Chapter 14: X782
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail
Things could not have gone worse. It was so supposed to be a simple S Class job. A monster known as "The Beast," was attacking a village. The plan was simple, Mira and Elfman would fight The Beast while Lisanna made sure the people of the nearby village escaped to safety. The Beast was stronger than she expected, but between her and her brother they eventually took it down. Things were looking up; the villagers were safe, and Elfman would be able to claim another soul.
Mirajane couldn't have been more wrong. She had thought that her brother would have been able to absorb the Beast's soul. He had been training for years, working on his Full Body Takeover, but hadn't been able to get the hang of it. Mira had hope that this soul would be the push he needed.
When Elfman had tried to absorb the Beast's soul, something had gone wrong, and the Beast had taken him over.
"Elfman! You have to get ahold of yourself!" Mira yelled. Elfman needs to regain control. If he doesn't, the Beast will take over his body and go on a rampage. Mirajane couldn't afford to lose her brother. Her and her siblings had already lost their parents. The siblings losing any one of them would be devastating. Elfman was there when Mira first awakened her magic. Him and Lisanna refused to leave her side when the villagers had threatened them.
"Elfman!" Mira screamed out, only to be cut off as Elfman took a swipe at her. Crashing into a tree, Mira struggled to breath as she took in the state her brother is in. The Demon Take Over mage could feel it, that attack had broken her arm. Under normal circumstances, Elfman never had the strength to do something like that, not that he would ever knowingly do something like that to his sister. It was almost done; the Beast has almost fully taken over. Mira wanted to say something that'll reach her brother, but words failed to come out.
If she tried fighting him, she doesn't know what would happen. In his weakened state, if the S Class mage takes the fight too seriously, he could either end up completely lose himself to the soul invading his body or end up dead. Unfortunately, the fight from earlier had left her in a weakened state. If she doesn't go all out, the oldest sibling could die.
To make matters worse, Mira can't bring herself to fight Elfman like that. She couldn't do something that would hurt her brother. It's already her fault that Elfman is in this situation. If Mira hadn't been so overconfident in her brother, they wouldn't have been in this situation.
"Mira!" Lisanna yelled as she ran into the clearing. She was horrified when her eyes landed on her sister. Never had she seen her sister in such a horrified state. Turning her head, the youngest of the Strauss siblings was terrified as she saw what was happening to her brother. "Mira, what happened to Elfman?!"
"Lisanna! Run! Get out of here!" Lisanna was far closer to her rampaging brother than she would have liked. She's already running the risk of losing one of her siblings, the idea of losing both is downright sickening.
Lisanna's features grew softer as she slowly approached her brother. "How can I do that when Elfman is clearly hurting." She doesn't know what but something in her told her this was the right thing to do. If Lisanna and Elfman refused to leave behind Mira all those years ago, she won't leave either of them behind now. "It's ok Elfman, just calm down and we can all go home together."
For a moment, it had looked like Elfman was coming to. Lisanna had seen it, the slightest bit of recognition in his eyes. In that moment, Lisanna believed that there was some hope to save her brother.
The Beast raised his harm above his head and brought it down on Lisanna. "Lisanna!" Mira screamed in terror. As the beast brought his fist down, a cloud of dust kicked up upon impact. Mira couldn't see anything. She waited to see what her baby sister's fate was. She was so terrified that she forgot to breath.
"Lisanna, when we get back to the guild, you and I are going to have a very long talk." Natsu said as he held the Beast's fist in his hand.
"Natsu," both Lisanna and Mira said under their breath, both relieved to see the pinkette.
"Morgana, take care of Mira and Lisanna. I got this big bastard." Natsu said, not taking his eyes off of the Beast.
"You got it!" the exceed said as he picked Lisanna up by the back of her shirt and carried her over to her downed sister.
"Natsu wait! That's Elfman." Mira said, trying to keep the pinkette from using any lethal spells.
In attempt to get free, the Beast brought his other hand up and brought it down on the pinkette. Without paying to much attention, Natsu caught the other fist in his free hand. "Ok, what do I do then?"
"Knock him out, the Beast can't take over Elfman's body if it's unconscious." Mira said, feeling relief as Morgana used his Dia spell to heal her broken arm. "Thanks Morgana."
"Sounds easy enough." Letting go of Elfman's arms, Natsu jumps up and kicks him in the side of the head. The kick was strong enough to knock Elfman off his feet. Following the kick up with another hit to the head, the Dual Slayer waited to see if he needed to give Elfman a few more punches to make sure the Beast was down. Watching as Elfman's body glow and began to shrink, he let's out a sigh of relief. Odds are, if Elfman and the Beast weren't already injured from the previous fight, things could have been messier.
Leaning down by the unconscious Take Over mage, Natsu coats him in his green flames. 'At least you're already unconscious, this would have hurt like a bitch otherwise'. By the time the flames had subsided, any physical injuries Elfman had was healed. There was bound to be psychological trauma but that will have to be a problem for later. "Come on big guy, let's get you some place to rest up." The pinkette said as he hoisted Elfman onto his shoulder.
