The Salamander

by ScarletWebWarrior06

In a world, very much like our own their is a group of people who are born with special gifts. These people are able to do incredible feats, like turn into monsters, teleport, or even control lightning. Natsu Dragneel of Magnolia is one of these gifted people and he must learn how to control his gifts, and become a hero.

25. Nightmares

Chapter 25: Nightmares

Inside the cold metallic cells of Nirvana a good night's sleep was impossible to get, whether it was because the sleeping arrangements were so uncomfortable consisting only of an old raggedy yoga mat with a scratchy thin blanket, and a flat hardened pillow. Maybe it was, because they were staying alert to make sure no guards snuck into their cells in the middle of the night and did things to them, maybe they just couldn't shut their brain down thinking of plan after plan for a way to escape this living Hell. For the one known to the guards as prisoner eight he had successfully been lulled into a sleep after constant hours of thrashing on the ground in pain, his leg was completely broken, his torso badly bruised and welted, a fresh scar on his neck stung, his veins were slowly turning purple from poison in his bloodstream, his salmon colored hair was covered in dirt and grime while it stuck to his forehead from the sweat that coated his entire body.

"Poor thing….There has to be a way to help him…." Ultear looked over to her blue haired fellow member of Crime Sorcière who was watching the boy in the cell across with him with a solemn expression as Natsu continued to breathe heavily while tossing and turning.

"Natsu is strong….That much I am sure of, we need to focus on finding a way out, unfortunately we can't help him until then…" Jellal replied looking over to Ultear briefly before returning his gaze on Natsu. Who muttered something that he couldn't make out, Jellal sighed he had been awake when Brain and his son visited Natsu's cell earlier that night, and he knew how capable Midnight was of destroying someone's mind bit by bit. Something Natsu was figuring out as well his breathing became more erratic his eyes were squeezed shut.

"...Dad….no….please…." He muttered out his voice hoarse and scratchy. Natsu was having a nightmare, only it felt more real than any dream he had ever had before.

He was inside his childhood house inside the kitchen tied up to a chair forced to watch helplessly as a shadowy figure brutalized Igneel right in front of him.

"STOP IT!" He yelled out at the figure, but the person didn't even acknowledge him, it was like they were deaf. Natsu tried to look away as the man beat his father to death but some invisible force prevented it. Igneel fell onto the ground limp as the figure laughed, making Natsu's skin crawl. He stayed like that for what felt like an eternity squirming in the wooden chair as his father's killer laughed wickedly. He stopped suddenly and turned to look at Natsu. The only visible feature on his face was a horrifying grin that made up half of his shadowy face.

"Poor little Natsu Dragneel….all alone….broken….beaten…..No parents…..No Igneel….No friends….No family." He whispered stalking towards Natsu.

"You're wrong….I'm not alone! I do have a family and friends….They're called Fairy Tail!" Natsu replied, glancing at his shoulder where his red mark should be, but it was missing. Natsu's eyes widened in shock as he struggled against the ropes.

"Are you sure about that? Or is your mind just playing tricks on you….After all….you are the reason they're all gone…." The grinning figure bent down, getting right into Natsu's face.

"W-what?" Natsu stuttered, if possible the figures already large grin grew.

"I'll show you…." He whispered and the kitchen Natsu was in began to dissolve into nothingness leaving him in a black void a split second later he was in a large grass field, the normally green grass was brown and dead, Igneel's bloodied body still on the ground in front of him, but he wasn't the only one. The chair and ropes holding Natsu vanished allowing him to move around. His heart plummeted to his chest as he took a couple steps forward.

"Gildarts?...Gramps?..." Natsu muttered upon seeing their broken bodies laying on the grassy ground. His heart began beating faster as he kept walking forward. He walked past many more bodies on the ground, none of them he recognized. Until he stumbled on a few more of his friends.

"Cana? Elfman? Mira?..." Jet and Droy were also there, all of them laying motionless on the ground, the grass stained with red. His breathing hitched, but the figure walking behind him made sure he kept moving.

"Oh no….Not you too!" Natsu ran over and fell down to his knees with shaky hands. He picked up the small lifeless girl and his eyes began to water. Her eyes normally so filled with life were glazed over, a deep cut bled from above her eyebrow.

