Chapter 18 – A Real Nightmare
Magnolia, Summer Time,
Year X792
Natsu Dragneel
We exited the bar by a side entrance, Haruki remaining behind to finish sealing the other room where Edric's captive remained. The plan was simple, so simple that even I understood it with ease; Edric, Medea, Sting and I would all close off any potential escape routes for the target, whilst Kenji and Thomas maintained a position on the rooftop above them in order to prevent an upward escape. According to the information Thomas had been able to yield, the opponent we would be facing was lurking in an alley way that was blocked off at one end, meaning that their only routes for escape would be to go through us, or to attempt to escape past Kenji and Thomas. With their escape sealed, Edric and Medea would begin to speak with this person, and should that fail, they would attempt to capture them. If the person resisted, or put up a fight, Sting and I were to go in beat the crap outta the guy until he was willing to come quietly. Simple, or at least I thought so.
As we made our way down the streets towards the targeted alley, I glanced at Sting. The blond smiled at me. "Ready?" he asked me, in friendlier tone than what I'd expected. I nodded, steeling my gaze.
"Yeah" I replied, "I want to get this over quick… so we can make good on that little bet we made" I added with a smirk. Sting chuckled a little.
"As long as you're motivated I guess that's okay" he replied, before looking to Edric and Medea. Our group had stopped one alley down from where our target was, giving ourselves just enough time to catch our breath before 'negotiations', as Edric had called them, were initiated.
"Alright, so are we all ready? This fight may be tougher than we expect, and the target can control other people, so there may be civilians involved in all this too" Edric stated, "However I doubt, even if they've sensed the connection to their other puppets as having been severed, that they'll have had enough time to prepare more than one or two new puppets" he added. Medea nodded in agreement with this assessment.
"Yes. Don't feel too bad if you have to injure other people a little, Kenji has healing powers that should be on par, if not better than, Miss Wendy Marvel, so it should pose much of an issue if we have to rough a few people up" she stated. Sting and I looked to each other momentarily as we heard this information, each of us silently deciding how we should respond to this; after all, attacking civilians with magic would severely hinder our guilds reputations.
Edric seemed to note our looks with vague amusement. "I wouldn't worry about reputation too much" he stated, almost reading our minds, "After all, Thomas can always alter their memories of events. He's going to have to anyways, since we can't have people remembering their interaction with these people" Edric added with a slight shrug. Sting and I were still bother unsure about this information; however, we were not in the position to say no at this point. After another brief look, we both nodded.
"Alright, should we go confront 'em?" I asked Edric. The blond teen nodded.
"Yes. Thomas has just signalled that he's in position too, using a very discrete telepathic signal" Edric confirmed, before motioning to go. As we turned to follow him out of the side street, and into the alley were our foe was, I once more glanced at Sting. The White Dragon Slayer was not looking at me, but was rather instead looking towards Edric, his face a mask of preparedness. He's trying not to show it, but I can smell it on him… that worry… I thought for a moment, before smiling to myself. I suppose I should worry about him too, even though I know we're both gonna be fine…
I think…
/
As we entered the alley way, we immediately found the person we expected; bent over another unconscious individual, with a cloak concealing almost all of the body. The figure did not even turn their head to acknowledge our arrival, although from the faint scent I got off of them, I could tell they were already aware of our presence. Perhaps they had known since we left the bar…
"I see the weakest two Zollzero children come to face me" the figure stated, the cowl over their face moving slightly to show that they were looking over their shoulder towards us.
Edric smirked at the individual. "I'm going to have to ask you to hand over that concealed blade of yours, and come with us" he said, in a confident, albeit wary, tone of voice. Medea remained silent; clearly in these situations, her temptress act would be useless, and in negotiations even I noticed that Edric was by far the superior diplomat.
The figure only laughed at Edric's proposal. "You really think I'd come with you?" they asked in a sarcastic tone, as they drew the blade from beneath their robes. It was akin to the scimitar I had sometimes seen foreign mercenaries use, with a glinting golden handle, and vicious curved steel blade. As soon as it was drawn I could smell the magic power held within it; a sensation easily reminiscent of the blade I saw the black-haired man use back in Hargeon, although that was a rapier and not one of these curved blades. "It seems you've already seen a blade such as this, correct?" the man suddenly said. Despite the hood I could tell they were looking, or at least referring, to me. I nodded.
"Yeah, and like that other dumb blade, I can tell this one won't do anything either" I barked at the figure, which elicited another, hollow laugh.
"Trust me, my beauty here would be much more of a nightmare for you than that stupid sabre my comrade uses" the figure said. From their voice, I could tell they were male, but other than that I could get no other details, not even their build, as the cloak concealed the remainder of their body within its many folds. "However, that will probably be something for you to experience at another time. Since I will have to retreat now… once I do this" the figure added, before taking the blade and using its tip to make a small incision into the thigh of the unconscious woman below him. Edric took a reactive step forward at the action, however he made no other moves.
After the deed, the man withdrew the blade back into his cloak, before standing. Not a minute later, the woman stood up, eyes open, although glazed and lifeless. "So, you were controlling them as we suspected" Edric muttered. The figure turned, their smirk visible beneath the hood.
