Chapter 4
Fairy Tail has arrived!""
The loud exclamation by none other than Gajeel, was not well received by the guards. After Tartaros had destroyed the council, it had been theorized that they would also target former council members, but this proved not to be the case. For some reason, after the attack on the council, the activity ceased. When Fairy Tail launched an investigation into former council members, it was discovered that the chairman was in league with Tartaros.
However, when they found the chairman he wasn't alone. Two demons from the books of Zeref were there with him, and between them they managed to escape with the chairman from the onslaught of Erza, Natsu, Mirajane, and Laxus. However, Natsu put a tracker on himself and launched out after the scent of the demons, allowing Fairy Tail to track him, and the guild, down.
Imagine their surprise when the guild turned out to be a giant flying rock. But after Cana's quick thinking, the guild was brought up as a deck of cards by the exceeds. The shocked faces of Tartaros' soldiers greeted them as they exploded out of their temporary small worlds, touching down on the surface of the cube with earthland over their heads.
"This is so weird…" Gray said as he looked up, or maybe down, at the mountains below them.
Erza had to agree, but they didn't have time to focus on weird. Natsu was nowhere to be seen, and his advance departure for the guild meant that he should be greeting them at any time. Even as they cleared the fodder, her mind went out to the impulsive dragon slayer.
Things were progressing rather quickly, but they came to a head when Gray was pulled out for a 'private' battle with Silver. Erza couldn't help but wonder if the man was Gray's father. After all, with the symbolic resemblance of the color Gray and the material and/or color Silver, coupled with the similar facial structure, hair, and even the fact that the same element of magic was present, how could anyone not come to that conclusion? If Gray hadn't said his father and mother were both dead, she would be certain this was his father.
Then it turned out it was his father. Brought back by some necromancer or something, but still able to maintain his own will, seeming unlikely for a necromantic walking corpse, and additionally learn devil slaying magic. Erza couldn't help but wonder why the hell a guild of demons would take in an outsider who they killed earlier and let him learn devil slayer magic. It seemed like they were just asking to be betrayed down the road. Were the demons from the books of Zeref really that stupid?
Well, whatever. It worked out well enough, because Gray than used the devil slayer magic, which was apparently just passed to him at the time of his father's death, to freeze some dangerous antimagic particles that could've killed them all. She couldn't help thinking about how convenient it was that he was able to acquire and master the magic so quickly just in time to use it in this exact scenario. Wow. Crazy.
Gajeel and Wendy then said that they smelled Natsu in the prison area, so they went to find the dragon slayer there. Upon coming to the cell, the first thing Erza noticed was that he was stark naked. But the rest of what she saw kept even a blush from forming at the sight. His body was covered with abrasions and bruises. It was obvious that whoever was in charge of this cell was fond of torturing the subjects. Yet, for all of that, in his right hand she saw Igneel's scarf clutched firmly. Apparently even through the worst of the torture the dragon slayer refused to give up his most precious possession.
It didn't take long for them to get the doors open, and they rushed in to release Natsu from his restraints.
"Natsu," Erza said gently, a few small tears escaping as she took his scarf to wrap it around his neck. She found, however, that she was unable to pull it from his iron grip. It was as though the wrap were actually attached to his body. "I'm trying to help you put this on."
As though in response, his grip softened, allowing her to take the scarf and wrap it around his neck, as it always was. She smiled a little at the way he seemed to relax at the familiar feeling. He was still unresponsive to attempts to wake and question him, though. So she and Gray pulled his arms around their shoulders and dragged him through the halls, after putting some clothes on him that they got from the Tartaros soldiers.
They were progressing slowly when suddenly Natsu snapped up, his feet finding their way under him, and dropped into a fighting crouch, his movements, pushing both of them away. He stood still for a moment, looking around wildly, before his eyes finally came into focus, looking at Erza and Gray. Then suddenly the fear left them, and a grin came to his face.
"About time you guys got here," he said, standing up, then wobbling a bit before steadying himself.
"We came as fast as we could," Erza said. "But we had to get back to the guild and find somebody who could actually trace your position."
