Chapter Twenty-Three
Welcome, Slayer
Weeks had gone by since Erza and her team had returned to Fairy Tail. The gossip and rumours usually died down within the first week or so, but not this time.
The whole town was abuzz with excitement at the newest rumour that the Salamander was going to become a member of Fairy Tail.
Despite it all, Natsu still hadn't woken up. Porlyusica had done regular visits, monitoring him and making sure that his vitals were in order.
'He's recuperating from using more magic than his body was capable of.' she'd explained to the Master. It didn't seem possible that someone could use more magic than they had, but if anyone…
The day had started calm, the sun shining amidst a clear blue sky.
"Master, you look perplexed." Mira had stated, finishing wiping down the bar as she too surveyed the scenes before her.
She'd heard the same things about what had transpired during Erza's mission as everyone else had, but she could read the stonewall expression that Erza wore, better than anyone else.
She was hurting, and she knew that it was because of the comatose Dragon currently being held in the infirmary only a dozen feet away from them.
"I had hoped to do this all at once, but it seems that the timing just hasn't worked out, oh well." the Master grumbled before standing from his comfortable cushion on the bar.
"Attention, brats!" he yelled, immediately silencing the guildhall.
"The time has come for me to introduce to you some new faces!" everyone was always excited whenever someone new joined the guild, and this time was no exception.
"My dear, please," Makarov waved towards a blue-haired mage that many of them hadn't seen before, save for a few faces.
"This is Juvia Lockser, previously affiliated with Phantom Lord, and yes, she was there during our little spat with them, however, she was also one of the reasons that Erza, Lucy, Gray, and of course Happy, survived their most recent ordeal!" his voice was powerful, even without trying, but more so, it was that everyone respected what he had to say, it seemed to give that much more volume.
"I'm sure that she'll be able to provide you all with an invaluable insight, not to mention that she was already an S Class wizard. I expect you all to give her a warm welcome." the master smiled. Surprisingly, Juvia had already received a cheer from the guild, likely due to the recommendations she'd received from Erza and Lucy.
"Now," the Master's brow furrowed, this one was going to be difficult to explain, "I know this one is going to be harder to accept, but remember that when it comes to these four walls, my word is law." he glared around, quelling any arguments before they started.
"Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer," he announced. Shouts erupted, despite the Master's attempts to contain it.
"You can't be serious!" Gray jumped up, his fists covered in ice. There were patches of condensation slowly rising like vapour in the wake of his steps.
"He's half the reason that the town was all torn up, not to mention what he did to team Shadow Gear!" Gray bellowed, magical power rising around him as he prepared for the fight.
"You're about a hundred years of training away from taking me on, stripper boy, so why don't you sit down, have a drink and wait for the Salamander to wake up before you try it," Gajeel snorted, closing the distance to meet the would-be adversary.
"Boys, the Master knows what he's doing, please try to be civil," Erza said, walking between them while she picked away at the cake in her hands, not sparing either of them the glance.
"You're going down, Gajeel!" Gray formed a spear of ice in his hands, already thrusting it forward. Their imminent clash had knocked Erza back, her cake hitting the ground, ruined.
"My… My cheesecake…" she said, staring down at the product of treason.
"Iron Dragon-!" Gajeel's impending roar had been interrupted when the door to the infirmary blew clean off its hinges, turning to ash before it got halfway across the bar, falling into a small pile before Mira's feet.
The whole guild stopped to stare in amazement as Natsu stumbled through, his body making jerky movements like he wasn't fully in control. His eyes were still firmly shut and his breathing was slow and relaxed.
He stumbled forward, not in any clear direction yet still slowly zoning in on where Gajeel and Gray were staring in confusion.
"You're both going to pay for that!" Erza yelled, about to spring into action and punish the both of them.
Her chance never came, the moment she'd been about to take her first step, Natsu's hand shot out and wrapped around her waist. He pulled her close, lifting her clean off her feet, their faces inches apart. Her face blushed so hard that her cheeks were the same shade as her hair. "Natsu," she managed to utter quietly.
