Hey Everyone Ira here with the next Chapter to A Heart of Diamond. I did read all of the reviews and thank you very much. warriorzgiom I did see that after I posted it I had thought that I had separators between the parts but obviously I was incorrect thank you for calling me out on that! :) As per usual guys thanks for reading the story and any feedback is more than welcome! I enjoy reading what you guys have to say, and my stories are always slightly influenced by ideas that readers send my way so I do enjoy reading about what you guys think would be cool. Thanks again guys and have a good one!

- IRA

*Far North of Fiore*

Natsu stumbled through the tough blizzard that had come blowing in out of nowhere. He hated the cold which he had always thought was rather odd seeing as his magic had to do with crystals and diamonds which normally when found raw were cold. He just shook his head and leaned forward trying to push his way through the abandoned streets of the town he was planning on passing through but now seeing as this dragon cursed storm had blown in he had no choice but to stay overnight. He was only human after all.

Natsu followed the lights ahead of him until he finally managed to catch a glimpse of the taverns hanging notice sign. The Scarlet Rose. Huh an odd name, Natsu thought as he climbed up onto the deck of the small inn and nudged open the door finally free from the cold grasp of the winter's wind. The first thing that hit Natsu was the strong scent of alcohol which always managed to clear his sinus's. Scanning the room he noticed that without much surprise the inn was mostly empty. There were a few patrons here and there and a couple waitresses that were flirting around with a couple of grabby men in the corner, as well as a small band playing rather dull music for the patrons entertainment. Natsu just scoffed and shook his head, small town hicks never ceased to amaze him with their raw and vulgar ways, but what was he to judge having been raised by a dragon and all.

Natsu just tried to walk as inconspicuously as possible to the other end of the bar making sure his hood and mask were firmly in place all the while. He did not want attention, he would simply find the owner ask for a room and retire there for the night. As he reached the bar the presumed owner popped his head back up from behind the counter and raised an eyebrow at the bundled up man before speaking.

"Hello there sir, can I help you?" his voice was gruff and not unkind but holding a certain stern aspect in it. Natsu observed the man closely noticing the small wrinkles gathered around the corners of his eyes that showed how much he smiled and the natural tenderness he held in his gaze before relaxing a little bit in the mans presence. He was obviously a caring man and probably a father he would receive no trouble from him.

"Yes, I would like a room for one night" Natsu replied calmly

"Of course sir just let me go around back and register your name and find you a room, could I have a name to tie the room to please? We just like to keep track of who's were you know?" The man asked gruffly as he made his way to the back door.

"Natsu"

"Alright it'll only be a moment" the man replied before vanishing into the back. Natsu just turned around so he had a good view of the rest of the bar and leaned on his elbows examining the rest of the room. The place was quiet but that suited him just fine he proffered as little interaction between himself and other humans as possible. Natsu grimaced, people had always been cruel to him when he was little. Having looked different than most and having a natural talent for strong magic had always made him and a outsider. He had been beaten and abused more times than he could recount and simply because he was different than everyone else. Natsu had been forced to grow up faster than most would until one day out of fear and possibly jealousy the people of his village killed his mother and father and forced him out of the village, then not to long after he had been found by his mother. Natsu smiled fondly at the memories he had of her, she was powerful and intelligent and worth so much more to him than any human had ever been.

"Hey spook ya -hic- tryin'ta start some-hic-thing?" a loud voice broke Natsu out of his pondering. Looking up he noticed that while he had been distracted a rather bulky individual had made his way towards him. The fool had brown scruffy hair and a messy beard that was coated in what was obviously foam from multiple beers and had a nasty glint in his eye. Natsu hissed quietly between his teeth. Men like him pissed Natsu off.

"No" he replied curtly before moving his eyes off the man obviously intending to insult the drunkard who hadn't failed to notice.

"Eh?! You -hic- listen to me when i-hic-m talking to you!" the man shouted and moved forward and planted a finger in the middle of Natsu's chest. Natsu tensed and slowly returned his gaze to the finger holding itself in his bosom before slowly moving his gaze up to meet the drunks.

"You have five seconds to remove your finger from me before I take your whole arm off" he said quietly his voice dark and eyes glinting dangerously.

"Ha! Id like to see you try!" the man shouted defiantly

"5"

"Oooh spooky hooded guy gonna take me out"

"4"

"3"

"Guys he-hic-s counting down!"

"2"

"Counting do-hic-wn just like little old mommy!"

"1"

Natsu moved faster than any untrained eye could see. He dashed forward appearing behind the drunk and grasping his arm tightly before squeezing. The man screamed in pain and stumbled backwards his arm dangling at his side uselessly. Natsu reached forward in the blink of an eye and latched back onto the broken arm before his hands started to glow a dark blue and crystals started to snake up the mans arm and wrap onto his shoulder. Everyone stared eyes wide for a moment before the crystal cracked then shattered along with the mans arm leaving nothing but a stump in its place. The drunk stumbled back onto a table holding onto his now bleed stump and crying out in pain. Natsu turned around and saw the owner standing there his eyes wide with his key held in hand. Natsu stepped back to the bar took the key and nodded his head in thanks before quickly climbing the stairs up to his room. Once there he shut the door and let his head drop before removing his hood and mask and flopping into the bed. He sat staring at the ceiling letting his adrenaline drop down before he felt himself slowly drift off into the darkness of sleep.

**Downstairs in the Scarlet Rose**

Everyone stood stock still just observing the bleeding man before a couple of his friends retrieved him and moved him quickly into the back room. Suddenly the door slammed open revealing three people two of whom quickly ran inside and stood near the fire shivering and shedding frozen tears. The third slowly stepped forward her armor clanking with each step as she approached the now slightly recovered owner.

"A room for three please" she said sternly leaving no room for argument in the matter. The man just observed the womanly quickly before nodding.

"Name for registration ma'am?"

"Erza Scarlet"

"One second ma'am" the owner said before quickly stepping into the back. Erza turned and sweat dropped at Lucy and Happy over by the fire and Gray who stood by observing the two with a small amount of contempt. She then returned her gaze to the rest of the poorly lit inn. Not moments before they had stepped foot into the inn had she felt an enormous release of power unlike anything she had ever felt before. Her eyes saw nothing out of the normal and giving the room one last general sweep she turned and accepted the key from the owner and gestured to the rest of the party to head upstairs. As the moved through the halls to their room however Erza passed the neighboring room to theirs and froze.

The power she felt emitting from that room was the exact same she had experienced downstairs. She narrowed her eyes and turned to face the closed door. She reached out to open it then stopped. She gave a quiet sigh and retracted her arm. No matter how curious or suspicious she was it was still not appropriate to just barge into someones room like that. She just shook her head retiring to her room.

Just on the other side of the door the person residing there relaxed, the crystal blade that was primed to strike retracting back into his arm. The man returned to his bed were he laid for the rest of the night, keeping one ear open at all times.