Another Fairy Tail AU popped into my head last night. What would you guys think of a story where Natsu learned Crash Magic from Guildarts early on? It might be my next major story… by major I mean long, not popular, haha.
Guys! The Five Dragons made it into a community! I mean, granted the community advertises mostly yaoi and Shounen-Ai or whatever, and this isn't gonna have any of that unless I undergo a massive personality change but hey! It's something!
Phoenix(1/2), first off, sorry for not responding to your review on chapter… Uh. 21? I checked my email before updating and it was like 'yep nope nothing to see here', and then as soon as I updated it was like 'haha! Here's a couple of reviews!' so sorry about that. Second off, thank you for reading and leaving a review on Skin Deep, ChickenNuggs was extraordinarily happy and wouldn't stop fawning over it. She was pretty much bouncing off the walls, haha. (Not unlike how I feel when I get a review from you so I'm not complaining) anyway, now I have a small horde of inspirational quotes, fear me. The writers block is about halfway gone, we're getting there! Aw, that's a shame. One of my close friends moved across the country about midway through high school. Thinking back on it, I think her and two others were the first friends I had that didn't bully me in one way or another… Uh, anyway, I'm sure you'll still have a great time in high school! (Oh no guys she's got her tomato magic back! Run for your non-tomato life!)
Phoenix(3), Whirl makes an entrance! Originally I was gonna have Ultear fix the armband with arc of time, but then there was never really an opportune moment for that to happen, so then the responsibility shifted to Lucy and Aquarius, but at the last moment I decided to drop Whirl into the mix. Yea, I didn't want to overpower him with all the elements, and I feel like just ice would be underwhelming so I'm glad to see I found a nice balance. Ooh, there's an idea. But yes! Finally! Phantom Lord! Whoa whoa whoa no tears no tears I'm fresh outta tissues! You're quite welcome! Really I don't think of this story as a matter of obligation but rather one of personal enjoyment. Goodness knows I'd be a much sadder person without you guys and your positive reviews! Yea, On My Own has made it onto my personal YouTube playlist of songs-that-I-will-listen-to-on-repeat-whilst-writing, so you might want to watch out for any… familiar… Wording in this chapter. Oh no, if the suspense kills you who'll review in your place? Can't let that happen.
Guest, the itsy bitsy spider crawled up the waterspout, I'm sure the baddies minds have been filled with doubt, down came the rain and washed the spider out, kicking ass and acting crass is what we're about, out came the sun and dried up all the rain, I must say this story isn't turning out plain, and the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again! Phan-tom Lord! Phan-tom Lord! Oh, right, the Dragon Cry movie! I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to rewriting that. Particularly that Natsu turning Dragon scene that we see in the trailer… Ahahaha. Darn, seems I missed the sixteenth… Maybe I'll make the nineteenth! Hopefully! Cause I mean if those Fairy Tail figures are Pop Figures I wouldn't be able to say no. Or, really any Fairy Tail figures thinking on it. (Darn, I missed it. Sorry, I've been struggling with a horrid headache for a few days ibuprofen why do you fail me.)
Otaku789, and hey, if they aren't hidden away in keys who knows where they're hiding. Thanks! Oh no! Not evil Dragon Force Natsu! I'll have to get canon Natsu in here!
Phoenix(4), actually I'm working my way through the One Piece manga right now! I think I'm on the… Uh. The arc with the blue haired robot dude. I should probably delve back in there, all things considered. The only reason I haven't read in a little bit is my library has volumes 60-65, but then jumps straight to 70, so I'm trying to locate the missing five. I think everyone is losing it for Phantom Lord. I'm losing it for Phantom Lord! No worries! (I mean if people are loosing it over a throwaway line in an authors note I have worries for when we're in the thick of things. Oh oh.)
Guest(2), I've updated! Whoo!
"Icy Dragons Frigid Flames!" The ice shot towards the duo of dark mages, the crimson of the flames offsetting the eerie blue glow the room seemed to hold.