"I was just teasing you Erza, relax." Natsu grinned at her, then smirked at Gray. "If you didn't leave at least one of these guys for me to take out, you're so dead when we get back to the guild."
"Sorry flame brain, but we destroyed all of them on the way up here," Gray smirked.
"Really? Cause I can still smell the stench of at least one in the lower levels," Natsu replied.
"Well lead the way!" Erza said. And Natsu did, taking off with the whole of Fairy Tail following him.
On the way Erza got sidetracked. They were passing a strange room with all kinds of large glass cylindrical objects filled with fluids of some sort, but what she noticed most was that some of them had demons in them. Demons that they'd already fought and defeated. She felt rather than saw Mirajane stop beside her.
"Hurry up and reconstruct me Lamy," a very annoying voice shouted from one tube. She saw Franmalth there, his back turned to them. From behind another tube a rather plain, dark haired girl appeared wearing a lab coat.
"I can't make it go any faster Franmalth," she said, scowling at him. Then she seemed to see Erza and Mira. "You. What are you doing here?"
"What is this place?" Erza asked, ignoring the girl's question.
Lamy responded with a smirk. "This is what makes us truly immortal. Hell's core. If we die, we are reborn here again, and again, and again. You can never kill us!"
"Hmm, I wonder." Mirajane hummed behind her. Then, to Erza's surprise, the glass cylinders started shattering one after another. Before long all of them were broken, and the whole room was covered in liquid and broken glass. The demons who had been in the tank were noticeably missing.
"How?!" Lamy practically screamed, before multiplying into literally hundreds of replicas of herself. The weak, but annoying, horde then started attacking, charging Erza and Mirajane with abandon. They mowed through wave after wave, wondering if the onslaught of super annoying demons was ever going to end.
Something was bothering Erza during the fight though. She had seen most of the demons they defeated on their way in, but if her memory was correct two were missing. The female demons. They were the first two that they encountered after the guards, so if the regeneration took time it was possible they were already healed before they made it there.
Or maybe she just remembered wrong. It wasn't like there was any way to tell now, with all traces of the cylinders and their occupants gone for good. Now all she could do was blast through another wave of the Lamys.
"Is there no end to you?! Blumenblatt!" She watched as her blades sliced through several more of the offending creatures.
"Evil explosion." Yet another group gone.
"Lightning Dragon's Roar!" The shout came from behind her, and was quickly followed by a huge stream of lightning magic that took out six waves of Lamy's. The rest instantly disappeared, revealing the original lying in the epicenter of the attack, twitching and smoking.
"How?..."
Laxus walked past into Erza's line of vision. "A dragon slayer can always tell," he said with a smirk, tapping his nose lightly. Then he knocked the girl out quickly.
"Come on," he said. "Natsu and Gray are fighting the last of them below."
Erza and Mirajane quickly followed, leaving the room known as 'hell's core' behind in the process. He led them through a corridor and down, toward the bottom area of the cube. As they ran, the cube was shaking, chunks falling around them as more and more sky appeared through the destroyed ceiling.
"What's happening?!" Erza shouted. "Is this all Natsu's doing?!"
"Well," Laxus said. "Right now there are two dragons fighting over our heads somewhere, and the rest are out stopping face. What you're feeling is probably a combination of that and –oof!"
He was cut off as the cube seemed to slam hard into something, throwing them all from their feet. Erza got up shakily, surprised at the sudden impact.
"The cube crashing into the ground," Laxus finished as though nothing had happened. "So there you go. Let's get to Natsu."
The three continued their dead sprint through the halls till they came to a large room, if anything could be called a room with walls and ceilings disintegrating by the second. Inside they saw Gray and Natsu facing off against an angry looking Mard Geer.
~~~~~~Mard Geer~~~~~~
"This spell will completely eliminate your very existence," Mard Geer said to the pathetic beings that dared defy him. Soon they would know their place. "Memento Mori!"
With that the spell converged on the two wizards, making a devastating impact. Mard Geer watched, satisfied that he was able to show these humans their place in the last moments of their pathetic lives.
But as the spell cleared he was in for a shock. The two wizards were not, in fact, erased from reality as they should have been. Rather, though still beaten and tired from their long fight, they were very much alive and still there. How was this possible?
