The light was fading.

With each second, the darkness approached the golden star. Natsu tried to reach it, but his legs wouldn't move. His powerful wings had been ripped from his back.

The ground beneath his feet crumbled into darkness, swallowing him like quicksand. The darkness solidified, his bones broke, his flesh tore. Natsu didn't even notice. He just kept trying to reach the star. His fingers were crushed against the ground, his blood dripped hot and cold at the same time. But none of that mattered. The star remained out of his reach. The darkness continued to advance.

The star's brightness intensified, the darkness was forced to retreat. Natsu felt a spark of hope ignite in his chest, only to disappear immediately.

The explosion of light was nothing more than the last breath of a star about to die.

The darkness advanced with renewed fury, completely devouring the light.

It was terrible, feeling hope dying in his chest, slowly being replaced by despair, and feeling that despair turn into anger, finally into hatred, which ran through his veins like lava.

One by one the chain that bound him fell apart, turned to ash, power exploded from the core of his soul, his body transformed, flames became flesh, his screams of despair turned into a maddened roar, the trumpets sounded in the four corners of the world, announcing its end.

The storm continued to punish Fiore for five more days, and during all that time, Natsu had not awakened, had not even moved, in some terrifying moments for Lucy, he did not even seem to breathe.

At the end of the sixth day, when Lucy's concern was getting out of hand, and she was about to ask one of the spirits to look for Porlyusica, the angel awakened.

And it wasn't as peaceful as the first time. One moment Natsu was completely still on the bed, and the next second crimson flames had consumed the entire room. Wings made entirely of fire opened on his back, lifting him a few meters off the ground. Time seemed to slow down. Lucy could see the flames slowly advancing towards her. When the first blaze reached her, the world went dark. "Are you okay, Princess?" A somewhat rigid voice asked. Lucy opened her eyes and found herself faced with a sea of fire, but she didn't feel the heat. She was in a tight space, separated by a small glass door from the rest of the room. She was inside the spirit of the clock constellation. Horologium. Leo, the spirit of the Leo constellation, was standing in front of the clock spirit. To say that Leo was furious wouldn't do justice to what the spirit was feeling. He had crossed the gate with his own power, not being limited by his contractor. The spirit of Leo was a nightmare in flesh, blood and power, a hybrid between man and beast, two meters tall, body covered in golden fur, an imposing orange mane made of energy, teeth and claws that shone with the light of the stars.

"Do you dare attack my Master, Fallen?" Leo roared the question, but the living flame did not seem to hear him, and Lucy noticed that Natsu's eyes were staring into space, as if they were in a completely different place, his face frozen in a scream of silent terror. "Aquarius may have forgiven your first offense, but I will not show you the same kindness."

Leo gathered power in his claws, the golden glow of the stars intensified, he advanced, the claws flew towards the angel's neck, Lucy tried to scream for the spirit to stop, but it was too late, the lion's claws buried themselves in the angel's exposed throat.

The lion roared with such fury that the entire room shook, the glass door of Horologium vibrated to the point of breaking, the spirit of the clock groaned in pain, the lion jumped away from the angel, its charred hand beginning to regenerate.

"Damned fallen one, I will tear off your wings and offer them to the King."

The incarnation of fire slowly turned to the spirit, its eyes regaining focus, and darkening with rage.

"I would like to see you try." The flames around his face disappeared, revealing a sharp and fearless smile.

Leo took a step back, his eyes glowing gold, and Lucy was sure that a starry sky had appeared above her house.

A small flaming sphere appeared in front of the angel, spinning rapidly, the sphere began to suck the flames from the room, and from the angel's wings, growing and condensing.

"Farewell, Spirit." Natsu put his arm back, closed his hand into a fist, and prepared to punch the sphere.

Lucy knew instinctively that she couldn't let Natsu attack, there was too much power concentrated in that sphere, it wouldn't simply stop when it hit Leo, the flames would pierce everything in their path, without any distinction.

"ENOUGH!"

"PRINCESS!" Horologium shouted.

Lucy jumped out of the clock, ran towards the two idiots, standing between them, she was sure that Leo wouldn't hurt her, and she could feel that Natsu wouldn't hurt her either.

Leo's spirit seemed about to have a heart attack, his fright was so great that it forced him into humanoid form, Natsu stopped his fist a few centimeters from the sphere, his eyes slightly widened in surprise.

She turned to the angel with the fury of a supernova, Natsu felt a shiver run through his entire body, his feathers stood on end.

