Chapter 31

A Father's Love

"Spirits, capture the Dragon Slayer!" Ivan commanded.

On that command, the Spirits that were assembled in front of Ivan charged forward towards Natsu, Alu, Happy and Violet. Neo Leo was in the front, and he had a look of vengefulness in his face. He clearly hadn't forgotten his fight with Natsu before.

Natsu tightened his hold around Alu and jumped out of the way just as the Spirits reached them. Happy and Violet both flew high above the others. While in mid-air, Natsu positioned himself in such a way where he could shield Alu and attack at the same time.

"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!"

A jet-stream of fire shot from Natsu's mouth and down upon the six Neo Zodiac Spirits. This forced them to raise their arm in defense as the mighty flames surrounded them.

"Happy, Violet!" Natsu shouted. "Take Alu!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy said.

The two Exceeds swooped down, and Natsu passed Alu off to them.

"Dad!" Alu cried as she was pried away from him.

"I'll be okay, Alu!" Natsu said as reassuringly as he could. "Just find some shelter!"

Before Alu could protest any further, Happy and Violet carried her away from the fight. But she didn't take her eyes off her father for a moment.

Natsu landed on his feet and charged forward, fire surrounding his fists.

"FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!"

Neo Leo responded to this by summoning his Dark Regulus.

"PITCH BLACK HAMMER!"

Happy and Violet brought Alu over to a pile of boulders on the far side of the cavern and hid down behind them. Alu crawled over to peek around the edge of the rocks. She watched with sickening anxiety as her father fought against the deranged Spirits.

Natsu ducked under Neo Leo's punch before slugging him a good one in the stomach. While Neo Leo's armor prevented any major damage, it was enough to at least stun him, giving Natsu the chance to deck him.

With Neo Leo down, Natsu quickly turned his attention to the next Spirit that was closing in on him, which was Neo Sagittarius. The Dark Archer Spirit had already summoned a long spear and was charging towards Natsu with the intent on stabbing the Dragon Slayer in the shoulder. But Natsu's reflexes were sharp. He avoided the oncoming spear and sprang off of one foot.

"FIRE DRAGON SWORD HORN!"

Natsu, surrounded in an aura of fire, head-butted Neo Sagittarius straight in the stomach, knocking the wind out of the Dark Spirit. Neo Sagittarius then fell on all four knees of his horse-half and Natsu jumped right over him.

His attention then turned to Neo Cancer.

"You got some fancy moves there, man!" Neo Cancer said manically. "Let's see how you handle this!"

Neo Cancer moved in with his massive crab-claw hands and began to snap at Natsu with lightning fast attacks. Natsu came to a stop to dodge ever single attack. He either bent over backwards as far as he could, moved to the side, or ducked to avoid getting hit. Finally, he managed to find an opening and dropped to the floor to swing his legs around and knock Neo Cancer off his feet.

Natsu then turned his attention to Neo Scorpio. But before he could make a single move, the Neo versions of Scorpio, Capricorn, and Gemini disappeared into thin air.

"What the…"

Suddenly, a terrified scream caught Natsu's attention.

Natsu turned around quickly to see what was going on. What he saw made him freeze in terror.

Alu was so focused on the fight that she had completely forgotten about Ivan. He saw where she and the two Exceed had hidden, and snuck up behind her. By the time Alu realized he was there, he had summoned the Neo versions of Virgo, Aries, and Ophiuchus. Neo Aries had grabbed Alu by the neck with her chain, and Neo Virgo had chained her up just like she had done with Natsu before. On top of that, the Dark Maiden had captured Happy and Violet in body cuffs and made them hover beside her.

But what made Natsu stop was that Neo Ophiuchus had her syringe poised to stab Alu in the stomach. He could see a greenish purple substance inside that syringe, and it made his own abdomen clench when he remembered being injected with that crazy stuff. He involuntarily brought his hand up and clutched the place where that needle had stabbed him. He then scowled with anger when he saw how scared Alu was. She remembered what she had seen before with this, and now she was more terrified than before.

"Well, well, well," Ivan sneered, enjoy the expressions on both Natsu and Alu's faces, "looks like I ended up capturing your precious daughter after all, Dragon Slayer."

"Let her go, Ivan!" Natsu demanded in a fierce voice. "She's got nothing to do with this!"

"Oh, I'll let her go," Ivan said with an evil grin, "if you agree to surrender your soul to me. If you so much as make a move, then your daughter will suffer the same fate as you and worse."

