Chapter 9: New Hatred

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or High School DxD. The former is owned by Hiro Mashima and the latter is owned by Ichiei Ishibumi.

It is currently midday at the Fairy Tail guild. The building was filled with the usual camaraderie and drinking while others were out on jobs. Mirajane and Lisanna were busy serving food and drinks to everyone, Nab was busy looking at the job board, and Master Makarov was secretly looking at the latest swimsuit edition of Sorcerer Weekly behind some paperwork . It was the usual, save for two people.

"Hey Elfman you seen Salamander yet today?" Gajeel asked. Him, Elfman, and Gray were sitting at their usual Table with a currently empty seat.

"No I haven't. This is getting suspicious. He's usually here with Wendy bright and early. It's hard to miss him." Elfman replied being concerned for his best friend.

"You can say that again." Gray remarked knowing Natsu's energetic and wild behavior.

Elfman's face turned serious. "If he's not here by the end of the day, I'll check out his place. He wouldn't just go out on a job without me and the girls."

"Yeah and it looks like he's late for a make-out session with the mermaid." Gajeel said grinning wildly while pointing his head towards Kagura and Millianna who were sitting at another table.

Those two have been there for a while waiting for Natsu to show up.

"It's not fair. He's got Kagura all over him and he doesn't even make a move. Does he know how rare that is?! Those beauties from Mermaid Heel barely let any men near them, especially Kagura. Every man stupid enough to hit on her get a jab to the gut by her archenemy." Gray fumed and crossed his arms.

"Oh my darling! How can you be so cruel!" Juvia suddenly appeared and started pouring streams of tears out of her eyes like the water mage she is. "If only I had the tail of a mermaid! Then I would be forever yours!"

"Yeah because that's totally what I had in mind." Gray said sarcastically.

"Would you stop flooding the place before you rust out my body!" Gajeel yelled with tick marks on his head.

"Seriously, this is like the 5th time this week. Gray, be a man and comfort your girlfriend!" Elfman shouted.

"Whose side are you on!" Gray yelled back.

"Even with Natsu absent, there's still a lot of commotion by that table." Lucy remarked sitting away at her table with Erza and Levy. "I'm starting to feel bad about us beating up Nastu yesterday. I hope that's not why he's avoiding the guild."

"Perhaps you're right Lucy. We never gave him a chance to speak and I don't think he would ever intend to hurt your feelings Levy." Erza said to the solid-script mage..."Levy?" she asked again after getting no response.

Levy was preoccupied with staring down her rival with an angry glare.

"She has the nerve to step foot into this guildhall after what happened yesterday." Levy said remarking yesterday's incident again. "The way she was all clingy to Natsu and the way Natsu just let her do it. I don't care what people say, you can't deny he enjoyed it! I'm glad he's not here right now! I don't care if he never comes back!" Levy raised her voice as she slammed her head on the table in frustration.

Mirajane noticed the scene and walked over to the table of girls.

"Come on Levy. You don't really mean that. That's just your anger talking. You're closer with him than anyone else." Mira said while resting her hand softly on Levy's shoulder.

"I know. He has to be the nicest guy around, but just seeing Kagura cling to him like that just made me assume the worst. You know that he has been spending more time with her lately." Levy's calm demeanor changed quickly to angry again. "That stupid jerk! Why is he spending so much time with someone from another guild instead of me. I bet she's just slowly wrapping him around her finger until he's fallen for her. After everything we've been through, how can he not feel the same way about me!

Mira rubbed Levy's shoulder reassuringly.

"There. there. I'm sure there's still hope for you. You know Natsu's never even been in a relationship with his pushy little sister on his case. I should know since I babysit her so much. He's just such a nice guy that he can't say to no to spending time with anyone. He's like that with everyone around the guild. I'm sure to him Kagura is just another one of his close friends.

Levy brought her face up and smiled lightly at Mira. "Thanks Mira. That helped a lot."

Suddenly, the door to the guild swung open by someone. Everyone turned to the door expecting to see Natsu, but were disappointed and confused to see a young women wearing a nurse's outfit.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I have some urgent news for your guild." The nurse spoke in a serious tone.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and paid close attention the nurse.

"Two of your mages, Natsu Dragneel and Wendy Marvell were found injured in front of the hospital. There was minimal damage to Wendy, but Natsu was taken for surgery to treat his serious injuries. The doctor sent me here as soon as his surgery was complete. He and Wendy are currently recuperating there as we speak." Pretty much everyone in Magnolia knew who Natsu was for reasons good and bad.

