This is a story that primarily follows Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia past the conclusion of the Tartaros arc. Written for nalu4emily & dragonballwish - Dragon Rage can also be found over on AO3/Archive of Our Own!

Dedicated to: Aspartame Boy, Angel, FairyTail96, and Copperreign12.

FairyTail96 - Thanks, I agree with you! I think you'll enjoy this one! :D

Angel - Maybe not exactly those words, but trust me these next few chapters you will see the darkness in Natsu revealing itself more and more haha.

Copperreign12 - Thank you so much, happy to hear you liked how I used Natsu and Lucy in that scene. You are welcome!

Thank you to everybody for your kind comments, favorites, and support, I appreciate it!


Summary: Natsu continues to be haunted in his sleep by both his new mysterious raw power and the death of Igneel... as he decides to confront his fears once and for all.

Chapter 4: Remembrance

"I can tell you fear me. You fear Grandine, Metalicana, the kin we raised. What you fear most though is not true dragons... it's always been the dragon slayers." Igneel challenged.

It may of only been for a second, but he felt the pressure from Acnologia's force lessen as his statement struck the doombringer. Recovering quickly, the black dragon cackled.

"Fear? I fear no dragon. Let alone, a weaker group of human-dragons."

The fire dragon king was now the one who chuckled at that. "My son is not weak. He is something far more than just a dragon slayer, unlike yourself."

"What?" Acnologia inquired wondering what exactly his prey meant by that. He could morph into a dragon or human at will, how could anyone be greater than that? That statement made Acnologia frustrated as he tried to decipher the hidden meaning in his words. Finding none, he began laughing to himself. "Your words mean nothing, I will kill him after you!"

"Did you forget about your own injuries?" Igneel questioned as he grinned triumphantly, although shakily. "In your current state even Natsu could finish where I failed."

Igneel knew he was stretching the truth a little, but he would be damned if he let the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse harm his son any further. Without him knowing, he had slowly been funneling his final reserves into the dragon slayer. He could sense that the boy had been hit from Acnologia's tail strike, but was only winded and still very much alive. Everything he had failed to teach Natsu when he was younger, he was making up for the lost time while he still could. That remark though seemed to personally singe Acnologia as he looked ready for bloodshed.

"Enough! It is time you finally die false king." He wickedly continued. "You have nowhere to run this time. You shall perish under my hands!" His glowing red eyes grew fiercer.

"Finish your mission then... but know I will be the last dragon you ever slay Acnologia!" Igneel roared.

In his final moments, Igneel reached his son telepathically as he heard the boy groaning from magic overload and physical pain. He wanted to see his son one last time, but it was not meant to be as the dragon slayer began slipping away into unconsciousness, completely drained.

I have given you everything I can, Natsu. It's now up to you.

Acnologia inhaled the scent of his own blood as those crimson eyes flashed. The king of the fire dragons watched the blade descend down upon him. Having emptied his container into his son, he lost all power and connection with his most prized possession.


"IGNEEL NOOO!"

Opening his eyes in fright, Natsu glanced around expecting to see his murdered father... but was left with pitch black darkness and the sound of a quiet forest around him. He sighed, getting up from his position against the tree, as he began to walk away from their small little camp they had created for the night.

It had been sixth months. Six months since Igneel was killed. Six months since Magnolia's prestigious guild had disbanded, and six months since he had abandoned Lucy. Well, she had technically allowed him to go, but Natsu was still worried for her after he had left. Most importantly, how she would deal with Aquarius on her own. He knew his best friend hadn't told him everything that had truly happened before him and the others arrived to her aid against the remaining demons. One thing gave Natsu hope though. Lucy had consistently explained to him that night that the Water Bearer was not dead, just lost at the moment. From that point onward, he made a vow to himself. He would do everything in his power to make sure the blonde and the Celestial Spirit reunited, no matter the consequences.

I'm sure she'll be okay! Luce is a fighter. She won't let anyone or anything keep her down for long. At least, I hope.

He had changed in this time span, that was certain. The real question was whether the change was for the better? Natsu struggled to answer that as he truthfully didn't know. His magic power had skyrocketed, but at the same time, so did the darkness bubbling deep inside. He felt himself becoming more caring towards those closest to him, but also more distanced from the small world he now lived in. Only accompanied by his best pal, Happy.

