Wow! You guys came all out for this last chapter! We must have made quite the impression on you. I think you'll like this new chapter if you enjoyed the last.


CHAPTER 31

Hornswaggle

To cheat


In a moment a worried looking Juvia appeared in front of him, "Natsu what's wrong?" She asked, "Has something happened?"

"I'll say something happened." Natsu snarled as he straightened up, fury gleaming in his eyes, "I remember. And I've got a few questions sea goddess."

"Natsu!" Juvia exclaimed in shock at the tone of his voice before her eyes narrowed, "Remember who you're speaking to!"

"Oh I do." Natsu rumbled, the fire in his eyes increasing, "I'm speaking to the one who let my beloved die again!"

"What?!" Juvia exclaimed and her eyes widened with horror, "What do you remember? Tell me Natsu!"

"TELL ME WHY YOU LET HER DIE!" He roared, "I WANT THE TRUTH THIS TIME!"

"Natsu... it wasn't that simple." Juvia tried only for Natsu to slam his bloody hand down on the side table.

"No!" He raged, "You don't get to slither out of it this time!" He straightened his spine and glared at her so harshly the cold water around them began to boil, "I am Natsu Dragneel, Champion to the Celestial Family, Keeper of the Key of the Spirit King, and sworn protector of creation! I have a right to my answers! And by all that is holy you will give them to me!"

Juvia recoiled a little at his ferocity, uncertain of what the enraged Champion was likely to do. His devotion to the Celestials was legendary, as was his power. Not even Metallicana's Champion had ever bested him in straight non-magical combat. And now that ire had been turned squarely on her.

The water shimmered around them, lending to a new presence neither had noticed.

"I told Uncle it would've been better to explain everything to him from the beginning." A mild voice interjected. Both participants turned to find a blue haired young man smiling softly at them, utterly undisturbed by the fact he was at the bottom of the sea.

"Prince Jellal." Natsu breathed in surprise.

"Hello Natsu." Jellal replied, "It's good to see you properly again. And it's King now." An old grief lit his eyes, "Father was killed by Acnologia over a millennia ago."

"W-what?" Natsu's eyes went wide at the weight of the implication. He felt like a rock was dropping in his gut and cold hard panic gripped at his very soul.

"How? How did it happen?" Natsu whispered, feeling himself grow numb at the enormity of what Jellal was telling him. Nearly the entire Celestial family was gone?

As much as he hated to admit it, Natsu knew it was true. Lucy's temple, Natsu knew the sorry state it was in compared to the brilliance it once shone with. The dragons had done their best, but there were some parts of it no one could access.

No one spoke of the Celestial Prince or even the princess anymore. Only the king, which made sense since Jellal had taken over the mantle.

The enormity of his own failure would have been enough to drive Natsu to his knees, but he grit his teeth and lowered his head, "Jellal I'm so sorry, it was my job to protect everyone. I can't remember how it happened, but I failed. I couldn't stop him."

His fists trembled at his sides, but he felt Jellal's hands settle over Natsu's shoulders, "It wasn't your fault. You took measures to protect us before you died. You just didn't take into account that we were unwilling to let you make that sacrifice. Acnologia found his way in through our family."

Natsu swallowed, seeing Jellal's grief in his eyes and knew there was a story there. He didn't look further into it though, his eyes instead lifting onto the quiet Juvia.

"Why haven't the gods done anything about Acnologia? After he killed Lucy and the Spirit King the first time why couldn't anything be done? Are the lives of the gods worth so much you will only fight him when he threatens to lock you in Tartaros?" He growled.

"I understand the first time, but the second time she was killed, you were friends with us. You were even there the day she was killed, Gray gave his life and only then you did something," Natsu spoke hoarsely, the heat out of his eyes but his jaw still locked with anger.

"You knew who she was then, you knew he would come for her, but you didn't do anything."

"I did what I could!" Juvia replied, torn between anger and hurt at his accusation, "I sped you on your way! I turned the tides for you and blessed your ship with speed and stealth! I had no wish to see my friend die again! But it wasn't until Gray sacrificed himself that I was invoked!"

"So you had to sit around and wait for an invocation?" Natsu demanded, some of his heat returning, "Is that it? Otherwise you just watch the mortals suffer and die?"

"It's not something we enjoy doing." Jellal spoke up, dragging Natsu's attention back, "We simply don't have a choice."

