Chapter Twenty
Up and Down
Natsu landed with a soft thud, about to leap to another ledge a few floors above when his eyes caught sight of a horrendous volume of pink, shades in the multitudes.
Moreover, taking a closer look, he saw what had to be at least fifty separate pieces of feline decor.
"Well, if he isn't in here then he isn't here at all." Natsu mused, deftly vaulting through what probably should have been a window.
He expected that after his attack on Fukuro, there wouldn't be much glass left standing.
"Happy! Buddy, are you in here?" He asked, scanning the room despite the offending colours.
"Vidaldus takes the lead, recruiting the tag along against the Celestial mage!" Jellal's voice erupted into existence.
"Seriously!?" He almost couldn't believe it, "I've been gone for literally less than a minute!" He leaned back out of what was once a window, shouting as loud as he could, hoping that she would hear his cries, "Do better!"
"Nya!" A cute voice sounded behind him.
He slowly turned back around, eyeing two new people in the room.
"Uh, room service?" He asked, sarcasm seeping through.
"Well now, that wouldn't be dandy, would it?" The man asked, clocking back the firing hammer of a small, well-kept revolver. It was only then that Natsu noticed the man was made entirely of dead straight blocks. A polygonal human.
"Ya dig?" He added.
"No," Natsu couldn't help but break into a laugh that he'd tried in vain to contain, "No, I don't think I do. Could you run it by me again?" He was almost doubling over, his composure a thing of the past.
Bang.
The bullet hit him in the chest, pushing his torso back slightly.
"Ow." He said, catching the shell that had ricocheted off of him. "That wasn't dandy," he added through gritted teeth.
Natsu glared, rolling the shell between his fingers, raising his hand towards the blocky aggressor, "Dig?" He asked, flicking the shell almost as fast as the gun, picking the man's sunglasses clean off his face, clipping an ear on its way past.
"Milliana!" He cried out, calling the woman into action.
"In-cat-ceration!" Ropes sprung out around her, zoning in on Natsu who wasn't sure what to expect until they made contact and he could feel the inner workings of binding magic at play.
"Cute pun," he smiled, "but this isn't effective against… ag-hey, it works." He said in amazement, clicking his fingers to summon flames but seeing nothing happen, "You're pretty strong." He said, nodding respectfully.
"Unfortunately," he swiped his hand through the air, coiling the rope around his arm before tugging hard, pulling Milliana over to him. He grabbed her mid-air, holding her to his body, "It can only cut off my magic and any strength which is a direct result of a person's magic, your rope isn't going to bind my strength." He almost whispered, his face inches from hers.
"Who are you?" She whimpered, eyes impossibly wide. Her breath hitched painfully in her throat as she took in everything about him. His extremely powerful gaze, the smoky scent that followed him around. It was intoxicating to her.
"The Salamander, Dragon Slayer." He answered, pulling his free hand away and snapping the rope. Unfortunately, the part of the rope that was still attached to him had closed in on itself, wrapping to form a pair of perfect cuffs around his wrists, keeping the binding magic active.
"That's not how I thought that was going to go, alright, time for plan B," he sighed.
"What's plan-" Just before Natsu had the chance to enact his 'plan b' attack, Jellal's voice cut through yet again.
"I may have neglected to inform you all that within an hour the magic council plans to fire the Etherion satellite down on the tower, so win or lose if we're still playing our game when that happens, well… it will be a bad day for everyone."
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit-" Natsu said, dropping Milliana to the floor and backtracking to the window. He spared the second it took him to jab at the blocky man's face, sending him to the ground before vaulting back out the window and free-falling the distance back down to where Lucy and Juvia were battling each other.
"Natsu!" Happy called out, shooting through the window after the descending Dragon.
"Happy! Hey there buddy, I came looking for you but things are taking a turn for the worse, we need to get back to the ground as quickly as possible!" He explained, streamlining his body with Happy holding onto his shoulders, the two of them aiming for the spot Natsu had started to climb up the tower.
Sure enough, after no more than a few seconds they were back down on the ground, walking through the hole in the wall at the exact moment he saw Lucy summon one of her Zodiac Spirits.
"Juvia, what are you doing!?" Gray burst in from the opposite corridor, followed by a large burly man with a metal face apparatus covering his mouth.
"Open, gate of the Aquarius Palace!"
Celestial light erupted in the hallway, revealing the aforementioned Spirit who took seconds to defeat the mind-controlled water mage and obliterate the musical assassin, taking all of them to the ground with absolute force.
"You summoned me out of that!?" Aquarius demanded, looking disgusted at the knowledge.
"The next time you do something like that, girl, I will kill you!" Aquarius promised, a deadly look on her face.
"Ahem, I'm all for whatever this is, but time is a bit of a factor. I really, really don't want to get hit with the Etherion blast." Natsu interrupted, walking up to the Spirit and mage.
"Silence, mortal, before I-" Aquarius went dead silent, her expression turning to that of stone.
"How dare you!" She snapped, at last, slapping Natsu across the face.
