Crimson Skies

Chapter 1

The Cold & Lonely Mirror

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Flashback

"Magic"

Location / Date / Time Skip

Walking through the barren land of southern Fiore, Natsu Dragneel had grown to appreciate the quiet that came with solitude. Did he miss his partner/son/pet (depending on who was asked) Happy? Yes. But Natsu left him with Lisanna and her siblings for his own good. The little guy had training of his own to do and the temptation to mess around and goof off would've been a constant for both of them.

Some small part of him wished he could've taken Lucy along, or Lisanna, or maybe even both. They both had a pretty good showing in the recent guild war against Tartaros. But, that was just it: after everything that happened with the Eclipse Gate, Tartaros, and his father Igneel, there was no other choice. He had to get stronger, become a one-dragon wrecking machine like his dad and Uncle Atlas, and there was no room for distractions, not even from either of his guildmates/close friends/future girlfriends (also depending on who was asked).

Climbing over a small plateau, he froze in shock when his eyes met the crude outline of what looked like a town in the distance. "A city? Out here in the desert?" He pondered the question before rolling on top of the flat rock. Pulling his bag off his shoulder, he spun it around and opened it up. The map he'd packed should-

…be with whoever lost these porno mags.

"Crap, did I grab Gildarts's stuff by accident?" He threw it behind him in anger as he reached into his pocket and started counting his money. "Okay… Should be enough to get me a new bag and some supplies. Hopefully someone can sell me a map, or at least gimme directions to Mountain Village."

He pocketed his cash and nipped up. "Pretty sure I can make it there before nightfall." He took off in a sprint towards the strangely-placed city, leaving the bag behind him.

The sun had barely begun to set as Natsu reached the edge of the town. "Great…" He huffed, out of breath. "Looks like I'll be spending the night here, too." The Dragon Slayer started to walk towards the massive metal gate, only for a blast of crackling purple magic to cut him off. "The hell?!"

"That's far enough, intruder." Two armed and armored guards suddenly appeared before him, glowing crystal spears pointed at the wizard. "I don't know how you found this place, but you aren't getting into this city."

"Hey, hey. I just want some things, that's all." Natsu snapped back, only to duck to the side and avoid another blast. "Knock it off."

"Get back!" The guard on the left ordered. "One more step and we'll be forced to get physical."

"You looking for a fight? Fine." Natsu pulled his fist back and ignited it, grinning despite how tired he was.

A Magic Mobile pulled up behind the gate and the rear door opened, catching the three by surprise. "It's fine, let him in."

The two guards stepped aside and let a slender woman with grey hair and eyes walk forward, passing through the metal like a ghost. Clad in a black top, trousers and a white lab coat, Natsu noticed the Magic Council symbol over her breast pocket. "My name is Takami. I'm a member of the Magic Council's Magical Research department."

"The Magic Council?" Natsu repeated with shock and a little pinch of skepticism. "I thought you were all wiped out by Tartaros! Didn't anyone try to attack you?"

"We get the odd bandit now and then." Takami confessed. "But no one has ever tried to wipe us out. Our experiments are highly classified and guarded. Not even Crawford knows we're out here. I would like to apologize for our guards'…" She glanced over and the two guards flinched in fear. "…forceful defense of our town. We don't normally get visitors out here. You can put the fire out now, if you don't mind."

Natsu eyed her before slowly lowering his arm, killing the spell. "Now, what do you want?" She asked.

"I just want some stuff for a training trip I'm on." Natsu answered.

Takami pulled out a cigarette box and took one out, putting it in her mouth. "Light?" She asked. Natsu leaned forward and set his finger on fire, igniting the stick. "We'll let you into our city. However, we have to request that you do not use magic within it. We're conducting various experiments and research here, and we don't want any outside magical stimuli to impact our results."

She looked up and noticed Natsu looked like he was staring at someone with three heads. "…I have no idea what you just said." Natsu confessed. "But as long as I can get some stuff and leave in one piece, I'm good."

He walked past the three as the leftmost guard stepped forward. "Are you sure this is okay?"

"It's not up to me." She answered, letting out a puff of smoke. "This is an order from him. He thinks it'll be a fun addition to the game." She took another drag off her cig. "Bastard…"

"What kind of place is this?!" Natsu growled, stomping down the stone-laid streets so hard that the mortar cracked and flaked. "No wonder I never heard of this place! Everyone here's a weirdo!"

First, he'd tried his luck at a "Guild Rec Center (Food Served)". That was what the sign had claimed, anyway. Natsu was part of a guild, so they'd do him a solid, right? Nope! The jerks pretended to never have even heard of Fairy Tail, despite all the crap that had gone down in the short time since Natsu and the rest of the guild's top members had made it back from Tenrou Island. It's not like they'd kept a low-profile!

