I'm really inconsistent with updating. Must suck, huh?
Enjoy!
Natsu yawned loudly as he put his drink down. This made Gray chuckle.
"Tired?" he asked. Natsu glared at the half naked man sitting across from him.
"What gave it away?" He snarled. "My yawning or the bags under my eyes."
"Nah, it was your upbeat and happy attitude." Gray relied sarcastically. "What's wrong?"
"What do you think, genius?" Natsu demanded. "Luke cried all night last night. I just want to sleep, man."
"Aw, you poor thing." He said. "How do you think the rest of us felt while you were parading around doing whatever it was you were doing for sixteen years." Natsu made a face at this.
"You know damn well what I was doing." He said. "You suggested it." Gray rolled his eyes.
"I know that." He retorted. "I'm just finding it hard to believe you were gone for that long."
"You try to seal away a part of yourself that keeps making it difficult and we'll see how long it takes you." Natsu growled. "With you all breeding like rabbits I needed to get it done. So sorry I'm late."
"Just shut it, flame brain." Gray said, ending the conversation. Natsu yawned again and looked around the guild. It had been a while since Nashi and the others had gone out on their job. It was a ways away, and since nearly half the team consisted of Dragon Slayers, they managed to argue their way into walking to the job. Natsu wished he'd gotten such a luxury, but sadly it never really happened. Other than that, everything seemed normal.
And eventually, Natsu's thoughts drifted back to his conversation with Gray.
About END.
It was no secret to all those Natsu knew prior to leaving he'd done so to find a way to seal away his demonic powers forever. Doing so would make sure he never had the ability to unleash that thing ever again. That part of his life was long past. Little did he know of course that it would take him sixteen years.
And after all of that, Natsu came home to find out he had a daughter.
A daughter like him.
Natsu painfully recalled months before when he'd collapsed on the city streets while Nashi was away. The feeling he'd had was one he'd not had in years.
The same power he'd tried so hard to seal away. That very same power had finally awakened inside Nashi. And from what he could tell once she'd returned, her body did not take kindly to the destruction it caused.
Natsu knew that at some point he'd have to tell her. He'd have to sit her down and tell her everything. Her heritage, her power, and what it meant.
But how? How do you sit a girl down and tell her she's got monstrous powers living within her, her heritage traces back to the most powerful dark wizard in history, and that power she had was a byproduct of that same man?
For now, Natsu knew what he had to do. He had to make absolutely sure Nashi was safe. He'd find a way to tell her about that when he could hid it no longer. And until then, he'd just have to protect her. After all, it had been a while since any real END related scares...
"Guys!" Natsu was torn from his thoughts as a familiar voice called out. He turned to the open doors of the guild hall to see Ultear leaning against the wall, looking like she was out of breath. After a minute she looked up. "Wendy?!" She cried frantically. "Where is she?!"
"R-Right here." Wendy replied, standing up. "What's the matter, Ultear?" Seeing the women did not seem to soothe Ultear's worries. She simply turned over her shoulder.
"Guys, come on!" She shouted. "Wendy's here!" This made a knot form in Natsu's stomach. If Ultear looked this frightened and was looking for Wendy, that meant someone was hurt, and badly. Although Natsu knew all of them did their best to walk off injuries, this must have been bad.
And soon enough, Natsu could tell why.
The other six made their way in, And another mystery man was limping in behind them. Natsu's stomach settled slightly to see his daughter only sporting a few small buts and bruises, but she too look scared. And after that, Drake and Steph came in.
They were carrying Damien, who coughed violently as he entered the guild hall, causing what looked like blood mixed with puke to stain his clothes even more.
"Damien!" He heard Mira shout frantically. Soon enough the entire guild was running over to try and assist, and Steph and Drake laid Damien down on the floor, making him puke again.
"What happened?!" Laxus demanded.
"We'll explain later!" Steph said, voice cracking. "We just need to stabilize him! Wendy please!"Wendy had already made her way through the crowd and was kneeling in front of Damien, feeling his forehead. After a second, her eyes narrowed.
"That's not good..." Natsu heard her murmur. Wendy raised her hands and held them over Damien's head, and they started to glow. There was silence as Wendy worked, and soon she moved her glowing hands down to Damien's chest and worked there. Damien had not puked anything up since she'd begun working, which Natsu hoped was a good sign. After a good five or so minutes, Wendy leaned back. Her facial expression, however, was not relieved.
"What?" Steph asked weakly.
"Get him up to the infirmary." She said sternly. "I need him up there."
It was a while that Wendy had to work on Damien in the infirmary before she finally gave herself a moment to relax. Damien barely looked any better to Nashi, and she didn't like that one bit.