"Natsu, is, is Elfman ok?" Lisanna asked. She had seen the pinkette not only knock out, but also healed her brother in the process. The youngest of the Strauss siblings has the upmost trust in Natsu, but when it comes to her family, she needs the confirmation.
"I did what I could, he should be fine."
Both sisters let out a sigh of relief. "Lisanna, can you let the villagers know that it's safe to return now?" Mira said as she rubbed her previously broken arm, trying to get rid of the lingering phantom pains.
"Morgana, can you help with that?" Both Lisanna and Morgana nodded and rushed off.
It wasn't long before the villagers were returning to their homes. Some could be seen cleaning up the mess caused by the chaos from the evacuation. As the mages were walking through town, every villager made it a point to give their thanks to the Fairy Tail mages.
After making their way through the crowds, the mages finally found a hotel. Natsu and Morgana took one room while the Strauss siblings shared a room so they can keep an eye on Elfman's condition.
Removing the cloak and tattered shirt Natsu was wearing, Natsu lays back on the bed. Prior to helping the Strauss siblings, the pinkette had spent the whole day traveling. He's been walking across the country for a while, and he was feeling it.
Hearing a knock at the door, he gets up and walks towards the door. Opening the door, the pinkette sees Mirajane standing on the other side of the door.
"Hey Natsu, mind if I come in?" Mirajane asked, there was an uncertainty in her voice that the pinkette couldn't have missed. Nodding while stepping inside to let the Take Over mage in, Natsu was caught off guard by her demeanor. "Morgana, can you give us some privacy?" Mira asked as she saw the exceed sitting on the bed.
"Sure," Morgana said as he got up and flew towards the door. "I'll be in the other room if you need me."
"Something up," Natsu said as he closed the door. Sitting in one of the chairs, he waited patiently for the Take Over mage to say whatever she came over here for.
Mira just looked down as she grasped her arm. Even Morgana healed her, she felt some residual phantom pains. "Thanks for the help today, Natsu." Was the first thing she had managed to say.
"It's no problem, it's a good thing that I was close by." Natsu was on his way back from another job when Makarov had contacted him and asked if he could help Mira on a job that he had a bad feeling about. "That's not what you wanted to say, was it?" He knew Mira well enough to tell when she's beating around the bush.
"No," her grasp on her arm tightened as she looked more frustrated. "I'm… I'm thinking of stepping down as a mage."
Natsu's eyes widen as he jumps to his feet. "What are you talking about?! Why would you stop being a mage?!"
"I NEARLY GOT MY BROTHER AND SISTER KILLED!" The Take Over mage yelled at the pinkette. Yes, there occupation is incredibly dangerous. But as the older sister, Mira has always felt it was her responsibility to protect them siblings. Granted, she knew for a fact that Elfman and Lisanna felt the same way, but she will always see it as her responsibility. "I'm the one that brought them on this job! I'm the one that thought Elfman could handle taking over that monster! I failed to protect." Tears were rolling down Mira's cheeks as she listed off her failures. She was overconfident in not only herself but her siblings. "If it wasn't for you, Lisanna would be dead." Flick. "OW! What the hell was that?!" Mira yelled as she held onto the spot on her head that Natsu had flicked. She was brought out of her rage as the pinkette suddenly embraced her into a tight hug.
"Mira, I've seen how hard you worked to get where you are now. Don't throw it away on one bad job." Natsu said, trying to help the Take Over mage.
"A bad job, look at what nearly happened!" If Natsu was even a moment late, Lisanna would have died, and Elfman might have been too far gone. "I didn't take this job seriously, I was overconfident, and…" Mira was hiding herself in his shoulder, the weight of her mistakes becoming too much for her.
"And what? You're going to run away from risk? Throw away everything you worked for." Natsu asked as he let go of Mira so that she could see how serious he is. "You had one bad job and nearly lost Elfman and Lisanna. But they didn't die. If you really feal bad about what happened, then don't run away. Do better."
Hearing that, Mira looked as though she ready to attack Natsu.
Seeing this, the pinkette had to get to his point before they get charged with damages to the hotel. "Work with Elfman so that he can gain better control over Full Body Take Overs. Train Lisanna so that she can do more to help when things go wrong. And you can learn that you have limitations. Don't throw away all your hard work over one bad day."
As much as Mira wanted to argue her point, she couldn't. She's spent countless hours training so that she can fully control her transformations. Months of time have been dedicated to capturing new souls to round out her move set. Not to mention the near constant training with Natsu to further refine her skills as a mage. If she gave up being a mage now, all that time would have been for nothing. Additionally, Elfman and Lisanna learned Take Over magic so that the three of them can have another thing connecting them.
Tears formed in Mira's eyes at the conflicting emotions. Because of her failures today, she didn't believe herself worthy of her S Class rank. However, she knew that Natsu, Makarov, and her siblings felt differently. After seeing Natsu be the first in their group to pass the exam, Mira had doubled her efforts. After watching Mystogan and Sayla pass, she stepped up her game so that she wouldn't fall behind. Her being S Class isn't a title that was just handed to her, it was earned. Natsu has a point, she needs to do better. Mira needs to improve and show that she earned her rank. As soon as Elfman was ready, him and Lisanna were in for a tough time.