"That's the third time you've almost killed me." Natsu looked away in embarrassment. "If there's a fourth time, make sure you finish the job, otherwise I'll rip off those wings you seem so proud of." For a second Natsu was tempted to let his indignation control him, but the shame he felt was greater than any unfounded fury. He had put his benefactor in danger three times for his lack of control. If there were a fourth time, perhaps he would rip the wings off his back and present them as an apology because he certainly did not deserve them anymore.

"I apologize for my actions, Lucy Heartfilia. I assure you that at no time did I wish you harm." Natsu bowed slightly to her.

"May this not happen again." The fury drained from her face. She turned to the lion. "Show him where the bathroom is, Leo, then meet me downstairs."

The boiling water ran down his back, through the feathers of his wings, washing away all the blood and dirt that had accumulated, as well as the last traces of the nightmare that had shattered his control.

Natsu had faced more battles than he really cared to remember, he had lost as many companions as stars in the sky, even when his brothers began to disappear one by one, he had never felt such despair, his mind had erased the dream in a futile attempt to protect himself, and every time he tried to remember, his chest tightened, and a new wave of panic and fury threatened to undo the little control he had regained.

"I'll leave you new clothes." The spirit said, on the other side of the door that divided the shower from the rest of the bathroom. "Don't take too long, the princess doesn't like to wait, especially with the mood you left her in." Natsu considered telling him to go fuck himself, but decided against it, after all, he had disrespected his benefactor, and the King who protected her, too much.

He got out of the shower and let a thin layer of power envelop his body, drying the water that covered him. The clothes that the lion had left for him were clearly from the Spirit Realm, a black tunic with gold details, two slits in the back closed by small clips, pants and boots of the same color. Natsu dressed quickly and left the bathroom, coming face to face with the lion spirit, who without a single word, went down the hallway towards the stairs. Lucy was sitting at the head of a table full of food, at least three different types of bread, cheeses, fruits, meats, juices. Natsu felt his stomach growl, remembering that he had not eaten for a long time. The Lion spirit continued walking, until he was standing next to his master, his posture relaxed, although Natsu was sure that he was following his every move. "Sit down Natsu, eat, you must be hungry." Lucy indicated the chair on the opposite side of the table, Natsu obeyed, for a moment he tried to control himself, to be at least a little civilized, but the warrior inside him, who had learned the hard way that food would not always be available in abundance, took over, he ate like a wild animal, devouring in seconds everything that was within his reach. "When you are finished, I need you to accompany me to my Guida, as I found you, and it is my duty to introduce you to the master."

Natsu took his attention away from his food long enough to wave, but his eyes were fixed on the cup that Lucy was holding, the smell was familiar to him, although he could not remember where it came from. "Have you ever had coffee before, Natsu?" Lucy asked, and still with his mouth full, he shook his head. "Would you like to try it?" Natsu nodded again, and watched in fascination as Lucy put two spoons of a white powder into the cup, and filled it with a steaming black liquid. "Be careful, it's hot."

If he hadn't been so intoxicated by that smell he would have laughed, he would never have imagined hearing someone worry that a fire angel would burn himself, Natsu brought the cup to his mouth and when he tasted the drink, he deeply regretted having tried it, he was sure he had just found a new addiction.

The path to the guild had been interesting to say the least, accompanied by a celestial spirit, and an angel, Lucy had no problem walking through the streets, people made way for them, no one, wanting to draw the attention of the two.

Natsu looked from one side to the other, and although he didn't show it openly, he was Fascinated by the city, it was a completely different place from the angel kingdom, the houses were of different shapes and colors, cafes and restaurants served food that he never imagined existed. The city was bustling with a diversity of people that filled it with life, Kelpies and mermaids swam in the canal next to the street, humans walked alongside elves, werewolves, he had seen a couple resting in the shade of a cafe, and he was sure that the man was a Griffin in human form, while the woman was a vampire. If a place came close to the paradise described in the human scriptures, it would be that city, and in the center of it a stone fortress seemed to shine with the amount of power that radiated from its walls. Lucy stopped in front of the wooden doors of the guild, trying to contain a smile at the angel's fascination. "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Natsu." Lucy stopped trying to hide her smile. "The home of the most powerful and insane mystics on the Ishigar continent." He looked away from the castle, and turned to her. Lucy could feel the question the angel wanted to ask, she had asked it the same the day Erza had brought her to the guild, and she had heard it every time a new member joined the family.

"Why Fairy Tail? Fairies, at least all the ones I've met, don't have tails."

