Okay, so I want to apologize for taking so long to write this chapter. Writer's block is a bitch. It doesn't help that the few times I started to write, I hated what I had and started over, either. But I have powered through it and managed to come up with this chapter that I now present to you (after my disclaimer of course).
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail. I do not own these characters. I do not own the story idea, at least not entirely. Then again, someone else may have had the same ideas I did. Eh, how about I don't own anything in this story. Is that a good enough disclaimer?
Chapter 11.
Expositions (Part 2.)
"Ah there you are Natsu. I found a spell that should work in regards to helping you gain the Earth element for your magic."
Makarov commented as he sat down at the bar beside the pink haired dragon slayer. Two weeks had passed since he had started his search. He'd have brought it up sooner, but Natsu hadn't been back to the guild hall since they decided to help him become an Earth Dragon Slayer. Of course that was because Gildarts had taken to visiting him, Cana, and Koharu every day, with every other day being spent helping Natsu train up his endurance.
"If you've got the time, we can step outside now and get on with it. If not, I'd appreciate it if you came by the house after the guild has shut down for the night. The sooner I can start learning Earth Dragon Slayer magic the better."
Natsu replied after he finished off his drink.
"I'm inclined to agree with you. Should we have Wendy on stand by just in case?"
"Nah. It's a pretty simple process really. But it would be better to go further into the forest than the training area. Once my magic container has fully adapted to the new element, it'll force me into Dragon Force to quickly alter my body to allow for me to safely ingest it to restore my magic. I haven't mastered that power yet, so I won't be able to instantly cancel it and will probably have to sling around a fair bit of magic to tire myself out and power down."
"I see."
The two spoke back and forth as they left the guild hall through the back door. The guild was already located on the edge of the forest, so they didn't have to go too far into the woods. But they did go in quite a bit deeper than most of the guild would when they came out to the training area.
"I do need to stand back about twenty feet or so to give the spell the distance it needs to work properly and still be aimed accurately."
Makarov said as he gestured for Natsu to stand still so he could step out far enough. When Natsu nodded that he was ready, the short elderly mage let his magic flair briefly.
"Earthen Construct: Boulder Barrage Cannon."
He calmly incanted, before his magic caused the ground right in front of him to become malleable and mold itself into the shape of a cannon, somewhat similarly to Gray's Ice Make magic. Then with a thunderous roar of sound the first shot launched right at Natsu's face. It managed to travel about a foot from the canon before another shot was let loose. Again and again the canon fired.
Because he was controlling the size of the spell, the resulting projectiles were stones that were slightly larger than a watermelon. Had Natsu been a normal person it would be an issue, but his part dragon body gave him the ability to unhinge his jaw like a snake, allowing him to easily fit the small boulders in his mouth.
For a solid five minutes Natsu swallowed the rocks and devoured the magic of the spell. True to his words, the process threw him into Dragon Force. When the diminutive guild master noticed the changes to the younger wizards body, he cut off the spell.
On his part Natsu was marveling at the changes that having a second element had caused to his most powerful form. Before, the few times he'd been forced into it, his skin became scaled with crimson scales and his finger nails lengthened into short claws while his eyes became reptilian slits. But now?
The scales closest to his heart were still crimson, but as they traveled down his arms and legs the color lightened and dulled to a muddy reddish orange. His nails still grew out, but they weren't as long now, though they were slightly thicker than before. He didn't have a mirror but he assumed his eyes still became slits. Not to mention he had grown taller. It wasn't a huge difference but it was enough that someone that was particularly observant could easily notice. Without confirming it, he would guess that it was an inch and a half, to two inches that he grew.
However, what was far more noticeable was that he bulked up a touch as well. While he had been fairly well muscled, his muscles were heavily toned allowing him to be compact yet contain explosive power. Now however his body type was completely different. His shoulders were more broad, and his arms and legs were thicker, showcasing both more and larger muscles; though he instinctively knew that his body was still just as toned as it had been.
"Right well, I'll have to give myself a more thorough examination later. For now I need to blow some magic."
He finally said after a moment, only to discover that his voice became a bit rougher as well. Makarov didn't notice but he did nod that it would be a good idea to go study the changes after he had acclimated to the new body shape and magic use.
"Earth Dragon's Pulverizing Fist!"
