#( love him Igneel 8) )

[punkeropercyjackson]

Lore of my Fairy Tail self-insert

His name is Bubblicity 'Bubbles' Pineprosper!!

He's 18 at the start of the series

He's afro-dominican(-coded),specifically black/white mixed and transmasc genderfluid,bigender and super femme

His guildmark is on the side of his stomach and it's a faded pink and he lives at Fairy Hills

Fittingly for his full first name,he's a super bubbly person who's also optimistic,mischiveous,weird,self-confident and intense yet a calming presence to those around him due to his intentionally maternal nature and disposition and he's also an anarchist with a thirst for all kinds of chaos and no care for authority figures and enjoys causing problems for them.He's a lover of all cat-themed things,punk rock/nu metal/breakcore/hip hop music,bad for you food,petty crime,kidcore and cozy horror media

He's a Spring Dragon Slayer!!His dragon is Demeres,he's the eldest daughter of the Dragonfam and who brought them together on purpose so they could be a found family and like Igneel to Natsu,Demeres left him an item made of her scales to remember her by on July 7th X777:A pink and green hairclip.This with the above leads to a solarpunk motif

Demeres had connections to Mavis and Zeref through Hades:Hades became obsessively infatuated with her daughter,Persefone,and kidnapped her for experimentation which manifested in the invention of Lacrimas by Persefone after multiple failed attempts by Hades and Demeres rescued her with the help of Mavis and Zeref.Persefone died not very long afterwards due to the harm Hades did to her body and soul but managed to spread Lacrimas all over Earthland and taught lessons on how to make them and her soul haunted Tenrou Island with Mavis until Alcanogia's blast combined with Fairy Sphere broke her binding to it and she becomes the Fairy Tail guilds literal mascot

Demeres' connection to FT lead to him joining when he was 8.On the first day of spring,just as winter ended,Bubbles met Gray as he tried to find refuge in Magnolia and took him to the guild to make him pink hot chocolate.Gray thought Bubbles was an angel when he first saw him,what with the saving him and his features and overt softness and underlying mythism,and Gray cracked his egg with his own transmascness by being best friends with him because he's always been such a guy it just clicked.Bubbles' feelings for Gray took a bit more time to develop but by the end of the first month,he was just as gone as he'd always been

Natsu and Bubbles instantly latched onto eachother the literal second he stepped into his orbit,when Bubbles was sitting playing on the branches of a cherry blossom tree and Natsu went looking for him there because he'd been told there was another Dragon Slayer in Fairy Tail and instantly pointed at him and declared they were now siblings.Bubbles was flabbergasted until Natsu explained why with a big grin on his face and so he agreed enthutiastically.Gray and Natsu had a platonic rivalry over him at first,like who gets to be Bubbles' REAL best friend and Fullprosper(Gray x Bubbles)found an Exceed egg at the same time Nali did and they competed over who could hatch 'the better dragon'.They built their 'houses' across from eachother and Gray and Natsu had yelling matches and Bubbles played the housewife who provides the bread and Gray got a thrill out of pretending to be married to the crush he already knew he had.The Exceed that hatched was a lion they named Xangos and nicknamed 'Xani'.Xani is pretty much Cake The Cat,rightdown to how Pantherlily who's her love interest is kinda Lord Monochromicorn-coded LMAO

Bubbles' other closest childhood friends are Cana,who he and Gray used to be a team with as 'Odd Hots' before Team Natsu was formed,and Erza,who she shares a lot of the same tastes with and works as a foil to as they consider eachother 'Friends by Chance,Sisters by Choice' although Erza was one half of Bubbles' bi awakening(the other ofc was Gray).Odd Hots still hang out a lot and Bubbles created a special strawberry cake recipe for Erza out of love for her.Natsu and Bubbles were known as 'The Twin Dragons' before the title was transfered to Sting and Rogue during the timeskip but it was largely grounded in their similar apperances(light brown skin + brown eyes + pink hair)rather than going on missions as a duo,which they didn't often before FT's start and they have matching individual titles too:Salamander and Mantis

