Hi guys! First off I would like to thank everyone who liked followed and reviewed my story so far. Your input helps me improve as a writer so if you have criticism to offer it is much appreciated and I won't be offended. That out of the way I would like to present the 4th chapter of the Flames of Hope!
Chapter 4: The Death of Halcyon
After sleeping in his old nest, Natsu returns back to his home. Natsu's mind was captivated looking at the amber clad stone. He noticed a fire within the stone and it is still moving freely, desperate to get out of its prison.
Natsu looked at its shapeless form and asks aloud "What will I do next?"
"Aye sir you could try the library." Happy suggested as he flew in through one of the windows "that way you can look for information quietly."
"That's a good idea!" Natsu shouted as he walked out the door.
He ran out of his house with Happy following close behind. It was daybreak as Natsu saw the sun rising.
"It sure is peaceful. I can hardly believe that the world is in danger looking at it like this." Natsu stopped running and admired the landscape as it bathes within the orange hue.
"Aye what is wrong Natsu?" Happy asked his friend.
Natsu looked at the sunlight intently; his gaze is fixed on its ascension. "Happy do you think I'm doing the right thing here? I don't know what Igneel has in store for me now. I get the feeling that once I break this open the world I once knew would be gone."
Happy never thought that Natsu would be able to think so deeply. "Natsu the world always changes. What we know as the world is just our idea of it." Happy replied to the best that he could. "Besides I didn't know you could think deeply, let alone THINK at all."
"Geez Happy I do have a mind to ya know!" Natsu shouted to his friend "all you ever think about is fish!"
Both Natsu and Happy laughed at themselves. Natsu realized that though the world may change, moments he shares with friends will never leave him.
"You're right Happy. When we get to the library then we'll figure out what to do from there." Natsu then started running again with his thoughts only focusing on the stone.
Finally we're here!" Natsu exclaimed.
Natsu then looked up Magnolia's biggest library, and jewel of any avid book lover. The library looks similar to the Kardia Cathedral but with two towers, on each side of its magnificent entrance. The doors themselves are 14 feet high. Natsu was in awe of the buildings exterior.
"What are you waiting for Natsu? Come on let's go!" Happy exclaimed at Natsu. They proceeded to walk in and find thousands of books everywhere; from the carts to the shelves Natsu and Happy realized they were going to be there for a while as they try to find the object they're looking for.
"I can't believe there are so many books here! I don't know where to begin!" Natsu exclaimed.
"Why don't we ask someone to help us? It will make the search faster, and keep your voice down Natsu aye." Happy replied.
Natsu saw the librarian at the receptionist's desk using her archive magic to sort out books. Natsu walks over and asks" hey librarian lady do you know where I can find a book on dragon stones?"
The librarian looks up at Natsu and begins to tremble at the sight of the pink haired mage.
Natsu asks "what's wrong is there something you're scared of?"
The librarian replied "You're the salamander; the one who destroyed a majority of the city in Magnolia!"
"I am? Oh that's right I am the salamander" Natsu began to laugh. "But I'm not here to destroy anything today. I just need a book on this." Natsu showed the librarian the stone to ease her fear of the mage and his cat flying companion.
"This is impossible. Where did you find this stone?" The librarian inquires about Natsu's discovery. "This isn't just a stone Mr. Salamander this is an event stone. It's a magical item that uses any form of lost magic that was used to record the thoughts of their wielders." The librarian says to Natsu. "Tell me do you have a lost magic form?"
Natsu says bluntly "Well yeah I was taught fire dragon slayer magic."
"Well it looks like you're in luck Mr. Salamander. You happen to have a stone that uses fire as the catalyst."
"Please just call me Natsu." Natsu says to the librarian. "It's sort of awkward when you just call me salamander."
She steps out of the receptionists desks to direct Natsu to through the center hallway. "Normally we don't let people into this area but this is a restricted section for those with lost magic research. What you have Mr. Salamander is a very special artifact that is used by the dragon and slayers themselves during the Dragon Civil War."
"How would I know it's from a dragon slayer or even a dragon?" Natsu asked
"The outside of the stone is amber which is what most dragon slayers would use." The librarian eventually came to a stop pointing to the location of the books related to the event stone.
"Here are books all about dragon slayer event stones."
Happy then immediately flies toward the shelves to see if there was a book that could go into more details about the stone.
