Chapter 14

Fire Legacy

The next morning, Onibus Train Station…

After checking out of the hotel, the Fairy Tail wizards all headed down towards the train station, where they discussed their next plan of action.

"So you and Carol are heading back home?" Erza asked Gajeel.

"Don't see why we should stick around." Gajeel replied gruffly. "Alu made it clear yesterday that she doesn't want to come home."

"All the more reason why we should go after her." Natsu glared. "What kind of father just abandons his daughter like that? What if Carol ran away? Would you just leave her, or would you go after her yourself?"

Gajeel looked at Natsu for a moment, raising one of his eyebrows. He then glanced over at Carol, who was staring at him with a plain expression. She seemed to already know his answer, even though he didn't verbally state it.

Gajeel understood Natsu's feelings completely. Being that he was a father himself, of course he would go after Carol if she ran away. However, Gajeel's situation was different. He never had to worry about his daughter running off on dangerous jobs without permission. Carol wasn't like Alu in that regard. While Alu acted purely on impulse, Carol was more practical.

Gajeel couldn't even begin to imagine her running away for any reason.

But Alu was a different story altogether. Gajeel would even dare to say that she was more reckless than both her father and mother combined. By now, the Iron Dragon Slayer had lost count of the times that either Natsu or Lucy had to go after their kid. Not to mention all of the times they had to save her life because of her own rashness.

Yet, despite all that, Natsu still went after that little troublemaker.

"I swear, Salamander," Gajeel said in a low voice, shaking his head. "Someday that kid of yours going to be the death of you."

"Dad!" Carol barked, giving the man a stern glare.

"Hey, I'm just stating the obvious," the Iron Dragon Slayer shrugged.

"No, you're not." Lucy scowled. "You're being pessimistic. We're going to find Alu."

"Well, she's your kid, not mine. Just don't be surprised if she tries to escape from you again."

Natsu's glared deepened so much that he started to bare his teeth. Not only did it hurt him to hear such things, be he also couldn't help but have a small premonition in the back of his mind that Gajeel might be right.

However, Natsu wasn't the type to dwell on problems for to long. He immediately shoved the horrible idea out like it was nothing but trash.

"If she does then we'll just keep on chasing her until we catch her," he declared. "We're not going to let her go like that."

Gajeel was just about to speak again when the train pulling into the station came to a stop and the doors opened. Out of one them stepped two Sabertooth wizards with a little ginger cat with wings following close behind them.

It was Sting with his Exceed partner, Lector, and Minerva.

The three of them turned to their left and saw the Fairy Tail wizards just a few yards away.

"Natsu!" Sting called out as they approached them.

All the Fairy Tail wizards turn to see their allies walking towards them.

"Sting, Minerva, Lector." Lucy greeted. "What are you doing here?"

The three Sabertooth wizards looked at each other for a moment, their faces hardening in painful anger. This already told the others that something was wrong.

Finally, Minerva grimaced and turned back to the blond-haired woman.

"Last night, Yukino was attacked," she said gravely.

Everyone suddenly became alert at that explanation.

"What?!" Lucy gasped. "Yukino was attacked?! Is she okay?!"

Silence.

For a second or two, none of the Sabertooth wizards would give an answer. Lucy looked at Natsu with rising worry. Natsu looked back at her, knowing exactly what she was thinking. He was thinking the same thing.

Whatever happened to Yukino wasn't good.

Finally, Sting said in a dark voice, "'Fraid she's not. Someone stole her soul."

That was enough to make all of the Fairy Tail wizards gasp in alarm. Everyone knew that only one kind of power could've done that.

It wasn't Magic Power. It was Curse Power.

The older generation of Fairy Tail had an experience with this kind of power, back in the darker chapters of their lives. For Ash and Carol, although they themselves had never encountered this kind of power before, they heard enough from their parents and other members of the guild to know that it was something bad.

"You think…Tartaros is back?" Natsu asked hesitantly.

Although Natsu had spoken in a composed tone, there was a very small hint of dread in his voice.