Then his eyes found the black marking on the dark-haired mage's arm. So that was it. Silver, even in his death, had finally managed to betray Tartaros. The boy had some demon in him. Something that could only be imparted by the devil slaying magic of Silver Fullbuster. Well, it wouldn't do them any good.
But suddenly a flash of light, fast enough that the distracted Mard Geer was unable to stop it, streaked past him to the book he'd set down momentarily. He turned to see a man with blue hair and a red tattoo on his face holding the treasured book of E.N.D. A commotion then turned his attention back toward the entrance to the room, where a red-haired girl, a blonde, a blue-haired, younger girl, and a black-haired boy who looked like he had some kind of bolts or something on his face came running in.
But what happened next was something Mard Geer had not calculated. Could not have calculated. The man with the blue hair held the book out in front of him.
"Now you will all see the true identity of E.N.D.!" He declared, and then began chanting something that sounded like it came from Zeref's language. Mard Geer was confused. Was he trying to awaken E.N.D.? Didn't he know that E.N.D. couldn't be awakened without magic being abolished?
But as he finished, something even more surprising happened. Smoke started coming out of the pink-haired boy's body. When the smoke subsided, a very different being stood in his place. This one was a few inches taller. His chest a little broader, his muscles slightly better defined. His body was covered in small, impenetrable scales, his eyes, set almost too deep in his face, glowed a fiery orange, and his fingernails extended to talons. He was wreathed in a fire that was black mixed with red, giving off a heat that was intense even to Mard Geer.
~~~~~~Erza~~~~~~
Erza stood staring at Natsu, unable to fully comprehend what she was seeing. She recalled his words to her before. His desperation when he talked about the darkness that lay within him. But even so, even with Jellal's little hints, she could never fully bring herself to believe that darkness was E.N.D., the most powerful, and most evil, demon of the books of Zeref.
But what happened next surprised her even more. Rather than turning his newly awakened wrath on her and the others surrounding him, Natsu turned to Mard Geer, his eyes glowing even brighter with anger as he looked at the demon. Then, in a swift move that their eyes could barely follow, he blinked forward, and Erza barely caught sight of what looked like a fiery sword appear in his hand, slashing down and across the etherious' body as he passed.. It also looked as though Mard Geer became a book, then the book turn swiftly to ashes, which scattered across the floor of the room. All in the span of milliseconds.
"Mard Geer?" The voice came from what used to be the entrance to this place, which no longer needed an entrance because of the destruction that surrounded it. Erza turned to see Kyouka and Sayla, the last surviving demon gates, rushing into the room. They stopped, staring at Natsu.
"What have you done with Mard Geer?" Kyouka hissed.
"You mean that?" Natsu's voice had changed. It was deeper, more powerful, and there was a hint of something bordering on insanity in it. He slowly raised a claw and pointed at the pile of ashes on the floor. "I disposed of it."
"Lies!" Kyoka shrieked. "No human could defeat Mard Geer! Sayla!"
"As you wish." The girl stared at Natsu, and Erza shouted out a warning to watch out for her curse power. But it was already too late. She saw him look up to meet her eyes.
"You will come kneel before us like the scum you are, and apologize to my mistress for lying to her." Sayla said coolly.
Erza watched as Natsu approached, slowly, until he stood before the two demonesses. Sayla looked at him with a haughty smirk, while Kyouka continued to glare. Slowly, Natsu got down on one knee, causing gasps or surprise from everyone, including Erza. She was sure the macro wouldn't work after E.N.D. was just awakened. But there he was, kneeling before the two.
Every eye in the guild was turned to him, no longer concerned so much with the presence of E.N.D. in Natsu as with what Sayla would order him to do now that she had him under her curse power. With the strength he just displayed, he could easily obliterate most of the guild if given the command! She could feel the nervousness from the others as acutely as her own as they watched the scene unfolding before them. Natsu, kneeling slowly on the ground. His mouth opening to speak the words of obeisance that had been demanded of him.