All together, the fire dragon slayer was terrified of whatever was wrong with him. Three months into their training session, he had lost control of himself and snapped. He was haunted for weeks as he remembered nearly incinerating the blue exceed in one blow. At first Happy had been horrified too, but had hurriedly forgave his friend to try and improve his mental state. Since that day though, the two partners had steadily spent less and less time with one another, until he only ever interacted with his feline friend once they ate dinner. Happy had constantly tried to speak with him, but he willingly closed him off for the time being as he was afraid he might break and actually harm his friend.

Natsu strolled to the river as he plopped himself on a rock and frustratingly lit his right hand on fire. The bright flames illuminated the area around him as he could see his reflection bouncing off the water. To put it simply, he looked awful. A total mess. He was struggling to sleep, he was becoming more and more worried about his temper and rising power, and... he missed his father. Every nightmare Natsu had was based on the same idea. Igneel leaving him. He never thought that the fire dragon of his dreams would reappear after having been hidden within him for so long or, that he would die so fast. Glancing at the flame, he spotted darker streaks of orange in his fire.

I have to put a stop to this. Dad, what is wrong with me?

He knew his father had to of done something to him before he blacked out. Natsu hadn't felt the same way since and was gradually adapting to the new power he possessed. It wasn't anything like when he dual-wielded his fire and Laxus' lightning back on Tenrou. No, whatever had been done only enhanced his flames... to the same fury of his father's. Whenever he practiced on trees in various forests, they were not only burned but decimated. Instead of one tree being targeted like he planned, it would be three or four swept up in the attack. As stunned and excited as he was with his new abilities, he let doubt creep into his mind.

What if I can't rein in these forces? What if I lose control again and hurt my family, Happy... or worse, Lucy. What if I become just like Acnologia?

Suddenly, his mirrored image transformed into a scarred crimson dragon. The sight nearly made him fall off the rock as he reached his hand out into the water.

"Dad?"

Upon contact with the river's source of life, his flame was swallowed up. Interestingly the light did not fade and he was no longer the eighteen year old young man that he currently was, but now a seven year old boy who looked up at his teacher full of amazement.


"Wow Igneel that was awesome!" He yelled excitedly after seeing how powerful the dragon's roar truly was.

"If you train hard enough, you can do that exact same thing Natsu."

Then they were standing on a beach, his younger self having just finished writing letters in the sand. Igneel was teaching him how to write and he was rather proud of his work.

"How's that dad? I did a good job, right?" He asked looking bright as the beast in question only sweat dropped. His son had nailed the letters, but missed every single word.

"Are you serious? The words are all spelled wrong, Natsu! Do it again!"

"What?!" Natsu yelled as he swung the stick in his hand around angrily. "No way I'm doing that!"

"If you want to learn the ways of this world you will." Igneel slightly taunted trying to rile him up. The boy crossed his arms across his chest as he pouted, before making a decision.

"Fine!" He shouted while releasing a little puff of fire. "I'll redo it and this one will be so good, you won't even know what to do!"

The fire dragon immediately laughed aloud at that and despite knowing the joke was about him, Natsu couldn't help but join in as he giggled alongside his father. The beach turned into an ocean as the land morphed into air. The duo were in the sky as Igneel had been training his son on how to fly on his back without getting tossed off.

"Hold on tight!" He warned as they gained speed and flew low to the sea. Natsu felt himself being pulled in every direction and lost his grip on his father's back, but kept himself upright and stayed on the dragon as he eased their speed.

"Hey! I didn't fall off!" The pinkette cheered as the dragon nodded.

"That's right you didn't. I'm very proud of you, son." Igneel praised as he saw the largest smile appear that he had ever seen from his dad.

"Let's go again!" Natsu demanded as he urged Igneel to go back into the skies and prepare for another round.

"Alright, you asked for it... here we go!" They both chuckled as he swooped down at high speeds.

