Chapter Six: Family
"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.
"E.N.D. is... your sister?" Lucy says after processing the information. And Natsu walks next to his sister before nodding.
"The one and only."
"Natsu-nii. I have to go..." At this the dragon slayer turns to the girls pleading eyes, and gives an understanding nod.
"Fine... but I'm not giving you my key!"At this the demon pouts but he just taps her nose. "I'd prefer to give it to someone I trust more like..." Everyone watches him slow down, and his jade eyes go wide before yelling; "ZEREF! Watch out!"
He's too late, and Daine, who everyone knows has lost his mind, tackles the dark mage to the ground. In a quick movement, he steals the key hidden in the white stash. Zeref's magic charges up and Daine is off of Zeref in a second. Eyes wide with horror, all the stellar spirits and Celestial King watch in shock. A low, feral growl escaping Natsu's throat.
"I'm sorry, Natsu-san..."
"Save it, Zeref." Helping the dark mage up he gives a small smile. "It was gonna happen eventually. Thank Mavis you, Ellery, and the spirits are here, though." Turning a hard glare to the key-stealer, Natsu continues. "This is gonna be one hell of a battle."
"HaHAH!" Daine's crazed laugh seems to echo. "You thought He could stop me? Me?! Oh no, and you will all pay for your mistake!"
"Stop him!" Bristol shouts but Daine's remaining lackey's surround him like a protective barrier. The last of them use their magic to create a protective field for their master.
"What's the big deal?" Lucy whispers, and the fox spirit replies;
"This guy, with both keys, can make Natsu go into his spirit form." And just as he says it, the person places both keys side by side and twists them in the air.
"Oh, by the stars in the heaven," Daines voice booms, and Natsu grits his teeth, but as he does the Celestial Spirit King bends down and whispers into his ear. The words help as Natsu calms, and the man continues. "I command thee to obey my orders! Unleash! The potential thy carries but hides! UNLEASH! OBEY MY COMMAND, DRACO!"
A blinding light filters through the sky, and when it finally subsides, everyone opens their eyes to see a dragon almost as large as the Celestial Spirit King himself. It has spikes and red scales litter it's body and a white underbelly. It's fangs are sharp and it has a strange crown of golden scales going back from its head.
"NATSU!" The Fairy Tail mages shout, and the dragon spreads its holy feather wings and takes flight. Soaring above everyone they can see some open spots under the scales where a soft glow shows, the tail and feathers have the same shine.
It lands behind Daine, a large dust cloud being created by it upon landing. A smug smile spreads across the dark mages face. Placing a hand on one of its large, black talons, the key holder speaks up.
"How does it feel?" This makes everyone look at each other in question, not knowing what he means, while two specific people feel their dark magic whirl around them. "How does it feel to see the famed Salamander, your guild member and strongest key, fall slave to one such as myself?" Daine elaborates.
"I can't take it anymore!" Ellery growls low, so only Zeref hears it. Eyes going wide the dark mage reaches for his demon but he's too late. "I'm not losing you again! NATSU-NII!" The pinkette lunges, headed for the key holder.
And everyone just watches as everything seems to almost go in slow motion. Ellery's hand being engulfed in a fire-like claw, swiping it towards Daines neck who keeps his smile. Dragon-form Natsu watching her race towards his 'master' with his glowing red eyes. His body forcing him to plunge a black claw down towards his sister.
Opening his jaws he shows a light which glows inside, and a sorrowful cry escapes and shakes the air as his hand slams into the ground. Everything speeds up as soon as the dust cloud lifts. The ground cracks beneath the talons, the fire below it disappearing.
'Ellery... No! She can't be dead! Ellery!' Natsu stares down at what he had done, not lifting his claw, fearing what he might see. But, upon Daines command, he lifts it only to see something he can't help but be thankful for.
Ellery lays in the claws print, unharmed, eyes wide with shock. And above her is an injured double-key spirit.
"LUCIFER!"The Celestial Spirit King howls, glaring at Daine with such ferocity that a smile dares to grace the dragons face. Not a moment later the battle of a lifetime begins. One many thought they would never see.
