AN: Hey there guys! We've reached 300 favs and follows and more than 100 reviews! I'm very happy that you like the story, and love reading your reviews. Now I'm back with, again, the longest chapter I've written for this story. It keeps getting longer and longer, damn it… Anyway, this chapter is quite action packed and I had a blast writing it so I hope you'll enjoy it!
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Chapter 6: Demon
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"As you can understand, it's for the best to keep it secret, Mira." Natsu said, sitting beside the lying Ultear on her bed. After they had returned, despite her protests that she was alright, the Dragon Slayer had forced her to rest. "It's a bit too soon for that." He continued with a sad smile.
"Yes Natsu, I understand. But…but how is it possible?" the Take Over mage was astonished after hearing his story. How could it be? How could Natsu…
"A very good question, Mira. A question that I can't stop asking myself day and night."
"The answer will come in time, like everything else, Natsu." Ultear said, taking a hold of his hand and giving it a squeeze with a loving smile on her face.
Feeling a little awkward, Mirajane started to rise from the sofa, when Natsu stood up. "Stay here, and make sure that she rests, Mira. I have much to do." She nodded and sat down, giving Ultear one of her gentle smiles.
As he closed the door and turned around, he stopped in his tracks, for someone was barring his path. "Do you need something, Erza?" he asked in a monotonous voice looking her in the eyes with an indifferent gaze. At hearing his tone and seeing his face, she flinched like she was punched and looked away. When no answer came, he stepped to the side and walked around her, not uttering another word. He knew why she was here; but at the same time he was angry at her. Of course most of the fault lied on that Demon; and even a bit on himself for putting them together during that mission, but he couldn't shake the image of a dead Ultear in his hands from his head… If he hadn't been fast enough; if Meredy wasn't there…
"Natsu…" Erza whispered with a pained voice, making him stop in his tracks again. He knew he was being stubborn, but the least he could do, was give her the cold shoulder. "Please…I'm sorry." she continued, and he felt her curl to his back, causing him to sigh; because considering everything, if Ultear wasn't there with her, Erza would have died…
He loved the redhead dearly, but she had to understand that life wasn't as forgiving as she thought it was; now more than ever. Self-assurance was good, but if it put your family in danger it was no longer self-assurance but recklessness, something that Fairy Tail had stopped being a long time ago.
"Being sorry can't bring people back to life, Erza, you more than anyone else should know that." Natsu said after a long silence.
"Yes...I know."
"I'm not a kid anymore, Erza; a lot of people depend on my decisions and actions; being careless is no longer an option." he finished with a serious voice, and without giving her another glance, walked away, leaving the Requip Mage alone in the corridor.
When he arrived to the guild hall a strange sight greeted him: a young woman wearing extravagant clothes from the upper class stood at the doors, staring at Lucy with large unblinking eyes, a smile slowly forming on her attractive face. The blonde Celestial Mage was blinking with open astonishment, surely upon hearing something from the stranger.
"Oh my god! I can't believe it!" she cried out, suddenly running toward the brown haired stranger and giving her a hug, tears forming in her eyes. "I still have a family!" she continued with fervor.
"What is going on here?" Natsu asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The girl is saying that she is a relative of Lucy, Michelle Lobster, and that she had searched for her for seven years." Macao replied, a frown on his face.
"Is that so?" the pink haired young man continued in thoughts. "Do you think the same thing I do?"
"Yes..." the Purple Mage replied with a nod.
"Then you know what to do."
"Hey Lucy, I'm sorry to distract you in such a moment, but Mira needs your help; something with Ultear." Macao said, approaching the two talking girls. "Don't worry, Natsu will introduce her to the others and once you're back, you'll continue with the reunion."
"Oh! Yes, of course!" Lucy replied with a big smile. "I'm sorry Michelle, I'll be back in a bit; Ultear...got hurt in the last mission, so..."
"Don't worry, sister. I've waited for seven years, a few minutes is but a short time." the young woman replied with her own smile. With a nod, the Celestial Mage rapidly followed Macao out of the hall.
"Warren."
"I'm on it, Natsu." the Telepathic Mage replied and after only a few seconds he continued. "She is lying, she is not Michelle Lobster, but a doll that can change appearance at will. Actually she was Lucy's doll in the past, but now she is helping a group calling themselves the Reborn Oracion Seis in kidnapping Lucy and activating the Infinity Clock."
In the blink of an eye, Natsu had the girl in a death grip by the throat that he slammed to the opposite wall, creating spider webs upon impact. "What a shame; poor Lucy was so happy at finding a living member of her family. So sad that's only a lie." he said with a deadly voice, ignoring her struggles in his grip. "You know what Warren? Make sure she becomes who she said she was." he finished with a dark smile.