At the mention of Tartaros, Lucy turned to look at her husband with concern. While his expression was one of suspicion, Lucy could tell that it was just one of his masks to conceal his fear. For Natsu's face had turned very white, and he was shivering a little.

Lucy knew why.

While everyone had a horrible experience with Tartaros, Natsu had probably one of the worse ones, both during and after the incident. That Dark Guild was just a reminder of his connection to Zeref, the Wizard of Darkness. Even to this day, just the very mention certain things like Tartaros, Alvarez, or anything connected to Zeref was enough to make Natsu tense up a bit.

He still hadn't quite gotten over the fact that Zeref had brought him back to life in the form of a Demon, E.N.D. And that Demon side of him was what caused so much chaos and mayhem ever since Tartaros attacked.

Natsu was just lucky he was able to get out of all of it alive, and regain his human existence.

Sensing his distress, Lucy reached out and placed a gentle hand on his right shoulder, her thumb resting over his guild mark. He glanced over at her, his onyx-black eyes meeting her soft brown ones. He took a small inhale of air and released the tension in his body. Just looking at her reminded him that something good had come out of that ordeal in his life.

One thing Natsu had to be grateful for was that Zeref's efforts gave him the chance to meet Lucy. He was certainly happy to have her in his life.

Before Natsu could think any further on this, Sting interrupted his thoughts.

"I don't know if it's Tartaros," the Sabertooth Master said. "It has been years since we've fought and defeated them, and they haven't showed even the slightest notion that they're still out there. But I guess it is possible."

"Or it could be something like Tartaros." Lector suggested worriedly. "Maybe some people who have learned how to use Curses is trying to recreate what Tartaros left behind."

"That is in the realm of possibility." Minerva said pensively. "Still, we won't know until we have more information."

"All that said, Natsu," Sting addressed the Fire Dragon Slayer, "it's probably a good thing we ran into you. You should keep a close eye on your family for now."

Natsu jerked over to look at the flaxen-haired Dragon Slayer.

"What do you mean?" he asked apprehensively.

"Well, you do have two Celestial Wizards in your family, don't you?" Minerva pointed out. "And while I don't claim this theory to be completely accurate, based on what has happened so far, I think it's safe to assume that whoever attacked Yukino is going after Celestial Wizards."

Both Natsu and Lucy's eyes widened in fear at this news and they looked at each other with even paler faces.

The other Fairy Tail wizards reacted to this piece of information as well. Wendy and Romeo looked at each other with shock; Carla and Happy exchanged worried expressions; Erza turned to Gray and Ash, who looked just as concerned as she was; and Gajeel and Carol looked at each other with uneasiness.

Sting, Minerva, and Lector noticed their reactions. Now they were the ones suspecting that something wasn't right.

"What's wrong?" Lector asked. "Did something happen?"

"Alu ran away." Natsu explained quickly. "That's why we're all out here."

"We managed to find her yesterday, but she got away from us." Happy added, bringing a trembling paw up to his mouth. "But if what you say is true, then Alu's in grave danger."

"What's more, Alu has no knowledge of this soul-stealer." Carla stated, becoming more distressed. "If she gets ambushed by them…"

"We have to find her!" Natsu forcefully interrupted, his voice loaded with anxiety. "Now!"

Erza paused for a moment before nodding.

"You're right, Natsu," she said commandingly before turning to the other wizards. "Gajeel, I'll need you to come with us."

Gajeel nodded obediently. He wasn't going to argue about backing out this time.

"Wendy," Erza continued, "you, Carla and Romeo take Carol and Ash back to Fairy Tail. Tell the others at the guild what's going on. Then all three of you join up with us as soon as you can. We can use your help."

"Sure thing." Romeo nodded.

"Wait, Erza!" Ash protested. "We wanna help! If Alu's really in danger, we have to save her!"

"Ash, I know you have good intentions," Gray said, "but it's too dangerous. I can't risk you getting hurt."

