Chapter 8
'Thinking' – thoughts
"Speaking" – speech
'Thinking' – Dragon/God/Beast thinking
"Speaking" - Dragon/God/Beast speaking
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters they are property of Hiro Masima.
chrislgeralch: Natsu and Ultear will be the main focus don't worry about that.
Amanny: Happy you liked the chapter and I will have Haru in more of the upcoming chapters.
Ssj shadow: I'll think about that, thank you for giving me some ideas to play with.
avatar330: I have some ideas about how i might incorporate her in the future while still keeping my ideas intact. Thank you for the review.
-Siegrain's office in the Magic Council Headquarters in Era-
A collection of books, pens and papers flew off a desk. A fuming blue-haired man slammed his fist on the desk that previously housed the items that now lay scattered across the floor of the office.
"Damn that Ultear. I am so close to accomplishing my goal and now she doesn't answer any of my calls. I was nice enough to include her in my master plan and this is how she repays me?" Siegrain raged.
He tried contacting her for the past two days but didn't get as much as an answer. Ultear also missed all the Council meetings these past two days, only saying she has some family troubles that demands her concern. 'What is she up to, up until last week she never wanted to even hear about her mother,' Siegrain thought.
"This complicates things, if she abandoned me, I have a lot more preparations to make before I can complete my plan," Siegrain said out loud as he picked up some papers and began working through them.
-With Natsu in a small house-
"Once again, thank you for looking after Ur doc," Natsu said. He didn't have his hood up so the other occupant could see his face and scar.
"No problem Natsu, I owe you my life since you saved my family two years ago. Now I'm happy with how the scar looks, no infection. I don't think you need to come for regular check-ups anymore," the doctor said. He was an average man with light brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing a white doctor's coat over a plain green shirt and long blue pants with black shoes.
"Mind if I stay here for a while, I want to talk with Ultear and I can guess she will want to see her mother," Natsu asked the doctor. Whenever Natsu came to see the doctor he came to his home. It was an average home with two bedrooms, two guest rooms, an office where Natsu was now, a kitchen and a large living room.
"I don't have a problem with that," the doctor replied as he put his tools away.
"Mike, Natsu dinner's ready," a woman called from the living room.
"We will be there shortly, Serena," Mike, the doctor, called back. Natsu got up from the chair and moved to the door quickly followed by Mike. They entered the living room and saw a wonderful meal sitting on the table and a woman with short, brown hair, a petite figure and big blue eyes. She wore a plain blue dress that reached below her knees and plain shoes.
"Natsu, would you mind fetching Mia?" Serena asked as the two men entered the living room.
"No problem," Natsu said before walking down the hall to a door that had three bold, purple letters spelling out 'Mia' on it. Natsu knocked on the door and after a scuffle was heard from inside. The door opened revealing a small girl with brown hair coming to her shoulders, blue eyes and dressed in a purple dress.
"Your mom sent me to get you, foods ready," Natsu smiled down at the little girl.
"Yay, can you give me a piggyback ride?" the little girl cheered before asking Natsu if he would give her a ride with a sweet smile. Natsu happily crouched down and picked Mia up and placed her on his shoulder.
"Comfy?" Natsu asked and got an excited nod from the small girl. He walked over to the living room with a little hop in his step earning him happy giggles from the girl.
Serena and Mike smiled as they heard the giggles coming from their girl ad saw Natsu coming in the living room. They all gathered around the table and enjoyed a wonderful meal.
After the meal, Natsu thanked them and prepared to leave.
"You know you can stay the night in one of the guest rooms?" Mike offered as Natsu stood by the door.
"Thank you for the offer but I have some things to make certain of before tomorrow. Once again thank you for the meal and allowing me to invite Ultear here tomorrow," Natsu politely declined before saying his final goodbyes and leaving. As the door closed behind him he put up his hood and pulled out a grey lacrima. He taped the lacrima and it began glowing dimly as he walked into the night.
"Ultear you there?" Natsu asked as the dim light glowed a bit brighter.
"Natsu, is everything all right? How is my mother?" Ultear asked with a bit of worry in her voice.
"Everything is fine. The doctor, who treats my injuries, is looking after her. I wanted to ask if you want to come over and see her tomorrow?" Natsu asked.