Shu flicked a card between his fingers, the slip of magic imbued paper responding to s touch, before he threw it towards Natsu. The DragonSlayer raised a hand, and with it a wall of ice, smoothly deflecting the card. Gritting his teeth, the dark mage bit out a curse.
"Any ideas?" The blond turned to his partner, using the brief pause as Natsu moved between pillars to strategize.
"Just one." Jellal turned to Shu, a dark grin twisting his features. Shu, catching onto his line of thought, grinned dangerously as well, before another attack from Natsu split the two of them.
"Icy Dragons Blizzard." A flurry of ice shards shot forwards, thin needles piercing through fabric, and, if they paused for a moment, skin.
"I grow tired of this, DragonSlayer." Jellal moved closer. "You are too weak to defeat me. You are too cowardly to kill me. You couldn't even save an armband," he scoffed, "what makes you think you can stop me?"
Natsu grit his teeth, rage filling his features with an awful darkness once more. He took a deep breath, as if to steady his nerves, or perhaps respond, and Jellal smirked, knowing he had gotten under the DragonSlayers skin.
"Icy Dragons Roar!" His mouth open to a torrent of power, the raw energy and cold of it flooding the tower. Jellal had barely a moment to brace himself before the attack was upon him, small slivers of ice blending into crushing chunks.
Perhaps a minute, maybe two passed, and then Natsu snapped his mouth shut, half aware of the cut on his shoulders protest to the strain, and of Shu's almost half hearted attempt to catch him in another card. He snapped his gaze to the dark wizard, and felt an almost perverse satisfaction as the man cowered.
Pulling his attention away from the new, very large, very frozen hole in the tower, Natsu stalked his way over to the card mage.
"W-wait, surely we c-can talk this over! I didn't want him t-to break y-your armband!" Shu scrambled backwards, covering his head with his arm.
"Icy Dragons Froze-"
"Natsu!" Erza stepped forwards from a shadow on the wall, her gaze locked on the DragonSlayer. To one side of her, Lucy emerged, sparing Natsu a saddened glance before running to the overlooked crumpled card, and her celestial spirit that lay inside. On the other side, Simon barely stepped forward, keeping his magic at the ready in case they had to leave in a hurry.
"Erza. Leave."
"Natsu this isn't you. I may not know you well, but I know you'd never do what you're doing to Shu now."
"He deserves it. Wants to bring Zeref back. Broke my armband."
"I know, he did unforgivable things, but it wasn't him that broke your armband, that was Jellal. Am I right? He can't bring Zeref back in the state he's in now."
Shu nodded frantically when Natsu didn't move. "She's right, I didn't break the stup- uh, the armband."
There was a moment of further tension, in which Erza prepared herself to requip one of her stronger blades, but Natsu relented, stepping back from Shu.
"You smell like… A dragon." Erza's eyes softened.
"Lucy managed to fix your armband, Natsu. The magic from her Aquarius key woke up the magic in the water, and it reconstructed itself." The requip mage held out a hand, gauntlet free. Sitting in her palm was the armband, looking as if it hadn't been shattered minutes prior.
Natsu tentatively held a hand out, as if Erza would take a page from Jellals book and crush it, but the usually fierce redhead held it gently. And then it was gone.
Jella laughed madly as the armband cracked in his grip. "This is for Lord Zeref! Lord Zeref!"
Natsu began his move towards Jellal, the previous hope on his features replaced by fury. "Ah ah ah, pawn." Jellal wagged a finger. "You'll do what I say, and what I say only if you want this back. Now!" He turned to the rest of the room, seeming to choose someone before turning back to Natsu.
"Your first order! How exciting! Kill her." If looks could kill, Lucy's glare would have killed Jellal five times over.
Natsu looked at her, despair in his eyes. He went to take his first step, well aware of Erza reaching out to catch his shoulder, to stop him from going- and he crumpled.
Erza's hand caught on his bad shoulder, and she quickly hooked her arm under his, letting him slump against her.
"What did you do!" Jellals voice rose to a shriek, before he collected himself. "Do you want me to break to stupid thing?"
