MAKE SURE TO READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE

Chapter 8

Acnologia turned away from the body of the young dragon slayer and looked towards Zeref. The dragon straightened his poster and walked over to the black wizard and said, "I have done what we agreed upon… the dragon souls?"

Zeref smiled as he held a square lacrima with a swirling aura of blue and yellow energy inside it, the screaming roars of dragons faintly emanating from it, "I would agree, but you have not quite pushed Natsu to where I want." An evil smirk graced his face as Acnologia's composure shifted.

"We had a deal. I did what you wanted and pushed him to your expectations, and I guess your expectations of that kid-demon were exaggerated." Acnologia now stood in front of Zeref, looking down at the black wizard who merely kept his same blank smile.

Zeref replied in a cold tone, "I would be more careful before you say he's dead. That boy is my brother." Zeref's shallow smile shifted to a scowl, "And if you did kill him there would be far worse things coming your way."

"I thought you two smelled similar, but to think your brother was a fire dragon-" Replied Acnologia in a smug tone, however he was cut off as a massive flaming claw struck his face, sending Acnologia tumbling into a nearby rock, shattering it, the debris collapsing on top of him. The black dragon pushed the rubble off his body before touching his nose to see a drop of blood present on his finger. The dragon turned to his left to see what hit him only to be met with another flaming fist to the face, planting his head in the dirt.

What had hit him was none other than the 'dead' boy that he had just killed, however something was very, very different. The crimson fire was replaced with the fire dragon's normal deep orange hue; however, it was more powerful. The air felt dry as all of the clouds were flushed away by the heat. What stood before Acnologia was END; Etherious Natsu Dragneel, an existence that surpassed all dragons and demons combined. His hands and feet now had black claws covering them with molten lines of glowing magma running through them. The little demon's skin up to his shoulders appeared to be cracked revealing an orange glow coming from beneath his skin, the cracks coming together in the center of his chest, where the previous wound had been healed. The center of his chest emanated a bright orange glow, the beat of the newly formed strong heart evidently apparent to the black dragon. Natsu's eyes were now in shadow, however glowed a brilliant golden color.

Natsu dashed at the black dragon, who, expecting what he had fought previously, dodged half-heartedly, however END's claws scratched through left his side, ripping his flesh, blood pouring out of Acnologia's side. The black dragon grit his teeth as a smile found its way onto his face, "Yes! Exactly what I would expect from the son of Igneel!" Acnologia rushed at the boy and coated his hand in black and blue energy before punching the small demon's chest. END tried to absorb the impact, but his power was limited by the size of Natsu's body, and he was forced back and tumbled across the ground.

END pushed himself back to his feet and yelled, "ACNOLOGIA!" Before slamming his open hand into the ground, causing pillars of fire to shoot up from all directions at the black dragon. Acnologia ducked and dove between them until one struck his face, knocking him off balance. A fiery kick landed into his side that was wounded from earlier, before one hit his opposite leg, causing the black dragon to fall to the ground. This was the first time he had been put on the defending side in a while, and his heart felt like it finally had a desire.

"Yes demon! Show me your power," yelled Acnologia, taunting the fire demon. Natsu rushed at Acnologia and gave a swing of his fist, however, despite this boost in strength, END's power was far too weak to even be compared to Acnologia's. As the boy's fire coated fist ran towards the black dragon, it was suddenly met with a massive scaly hand. Natsu looked up to see a glow of blue and black energy as the full size of the black dragon was once again in front of him, the arcane dragon now towering over the boy, "You know, I actually enjoyed this a bit… only a little." The dragon flicked his stinger like tail at the Natsu, hitting him in his right side, slicing off the bottom half of that arm and leaving a massive gash across his chest, the boy screaming in pain. He clutched the stump as blood poured from the would before he was hit by Acnologia again, flinging the boy into the air.

The dragon flapped his wings once and flew after the boy, and once coming upon him, smashed Natsu towards the ground, the little dragon slayer crying out in pain. Acnologia landed and towered over the boy who was embedded into a cracked crater. A mutated smile came onto the dragon's lips, "You have my resect, demon," said Acnologia in a strangely somber tone before taking one of his black claws and jabbing it into Natsu's newly healed chest, "But I hope you stay dead this time." The Black dragon extended its wings and flapped once, kicking dust into the air. He looked over and saw Anna running towards him, I had hoped it did not come to this, but you and I have different plans for this war. Acnologia shot up into the air, flying away from the destroyed battlefield.

Natsu lay there, motionless, the spike in power brought on by END now fading away as he returned to reality. He reached into the air as tears brimmed at the edges of his eyes, the black figure of Acnologia vanishing from his view. He muttered from his mouth, "Igneel, I'm sorr…"

Anna ran over to the boy, falling to her knees and pulling Natsu to herself, clutching his body in her arms, not feeling anything as the boy lay on her, lifeless. She pressed Natsu's head to her own, trying to hear for a breath even though she knew it was useless. Tears went down her face as she screamed his name, knowing nothing would come of it. She had sworn to protect him no matter what happened, but she had even failed that. She muttered under her breath, "Icas… why…" Anna clutched Natsu to herself, her tears staining the ground.

Zeref's smile had vanished, and was now filled with sadness, but no emotion. He could never feel anything, no matter what he wanted. He had not desired for this outcome, however there was always a benefit to every situation, and his plans could always be adjusted for the future. Zeref whispered quietly as he looked at the fallen fire dragon king, "I'm sorry, old friend. I hope you can forgive me one day and think of your sacrifice as a method to save people, from me who you now hate more than ever."

