-Now-

When Lucy felt the lock disengage, she braced herself against the old but sturdy door, noting the steel plates Natsu had needlessly requested Gajeel to add for reinforcement. Needless, and pointless. What could steel on wood do to keep a fire demon at bay?

Of course no one, least of all Lucy, saw Natsu as any such creature. She wished she hadn't had to use that cruel bit of reasoning to persuade him to stop insisting he be locked inside his home, with both sides of the door barricaded. He must have agreed to the futility of such a plan, for she felt none of the resistance she'd come to expect from previous visits. The door gave with little protest, the cry of the hinges sounding too loud in the oppressive silence she's become all too familiar with.

He was lying on the couch, facing away like always. The breakfast Erza had dropped off earlier laid half-eaten on a plate on the floor. Just eggs and buttered toast with a side of fruit. Erza insisted he start eating more protein again, though judging with how much food remained on the plate, it's good Lucy had come with her current offerings.

"Natsu? I brought soup today. It's creamy potato and leek. Mira made it from scratch last night. I sprinkled some cheese in it, just how you like it. She sent some homemade bread, too. It's still warm." She was sure the presence of chicken broth wouldn't deter him from eating it. She hoped.

Natsu grunted, but remained still. At least he was awake. She placed the food on the window sill behind the couch. Though boarded up, maybe the scent carried by the slight draft would be enough to entice him to eat this time. She saw how he'd tensed as she leaned down, not relaxing as she pulled away. Looking around, she saw no mess to clean, nothing to allow her time to stall, to remain here longer than necessary. Had he even moved from the couch since last night?

Bending down to pick up the plate from the floor, she observed how he tried and failed to control his body's sudden jerk. She remained in that pose longer than needed, unconcerned of what he might do, needing him to sense her lack of fear, wanting him to believe her silent insistence of there being no danger here.

Finally rising and backing away to leave, she could almost feel his tension as a physical thing dissipating from him the closer she got to the door. She stepped into the sunlight cast upon the floor across the threshold, the only light in the house now, at least until she'd close the door behind her as she left. Pausing midway through the exit, she couldn't bring herself to leave without saying something more. She couldn't allow him to sit in the dark, refusing food and company, without at least letting him know how much everyone cared.

"Happy misses you. He wants you to know he understands why you sent him away, but he also says you're being a big stupid jerk for thinking it was necessary. I offered to take him fishing the other day, but he's resolved not to go again until he can go with you. Romeo says he can't wait until you're feeling better. Asuka heard him say that, and offered to draw you a get well card. Mira says she'll bring it when she stops by with dinner tonight. Everyone sends their greetings and best wishes."

Natsu gave no sign of acknowledgment. Lucy sighed, looking down as she stepped outside, closing the door to a mere crack before she stopped again. She knew he'd hear her, even with the door closed, but she wanted no confusion of her parting words.

"He asks about you every day. He wants to see you."

Pulling the door closed, she didn't see how his whole body recoiled at that quiet declaration, nor did she hear his muffled cry over the turn of the key.

-Then-

"Are we sure this is the guy? He doesn't look all that tough to me," Natsu observed as the team approached their target.

"Don't underestimate him, Natsu. He was a high ranking member of the Rune Knights for a reason," cautioned Erza.

He was a mild-mannered looking man, taller than Natsu, but shorter than Gray. He had a slim build, shoulder length rusty brown hair hanging loose, clothed in breeches that went past his knees, and a long, light beige tunic. Around his neck hung the objective of their mission: A cursed talisman, empowered to enable its master to incite violence among a normally peaceful population. Created centuries ago as a means to weaken an enemy's army, it was an insidious tool which corrupted a man's desire and will, forcing him to see friends as mortal foes.

Due to the mores of the time, war was considered a man's business, so the talismen was engineered accordingly. Only men were affected by its power, but that restriction never limited the destruction it could raise.