Going through the same motions for his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist, but actively focusing on his new earth magic for now, Natsu punched the closest tree.
In response to his attack, the tree had a hole drilled clean through it. As did the tree behind it. Seeing the results of the one attack, Makarov raised an eyebrow. He'd never seen Natsu fighting while using Dragon Force so he wasn't sure if the damage was because of the new element or if it was something that was normal for the ability.
Natsu just whistled at the sight. Then he turned to another tree.
"Earth Dragon's Quaking Stomp!"
Stomping harshly, Natsu smirked when a series of stone pillars rose from the ground growing rapidly and lanced through the tree.
"Alright. Now to see how this new version of Dragon Force affects my Fire magic."
He muttered before sucking in a large breath. Leaning back he spewed an absolutely gigantic torrent of flames into the air. Visually aside from being able to release a large burst of flames it was the same as normal. But he could feel the magic was more potent, which he had forgotten would be the case. Igneel had warned him that in gaining another element, he would forcefully increase the size of his magic container.
"Natsu my boy that's a rather impressive attack you've got there. Would your roar be the same size with your new element?"
Makarov wondered as he watched, somewhat enthralled by the younger mage's display. Shrugging, the pink haired man took another breath.
"Earth Dragon's Roar!"
A swirl of magic burst forth. Thanks to his keen eyes, Natsu saw that a good chunk of his roar was made of grains of sand and dust. Of course there were pebbles, stones, and boulders of all sizes as well, creating a rather terrifying image. If he were to roar for five minutes straight, Natsu was certain that the person hit by his attack would have their skin torn to shreds by the grains of sand, the small pebbles and stones would embed themselves into the person, and the larger boulders would break and crush their bones.
Cutting off his spell with that thought, he shuddered again.
"Note to self, only use my roar in Dragon Force against things that are more sturdy than humans."
He said quietly before unleashing one last attack.
"Earth and flame… Bring them together in my hands… Fire and Earth Dragon's Meteor Shot!
A large stone the size of Natsu's chest appeared in front of him, completely coated in flames. With a guttural growl he launched it into the distance. When it finally collided with a tree it caused an explosion that dwarfed even the most violent of explosions he'd caused with just his Fire magic alone.
"Well shit. I wasn't expecting that much power."
He commented with a blink after he saw the damage caused by the combination of his two elements.
"Natsu, I'm going to have to ask you not to combine your magics when fighting. The results could be disastrous."
Makarov stated as he approached, having noticed Natsu's magic settling down as the dragon slayer reverted back to normal from his partially transformed state.
"Yeah. I think unless it's a life threatening situation, I'll stick with using one or the other while in Dragon Force."
"Oh? Does it really amplify your magic that much?"
"Before with just one element, I'd say Dragon Force quadrupled my magic's potency. Now? It's at least ten times more potent. In other-words take what we just saw and scale it down by a factor of ten."
Nodding his head as he thought about it, Makarov frowned.
"Yes, I see what you mean. It should be safe for others then. But I'm still going to ask you not to unless it's an emergency. We can barely afford the bills from the damage you brats cause, becoming more destructive is only going to make things worse."
Yet the dragon slayer just chuckled. Realizing that Natsu would do what he wanted, the guild master couldn't help but groan. When they got back to the guild hall, Natsu headed straight to the infirmary, while Makarov told Wendy about the changes that gaining a second element had caused before returning to his office for paperwork.
-XXxxXxXxxXX-
"Maybe the change in appearance will help others understand that you've 'matured'. At least in their eyes, since none of them ever figured out that you were only acting that way."
Cana suggested when he returned to their home and told her about what he and Wendy had learned after examining him to see what his new magic had done. Natsu nodded in agreement.
"True. Before my size and body type made me look more like a rather sporty teenager. Now? I do look more like a young adult."
"Right. So what's the plan now? I mean how does this affect your training, and when are you going to use that lacrima Igneel gave you?"
The pink haired man tilted his head and tapped his chin in thought about how to answer her questions. After a few minutes he opened his mouth to speak.
"Well… These changes mean that grandmother and I can up the intensity of our training, so they put us a bit ahead of schedule. As for the lacrima… When grandmother gets back from whatever it is she's doing, she, Wendy, and I will be visiting Porlyusica and the three of them will implant it."