"Even little Asuka paid the price for your crimes…." The figure behind him chuckled causing Natsu's body to begin to shake.

"What crimes?" Natsu stood up and turned himself around to glare at the figure after gently laying Asuka down onto the ground. The figure just began laughing in response, Natsu's fist squeezed shut, the familiar heat surrounded it as he shot himself at the figure who vanished just before he made contact.

"Come...there is still more for you to see." The shadowy figure reappeared behind Natsu and pushed him forward, Natsu's flames becoming extinguished as soon as he spoke. Natsu's body began walking forward against his will. He walked towards a large hill and began walking up it at the very peak was an orange flag with the Fairy Tail emblem stitched on it, the flag had scorch marks and was torn nearly in half hanging together by a couple of threads. Natsu felt a lump form in his throat leading to him gulping, he turned to look at the figure who pushed him down the hill. Natsu rolled to the bottom of it, he quickly leapt back onto his feet glaring daggers at the figure.

"HEY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR JERK!" Natsu shouted and attempted to ignite his flames, but for some reason it didn't work. The grinning figure chuckled.

"Just keep walking…" He muttered pointing behind Natsu, who begrudgingly turned around and walked in the direction he was pointing. After walking a couple of yards scattered with more bodies Natsu came to a halt.

"...Luce…" He ran over to the blonde who laid motionless on the ground like so many others. Her arms, and face were covered in cuts, blood, and…..burns. Natsu felt sick. He hadn't even noticed that the tears had begun streaking down his face as he held onto his best friend, he began to sob and buried his head in her neck. She soon faded away into nothing, Natsu held onto her up into the moment where she was no longer there. His body shook, as he looked up at the figure who was now surrounded by hundreds of people all staring at him. Natsu was able to make out several familiar faces such as Erigor, Laxus, Brain, Cobra, Racer, and even Mard Geer.

"You've made so many enemies Natsu….So many lives you have ruined….It was bound to catch up to you, this is the life you've chosen for yourself...And in the end the people who paid the ultimate price were the very people you swore to defend…." Soon all of Natsu's enemies who were previously staring him down charged straight at him. Natsu closed his eyes and held up his arms praying his flames would ignite again, but they didn't. He watched as they grew closer and closer to him, fear settled into him.

Natsu shot up into a sitting position panting, sweat dripped down his shirtless figure, he winced in pain and rubbed his torso with his hand he had shot up so fast that he had aggravated his injuries on his chest. He looked around the room expecting to find himself in the prison cell, but he wasn't. He was in his bedroom in his and Lucy's apartment. Was it all just a dream? He could feel pain, and the blanket and mattress felt real. He looked to the side of his bed where his crutches rested on his nightstand, he reached out and grabbed them and walked out into the living room. He heard strange noises coming from Lucy's bedroom, he used his crutches to go over to her bedroom door and knocked before opening it.

"Hey Luce, is everything okay in he….OH MY GOD!" He shrieked as he opened the door, his eyes widened and his jaw unhinged. There on Lucy's bed was her clad only in her underwear on top of a half naked….Gray?

"Natsu! What the Hell!" Gray snapped at Natsu who stood in the doorway completely gobsmacked. Lucy refused to look at him, her face did however convey that she felt a little guilty.

"Okay….I need answers...NOW!" Natsu growled looking at the two his hand clenched and grew warm, steam started emitting from it.

"Natsu...I can explain…." Lucy started Natsu sent her a glare and noticed several love bites on her neck which just fueled his anger.

"You don't owe him an explanation babe." Gray stood up from the bed and walked up to Natsu.

"How could you do this? What about Juvia?" Natsu asked his supposed friend in disbelief. The very friend he had confided his feelings about Lucy to countless times, the one who would always have his back had snuck behind not only his, but Juvia's.

"What about her? This is about you Natsu! Do you know how hurt Lucy is because of you! How much she cared about you! It broke her heart when she found out what you did!" Gray shoved Natsu backwards.

"I didn't do anything! The Hell are you talking about droopy eyes!"

