Chapter Five: E.N.D.
A/N: I'm so sorry for the wait, but here are the last two chapters to start your year off with. Woohoo it's 2018!
"Draco, do you honestly expect to win?" The large wolf's voice booms as he enters the clearing, his paw crushing a small tree on the edge.
"I might, but it's not what I'm hoping for." At this he finally turns around, a smile plastered onto his face at the sight of his guild members and spirit friends. "You ready?"
"Why don't you just go against him!?" Bristol spouts out, Quadria watching her ride on the head.
"But I wanna fight!" He whines like a child, and everyone sweatdrops at his reaction.
"Well then..." Kitsune starts, bending his knees,"Lets GO!" The fox launches towards him and everyone follows in suit. The spirits trade blow after blow with Natsu, who easily just blocks and dodges most of the time.
"Foxes Wing-!"
"Serpents Poison-!"
"Demonic Griffin's-!"
"Wolf's Dark Orb-!"
"Bears Feathered Slash!" The attacks are shouted out at the same time and the words seem to blend together. The area is soon consumed by a balance of light and dark, blinding all the spectators. A huge shockwave almost throws everyone from where they stand, and the mages hold onto the ground for dear life.
"You might want to stand back." Lucifer's gruff voice speaks from beside Makarov, taking the mages out of their daze as the wind settles.
"No! We're here to help, no matter what we can do!"
"Then get in there..." He pauses, red eyes narrowing into slits,"Wait a moment." Just as he finishes a familiar voice belows a counter.
"STARLIGHT FIRE DRAGONS ROAR!" And the fire-infused darkness cuts through the ground and sends all of the spirits flying deeper into the forest. Trees, dirt and grass are torn from the ground mercilessly, thrown every which way. The air is filled with a brown cloud which fills the mages vision.
As the dirt settles they look out and see a form laying and parallel to it is a section of the forest where it was cut out by the previous attack. Lucy's the first to go up to the figure, soon followed by the spirits who had gone back to their humanoid forms.
"Natsu...?" Lucy speaks up, seeing the person not getting up from where he lays on his back.
"Hmm?"
"You okay now?"
"Perfect. I needed to let off some steam."
"We're sorry, Dra-"
"MAVIS LIMBO! QUIT CALLING ME DRACO!" The pinkette sits up, a fire blazing behind his eyes as he stares at the deer-human.
"I-I'm sorry..." Guilt flashes on his face as he stands to comfort the spirit, putting his hands on her shoulders.
"I'm sorry, Constellation. I've been holding in my temper for a long time now."
"So are you coming home now?" Wise speaks, stopping his examination of his staff to glance at the alpha key spirit.
-x-
Back at Magnolia the Fairy Tail mages are holding their ground, Wendy is helping to balst through them with her roar mixing with Gajeels.
"They're stronger than we thought!" A dark mage shouts as she barely misses the attack only to be taken down by Pantherlily.
"I feel we have it easy." Carla says as she looks to where all the spirits went.
"Oui!"
"Juvia has taken care of the fire." Juvia says but she's completely exhausted. Wendy immediately goes to the water mages aid but behind them comes a dark mage ready to attack.
"Juvia!" Wendy shouts, completely unaware of the danger behind her.
"Wendy!" Carla shouts. She wasn't looking for just a second, and now she'd be too late! Wendy looks behind her but instead of letting the shock get to her she narrows her eyes.
"Sky Dragons ROAR!" She shouts out quickly, and although it isn't strong it's enough to blast the person back. Carla sighs in relief and smiles at the girl she'd grown with. She's become so powerful. The exceed smiles at the girl and places a hand on her heart.
-x-
"Draco!" Daine bursts from the trees, followed by a small group of cloaked mages who chose to stay with him.
"Shit." Natsu hisses under his breath, narrowing his eyes as he stares at the person who had put him through all of this.
"Lets go, Dragon's Wrath!" Daine shouts out, and the mages behind him launch forward, taking on the spirits.
Now in their human forms the spirits battle against the mages, with the few Fairy Tail mages joining soon afterwards.
Trading blow after blow, people are being thrown by the force of the spirits and Natsu can only watch. Makarov stomps on people as Erza cuts others down. Gray is pummeling them with his respective and element and Lucy with her many spirits.
But somebody just had to attack Daine in the middle of it all.
Medusa, the hot-headed serpent of the double-keys, the one who acts before thinking. She sends her snakes to bite all enemy's around her- and one just happened to be the key holder.
In a flash of fire and darkness, Natsu appears in the field. Holding the purple snake by its jaw and neck, inches from his own face. Teeth bared he throws it back towards the girl, making her lean back by the force put into it. Many people pause at this, while a smirk grows on Daine's face.
