Chapter Fifty-Four
Convergence
The doors to the mansion owned by the Blue Pegasus guild had been opened, and the Fairy Tail motley crew walked on.
Immediately, both Erza and Lucy had been swept away by a trio of well-dressed young men, each throwing unnecessary levels of charm at the women.
"Um, Natsu, you wanna step in at any point?" Gray asked, watching the Fire Dragon who had begun to laugh at the ordeal in front of them.
"Why? Erza is one of the strongest people I've ever fought and Lucy is a Dragon Slayer, they can handle themselves," Natsu answered, falling prey to another bout of laughter that left tears in his eyes.
"Natsu!" Lucy screeched as she ran behind him.
"Or not," Natsu added, taking a moment to catch his breath.
"Hey, cut the shit, creeps!" Gray told them, the temperature plummeting in the open foyer of the mansion.
"Yeah, what he said," Natsu added with a gentle smile.
The most dangerous man in the room and so far all he'd done was laugh.
"What a powerful parfum!" A strong, rich, voice called out from the stairs. A short and squat man with an expression of stone was stood halfway up, posing as he stared directly at Erza who had been seconds away from drawing her sword.
"Oh no, stay where you are Ichiya!" Erza threatened. Natsu shifted on his foot. Erza's voice had been shaky, and that was something that had made Natsu's perception change within an instant.
"Hey," he said, his voice cutting the tension and replacing it with his unique brand of power as he spoke.
"You should think about your next steps carefully. These two mean a lot to me and I might be quite unforgiving if you're upsetting them," his voice was cold and dark. Lucy, who had been hiding behind his back had almost flinched when she heard it.
As if he'd noticed her discomfort, he'd put his hands behind his back, one of them grabbing hers and filling her with that warmth that reminded her that he was in control.
"And who are you to so confidently parade yourself as someone worthy of the mighty Titania's attention?" The short ginger man asked, still looking at Natsu but casually moving down the stairs by hitting different poses with each step.
"Down boy," Erza said, kicking Ichiya so hard that he went flying through the hall, only to be stopped by another new arrival.
A sheet of ice erupted out of his hand, turning Ichiya into a solid mass that careened into the floor, rocking on the spot.
"Oh, I thought for a moment you meant me," Natsu said with a mischievous grin.
"You as well, these people are supposed to be our allies, what do you think the magic council will do to Fairy Tail if they find out that even by accident you destroyed the three other allied guild's teams?" Erza asked like it was the most obvious thing.
"Have I ever mentioned just how much I like it when you take control like this?" he asked, raising a brow at her, his sharp canines showing through.
"Can you seriously not go five minutes without flirting with someone?" Lucy asked, peering over his shoulder.
"What?" he looked back at her. She could feel his breath from how close they were. "I can't even flirt with the two of you?"
"What a reception," the man with white hair announced cooly as he walked in.
"Lyon," Gray grimaced.
Hearing Gray's discomfort, Natsu spun around, finding a new target.
"Oh, great, now there's two iceholes. Can I at least kill this one?" The Fire Dragon asked, bored with everything.
"Be my guest," Gray grunted.
"Who do you think you are? No mangey Fairy Tail wizard is going to be capable of even scratching the likes of us in Lamia Scale." Lyon sneered.
Natsu faltered for a moment. He thought back since the day he'd joined the guild, had anyone ever insulted Fairy Tail while he'd been a member?
He couldn't remember. But, right now, hearing it being said in front of him, it angered him. He hadn't been personally insulted in a long time, and he'd never been in a position where his guild had been offended.
"Did… Did you just offend the few people on this planet that I like?" He asked rhetorically.
"Simple-minded as well, it makes sense as to why they decided to pull you in, not that it was hard to see considering the calibre of people that you surround yourself with," the white-haired ice mage added with a sneer.
"Oh, ok, I was just making sure in case I misheard it," he said with a nod, "I'm going to take your life now," he said calmly. He raised a single finger, summoning a ball of flame so solid and intense it was like having a tiny sun floating at the end of his finger.
The carpet beneath their feet warped before wrapping completely around Natsu who for the most part hadn't done anything to stop it.
"Whft tfe fffck ez zish?" They heard his muffled voice as Lyon's companion followed him into the mansion.
"Oh god, now she's here too," Lucy sighed, already feeling the headache coming on.
"Lushee?" Natsu asked, barely craning his carpet-covered head toward her.
"Just burn it," she told him, "Idiot Dragon,"
Flames burned through the carpet, incinerating it in an instant, revealing Natsu still standing with his hand outstretched towards the ice mage.
It shot forward like a flash of orange, heading straight for the man who had dared to speak ill of the guild.
A huge wall of rock at least a dozen feet thick rose from the ground, protecting the ice mage. The sphere of flame hit it, turning it into a hundred thousand shards of debris that rained down around them.