"If you have any more questions about what you are looking for, please don't hesitate to let me know." The librarian immediately bowed and went on her way.
"Well that takes care of that. I hope it was okay to trust her with this information." Natsu began to mull over his decision to involve her in his search.
"Aye Natsu I found it! I found the books were looking for!" Happy then dropped the book into Natsu's hands.
"Happy you need to read this, I'm not good with reading." Natsu lowered his head in shame. Despite the extra training he received from Erza as a kid, he wasn't exactly too keen on books.
"Aye then I shall read." Happy cleared his throat and began to scroll through the book. It was very plain: no colorful pictures on its insides and was maroon in color. It was very ancient as the cover had dust. "It says that the incantations are in the back of the book Natsu. There is one written for ones who use fire." However to his surprise Happy found that the incantation was in dragon script; a language only Natsu could read.
"Natsu you have to read it. You understand dragon script more than any other." Happy replied.
Natsu took the book from his hands and began to recite the fire dragon slayer's stone incantation. In the common tongue it reads:
Fires of time heed my cry
To receive thy light to illuminate thy sight
As fated paths cross the time is nigh
To receive the fire of truth, to help me in thy plight!
Natsu saw the stone glow and the fire raging within. Suddenly the Amber stone cracks and the fire escapes and slowly comes to Natsu.
"Natsu it says you have to eat it or else the fire will be extinguished forever!" Happy shouted back.
With quick thinking Natsu inhaled and ate the flame. Suddenly his mind blanks and sees a vision of the past: The towns being burned, people dying, and the dragons fighting amongst themselves. He could see Igneel fighting a dragon; fighting to defend the humans.
"So this is what you wanted to show me Igneel" Natsu said in awe.
Natsu then heard Igneel's voice recorded within the flame and it began to speak:
Natsu,
If you are using this stone then the time has come for you to face your true destiny as my successor. It was one of my greatest battles, as well as my greatest failures. What is it that could possibility my greatest failure besides my fight to stop END? I failed to end a war known as the Great Draconian Infernus. In your case it's how the Dragon Civil War began.
Natsu's was speechless as Igneel's revelation. He couldn't believe the story that was coming from the stone. 'Is dad for real on this? A war he failed to stop? How much did he not tell me?'
The chaos began in Paradisium: a land where it is just as diverse in Earth-Land. Here everyone lived in peace and everyone was equal. The dragons were the strongest race in paradisium next to the gods. Even though they were the kings of the ancient times, the dragons however wanted complete dominion over the land. It is here that the dragon emperor Georgius, began to sow the seeds of war. On the outside He was benevolent like a God. On the inside he forged in secret a plan that would rid the world of the humans, and wage war on the Fairies and the Elves: his greatest adversaries. It was a war that would determine the fate of the Paradisium. I was one of Georgius's most trusted generals and lord of the fire dragons. I spoke out against this plan, despite my hatred of humans at the time. It was then that me and my son Siorth left the service of the generals and started a journey to warn anyone of Georgius's wrath. Some of the humans chose to go underground. Others stayed on the surface to fight for their freedom. Despite the effort my son, it was too late as Georgius began his campaign for power;
Everywhere we went we would see charred remains of towns human corpses scattered about the green fields. Fortunately, some of the dragons betrayed Georgius and taught the humans Magic to these chosen few so that they can fight back. These people- became the first dragon slayers.
With the sides created the war for control of paradisium began. At first it was just the humans vs the dragons; the war was a one sided slaughter fest for the humans. As the war dragged on howerver, the tide of war slowly turned to our favor as the elves and faeries also joined forces with us. Yet at that final battle we lost and, we were exiled from paradisium for rebelling against the Emperor. Georgius took my son Siorth as a prize and sent our traitorous group as well as a major portion of his followers to lock us away and claim Earth-Land as his own. We were imprisoned for a very long time, until a group of humans who had the same heart as the dragon slayers we taught long ago freed us from our prison. With Acnologia the dragon as our new leader, the Dragon Civil War began…..
This is my true history Natsu. I know without doubt Georgius is still alive, and as long as he still exists every race on earth is threatened. It is a fight that you must finish. If you do not, Georgius's genocide of the humans would continue to Earth-Land. Many will lose their lives all will be oppressed by his rule.
I ask you to end the war and bring true freedom to this land
"Natsu are you sure about this? I don't think it will work." Happy sighed in exhaustion.