"Go, Draco! Attack!"
"No." The dark-haired mage blanks out for a moment, and everyone else sweatdrops. As the faze passes a twitch appears on his forehead, and Daine marches up to Natsu, jabbing a finger in his chest.
"I summoned you. You are my spirit! You will do as I say!"
"I'm not a damn pokemon!" He says, which confuses many people, because what is a pokemon? "And I am not your spirit!" Natsu barks back, taking a step towards the man, and fear flashes across the others face.
"You can't attack me! You have to protect me!" Dain says and the pinkette snarls. Natsu threateningly reels back a fist, preparing to blast the other in the face. "Do it." Dain sneers and Natsu yanks his fist down angrily.
"I can't wait to beat you." Natsu says darkly but Dain makes sure it doesn't get to him because he has the key. Now he just need the other one.
"Attack." Dain orders again and points the key at Natsu's chest. Natsu then looks at Medusa and rolls his eyes. In a flash he's beside her but the tip of her tail is in his hand and she looks at him in shock and understanding.
"Sorry, 'Dusa." He says and then sends her flying into the air. She shouts as she goes sailing and everyone witnesses it. Natsu then points his finger at Kitsune and fire forms at the end, powerful and condensed. He shoots the beam and not everyone watches it but everyone feels the fire hit and it shakes the ground. The fox screams out because damn that hurt.
It triggers something. Something few understood, but one person meant.
"This is your fault." Natsu states but he's smiling. Everyone feels that a mistake was made on someones part as an immense force begins to take form. A vortex appears as the sky looks like it's being sucked into the darkness of space. Suddenly a majestic form surrounded in light floats above them in all his glory
"C-CELESTIAL SPIRIT KING!" Everyone shrieks-well, everyone except Natsu, that is.
"Hey! Mr. Limbo! Great to see you!" Natsu waves up at the named Spirit King, who lifts a foot above the surprised boy. A twitch mark appears on the King's forehead forms as a cold sweat envelopes the pinkettes body. "Eh?"
Not a moment later the foot slams down on top of him, and everyone goes wide-eyed at the scene. After a moment of silence the titan lifts its foot to show the form of a certain mage burrowed into the dirt below.
Reaching down the king pulls the kid out and drops him on the ground.
"There, that's your punishment." After a moment Natsu slowly stands, rubbing a big lump on his head. All the dark mages just watch, completely unsure of what to do because of the Spirit King's appearance. Because what could they do? Many run yet Daine is still there, but even he is frozen in fear.
"A-ahh, yeah." He looks up at the titan before regaining his composure. "So-" But before he can start, the king pulls a shape out from behind him. The dark form in his hand becomes visible as he brings his hand down, and everyone gasps at the sight.
It's a girl, well, something like that. With shoulder-length pink hair and a black robe with white trimmings, showing her shoulders and cleavage. It's open at her stomach, flowing out behind her.
Stepping from the spirit kings hand, she touches the dirt with a bare foot, tripping slightly before stumbling a bit. Comically falling onto her face, which takes everyone off-guard. As she stands she wipes as much dirt as possible from her black sweats that are identical to Natsu's style.
And then they see something they're surprised they didn't see first.
Two golden horn curl from the top of her head forward slightly, stopping like a crown above her forehead.
"Ellery?" Natsu's voice breaks the overbearing silence, and a grin nearly identical to Natsu's spreads across her face.
"Nii-san!" The girl leaps into the other pinkettes welcoming embrace, and it takes everyone a moment to process what she had just said.
"NII-SAN!" The guild members shout with some of the spirits, while some others just stare wide-eyed- except Lucifer, he just smiles fondly.
"Nii-san?" Dain says quietly with wide eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Natsu breaks from the hug, looking into her onyx eyes.
"Ehe... The Spirit king brought me..." Both pinkettes look up at the titan before turning to the group behind them as the shrieks grow louder.
"W-wait, how is that possible? Aren't you a really old spirit? If you had a sister she'd be dead." Lucy gasps, rapidly pointing between the two.
"Ah, well, it's a long story we can deal with later, but..." Natsu turns his glare to the horned beauty,"this can't." He takes his index finger and pokes her forehead, eyes shining with fury.
"Natsu-nii...?"
"You lost my key."
"T-that happened forever ago... what was it-"
"THIRTY YEARS!" She jumps back as his scream echos in her ears, and she looks up guiltily.