"Thank you Natsu," Mira said as she embraced the pinkette in another hug, tears still streaming down her face.
Returning the hug, Natsu didn't say anything in response. He just held her tight and let her process her emotions.
Time Skip
Sun creaked through the window, causing the Take Over mage to wake up. Despite the whirlwind of emotions she felt last night, this was probably one of the best nights of sleep she has had in a while. Ignoring the sun, Mira tried to snuggle further into her pillow, she was way too comfortable to want to get up. Mira was so comfortable in that moment that she almost didn't notice her pillow grumble.
The Take Over mage's eyes shoot open and sees that the pillow she was snuggled up to wasn't a pillow. She was snuggled up to Natsu. Mira sits up in a heartbeat as her face turns a deeper shade of red than her rival's hair. Memories of last night came back to her. In Mira's emotional state, she had asked if she could stay the night in Natsu's room. She remembered asking this after she felt so much comfort while being held by the pinkette. Looking back at him, Mira realizes how much the pinkette has grown since they had first met. He was no longer that somewhat lanky kid but rather lean and muscular man. He was covered in scars which showed how hard he worked. If Mira had to guess, Natsu looked like he stood just over six feet tall.
Natsu wasn't the only one that had changed over the years. Mira was no longer that tiny thing of goth rage. Standing at 5'2, Mira has a voluptuous figure that most women would kill for. Her black crop top barely contained sizeable bust and her purple skirt with a white belt showed off just how amazing her ass is while revealing her amazing legs.
"Morning Mira," Natsu said groggily as he slowly got up. Rubbing his eyes, the pinkette missed Mira turning her head to hide her blush. It wasn't until Natsu had woken up that Mira realized she was unintentionally checking him out.
"Morning Natsu," Mira said, remembering why she was in his room to begin with. "Thanks for last night."
"Anytime, if you need someone to talk to you know where to find me." The moment between them was ruined when Natsu's stomach let out another audible grumble. Natsu had a sheepish look on his face while Mira just giggled at the well-timed distraction.
"Why don't we get cleaned up and get something to eat?" The Take Over mage offered. She still needed to check on Elfman to see how he is doing.
"Sounds good" The pinkette said as he walked Mira to the door.
Walking into the other room, Mira sees both Morgana and Elfman sleeping on their respective beads. Hearing the shower going, she knew that Lisanna was already up. "Morgana, time to get up." Mira said gently as she leaned down and she lightly shook the exceed.
Letting out a long yawn while taking a big stretch, Morgana showed signs of life as he rubbed his eyes. "Mira," The exceed said as he was still in that groggy state where he had to question his surroundings. "What time is it?"
"It's morning. It's time to get up were going to get breakfast." Mira said as she moved to check on her brother. "I saw a diner down the street last night. Why don't you go tell Natsu? we'll meet up with you two there."
Nodding at the suggestion, Morgana sprouted his wings and flew off the other room, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
Focusing on her brother, those lingering feelings of remorse came back in force. Shaking those thoughts from her head, she wasn't going to let those thoughts take root. Like Natsu said, Mira is going to do better.
Examining Elfman, Mira couldn't see any external problems with him. With Natsu healing him yesterday, the older Take Over mage knew that, physically speaking, her brother is just fine. "Elfman," Mira said lightly as she nudged her brother's shoulder. Mira let out a sigh as there was no response. "I guess we'll have to wait for you to wake up."
Hearing the shower stop, Mira left her brother's side so she could grab some things from her bag. "Hey Mira, how are you feeling?"
Turning to face her little sister, Mira sees Lisanna standing at the bathroom door wearing a pink tank top and a pair of blue shorts.
"I'm… I'm doing better." Mira didn't know how to answer her question. There were still lingering emotions that were leaving her second guessing what she had talked about with Natsu. But she was at least on the road to being better.
Lisanna saw how conflicted her older sister was feeling. For the longest time, Mira was the most confidant person that she's known. Seeing how torn up her sister is after how bad things could have gone last night just made her heart ache. "You know, Natsu's right." She said, catching her older sister's attention. "If something had happened to me last night, I wouldn't want you or Elfman to give up being a mage."
"Lisanna…" Mira didn't know what to say. Just hearing her baby sister say that stirred a lot of emotions that she didn't want to deal. "I'm so sorry about last night. If only I wasn't so arrogant." Mira started to cry again. After everything that had happened last night, she didn't get a chance to properly apologize to the two people that deserve it.
"It's ok Mira, I don't blame you." Lisanna said as she wrapped her sister in a tight hug. "I knew how dangerous S Class jobs are and I agreed to help you. We're just lucky we can still walk away from this."
The Oldest of the Strauss siblings didn't reply as she just held her sister tighter. How could she be so lucky to have such a kind and caring little sister. 'Wait a minute.' "You heard what Natsu said last night?!"
"Yeah, these walls aren't that thick." Despite the walls being quite thin, the two S Class mages were loud last night. Seeing Mira's face turn bright red, Lisanna smirked. Emotional moment or not, she wasn't passing up a chance to tease her. "So, you spent the night with Natsu?" The look she shot Mira caused her face to turn a few shades darker.