After returning home from the library, Natsu asked where he could find a map of paradisium. The librarian's information was the unfortunate news as the only ones that would have the map are people who are members of the Ten Wizard Saints. She also said that each copy is held in a chest with the Wizard Saint insignia and comes with a key.
"Sure it'll work. You just can't be seen when sneaking in to his office." Natsu is packing his bags for his upcoming journey. Natsu looks at his wall that is filled with memorabilia from all the missions Natsu and the others went through. "Sorry guys but you can't come with me this time." Though deeply saddened that his friends would not be able to join him, Natsu continues to pack for his long journey.
"Why can't the others come with us Natsu? Is it because of Galuna Island or is because we're going to Paradisium?" Happy began to question Natsu's sudden behavior and decisions.
"It's both Happy, and besides if I let the guild know, Erza and Gray would stop me from going. Having Lucy at my throat would only be worse, so were on our own Happy.
"What about Wendy?" Happy said to Natsu. "We could ask for her help."
"I involved her enough already. I already feel bad for having her take care of me." With a sigh Natsu said "I can't involve her in my problems or what I have to do."
"Natsu they're your friends! You can't just leave the guild behind just because it's some destiny that's been given to you. This is where you need them, where you need me."
Natsu simply smiled at Happy and said "If you're worried about me leaving you, you can forget it! I can't leave you behind because I know you can handle it."
"As much as I'm Happy that I can come along, I still wonder why that you're leaving the others out."
Natsu lost his smile "It involves the master. He made it a rule to not to go into his office without permission. It's a high punishment if we go into let alone steal something from master's office. If we get in trouble I'll accept whatever he dishes out, but I don't want to let the others suffer because I got them roped into this mess."
To Happy, Natsu's will to defend his friends is what made him shine as a True fairy Tail mage.
With a silent but sad nod Happy says to Natsu, "I just hope you know what you know what you are doing."
After announcing his plan to happy, Natsu started doing high paying solo jobs to increase his funds. After about 2 weeks of non-stop jobs and earning 2 million jewele, Natsu and Happy, finally puts their plan into motion.
"Alright Happy, it's about time to put this plan into action." Natsu said to his flying friend
"Aye sir the plan has reached its critical stage, however people have started to notice that we're taking solo jobs now." Happy replied
"What does that have to do with the plan?"
"They're spreading rumors that were splitting up with our team."
"These guys are just over reacting we'll just avoid the rumors and do what we need to do."
"Natsu that can get in the way of our plan" Happy said
"Then we'll have to deal with it when the time comes" Natsu replied with a smile
As Natsu and Happy travel back to the guild, they went over the plan one more time to make sure everything went as planned. The one thing they needed to focus on was the timing and covering their tracks long enough for the guild to not suspect a thing.
"I put our sack away as requested Natsu. Now we just need to get the map and then we're on our way." Happy said as he arrived at the front entrance to the guild hall.
"Is it hidden where no one can see it?" Natsu asked. Natsu had happy hide their bags for their journey in a barrel nearby the guild so that way they could make a silent getaway to a special train heading west.
"Aye it's hidden where you told me to put it."
"Alright let's do this! " Natsu exclaimed loudly. With fist in air he opens the door to begin the first step of his mission from Igneel.
The guild hall is still lively with chatter, as people look at the request board. In another corner of the hall, the remaining members of team Natsu are relaxing at a table. The team had just recently returned from taking out a group of thieves that had been plaguing Magnolia. What was supposed to be a simple job, turned out to be a complex conspiracy, in which involved nobles trying to suppress the commoners. This led them on a hunt to defeat the nobles and end their plan.
"I am so glad that job is over! Now I can soak in the tub and take off for a few days." Out of all the members Lucy was the most exhausted since she had to pick up most of Natsu's slack.
"I'm surprised we got any kind of reward out of this since we destroyed an entire town and the noble's house." Gray chimed in.
"I have to agree with Gray on this one." Erza added. "Normally we're the ones that get charged with cleaning up our own mess. It was nice to see we could still keep the reward."
"Well we have to put in the consideration that the town took the nobles money as compensation for the trouble they put the town." Wendy said as she ate her strawberry cake. "Even though we all did well, it was still tough without Natsu." Wendy looked depressed after the mention of Natsu's name. Everyone all smiled bitterly (except for gray, who looked frustrated.)