He sniffed at the air for a few tense moments, "Red," he mumbled before letting go of her and stepping towards the ice mage.
"Gray," he said, pushing him back with a clumsy hand to the chest.
"Should we stop whatever this is?" Mira asked, watching intently.
"No," Lucy smirked and sat at the bar next to the waitress.
Natsu finally came to a stop in front of Gajeel, taking the mantle that Gray had held.
"Pain," he said after a pause.
"Pain? That's not a colour." Gajeel said, bewildered.
Before he could inquire further, Natsu headbutted Gajeel so hard that they both went tumbling to the ground, both of them now having split skin on their foreheads.
"Gah!" Gajeel cried out, clutching his skull, "Salamander you idiot, you're not even awake and you're starting fights!" the Iron Dragon screamed, rearing back and striking out with a fist that had morphed into iron scales.
"No fighting inside the guild hall, not you two!" Master Makarov shouted to no avail.
Natsu's body jerked back, dodging the punch in an unnatural way before tumbling to the floor. A foot shot up and caught Gajeel in the knee, swinging him over. The Iron Dragon landed in a heap with a heavy thud.
"This is totally undignified, at least give me the courtesy of waking up!" Gajeel demanded, slamming a fist down on Natsu's chest. It hadn't been meant to cause damage, but the thick metal studs that had protruded from his knuckles had served to send a colossal shock to his system.
"Wha! Hey, what's the big idea? You always strike an unarmed man in his sleep?" Natsu glared, "And why do I have such a wicked headache?" he groaned, sitting up and clutching his head.
"Both of those are your fault, asshole!" Gajeel swore at him, "You came bounding out of here and started a fight, and for the record you headbutted me… Again!"
"Hmm, yeah, that does sound like me, you probably had it coming though, what are you even doing here… What am I doing here?" he looked around, realizing that they were in the Fairy Tail guildhall.
"I'm here because I'm the newest proud member of Fairy Tail," Gajeel responded, a sickenly dark grin on show.
"Figures you'd do something like that," Natsu groaned, getting to his feet and stretching skyward. His upper body was on full show, gathering admiring looks from the majority of them.
"Natsu," Erza said, stepping forward, having been forced to calm her rage.
"Titania?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at her.
The guild watched in silence, unsure of what this feeling of tension was from. What was happening with Erza as of late?
"I'm alive, Natsu, as promised," she stated.
"So you are," he nodded nonchalantly, "So y- ah shit." he cursed, realizing what he'd done.
"Look, that wasn't me, that was… The other guy," he said, a terrible attempt to weasel out of his words.
"No, it wasn't," Erza laughed, grabbing his shoulder and bringing him over to where Makarov had an impossibly large grin on show, barely shadowed by the impressive moustache.
"I win, boy," he said quietly, bringing out the contract from the magic council. "This is the decree from the magic council, now sign it," Makarov could barely contain his childlike excitement.
Natsu crossed his arms angrily. "Fuck the magic council," he glared.
"Natsu, this isn't about them, you promised me," Erza told him, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Oh you are so fucked now," Gray laughed quietly to Gajeel who didn't understand what was going on.
Natsu glared for a moment longer before a flame-covered finger slapped the piece of paper in Makarov's hands.
"Natsu Dragneel, Fairy Tail mage!" he laughed loudly, the guild roaring with him.
"He destroyed your guild, you cheer, I messed up a couple of roads and all of a sudden it's pitchforks and torches?" Gajeel asked. His voice was drowned out by the cheering.
"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Mr. King," Mira giggled.
"A ha ha," Natsu said in a seethingly sarcastic tone, glaring at the white-haired mage.