"Please, let us patch over this small understanding, Mr. Dragneel," another strong voice called out as the Wizard Saint Jura Nekis stepped through the doors.
"What the hell was that!?" One of the suited Blue Pegasus mages asked in disbelief.
"Mercy," Natsu grunted, "You, second-rate version of Gray, apologize for your insult otherwise I might not hold back next time," Natsu told him, his glare gaining an immense intensity that made Lyon physically shirk back.
"As I said, it was a misunderstanding, wasn't it Lyon?" Jura asked, taking a step forward to make it clear that if Natsu was determined to follow on, then it would become a fight between the two of them.
Lyon's sneer had turned into a thin line, simply sizing up the fire mage. How wrong had he been about the level of power he was currently feeling?
Without waiting for a response, Jura carried on, "Natsu here is the one that I've been tasked to assess as the next member of the Ten Wizard Saints," he explained.
"No way!" All three of the suited mages said in perfect unison, their eyes almost bulging out of their sockets at the revelation.
"You're still doing that? I have no intention of… Of…" he'd stopped mid-sentence, looking up at the air around him.
"Is… That…" Lucy said, doing something similar.
"This is new," Erza whispered to Gray, unsure of what to make of it.
"Is this not his normal mating ritual?" Gray asked glibly, hiding his smirk.
Erza slowly looked at the ice mage with a deep glare, "No, it is not."
"No way!" Natsu yelled in glee, running towards the entrance. "Fuck outta the way," he said, jabbing a fist that landed squarely in Lyon's face, taking him off his feet as the Fire Dragon pelted past.
Gray, who had barely been able to hide his entertainment in the face of Erza's gaze, had no hope of holding back now. Tears ran down his cheeks as he hid his smile behind a hand.
"Don't worry, he'll be back," Lucy promised after seeing Jura's dismay.
Things in the mansion had been rocky from the offset, but with Jura there effectively calling the shots, they were all being civil, and behaving for the most part while Natsu was gone.
"Guys!" They heard his voice alongside the thundering of his footsteps approaching the entrance, "Look what I found!" He said, holding up a small child with long brilliant blue hair.
"Please let me go!" She screamed, thumping at his hands to no avail.
"Natsu, you can't just go kidnapping random kids in the woods!" Gray yelled in horror, jumping up to intervene.
"I would never!" He gasped, "This isn't a random kid, it's one of mine!" He replied quickly, not realizing how it would immediately sound.
Both Lucy and Erza almost fell over at the claim.
"Well, she's not my kid," he clarified before holding her up even higher, "She's a Dragon Slayer though!" He beamed with pride.
"Put her down this instant!" A pure white cat with wings followed him through the entrance, attacking his head relentlessly. It did about as much as the girl herself.
"And I found a girlfriend for Happy, I am absolutely killing it today!" He said, putting the young Dragon Slayer down.
"How did you know that I'm a Dragon Slayer?" The timid girl asked, backing away from him, clutching the white flying cat as she did.
"Wow," Happy said quietly as he perched on Lucy's shoulders, staring at the new arrival like nothing else existed.
"Because, I'm a Dragon Slayer too, silly," he said, crouching down so that they were closer to eye level. He hadn't wanted to startle her, but this was a fifth Dragon Slayer. Including Laxus and Lucy, he basically had all of them. It was true that there were still those twins somewhere out there, but he'd get them eventually.
"You… You're a Dragon Slayer as well?" She tilted her head, analyzing everything about him.
"I'm the Dragon Slayer," he laughed, "I can't say that I really remember much about Gajeel, except for the fact that he stabbed me when I collected him, but you, I remember that hair of yours. You were the most well-behaved out of the lot," he beamed at her, patting her head as he did. She felt a surge of comforting warmth roll down her.
"Oh, right, you were too young to remember that. It was a pretty long time ago for me as well. I'm sorry, I can't remember your name, but I once saved Grandeeney's life," he said, his bright smile never dropping.
"Wh-What?" the young Dragon Slayer asked in absolute shock and confusion.
"Well, to be fair, I was also the one who put her in a fairly dangerous situation, but seeing as I resolved that, I'd say we were even. Besides! She totally loved me, can't say the same for Ac…" his face fell into stony neutrality for a moment.
"Anyway," he said, a soft smile returning, "It's far too much to explain right now, but once we've finished with this job, I will tell you everything," he said, pushing himself back up to his feet.
"How old are you, sir? You look the same age as everyone else from your guild, but… Your magic smells so old and powerful," she said, shying away again.
"Ah, yeah, about that," he began, looking at Jura with a mischievous grin.
"Probably slightly older than four hundred months," he said quickly.
