Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail, would I still be concerning myself with a CLA education? ... Well, yeah, I would, but I don't.
Freezer Burn
Gildarts took another swig from the bottle of rum he'd nabbed from the kitchen. He stood outside the infirmary door, closed and undisturbed as per Porlyusica's orders. He glanced down the hall; he thought he saw a tiny, pointed tail retreat around the corner. He shrugged and strolled over to the railing of the guild's second floor.
"How are you doing, Cannie-chan?"
Gildarts cooed at his daughter. The card mage had taken over Warren's duty with the Magic Radar. Cana groaned while Gildarts hopped over the railing down to the first floor.
"Don't go giving me weird names, old man."
The crash mage strode up to his daughter and got in her face, his mouth agape in mock surprise. He chuckled when Cana shoved him.
"But," he said, sitting next to her. "It's a papa's job to embarrass his baby girl."
Gildarts earned a sideways glare for his comment. Cana rolled her eyes.
"You'd need to try much harder to embarrass me," she said. "And everyone's asleep anyway."
Gildarts looked around at his junior guild mates who lay on the floor and slumped in chairs. He'd enforced a mandatory break period for those who'd been up all night a few hours prior, after Cana had come back to the guild.
"Oh," he said, allowing a playful smirk onto his face. "You'd prefer an audience when I coddle you?"
Cana slapped him upside the head, though the motion held little force behind it and originated from exasperation rather than outrage.
"Be serious for once, you dork."
Gildarts' smirk waned into a sympathetic smile. He knew Cana had been shaken worse by her run in with Natsu than she let on. She hadn't even asked for a drink since she'd returned. He slid his bottle over to her.
"Take a sip," he said. "Should calm your nerves."
Cana blinked and looked at him in earnest. The briefest glimmer of emotion glinted in her eye before she twisted her face into an expression of disgust.
"You've been drinking out of that," she said, pushing the rum back to him. "Not on your life."
Gildarts gasped in a faux display of hurt. He nudged her shoulder.
"Guess I should be glad," he said. "My daughter knows not to take others' drinks."
"I'll take those drinks," she said. "Just not from strange old men."
"You're so mean, Cana-chan."
Nonetheless, Gildarts smiled a bit. He would've teased some more in hopes of helping Cana relax, but the padding footsteps upstairs required his attention.
"Not everyone is asleep," he murmured. He raised his voice to call up. "Happy."
Gildarts heard the blue Exceed start replying with an involuntary 'Aye' before he squeaked. The crash mage sighed.
"Don't worry," he said. "You're not in trouble."
After a few beats, the cat fluttered down from above on his wings, Natsu's scarf in his paws. Happy looked up at Gildarts.
"Cana," he said. "Do you know where Natsu is now?"
Gildarts' prosthetic hand clenched at the mild shiver from his daughter's shoulders.
"Looks like he's headed toward mountains southwest of here," she said, her voice even.
"That's why you're sneaking out, isn't it?"
The crash mage aimed his question at Happy. The Exceed nodded.
"Aye."
Gildarts lifted his one flesh hand from the table and plopped it over Happy's head. He stared into the cat's wide eyes.
"You find him," he said. "And you bring him home, understand?"
Happy's eyes burned with determination, and he puffed out his tiny chest. Gildarts gestured to Makarov's office.
"Use the way I came in," he said. "In case Porlyusica comes back soon."
"Aye sir!"
The little Exceed shot out of sight at high speed on his wings. Gildarts watched him go.
"Does it look like he's moving toward anyone?" He asked without looking at Cana.
"Right now," she said. "Looks like Erza, if anyone."
The crash mage's attempts at further lighthearted banter died as he grimaced. He gripped the rum with his good hand and raised the end high over his brow. He drank in agitated gulps.
The kids he'd watched come into their own as wizards were getting hurt. Worse than that, being attacked by a man Gildarts regarded as the son he'd never had. The fact that Natsu acted under someone else's manipulation rubbed salt over everything. The ace of Fairy Tail slammed his bottle down on the table. His grip on its neck caused a crack in the glass. He glared at the opposing wall.
"Don't break anything else," Cana said in a gentle, chiding tone. Gildarts felt a hand on his shoulder. "Master's likely to have an aneurysm otherwise."
The crash mage closed his eyes, realizing his momentary lapse into fury had caused his magic to swell. The foundations of the building groaned under the pressure. He clenched his jaw and sighed, exercising a drastic degree of restraint. The guildhall settled again. Gildarts pulled another smile from somewhere in himself and chuckled with any mirth he could manage.
"Right, right. My bad."
"You've got to be kidding!"