"We all know how you feel Wendy. It doesn't feel like the strongest team without Natsu." Lucy replied back sadly.
"I want to help him deal with this." Wendy replied bitterly.
"Wendy you did a lot for Natsu." Erza assures her friend with a pat on the shoulder.
"Regardless there is nothing more we can do for him, but give him support. I can't believe he became such a loser." Gray chimes in. Lucy, Erza and Wendy give Gray a cold stare. "What? It is kind of pathetic. It ain't like flame for brains to let something like a slump get in the way of missions."
Even though they felt the need to defend their comrade, Lucy, Wendy, and Erza knew that Gray was right on the mark with that. Natsu always tackled a mission head on and gave it his all. They knew something was wrong and didn't buy the whole vacation act. The next question is what is bothering him?
Just then Gajeel and Levy walk up to Lucy's table. Lucy waved at Levy, and Gajeel gives a curt nod to Wendy, and Erza. Levy and Lucy begin talking abou writing when Gajeel became annoyed at their conversation.
"So I heard that Salamander is leaving his own group. Is that true Lucy?" Gajeel abruptly asks
"Gajeel, don't ask that question!" Levy exclaims out loud "I am so sorry about that Lucy. We didn't mean to bring that up."
"It's alright Levy, and no Gajeel we are not splitting up. Natsu is just taking a break from doing missions that's all."
"Is that so? Just between us he's been grabbing solo missions in the two weeks that you guys have been gone. He's working himself to the bone and to be honest it kind of concerns most of us. He's not even saying a word about the missions he gets. "
"I never thought I would see you concerned for Natsu" Lucy said.
"I'm not concerned for that fire breathing idiot!" Gajeel exclaimed "ever since Levy helped Salamander try to make sense of his bullshit she's become concerned about him. I don't know what she saw but she won't shut up about him."
"Oh I get it Gajeel" Lucy says as she has a grin on her face. "You're just jealous!"
"I am not jealous!" Gajeel exclaims.
"Yoooooooou like her!" Lucy adds as she gave Gajeel her best Happy impersonation.
"Don't imitate that blue furball!" Gajeel adds while Levy turns a dark shade of red. "It's been on her mind for a while, and I know she wants to ask you. Problem is that she's the kind that won't ask because she is respectful."
Despite the lighthearted moment she had with Gajeel, Lucy became serious as Gajeel's persistence on the issue begins to frustrate her. Her happy expression turned into anger as Gajeel called out Levy for being respectful. "What's wrong with being respectful?" Lucy asks as she furrows her brows. "What if I didn't want to talk about Natsu because it concerns me too? Or what if he never told me anything and I'm in the dark about it? I'm his team member and I don't understand why he changed." Normally she would put up with Gajeel's tenacity, but this was becoming a heated conversation. The conversation had become more difficult as she tried to understand Natsu's situation as well as the rumors.
"I'm the type that doesn't give a damn as long as the question is asked. Besides it's not for me it's for Levy." Gajeel says as he gives her a serious look.
"I appreciate your chivalry, but I don't know what's wrong with Natsu. Are you done asking Gajeel?" Lucy felt more anger surging throughout her body as the space between Gajeel and Lucy became tense. She stared Gajeel down after her dark reply. It became tense that the whole guild began to feel it in the air, and Gray had to step in and intervene.
"Hey guys cool it." Gray says as he puts his hands to stop her from going any further. "Gajeel, you should leave now." Gray says as he turns into Gajeel's direction.
"I'm not leaving til I get my answer." Gajeel says to Gray. Gray then pulls Gajeel aside, as Lucy returns back to her seat.
"Look at Wendy right now Gajeel." Gray points in the direction of the blue haired sky maiden. She was no longer eating her strawberry cake and her face has no hints of joy. Wendy sits at the table with a frozen expression, as if she was stuck in time. "You think she wants to talk about let alone hear about Natsu?"
Gajeel looked at the young dragon slayer with a sympathetic look. Though Lucy was the closest of his partners, he forgot that Wendy was the only one involved in his issues.
"Alright Gray I'll back off, for Blue Hair's sake this time." Gajeel says as he quietly leaves the area.
Gray sighed in relief that the tension was alleviated from the area. He couldn't even look at Wendy's soulless form sitting at the table.
'Natsu, what is going on with you?' Gray thinks to himself.