"I had figured," Jura nodded with a smile, "I was given access to the records involving your branding as a dark mage, those alone from when you destroyed the magic council's building were dated sixty years ago. You are older than even our guild's masters, are you not?" the Wizard Saint asked.
"Guilty," he winked, "Four hundred is about the right number, but it definitely isn't months," he said with a laugh before looking back down at Wendy.
"Try not to think about it too much, you'll give yourself a headache, and I promise that I'll explain everything when this is over, oh, and please, just call me Natsu." he smiled.
"Thank you!" She said, finally giving a bright smile that matched his own, "My name is Wendy, I'm pleased to be a part of this team, I promise that I'll give it everything I've got!"
"You know," Lucy whispered into his ear, "You are surprisingly good with kids," she said.
"And yet, centuries old and no offspring." he mused.
"The statistical likelihood of that seems rather impossible given your personality." Erza quipped, having heard his remark.
"Well, no, the chances for me to have sired children are… Well, you don't need to know that, anyway, I can tell you both with confidence that I don't have any children because the only way a partner would conceive is if they were either a Dragon Slayer like myself… Like her, actually," he said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at Lucy,
"Or exceptionally powerful, otherwise it literally just would not conceive. A child of mine would not survive without a mother who had sufficient magic reserves… Like you, actually… Oh…" he said, suddenly feeling their gazes bearing down on him.
"You're not doing that to me," Erza told him immediately.
"I hadn't planned on doing that to anyone," he shot back.
"The thought that we are literally the only people who could do that doesn't feel bad to me," Lucy said.
"Ok, let's take a moment…" Natsu held his hands up, "And just remind ourselves that, much like the dynamic of our relationship, the fact that we're having this conversation in the middle of our present company during a mission is absolutely fucking nuts." he told them.
Both of them looked up with red faces, realizing that they'd gotten caught up in what they'd believed was a private conversation and had completely forgotten where they were.
"Getting to the point at hand," Jura announced with an awkward cough, "We're here to deal a strike against our targets, a dark guild numbering only six. Do not be fooled though, they are each in their own rights extremely powerful, if you find yourself up against one, do not engage them alone. At a minimum, you should confront with numbers on your side." Jura explained.
Ren, one of the Blue Pegasus mages, activated a magic card that brought several bright visuals into existence, gently floating in the air for everyone to see.
"I say this without naivety or arrogance, but you can consider myself and Mr. Dragneel as the heavy hitters of this team. If at all possible, leave the worst of the fighting to us. Is that agreeable with you?" Jura raised a brow at Natsu who for the most part simply looked bored.
"There's only six of them, why are we even bothering with all of this asinine bullshit?" He asked with a heavy sigh, "I can walk three dozen feet out of that front door and level the landscape completely. Job done," he added.
"No, you can't do that, think of all the innocent animals and creatures, Mr. Natsu!" Wendy told him, tugging at the side of his coat.
"Fine, jeez, I won't." He crossed his arms with a huff, "Kids and their consciences," he muttered, "And it's just Natsu," he told her.
"Just Natsu," she mirrored with a smile. For a fleeting moment, he'd been thrown back into his memories, reminded of his interactions with the Queen of Dragnoff.
'Do you suppose that Acnologia ever found Belserion? His raw power rivals your own, but unlike us, her enchantment magic could be too much for him to handle.' E.N.D reasoned, having felt the exact same flicker of remembrance from Wendy's words.
"No," Natsu said, responding to E.N.D. as he looked back at Jura, "I will not destroy the landscape, but I'm entirely not interested in becoming the backup bitch for whenever one of you idiots gets in trouble, just stay here and I'll go and deal with them all one by one." He said with a casual shrug.
"Even someone like you can't do that," Ren cut in, "We know what they're after, an ancient magical artefact called Nirvana,"
"Ah," Natsu said plainly, clicking his tongue.
'No!' E.N.D. screamed, 'Your precious balance would be utterly destroyed. We cannot allow them to activate it. Dragon set the world on fire!' he tried desperately.
"No, that won't do," Natsu said, shaking his head, struggling to keep the divide between E.N.D. and the world around him separate.
In truth, he wasn't so sure when he'd begun to be on clearer terms with himself, though he had a suspicion that it was around the same time that he'd fought with Erza when he'd accidentally burned down the first Fairy Tail guild hall.
"I'm sorry Jura, really, I am, but if they've found Nirvana, I have to destroy it now," Natsu told him, looking as calm and collected as ever.
"You can't destroy Nirvana, it's an ancient power beyond the scope of even the Wizard Saints, it's been sealed and undiscovered all this time, we just need to stop Oración Seis from finding and activating it," Hibiki, one of the other suited Blue Pegasus mages cut in.