Bubbles took Lucy under his wing as a more experienced and wordly girl as she felt bad for her over her freakouts at everything coming from her sheltered upbringing and is given the number one source of fanservice role instead of her as he actually enjoys (tastefully) sexualizing himself and for gender equality /lh.Bubbles and Lucy do stereotypical girly girl things such as shopping sprees but specifically to thrift stores and he's is the only one on Team Natsu who's constantly at her apartment out of invitation-Xani is an absolute pest to Lucy in contrast but Bubbles is completely oblivious to it and Xani hides it by scaring Lucy into not telling,to her dismay.This lessens when Pango(Pantherlily x Xango)happens and it's implied Xani just needed to get some to finally mellow out

Bubbles is the tritagonist of the series and was mentioned as far back as chapter 1.He was introduced handing Gray his shorts so he could cover himself up during the daily guild fight then casually walking around in his underwear for his and Lucy's first convo to her morification.He's an official mc starting in the Galuna Island arc and his character journey is learning to let himself be imperfect and cared for without feeling like a bad person and he's a frequent punk cultural humor provider and his powerup is nearly dying in The Dragonlands Arc(my 'Dragonfam parental reunions' fixit arc,greatly expanding on FTverse dragon lore and replacing the Irene copout)thanks to overusing to his Dragon Force,it covering him in moss-textured scales and turning his hair blue and white in addition to the natural black and pink and even poofier and longer and giving him extra rows of teeth and slited pupils,and going Third Generation via Persefone given Lacrima.He used to tag along with Laxus in his teenage years out of big bro worship and Wendy views Bubbles in a similar way he did him so they're a subtrio and Bubbles,Natsu,Sting and Rogue are a quartet as 'The Four Dragons' and an authentic friendship quartet thanks to their incredibly plot and character important bonding during and after The Grand Magic Games.The Dragonfam are t4t tism4tism found family realness and do stuff like going on fast food restaurant trips,cartoon marathon and game nights,arts and crafts/diy sessions,dragon cuddle piles,letting their dragon instincts loose,etc.Laxus is their father figure and he was reluctant at first but embraced it as character development and Bubbles made him a shirt that says 'Dilf'

Natsu's been calling him 'Bubs' for years so it caught onto his other loved ones,even Lucy after she got over how 'impolite' it is,but since Gray and him are romantic,he uses romance nicknames and they're so bad and cringe and he genuinely loves them.Highlights include 'Pancake','Glitter Goddess','Sweet Scale' and even 'Li B'(pronounced like 'Libby').Fullprosper was a series long 'only gets together in the final chapter' slowburn and Gray,Lucy and Juvia are the only ones aware they're in love the whole time-it's very blatantly obvious they are and everyone is too dumb as hell to see it so there's a running gag only Lucy sees they're a thing.She does Happy's 'they're in loooooooove' gag but they're all like 'no.i don't see it' no matter the context.Of course this combined with Bubbles' constant in-universe mistenterpretation for a cis girl leads to him and Natsu to be mistaken as a couple on the regular as meta cisheteronormativity and amatonormativity commentary as Natsu's aroace and an accompanying running gag is Gray jealousy fuel.To get the Fullprosper relathionship vision,it's best described as mutual pining childhood best friends to lovers + grumpy goth bf x bubbly pastel gf + power couple + undeniable smooth flirting on both ends neither somehow pick up on but melt over + undooming eachother from the narrative + cat4cat but opposite kinds

