edited chapter 23
Natsu and his fellow slayers sat in the main room of their dragon den.
Across from him was one Anna Heartfillea. They all, with the help of Natsu, got their memories back of her.
"So not counting Laxua or Erik, we're all from 400 years in the past," Wendy stated, wanting to confirm her resurface memories.
"Yes, and it took me this long to find all of you after the gate."
"So, what do you want with us?" Sting asked
"Nothing just wanted to make sure you are all ok. After all, I was supposed to look after you all when we came to this time.
"So our dragons are inside of us?" this time, it was Rogue to speak.
At that moment, they could off hear their dragon's voices causing four of them to have a shocked look in their eyes.
It was then Gajeel notice the lack of shock from Natsu.
Then again, he remembered what he said about why their dragon abandoned them all those years ago.
"How long have you known Natsu?" Gajeel stated.
Natsu stayed silent there for a few moments before showing them his godsend mark.
Then it clicked for them despite it being a half-truth.
"So Gandeeney and the other are creating antibodies to stop us from turning into dragons?" she asked to herself rather than everyone.
"Will I become a dragon" Cobra said with slight fear in his eyes.
"No, you won't because the dragon poison you learned isn't real dragon poison, so you won't," Natsu informed.
Cobra let out a sigh of relief.
"Why did we come to the future?" Gajeel stated
Natsu and Anna visibly cringed at his words, causing the other to share a nervous expression.
"To stop a monster," Ultear said, telegraphing her presence.
She wasn't alone; all the exceeds were with her.
She was tired of waiting for their meeting to end.
"A monster!"
"Not just any monster, the black dragon of the Apocolypse Acnologia," All their dragon said in unison.
"Who's that?" Wendy said innocently
This time their dragons told them of the dragonking festival all those centuries ago. At the same time, Natsu brought Cobra up to speed.
"Don't fret too much about it Wendy, when the time comes, we'll leave you to fight in hopes you don't have to."
"And if they can't, I will," Natsu Added with a dead-serious expression.
"Natsu, you're the strongest of us, no doubt about it, but if our dragon can't, not saying your week Metalicana. What makes you think you can handle him?" Gajeel said with steel in his voice.
The whites of Natsu's eye turned pitch black, and his iris went crimson red "let just say before Igneel, I was an even bigger monster," then his eyes went back to normal.
The look on everyone face told him they understood
"He's not lying," Anna chimed in, "I am surprised you learned to control that power, Natsu."
"It was a surprise for me too."
"Besides the power you just showed with your eyes, why do I feel like your hiding something bigger from us Natsu," Gajeel said sternly.
Natsu may be far stronger than him, but he's not going to let that stop him from finding out the truth.
"GAJEEL, LEAVE IT ALONE, YOU FIND OUT IT TIME!" the voice of Matelicana rang in his mind.
A quick look at the other said they got the same message.
Anna internally let out a sigh of relief as she was brought up to speed on what happened at the games after chatting with Natsu.
"I will take my leave then" this got looks of shock from the four slayers before looking to Natsu.
"Don't be a stranger with us, ok!" he said with a smirk.
This caused her to giggle before waving them goodbye.
The next day
Natsu is sitting at the bar, having a drink of flaming whiskey.
And this was a rare instance where Ultear was not at his side. Not even Happy was with him.
The doors suddenly opened, revealing the scarlet knight.
After taking a look around the guild, she noticed it was mainly the men inhabiting it.
She noticed Natsu all by himself at the bar.
This piqued her curiosity so much she had to ask.
"Natsu, where is Ultear? you two are always together."
"Ultear is...taking a break as we're always together as for where she is. Girls night out."
Erza was perplexed by his statement and understanding, the need to take some time to herself.
However, what really set her off was the girl's night out.
They're taking a night out on the town...and they didn't invite HER along."
Seeing the look in her eyes, he knew it was pointless to hide it from her "they just left a few minutes ago. If you hurry, you might catch up to them."
In an instant, Erza was gone, determined to join the girl and have some fun.
Natsu took another sip from his drink.
He was soon approached by his fellow slayers Gajeel and Cobra. "I assume you have your stuff ready?"
"Yep"
"So, what job are we talking about?" Cobra asked.
"I picked an S class quest knowing you to" both slayers just smirked at this.
"So, what does the job entail?" Gajeel asked
"Simple monster elimination quest but not just any quest."
"This sounds good, so which one is it?" Cobra through in.
"The one and only Argus Job."
"Your kidding!" Gajeel said with a shocked expression.
"Not lying now will meet...at the train station tomorrow morning" Natsu glances towards Happy, and the other exceeds, munching down on some food.
"Happy, Lily, and Sebastian over here."