"But why?" Natsu asked, pleading with his god for an answer, "I just... tell me why?" Hot tears slid down his cheeks, "I can remember her Jellal, as she was. She is so beautiful and pure and... and my last memory of her is asking her to marry me. And then I found her again, just as perfect but it was taken away, and I don't understand why."

Jellal met his gaze with a pained one of his own, "Because if we do it'll destroy your world." He replied, "You must understand. The mortal world rests on a delicate balance. Exposure to our raw power breaks that balance though. We found that out with the demon gates. The world was lashed with floods and war and calamity for millennia after. You call it the Dark Time, it was just beginning to end in your first lifetime."

"When we discovered what we'd done, my father and uncle made a new law. Strictures were placed on us all. We may appear as ourselves in our own realm of divinity, or another's, but we cannot walk the mortal world freely unless our powers are tied. Dampened to a level that will not harm what we labored so hard to create."

He sighed, "It's only through invocation, through answering prayers and the sacrifice of blood, that we're permitted more. And only for the purpose of answering the invocation." He nodded to the stricken Juvia, "Had Juvia acted in any other way it's very likely she would've caused a hundred years of rain and destroyed everything in a massive flood."

Natsu frowned but accepted the explanation by nodding. He knew how much Juvia had loved Gray, she still did if the four hundred years of isolation spoke of anything.

"I'm sorry Juvia," he apologized, letting go of his anger and smothering back the rest of his tears. He locked his jaw and looked up after letting the rest of his tears drift away.

"He won't get another opportunity to do this again. I won't let him stalk Lucy into another lifetime. I don't give a shit about the balance. He's hurt us for the last time," Natsu vowed.

"After this, we aren't going to mess with this bastard again. He's hurt her for the last time," Natsu glanced down at his hands, "Hell he's done damage to all of us and I remember it all."

He gave Juvia an apologetic look, "I am sorry though. I didn't understand the consequences of what would happen. I just have difficulty understanding why Lucy and I can't—" the be happy was heard, even if he didn't put voice to it.

"Why we keep missing one another," Natsu looked down. How could he possibly call himself champion when he failed to protect her on two separate occasions. His queen. He felt the grief of her loss two times over Like fresh daggers in his heart.

Juvia sighed and took his bloody hand in hers, plucking a stream of seaweed from a vase to bind up his palm.

"I understand better than you may believe, but please Natsu you cannot tell Lucy what you know, or Gray," Juvia murmured, cutting him off when he opened his mouth wide to dispute her.

"She's right Natsu. Juvia cast protective spells on each of you, to hide you from Acnologia you could not know him. Once you do, even if you retreat to the sea he could find you," Jellal murmured, "the more you remember the less of a veil covers you."

"You're lucky the only one he really looks for is Lucy and I interrupted his curse on you which is why it's not as critical that your memories remain forgotten," Juvia murmured, "Haven't you noticed why we are always attacked shortly after leaving land? Gray and Lucy are only shielded from their curses when they remain in the ocean."

Natsu nodded in acknowledgment, his heart sinking despite knowing he already couldn't run to Lucy and sweep her in his arms. She hadn't wanted that just yet anyway, and he wouldn't force the matter.

"How did you know to come here anyway my Lord?" Juvia turned her attention to Jellal.

"Once Natsu invoked his title as our Champion, I knew things would only escalate if I remembered his temper properly," Jellal smiled.

Natsu huffed a little growl as he blushed a bit and Jellal chuckled, "It's true old friend. There are reasons you matched my sister so very well." He held out a small box, "Here. I saved this for you. You can't show Lucy yet, but I thought it might bring you some comfort until you can."

He smiled affectionately at Natsu, "I want you to know that I'm still very proud to call you my friend, Champion, and future brother-in-law. Now that you remember properly you need only call as you used to and I will do all I can to help you."

Natsu swallowed a fresh lump in his throat as he nodded and took the box. He cracked it open and felt his heart constrict at the sight of Lucy's betrothal necklace laying there. As pristine as the day he'd presented it to her.

"Jellal..." He said thickly, not certain he was really worthy of his god's praise, "Thank you."

"It's I who should be thanking you Natsu." Jellal replied, "You saved my life that day a thousand years ago, and despite the setbacks, my sister will finally have a chance to reclaim her divinity. That means more to me than I can express."

He bowed his head and rested his forehead against Natsu's, "The blessings of the stars be upon you my friend. The heavens stand ready to fight with you whenever you need us."