"Lisanna! Nothing happened!" It was amazing Mira didn't wake Elfman up with how loud she screeched.
"Careful Mira." Lisanna said in a sing song voice. "You know the walls are thin and Natsu is a Dragon Slayer." She didn't get many chances to tease her older sister, and Lisanna was going to savor the moment. After a few moments of seeing Mira muttering excuses, the younger sister decided to let things go. "Sorry, Sorry. I couldn't help myself. Besides, I don't blame you" Mira gave her sister a confused look. "What, you didn't think I knew that you have a crush on him." One more jab wouldn't hurt.
"It's, it's… ok, you got me." She was already caught. There was no point lying to Lisanna now. Out of everyone in the guild, no one knows Mira better than her siblings, especially Lisanna. That being said; she's definitely going to remember this moment when their roles reverse.
"At least you admit." Lisanna's voice was barely above a whisper. She had no way of knowing if Natsu was still in the neighboring room and didn't want to accidentally be the one to reveal her sister's secret. "Now we just need you and Natsu to finally confess your feelings for each other." Lisanna had a dreamy look on her face as she imagined the whole thing happening.
"If only it was that simple." While Mira doesn't know for sure, she has a hunch that Natsu does in fact have feelings for her. The biggest problem though, that same hunch told her that he also had feelings for a few of the other girls within the guild. She knows that both Cana and Sayla definitely have a thing for the pinkette. Erza was harder to tell whether she did or not. She obviously cared for Natsu, but the Take Over mage couldn't tell if there was something more there or not.
"Well, I'll be rooting for you." Lisanna said as she wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulder. "Just don't wait too long." The last thing Lisanna wants to see is Mira missing out on a chance of happiness because she waited too long. Mira will either have to take a chance and confess herself or entice Natsu into making a move.
"Thanks, Lis." Mira said as she hugged her sister. "Now if you excuse me, I need to take a shower." She said as she got up and made her way to the bathroom, new clothes in hand.
"I didn't want to say anything." Lisanna teased as she laughed at the annoyed glare her sister shot her.
Time Skip
Natsu sipped his coffee while Morgana stared at the menu. They had already grabbed a booth and were waiting on Lisanna and Mira to join them. While hopeful, Natsu didn't expect Elfman to be joining them. With what he went through, he was going to be out for a couple days.
"There you two are." Mira said as her and Lisanna approached the table. The older Take Over mage was now wearing a pair of high waisted black shorts and a matching black top that accentuated her curves.
"Anything look good on the menu?" Lisanna asked as her and her sister took a seat at the booth Natsu and Morgana were sitting at. Looking at the pinkette, both girls weren't surprised to see the pinkette wearing the same clothes he had on the day before. "Are those the same clothes you had on yesterday?"
Looking down, Natsu quickly inspected his clothes. Or more accurately, he was looking at remained of them. Both his long sleaved black shirt and brown pants are worn out and littered with holes. The fact that they covered anything at all was nothing short of dumb luck. The only piece of clothing he had that wasn't ruined was his signature white scarf. "Yeah, the rest of my clothes were destroyed on that job I was on." A year prior, Natsu was called away to handle an important S Class job. The job took longer and was far more difficult than he thought it would be. At most, he thought he would have been gone for a month, maybe two. After being gone for a year, he was ready to spend more time at the guild. "Everything I had was kind of… ruined, and I haven't had time to get new clothes yet."
"That definitely sounds like you." Mira said as she picked up a menu. When it comes to his clothes, Natsu typically prefers convenience. As long as it covers what needs to be covered, he's almost fine wearing anything. Looking back at the pinkette, she couldn't help but take notice of something else. "You're also going to need a haircut."
True enough, Natsu hair now went past his shoulders and looked like a wilder mess than it was before. "Good point." The pinkette said, he would have taken care of it sooner if he wasn't so busy. It finally grew long enough where it wasn't as annoying to him, but it was still a hassle to deal with. "Mind cutting it when we get back to the guild?" He asked Mira. For quite some time, the older of the Strauss siblings was the one that usually cut his hair. It saved him on jewels and Mira seemed to enjoy cutting it for him.
"Sure, I don't mind cutting your hair once we get settled back in at the guild" With her arm healed up, giving Natsu a haircut wouldn't be a problem. Plus, it gives Mira time to spend with Natsu.
"If that's the case." Lisanna said as she got up from her seat and moved over to sit next to Natsu. "Scoot, scoot." She says, making Natsu move over in their booth. Morgana got up and flew over to the other side of the table so that he wouldn't be squished between Natsu and the wall. "I might as well have some fun while I can." Lisanna said as she pulled a couple rubber bands from around her wrist and started styling Natsu's hair.
Mira and Morgana were laughing as they witnessed Lisanna having her fun. Even their waitress let out a playful giggle as she came by to take their orders.