Held in a secure vault by the Magic Council as a forbidden item, it was stolen recently by the now former member of the Rune Knights, their target, Kenan Becket. Once a trusted officer among those with the highest security clearance, he'd somehow managed to smuggle the talismen from Era, and was suspected of planning to sell it to whichever dark mage would bid the highest. The difficulty of capturing him was heighten due to his powers: He could temporarily turn himself invisible, avoiding detection from even the most skilled trackers from within the Knights.

After several failed attempts to apprehend him, the Magic Council had authorized the hiring of guild wizards to help. Their own guild mate, Mest, had been approached personally with the request, hoping he'd be able to persuade a team from his infamous guild to accept it without haste. Among the guild, he trusted Team Natsu most for their record of completing missions, regardless of the collateral damage which usually followed; and he'd believed having two dragon slayers on their tracking team would be a plus.

While Mest had remained as a liaison with the Rune Knights in anticipation of conducting an official arrest, the team had been sent out to actually bring the target in. Due to time constraints brought on by Becket's proximity to the border of Bosco, the team didn't have the luxury or time for sending only the women after him. For expediency's sake, it was all hands on deck, with the boys equipped with countermeasures against the talismans powers. After narrowing down the search to the outskirts of a village far off from any major town, Natsu and Wendy had tracked Becket deep into the surrounding forests. They now stood before him, each poised in their respective ready stances, waiting for the first sign of hostility.

"They sent some rather infamous persons to capture me," Becket smirked, "I'm flattered. I know a great deal about your guild, and of your team in particular. You've all been a collective pain in the ass for the Magic Council for decades."

"I'm so sick and tired of total strangers associating me with all the destruction you guys cause," muttered Lucy.

"Us guys? What about Erza?" Gray scoffed.

"Yeah, Luce. She deserves just as much praise as we do!" said Natsu.

"You're such a moron."

"What did you say, Frostbite?!"

"I wasn't praising you at all!" cried Lucy.

"Maintain focus, everyone. Let us not get distracted when we're so close to completing our mission," declared Erza.

"Such boldness in your assumptions that your mission is all but complete. You know, I stand to make a most handsome profit off of this profane artifact. I can't risk leaving my clients unsatisfied if it were not to work. Perhaps you'd do me the favor of testing it for me?"

Erza held her sword aloft, showing no sign of fear or intimidation as she replied, "If you're relying on that vile amulet to pull off an escape, you may stay your hand now. We've been equipped with runic seals to counter any effects on us." Each member of the team held their own respective looks of satisfaction at that declaration, as Becket eyed the cords of beads Natsu and Gray wore around their wrists. Each bead was inscribed with an individual rune, and strung together, they served as the only means ever engineered to block the talisman's control.

"The Council supplied you with those seals?" Becket asked, brows furrowed.

"Damn right, they did," grinned Natsu, "They weren't about to send Fairy Tail's strongest team against a jackass armed with a brain scrambler!"

"As well they shouldn't. Imagine the chaos and destruction such monsters could wrought in my name, should I put them under my thrall. So many powerful, even Lost, magics among you. A pair of dragon slayers, one of which is the legendary sky maiden, while the other… Tell me. Do you fear the menacing evil your soul contains?" Natsu bristled darkly at the reminder of his link to E.N.D. "

"The heir of the Heartfilia line, master of ten of the twelve Golden Keys—beg your pardon—nine," he said with a cruel smirk, "A dragon-borne, daughter of the mother of all dragon slayers. And the Devil Slayer, whom I find so deliciously ironic to have descended from one of the Nine Demon Gates."

Gray would have lunged at him had Lucy and Wendy not bade him still. They all knew he was just trying to bait them.

"I knew it. Just another villain who ignores the awesomeness of Happy!"

"Now is not the time for your usual theatrics," Carla chided Happy.

Gaining his attention, Becket's grin widened, actually charmed by the flying cats.

"Forgive me. How can I neglect our transplants from another world?"

Everyone grew more tense. The origin of the Exceeds wasn't a well known fact in Earthland, nor was Natsu's origin as Zeref's greatest creation, nor Erza's heritage. How could he possibly know about Aquarius, or of Silver?