The Telepathic Mage didn't make himself wait as a second later, the fake Michelle was crying in pain from the foreign invasion in her mind. Fortunately for them, none of the Tenrou group was present during this...reformatting. Finally after a few minutes of her silent struggle, she was seated on a stool across from Natsu, like the episode just before never happened.
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"Hello there, Michelle. I'm Natsu, the unofficial master of this guild; and I have a proposition for you: what do you think about joining Fairy Tail?"
"Oh my god! I would be very happy to be part of the same guild as my sister!" she replied with a genuine smile. "Thank you very much, sir Natsu."
"Just Natsu is fine." the Dragon Slayer said with a smile.
"As you wish, sir Natsu." she continued bowing her head in reverence. The pink haired young man raised an eyebrow and turned toward Warren, but the said mage shook his head in ignorance.
"Anyway, Jet, go to the Council and tell Lahar to prepare a few cells, there will be an incoming of prisoners in a short while." Natsu said, standing up. With a nod to the smoking Wakaba, Droi and Warren he left the guild, rapidly followed by them.
"Would you like some tea?" Laki asked bringing a cup to the confused Michelle, as if nothing.
"I would be delighted."
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"I got used to not doubt your word, Phoenix, but even coming from you the request surprised me a bit." Lahar said with a shake of head. "But look now, not even half a day later, you're here with the promised prisoners. What had they done to cross you so?"
"Tried to kidnap one of my guild mates, and wanted to wreak havoc. Not the best idea, as you can see." Natsu replied with a smirk.
"The Council should have requested their capture a long time ago." the Rune Knight continued.
"You know that the only one that can make requests is the King, Lahar. The Council can go bugger themselves for all I care. A bunch of old geezers, that's what they are."
"Very true; but don't repeat that I agreed with you, not all of us can insult the Council and get away with it."
"You really should change your job."
"Ha! Who else will watch your back? No, my place is here."
"Have you got some news from Doranbolt?" the pink haired mage asked, his voice getting serious.
"Still nothing; and I'm starting to worry."
"Inform me when something new comes up." Natsu said, and turning around he left the Rune Knight alone in his office.
After climbing down a few stairs, he stumbled upon his strike team, sporting a few bruises here and there.
"Look at this! My shirt is all but ruined!" Droi exclaimed, pointing to his tattered clothes. "And I had bought it specially to show off to Levy!"
"They were stronger than the first time we fought them. Their blabber about sacrificing things to gain more power was certainly no exaggeration." Warren stated taking his sweater off, for the hood was no longer usable.
"Well, they hadn't sacrificed enough then." Wakaba whispered with a puff of his cigarette. "Such a shame. And to think that Yukino-chan's sister turned out like this. Shame I say."
"Shut it, you old pervert. You have a wife I remind you!" Droi exclaimed, pointing his finger toward the older man.
"Let's go." Natsu said, and suddenly, all of them were serious again, standing and following their leader through the Magical Prison, scaring many prisoners on their way.
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"She seems really happy." Wendy whispered, observing the laughing Lucy.
"Well, she discovered a living member of her family. Her reaction is only logical." Carla replied with a nod.
"Aye! And now she's a member of Fairy Tail!" Happy supplied with a large grin, flying around them in circles.
"I would have loved seeing Gray-sama that happy." Juvia said with a sad smile.
"I still don't understand what you see in him, anemone." Gajeel interjected with a shake of head, munching on an iron bar. "The guy's a stripper besides being an asshole."
"Hey! Don't call Gray-sama like that Gajeel-kun! You just don't understand love! Barbarian-Dragon-Slayer!"
"Ha! If being in love consists of being rejected and ignored all the time, I don't need love, thank you very much!"
"Uh-...You..." Juvia blabbered, her lips starting to tremble and her eyes widening. "Jerk!" she exclaimed suddenly, pulverizing him with a jet of water.
When he dried himself and sat back down he raised his hands in surrender and continued to munch on the bar. And after a moment he spoke again. "You should ask Salamander for help; the guy attract them like flies. Or better yet, ask Ultear. If she was able to make him see reason, then getting your Ice Queen should be a walk in the park."
"Maybe…" Juvia whispered, a frown appearing on her beautiful face.
"Hey anemone."
"What again, Gajeel-kun?"
"What if your charms don't work on him because, you know, he plays for the other team...?"
"Jerk!" was the cry heard through the guild before the Iron Dragon Slayer was launched across the hall, crashing in the bar.
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"Not everyone is happy, thought." Macao said, sitting beside them.