"Did you really think such petty tricks would work on me?" Again there was a slash, so quick that Erza could hardly follow it, and Sayla's head fell, separated from her shoulders. Her demon blood dripped from Natsu's claws as his hand remained extended, now standing in a crouch rather than kneeling as he turned to face Kyouka.
"Impossible…" The raven-haired demon declared as she backed away from him. "No human is this powerful…"
"What makes you think I'm a human?" The words, though spoken quietly, echoed through the area even over the roars of the fighting dragons in the sky far away, and they sent a shiver through Erza. The realization was dawning on her that the evil that Natsu sensed for so long was now emerging, and that she would be unable to do anything to stop him if the power he just displayed was any indication. She watched Kyouka's face register shock, then terror before it disintegrated in black fire that seemed to burn from her insides. Like Mard Geer, her body seemed to become a book, and the book then turn to ashes before her eyes.
Natsu then stood there, unmoving. Erza was unsure of what was going through his mind at the moment. She didn't even know for sure it was his mind. But he had attacked Mard Geer, Sayla, and Kyouka, and he wasn't attacking them. That meant that, no matter how it may appear on the outside, Natsu was still there somewhere.
"Everyone, we have to act now!" Jellal's voice caught her attention, and she turned to the blue-haired mage who she was still torn about. "We have to kill him before E.N.D. fully awakens, or even our combined power may not be enough!"
He started moving as quickly as he finished speaking, and Erza saw Gray rush forward as well. Requipping to her fastest armor, she rushed forward as well, coming between them and Natsu and holding her hands out to halt their progress.
"STOP!" She yelled, making sure they heard her. "This is still Natsu! We can't just kill him!"
"Erza, move out of the way." Jellal said, his eyes stead on her. "I'm not going to ask you to help me. I just need you to move."
"Erza, Natsu isn't who we thought he was." Gray agreed, his new magic that Erza never saw before flaring up. "E.N.D. is the most evil demon Zeref ever created. We need to kill him, or thousands of people will die."
"According to you," Erza retorted. "Who's actually seen E.N.D.? Who's witnessed the atrocities you credit him with? We've known Natsu since we were kids. You really think E.N.D., Zeref's most powerful demon, suddenly became a child just to join our guild and fight dark mages with us?"
"I don't have to think anything," Gray replied. "The evidence is right in front of me."
"Erza." She turned, seeing the pain in Jellal's eyes as he spoke. "You know how much I care about you, but if you don't move out of the way I can't be responsible for what happens."
Erza scoffed. "You mean you will be responsible for what happens," she responded. "But if you're that set on killing Natsu, you'll have to take me with him. I'm not moving for either one of you."
"Erza, please move out of the way. I don't want to hurt you," Gray said from her other side. "We've been friends since we were little children."
"And Natsu's also been our friend for that long. So far all he's done is put an end to the demon guild master of Tartarus, and you want to kill him for that."
"No, I want to kill him because he's E.N.D.," Gray retorted. "And I'm going to, whether you're there or not. I really didn't expect you of all people to protect a demon, Erza."
Erza scowled. There was no way that she was going to back down from this one. So far, the only thing Natsu did was kill an Etherious, and this was despite the terrible dreams he told her about. How did that qualify him as an enemy that must die?
True, she could feel her own body shaking at the sheer force of the magic power this new form emitted. Yes, her long-time friend now looked more like a demon from the gates of hell than a cheerful, fun-loving teen who was too dense for his own good. But they'd all seen Mira in demon form before. Even Freed had a demonic form that his power granted him access to. If there was one thing she'd learned over the years, it was that you never kill somebody for what they were.
But she didn't have anymore time to contemplate the current crisis, as a deep chill suddenly surround her. Gray was already moving forward, focusing his magic on Natsu to attack, but that attack would also encompass her because of her proximity. She saw Jellal begin casting Altairis, the spell that killed Simon back at the tower all those years ago.
She knew she had time to move. She could get out of the way and let the spells hit their intended target. What if they were right? What if E.N.D. really was as evil as legend made him out to be? Was she just throwing away her life to protect something that would be the end of Fairy Tail? The conversations replayed in her mind. Natsu's dreams where he would destroy everything he held dear.