"Yes, please. But where are you?" Ultear answered excitedly.
"Don't worry about that, I will send the location to your lacrima shortly," Natsu answered.
"Okay, I'll meet you tomorrow," Ultear said.
"Meet me there at sundown," Natsu said before ending the call after saying goodbye.
-With Erza, Haru, Gray and Lucy-
After the incident at Galuna Island Erza, Haru, Gray, Happy and Lucy formed a team, which was aptly named team Erza, after the leader of the team. They had just returned from a quest and were walking down the streets of Magnolia back to their guildhall.
As they walked along the road they got stares of pity from the bystanders. The group questioned why they were getting stares and why they were filled with pity when they turned the last corner from where they would be able to see the guildhall.
"No way, what happened to the guildhall?" Erza asked in horror while the rest of them had similar reactions. In front of them was their beloved guild hall but jutting out of it was massive black steel rods. The guildhall was in a pretty bad shape and it seemed like the main area was completely unusable due to the steel rods.
Anger boiled in the hearts of the mages of team Erza.
"Who could have done this?" Haru asked in anger.
"It was Phantom Lord," Mira's sad voice answered him.
"Phantom Lord did this?" Gray asked in disbelief.
"They attack late at night after everyone returned to their homes. We couldn't do anything to stop them," Mira explained.
"So no one was hurt during the raid?" Erza asked getting a nod form, Mira.
"Master said that he will not retaliate if all they did was vandalising a building that we can fix. Please don't make a scene when you see him, he's taking this rather hard," Mira said.
"We promise not to cause any unnecessary trouble," Erza replied with a stern glare at Haru and Gray daring them to defy her.
"Come with me, we are using the basement as a temporary base of operations," Mira said and led team Erza into the broken guildhall.
-That night with Natsu close to Mike's house-
Natsu was waiting on the edge of town for Ultear to arrive. There was a shift in the air and a smile wormed its way onto Natsu's face.
"I'm happy you could make it," Natsu smiled as he turned around and came face to face with Ultear.
"I'm never going to be able to sneak up on you am I?" Ultear asked with a defeated sigh.
"Don't be too hard on yourself, my Dragon Slayer magic enhances my sense of smell so I am aware of basically everything in a mile radius of myself, Natsu replied while offering Ultear his arm which she happily took.
"So that's how you always knew it was me even when I used my transformations," Ultear realised. 'He told me his magic? He must really trust me,' Ultear thought as a blush found its way onto her face.
"I told you that you were special to me, you will learn a lot more about me as we grow closer," Natsu said with a kind smile. Ultear's heart melted, she was overjoyed that Natsu seemed to like her. She wanted to ask him exactly why she was special to him but they arrived at a nice looking house.
"I thought you said a doctor was looking after my mother?" Ultear asked. She expected they would visit her mother at a hospital or clinic.
"Yes I did, he looks after her here at his home. I usually come here to get checked up since I want to stay in the shadows for as long as possible," Natsu replied. He then went up to the door and knocked.
The night was pleasant and Ultear was surprised to see how good Natsu was when he entertained Mia. She couldn't help but imagine how life could be with Natsu but quickly cast that thought to the back of her mind because it would never be possible with who she really was. They were invited to join the family for dinner and they had pleasant conversations.
After a while, Serena and Mike left to tuck Mia into bed before they would turn in for the night leaving Natsu and Ultear alone.
"Want to see your mother?" Natsu asked getting a nod from Ultear and leading the way to one of the guest rooms. They entered and saw Ur sleeping peacefully on the bed.
"She's doing well, Mike said she is in perfect physical condition. The only thing she needs to do now is that her spirit and soul must repair itself and become accustomed to her body. I am monitoring the progress and I would guess she will wake up within the month," Natsu said as Ultear just stared at her mother with a tear forming in her eyes.
"T-Thank you," Ultear breathed out as she tried to not break down. Her efforts were in vain when Natsu wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. After a while, Ultear calmed down and just enjoyed the cool embrace of Natsu.
"Now I think it's time we get down to business, it's time you tell me all about your guild," Natsu said in a calm tone.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Ultear replied in a nervous tone.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Natsu persisted.
