I didn't really want to take this long, but I wanted the fight to come off as an extremely long and hard fought battle. I wanted Natsu to be pushed beyond his current limits, to show his growth from the start of the story, but to show that he still has a ways to go. I mean he is far stronger than the canon version of him would be in this situation, and especially so at this point and time in the story-line (this is still before the S-class trials after all). But I don't want to make him the strongest character in the story or make him steam roll absolutely everything just yet. He needs the challenge after all. Anyway, here's the disclaimer so we can move on to the story.
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 13.
Creating a New Magic
The three demons could only stare at the pillar of flames that enveloped the pink haired dragon slayer. To think he'd been holding back such a skill was concerning. While he wouldn't be able to outright kill them because Tartaros' guild master held their books, he could destroy their bodies which would cause them to have to reform slowly under Keyes' watchful eyes, which would be extremely unpleasant.
"I think this is about to become much more fun."
Jackal muttered as his adrenaline haze increased even more, preventing him from thinking rationally. Vesta was truly concerned for his health now. After all he was already close to his full power, and the fight was ramping up to the point he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep up. Silver however nodded.
'Good. We can see his full potential and he's got the strength to survive long enough for help to patch him up when we finally pull back.'
None of them noticed the subtle changes that were occurring to the flames being generated by the Fire Dragon Slayer. After all they were more focused on the power they felt coming off of him, rather than the wildly quality the fire had gained, nor the red tinge that edged the flames. For his part Natsu noticed something different with his fire, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it other than the fact it felt much more dangerous to his surroundings.
As the plume of fire died down, he lunged towards the three demons, cratering the ground under his feet with each step.
"Fire Dragon's Scorching Iron Fist!"
Was all Jackal heard before he found himself folded in half and sailing through the air. A split second after he hit Jackal, Natsu turned towards Vesta, "Earth Dragon's Javelin!" and with a flip he kicked a jagged lance of stone at the fire demon.
"Ice Devil's Laughter."
Silver attacked, trying to pin the dragon slayer down so that Jackal could get back into the fight. The less effort he and Jackal had to expend before returning to the guild the better after all. Natsu tanked through the attack because he saw the blond demon charging him.
"That's more like it," Natsu grinned as he caught Jackal's incoming punch and swung the blonde demon into the ground. It didn't seem to bother him much however as the demon still managed to create a large explosion where his fist was in contact with Natsu's palm.
"Explosion Wave."
"Fire Hawk."
From the ground Jackal created a pillar of explosions that lifted Natsu into the air. Capitalizing on the opening his fellow demon created, Vesta launched a fiery bird at Natsu, grinning madly as he still managed to burn the slayer, despite the increased defenses from Dragon Force.
"Earth Dragon's Roar!"
They heard a moment after Natsu crashed to the ground. Silver froze what came his way easily while Jackal used an explosion to jump to safety. Vest tried to increase the heat of his fire to melt what came his way, but it was too much for him, shredding through his body despite his defenses.
"Fuck you Dragneel! I'll slaughter you!"
The fire demon cried out as he forcefully regenerated himself once again.
Natsu's answer was to stomp harshly, creating a massive crater where he stood. Of course that wasn't all that happened after all. Vesta was situated right on the edge of the crater so his balance was precarious as the ground shook, preventing him from jumping away when the indented ground became ringed with spikes of earth.
Impaled in several spots the fire demon raged as his body once again became fire. Only he and Natsu noticed that it took him longer to do so, and that it took longer to reform his body without the damage compared to the previous times.
"Earth Dragon's Crushing Talon!"
"Fire Lion!"
Vesta countered in a panic. The flaming lion bit into Natsu's shoulder and tore him away from the fire demon and shook him like a rag-doll. As he'd been doing Jackal took advantage of the opening he'd been given and nailed Natsu with a heavy fist to the chest, creating a large explosion that sent the pink haired man spiraling into a pile of rubble.
"With the flames of a fire dragon in my left hand, and the stones of an earth dragon in the right…. Bring them together… Volcanic Dragon's Meteor Shot!"
Natsu chanted as he pulled himself free, using a spell he'd been told to rename to better fit the combination of elements it was made of. He grinned when all three demons groaned in pain as the giant chunk of flaming rock exploded into shrapnel that hit all of them. Taking in a breath he unleashed a massive plume of flame.
"Fire Dragon's Blazing Roar!"
While he was aiming to hit Jackal with the Roar, He made it wide enough that it would hit Vesta as well, though he didn't think it would do much. However Natsu was wrong as Vesta cried out in terror.