"...So?" Steph asked, right by Damien's side.
"...He's in bad shape." Wendy replied. "It's a miracle he made it this long."
"Well, that much we knew..." Drake mumbled next to Nashi.
"Anyone care to explain why there's fragments of concentrated holy magic stuck in him?" Wendy asked.
"Holy magic?" Mira asked, also next to her sons bed. "That...Oh God..."
"Well..." Elise said, rubbing the back of her head. "It's a pretty long story..."
"I think I'd like to hear it." Laxus said.
"It's my fault." Nashi turned to find Gin standing near the doorway to the infirmary. Although he too had been in horrible shape from fighting Quinn, Gin had managed to awaken on the way back. "I'm the reason Damien's hurt."
"You might want to explain before things get ugly, kid." Laxus said, voice low.
"It isn't your fault, Gin!" Ultear said. "We told you guys to hide and Damien fought them anyway! He got himself hurt!"
"But you guys wouldn't have gotten involved if not for me..."
"We stopped to help you." Simon said, arms crossed. "Stop trying to take all the blame."
"Story. Now." Laxus said. Nashi took a deep breath.
"We were on our way home when we saw Gin on the side of the road." She started. "We wanted to help him, so we stopped. Once he got up he tried to shake us, and said he was a Demon Lord like Damien." This raised a ton of eyebrows.
"He said he was being chased by Demon Hunters." Drake continued. "So we wanted to help him and said he would. Long story short, things got heated and we told Damien to hide, but he didn't..."
"The leader of the pack ran him through with a sword made of magic." Gin said, cutting Drake off. "That's why he's like that." The story made the entire room quiet. After a while, Laxus took a deep breath.
"...How is he, Wendy?" He asked, completely dropping the story topic. Wendy wiped her brow.
"Not good," She said. "I need to work on getting the holy magic out of him, and after that his whole system will need to recover. With luck, he'll go comatose."
"Wait..." Nashi said, stomach turning. "With luck he'll be comatose?" Wendy nodded, looking sad.
"Yes. His condition is bad. Very bad. As I said, a miracle he made it here." She looked back at Damien. "Alright, everyone out. I need to keep working."
"I'm not leaving." Steph said, holding her brothers hand.
"Neither am I." Mira said. Laxus really didn't even need to speak up. Nashi and filed out with everyone else, heart heavy with worry.
He'll be okay, right? After all, we're safe now.
Outside of the Fairy Tail guild hall, nobody really had any idea that anything was wrong. Many had seen the team rushing Damien home, and it worried them greatly, but most continued on their business like nothing was wrong. Probably because their was nothing wrong in their lives. Except maybe overdue rent or food gone bad. Mundane things really.
And after about an hour or two since the team rushed through, five more people appeared at Magnolia's front gate. Most who saw them noted they were clearly battle weary people, as they seemed primed for a fight. Three men and two women entered the city, and the man in front with blue and black striped hair made his way to a stall near the gate.
"Excuse me." he said, smiling at the women running it. "Would you happen to know anything about a girl with bright pink hair, would you?"
"Hm?" The women asked. "Well I think you're talking about Nashi Dragneel. Who're you guys? Friends of hers?"
"Sort of." The man replied. "We're wizards. She told us we could find her here." The woman answering him seemed to catch onto something at this.
"Ah, you must be looking to join Fairy Tail." She said. "Is that it?" The man smiled once more.
"Yes exactly." He said. "Could you please point me in the direction of the guild?"
"Sure. You see that big castle like building over there?" She asked, pointing towards it in the distance. "That's the guild hall."
"Thank you very much." The man said, digging into his black cloak. He threw down a wad of jewel, and smiled wider. "Be seeing you." The man returned to his group, and the blonde one laughed.
"Smooth Neptu." Neptu turned to him and frowned.
"Stop joking, Quinn." He told him. "We're here on business."
"Business?" The blonde woman asked. "i thought we were here to retrieve the demon."
"We are." Neptu said. "But we are not starting a fight here. Too many civilians. Besides, the guild members are also innocent."
"Not that group that handed Quinn his ass back to him." The black haired man said. "They're a problem."
"Shush, Tristan." The brown haired woman said. "I trust Neptu, don't you?"
"Sure I do, but we aren't walking into a bar here..."
"We technically are." Quinn said.
"Shut up."
After Nashi and the others had returned with Damien, the guild seemed a lot more put down. Obviously so, a member was in danger of dying. Nashi had since downed an entire drink, and was working on another.
"...Well he'll be fine, right?" Drake asked, attempting to lift spirits. "Wendy's never let us down before."
