Memory Lane, Truths, and Rescue

It had been a month since Natsu arrived at Mondstadt. The slayer has been in the care of the Ragvindir clan ever since he was found bloodied at the side of a road. To say that the slayer was grateful to Crepus was an understatement, he was extremely grateful to him. Natsu couldn't thank him enough for his help, if he hadn't found the dragon slayer back then; then he'll be surely meeting Igneel and Zeref earlier.

Natsu could only sigh, as placed a hand on his chest, injuries were now healing. The injuries were a reminder to him, of his fight with Acnologia, the so-called dragon king couldn't take his defeat at heart so he had to resort to one last attack. The dragon king tried to aim for Wendy, thankfully he was fast enough to block out his attack, but it resulted in him having this scar on his chest.

Natsu found himself exploring the narrow corridors of the manor. He needed to get some things out of his mind at the moment, so he decided that he should take a look around the house for a bit. He never got the chance to explore the manor, as he was always resting or entertaining both Kaeya and Diluc with their antics.

"This is interesting." The dragon slayer said curiosity hinted in his voice.

Natsu was in front of a door, the door wasn't grand or anything, it was just a regular oaked wood door, with a door knob. Deciding to open the door, he was greeted with barrels filled with wine stacked to each other. Natsu could only guess that this is where they store the extra wine for special occasions. Not that he hasn't drank wine before, but he was a regular customer in the bar Fairy Tail had. Mira would always greet him whenever they were successful in their mission, and he would always share a drink with Cana.

Speaking of Cana, he remembered she was able to drink a whole barrel of wine while remaining sober. Natsu lost count on how many times he lost to her at a drinking competition, as he participated in every drinking contest every year the guild held. He tried to drink as many as he could, glass after glass, but to no avail, he still lost. He doesn't know how Cana is still alive after all that booze in her system, but whatever liver she has, he wants it.

Natsu wonders what Cana is doing right now. Drinking? Gambling? Probably both. But if he had to guess, she's probably keeping her father in check, Gildarts.

Now there's a name he almost forgot. Gildarts Clive. He was one of the Fairy Tail's strongest mages. The first time he ever met him was during his return when he took the 100-year quest. Right off the bat, he knew that he was powerful, no way an entire town would contribute to building roads that would be immune to someone's mere presence. He guessed that his magic must've been powerful to cause such a thing.

And of course, the dragon slayer did what he always does, challenge someone stronger than him to a fight. His action caused the whole guild to laugh out loud, hell, even Levy the resident shy girl couldn't contain her laughter.

Gildarts being amused by the slayer's eagerness agreed to fight him. The fight didn't even last a second as the moment the dragon slayer pounced on Gildarts, he was pushed back and was sent crashing to the guild hall, but even when he was down, he got right back up and aimlessly charged at him, again and again. He continued this till sundown when the crash mage had to put him to sleep to get him to stop.

Looking back now, the dragon slayer couldn't help but cringe at the fact that he would always go into battle without ever formulating a strategy, like seriously, how is he not dead yet? If he could go back in time and slap his past self he would. But aside from Gildarts being a strong mage, he was also a father figure, only second to Igneel. The both of them would always bond whenever Gildarts returns, whether it be fishing, sparring you name it, and Gildarts even admitted that Natsu was like a son he never had, although if there was one thing the dragon slayer always hated about the crash mage, is that his endless escapades for beautiful women.

The crash mage would always fool around whenever he was in front of a beautiful woman. And thank Mavis his stupid perverted face turned off most of the women he tried to woo. All of them even punched Gildarts right in the face, hell, it even got so bad that Natsu had to carry him back to the guild hall because of the number of injuries Gildarts suffered at the hands of multiple women. Yep all that injury, just because he was horny.

There was even a time when both dragon slayer and crash mage accidentally switched their belongings. It was during that time when the members of Fairy Tail split up for 1 year, both Natsu and Happy encountered the crash mage on their journey. The crash mage and dragon slayer agreed to spar and it was at that time that Natsu was finally able to push Gildarts, even just for a bit. After their duel, the both of them went on their separate ways, he and Happy always carry a bag full of food, when both of them were feeling a bit hungry, they opened their bag and it wasn't the content they had. It was full of… porno magazines. It didn't take long for Natsu to connect two and two as he already know the explanation as to why he had these books in their bag.

The slayer's eyes twitched, veins appearing at the sides of his forehead. Don't get him wrong, he knows that he's an idiot but this was one of the times that he hated Gildarts' stupidity and perversion.

Natsu's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a sound coming from behind him. Looking back, he saw Crepus standing behind him.

"Oh, Natsu, what are you doing here?" Crepus asks. "Are you perhaps looking for Diluc and Kaeya? I'm sorry but they left and went to Mondstadt, you see, both of them are squires for the Knights of Favonius." He added.

"No nothing like that, I'm just wandering the house and just so happen to stumble upon the basement door," Natsu replied, his eyes looking around the wine collection.

"Hmm, are you perhaps interested in winemaking?" Crepus asks.

"Winemaking?" Natsu said, confused as to where he was going with the conversation.

Crepus nodded, "I noticed you were looking at the wine collection, so I assumed you want to know more about it," Crepus replied.

"Not really, but I do enjoy a bottle if I have someone to share with," Natsu said.

Crepus hummed in response. "How about the two of us share a drink then? A toast, to whatever that's need to be celebrated," He suggested.

The dragon slayer could only chuckle in response. They have gotten close, haven't they? Not to say it was a bad thing, no, more like the opposite of that. He was glad that he was at least making connections with people, despite them never knowing a thing about himself, not even a little bit. Maybe one day, he'll tell him about everything. But he'll worry about that later, right now he's about to taste the sweetness of wine once again.

