"
"Ahaha, well apparently Zeref was hardly ever there so they are pretty used to having an absent ruler. The council over there said they understood that this was suddenly dumped on me, but they really would like me to consider taking the position even if it's only for a short term to re-regulate how the country is run." Natsu started scratching the back of his head before he continued to explain. "At first I was completely overwhelmed but the more I thought about it, it was my brothers' mess. So I figured the least I could do is take responsibility for his mistake s and give a hand. Maybe I can take everything I learned here at Fairy Tail and put it to use over there, then there would be a whole country of people that are as amazing as us."
"Anyway, remember when I was gone for like a whole month?" Natsu questioned the girls and the both thought about it for a little bit before Mirajane spoke up. "I kinda do, I mostly wrote it off as you just staying out to have some time to yourself and help out with the bandits though. I was really worried but I had full confidence that you would come home when you were ready." She finished with a little pout.
"Ahh, I'm sorry Mira! I didn't mean to make you worry!" The pinkette began to panic only to be met with a giggling Mirajane that grabbed his arm again. "Ufufufu~ It's ok Natsu, I always worry when you go out on missions but you always come home so that's what matters. I know there's nothing that could keep my favorite dragon slayer down… well aside from transportation." She looked up at him with a playful smile and poked his cheek. "Just don't go and try to prove me wrong, make sure you always come home to me."
Natsu responded with his signature smile and said, "Don't worry Mira, I'll always come back. I've been all over Fiore and a couple other countries and your food is still the best. That's one of the top three reasons I'm having so much trouble deciding on the whole Alvarez thing, I haven't figured out how to convince you to come with me. Even if you taught the chefs in the palace how to cook like you do, I don't think it would be the same without your smile to go along with it."
Mirajane, unsure of how to react, just looked at him stunned with a blush to match Erza's hair. At first she was a little upset at the revelation that he just wanted her for her cooking, however after remember who was speaking and what he was talking about it hit her hard. He was saying that SHE was one of the reasons that he was hesitating on taking the throne to a really large and prosperous country. That coupled with the fact that the dragon slayer's top three priorities in life were food, fighting and family it just added to the fact.
"Thank you Natsu, I'm glad my cooking means that much to you. But knowing that, now I'll never reveal my cooking secrets." Mirajane recovered and returned his smile. "Looks like if you want my cooking then either you stay at Fairy Tail or you drag me along to your new palace." Then after a second she her gaze became flirty and she closed the distance between them, pushing her generous chest on his side and bit her bottom lip, then ran a finger down his chest slowly. "Although I might need a little more incentive to go or are you just going to kidnap me and lock me in your tower, you big. Bad. Dragon Emperor?"
Natsu, despite the blush that he was sharing with the innocent Levy from Mirajane's antics, decided to try and tease the platinum-haired beauty back leaned down with a small smirk and whispered in to her ear, low enough that the other two occupants of the room couldn't hear him, "The council did ask me about any possible Queen Consorts. Empress Mirajane has a nice ring to it, right?"
"Ahem." A small cough came out of the petite bluenette that had just had her blush outdone by the usually porcelain skinned Mirajane, who remained frozen next to Natsu, by several shades. "Anyway Natsu, you were telling us when you found out about you being the successor."
"Ah, right. Well while I was out teaching bandits a lesson, I was near Crocus so I went to go and take a break after I handed off the bandits. When I was handing over the trash to the rune knights I learned that there was an APB for me. At first, my reaction was to make like Gildarts and disappear. They managed to tell me before I left that they didn't know much either and that all they were told to tell me that I was needed at the palace. So they wrote me a note to give to the guards so that there wouldn't be any confusion in case they weren't told. Confused as I was, I decided to just go. I figured I kicked all the royal guards asses once, if need-be I can do it again and ditch out." Natsu shrugged his shoulders at the end, his comment causing Master Makarov to roll his eyes and rub his temples and mutter about 'beating some manners into pink-haired idiots'.