"W-well, I have a lot on my mind. What did you say? Thirty years? My, how the time flies. It seems like yesterday when-"
"You DITCHED my key on the side of some dirt road so you could-" Natsu gets cut off as Erza stomps up to them, every one else soon following behind her. She glares at the female pinkette as she analyzes her, specifically the horns. "This is Ellery Dragneel." Wrapping a hand around her shoulders Natsu hugs the younger girl, completely rid of the earlier anger.
"How is that possible?" Gray asks and steps beside Erza and Makarov, arms crossed in front of his now bare chest.
"That's where he comes into play." Ellery sneers, a wicked smile creeping onto her face. The action sends shivers down everyone's spines with the smile and horns combo. Really, all these women are demons.
"God! Why'd you have to come now!" From the nearby edge of the meadow, out from the forest comes a rather depressed looking man. With dark hair, and a black cloak with a white sash.
"Zeref!?" The Celestial Spirit King grinds his teeth at the sight of the man, but doesn't advance towards him. This gets everyone else's attention as they turn from Natsu to the named 'Zeref'.
"ZEREF! As in then black mage Zeref!? Creator of Deliora and Lullaby?" The mages shriek while the spirits put their guard up. The spirits all look to Natsu and wait for his response as Zeref comes closer to the group.
"Damn..." The pinkette hisses under his breath, before taking a step towards the dark mage, between him and his sister.
"Natsu, do you know Zeref?!" Makarov speaks up, completely shocked by the turn of events.
"Fairly well, actually." He says, turning his sight to his sister, who cracks her knuckles, grin still plastered onto her face. Zeref is now close to the group, and in perfect range for her. "Ellery-"
"Zeref!" The girl cuts him off, her smile broadening to look a lot like Natsu's own. "Lets finish this!" She jumps towards him, fist cocked back.
"I've been waiting for-"
"NO!" Natsu shouts, slamming a fist onto both of their heads. His eyes closed, a twitch beating on his forehead as anger courses through his body. "Can't we have a reunion where you guys are not trying to kill each other!?" Everyone stares at the subdued dark mage, who had been pummeled into the earth so easily.
"Sorry, Natsu-nii..."
"Sorry, Natsu." Even Zeref apologizes with a bow, shocking all the witnesses.
"Okay then!" He gives a clap, gaining everyone's attention. "I have some explaining to do, don't I?"
"YES!" Everyone shrieks, eyes round and some anger going through the air.
"Well, where do I start..."
"You're bad at stories, Natsu, let me do it." This is Zeref who speaks, but nobody objects, so he begins. "Well, centuries ago I had met Ellery and Natsu Dragneel in a forest."
Flashback
The black mage was simply walking around, avoiding all life he could. He knew where he was, was generally safe because this was dragons territory. Other than the dragon, he doubted he would find life to kill with his magic. Walking along an unset path he finds his way to a clearing.
"Hey, mister!" A young pink haired girl speaks to him. Her wild hair is forced into a high pony tail, missing a few loose strands which curl to framer her face. Her loose garments consist of a white tank top and shorts. "Whatcha doing here?"
A young male comes out from the trees. His body is covered in small scratches and burns. The striking thing about him is the same untameable pink hair that bounces on top of his head as he walks.
"What is it, Ellery? I thought I told you... WHO'RE YOU!" The boy walks in casually, but upon seeing the stranger he takes up a defensive stance between the two. It's obvious to Zeref that he's more protective and older than the girl.
"Just a traveller. Nothing you should worry yourself over." Apparently those were the wrong words to say as the boy takes an offensive stance, onyx eyes narrowing on his opponent.
"What do you mean? Normal people don't just walk into Igne-" The girl begins to say but the boy cuts her off.
"ELLERY!" The boy jumps back and covers her mouth. So these kids are from the dragons guardian village...
"I'm sorry to intrude, I should just leave."
"No. What's your name? I'm Natsu and this is Ellery." The sudden change in attitude catches the male off-guard, and he says his name out of habit to the question.
"Zeref." The two freeze, before a smile graces their lips.
"Stay right here-wait, no. Ellery, you go and..." the mage can't hear the rest of the sentence as the boy whispers into the girls ear. When he finishes she nods and leaves the meadow.
"So... Zeref, where are you going?"
"Wherever my feet take me."
"Whoa! I wish I could do that!" His eyes sparkle as he speaks, taking a step towards the other, the dark mage takes a step back.
End
"Wait, what do you mean by the 'dragons guardians' or whatever you said?" Gray speaks up, ignoring the fact that he just interrupted the most dangerous mage in history.
"Well, back when I was a kid and alive, Dragon Guardian Villages existed. These villages are pretty self explanatory; they protect the dragon of the area in which they live. Our dragon was Igneel."