Both Crepus and Natsu spend the entire afternoon chatting, with a glass full of wine in hand. Natsu had to admit that this was the greatest quality of wine he ever had. Sure, the guild hall had some great wine, but this was certainly the better one, both in terms of quality and quantity. He also had the opportunity to meet Elzer, the butler for the Ragvindir clan.

Elzer's attire consisted of a black tuxedo coat with tails, a white pique vest, a white shirt with a panel front, and white gloves. The way he moves with grace and precision speaks volumes. Looking at Elzer, Natsu knew that the white-haired man is very dedicated to his job, the way he dresses and acts is nothing but proof of that dedication.

Natsu learned that he has quite the talent when it comes to brewing ale. And with that kind of talent, the white-haired was noticed by a couple of tavern owners and begged him to work for them, and Elzer of course, declined them all, except for one, which was Dawn Winery. He was eventually taken by Crepus' wing, and from there, it just snowballed until he became one of Crepus' trusted butlers.

"He seems like a cool person," Natsu thought, as he heard the manor doors open.

Natsu's eyes darted towards the door, he saw that people were entering the manor. One tall male and one small female, both of which are blonde.

The tall male has slicked blonde hair, and azured colored eyes, his face seems to be visibly aged, a beard can be seen, and a couple of scars and scratches as well. His body was well-toned and his height was similar to Gildarts. He wore a heavy steeled plated armor on his chest, same with his bottom that also was steeled from his feet towards his torso, an article of light green clothing was seen under those armor and a claymore rested upon the warrior's back.

The stranger gave off an aura that he was a seasoned warrior, a wolf that leads a pack, a person not to be trifled with. His serious expression gave that feeling away to Natsu. Natsu thought that his armor was suited for a general, so he assumed that he was some sort of leader. He doesn't know why, but Natsu has a feeling that he'll be seeing him now and then from now on.

The girl, on the other hand, has long blonde hair that was tied to a ponytail, she also has azure-colored eyes. Natsu noticed that her eyes were a bit red, had she been crying? Who knows, he decided to forget about it for a while. As for her dress, she wore quite the dress.

She wore steel-plated armor, albeit smaller to fit her size. The clothes she wore underneath the armor were also green-colored clothes like the taller stranger, black skin-tight leggings underneath those steel, and her feet were covered in steel-plated boots.

The stranger looked at Natsu with a critical eye. Observing him. The strangers' piercing glare could put a lion down and have it groveled in its feet, but Natsu isn't a lion, nor is he a human entirely.

He was trained by the mighty fire dragon king Igneel who trained his body to the point that he has senses that surpass the average human. So, Natsu returned the glare to the stranger. His glare was fiercer than the stranger. If this stranger ever tries to make a scene and hurt Crepus in any way... then he will raise hell.

Although his wounds are still present in his body, he can still fight back. Those hillichurls were a good example of how much destruction he can cause despite him being handicapped.

The stranger dropped his glare and shook his head. He turned in Crepus' direction and walked towards him along with the little girl he was with.

"Varka! I didn't know you were coming here, if I had known you were coming I would have had the servants prepare something." Crepus said to the person now named Varka.

"I appreciate it, but I'm not here for a chat. I have bad news regarding your boys."

The whole room is now filled with worry.

"W-What do you mean by that Varka?" Crepus stuttered, "Surely you must be joking right?

Varka shook his head slowly, He turned to the girl he was with "Jean, tell him everything that happened."

The girl, who is now known as Jean nodded and stepped forward. She began explaining everything.

"We have to rescue them Varka! We can't just sit here doing nothing!" Crepus panicked, his fatherly instinct was telling him to get his ass up and do something about it.

"Crepus, as much as I want to move, we don't know a damn thing where they are," Varka argued.

"So what? Do you think I'm just gonna sit here and do nothing about it? I have to find them Varka! They're my boys, I promised my wife that I would protect them!" Crepus said now shouting, and it's evident to Natsu that his anger is starting to surge.

"And where do you suggest we start looking? Varka scowled "Do you plan to turn Mondstadt upside down?"

"If that's what it takes, then so be it." The patriarch glared at Varka.

The room was now silent. Natsu didn't react much as he was in his thought, meanwhile, the silence was becoming more and more unbearable to Jean. She feels like she wants to say something but is unable to spit it out to the two of them. Poor girl.

Natsu snapped out of his thought, he turned his attention to Jean and noticed Jean's visibly shaking.

"What's wrong kid? You seem like you want to say something." Natsu said.

"U-Uhm, I-I k-know where they're taken," Jean said in a low voice, one that caught the attention of Natsu.

"You know where they are?! Why didn't you say anything earlier?!" The dragon slayer exclaimed, getting the attention of both Varka and Crepus.

"Alright, what seems to be going on here?" Varka asks. "Are you threatening my niece boy?"

Natsu looked at him in confusion, he rapidly blink before coming to a realization. "Huh, n-no, she just said that she knows where both Diluc and Kaeya are. I was just surprised as to why she hasn't said anything yet."

Varka narrowed his eyes on the slayer, doubting his words. But Crepus came to Natsu's rescue and explained Natsu's situation to him.

"You adopted another one Crepus? If I know any better, I'd say you're starting an orphanage." Varka teased, which got a grumble from said person.

"Look, the point is, we now know where they are. If they're actually in Dragonspine then we should assemble a search party."