Dragon-form Natsu goes toe-to-toe with the Spirit King. Sword in hand, the king swings at the dragon, and Natsu retaliates with equal power. Every hit sending a shockwave throughout the forest, sending birds flying and making all spectators cower in fear. Natsu can only roar but the King can understand what the dragons eyes tell him.
"If that is what you wish-!" they get in a stalemate, sword being held in mid-swing as it was flying up towards Natsus face. Claws holding it in its palms by the blades side. "-THEN I SHALL GRANT IT!" The warrior finishes, breaking his blade from the dragons grasp and finishing the attack by hitting the dragon in the chin with the sword. He manages to slightly damage the strong scales, but Natsu fly backwards only slightly.
Watching the battle, everyone can tell the combatants are on a whole different level. Even Makarov feels chills going down his spine as he watches the one he once called his son battle on the same level as the Celestial Spirit King. One known to go on par with Zeref; who is on the same field as them at the moment.
"Z-Zeref-nii!" Ellery screeches, and all eyes return to her and the fallen spirit. Soon, all spirits are racing towards Lucifer, and Zeref to Ellery, the mages on their tail. As they run, the Spirit Kings sword is thrown directly in front of them and they throw themselves to the ground, latching onto it for dear life as the shockwave hits them and the ground cracks around it. After a moment, the collosal item is ripped from the ground. Just in time, too, as the red dragons slash is blocked by the sword.
The mages just watch as the giants exchange blows, and Natsu is thrown into the sky by an upward slice-courtesy of the King. He opens his wings with it an almighty roar and comes back down as if he were a missle. Breaking the sound barrier, he rams into the Spirit King, making a large crater as the two go far into the forest, digging up the earth along the way. An extremely large dust cloud is created, it takes over the majority of the forest, blinding everyone in the area as the two clash. After what seems like forever, the dust settles enough to be able to see, and Lucy pulls the keys from her belt.
"Gate of the Lion, I open thee; Leo!" She summons the said spirit, and Loke doesn't even flirt with her as he feels the Spirit Kings magic in the air. Along with Natsu's-but he can tell the laters feels different in a way he cannot explain.
"What happened?"
"No time to explain! We gotta go!" Lucy orders, and they begin their race to where everyone else lay. She sees Zeref and Ellery having a small conversation, before nodding, agreeing to something, and turning to the circle of Double-key spirits.
Running into the group, they go through the small crowd and see the cloaked spirit laying in Kyuubi's arms.
"Le...o..." The spirit hears the devil keys plea, and walks up to the wounded spirit. Getting on one knee he kneels down.
"Go back to the spirit world, you need to heal."
"I'm... not... gonna make... it..."
"Don't say that."
"He's right. Draco's the one who hit him. He's going to fade." Wise speaks up, stepping towards the two.
"NATSU!? I thought he cared for his spirits! Why, the next time I see him..." Leo speaks through gritted teeth, clenching his fist in anger.
"It-"
"ROOAAAAR!" The red dragon lands just behind the group cluster, and everyone can only stare in shock as it gets up, shaking its head a bit. Everyone gets hit by the shockwave as wind and dust blows through them.
"Natsu!" The Fairy Tail mages shout, and Loke stares at him in awe. He looks at them with a red eye before turning back to his opponent, blocking an attempted jab before smacking the king across the field with his tail.
"KING!" all the spirits-plus Lucy-shout. And the key of the Lion becomes more enraged at Natsu by the second.
"How dare you, Natsu!" He growls out, but the dragon turns its head to face Loke, before tilting it towards Daine as if trying to say something. He then looks down to Lucifer, and a deep growl escapes him. But as Natsu takes a step towards the injured spirit, a voice speaks up.
"NO! Face the Spirit King, and only him!" As ordered, the dragon sends one glance towards the devil key spirit before another voice speaks.
"We'll take care of Daine, Natsu-nii. Don't worry! After all, I have Zeref-nii by my side!" Looking down at his sister and she believes he nodded before taking flight, heading towards where the spirit king waits. Loke turns towards the speaker, and sees the horned pinkette next to the dark wizard.
"Z-Zeref?!" He gasps, completely confused on what's going on.
"Loke, don't freak out. Right now, Zeref is on our side. We just need to do as Ellery said; deal with Daine. Oh, and Ellery is Natsu's sister." Lucy explains, pointing towards Daine when she said his name. Shaking his head, Leo just does as Lucy said, and turns towards Daine, Zeref and Ellery by his side.