He pulled away and cast a look at Juvia, "If you don't mind, I'll attend to your children on the way out." His lips twitched upwards in amusement, "It would not do for them to remember things they ought not at this juncture."

Juvia nodded, "Thank you my lord. I would not have had time to attend both that and the protections."

Jellal nodded and vanished between one heartbeat and the next, only an outline of gold motes marking where he'd been the moment before.

Juvia's eyes turned to Natsu while Jellal cleaned up the mess he made. Natsu dragged his hand over the case, drawing out the necklace he had carved for Lucy.

He swam back to his bed and settled down on the edge. Juvia dropped next to Natsu and drew her arm around his shoulders.

"Enough moping Natsu, it's not like you," Juvia reached over to set hers over his knuckles and push his hand down. Reluctantly he put the necklace back in the box and let Juvia close it for him.

"To get through this, we need all of you, Champion and Pirate King," Juvia smiled at him.

Natsu nodded and shot her back a crooked grin, thinking back to Lucy who was counting on him up in her bed.

He didn't need to act as emotionally compromised as he was. Natsu laughed and set his hand on top of Juvia's head, "be careful what you ask for."

Of course, getting his head back in the game was considerably easier said than done, but he hadn't spent years as a Champion for nothing. Though not easy for him to do, he did remember how to meditate, and was able to spend the remaining hours until dawn both resting and sorting through his raw memories.

It hurt. Far more than he would ever admit. However, by the time he was done everything was more or less back in place, and though his heart still ached the pain wasn't quite as sharp, and he had achieved a sense of peace and purpose.

He left his room the next morning more determined than ever that he would not let down his goddess again. They had, by the will of the gods themselves, been given another chance. And this time he would see it through.

"You alright?" Sting asked around a yawn as they swam towards Yukino's private dining room, "You look like you're about to set fire to something."

Natsu snorted a little at the understatement. Meditation or not he was spoiling for a fight.

"Didn't sleep worth a damn." He replied, "Some more of my memories came back last night."

"Yeah?" Sting asked, a curious eyebrow rising, "They must've been doozies for you to have that look on your face." He smirked, "Try not to blow the palace up alright?'

Natsu flashed him a cocky grin, "Aw, c'mon! Would I do that?"

Sting shot him a flat look in response and after a moment the brothers burst into laughter.

"But think of how beneficial it would be!" Natsu cackled, feeling absurdly better despite Sting not knowing the details, "I could introduce them to skylights!"

"Pretty sure they don't need any of those around here." Sting drawled as they swam into the room to find the ladies waiting for them.

—::—

Jude rested at his desk, going over reams of paper from the south Alvarez sea. He was in a terrible mood, furious over how Bora and that demon Jackal had sunk one of his beloved ships. It was a set back he hadn't much cared for, but as his god demanded the sacrifice of his fleet, he was willing to give it.

After all someone had to reign his stubborn daughter in.

He stamped an application and put it to the side, dragging another one towards him as he began to read. He could feel someone join him in the room, heavy steps not loud enough to force him to look up.

"I am not taking visitors today sir, please speak with my secretary and she'll find time in my schedule for a meet," Jude grunted without looking up.

Jude was jerked away from his desk by the back of his chair and tossed straight into a wall. He yelped in pain and looked up, shoving the broken pieces of the chair from his body.

Standing before him stood Acnologia himself, in his mortal form and looking coldly furious.

"I would take more care when you speak to your betters Jude, however I will let it go for now, I still have need for you," Acnologia smirked at Jude.

Jude gasped when Acnologia dragged him up by his collar, his furious eyes dark on him. A slow smirk flashed over his face, "I have located your daughter. And more importantly I have located where you need to send your next ships."

"The Midrean sea, both above and under," Acnologia growled and tapped Jude's nose with the edge of the rolled up map, "I have only an above ground estimate based on the one below. But below the waters, I know precisely where my enemy lays."

"I thought you couldn't detect them while they were at sea," Jude dared to ask. Acnologia hummed and dropped him flat on his back onto the desk.

"Normally yes, but the Champion. I saw his face, I sense his anger. There was a small gap in his protections, just for a second." He smirked, "That was all I needed."

"Torafuzer is in the area, so make sure he responds. And ensure the weight of the demons slow Fairy Tail down from above as well. They will have a goddess under the ocean with them, so have them use caution," Acnologia growled, "I want them all dead save your daughter. Understood?"

"Yes my Lord." Jude replied struggling off his desk to kneel at the god's feet, "It will be done."