"Listen, geezer, I've thought long and hard about this but guild life, it isn't for me, it's been a good ten seconds and I don't regret my choices, but now, it's time for me to move on and spread my wings. Goodbye Fairy Tail, we'll always have… Well, bad memories of me destroying your guild." Natsu laughed somewhat, having fulfilled his promise to join Fairy Tail.
Shouts of outrage rampaged across the guild as he made his way for the door, "Sorry Natsu, but if you want to leave, you're going to have to fight me for it." Erza told him, firmly stepping in his way.
"Must we do this again?" Natsu sighed heavily, feeling weary and weak after having just woken. "It won't exactly be a fair fight, I have pretty much zero magic left right now."
"Then it will be a quick fight," Erza said, challenging him directly.
"Very well," he huffed, he quickly raised a hand at her, pointing two fingers forward, "Isolation," the spell was cast and the two of them appeared to be frozen, neither moving.
"What just happened?" Lucy asked, blinking to see if she'd missed anything.
"An isolation spell, as the name would suggest. They can move freely in the space around them but until that spell drops it will appear that they aren't moving at all." Makarov grumbled, unhappy that Natsu had tried to outplay him already.
"I thought he said he had no magic left," Lucy pointed out.
"The words 'pretty much zero magic' to a being like Natsu won't translate to what you or I consider to be 'zero', Mira said with a soft sigh of her own, "He could only have enough for a few simple spells or he could still have enough to level the town, we still don't know just how strong he is."
"Yeah, he had his magic bound and started punching the Tower of Heaven, we saw it crumbling." Gray nodded, watching the two impassive figures.
Inside the isolation spell, no combat had occurred. By the time Erza had understood what had happened, Natsu was standing there holding her breastplate, "Won't fight me without this, you can have it back if you let me go. This guild doesn't need someone like me ruining everything." he reasoned.
"I need you, Lucy needs you, even Mira wouldn't be who she is today if you hadn't restored her magic. Don't tell me that this guild doesn't need you, because it does." Erza told him.
There was a harsh silence for a few seconds before he relented, "Fine," he said before the spell dropped. He chucked the breastplate back at her.
"What would you have me do, old man?" Natsu asked grumpily.
"Well, first, your guild mark. This is your commitment to your guild, your new family. It stands as a statement of your honour and integrity, so no more trying to get out of it." Makarov stated.
"Where do you want it?" Mira asked, pulling a small stamp out from below the bar.
"Does it matter?" he asked, still irritated that he'd been emotionally forced to be there.
Without responding, she pushed the stamp into his right shoulder, leaving a vibrant red mark behind, "Red, for the grumpy Fire Dragon," she beamed at him.
"You wear the mask of innocence well, she-devil," he said to her with a grin.
"Next?" he asked, looking back at Makarov.
"Young man…" he stopped short, grumbling for a moment, "Yes, I think I'm going to stick to that, you may be older than most-"
"All."
"-but you have the emotional maturity of the other brats here. So, young man, you are free to do what you wish, you can take jobs, representing Fairy Tail. As a punishment, both you and Gajeel, despite your obvious strengths, are not being given S-Class status, you'll have to earn that when the time comes." Makarov informed them.
"What!?" Gajeel tried to argue.
"And, say I see a particular S-Class job that I like the look of, memorize the details and just… Go and do it, what happens then?" Natsu grinned, already finding ways to get under Makarov's skin.
"Don't be difficult, Natsu, or you may feel the wrath of Law again." Makarov threatened.
'No!' E.N.D. shouted inside his head.
"Fine, then I'm going home. I'll probably be back in a few days, you still have a single brand to summon me if someone else tries to kill you." he waved at them, walking out of the guild. For the first time he was leaving without having the immediate need for combat, it was a strange feeling.
Home. Where was home for him? He had a hideaway hidden deep within the mountains up north, but… that wasn't going to be home for him anymore.
He spared a glance over his shoulder at the guildhall.
"Home?"
A/: Uprising of support from that last chapter, and because I felt motivated, you get a chapter about four days sooner than I'd planned ;)