'Is he really leaving our team? What could any of us have done for him to leave? What did I do wrong?' Wendy's endless thoughts about the rumor turned into an endless river of wild theories and accusations against herself and the remaining members.
'No! Get it together Wendy! Natsu would never turn his back on us…. He wouldn't just leave us…. Would he?'
Wendy became more conflicted than ever. With her recent persistence on remaining by his side to take care of him, and his recent slump it led her to believe that maybe it was all because of the team that Natsu is the way he is now.
'What if… what if he doesn't like me anymore?'
Even though she was happy with Fairy Tail, she feared the day that she would have to part with her guild members, and became terrified of the day Natsu would leave her.
Wendy begins to come back from her thoughts as she suddenly spots Natsu at the bar talking to Mirajane.
Natsu walks into the guild casually and begins to look for people who he could start a distraction. The only thing Natsu needed to start was a really good guild hall fight, something that has been really hard for him to find. Instead, he calmly walks up to the bar and sees Mirajane and Lisanna taking orders and giving food to hungry guild mates.
"Well hello Natsu!" Mirajane happily says.
"Hi Natsu, how are you today?" Lisanna asks.
"I'm doing just great!" Natsu says "where's gramps at Mira?"
"He's probably up in his office dealing with destruction fees that the townspeople throw at him."
"Hey I didn't do anything bad this time! I didn't blow all my missions up!"
"So I noticed Natsu." Mirajane replies back.
Just then Lisanna was called by a patron and leaves to retrieve their order. Natsu then signals Mirajane to come to his spot at the bar.
"Mirajane thanks for the extra jobs and food. You've helped me get back on my feet again so I owe you a lot.
"It's no problem Natsu. " Mirajane smiles at Natsu. "Now Natsu it's my turn to ask you something."
Natsu was nonchalant about his answer. 'I figure it's going to be something totally unrelated to rumors and his plan.' Boy was he wrong.
"Sooooooo Natsu, I heard rumors that you might be splitting with your team. Is it true?" Mirajane asks.
"Of course not cause we've been through everything together! It would be pointless to split up now!"
"Then why ask me for solo jobs? Your actions contradict what you say."
"What does that word mean?"
"You mean the word contradiction? Natsu it means that what you say is the opposite of what you're doing."
Natsu nodded as he grips the word's meaning.
"Anyway Mira I'm not contraflicting myself. I just needed a break and to get back on my feet that's all." Natsu replied
"It's contradicting." Mirajane sighs. "Anyway why jobs that involve less destruction? That's not like you to those kinds of jobs."
"Well I'm not always up for those kinds of jobs. I do need cash to pay Lucy back for all the food I've eaten. I can't really help it if I don't have jewele." Natsu smiled at Mirajane.
"Well aren't you sweet Natsu." Mirajane just finished her cooking and kindly tells Natsu that she will be right back.
'Nice timing whoever you are! Now I can make a distraction.' Natsu thought to himself. Suddenly Lisanna returns from giving orders and sits next to Natsu
"Sorry about that Natsu." Lisanna says as she puts her tray on the bartable.
"On break Lisanna?" Natsu asks her in order to change the subject
"Yeah, sis gave me a five minute break. Are you that quick to chase me away Natsu? Even though Lisanna was playfully joking with Natsu, she sensed his demeanor was different; his gaze is an endless maze of thoughts that she can't understand. "Are you sure you're okay Natsu?"
"Oh yeah everything is fine Lisanna." Natsu says half-heartedly.
"I know something is bothering you Natsu. It's been forever since we talked, but I can still recognize sadness in your voice. You know you can share things with me or anyone else. No matter what happens I'm always here for you."
Lisanna looked at Natsu then placed her hand over his and held it tight. Natsu looked into her direction, though he couldn't look directly into her dark blue eyes. In his heart he wanted to tell her, but doing so could risk the entire purpose of going through with the plan.
All Natsu muttered was a thanks, and gave her a genuine smile.
"Oh I have to go back to work now. Remember we're here for you no matter what happens." She waved off to Natsu as she walked to the next table.
'Thanks for sticking by me Lisanna. I know you have my back, but I just can't have you risking your life again.'
Natsu continued to drink from his glass until he heard yelling coming from behind him.
"Natsu!" Wendy shouted as she ran to his side. She didn't see where she was running and tripped on a loose nail in the floorboard and fell flat on her face.