Varka nodded "I'll have some of my best men assemble as soon as me and Jean get back to Mondstadt." He turned around and head straight to the door, but before he could exit he looked at Natsu one more time. "You know boy, I'd say you're gonna make a good knight. If you want to join that is." He said as he turned back and headed out.

At the cold barren foot of Dragonspine is a camp filled with tents and supplies, cages were spread out in the camp, cages that were filled with children, children that were freezing to death. This is where a group of treasure hoarders uses the place as their base of operations.

Inside one of the tents was a man who looked in his mid-20s, with short spiky white hair, and light blue-colored eyes, his outfit consisted of a white shirt that was covered by a thick purple coat with belts attached to connect it, baggy pants and brown boots. This man's name is Adelar, a treasure hoarder who was fortunate enough to have a vision. A pyro one at that, that is attached at the side of the right of his jacket, as if it was a medallion.

He stood in front of a table that laid out a map, a map that has different routes of the mountain. Being a treasure hoarder comes with different problems, such problems are dealing with those pesky Knights of Favonius and other organizations that want to stop them from their profits.

One of their ways of obtaining profit was human trafficking. Yes, despite that Reed Miller, the founder of the organization forbid them from ever harming children, some decided to commit such acts.

He looked behind him and smirked. Behind him is a cage with two boys. Kaeya and Diluc were both knocked out. These two would certainly fetch a high price in Snezhnaya. He heard that most of the nobles there want to have kids for their experiments, a bit fucked up in his opinion, but hey, he's committing human trafficking. But since these two's parent is filthy rich, he decided to keep them for a while while they still have value. Two birds with one stone.

"Adelar! Adelar!" One of the bandits came into the tent. His breaths were caught in between and looking pale.

"What is it now you fool?" Adelar said annoyed that one of his subordinates came in without his permission.

"Knights! They're coming! And with Grandmaster Varka too!" the bandit panicked.

Now, this is a sudden development. A development that Adelar did not anticipate. To think that the Grandmaster himself would come just to rescue these boys. The thought about him fighting a very serious Varka honestly made him scared. He would rather deal with a hundred fatui soldiers than face the wrath of a lion that is Varka.

But regardless, they have the upper hand. They don't know where their base is located, so they'll use it to their advantage. Yes, he'll set up an ambush on their way and take them out as soon as possible.

"Send out every men we have at our disposal, lay traps on the way as well. We can't let them get to our base. And also, take that pale-looking kid as well, she might be of use to us." Adelar ordered.

The bandit wasted no time and left the camp to carry out the order.

Adelar sat back in his chair. He rubbed the temple of his head. This is going to be a risky move on his part. But still, he'll rather take that chance than get thrown back into prison. Turning back he saw that Diluc and Kaeya were starting to wake up. He smirked and decided to entertain himself by watching them despair.

"Kaeya, you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, my head still hurts though."

"Well, well, well, seems like you two had your beauty sleep."

Both of them flinched and turned in Aldelar's direction. He still has that insufferable smirk on his face. One that Kaeya wants to wipe off personally.

"Who the hell are you?" Kaeya asks, his voice spitting a hint of venom toward Adelar.

"Oh right, where are my manners? My name is Adelar, I suppose you have heard of me, yes?" Adelar asks with sarcasm.

Kaeya however was not amused. If anything he just scoffed. "Never heard of you." He said.

Adelar's eye twitch. He doesn't appreciate the tone Kaeya just gave him, oh how he wants to strangle the little shit to death. But he can't, at least not yet. Both of these brats still have value in his eyes. Once they're done with those knights he'll sell this brat to the highest bidder in Snezhnaya. He heard that one noble wants to have another kid in his collection of enslaved people.

"You know, usually when someone's all snarky on me, I would just cut off their tongue," Adelar said, a maniacal grin starting to creep his face, making Kaeya and Diluc a tad bit uncomfortable. "But just for you brat, I'll let it slide just cause you still have your uses."

And with that Adelar left, leaving the two of them in his tent. The both of them were now on their train of thought. Diluc sat down, hugged himself, and started to cry, he was praying to Lord Barbatos for somebody to rescue them. Kaeya on the other hand took a look around his surroundings, aside from the small table with a map on top, a furnace, and their cage, there isn't much going on around him. He sighed and sat down alongside Diluc, consoling him and rubbing his back. He just hopes that Crepus and Natsu can find them.

Getting to Dragonspine was a not a pleasant experience for Natsu, as they ride on horseback. He had to tell Crepus and Varka that he has motion sickness which the group responded by tying him up and putting him on a cart. The group eventually arrived and was greeted by a handful of knights, seems that his intuition on Varka was correct, he is a leader. Of the Knights of Favonius one at that. Whatever the hell that means.

Varka gathered his knights and discussed their strategies, they all have come to an agreement that they had to split up if they have any chance of finding both Diluc and Kaeya. A search team consisted of Varka and his knights, while Crepus and Natsu were on their own. Jean was left to stay at the camp, which Jean didn't agree to kindly. But Varka made his decision already, much to Jean's anger. But he'd rather have Jean safe than be put and danger. Plus, he'd rather not have his sister beat him to a pulp and have her shout at his face again.

Natsu's sniffed the air, looking for clues on where the two boys are located. But to no luck, nothing at least not yet. He's confident of his senses as a dragon slayer and it never failed before and it never will.

A few minutes of walking have gone by and still no sign of the two. Not even something out of the ordinary as well. All he can see and smell were the natural fauna and floras. That is until his senses started to pick up.

He stopped his tracks and immediately raised his right arm, Crepus got the picture and stopped as well. Natsu sniffed the air around if there was anyone or anything near their radius and to his surprise, there is. The smell of iron and a hint of blood.