While they ate, the Strauss sisters filled Natsu in on some of the things that have happened while he has been gone. For starters, Erza had been the most recent one to pass the recent S Class exams. She now is part of the younger generation of S Class mages including Natsu, Sayla, Mystogan, and Mira. Cana was upset by it, but that caused her to step up her training. Gildarts is now playing a huge part of her training, though he's just happy that his daughter came to him for help. Natsu was just happy to hear that the Crash mage continues to be a part of Cana's life.
Weirdly enough when it came to Sting, Rogue and Wendy, the sisters were unusually tight lipped about what they've been up to. They did mention that Mystogan has mostly taken over their training in Natsu's place. While thankful, the pinkette was concerned what the masked mage has put them through. Mystogan is many things, including one of Natsu's best friends; but he's borderline insane, figuratively speaking, kind of.
For the rest of their meal, the conversation bounced around about smaller things that have happened over the last year. Mira talked about how she started her modelling career and have appeared in a few magazines. Lisanna talked about the new souls her and Elfman acquired. The sisters tried to learn about what job Natsu was on but the pinkette was unusually tight lipped about it.
Paying for the meal, Natsu and the Strauss sisters got up and heading back to the hotel to collect Elfman. Hoisting up the larger Take Over mage on his shoulder, the group of mages made their way over to the train station. Taking their seats, Elfman was propped against the wall by the door in their private cabin with Lisanna and Mira taking a seat by the window. Morgana took a seat on Lisanna's lap. Once the train started to move, Natsu was given relief when Mira offered to let him rest his head in her lap. Seeing him find comfort in her lap, the older of the Strauss siblings couldn't help the gentle smile that graced her lips. Though, she refused to look towards Lisanna as she ran her fingers through the pinkette's hair. She knew her sister was giving her a teasing look.
Time Skip
"HEY EVERYONE, WE'RE BACK" Natsu said as he kicked the doors open to the guild.
"NATSU!" Sting, Ronge and Wendy yelled as they tackled him.
The pinkette just laughed as the younger Dragon Slayers tackled him. "Good to see you guys again, I missed you three." He said as he tried to wrap them all up in a one arm hug. "Let me get Elfman in the infirmary before you three knock me over."
Begrudgingly so, the younger Dragon Slayers let him go. Laughing at their antics, the pinkette quickly made his way towards the guild's infirmary. Placing Elfman down on one of the beds, Natsu left the infirmary to head back into the chaos of the guild being excited about his return. The moment he closed the door again, he was tackled once again, this time by Cana and Sayla.
"Hey girls, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Natsu asked rhetorically as he hugged the two girls. Still holding onto them, he leads the girls back over to the bar.
"It's good to see you return my boy," Makarov says from his spot on the bar top. "Tell me, how was the job?"
Much to everyone's shock, Natsu's expression grew exceedingly dark as he seemed to be lost in thought. "Yeah, about that. Can we talk in your office Gramps? Something came up."
What ever was bothering his child, Makarov nodded and led the pinkette over to his office. Seeing Natsu in such a serious state was a rarity that usually resulted in bad news. Minus Sayla, Mystogan, Erza and Laxus, no has ever seen Natsu with the look he had.
"What do you think that was about?" Cana was the first to voice her thoughts. If Natsu was this serious, something bad had to have happened while he was on that job. He was only expected to be gone for at most a couple months. As time passed, all of them had grown exceedingly concerned. If it wasn't for the sporadic updates from Natsu calling Makarov, someone would have been sent to help him.
"Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll know about it when we need to." Sayla said, giving Natsu the benefit of the doubt. She was worried, the look Natsu had was usually reserved for the worst-case scenario type situations. Being his teammate, the demon was certain that she would learn what the problem is sooner than later.
"I hope he's back to normal soon." Sting said as him, Rogue, and Wendy approached the bar. "We need to tell him the good news."
"Don't worry, Sting. At the worst, you three can just tell him in the morning." Sayla said in an attempt to console the blonde.
"She's right, it might be better to tell Natsu later. He obviously has a lot on his mind right now." Rogue said as he placed a hand on his friend's should
"Frosch thinks so to." The green Exceed said as she jumped on Rogue's shoulder and adjusted her pink frog onesie.
With Natsu and Makarov
"Well, that's certainly a lot to take in my boy." Makarov said as he reached into his desk and pulled at a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. Pouring a glass for himself and the pinkette, they both sip their drinks as they take a moment to process everything Natsu had said. "Are you aware of just how bad your luck is?"
"Yeah, I'm aware." When Laxus warned Natsu that the most unexpected of things can happen on S Class jobs, he didn't think worst case scenarios could be so extreme. Why did the calm time after a job have to be so crazy?
"I think the only person in the guild with worse luck than yours is Gildarts. Even then, that's still debatable." The amount of bad luck that has happened to Natsu is disproportionate when compared to other members of the guild. It's such a steep drop off that it isn't even comparable.
"Like I said, I'm aware."
"I'm not going to lecture you, I'm sure you are aware of the consequences if things go wrong." Seeing Natsu let out a sigh just before he takes another drink confirmed that for the guild master. "I will support you regardless. But keep in mind how dangerous this game you are playing is." Looking at his drink, Makarov couldn't be more annoyed and proud of Natsu at the same time. "So, what's your next step?"