Everyone currently at the guild gasped and started dashing out of the building completely forgetting about what they were doing previously.

Cana walked into the empty guild coming back from her job. Her eyes scanned the whole area, but couldn't find a single soul.

"Where the hell did everybody go." Cana wondered. "Wait...If no one is working the bar that means free booze! LIFE IS GOOD!" Cana exclaimed as she sprinted to the storage room to start downing the barrels of alcohol.

"Right this way please." The nurse told the members of Fairy Tail as she led them to Natsu and Wendy. The member currently there were Master Makarov, Mirajane, Lisanna, Elfman, Gajeel, Gray, Lucy, Levy, Erza, Nab, Max, Juvia, Jet, Droy, Laki, Macao, and Wakaba. Kagura and Millianna tagged along as well.

'Why did those two have to tag along!' Levy thought.

"What do you think happened to them?"

"Why did it have to poor Wendy?"

"We're gonna find out who did this!"

The nurse stopped at a door in the hallway and opened it up. The room was large enough for everyone to come in, but it was really cramped. Everyone gasped at the look of Natsu's condition.

He was lying unconscious in the bed with his whole body wrapped in bandages. His right arm was in a sling with a cast on the forearm. Wendy was laying in a bed on the other side of the room covered in bandages as well.

"What are their conditions?" The Master asked the nurse.

"Wendy has a lot of burn marks on her body, but other than she's okay. Nastu on the other hand had a deep gash in his right shoulder. He lost a substantial amount of blood and it destroyed the nerves in that area. It will probably take a while for him to regain the feeling in that shoulder. Also, he has multiple slash marks all around his body"

"I don't think I've ever seen him get beat up this bad." Elfman said in a serious tone seeing his friend in a terrible state.

Master Makarov was balling his fight tight in anger. "Who would dare harm two of my children in this way!"

"I think we know the likely candidate master." Erza said.

"Based upon the burn marks on Wendy, it is likely that this was done by a lightning mage." The nurse pointed out.

"The girl lightning dragon slayer." Levy said upon realization.

"Damn you Grimoire Heart! We will stop you before we let you take the life of one of our members!" The Master said furiously.

"It's bad enough they messed up Natsu this badly, but Wendy. What kind of twisted monster beats up a little girl?"

"Picking on little girls is so not manly!"

"This is a declaration of war!"

The people of Fairy Tail were too busy voicing their outrages by Wendy to notice Kagura sit down next to Natsu's bed and grasp one of his hands in both of hers.

"Meow? I wonder how strong that other mage was if they could do this to Natsu." Millianna wondered next to Kagura.

"You mind giving us some space Millianna. Go pack up our things. It's time we head back to Mermaid Heel." Kagura said

"Aye! You got it mam!" Millianna saluted Kagura in a comical way and slipped out of the room.

'What am I going to do with her?' Kagura mused

She looked at Natsu with concern. 'I know you will pull through. you always do... Still, I can't do nothing knowing the danger that you are in. It hurt enough when I lost Simon, I can't lose you too. You helped me accept his death and become stronger. Now, I will do what I can to help you.' Kagura thought as she cupped her hand around Natsu's cheek. 'And hopefully you will return my feelings.'

"Am I interrupting something?"

Kagura turned her head away from Natsu to see Levy frowning at her in disapproval.

"Yes. As a matter of fact you are. Do you mind?" She replied nonchalantly.

Levy gritted her teeth in anger. 'That stuck-up bitch!' she thought.

The rest of the guild were starting to get nervous by the obvious tension.

"I think that's our cue to get the hell the out." Wakaba whispered to Macao.

"I hear yeah buddy."

"Hey I think I hear my wife calling me! Coming honey!" Wakaba said out loud as he ran out the door.

"I have to go take my son for a walk!" Macao followed behind Wakaba

"I'm late for a job!" Nab joined them.

"I promised Mira I would help her mop the guildhall!" Max blurted.

"I'm right next to you Max." Mirajane pointed out.

"Don't worry Mira! I will get right on that!" He said to her and he ran out the door as well along with a few other members.

Mirajane sighed. 'Such cowards.' She thought.

The only people left in the room were Natsu, Wendy, Master, Erza, Gajeel, Elfman, Gray, Levy, and Kagura.