"When the guild was founded, fairies were nothing more than a myth, even among the gods, no one could confirm whether they existed or not." Lucy recited word for word the explanation Erza had given her, a sense of pride taking over her chest for doing this for someone else. "The founder and first Master of the Guild, Mavis Vermilion, created this name as a riddle, a question that would never have an answer, an adventure that would never end." Lucy lovingly touched the fairy mark on the back of her hand. "Two hundred years ago, when the fairies revealed themselves to the rest of the world, our current Master, Makarov Dreyar asked Queen Titania if she had a tail or not, he still has the scar to this day to prove it."

Lucy touched the huge wooden doors that opened easily, and to her surprise, a wooden table flew like a frisbee towards her head, Natsu stepped in front of her, grabbed the table without any difficulty, throwing it in the same direction it had come from.

Natsu just watched the chaos that took over the main hall, people fighting everywhere, tables, bottles, and even people being thrown from one side to the other, scattered among the confusion, some people were talking calmly, completely oblivious to what was happening around them, Natsu's face opened in a bright smile, revealing sharper canines than normal. "I think I'm going to like this place." Natsu said, his fists clenching, ready to join the sea of people. Lucy just sighed in defeat, she had imagined this would happen, Natsu despite being much scarier than most of the guild members had the same chaotic energy as them, or if the maniacal smile on his face was any indication, he would be much worse.

Amidst the confusion, Lucy saw Gray being hit by a punch from Elfman, his body being thrown towards the door, or rather, towards the angel standing there. Lucy didn't even think about warning him. A warrior like Natsu had certainly noticed the approaching danger. To her surprise, the angel was so distracted by the general confusion that the demon hit him squarely. The two rolled on the ground, but soon stood up, staring at each other like two rabid dogs.

"Watch where you're going to fall, ice cube."

"Why didn't you get out of the way, Hello Kitty Vulture?" The two spoke at the same time, which simply made them even more angry.

Still furious, Natsu turned to Lucy and asked: "What in the name of the creator is Hello Kitty?"

"It's hard to explain, Natsu. The only thing you need to know is that he insulted you."

"Okay," the angel replied, and the truce came to an end. Gray hit him with a right cross, which threw the angel into the middle of the crowd, hitting Elfman, Macao, and Nab.

"Great, that's what we needed, another idiot for the group." Lucy looked for him in the crowd, Natsu held Nab in one hand, Macao in the other, ready to hit one head with the other. "NATSU!" The angel stopped, Neb's forehead touching Macao's. "When you're done, meet me at the bar." Lucy pointed to the direction of the counter, and to the demonic barista who was taking care of it, the angel waved, seconds before being hit by a two-foot flying kick from Gray, Lucy turned to the spirit, who watched the confusion with envy. "Just a little Leo, or my Grandpa will get angry." The lion smiled, very similar to Natsu's, and threw himself into the crowd. Lucy headed towards the bar, naturally dodging everything that was thrown in her direction, in the first months after joining the guild, her body was covered in bruises, until she learned to dodge like the others, and discovered the sanctuary offered by the bar, no one approached Mirajane Strauss' domain.

Mira, as she was known by everyone in the guild, was the embodiment of sweetness, until someone broke something in her bar, the demon that hid behind her beautiful face was something that no one liked to remember.

"Hi, Mira." Lucy greeted her, sitting on her usual stool. "The usual, please."

"Hi, Lucy, where have you been for the last week?" Mira separated the ingredients for a strawberry milkshake. "I was getting worried, you, Erza, and Jellal didn't show up, and no matter how much I asked, Gray, he didn't say anything." That last part was probably eating her up, despite being extremely kind, Mira had a fascination for other people's lives that sometimes went too far. "And who's the handsome guy who came in with you?"

"Natsu, I found him badly hurt, and I've been taking care of him this whole time." The barista's eyes lit up, she handed her the shake, her hands practically shaking with curiosity. "I can't give any more details, I have to talk to the master first, is he at the guild today?"

"Yes, right behind you."

The mood in the room changed completely, Lucy turned around in time to see a small man get hit by a stray chair, the old man fell to the ground, Lucy heard someone groaning in fear.

Natsu watched the scene without knowing what to do, he had just used Gray as a club, and was still holding him by one of his legs, the ice demon was completely indifferent, his arms crossed in front of his bare chest.

The old man slowly stood up, and looked at the silent crowd.

"Who among you threw that chair?" His words vibrated with anger, his body began to swell, growing until it was touching the ceiling of the room. "Answer me, or I'll end all of you."

Everyone remained silent, except for the angel.

"I never imagined I would see you again, Hyperion."