Alright, another chapter! Things are about to heat up! Get ready for dragon vs dragon combat! This chapter is pretty funny in some parts, so as always, please review and thanks for reading!
Chapter 19: Interrogation
When Natsu awoke, he was lying on something…soft. He frowned. His cave floor didn't feel this good. What was…?
Then he remembered the assassins and sat bolt-upright. As he looked around, he found himself in a human room. Natsu frowned again. He was pretty sure he'd been a dragon when he passed out.
Something was around his neck, though. Natsu looked down and saw a white scarf with scale patterns there.
"It's a magic scarf."
He glanced up to see Layla standing by the door, a relieved look on her face, "The scarf forces a dragon to turn into its human form. We couldn't move you from the square as a dragon, so we used that to turn you back into a human. You've been out for almost a full day."
Natsu rubbed his eyes and sighed, "How're the others?"
"They're fine." Layla told him, "Lucy was quite worried about you, though."
"Is that right?" Natsu snorted.
Layla nodded, "Yes. Actually, she asked to see you when she woke up. Shall I get her?"
Natsu considered, then shrugged, "Sure."
The woman dipped her head and turned to leave, then glanced over her shoulder, "And Natsu? Thank you. You saved our lives."
"Pff. My job is to protect Lucy. You just happened to be in the same place." he said pointedly, looking away from Layla.
Layla smiled knowingly and left the room.
A minute later, Lucy burst in with a gasp.
Natsu raised an eyebrow, "What are you hurrying for?"
"I had to see you!" Lucy caught her breath and slowed down, "I-I mean, I had to thank you for saving me yesterday."
He shrugged, "I was just doing my job."
"Yeah…but…" Lucy bit her lip, "You know, I thought about how I've been treating you since we met, and…I've been a real brat to you. I'm sorry about that."
Natsu was surprised, but he didn't show it. Instead, he grinned, "Well, I guess I earned it after trying to eat you."
"Let's start over." Lucy offered, holding her hand out with a smile, "Lucy Heartfilia. Pleased to meet you."
"Natsu. Promise I won't eat you." he chuckled.
Lucy laughed, then looked over the bandages on his chest and neck, "How do you feel?"
Natsu got up out of bed and ripped the bandages off, noting the scars with little interest, "I feel like I need to fly."
"You might want to meet with the others first." Lucy pointed out, "They were pretty worried."
"And I need to kick Gajeel's ass for knocking me out." Natsu growled, suddenly remembering the Iron Drake's sneak move.
/
The other dragons were more than happy to see Natsu back up to speed.
Once Natsu flew into the Thunder Hall, Erza led the rest of Fairy Tail over to him. Layla was also present.
The Blade Dragonelle let out a sigh of relief, "Good to see you back on your feet. How do you feel?"
Natsu's tail twitched slowly, "Where's Gajeel?"
"He's with Dragion. They're working at the mechanical shop." Levy told him.
"Of course he is." Natsu muttered, then stretched, "So, what's everyone been up too while I was out?"
Wendy shifted her feet, "Well…really, we were just worried about you. Erza went out a few times to check for more attackers with Gray and Gajeel, but that's it. It's only been a day, Natsu."
In the back, Lisanna was keeping quiet, but the blue eyes sent him a silent message: I'm glad you're okay.
At that moment, Gajeel flew in and landed with a loud snort, "So, the sleeping beauty finally wakes up, eh?"
Natsu spun and growled, "I ought to rip that smug look right off your face. What the hell did you knock me out for?!"
Gajeel shrugged, "You're too stubborn for your own good, flame-brain. You would've bled out before you accepted any help, you know that."
"It's none of your business." Natsu snapped.
"You were a part of my team for seven years, punk." Gajeel snarled, "That makes it my business. Excuse me if I don't want one of my comrades to bite the dust just yet."
"Aww." Levy hummed with laughter, "You two are like brothers."
Natsu and Gajeel instantly bristled, "LIKE HELL!"
Erza coughed and spoke up before the two drakes could kill each other, "So now that everyone's alive and well, shall we get down to business? Those two assassins haven't said a word since Natsu and Gajeel captured them. Even Layla hasn't gotten through to them."
"What?" Natsu asked.
Layla frowned, "I'm not all-powerful, Natsu. There are some people who, if trained correctly, can resist Soul Searching. I can't go through their memories."