"He's not lying." Neo Ophiuchus smiled maliciously. "This poison is different from the one I used on you. This will completely destroy her Magic Power in the most painful way possible. All I have to do is inject this stuff into her, and she'll blow up like a tick before plastering all over the walls."

Natsu clenched his fist in rage and Alu shuddered.

"So, what's going to be, Dragon Slayer?" Ivan asked in a sinister voice. "The girl, or your soul?"

Natsu didn't have to think about this. There was no other way around this. He knew what the consequences would be if he gave up his soul, but he didn't want Alu to suffer a horrible fate. His love for his daughter was greater than his own wellbeing.

He wasn't going to let Alu suffer. If there was any chance of saving her, he was going to take it.

Natsu lowered his head, extinguished the fire around his fists, and stood where he was. He brought his arms down and released the tension in his fists.

"Do whatever you want to me," he said in a low voice. "Go ahead, take my soul. Just let Alu go."

Alu stared at her father with wide eyes. He was really doing it. He was giving himself up just to save her. He was doing all this for her. This made Alu lower her head so that her bangs hid her eyes.

"Dad," she whispered under her breath.

"That's more like it." Ivan sneered. "Glad to see someone knows when to surrender."

Ivan then raised his hand. Natsu tightened his jaw and waited for that Curse Power to take away his soul.

"NATSU!" Happy cried out with fear.

However, before Ivan could strike, Alu suddenly screamed with rage. Her whole body lit up in a blaze of intense white fire that forced all of the Spirits surrounding her to stumble back and away from its heat. Alu's chains all melted off of her and fell to the floor in puddles of burning hot liquid. Alu dropped to her feet and turned her attention towards Ivan. The man stepped back nervously when he saw the savageness in her face. Her eyes filled with furious determination, and her hands burning with white fire.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY DAD!" she screeched.

Ivan had only a split second to react. He managed to avoid Alu's roundhouse kick to the head, but she quickly followed it up with a punch to the chest. Thanks to her Dragon Slayer Magic, Alu amplified the punch and sent Ivan flying backwards. He let out just a small grunt of pain before slamming back into the wall.

As soon as Ivan was down, Alu whipped around and charged at the Neo versions of Virgo, Aries, and Ophiuchus. All three were so startled by what she did before that by the time she reached them, they didn't have time to defend themselves. Alu Wing-Attacked Neo Virgo, punched Neo Aries with a Flame Elbow, and kicked Neo Ophiuchus with a Dragon Talon strike. The cuffs around Happy and Violet immediately disappeared and the two Exceeds flew straight up in the air.

Natsu stared. Alu was known to become vicious in a fight, but this was on another level than any he had seen before. Not only that, but her Magic Power was more intense than before. Natsu had lived with Alu his whole life and knew the extent of her Magic Power, so he could definitely tell that something in it had changed. Not to mention, Alu had a glint of ferocity in her eyes that he had never seen before.

At first Natsu was amazed that Alu could fight like this, but then a thought struck his mind that made his heart drop down into his toes.

Was this increase in power and strength a side-effect of the Dragonification?

Before Natsu could think any further on this, Alu came running over towards him with Happy and Violet close behind.

"Dad!" she said urgently. "You and I are going to have to team up!"

"Huh?!" Natsu said, snapping out of his trance.

"C'mon, it's the only way we're going to get out of here!" Alu replied fervently. "We're a family and we protect each other! I've got your back, you've got mine! That's how it works! And it's the only way we're going to get out of here! Even if I'm gonna lose my Dragon Slayer Magic after this, I can at least use it now to get us out of this mess!"

Natsu blinked. He then grinned and nodded.

"That's my girl!" he said proudly. "You ready?!"

"Yeah!"

By this time, all of the Zodiac Spirits that Natsu and Alu had knocked down before were back on their feet and were staring at the two Dragneels with vengeful expressions.

"That's it!" Neo Leo snarled. "You're both dead! I swear we'll put an end to you!"

"Bring it on!" Alu taunted.

Natsu and Alu stood back-to-back with confident smirks on their faces.

"LET'S KICK SOME ASS!" they both declared in unison.