"Wendy!" Natsu runs over to his fellow dragon slayer with anxiety. "Wendy are you alright?"
Natsu kneels down as Wendy picks herself up. Natsu then sees teardrops fall from her face as she rises.
"Why?" Was all poor Wendy could mutter
"I don't understand Wendy." Natsu said to her
"Why are you going to leave our team? What did we do wrong? What did I do wrong?" Wendy started crying. Her stress, her inner turmoil, and sadness that had been plaguing her since the beginning of Natsu's decline began to bubble with ferocity, and pain. "I just want you to stay with us Natsu. Don't leave your friends behind."
Even though Natsu knew that Wendy was referring to the rumors, Natsu felt that her words meant more than just leaving the team. He had to lie and play it off as just another normal day in the guild.
"Don't worry Wendy; I'm not going to leave our team. I'd be crazy to leave you guys just cause of some mishaps." Natsu said to her as he calmed her down.
"Someone better tell me who's starting these rumors." Natsu punched a table in half as his fire magic rises from his body. "If you're going to spread rumors say it to my face!"
The guild began pointing fingers at each other as to who started the rumor. Then all of a sudden they started to get into a brawl. Mugs and barrels were being thrown, and fists were flying. It didn't take long for Natsu to join the brawl as he jumped in giving a well-deserved beatdown in the process.
"What is the meaning of this?" A loud voice echoes throughout the guild hall.
"It's the master!" One of the guild members shouted out loud.
"I want to know who started this outburst right now!" A small man comes out of a room on the second floor of the Fairy Tail guild hall. With a furrowed brow, he questioned his children about the ruckus in the guild hall.
'This is it distraction time.'
"I did it gramps!" Natsu yelled as loud as he can to gain the attention of Makarov the guild master.
"You better have a good reason for this Natsu!" Makarov yelled at Natsu.
"They're starting rumors that I'm leaving my team! Someone's going to eat my fist after I'm through with the-"
"THAT'S ENOUGH NATSU!" Makarov's voice echoed through the gigantic guild hall. Despite his old age he jumped down to the first floor.
"I will not have you destroy the guild hall again! Now stop this foolishness or else!"
Makarov intended to "punish" Natsu for his behavior. Unbeknownst to him he left the door to his office wide open giving a certain blue cat the opportunity he needed to gain entrance into the office. ….
Happy flew around the guild hall in order to find a good position to get to the master's office.
'Okay I just need to stay here until the door flies open, then I'm good.' Happy thought to himself.
"What are you doing up here Happy?" Carla calls out to happy as she flew up to the second floor.
"W-well nothing much really Carla." Happy became embarrassed at the sight of Carla
'What are you doing Happy!? Get it together you have a job to do!' Happy would have been fine if Carla didn't happen to show up at that time.
"Why aren't you with Natsu today?" Carla asked the blue cat.
"I'm just giving him his space is all." Happy replied back.
"You've been doing that recently. Isn't it time to help him out?" Carla asks him yet again.
"Natsu just needs more time, and I'm there at home when I need to be. Isn't that enough Carla?" Happy quickly snaps at Carla. Happy would love to answer her questions but time is not on his side, for he needed to be alert for when the time came to act. "I'm sorry Carla I didn't mean to snap at you like that."
"It's oka-" Suddenly Carla freezes and looks at happy with a horrid expression on her face.
"Don't do it happy please." Carla mutters to herself.
Happy looks at her and realizes that she had a premonition. "What did you see?"
"all….i…see….. is… dea-" the power of the vision startles Carla and collapses from the sudden intake of images coming from her premonition.
"Carla! Carla!" He cradled his friend in his arms. 'The premonition must have badly shocked her!' Just then he heard an explosion and felt the 2nd floor tremble from the aftershock. Happy knew his chance to steal the scroll was coming and had no choice but to abandon Carla.
'I'm so sorry Carla, but I have to do this.' Happy sadly said to himself 'Please forgive us for what we're about to do!' Happy quietly laid her down and his behind a barrel.
"'what is the meaning of this!" Makarov says loudly.
Happy used this opportunity to sneak into the master's office as he proceeded to give Natsu a beating.
'Wow this is big!' happy looked at his surroundings and saw many trinkets and relics within the master's office. Ranging from pictures of the Fairy Tail guild to magic items and enhancements, the old shelves are lined with authentic and priceless heirlooms of master Makarov.
