Yeah, this chapter has been long overdue can only apologize for those of you who have been waiting for it and remained faithful to my stories. I would say updates will be more frequent but I'm gonna have read the story over once more a couple of times to regain the train of thought I had with it.

Many days had passed since Natsu's rampage and Kuroka's 'death' and during that time not once had the dragonslayer awoken. Similarly, not once had Sayla or Tiamat left Natsu's side other than to get new bandages or to replace the blood-stained water in the basin beside his bed.

"The toll of his transformation is far worse than I could have imagined, we're lucky it didn't reach completion" Tiamat said in a worried tone as she placed a hand over the left side of the dragonslayer's' chest feeling his weakened heartbeat. "You're right, if he'd went any further, we would have lost him" Sayla further elaborated before she waved her hand through the air causing an array of books to appear in front of her and start circling around her gaining Tiamat's curiosity. "What are you doing Sayla?" the dragon king enquired worryingly while attending to Natsu's wounds.

"To put it simply one of my powers gives me access to a library of all the books and tomes that I've collected and stored away in another space; I'm checking them to see if we can find any information that may be useful to us" the demon explained before the books around her started circling her at much faster pace followed by a sphere of green energy. It might have only seemed like a short time to Tiamat but Sayla was rapidly processing information, yet by the look on her face Tiamat could tell she wasn't coming up with anything. Soon the books and sphere of energy dispersed leaving a disappointed Sayla. "There was nothing of any use to us, I don't know how you plan on getting Kuroka back but I'm all ears" Sayla said, her voice having a hint of disbelief towards the end.

"There's only one way I know of that we'll be able to get her back but it'll be dangerous" Tiamat started off before letting out a huff. Taking two fingers she placed them on the underside of Natsu's wrist to check what his pulse was like at the moment. "The only method I know how to get her back involves travelling to the deepest levels of the underworld and busting her soul out prison" Tiamat started explain causing a puzzled look to appear on Sayla's face. "To simplify it, her soul will have to be deemed evil or pure if so if we can get to her before a judgement is passed, we'll have a chance at saving her" Tiamat tried to explain once more only this time "ugh…then what are we waiting for let's go" Natsu was barely able to cough out as he pushed himself up.

"Please you mustn't push yourself, I'll go get lady Kuroka and Lord Tiamat can stay and tend to you" Sayla pleaded as she tried to gently lower Natsu back to the floor but he wasn't having it and again pushed himself up. "NO! if this place is as dangerous as it sounds then I can't have you going alone and we can't no matter what you say you're not going instead of me" Natsu said to the two women in a commanding voice letting them understanding there was no room for objections. "Things might be different if it was just you but right now, you're carrying our kid inside of you and that's why I want you to remain behind" Natsu explained in a much more gentler tone causing the dragon king to eventually smile and sigh as if to say "fine I give up".

"Alright I give, but maybe this can help with your injuries slightly" Tiamat said before a bright blue flame gathered in her right hand and then shooting it directly at Natsu who smirked at the sight of the blue blaze heading his way. Opening his arms wide as if to welcome someone home with a hug, Natsu stood motionless as the raging blue flames scorched everything in their path towards him until eventually causing a large explosion. Black smoke rose into the sky blocking all sight of what was happening, that was until streams of the blue flame rose skyward before immediately shooting back down as the girls watched Natsu absorb the flames or to be more accurate eat them in order to gain his strength back.

"Sorry it's all I can spare right now" was all Tiamat said causing Natsu to shake his head, "no this is enough, we'll make it; you just concentrate on keeping yourself safe until we get back" Natsu said affectionately while wrapping his arms around her for a moment. "Please rest assured I'll do the utmost to make sure that master isn't harmed" Sayla went to reassure the dragon king getting a smile out of her when she saw Natsu hugh out a sigh, "You've really got to get out of the pattern of calling me master, just call me by my real name ok?"

"Ok you two I'll take you as close as I can to this place but as per your wishes, you're on your own" Tiamat said briefly before her blue flames started swirling around her until she couldn't be seen. Then in single beat her large dragon wings dispersed the flames revealing her dragon form "Hurry hop on, I imagine it wasn't exactly discrete transforming" her tone now much more rushed as she knew that since the previous battle it wasn't gonna be the likes of the Satans who would want answers but if any of the other dragon kings learned about the news not mention any of the gods from the other religions then she'd be relentlessly hunted. Taking off as fast as she could Tiamat had Natsu and Sayla to their destination within what felt like minutes and upon landing on what was now snow-covered ground she lay one of her wings down so that the two passengers could slide to the ground.

"This is where we part ways for now, if I'd got my way I'd be going with you but well you know" Tiamat said with a obvious click of the tongue as she started to beat her wings causing strong gale like winds to be felt within a certain amount of the surrounding area. "Ok this place must be close by, from what Tio said on the way here I have an idea of what to look for" Natsu said in a puzzled tone as he and Sayla began trodding their way the thick deep snow towards a pair of twin mountain peaks. "Yes, according to miss Tiamat somewhere in between those peaks is a labyrinth of valley path; so the entrance should be in their somewhere, but…" Sayla said as she assessed the situation but pausing with a slight frown on her face catching Natsu's interest.