"Natsu…..you blew up Kardia Cathedral...A lot of people died because of you…." Lucy muttered attempting to cover herself up with a blanket. Natsu blinked a few times in disbelief.

"Nobody died….I made sure of that….and the only reason the Cathedral blew up was because I was fighting Laxus to save everyone! In case you forgot he turned the city to stone, and wanted to blow it up! I stopped him! Now answer my question Gray….What do you think you were doing with Lucy!" Natsu got right up in Gray's face who glared right back at him.

"I think it's pretty obvious….Now get out of my face before I freeze your legs and make you watch."

"You're asking for it you bastard." Natsu muttered right back, not bothering to disguise the hurt and betrayal in his voice, his fist fully igniting at the same time Gray froze over in a ball of ice.

"Natsu stop. For once in your life just stop. I'm sorry, but I can't keep letting you get away with whatever you want Natsu. It's time you left, pack up your things and find a new place….I just can't keep doing this with you….I can't keep getting myself hurt because you are an idiot who only thinks of themself! Gray at least treats me with the respect I deserve! So please just leave! I don't care where you go as long as it's far away from me. I just….I never want to see you again." Natsu stood looking at her in disbelief, Gray smirked.

"You heard her...go!" He kicked Natsu's crutches away and just like with Cobra Natsu lost all balance and fell to the ground while Gray laughed. Lucy walked over to him and draped her arms over his shoulders.

"C'mon baby...he won't bother us anymore, we have unfinished business." She whispered suggestively. Natsu winced in pain as Gray kicked him one last time in the gut and the two walked back into Lucy's room. Natsu closed his eyes tightly and when he opened them again he couldn't move, he struggled to move unfortunately his body simply couldn't it was like he was paralyzed.

"Wakey, wakey Mr. Dragneel…" Brain's voice echoed in the dark room he was in, the lights were abruptly turned on revealing to Natsu that he was on some kind of table. He looked over to his side and saw a tray full of surgery tools. What was happening?

"Ah there are those beautiful green eyes of yours…." Brain's head popped up above Natsu's face staring down at him with a smile. He walked around the table and Natsu struggled to get up. Brain noticed and chuckled.

"Struggling will only make things worse...I have injected you with a serum that has rendered your body temporarily useless...On top of that Cobra's poison will reach your heart in about an hour...I figured I might as well drain your body of your ethernano now….While you can still feel it…." Brain grinned holding up a scalpel. Natsu opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.

"This will hurt a lot…" Brain warned and cackled as he sliced into Natsu's stomach causing Natsu to scream out in pain, but no sound came from his mouth. Tears filled his eyes as he attempted to fight Brain off him, but it was useless. Brain bent down right next to Natsu's ear.

"I told you that I was going to break you...now do me a favor...and wake up we still have work to do…." He whispered and raised his hand and slapped Natsu. Natsu's eyes shot open. He was panting and drenched in sweat, his throat was dry and he was inside his cell this time. He slowly sat up and looked around trying to figure out if this was another nightmare or if this was reality. He made eye contact with Jellal across the hall who gave him a worried look. Natsu ran a hand through his tangled hair and looked down at his hands which he just noticed were cramped, he must've had them clenched while he was asleep.

"Rough night?" Jellal asked him with genuine care. Natsu struggled to catch his breath but shook his head still unsure of if this was the real world.

"Nah...Just a bad dream it's nothing…" Natsu lied, sitting up and wincing at the pain in his torso, but ignored it as he got dressed in his jumpsuit.

"It's okay to admit weakness...You don't need to stay strong for me Natsu it's just us." Jellal spoke softly, Natsu smiled back at him.

"I'm fine...really, thanks for your concern though…" Natsu attempted to stand up, but forgot about his leg and immediately fell back down clutching his leg in pain. His head began to spin and he felt like throwing up again so that's what he did, crawling over to the bucket that already contained some of his guts he proceeded to hack and cough as the disgusting liquid came out of his mouth. This poison was really messing up his immune system.

"Take it easy...don't overexert yourself." Jellal's calm voice spoke, but Natsu couldn't really register the words thanks to the headache that he now had. A loud air horn being blown in the hallway didn't help it at all. Natsu crawled over to the glass to see a guard standing in the middle of the hall holding the dreaded airhorn.