"Natsu, is there something wrong?" Crepus ask.

Natsu looked at him and nodded before turning back to his, "I know you're out there, so I would suggest you'd come out."

Crepus was about to open his mouth and speak but was stopped when he was pushed by Natsu. A soft thud was heard as he fell on the soft snow. A dagger suddenly ran past him. The dagger itself missed him and hit a tree, his eyes quickly darted toward the direction of where the dagger came from, and what he saw was someone. He couldn't tell who it was because the person who threw it wore a hooded robe, completely concealing their face.

Without wasting any more time, the figure grabbed another dagger in its belt and quickly lunged at Crepus, but Natsu was quick to stop the unknown assailant by putting himself in the danger.

He quickly grabs the figure's armed arm and took the dagger away from their hand. Before the assailant could grab another dagger from their belt, Natsu quickly knocked them out. A quick chop in the neck does come in handy after all.

Natsu sighs as he drops the body onto the soft snow around him. Crepus was quick on his feet as he got up and rushed to Natsu's side. He asks if he's okay, and the slayer nodded.

He was turning back to the unconscious body. Curious to see who the person is he removed the hood around the assailant and what he saw shocked him and Crepus.

A girl. A young girl, at the age of what seems to be 9. Just a year below as both Kaeya and Diluc. To think that someone so young was capable of becoming a bandit. The girl had wine-colored hair with some strands of her bangs having a much darker shade of red, her skin is as pale as a dead body, and her clothes were torn and had holes, her left foot have frostbite.

Natsu knows that some circumstances can't be avoided in life, he was lucky that Makarov found him when he was young and guided him, but to think that a child is capable of killing? It honestly scared him to his core.

He turned to Crepus, "Let's get this girl some shelter, I saw a cave not far away from here." He said and the redhead agreed. And with that, they moved.

Natsu ignited his right fist, he put his ignited fist near a bonfire wood, and the flame spread around the bonfire, dancing and crackling. He turned to Crepus, whose tending to the girl.

"How is she?" Natsu asks.

"Not good. Her temperature is too low. We need to get some medicine for her, I don't think our rations are enough to sustain her."

Natsu agreed. They needed someone to look after her, his magic can only do so much. He ignited his fist again and stared at his flamed hand. Damn it, if only he could learn Wendy's sky dragon slayer of magic, then he could at least help this girl.

Crepus noticed Natsu's flamed hand. His eyes widened, how can someone wield one of the elements without a vision. That wasn't possible unless he had a delusion and even if he had a delusion, why isn't he affected by one? He needed answers. He waited long enough for Natsu to open up to him.

"Natsu, can I asks you something?" The patriarch asks.

"What is it?"

Crepus took a deep breath. "Who are you really?" He asks his tone carrying seriousness. The dragon slayer flinched at his question which Crepus noticed. Good. He has him in the corner.

The slayer could only sigh in acceptance. The patriarch deserved to know the truth. Who he is, and where is he from. He saved him in his time of need, and telling the truth was the right thing to do at this point.

And with that, he began telling his story to Crepus. From his childhood when he thought he was abandoned by his foster father, to his teenage years when he and his friends would bond, and to his adulthood when he accepted his father's death and grew. He continued his story until their fight with Acnologia in the ravines of time.

"As he fell on the ravines of time, his body started to turn into dust, we thought we beat him. But that wasn't the case. It turns out that he still had the energy to blast one of us, dragon slayers. He could've hit the rest of the slayers but he aimed for Wendy. He knows that she was the weakest of all seven of us so he aimed for her. Hadn't been for my reflexes, then she would have died. But at the cost, it was me that was hit. And then you found me as I was gasping for air and bleeding to death on the side of the road, you carried me back to your home then I woke up at the manor, and the rest was history."

Crepus could only stare at the young man with sadness. He had to go through all those experiences. Having someone lose their life in their eyes. He couldn't fathom what he would do if he ever lost Kaeya and Diluc.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all of that Natsu. The pain of losing a loved one is a pain I know all too well." Crepus sympathizes, his tone carrying sadness.

"It's alright. I already made peace with it." Natsu replied. "My father's last wish was to kill Acnologia in his stead and thankfully with everyone's help, I achieved it."

"You said your father taught you magic right? He must've been a wonderful man."

"Dragon."

Crepus blinked.

"Pardon?"

"He's a dragon, king of the fire dragon to be exact." The slayer explained. "He taught me the very essence of dragon-slaying magic."

"A dragon taught you magic? That's hard to believe."

Natsu snorted, he laid his head by the cavern wall, his eyes staring up at the ceiling of the cave. "I don't blame you. Most people would deny the existence of a dragon after all."

Crepus hummed in response. "Did you know that Dragonspine is a dragon's graveyard?"

Natsu's head seemed to perk up when he heard the words "dragon's graveyard". Can you blame him? He was raised by a dragon after all plus there was that dragon graveyard under that arena in Fiore.

"Dragonspine is the grave of the dragon Durin. It is said to have venom so powerful that it melts armor and flesh in an instant, its appearance was a disfigured black skeletal dragon, with glowing red eyes, and its skeletal wings span over Mondstadt."

Natsu listened intently to Crepus' story. He was always fascinated with draconian history. Igneel would tell stories of his youth when they were traveling, and he would listen to them till he fell asleep. One of the many memories he had with Igneel, a memory he cherished dearly.

As Crepus continued the story a certain pale girl is stirred awake, while the patriarch and the dragon-slayer are completely unaware of the sudden development.

Rosaria blinked once.

Then twice.