"I feel the same way as Ash," Carol stepped forward. "Alu's part of our team, we can't just leave her to be attacked by some soul-stealer. After all, Ash and I are Fairy Tail wizard's, too. Please, let us help."

"Sorry, Carol," Gajeel replied, "but I can't let that happen. You don't how dangerous Curse Power is, and I'm not about to gamble your life. Besides, what would I say to your mom if I came back with the news that something bad happened to you?"

"But Dad-!"

"That's enough, Carol!" the Iron Dragon Slayer said firmly. "You two are going home and that's that!"

Both Carol and Ash tensed for a moment before lowering their heads in frustration. They knew that they weren't going to persuade the adults any further on this.

"Lucy," Natsu said, turning to his wife, "you should go with them."

"What, why?" Lucy asked, almost sounding insulted.

"If this guy is really after Celestial Wizards, you'll be safer back at the guild."

"I can't just leave Alu out there knowing that she could be attacked by some Demon at any moment!" Lucy argued fervently. "I'm coming with you!"

"You don't have to come with me, Lucy." Natsu said.

"Of course I have to come, too! I'm her mother, aren't I?! Besides, you're my husband and I'm with you, for better or worse!"

Whatever reason Natsu had to change his wife's mind instantly died in his throat. He knew at this point that he wasn't going to convince Lucy otherwise. She wasn't just going to save their daughter; she was going to protect him as well, even if he wasn't the one in danger. And it was clear to see the determination in her face. That was who she was, and Natsu had to deal with it.

Finally, Natsu gave in and nodded.

"Okay, but stay close to me at all times," he ordered.

Lucy acknowledged the command. That was fair enough for her.

"Don't forget about me." Happy said. "I'm coming along, too."

"Of course, little buddy." Natsu replied. "We certainly could use your Aera magic."

"In the meantime," Sting interjected, "Lector, M'lady and I will see what we can find. We'll let you know if we find out anything. We'll also contact the other members of our guild and let them know of your situation. Alu might not be a member of Sabertooth, but Fairy Tail is our closest ally. If anyone finds Alu, you'll be the first to know. We'll also keep her out of harms way."

"Thank you, we really appreciate it." Erza replied. "Now let's get moving. We know Alu was heading eastward, so our best bet is to head in that direction as well."

"Best of luck to all of you." Lector encouraged.

With that matter settled, Sting, Minerva, and Lector left the station while the Fairy Tail wizards split up to go on their separate trains. Wendy, Carla and Romeo took Ash and Carol on one heading back to Magnolia; while Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Gray, Erza, and Gajeel boarded onto another that would take them to the next city, which was Clover.

Although the train ride to Clover was going to be a short one, both Natsu and Gajeel took one Troia pill each to prevent their motion-sickness from happening. Given the situation, this wasn't the time to be suffering from nausea.

Well, in Natsu's case, nausea from the shaking and rumbling of the train tracks. However, even after taking that Troia pill, his stomach couldn't stop doing summersaults of anxiety. It was one thing to know that his daughter had run away, but now that Natsu knew there was a soul-stealing psychopath on the loose, and possibly from, or having connections to the Dark Guild Tartaros, he was more determined than ever to find Alu.

He didn't want her to suffer what he went through those years ago. Or worse.

If anything happened to Alu, Natsu would never forgive himself.

"Alu," he said to himself, looking out the window, "wherever you are, please, just be safe."

Meanwhile…

Alu was fast asleep in the back of a traveling cart.

Alu found it hard to fall asleep last night, so she was more than a little groggy when the sun came up. Realizing that they wouldn't get far on foot, she, Aquarius and Aries decided that they would catch a ride to make up for lost time. Luckily, they found a cart on the road about an hour after they had set out.

In about five or so minutes into the road trip, Alu was out like a light. She groaned in discomfort as the jostle of the cart rattled her brain and gave her a headache. The best thing she could do at the moment was to sleep it off.

As she slept, Aquarius and Aries sat side-by-side on the bench opposite of Alu.