"Rise and shine freaks!" He yelled making all the others wake up and lean against the glass as well.

"Men you will have the shower and bathroom first! Women you will make your way to the cafeteria!" He yelled and all the glass doors slid open, Jellal walked over towards Natsu's and grabbed Natsu's arm throwing it over his neck he helped Natsu hobble through the hallway following the guard towards the communal bathroom. The women had broken off following another guard towards the cafeteria. As Jellal and him were about to enter the bathroom the guard blocked their path. Both the male and female prisoners stopped in their tracks to watch what was going on.

"Prisoner three, you may go in, but prisoner eight will come with me." He smirked as he tugged Natsu's collar and threw him onto the ground. A few other guards grabbed Natsu who looked down at the ground accepting his fate, while Jellal and several others glared at the guards while Yukino and others refused to watch as Natsu got dragged into a nearby storage room. Natsu was internally preparing himself for another beating and tried to think of something to get him through it. His mind went to Lucy immediately, but something felt off. It was then he remembered his nightmare with her and Gray, he then tried to think about Fairy Tail but then he remembered the sight of all of them bloodied and deceased. In short Natsu had no positive thoughts at the moment, it was like the last three days had drained him of all happiness. Which is exactly what Brain wanted. One of the five guards picked him up and put him in a stranglehold, Natsu struggled against the man's grip as he was cutting off Natsu's oxygen causing him to wheeze and cough while trying to breathe.

"You probably have no idea who we are Salamander….But trust me when I say you deserve this for what you did to us." One of the guards walked forward and punched Natsu straight in the jaw.

"That one was for Jose." He hissed at Natsu while the fellow guards laughed, Natsu still struggled to breathe so he couldn't say anything in reply.

"You and your friends embarrassed Phantom Lord! It's time for us to have our revenge." Another one of the guards ran forward with a crowbar and swung at Natsu's face. This would go on for another ten minutes, with each attack from a guard Natsu grunted and struggled to stay conscious, the guard who had him in a chokehold tightened his grip making sure that there was going to be a purple bruise around natsu's neck. After the ten minutes of beating Natsu up for stopping Phantom Lord, the guards threw him back into the bathroom. The guys inside helped Natsu up to his feet, he had a serious case of jelly legs and couldn't stand straight up, Jellal's eyes immediately honed in on the new bruises on Natsu and he glared at the guards as they shut the bathroom door. Natsu thanked Richard who had helped him up to his feet and gave him a towel, he proceeded to strip down and hop over to the only open shower head which was in between Jellal and Bacchus, who handed him some soap. Natsu turned on the shower and was pleasantly surprised when the water that came out was actually warm, it was by no means as hot as he normally had it but it wasn't ice cold either. Natsu revealed in the water rinsing away all the grime and dust that had covered him over the last couple days. He felt a sudden burst of dizziness but ignored it, he was slowly getting used to the effects the poison were having on him.

As he started cleaning off his body with the bar of soap Bacchus handed him he began feeling sick to his stomach due to his mind wandering back to the events of his nightmares for whatever reason he just couldn't forget the image of Gray and Lucy together, for the matter he couldn't forget any of the dreams but that one stuck out. His mind began wondering what Lucy was doing, was she worried about him? Or was his dream somewhat real? Did she hate him now? Was he truly the monster that shadowy figure made him think he was? Natsu still couldn't figure out what was real or fake. Was he really here in Nirvana's shower or was he still in the cell and this was just another elaborate nightmare, the pain he had just experienced felt real, but then again so did the pain he felt when Brain cut into his chest in that one dream. He was losing his grip on reality, the pain he was in was too much to handle for anyone, and the poison had gone from a little bit of a nuisance in his arm to making him feel like he was going to pass out any second.

"I feel sick…" He mumbled causing Jellal to look at him worriedly, he laid a hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

"We'll get out of here, I promise. Just stay strong. For Erza, and everyone else...like that Lucy girl I believe was her name...You two seemed close when I visited Erza earlier this year." Jellal tried to reassure him, but if he was completely honest he didn't know how Natsu was going to make it through this, even if he survived the psychological effects this place would have on him. Jellal shuddered at the thought. There was no way Natsu would be the same person he was coming in when they finally got out. Natsu however smirked at him.