"For now, nothing." Right now, any action Natsu takes will only have the adverse effect. If he wants to play this right, he must be patient and wait for an ideal opportunity.
"In that case, go and enjoy the celebration. Fretting over these matters now will not help you."
Natsu had small smile on his face, he couldn't understand why but Makarov always knew what to say. "Thanks, Gramp," he says before downing the rest of your drink.
"Anytime my boy." Makarov said as he finished his own drink. Given what Natsu had told him, he's going to need to keep a few extra bottles of whiskey to help calm his nerves for the days to come. "And before I forget, thank you for helping Mira with that job."
"No problem, thanks for asking me." Natsu said before the two of them left the office.
Seeing Natsu and Makarov leave his office, the party once again kicked off. Natsu was flooded with questions of what happened on his job. All of which he tactfully avoided answering.
It wasn't long before a fight broke out in the guild hall. With Natsu back, he was knocking everyone away with a single hit. He was caught off guard as he saw Sting jump into the fray and immediately tried to punch the pinkette. He just laughed it off before he sent the blonde boy flying to the rafters. Since Sting trained with him and Mystogan, Natsu knows the blonde can survive a hit like that.
The party continued until Erza had come walking through the guild hall doors, having returned from her job in that moment. Scaring almost everyone, the members of the guild quickly fled to escape the redhead's wrath.
"Yo, Erza." Natsu said, catching the Take Over mage's attention.
"Natsu, you're back." With how long Natsu had been gone, she was surprised he just showed up out of nowhere.
"Yep, it's been a long time coming. Oh, congrats on getting S Rank by the way. We need to go on a job sometime."
Caught off guard by the compliment, Erza blushed lightly. Thankfully, most of the people had missed it since they were still busy hiding from her. "Thank you, Natsu. Hopefully it won't go as poorly our first job together." She teased.
"S Class jobs, there always bound to go bad." Natsu joked as he wrapped an arm around the knights shoulder.
Seeing this, Mira was second guessing whether Erza had feelings for Natsu or not. The last thing she wanted was more competition for the pinkette. She would have thrown an insult towards the redhead, but she's still mentally exhausted from the events of the day prior.
"You just got back, don't tell me your already planning on going out on another job." Cana said as the two S Class mages walked up to the bar.
"Oh, hell no, I'm taking at least a couple weeks off. That last job took a lot out of me." Right now, there is nothing less appealing to the pinkette of packing up and taking off again right after he got back.
"That's good to hear." Sayla said as she made herself comfortable at the bar. Under normal circumstances, she would have retreated towards the guilds library so that the partying wouldn't disturb her. But this is a special circumstance. She'll indulge in the chaotic antics of the guild for the sake of having a good time with her first friend.
With some hesitation, thanks to Erza's return, everyone got back into the swing of the party. The party continued until the late hours of the night when people started going home.
Next morning
'Man, I forgot how comfortable my bed was.' was Natsu's first thought as he woke up. In the last year, he was either sleeping on the rough ground or up in a tree. Having a nice, comfortable bed is something that he is never going to take for granted again. As he was about to get up so that he can start making breakfast for everyone, he felt a weight on his chest.
Confused, Natsu looks down and sees Sayla with her head resting on his chest. "Ugh, Sayla, what are you doing in my bed?" Last he remembered, he went to bed by himself last night. Also, how did he not notice the demon getting in bed with him. Someone can't get within a couple miles of him without the pinkette knowing.
"Sleeping." Sayla mumbled as she cuddled closer to Natsu. She was still half asleep since, unlike Natsu, she doesn't like to wake up early. Most mornings she could be described as a somewhat sentient gremlin that can barely talk.
"I see that, I mean why aren't you sleeping in your bed?"
"Got rid of it. You weren't using yours." Over the years Natsu has made many additions to his house. He added extra rooms so that no one had to share anymore and even extra rooms for guest rooms and to accommodate everyone's hobbies. After Sting and Rogue moved in, they started helping with the renovations so. Out of all the alterations, adding onto the library for Sayla was the most common thing they have worked on. While her problem was bad, it became worse while Natsu was gone. When he was here, he would make Sayla either donate the books she wasn't reading either to the guild or to the local public library. After he left, no one was there to keep her obsession in check. Getting tired of having to add extensions, Sting and Rogue both refused to build onto the library. With Mystogan coming to the rescue and convincing Sayla not to use her Macro on the boys, the demon relented and started storing books in her room. As her collection grew, more and more furniture was removed from her room. Now it's nothing more than a reading room.
When she got rid of her bed, she came to the problem of where to sleep. Sayla came to the solution of sleeping in Natsu's bed since he was gone. The demon would worry about the rest when she needed to.
"Ok," This felt like a story for later. Plus, Natsu couldn't say no to Sayla when she was this tired, she was too cute to say no to. "I'm going to go make breakfast." Natsu says as he tries to get up. As he tried to get out of the demon's grasp, Sayla quickly pulled him back into the bed, revealing that she was wearing one of his t shirts.
"Don't leave, still sleepy and you're so warm." Sayla mumbled as she snuggled further into the pinkette, her head resting on his chest as she wrapped an arm around his torso.