"So how do we get them to talk?" Levy asked.
Gajeel glanced at Natsu, "Hey, flamer. Whaddya say we go have a talk with these guys?"
Natsu grinned, all conflict forgotten, "Nice idea."
The other dragons looked between the two, confused.
/\/\/\/\/\
After turning back to humans, Natsu and Gajeel were led to where the assassins where being held. It was a guarded building, and the two men were tied up and in solitary confinement.
Erza stopped the two drakes before letting them in, "You've got ten minutes tops. Any longer and we risk them escaping somehow."
"Three max is all we'll need." Gajeel said confidently, before he and Natsu walked into the room to confront the assassins, who were now unbound. The door behind them was closed and locked.
A large window allowed the others to watch the interrogation.
Lucy glanced at Wendy, "What are they going to do?"
"Um…I'm pretty sure you'll see in a second." the little girl replied with a sigh, "But they'll do what they're best at."
"Meaning what?" Lisanna asked.
/
Natsu and Gajeel faced the two assassins, who gazed back coldly.
The Iron Drake crossed his arms, "Alright, bitches, who're you working for?"
The first assassin, the one who was bandaged from being bitten by Natsu, got up in his face and spat, "We're professionals. We don't talk."
Gajeel wiped the saliva off his face and exchanged a dangerous grin with Natsu before looking back to the assassin, "Oh, I hoped you'd say that."
The two men blinked, confused, before Gajeel grabbed the first and punched him in the face. At the same time, Natsu picked up the second by the collar and rammed him into the wall behind.
/
Lucy's jaw dropped as she watched the drakes begin, 'interrogating' the assassins, "Is that even legal?"
"No, it is not." Erza sighed.
/
Gajeel started kicking the first assassin, who was curled up on the ground. Eventually, he got bored with that and grabbed the man's face, then slammed his head repeatedly against the floor.
Meanwhile, Natsu threw the second straight up and crashed him against the ceiling. As the man fell, the Flame Drake brought his knee up between the shoulder blades, and a loud popping sound was heard from the assassin's back.
/
"But I don't think I'm going to go in there and tell them that." Erza added.
"That's what they're best at." Wendy said cheerfully, although she sweat-dropped at the same time.
The others were, to say the least, stunned.
/
The first assassin spat blood on the floor and glared up at Gajeel, "We've got rights, you bastards!"
Gajeel bared his fangs in a sneer, "Not anymore, you piece of shit."
Natsu threw the second with a roar, cracking the glass the outside onlookers were peering through.
The two drakes started moving towards the assassins again, but the men waved their hands frantically, "N-no more! Please!"
"Who are you working for?!" Natsu snarled.
The second man unwisely gulped, "W-well, that's- we can't-"
"I don't like the word, 'Can't'!" Natsu grabbed the man and flipped him, then crushed him into the ground.
The first was smarter, "O-okay, w-we'll talk!"
"Damn right, you will!" Gajeel picked him up by the collar and held him midair, baring sharp fangs in his face, "Spill your guts or I'll spill 'em for you. With one of those pretty little knives you had. I think there was one I didn't already eat."
The man stammered, "J-Jose Porla! He's the guy you want! H-he runs a military unit for the D-dragon Slavers called Phantom L-lord! S-seriously, we were just hired! We don't know anything else!"
"Really?" Natsu demanded, flashing a lethal glare at the second, who cringed and looked away. The Flame Drake punched him again and spat, "Your friend seems to know something else. Tell me right now, or I'll bite you in half for real!"
The assassin blanched and choked, "J-Jose said…he said if we didn't report back-if we failed, he was gonna raid the city…"
Natsu heard him trail off and instantly swung another fist, snarling angrily, "I didn't tell you to stop talking!"
"H-he said he'd bring an attack force after 36 hours! That's all I know! P-please don't eat me!" the man looked like he was going to wet himself.
Gajeel grunted and Natsu dropped the guy, but the Iron Drake pinned the assassins with deadly red eyes, "If you two are lying about any of this, I'm gonna come back here and skin you alive. Got it?"
The assassins bobbed their heads repeatedly in understanding.
Natsu grinned, "Thanks for your time."
/
The two drakes walked out of the room, then found the others staring at them with wide eyes.
Gajeel looked from face to face and shrugged, "What? You said nothing else worked."