But she couldn't waver. She had to believe this was still Natsu. Why else would he have destroyed Mard Geer? Why would he still refrain from attacking even in the face of the combined assault on him?
Suddenly, just before the attacks converged, an intense, yet somehow comfortable, warmth spread over her. Strong arms wrapped around her from behind, and then she was moving through the air, faster than she would have thought possible. Time seemed to slow for a few minutes as the spells collided, their impacts causing a blast of dark and cold magic to blossom out from the epicenter. Despite the immense speed at which they moved, the fringes of the blast almost caught them. The destructive magic power residue brushed against them, and she shook slightly as she realized that, had she remained where she was, there was no way she would have survived, even in her adamantium armor. She breathed out a small breath, thankful that Natsu had recovered quickly enough to remove her from the blast radius.
The arms that held her pulled away, and she turned to see Natsu with his back to her. The warmth from his flames still enveloped him, and she could still see the talons at the end of his fingers. Then he spoke. His voice was no longer the gentle baritone of a youth just becoming an adult. There was a depth to it of an ageless being, laced with immeasurable power and barely contained rage. The sound sent shivers down her spine, and again the fear threatened to surface.
No Erza. This is Natsu, not someone to be afraid of. She reminded herself as his words reverberated through the broken halls.
"I don't care if you want to attack me, but to think that you would kill your own comrade, Gray, and the woman you profess to love, Jellal… That is unthinkable." His volume escalated as he spoke the last words, the voice becoming a roar that drowned out all other sound and threatened to destroy her eardrums.
Beyond him, she saw Gray blanch in fear. Jellal also looked slightly ashen, but also determined. "It isn't too late," he said, not responding to Natsu but rather addressing the guild. "If we all work together, we can kill E.N.D."
"Or weaken him enough for Mirajane to take over," Gray added, ice gathering around his hands.
Erza stayed behind Natsu, not saying a word as she watched Fairy Tail slowly divide up. Most of the B and C class mages gathered behind Gray, with even Jet, Droy, and Reedus making their way over. Lisanna, Mirajane, Wendy, Carla, and Happy immediately distanced themselves from the group joining Gray and Jellal. Elfman seemed hesitant, but after receiving a glare from both sisters he quickly moved toward their side. Laxus also moved to the side supporting Natsu, perhaps remembering how Natsu still supported him after he betrayed the guild and made everyone fight each other. The Raijinshuu followed Laxus, of course. Gajeel stayed right where he was, not moving toward one side or the other. Juvia, predictably, ran toward 'her Gray-sama's' side. Lucy and Levy remained in the center with Gajeel, none of them moving from their current position. Makarov also remained firmly in the middle. The old man hadn't said a word yet, which was infuriating to Erza. Why wasn't he sticking up for Natsu here? Wasn't Natsu one of 'his children,' just like the rest of them?
[[A/N: Reminder/In this timeline Laxus and the others were not nearly killed by anti-magic particles. The Chairman used his archive to determine the person holding the key to unlock FACE/]]
Cana hesitated before also moving toward the group that refused to attack Natsu, undoubtedly because Gildarts would've done the same. If only Gildarts were here, things would be a lot easier. Even Jellal wouldn't dare stand up to him. But as usual the ace of Fairy Tail was nowhere to be seen. What good was an ace who was never around when you needed an ace up your sleeve anyway?
Then suddenly Natsu turned, and a moment later Erza heard a huge impact on the ground behind them. Without a word he sped off in the direction of the sound, and Erza chased him, ignoring the commotion that was starting behind her. That commotion was caused by none other than 4 dragons, and their respective dragon slayers were now turning to rush to them as well, forgetting the argument that was breaking out between guild members now.
Erza stopped when she came closer to Natsu, for the dragon slayer, still in his demon form, had stopped, falling to his knees next to Igneel. The great dragon looked to be in very bad shape, though Acnologia had departed. They had what appeared to be a private conversation, before Erza heard finally heard the dragon's voice.