"What do you mean?" Cana asked, stopping the bottle of beer only inches from her lips. "Is something wrong?" she asked, a frown appearing on her face. To answer her question, the Purple Flame Mage pointed his finger to the left corner of the hall, where a certain Requip Mage sat, alone. "What's with her?"
"A problem that we can't help her resolve, I'm afraid." the older man replied with a sad smile.
"What does it mean?" the Card Mage asked again.
"Mind your own business, that's what it means." Jet interjected sitting across from them. "It's between Erza and Natsu."
"Well, I'm all about minding my own business, but what about her?" Cana replied, pointing toward the walking Ultear, slowly approaching the redhead. Giving Erza a nod, she sat across from her, a warm smile on her face.
"What are they saying? Can anyone read on the lips?" Cana asked, completely forgetting her alcohol in the process. Something was going on and she wanted to be aware of it.
Suddenly they saw Ultear lean toward Erza and whisper something, causing the redhead's eyes to widen and jump to her feet, hands clenched into fists. The Time Mage on the other hand was still smiling, but that smile sent chills down their spines. Slowly she stood up and after saying a final thing, left the Requip Mage alone.
"What the hell happened there?" Cana whispered, as if afraid that she would be heard over the cacophony of noises in the hall.
"Better stay out of this, Wendy." Carla said with a frown. "Humans sure are strange creatures."
Suddenly the giant doors of the guild were opened and Natsu entered, followed by Wakaba, Warren and Droi. Seeing their ruffled state many of the guild mates stared in surprise; after all Jet had only said that they were gone to take care of something, without specifying anything. Looking around Natsu spotted all the people that he needed and a smile formed on his face.
"Well, as I can see that everyone is here, let me announce something: the Great Magic Games are taking place in one month time!"
"The Great what?" Gajeel asked standing up from his seat.
"Games, Gajeel, games. It's a competition between all the magic guilds of Fiore to find out who is the strongest. Of course since its creation seven years ago, we only lost once, and that was the year of your disappearance." Natsu replied with a smirk, taking a seat to the bar. "Which means that we have to make sure that we stay on the top this year; and for the second time I will be taking part in it!"
"What do you mean, second time?" Gray asked with a frown; something wasn't right.
"The Masters of the guilds can't participate in the Games. Can you imagine the havoc that would create? Fortunately for us, I'm no longer the Master." The pink haired Dragon Slayer continued with a large smile adorning his face.
"I have a bad feeling about this…" Cana whispered to Juvia, which nodded vigorously.
"And you're right about that, my dear Alberona." Natsu said, with a smirk, having heard the girl. "It pains me to say this, but your current level, and I'm not talking only about Cana is, average…"
"What did you say?!" Gray and Gajeel exclaimed with fury, taking a few steps toward the pink haired man.
"You've heard me. All of you are average, with Laxus and Erza being above average." Natsu replied, his voice getting serious. "Seven years has passed; do you really think that Fairy Tail was the only guild to train their ass off? Well, I will answer that for you: no. Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, Raven Tail and most of all Sabertooth are very strong guilds that will do everything in their power to finish first. Some members of those guilds are monsters that would crush you lot in the blink of an eye."
"Don't bullshit us, Salamander! We're not weaklings!" the Iron Dragon Slayer exclaimed with force.
"I never said that, but you stagnated for seven years, whereas they trained without respite. All I'm saying is that you'll have to train; and my dear friends, I have a month to train you to the ground!" Natsu replied with a devilish smile.
"Told you so…" Cana whispered with a sigh. The coming days promised to be…interesting.
"Alright, I'll be creating training groups for you guys." Natsu continued. "Logically, the Dragon Slayers will come with me. Macao will train Cana and Freed. Droi will be with Lisanna and Elfman. Warren will go with Evergreen and Lucy. Wakaba will take charge of Levy and Bickslow."
"I want to come with you, too." Gray said, approaching the pink haired man.
"I understand your desire to train with the best, but I have a plan for you, don't worry." Natsu replied with a mysterious smile. "I was hoping to put you with Ultear, as she is the strongest in the guild after me, but with the recent events, Jet will take care of your training." He continued turning toward Erza. The said young woman cringed from his words and turned away.
"As you wish." Was her silent reply.
"And finally, Mira, I'll personally take your training in hand. You've stayed on the side long enough." Natsu said with a serious face. "Alright, Laxus, Gajeel, Wendy and Mira come with me, I'll show you our training ground for the coming month." The Fire Dragon Slayer said when suddenly Ultear approached him from behind and leaning forward, whispered something in his ear. "Perfect." Gray, Juvia, you'll also come with us, and I'll present you to you your teacher."
