Gajeel POV


We headed up the second floor and began searching for the entrance to the roof where Wendy was supposed to be.

"All of these doors look the same," I grumbled after a while. "How are we supposed to get to the roof if we keep looking in the same rooms over and over again?"

"We don't give up," Natsu answered, "simple as that."

"Who said anything about giving up, Salamander?" I frowned. "Because I sure as hell didn't."

"Well, it sounded like you were," he responded.

"Juvia has to agree with Natsu," Juvia spoke up. "It did sound like you were planning on giving up."

"Well, I'm not," I huffed. "I'm just frustrated that we keep looking into the same damn rooms over and over again."

"I think that we're all a little frustrated," Lisanna said, trying to calm me down. "But like Natsu said, we can't give up."

We all kept walking until we came to double wooden doors that we were pretty sure led to the roof. We tried to open them, but they wouldn't budge.

"Come on!" Natsu sounded annoyed as he tried to kick the doors open, but it was futile. "Open uuuup!"

"Natsu, stop kicking the door!" Lisanna beseeched. "That's not going to do anything."

"Then how are we gonna get to Wendy?" Natsu ceased his attempts and looked at her.

"There has to be another way to open the door," Lisanna answered. "The door in the cave wouldn't open until Juvia did what she did, so we must have to solve a riddle."

"How are we supposed to get the door open when we don't even know what we're supposed to solve?" Natsu huffed, crossing his arms.

"I don't know," she answered. "We'll have to figure it out."

They began to look around the area for anything that could help us know what we were supposed to solve to get the door open, but while they were all looking around, I felt the sudden urge to cough.

"Ahem," is what it sounded like.

Almost immediately after that, words began to appear on the metal door frame.

"What the..." I rose an eyebrow when I noticed it.

"What's wrong, Gajeel?" Gray asked, looking at me.

"See for yourself, stripper," I said, not looking away from the words materializing on the door frame.

Everyone stopped looking around the room and came over to me, peering at the door.

"'I am far away but you can see me almost anywhere? I cover myself with fluffy things sometimes? And I will always be there no matter what? So what am I?'" Natsu read. "What the heck does that mean?"

"It's a riddle," Erza answered plainly. "If we solve it, then the door will most likely open."

"Well, this palace is Wendy's area, so the answer to the riddle must be something that's assosciated with her, right?"

"I doubt it...there's no way that thing is stupid enough to make the answer to the riddle be Carla or dragon or even sky, right?" I seriously doubted that.

As soon as I said sky, the word appeared on the wood and the doors began to open on their own.

"I stand corrected..." I frowned. "Apparently it is that stupid..."

"Look on the bright side, if it is that stupid then if there's any other riddles then they should be pretty easy to solve," Lisanna said optimistically.

"Which is good," Natsu pointed out the obvious. "Anyways, let's go."

We were about to walk through the door and head up to the roof, when metal pillars shot out of the floor and barred the entrance.

"Hey! What gives?" Natsu looked at me accusingly.

"Don't look at me," I exclaimed. "I didn't do that!"

"Oh really? Then who did?"

"I did..."

We turned around to see who had said that, and saw another me standing there. He was dressed in a gray tank top with metal pattern all over it, and dark gray sweatpants.

I was about to sigh in relief that he wasn't wearing anything embarrassing like how Dragon was, until I noticed that he had on slippers that resembled Pantherlily.

"Oh come on...really?" I groaned. "Do you have to wear slippers?"

"Shut up and get away from there before I'm forced to do something I won't regret," he ordered, his expression not changing in the slightest.

"And what are you gonna do?" Gray asked, looking skeptical.

"Simple...those ones in the doorway weren't meant to block your path," he answered.

"You mean...?"

"Yeah, and if you don't get the hell away from there right now then the next ones won't miss," he grumbled. "I'm only gonna tell you this once, got it?"

"Oh we get it," I responded, cracking my knuckles eagerly. "But we ain't leaving."

"Then don't say I didn't warn you," he growled in irritation.

He was about to attack us when I quickly ran over to him and punched him in the face.

"Argh! Why you-" that pissed him off. "I'll teach you to mess with Metal!"

Now identified Metal swung at me, but I dodged it and dropped the satchel on the ground so I could use both my hands.

"Gi-hee...leave him to me, you guys," I told the others, keeping my eyes trained on my double. "I'll take care of this idiot here."

I didn't wait for a response as I got into a brawl with Metal, but the others listened to me and kept out of it. I felt kinda grateful for that, even if I wouldn't say so out loud.

I fought with Metal for quite a while; he was fairly tough, but he was me after all so that was expected.

"Grah!" he exclaimed as I landed a hard punch to his gut, which knocked him back and caused him to collide with a wall, ruining it.

"Are we done or what?" I asked, ready to keep going.

"F-fuck you!"

"Yeah, we're done," I said decidedly.

"Bullshit! I can- I can still- I can still fight you, bastard!"

"Do you even hear yourself?" I asked him. "There's no way that you can keep fighting!"

"Says you!" he was stubborn as he pushed off the wall and began to trudge over to me.