Powerful it was, like nothing else she encountered on earthland, save, perhaps, the voice she attributed to E.N.D. when Natsu reprimanded Gray and Jellal. It had a depth to it also, but though it seemed nearly as loud as Natsu's roar previously her ears were not hurt by the sound. Also, for some reason she felt certain that the words she was now listening to were not audible to the rest of the members who remained behind.
"Right now you barely maintain control, and that only because the demon is only partly awakened," Igneel was saying. "You must go, train yourself until you can take E.N.D.'s power and harness it as your own. Only then will you be ready for the final test that awaits you."
"You will also need someone to push you in your training. I trained you long enough to know. You will get stronger by yourself, but not strong enough. You must find someone who is powerful. Someone who is stern. Someone who won't let you slack off while you're training. Only then will you harness the power you'll need in time."
Erza smirked inwardly. She would be perfect for that job. In fact, it was almost as though the dragon were describing her! And, of course, some time away from the guild training with Natsu could be interesting. Her interest in Jellal had been diminishing of late anyway, and with his latest stunt with Gray it dropped to an all time low. She took the opportunity to step forward past the fear that she felt in the presence of the huge creature in front of her.
"I believe I can help with that," she said.
"Are you sure," Igneel, though he was literally starting to fade away before her eyes, asked. "It would mean weeks, even months, in the wilderness alone with Natsu. You should avoid populated areas because the magic you will have to practice is literally capable of destroying cities. You'll have to rely on the land for food. You might get tired of each others' company after a while."
Erza could almost feel her face steaming as she imagined spending months in the wilderness alone with Natsu. Of course they would pack light. Natsu always packed light. But they would have sleeping bags, and if it got cold at night Natsu would gladly let her sleep in his sleeping bag with him. And his fire could come in handy for heating the water when they bathed. She could almost feel the suddenly warm water, fresh from the river. His hands massaged the soapy water along her back, causing shivers to run through her despite the heat. They teased a little as they massaged her sides, slowly venturing closer to her sensitive breasts. "Natsu," she breathed as the soapy hands began to caress her cushiony mounds, slowly approaching her already hard nipples…
"Umm, Erza?" Her eyes snapped open. She hadn't even realized they'd closed, but now everything was back to normal. Well, relatively normal anyway. Happy seemed to have rejoined Natsu, the blue cat sitting on his shoulder as Natsu, no longer E.N.D., stared at her with concern. "Is something wrong?"
"N-no, of course not." She said quickly. "I was just thinking that I must plan a difficult training regimen for you, or you'll never reach the level of power Igneel wants you to." She nodded, forcing her mind from its previous train of thought to the training. The meditating. The magic practice. The sparring. The groping… er, grappling.
You've got to stop reading those hentai novels Erza… She shook her head, turning back toward the rest of the guild. The dragon slayers were all still staring at where their dragons disappeared. The others seemed to already be back to squabbling.
"Natsu-nii!" Wendy was the first to notice their approach, and she wrapped the dragon slayer in a hug. "
"Hi Wendy," Natsu smiled as he hugged her back. "Sorry to worry you."
"Wendy," Gray's voice was cold behind the girl. "Step away from him."
Erza stared at the dark-haired mage, her eyes hardening as they met his emotionless orbs. "What do you think you're doing Gray?"
"I'm finishing E.N.D. while he's still in this form," Gray replied. "This may be the only chance I get to do this."
Erza felt her anger rising as she leveled a glare at the ice mage. She felt slightly satisfied when he flinched away from her reflexively. "What good do you think killing Natsu is going to do?" She asked. "He's still Natsu, regardless of what else may be a part of him!"
Before Gray could respond, a voice echoed from behind him. "Gray! You don't have to fight Natsu. Just destroy this and he'll die!" Jellal was waving a book in the air. It was the same book Mard Geer had been holding when the fight first started.
"Why don't you destroy it then?" Gray yelled at him, turning to face him.
"It can only be destroyed using magic stronger than Zeref's or devil slaying magic," Jellal answered. "Which means of everyone here, only you can destroy it."
Without another word, Gray turned and sprinted across the room. Before anyone could stop him, he reached Jellal and took the book from him.
"Now to get rid of this." He smirked, his arm turning black as ice formed on his fingers.