"What is it, Natsu!"
"Tomorrow, me, Cobra, and Gajeel are doing an S-class quest. So I want you three to meet us there."
"Be warned, this is an S-class, so be very careful."
"Aye, sir," he said, saluting him with his right Pow.
With the plan set, they head home for final preparations.
With the girls
Erza managed to catch up with the girls Mira, Lisanna, Cana, Juvia, Levy, Lucy, and of course, Ultear plus Ur if you will.
They all silently cringed when she showed up out of the blue.
It's understandable as Erza has a very...unique personality.
That was why they tried to leave her out of this like last time.
What was intended to be a fun night ended in disaster?
Several civilians were seriously hurt, and hundreds of thousands of jewels in damages.
It was billed to the guild. Makarov turned white as a sheet when he learned how much damage they caused.
Especially since it was one of those times, Ultear wasn't in the mood to fix things.
Not wanting to come off as rude, they reluctantly allowed her to join them.
"Ok, Erza, you can come along just try not to cause another catastrophe, ok," the eldest Strauss sibling stated.
"I will try my best!"
The girls all sweat drops as they knew this was the best they would get out of the scarlet knight.
And as usual, Lucy was left in the dark as she is still new to the guild.
Her face turned ghostly white from Mira's choice of words.
"Alrighty, ladies, let get this shindig on the road."
Miraculously nothing major happened that night besides some guy trying to pick up one of the ladies of fairy tail.
It didn't end well for them, and many guys tried to put the moves on Ultear despite her being married.
They were in for a rude awaking when Erza learned of this.
So there was some good of Erza being there.
"Mira?" Ultear asked.
"Yeah, what is it?" she notices Levy and Kinana were with her.
"Mind if we stay at your house tonight."
"Sure, but why would yu- oh right, never mind, then come on, let's go."
The next day
Natsu is waiting at the train station for the others.
He didn't look it, but he was struggling right now to keep his instincts at bay. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take it.
That is why he, Gajeel, and Cobra have to leave Today before it's too late.
Luck was on his side. Today his fellow slayers met up with him, both having a pain look in their eyes.
It did lift the spirits that their exceeds companions were with them.
He could tell they were struggling like him.
The train pulled into the station, they quickly found their seats, and they were off.
Usually, the train wouldn't leave this quickly, but the conductor made sure they were off.
Why simple he was well aware of how his three passengers were once a month
He always made sure they were the only passengers they had on the train.
Why? Out of fear, someone might cause them to snap and cause harm to the other occupants.
To further this, he made sure no female employees were working despite them saying on numerous occasions that the female workers had nothing to worry about.
They didn't know it was their mates who made sure no women were working during this time.
As they got farther away from Magnolia there, as the scent of their mates faded, their instinctive desires did as well.
After about two hours, they all let out a massive sigh of relief as their internal struggles faded to manageable levels.
"They one bad thing about being a male dragon slayer," Cobra announced, getting looked of agreement from his counterparts.
"Let just hope it will be later rather than sooner for Sting and Rogue," Natsu said offhandedly.
"I don't even want to imagine what the bluenette will go through" they all visibly cringed at this.
Natsu was expecting some comment from grandeeney but got nothing in return.
Fairy tail guildhall
Lucy is looking for a new job at the job board after all her rent is coming up, and the winner for the missing fairy tail contest hasn't been revealed yet.
With a sigh, "looks like I have to see if Natsu, Gray, or Erza have a job lined up," she goes to the bar to get something to drink.
That's when she noticed the deflated forms and Ultear, Levy, and Kinana at the bar.
"What's wrong with you three?" she asked.
"Our men are gone," Ultear mumbles.
"What does that have to do with your no offense down states?"
She was waiting for an answer when Mira made herself known.
"This always happened with those three when their men go out on job together."
"Why?"
That was when Mira told her everything about the situation for them.
Needless to say, she had massive blush on her face.
"No matter how you look, it comes down to simple biology."
"I didn't think their cycles would sync up like that."
"That's why Ultear and the other two stayed at my house last night."
"For fear, they would force themselves on them?"
"Yes, even though," she leans and whipered, "they secretly want it as much as them."
"Really, what gives you that impression?"
You haven't seen the look in their eyes the first few times this happened.
She glances at the three and notices a dreaminess in their eyes as they gazed at what she can only assume in an imaginary picture of their men.
"I think I understand now," she whipered back.
"I understand you are looking for a job. I think Gray and Erza can help you with that."
"I thought the same thing might as well give it a shot."
With Natsu and the others
They were finally off the train, ready to take on this job, and Natsu made it clear there is no rush to get home but have it done within a reasonable amount of time.