No Juvia personality erasure goes down and she keeps her creepy unemotive awkward girl swag and is a transbian that pulls tons of women but dosen't know how to date any of them.She's yet another Bubbles found sister and he got her and Gray to be friends by spending time with both of them at once and Juvia held a comical obsession with figuring Gray out to understand how he defeated her and is an unironic Fullprosper shipper,creating their couple name,and does shenanigans to try to get them together and she figures her lesbian dilema out by the end as she dates and eventually marries Lisanna with their romance starting at Tenrou Island and angst went down as a fallout of Lisanna also crushing on Edolas Juvia before she learned to see her Juvia.Bubbles gave Gajeel a hard time and literally dragged him to grandly apologize to Levy and forced him to do an apology care package for her too but fighting Laxus together with Natsu proved him to him and they call eachother 'Gaj' and 'Roots' and fuck random shit up as siblingisms and Carla assigns Bubbles her 'co-guardian' to Wendy

Bubbles' Edolas Variant is Buttercup Sunev,a dower and spiteful and sarcastic tradgoth lonewolf that abandoned Fairy Tail many years ago to be a nomad to cope with witnessing the torture followed by killing of Demeres at the hands of the Royal Military.Gray Sorloge still holds a torch for him and he crashes into the story when caught mid-mission by Lucy who mistakes him for Bubs and he's returned to his guild by the end of the arc

No 100 Year Quest,we write satisfying conclusions like gays!!None of the Dragon Parents died and Earthland and The Dragonlands are on their way to peace with the Dragonfam as ambassadors,Lucy is thee ultimate Celestial Spirit Mage,Erza is in full recovery from her ptsd,Gajeel and Levy are happily together but Levy was given her own subplot by showing her time on The Magic Council,Mirajane is the Fourth Guild Master and Fullprosper have an epilogue kid of ambigious gender named Wrenkenzie <3 2000s Deviantart oc ahh name on purpose!!

[allfiredupfornalu]

Chapter 545: Irreplaceable Friends

In the year X793, Lucy wins an award for her new book while all the guilds in the country of Fiore move on with their lives. Hisui pardons Crime Sorcière of their crimes, allowing them to live on to the future.

Gajeel points out that since Lucy and Anna have the same smell, it means he likes Anna. In which Natsu does not deny. It's cute how the Heartfilia Clan has this history with him. He even got the heiress, as his.

Lucy wakes up thinking everything was just a dream. Then sees Natsu and Happy in his house comfortably waiting for her to wake up. She remembers what she did while drunk. We should've seen more of it! Don't fret Lucy, you are Natsu's future bride.

And as Natsu invites her for a job, Lucy is bombarded with memories of them together. Let's dissect this:

1. The Duke of Everloo episode, wherein Natsu tells Lucy that she must burn the book since this is their job. First job and first partnership together!

2. Galuna Island Arc

3. When Natsu saves Lucy from falling, Phantom Lord Arc

4. Loke Arc, when the monsters (Natsu, Gray, and Erza) were having a pillow fight.

5. When an injured Natsu talks with Laxus

6. Oracion seis arc, when they were bombed by Zero

7. Edolas arc, when Earth Lucy met Edo Lucy.

8. Tenrou Island Arc, their battle with Cain Hikaru

9. GMG Arc, Natsu thanks Future Lucy

10. Tartaros Arc, Natsu vs Mard Geer and Igneel vs Acnologia

11. Natsu comes back after the 1 year timeskip

12. Alvarez Arc, the end of the war

Lucy envelops Natsu in a hug. She is thankful and happy with everything that happened. And when it gets emotional, Natsu drags her out to go for a job.

With a promise.

We end Fairy Tail on their 100 year quest.

---

I never thought that this would happen. Many people were supporting me along the way. I shared with my first blog that I was doing this to heal my inner child who has always been a Fairy Tail fan since 2011. It's been part of my growth and will always be part of my heart.

I'm happy I was able to finish the whole series and finish my NaLu blog! I'm still thinking if I shall proceed with the 100 year quest (it's still ongoing thus I'm hesitating). We'll know when we cross that bridge.

For all the FT fans and the NaLu fans, I'm wishing you all the best. Hope we can see you again soon! Love lots 🩷💛

[pyropsychiccollector]

Natsu Harem: Fairy GET! 8/14

We're dipping into the delightful second half here~.... (人◕ω◕) You can probably prepare for more references to other girls in the harem by now... You know most of them. (人◕ω◕)

Today's member is... Seilah-chan. Goddess of the Chill Moon. Or Sayla. However you prefer to write it out. ... I'll probably slip into using Sayla, just as a head's up. :3

When did they meet?