'Okay I need to find the scroll and get out of here. Natsu said that the chest should be located behind his desk.' Happy flies up to his desk and finds the chest exactly as Natsu had described; and old wooden chest with regular iron hinges, as well as the lock that bears the Wizard Saint insignia. Happy quickly scoured the room for the key to the lock. As he opened doors and cabinets he became desperate to finish his mission before he was discovered by the master.
'Where is it!? I know it's here somewhere!' his breath and tiny heart began to quicken as he checked the master's desk for the key. 'There it is I found it!'Happy exclaimed in his mind. He proceeded to open the chest and saw the scroll inside: It was like any old scroll in the master's office except it was encased in a gold plated case to protect it from damage. The case itself looked old and the hinges itself show the little damage that time brought to it. Just as he was about to reveal its contents when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs; the aftershock of the thunderous footsteps begins to shake the young exceed to his core, knowing that he must hide before his existence is discovered in his office.
'I got to hurry! I got to hurry or' as he yelled to himself in his mind he heard and felt the footsteps boom as they approached the office closer and closer. The footsteps suddenly stop and all goes still as quiet as a morgue. Happy's heart begins to race as fast as a horse, knowing that he is cutting it close to getting caught. Then the silent door slowly creaks open as happy realizes that he just ran out of time, and grows fear at the upcoming punishment that is to come for him.
Hours after the minor scuffle with Master Makarov, Natsu waits in the streets gazing at the passing people, fearing for Happy's failure and wellbeing.
'I hope he got out of there I couldn't spare him anymore of master's time…. and the rest of my bones.
Fortunately for him Wendy healed to the best of his ability, but also had a lecture from Lucy and Erza for making Wendy overexert herself. He once again felt bad for the young mage for saving him from another dangerous scenario again.
'I feel bad for letting Wendy heal me again, she doesn't deserve the crap she's going through with me. Once this is over things will go back to normal guys.' Natsu reflected on his actions and the message that Igneel gave to him. 'I don't like the fact that it is causing things to happen to the guild, but I can't just leave this alone knowing that Igneel left this job unfinished.' His fists clench in both determination and in righteous fury. 'Whatever Igneel set out to do, I will finish it and make it right!' He thought to himself.
Just then he heard a trash can fall to the ground, Natsu readied himself for battle asking "Who's there!?" He then sees a small figure come out of the trash can all covered in filth from head to toe.
"Happy you're okay!" Natsu then sniffed the air noticing the exceeds change in stench. "Phew you also stink too!" he said as he fanned and held his nose
"Well you should at least thank me for getting the stupid paper before you make fun of my stench! I stayed in that room for hours until the master decided to open the window!"
"I'm sorry Happy, I'll give you a big fish as a reward!" Natsu smiled happily to his fish loving friend knowing exactly what his friend wanted.
"Get me a big one before we leave!" Happy said as he scraped little bits of trash off his blue fur. However as the sun sets on the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Natsu and Happy both know that this will be the last time they will see anyone in the guild again.
"Natsu will I ever see her again?" Happy said aloud
Despite Natsu know who "she" was he stayed silent as they continued to walk down the cobble stone streets. After walking for a while Natsu finally spoke up to break the awkward silence between them.
"Let's forget about it for now, and let's get that dinner! We have a long road ahead of us if we are going to try and find the….. boat tomorrow." Natsu said as his face suddenly churned at the thought of riding on a boat. His face turned blue and felt the need to rush to a toilet or go to a dark cold alley just to get rid of the sickness that befell him.
"Natsu try not to think about the ride, just focus on one thing at a time okay?"
Natsu nodded and quickly snapped out of his motion-sickness like lightning.
'He's right I need to snap out of it and focus on the next step, because we can't back out of this now no matter what happens.' Natsu thought to himself
Natsu looked at his beloved guild for what could be his last time and remembered all of his friends that he would have to leave behind.
"Goodbye… Fairy Tail."
Whether you saw it coming or not I hope you enjoyed the 4th chapter!
To answer a comment about Natsu's home with Igneel:
I kind of imaginied their nest as more of an open field. I tried to picture myself as Natsu and thinking what word he would have used to describe his home with Igneel and nest was the first word that came to mind.
Until the next chapter, I'll see you guys next time!