"I'd go with you, but I don't think it would be a good thing for Koharu to see, and I'd rather not leave her alone, or with anyone else just yet."
His girlfriend quickly interrupted.
"Yeah, she's still a bit shy and wary of the others. Well, aside from Wendy at least. She loves Wendy almost as much as she loves us."
Natsu stated with a grin.
"Anyway… After I've had the lacrima implanted, I'll be training daily. One day will be physically with either grandmother, your dad when he's around, or one of the other slayers. The next day I'll be meditating, and communicating with Igneel and hopefully Tektari as well, getting lessons from them. To avoid overworking myself, I'll take the weekends off from training."
"Good. Especially seeing as how once she's more comfortable with Mira, I was wanting to see if she'd babysit Koharu so we could go on a date once in a while. Having the weekends free for something like that means we can plan ahead better. Oh, and speaking of my dad. Tell him he didn't need to leave 150,000 jewels next time you see him. We could go another five months before one of us absolutely has to take a job to keep us out of the negative."
"You know he did it as part of his attempts to make up for lost time."
Natsu retorted with a chuckle.
-XXxxXxXxxXX-
It had been tough to get Porlyusica to agree to implant the lacrima in him. In the end it took Selene explaining to the pink haired woman the full reasoning behind why they were doing it. While she still didn't want to do the procedure, she understood it was necessary and agreed to help implant the lacrima.
The easiest way to get it where they wanted was to have Natsu lay on his stomach and go through his back to place it just above his stomach. As they were doing that, Natsu had meditated and used the Link Format spell that Elefseria had taught him. Diving into his magic container to talk with Igneel, Natsu eagerly awaited the results of the lacrima being used.
"I've been wondering Igneel… I know the dusty brown color here represents Earth magic, and the fiery orange represents Fire magic. But what does the crimson represent?"
He knew it would be a while before Tektari's soul appeared in his magic container and he could converse with her and Igneel freely, so Natsu decided to learn more about his magic potential as they waited.
"Let's just say I've been sworn to secrecy on the matter, as the person responsible for it being there wanted to explain it to you when the time was right."
"So you were asked to raise me, unlike the other dragons who chose to raise their slayers on their own."
"I was asked to yes, but only after you and I had met. I wish I could tell you more, but it's someone else's responsibility."
Igneel replied. The pink haired man frowned, but accepted his adoptive father's words.
"It wouldn't have to do with the fact I can't seem to master my flames enough for pyrokinesis would it?"
"In a way, yes. The only thing I can tell you about the crimson coloring your magic container here, is that it is a different form of Fire magic."
That made Natsu turn to face the dragon full on.
"A different form of Fire magic you say?"
"Yes. As for how it is preventing you from learning pyrokinesis… Well you've focused on Fire Dragon Slayer magic so much that you've neglected this other magic, to the point that you are instinctively holding yourself back. Your very own magic will not allow you to master Fire Dragon Slayer magic without at least learning the basics of this other Fire magic."
"Because they're both forms of Fire magic, I can't master one without the other?"
"Exactly."
"And since you can't tell me more, I doubt it'll be easy to find out without meeting the person that entrusted me to you."
Natsu said with a sigh of frustration.
"While that is true, you don't need to worry about never finding out. Even if you've never met him, I'm sure he's been keeping an eye on you. You'll learn about your past before I started raising you by the time you present yourself for the Trial of Dragons."
Igneel tried to console him. Before Natsu could reply however, there was a rumble that shook them. Looking around the two of them were treated to the sight of a glowing white orb the size of the lacrima that had been implanted in him. The orb expanded, molding and shaping itself into a form that was very familiar to Igneel.
The dragoness' head was shaped as if it had been made from a triangular slab of stone, with massive yellow crystals spanning between her ivory horns, as if crowning her. Trailing down her spine were smaller yellow crystals, arranged in such a way that it appeared more like a special armor as they splayed out over her back. Her limbs were just as thick and sturdy looking as her neck, with ragged spiky blades of stone protectively guarding the joints. Unlike Igneel and Selene, Tektari's front limbs ended with the same paw like shape as her back limbs. Her tail ended in cylindrical bar of crystal, shaped similarly to a sledgehammer.
"Igneel my mate, it has been far too long."
She spoke; her voice strong, yet muffled as if she was speaking through a wall.