After about an hour's walk, they made it to the client's house. They would have flown, but they needed to buy as much time as possible for their sake.
Natsu knocked on the door and was let in by what he can only assume is the client butler.
They were lead to a study to see an older gentleman writing something down on a piece of parchment.
He briefly looks up to see the three wizards" you must be The flame prince, black steel Gajeel, and what was your name again?"
"COBRA!, the poison dragon slayers!"
"Ah, yes, I remember you now, so are you here for the job?"
"Yes, we are, the S-class argus job, correct?"
"Yes, indeed, flame prince."
"Just Natsu will do."
"Ok, Natsu, Gajeel, and Cobra, here is everything you need to know of the monster that needs to be dealt with."
He handed Natsu file a paper holding all the information on the needed.
They left the house heading to a nearby bar.
"So, what does the job entail, Natsu?" Gajeel asked
"Yeah, Natsu," Happy added.
"According to this, it commonly referred to a Destructo Rex or D-rex for short."
"What else is there?" Lily stated
"It's been sited in the old amusement park near the mountains."
"Wait as in the famous dinosaur park that went bust 20 years ago," Gajeel said
"Yeah, and it was the reason they went bust, apparently. Some guy wanted a new attraction since they were losing business."
"And how does that tie into the job" this time, it was Sabastianto throw in his two jewel
"The owner hired a wizard to try and make a real-life dinosaur, but as you probably guessed, it went horribly wrong, and now it roams the park aimlessly."
"So we just track it down, kill it?" Cobra threw in.
"Hmm, we may not have to from what I read. It hasn't hurt anyone we know of, but it has scared tourists from coming putting this area in economic hardships."
"Really, this place doesn't seem that bad off."
"If anything, their quality of life is as good or better than Magnolia."
"That's only because of the number of wizards who came here to stop it! According to the file, they were barely able to feed their population for the first five years. The client never had the money to put it as a job request until after a famous wizard wonder in and heard about the beast."
"That's when word of it spread and was able to request it to the council?"
"Yeah, but there are those who don't want it to go. It brings in the wizards who have money to spend. But some people fear it because of its power, and eventually, those who seek to challenge it will stop coming."
"Causing the money to dry up."
"And bring back the economic hardships again."
"In fact, it's boarding on the line of becoming a decade quest from this file the man gave me."
"Dang, almost wish Gildarts was here," Cobra said
"Yeah, but he's not, so it's up to us to finish it."
"Right, isn't he on one right now?"
"Yeah," Natsu responded.
"Normally, I would suggest we hurry, but not this time," Gajeel said, looking away.
He got a silent nod from his fire and poison counterparts plus exceeds.
they decided to stay the night at a nearby inn
The next day they headed off to the old amusement park.
After about an hour, they found a footprint of the beast.
It was huge, about as big as Natsu and Gajeel on top of each other.
They also found its scent. So, of course, they took their time tracking it and looking for any clues on the beast.
After about an hour they found the old head office for the park.
Wanting to know more, they entered to see what they could find.
After a bit of searching, Cobra found something "hey guy, look at this" he held up some old journal.
"Let me see that," Cobra handed it to Natsu.
After about five minutes, he found something that utterly shocked him.
"This can't be!"
"What!" they all said in unison.
"This journal fills in several blanks the client gave us."
"Like what?"
"Look for yourself," he hands it to them.
"Your kidding!'
"How?"
"Natsu...we have to finish this job," Happy said with conviction.
"Don't have to tell me twice. Let's head out," he yelled to his fellow slayers.
They steeled their resolve as they headed deeper into the park to put an end to D-rex.
It wasn't long before the scent from earlier was running thick through the air.
"Keep your guard up," he didn't need a response from them.
They made sure to watch their every step. The less noise, the better.
In a hushed tone, "guy, when the time comes, I'll take on D-rex to keep it busy while you two find the ritual site."
"And what about us," Happy said quietly.
"You three stay with Gajeel and Erik."
"How many times do I have to say it's Cobra."
When this is over, fight me if you win, I'll call you Cobra from now on.
"Deal"
They continued onward, and it wasn't long before they could feel the tremble of the ground, and the sound of rock and tree's being crushed.
"I think I hear it behind that mountainside" he points to one of the mountainsides making up the road ahead.
"Ok, will split up. Just don't die, Natsu," Gajeel said
"Fine, just get to the ritual site quick. I don't think I can keep it stalled for long.
Wanting to buy them as much time as possible, he used his flames to fly off were her last herd, the monster.
In no time at all, he stood before the towering monster before him.
It had to be at least twice as tall as the cathedral, if not bigger.
"HEY, UGLY DOWN HERE!" he shouts, getting its attention.
It let out a fierce roar before charging at him.