Lucy yelled in exasperation. She'd ridden into yet another town with the trains out of commission. The spirit mage had found one near her starting point the previous night, but that had only gotten her so far. She'd anticipated that she'd need to switch trains to get closer to Magnolia, but she'd been trying without success since that morning.
The celestial spirit mage wiped sweat from her palms on her horse's mane. Something had been disrupting her magic power since yesterday. She wasn't tired, she'd slept on the train, and it hadn't affected her strength, but she had a discomforting queasiness that refused to settle.
A blue blur streaked toward her, high overhead. Thankful for the distraction, she focused on it. She shouted when she recognized it.
"Happy!"
The small figure faltered in flight. A moment later, to Lucy's horror, Happy began plummeting downward in shaky, broken spirals.
"Happy!" She cried again, urging her horse forward to catch the blue Exceed. He had Natsu's scarf clutched in his paws.
"Lucy," he murmured in a raspy voice. He gasped for shallow breaths. "Gotta find him."
Lucy held her hand to Happy's forehead. Worrying warmth singed her palm. His wings had vanished, and despite his temperature, his small form convulsed with violent shivers. The blond mage wrapped an arm around him.
"Happy," she said. "What's"
A buck from her horse cut her short. The celestial spirit mage tried to calm the creature before an overwhelming heat demanded her attention.
Lucy looked up and on instinct dismounted with one hand over her keys; a demon of some sort, body surrounded by white flames, stood staring at her. She pulled her keys out. Happy squirmed in her other arm.
"Natsu."
"Eh?"
Lucy looked from the Exceed to the demon that lifted its head back when she pointed a key at it. She noticed the dark pink hair that reached down to its shoulders. Keeping her key steady, she glanced at its right shoulder. A familiar red Fairy Tail guild mark greeted her unbelieving eyes.
"Natsu?" She whispered.
The transformed fire mage cocked his horned head. His lips pulled back and his mouth moved as if sampling the sound Lucy made. The celestial spirit mage saw that his already pronounced canines had grown into full fangs. She couldn't help hesitating to lower her outstretched arm. This had been Natsu?
Any words the blond may have said evaporated on the tip of her tongue as Natsu crept closer. The heat from the constant flames made her body scream at her to retreat, but she stood paralyzed on the spot. Natsu inclined his head toward Happy, who still mumbled incoherencies. The altered dragon slayer sniffed at him, leaning forward.
Fear that the fire might reach the blue cat seized Lucy, and she flinched. In an instant, Natsu made a sound somewhere between a snarl and a yelp. A clawed hand enshrouded in demon fire snapped up to grab her. The split second before it made contact, Lucy saw familiar red and orange flames flare around Natsu's left arm and hand.
She gasped and whimpered when strong fingers wrapped around her throat and lifted her into the air. The pressure crushed her airway, but only lasted a moment. Natsu gave a high-pitched, staccato whine and dropped her. The fire mage howled and backed away several paces. Lucy massaged her neck with her free hand.
She realized she hadn't been burned. She knew she'd have a bruise later, but her skin had been left intact. Natsu clutched his head and growled. Lucy saw that the hand he'd choked her with, while still charcoal like the rest of him, had lost its claws. The white fire around it had retreated too, though it began crawling out again.
"Natsu," she said, voice weak. The fire mage glared at her, hands still clamped on his head. But Lucy saw tears leaking out of wide eyes despite his harsh expression. Snapping his wings open, he propelled back into the air toward the forest between her and the mountain peaks on the horizon.
Lucy sat for a moment. Remembering Happy, she wrapped Natsu's scarf around the still shaking Exceed. Her horse had fled, leaving her in the midst of an abandoned town. She looked back at Natsu's retreating figure and steeled her nerves. She sprinted after him.
Erza pondered what to do with the imp-like demon she'd skewered moments before. The redhead had parted from Gray a while ago to cover more ground. Upon spotting a small, chortling, horned creature monitoring her, she'd acted.
The little beast did seem to belong to Zeref's collection, but what did it mean? Erza couldn't decide if the incident warranted rendezvousing with Gray or not. The S-class mage's thoughts came an abrupt halt at the sense of an approaching attack.
Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!
Erza summoned a few dozen swords and sent them flying overhead without pausing to regard her target. She aimed for the origin of the malicious intent she felt. A flying, burning monster came diving down straight for her. To her surprise, it made no effort to avoid her blades; many left deep incisions, but her opponent barreled ahead regardless. White flames rained down. She leapt out of the way as the creature crashed, talons first, into the rocky ground of the mountain pass.