Instead of feeling the wind against his face again, it was his entire body that was accelerated as the sunlight and clear skies became nightfall and dreary. His body ached, but he didn't let that stop him as he knew he had to get to his father. He crawled a little ways to the voices he was hearing, before finally coming to a stop after being unable to go any further. The two booming adversaries were divulging in one last conversation. He never heard the voice he hoped, but the one he did hear had him frozen him to the core.

"It's time you died Igneel."

Natsu saw the faint flash of light as he reached his hand out before surrendering himself to the abyss that beckoned for and whispered out his name.


Coming back to the present, Natsu felt like he had been electrocuted as he rapidly withdrew his hand from the water. He had forgotten the good times he spent with the fire dragon as a child. If it hadn't been for him, he most likely never would of survived up to the day he met Makarov. To the day he joined Fairy Tail.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you dad." Natsu spoke as he stood up off the rock he had been previously occupying. "You fought for so long and I understand you were ready to rest. I won't hold it against you for leaving... I'm just happy I got to see you again... one last time."

He finally accepted there was nothing he could of done to save his father from Acnologia's wrath and that Igneel was truly dead. For the first time in months, Natsu truly smiled as he began to feel some of the pain wash away. Both his fists ignited in flames, and then his entire body was covered. The seal of the fire dragon king danced around inside the inferno as his eyes became completely glossed with fire.

"I won't destroy Acnologia because he took you from me dad, I know that's not what you want. I'll kick his ass in order to protect my friends and anyone else from ever being harmed by him!"

Natsu's hands slammed together as a enormous wall of flames was summoned. Then, all at once, he sent the shield hurtling into the night sky as it burst in all its fiery glory. Looking down at his right shoulder he was shocked at the new symbol directly under his scarred Fairy Tail emblem. It was a tattoo-like crimson fire dragon. The grin on his face was undeniable as realization set in. Everything was beginning to make sense to him. Natsu knew exactly what Igneel had gifted him the night he fell.

The heart of the fire dragons. He was now their king.

Natsu returned to the camp with a renewed spirit. Immediately upon his arrival Happy began to arouse, noticing his friend standing in front of him. He rubbed his eyes sleepily for a few seconds before blinking several times. Realizing that the slayer was actually there, he flew out of his sleeping bag and into his arms.

"Hey lil buddy, sorry for ignoring you the last couple of weeks." He greeted as Happy wailed into his chest.

"It's okay, Natsu! I know you've been going through some things." The exceed said wholeheartedly accepting his friend's apology.

"Yeah..." He muttered before discarding his frown. "I'm good now Happy! Igneel gave me something special that I want to test out some more... only if you're cool with taking part!" Natsu mentioned not wanting to push his friend towards something he might not want.

"Aye sir! I want to see this in action!" Happy nodded as he pulled away from his friend and the two darted into the forest.


The cave was dark. Much like his very soul. His entire left arm had been ripped off and what was left of it was hidden under his cloak. Despite being wounded he still sported a crazed smirk as he stared at the detached head at his feet. The sign of his victory. Another successful hunt. Strangely his trophy began to glow... the battle-scarred competitor's skull becoming engulfed in brilliant shades of gold before disappearing all together.

"Running again are you? Interesting."


A/N: I know this is a shorter chapter, but I wanted to primarily keep this Natsu and Igneel centric. Kind of like how 2022 ends tonight, this is really Igneel's ending role in the story. I also wanted Natsu to push past the death of his father and accept the truth, so he can begin preparing for the future. This is not some sort of "casting out" of Igneel, because I do plan on somewhat having his presence return once again sometime down the road, but at this point he's dead so... yea.

For anyone wondering about the added dialogue between Igneel and Acnologia above: it fits in right after Acnologia makes the sword appear in Chapter 1 (if that helps anyone who was confused!) or to those who go back to that scene and add the extra phrases between them.

This is how I imagine Natsu would learn, and begin to obtain, the Fire Dragon King mode. I'm curious to hear what you guys think and how he would of obtained it from your own perspective.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the ending to this one. I had to give you all something to look forward too, right? Haha. I'll be away for the rest of the day, but I look forward to reading and responding to your reviews when I get the chance! Happy New Year's and see ya all in 2023!

Up Next: Chapter 5 - Alone