Chapter Twelve
Dragons Rising
The Salamander, a man of many achievements, a mage who had almost never slowed down between one objective and another, was currently lying down on the rooftop of a shop in Magnolia, lazily watching the people go about their day.
It had been about a week now since he'd first stepped through here and had his explosive confrontation with Titania.
Their guild hall was pretty much all done being rebuilt, and it was bigger than before. Fifteen million jewel really did go a long way towards making their home a lot better than before, so he felt a lot better about the whole ordeal now.
With a lazy sigh and a long stretch he readjusted his position. He wasn't really all that interested in watching people go about their day but he had little else to do as he wanted to be here when Phantom Lord made a move against Fairy Tail again, knowing that the moment that Dragon Slayer appeared, that would be when he would get involved.
It was unfair to pretty much anyone to have to fight a Dragon Slayer, even the weakest ones that he knew of were far stronger than average mages. He supposed that the likes of Titania might be able to deal with this one, maybe the old geezer and his grandson… Maybe.
He had his suspicions that while the lightning brat might well be a top contender for the strongest in Fairy Tail, a second generation Dragon Slayer would struggle with a first generation in other ways due to the conflicts of their magic.
"If you were trying to be subtle, you're failing at it." a sweet voice reached his ears. He craned his head to see who it was but it would only have been one of a few people that didn't care enough about his reputation to not approach him.
"Silvertop." he waved with a single finger, "What brings you to my perch?" he asked her casually, turning back to watch the streets, not really seeing anything of interest.
"I wanted to come and speak to you a few days ago but didn't know if you'd even want people coming near you, you don't give off the friendliest vibes." she admitted with a sweet smile, coming over to sit with her legs over the ledge that he'd been laying across.
"You're curious as to why I'm here?" he asked.
She nodded down at him, thinking about a few different things as she took in his image. She wondered if he was really born with that beautiful shade of salmon hair, she'd never seen anything quite like it.
"I have a vested interest in seeing what Phantom Lord intend to do with Fairy Tail, and… Well, the blue haired kid and her friends, that level of cruelty hurt me because it was done by a Dragon Slayer, so when they finally show up, I'm going to law down the law and show them the punishment of a Dragon King." he told her with a slight yawn.
This much inactivity was killing him, but it wasn't like he could just rock up at the Fairy Tail guild and demand that someone had a fight with him.
Maybe the snowflake would take a bite if he managed to bait him but other than that he couldn't imagine that any of them would risk another conflict with him.
"Lucy told me all about your, quote unquote, crazy claims that you're a king of some kind." Mira laughed.
He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but for a fleeting moment, he was caught up in the sound of her laughter. It was so pure and light hearted, it made him feel comfortable, something that he hadn't felt in a very long time.
"Something like that. It's a status of power, my father was a Dragon King, an old friend of mine is also one, and then there's Elexion, the Dragon whose element the geezer's grandson has. Only the truly strongest dragons ever reach the title of King." he explained like it was a simple as that.
"So," she said after a moment, pondering it in a cute way with her hands on her chin, looking up to the sky, "I guess you really are going to stick around, you're watching over us after all. So what made you decide to turn down the master's offer? I heard that he even managed to convince the council to overturn your status as a dark mage if you joined us." Mira looked down, seeing his deep onyx eyes looking right at her.
"He showed me the edict from the council, and while he only held up that page for a few seconds I did manage to read most of it. There was a clause in there that if I was to ever go on a rampage or cause just a bit too much damage and destruction, that the Fairy Tail guild would be forced to disband forever. After I'm done in Magnolia, there is still something important that I need to do, and my actions there could very well destroy all of your lives if I were to be held by that contract." he shrugged.
"Aww, you do care!" she squealed in an impressively cute tone considering that he'd seen what her tremendous power could do, it was certainly an odd comparison to make.
"Did you come up here just to mock me, miss?" he glared at her briefly before it dropped, she was way too cute to be mad at.
"No, I came because a few of the people back at the guildhall have noticed you up here for a few days, and while Erza has assured them all that you're here to find another Dragon Slayer, it hasn't done much to calm their nerves. All most of them have seen of you has been immense shows of violence, they haven't had the chance to speak to you on a level like this." she told him, looking down at him again.
He was pretty cute even like this.
"So?" he prompted her.
"So I'm here because it calmed their nerves to know that I would come and speak to you. Most of them aren't really that worried. Whether you were unfairly disadvantaged in your fight with Erza, they wouldn't have known, so they still thing that she can beat you down if needs be, and most think the same about me." she smiled again, rather enjoying the calm conversation.
"And do you think that you can? I must admit, when I saw just how much power you have I was excited, but it wasn't the kind of fight that gets me going, you weren't in control, and if I have to worry about the innocent people around me, that's just a buzzkill, but, now that you've got your demon under control, do you think you could take me on if I didn't use a nullification magic?" he asked her hopefully, fully lying down with the top of his head nuzzling against her thigh. He looked up at her with hope in his eyes, the slightest sliver of gold beginning to swirl within the obsidian irises.