"You two just beat the living shit out of trained killers." Elfman managed.
"So? If we ate them, they couldn't talk." Natsu pointed out.
Everyone in the room sweat-dropped at the Flame Drake's logic.
Erza recovered first, "Alright, well the important thing is the information Natsu and Gajeel…beat…out of them. So now we know who's attacking and that they'll be attacking our city in less than twelve hours. That means we need to get ready for battle."
"Juvia knows Jose."
For the first time, Juvia spoke up. The Water Dragonelle looked very uncomfortable talking, but her speech had gotten better with some practice, even if she continued talking in third-person.
Erza offered an encouraging look, "Go on, Juvia."
"J-Jose is a Sorcerer." she said, "He uses Dark Magic. J-Juvia knows he uses it to control dragons. He has three others like Juvia. They'll attack the city."
Mira frowned, "Just three?"
"They're probably trained war dragons." Layla mused, "And if Jose is a Sorcerer, then he can bolster their power. Even just three enhanced dragons can be dangerous. We'll have to defend carefully."
"Hold on." Gajeel interrupted, "Suppose we kill the guy. Then the dragons he sends won't be enhanced anymore, right?"
Layla frowned, "In theory…but I can't say I've ever tried it personally."
"So that's it." Natsu decided, "We find Jose, we kill him, and we take down the three dragons he's got. It's that simple."
/\/\/\/\/\
Natsu spent a few hours or so after the interrogation flying in the skies above and around Magnolia. It was easiest there for him to think, and focus his mind for combat.
Of course, it was also one of the few places he could talk to another dragon in private.
After a couple hours, a white flash caught his eye and Natsu looked up to see Lisanna flying above him. The dragonelle nodded towards the mountaintop above the Thunder Hall, to which Natsu flew in the direction indicated.
The mountaintop hid a small inlet where it was difficult to be seen, unless someone flew overhead.
Not bad, Natsu thought admiringly.
Lisanna landed first and shifted into her human form. Natsu mirrored her and faced the girl for a few moments. The silence between them was…awkward.
"…So, you're going to fight?" she finally asked.
"Yeah." he answered, "It's just something I gotta do."
Lisanna bit her lip, "You could get hurt. We've never fought a Sorcerer before. It's going to be dangerous."
Natsu grinned, "I raided your territory for seven years and you're worried about me being in danger?"
"You were hurt by the assassins the other day." she pointed out.
He shrugged, "It was just a scratch. I would've been fine, but Gajeel likes to do things his way. It's his fault for making such a big deal about it."
"Do you have to fight?" Lisanna asked, "Is that all you've ever done?"
Natsu fixed her with a serious look, "Fighting is what I do. It's kept me alive all these years. Heck, it's probably why Makarov let me stay in the first place. If he knew the fight was coming to you guys, he probably guessed you'd need some extra help."
Lisanna watched him closely, "There's more to life than just fighting, Natsu. Don't you know that?"
He chewed his lip thoughtfully for a moment, trying to figure out how to reply. Natsu finally shook his head, "I guess…It's more like I know of that. I've just never had a chance to know anything else since my parents died. After that, it was just one battle after another."
She nodded slightly, as though confirming something. Lisanna looked back up and met the dark eyes with ease, "You never answered me the other night. What'd you tell Lucy?"
Natsu didn't look away as he replied, "I told her if I wanted to care about you, then I would."
Lisanna held his gaze, then looked away. She bit her lip, "Natsu, you know how the Thunders are. This can't happen- us."
"You know what else I told Lucy?" he added.
She tilted her head curiously, "What?"
"Rules are just a suggestion." Natsu murmured.
Lisanna stared at him, then a small smile found its way onto her face. She walked up to Natsu and took his hands. They were rough, just like she'd thought, but also gentle. Lisanna leaned up a little and whispered close to his face, "You know, Natsu, you're a pretty good sweet talker."
Natsu wasn't uncomfortable with their proximity, he just wasn't sure what to do. He had no idea how humans did that kissing thing, but…
"But,"
Before he could lean in, Lisanna put a finger over his lips and smiled mischievously, "You're not quite good enough. Not yet."
She gave him a quick hug instead and walked away a ways before turning back into a dragon, then flying off into the darkening sky.
Natsu rolled his eyes and grinned widely, "Cheeky little tigress."