"That may be true, but Damien's in deep shit." Simon replied. "I trust her as well, but this isn't any simple wound. It's worse than that."
"I know, but..." Drake trailed off, before he growled. "This sucks so much."
"i know." Nashi agreed. "We had to make a total retreat otherwise he'd have been in deeper trouble." At this, Nashi looked up at Gin. He was sitting by himself in the dark corner of the guild hall. She wasn't really surprised he distanced himself for a while. He'd been pretty quiet the entire way here, so him speaking him in the infirmary had surprised her a little. As she looked around the guild, she caught her fathers eye. He noticed her looking and beckoned for her to come over to him.
"I'll be back in a sec." She said. Getting up from her table, she wandered over to her father and smiled at him. "Hey Dad. Where's Mom?"
"Hey." He said. "She's at home. You holding up alright?" Nashi sighed and sat down on the bench next to him.
"Just great." She replied. "Shit always seems to hit the fan whenever he try and do something." He chuckled at this.
"Don't worry, it runs in the family." Nashi smiled weakly. "Don't worry, everything will sort itself out." Nashi nodded. She guessed as much. As she stared blankly at the floor, pain shot up her arm, making her jump. Turning to her father, she found that he had poked a bruise on her arm.
"Ow." She said, making him roll his eyes.
"It didn't hurt that bad."
"It did."
"Nah, you're fine." He said, attempting to poke her again. Nashi laughed at this.
"Stay away from me." She said. Her dad was always good her lifting her spirits. After a couple more seconds, She felt her father wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her close to him. "Dad?" She asked, head resting on his chest.
"I was worried." She heard him mumble. "When Ul showed up looking frantic and asking for Wendy...I was worried you were hurt." Nashi smiled weakly at this and leaned into him a bit more.
"I'm okay."
"I know." he said. "But I worry, you know."
"Yeah..." The two grew silent at this. After a moment or two, her dad rubbed her arm.
"You know I'm proud of you, right?" he asked. This made Nashi's spine tingle a little. "You've grown so much since I came home, and you all did well getting Damien back here."
"You could stand to mention it a little more." Nashi joked. "But why're you getting so mushy right now?"
"...No reason." He said, although Nashi guessed the real reason he didn't want to share with her, for whatever reason. "Just figured I'd let you know."
"Well in that case, thanks." She replied. The two stayed together for a moment until Nashi felt her fathers grip in her tighten.
"What's this?" He asked under his breath. Nashi looked up to find a man standing in the door to the guild. As he walked in, Nashi noted that his hair was striped black and blue, which was a little odd. She could just barely see his hair underneath the hat, and he seemed to be wearing a dark cloak.
"Have I found the Fairy Tail guild hall?" He called out, getting some more attention.
"You have." Erza said. "And who are you?"
"That's not really important." He answered, looking behind him. "Come on guys, get in here." AT this, four more figures walked inside the guild hall.
And Nashi's eyes widened.
"You!" She shouted, jumping to her feet. Quinn laughed at this.
"Hey, pinky!" He called. "Long time no see!"
"How did you find us?!" She asked. "How did you get here so quick?!"
"Now now, we aren't here to start a fight." The man with striped hair said. "I just need to speak with those who faced off with Quinn the other day." He looked at Nashi. "I can assume you're one of them?"
"I am." Nashi said, casting a glance over at her friends. They all seemed ready to jump in at a moments notice. "And who are you?"
"The name's Neptu Skylancer." He said. "The Leader of the Skylance Demon Hunters. Who am I speaking with? Are you Nashi Dragneel?" Nashi was stunned into momentary silence. He was the leader of the Hunters? This was bad.
"I-I am." She replied. "What do you want?" Neptu shrugged.
"Not much." He answered. "Just hand me Gin and we won't have a problem. We'll leave with the Demon and you can all carry on with your lives."
Of course.
"And what if we don't hand him over?" Elise asked from the table with the others. Neptu turned to her.
"Well then of course we have a problem." Neptu answered. "And I really don't need any more problems right now, so please just hand the boy over."
They tracked us so quickly. This would be a horrible time for a fight to break out...
"So you come into our guild hall and make demands?" Nashi looked over as her father spoke up. "Ballsy move, man."
"Very." Neptu agreed. "But it must be done. I think I'm being pretty respectful not asking for the two demons upstairs. The one Quinn hurt and his mother, correct?" Nashi paled.
"How do you know about Mira?" She asked.
"If you really thought I wouldn't be able to sense a demonic presence that powerful you're fooling yourself." he said. "So, where's the boy?" Nashi looked over to find Gin was watching the exchange. He hadn't spoken up yet, but he also didn't seem keen on doing anything.