This question is... surprisingly tricky. (人◕ω◕) I haven't really talked about this aspect of Natsu's character up until now, but we were bound to get around to it eventually. "Spoiler" alert, but Natsu isn't exactly human... He's technically Etherious. Zeref's greatest creation, his beloved brother reborn... Although to be frank, his origins weren't all that great... As wrapped up in mystery as they are.

Since the series allows me some wiggle room... Let's run with this: For the first while after Natsu was brought back to life, he lived up until young adulthood, mastering his demonic powers. Zeref, of course, was fixated on dying, and Natsu being the bullheaded guy he is... Well, the demonic genes messed with his head. He went berserk like Zeref's other demons, but it was more controlled in Natsu... In END. All he could think about was destruction, especially destroying Zeref, as was ingrained into his very being.

END would go on to round up some of Zeref's most powerful demons. He figured that since he wasn't cutting it on his own in destroying Zeref, some allies would be much appreciated... But END was no fool. Demons don't appreciate being "subjugated", even if it's for the cause that they were all designed for. If they weren't pliable to forming alliances with one another, END asserted his dominance as the greatest among them. He brought Jackal to heel. Tempester. Kyouka. Ezel. Franmalth. Torafuzar. He convinced Keyes to join up... Proved his strength to the proud Mard Geer...

And of course, END won over the femme fatale, Sayla. (人◕ω◕) She had watched him dominate so many demons... Bringing them to form one unit... And Sayla, ah... Pardon the pun, but she was rather horny for END-sama. (人◕ω◕);;;

... Oh yes, they made love. Many, many times. END might have had a one-track mind with destruction, but Sayla certainly brought out a lust in him... Oh yes. (人◕ω◕);;;

Alas, before END could get to the meat of why he established Tartaros, Zeref put his foot down. He saw the mindless destruction and suffering END and Tartaros was creating, and Zeref thought it was counterintuitive to his brother's goal... Not to mention, there was a part of the Black Wizard that was pained at seeing his brother so... evil. So twisted.

Hence, Zeref sealed away Natsu's memories and his demonic powers. Giving him a fresh start yet again, leaving the book that contained Natsu's memories and demonic powers in Mard Geer's care. Natsu still wouldn't listen to him, as a young child... After speaking at length with Igneel, Zeref left Natsu in the dragon's care, hoping that Dragon Slayer magic would bring about a more stable and focused "human being." It made Zeref feel better, watching his brother interact with the other Dragon Slayer children...

Of course, Zeref did nothing about Tartaros. Just let them be as a remnant of END's past... They were given no answers to END's disappearance, and none of them besides Mard Geer discerned why they existed in the first place. Perhaps because he became the keeper of END's book. For her part, Sayla was... devastated with the loss of her END-sama...

But time marched on. Flash forward a few hundred years, and Tartaros formed alliances with Oracion Seis and Grimoire Heart. They were still pretty aimless, save for searching for their Master, END. Eventually they would come into conflict with Fairy Tail... And they would be fatefully reunited with END-sama.

... And they didn't even know it until the war was over.

When did they get closer?

For this question, we'll skim past the Tartaros arc in general. (人◕ω◕) I wouldn't really change much. Tartaros still screwed themselves over, making enemies of Fairy Tail. Especially with the additional members in their midst that have been amassing over time... (人◕ω◕) I suppose you know about Kagura, Simon, and his friends... But more on this later.

The point is, Tartaros really screwed up. ... However... (人◕ω◕) Through a twist of fate, Mard Geer attempts opening END's book once he's defeated, and it gives Natsu some of his memories back. Just enough to know that Tartaros was his guild... And he's not letting Zeref kill Mard Geer or any of them. They're his. And nobody touches what belongs to END. (人◕ω◕) That said, Zeref re-seals Natsu's memories, but agrees to spare Mard Geer and any of the remaining Demon Gates. The Black Wizard just wants to get to that war between him, humanity, and Acnologia.