"See that it is and I will reward your success beyond your wildest dreams." Acnologia growled, "However, I will not look kindly on another failure. Father of my bride or not."

Jude felt a shiver trail down his spine and nodded, "Understood my Lord."

Acnologia grunted and stalked out of the office without another word, leaving Jude shuddering in the wake of his departure. There were times he wondered what had possessed him to start following the Destroyer in the first place. He'd certainly never had the inclination until after he'd married Layla.

The memory of his lost wife hovered before his eyes for a moment, and his heart ached over what had been, and what had been lost. However, it faded quickly as he climbed to his feet, and by the time he'd touched the map all sense of grief and nostalgia was gone.

He perused the documents carefully and opened a drawer containing his lacrima, "Torafuzer." He called into it, "Our Lord has a job for us."

-::-

"So what is it we're looking for?" Sting asked as they swam towards what looked like the wall of a trench.

"The entrance to the temple." Juvia replied, "According to Levy it's been made to look like the side of the trench itself. However, that's only the start. We won't even be able to see it unless we solve the riddle protecting it."

"Riddle?" Sting asked, "What riddle?" He glanced at Natsu, "Was there a riddle on the last one?"

Natsu shook his head, "No, but that was because the room was spelled to open if the holder of the celestial keys sang a particular passphrase deliberately to the wall. Without that we never would've known it was there. And even then we had to get Leo to hand us the artifact."

"Wow..." Sting hummed admiringly, "Levy's good."

Natsu opened his mouth to correct Stings assumption that it had been Levy to open up the door, but decided to hold his tongue. Ignoring the fact it had totally been by accident, it had been a very telling moment.

"Yeah, any person who could open that is incredible," Natsu said instead, swimming forward to the wall and darting from side to side.

"If the last one was connected to the celestial spirits, then it makes sense that this one has something to do with you Juvia," Natsu grinned back at her and dug into his bag, "And there is one person who knows all about the Tempest even more than the goddess herself!"

"Hey frostbite!" Natsu shouted into the lacrima he had withdrawn from his bag, "Fullbuster! Icicle di—"

"What do you want Natsu?!" a red faced Gray appeared in the screen.

"Your eyes Gray, we aren't having any luck finding the entrance to this temple," Juvia gave him an apologetic look, "Although I don't know why we couldn't have just asked nicely."

"Because I'm an animal," Natsu grinned without remorse and held up the lacrima to the wall, "What do you see?"

"A whole lot of dark water. Natsu What do you expect for me to see? I'm looking through a ball at the ocean floor. I don't have crazy fish eyes y'know," came Grays dry response.

"Oh of course!" Juvia spread her arms out, a glow shimmering over her body and she floated closer to the wall. It cast a bright light for which to see by and Gray let out a low whistle.

"Hey what're you lookin' at buddy?" Sting asked the lacrima with a shit eating grin that was mirrored by his brother.

"He liiiiikes her," Happy teased.

"Shut up ya weird cat!" Gray barked at Happy, plowing on ahead and looking at the wall with a critical gaze.

"Wait, Natsu drop me lower to the left a second," Gray murmured.

When Natsu did, Gray made a sound of amazement. There etched on the wall looked like a spiraling design. "Have Juvia touch the center of that and Natsu send a warm current towards her. It's one of the symbols of frost, you must be in a really cold place."

"No kidding!" Happy chattered and Sting snorted, collecting the cat in his arms.

"Juvia I'll give off the light. I think I understand what Gray is saying. If you can maintain a cold water current and Natsu makes a warm one, they will naturally flow together and open a door, right?" He asked Gray.

"Glad to know there's at least one dragon with some brain between his ears," Gray smirked.

"Hey! You got somethin' to say frost for brains!" Natsu shouted as Sting deftly plucked the lacrima from his brother's hand, "Come down here and say it to my face!"

"Beat him up later brother." Sting replied firmly, "We've got a job to do right now."

He nodded to Juvia and shifted Happy to his shoulder, ignoring Natsu's grumbles as he did, "Alright let me know if this is enough Gray."

He raised his free hand and white light began to glow from it, gradually spreading over Sting's entire body.

"That's good." Gray confirmed, "But your area of effect is smaller than Juvia's. I need you to get closer to the spiral."

"Can do." Sting replied and swam closer.

"That's perfect." Juvia replied, "Try not to move." She glanced at Natsu, "We'll probably only get one shot at this before defenses activate. Let's not miss."