"N-No, I'm not hiding anything…" Ultear's voice trailed away as she glanced around her.
Natsu quickly guessed that she was being monitored by her guild otherwise she wouldn't be so nervous. "Death God's Eternal Cancellation" Natsu whispered and a purple and black mist soon filled the room. Ultear immediately recognised the spell.
"There, now you can talk freely without fear of us being heard," Natsu said and tightened the embraced he had her in.
"I am a member of Grimoire Heart, one of the three pillars of the Balam Alliance. I am the leader of their elite group called the Seven Kin of Purgatory," Ultear said.
"I already know that Ultear, I knew that from the time you reported to your Master Hades about me. What I want to know is why you got involved with them. I have my suspicions but I want to hear it from you," Natsu said in a kind voice as he released her from the embrace.
"After I thought my mother abandoned me I was experimented on, later I escaped but when I returned to my mother I saw her with two boys, Gray and Lyon. I believed she abandoned me and I went back to the research facility. There I gained more power until I had enough to get my revenge on her. So I broke out and then Master Hades found me and gave me the books I needed to learn my Arc of Time magic," Ultear said. She felt disgusted in herself that she wasted her life away wanting revenge on her mother for something she didn't do.
"So you joined Grimoire Heart for revenge?" Natsu asked, not believing that was her reason.
"No, Master Hades convinced me that in the 'Ultimate Magic World' I can travel back in time, meaning I can finally live my life happily with my mother," Ultear explained.
"That makes more sense. You never seemed like one to be driven by revenge, and for that I am happy. I can only assume this 'Ultimate Magic World' has something to do with the end goal of your guild," Natsu inquired.
"Yes, Master Hades said that it is a world where only mages would live a happy life and that Zeref would be the one to lead us there and be the ruler of that world," Ultear explained the concept behind the dark guild's goal.
"Now that your mother is alive, don't you think it will be better to leave the guild behind and turn your life around?" Natsu asked.
"That is something I can't do. It's not that I want to stay there it's just…" Ultear replied before realising how Natsu might take it and attempted to recover. She was interrupted by Natsu taking her hands in his and looking her in the eyes.
"I will protect you from them, they will not be able to get to you, or your mother. This I promise," Natsu said with determination.
"No, the reason why I can't leave is because of Meredy. She is like a daughter to me. I found her during one of my missions after which she joined the guild…" Ultear revealed the reason she can't leave the guild and trailed off, imagining the terrible thing that might happen to Meredy if she left the guild.
"For now stay in the guild, feed me information that will save lives and when the time comes I will get both of you out safely. We will talk later about how we will continue with the situation," Natsu proposed. 'They will feel the wrath of a dragon and a god,' Natsu though in anger.
Ultear didn't answer with words but when she pulled Natsu closer to her it confirmed to Natsu that she was happy with his proposal. They shared an embrace for a while with Ultear being the happiest she has ever been. She found someone that she liked, he was kind and willing to help her, he brought her mother back and now he said he would save her adoptive daughter from life as a dark mage.
"For now act like would always while at the dark guild, I don't want anything to happen to you, Natsu whispered into her ears.
"Please don't wait too long," Ultear smiled.
"Stay with your mother till tomorrow. I have some places to be but Mike said it wouldn't be a problem if you stayed the night," Natsu finally released Ultear from the embrace with her doing the same.
"What are you going to do now?" Ultear asked, a little disappointed that they had to say goodbye now.
"I like to keep some secrets," Natsu replied with a smirk before sinking into the shadows.
'Natsu, I'm so happy I got to meet you. Now Meredy and I might be able to live a normal life,' Ultear thought with a smile before resting on a chair near the bed Ur was sleeping on.
-In the morning with Fairy Tail in Magnolia Park-
The mages of Fairy Tail had just removed Levy, Jet and Droy from where they were nailed to a tree in Magnolia Park and took them to get treated for their injuries. Master Makarov was standing in front of the tree that his 'children' were nailed to, with an expression of rage.
"I can take our headquarters being reduced to rubble. I can take the sneers and jabs when we cross paths. But I cannot let harm come to my children without taking revenge," Makarov said in anger and shattered his wooden staff as he clenched his fist.
"We have no choice but to go to war," Makarov said as a golden aura of power emanated from him.