"Ah yes… we have not met face-to-face have we, Edric Zollzero. And Medea, it has been… almost fourteen years, so I doubt you remember me" they said, before pulling back the hood. "I suppose Arthur would remember me, at least a little… however what about your brother Edric, don't you think he should stop hiding above me and come down. I used to give you both sweets when you were still in your cradles" the figure laughed, before looking up and directly towards the concealed position of Thomas above him. An audible sigh was heard, before Thomas stood up on the roof top. An Archive screen materialised visibly in the darkness for a moment, before vanishing, not a moment later multiple screens appeared in a descending pattern down from the roof. Thomas stepped along each screen, before stepping off the last to stand next to Edric. "Your sensory skills were not overexaggerated in your record then" Thomas commented, as he eyed up the figure before him. The man shrugged, before running a hand through his red hair. With a clearer view of his face, I could see that this person was in their late thirties, with deep, auburn-red hair, and bright pink eyes.
"And you're just as powerful as I thought you'd be, one glance at your magic tells me that much, Thomas" they replied, their face forming a wicked smirk. "However… what did my file tell you about my skills?" he asked, his eyebrow raised.
"It mentioned you had the capacity to manipulate people through that sword, much like your ally, however it did not stipulate to the extent of your power" Thomas stated, almost mechanically.
The man laughed. "Alright, interesting that they'd leave such an important detail out like that, but I suppose that's what I should expect from your family" he chuckled. Edric rolled his eyes.
"It doesn't matter how strong you are, you're facing three of the famous Zollzero family members, along with two Dragon Slayers, who single-handedly helped to take down the Tartaros guild. You're chances of winning this fight may as well be zero" Edric stated, his tone giving away his growing lack of patience with this character. The man sent Edric a dark look.
"Is that so?" they asked, "Because from where I'm standing, you're the one to have zero chance of winning" they mused. Edric looked at the man suspiciously.
"Why is tha-" he began, before someone interrupted him.
"Edric!" Haruki called out, causing our whole group to turn, "We got trouble!"
Indeed, it seemed that the mob chasing Haruki may have been the reason this guy was so confident.
"Fuck" Edric swore.
/
We all swivelled around to quite the unexpected sight. Haruki was running down through the streets of Magnolia at top speed, with a small mob of people behind. Older, younger, male, female, of many different builds, hair colours, races… and all of them looked at us with vague, disinterested eyes. "Looks like the pawns have finally reached their king" the red-haired man said. Edric looked to our opponent.
"I take it that means you summoned them?" he asked. The man nodded with a wicked grin.
"Yes. Did you think those two I sent after you were the only people had under my spell?" he mused, "Before I sent those two little puppets in after you, I made sure I had all the necessary pieces to ensure your destruction. After all, I'm no fool- taking on the Zollzero requires finesse" the man laughed.
Edric pouted. "So, I'm going to assume that you're intention is to have us fight through waves of these bystanders, before we get to take you on?" he asked, continuing his line of questioning.
The man shrugged. "Well isn't that obvious" he stated. Edric smiled.
"If that's the case, then I think this ought to suffice" he said, before he suddenly threw a card from the deck in his pocket. I caught a glimpse of the card right before it struck the man; it had a lightning design on it that I recognised as similar to the ones I knew Cana used.
Upon impact with the red-head, the card flashed and golden lightning erupted forth. I felt a slightly annoyed feeling rise up in my chest at that attack, since it would mean I had not got to do any fighting tonight. This was proven to be a useless waste of my time, however.
As the dust cleared after Edric's sudden attack, there was left no sign of the red-head. "Tch… thought so…" Edric muttered. What? I thought confusedly, before my nose caught scent of something.
"What the-" Sting began, before laughter rolled out over the night-time air.
Sting, Edric, Medea and I all turned toward the source of the noise; the red-headed man stood grinning on the opposite side of the street, with his mob of puppets between us and him. "So, you did use and illusion spell to distract us" Medea commented from beside Edric. I narrowed my eyes at the man. Illusion? But… how did I not notice his smell change? I thought.
I sent a glance at Sting, who returned it with a faint nod. "Yeah, I didn't notice either" he muttered quietly to me.
"This guy's illusions must be powerful if they could trick our noses" I stated. Edric walked up to stand beside Haruki, the mob only a few steps in front of them.
"Hmm… looks like we're going to have to make this quick. Haru, don't forget to use your K.O. shots instead of something deadly" Edric said, patting Haruki on the shoulder. Haruki nodded.
"Yeah, I got that Edric" he replied, before sending a smirk towards the blond teen, "Just don't forget to keep from causing too much destruction, we're already costing the Zero Star and Zollzero way too much money in both hotel fees and general living fees" Haruki added. Edric sighed.
"Alright, but that makes things a little more boring" he responded, before looking over his shoulder to Sting and me.
"You two ready? Medea?" he asked. Medea scoffed and nodded.
"Of course, Edric" she said bluntly. I smiled.
"Yeah, finally we get to do some fighting" I replied. Edric nodded.
"Alright, this is how it's going to go down; Haruki and me will bust through this mob, once that happens, you two Dragon's charge through and try to get to him. Medea'll back you up. Once you've got him pinned, Medea can use her Magic to keep him restrained. Thomas, you keep back and use your Archive to keep track of him, don't let him use his illusions to trick us again. Everybody got that?" Edric stated. Medea frowned at Edric.
"Who put you in charge?" she asked. Edric smiled.
"Well Artie did ask me to come up with a plan. As he intrusted this to me, it means all this is my responsibility" Edric replied. Medea shrugged.
"Fair enough, just don't let me down darling. Or else I'll tell Arthur, and father dearest, about all the fun you've been having at the guild, instead of doing your job" she stated with a wicked smile. Edric laughed.