Jackal didn't really care about Vesta, but he swiped his arm and created a large explosion right in front of Natsu, yet below the cone of flames that he was unleashing, causing the Fire Dragon Slayer to be thrown into the one wall that wasn't a complete pile of rubble yet.
"Ice Devil's Rage."
Silver attacked, putting more power behind it than normal. Jackal helped keep the dragon slayer pinned down to be encased in ice by making a series of small explosions that tossed Natsu to the ground.
"I'm enjoying this. It's been forever since I've been allowed to cut loose."
Jackal commented as they watched, unsure of if Silver's attack finally put the dragon slayer down. Just as they turned their backs to leave the sound of the ice splitting open hit their ears.
"Vesta. Unless you want to spend forever recovering under Keyes' supervision, stay back and provide support. You don't have the stamina to keep up anymore."
Silver ordered as he and Jackal rushed towards the pink haired man. Of course the Fire Demon didn't listen and charged in right behind them. Natsu meanwhile was breathing heavily. Magically he could keep going for just a bit longer. Physically he was battered. Sure he could take a hell of a beating still, but the three demons had done a significant amount of damage.
His body was littered with cuts thanks to Silver's ice magic. His fire magic had cauterized them, but the damage was still there. His tendons in his right leg had been severed by a particularly deep cut, and there was a nasty gash going from his left hip up to about the third rib, not to mention he was fairly certain his left arm had been cut to and partially into the bone just above the elbow. There was a nice little cut just above his eye that would probably scar even with Wendy's healing.
Vesta's fire was dangerous. There was at least a second degree burn in his mouth from when he tried to eat the demons flames. His back had several claw shaped burns that made it difficult for him to dodge properly. His shoulder was torn up from being shaken by the fire lion. Plus there were a few patches of burns covering his arms and legs that were partially numb.
Jackal did a fair bit of damage to him too. There were bruises forming on his jaw and chest from where he'd been hit by the blonde demon. The force behind the demon's attacks, especially with the explosions was enough that Natsu felt at least three of his ribs were broken. He wasn't certain how badly, but it was possible that his right arm was broken in two places as it was in more pain than his ribs, and his knuckles on the left hand were busted.
That was on top of the fact he had been bashed into the ground, or used to turn walls into rubble (as he did with Jackal and Vesta), enough times that there could be no doubt about him having a concussion as well. Not to mention the blood loss thanks to all the cuts. Really it was a testament to the endurance of a dragon slayer that he was still conscious.
"Volcanic Dragon's Domain!"
Natsu's voice roared out as the ground began to tremor even more wildly than it had with any of his previous attacks. It became even harder to see clearly as a haze of heat enveloped everything within a quarter of a mile half sphere around Natsu.
Silver was only just fast enough to get out of range. Jackal and Vesta were trapped however. The landscape quickly altered itself until it was as if they were inside a volcano, complete with lava as Natsu's magic super-heated the ground until it became molten.
The cliff-like sides of the newly formed volcano shifted as if they were alive, the few patches of safe land would randomly vanish, or chunks of rocks would suddenly become spears preventing the two demons from climbing out as the lava rose to devour them. Both were taking extreme damage and there was nothing they could do to stop it.
It was only because Silver jumped in and used his icy powers to freeze everything that Jackal and Vesta managed to escape.
"Dragneel is nearing the end of his rope. We've got the information we came for. Let's leave."
Silver tried to order, though he didn't really expect his fellow demons to agree. Nor did he think Natsu was done and would let them get away easily. Snarling, Vesta charged back towards the pink haired mage they were fighting. Jackal had a bloodthirsty grin on his face, but he wasn't as far gone as the fire demon and held back beside Silver.
To their surprise however, Natsu lashed out at the demon dashing towards him, with an attack of pure magic. It wasn't like anything else they'd seen from him, and was a deep crimson in color.
"Aaaggh!"
Vesta was heard as his body burst into flame once again. His regeneration slow enough that Jackal and Silver knew their fellow demon was about to die.
"We really should pull back, but I'm curious what he'll try and do when Vesta's soul flees back to the Cube."
Silver commented. Jackal only grunted. They were ordered not to kill him after all. Silver's magic would kill the dragon slayer if he truly tried, so if the fight were to keep going, he'd have to drop out, and they both knew that Jackal would only be able to get a draw against the slayer at this point.
It wasn't until the death scream from their fellow demon ended that either of them noticed something off about the pink haired man. It was as if he were possessed, as his eyes had become the same shade of crimson as the magic that had killed Vesta. He somehow took control of the flames that was the fire demon's body and soul.