-With Natsu as he entered Oak Town-
'Now where is that bar I heard had a few loose lips,' Natsu thought as he strolled through the streets of Oak Town. The town itself is an old castle town situated on a hill surrounded by forests and mountains. The main attraction would be the old castle and the battlements scattered around the city. But while the public could enjoy the battlements, the castle was home to the Phantom Lord Guild.
Suddenly a large explosion went off and a cloud of smoke could be seen coming from the Phantom Lord Guild's hall. Natsu was curious as to what the cause of this explosion was so he walked in that direction.
"Fairy Tail has come calling" the voice of an elderly man found its way to his sensitive ears. 'So Fairy Tail is attacking Phantom Lord, I wonder what that is about since they should have a good reason seeing as guild conflicts are strictly banned by the Magic Council,' Natsu thought as he quickened his pace from a leisurely stroll to a brisk walk.
As Natsu neared he heard the sound of battle coming from inside the Phantom Lord Guild's hall. Deciding not to interfere in their squabbles he opted to merge with the shadows and spectate from a shaded spot.
The Fairy Tail mages were putting up a good fight against the swarm of grunts from Phantom Lord. Natsu found it amusing when he saw a small blue cat grow wings and slammed two raw fish against any who dare invade its range of attack.
"Jose where are you, you coward. Show yourself," a giant Makarov shouted. He had used his Giant Magic to enlarge himself to nearly half the height of the castles main room.
'It seems like the Phantoms did something to antagonise the Fairies,' Natsu deduced. Natsu continued to spectate as the battle raged on, there were no threats to anyone's lives so there was no reason for him to interfere.
"Erza, I'll leave the rabble to you. Jose must be on the top floor, when I find him there will be hell to pay," Makarov called out before heading to the stairs. He was his original size and had a white cape with a gold collar on with the mark of the Ten Wizard Saints in blue on the back and white fur lining the coat.
Shortly after Makarov disappeared up the stairs something heavy dropped from the rafters. A tall muscular young man with long, spiky black hair that was slicked back revealing his forehead stood in a crater he made. The man had red eyes with silted pupils. He had sets of three to four simple round studs running down his arms, where his eyebrows were supposed to be, running downside of his nose and below his lips going down to his chin. His ears are adorned by two sets of five earrings with a black Phantom Lord Guild mark on his left shoulder. He wore a shabby, black, sleeveless tunic with studded edges, a studded belt around his waist, loose beige pants tucked inside studded black boots and a studded pair of brown gloves paired with similarly studded wristbands. He finished his look with a distinctive wing-like ornament jutting upwards over his right shoulder, attached to his tunic by a large stud.
'Seems like Phantom Lord's Dragon Slayer decided to join the fight,' Natsu thought with a smirk. He always liked to see strong mages duke it out because it was during a battle that he could think of new spells.
One of the Fairy Tail mages attempted to attack the Iron Dragon Slayer shouting something about him attacking someone named Levy. The Fairy tail mage quickly found an iron pole, that just so happens to be the transformed arm of the Iron Dragon Slayer, slamming him into the ground.
"What is he doing, that attack took out some of his own guildmates," Gray shouted in horror.
"Gajeel Redfox, he is known for his unpleasant personality," Erza stated.
Natsu looked on as a large man with spiky white hair battled Gajeel for a while before Gajeel took him out with a cheap trick of attacking Phantom Lord members in order to distract him. As the white-harried flew back Haru used him as a springboard to attack Gajeel.
The two dragon slayers traded blows gaining surprised reactions from the Phantom Lord mages. 'This is interesting, I sense two souls in each of those two,' Natsu thought in surprise. Suddenly Natsu was pulled into a volcanic wasteland.
'I can still sense everything around me and physically I am still in the Phantom Lord guildhall,' Natsu thought as he looked around the place and realised he wasn't feeling the heat one would normally associate with a volcanic wasteland.
"Who are you and why have you brought me here?" Natsu called out.
"Do not fear, I only wanted to talk," a deep draconic voice sounded from inside a cave.
"Where am I currently, I know my physical body is still in the castle," Natsu asked the source of the draconic voice.