Zeref walked over to Natsu and Anna to hear the celestial mage yell, "This is all your fault! The plan was fine! You didn't need to wake Er…Acnologia and get this whole thing fucked to all hell! And… and now Natsu's dead!" He continued to hear her sobs as the celestial mage's tears landed on Natsu's chest.

Zeref's expression went unchanged as he merely said, "This had to be done for the plan to succeed."

Anna glared with tears in her eyes, "The? I think you mean YOUR plan! The plan was to use the dragon slayers to eventually defeat Acnologia, but you… you and your obsessed with this self-destructive need to kill yourself! You even got your own brother killed!"

Zeref's head dropped before he looked back at Anna, "And that was all necessary for this to work," a glow of purple magic surrounded Zeref's hand before a ragged brown book with the letters 'END' on its cover appeared, "And everything was planned in here since a century ago."

"I-I thought we had a plan! Your plan can never work without my keys." Anna's composure quickly changed to anger, "And how can any of the rest of this work without Natsu? He's dead, so we're down to four chances to kill Acnologia and your suicide plan has no more options." She felt awful, but what mattered now was how to get rid of Acnologia, or else something worse than this would happen. She looked back at Zeref and yelled with malice in her voice, "The day of the eclipse is today! How are we supposed to get that done?! One of the slayers just won't be able to be there!"

Zeref scowled slightly, "You have grown attached to these slayers, and it has weakened your resolve for this plan. But I will figure everything else out." Zeref turned his back to Anna and gave her a sad smiled, "and Igneel is far from dead yet." He walked away from Anna and said, "Be there, at the eclipse. Do not, and the world may fall into true chaos…" Zeref was surrounded by and aura of black smoke before disappearing.

Anna picked Natsu's body up, blood dripping from the hole in his chest, staining her clothes, and set him down next to Igneel. She had other things to worry about now, and the very least she could do was let the two of them be together in heaven. She left a few final tears go before wiping them from her face and hardening her expression, thinking to herself, One day, Zeref and Acnologia will be dead, but you must keep Gajeel, Wendy, Sting and Rogue alive no matter what. She turned away from the crater, one final tear falling down her face, before she opened a portal and heading towards the Eclipse Gate. This was their secret weapon against Acnologia, and the rest of the plan had to work.

With Natsu…

He opened his eyes in a fiery landscape, filled with maroon volcanos, erupting lava and fire into the air, the sky turned black by a thick layer of ash. The ground was covered in deep rivers of magma, the only source of illumination in the violent and deadly landscape, but to Natsu it felt like home. He walked across the fiery fields for what felt like years, his own feet not wanting to stop, his body having no will to stop them. The coals on the ground burned his feet as he thought about everything that happened. He had no idea what was happening, how he got here, or anything. His head felt blank as he kept walking, trekking over mountains and lava lakes endlessly. As he kept walking, he heard a slight sound in the back of his head that kept getting louder, as if it was getting closer, but it was from behind him, so he sped up. He walked, then ran, then sprinted, but he wasn't getting anywhere as the lava pulled him back. He felt as the fire burned his skin, a feeling he had not felt in ages. It felt like his body was being burned, melted and reformed. This strange place was like hell, despite the familiarity of it, and endless nightmare of being controlled by the flames.

However, the voice in Natsu's head kept getting louder and louder, until it felt like a deafening roar, as it called his name, the power of the voice forcing its hold over the boy "Natsu!". Natsu felt as the fire was blown away from his skin, as a figure descended towards him from the ash-filled sky, the claws grabbing onto his shoulders and pulling him from the magma, his skin finally feeling free.

Where he stood was now like his cave, green grass and the tress that had been destroyed by Acnologia having been restored to how they always had been. He walked around only to bump into a large scaly creature, feeling the familiarity of it. He looked up and to his shock, was Igneel.

Natsu was blown from his trance, falling onto his back as he stumbled away, "Igneel?! But… but I saw you die!" Tears brimmed at the edge of his eyes.

Igneel laughed, "I did, Natsu, and you did too, but you still have a chance." A grin formed on Igneel's face as he looked at the boy. He always knew this day would come, but when it would be was unknown to him. Igneel lowered his head so it was at Natsu's level, "There is much you do not know about this world, but you must stand to learn it." Igneel narrowed his vision on Natsu, "We cannot be here long, as I will soon pass onto Ankhersam, and you will return to Earthland, so listen closely." Natsu sat down in front of Igneel. He often messed around, but as Igneel had been trying to teach Natsu language to the best of his ability, the boy had gained some semblance of patience. "You should remember how I always would rebut those questions about who Zeref was. That is because he was your brother and you could not know that for your safety, but for your future in this time you must know that, and that you are his demon END."

Natsu's eyes went wide. He had heard that being talked about by Irene in the town square, no matter how much Anna hoped he had not. He asked Igneel, "But from what I learned about demons they are made of pure magic… I'm not some creation, right!? I'm human, right!?"

Igneel smiled, "No, you're not, but you're no demon either. You were given a life by your brother in which you have the opportunity to be demon, dragon, or human, and when the chance to make that decision comes, I will be there too." Igneel could sense his time here was fading, "But no matter what, you will always be my son."

Natsu ran to Igneel and hugged his nose, "But, you'll stay here with me, right? You're not going, right?" Natsu could sense that worst, as he tried to hold onto Igneel's fading form.

Igneel outstretched one of his large hands towards Natsu and placed a claw on the center of young dragon slayer's chest, "I'm not leaving Natsu… I will always be… here." Those were the last words Igneel uttered before he faded and left Natsu alone once again in the fiery landscape.

Hey guys, I wrote this chapter really fast, but I hope to hear your guys' feedback. I am finally getting the story to the more juicy parts taht are actually mentioned in the summary.

- The Muncher