Neither had a clue on how long they've been there, neither of them cared. Natsu rested against Erza's chest with a content sigh escaping his lips. Even as children; it was rare, but sometimes him or Gray would get this comfort. Instead of an aching head from slamming into her armor. Erza's strawberry scent that filled his nose made him smile. She ate so much of that precious cake, she practically obtained it's scent, not that he complained anyway.

Erza's arms were still tightly secured around his body. She could feel all of his muscles relaxing, the calming slow breaths he took. Her eyes were purely focused on him. Nothing around this world mattered but him. The warm feeling that seeped into her chest was something she couldn't ignore. A feeling she didn't even get from Jellal no matter how hard she tried. He was trapped in the past for as long as she's known him, but she didn't want to be stuck anymore. There was a bright future waiting for Erza. 'Could I truly be?'

'Erza is so... warm. A feeling I didn't think would come from her of all people. I... I like it. But what is this feeling?' Natsu thought with closed eyes. He saw Erza as an older sister, a strong warrior who could overcome anything with ferocity. But... was there something more to it? Maybe he'd ask gramps about it. He always had the answers for almost about everything, except the whereabouts of his father.

"Are you okay Natsu?" Erza's voice broke him of his thoughts as he slowly lifted his head to meet her gaze. She looked so... beautiful. Even with the many tears that streamed down her cheeks. He hated himself for that. One goal in mind was to never let her shed tears again, but... he failed that in that goal.

"Yeah..." He replied in a hoarse whisper. "Thank you for being here for me Erza," Natsu couldn't help but smile towards her, she returned it in kind. "I needed that."

Even if her body compelled her not to, she refused. Erza reached out to grasp his cheek in her palm, her thumb gently stroking away the left over tears with a small blush. "Of course, Natsu. You're never alone when you're in Fairy Tail. You taught all of us that. No matter the odds, no matter how hard it seems..."

"As long as you are apart of Fairy Tail. You will persevere..." He finished for her with a wide toothy grin.

They both stared into each other's eyes, not any words to be spoken. Erza's face slowly leaned into his, parting her lips as she moved. Natsu followed, leaning in to close his eyes. Was this the moment they waited for? After so many battles, so many struggles they went through the years. Was this the answer to their feeling? Their lips were inches from each other, their warm breaths brushing against each other. Just one more inch and their lips would meet. Just one mor-

"Are we interrupting something?" Lucy's voice made them snap back to reality with a cheeky grin. "So... are we?"

Their faces both sported deep blushes as red as Erza's hair. Both were frozen in place, unsure of what to even say to their friends. "W-Well um..." Erza cursed her voice that trembled in embarrassment. 'Damn you Natsu for making me feel like this!'

"As much as we want to see you two finally seal the deal," Gray snickered slightly, pointing towards the sun that currently was setting. "We better start planning on what we're going to do."

Natsu and Erza both stood up, although on shaky feet. "R-right," Erza cleared her throat, rubbing her cheeks that were flushed. "Let's go then," she stated before walking away from Natsu who tried to reach out to her, but withdrew his hand with a frown.

"Don't worry, Natsu," Lucy placed her hand on his shoulder with a warm smile. "It's obvious she feels the same way. You'll see."

"Y-yeah," Natsu lowered his head with a small smile. "Yeah, you're right."

"They liiiiiike each other~" Happy cooed, fluttering around his foster father with a cheeky grin.

"SHUT IT HAPPY!"

The sun had slowly decended upon the small quaint town. Being it was a town rich in lacrima crystals. They were used as decorations, whether it to be hanging lights, or lacrima powered machines. It was cast in a blue hue that reflected off the moonlight that shined down on a group of mages.

"So, what's the plan Erza?" Gray spoke up, crossing his arms over his chest as his eyes scanned the quiet town, not a sound could be heard. It was an eery silence that even gave the ice maker chills.

Erza's view pointed towards a small cavern, mine cart tracks leading inside with a small lacrima light on the outside. "According to the Mayor Blood Dagger only enters the mine come nightfall. If our information correct then I have reason to believe they are already here."

"I can definitely smell something, it's making my stomach twist..." Natsu's face hardened with an unreadable expression, his lips curving into a thin line as he scrunched his nose. "They reek of blood."

"I can smell it as well," Wendy added, plugging her nose with an uncomfortable look. "It's so strong, it's making my eyes water."

Lucy's nerves were on edge, biting her lip as her feet shuffled. "What are we going to do? If they are already in there, would if they found the relic already? What then?"

A hand was placed on her shoulder with a reassuring smile to follow. "Don't worry Luce, we'll do what we always do. Take them down and bring peace to this town."

"Natsu is right, Lucy," Erza stepped next to the dragon slayer, shooting him a little smile which he returned in kind. "We've been through enough battles, especially Alvarez. Master picked us for this mission, let's not fail him."