"Hey, I need to go make breakfast." Natsu tried to argue, but this is one of the few times where Sayla could effortlessly make him do what she wanted. Screw a curse that effortlessly bends people to her will, the power of a cute girl trumps all.
"Wendy has it covered." Sayla let out a content sigh as she got comfortable. The pinkette proved to be the best body pillow she has ever had.
Smelling something cooking in the kitchen, Natsu's sense of smell told him that the bluenette was in fact starting on making something for breakfast. Not seeing a way out of the situation, the Dual Slayer wraps an arm around Sayla, pulling her in a little closer, and goes back to sleep for a little bit.
A short time later
"Wow, this is really good!" Natsu said as him, Sting, and Rogue started devouring their food as if they hadn't eaten in months.
"Really, you like it?" The joy in Wendy's voice came through as she was practically beaming with happiness that Natsu was enjoying her cooking. With everything that he has done for all of them, the bluenette was hoping this could be something she could do as a small token of thanks.
"Yeah, this is amazing." Natsu said in between bites. In all honesty, this is one of the best things he has tasted in a long time. Hell, Wendy is almost as good at cooking as Mira. "Where did you learn how to cook like this?"
"Mira has been teaching me while you were gone." For the first month or so, everyone in the house were either eating at the guild hall or went out to a local restaurant. Eventually when those two options started to get old, they set about learning how to cook for themselves.
Sayla was the first to give it a try since she was the oldest one in the house. But after a few failed attempts, she realized that the knowledge she acquired from reading cookbooks didn't quite translate to cooking in real life. She managed to get a few things down, though she realized that anything involving the kitchen wasn't quite her forte.
Sting was the next to try and to no one's surprise, his short attention span didn't lend well to the kitchen. If it wasn't for Sayla's Macro, the boys would have had to completely rebuild the house.
Surprisingly enough, Sting wasn't the least qualified person in the house to take up cooking duties. That title exclusively belongs to Rogue. The atrocities that happened when he tried to cook, the four of them made a pack to never speak of the things they witnessed that day. Sayla even used their Macro to ensure that they wouldn't remember what had taken place that fateful day. While they don't remember what happened, all they know is that something truly ungodly took place.
Thankfully, Wendy had the temperament and patience to cook and the willingness to learn from the older of the Strauss siblings. Convincing Mira to teach her took no effort. Almost as soon as she asked, both of them were in the kitchen with Mira taking the time to explain what she knows.
"I'm going to have to thank her when I get a chance." Natsu says as he finishes his plate.
"No kidding, Wendy's cooking almost rivals yours Natsu." Sting said as he finished his own plate.
"You really out did yourself, Wendy." Sayla complimented as she sipped her coffee, the caffeine speeding up her waking her up. "Now, hurry up and grab a plate before those three eat everything." The demon said as she encouraged the bluenette to grab a plate and enjoy the fruits of her labor.
Grabbing her own plate, they all sat down and enjoyed the nice breakfast between themselves. Natsu, Sting, and Rogue were torn between wanting to savor every bite and wanting to hurry and grab another plate. Sayla and Wendy were simply enjoying their meals and the overall atmosphere of this morning. The exceeds were all enjoying their specially crafted meals.
"What a great meal." Natsu said as he finished his plate, feeling a comfortable combination of full and content. Catching him off guard, he was expecting Sting or Rogue to mirror his enjoyment of their food. Looking at the three younger Dragon Slayers, the pinkette was confused as they were giving each other a weird look.
"So, should we tell him now?" Sting was the first one to voice his thoughts.
"If weren't before, we should now." Rogue replied as he saw the curiosity on Natsu's face.
"Ok guys, what's going on." Immediately, Natsu had grown suspicious of the three. For a moment he was wondering if they were trying to butter him up with a delicious meal. "Ok, what did you three do? Did you destroy something?" Natsu questioned as he focused on Sting with that last question.
"HEY! I'm completely innocent. This time at least." Sting was insulted by such accusations. He has done absolutely nothing to warrant such treatment. Well, not today, so far.
"I'm calling bs." Rogue chimed in.
"Sorry, Sting, but you are the usual suspect for good reason." While it didn't seem like it, Wendy's statement hurt a lot more than what the blonde would admit to.
"Traitors!" Sting yelled.
"Ok, calm down. So, what did you three want to talk about?" Natsu was sure it wasn't anything bad by now. If it was, Gramps would have scolded the pinkette by now for being such a bad example to them.
"Ugh, well, you see." Wendy struggled to find the right words. The three of them had rehearsed this exact conversation multiple times in an attempt to find the right words. "Well, you've taken us in and we've been living together for a while now and…" The bluenette's cheeks burned bright red as she was suddenly feeling embarrassed and self-conscious about what she was saying.
"What Wendy is trying to say is that since we've been living as a family for some time now..."
"We changed our last names to Dragneel so that we can be more like a family!" Sting shouted, cutting off Rogue, earning a furious glare from the Shadow Dragon Slayer.
