Before Gray's horrified eyes, Natsu was kneeling on the floor and something that looked like bones protruded from his back. Skin was torn as the bones – they weren't that white colour he usually associated with skeletal bones – started growing. As did Natsu's pained noises.
The gasps and tearing sounds seemingly took over the room, bouncing on the walls and seemingly becoming amplified in an awful cacophony.
The whole form of his companion was shaking, the muscles contracting with the tension and the position he'd taken was very unnatural as his spine was bending in what Gray could only describe as a painful position. Natsu's hands were opening and closing, nails digging and leaving small grooves on the wooden floor.
Gray stood awkwardly before Natsu, momentarily frozen and unable to step forward to help or to take a step back due to the shock.
But he shook himself out of it and reached out. Though before he could touch the other a rough, gasping voice made him stop.
"Don't!"
Natsu was burning.
His back was the worst as it felt as if molten metal were being poured on it. Distantly, a part of his brain that wasn't consumed by the burnpainhurt, realized that it was blood – not incandescent metal – that was sliding down his back.
It was red and flowed freely, a glossy thing that just didn't seem only fluid as light hit it.
That too quick realization was just an instant of clarity, the smallest of reprieves, before the pain encompassed his whole being once more.
And it hurt.
To be fair, Natsu didn't have a clue about what was happening.
He'd been having a pretty normal day, somewhat empty as Gray had had to go out but… nothing too out of the ordinary.
No.
That was a lie.
He had gotten in trouble earlier with the cook. But, damn, he'd only asked for another helping of lunch. There was a void inside of him that he tended to fill with food.
If he could, of course.
Yet, since he'd been purchased by this family, one that was fair and just and therefore on its way to become one of the Ten Families… he had food aplenty. Or so he thought.
He didn't like that he'd been kept in the same regimen he'd been put on at the store.
The emptiness inside of him had been close to winning a good number of times. And what if he'd become quieter and more aggressive, with his scars showing, the ragged edges barely held together – he wasn't the same person anymore. He'd grown way too fast despite being just a child.
That long ago.
So that was why when he saw all those things on Gray's bed, and with him looking pensively at them, something inside had given.
It came in a rush from Natsu's core, singing every path and nerve or cell inside before converging to his back.
The blinding pain began at that moment. It wasn't just the feeling of burning, no, there was also the feeling of skin being torn apart, ripped.
He fell, kneeling on the floor and trying to breathe.
Which proved to be quite impossible too as each lungful of air he attempted to take burned down his throat like acid.
Twin bands of burning emerged in unison, making it so that the half-breath he still trapped in his lungs rushed out in a scream.
He tried to curl upon himself, make himself smaller but his body didn't respond. And there was what felt like a blanket of coolness to start seeping in, from the edge of his vision.
That terrified Natsu.
He'd once been told by a so called seer that had been at the store about his dark destiny. She'd been quite careful with the way she spoke, the whispered words of a secret. Of a terrible cold that would erase him just for the mission.
And it was inexorable.
Distantly he made himself grip the floor, trying to find a way to ground himself to the reality, the one that stood beyond the awful battle between the burn and the cold that was raging inside of him. The reality where his name was being called. Unfortunately that small pain didn't do anything to distract him from the pain.
Darkness was blossoming from his core, the cold taking over the burning sensation – it felt like a balm for a few moments before the gelid abyss it opened to came.
Everything was different now.
He was different. All of his senses were working differently, sharper yet muffled by a cold veil – Natsu struggled to breathe once more as the vice on his throat seemed to finally close.
The air moved differently. Or maybe he was the one who saw something happening differently?
He felt the shift in the air, something approaching his shoulder and a frisson shot down his spine.
No.
He couldn't be touched.
Or something really awful would happen.
It was close. So close!
And the void inside him was beckoning, clamouring for it to make contact. It just couldn't be.
"Don't!"
The plea left his mouth, ragged, dripping with pain and exhausting. And that was enough for the hand to retract as if burned.
Good. Natsu thought to himself. It hasn't won this time yet. That though calmed him slightly.
And then the pressure on his back also eased, almost with a pop that helped the air to return to his lungs. The squishy sounds of some things falling followed.
Then, there were words, questions but he was lightheaded and couldn't quite hear them, and even less answer. Slow and painfully, he stood, letting the wall support most of his weight, not seeing the bloody red trails that he was leaving on the white paint.
Natsu felt the sudden need to stretch, which was odd. His whole body was actually feeling quite odd. His balance seemed quite wonky. Still, he gave in to the urge and heard the shocked gasp of the other person in the room. Gray was there, and that had completely fled from his mind.
"What the hell are you?" were the words lobbed at Natsu in an accusatory tone.
Natsu's reaction was to blink, still slightly in a daze.
"What?" he asked in a frail voice.