"Aye sir! We are the strongest team after all!" Happy cheered as Carla rolled her eyes with a small smile.

"I hate to admit it, but tom cat is right," The white feline sighed with a smile while Wendy giggled.

Even if there was an uneasy feeling in the bottom of her gut; she smiled and gave them all a firm nod with a grin. "Right! Let's them take them down!"

"Right!" They all exclaimed in unison before heading off towards the mine.

"Let's be quiet for now. We don't know what to expect from this group, so no running in fists blazing," Erza looked over towards Natsu with a stern glare. "Understood Natsu?"

"Y-yes mam."

The rest of the group snickered from their interactions. They stopped in front of the mine. All they could see was darkness inside, not a single light to be seen. "Natsu, give us some light," Erza ordered as he nodded, lifting his palm to spark a flame.

The small group slowly entered, watching their surroundings for anything. Natsu's eyes narrowed towards the many engraved carvings lining the walls. Some depicted some kind of god who stood among many, worshipped without argument. 'Something about this doesn't feel right...'

"Man, this cave gives me the creeps," Gray felt a shiver go up his spine. It felt like someone was watching their every move, but he couldn't pin point it. He glanced over towards Natsu who seemed on edge. 'Even flame-brain looks on edge. Usually he's raring to beat someone up, but there's... fear in those eyes.' He's never known his rival to be afraid of anything. Even if the odds were stacked against them. He more than proved that in their fight against Hades.

"What are all these carvings?" Lucy questioned with a finger to her chin. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Maybe the Mayor could tell us, but for now be quiet. We don't know what we're up against. So stay vigilant," Erza said in a whisper, clenching her blade tightly in her grasp.

Natsu's ears perked up as he grabbed a hold of Erza who yelped in confusion, before he covered her mouth. Her cheeks were flushed as red as her hair.

"Natsu what the hell-"

"Shhh..." He put a finger to his lips as he nodded his head towards one of the branching tunnels. "Someone's coming."

The group waited in anticipation as Natsu slowly peeked around the corner, his grip never loosening off of Erza who followed him. It didn't take long before four cloaked figured emerged from the dark tunnel.

"Have we found it yet?" One of them asked. It sounded female as the tallest of the bunch growled in annoyance.

"Not yet, but we will find it. According to the master there's a secret passageway somewhere in these tunnels. Once we find the relic, all the legal guilds will perish and a new age of darkness will decend upon this world. Zeref may be gone, but it doesn't mean we won't stop," A gruff voice responded. At least to Natsu he sounded a bit older than the rest. He reeked of blood compared to the other three.

"Why must this be such inconvenience," Another retorted, letting out an exasperated sigh with a chuckle to follow. "Are we sure that Mayor doesn't know anything?"

"He was useless in providing any information," Natsu could see the malicious grin concealed under the hood. "But since I found out he made a request to all the legal guilds, he... outlived his usefulness."

"Bastards..." Gray muttered with gritted teeth, clenching his fists tightly as Natsu quietly snarled.

"Well, let's not dilly dally any longer," One of the others added, before all four figures walked down one of the many dark tunnels, their figures slowly dissapearing into darkness.

Natsu lifted his hand off of Erza's mouth with a shy smile. "Sorry for scaring you Erza. Had to act quick or we would've been found."

"Don't apologize Natsu, I'm surprised you didn't jump them as soon as you saw them," Erza couldn't help but smirk slightly. "Someone's growing up I see."

"W-Well I um..." Natsu's cheeks were tinted pink as he averted his gaze away from Erza who giggled at his reaction.

"Hate to break the moment love birds. But we better follow them," Gray spoke up with a serious expression on his face. "They're gonna pay for killing the Mayor."

Natsu and Erza nodded their heads in understanding. The group slowly followed behind where the figures had just went. Natsu took the lead, using his nose to track them down with a small growl under his breath. "They're close," he whispered to the group who nodded in response.

Suddenly the whole cave began to shake violently, causing small rocks to fall from the unstable ceiling. "What the hell?!" Gray exclaimed, clutching onto the walls of the mines to keep his balance steady. "Is it an earth quake?"

"HAHA! We finally found it!" A voice screamed out in pure euphoric joy that made the groups eyes widened.

"N-no..." Lucy stuttered in slight shock, biting her lip tightly.

Natsu gave no response, taking off into the dark tunnel. His team followed right behind him before they all came to a stop. Two giant doors were in front of them, blue torches lighting the inside of the room. He could feel chills off the room, making his body shudder. Without a moment's more hesitation he walked inside, Erza right behind him.

What was once a small cavern became a large dungeon. Blue torches surrounded the room, giving off a royal hue. Natsu's body froze, his eyes wide as saucers. 'N-no... it can't... it can't be real!'