"So I go to the castle and I get rushed into this room with a huge table and a couple of maids told me that someone would be with me shortly. Still confused, I sat down and waited but it wasn't long before Toma, Hisui, and three of the Spriggan 12 came in; Invel, Dimaria, and Brandish. At first I was a little on guard but Hisui told me that they were here to talk about cease-fire and a possible peace treaty. To be honest, that really made me ever more confused as to why the hell I was there." Everyone chuckled at the last comment but he continued. "So I asked them, and Invel just flat out told me that Zeref had named me, his brother, as his successor and they were there to talk to me about that as well as the other stuff. He said it would be easier to try and do it all together instead of having to explain everything several times. I listened the best I could 'cause I figured it was pretty important, but I really didn't get much of what Invel and Toma were talking about. Hisui was really nice and did her best to try and break it down for me, but a lot of it still went over my head. She told me that it was ok and I really couldn't be blamed for not understanding with all things considered and told me that she wouldn't mind helping me out and teach me the basics. At first I panicked but then I figured she couldn't be any worse than Erza so I was gonna accept, but then Invel told me that they had wanted me to come back to Alvarez with them even if it was just a short time so that they could kinda parade me around, something about keeping morale up for the citizens. At first I was hesitant because of everything going on and the guild, but then gramps showed up and told me that it should be fine if I went. He just said to try not to be gone to long because he couldn't keep it from the guild forever."
"Master you knew about this?" Mirajane, who had recovered while Natsu was telling his story, ask the short man behind the desk.
"I did, I didn't share it with the guild to try and respect Natsu's privacy. That and to try and avoid any publicity problems for us and the kingdom that we might get for Fairy Tail housing the next emperor of the country that just attacked us. I figured he would share in time and even if he didn't, it's his choice to make." Mirajane and Levy nodded in acknowledgement of the old man's words and turned back to Natsu to see if he had more to add. He saw this and continued his tale.
"Well my first concern was the HOW we were going to get there, I knew they came by boats and airships and I'll be damned if I'm staying on of those deathtraps that long. Then master told us about the anti-motion sickness lacrima that Blue Pegasus had developed and Invel assured me that they would undoubtedly secure that technology from them should I agree. Then I told the king that I thought that every form of transportation should be required to have that, he laughed at me, but I was dead serious. Although apparently Invel took that to heart. He said he would insure that it would be done in Alvarez without delay." Natsu nervously chuckled that last bit. "The next thing I asked accidently caused a few problems, but it wasn't until I actually went to Alvarez that it was realized. I had asked if Hisui could accompany me telling them the she had said she would be willing to try and help teach me more about politics and basics of running a country. The Invel, Dimaria, and Brandish didn't have any problems with it, Hisui was a little surprised at me asking but then she seemed excited to go and visit another country. Toma was a little hesitant at first, but he gave in after making me promise that I would absolutely keep her safe. Of course I gave my word as a Fairy Tail mage and so it was decided. While we waited for Blue Pegasus and the group from Alvarez to get their airship ready, Hisui went ahead and started teaching me.. let me tell you, it was like 1000 times better than when Erza taught me how to read!"
The group in the office just laughed at the poor dragon slayer, all of them knowing that the red head often went over the top when she was too focused. After they were done laughing at Natsu's misery, Mirajane piped up, "So Natsu, what problems were caused by the princess going with you to Alvarez?"
"Ah, that one. Hehe." Natsu scratched the back of his head once again in nervousness with a small blush on his cheeks. "Well it was pretty much a huge misunderstanding that wasn't caught by anyone until it was too late. But to sum it up in a general sequence of events; the Empire went to war, a new Emperor comes back, said new Emperor gets paraded around to try and keep moral up, Emperor was accompanied the princess of the country they just invaded, rumors spread and made their way to the palace who were already informed of Hisui coming with us, and by the end of it when we were shown our rooms to stay in, the 'rooms' turned out to be a single room.. Mine. Apparently the entirety of the servants in the palace had heard the rumors and thought I was bringing Hisui to become my new consort. So, in order to 'encourage' us and show their support, they had prepared various… articles… for us. Like lingerie and various oils and candles."
By the end of his explanation he was sporting a health blush a few shades darker than his hair and he was joined by Mirajane and Levy. Master Makarov had let out a little perverse giggle at the thought of his 'plight'. Mirajane remembering what Natsu had whispered to her earlier hesitatingly asked, "Natsu, you didn't DO anything with the princess did you?" There was a little more bite in her voice than she intended, but she was relieved when she heard him finish explaining what happened.