"Like you're one to talk, miss daily-shopping-trip" he retorted, before looking back at the mob. The red-haired man looked to us all with vague amusement.
"So, you're all ready at last?" he asked. We all eyed him, earning an even greater grin in response. "Good. Now go my puppets" he said, before waving his arm in our direction.
At that moment the mob, and our group, rushed forwards to meet in a miniature clash of forces, right in the centre of Magnolia's streets.
/
Magnolia, Summer Time,
Year X792
Sting Eucliffe
The mob charged. They all wore the same dazed expression, as if they were not fully awake, yet they moved as if they were. "What's this guy's deal, how does he control all these people?" I shouted amongst the roar of the crowd, as our small group and their overwhelming numbers clashed. Edric muttered something, as he pulled out a deck of playing cards in one hand, and dice in his other.
"Well…" he threw the dice up, before catching them. Unlike the dice I had seen him use in his fight with Gray, these two dice were white and blue respectively. "Two, Six. Maximum Speed Boost" he called out, before speedily moving through the crowd, dodging their slow-moving attacks. "His sword is cursed, like that other guy's. To put it simply," he shouted above the roar, "With even a small cut he curse's them, however unlike that other guy you met, he puts everyone to sleep and then, once asleep, can control their every move" Edric finished. I nodded.
"So, we can't hurt them because they're civilians, however they'll hurt us if they get us" I stated, seeking confirmation from the blond, who was at that moment, having to dodge multiple attacks from all sides, as he found himself completely encircled by the unlucky cursed.
Edric smirked. "Exactly" he called, "You're gonna have to find a way to keep 'em down without hurting them. Like this" he stated, before drawing his cards. "Card Magic; Arme de Carte – Jack of Hearts" he called out, before the card flashed brightly, instantly being replaced by a chain, which ended in a sharp dagger-like point.
I raised an eyebrow, as I activated my White Drive and dodged attacks from either side by jumping up and away. "I thought you said don't hurt him" I commented, before looking over to check how Natsu was holding up. Until a path had been made for us to get at the red-haired guy, we held back, sticking to the outside of the mob of sleeping puppet-people. The pinkette was dodging like me, although his fists were immolated. Hopefully he doesn't go overboard like normal I thought a little pessimistically. Edric smiled directly at me, as he swung the chain around.
"I'm not gonna hurt anybody. Watch" he said, before swinging the chain out, making it wrap around a large number of mob-members. They group groaned, but did not get up as the chain held them all tight together. "See" he smiled. I nodded. That gives me an idea…
"Alright, but how's this" I said, before rushing forward, light enveloping my fists. I could feel Natsu's eyes on me as I dived into the very mob we were supposed to be avoiding. With multiple palm-strikes I struck several of the dazed people, funnelling my magic in order to incapacitate, but not harm, them. "White Dragon Claw" I called out as I delivered each blow.
Natsu audibly laughed. "Hey, I remember that move" he commented, as he made his way over to me. I smiled at him.
"Do you?" I asked, surprised that Natsu could remember anything in detail, least of all a spell he only saw once.
The pinkette nodded at me. "Yeah, of course I do. You used it on me in the Grand Magic Games, right?" he smiled brightly. I nodded.
"Yeah. It'll leave them all with that stigmata, which should stop all of them from moving" I stated, elaborating on my use of the spell. Natsu patted me on the shoulder.
"Good thinking" he congratulated me, before looking forward. Even with the gaps Edric and I had made in the mob, there was still no clear path for us to move through. Yet.
"Hey Natsu," I said, earning the pinkette's attention. He looked to me, "Close your eyes" I commanded.
Natsu pouted, however after a moment he just smiled, closing his eyes, although his body was still tense, and prepared for combat. I smiled at the trust he placed in me, before I continued with my plan. I could already see Edric begin using more cards and dice spells to keep the mob at bay. It'll take too long to take them out one by one… but I think I can at least make Natsu and me a path I thought, before I began concentrating magic to my hands. As I sent more and more magic power into the orbs of white light that encased my fists, each moment the light getting brighter and brighter. After only a few moments the light was almost blinding. "Right here goes" I called out, before brining my hands together in one big clap. As the spheres of white connected they exploded outwards, making a bright light. "Agh…" the mob groaned as the light blinded them momentarily.
"Now's my chance" I crowed, before rushing forwards, my speed greatly increased by my active White Drive. I charged forwards as the mob scrabbled together after my sudden, blinding attack. After a moment, I returned to Natsu's side, the pinkette smiling at me, eyes now open.
"So ya blinded them all then used that spell?" he asked me. I nodded.
"Yeah. Effective, right?" I answered him. Natsu nodded, before looking at the visible gap in the crowd.
"Yes, now let's get going" he said, before dashing forward through the space I opened up. I nodded, before running up with Natsu. As we moved to begin attacking our new target, the red-headed man, I heard Edric call from behind us.
"Go. But don't let him cut you!" he said. We both nodded in understanding, before eyeing up the grinning cloaked figure. Medea, in the form of a deep black hound, began running up beside us.
"I'll help you. If you're able to do what you just did there, I can constrict him" she stated. I nodded.
"Got it" I said, before looking to Natsu, "Natsu, you can do as much as you want, although… don't destroy the street okay?" I smiled at him. Natsu rolled his eyes at me.
"Well duh, I know. I just gotta make sure the buildings are still intact, right?" he said with a slight pout. I shook my head and sighed slightly. He's still gonna go waaaay over the top I thought, before shrugging, but I guess that's just his way of fighting… not like I haven't done it myself I added with a faint smile of fondness.