Many stone statues surrounded the room. Many looking like knight's holding a variety of different weapons, some others holding musical intruments. But in the middle stood a giant among them... a god that dawned upon the whole room. It's blank eyes staring straight into Natsu with a blank expression. It wore priest robes that went down to it's legs with a giant crown on the top of its head. Natsu's body shook, trembled in pure fear. The visions that he thought were a mere nightmare were now reality. It felt like death was staring him in the face and he walked right into it's trap.

Erza noticed his demeanor change the moment they entered the room. "Natsu?"

"Ah! So the Mayor did find some mages to do his dirty work!"

Everyone's attention whipped around to the four cloaked figures who drew out their weapons. "And Fairies on top of it? It's our lucky day!"

Lucy's heart stopped when she noticed the giant statues eyes move towards them. Her whole body shut down, she couldn't move, she couldn't scream. It's gaze was paralyzing.

The doors behind them slammed shut, alerting the whole group. "What the hell?!"

The giant priest's eyes glowed brightly. Natsu's ears perked up with wide eyes. "Everyone get down!"

"Natsu? What do you me-"

A giant beam shot out of it's eyes, completely vaporizing two of the dark guild members in a flash. Natsu shoved everyone down as the laser grazed right over their heads, leaving a trail along the stone floor that smoked from the temperature.

Erza's eyes shot open as wide as saucers. Where one of the two stood were now half charcoaled corpses in front of their feet. "What in Kamis name is this?..."

"What the hell is this?!" One the last two dark mages exclaimed, dropping their weapon out of pure shock. There was fear In her tone. "Master never told us about this!"

"Everyone bow!" Lucy's voice broke the group as she kneeled down to her knees, bowing her head. "There's an inscription on the stone tablet! We must bow to god!"

Not having much to go on, they all nodded bowing down to their knees, even the two members followed, unsure of where this was going. Sweat was dropping down Natsu's head as he slowly raised his head when he heard the statue move. His heart stopped when the now blank statue had the most malicious, most maniacal grin that he's ever seen. It was inhuman how far it's lips were stretched. It's red eyes pierced through him.

"Why the fuck is that statue grinning?!"

Stone cracked from it's throne as the giant statue rose from it's seat; it's grin never leaving it's lips. Everyone quickly stood up from the ground.

"W-we bowed down to you! What more do you want?!" One of the dark mages exclaimed kneeling down to the God's feet. "Do you require blood? I can give that to you! I will serve you, I will do anything!"

"You idiot get out of there!"

The giant statue towered over the man, lifting it's foot. With a stomp there was nothing but a blood stain on the floor, guts from the woman shot in every direction, splattered along the floor.

"Praise the god! The musical statues, run to them!" Lucy screamed, adrenaline being the only thing keeping her going. Everyone followed without argument even as the giant statue loomed over them like some false god.

Flames bursted forth from Natsu's body as he narrowed his eyes towards the statue. "So... my nightmare wasn't just a dream. You were real..." his fangs gritted tightly together as he shifted his stance with a growl. There were only 5 statues, so Natsu stayed behind. He leaped forward, his fist igniting in bright flames.

Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!

His fist collided with the statues face as it tried to swipe at him. He flipped off his feet, forming two balls of flame in his grasp as he clapped them together, forming a giant sphere in his hands.

Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!

A large explosion rung across the room as Natsu slid across the ground to a halt. Smoke surrounded it's location as he narrowed his eyes. With wide eyes the smoke cleared, leaving the statues twisted grin. No part of it was touched, no stone cracked. Nothing... he didn't even leave a mark. "You gotta be kidding..."

"Natsu's fire did nothing?!" Gray exclaimed in pure shock as the statues began to glow, letting off a sweet melody.

The giant stopped in it's tracks. Before it slowly walked back over to it's throne, taking a seat once more. But it's grin never vanished. Now it just watched in amusement for what was to come. Suddenly the many knight statues began to glow, twitching as they took a hold of their weapons, stepping off their many pedestals.

"F-fuck this I'm getting out of here!" The last remaining member took off towards the giant set of doors, frantically tripping in his steps. His foot hit crack, making his body trip into the ground.

The ground shook underneath his feet as he shakily turned to a statue who loomed over him, raising it's spear.

"Get out of there!" Erza shouted out, before dodging one of the statues who tried to slice her back.

"P-please... I don't to di-" His voice was silenced by a giant blade that cleared his body in two, blood splattering along the ground.

'N-no... it's happening just like the dream!' Natsu thought as he dodged an axe from one of the other statues with a flip.

Lucy attempted to pull out her keys, before being batted off to the side, colliding with the wall. Her body slumped down to the ground with cuts and bruises. One of the statues slowly trailed behind her. She slowly pulled herself off the ground, panting on shaky legs.