"Juvia is coming too? With Gray-sama?" the Water Mage exclaimed her eyes widening.
"Of course you are. Have you thought that I forgot about you?" Natsu replied and with a nod, left the guild, slowly followed by Ultear and his students. After walking for a few minutes, they arrived in a large clearing surrounded by a forest outside Magnolia. In the middle of the said clearing, a masculine silhouette could be seen, completely covered in a black cloak. "Ah, he came. An old friend of mine he is. And you won't find a better teacher in the whole Fiore, Gray, so be thankful."
Even after they were only a few yards away from the man, he stayed silent, unfazed by the coming group.
"Hello, old man. I'm happy that you finally saw reason." Natsu said with a smirk.
"Well, Ultear-san can be very…persuasive." The man replied with shake of head.
"Aye, that she can..." The pink haired man continued with a warm smile, turning toward the Time Mage beside him and receiving a wink from her. Then rolling his eyes he approached the covered man, muttering: "Enough with the theatrics." Before taking a hold of the cloak and ripping it away, revealing the man to the world.
"You…" Gray whispered his eyes widening in shock.
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"Quicker, Erza!" Jet exclaimed as he sidestepped the slash of her sword and blurred from sight, only to reappear behind her and deliver a powerful blow to her back. As she was sent a dozen yards forward she twirled on herself and changed armor, just in time to block the dagger in the speedster's hand. Deflecting the next swing, she brought her spear in an arc, but again Jet disappeared. "You rely too much on your armors, Erza! Push your body to the limit!"
"It's easy to say it when you use Speed Magic!" the redhead replied with a ragged breath.
"Do you think that I was using my magic all this time?" Jet asked raising an eyebrow. "This is the speed of my physical body, Erza. I'll show you my real speed..." he continued and then he outstretched his right hand and in a flash of Requip magic his practice dagger was replaced by an intricate wicked looking curved one. Then, he literally vanished from sight. Only a fraction of a second later he was back to his starting position, sheathing his blade.
Feeling something strange, Erza looked back and her eyes widened. Her Adamantine armor adorned so many small cuts that she couldn't even begin to count them.
"1 million cuts." Jet supplied, and as on cue, the black armor crumbled to the ground like sand. The now naked Erza stood there, eyes wide in astonishment as she tried to understand how it was possible, while the speedster turned away from her indecent form. "Put on another armor and let's continue." He said, and with a silent nod the redhead requiped her Flight armor and stood in attention. Natsu had said that Ultear was the Ace of the guild; in that case if Jet was so powerful, how strong was she…?
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"How…?" Gray whispered in shock. "Why…?"
"Hello Gray." The man replied with a sad smile.
"It's impossible!" the Ice Mage cried out. "What is the meaning of this Natsu!? How dare you use his appearance like this!" he continued with fury. Then bringing his hands together he cried out: "Ice Make: Lance!"
The man only swept his right hand to the side and the incoming attack, as well as the whole clearing froze in place. Gray's eyes widened again, for he had already seen this move, and not very long ago! He turned toward the smirking Natsu with a lost look.
"Meet Silver Fullbuster!" Natsu proclaimed with a wave of hand. "My teacher, as well as your father, Gray…"
"How…?"
"Is that really important? He is here with you now. Nothing else matters." Natsu replied.
"It matters to me! How are you alive?! Why haven't you come before? What happened?!"
"I'm dead, Gray." Silver replied with another sad smile. "Now, I'm a walking breathing corpse, raised by a necromancer." The young Ice Mage stood there, unable to formulate a sentence. How could it be? And what was he supposed to do? "I wanted to stay hidden from you to not cause you even more unnecessary pain, but Natsu…forced my hand."
"How long?"
"Until he is alive, I can stay in this realm." Silver replied. "But once he finds out that I betrayed them, he will kill me."
"That won't happen. I'll make sure of it." Natsu said with a serious face. "I have a plan. But don't worry about that. You're here to train your son and his fiancée." He finished with a mischievous smile.
"Is that so?" Silver asked his eyes widening in surprise. He wasn't aware of that information! "It's a pleasure to meet you." He continued, outstretching his hand toward Juvia. The said girl was trembling, her eyes as wide as saucers as she slowly shook his hand. "Welcome to the family."
"J-..J-..Juvia is not ready for this, Gray-sama!" she cried out, turning toward the twitching Ice Mage. "It's so sudden! Juvia doesn't know what to do!"
"Ah, young love…" Natsu whispered as he left the trio, followed by Ultear, Mirajane and the Dragon Slayers.
"Hey flame breath! Come back here!"
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"What do you mean, we have to fight her?" Laxus exclaimed with a frown.