"Right." Natsu nodded, a frown of concentration on his face, "Let's go!"

Juvia nodded back and thrust her hands forward, creating a visible current of water that dropped the temperature at least another fifteen degrees. It impacted the spiral and a blue outline appeared around it.

"Do it Natsu!" Gray called, "Hurry!"

Natsu growled as he sucked in a breath, "Fire dragon's roar!"

The roar traveled along the edge of the cold current, curling around it as it warmed the outer edges.

There was a moment of hesitation as the hot and cold hit simultaneously, and suddenly red lines appeared alongside the blue, circling and twining around into a display that took up half the cliff face, outlining the shape of a door as the two lines filled one side each. They watched in anticipation as the two lines reached for the center and finally connected, turning the entire outline gold.

With a flash and an audible crack the doors began to grind open.

"Hey would ya look at that, frostbite got it right. Who would have thought?" Natsu smirked back at Gray and swam in.

Where Juvia swam, glowing lights began to form around her body. She was illuminated by the glowing lights. She blinked in amazement, reaching her hand out to touch the small bulbs of light.

"This place is very curious," Juvia noted, "I wonder who was responsible for its creation. It's gorgeous."

"You don't know?" Natsu asked her, somewhat surprised she didn't know who built something so complicated in her ocean.

"If I were to hazard a guess, it would have been the ancient race that the merfolk were born from, but they died out at the end of the war with Tartaros," Juvia gave him a shake to her head, "None of the gods save Levy were permitted to know where the pieces of the staff were."

"There must always be a balance, huh?" Natsu grunted, still a little bitter over the 'balance' that had robbed his goddess of her life. When they got their hands on this magic stick of sealing, Natsu was going to use it to cram Acnologia into the tiniest jar he could find. Then he would dump it in the deepest volcano.

"What's his deal?" Gray asked Sting.

The dragon snorted at the man's observation, "Eh, I don't know. Maybe he's molting. He always gets a little irritable around that time y'know."

Natsu shot Sting a murderous glare over his shoulder and tapped a hand against his scarlet tail. There were still a few scars remaining from when the pirates had captured and harvested from his tail, but under the water it was hard to see.

He really wasn't looking forward to this seasons molting though. Ignoring that was the obvious irritation he felt for a number of reasons he couldn't easily overcome with just one talk.

They approached a wide entrance, intricate script written in it. Juvia's eyes cast over them and she frowned a bit "Interesting..."

"Interesting how miss Juvia?" Happy asked, swimming to her side.

"Unfortunately it looks as if both you and Sting must stay outside. Only gods, champions and my children are allowed within the inner sanctum, and only one of my children or a champion can remove the key piece from the altar." Juvia murmured, translating the text somewhat poorly.

"Are you sure? You don't sound certain," Natsu drawled, looking at Juvia with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not Levy!" Juvia hissed back at him, red faced, "all I know is just that we are okay to go in and Natsu has no choice but to get the key."

"But he's half dragon, will that be enough?" Sting asked, worried for his brother.

Natsu waved him off, unable to quite hide how rapidly his heart was thrumming in his chest, "don't worry Sting! It'll be fine, I've got enough merman in me."


And that's all for the chapter! Thank you everyone so much for your reviews everyone, we really appreciated everyone coming in to drop us a line and scream your theories! Sorry about the late chapter, Memorial Day Weekend shenanigans and a wedding took me, Mslead, out. But you'll get Kytrin for your next update! Thanks again for your thoughts :) We love hearing your theories!


"I'm not going to leave you to fight a demon by yourself!" Sting snapped back at his older brother, who bared his fangs back at his stubborn nestmate.

"Yes you are, because if this gets into their hands, then Lucy is as good as dead and so is everyone on the ship!" Natsu snarled back at Sting, "Juvia is a goddess in her element and I've spent the last four hundred years training to fight underwater! You aren't going to be much help in this fight, but you can help the crew in the air because you must realize that if we are being attacked here, then they're mounting an assault on the ship!"

"Please Sting, keep her safe," Natsu growled at his brother, softer this time. Imploring.

"If we aren't back in an hour, leave to the next temple. We will catch up if we have to," Natsu met Stings reluctant eyes.

Sting spat out an oath as he gripped the staff piece tightly, "You had better not die." He snarled as white scales rippled over his skin and the white dragon took his place, "I won't forgive you if you die brother."

Natsu swam back a bit and grinned up at Sting, "Don't worry. Dyin's the last thing on my mind."