"You are currently in my personal little world inside of Haru's mindscape. I brought you here to ask you don't reveal the fact that there is another soul in the Dragon Slayer's bodies," the draconic voice said.
"How do you know I sensed you?" Natsu asked.
"I felt a gaze on me which is only possible if my soul was looked at. The only thing that is puzzling me about this is how you can see one's soul?" the draconic voice asked.
"I am sorry but I do not reveal my secrets to those I do not know and do not trust," Natsu stated.
"My apologies, I cannot show you my true form at this moment but I can tell you who I am. I am Igneel, the Fire Dragon King," Igneel responded.
"I am honoured to meet a Dragon King, I am Natsu Dragneel, Death Dragon God Slayer and adopted son of Draco Mortem," Natsu introduced himself. He knew he was talking to a dragon and now that he knew the dragon's name he was happy to reveal his identity. He wasn't afraid that the conversation he was having with the dragon would be told to anyone else since a dragon will never lie or reveal a secret the owner didn't want to be revealed.
"I thought I sensed the presence of Draco Mortem. You were there on Galuna Island as well weren't you?" Igneel asked.
"Yes, I was. I assume you were the one who trained Haru?" Natsu asked.
"That is indeed true, however, I cannot hold this connection much longer so again I ask you not to reveal our presence to our slayers," Igneel asked as the volcanic wasteland began to fade.
"I will honour your request, Fire Dragon King Igneel," Natsu replied as he found himself back in the Phantom Lord Guild's hall. The fighting has stopped for the time being seeing as the guildhall was shaking.
Natsu sensed a lot of magical power being dispersed from somewhere above him. As he looked up he saw a sickly green Makarov falling through the floor. 'His magic was drained and scattered to the wind. Even though I want to go and eradicate the mage who dared attempt to kill a mage in my presence by draining them of all their magic, I can still sense that he has a small amount of magic left, meaning if I can gather his scattered magic he can still be saved,' Natsu thought.
Natsu quickly left the guildhall and began gathering the scattered magic. It was a gruelling process because with the amount of magic Makarov possessed the area that he would have to cover was immense if he wanted to return all of his magic.
During his task, Natsu realised that there was someone else who was doing the same as him. Intrigued Natsu began to search out the person who was gathering the magic like he was. It took him an hour before he came upon a man wearing a dark blue cloak and had his arms and legs mostly covered in bandages. He had a dark blue bandana with a silver forehead protector and a green mask covering his face.
"Seems to me that I am not the only one who is gathering Makarov's scattered magic," Natsu said as he came up behind the man. The mysterious man quickly pulled out one of the many staves he had on his back and pointed it at Natsu.
"What is your goal with the magic you have collected that belongs to Master Makarov?" the masked man asked.
"Guessing by the way you address Makarov, I would say you are a Fairy Tail mage, am I correct?" Natsu asked completely ignoring the man's question.
"Yes, I am. Now I will ask you once again, what is your goal with the magic you have collected that belongs to Master Makarov?" the masked man asked once again. Natsu was now looking at the man with interest.
"You are not from this realm are you?" Natsu asked with interest.
"Answer my question before asking any more of your own or things will get ugly," the masked man said but visibly flinched at Natsu's last question.
"I can assure you our goals with Makarov's magic are one and the same. As for your threat, I don't think you want to walk that path. Now for my question about you not being from this realm," Natsu calmly replied.
"How are you able to tell?" the masked man asked, confirming he was from another realm.
"I have been to a certain place where all realms are connected, let's leave it at that. Now, will you tell me who you are?" Natsu asked.
"My name is Mystogan, S-Class mage of Fairy Tail," Mystogan replied.
"You can call me 'Death Walker'. I'm impressed someone with no ability to absorb the natural Ethernano into their body and use it as magic is capable of becoming an S-Class mage of a renowned guild such as Fairy Tail," Natsu said. Mystogan was once again visibly shocked that; one this was the infamous 'Death Walker, and two this man knew he couldn't perform magic the same way as everyone else in the realm.
"You know a lot for someone I never came across and I know I have been keeping my abilities secret from prying eyes," Mystogan replied.
"Let's just say I'm very good at analysis. Anyway since you are already busy with gathering Makarov's magic, mind if I leave the task to you?" Natsu asked.