"Is something up? Cause when you say 'but…' like that I don't know how to feel" Natsu asked in curious tone wondering what could unsettle Sayla like this. "It's just that, is finding the entrance all we'll have to do to get in; what if there are other requirements for entering this place?" Sayla suggested gaining Natsu's attention while also raising a good point. "It's definitely something to think over, give me a bit as we make our way there" Natsu said in an understanding tone as he fully got what Sayla was trying to say, it might not be like there will be a door there waiting for them. But for know they had a long way to go yet, they weren't even at the base of the mountains and they were getting blasted by the snow, ice and freezing winds.

Taking this into consideration Natsu felt bad for Sayla considering her attire, this being in the sense it struggled to cover her body, left little to the imagination below the waist and how one could even call it fabric when taking into account its thickness. "Hey Sayla there's something I've been curious about, don't you get cold wearing just uuuhhhh, um that?" Natsu asked although his tone took a slight embarrassing shift towards the ends. "These clothes suite my need to a perfectly acceptable degree, besides demons like myself are able to adjust our body temperatures to suite that of the surrounding environment" Sayla explained with one of her rare smiles, it was only when she got to explain things like this did smile as such.

Natsu said and smiled back taking in everything she said as she did so with such enthusiasm, she even managed to explain it in such a way that Natsu was able to understand. "Wow, I never knew you were so amazing, that's pretty cool you can do that" Natsu complimented her followed by one of his own smiles.

With Kuroka

Kuroka's eyes began to slowly flutter open and at that time she thought nothing of the sensation until she realised what had just happened to her, "where is this? I'm nearly certain I died, where am I?" the Nekomata asked no-one in particular as she looked around herself seeing that she was alone in a simple stone cell. "You'll see soon enough just where you are, but you'll have to wait your turn first" a feminine voice called out to Kuroka from the edge of the cell drawing Kuroka's attention to a brown-haired woman of average height and build donning guards armour with a baton attached at the hip. She had green eyes and wore her hair in a bob cut, but for Kuroka obviously the most distinguishable features were the two white feathery wings and halo above here head automatically telling Kuroka that this woman was an Angel, the enemy to her kind.

"Oh…I see that's it then hah" Kuroka replied in a depressed tone with the look on her face matching to a point, remembering what had just happened, the fact she couldn't feel her powers, that she was in a cell and to top it all off she had an angel for a guard; she had a pretty good idea of where she was, although she detested the idea that it might be true. "Hoh, seems you've already got a sense of where this place is, it's a very special place all things considered and considering its location it normally couldn't exist but thanks to a little deal that was made our business can be conducted here" the guard informed with smirk before she turned swiftly and started to walk off.

"What does she mean by deal? What would Sirzechs get for allowing such a place to exist?" Kuroka asked herself in a puzzled tone as she walked back and forth in her cell, she continued to do so for five minutes before giving up and plopping down on the ground in the corner of the cell like a child. If a word had to be chosen to describe her face at the moment it would be desolate. Touching the mark on her breast she began following and tracing all over with her slim delicate fingers, tears then started to build up in her eyes and she began to shake; even knowing what fate this place had in store for her she still wanted to believe.

"I know he'll come…If you can hear me Natsu, please find me, SAVE ME!"

With Natsu and Sayla

At that very moment as Natsu and Sayla were pushing forward through the blizzard Natsu suddenly came to a stop, "Natsu why did you is something there?" Sayla asked after having walked into said dragon slayers back. She received no response but noticed Natsu raise his hand up to touch his mark on his neck "SAVE ME!" there was no mistaking it, it was her voice and by the sound of things she was scared beyond anything she'd come across before and hearing this made Natsu, well it made him angry. Going deep into thought Natsu went to visit someone for a chat, "Hey kid long time no see, seems you're in a bit of a bind so what can I do for you?" someone who Natsu didn't recognise at all said.

Seeing the confusion he laughed, "My bad, I can transform to more suitable forms for communication is there anyone you'd prefer me to look like?" they asked with a smirk on their face. "Cut the shit E.N.D YOU know I don't care what you look like but right now I need your help to save Kuroka" Natsu replied angrily to the now identified E.N.D. "Oh and just what could I offer you?" Natsu's literal inner demon asked curiously. "Give me control over the transformation for long enough to save her" Natsu simply replied which unexpectantly caused E.N.D to burst into laughter albeit briefly before the atmosphere intensified and became serious "Say I do, what do I get out of it?" the demon reasoned with Natsu confusing him as he thought it would benefit both of them if they got Kuroka back.

Seeing the confusion on Natsu's face caused a toothy grin to make its way across E. face as he tilted it to the side and placed his cheek on his fist. "I see, you thought that the idea of her rescue was enough in that it benefits us both but that's where you're mistaken my foolish other half" E.N.D replied in a neutral tone as he started to walk towards Natsu. From what he had said so far and the tone in which he had done so, Natsu could tell the demon wasn't lying; "you see the only one who would benefit from your proposal would be you as I'm a completely separate entity from you and as such her energy has no relevance to mine hahaha" E.N.D explained to Natsu laughing in face enraging the dragonslayer to point he wished he could strike the demon.