"Yeah, I know it's quite unfair for you, but I want for the three of you to feel your future teammates." Natsu replied. "Dragon Slayers are very dangerous, but a good team of Dragon Slayers is a tremendous force." The pink haired mage explained. "You're not the first team of Dragon Slayers that I trained. And I can assure you that they're no pushovers."
"Wait! You trained other Dragon Slayers? There are others?" Gajeel asked with surprise.
"Well, yes, two from a third generation." Natsu replied. "Anyway, enough talk. Let's get to work! Ul-chan, don't get easy on them."
"I admit that you're powerful, Natsu, but don't take us for weaklings!" Laxus exclaimed with anger. "Three on one is hardly fair for her."
"Tell me that when she sweeps the floor with you." Was the pink haired man's reply, before he left the area, followed by an anxious Mirajane.
"Alright, come at me with all you've got." Ultear said, as with a wave of her hand she discarded her cloak and her Time sphere materialized over her outstretched hand. "For, I won't be holding back, much…"
Gritting his teeth, Laxus launched toward her with a fist encased in lightning. Just as his swing was going to touch her face, she slid to the side and her time sphere slammed into his arm with great force, which she followed with a palm strike to his abdomen, sending him back, skidding on his feet.
"Together would be better, as that was Natsu's wish. But the choice is yours." Ultear said with a smile. Hearing her words, Gajeel took a few steps forward, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Leave her to me." Laxus said, cracking his neck in anticipation. Then suddenly he blurred from sight only to reappear to Ultear's left swinging a sword of lightning with his hand. Greatly bending backward from his horizontal slash, Ultear used her left hand on the ground as support to deliver a kick to his face with her right leg, sending him to the side. Using the momentum, she twirled on herself and once she was back on her two feet, she outstretched her hand muttering: "Ice Make: Graveyard!" The still stumbling Dragon Slayer had to use all his agility to escape the numerous ice spikes sprouting from the ground. After regaining his footing, he launched a Lightning Dragon's Roar with all his might. But the attack was absorbed by the time sphere, before the ground was torn apart as giant rose roots sprang from the ground in front of him, forcing him to jump back with a curse.
With a roar, he released the restrains on his magic and let it flow freely, causing a beam of lightning to escape his form, ripping his upper clothes to pieces in the process.
"I think that's enough. It's time for us to enter the fight; surely you can see that she is playing with you." Gajeel said suddenly. Receiving no objection, he smirked and with a nod to Wendy sprang into action.
Skidding to the side from an Iron Dragon's Roar, she blocked Laxus punch with her left hand and delivered a right hook in return, not losing time, she somersaulted backward escaping the leg sweep from Wendy and using the momentum, kicked her in the face. Twirling to the side she dodged the Iron Club from Gajeel and creating a hammer of ice, smashed him away; then swinging her left hand, her time sphere duplicated until forming ten of them that got into the Heavenward Halberd's way launched by the Lightning Dragon Slayer, absorbing the attack. Finally turning around, she caught the smaller girl by her throat, and spinning on herself, launched her away.
A moment later, the three Dragon Slayers jumped toward her from different sides, all preparing their respective roars, but when they were close enough, Ultear outstretched her hands to her sides and cried out: "Arc of Time: Suspension!" A dome of magic sprung to life around her, causing the ground to be excavated. When her opponents were touched by the magic, all their being stopped still, freezing in time, unable to neither move nor think. Then, she cried out: "Ice Make: Rosen Krone!", and they knew no more.
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"Release your magic, Mira." Natsu said with a smile. With a shy nod, she closed her eyes, and a few seconds later, an ominous magic exploded from her, bathing her in a strong light. When her silhouette was visible again, she was in her Satan Soul form. Slowly, the pink haired man approached her, feeling her magic and nodding his head. "Alright, now fight me." He continued, but upon seeing her state he frowned. "Are you afraid?" he asked with worry.
"I'm not trembling out of fear…" was the answer she gave with a dark smile.
"Then why-…" he began but was interrupted as she blurred in front of him, swinging her clawed hand to his face. His right hand shot forward and caught her wrist in a vice grip, creating a shockwave from the displaced air and magic. "Well, aren't you eager?" he said with a smirk.
"It's the first time I released my magic since our return. Now, I can feel you." She whispered in an uncharacteristic tone, a dangerous smirk appearing on her face. He raised an eyebrow but let her arm go nonetheless. With another smile, she jumped back. Then using the ground, she propelled again toward Natsu, wings springing from her back, and creating a crater on her wake. The Dragon Slayer jumped back evading her powerful magic imbibed swing that upon impact created a great explosion rising dust and hiding her from view.