"This brat's certainly a little dimwit, isn't she?" Aquarius said with a frown. "And I thought Lucy was a reckless idiot. But even she wasn't dumb enough to make me angry on purpose."

"Well," Aries replied uncomfortably, "Alu just doesn't take insults well. She stands up to everyone, even her closest friends."

"That kind of attitude gets people killed." Aquarius mumbled, looking off to the side.

Aries said nothing. She just glanced away and clasped her hands together in her lap.

"By the way," Aquarius said in a more normal tone, "about her Magic. Was she really born with it?"

"Mm-hmm." Aries nodded. "Although Lucy did train her in Celestial Magic, Alu did show to have a knack for it at a young age. She summoned Lucy's Nikora Spirit, Plue, at the age of four when she was just messing around with her mother's keys on day."

Aquarius blinked at that statement. That young, and Alu could summon a Silver Key Celestial Spirit without even making a contract with them? That was a very rare case.

"When she turned five," Aries continued, looking down at her hands in her lap, "Lucy gave her my key."

"So you were her first Spirit, huh?" Aquarius simply stated. "Did she summon you for stupid reasons, too?"

"I'm sorry, but I didn't think they were stupid." Aries smiled fondly as she reminisced on the past. "She summoned me when she wanted someone to talk to, or even to help her train in martial arts. I have to admit; those days were actually quite fun. And the more I trained with her, well, the more confident I got. She made feel stronger than I've ever felt in a long time."

Aquarius didn't say anything. She just stared intently.

"Unfortunately," Aries continued sadly, "it became clear that she could only summon two Spirits at time. And there are some Spirits she can't summon at all because they take up too much of her Celestial Magic. She tried summoning Leo once, and she was rendered unconscious for two days."

"I see." Aquarius said thoughtfully. "And what of her Dragon Slayer Magic? When did she discover that?"

Aries looked over at Alu for a moment.

"It was when she was eight-years-old," she replied. "She had gotten into a fight with one of her friends. I think it was Ur."

Six Years Ago…

"Bring it on, you soggy-prune!"

"Shut your trap and put up your fists, tulip-head!"

On that insult, Alu pounced off the table and tackled Ur to the ground. There, the two girls rolled around on the floor, kicking and punching each other. While they were at it, they were also shouting to each other names meant to antagonize the other.

Meanwhile, everyone else in the Fairy Tail guild either tried to ignore the brawl that was going on, or they were watching with morbid curiosity to see who would win.

"I've said this once and I'll say it again," Happy said as he watched from the bar, "it's like Natsu and Gray have shrunk and swapped genders."

"We've heard you the first two hundred times, Happy." Lucy replied irritably.

"Well, you gotta admit it's true." Happy shrugged. "Those girls go at it just as often as Natsu and Gray do. If not more often."

"Except Ur has blue hair, not black." Carla pointed out.

"Minor details," the blue Exceed said almost bashfully. "She's basically like her dad."

"Do you think we should break them up?" Juvia asked Lucy, uncertain. "I'm worried they're going to hurt each other."

"If their anything like their fathers, then I think they'll be fine." Lucy replied. "After all, this isn't the first time they've gotten into a scuffle. The worst injuries they have sustained is a few bruises."

"I know, but still." Juvia frowned, looking back uncomfortably at the two girls throwing punches at each other.

Meanwhile, beside Lucy, Natsu and Gray were watching the fight, too. To be more specific, they were betting on which of their daughters were going to win.

"Ur's totally got this fight in the bag." Gray said with smug confidence.

"No way!" Natsu rebuked firmly. "Alu's an expert fighter! She's going to kick Ur's butt so hard she won't be able to sit for a week!"

"What'd you say, you pink-haired freak!" Gray shouted, grabbing the collar of Natsu's jacket.

"You looking for a fight, you popsicle punk!" Natsu shot back.

The next thing everyone knew, Natsu slugged Gray in the face. This made Gray retaliate and knee Natsu in the stomach. That initiated another fight. In a few seconds, Natsu and Gray were duking it with just as much ferocity as a couple of wolves fighting in a pack.