That was weird, since when did she ever enter a cave? She was sure she never entered a cave. Pulling herself up, the first thing she noticed was that she had a blanket on her person, which is quite strange because she never needed to use a blanket when sleeping on a cold winter night, if anything the cold never bothered her.

The second is that there is a pouch bag near her. Curious, she reached for the bag. Now, what could possibly be in here. Opening it there was a number of items that she really needed right now. And the bread was one of them.

Without hesitation, she quickly took the bread and began munching away. When was the last time she had bread? Rosaria always never had the luxury of eating one, ever since she was taken in by Adelar.

She needed to get her strength back as soon as possible before Adelar finds her. She knows how cruel he can be when he finds out that someone's been slacking off in his order.

And third, there was a pair watching her. This caused her to get to her belt and tried to take her daggers, but once she touched her belt, her daggers are gone. Her mind was racing with thousands of thoughts, her eyes widened as she realized what had happened. The pink-haired man knocked her out and took her to this cave.

"Who are you?" Rosaria ask, cautiously backing, but she was stopped by the wall behind her.

Natsu raised both of his hands up reassuring her that they won't hurt her. "Calm down, we're not here to hurt you alright? We just want to ask a few questions."

"What do you want?" Rosaria questioned the slayer, her eyes narrowing.

Natsu smiled as he presented a picture of Diluc and Kaeya to Rosaria. "Do you know where they are? We've been looking for them in this mountain."

Rosaria took a look at the picture, and she immediately recognized both of them. They were the new batch of kids that was supposed to be a bargaining chip of some sort. And judging by the red-head beside Natsu, he must be the father of the smaller red-head.

"Well? Do you know where they are?" Natsu once again asked.

Rosaria bit her bottom lip. She knows very well, where they are, and she knows, that lying won't get her anywhere.

"U-Uhm, I, I don't know where they are."

A lie. Natsu thought about the way he noticed her movement and the way she stutters her words. He sighed, this isn't going anywhere.

"Well, you seem to be hungry," Natsu said, as he grabbed his own bag and took out a Tupperware of curry. "Here, you can have my food, it's not like I'm hungry, but it would be a shame to just waste a perfectly good cooking." The slayer offered.

Natsu had a good look at Rosaria. Her body was covered in cuts and bruises, pale skin was paler than the snow around. Rosaria extended her arm and grabbed one of Natsu's food, he noticed that her bones were showing. Natsu thought that there is only one reason why was malnourished.

She's a slave.

Slavery. Now that was a heavy topic for Natsu to open because it brought a sensitive memory back to him. Seeing Erza's trauma.

Erza Scarlet. One of his companions throughout her life experienced firsthand the pain of being a slave. She was a child once it happened to her. Abducted from her home village by cultists of Zeref, she was forced to work every day just so that those cultist bastards can push their agenda of his brothers' resurrection in the tower of heaven.

Once she escaped the tower, she made her way to Fairy Tail as a promise to old man Rob that she will become a wizard. However, she always keeps everyone at arm's length, she never opens up to anyone, not to him, to Mira, and certainly not to Master Makarov. He and Mira always ask about it master but he just shrugged it off and said, "We must wait for people to open their problems. Forcing our way into their hearts is never always a good thing as it pushes those close to them out."

It was only when Jellal kidnapped Erza that he planned to have Erza as a sacrifice to revive Zeref. Despite Zeref being alive back then, where he lived on Tenryou island, where he was alone and isolated. But despite them being against the odds, they managed to pull through and saved her.

When they returned to the guild. Many people were glad that they were safe and sound, the master even threw a party to celebrate their successful return. And of course, being the rumbustious person he is, Natsu started a fight with Gray, and it escalated to the point where they dragged the rest of the members into their fight. Safe to say that the guild had to replace much furniture, despite the master's dismay.

Once the party was over, he went back to their house without Happy. Happy already went home first, he didn't want to be part of the destruction they cause. Walking back to his house, he saw Erza walking alone out in the street. He offered some company to her as they walk, and Erza was happy to accept his offer.

Walking out in the night, the silent streets of Magnolia were certainly calming to both him and Erza. A nice change of scenery if he does say so himself.

While walking, both of them reminisce about the past. As their talk became more and more personal, she finally talked about her traumatic experience as a slave. It was a painful experience for her and for her friends in the tower of heaven, an experience that she does not wish upon her worst enemies.

The day she became a Fairy Tail mage was one of the best things that ever happened to her, after all the things that she went through when she was a child were traumatic experiences. And finally, after all these years, she gets to release all of her problems and cry. Not of sadness, but happiness. A smile appeared on his face. These of his friends are precious to him, treasures that can't be measured by jewels.

"Alright then Rosaria, how about this. We help you out in your situation then you help us out as well, a fair trade, wouldn't you agree?" Natsu said, smiling at the purple-haired girl.

The slave looked at him. She slowly nods at his proposal. She knows the risk of the situation, but it's that smile. That damn smile of his. She can't help but be reassured that their plan of his will follows through.

Natsu's smile widened.

It was just as Rosaria said it was. The base is filled with children in cages, none of them seems to be wearing anything to keep them from the cold aside from their clothes that were ripped and cut. A few others were lucky that they were near a heat source, some others, not so much.

Natsu clenched his fists and grit his teeth. Whoever had the heart to do this doesn't deserve any mercy. Once he finds whoever is responsible is going to get every bone in their body broken.

Without saying anything else, he sneakily run passed one of the guards by the entrance and made his way inside. Once he was inside, he saw more cages and tents, some were empty while others are occupied. Again, Natsu's anger tried to surface but he let it go and moved on, for now, he still has to save Diluc and Kaeya.