Flicking his hand, the pink haired man deflected the Dark Beam that came from the dust to the side, causing another explosion in the distance. Then leaning to the left, he evaded her kick, and taking a hold of her leg, launched her back. Twirling in the air, she regained balance and flew toward him at breakneck speed, leaving a trail on the ground behind her. Sliding his right foot behind him, Natsu brought his arm back, and when Mira was only a foot away, swung it forward, delivering a bone shattering hook to her face, propelling her away.
When she stood up, blood leaked from the side of her lips and bruises adorned her face, but the smile on it only widened. "Soul Extinction!" she cried out suddenly, sending a giant wave of Dark magic toward him. With a sweep of his arm, a giant wall of fire formed on its path, completely dispersing the attack. Going through the raging flames, Mira was upon him, slashing at him with her claws and talons. Evading all of her strikes, he delivered a flame engulfed fist to her stomach, sending her away with a cough of blood. Crashing a few dozen yards away, she stumbled to her feet and started to laugh. Then, with a cry of rage, magic exploded from her in enormous quantities, illuminating the now barren clearing with light. When she was visible again, her Satan Soul had evolved into its Sitri form, causing Natsu's eyes to widen ever so slightly.
"Mira, I think that's enough. I'm not sure it's a good idea to tempt fate too much."
"Hahaha! I'm not afraid to discover what fate has in store for me!" she replied with a smirk. "We're far from finished, Master…" she continued, then less than a second later, the pink haired man had to raise his left hand to catch her flaming clawed fist. The power behind the attack was so great that he skidded a few yards back, creating by the same way spider webs on the ground from the strain. Using her immobile appendage as leverage, she swung her leg toward his head with incredible force and speed. Ducking under the kick he caught her by the waist and pinned her to himself, restraining her limbs from moving.
"It's more than enough, Mira." Natsu said with a serious voice. "I've seen enough."
"But I still have to see anything!" she exclaimed and leaning forward, captured his lips with hers. His eyes wide from surprise he stood there in astonishment for a few seconds, before the Take Over mage slid from his now slack grasp and delivered him a sucker punch to the jaw. Flying backward from the force of the strike, he burst into flames and rematerialized on his two feet a small distance away, a frown adorning his face.
"That was a low blow, Mira." He whispered, massaging his sore jaw. "But like I said before, that's enough."
Not listening to his words, the Take Over mage's smile transformed into a demented one as demonic magic started to leak from her body in waves. Her eyes were wide, as was her grin. It was evident to him now; she was losing control to her demonic side, exactly what he had hoped to avoid.
After a moment, the saturation of dark magic in the air started to press on him, that wasn't good…
"Come play with me, Master!" she cried out in a demented voice, suddenly jumping toward him.
"Snap out of it, Mira!" Natsu exclaimed, evading her incredibly devastating blows that were completely reshaping the landscape. "It will finish badly if you continue!"
"What is it!? Am I not good enough?!" Mirajane exclaimed with anger. "I'm better than Ultear! She doesn't understand! But I do! I understand you, Natsu!" she continued with her rant, launching attack after attack at him. He launched a Fire Dragon's Roar toward her but she evaded it without difficulty with a smirk on her face. It was starting to weight on him; between trying not to harm her with his stronger attacks and trying to reign on his instincts, the fight was becoming harder with every second.
"I know!" she cried out suddenly. "I will kill her!" she continued with glee. And that was the last straw before he snapped…
Magic exploding from him in waves, he blurred to her side catching her by the neck and slamming her to the ground with tremendous force creating a crater on impact as a shockwave of dark ominous magic seeped from him, reducing everything in a thirty yards radius to ashes. His grip on her throat was strong enough to slowly seep the life from her, but despite that, she now adorned a content smile, as if oblivious to everything. "Finally, you showed yourself, Natsu…" she whispered with a struggled breath under his grip, raising her left hand and running it along his face.
Suddenly, he finally snapped out of his state and released her, jumping back as if burned, his eyes wide with horror. "Mira…" he whispered, as he approached her with trembling hands. Then finally seeing her naked state, his eyes widened again and he rapidly covered her with his coat.
"Mira…" he repeated with a pained face.
"I'm sorry, Natsu. I…I let my impulses take over me. It's all my fault." She whispered with a gentle smile. "I knew what it would do to you, yet I refused to stop."
"Don't blame yourself Mira; it was your Demon side taking over."
"No Natsu. All of that was my doing. I just wanted to finally feel it."
"Feel what?"