Natsu and I both converged on the red-headed man's position as quickly as we could, making sure that his mob would be unable to stop us. The man smiled at us. "So, you managed to reach me, amusing. Alright then, let's have a taste of your power Dragon Slayers" he said as we approached, opening his arms wide in welcome. Natsu and I narrowed our eyes on him.
With scowls on our faces we both infused our fists with magic and sent them crashing towards the man, only for each to rebound off of him, as if he was made of magic-resistant rubber. "What, how?" I barked as my attack was completely negated. The red-head smirked.
"Aww… was that all you had? You're gonna have to do better than that" he said. Natsu growled.
"Fine, eat this. Fire Dragon Roar!" he barked loudly. The red-head raised an eyebrow and held out a hand, stopping the attack the moment it reached his flattened palm. I watched with astonishment.
"You can nullify our magic?" I questioned aloud. The man smiled.
"Perhaps, or perhaps your attacks are just so weak they will have no effect on me" he chuckled provocatively. I could see this man's words were working on Natsu, so I reached out and grabbed hold of the pinkette.
"Don't let him tempt you in, you'll just end up getting too close and getting hit by his sword" I warned Natsu. The pinkette grumbled something inaudible, but nodded in understanding.
"Alright" he said. I looked over my shoulder, to where Thomas was leaning against the wall of the building, multiple Archive screens active, some of which I could see were being used to track this man before us. He can't see us… I thought, for a moment, before I noticed Thomas look up towards our direction. Suddenly I heard his voice inside my head.
Sting. He isn't invulnerable to magic, he's just drawing power from the people he has under his control. From these magic signatures, he has at least fifteen mages in that mob of his. I'll try to cut their power from his, once I do I will give you the signal. You then keep him still. Thomas's voice explained. I nodded towards Thomas' direction. The blond boy smirked, before he began working on his Archive at speed, his fingers dancing over the golden keys.
With that knowledge, I turned to Natsu. "Thomas says he's being powered by some mages he has control over. We're just gonna have to try to hold him here as best we can until he runs out of their power" I explained to Natsu, and Medea who was now sitting in her dog form and watching the red-head intently. They both nodded.
"Okay. So we just keep pounding at him until he can't keep up any more" Natsu grinned. I nodded.
"Yeah," I said, before releasing my grip on his shoulder that I had held all this time. "Just be careful about his sword" I added. Natsu nodded in understanding, before flames crept up his hands, arms, feet and legs.
"I'm fired up!" he barked, before beginning to rush forward. "Let's see how long you can keep up that defence" he shouted challengingly towards the red-head, who laughed mockingly.
"You want to play games then? Well come on then, Mister Fire Dragon" he retorted, before holding up his hand to block Natsu's incoming fist. Watching Natsu at work was quite impressive to me, however I didn't have the time to properly enjoy this scene before me, not when I have a job to do. Natsu followed up his punch with a quick kick, which the red-head ducked under, however Natsu had expected this, and as he jumped up on his one leg, he brought the other down, towards his opponent. Unfortunately, this just seemed to rebound off of whatever protective field the man had erected around himself.
"Tch…" Natsu cursed as he landed from his kick only to withdraw a few steps, keeping clear out of reach of any attack the man may attempt with that cursed blade of his. "You're tough" he commented, which made the man smile, "But let's see how you do with this. Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" Natsu crowd, flames engulfing his hands, before being brought together to cause an eruption of pure crimson fire. The man laughed as the flames engulfed his body, harmlessly rebounding off of his shield.
"It's pointless… so long as I have my puppets, I can siphon their magic and use it to power myself up. This shield is not mine, it is the collective will of all those I've cursed this night" he laughed, almost maniacally. I narrowed my eyes angrily at hearing this. How dare he steal people's magic… it's just… wrong. A wizard should use their power, not somebody else's I thought angrily. Just as I was about to bark something at the red-head, another noise cut in to my mind.
Now Sting Thomas signalled me. I smiled, before infusing as much magic as I could into my fists and rushing forwards. "Hey, try this!" I barked as I rushed the red-head's position, White Drive enhancing my speed well beyond my normal limit. "White Dragon's Claw!" I shouted at the top of my voice. The man smirked.
"Nice try, but ultimately pointless… wait…" the man's eyes went wide.
I smiled. "Notice have ya, well it's too late now" I smirked wickedly, "Your shields gone, now eat this!" I said, as my fist slammed into the man's gut.
"Ergh…" he gasped as the blow hit, light exploding out at the impact. I smiled triumphantly as the stigmata was left where my attack had hit, before I withdrew a few steps away, still wary in case, somehow, he managed to overcome my own curse. Although that's not gonna happen… only Natsu has ever managed to beat my White Dragon Claw I thought cockily. Natsu came over to me and patted me on the shoulder.
"Nice one Sting" he congratulated me. Medea then made her move. With a puff of smoke and a quick Transformation she donned the same shape as she had earlier, a great black serpent, which coiled around the red-head with ease, holding him tight.
"I've got him" she crowed in a victorious-yet-wicked tone, her forked tounge flickering in and out of her mouth like any other snake. Natsu and I looked over to Edric as he and Haruki finished off the last stragglers within the mob.
"And this'll do it… Multiple Knock-Out Shots" Haruki smiled, numerous magical bullets raining down out of his fingertips, each striking a mob-member and sending them crashing down to the ground, unconscious.
"You always like to finish last, eh… Haru" Edric grinned as he put his hands behind his head and looked over in our direction.