Sniffing the air around, his senses started to pick up. They're close. So without any more questions, he followed their scent, as he kept on moving their scent is becoming more and more stronger.

He stopped in his tracks and in front of a tent, the largest one at that. "This must be where they are," Natsu thought, as he entered the said tent. Entering, he noticed that there was a table with a map on top, a furnace, and the most important of them all, Diluc and Kaeya. He quickly rushes to them.

"You guys alright?"

Diluc looked at the source of the sound, his eyes becoming misty, tears threatening to fall. "N-Natsu? Is that you?" Diluc asks weakly. He needed to be sure if he was real and the dragon slayer nodded in response.

"How did you find us Natsu?" Kaeya asks.

You guys know Jean right?" Natsu asks back, the two giving a nod in response. "Well, she saw you guys getting kidnapped and immediately alerted Varka and your dad. Gotta say, that Varka guy seems like a guy you don't wanna piss off."

Kaeya snorted and smirked. "Well, what do you expect? He is the Grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius after all."

"Let's get you out of here alright?" Natsu said, trying to bust open the cage open. Natsu pulled the bars apart, creating an opening that was big enough for the captives to escape.

Looking around the tent, there was really nothing noteworthy of his attention. He turned towards the table and noticed a map. Curious, he moved forward and took a looked at it.

Natsu noticed that there were some areas that were marked with a circle. What could they be? More locations of their hideouts? Storages? He didn't know. But he might be able to use this. By the looks of it, this isn't the only treasure hoarder base located in Dragonspine. There were more, hidden. He doesn't know where these locations are but he might know someone who does. Varka.

If he could get this map to Varka then he might be able to stop the kidnappings from happening ever again.

"Kaeya, grab the map. If we can get this to Varka then we might be able to avoid something like this in the future." Natsu ordered. Kaeya nodded as he rolled the map and held it tight.

As they got out of the tent, someone approached them from the fog, as the silhouette kept getting closer and closer, the figure became clearer and clearer. It was Adelar. A pissed-off Adelar. Diluc and Kaeya hid behind Natsu, who was too scared to face the man with their eyes. Natsu however glared back at the white-haired man.

"I'm assuming that you're the little shit that took the majority of my men?" Adelar questions, his body carrying confidence. "But unfortunately for you, you made the biggest decision of your life of facing me." He said as he draws his sword from its sheath.

Natsu silently stared at Adelar, he clenched his fist tightly, and his eyes turned reptilian and full of hatred. If looks could kill then the treasure hoarder would be dead a thousand times. He hurt the people he cared about. That is one thing that Natsu can't stand. And it seems that this person was foolish enough to try and test his anger. He'll make sure to give this guy a beating he won't ever forget.

Adelar meanwhile still remained smug. This pink-haired bastard decides to come crashing down on his base and wreck it, such a crime to him wouldn't go unpunished. He'll enjoy slowly torturing this guy.

Looking at the dragon slayer's body, he noticed that he doesn't have any vision of his person. Good good. He'll at least toy with him before he finishes him off, he'd like to see these brats despair, as their ray of hope was snuffed out by him.

Smirking Adelar unsheaths his sword, "You know, I am an honorable man, and since you yourself don't have a vision, I'll let you have the first hit." Oh, he was confident in his victory already. Something he will soon regret in a few seconds.

Natsu raised a brow. Was the man before him serious? But since he insist, Natsu played along. "You sure about that?" The slayer asks, getting a nod from his opponent. "Alright then. Oh and just a heads up, I punch hard. Real hard."

Without any more delays, Natsu charged at Adelar his eyes screamed murder. Cocking his right fist, he unleashed the force of his punch as it connected to Adelar's face. The force of the punch sent Adelar to fly until he crashed into some stacked crates filled with the treasure hoarders' supply of goods.

Kaeya and Diluc stared in awe, this was the second time they witness Natsu do this, which they're pretty sure isn't normal for a person to send someone launching up in the air.

Natsu looked at the downed man, disappointment was clearly visible on his face. "And here I thought you had something to offer. How disappointing," he said, with a disappointed voice.

Before he could turn his back, he noticed that there was something shiny down on the ground. Curious, he picked it up. Ah. A key. Natsu noticed that Adelar is starting to get up from the rubble. Turning to Diluc and Kaeya, he tossed it to the children, "Free the rest of the kids, will you? Looks like I'm getting my fight after all." He said, and the children nodded before scurrying off.

Adelar slowly picked himself up from the rubble. His hands reached for his jawbone before he felt an agonizing pain "AHHHHHHHH." His scream can be heard all over the mountain.

At some parts of the mountain. Varka and his knights were just rounding up most of the bandits. He stood in front of one of the beaten treasure hoarders that tried to ambush them, his eyes looking feral. He was just done with his lengthy interrogation and with his luck he managed to get one. One of the knights reported some stragglers that escaped from them, but he let them be. They already have what they needed know.

He and his knights were just walking for hours, and with no signs of the missing kids, they decided to camp for a bit. Just so they can rest their feet that is.

Some of his knights were chatting among themselves, some decided to sharpen their swords and spears, while others rest their eyes. Varka however, observed his surroundings. Trees, trees, trees, and more trees. That's all he saw in this god-forsaken mountain.

As 30 minutes passed, nothing uneventful happened, his knights still continued to continue their activities to pass the time while he remained restless. One of the knights offered him some food but he refused. Seems like nothing's happening at the moment. That is until he heard something snap within the pine forest near them. He narrowed his eyes, he ordered everyone to keep their mouths shut.