The guild now had TWO fights going on. Both of them being a fight between a Dragneel and a Fullbuster. In just a few minutes, everyone was looking back and forth at them. Some members even snickered at the irony of it all.

"Should've seen this one coming." Lucy sighed heavily. She was used to this by now that she didn't really think much about it anymore.

However, something unexpected was about to happen.

In the fight with the girls, Alu managed to kick Ur off of her. But just as she got up, she fell to the floor again, bracing herself up with just her knees and right arm. Her left arm wrapped around her stomach and she grimaced in pain. Ur had previously managed to slam the heel of her boot directly into the center of Alu's abdomen just before she was forced off. Needless to say, it hurt a lot. It knocked the wind out right out of Alu.

She strained to hold back her whines of pain.

"What's the matter, pinky-princess?!" Ur taunted. "Giving up already?! Just something I would expect from a Celestial Wizard who can't summon more than two Spirits!"

Alu scowled furiously up at Ur, but the little Water Wizard continued regardless of that threatening expression.

"Guess you're just as half-strong in strength as you are in Magic!" she finished with a cocky grin.

That was it!

Something inside of Alu seemed to spark to life. It was like a kind of power she never knew of that existed inside suddenly came awake, and took control of her body. It drove her to get up and strike back.

It was at that moment Natsu sensed something, too. A strange and familiar power seemed to set off a warning in his mind. He was about to punch Gray again when he suddenly stopped and gave a look of utter surprise.

He immediately turned to look at Alu. That power seemed to be coming from her.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" Gray asked, confused when he saw Natsu's sudden halt.

With a cry of rage, Alu sprung from her spot and leapt high into the air. She rose her right fist into the air and shouted out instinct,

"FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!"

On that command, fire suddenly burst around Alu's clenched fist.

"What the-?!" Ur shrieked.

Ur only had a second to react as that flaming attack shot down towards her. She quickly dived off to the left and rolled back onto her feet, just barely escaping Alu's assault. Alu continued downward until her fist made contact with the table Ur had just been standing in front of. The woodwork instantly shattered from the force of the attack.

In that moment, everything seemed to come to a halt.

Everyone turned and stared at the young pink-haired girl. They were all flabbergasted with what just happened. It was enough to make Natsu and Gray stop their fight and let go of each other. Ur remained crouched where she was, shivering with both fright and disbelief.

Alu was even more stunned than anyone else. When she regained control her senses, she slowly brought her hand up to look at it. Pale fire was blazing around her fist. And it remained alit even after she had uncurled her fingers. But this fire didn't burn her. It didn't even feel hot to her at all.

It was a lot like her father's fire. She didn't know how she knew that, she just did.

But where did it come from? Alu was never taught Fire Magic.

Slowly, everyone began to come out of their shocked states. Some even proceeded to whisper to each other.

"Did you see that?"

"Was that Dragon Slayer Magic?"

"Yeah, it was?"

"Where did she learn that?"

"Has Natsu been teaching her that on the sly?"

Lucy, highly confused and disoriented, turned to look at Natsu. Just one glance at his face, and she could tell that he was completely dumbfounded. But that didn't stop her from asking her question.

"Natsu," Lucy said precariously, "did you have anything to do with that?"

"No," Natsu replied slowly, shaking his head, "at least…I don't think so."

Alu continued to stare at her hand with wide eyes. The flames around it continued to burn brightly. Cautiously, she brought her left hand up and looked at it. All she had to do was think of fire surrounding that hand as well, and the image became reality. It made her gasp as she realized that both of her hands emanated fire.

"I'm a…Dragon Slayer?" she whispered, her voice squeaking a bit.

There was a small silence. The flames around Alu's hands slowly burned out and extinguished altogether.

Then suddenly, Alu threw her hands up in the air and lifted her head, letting out an ecstatic laughter that startled the whole guild.

"I'M A DRAGON SLAYER!" she cried joyfully.

With a new burst of energy coursing through her, Alu dashed from her spot and over to her father.