"Jellal! Can't you see? This wasn't his intention, he passed out from magical exhaustion. Honestly after everything he's done, everything you've made him do, I don't blame him."
If one was looking closely enough, you could see the corner of Natsu's mouth quirk up for a moment.
"Well?" Lucy spread her arms out to either side. "Who's gonna kill me now?"
Jellal let out a frustrated shout, before pointing at Simon. "You! Kill her! Kill anyone!"
Simon shrugged. "I'm not going to listen to your orders anymore Jellal."
But Jellal had already moved on. "Lord Zeref! Lend your most loyal servant your power!" He cackled madly as power surged to his eye, replenishing his magic power and wiping any pain he may have felt away.
Letting his head tilt back with the near overwhelming europhia, Jellal cast his arms out. "This is for you! My Lord!"
Snapping his head forward, his gaze locked onto Erza. "My Sacrifice!"
In a moment, he was standing next to her, ripping Natsu from her grasp and planting a spell to cause immobility on her. Red lines, almost like snakes coiled around her arms and neck, one streaking over her face and across her nose.
"I can't move!" The strain showing on her face, the great Titania managed a slight tremble, but was otherwise motionless.
"Open! Gate of the Golden Bull!" Taurus sprung to life from Lucy's key, taking into the seriousness of their situation and quickly moving to guard both Natsu and the motionless Erza.
"I won't let him mooove past me, Miss Lucy!" He levelled his axe at Jellal, the dark mage uncaring about the large cow.
"Thank you, Taurus."
"For a smooooch, of course!"
"Not the right time!"
It was then that Simon stepped forward, casting a veil of darkness around them, leaving only the raging inferno inside one of the ice pillars to provide light.
Lucy silently crept forward, determined to get the armband from Jellal so Natsu would be free of his control. There was a muffled thump from somewhere on her left, and bitten off cry from Erza to her front. A couple more steps and her reaching hands brushed against Erza's arm.
"Erza! Do you know where Jellal and Simon went? This darkness, I can't see anything." Lucy asked in a hushed whisper.
Erza responded in kind, "best I can tell, Jellal was just thrown across the room. You might want to wait until the lights come back."
Lucy nodded, before realizing Erza couldn't see her. "Right."
There was a long pause, during which Jellal shouted something half indecipherable and Simon shouted back something to do with cows, and Taurus bit his lip to stop himself from screaming moo in response to Simons shout.
"Natsu was right in front of us, right?" Erza tried to nod, before realizing she both couldn't move and Lucy couldn't see her.
"Yes, he was. Careful, I don't know where the two of them are now."
Lucy nodded, not realizing Erza couldn't see her, and took a few tentative steps forward, carefully feeling her way across the ground and never lifting her feet too high, in the fear that she stepped on him.
It took what must have been a minute before she felt a chill permeate one of her boots, and there was the soft rustle of fabric.
She kneeled, reaching out so she could prop Natsu up. "Luce."
Biting back a yelp, Lucy almost shot to her feet before realizing it was only Natsu. "I thought you were unconscious! I almost screamed!"
"Sorry. Thought you knew, but I never really passed out in the first place. If I did, there's no doubt that Dragon Force would have faded."
She heard him quietly shift his weight forward. "Do me a favour and pretend I'm farther back than I am. If Jellal thinks I'm where I'm going we're probably screwed, I won't be able to feign unconsciousness again, not without him…"
"Where are you going?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
"I'm going for those pillars."
"Why?"
"Listen, it doesn't matter now! So scoot back and let me do this!"
"… Fine. I want an explanation afterwards though."
There was no response, and the shifted her weight back and listened to the quiet sounds of battle and the rustle of clothing moving.
Natsu felt his hand connect to the base of one of his pillars just as the lights snapped back on. There was a moment as his eyes tried to adjust to the drastic change, and then his gaze focussed on the other side of the room just as Jellal let Simons body drop.
Wiping his hands as if he just finished dealing with a particularly nasty piece of garbage, he grinned at them. "Alright! Who's next?"