Then the book just disappeared from his grasp, as though it had never been there. Erza almost jumped, wondering if Natsu returned to his demon form, but she was sure he never left her side!
That was when a voice spoke from behind her. "I'm taking this with me…" Was all the voice said. She turned quickly to see a somewhat short wizard, looking like he was still in his late teens or maybe early 20s, with short, black hair and onyx eyes like Natsu's. In fact, he kind of looked a little bit like Natsu…
"Zeref!" She heard Natsu exclaim, and she did a double-take. This was the most evil wizard ever to exist? He didn't look like a super powerful immortal who created the strongest demons in the world… He looked like, well, like just another teen. He could've been part of Fairy Tail and nobody would've known the difference!
"Yes Natsu. I'm not here to fight. You still have to grow before we meet in battle, but when we do, I hope you're strong enough…"
Then he turned, a small smirk on his lips as he addressed Jellal. "I thank you for your service. You accomplished what even my incompetent etherious could not."
"Service?" Jellal spat. "I live to destroy you."
"I wonder," Zeref said, still smirking, before he just disappeared from view, leaving everybody shocked and a little quiet.
"Alright everyone." Makarov's voice rang out, stern and clear. "We need to get back to our homes. It's late and we're all tired. We'll meet tomorrow to discuss what to do about the building and everything else."
There were a lot of murmured responses from mages. Some seemed disappointed, others relieved. Erza was a little of both. Part of her was just happy that the confrontation would wait till another day. Still, a large part of her just wanted to get it over with. She was ready to give anyone who wanted Natsu dead a severe talking to. One that would involve fists if they didn't listen to reason. And Gray was due for one anyway. How could he treat Natsu as if he was just another demon from Zeref's books, especially after all the work they did together over the years?!
But her mind was made up when she saw Natsu stumble slowly back toward his little hut in the woods, Happy trailing behind the exhausted dragon slayer. The confrontation could wait for tomorrow. But she was going to go with him, just to make sure he was ok for the night.
She was mildly surprised when she arrived at his house. She'd kind of expected it to be a complete mess. After all, the dragon slayer was renowned for his lack of attention to detail. But surprisingly, the place was actually quite tidy. Well, as tidy as a self-made hut with no proper floors could be. However, she was more surprised when, after rummaging through his drawers and getting some pajamas, he headed back outside.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"I've been sleeping outside since we got back," he replied quietly. "I've got lots of important stuff in there that I don't want destroyed if something happens while I'm asleep."
He started out again, then turned toward her, a serious look in his eyes. "If you're serious about coming with me when I train, then get ready tonight. I'm leaving as soon as the sun starts coming up."
"Tomorrow?" Erza looked at him blankly. "But, what about the meeting?"
"Don't wanna be there," Natsu said plainly. Well, she couldn't really blame him. Not after a good portion of the guild wanted to kill him earlier. "I'm just gonna' leave a note to let them know about my training."
"Well, guess you better get to sleep then," Erza said with a smirk. She debated going back to Fairy Hills for a shower, but decided against it. She'd found Natsu's makeshift shower, though she wasn't sure where the water came from. But it smelled clean, so she assumed the source was just some forest pond or something nearby.
"Plan on it," Natsu said.
"AYE SIR!" The voice came from behind her and made her jump, nearly falling on her face from surprise. She'd forgotten the blue cat was even there. She turned on him with a scowl.
"And you get some sleep too, or there'll be no fish for you tomorrow."
"You're meaner than Lucy," the cat complained as he headed out the door after Natsu.
"I would've thought you'd know that already," Erza retorted with a smirk before heading in for her shower. She felt a small twinge of sadness knowing she would have to leave the guild behind for an indefinite amount of time, but she couldn't help feeling excited. Her life was finally moving forward. It was as though today, long months (for her) after their victory over Jellal at the tower of heaven, her heart was finally moving on from her past. No longer imprisoned by the memories of chains of the past. Not held by some sense of duty to be the 'light' of a mage who chose the path of darkness.
The confusion of her heart was gone, and she could face the future with a clarity her mind never held before.
And that's a wrap. Thanks for all the likes, follows, and reviews!