"Perhaps. Maybe if you behave yourself and become a member of our guild I will give you a real fight, one where I use as much of my power as you want me to." she told her, holding his stare, not being one to back down from this kind of challenge.
There was a moment of silence where they just looked at each other while he tried to figure her out, and very much vice versa.
"Did you just come up here to try and get me into your guild?" he asked her with no trace of humour or sarcasm.
"A little bit, but you're also simply a fascinating man. The master was right, you're no dark mage, despite what people say and what you claim. You're a decent man, I can feel it. It's almost like the wave of warmth that goes around with you, but perhaps that's all part of being a dragon." she laughed slightly.
"It's part of being a fire dragon." he said slowly, "Titania is really just a big softy, you're far too trusting and light-hearted for someone as beautiful, and the girl, Liz-"
"Lucy."
"-has managed to get her hooks in my heart from the get go. Girl is the spitting image of her ancestor. Joining Fairy Tail would be so bad for my health." Natsu mused slightly.
"Well it's not just us, you seem to be soaring with popularity, especially with the women in the capital." Mira told with her a slight hint of childish glee.
"The capital?" he raised a brow. He hadn't even been to Crocus in years, how could his name be echoing there?
"Clearly someone has found out about your offer to join Fairy Tail, and word spreads fast when it concerns our guild, whether it's good or bad." she told him, another sweet smile worn across her features.
"After I lost my magic, I tried to support the guild in other ways, so I turned to modelling, something to get a bit of income for the guild, and I occasionally still go to the capital for these kinds of jobs. So, a few days ago one of my contacts spoke to me asking whether or not it's true that you of all people have joined the guild and are no longer a dark mage. They want to do a full expose and photoshoot with you to show the world who you really are." Mira beamed with joy.
It was going to be difficult getting the silver haired beauty to take no for an answer considering how excited she seemed to be.
"I really, really don't want to do that. Not a people person and as I'm sure you know, there's a lot of people in the capital." he told her, uncaring of the things that 'the people' wanted.
"Don't worry Mr. Dragon King, I'll hold your hand so that you aren't scared of all the people with cameras, it's tough being a celebrity after all." she laughed at the chagrin that raged across his face.
"Mr. Dragon King?" he echoed, unimpressed by her jokes.
"You haven't told any of us what your name is and I refuse to properly call you Salamander, not now that the master wants you to join our guild. We're a family there, and family respect each other enough to address them properly." Mira told him almost sternly.
"Sounds like something Snowflake would come up with-woah, feel that?" he asked, bolting upright. Within an instant he was perched on his heels, his eyes focused with deadly precision at something far off in the distance down the main street.
"Huh, seems you've distracted me somewhat." he said, quickly turning around and grabbing Mira by the waist, shooting the both of them backwards as they sailed over the street below and landed on the roof of the opposite building.
Right where they'd been sitting were now several huge iron pillars that had been meant for them.
"Is that?" Mira breathed into his ear, noticing just how immensely tight his grip on her waist had been.
"Uh-huh, the Iron Dragon Slayer." he responded, suddenly aware of just how close Mira had held onto him as they'd flown across the street. He reluctantly let her go.
"You should tell the geezer that things are about to get dangerous down here. I'll try to limit the destruction, but…" he trailed off, looking her in the eyes with a devilish grin.
She watched in an almost infatuated fashion as his deep black eyes lit up a shining gold, like the dragon aspect inside of him was answering a beckoning call with the presence of the other Dragon Slayer.
"Get over here, Salamander!" a coarse voice called him out, ripping him away from Mira's attention. It was a call out that he gladly rose to the occasion with, bolting back into the air, much the same as the other Slayer, colliding in a harsh match up of iron and fire before they both tumble to the street below, each feeling out the power of the other.
Natsu wasn't worried, not particularly. He could feel that this Slayer was strong but there wasn't much in his heart that would suggest that he cared much for his current objective save for fighting Natsu.
"Name's Black Steel Gajeel, and I'm going to be the one to take down the infamous Salamander." the Slayer announced with a wide grin on show.
"Big talk for such an infantile Dragon Slayer, Metalicana must be groaning with shame at your strength." Natsu matched the grin, seeing the ire explode within Gajeel who instantly rose to the challenge and begun his attack, trying to instigate as much destruction around them as possible.
Now this was the challenge that Natsu had been waiting for, nobody was going to get in his way.
"Fire Dragon King's Claw!" The attack connected, the heat surrounding them shattering all of the windows of the buildings down the street.
The Dragon King was truly about to demonstrate his power, with a presence that made even the strongest mages instinctively kneel.
A Slayer was about to be severely punished.
A/N: Review?