Erza let out a dangerously shuddering gasp, and began her struggle against the spell anew. "Jellal, you bastard!"
Jellal held up his hands, a mockery of a pleasant smile on his face. "Now now, Scarlet. Let's not agitate ourselves, unless you want pinky over th- …where'd he go."
Natsu pressed his palm to the earth pillar, before glancing back to the electricity pillar. It was just barely in reach, if he pushed his bad shoulder past its limit. But Jellal was actively seeking him out now, there wasn't really any time to think it over.
So Natsu moved, freezing his bad palm to the pillar to keep it there while he stretched for the electricity. He felt the wound split further, and almost gave himself away with a cry of pain. Sinking his teeth into his lip to stop himself from crying out again, he just barely managed to hook his fingers on the edge of the pillar.
Just as Jellal made eye contact. "Ah, there you a- what are you doing, pawn."
Natsu grinned at him, a dribble of blood from where he had bit his lip making its way down his chin. "I'm nobodies pawn, not anymore. Secret Art- Frozen Morning-Glory: Icy Dragons Earthen Lighting!"
Electricity exploded away from Natsu, shards of rock gleaming in the yellowed light. The attack bounded towards Jellal, the dark mage desperately trying to pull away- but a single man held nothing in the eyes of a Dragon, let alone five.
Somewhere, unseen, Ultear let out a scream of frustration.
Quietly, the armband clattered to the floor.
Natsu grimaced, barely half awake but awake enough to tell they were on a boat, sailing away from the demolished tower. Oddly enough, he felt no motion sickness, exhaustion had ground it's way through his bones. Through his half lidded eyes, he made out the blurred forms of Gray and Erza, the two mages slumped against each other in sleep.
It was just about then he realized his head was on someones lap. Lucy threaded her fingers through his hair, a gentle smile on her features. "You're awake, huh? Let me know next time you plan to do something that stupid. The Tower pulled you in after you collapsed and Erza had to dive in after you."
There was a pause, the silence only filled by the gentle running of the motor and lapping of the waves.
"I thought we lost you."
Natsu smiled wryly. "Guess I'm not meant to fight on my own."
Lucy gave a weak laugh. "Oh, that reminds me." She paused to dig around in her back pocket, pulling out the coveted armband. "You dropped this."
Natsu gave half crazed laugh, and if it turned into a sob halfway through, well. No one really noticed.
Milliana shifted awkwardly under the intense gaze of her old friend. "Are you certain, Milliana? You can still see the world if you join Fairy Tail."
The cat obsessed Mage fixed her eyes on the grave they had made for Simon. "I know Erzy. Me and Wally are grateful for your offer, but we aren't ready to be tied down again, nyaa~."
Erza wrapped her arm around Milliana's shoulders. "I'm glad you asked instead of just leaving."
Milliana smiled gently.
It was around noon when Juvia stepped into the resort room they had taken over, a small suitcase in her grasp. The water mage shifted, seeming to gather courage for something, before beginning to shout "Juvia wants to join your guild! Juvia has never had f-friends before!"
"We'd be more than happy to have you at our guild, Juvia!" Lucy cheered, pumping an arm in the air excitedly.
Gray shifted in his seat. "I don't see any problem with you joining."
Erza, who let Lucy finish checking the bandaging around two of her fingers before speaking, smiled warmly at the water mage. "We always welcome new members."
The sight that met their eyes as they stepped into Magnolia was one they would not soon forget.
People on the streets muttered, about how they had been away for a month and wouldn't know.
Not one of them reacted.
Because the Guild Hall was destroyed. Great iron bars glimmered from where they pierced the building, the cold metal making for a grotesque sight. Fairy Tail looked sad and broken, sagged on the foreign metal. There was a beat of horror filled silence
and Natsu turned and ran.
I'm considering changing the description for this story. But I can't really think of anything… Anyone got suggestions?
I reverse wrote this chapter. Started at the end and worked my way up to last chapter. Man that was weird. But it subverted my writers block so hey ~ShadeShadow