Luckily, the two guys at the center's door had told him to go to a "food center". But, no luck there, either. The big storehouse window with the word "MEATS" written above it was just as stingy. All he'd done was try, try, to tell the man behind the bars that he didn't want it delivered, just to eat it. They only did deliveries, apparently, which made no freaking sense to Natsu.

Then the guy had freaked out when he'd told them he'd just cook it himself if the meat wasn't ready. The jerk had soon been joined by some fidgety woman in a weird paper sailboat-looking hat. They'd yelled at him for "stealing their work" and then started asking "what block he was on", whatever that meant. Natsu genuinely not getting it had only seemed to get them hotter. Usually, people only started yelling at him for wrecking things, mostly buildings. The exception was Lucy, who yelled at him for lots of stuff, but he didn't mind. She was fun to mess with, and he kind of got the feeling she liked being messed with sometimes.

Then, as a last-ditch attempt to get some freaking grub, he'd used what Gildarts called "the universal language of the working man." He'd pulled out his money, just to show them he wasn't bad or broke, just really really hungry.

Wrong move.

They'd started screaming for the "custody unit". Natsu knew enough about that to pocket his dough and get the hell out of there. The last thing he needed was a squad of Rune Knights tackling him over his lunch, literally. Shoot, he was in Fairy Tail; the Rune Knights already had it out for him, just like the rest of his guild.

But by far the creepiest thing to happen to him, besides the fact that he had to pass through a couple guarded checkpoints just to find someone who'd give him directions, was the so-called "mapmaker" he'd been directed to.

Namely, they didn't make maps, they made "guides". As in, they made guides for people who wanted to find their way to "labor sites", "alternate rec centers or food places" (which Natsu hesitantly decided to try later), and other stuff. In other words, their maps all stopped at the city walls. "The sooner I can get out of this town, the better." He huffed.

A crash caught his attention and he turned around to see a dude get landed on by a fair-skinned young woman of average height and slender build. She was wearing a white gi and a short red skirt, along with some long brown boots. Natsu's nose caught a whiff of ozone and he saw bolts of lightning flash around a squat clay building's roof. On it were two twin girls, dressed in a whole lot of leather.

Natsu clenched his fists. "They need my-"

The first girl, the non-sparky one, picked up the man by the collar and jumped away, leaving cracks on the ground.

"-help." Natsu dropped from his rushing stance. "I thought she said we couldn't use magic…"

Finally noticing the sun was well past set, the Dragon Slayer panicked a bit. "Crap, I gotta spend the night in this creepy place, don't I?"

Walking through the city, he looked for any manner of hotel, inn or just an empty alley to lay on the ground. In hindsight, he should've bought one of the guides from that shop. Then again, given the questions he'd been asked had been the same ones as earlier, flashing his cash was probably risky in most places around here.

Trudging into a green-tinted park, he looked up at the clear sky and sighed. "I wonder how the others are doing…" A man bumped into him and he was forcefully turned. He choked on his angry snap and froze.

Sitting on a bench, he saw a girl with light brown hair and the second-strangest set of clothes he'd seen that day, behind the leather twins's getups but slightly weirder than that shrine girl they'd been chasing. Her clothes consisted of a top that was a white shirt with long, flowing sleeves kind of like a kimono. The cut out for her head was lined with black fabric but was bigger than a normal one. It was wider, showing off her shoulders, and then going down in a really low V cut that stopped at her upper stomach. Natsu had never seen anything like it, at least on the girls he'd met in his life. Some of them might look good in it, though.

A black sash with a bow in the front held the shirt tight against her body. She had chains in her ensemble, which was used to bind her clothes together above her boobs, while the other set looped around her neck and then went down into her cleavage. The most noticeable thing about her was the strange crimson tattoo on her forehead.

'Is that… a guild mark?' Natsu thought to himself.

Confused by the sad look on her face, Natsu walked over and sat down next to her. "Hey, you feeling okay?" The girl said nothing as she stared up at the sky. "You looking at the stars or something?"

"Why are you sitting next to me?" The girl said, finally speaking up.

"You seemed kinda sad, thought I should cheer you up." Natsu earnestly answered. "Do you I need more of a reason than that?"

"Usually, people need more of a reason to do something." The girl said back.

"Well, I'm not most people." He chuckled, turning to her. "I'm Natsu Dragneel. What's your name?"

She went quiet again, continuing her sad staring contest with the night. Natsu gave her a moment or two before realizing that she wasn't buying his honesty.

"You want a reason? I'll give you a reason." He put his hands behind his head and leaned back. "I'm new in town, you look sad and alone, so I figured we could both use a new friend."

"My name is Akitsu." She answered.

"Cool! Now, why are you just sitting here out in the cold?"