"WHAT!? NO! We honestly didn't even realize it at first because we were so in our own world talking. I didn't think anything about it because the first room we entered was like a living room with couches and stuff so in the back of my mind I just assumed that maybe it was just a common area for 2 different rooms or something. When we were done talking I called in a maid and told her we were ready to go to our rooms, she disappeared into a room and came back out and said something like 'the room is ready, enjoy your night Your Majesty', not really being used to all the formal stuff I just kinda ignored her thinking she was talking to Hisui and went check out the room thinking it was hers and I just wanted to make sure it was safe, you know. Well when we both went in there were candles lit and some sort of incense being burned with a really lacy outfit laying on the bed. When Hisui saw it she panicked and ran out of the room. I was too concerned with what might be wrong with her to try and figure out WHY she panicked, then she explained to me that the room was intended for us to share. At first I was confused because I've never had a problem sharing a room or a bed with Erza, Wendy, or Lucy before on missions, but then my brain caught up and thought that sharing a bed with a princess probably wasn't the greatest idea. At that the realization hit me like a train of what the meaning of the stuff in the room was. Needless to say I apologized and then ran out to find a servant to try and fix the misunderstanding. They were horrified that they had made such a mistake and over the next couple days Hisui wouldn't even look at me, and Dimaria and Brandish wouldn't stop laughing at me. Invel apologized to the both of us but I could see the grin on the smug bastards face. It took three days of apologizing and promising a date to get Hisui to talk to me again."
Levy and Mirajane were laughing at the situation the poor man was put through knowing that he really did feel bad for putting the princess in an awkward situation even if it wasn't his fault. Both glad that it seemingly didn't escalate from there and an international incident wasn't caused by the pyro. Though it really wouldn't be surprising considering his track record.
"What's worse is that it didn't end there! After we got back to Fiore, Hisui had told her father about it and after assuring him that nothing had happened and it really was just a misunderstanding, HE started teasing me about it. Asking things like if that was really why I had stolen the crown after the Grand Magic Games and if I had intended on taking responsibility and started calling me son-in-law. The only one that didn't take it to kindly was Arcadios, he 'bout lost his shit when he heard. Thankfully Toma calmed him down before he got a flaming punch and explained it was just a lack of communications and nothing came of it other than some embarrassment that wouldn't get out to the public anyway."
With this last revelation the 3 other occupant of the room couldn't hold in their laughter anymore and just let it out at the poor man's experience. Mirajane and Levy both wrapped the fire mage in a hug to try and sooth him, but their laughter along with the hug wasn't getting them very far.
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Just keep in mind you're laughing at an Emperor you peasants."
"Oh my, is the Dragon Emperor going to punish us? We are just lowly little peasant girls, we don't know any better." Mirajane was once again pushing herself onto Natsu, and Levy, who was already there, just decided to go with flow and look at him with the most innocent look she could give with mock fear on her face.
"Geez, what is it with take-over mages and teasing me?! I swear everywhere I go they are there. I grew up with you and Lisanna and even in Alvarez, Dimaria wouldn't leave me alone after we made up on the trip there."
"It's because you're so cute when you are flustered. I never talked to Dimaria, but I bet she would say the same. Would you like me to invite Jenny over? We can see if it really is you and even if it is you should be grateful for the attention from 4 beautiful women. You could have a nice little harem of take-over mages."
"A tempting offer, but don't promise something you can't deliver." Natsu reached down and grabbed Mirajane's ass and was rewarded with a cute squeak. Levy, seeing their shameless flirting acting up again, decides to go and sit down on one of the couches in the room before she gets dragged along with it. "Just do me a favor, keep Elfman away. I don't roar that way and I'm sure he doesn't either with how far he's gone with Evergreen, but if he ever decides to switch teams I have an entire nation and army to keep him away."
Master Makarov was watching the little show in front of him with a small smile, glad that his children are growing up and even gladder that they can accept Natsu despite the fact that he is a demon and not treat him any different. Especially considering he's also royalty now. However he also knows that they have gotten off track from their original purpose and he still has a lot of paperwork to do.
"If you brats are done flirting in my office, I do believe that we came here with a different purpose."
Mirajane, ignoring the hand that was still on her ass, spoke up, "Right, Natsu wanted to talk to Seilah. Ordinarily only I can talk to my take overs and that's only when I was meditating, but Seilah gave me an idea to try and use my magic a little different. It's similar to thought projection magic except that it's using my demon souls as the image and they are solid, capable of fighting with me and have their own semi-free will, they still follow my orders but don't need orders to act. Like I said, it's experimental and I've never used it before in combat, just training the technique and I can only do it with Seilah so far."
She turned to Natsu, "Are you ready? Like I said before, I can only do it for about 30 minutes and it takes a lot out of me after."
"Yeah, I'm ready. No matter the answers I get or don't get I know I have a home here at Fairy Tail." Natsu moved his hand off her soft rear end and slid it up around her waist as she closed her eyes to concentrate.
"Partial Soul Release: Seilah!"