"Well to me it seems like you're chasing a kid who's done no more wrong that protect himself." Nashi watched as her father stood up. "So here's what we'll do. Leave here and the kid alone, and I won't beat the shit out of you." At this, the four standing behind Neptu prepared to defend him. Neptu, however, raised a hand and they paused.
"Is that so?" Neptu asked. "Is that what you think?"
"It is." Nashi's father said. "So what're you gonna do? Fight all of us?"
"No, no such thing." Neptu replied. "If I have to fight you, though, I will if I must. The boy will be coming with us." At this, Nashi's father began to glow, making Nashi smile. Neptu may have been strong, but stronger than her father? She doubted that very much.
"If you think you can handle me, than show me." Her father threatened. Neptu sighed and moved his cloak a bit and raised a hand.
In his open palm, a bright purple flame erupted to life.
"If I must." Neptu said. "Shall we begin?" Nashi's father did not respond to this. "Well? What will happen now, old man?"
"Dad?" Nashi asked. Her dad didn't say anything, he just stared down at his feet. Next thing Nashi knew, the magical pressure coming from her father faded away.
And then, Nashi knew she must have been dreaming.
She watched, in total disbelief along with everyone else, as her father slowly backed off and stood completely still. Neptu slightly lowered the hand holding the flames.
"Shall I take that as you backing off?" He asked.
"...Yeah." Her father said quietly, only furthering the disbelief Nashi felt. "It was." Neptu's flame faded away and he nodded.
"Alright then." He said. "Good idea, starting a brawl would not be good for anyone."
"Right..." Nashi had no idea what was going on. Why had her father backed off? That made no sense...
"I suggest a day grace period to figure things out." The blonde woman standing behind Neptu said. "That way you may say your goodbyes if necessary." Neptu looked back at her, but nodded.
"Alright, let's do that." He said. "I'll come back for Gin tomorrow. If you don't hand him over..." The man's face darkened. "Well I suppose we'll have another problem."
Since Neptu and his four Hunters had left the guild hall, everyone had launched right into theorizing what to do. Nashi still sat next to her father as everyone spoke.
"I think we can probably take them." Drake said. "There was only five of them."
"Did you forget the army Quinn summoned from nowhere?" Simon asked. "That might have been only a portion of their forces. We can't take a risk like that."
"Do we have another choice besides handing Gin over?" Elise asked.
"No, and we aren't doing that. They'll kill him." Laxus and Mira had since joined the conversation after hearing the noise. "So we'll have to find another solution.
"...So that's the way it is." Nashi turned to find Gin sitting in his corner still, playing with his hands. "I had hoped the adults that ran this guild were smarter than the kids, but I see now where they learned such foolhardy behavior."
"What's that mean?" Levy asked.
"What I mean is that none of you have any obligation to protect me." He said, golden eyes shining with solidarity. "Just hand me over and save your own skin."
"Nah, we're good." Gajeel said. Gin growled in frustration.
"I'm the reason Damien is hurt..." He hissed. "Just hand me over, would you?"
"...No, you aren't." Nashi looked over as Mira spoke up. "Damien got hurt because he was trying to protect someone he wanted to protect. He's hurt because he too didn't want to hand you over. Damien risked his life out there, there's no way in hell we're handing you over." After hearing from Damien's mother of all people, Gin fell silent and stared at his feet. Nashi however, jumped onto hers.
"Exactly!" She said. "I'm with Drake. Even if they have an army, we can beat them! I'll find that Neptu bastard myself and beat his face so bad he won't be able to-"
"Absolutely not." Nashi and the guild went quiet at this. Nashi turned to find her father eyeing her closely. "You'll do no such thing."
"...What?" Nashi asked, confused.
"You will not fight that man." Her father repeated. "You hear me? You stay away from him." Nashi furrowed her brow in confusion.
"Dad I know you worry, but I'll be fine! Besides, I'm sure I'll be fine if I just-"
"NASHI!" Nashi jumped as her father roared her name. He got to his feet and stormed over to her. Nashi feared what he planned to do before he reached her and grabbed her shoulders and got right up close. "You listen to me young lady. You are not, under any circumstances, fighting Neptu. Do you hear me? You aren't!"
"...Dad..." She tried, not understanding what was happening. Her father got even closer to her.
"Please..." he whispered, and Nashi's eyes widened. Her father's voice had taken on a tone she'd not hurt before. It wasn't angry, or prideful, or happy.
He sounded scared.
"Nashi, promise me. Promise me you will not fight Neptu Skylancer."
Well well. That's, uh, something. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!