Mard Geer, Torafuzar, Jackal, Franmalth, and Sayla all survive that war with Fairy Tail. ... And it's not like they can just join up with the fairies, not after everything that happened. But because of what Mard Geer knows, they also agree to still help Natsu destroy Zeref... It's what they were built for. (人◕ω◕) And Sayla in particular, well... She might be stalk- *coughs* tagging along with Natsu during his training trip with the Strauss Siblings while the guild is disbanded. ... Without Natsu knowing, of course. ... It is not stalking. Sayla will eviscerate you if you insult her pride like that. (人◕ω◕);;; She was left in a better state after Erza beatdown Kyouka, so Mira never got to absorb Sayla. ... And, uh. Sayla might or might not be testy about Mira being around END-sama so much... (人◕ω◕);;;;;;;;;;

Regardless! \(人◕ω◕)/ Sayla reintroduces herself to END-sama while the Strauss Siblings aren't around. Sure, he doesn't remember her, doesn't even have the same powers, but that's all immaterial to Sayla. She can tell he's END-sama after being in his presence for prolonged periods, and that means everything to her. Sayla even grows fond of Natsu's... kinder personality. He's destructive still, always itching to fight, but he has so much heart. She can see flashes of END-sama in him... And she's glad that he's become this person. "This" Natsu shows her how to live, and not just to pursue a goal to death. He's not as fond of reading as END-sama... But sometimes, Sayla is lucky enough to rest his head in her lap and read to him. And Natsu rolls with that. (人◕ω◕)

... It does get interesting, though, when the Strauss Siblings inevitably discover her stalk- *coughs* tagging along with them. (人◕ω◕);;; Elfman still isn't happy about being used to make the guild blow up, and Lisanna and Mira don't much like Sayla being so... intimate with Natsu. But Natsu vouches for how she's changed, and she does let Elfman vent on her for a bit... Her actions in Tartaros might not be forgiven, but she's trying to be a better person... despite being a demon.

Mira, though... she's definitely the hardest to win over. (人◕ω◕);;; She repeatedly tries fighting Sayla to exhaustion so that she can absorb the "damned succubus", but Sayla ain't havin' any of that. (人◕ω◕);;;;;;;; Yeah. Mira and Sayla-chan are very fiery rivals. Ahaha. (人◕ω◕);;;

When did friendship turn to something more?

Unsurprisingly, Sayla-chan's feelings have been strong for two of Natsu's "lifetimes". She was devout to END-sama, and though this new Natsu took some getting used to... Put simply, Sayla-chan loves this Natsu even more. Yes, and that is love, not just plain lust. (人◕ω◕) In Alvarez arc, Natsu fights for Sayla's continued life as well... And with August's help, they rewrite her book along with Natsu's. That way, when Zeref is defeated... the only parts of them that "die" are the demonic parts. ... So in a way, Sayla and Natsu are reborn as humans. None of the other demons expressed a desire to keep on living... But Sayla helped spare them anyway, again enlisting August's expertise in rewriting their books. So Mard Geer, Jackal, Franmalth, and Torafuzar all have fresh beginnings. ... As humans. (人◕ω◕) Sayla learned this sense of mercy, compassion, and loyalty from her Natsu, and she wants to enjoy all this new human life has to offer... right by his side.

Natsu still doesn't get his old memories back. But... Sayla still becomes important to him. She really changed for the better, and he does still find her to be very beautiful, even without horns. ... To the annoyance of some people. (人◕ω◕);;;;;;;;;

Sayla-chan did butt heads with Yukino and Sorano in the beginning cuz of their contracts with Celestial Spirits... But once reborn as a human, Sayla-chan became besties with Sorano-chan. ... (人◕ω◕) More on that friendship later. But, uh. Know that they like spoiling Natsu. ... Very, very much. (人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕) Mira-chan's pissed off she can't absorb Sayla anymore... But if you think this will stop her from trying to blow the former demon away, you're very sorely mistaken. Mira-chan grumbles a lot whenever Sayla's around or when she's a topic of discussion. ... Mostly cuz of Sayla continuously asserting herself as Natsu's true first, and all that fanatical devotion to Natsu........