Taking a dagger from his belt, he threw it to the source of the noise. He heard a grunt of pain coming. Gotcha. He quickly ordered his men to ready their weapons. And with that, the ambush has begun as many hoarders began charging toward Varka and his knights, with axes, Molotov cocktails, and shovels? "Why would you charge into a battle with a shovel?" He thought, but he dismissed the thought quickly as the fight still rages on.

They thought they were clever to ambush them. Heh. They never stood a chance, to begin with.

The fight lasted only about 15 minutes. Many treasure hoarders fell in the battle while the knights suffered non. Some surrendered, while others escaped with their lives. One of the knights questioned if they should pursue them, Varka only looked at the knight and scoffed "Hmph, let them be, with the amount of blood they lost I bet they won't make it down the mountain without dying."

He turned his attention to the rest of his knights, he looked pleased as they hog tie the last bandit. Varka is about to open his mouth when they heard a scream coming further up the mountain. Ah. So that's where their base is. He smirked.

"Men, guard these low lives like your life depended on it. I'm gonna need two more men to come with me to go deeper." The Grandmaster ordered and his knights obeyed.

Dropping down to the ground on his knees, Adelar was frantically screaming in pain. A pathetic state in the eyes of the dragon slayer. "Y-Y-YOU BROKE MY JAW!" He screamed.

Natsu looked at the man. Unimpressed. And here he thought he was going to get a decent fight out of someone, but he was mistaken. If anything, those hilichurls were a better fighter than… this. They at least have a backbone to fight, than this sorry excuse of a man.

"So? You're just gonna give up? That was just one punch, and you already want to cry?" The slayer taunted, which aggravated the man.

Adelar grabbed his sword and charged at Natsu, activating his vision the sword became coated with flames. He frantically swing the blade pathetically as Natsu easily avoided the strikes with ease. Slash, swing, slash, swing. Rinse and repeat. That's all he noticed in Adelar's attack, now he's no expert in the ways of the sword by any means, no, it's just that the treasure hoarder has no grace in his strikes and no strategy. "Heh, I guess watching Erza train with her swords does have some merits of its own after all." He thought.

Adelar raised his sword up to his head. Natsu noticed the opening to his stomach, he punched his gut, causing the man to stagger down to his knees… again. "Gah!" Adelar started coughing, blood spitting out of his mouth. He looked at the Natsu whose looking at him with a bored expression. Gritting his teeth, he stood back up and charged at the man.

Natsu smirked and then grinned. "Looks like you're not going down without a fight after all!" He shouted as he readied himself for another round.

The treasure hoarder aimlessly charged at Natsu, his state of mind was only filled with rage. He tried to slash Natsu but he effortlessly dodged it, Natsu tried to counter the attack but Adelar was quick this time and blocked his fist with his blade.

He tried to thrust his sword at Natsu but he kicked the sword, causing it to fly out of his hands. Natsu was about to release another punch at the hoarder but he blocked it this time with his arm. But the impact caused him to slide a few distances away from Natsu. And to his luck, the sword fell right beside him.

Adelar growled at the dragon slayer, he grabbed his sword from the ground, raising the sword from his head, his vision glowed, as it coated his sword with fire once more. With Natsu out of his reach, he focused and slashed the air in front of him "Vision art: Flamed Wave!" he chanted. This caused a wave of flame to approach Natsu. Adelar grinned maniacally, "Try dodging that you son of a bitch!"

Natsu stared at the wave of fire approaching him. Fast. But instead of panicking and running, he smiled and spread his arms, as if he was inviting the flames to him. And with that, the wave of fire consumed Natsu and the area around him. The fire melted whatever snow that was in the vicinity, the smoke was already reaching the sky.

As the fire raged in front of Adelar, he panted… hard. Whatever breath he could muster was cut short, as he puked out more blood from his mouth. To think that he was pushed this far to his limits, and to a visionless bastard as well.

He looked at the fire that was still raging, he weakly smirked. "Heh, I admit, you were able to push me to my limit, to think that someone who never had a vision could be capable of squaring up to me. But a visionless person can never surpass a person with such gift." Now that was over, where the hell are those brats? He's still isn't done with them yet.

Turning around from the fire, he clutched his right arm. "This is definitely gonna take some time to heal." He thought. But just before he can move an inch, he heard someone, calling him… from inside the fire. Curious, he turned back to see who it was.

"Hey, asshole!" The voice shouted. Adelar's eyes widened in realization. It was that pink-haired bastard. "How did he survive that attack?!" He thought.

Natsu stepped forward out of the flame, his long-sleeved shirt was completely burned, what was left of the shirt was nothing more than a charred cloth falling out of Natsu, his pants have burned all the way to his knees, the scarf seemed to be the only thing that wasn't burned, the bandages around his chest was burning slowly until it revealed a scar on his chest and back.

The slayer stood in front of Adelar, who had a completely baffled and mortified look on his face.

The hoarder took a step back, completely stumbling in the process. "H-How is this possible?! There's no way anyone could have survived that attack! Tell me, how could a visionless trash like you survive!?" Adelar demanded.

However, Natsu remained silent.

"ANSWER ME!" The treasure hoarder roared, his voice causing an echo in the mountain.

Natsu closed his eyes, taking a deep breath the slayer answered the filled rage treasure hoarder."If you want the answer, then I'll give you a demonstration," Natsu said, opening his eyes and revealing the slayer's eyes that resembled a reptilian. "But if you must know, is that I'm immune to any fire attack."

The white-haired man was lost with words, as his mind was racing with thousands of thoughts. One of them being terror. "I-I never had any chance of beating you did I?" The treasure hoarder asked weakly.