"Yeah...you're right….I'm pretty sure Erza would kill us both if we didn't figure a way out." Natsu chuckled, causing Jellal to give him a smirk. Once Natsu had rinsed off all the soap he shut off his shower and quickly dried off with the towel. He also quickly used the toilet and cupped some water from the sink into his mouth helping quench his thirst. A few moments later a guard barged in and told them that their time was up and that it was time for them to go down to the cafeteria. The boys walked down the hall, Jellal again helped in supporting Natsu preventing him from having to use his broken leg. As they passed the girls he ignored the sympathetic glances they gave him and instead focused on the rumbling in his stomach. He sat at a table and Jellal went off to grab him his food which consisted of a slice of cheese between two stale pieces of bread, a small plastic cup of milk and an expired bag of chips. Natsu still ate it without a second thought he was totally famished after throwing up all the contents of his stomach the last two days.

"Man….How you can eat this trash is just wild!" Bacchus stared at Natsu wide eyed, Jellal meanwhile was picking at his sandwich silently agreeing with Bacchus.

"You know the saying….beggars can't be choosers." Natsu shrugged and returned to his chips.

"I agree with your statement, but still this food is what food eats, oh yeah!" Richard commented, taking a small nibble of the bread. Bacchus smirked and reached inside his jumpsuit.

"Luckily for us...I managed to smuggle this off a guard this morning." He held up a small silver flask with a grin.

"You are lucky you weren't caught, you need to control yourself!" Jellal scolded the man who rolled his eyes and took a swig of the contents of it.

"Yeah, yeah whatever mom, just hand me your cup." He took the other three's plastic cups after they all had drunk their milk and poured a little bit of the flask's contents into them before passing them back. Jellal looked around to make sure no guards had seen them and before they could he raised the cup to his lips and chugged the whiskey, Richard had mirrored Jellal. Natsu meanwhile was just staring at the cup.

"What's the matter pinky? Don't tell me you've never drank before." Bacchus asked after finishing the contents of the flask. Natsu ignored the pinky statement and just nodded.

"Y-yeah, I'm technically still underage…" Natsu stated while looking around to make sure the guards weren't looking. Bacchus chuckled.

"That doesn't mean anything in here...c'mon it'll make the pain go away, just plug your nose and chug it. Get wild!" He smirked, Natsu sighed and picked up the cup he quickly drank the alcohol and cringed as it burned going down his throat and broke into a fit of coughs. Bacchus laughed while the other two watched him in amusement. After a few seconds Natsu recovered and sure enough he couldn't focus on the pain his body was in cause his insides were burning thanks to the alcohol. He glanced at Richard and remembered what he had said about being blinded by Brain.

"Hey Richard do you mind me asking you something?" Richard smiled warmly at him.

"Oh yeah!"

"You said you were blinded by Brain I was just wondering what you meant by that." Richard's smile fell to a frown.

"It's something I am not proud of….I was a member of the Seis...I never agreed with how Brain treated us like his puppets, however he promised me that he would reunite me with my brother Wally….So I stood by with him hoping I would see him again, that was until he started taking other people with powers and locking them up here….I attempted to free them and he found out. Threw this collar on me and I've been another one of the prisoners since then. Oh yeah!" He explained solemnly, Natsu looked at him with a frown looking upwards he saw Brain smiling from behind a glass window from the floor above. Natsu just sent him a dirty look in response, Brain smirked and walked away from the window.

"I can't wait to get my hands on him…" He muttered, his fists tightened. After about thirty minutes the guards came to take them back to their cells, where Natsu attempted to get comfortable for another night full of nightmares courtesy of Midnight.

Chapter 26: Undercover & Uncover

A/N: THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR 100 REVIEWS! YOU ARE ALL AMAZING AND I LOVE READING EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM! SPECIAL SHOUT OUTS TO THE MOST CONSISTENT REVIEWERS YOU MAKE ME WANT TO CONTNIUE THIS STORY!:

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