"Indeed it has Tektari. How aware have you been while your lacrima lay dormant and unused?"
"Aware enough to know that the young man beside you is your adoptive son and chosen heir for the throne."
She replied with a snort before ambling closer to get a better look at two of them. Her eyes widened when she felt the newly made connection between her and Natsu. Then she felt his power.
"We've got our work cut out for us don't we, Igneel?"
"If you're referring to keeping him from transforming like Acnologia and Irene, then no, not quite."
For a moment the female dragon was confused. The the light of understanding glinted in her eyes.
"How long until he takes the Trial of Dragons then?"
"Now that you're here and able to help me, we can prolong the deadline for two years. Luckily for us, as a lacrima that has become part of him by that point, the trials won't throw your soul out like it will me."
"I can see that he has the potential for multiple magics. Has he started to learn beyond what you've taught him?"
She inquired after looking around to get a better grasp of the full situation. Igneel merely chuckled and gestured for Natsu to speak.
"Thanks to a friend I was able to make use of the dragon slayer ability to gain another element. Having talked with Igneel about it, I decided to learn Earth Dragon Slayermagic before using your lacrima as it would give me a better sense of control. Aside from that I don't have any true skills in other types of magic, just specific spells that I learned for specific purposes."
"Such as?"
"I learned a spell known as 'Sleep Pulse' in order to help me raise my good friend Happy. I don't know if they ever existed here in Earthland, but in the alternate universe known as Edolas, his species is known as Exceeds."
"I have heard of them, and I can see why you would learn Sleep magic for the purpose of raising the young. Any other examples?"
"The 'Self Transfigure' spell. I don't remember my exact reason for learning it, but it's come in handy at times to cheer my friends up."
"That's good. It means you'll have an easier time returning to your human form once you've completed the Trial of Dragons and become the Dragon King, as you'll likely end up going through Dragonification during the trial."
"I learned the 'Link Format: Connection of The Mind' in order to talk with Igneel and now you. I have also considered learning to create a pocket dimension. Igneel did leave me his hoard along with scales and talons from both of you if I ever wanted to make armor or weapons after all."
Here Igneel cut in.
"While I would like to discuss how to continue your training and preparing you for the trials ahead, I think it would be best if you woke up now and showed your friends that helped implant the lacrima that you are okay."
Natsu sighed as he agreed with his adoptive father. Waving as he said he'd see the two dragons later, Natsu cut off the magic powering his spell that allowed him to communicate with the dragons and opened his eyes.
"Ah good you're awake. Now get out."
Porlyusica practically barked at him when she saw the young man sit up from where he'd been resting. Chuckling lightly at her normal attitude, Natsu rose from the bed he'd been laying on. Wendy would have chided him and made him lay back down while she made sure he was alright, but he was moving so fluidly that she didn't think the operation to implant the lacrima had caused any issues.
Gesturing for his grandmother and Wendy to follow him, Natsu moved towards the door. Just before leaving Porlyusica's home he turned back towards the pink haired witch.
"I know you prefer your peace and quiet, but we really do appreciate all your help when it comes to healing the guild."
Normally Porlyusica would mutter to herself about not needing to be thanked or appreciated when one of the guild members said it before chasing them off with her broom. This time however was different. She had a tired look in her eye when she turned to face him once more.
"I know. I'm just not sure I can do it for much longer. I've grown old and weary. Tell Makarov that next time you see him. Maybe it'll remind him he's not young anymore either so he'll stop being so damned foolhardy."
"I'll tell him."
Natsu said, waving over his shoulder as he continued out the door.
-XXxxXxXxxXX-
"Clearly you have something you wanted to tell me, but don't want him to know just yet. Speak Igneel."
Tektari commented a few moments after Natsu's mental projection left the two dragons.
"It's not so much that I don't want him to know, and more along the lines of I was forced to swear an oath that someone else will tell him about it."
"I see. What stupid and foolhardy thing did you do this time?"
The female dragon replied in exasperation.
"Acnologia was actively hunting our kind down. He'd grown strong enough to steal part of my soul even. It was a very dangerous time."
Tektari only narrowed her eyes at him.
"What. Did. You. Do?"
"I came across a young man on a rampage. It was clear that something was wrong and he'd lost control of himself. It was a bit of a tough fight, but I managed to subdue him. Shortly after the fight ended a man approached me. We made a deal."