"That I'm no longer alone, Natsu…"
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After two weeks of constant work, the three Dragons Slayers were finally working like a team. Their attacks were coordinated; each of them filled the holes their partners left in their defenses and most of all, they now fought with purpose. They no longer attacked head on, trying to fight stronger opponent without any plan; no, now they were on the same wavelength. And even the proud Laxus had warmed to the idea of fighting alongside his friends, entrusting to them to guard his back.
"Good." Natsu said with a content smile. "Now we can advance to the next stage."
"The next stage?" Gajeel asked with a ragged breath from their one hour long fight with the pink haired man.
"I will start to teach you on how to attain…Dragonforce." The Fire Mage replied with a smirk.
"Dragonforce?! We can attain it?" Wendy exclaimed not believing her ears. She remembered her mother talking about the final form of a Dragon Slayer, but she never imagined abut attaining that perfect state.
"Of course you can. But entering that state by the power of will alone is very difficult. So don't even dream about being able to use Dragonforce during the Games; I will tell you it right now, it's impossible. At least a year of constant training is needed for that, which we don't have."
"Then what's the purpose of wasting time in learning it now?" the Iron Dragon Slayer asked with a frown.
"Ah, but I think you misunderstood me, Gajeel. I said that entering that state by the power of will alone is impossible for you now, but there are many other ways around that." Natsu replied with a dangerous smirk.
"Hn. I'm getting exited all of a sudden." Laxus said with a grin, cracking his neck in anticipation.
"Alright we'll start by-…" the pink haired man began, but was interrupted by Jet that suddenly blurred beside him.
"Natsu."
"Jet, what is it? Is something wrong with Erza?"
"No, everybody is alright. But we received a request."
"I already informed the Council that we're not taking mission during this month. Send it back."
"It's not from the Council, it's the King. And it's for Fairy Wrath." The speedster explained.
"Fairy…wrath?" Wendy repeated with confusion.
"Oh. I see. Call the others. I'll be waiting at the guild." Natsu commanded. With a nod, Jet vanished from sight. "Let's go. Training is over for today."
"What's all that about?" Laxus asked with a frown. Something was very strange. The sudden seriousness that took over Natsu was worrying.
"It doesn't concern you, don't worry yourself about it." Was his reply.
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Sipping his bottle of beer, Natsu waited for his teammates to comeback. All the students sat around a table, with frowns on their faces, trying to understand what was going on and why their training was cut short so suddenly. When the giant doors of the guild were opened, all the eyes were on them as two young women entered the hall. The eyes of many of them widening in surprise, some even spilling their drink from shock, they watched Mirajane enter the guild followed by Ultear. But it was the former that attracted attention the most. Discarding her long dresses, she now wore a purple tight leather top that was struggling to contain her voluptuous chest; a leather miniskirt of the same color covered her long legs, finishing with knee-high leather boots. It did nothing in hiding her generous proportions and reminded greatly of her long past gothic look that she had had in her younger years.
"Mira!" Erza exclaimed, suddenly flashbacks from the past resurfacing in her mind.
"Hey there." The Take Over mage replied with her usual warm smile. "I thought that it was finally time to step back in the light." She continued with a mischievous smirk. "After all, you're still the flat chested girl you once were, Scarlet."
"What did you-…?!"
"Alright, all of you are here. We can leave now." Natsu said, interrupting the incoming fight.
"Natsu, what's all this about?" Makarov asked with a frown on his old face. "What's this Fairy Wrath business?"
"It's no concern of yours, gramps."
"I think it is, Natsu! I'm the Master! I have to know what's happening in my guild!"
"The Guild is not yours, gramps. That's only true for the girl in the basement." The pink haired man replied with a monotonous voice. "Let's go." He continued, turning around and walking toward the doors.
"I presume I'm not coming this time." Macao supplied with a sigh.
"Yes, I'm sorry." Natsu said without turning around. "Make sure that they stay put. It's still too soon."
"As you wish." And with that, Natsu left the guild, followed by Ultear, Meredy, Jet and Warren.
With rapid steps, Laxus approached the Purple Flame Mage and spoke up. "What's all that about? Where did they go?"
"You've already heard it. It's none of your business. Stay put or do something useful." Macao replied. "I'm not in the mood right now." He continued, taking the glass of drink from Laki.
"We're members of this family too you know!" Erza exclaimed with irritation.
"Oh, I know that, but you weren't here during the last seven years, either! So don't think that you understand everything!" Macao replied with anger, surprising many of his guild mates.
"Don't be a pain, Erza." The elder Strauss said shaking her head. "If Natsu said to leave it alone, then we should listen."
"Mira! Not you too!" Cana said with a shake of head. "There is something fishy with all this."
"Macao, explain this." Makarov said with a serious voice, as he approached the man with a frown on his face.