"You have no right to be that close to him after yesterday's incident" Levy said as she pointed her finger at Kagura.

"I believe it is only natural for friends to show concern for each other when one of them is injured. In fact, I doubt he would want to see you after how badly you treated him yesterday." Kagura replied calmly.

That only made Levy's blood boil even more.

"You were the one forcing yourself on him. I bet you had to threaten him to let you do that."

"I did not have to force him to do anything. He let me be close to him because he enjoyed it. Don't take it out on him because I'm gaining the upper hand." Kagura said smugly.

"Maybe you're right. It's obvious you are the real problem." Levy said as she got into a fighting stance.

Kagura stood up pointing her archenemy towards Levy. "By all means. Go ahead and try."

Erza jumped in between them with a sword pointed at both of them.

"Our friend is seriously injured and you two have the nerve to pull this stunt here!" Erza bellowed. "You will both put your petty rivalry aside for Natsu's sake.

Kagura held her archenemy up for a little longer before setting it down.

"I apologize for my inappropriate behavior. I will be on my way now." Kagura said as she bowed before heading out of the room. She knew when to stop before things get out of hand.

"She always has to be the noble one." Levy said annoyed by Kagura's calm demeanor.

"Let it go short stack." Gajeel teased her. "Can we please get back to Salamander. Something's been bugging me. Don't you think it's strange that he was able to make it to the hospital in such in a crappy state.

Everyone was now getting curious the more they thought about the situation."That's a good point." Gray said. "Even if someone helped those two get to the hospital, why wouldn't they just bring them inside.

"Maybe they didn't want to be noticed." Elfman put in.

"We also don't know what happened to the Grimoire Heart mage. This is peculiar indeed." Makarov tugged at his mustache. "I think it's best to wait until Natsu wakes up. He might be able to tell us the outcome."

"That sounds acceptable. We should head back to the guild in the meantime. We can check on him later" Erza said.

"You guys go on ahead I'm gonna stick around for a little longer." Levy said.

"Don't worry Levy. Natsu will pull through this like the man he is and be back to normal in no time." Elfman reassured Levy.

Levy smiled lightly at Elfman. "Thanks big guy."

The rest of the group left the room leaving only Levy, Natsu, and Wendy.

Levy sat down and got comfortable in the chair next to Natsu's bed. She stared at his whole body and frowned. It was just like a few weeks ago except he looked much worse this time. The only part of him missing bandages was his head. Even is she was upset at him earlier, she hated to see him in a terrible state like this. He actually had damage to the nerves in his shoulder. She was wondering how close he was to dying in that last battle. She was no longer angry at him, but herself.

She brought her hand up to her delicate face as tears began streaming down.

"You have some assassin hunting you down...and I have the nerve...to slap you." She said in between sobs. "I'm so selfish!" She shouted as she sobbed into Natsu's chest covered in bandages.

Levy put her ear to his chest to hear his heartbeat just to give herself a sign that he was still alive.

"I'm so sorry Natsu. I've been so caught in my emotions that I didn't think of how bad you must feel. I can't imagine the pain you felt when your little sister got injured as well. That heartless bitch. I will never forgive her!" Levy raised her voice at that last part.

"Please wake up soon Natsu. I want to hear your voice again. I didn't mean it when I said I never wanted to see you again. I want you to see you everyday for the rest of my life.

Levy kept her head on Natsu's chest for a while until she was slowly drifting to sleep.

"Please come back." Levy whispered before shutting her eyes one last time.

Grimoire Heart Guild, Night

Akeno was back in Grimoire Hearts infirmary being treated by Meredy. After she dropped Natsu and Wendy off at the hospital she quickly teleported out of there to avoid being seen. Unfortunately, she can only teleport short distances so she couldn't make it back to the airship with that. Luckily, this time she thought ahead and brought a teleportation lacrima which can take her all the way back to Grimoire Heart. She was definitely in no condition to walk. She didn't show it in front of Natsu, but she was actually in a lot of pain from the battle.

Right now, Akeno was only wearing her underwear as Meredy treated her burns and bandaged up her whole body (This time she is wearing a bra). Meredy gazed at the luscious melons about to pop out of Akeno's bra and then looked down at her own breasts in shame. If Akeno's breasts were mountains then Meredy's would be boulders.

"It's not fair." Meredy mumbled

Akeno noticed where she was looking and giggled. "Would you relax Meredy. You're only fourteen. There's still plenty of time for you to grow."