"This is... weird." Loke admits, and Ellery looks at him through the corner of her eye.
"Yep! Now lets kill this bastard!" She says in a cheery tone, but her face turns dark, eyes full of hatred.
"Lets go." Zeref says as he launches, and Ellery, Loke, and some of the Fairy Tail mages are close behind. The wizard is caught off-guard by this sudden attack, and is hit with the full force of a kick from the most powerful dark mage of all time.
Flying back into the woods they see as Natsu seems to freeze, the King gets a blow in at that moment, making him fly into another part of the forest, ripping up trees in his wake.
"This'll be easy! I feel ashamed of Natsu-nii-" As she says this a small ball of fire, which really couldn't harm E.N.D., hits Ellery and makes her fly before rolling a few feet. "BAKA!"
"Daine..." Zeref says, walking towards said man, eyes glowing red. "You have done the worst thing you possibly can; hurt Natsu. For that, you will pay with your life." Looking up at the dark mage, Daine gets through his dizzy spell in time to feel Ellery's inflamed fingers wrapped around his throat.
"Ellery-chan is mad that Daine hurt Natsu-nii." She says, her face dark as the man's screams fill the air. She cocks a fist back, but isn't the one to hit him.
"LUCY-KICK!" The man is thrown from her grasp by the attack, and the demon looks to the blonde in confusion as she lands beside her. "He's done." She says, and they watch Gray pick up Natsu's two keys and separate them, a soft 'snap' heard at their breakage. As he breaks them, Dragon-Natsu visibly stops, but the Spirit King doesn't notice and throws a punch which sends Natsu flying all the way across the field.
In mid flight, a light flashes around the creature and he becomes Natsu again. A full-human Natsu with torn up clothes and scratches littering his body. Noticing this, Ellery races to where she thinks her brother will land, a trail of dust behind her.
"I've gotcha, Natsu-nii~!" She screams, her voice growing smaller the farther the goes.
"Whoa." Leo stares in awe as she catches her brother just in time. They all nod in agreement before going to the two pinkettes, one who is shaking her brother to wake him up.
"Natsu-nii! Wake up!" she whines, but smiles as she hears him give a low growl. Looking up, the dragon-slayer glares at the Spirit King before jumping up, flames surrounding his body.
"You BASTARD!" He screeches, preparing shout out a torrent of flames towards the other.
"Natsu-san." A voice interjects, and the pinkette turns to look at the fox spirit. "It's time." Natsu's face drops immediately, and he nods, face grim. Following him, the guild members-plus Zeref and Ellery-join the small circle of spirits as Natsu kneels beside Lucifer.
"I'm sorry... Lucifer." He apologises, but the other shakes his head.
"Don't be... I chose this... Just, don't let me fade..."
"What does he mean by fade?" Lucy whispers, heard by none other than Zeref.
"When a double-key spirit approaches death it's known as fading. It's a rather painful process that makes it so they pass on but never know who they were." Lucy doesn't say anything as she watches the scene with wiser eyes.
"...How can Natsu save him from fading?" Erza speaks up, watching the two converse, and Ellery answers.
"By telling the spirit their name, they pass on painlessly, and live in the next world knowing who they are."
"Brave lion of the Zodiac Keys, will you hear my final request?" The cloaked key speaks up, and Natsu backs off as Loke walks towards him.
"Yes?"
"Will you... take my spot in the Double-Key set?" Everyone seems to freeze at this, and the only noise is leaves dancing in the wind. "It will be hard, and you can decline..."
"I accept." Natsu looks at Loke with wide eyes, before they soften and he nods in approval.
"Then let Rosey turn you into one of us... into one of them." Lucifer gives a strained laugh as Natsu frowns at him, face red in concealed anger. "Do it now, Natsu."
"If you weren't fading right now..." Natsu mumbles under his breath before walking in front of the spirit. Putting his arms outward, palms down. "I, leader of the Double-Key set," he begins, voice booming to the heavens. "Hereby grant the Spirit of the Devil; Lucifer, his wish to pass on. Let his name be placed in the heavens, as we stay here, living on without him. Let your soul fly past Limbo smoothly, and your powers transfer to the Zodiac Key of the lion; Leo. Arise, Marcus!" Suddenly, the cloaked man sheds his darkness, which floats up in star dust particles and reveals a middle-aged man. He looks average with short red hair but he is wearing a suit of holy white.