Yes, Mira-chan has many... many... many... words. (人◕ω◕)

[petri808]

Cover art by @kiliinstinct 💜

Nalu fantasy AU Chapters 1-5 here

6 | 7 | 8 | 9 finito

~~ Thank you for your patience, here is the final chapter. Happy Holidays! *contains smut*

As the wind funnels past her face, for the first time in Lucy’s life, she feels a sense of peace washing over her. The fears of her father’s reign and legacy no longer chains her to a past she’d rather forget. Instead, she can take with her into the future happier memories like her mother and look forward to making new ones with Natsu and her new found family. It’s exciting! Scary… but mostly excitement for what’s to come.  

“So, Natsu,” Lucy asks as they fly home. “Wanna explain to me the mating ritual now?” 

“Honestly…” An awkward smile takes over Natsu’s face as he rubs the back of his head unconsciously. “I don’t know exactly how it works.”

“Eh? Then what was the whole worry about?”

“I know some of it… and there’s a part I know will be painful for you because you’re not a Draco.”

“Oh… like how painful?”

“I’m not sure— you’re… it’s well, there’s a part that causes changes to your body that’s what’s painful. And… there’s a chance your body won’t accept it… so that’s why I was afraid you wouldn’t be strong enough.”

“Wow… that’s… that is a scary thought… do you think I’m strong enough?”

“I do— I mean I’m still nervous, but I wouldn’t go through with this if I didn’t think so.”

Lucy reaches out and takes hold of his hand, squeezing it. “Then I trust you.” She looks around. “By the way, where are we going? This doesn’t look like the way back to your house.”

“Oh, I’m taking you to my home village so an elder can perform the ritual.”

“Wow, so I get to meet your family?”

“Yeah.”

Lucy blushes with hesitancy in her voice. “Is the ritual… sexual?”

“No, why?”

“N-Nothing, just if your family is around… that would be awkward.”

“Oh!” Natsu chuckles then grins causing Lucy to blush deeper. “No, that part takes place after we go home.”

The fire Draco village is like where Natsu has built his home, in the valley of a mountain range. He explains how it is a dead volcano, the various peaks are old vent cones made of solid lava rock, and the valleys are eroded trenches between them. So, it looks like a mountain range now. A perfect place for fire wielders. It’s home to the elders that govern over the fire Draco’s as well as families that decided to live there in homes carved into the rock or in homes on the ground. Young males like Natsu often leave home only to return for rituals like the one he and Lucy are about to go through. 

They land outside of a specific cave carved into the rock halfway up the mountain face, venturing in through a fire torch lit tunnel that soon opens into a cavern. Natsu takes Lucy’s hand as another older male Draco, bigger than him walks up to them. While there are physical features in common, this male has long red hair tied back in a loose ponytail. His eyes are more orange in color, and his horns are twice the size indicative of age. 

“Natsu?”

“Hi, dad.”

“What have you brought here?”

“Dad, this is Lucy, Lucy my dad Igneel.” 

Lucy bows her head. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

“No sirs here, just call me Igneel. So, what brings you home, my son?” Igneel teases. “Or should I just guess based on the hand holding?”

“This is my intended mate,” Natsu proudly puffs out his chest. “We need to have the mating ritual performed.”

“Are you sure son? As a Fae, you know what the consequences could be.”

“I know, we talked about it.”

Igneel turns his gaze. “And Lucy, despite the warning, are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yes.” She squeezes Natsu’s hand with a flutter of her wings, and gazes at his face with a sparkle in her eye. “I love Natsu enough to try anything.”