"Shit. Jackal, we're leaving now."
Silver's voice brokered no argument as he realized that the Fire Dragon Slayer had somehow prevented Vesta's soul from retreating to his book back at Tartaros. The two demons fled from the scene, unaware that the dragon slayer collapsed after absorbing the fire demon's soul.
-XXxxXxXxxXX-
"Igneel. What the hell did he just do?"
Tektari questioned her mate as they watched Natsu's fight with the demons. Their surroundings trembled as the fight wore on, and the crimson patches became more and more prominent before somehow mixing with the dusty brown and fiery orange to create a rather lovely swirl of colors.
"He broke through the binding that was placed on the Fire Demon magic he'd been given by Xaphan when he and Zeref crafted his body."
Tektari's tail whacked him upside the head.
"Yes I gathered that. The crimson wave of magic was rather evident. But that didn't act like Fire magic of any kind."
Huffing at the fact she hit him, Igneel turned towards his female companion.
"It's almost as if he forcefully altered it into it's own element and then used it as Dragon magic."
"You mean he created his own element?!"
She reeled back in shock. Closing his eyes the male dragon sighed, but he had a happy smile on his face. Things were really starting to look up for his adopted son, even if the boy didn't know it yet.
"I'm not sure how, but that is likely what happened yes. Given the fact it lacked the nature of Fire magic, I'd say he created the Demon Dragon element."
The pleased grin he had made Tektari narrow her eyes. She could understand her mate's feeling pride over the lad's accomplishment. But it seemed like there was more to it.
"While it is impressive that he made his own element, why are you so pleased?"
"His family outside has far less work to do now. There is less of a chance of Dragonification driving him insane, so now he just needs to be able to endure the pain the process will cause."
"Ah, that is good news indeed."
The dragoness replied, once again smacking her love upside the head with her tail.
"Ah, dammit woman would you quit that!"
-XXxxXxXxxXX-
"Holy shit…"
Gray muttered as he, Gajeel, and Mira found what was a ruined landscape. It was obvious that Natsu had been battling as they could see both lots of destruction, and lots of scorch marks. It was also obvious that Natsu was forced to go all out, as they'd never seen the remains of one of Natsu's battlegrounds get this bad.
"Over there."
Gajeel pointed as he finally managed to pinpoint where the Fire Dragon Slayer was. Gray and Mira both turned to see where he was pointing and Mira let out a startled gasp before she rushed over with the first aid kit she'd been carrying because they were certain someone would need it when they got here.
Laying face down in the dirt was Natsu. His hair was matted down and caked with sweat and a bit of blood. His right arm was twisted in a way that looked extremely uncomfortable, as was his right leg. The ground around him wasn't completely stained red, but there was enough red for them to think he'd bleed a fair bit before his magic recovered enough for him to start healing. It wasn't until they got closer that they noticed the mess that was his shoulder.
"What the hell was able to do this to flame-brain?"
Gray asked a bit unnerved by the damage his rival had taken. Mira wasn't as capable a healer as Wendy, but she had enough skill to get a complete scan of the damage he'd taken.
"He really needs Wendy and Porlyusica."
She said as she cleaned his wounds as best she could before wrapping them up with bandages. Thinking about how the two of them together had barely been able to hold off one of the strongest members of Tartaros, Gajeel and Gray could only frown. Natsu was either fighting their leader, or two or even possibly three of the other 'Demon Gates' given the state he was in.
"I've done what I can. Whichever one of you carries him, be very careful. He might have cauterized the wounds, but jostling him too much could cause them to reopen anyway and he's already very low on blood."
Mira warned. Grunting at her, Gajeel slowly and gently lifted his alpha from the ground.
Nodding, he started to lead the way out of the now ruined city. Since Gajeel was more focused on making sure he didn't make things worse for Natsu, Gray was the one that was on guard as they started to return to Magnolia.
Luckily for them nothing happened as they returned home. As they crested the hill just to the North of town, Mira looked towards the two males.
"Gray go get Porlyusica and bring her to the guildhall. I'll go to Fairy Hills and find Wendy."
"Right."
Gray nodded at her order though as he left they heard him muttering about how Natsu would owe him one. Convincing Porlyusica to come to the guild to treat someone was always a pain after all. Ignoring the attention they were attracting as they walked through the town, Mira split off and entered Fairy Hills as Gajeel continued to carry Natsu towards the guild hall and the infirmary.