"DADDY, DADDY!" she happily shrieked. "DID YOU SEE THAT?! I'M A DRAGON SLAYER JUST LIKE YOU!"

Natsu's expression turned into a huge smile. As Alu reached him, he picked her up by her waist and lifted her high above his head, laughing just as much as she was. Alu stuck her arms and legs out like she was attempting to fly as her father twirled her around.

"Yeah, I saw it!" Natsu said elatedly. "Talk about awesome!"

Natsu then dropped Alu down into his arms and the two shared a heart-felt embrace. Alu grasped onto her father's scarf as she rubbed her face against his shoulder. She didn't know why at the time, but knowing that she shared this power with her father made her feel even more close to him than before. She had always been told that she was the spitting image of Natsu for as long as she could remember. And now this only confirmed just how alike the two really were.

But Alu didn't care. She always looked up to her father. And now, with this newfound power, she felt like she had more of a chance to be just like him.

Lucy, who had now recovered from the recent shock, and was smiling proudly, got up from her spot and ran over to hug both her husband and daughter.

"A Celestial Wizard and Dragon Slayer!" the blond-haired women declared. "Our daughter is a Celestial Wizard and Dragon Slayer!"

Feeling the jubilation in the air, the whole guild erupted in supportive cheers and shouts. Some were even celebrated about how the guild now had five Dragon Slayers in it, and that Alu would make them even more unstoppable. Especially since this new Dragon Slayer could use Celestial Magic, too.

"Talk about one of a kind!"

"I've never heard of someone being a Dragon Slayer and Celestial Wizard!"

"With a wizard like that in our guild, nothing can stop us now!"

All those words of encouragement made Alu's heart swell with pride and she couldn't stop smiling.

However, not everyone was as festive about this revelation.

Gray hadn't come out of his state of shock. The only thing that had registered in his mind at this point was that the guild now had TWO Fire Dragon Slayers. For him, that meant only twice the destruction for the guild.

"Two pyromaniacs," he mumbled to himself. "Great, as if one wasn't enough. And I don't know which of them is worse: the father or the daughter."

Back to the Present…

"Hmph," Aquarius simply said, "interesting story, I guess. But did it really take her that long to find out something like that?"

"Probably," Aries said, "I'm not sure why, but Alu just happened to figure it out then. She loves her Magic because it reminds her that she is the daughter of two strong and brave wizards of Fairy Tail. And I know she loves her parents very much, even if she doesn't see eye-to-eye with them all the time."

Aquarius looked over at Alu with an ambiguous expression. Now she understood why Alu got so angry when the Water Spirit called her flames pathetic. Alu didn't see it as an insult to herself, she saw it as an insult to her father. And based on what Aquarius was told, Alu held Natsu in pretty high regard, even if she didn't admit it out loud.

"And at the time," Aries continued sadly, "when they found out she was also a Dragon Slayer, it seemed to explain why she was only half-strong in Magic. She has two kinds of Magic inside of her, but she can't seem to get them to work together. They seem to have their own separate vessels instead of being part of one big one. All I know is that this is what makes Alu so frustrated most of the time. No matter what she does, she just can't seem to get up to the level she wants."

Aquarius lowered her head pensively, "It's probably because of…"

Aquarius trailed off and leaned back in her seat with a slight look of disappointment.

Aries made a disheartened face and looked down at the floor.

"Yeah, I think so, too," she said to herself.

For the rest the ride, the two Zodiac Spirits didn't speak a single word to each other. They just sat in silence. All that could be heard was the rumbling of the cart on the dirt road, and the occasional moan and groan from the sick wizard across from them.

"Did you see that?!"

"I don't believe it!"

"She slayed that Dragon!"

"I've never seen anyone do that before!"

"But she used a Dragon, too!"

"What is she?!"

"Wait! She's one of those Dragon Slayers, isn't she?!"

"Dragon Slayer? Hmm, that's actually not a bad name for a wizard. And it does seem like a fitting title. So yes, I guess I am a Dragon Slayer."