“Very well. I will make the necessary preparations. Why don’t you show Lucy around in the meantime.”

Lucy stops him briefly. “Igneel, I do have a question first. He said it changes my body, like it’ll make me look different?”

“Oh, no. It just makes it so you can’t be burned by his flame. Each Draco’s fire is slightly different, so this adjusts their mate’s tolerance accordingly. If it’s another fire Draco, the process is fairly benign, but for other species… it’s a heavy toll.”

“Oh…”

“Are you truly sure about this Lucy?”

Her body straightens in a stance of strength and steels her resolve. “Yes, I am.”

The couple spends the afternoon acclimating to the village. It has been some time since Natsu visited, so there are many new faces around. They chat with several, but there’s one in particular Natsu wants to introduce Lucy to. He takes her to another cave entrance similar to Igneels explaining it’s another elder, and best friend of his fathers. 

“Uncle Atlas!”

“Natsu!” The burly Draco picks him up and squeezes him in a bear hug. “Welcome home!” He sets Natsu down.

“Uncle Atlas, this is my mate Lucy, erm, soon to be mate.”

“How’d this boy land such a beautiful Fae like you?” The man chuckles. “Make him treat you like a Queen.”

Lucy blushes. “He already does.” 

“Come,” Atlas pats the couch. “Sit. Tell me what you’ve been up to.”

Once the couple take a seat, Natsu launches into the whole story about Lucy’s father, the kidnapping, and getting her back. “That’s why we need to get this done before I lose control again.”

Atlas had sat quietly through the story without a discernible expression, till now. “Do you know nothing about your lineage Lucy? The Heartfilia line has always been spirit wielders. Some of your ancestors are well known in our world.”

“I guess my dad didn’t know. He was probably just interested in the wealth of our clan.”

“Well, if you’re as powerful as Natsu describes, it sounds like you have taken after your ancestor Anna Heartfilia. Her magical prowess and compassion have not been reached— till now perhaps.” 

Lucy’s eyes widen in surprise. “I had no idea… thank you for telling me.”

“Uncle Atlas how do you know so much?”

Atlas slaps Natsu on the shoulder playfully. “Boy, I’m not an elder just for my age!”

“Oh, right!” Natsu chuckles. 

They stay for another hour just chatting, when another Draco comes by to let them know the couturier is ready.

Atlas stands. “You kids head over to Talia to get your ceremonial garments done.”

“Right, okay. See you at the ceremony!”

“I look forward to it.”

Nightfall first finds the couple separated for their garment measurements. Lucy watches in awe as a magical loom creates the fabrics to be used. She’s never seen one before. It takes a spool of cotton and weaves the strands into fabric without any help. This makes the process faster, so in minutes a bolt of fabric with enough to create a few outfits is already complete. But that’s not the only special part. Color is added to the fabric based on the conjurer’s direction. 

“This is such a pretty fabric!” Lucy can’t help but be awed as she stares in the mirror. The dress is a full length, open back, boned halter top that flows gently from the bottom rib to the ground. It’s ombré color starts out a dark yellow near the top, slowly transitioning to orange then red. 

She takes it off for the final adjustment and hands it to Talia, then changes back to her regular clothes. 

“You do look beautiful in it,” Talia agrees. “We’ll do a final fitting in the morning. I should be done by then.”

“Thank you!” Lucy hugs the female. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Lucy walks outside of the cave and realizes that Natsu is still inside. So, she sits down on the edge overlooking the valley because the cave is several wing beats from the ground. It’s a beautiful sight with fire light strewn from the caves and homes doting the area. Above her, the stars are out in all their glory. She wonders why Natsu chose to move away from this place. It’s a very scenic valley full of lush foliage with a natural spring nearby and the protective aspect of the mountains are another useful feature. Then again, for a younger Draco it’s probably boring to just stay within a village. She chuckles quietly to herself as she imagines Igneel trying to control an adolescent Natsu. 