The dragon slayer snorted. "Not even close," he answered, as he turned his back and walked a bit of distance to Adelar. "W-Where are you going?" Adelar asks in confusion.

"I said I'll give a demonstration right? Well, I'll give you one." Natsu said, the tone of his voice completely turning serious, as he firmly plant his feet on the ground. Taking a deep breath, he began sucking air around him, but it was not just the air that he was inhaling, the fire Adelar caused was sucked into the vacuum of his mouth.

The once flamed terrain now change as it revealed the stoned ground below, no snow, just rocks, and dirt. The tents that were ablaze were now put out, although there were still a few ember and charred marks.

Natsu ceased his vacuum, as he sucked the last bit of flame, licked his lips, and smiled. "That was one of the most disgusting flames I ever had." He said. "But still, thanks for the snack."

The treasure hoarder nervously backed away. "S-Stay back!" Adelar stuttered as he dragged himself to the ground, trying to get away from the pyro.

"Oh? Didn't I tell you that I'll give you a demonstration?" The dragon slayer said, causing the hoarder to flinch. "I sure hope you're fireproof as this is going to get a bit hot." Natsu finished as he began to breathe deeply once more, smoke began forming in his mouth, embers falling out as well as if it was saliva.

"Fire Dragons Roar!" Natsu yelled as he unleashed a large pillar of flame in Adelar's direction. The said person tried to escape, but it was futile as he was now the one who was consumed by fire.

Varka just arrived with both of his men who readied their weapons but to his surprise, there was no need. He was curious as to why there wasn't anybody to greet them at the entrance, which was quite strange, usually when they have a sting operation on these types of cases, there should be at least someone guarding. He shook this thought out of his head, he'll figure it out later, they still need to save Crepus' boys.

After a few minutes of searching, they came across both missing kids, and not just that, they seemed to rescue two dozens of kids as well, ranging from age 7 to 14. He can't imagine what trauma they had to endure in these mountains, but at least they're safe.

He ordered both of his men to safely escort the kids back to camp, which the knights did without questions, but not before both Diluc and Kaeya refused to go. Varka questioned why the two of them didn't want to go back. They frantically answered that Natsu needed help. As the both of them were still explaining the situation to him, all of the people present heard a loud explosion.

"NATSU!" Diluc and Kaeya yelled in horror. They tried to rush to where Natsu was, but they were quickly stopped by Varka. He ordered his man to take the two with them along with the children. Both red-head and blue-head were about to protest, but they were knockout unconscious by Varka. With that, the knights carried the Ragnvindyr children in their arms, and the children followed soon, as for Varka he needed to see if that boy was ok.

Arriving in just a few seconds, he was greeted by a desolated camp, flames were dancing around the place, and the once snowy terrain was melted as it revealed the stoney ground. "What the hell happened here?" He muttered to himself.

Walking a few distances from where he stood, he found Natsu standing still, his clothes were burnt. He immediately rushed towards the pink-haired boy's side to see if he was ok. And what he saw in front of the boy made Varka want to throw up.

It was Adelar. The same Adelar that was wanted for human trafficking and kidnapping. Completely burnt to a crisp.

Varka stared at Natsu. The boy's breathing was heavy. "The fight must've taken a toll on his body." He thought.

"Hey kid you alright?" He asked. No, respond.

"You alright kid?" He asked again. No, respond.

Placing his hand on the dragon slayer's shoulder he asked again. "Are you alright?"

Natsu stared at the man towering over him. "Yeah. Yeah, I am." He answered.

"What happened here?" Varka was curious.

Natsu stared at the burnt person. "We fought and I came out victorious. That's all." His attention turned to Varka, "I'd put him in cuffs if I were you."

The Grandmaster blinked, before coming to a realization. "U-Uh, yes, yes of course you're right." He rushed to the burnt hoarder, who was muttering complete nonsense. As Varka was busy subduing the bandit Natsu looked over the horizon of Dragonspine.

Looking over the mountain range, a dark cloud looms over the horizon. "Probably a snow storm." He thought. They need to get out of here soon before the storm hits. Varka called out for him, which grabbed his attention, just as was about to leave he felt that someone was calling out to him. Turning to his back, but he saw nothing.

Varka who was confused approached Natsu. "Something wrong?" the Grandmaster asks.

Natsu looked at him "Nothing. Let's just go." He said. As he left the Grandmaster alone, grabbing the treasure hoarder he began making his way back down the mountain.

Varka narrowed his eyes on the Dragon Slayer. Something tells him that there was more than meets the eye on that boy. He'll have to keep an eye out for him.

Holy shit this was the longest chapter I ever fucking wrote. Anyways, as I said in the last chapter I'll move my attention to the Mondstadt characters, and the first and second one to show was none other than Jean and Rosaria! Reading Rosaria's lore gave me most of the idea's in this chapter and having that idea served as a catalyst added more and more ideas. But enough about her, let's talk about Varka. Now I know that we haven't got a clue about what he looks like, but I decided to take a leap of faith and imagined my own version of Varka, which is probably not a good idea in the long run since Hoyoverse is gonna release him sooner or later, but who cares.

Also fun fact: I started this chapter about a few days ago when I released the previous chapter. I know, mind-blowing since I usually don't write another chapter for another month. Don't know when I'll make another chapter, to be honest really, but hey this chapter proves that I'm not dead at least. So yeah, what do you think? Leave a review.

Also, we reached 95 favorites and 133 followers! Which is a huge achievement if you ask me. A big thank you to SentryForge223 and LilyMaya from Discord for helping me with ideas and names for the OC who is known as Adelar!