Luckily as he was getting to the door, some of the other members were starting to show up for the day.
"Get the door for me."
He grunted towards them, making Macao and Wakaba look up.
"Oh shit. He looks rough. Any idea what happened?"
Macao wondered as Wakaba held the door while he helped Gajeel shift Natsu around in his arms to get him through the door.
"All we know for sure is Tartaros was involved."
He told the two getting deep frowns. They had almost gotten up to the infirmary when the door opened in front of them. After she and the guild master told the magic council about the attempted kidnapping, Cana returned to the infirmary so she could get Koharu back to sleep. The little one had only just woken up and they were going to join the guild for breakfast.
Since the little girl was looking their way, Gajeel instinctively turned so that she could see his back but not Natsu who was in his arms.
"They roughed him up good. I don't think you want the little tyke to see."
Gajeel commented when Cana noticed him.
"Ah. Good point. I'll find someone to watch over her and come back up."
The brunette said, concerned about her boyfriend. She needed to know just how bad it was. Gajeel and Macao had only just gotten Natsu laid out on a bed when Wendy rushed in. Not wasting a second, she let her magic surround herself and Natsu.
Cana, Makarov, and Porlyusica entered at the same time.
"How is he Wendy?"
The guild master questioned as Porlyusica moved forward to help.
"It's bad master. He's covered in second and third degree burns and frostbite somehow, there are dozens of cuts with quite a few being fairly long and deep, some of which might scar even with both mine and miss Porlyusica's help. His right arm is broken in three places, he's got four broken ribs and two cracked ones, his right leg had the tendons cut, his right ankle is also sprained, and his shoulder seems to have been mauled by an animal. Not to mention that he's got pretty severe bruising, the knuckles on his left hand are all busted, he has a major concussion, and there are signs that there was some internal bleeding."
Though she was listening to Wendy, Porlyusica had also done some scans of her own.
"He's showing signs of going from hypothermia to hyperthermia as well as extreme blood loss, and his magic isn't working as it should. Normally he'd have healed from the minor bruises and cuts at the very least by this point."
Cana was shaking as she heard what all happened to him. Makarov frowned, and Gajeel was growling. Natsu was one of the strongest in Fairy Tail, so for someone to be able to push him this far... It was both worrying and frustrating.
"We need to know what happened, any chance you can wake him up?"
"Not without making it worse. But if we put him into a healing coma and deal with the concussion then you might be able to have someone with telepathy enter his mindscape and talk with him."
Wendy offered as she started to direct her magic towards Natsu's head while Porlyusica gathered what she needed to give him a blood transfusion.
-XXxxXxXxxXX-
"What the hell hit me?"
Natsu questioned with a groan as he sat up.
"Several powerful demons. But you managed to kill one and drive the other two off."
The deep rumbling voice of Igneel greeted him.
"That's good at least."
He muttered as his memories started to come back to him.
"Do not feel bad Natsu. It was a difficult match up. A demon whose fire could harm you and you couldn't eat it, and a demon who's ice wasn't affected by your fire. One on one you would have been able to handle them. But together? And with a third fighter on their side? Those demons might have underestimated how hard you could fight, but they knew how to counter you. It happens."
His adoptive father commented before sitting down in front of him so they could see eye to eye. Or at least as close to eye to eye as they could with Igneel being a large dragon and all.
"I can't recall the last time I had my ass handed to me like that."
the pink haired mage bitterly stated.
"But you handed them their asses just as much as they did you. It was a three on one fight and you fought them to a draw."
The dragon argued, despite knowing Natsu wasn't going to listen just yet. But neither he nor his son were going to be allowed to just simply talk it over. Stomping over to them and knocking the man over with her tail, Tektari growled out.
"You can't win every fight. Get over it, move on, and make sure the next time you see those demons you win."
"Did you have to hit him?"
Igneel wondered as his mate sat down beside him.
"He seems to be just as hardheaded as you, so yes, yes I did."
"Alright, alright I get it. I won't pout about it. Now why am I here and do either of you have an idea of how long it'll take me to recover enough to wake up properly?"
Natsu asked even as he rubbed the back of his head where Tektari's tail had caught him.
"I pulled your mind in here to talk about the end of that fight. As for how long it'll take you to recover, I have no clue."
Igneel replied.
"No idea either."
The earth dragoness stated.
"Hopefully it isn't too long. And by end of the fight do you mean that crimson magic that I only partially recall using somehow?"
"Yes. It seems I owe you an apology for underestimating you. It also seems like I have to break my word about a certain matter to explain what that crimson magic is and why you need to learn how to use it without blacking out."