"You know a great deal about us," frowned Erza.

"Please don't disappoint me with your own ignorance. Surely you must have been made aware of the trust and status I once bore among the Council. I was privy to a great deal of knowledge not made available to just anyone. Not even the King has access to all that I know."

"You will bear the full weight of your treason!" Erza promised.

"Perhaps one day. I suppose we should end these pleasantries. If you all intend to bring me to justice, I'd like to confess one thing before I'm taken away. Perhaps you'd allow me to lessen the great weight I bear?"

Not one of them held any anticipation of this arrest going as smoothly as he was suggesting. Lucy, wary but willing to offer this kindness, on the off chance he was being sincere, said, "Go ahead."

His dark, satisfied grin put them on guard as he snickered, "Those seals the Rune Knights supplied you with, the ones you're relying on to negate the effects of this talisman, are fakes!"

Their eyes widened, a subtle panic trying to take hold deep in their hearts. Lucy wanted to deny any truth to his words, while Natsu and Gray looked at each other in trepidation. Erza, about to step forward, hoping to call out a bluff, felt her heart sink as she heard sharp gasps issue from both of her oldest friends. Turning to see what was happening, she saw as Gray staggered, hand clutched to his chest, while Natsu fell to his hands and knees, breathing hard and failing to stifle harsh cries mixed with what sounded like growls.

"Natsu! Gray! What's happening?" Lucy cried as tried to approach, only to halt at Erza's command.

"Everyone stay back! We don't know how they'll react if you get too close. If we capture Becket, we can use the talisman to cancel the spell."

"If."

At the traitor's arrogant declaration, the women turned angered eyes towards him.

"You knew they were fake. Did you switch them out?" Erza asked angrily.

"Of course I did. I spent my career planning ten, even twenty steps ahead of the competition. You have to be ruthless to rise in the ranks of the Knights. Shame on you for not anticipating such an obvious move to ensure my escape."

"You haven't escaped us yet, villain!"

"Oh? Do you have such freedom to come after me, knowing so many innocents are suffering?"

"What do you mean?" cried Lucy.

"This curse has an impressive range. There's a village not far from here. Right now, every man is suffering the same effects as your friends. Soon, they will be completely beyond reason, and will attack anyone within reach. You're free to come after me, but how many will die before you catch me, especially when those two beasts are released upon the village?"

"Wendy!"

Carla's scream called their attentions, flying several feet away from a pissed off looking Natsu, Wendy in her arms, safe and unhurt.

"I'm okay! I was trying to see if I could do something to reverse the spell, but Natsu took a swipe at me when I got too close."

The fire dragon slayer had a hyperfocus to his gaze as he eyed each of his friends as a predator to his prey. A low growl issued from deep in his chest, causing their hair to stand on end.

"Natsu? Please, it's okay. We're your friends. We don't want to hurt you," Lucy tried to soothe.

"A wasted effort. The intensity of the spell increases the longer they're forced to endure it. Meanwhile—"

Becket was interrupted by sounds of battle in the distance, coming from the direction of the village. He laughed, full of elation at the chaos he could imagine, as he continued, "the village is already tearing itself apart!"

"Enough of this madness!" Erza demanded, sword pointed towards Becket as she approached menacingly, "You've crossed the line, putting innocents in danger. Release your spell at once, and surrender!"

"My dear, in my experience 'crossing the line' is synonymous with 'no going back'. Besides, your hands are about to be too full to deal with my humble self."

Feeling a sudden burst of heat, followed by a desperate cry from Wendy, Erza and Lucy turned in time to duck out of the way of a fierce wall of fire. Natsu, crouched over and snarling at their evasion, engulfed his whole body in flame, and advanced towards Lucy.

Lucy, having fallen to the side, scooted backwards, trying to get away. Natsu reared back his head, filling his lungs, readying his signature attack. Erza ran to intercede, but his too-hot flames rebuffed her. Carla and Wendy were shocked into stillness, minds scrambling to come up with something to save Lucy. Happy too was finding it hard to approach due to the heat, but was readying to risk being burnt in order to swoop in to save her, knowing deep down he'd be too late.