Smacking the blonde upside the head, Rogue turned his focus back to his big brother. "Like Sting said, we decided to change our last names to Dragneel. You took us in, practically raised us yourself, and even helped train us in our magic while asking for nothing in return. If that doesn't sound like family, then we don't know what does."
Never before had Natsu been so caught off guard. He already saw the three of them as his younger siblings, but to hear that not only do they feal the same way but also want to make it official left the pinkette truly awestruck. "You guys sure you want to be a family."
"Of course," Wendy answered as she finally feels like she found the right words. She was still blushing furiously. "We already act like a family in every regard. Why not make it official?"
"Plus, Gramps already helped us fill out the paperwork. So, like it or not, you're stuck with us." Sting said with a smile that resembled Natsu's.
"That's it, come here you three!" Natsu shouted as he brought his younger siblings into a group hug. None of them could be happier with this outcome. The only regret they had is that they didn't do this sooner.
Sayla and the exceeds was sitting back silently and watching the tender moment take place before her. The last thing any of them want is to but in and risk ruining the moment for them. Wiping away a tear that had started to pool in the corner of her eyes, the demon pocketed the recording lacrima that she was holding onto. The girls at the guild were going to love seeing this. Maybe she could use this to tease the boys whenever it becomes convenient.
And that's a wrap. Sorry about the delay, I have no idea why this chapter took me so long to finish especially since I finished writing 85% of this chapter in the span of two days. Ok, I may have lied, I know the reason. I've been having a lot of fun writing Makings of a King and was too focused on that. Also, Elden Ring released since the last chapter. Yeah, that's a good game and I've been addicted to it.
Anyways, I hope the wait was worth it. Finally got the chance to right a, mostly at least, calm and peaceful chapter with some fluffy moments. And more importantly, this is the last chapter before we get to canon. About damn time. It only took me 14 chapters and 5 years. Wait, 5 years and I'm only now getting to canon, christ I suck at updating at a consistent pace.
Before I get any farther into the AN, I have a quick question that mainly revolves around the harem aspect of this story. As always, if you're not interested in the harem section of the story then go ahead and skip this section of the AN. My question is simply, should I include lemons in this story? Would it be preferred to leave them as implied or maybe put off in a separate story (basically Infernal Dragon Slayer Lemons). Now that this story is getting to a point where all the characters involved in the harem are adults, I rather figure this out now then later.
There's not that much I have to say for this AN. A lot of things happened in this chapter. Let me know what you think of the things that happened hear. I check all your reviews for anything that I can do to improve my writing, so all feedback is welcomed.
Next update will more than likely be for Makings Of A King. So if you like One Piece and my writing style, keep an eye out for it. Personally, I think that one is a little better written, plus I'm already tackling canon. I'll try to get that chapter out before I take of for RTX Austin. But all of you know how bad I am at updating on time.
Now time for the reviews.
M1tchf1t: The last chapter is the one I'm probably the proudest of. Having them figure out what the others were doing and adapting their own actions without telegraphing anything was so much fun. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the review.
NinjaFang1331: Thanks, glad you liked it.
mastercheif1229: Hope this one was worth the wait.
kush1995b: You have no idea how happy I was ready your review. It does mean a lot. As for the pairing, I completely understand where you're coming from. Writing a harem story comes with a lot of challenges, obviously the main was is having too many girls and making sure each of them get their time. Originally the pairing for this story was going to be NatsuxMira but I was too indecisive and settled on a harem. Because of all the work I put into planning on how to make this harem work, I'm far too committed to what I already have planned and don't want to abandon those story ideas. I already did that with a few ideas I had and wish I hadn't. Hopefully this doesn't act to much of detractor, and you continue to enjoy this story.
Guest: Well, the simple answer is that I'm a dumbass and didn't realize that I updated the wrong chapter until I saw your review. I do everything through Word and wasn't smart enough to check what I was doing while I was doing it. That was my first time updating a chapter and, yeah, it didn't work out how I wanted it to.
erasenpai946: Glad you like the chapter, I'm really happy with how the last one turned out. I completely agree, Bisca doesn't get enough love on here. I have a couple other stories in the works where she'll get more attention. As far as adding Anna, I'm not sure. I'm already have a lot of girls that are in the harem and if I had anyone else then it's going to either be Lisanna or Bisca.
StormySpartan: Happy had some good moments but those were few and far between. Since I was playing a lot of Persona 5 at the time, I figure why the hell not add Morgana.
BoredAsUsual34: I'm still curious how people are going to react to who I choose to spare in this story. I'm kind of expecting for some people to be pissed off, if only temporary. For the hobbies, I was thinking that he would pick up drinking since that's something he can bond with Cana and Makarov over. Also having cooking be one of his hobbies as something he can bond over with Mira and Wendy. Don't quite know yet. Still planning those little details out. As for Appearance, as of right now, it will probably be something closer to his canon appearance, I suck at coming up with looks for people. Weirdly enough, that's the thing I struggle with the most.
That's it for the reviews.
Anyways, like always, let me know what you think of the chapter in the reviews. If you have a question than feel free to either leave it in a review and I'll answer it in the next update or PM and I'll reply as soon as I can, usually within a day or two at most.
Till next time.
Mreh.