"Marcus, huh. That's pretty lame." Lucifer says and Natsu smiles as Marcus begins to fade into light, floating up into the sky until nothing's left but a pile of odd, dark crystals.
"Goodbye, Lucifer." Natsu places a hand on his heart, soon everyone else following in suit. "Are you ready, Leo?" This catches the said spirit off guard
"Ah... Yeah." The lion steps forward, and Natsu nods. Bending down, he picks up a single, dark crystal, with a deep, violet blue glow inside.
"This is his core power, the rest of this-" he motions to the dark pile of dust,"will react when it accepts you as its new 'master'. It'll hurt at first... are you ready?" Looking down at the pile, imagining what he was just told, he looks at Natsu in confusion.
"Its 'master'?"
"It's a power. I lent it to Marcus, now I'm lending it to you. Do you accept." His eyes gain the determination of a Fairy Tail member and he gives a firm nod.
"Let's do this." Loke says and Natsu holds the crystal in front of Loke, before letting go. It floats in its own small orbit, twisting there for a moment before suddenly exploding into an odd mix of black and gold dust. It covers Leo's body in its small particles.
"Wha-" Lucy begins, but freezes as the rest of the dust follows the former crystal, surrounding him in a cloud of darkness. Screams of pain erupt from inside which put the Fairy Tail members on edge.
"LOKE!" They shout out, reaching for him, only to be stopped by a colossal hand.
"He chose this, just wait." They obey the king and wait for the cloud to disappear.
Standing, a slight dark mist surrounding him, is the one who was once the Zodiac Keys head. It's a lion formed of black wisps, with two glowing red orbs much like how Lucifer's once was. Its claws are a deep black with a strange dark mist surrounding them. Buried into his chest is the dark crystal, glowing in a dirty gold.
"Whoa." Both pinkettes say simultaneously, and Natsu steps forward.
"Well, that's your spirit form, lets see what happened to your human form." Placing his hand on the crystal, he chants something under his breath before backing away. In another blast of the darkness everyone waits in anticipation. They all look to see Loke, and he looks a lot like he used to. A black suit, his hair having two lion ears poking through it, but it also has black streaks. His eyes are still a blood red and the crystal now a small jem on his ring.
"Oh, me likey." Medusa slides up to him, eyeing the new Double-Spirit up and down. "Leo, right?"
"Stop it, Lusty." Phire places his hands on his hips and rolls his eyes.
"AT LEAST SAY SERPENT!" She hisses back at him, her snakes backing her up. She then gives a devious smirk and crosses her arms. "Says number seven."
"-! You're only two levels above me! Lets do this, here and now!" the phoenix's fire starts, and Medusa narrows her eyes, about to go head-to-head with the other.
"Stop it." Natsu's voice is calm as he slams both of their heads together, much like Erza used to with him and Gray. "Now is not the time."
"H-hai..." They both say, eyes circles as they hold their heads.
"What does she mean by 'number seven'?" Leo speaks up, having finished inspecting his new body.
"It's like rank." Wise says, turning to the group. "The strongest is Draco-"
"Natsu." The pinkette throws a stick at the owl spirit who's pointing at him, hitting him in the head.
"Then it's me, the Fox."
"Third was Lucifer..." Wise says as he stands, blood running down his forehead. They share a moment of silence before continuing down the 'list'. "But now third is me."
"The list goes on until it reaches you." Natsu says, trimming the conversation.
"And why am I on the bottom?"
"Because you're new and your rank is unclassified." Constellation then clamps a hand down on his shoulder. "But don't worry, you'll pass everyone up to me at least. We don't put up a fight, we're more support. Everyone's above us."
"O-oh." He says, looking around. How the hell am I supposed to pass up all the others? They're monsters!
"Natsu-nii." The voice makes everyone's attention turn to the horned pinkette. "I... we have to go." Zeref nods from beside her, and the fire dragon slayer sighs before surprising the two by enveloping them into a hug.