Only for the briefest moment did Erza get to see her attacker before he lunged. The pink hair gave Natsu away. Erza didn't have time to speak, using her blades to parry the dragon slayer's wild swipes. The redhead noticed that none of the wounds lining his limbs seemed to slow him down.
Erza flipped one sword and snapped her wrist down to catch Natsu's horns with the blade, using the other to swing at the Tartaros mark on his chest.
The demonized fire mage's snarl grew more aggressive. He unhinged his jaw and a spiraling vortex of hellish fire erupted from his throat.
Requip: Flame Empress Armor!
Erza changed into the fire retardant plating just as the maelstrom of flame bore down on her. Despite the protection of the armor, heat still sank hungry teeth into her skin. She twirled her flame sword in a rapid circle to redirect and dispel the blaze. Natsu's open hand greeted her. She leaned back, though his claws still caught her forehead. A gash ran over her right eye, and blood leaked down into her vision, forcing it shut.
Natsu pressed on, more insistent than Erza had ever seen him. His tail flicked up and snagged around her wrist, the spiked end digging into her skin. The requip wizard cringed, using her sword to block the talons Natsu brought up to strike at her face. She jerked her hand back, pulling at his tail and catching him off balance. Ignoring the searing pain from the heat of the shroud of flames surrounding him, she changed into her red hakama and summoned her twin katana. Erza used the momentary advantage to sink a sword into the membrane of one of Natsu's wings; again, the fire mage whined a bit, but didn't hesitate in righting himself, even though doing so caused more tear to the wing than Erza had intended.
"Natsu," she said in the split second before the dragon slayer slammed a flaming fist into her exposed gut. She winced at the heat, but knocked him away with a quick kick to the jaw, careful to avoid letting the fire consume her foot.
Natsu crashed into the mountainside, shaking the foundation of a rock wall. Erza watched him stand, his movements uncertain. He raked at his head with his claws, whipping his body around. It reminded Erza of watching Jellal succumb to madness, and her throat ran dry.
"Does it hurt?"
At the sound of her voice, the dragon slayer gave a strained, choked outcry. He raised both his hands over his head and slashed them down crossways. Twin sheets of flame shot toward her. Erza focused her magic into one sword, setting her feet in a wide stance.
Demon Blade Crimson Sakura!
A mighty aura of pink magic surrounded the blade. She swung it down to meet the hellfire. Her magic broke through it and kept going into the mountainside. Powerful tremors preceded the start of a rockslide.
"Natsu!" She called, searching for the fire mage even as she ran to avoid the crumbling debris and huge boulders. In the midst of the mountain's groan, she heard wings flapping. Erza noticed then that a significant portion of her magic had been drained.
She swore, slicing through the waves of rock crashing over her.
Gray trudged at a decent clip up the mountain. He needn't have hiked up to the snowy peaks, but the lower temperature calmed his aggravation in ways only cold could.
An interruption to the devil slayer's diversion from his stress came in the form of something smashing into the snow nearby. Whatever it was vanished under the white powder with a cushioned impact. Gray stopped, his demon mark reacting on its own.
Tension came right back to him as he debated readying a preemptive counterattack. If Erza had come to check in, he'd deal with worse consequences for having a weapon trained on her. The alternative, being assaulted by something he couldn't see without any means of defense handy, convinced him to do it anyway.
Before he could forge anything with his ice, the snow under him exploded up in a shower of flakes and clumps. A demon with slanted eyes- Natsu- appeared wreathed in white flames and snarled at him. A pair of clawed hands swung toward him.
Gray's shirt got shredded while the raven-haired wizard thanked his stripping habit for still having his torso intact.
Ice Make: Prison!
Gray created a multi-layered cage of ice around Natsu. Flames began melting the cage right away, but he'd bought a few seconds.
"I'm still pissed at you, you know," Gray said. "Who told you to go all E.N.D. on us?"
Natsu glared at Gray with something the ice mage couldn't name in his eyes. The dragon slayer cried out as the flames around him flared. The white blaze shifted into the form of a serpent, snaking through and liquefying the ice cage. It slithered forward in a flash and snapped at Gray. The devil slayer's demon mark glowed and his anti-demon ice shot out, freezing the flames.
Ice Devil's Zeroth Long Sword!
Before he could think about it, Gray summoned his blade and charged Natsu. The sword sunk into the demonized fire mage's side. The sight of the wound and the blood made Gray forget his ire for a moment. Shock replaced it when Natsu deepened the wound by pushing his body forward against the blade.
"What the hell are you doing?" Gray shouted, pulling the sword back out.
Natsu sank to one knee in the snow. He hissed in low, ragged breaths. Gray shuddered and caught Natsu's eyes again. He recognized what they held, and the act of breathing lost priority for a few moments.