"Knock it off! I was not thinking about that!" Meredy defended herself as her cheeks were red in an embarrassed manner.

Meredy was just about done wrapping the bandages around Akeno. She wasn't in as bad a state as Natsu, but was still banged up a bit. There were a lot of burn marks around her body, one of her legs had a limp, and her left arm was bruised where Natsu landed a powerful kick.

"That fire dragon slayer banged you up good, but you have been through worse." Meredy commented thinking about the many times Zancrow had messed her up.

"You should...be fine...in...about a week." Meredy said in between whimpers before finally letting her tears out.

"Meredy? What's wrong?" Akeno asked worriedly.

Meredy wrapped her short arms around her so tight that she cringed in pain.

"I'm sorry! I don't want you to leave! Maybe I can change the Master's mind! You're not a failure!" Meredy cried out as she clang on to the closest person she's had to a sister. She knew that Master Hades threatened to exile her from the guild if she came back unsuccessful again.

Akeno embraced Meredy tightly as well. "I know it will be painful to see me go, but it's for the best."

Meredy let go and looked at Akeno strangely. "What do you mean?"

Akeno's face turned serious. "I mean that I'm done believing that tyrannical man is my father. I'm glad I met you and Ultear, but I deeply regret fooling myself to believe that he actually cared about me. I also regret allowing myself to suffer abuse from that psychopath for this long. I'm not going to let him banish me because I'm leaving this guild on my terms.

"What caused you to have such a big change in attitude?" Meredy said in a surprised manner. She didn't expect Akeno to have this kind of attitude after how determined she was before. She has always been so loyal to Master Hades despite his cruelty at times.

"Someone helped me see the error of my ways." Akeno said and smiled happily at Meredy. "Don't worry about me. I don't know what kind of path I will follow, but wherever it takes me I will be free."

Akeno and Meredy entered Master Hades' throne room on the observation deck of the airship. It was currently nighttime so the ceiling was the night sky while there lights to illuminate the entire room. It was mostly a bare room with two rows of stalagmites making a path. Behind Master Hades' throne was a majestic structure consisting of several, immense bony formations with two gigantic horns jutting frontwards. The structure also had a pair of two large wings composed of massive, dark feathers sticking out.

Master Hades was sitting at his throne wearing a dark shirt paired with armored shoulder pads and shiny gauntlets. He also wore simple light pants with flames near the edges and dark boots. Over that outfit he wore a large, dark cape, bearing Grimoire Heart's symbol on the back and sporting a mantle with a high collar, lighter-colored borders and jagged lower edges. He had a blank face on as Akeno entered the room.

Zancrow was standing to his right and to his left was a pale-skinned woman with dark purple hair and brown eyes. Her hair was in a ponytail and had long bangs hanging down. She was wearing a purple dress that showed off her legs and cleavage with a black waistband and the sleeves separated from the shoulders.

Akeno was wearing a red dress with short white sleeves with a purple ribbon attached to her chest instead of her usual shrine maiden outfit. Her left arm was in a sling as well.

"I did not expect you to meet with me this late Akeno." Hades said

"I figured that there is no sense prolonging this." Akeno replied while frowning at the Master.

"Very well. Thank you for coming as well Ultear." Hades said the woman next to him.

"My pleasure. It is only natural for the leader of the Seven Kin of Purgatory to be present." Ultear replied and bowed before the Master.

"I don't recall asking for your presence or yours little one." Master Hades said to Zancrow and Meredy in an annoyed tone.

"What? After all the time me and her spent together. I'm like a mentor to the little dragon. I should get too see her off." Zancrow said in an unusually friendly tone.

Both Akeno and Meredy looked at Zancrow with disgust.

"Well, I think a good friend of hers should be allowed to see her off." Meredy said in annoyed manner.

"I will allow it." The Master announced. "So my daughter. You dare come back to this guild a failure yet again. I can't allow you to disgrace this guild anymore."

Akeno started to grip her fists as her anger grew.

"Such a disappointment you turned out to be. To think my own daughter...

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT ONE MORE TIME! Akeno shouted as purple lightning crackled around her. Meredy was knocked down by the force of the magical pressure Akeno had released. Everyone was taken aback by Akeno's sudden outburst.