"Why would you help me when as far as I know you have no affiliation to my guild?" Mystogan asked a question of his own rather than answering Natsu's.
"To let a man die if there was anything I could have done is just not part of my moral code," Natsu answered.
"Then I thank you, and I will complete the task at hand," Mystogan answered Natsu's question before a thought came to mind.
"Would you be willing to help me out on a certain thing I am busy with, about my original realm?" Mystogan asked.
"That depends on what it is," Natsu answered.
"My realm has its fair share of problems but one of the solutions to a particular problem is one I don't agree with. The whole reason I am here is to prevent that 'solution' from tearing up people's lives in Earthland," Mystogan replied.
"Here, once you need my help contact me, but if you reveal the fact that you can contact me to anyone there will be serious repercussions," Natsu said after a moment of thinking and held out a grey lacrima. As Mystogan placed his hand on the lacrima to take it Natsu whispered "Death God's Seal of Silence" and a purple and black energy covered both their hands. To Mystogan's credit, he was calm the entire time his hand was covered in the energy.
"That was just a spell that will let me know if you have betrayed my trust," Natsu explained once the spell was complete.
"I can understand one wanting privacy and keeping their identity hidden more than most," Mystogan said, not having a problem with the security measures Natsu followed.
"Then I bid you good luck in your task," Natsu said as he walked off.
'He might play a key role in liberating my home,' Mystogan thought before continuing gathering Makarov's scattered magic.
-In the Fairy Tail Guild hall basement-
The guild members were either making plans for another attack on Phantom Lord or trying to locate their S-Class mages. Laxus had refused to help which brought Mira to tears that someone in Fairy Tail could be so heartless while Cana tried to locate Mystogan by reading her cards but to no avail. Erza was berating herself for not following Master Makarov when he went to confront Jose. Now Master Makarov was in critical condition and being looked after by the guild healer, Porlyusica in her home in the nearby woods.
Mira berated herself for being unable to help and expressed her desire to fight alongside her guild but Cana reminded her that even though she once was an S-Class mage, but that it was in the past. Everyone was interrupted by the ground shaking. When they went outside to investigate they saw something that sent chills down their spines.
The Phantom Lord Guild's hall was slowly walking towards them across the lake on four large metal legs. As the massive building stopped a barrel came out of it and a dark energy began to gather in it.
-With Natsu on a hill overlooking Magnolia-
Natsu was shocked and angered at what he saw and felt, a massive building stood in the waters near the Fairy Tail Guild's hall with a large barrel coming out of it, pointing at Fairy Tail's guildhall and the members that were gathering outside. The large amount of magic that he could feel coming from the barrel could only be one thing. The Magical Convergent Cannon: Jupiter.
'You have made a grave mistake Jose, to attempt to wipe out so many innocent souls in my presence,' Natsu seethed with rage. He was too far away to prevent the cannon from firing.
"I will let you suffer tenfold for each life you claim today, Jose Porla" Natsu vowed and made his way over to the mechanised building.
The blast fired. As the dark beam neared the Fairy Tail mages a massive magic circle appeared that managed to stop the beam's advance. Natsu was stunned, someone was holding the blast from a Jupiter Cannon at bay. Changing his direction Natsu made his way over to where the person was that had set up that barrier.
Natsu arrived just in time to see Erza standing in a full-body set of silver and navy coloured armour, the breastplate composed of different plates joined together with four, prominent tube-like ornaments on the front, right above her breasts and below the high armoured collar. The shoulder pads were large and sported prominent plates shaped like spikes. The armour is completed with a helmet which covers the top and sides of her face with the only part of her body that is exposed is the back of her head and face.
Natsu was impressed that she was able to create a barrier strong enough with this 'Adamantine Armour' to stop the Jupiter Cannon. 'Seems like I owe you one 'Titania' for saving so many lives,' Natsu mused as he watched the armour begin to crack and eventually break as the Jupiter Blast dissipated. Erza flew back and ended up lying on the ground barely able to stay awake, now only in a white, button-up top and her blue skirt.
"Makarov has fallen. Erza can no longer stand. Any chance of victory has slipped through your fingers. Surrender Lucy Heartfilia immediately, you have no other choice," the voice of Jose was broadcasted from the walking guildhall of Phantom Lord.