Happy and Violet flew high above to get a better view of the fight that was about to happen. On a silent command, both Natsu and Alu charged toward their chosen Neo Spirits. Natsu went for Neo Leo, Sagittarius, and Cancer; while Alu went for Neo Virgo, Aries, and Ophiuchus. Pretty soon, the father and daughter were engaged in a fight against three Neo Zodiac Spirits each.

Natsu attacked with strength, power, and swiftness. He landed hard blows on Neo Sagittarius, avoided the pinching claws of Neo Cancer, and overwhelmed Neo Leo with a merciless barrage of punches and kicks.

Alu fought with agility, precision, and well-timed punches and kicks. She decked Neo Aries, dodged Neo Virgo's whip attacks as well as managing to kick her legs out from under her, and broke Neo Ophiuchus's syringe when the Dark Snake Charmer tried to stab her with it.

In just a few minutes, all the present Neo Zodiac Spirits were down and out. After a few seconds, they all disappeared in a flurry of deep purple and black lights. Both Natsu and Alu were panting heavily, but were relatively unharmed.

With the battle over, Happy and Violet flew down from the ceiling.

"Alright!" Violet cheered excitedly. "You guys did it!"

"No," Natsu said in a deep voice, "that was too easy."

"Yeah." Alu said warily. "They should've put up much more of a fight than that. Something's feels wrong."

Just then, the sounds of lasers charging and paper flapping caught everyone's attention. They sounded like they were coming from above. The wizards and Exceeds snapped their heads up and saw that there were four Shikigami bombs gathering above them. And they were all completely formed.

While they were all focused on the fight with the Neo Zodiacs, Ivan had prepared a sneak attack of his own. Using his own Magic, he summoned these Shikigami bombs to attack.

All at once, the Shikigami bombs fired their laser beams. Natsu, Alu, Happy, and Violet all hollered and screamed as a laser stuck them. The beams weren't powerful enough kill anyone, but they stuck their targets with painful force. They were all slammed down to the stone floor, leaving small indentions in the ground. All of them ached so badly that they could barely move.

When the dust had settled, Ivan stood several yards away, admiring the sight before him.

"Hmph," he scoffed, "not quite the show I was expecting, but thanks for buying me some time. If all Fairy Tail wizards are as weak as you, then I'll have no trouble wiping out the whole guild."

"How?"

Ivan looked over to where the frail voice had come from. Much to his surprise, Alu was struggling to get up. She had only managed to get up to her knees, but that was all her remaining strength would allow her to do. Not to mention, her stomach wound was starting to get to her again, and she curled up to try and lessen the pain.

"Tell me…" Alu strained. "How…did you find out…about the Celestial Dragon Slayer?"

Ivan glared at Alu.

"Why do you want to know that?" he asked.

"Just tell me." Alu demanded as firmly as she could. "I need to know."

"Hmph," Ivan replied disdainfully, "I don't see why I should. But if you want to know, then fine. After I suffered a defeat at the hands of that pathetic excuse for a son, Laxus, Raven Tail was forced to disband. Makarov and his guild had humiliated me for the last time. From that day on, I swore that I would find a way to destroy him and all of Fairy Tail. While I was imprisoned for a time, I heard the news that Alvarez had attacked, and that the Lumen Historie had been destroyed. Not only that, but I soon got the news that Makarov had nearly died during the war to save his "precious children." Pity that he still lived, but I guess his old age has now made him unable to walk."

Alu narrowed her eyes. That was a mocking statement if she ever heard one. But there was also something off about it. Ivan looked like he had an odd mixture of being very pleased, but also very angry.

"After I escaped from prison," Ivan continued, "I traveled around. Eventually, I came to Mount Zonia and found the Spell that would create the most powerful Dragon Slayer the world had ever seen. And after seeing how strong a Dragon Slayer was, I knew this was the perfect chance to get what I wanted. However, I also knew that in order to obtain this power, I would have to learn a way to get the souls of a Celestial Wizard and Dragon Slayer. I got that information after I raided the Magic Library. After discovering Tartaros and their power over Curses, I enchanted myself with one of those Curses, the one that allows me to steal souls and use them how ever I please."

Alu's eyes widened in shock

"You mean…you actually cursed yourself into a Demon?" she shuddered.

Ivan glared at Alu.

"Well, that's not to say that the Curse didn't come without a price."

Ivan pushed back his cloak to and rolled up the sleeve on his right arm. Alu gasped in horror. Ivan's whole arm was disfigured. His skin was a hideous orange color and covered with green mold blotches. The visible blood vessels were pulsing in a way that made Alu want to vomit.