Natsu launched a roar of flames from his mouth, hitting two of the statues who merely shrugged off his flames. "Damn it! My fire doesn't do anything to them!"

A knight loomed over Lucy as she looked up with wide eyes, raising it's blade high into the air.

"Hold on Lucy!" Sliding under a Halberd that grazed the top of his raven black hair. Gray slammed his hand into his palm, an icy aura to follow. "Ice Make: DOME!"

A solid dome of ice appeared on top of the celestial wizard as one of the many stone knight's took a swing, shattering it immediately on impact. "Shit!"

Vernier!

In a flash of green, Lucy's body was gone from anyone's sight. Royal blue hair flowing with the wind of her body. Wendy skidded to a stop near one of the many corners, placing her palms over the blond's body in a blinding green light. "I got her Gray! Help Natsu and Erza!"

Natsu could only watch helpless that everything from his dream was coming true. He watched as Erza clashed against many of the stone knight's with gritted teeth. She was quickly overpowered, knocking her back. His body wouldn't move, no matter how much he screamed for it too. Fate was playing the strings in front of him. He... he could only play his part. 'Forgive me Erza...'

"I will not lose here!" Erza roared, a golden glow surrounding her body. An all too familiar armor to Natsu.

Re-Quip: Purgatory Armor!

With a roar, her muscles tense, swinging her club against stone that makes it bounce back with a clang. "I-impossible..."

Natsu took off into a sprint, tears running down his cheeks with clenched fists. Everything was in slow motion around him. Gray screaming out his name, Lucy's cries out for him to stop. But... he didn't. This was his fate... and he was going to welcome it with open arms. "ERZA MOVE!"

His arms shoved her out of the way, before feeling that familiar blade penetrate his gut. Blood spewed from his wound, his lips trickled as he shakily took a hold of the blade.

"NATSU!!!!" Erza screamed to the top of her lungs, making Gray shoot his head in his direction with wide eyes.

"NATSU NO!" He roared, taking off towards his brother.

The doors slowly opened behind them. "Everyone... listen to me! You need to get out of here now!" Natsu stared at all of his friends, feeling the last bit of unconsciousness slowly leaking from his eyes. "GET OUT OF HERE NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN!"

"WE WON'T LEAVE YOU NATSU THAT'S NOT AN OPTION!" Erza screamed with tears streaming down her cheeks. Until she was grabbed by Gray who had a vice like grip around her. "GRAY?! What are you... doing?"

Gray's face was hardened, his eyes were welling up with tears. "Erza... even if we did save him. He wouldn't make it out of here alive... w-we have to go..."

Natsu smiled weakly, coughing up blood. "T-thank you... Gray..."

"NO! WE WON'T LEAVE HIM! We ca-" Her pleas were silenced with a chop to her neck. She fell unconscious in Gray's grasp. Lucy tried to plead out for Gray to stop, but he didn't. He drug them all out with every bit of strength he had left.

Happy fought against Gray's hold, but it was useless. He could only watch in horror as the doors slowly shut, leaving Natsu behind. "NATSU!!!!!"

The knight slowly lifted Natsu off the ground, blood pouring down the stone weapon. "Thank... Kami... I... I saved them.."

He was whipped off the blade to collide against the pedestal in the middle, blood flowing down the table. In the last bits of life he had left, he smiled. "I... I lived a great life... Gramps... Fairy Tail... Erza..." he muttered in his last breath.

A blade was stabbed into his chest as a quiet agonizing scream escaped his lips. 'I... love you Erza... please forgive me...'

The final blue flame in the room went out.

Suddenly a small screen appeared in front of him.

NOTFICATION

You have fulfilled all the requirements to complete

Secret Quest: Courage Of The Weak

'W-what the hell...?' Before a single thought could run through his last moments. Another message was projected.

[You have acquired the qualifications to be a player. Will you accept?]

NOTIFICATION

Your heart will stop in 0.02 seconds if you choose not to accept.

Will you accept?

Natsu's eyes widened in shock. What was this? Some kind of trick? An illusion? Did he really have a choice in the matter? If this was a chance to be with Erza again... he'd take it. He raised his head, coughing out more blood as his body began to shut down. 'Please... don't be a lie...'

"I... accept..."

What a chapter am I right? So begins the journey of becoming the strongest. If none of you have watched Solo Leveling, you are probably confused. All I can say is to watch the anime, it's amazing. I hope I wrote this scene well. I'm not a god tier writer like most, but I can only hope to be good enough for you guys. I apologize for this taking so long.

Before any of you ask about Blood Dagger, they are not done yet. They will make a return. For now we focus on Natsu and the major change he's about to go through.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Have a great day or night, and I'll see you all in the next chapter. Later :)