Haruki shrugged. "And you always like to finish first, Edric… er… sir" he smirked before glancing up to where Kenji was still concealed.
Edric laughed. "You can drop the sir. Now… what do we have here" he said, as he made his way over multiple unconscious people to where Medea had the red-head held tight. The captive grinned.
"Seems you've got me caught" he mused, "So what are you gonna do to me now? Torture? Kill? I won't give in to threats or bribery" he said. Edric came up close to the man, his eyes neatly narrowed, as if he was observing something.
After a moment he turned to Thomas, who still leaned against the wall. "Thomas, is this guy the real deal?" he asked. Thomas frowned.
"Yes. According to my Archive he is" the boy replied. Edric gritted his teeth.
"Tch" he cursed, "You're more skilled than I gave you credit for" he stated, before taking out a playing card and activating his magic, the card being replaced by a sword. After a moment Edric threw the blade directly at our hard-fought captive. The blade immediately phased through him.
Medea screeched. "Edric… what the-" she began, before she heard the blade clatter on the other side of the man she was supposed to be holding tight, "He's… not real?" she said in a surprised tone of voice. The man turned his head in her direction, grinning wildly.
"Seems not, my dear" he said, before he suddenly vanished.
Medea immediately used her Transformation power to return to her original body. "Where is he?" she asked Edric in a commanding tone of voice. Edric shrugged.
"That was a Thought Projection. I could only sense it when he was close, however with that level of power in that projection, he must be near" Edric stated. Thomas came over immediately, having seen his tracking fail he was clearly angry.
"How did he trick my Archive?" he demanded in a sharp tone. Edric once more shrugged.
"I don't know, however for now we're going to have to search for him, or work out some way of tracking him. You still got his magic signature at least, right?" Edric asked. Thomas nodded.
"Yes, although it will take some time to find him" the other boy stated. Edric nodded.
"Well then, we're going to have to go an start looking nearby" Edric declared.
"I don't think that'll be necessary" a voice called out. We all stopped and looked up to the roof of a nearby building; the red-head was perched atop it. He grinned and waved at us all. "I'm sorry to have to crash your party, however this was fun. I hope we get to do it together some time" he said. Edric muttered something.
The red-head laughed. "Oh, what was that little man, I didn't quite catch it" he mused, before he looked over towards Kenji's position, "Also… there's no point continuing to hide there, old geezer. I was able to sense you this whole time" the red head added.
At this Kenji stood up. "I see my former pupil has honed his skills at detection" the old sword master stated. The red-head scowled at this statement, breaking the grin, he had maintained up to this point.
"It doesn't take much detection skill, anyone could catch the scent of a traitor such as yourself" the red-head stated in a more venomous tone to the playful one he had been using to taunt Edric. Why does he hate Kenji? And… did he say pupil?! My mind instantly became full of questions; however, I did not have time to asked them right this moment.
"That's quite funny coming from such a wayward boy as yourself. How are those false masters you and your misguided allies follow?" Kenji retorted to the red-heads previous statement. The red-head pouted.
"They are all doing just well" he frowned, "However, it's not like I really expect you to care for us, not after what you did" he added with a angrier tone.
Kenji remained motionless. "What I did?" he mumbled lowly, so low that I doubt anyone but me and Natsu would have heard.
The red-head laughed at Kenji's sudden silence. "Well that seems to have silenced you. Maybe I should leave you to dwell on this, after all I'm already late for another appointment" the red-headed man stood up on the rooftop. "I guess I'll see you again soon. Maybe then we can actually have a fight… not that I didn't enjoy this one, Dragon Slayers" he stated, giving us a bow. Edric went wide eyed at this man's actions.
"Wait! Somebody stop him!" he barked. Thomas already had his Archive ready, however he shook his head.
"Edric, he's already left, I think he did a few minutes ago since his Magic Signature is very faint. That's just another left over illusion" Thomas stated.
Edric looked to his brother for a moment, before cursing under his breath. With an angry stare, he drew another playing card, and this time summoned up a spear, which he hurled up towards the red-head. The spear passed harmlessly through this second illusion, much as the sword had through the first, then after a final grin, the red-head vanished into the night.
"Fuck!" Edric cursed aloud after our target had gone.
I looked to Natsu; the pinkette was as silent as the grave. After a moment, he looked to me and shook his head. "We failed" he said to me. I nodded.
"Yeah" I agreed, "We did."
/
I flopped down onto the sofa in my hotel room with a heavy sigh. Natsu closed the door behind me, before flipping the lock and placing the key on the coffee table before me. The pinkette had remained strangely quiet since the flight of the red-headed man, and it was beginning to unnerve me. I woulda thought that by now he'd at least have said something about it… even if it was just some random swear word, or something…
I looked at Natsu with slightly analytical eyes. The pinkette's gaze shifted to me as he sat on the sofa next to me. "Something wrong Sting? You look like something's on your mind" Natsu asked me with a lower tone than what he usually used.
I pouted at him for a moment, before shaking my head. "No, nothing's wrong… it's just you've been really quiet since we left. I know Edric said he'd deal with all the mess, and all those people who got cursed, so you can't be worrying about that, so…" I trailed off, unsure of where to continue with my rambling.
Natsu smiled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you, I was just… thinking" he said. I chuckled slightly.
"Alright… that's… unusual for you" I smirked, earning a narrowed gaze from the pinkette.