"A proposal you say?" Natsu mumbled under his breath, his eyes shadowed; "What?" E.N.D questioned his face baring a puzzled expression as if to say 'what are you on about?'. "You said my proposal wasn't beneficial towards you, then how about you give me control of the transformation ability to go save …"

"You're spouting the exact same crap as before; I'll need sort enticement to offer you this power and even at that in your current condition the amount time you'd have would be severely limited" E.N.D cut the dragonslayer pre-emptively short believing he was spouting the same stuff as before. "I wasn't done, if I can't find or rescue Kuroka within the time limit you think my body can handle you can have full control over my body" Natsu replied causing the demons eyes to widen in shock letting Natsu know now he'd gotten E. attention, well there was the eyes and the fang baring grin splattered across his face. "E.N.D you sure you're willing to go through with that sort of proposal?" E.N.D asked unable to hide the tone of obvious humour.

Holding out his hand a purplish black flame surrounded E. hand before shortly dissipating to reveal a scroll and a needle "I'd like if we could have this in a binding contract so one prick should do it" E.N.D explained to Natsu in a most untrusting manner as he held the contract in one hand and the needle in the other. Without much hesitation Natsu took one of his fingers and pricked it off the needle in order to draw some blood before wiping a straight line across the contract. "That should be enough, right?" Natsu asked rhetorically not really needing an answer, a fanged smile followed by a cackle erupted from E. mouth, "My power is yours slayer just remember you'll have a time limit as of which considering the state of your body is probably thirty minutes give or take five minutes if you take into account any variables" E.N.D replied with a smirk resulting in Natsu to narrow his eyes at the demon "well I suppose you better get going" E.N.D said as he stood up and started walking until he walking until he was face to face with the dragonslayer.

"A word of advice should you succeed Natsu, going forward you're going to have to learn how to kill" E.N.D advised Natsu with an emotionless face which caused the slayer to erupt in a fit of anger "over my dead body!" Natsu shouted in response before he realised the hypocrisy of his words. "Exactly, and not just your body but it could be someone else's although I'm sure you've already experienced that" E.N.D replied when he saw the look on Natsu's face. The words hit Natsu so hard that he didn't even seem to notice E.N.D walk away into the shadows and the darkness around him begin to crumble away.

Back in reality

No time had passed despite the chat that seemed to last for hrs with E.N.D, however everything they talked about, that they did, it all transpired. He could feel it in his body, the ability to control 'that' power but literally by making a deal with the devil and what's worse he was on a timer. "Sayla, no matter what happens next I promise you it's still me" was all Natsu said over his shoulder as he looked ahead of himself and began to recite it.

"I WHO AM ABOUT TO AWAKEN,"

(Ware, Mezameru Wa)

"AM HE WHO HAS LOST ALL TO THE PRINCIPLE OF LIFE AND DEATH!"

(Kare Amu Dare Ga Ushinawa Remashita Ni Inkurudo Seimei No Genri Soshite, Shi)

"I AM THE VERY EMBODIMENT OF DESOLATION AND DESTRUCTION!"

(Watashi Inkurudo Hijo Ni Jisshi Rei Kohai No Soshite Hakai)

"ALL SHALL PERISH WITHIN THE WAKE THAT IS MY DESPAIR!"

(Subete Ga Horobimasu Inai U~eiku Koto Watashi No Zetsubō Ga Arimasu)

"I AM HE WHO SHALL BECOME THE TRUE DRAGON GOD"

(Watashi Kare Dare-jō Matatsu No Kami)

"WITH MY BEGINNING WILL COME THE WORLD'S END"

(Watashi No Bōtō De Kimasu Sekainoowari)

"I WILL PURGE YOUR VERY EXISTANCE IN CRIMSON HELLFIRE!"

(Shimasu Pāji Kimi No Hijo Ni Sonzai Ni Shinku Gōka)

"I RELINQUISH THE DREAM IN ORDER TO SURPASS THE INFINTE!"

(Watashi Hōki Suru Inkurūdo Yume No Tami Ni Shinogimasu Mugen

"AND MY POWER SHALL SHOW YOU THE DARKEST DEPTHS OF MY SOUL!"

(Soshite, Watashi No Chikara Ga Anata O Shimesanakereba Narimase Watashi No Tamashī No Mottomo Kurai Fuka-Sa N)

"AWAKEN NOW AS I CALL THY NAME!"

(Mezame Ima No Yō Ni Watashi Anata No Na)

"E!"

"N!"

"D!"

Chp. End

So this chapter was well overdue and has been on my mind for a while, being a fanfic writer isn't easy I totally never expected so many of my stories to get popular so that's one of the reasons responding to each of them has been so tough. Anyway this is one less chp now so to next time…whenever that is lol