"I am defective." Akitsu mumbled, her eyes starting to water. "I cannot be winged… No one wants me."

"Aw, that's a load of crap!" She turned to him and looked up in surprise. "Listen, I may not know a lot, but no one's defective. If no one wants you, then maybe you're just hanging around the wrong people. I'm sure someone out there wants you. I want you to be my friend, don't I?"

Akitsu stared at the man in shock and hope. Maybe… maybe he was the one for her. Cautiously, she leaned her head into his shoulder to rest. To her relief, he did not push her away. "Feeling better now?" He got a nod for a response. "What'd I tell you? We both need a new friend."

"That's not… Yes." She said hesitantly.

"Anyway, it's getting pretty late. I should find a place for the night." He stood up to leave, only for Akitsu to grab his hand and hold him in place.

"Please… I can't be alone again." She begged, sounding on the verge of tears. "I can't… I can't…"

Natsu looked down at the girl and smiled. "Come on. I'm sure we can find a room for two." He said, pulling her up. "Just stay close to me, okay?"

With a weak smile on her face, Akitsu nodded and the two started walking out of the park. Passing through the city very quickly, the duo passed by a wall of lacrima screens. They were showing something about people swimming in a marked section of a city river before they suddenly went to this swirly rainbow fog thing. Seconds later, the screen showed the upper quarter of a slender, bespectacled mature man with tall, spiky white hair.

His body was entirely wrapped in the color white; he was wearing a pure white suit with a white shirt underneath, a pair of white gloves, and a white robe. "Hello, Natsu Dragneel. I am pleased to-" He blinked and was surprised to find no one there. "Number 7?"

Akitsu broke away from Natsu-

"Hey, where're you going?" He asked.

-and rushed back to the screen as quick as she could.

"Would you be so kind as to bring him over? He should know the rules, after all."

The tattooed girl nodded and left in a sprint. Seconds later, she returned pulling on Natsu's arm. "Easy, easy. What's got you so excited?" He chuckled as she stood in front of the screen. "Yeah, I guess it's cool, but the guy could really use another color. All that white's hurting my eyes."

"Then you'll have to bear with it, Mr. Dragneel." The man declared, scaring Natsu. "But, where are my manners? My name is Hiroto Minaka, and you could say I'm in charge of this great city."

"O… kay…" The Dragon Slayer mumbled. "What do you want with me?"

"Oh, nothing much." Minaka chuckled. "Just to inform you that you have become a part of something grand! You are now a participant in the Sekirei Plan!"

"Sexy who plan?" Natsu repeated in confusion.

"'Sekirei'." Minaka clarified. "In this city, there are one hundred and eight beings with power that makes an experienced Wizard, like yourself, seem like a novice. Fighting on behalf of their Ashikabi or masters, Sekirei will fight Sekirei until only one remains. And that winner will receive a prize of anything they desire!"

"Okay…?" Natsu nodded, trying to keep up as best he could. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because my boy, you have partnered up with one of those Sekirei." The white-clad man pointed at Akitsu. "However, she is a special case, so you won't be able to wing her as with the others. Now, onto the rules. Only Sekirei may fight Sekirei, and the Ashikabi cannot interfere in any way. We are here to test the bonds of your power, after all."

"Eh, it's fine." Natsu said with a flop of his wrist. "Besides, if I competed, this entire thing would be over too soon to be any fun."

"Ah, I almost forgot to mention one last thing. While this little game is playing, you are forbidden from leaving the city. Failure to comply with this rule will result in your summary execution."

…

…

…

…

"WHAT?!" Natsu slammed his face into the crystal surface, almost breaking it.

"Yes, I'm afraid we can't risk people finding out about this little experiment." Minaka explained, pushing his glasses up. "So until the game is over, all participants will be confined to this city."

"Bullshit!" Natsu snapped back. "My friends are gonna realize I'm missing! They'll come find me!"

"Oh, I very much doubt so," Minaka chuckled. "You see, I control every morsel of information that enters this fair city. Rumors of your guild might pop up, but nothing in stone. To make a long story short, no one here knows who you are. To them, you're just another face in the crowd, albeit one who's carrying contraband. Oh-ho, naughty naughty!"

"You mean I'm stuck here!?" Natsu bemoaned.

"Now you're beginning to understand." The 'Game Master' chuckled. "Oh, what fun we're going to have. Don't disappoint me, Mr. Dragneel."

The screen turned off and Natsu punched the crystal, breaking it and bloodying his hand. "Are you okay?" Akitsu grabbed his hand and a cold mist left her grasp. Ice crept onto his hand and stopped the bleeding, surprising him.

"You've got ice powers?" This earned a nod from her.

"…I'm sorry." She mumbled, confusing him. "It's my fault that you're stuck here now. If it wasn't for me, you could have left by now."