"Don't presume to tell me what I can and cannot destroy!" Natsu's eyes flared with hers of flame that rose up above his head with thick plumes of smoke.
"I was there when it was created, I know more than any of you what it is capable of. If Nirvana is activated, all darkness will turn to light," he explained, taking a moment to collect himself.
The flames from his eyes reversed until the deep onyx returned to sight.
"But that is the least of your problems. All things in our world respond to balance, where there is light, there is dark, and if one is flipped, so shall the other. I invite you all to imagine that in this world there are beings who have a clear division of such things," he spared a glance at his guildmates who had already figured out the direction he was heading.
"Understand that there exist such beings who, like us, are clear in morality, a perfect example of light, someone who has a very real and tangible darkness that they keep contained." He took a few steps while he briefly thought about the right words.
He was trying to be vague, to stop their peers from realizing that he was referencing himself, "If Nirvana is activated, that contained darkness would remain as a contained entity, but it would become light. Adversely, that once good and decent being would become an utter scourge of evil." He explained.
"The scale of this becomes a problem if that being is a remarkably powerful individual," he said. He hadn't realized but his explanation had been powered by his drive to make sure that it didn't happen. He hadn't noticed that he'd left emblazoned footprints in his stead.
He felt Gray's hand on his shoulder accompanied by the hissing sound of ice and fire meeting. Steam rose from the connection before Natsu had clocked what had happened.
"So much for subtlety," Lucy groaned.
"This guy is so weird, but I love his passion," Ren smiled enthusiastically.
"He's obviously pretty successful with the ladies, maybe we should make him an honorary member of the Trimens," Eve agreed, offering Natsu a supportive thumbs up.
"You call yourselves the Trimens?" Gray asked, stifling a laugh, "Natsu, you've always wanted to be in a boy band, haven't you?"
"I refuse to refer to you by that name. Until you earn my respect I'm going to call you the hymens, you utter bunch of vaginas," he said with a deathly glare at the three suited mages.
"I'm back!" Ichiya announced, returning from behind the stairs.
"I speak on behalf of everyone here, we did not realize you'd gone," Gray responded, looking bored with everything.
"The…" Natsu stopped and stared at him.
"Do I have something on my face?" Ichiya asked, twirling for a variety of poses, none of which highlighted the face.
"Why… Do…" Natsu backed up slightly, looking utterly dumbfounded.
He quickly reached for Lucy, pulling her from behind him and running a hand along her side until it reached her belt, quickly flicking through the keys.
"She's still there…" he said in astonishment.
"Natsu, what the hell are you doing?" Lucy asked, glaring at him.
"You smell like Selerius," he said, looking back at Ichiya with narrowed eyes that quickly turned from black to gold.
"Whatever do you mean?" Ichiya twirled again.
"Uh oh," Natsu looked back at the main doors, "It's starting. I suggest every single one of you, especially the weak ones, like you two, and the genteel brigade," he pointed at Lyon and the pink-haired woman, "Stays here, I'm going to go and… Kill everything," he said with a sigh, briefly glancing back at Lucy's keys before begrudgingly letting go and marching toward the doors.
"Come on little Dragon, let's go!" he grabbed Wendy on his way past and left the mansion behind, he could smell the approaching forces.
"Wait! I haven't even told you what's going on!" Jura tried to shout after him.
"I wouldn't worry about him, he's… Rather unique," Erza said, trying to be polite.
"I am not worried about him, I'm worried about what he'll do. Makarov told me quite bluntly that sometimes the best way to describe him is if you gave a toddler the power of a God," Jura sighed, watching the others filter out after the Dragon Slayers.
"I'll try to limit the damage," Gray sighed.
"Well if he's going, I can't let Lamia Scale be shown up by these misfits," Lyon stated, pushing ahead of Gray.
"Lyon," Sherry said, dazed by her fondness for him.
"I should probably make sure that Natsu doesn't murder these idiots," Lucy said with a sigh that matched Gray's. She spared a single glance back at Ichiya who had continued to pirouette into various poses. There was definitely something odd. It was like he was cast in a light that she'd only seen in Celestial gateways, but as for his smell…
She couldn't see what Natsu was talking about, Aquarius hadn't been summoned in a while, and Ichiya didn't smell like her at all, whatsoever.
Her nose wasn't as good as his though. She made a mental note to ask him what had been going through his head when they got a moment alone.
Though, now it seemed that all of his attention was being drawn towards Wendy whom he'd immediately begun treating like she was his daughter. It was cute, but now Lucy was feeling mildly left out, almost as if she was having to compete with another person for his time and attention.
She was snatched from her thoughts by the rumbling ground. Either something big was coming their way, or…
Natsu.
A/N: I had a few laughs writing some of these bits. I'm excited for what comes next, it's going to be fun having a few slightly more evenly matched battles.