"Hey, I'm not that empty headed" he argued momentarily. I continued laughing, before settling down and moving closer to him so that I could rest my head on his shoulder. His body's always so warm… I thought as I felt the heat radiate off of the Fire Dragon Slayer. It had been a long night, and now I could feel the fatigue from both the dancing at the bar, and the fight in the streets clinging to my muscles.
"So… what were you thinking about then" I asked Natsu, as I accepted the arm he hung loosely around my shoulders.
"Well… after the fight, I realised… could you smell something on that guy?" he asked me. I pouted for a moment, before once more shaking my head lightly.
"No. It was weird how his thought projection could manage to trick our noses like that though, especially yours" I stated. Natsu smiled slightly at the momentary compliment I offered him, before he continued explaining his line of reasoning.
"Alright, so you didn't smell anything, but I did. Not on the thought projection, it was right after he drew his sword against that guy in the alley who was knocked out" I looked up at Natsu as he talked.
"What did you smell?" I asked him. He shrugged a little, being careful not to knock my head.
"I don't know, but it smelled the same as Kenji and that black-haired guy from back at Hargeon. Do you think it's connected?" he looked to me sincerely as he asked this. I pouted for a moment before I smiled.
"Well, before that guy ran, he did mention something to Kenji, and then Kenji said something about him being his pupil. Maybe the black-haired guy was also a pupil and they use similar magic or something?" I reasoned. Natsu once more shrugged lightly.
"Maybe. Do you think we should ask them about this?" he said. I nodded and gave an adamant look at this.
"Yes. They may be some secretive family; however, I am definitely gonna be going to Makarov tomorrow to discuss this. We need to have some answers, we can't have them continuing to involve Fairy Tail and Sabertooth in their stuff if its gonna come with risks like what we faced" I stated. Natsu laughed at my declaration, and I sent him a quizzical look. "What's so funny, I thought you'd be all 'fired up' to protect the guild?" I asked him after a moment.
Natsu smiled brightly at me. "I am, it's just… you sounded so much like a real guild master there" he stated. I was taken aback by the pinkette's amusement.
"I am a real guild master!" I barked sharply, before sitting up. The Fire Dragon looked to me with continued amusement.
"I know you are" he said, before holding out his arm, "And your also my boyfriend… so you know that I'm only teasing you, right?" he added. I smiled.
"Yeah, I know. I was just surprised by that little teasing statement, that's all" I stated, before leaning back into Natsu; I enjoyed the Fire Dragon Slayer's warmth too much to stay sitting up.
Natsu chuckled as he held me tighter, and closer to his chest. Silenced then rested over us for a moment, as we each just enjoyed the other's company for a quiet minute.
The silence was broken by a chuckle from Natsu. I looked up to him, questioning what he was giggling about without even having to say a word. "Hey Sting" Natsu began, "I've just had another thought"
"Wow, two thoughts in one day, good for you Natsu" I replied with a little dry sarcasm in my voice. Natsu sighed.
"Just listen" he said, earning my attention. With a bright grin, the pinkette leaned his head down to my ear to whisper. "I want to make good on our deal" he muttered in a low tone. Deal? I thought for a moment, before a memory faded into my consciousness. Oh right, the dance off…
"Do we have to do that now, I'm really tired?" I asked him. It was already late, something like two in the morning from the brief glance I had at the clock on my way in, and I knew that tomorrow Natsu and I would have to get back to work. Natsu looked at me intently.
"You agreed that we'd do this after the job" he stated. I sighed.
"But after he job could mean tomorrow you know" I replied, although clearly Natsu was having none of it. The pinkette shook his head obstinately.
"Come on, it's not that late yet, we can do this then sleep" he said, trying once more to reason with me. I looked into the Fire Dragon's eyes for a moment, to see the fire within flare up in defiance. He's not gonna give up, is he? I thought tiredly.
With a defeated sigh, I nodded my head. "Alright, you've convinced me, but instead of doing everything tonight" I stated to him, "How about we do something tonight, and then tomorrow… we can continue?" I looked to Natsu with pleading eyes. The pinkette smirked wickedly. This should shut him up I thought.
"Alright, but since you're so tired, why don't I help you out a little, then tomorrow… tomorrow we fuck properly" he asked. I looked to him suspiciously.
"By 'help me out' do you mean…?" I trailed off, trying to entice Natsu to reveal whatever plan he had concocted to me, not that I didn't have some idea of what he might be planning. The pinkette however just kept grinning.
"Come on Sting, let's go to the bedroom" he said, before standing up and holding out his hand for me to take. Still looking on suspiciously I accepted the invitation, and with that we entered my bedroom.
/
Natsu wasted no time, he was on me the second he saw the bed, mouth hungrily attacking my own, hands pawing at my clothes. I let him do what he wanted, after all I had agreed to this, even if right now all I wanted was to curl up beside him and sleep.
"Sting… get on the bed" Natsu said as he broke off his kiss. I complied with his request and immediately crawled onto the bed, laying down and looking back at Natsu with a gaze of want. The pinkette looked over my clothed body with hungry, predatory eyes. Fuck… that's too hot… I thought, Guess I wanted this more than I thought…
"So, what do you want to do with me Natsu, since we're playing this game" I asked him. Natsu grinned and clambered onto the bed, face no more than a few millimetres away from mine. His hot breath fell onto my cheeks as his eyes lit up with a bright flame.
"You'll see" he replied in a teasing voice. I couldn't help but shiver a little in pleasure, as the pinkette's hand slid along my leg and fondled the thigh. Natsu could feel my shiver, and smirked all the more, before hungrily capturing my mouth with his own, tongue pressing for entrance almost immediately. I allowed him to enter, since I was feeling more submissive than usual in my slightly fatigued state. Natsu chuckled slightly into the kiss, before withdrawing. "You're unusually submissive" he mused. I smiled.