"Akeno?" Meredy uttered with a fearful look on her face. She had never seen Akeno in such a state of passion or anger before. Like Natsu, Her magic matched her emotions as the lightning kept crackling around her body like a powerful aura.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Master Hades raised his voice. Akeno had never spoken to the Master in this manner.

"Akeno. I suggest you show more respect to your master?" Ultear said sternly.

"Last time I checked I'm about to be banished so I have no master." Akeno retorted. "Actually I don't need to be banished I was already planning on leaving."

"Whoa. When did the little dragon get a confidence boost?" Zancrow commented sarcastically. He was obviously not amused.

"What exactly do you mean by that Akeno?" The Master asked.

"I mean that I'm not going to be bound by your chains anymore. You're not my fucking father and you never were! I thought I meant something to you, but I'm some tool like everyone else here. You forced me to do terrible things and I'm done. I would rather be anywhere else, but here!" Akeno's lightning grew stronger as she finished her rant. She had recovered her magical power and it was flowing immensely. The orange ribbon in her hair got undone causing her hair to flail around wildly. She felt so much lighter after letting all of that bottled-up hatred flow out of her. She hadn't felt that passionate in a long time.

The Master had an angry look on his face. He usually maintained his calm demeanor, but he never had any of his guild members speak so disrespectfully to him.

"You ungrateful brat! This is how you speak to someone that spared your life! You think you're so powerful because you can stand up to me. You're a pathetic dragon slayer that's all banged up. You won't last a week out on your own. You could have left here on friendly terms, but now you have made an enemy of Grimoire Heart. You will regret the foolish mistake of trying to defy me!"

Akeno didn't say anything as her emotions and power began to calm down. She had said what she wanted to say. Silence filled the room as Akeno and The Master had a stare-off. She slowly picked up her treasured orange ribbon and said. "I'd rather live life as a fool than whatever life I had here."

No one said anything else as Akeno made her exit. Meredy stared at her walking figure still in complete shock.

Akeno had just finished packing up all the things in her room. It had taken longer do so considering one of her arms was in a sling.

"I'm coming with you."

Akeno quickly spun around and found Meredy standing in her doorway with some bags.

"Meredy?" Akeno questioned the girls' sudden choice of action.

"You're still very hurt from battle. You need someone to take care of you and watch your back. I won't leave you alone." Meredy said firmly.

"Meredy. You don't have to do this." Akeno was flattered for her wanting to come with, but she would be throwing away her life too."

"You can't talk me out of it. It's like you said. We're just tools to him. It's not like I'm going to missed."

"But. What about Ultear?" Akeno interrupted.

"If Master Hades was never really your father. Then what does that make me and Ultear!" Meredy screamed as tears started to slowly roll out of her eyes. She didn't want to believe it, but she knew it had to be the truth. Ultear is probably just pretending to be a parent figure like Master Hades just to keep her there.

Akeno went to embrace the poor girl. They stayed like that for a minute before Akeno said anything.

"I know it hurts. I felt the same way. I understand if you want to join me. We'll be alright if we support each other." Akeno said sincerely. Meredy looked up at her and smiled. "Lets get out of here."

Kagura and Millianna are currently on the train back to the Mermaid Heel guild. The lights were on in the train car since it was night-time. They had been gone for quite a while in Magnolia and needed to get back to work. Also, Millianna was getting bored trying to find something to do while Kagura hung around with Natsu.

The sexy cat-lady was sleeping soundly curled up like a cat taking up the whole sitting area on one side.

On the other side was the white swordswomen cleaning her archenemy with a cloth. She stared silently at the sword with a blank expression on her face. The sword that she constantly kept sheathed never revealing the deadly blade. She vowed to never unsheathe the sword unless it was being used against the man who killed her brother, Jellal. She came close to unleashing the blade, but Natsu had explained to her how Jellal had changed and that her brother chose to die to save him. With Jellal behind bars she has no reason to open the sheath of her archenemy. Unless she happens to find a new target for her archenemy.

'I may get to unsheathe you after all.' Kagura thought as the image of the badly injured Natsu appeared in her head.

I'm sorry that I had to update so late, but now that I'm done with school I should be able to update more frequently again. I made this chapter even longer for you guys. I hope final exams went well for all of my fellow college students. Also, I want to point out that Akeno will still have a similar personality to how she normally is in DxD. You know what that means! We will see how Natsu handles her.

Review Responses:

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NatsutoDragneel: Yes. Poor Natsu. I have some ideas of what Akeno will do to him.

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