"Hey, this is not your fault." He assured her. "This is all because some bastard feels like he can control everything. We're gonna get through this thing and get out of this city." She smiled at his resolve and hugged him, unintentionally crushing his busted hand between the two before they quickly separated. "So, the guy in white never told me what 'winging' is. I'm hoping you do."

"It's mucosal contact." Akitsu replied. The words were too big for Natsu's brain and he tilted his head in confusion. "It's this." She pulled on his scarf and did something that surprised the Dragon Slayer.

She kissed him on the lips.

Pulling him away, she turned to the dormant lacrimas and sighed in disappointment. "It's still there…" She mumbled, tracing the mark on her head.

Natsu had a massive blush on his face as he traced his hand on the lips. He suddenly had the urge to pounce on her like a tiger. The fact he had to clench up and tell himself not to… It kind of scared him. "Is… is that it?" He chuckled, trying to sound tough. "That's nothing."

"There is one other thing." Akitsu stated, holding her hand to her heart. "By the ice of my pledge, my Ashikabi's misfortunes will shatter." Ice crystals floated around her before they exploded into an icy mist. "This is my vow, Natsu. I will fight with all I have to ensure your victory."

Natsu chuckled a bit as the ice flew in the wind. "Guess we should find a place to stay for this whole thing."

"Goddamn it! How could there not be one room open in this whole city?!" Natsu clawed at his forehead as the two walked side by side. "It shouldn't be possible!" Akitsu hung her head, catching his eye. "Don't go thinking like that, Akitsu. We're just having some bad luck, that's all."

Akitsu said nothing. She knew the truth of their situation. She also knew that if they couldn't find a room, they'd have to sleep against each other for warmth, perhaps even use their clothes as a makeshift bed and blanket. Naturally, she couldn't tell Natsu any of those things. Not yet.

The two walked past a sign before coming to a stop. Natsu doubled back and looked at it, reading the notice. 'Worker wanted. In-house room and food with employment.'

Akitsu walked back to him and the two shared a glance. "Well, better than nothing, I guess." He said before the two walked to the front entrance of a strange looking building*, the front steps empties directly onto the street. It sat on the corner of two main streets, with a small alley leaving it somewhat isolated from the buildings surrounding it. The inn has a third floor, accessible only from the inside, on which is a garden. Two trees were growing upwards, so the roof was probably reinforced so that the roof didn't cave in.

Akitsu silently bemoaned their luck.

Knocking on the door, the pair was greeted by a slender yet shapely fair-skinned woman. She had waist-length purple hair, with shorter bangs in a hime cut, and brown eyes. She wore a strange (at least by Natsu's standard) outfit: a set of loose purple pants, a white hip length jacket with a sash-like belt, wooden sandals, and a white ribbon to partially hold her hair in place.

"Yes? Can I help you?" She questioned.

"Hi. We saw the notice for the free room." Natsu bluntly said. "Here to take the offer."

"Oh, of course. Come in." The lady opened the door and the pair walked in. "My name is Miya Asama. I'm the landlady and head of this lovely building."

"Name's Natsu Dragneel." He replied before motioning to the girl. "And this here is Akitsu."

"A pleasure," Miya said. "Just so you know, illicit relationships are strictly forbidden here." A demonic mask floated next to her face, scaring even the hardened wizard.

"Y-yeah, got it." Natsu nervously chuckled. "So, what kind of work are we talking about here?"

"We're a delivery and boarding guild." Miya explained. "We send packages throughout the city and help those who need it. That was my late husband's policy. You two came just in time; dinner is just about ready."

"Uh, Miss Miya?" A voice called out from a paper screen door. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

The door was pushed aside and two people came into view. It was the same pair Natsu saw in the street with the lightning duo. The girl in the gi took one look at the mark on Akitsu's forehead and instantly charged forward, pulling her fist back to throw a punch.

*Picture an Insula building with the additions mentioned here and in later chapters.

A new year, a new crossover. I've wanted to do this one for a while, pretty much ever since I first saw Sekirei. Sad to say there isn't that much good Sekirei fanfiction. It's either OC/OOC (if a crossover) taking over Minato's role, or he's so out of character, he might as well just have a different name. And I find that annoying: not every anime character needs twenty different powers and three transformations.

For the record, this will be a harem for Natsu. Like Minato, he will get six Sekirei himself. I have them all planned, even down to the order. And as for an non-Sekirei girls, I'm not so sure about that yet. If someone presents a good solid reasoning for the girl (beyond 'I like them'), I'll hear you out.

I'll see ya next time for the next installment. And if you're wondering, the title of this fic is a song by Black Veil Brides.

Beta read by Ikrani (who also helped out with the lay out of this story)