"Maybe I'm just waiting to see whatever it is you've got planned, pinkie" I retorted, which made Natsu grin wickedly.
"Is that really what you're doing?" he muttered wistfully, as his hand moved up from my thigh to the edge of my shirt, quickly making its way up to my abs. I tensed slightly as I felt his fingertips slide over my bare body; his hand was hot, hotter than usual anyways. Natsu's eyes freely moved over my clothed body as he fondled me, however his gaze eventually met back up with mine. "Like that?" he asked me. I looked at him with a confused expression.
"What're you doing Natsu?" I asked him. The Fire Dragon Slayer smirked.
"I'm sending just enough magic to make my hands heat up" he said, before leaning in until he was almost kissing me. "Just imagine what it'll feel like when this hand goes other places" he added, before finally kissing me once more, not allowing me to respond. Unfortunately, my mind did exactly what he wanted and did begin to imagine; my cock did too, as I got a lot harder from that one idea.
I knew that Natsu had noticed my hard-on immediately, as the corners of his mouth upturned, however he continued kissing me. Then, with one instant motion he ripped a moan from me. "Agh… N-atsu" I moaned into the kiss as he ground down on my member. Natsu continued smirking. Cocky bastard I thought to myself, before another grinding motion had me thinking of other things.
After a few minutes more, Natsu withdrew from the kiss, sitting up. "Like that Sting?" he laughed. I was about to try to come up with some cocky retort of my own, however another sight stopped me for a moment.
With a grin, I met Natsu's gaze. "I'm not the only one who liked that" I said to him. Natsu laughed a little at that.
"Well how could I not like doing that, especially when you make such sexy noises" he stated, before he moved and began reaching down to his own shirt, fingers quickly fiddling and undoing all the buttons to expose his chest to me. I took in the sight greedily, before Natsu, with a led smirk, removed the piece of clothing entirely. I smiled back at him, equally as lewdly, before I reached out and began fondling his body in much the same way he had done to me.
Natsu laughed, before he brought up his hands to grab my arms, sliding his fingers along their length to my shoulders, before shoving me back down onto the bed. "If you want to touch more, you gotta strip too, Sting" he said to me. I grinned brightly.
"Why don'tcha help me then?" I retorted, which earned a flicker of amusement across the Fire Dragon's face. Natsu leaned in immediately, before moving to kiss me once more. Unlike his previous kisses though, this one was only fleeting; instead of heatedly attacking my mouth, he instead opted to kiss a trail down my jaw and neck, his fingers moving in tandem to his mouth, opening each button on my shirt as his mouth kissed the newly exposed skin. Natsu kissed a trail all the way from my mouth to the very rim of my trousers, before finally looking up and smiling. I smiled back, before I ruffled a hand through his hair, sending the pink locks into an even more haphazard state than they were already in. Natsu purred slightly at the gesture, before moving back up my body, one hand supporting his weight as the other fondled my abdomen once more. His palms and fingers were still heated; however, this was not a bad thing as once I got over the initial surprise I realised just how good it felt. "Mmm…" I murmured into our sloppy kiss.
"Sting…" Natsu mumbled in response. After a few short minutes of kisses, we stopped, our members and insides each burning with desire. We each knew that we had long since reached our threshold; we needed more. Now. "Sting, I want to… I need to see you naked" Natsu said with a tone full of desire. I nodded in understanding.
"It's alright, let's just skip the rest of the strip-tease and get naked" I stated. Natsu smiled, before he kneeled up. With one quick movement, he loosened his belt and slid his trousers completely off of his body, throwing them aside in favour of reaching down to help me with my own trousers. With both of us nearly naked, only one piece of clothing separated our members. Natsu looked me up and down, before leaning back over me, mouth moving up to my ear. "Don't hold back on those moans" he whispered. I frowned for a moment, about to question him on what he meant, however a sudden explosion of delicious friction on my member made me realise his plan.
"F-fuck" I exclaimed in pleasure as Natsu ground down on my hard-on. Although he had done it before, this time it felt so much better without anything but our underwear separating our members. "Is t-this your plan?" I gasped as he continued to gyrate. Natsu chuckled.
"No. This is just… for fun" he giggled. With one hand Natsu ghosted his fingertips over my naked body, before finally reaching the hem of my boxers. I could see where this was going, however I felt powerless to stop it. With one finally grin, the pinkette moved his heated hand into the confines of the clothe, before taking a firm grasp of my member. "Agh… so… hot" I gasped in pleasure as the heat that pulsed through Natsu's hand completely enveloped my cock. The Fire Dragon Slayer laughed triumphantly. "That's it Sting, let me hear more of those sexy noises" he said, as he continued grinding, only this time with his hand moving up and down my member too.
"N-natsu… I… too fucking… good" I moaned. Quickly I felt myself losing any semblance of control I had, the heat and friction melding together to form the most perfect blend of pleasure I had experienced. It wasn't long before I could feel myself reaching orgasm.
Natsu felt the twitching in my member too, and quickly stopped his assault, much to my annoyance. Looking to him in confusion, the pinkette shook his head. "Not yet Sting, there's still one more thing I wanna do to you tonight" he stated. I furrowed my brows quickly, my sex-addled mind no longer able to think straight. Natsu saw this and once more leaned into my ear. "I want to taste you, like you tasted me" he whispered lustfully. I shivered in pleasure at the promise in Natsu's words.