Natsu, standing mere yards away, released his roar as Lucy raised her hands futilely to block the coming attack. Awaiting the sensation of agonizing heat, she was stunned to feel bitter cold instead.

"Gray!" Erza and Wendy shouted.

Opening her eyes, and looking through her still raised hands, she saw her savior standing before her, a massive ice shield standing strong against Natsu's continuous stream of blazing fury. After a few more moments, Natsu stopped, breaths heaving as he stared in animalistic rage at the hindrance to his quarry.

As everyone stood in shock at the unexpected turnaround, Gray dropped to the ground, dissolving his shield as he simultaneously sent waves of magic towards Natsu, trapping him in an Ice Geyser.

Panting as he stood, he turned towards his friends, finding them still astonished at the last minute save, and likely wondering why he was still sane. None were more shocked than Becket.

"How…?" he stammered, lost for words.

Eyes narrowed, Gray kept his attention on him as he held his hand out to Lucy, pulling her up as he replied, voice low and clearly livid, "You're such an arrogant asshole, boasting of knowing so much about us; but you know shit about how our powers actually work. I'm a devil slayer. That's a cursed talisman, powered by demonic energies. I'm immune to curses, you f*cker."

Shaken, but not deterred, Becker drew himself up, ever confident in his chances of victory. Quickly checking his magic stores, he found them full enough for his needs, and grinned as he said, "I'm afraid I must depart now. My very wealthy backers are quite eagerly awaiting my arrival, so if you would excuse me." With a jaunty wave, he vanished right before them, though they could hear the rustling of foliage as he tried to escape.

"We must hurry, before he reaches the border," began Erza, "Gray, how long will that ice hold? We can't risk allowing Natsu freedom to rampage in the nearby village."

"Not long enough. He's already melting through. Even if I used my devil slayer ice, he'd probably just break his way out."

"About the village," Wendy interjected, "It's getting bad over there. We don't have time to cancel the spell. People are getting hurt as we speak." Her gaze was fixed towards the direction of the uproar, and she winced at what the others now knew she could hear.

Taking all the facts in, Erza came to a quick decision.

"Lucy, go to the village. Use your spirits to help quell the violence. Wendy, go with her. Offer whatever support you can, and try to prevent casualties. Happy and Carla will take you there. I'll hunt down Becket and bring him back without fail. Gray—"

She stopped at the worrying sound of ice cracking. Gray turned, instantly freezing an enraged Natsu's feet to the ground. He fell forward, finding his hands fused in ice as well. They started to glow, the ice giving off steam.

"Go! I'll keep the stupid torch neutralized until you get back. Hurry after the bastard already!"

Sparing no more time for acknowledgments, everyone turned to their committed tasks.

Gray stared Natsu down, ready to cast another spell when needed.

"Just the two of us now, cinder head," Gray murmured, unsure if Natsu could even understand.

He could; and he would remember every word.

Every twisted smile.

Every harsh bark of laughter.

Every scream.

Side note, please read: My other story, "Let's Play the Quiet Game- Rescue" got nominated for Best Action/Adventure in TheGuildAwards Tumblr. Please send your votes! You have to sign into google to do so, and your vote can be made anonymously. I would really appreciate your support! Voting begins July 18-August 1!

Someone asked why I spelled END like this: E.N.D., even though I know it's spelled without periods. I'm glad they asked. Due to slight vision impairments, I rely on the screen reader feature on my devices to listen to a story's contents. When spelled with the periods, it reads his name the way it should sound, instead of it coming out as sounding like the word "end", which is confusing. I try to make all my works more accessible and enjoyable for others with the same impairments;)

The cover art is "Fire and Ice" by the artist Zelkam, who may be found on tumblr under the handle Zelkam-art. Do check their work out. They're amazing!

Next Chapter: Erza learns of the true perils of the cursed talisman, while Gray is just discovering the danger he's in.