Cold, bleak resignation pooled in the fire mage's gaze.
Seeing that made the ice mage's blood boil.
Gray's hands trembled as they clenched into fists.
"You're giving up," he said. "You want me to end things for you, is that it?"
Natsu's head moved in shaky convulsions, and he growled. Gray felt his devil slayer magic demanding release.
"Fine," he said, raising the blade with one hand. "Since you want it that bad."
He grit his teeth until his jaw ached. He tightened his grip on the sword.
And with his other fist, he forced Natsu to his feet with a low uppercut.
"LIKE HELL, DUMBASS!"
Natsu garbled in surprise, but Gray didn't give him a chance to respond. He dropped the sword and pounded his other fist against the fire mage's face. Again, and again, even after the demonic veil of flame renewed around Natsu's body, Gray just covered his hands in ice to compensate. He grunted louder with each blow until he was yelling.
With one last thwack, he stopped. The ice mage's fists were sore and his knuckles reddened with blood, both his own and Natsu's. More than a few charring scars also decorated them.
"Huh," he said, muttering. "Your flames were hotter than this."
The devil slayer glared at Natsu, who stood with a flurry of emotions in his expression.
"We all went to the trouble of getting your book away from Zeref," Gray said. "Because none of us wanted you to die. Whatever else happens, that won't change."
Gray turned his back on Natsu, but didn't walk away.
"I know you weren't in prime condition at the time," he said. "But did you really not hear any of our feelings?"
A beat passed before an earsplitting scream sounded behind Gray. He refused to turn around; as often as he fought with him, despite his stupidity, he trusted Natsu.
END screamed. The burn behind his eyes had been furious since he'd seen the girl with the golden aura. The headache spurned him to act with greater urgency and agitation than he did with any other prey.
Except the inferno in his skull drove him back from the red warrior before he could finish the hunt. Now he dug into his head with his claws, trying to pry the source of his agony out of him.
The burn spread throughout his body, and he stomped his talons down into the soft stuff under him. He screeched, pleading that the hurtful fire would leave.
He heard something crack, and the comforting demonic flare that protected him splintered. Another kind of fire poured out through fractures in his skin. The red fire wrestled with the white, erupting out in streams that multiplied and split his body open. He shrieked.
Natsu yelled. His dragon slayer flames swirled around him. Pieces of something like a second skin tapered off him and disintegrated in his blaze.
The pink-haired mage panted, vision blurred. He swayed on his feet. His throat felt dry. His sandals were gone, and his vest had disappeared. He held his arms out to steady himself. The fire wizard felt a vague sensation of his foothold rumbling and shifting.
"Took you long enough, sulfur sucker."
Without needing to think, Natsu retorted with all the bite he could toward the familiar voice.
"Shaddup, Popsicle pervert."
Then the ground did move. His feet were swept out from under him. He began falling.
Zeref tossed aside dozens of bodies with each stroke of his hand as he searched through the surrounding piles. Sensing something had changed, he paused. He brushed a stray hair out of his face.
"Seems some development has occurred with my brother that I didn't anticipate."
The immortal dark mage mused for just a moment before returning to his frantic digging.
"It seems my timeline may have been off a few hours," he said. "That monster my little spy noticed in the guildhall must be addressed first though."
Finding what he sought, Zeref pulled out a body with a gaping hole in most of its torso.
"Let's begin, then, God Serena."
A/N: May I be real for a minute? Kids- don't drink until you're 21. Or 18, depending where you live. 21-year-olds, don't drink like Gildarts. He's not a typical human. Be responsible. This PSA brought you by a nerdy man-child Shadic.
Now then! This is the point in the story where we'll be transitioning a bit from fairly high action into something else. I'm looking forward to delving into it! The content of this chapter was largely something I had in mind since I first imagined the seeds that turned into this story. Ah, to live back in the time of a few weeks ago again!
Finals and such are coming up for me, so the next update might not be on the same track as these have usually been. I beseech ye, wonderful readers, grant me your patience!
If you enjoyed reading this, leave behind a review! If you didn't, leave me your thoughts about the philosophy of Plato under the guise of a review!
To They Who Reviewed:
The Age of Awesomeness: Oh, sweet! I'm glad my updates have come at a timely enough interval for ye! Thank you very much for continuing to read the story! Hope this new installment measures up!
IndigoWolfie: E.N.D. is dedicated to his Nii-san. ... For now! Thank you for reading and reviewing!
Si-chanwantdragon (Shadic wants one too): Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! Hm. I hadn't thought of it like that, but now I have more ideas! Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy it. No, you aren't imagining things. Lucy's right here! I hope you enjoy this new installment!