"Do it" I said, "Just… don't take more than you can handle" I added with a faint smirk. Natsu smirked back at me.
"What? Think I can't handle your dick?" he scoffed. I chuckled.
"Well… it is bigger than yours" I replied. Natsu almost seemed offended by this.
"Oh, that's it. I'm all fired up now" he declared, before leaning down on me to capture my lips in a final heated kiss. I was feeling a little rebellious after Natsu's outburst, and decided to put up a little more of a fight than I had previously, however all this earned was an even more forceful attempt to take dominance from the pinkette. Wow, he's really not messing around… that's so fucking hot I thought, as I gripped the pinkette tight. After a few moments, he broke off with the kiss, his smile giving away his preparedness for what came next.
With a few kisses, Natsu's slid down my body until his head was level with my member. He eyed the length for a moment, before looking back up at me. I could see the passionate flames dance in his eyes, however there were also flames of love there too. With that last look, Natsu once more eyed up my member, before experimentally bringing his tongue down to lick a stripe from base to tip. I moaned slightly in encouragement. This had a profound effect on Natsu as he repeated the action several times, each time he lingered around the head of my cock, his tounge playing with the slit. After a final attempt, Natsu then decided to move on to the main even.
"So… hot…" I moaned out as Natsu engulfed my head in his fire-eating mouth, "Your mouth is so hot… Na-tsu" I gasped. Natsu laughed, before removing the member out of his mouth for a moment to speak.
"I do eat fire, y'know" he laughed. I nodded.
"Y-yeah I know, c-an you…" I really didn't want to have to say it. If I do, he'll never let me be dominant again I thought. Luckily, Natsu did not make me say it, instead he readily engulfed the tip of my member in his mouth once more. With each passing second Natsu progressively became more and more of an expert in the art of blowing. Soon I was nothing more than a moaning, gasping shell of my former self, as the pinkette drove me to instantly with his actions.
First Natsu began experimentally flicking the slit with his tongue. Then he began to try to get some of the length into his mouth, each time earning moans from me as that intense heat engulfed my entire body in pleasure. "Fuck…" I moaned out, as the pinkette got himself into a steady rhythm, up and down. He took in more and more with each bob of the head until he reached the base, each time he retracted I felt his tongue slide once more over my slit, precum surely encouraging him to continue in this manner. I ran a hand through his hair; I wasn't going to last long under this assault, not after the last thing he tried. Soon I reached my limit. "F-fuck… Natsu…" I panted.
The pinkette looked up at me, it was only then that I realised he was touching himself. From the glimmer in his eyes I could tell he was as close as me. I nodded at him slightly, understanding being shared between us without a single word being uttered. With our understanding reached, the Fire Dragon Slayer increase his pace, more forcefully flicking and using his tounge over my length. I intensified my grip on the bobbing head, holding onto that perfect pink hair. It was then that I was finally pushed beyond my limit. "Fuck… coming Natsu. I'm coming" I warned him. The pinkette moaned, as streams of hot white cum filled his mouth. I moaned alongside him as waves of orgasmic pleasure overtook my body, all thoughts being completely pushed from my mind by the sensations I was experiencing.
Natsu came too, over the sheets. Normally I would've cared if we made a mess, however I couldn't bring myself to care about anything right now, other than the feeling I had; pleasure in its purest form. We rode out our respective orgasm until they finished completely. Natsu swallowed as much of my semen as he could, however by the time he had finally removed the now softening member from his mouth, he had a good deal sliding down his face from the corners of his mouth to his chin. I let him crawl up, his body flopping down beside me as the fatigue of the activity, coupled with the fatigue of our failed mission, making us both feel incredibly tired. "Sting… did you like that?" he asked me, his voice edged with tiredness and the promise of sleep. I smiled, before reaching over to his cheek, and making him look at me. I kissed him sweetly, before nodding.
"Yeah I did… although… we've made a mess everywhere. You've also got something on your chin" I laughed before I scooped up some of the cum with my finger, licking it off the digit.
Natsu watched me for a second, his face blushing in embarrassment. I chuckled, and brought him in for another kiss, this one long and sloppy, before I kissed along his chin, licking up all the cum I could. "Sorry" he mumbled. I shook my head.
"No. That was amazing" I stated to him, before I took a hold of the ruined bed sheets and used them to cover our naked forms. Natsu purred contently as I wrapped him in my arms.
"I told ya I'd be able to take your whole cock" he muttered sleepily. I nodded, before I closed my eyes.
"I know you did. You are amazing after all" I stated. The pinkette laughed, however soon his breathing deepened, and I realised he was asleep. "Typical… good night Natsu" I said, before falling into my own dreams myself.
I knew that tomorrow I would need my game-face on, especially if I was to deal with the Zollzero's, however right now I was just happy I got to see that dominant side of Natsu.
After all… it was pretty hot I thought, as my head became filled with thoughts of the Fire Dragon Slayer, and my dreams became ones of warmth and love.
End of Chapter 18
Chapter Hint; Master and Pupil
Author's note; It's sad that Fairy Tail ended, but I'm still gonna continue this story to its end. After that I may consider a different fandom to start writing about. If anyone has any suggestions they can PM or just leave a review on one of my works saying which fandom I should consider. I've seen quite a lot of anime and manga so there's a good chance I'll have at least seen parts of most. Anyways, that is all, and also I'm so happy this story has been well-received and has gotten so many views already. Thanks :p