"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" he shouts, sending a massive torrent of flames bathing the creature in dragons fire.
It let out a cry in agony from the sheer heat of the flames.
But it was short-lived as the pain was replaced with unfiltered rage.
And so began a battle of monsters.
With the others
With only the sound of battle behind them, they ventured onward, looking for the cave that held the ritual site.
As they descended into the darkness, their desire to go back only grew to eventually, Happy snapped.
"Guy, I'm heading back to Natsu!" just as he was about head back, he was held back by Lily and Sabastian only to be restrained by Gajeel's iron.
"Sorry, Happy, but you know Natsu would want us to leave him, so we continue without interruption.
He reluctantly agreed with their reasoning.
Soon the sound of battle faded away.
After what felt like forever, they found what they were looking for.
They stood in a massive room inside the cave, and the center was a large circle with various runes and symbols.
It was about 15 feet across. On the opposite end of the room stood a desk with what looks to be an ancient tome.
On a closer inspection, the desk and tome were covers in a thick layer of dust.
"Looks like we found what we are looking for," Cobra stated as he picked up the book.
It held considerable weight to it. Cobra dusted it off along with the desk.
Gajeel notices various notes strewn about the room. "Looks like someone hasn't been here for a couple of decades."
"That would coincide with how long this monster has been stalking these grounds.
"Guys, I hate to rush things along, but can we hurry? We don't know how long Natsu can last up there."
"Right, man, I kinds of wish Levy was here to make sense of these notes," he said offhandedly.
"She's your mate. I'm surprised you haven't picked anything up from her after all this time," Cobra said with a slight chuckle.
"She, the brains, and I'm the muscle it worked out so far."
"Not far enough, it seems."
"Hey, you wanna go, Mr silent but deadly."
"For the last time, it's a poison like you can talk iron breath!."
They continued this verbal fight for a few minutes before Happy had enough.
With newfound strength, he burst free from his restraints, "GUY! Enough with the insult, Natsu is counting on us."
This set them straight as they went over the note and the book.
"Find anything useful?"
"I think so."
"So, what is it?"
"If I'm reading this right, we can free Roxane from the spell if we can redo the ritual."
Flashback start
When Natsu was pouring over the journal, he learned something startling.
The journal talked about the day D-rex was created.
Apparently, the owner who hired the wizard was secretly a dark mage and had a thing for his daughter.
Knowing her father would approve of him, he messaged her to come to see him in the dead of night.
When she arrived, she unwittingly steps into the magic circle in his room.
He cast a highly complex spell transforming her from a beautiful girl into the terrifying D-rex.
Her name is Roxane.
When the owner learned that the wizard fulfilled his end of the bargain, he would pay him 8 million jewels.
The exact amount for the job request they took.
Once he took the money, he would reverse the spell and tell her father to order her to be transformed.
Thinking her father didn't want her, she would go with him gladly as without the monster. The park would close.
The owner learned of the wizard trickery as someone spotted the girl walking into the wizard cave deep in the mountain.
He confronted the man only with being met with the towering form of his daughter in monster form.
Not expecting this, he used his magic and ordered the monster he created to kill her father.
Somehow he survived and got away being a man of business. He wrote down all he learned in his journal.
He was forced to leave it behind because the monster that was his daughter came bustling through the park, destroying everything in its path.
And what more startling was them client was for this job was the same man who hired the wizard.
Flashback end
"Wonder what happened to the bastard, the transformed that poor girl," Gajeel said aloud.
"Wouldn't surprise me if he was killed by the monster he created; otherwise, we wouldn't be here," Cobra replied.
"Probably right, so how are we going to reverse the transformation?" Happy declared
"There has to be something in this book that can help us because if we're not quick, we may be forced to put the beast down as that what the client wanted us to do," Cobra said, going through the old tome.
As he scanned the book, he found nothing until he found the spell used, "I think I found something!"
He showed them the spell used, and through they were able to find a counterspell.
"We have to get back to Natsu now," Happy yelled before bolting off with the other not far behind.
With Natsu
Natsu, currently dodging each footstep D-rex took trying to keep it busy till the other got back.
Not wanting to hurt her more than necessary, he only used one spell and played a game of cat and mouse, waiting for the others.
"Damn, I can't keep this on much longer" just then, a nearby house was smashed to pieces.
He looked to the beast once more and couldn't help but see Ultear in her as their situations were similar.
Both lured into something they had no idea of and set up to be a prisoner of circumstances.
Ultear was Lucky to have Natsu get her out of the shackles of her past.
And now Roxane was in the same vein,
He couldn't imagine being stuck as a monster for over 20 years, wandering around looking for what he can only assume are the memories of her past.
that it for this chapter
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