"Why? Why would you do that?"

"Power comes with a price, as you should know." Ivan said. "But this is a small price if I can use it to destroy your guild."

Alu stared with horrid disgust. How could Ivan say that? Was he really that far gone?

Ivan then scowled at Alu.

"And out of all the Fairy Tail wizards I've ever met, you're the most annoying," he said savagely.

Ivan raised his hand and summoned his Curse Power. Alu watched with horror as that power grew stronger.

"Your soul won't be of any use to me," Ivan grinned wickedly, "but at least this'll shut you up. Say goodnight, Fairy Tail wizard."

All Alu could do was watch as a black tentacle shot for Ivan's hand and snaked its way through the air towards her.

But before the tentacle reached her, something moved in front of her and wrapped her up in a strong embrace.

Alu stopped breathing when she saw what happened.

Natsu had managed to recover in time to see what was going on. Without thinking, he moved from his spot, and placed himself between Ivan's Soul Stealer Curse and Alu. He hung onto Alu, using his body as a shield.

Alu stared with horror. She struggled to breathe when she saw that black tentacle strike into her father's back, right between his shoulder blades.

Natsu grimaced and tightened his grip around Alu as Ivan's Curse began to probe around inside his body, searching for his soul. He had felt this Curse Power before, but this brand that Ivan was wielding was different than the others one he had fought against before. It wasn't letting go, and Natsu didn't have the strength to fight it back. It was only a matter of time before Ivan found his soul and stole it.

"Dad, no!" Alu said, her voice shaking. "No, no, please!"

Natsu turned his head and gave his daughter a weak smile. He wasn't getting out of this, and he knew it. But he wanted to use the time he had left to give his daughter encouragement.

"It's okay, Alu," he strained to say. "It'll be alright. Just…keep fighting on. Protect Fairy Tail. I know you can. I have faith in you. I always have. Don't worry. I'll always…be with you."

Alu's lip quivered.

"And remember…" Natsu whispered, "I'll always…love you."

As soon as those words left Natsu's mouth, Ivan yanked out the Dragon Slayer's soul.

Alu gasped in horror. Time around her seemed to slow down. The moment Natsu soul left him, he went limp immediately and his whole body turned cold. His eyes lost their light, and slowly closed. He lost his grip on Alu, and fell to the ground, lifeless.

Alu stared at her father for a moment, stunned and terrified. She couldn't believe what just happened. When it began to register with her, she trembled. Her breathing became rigid, her heart clenched so hard that it hurt, and tears welled up in her eyes. She fell over onto her hands and let those tears spill down from her eyes.

Finally, she lifted up her head and cried in the loudest voice that echoed throughout the cavern.

"DAD, NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

As Alu cried in anguish, Ivan gathered up the glowing red orb that was Natsu's soul and held it in the palm of his hand. He then closed his fingers around the orb, and absorbed it. Feeling the rush of the power it contained, Ivan began to laugh in maniacal triumph.

"Amazing!" he yelled. "So this is the power of a Dragon Slayer! It's glorious! At last! With this Magic mixed with Celestial Magic, I'll become the most powerful wizard in the land! Nothing will stand in my way!"

Alu looked up with a vicious scowl and suddenly rose to her feet with a burst of energy she didn't know she had. Out of blind rage and hatred, she charged towards Ivan.

"GIVE IT BACK!" she cried furiously. "GIVE MY DAD'S SOUL BACK!"

Ivan just smirked as Alu drew closer. He raised his hand towards her and a fire ball formed in his palm. Alu looked at it in horror and her mind shut off.

That was her FATHER'S Magic!

Seeing her hesitation, Ivan took the opportunity to blast Alu with the fire ball. Alu was sent flying across the cavern at incredible speed. She hit the ground and tumbled for a few feet before hitting the wall. As she did, a rock struck her in the head and knocked her out. She fell to the ground and little pieces of rocks showered down on her.

However, from Ivan's point of view, the attack looked like it had killed Alu. He could see some blood trickling down her face and staining her hair. She fell still, showing signs of life.

"So pathetic," he grinned evilly. "Oh well, she served her purpose. And now that I've gotten what I wanted, there's only one thing left to do. Time to wipe Fairy Tail from the face of this earth. I'll destroy every last one of those little Fairies. No man, woman, or child will be left alive."

Ivan turned to the stairway and walked out of the chamber.