I sighed and walked toward him, roughly poking him in the forehead. This caused him to fall backwards onto his rear.

"If you could keep fighting me," I crouched down in front of him, "do you really think I could push you over with a poke of all things?"

He growled at me, and glaring into my eyes.

"Listen here, I beat you fair and square," I frowned at him. "So let us go to the roof."

He didn't do anything, and a few seconds of silence passed between us.

"Now," I commanded, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Ugh...fine," he growled, before dispersing the metal pillars blocking the doors. "Let Master deal with the lot of you."

I stood up and went back over to the others who were waiting for me, picking up the satchel on the way over.

"Are you alright, Gajeel?" Juvia asked. "You aren't hurt too badly anywhere, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine...worry about yourself, Juv," I answered. "Now let's go get Wendy."

We went through the door and headed up to the roof, leaving Metal by his lonesome.

The roof of the building was flat, making it like another floor to the palace except without walls or an actual rooftop; there were no railings either, which would make it very easy to fall off if you took a wrong step in the wrong place.

"Where is she?" Natsu demanded, his head whipping around. There was no sign of Wendy anywhere.

We began to hear giggles from above us, seeing that none other than Wendy was in the sky. She was on a cloud, lying around and holding the hand of another Natsu that I was pretty sure was that monster.

"Wheeee!" Wendy had a scarf tied around her neck, similar to the one that Yukino had been wearing. Except this one was light blue had a white cloud pattern.

"Wen-!" Natsu tried to call out to her only for Erza to cover his mouth. "Weh? Erwa! Weh teh heh?"

"Shh...let's wait for them to land..." she whispered. "If they can fly then that thing is just going to fly away with her once it sees us."

Natsu grumbled a bit but agreed, and we watched them soar around in the air above the roof. We waited for them to land and hoped that it wouldn't notice us.

"You see? I told you that this would be fun!" it was smiling at her.

"You're right, it is! I never knew that I could fly without my magic, or even without Carla!" she was smiling as well.

"Anything is possible when I'm around, Wendy!"

They continued flying for a few seconds before they landed on the roof.

"You know, Natsu...I really have to thank you," Wendy said bashfully.

"Hm? Thank me?" it tilted its head. "Thank me for what?"

"For showing me such a great time today!" she answered, beaming at it with an adorable smile. "I haven't had this much fun in a really long time, and it's all thanks to you!"

Wendy hugged it with her face buried in its chest and it stiffened up like it wasn't expecting to be hugged. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Natsu was trying to stop himself from rushing in there.

"So thank you so much!" she thanked it, causing it to relax.

It smiled and happily shut its eyes as it hugged her back.

"It's no problem, sweetheart..."

It...called her a sweetheart...that's kinda creepy...

That was enough to push Natsu over the edge as he tore Erza's hand from his mouth.

"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF HER!"

Natsu bolted towards them with his fists engulfed in flames.

"Hey, wait!" Gray tried to stop his rival, but it was too late.

Natsu threw a punch aimed for its face, but the monster quickly opened its eyes and punched Natsu in the head with its hand, causing the fire wizard to get knocked back towards us.

"Let her go!" Natsu wasn't phased by the hit as he popped back up. "Right now!"

"H-huh? Two Natsu's?" Wendy looked perplexed as the demon tightened its grip on her. "What's going on? How are there two of you?"

"There's only one Natsu, Wendy, and it's me," it lied to her. "That's an imposter and so are the others behind him...they're just monsters that want nothing more than to hurt you."

"Bullshit!" Natsu yelled. "You're the monster!"

"See how it lies, Wendy?" it was trying to conceal a mischievous smirk. "How am I the monster here when I've been so very nice to you?"

"Being nice doesn't mean anything if you're just gonna kill her in the end!" Natsu was glaring at it fiercely.

"Natsu's right!" Lisanna tried to tell her. "You have to run away and wake up, Wendy!"

"Wake up? But there's no was this is a dream," it lied. "This place is just as real as me and you."

"Bullshit!" Natsu repeated. "Wendy! Please, you have to listen to us!"

Wendy was silent for a few seconds before looking up at the thing holding her.

"Can you let me go, Natsu?" she asked. "I want to talk to them."

"...Of course," the answer sounded forced.

The demon let her out of its hug and Wendy walked forwards a couple of steps. She looked at us with a calm smile on her face.

"Now why do you want me to wake up?" she asked. "Don't you know that this isn't a dream?"

"Yes, it is," Erza told her. "This is just one big dream and you're in danger here."

"Yeah, if you don't wake up then that monster behind you is going to kill you," Gray tried to tell her.

"A monster?" she quickly looked behind her. The creature to wave at her, and Wendy waved back before turning to us. "There's no monster behind me. The only person behind me is Natsu."

"That is the monster," I pointed at the demon and then to Natsu after saying that. "This is the real Natsu."

"Hmmm..." she stared at him scrutinizingly. "Well, he does look a lot like Natsu, but the so-called 'monster' behind me is the real one."

"No, he isn't! I'm the real Natsu!" Natsu took a few steps towards Wendy as the monster moved to stand directly behind her. "You have to believe us, Wendy!"