Igneel closed his eyes as he thought back to that fateful day.
"The man was a mage by the name of Zeref. During Acnologia's rampage, he had destroyed Zeref's hometown and slaughtered everyone but him. His younger brother was killed in an accident caused by Acnologia's attack. He managed to save and bind his brother's soul before making a deal with the Demon Xaphan."
"Xaphan was dying. The deal they made was Zeref and Xaphan would combine their magical prowess to create a flesh golem. Because his unstable magic was the cause of his declining health, Xaphan split his magical essence, implanting his Fire Demon magic in the golem. Zeref with Xaphan coaching him, managed to connect his brother's soul to the golem, essentially creating a revival ritual."
"I'd bet Ankhseram wasn't happy with that."
Tektari commented as she started to get a picture of what had happened.
"No, no he was not. Zeref was cursed with both immortality and the Contradictory Curse for it. His brother on the other hand… When he awoke after the revival, the Fire Demon's power was too much and he lost control, rampaging through the land."
"And you stopped him. So Zeref asked you to keep an eye on his brother and prevent him from rampaging again?"
"Yes and no. I stopped Natsu yes. Then Zeref approached and together we sealed the Fire Demon magic away in Natsu's body until he had grown strong enough to control it. Because of his curse he couldn't raise his brother anymore and thanks to the seals we had placed on him, the boy would have no memories from before he woke up again anyway. So I gave Zeref an idea."
Igneel actually shrank back from his mate before he continued.
"Because of Zeref's talent with magic I was certain he could pull it off. But I offered a deal. I would take his brother and raise him as my own. In return Zeref would build a magical gate that could be powered by our friend Anna Heartfilia's Celestial magic. The gate would use the power of the stars to tear open a portal between different time periods."
"In other words, you would take care of his brother for him if he would give dragons a way to escape Acnologia's rampage?"
The Earth Dragon inquired with a glare. Of course she wasn't really angry. Igneel was the Dragon King after all. He had to do something for his people to prevent their slaughter. But she enjoyed making him flinch in fear despite the fact he was almost three times stronger than she was, both physically and magically.
"Yes. Unfortunately by the time the gate was ready, none of the children were strong enough to survive the trip through time. Because of that, our plans to seal ourselves inside of them to create the antibodies that would stop Dragonification were sped up to the point we never got the chance to tell the children about it."
"Natsu at least has been in contact with you. Have the other slayers that exist been in contact with their dragons?"
Igneel's mate wondered.
"Not all of them. Or at the very least not that Natsu and I are aware of. I've seen everything Natsu has, so I know for a fact that Grandeeney and Metalicanna have been in contact with their slayers. The three of them learned how to speak with us at the same time you see. But Natsu hasn't yet run into any of the other dragons children."
"And because you made the oath not to tell Natsu, he can't learn Fire Demon magic until his brother approaches him, which clearly hasn't happened yet or his magic container here would appear far different."
"Zeref will approach Natsu before he takes the Trial of Dragons. Of that I have no doubt."
"If you are sure… Now then. Why did Natsu feel somewhat familiar even without taking your influence into consideration?"
That question made Igneel smirk.
"You know how if you were to use transformation magic to take your human form and then get pregnant while in human form your child would be born as a human?"
"His mother was a dragon?!"
"Grandmother actually. Not only that, but his grandmother is someone you know well."
Tektari's tail slashed through the air before whacking Igneel upside the head.
"Just tell me already!"
"Natsu is the grandson of the moon dragon Selene."
"The former alpha of my mother's den?"
"Yes."
"Well then. No wonder he's on the verge of Dragonification already."
"Our job is to slow the process down long enough for Selene and his new found family to help him grow strong enough to endure the pain the process causes without going insane like Acnologia did, so that he can take the Trial of Dragons and excise me from his magic container so that the transformation doesn't kill both of us."
Once more Tektari thwacked her mate upside the head with her tail.
"Of course it is. Do you really think I would let you die that easily? Now does Selene know the full story about how you came to be Natsu's adoptive father?"
"No. She hasn't tried to contact me either since she learned that I took Natsu in. I think she's more focused on building a relationship with him at the moment."
"Alright. Now get me caught up on his life and what he's learned so I know what to work with him on."