The Fairy Tail mages shouted back in defiance how they would never hand over one of their own to a monster like him. 'Very admirable, I am beginning to like this guild and their morals,' Natsu thought with a smirk as he watched on from the side-lines, making sure to keep himself hidden in the shadows.
"We will never betray her like that, you would have to kill us," Erza declared with what little strength she had left.
"You can stop asking, we're going to kick your buts for this," Haru shouted out. Natsu could have sworn he heard the laughter of a certain Fire Dragon King when Haru shouted that last part.
"You've got fifteen minutes to ponder the folly of your actions before I give you another dosing of Jupiter" Jose's voice boomed with anger.
Erza finally succumbed to the exhaustion and damage she got from dealing with the Jupiter cannon. The Fairy Tail mages were losing heart hearing that they will face another blast. Jose sent out 'Shade soldiers', ghostly soldiers made from his Shade Magic to attack the Fairy Tail mages while he charges up Jupiter once more.
Cana managed to rally the mages of Fairy Tail to mount a defence of their beloved home.
"So I have fifteen minutes to destroy that cannon huh. Let's go Happy," Haru called out to his partner and with an "Aye" from the blue-furred cat, Happy and Haru flew towards the barrel with Elfman and Gray following him to give their assistance.
'These Fairy Tail mages sure do have heart. Now I think I might be able to return the favour I owe 'Titania',' Natsu thought as he saw Mira taking Erza inside the guildhall. Natsu used his Shadow Magic to get inside the guildhall undetected and saw that Mira had left Erza on a table to rest while she went out with Lucy in tow.
Natsu walked up to the table Erza was on and looked down at her. "Death Dragon's Embrace" Natsu softly said and a grey and purple mist started to surround Erza.
-With Mira outside the guildhall-
Mira had just sent Lucy off with Reedus to the guild's safe house when she felt a chilling aura coming from within the guild. Her eyes widened when she recognised the aura as one of death. Fearing for Erza's life she burst through the guild doors only to see a man dressed in a black one-sleeve jacket exposing his right shoulder where a grey tattoo of a dragon skull outlined with a violent purple could be seen. The jacket was unbuttoned exposing his bare chest. The man had a grey scaly scarf around his neck. He wore baggy black pants with purple trims and black combat boots and a hood covering his face. Erza was covered in a purple and grey mist.
"Who are you and what do you think you are doing to Erza?" Mira shouted and ran towards the mysterious man, grabbing a wooden plank on her way. As she neared the man she began to shake in fear, remembering a traumatic event from her past when she lost someone close to her. This powerful aura of death soon invaded her mind and all she could think of was the death of her loved one.
"Do not fear for the safety of 'Titania', I am not here to harm her," a deep voice brought Mira out of her troubled thoughts.
"Then what are you doing?" Mira asked in a shaky voice.
"I'm just helping her recover, this spell aids in the recovery of a mages magic," the strange man replied.
"Why would you help us?" Mira asked, she was grateful for the man's help but still confused as to why he gave it.
"' Titania' here saved a lot of lives and that spared me the trouble of dealing with the aftermath of that blast would have hit the town. So this is my way of repaying that favour," the man replied.
Mira wanted to ask this man if he could help with the guild war but she didn't want to drag someone in who had nothing to with this. She was also confused as to what he meant by 'dealing with the aftermath' but she didn't want to pry in his personal affairs.
Fighting was heard from outside and as Mira looked out the window she saw that the shade soldiers were beginning to overwhelm some of the mages.
"This isn't looking as if it will end well, I hope we can fend off this attack and do something about the Jupiter Cannon," Mira said to herself, forgetting about the mysterious man in the room for a moment.
"This will not end quickly or without some bloodshed. There are still battles to be won. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go lecture an old idiot about the value of life," Mira felt a shiver run down her spine when she heard the threatening tone the man had and she could have sworn that she heard a trace amount of unbridled rage in there as well.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what your thoughts were on this chapter. Do you like the little snippets of what Fairy Tail is busy doing? I did this to show where the story currently is. As for the first part of the story, I wanted to develop Natsu's character a little more in a different environment from the constant fighting or conflicts. Other than that I hope you are ready for some of the fights that will come in the next chapter.