"If you are telling the truth then what are things that I like to do?" she asked. "Only the real Natsu would know that, right? So what do I like to do?"

"Uhhhh..."

"Seriously, Natsu?" Gray frowned at him.

"Sh-shut up!" he was embarrassed.

"You really don't know?" Wendy frowned.

"I know what you like to do, Wendy," the creature smiled smugly as it put a hand on her shoulder.

"And I know that you do, so if that's the case then that means they're monsters just like you said that they were?"

"Uh-huh," it nodded.

"I'm not the monster and no one here is the monster except him!" Natsu growled in frustration, walking closer to her. "Please, Wendy! Don't you-?"

Natsu halted as the demon stepped out from behind Wendy and got in front of her instead.

"I think that we've both had quite enough of you monsters," it was smirking.

"Get out of my way!" Natsu snarled, clearly enraged.

"Shall I get rid of them, Wendy?" it ignored him.

"No."

That shocked the demon as it looked over its shoulder at her.

"Huh? N-no?" it seemed shocked. "But...but they're monsters! Shouldn't we get rid of them before they hurt someone?"

"Yes, we should, but there's not a lot of people in this place and especially not a lot of people in the palace," she explained. "So seeing as we can both take care of ourselves very well, then they can't hurt us one bit. And we shouldn't hurt them, either."

"But, but, but-"

"No buts...we aren't hurting them and that's final," the sky maiden declared. "Now, can you please move out of the way?"

It didn't move as it tried to process her decision to not hurt the mages, so instead Wendy step-sided it and headed towards Natsu.

"It's nice to meet you, Mister Monster. And it's nice to meet your monster friends as well," she extended her hand to him.

"Not a monster, but eh...good enough, I guess..." Salamander shrugged.

Natsu took her hand in his and Wendy was about to shake it when Natsu pulled her in for a hug. This caused her bright blue eyes to widen in surprise.

"Na-Natsu?"

It seemed as if her memories had come flooding back to her, as I could see realization in her expression.

"Woohoo, it worked!"

"How did you know that would work?" Juvia asked Natsu curiously.

"I didn't," he admitted. "I just wanted to hug her."

"Wendy, you have to come back over here before it's too late!" the creature tried to cajole her. "They're going to hurt you!"

Wendy just stared at it in silence.

"Wendy? Why are you looking at me like that?" it seemed to be uncomfortable under her unwavering stare.

"You're...you're the real monster here, aren't you?" Wendy asked, her eyes sad.

"Me? A monster? That's a silly thing to say when I'm Natsu Dragneel — someone who would never hurt you in a million years!"

"No, this is the real Natsu...the one that's hugging me right now," Wendy answered. "So that makes you the monster. And does that also mean you're going to kill me?"

"What?! No! I-I wouldn't dream of hurting you!"

"Yeah right..." Natsu snorted.

"You stay out of this!" it barked at the fire mage, anger in its voice. "This conversation is between me and Wendy!"

Its eyes converted to a deep turquoise and parts of its body to become shadowed, which were the lower of half of its face, right calf, left knee and the space between its right elbow and its right shoulder. I frowned, noting how similar the black stuff looked to ice cube's demon slayer markings, but brushed it off as nothing.

"Wendy! Come to me, please!" it pleaded, its voice desperate and mildly disoriented. It was disturbing to see the monster look like a warped Natsu, and speaking it his voice, too. Nightmare fuel.

"I can't," Wendy shook her head.

"Ugh...first Yukino, now Wendy?" it growled. "Stop taking my friends away from me!"

"We're not going to stop until everyone is free from you," Erza stated firmly.

"Then I'll see to it that you won't free anyone else. And maybe I'll give you a taste of your own medicine," it frowned. "I'm sorry about this, Wendy, but I have no choice."

"What are you doing?"

"I had Dragon go around and lock all of the doors, along with seal the windows shut...he's a fast and quiet worker, so I'll have to remember to reward him for the excellent job later," it told us. "But right now, it's time to get rid of you pests."

There was a terrible rumble from deep in the belly of the earth that struck fear into everyone there. Then, the earth began to shake violently, throwing some of us off balance.

"You could have avoided this if you came to me like I asked you to, Wendy...I didn't want to do this to you as well," it frowned sadly. "But seeing as you're so adamant on staying with them, there's nothing I can do."

It waved at us after saying that.

"I'm sorry, I really am...I'll never forget you for as long as I live," it said as it waved at us. "Goodbye."

It disappeared after that, leaving us in the collapsing palace. Cracks appeared from the ground beneath, and I had to grab Juvia to keep her from falling into one.

"We have to get out of here!"

"Yeah, no shit!" I sarcastically replied.

"But how are we gonna get out? You heard what that thing said!"

"I don't know!" Gray exclaimed. "If we jump from this high up then we're as good as dead!"

"We're just gonna have to search for a way out!" said Erza. "Now let's go!"

Natsu let Wendy out of his hug and instead held her hand as we ran down into the second floor of the palace, hoping that we would find a way out of here before it turned to ruble.


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