"I understand." He says, holding them a moment longer before releasing. Putting the two at arm's length. "But first..." He turns to Gray who is still holding his two keys. "My keys?" The ice mage gives them to the Draco spirit, who gives one of them to the creator of demons. "I believe I can still trust you."
"Of course." As he turns around, Ellery looks up expectantly and even reaches for the key. But as her fingers brush it Natsu pulls it away and flicks her head. Rubbing her stinging forehead, she begins to pout.
"Nii-san, do you not trust me anymore?" She asks but Natsu keeps his expression blank.
"No." Turning away from his sulking sister he faces the group of Fairy Tail members. "Listen, I..."
"Natsu." The pinkette looks up to one of his closest friends. "I have made a decision on your fate." At this the strongest spirit begins to sweat. "Your punishment is..." He squeezes his eyes shut, preparing himself physically and mentally for what is to come. "That you must from now on remain in, and protect, Fairy Tail. On the condition that you visit us every once in a while." Opening his eyes wide with shock, he turns to face the giant.
"M-Mr. Limbo!" He jumps up, arms outstretched and anime tears streaming down his face.
"Settle down!" The King lifts a foot and squashes the other under it. "So, do you, Fairy Tail, accept my terms?"
"Of course." Makarov smiles up at the spirit king, who finally lifts his foot off the ground.
"I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE UNDER THERE!" Natsu wheezes, holding his chest and coughing while trying to take in much needed air. He then looks to the group of spirits, gaining a more serious expression. "Thank you." He stands and gives a bow of respect, which they brush off.
"Now we're even." The Kitsune says, before one by one they disappear, and lastly, with a big smile and a nod, the spirit King flashes out of Earth-Land.
"Sayonara, Nii-san!~" Ellery yells, waving her hands in a wide arch above her head. Standing at the edge of the clearing.
"See you later, Ellery!" He waves back, before turning around upon hearing another voice.
"I must go, Natsu."
"You and Ellery better not get into any fights before we meet up again!" Natsu calls back to Zeref.
"No promises!" A call comes from the forest opposite of them, and everyone sweatdrops. Turning back to look at the dark mage, he sees he has already vanished. And with a sigh and a heavy heart, he turns to his fellow guild members.
"What now?" Lucy asks, looking around to see they're the only ones in the clearing.
"Well, Luce, I was wondering..." Natsu says, walking up to her with the black key. "If you could hold onto this for me." She smiles at this, and takes the key from his grasp.
"Of course." He gives his usual grin before turning to face everyone else.
"Well then! Let's go home!"
-x-x-x-
A month had gone by, and Loke had risen in the ranks of the double-key spirits, getting above Oak. Natsu was easily promoted to S-Class and no one was against it. Everyone has come to terms with Natsu being the strongest mage there... other than Gildarts, Laxus, Gray and Gajeel. They also had to get used to him disappearing and coming back anytime. And sometimes with other spirits as well. Lokes' appearance change was also something they had to get used to, but it wasn't that hard of an adjustment. Now Happy lives with Lucy, as does Natsu... sort of. But he sleeps in the Spirit World.
"Hey, so... are we still 'Team Natsu'?" Lucy asks her close group of friends; Erza, Gray, Happy and Natsu, one day.
"What kind of question is that?" The pinkette speaks up, looking at her as if she had asked the dumbest question ever. "I'm still a Fairy Tail mage, don't think I'm leaving the team!" He snorts.
"Speaking of our team, when was the last time we went on a job together?" The question was valid. They hadn't gone on a job with all five of them since before the 'incident'.
"Tomorrow!" Natsu stands, putting his hands on his hips. He races towards the mission board and plucks off one about destroying a dark guild, then he goes back to his friends. "And this'll be it!" His contagious grin quickly spreads through the group, and they all agree on what time they'll meet tomorrow to leave for the mission.
Same as always, huh, Natsu. Lucy watches him run around the guild, smiling and laughing, getting challenged by Gray only to defeat him a moment later. Well, almost the same.
A/N: Yep. Definitely should have uploaded this months ago. Sad how true that is, but look at all these chapters going up, eh? I will most likely (hopefully) go back and edit this fic because even now I see all the holes in character development, plot holes, and general mistakes in writing. Thank you for reading! Thank you lovely people, I don't know what I'd do without you all! Bless you! Goodbye people!