"I'm sorry old man, but I can't do that."
"Macao! I'm your Master!" the older Dreyar exclaimed, letting a bit of his magical power show by letting it seep from him.
"Only in name…" the Purple Flame Mage replied, not fazed by the threat.
"What did you say…?"
"I said, that just because Natsu gave you the position back, you think we will stop listening to him after everything we've went through?! I'm not afraid of you, old man!" Macao cried out, standing up as a purple aura of magic enveloped him. "You think you can take me? Look around you!" he continued with a sweep of his hand. Every mage of Fairy Tail bar the Tenrou group were standing with serious faces in battles stances, magic at the ready. Makarov's eyes were wide in astonishment as he couldn't believe what was happening. All of them were prepared for everything…
Suddenly, a calming hand was put on Macao's shoulder, squeezing it a bit. "That's enough, old friend. Natsu wanted to guard it secret a bit longer, but if that secrecy would bring his guild to ruins, it's wouldn't be worth it." Wakaba said with a solemn tone. "Kinana, prepare the Car, it's time that they discover the truth."
Half an hour later, the Tenrou Group along with Macao, Wakaba and Alzack stood on a hill, overlooking a wide clearing near a village in ruins. In that clearing a hundred yards away stood Natsu, Ultear, Meredy, Jet and Warren and in front of them, two hundred mages, all at the ready. None of them moved even a muscle and even despite the distance, the heavy atmosphere stemmed around them. The first to move was Jet, as he blurred from sight and a moment later twenty of the mages crumbled to the ground, blood leaking from various wounds. Jumping to the side from an onslaught, Warren outstretched his arm forward and not a second later another twenty fell to the ground, screaming in pain while holding their heads in agony. After kicking a mage away, with a wave of her left hand, Ultear froze a dozen of the mages and with a sweep of her right, a dozen others crumbled to the ground, turning to ashes before they could understand what was happening. Then, Natsu after dispersing the dozen attacks sent his way, finally let escape a Roar of fire, reducing everyone on its way to ashes. In mere seconds, the large army of two hundreds was reduced to a meager fifty.
"What are they doing!?" Lucy exclaimed with fear.
"Killing Monsters…" was Macao's reply, with a dark look on his face.
Makarov stared with wide eyes as his children decimated their opponent mages, freezing, slashing, burning…killing… What was going on? What had happened? Why had they turned to such measures?
"But…Fairy Tail doesn't kill!" he exclaimed suddenly with trembling hands.
"Even Fairies can bring their Wrath on you, if you anger them." Warren said, suddenly appearing before the group, Jet holding his shoulder.
"I see that it was foolish to think that you'll listen to me." Natsu continued, appearing to his left in a burst of flames. "With so many headstrong people, there was no way."
"Natsu! Explain what is going on! You killed them!" the older Dreyar cried out with anger. What was wrong with them?
"They received the Fairy Wrath, gramps." Was the pink haired man's simple reply.
"Don't play games with me, boy! We don't kill! Never did and never will!"
"Sometimes, killing is the only option." Ultear supplied with a monotonous voice.
"Don't you start with that! It's you, isn't it?! You turned Natsu into what he is now!" Makarov cried out, pointing his finger toward the Time Mage. The said woman recoiled as if struck, her eyes wide.
"Be careful of what you say, old man." Natsu said with an ominous aura around him, as he took Ultear's hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "Answer me this question then: what's the difference between slaying Demons and killing humans?"
"Demons are vile creatures that only crave pain, misery and chaos! Unlike humans, they have no other reason to exist than to destroy the world!"
"Sometimes, humans can be even worse than Demons, and putting them behind bars only delays their dark deeds. The guild we slayed today destroyed three villages and sacrificed hundreds for their rituals. Do you still think that humans are better than Demons?"
"But killing is not the solution! Only criminals and monsters kill!"
"Yes, you are right. And it's time for you to see the truth." Natsu said with a dark voice, discarding his scarf, shirt and coat. After a nod from him, Ultear put her right hand on his chest over his heart and suddenly a seal appeared on his skin, illuminating the area in a very strong light.
When he was visible again, Natsu's right side was black, as if covered by a dark scale like armor. His hands adorned long razor sharp claws; his sclera was as dark as night and his pupil shone a bright red color. He stood there with a snarl on his face as demonic magic seeped from him in waves.
"You are right, Makarov." He whispered with a doubled voice, raising his hand to point the old man with his clawed finger. "I am a monster…
I am a…Demon!"
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AN: I hope that you liked this chapter! By the way, I'm not a big fan of the Infinity Clock Arc, so I decided to skip it. Anyway, leave a review and say what you think!
See you,
Zegeth.