"Wait, I've been meaning to ask, was your story about Igneel even true?" Gajeel interrupts him, eyeing his sister up and down, eyes filled with distrust.
"Yes and no." Before he can continue all eyes turn to Ellery as she picks it up.
"Unlike me, Natsu-nii was trained by Igneel. But Igneel didn't leave him the year he says he did. Our village was raided some time after we met Zeref... Do you want me to continue?" She turns to the person she had interrupted, and he gives a sharp nod. "Well, they killed everyone, and even Natsu-nii fought the people. But they were mages, and very powerful. Our village had mages, too. Everyone that Igneel deemed worthy had been trained in fire dragon slaying magic, like Natsu. I was too young so even if he might have trained me I was never taught. Well, with the attack happening, Zeref came and saved Natsu-nii and I."
"Which I am still mad about! I could've taken them on!" Natsu turns to Zeref, eyes ablaze with anger.
"Your dragon told me to save you, his current disciple, and I chose to save your sister as well. But, if you are still mad at me, then..." Zeref says and steps towards Natsu with eyes showing his recognition.
"Don't finish that thought!" Natsu tackles the mage to the ground, forcing Zeref to think more about the shock of it then his sentence. "You suicidal fool! Quit it! Ellery, just continue!"
"Maybe you should, Natsu-nii. I passed out after Zeref saved me..."
"Fine!" He growls, getting off of the black mage and wiping the dust from his cloak. "Well, after Ellery passed out and Zeref was dragging me around the forest, he began to have an... episode."
"An 'episode'?" Makarov speaks up, keeping a trained eye on the said wizard.
"Yes, it's when my death magic erupts from me, killing all life around me." Everyone freezes, and soon Zeref finds himself speaking to a group that had shuffled a few yards away.
"Anyway..." Natsu sweatdrops as he watches the Fairy Tail members hide behind his patient spirits. "He told me to run from him, and so I grabbed Ellery. I made it a few feet before the magic went off. I had thrown Ellery out of the magic's radius, but I wasn't so lucky. But I didn't die, instead Igneel's scarf turned a cold black."
"You had your scarf at the time?" Wendy asks, to which the older slayer just nods.
"Well, in that time, some of the people who had attacked our village found us. I was the only one able to really fight, because Ellery was knocked out and Zeref wasn't exactly... stable. And so I fought the mages. Thank goodness there was a fire one that replenished my energy, apparently they didn't know they were pursuing a dragon slayer.
"I fought for what seemed like forever, protecting both Zeref and Ellery. When finally all the mages were down. Picking up Ellery I walked back to Zeref who was slowly regaining his mental state. But one of the mages-the ice one-shot an attack at me. I was carrying Ellery and it pierced both her and me. I'm just thankful she was unconscious and didn't feel the attack at all, but I dropped her. It had gone straight through my lower chest, and Ellery's stomach." Natsu says and places his hand where he had once been pierced. "Well, Zeref went ballistic when he saw the wound. His magic, once again, released, except we weren't affected, but everyone else was killed."
"You were conscious!?" Lucy shrieks, putting a hand on her heart, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Happy had started crying when he had heard the villagers were killed. And Wendy's tears are already spilling in a steady stream.
"Yes..." Clearing his throat, Natsu continues,"Well, how about you continue, Zeref?" The dark mages eyes go wide at this, before going to their original, bland state as he begins.
"I raced to their side. Natsu's wound was worse, and I was going to try and save him-but he was awake. He asked me if I could save Ellery. I knew a way, and I said yes, but it had its consequences. Well, being Natsu, he didn't care, and forced me to save the girl first. I did, but..."
"You were unable to save Natsu, right?" Erza says, she doubted Natsu had 'died' at a later event. And Zeref's nod was her answer.
"I died, and the consequence of saving Ellery was turning her into a demon, which is why she's still alive."
"Is her demon name Ellery?" Wendy speaks up, remembering how each of Zeref's demons had their own names.
"Nope! When I became a demon and learned what happened from Zeref, he let me name myself! And since I thought-well, no. Since Natsu did die for me, I made my middle name Natsu!" Everyone contemplates on what she had just said before Lucy gasps. Lifting a shaking hand ot her mouth.
"W-wait, then you're..."
"She's what?" Gray at the blonde, but the old master speaks in her stead.
"Ellery Natsu Dragneel. You're E.N.D. aren't you." Everyone freezes, and turns a slow gaze to the smiling girl, while Natsu puts his guard up. Even if they were his nakama, Ellery is his blood family. She is his sister, and if they attack her, he wasn't just going to sit back and watch. But what would he do?
A/N: Thank you all! Onto the next chappie! Happy New Year! Til next time, see ya!