"That wasn't me!" He said, not even tracking what it was that he was being accused of.
"Who else could from this world could leave a burnt handprint on my home?" She asked rhetorically.
"Hah, that's funny, that's what the old geezer said as well." He laughed which quickly turned into a cough, "I mean that could be any number of dimension-hopping fire-wielding mages, there's probably loads of them!" Natsu tried.
"Yeah, and how many of them would know to char my temple?" She asked, crossing her arms, glaring down at him with such venom.
"You have a temple?" Lucy asked incredulously but was ignored.
Aquarius slapped him again, "Damn Selerius, what was that one for?"
"My name is Aquarius, and you said you'd take me out on another date!" the Spirit was almost vibrating with anger.
"Really, to both things?" He cocked a brow before suddenly remembering why he was in a rush. "Wait, I don't have time for this, but, you know… Raincheck?" He asked with a suave look at the Spirit.
"Pig." She sneered before vanishing,
"What's going on, and why is he here? Gray, he's the one that tried to stab you." Juvia whispered, cradling her head ever so slightly.
"I know, we've got a lot to explain but there's no time. Once Etherion is fired this whole tower will be entirely wrecked, along with everyone in it." Simon explained.
"We've got to leave, now. Wally and Milliana are on their way down. Salamander, it's up to you, you're the only one who can get to Erza, you must stop Jellal, she can't do it." Simon assured, shaking his head at the concept.
"I don't know whether or not that good eye needs a prosthetic as well as your jaw, but Titania is stronger than everyone here, probably combined. She doesn't need me." Natsu shrugged, crossing his arms neutrally.
"She cannot defeat Jellal!" He shouted, "he was the one who betrayed Erza, it's not a question of strength for her, she will never be able to bring herself to fight against him and do what's necessary. You are the only one who can do this, we don't have the time to argue about it! Once Milliana is here she can remove those magic binds and you can face Jellal."
"No time for that, Happy, go and grab those two idiots from upstairs, seems they aren't all that bad, just misguided. The rest of you, get out of here, now! I've seen the Etherion being fired before, you will not survive it. Go, move!" He ordered them all. With a collection of nods, they broke off down the hallway, heading to the docks where Simon had stashed a boat.
"And now, the main event, thanks for playing Salamander, but now I think your death is approaching," Jellal spoke.
"He either has terrible timing, or really good timing and he's just a huge asshole." Natsu groaned as Ajax stepped out of the shadows, slowly clapping.
"From what I've seen, it's a healthy mix of both." The shadow mage smiled warmly.
"Salamander." He greeted curtly.
"Asshole." Natsu greeted back.
"Skipping the pleasantries, very well. Shall we dance?" The smile vanished and he advanced on the entire group, liking his chances now that Natsu's magic had been bound. He'd waiting this entire time simply for this one specific chance.
"Etherion is going to fire on the tower soon." Natsu's face softened somewhat, "so I guess I have some time to spare with you." They clashed, Ajax dodging Natsu's punch by fading midstep.
"Come now, I thought you'd be tougher than this, even without your magic." Ajax taunted and teased.
"Dragon Slayer magic wasn't something that I slowly learned over time, it was something that became my very essence. My magic might have been bound, but the core of who I am can never be changed." Natsu responded, stepping away from the various shadows that weren't affected by the torches on the wall, those were the ones that Ajax was manipulating.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ajax looked confused, waiting for something unexpected to happen. He knew that even in a situation like this, a man like the Salamander would always have something new to bring to the fight.
"It means I'm glad that no one is around to see this, I got lucky last time… and then incredibly unlucky." He frowned at the painful memory.
Natsu took a deep breath, closing his eyes, "Purgatory." The walls around them turned a sickening shade of crimson, blood began oozing from every crack and seam. Faint screams of pain and torture could be heard echoing around them.
"What is this!?" Ajax stepped back, heart thumping furiously in his chest. Pure fear and terror invaded every one of his senses. This was Hell, it was the purest vision of Hell. "Your magic is bound, I can feel the spell in those ropes from here, how are you doing this, Salamander!?" He demanded.
"This isn't magic, Ajax. It's a curse." He answered, his voice beginning to take on a darkness that shouldn't be possible.
Ajax vanished, all traces of him gone completely. He'd been scared away from the Tower of Heaven.
Natsu let the curse power drop, the hallway returning to normal. "He'll be back, the guy is a fucking cockroach," Natsu swore, running back to the hole in the wall, guessing how much strength he'd need to get to the peak of the tower in minimal time.
"Hey, Natsu!" That friendly feline voice came to him, "Gray didn't think it would take you long to deal with that guy and that you might need a lift up!" He beamed, truly worthy of his namesake.
"I hate that he's right, but he's right. To the top of the sky Happy, then you can drop me and go back to the others, make sure everyone gets far enough away from here, just in case I can't get out in time, the Etherion blast will destroy everything around. Got that?" Natsu asked, taking to the skies with lightning speed.
"Aye, sir!"
A/N: Probably not a new chapter, it's the weekend and I've only written half of it. Shouldn't rush that one.