Tektari nodded. If Natsu truly had broken through the seal Igneel told her about and then altered the magic that had been blocked away, then he both deserved to know, and needed to know so he could learn to control it properly. Curious about it all Natsu looked towards his father with an eager grin and baited breath.
Igneel told him about how during his rampage to destroy dragons, Acnologia also destroyed human towns. He explained how one such town was Natsu's hometown, and that the only survivor was Natsu's older brother. The dragon talked about how the quick thinking older brother used a spell to save Natsu's life by temporarily binding his soul to a book.
Having recalled stories of Zeref's demons coming back even after their bodies were destroyed Natsu made the connection.
"My older brother is Zeref, isn't he?"
Igneel nodded, unsure of what was going through Natsu's mind.
"He created a new body for me and then unbound my soul from the book and tethered it to the new body then right? So how does this new magic come into play?"
Igneel and Tektari both were surprised to see him taking the news pretty well. After all Zeref's reputation was one that should have made Natsu deny having anything to do with him.
"It wasn't just him that made your body. As I'm sure you know, Zeref figured out how to create demons, but there are still natural born demons in the world as well. There was an immensely powerful demon by the name of Xaphan who lived close to your village and was considered it's guardian. But he was dying because he'd grown too strong and his many different magics were tearing his body apart in a bid to be his dominant magic."
Understanding flashed across Natsu's eyes.
"So the two of them make a new body for my soul, and to help ease his pain, Xaphan gave the body one of his magics. Considering you told me it was a kind of Fire magic, I'll assume it was Demon Fire magic. But my memories don't show that red magic acting like fire at all."
"Yes, you are correct. But we'll get to why it acted that way in a moment. You deserve the truth so I'm going to tell you the full story."
Igneel replied tapping his talons on the ground to bring Natsu's attention back as the pink haired man had started to drift into his thoughts. Once Natsu was looking to him again, he continued. Igneel told him about how the new magic was too strong for his young soul to control and how he ended up going on a rampage. He told him about how they met, and how Igneel was the one to stop his rampage. How once Zeref caught up, the two of them made a deal to help each other and that together they sealed the Demon Fire magic away along with Natsu's memory of the time he used it.
"Huh. I should be feeling pissed that this happened. But instead I'm glad. I don't think I'd have met everyone at Fairy Tail if things had gone differently in the past. I wouldn't have met my mate, or have adopted that cute little girl that we have come to love as our own."
Natsu commented after a few moments of silence. Tektari was looking at him with a bewildered awe at how he stayed calm. Igneel had nothing but pride for his adopted son's response. Of course the grin on his face became larger as he thought about the next topic of discussion.
"Yes well, I won't tell you what happened with Zeref as that is his story to tell. But now that you know, I can explain what you did and why I owe you an apology for underestimating you."
"Alright. Hit me with it."
Ignoring the desire to flick his son with his tail, Igneel glanced at the swirling brown, red, and orange that surrounded them.
"You broke through the seal on the Demon Fire magic, and then because you had no idea how to use it, you instinctively altered it. I've studied the feeling of your magic a bit more while you were still resting, and I'm amazed that you did something that should not have been possible."
Natsu just gestured for Igneel to continue when the dragon looked back towards him.
"You found a way to merge the Demon Fire, with your Dragon Fire and you did so in a way that made it permanent. Some how, you took all the qualities of fire from the Demon Fire magic and merged it into your Dragon Fire magic. So you could more accurately name your spells 'Fire Dragon's Demonic such and such' now. But because of how you did it, you've created a new magic and a new element for your Dragon magic."
Unsure of how to take that information Natsu looked away from his adoptive father. But he found Tektari's tail gently nudging him back to facing them.
"By taking the fire aspect of the Demon Fire away, you created pure Demon magic. But because you had no training on how to use Demon magic, you instinctively and forcefully channeled it as Dragon magic, altering it and creating your own element. For all intents and purposes, when you finally become a dragon, you will be a Demon Dragon. Yes you will still wield Fire and Earth magic, but your primary element, the one your dragon form will use, will be Demon Dragon magic."
Natsu couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him as he took in Tektari's words.
"That is simultaneously cool and terrifying to think about."
Both dragons nodded, agreeing with him. But Then Igneel spoke up again.
"But you must learn to use this magic as soon as you can. As when you go through Dragonification, if you focus and start channeling your own element around you, it helps protect your mind. Master your new magic, and all you have to worry about is enduring the pain of the transformation."