Suddenly, a male Draco lands behind her. At first Lucy thinks nothing of it, assuming he’s there for the couturier as well. But without warning, she’s grabbed by the back of neck and yanked up. 

“Hey! What the hell?!” Lucy fights back, screaming and scratching at the hand and trying to see who it is. She’s forcefully spun around and pinned against the rock face. The Draco is taller than her or Natsu, with wild reddish orange hair and sporting tattoo markings on his chest. “Who are you?!”

“Aren’t you a pretty little thing?” The Draco sniffs at her neck as he speaks. 

Lucy cringes away, but the male holds firm. He’s quite strong! “Let me go!” She screams again. “Or Natsu’s gonna—”

“Natsu’s gonna what? Hurt me? Pfft, he’s never won a fight against me.”

Lucy’s eyes widen, but she holds back from showing any more fear. “How do you know Natsu?”

The male sneers. “He’s my little brother. I’m Ignia, Igneels oldest son.” 

He shoves Lucy against the wall again, but suddenly let’s go of her neck when a loud roar bellows from the cave. Ignia stands back with hands on his hips, posturing just as Natsu comes flying out of the cave. 

“You bastard!” Natsu screams, barreling into Ignia so hard they both go over the edge. 

Lucy screams and dives for them but is grabbed around the waist by one of the courtiers to stop her. Don’t, they tell her, it’s too dangerous for her to get between those two. They watch as the two males dart through the dark skies. Fuzzy images sending fire balls and streams at each other or colliding in aerial battle. This goes on for several minutes when other males including Igneel are seen flying towards the pair. Lucy breathes a sigh of relief, surely Igneel can get them under control. 

It takes a bit to catch the pair, but the other males finally get the upper hand. Igneel has Ignia by the neck when they land outside of the couturier’s cave, while Atlas is holding onto Natsu to keep them apart. Igneel forces Ignia to apologize to Lucy before he takes the Draco away. Atlas then releases Natsu who immediately pulls Lucy into his arms. 

“Are you okay?” Natsu cradles Lucy’s face. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Lucy shakes her head no. “My back hurt when it hit the wall, but it’ll be okay.” She pulls back. “Oh, but look at your clothes, it’s a mess!”

Since he’d rushed out midway through the fitting, the garment is now singed and torn. “Come on Natsu,” Talia prompts, “let’s get you back inside to start over. It’s gonna be a long night.”

Lucy assures Natsu before heading back to Igneel’s cave where he’s set up a spare room for them. The day had gone so well only to end with a fight between the two brothers. When she arrives in the cave, she asks Igneel about it. He tells her Ignia and Natsu have different mothers and are 12 years apart in age. Ignia always felt like Natsu was treated better, but there’s no truth to it, as far as he’s concerned. No matter what he’s tried, the two just never get along. It’s like two mountains fighting for the same piece of land— neither wins and only a deep rift is created between them. But Igneel assures Lucy that Ignia shouldn’t bother them again. 

The next day after lunch, Lucy goes in for her final fitting. The poor couturiers have worked so hard to get the garments ready for that night’s ceremony. But as she stands in front of the mirror in the finished dress, an excitement stirs in her core. It’s really happening. Her cheeks grow flushed, she’s about to pledge herself to Natsu for life! 

There’s a knock at the door.

“Come in, I’m dressed.” Lucy announces assuming its Talia, but Igneel walks in instead. “Oh, hello,” she warmly greets the Draco.

“You look beautiful my dear,” the male smiles. “It warms my heart to know my son’s found his soulmate.”

Lucy blushes. “Thank you.”

He pulls something out of his pocket and holds it out for Lucy to see. “I have a gift for you. It was Natsu’s mothers.”

Lucy gazes at the necklace with a blue flame-shaped stone. “That’s so beautiful…”

“I know she would’ve wanted to pass this onto our sons’ mate.” He places it around Lucy’s neck. “Perfect.”

Lucy grows quiet in reflection as she stares at the stone. “Natsu said that if one mate dies, the other won���t last long after, dying of a broken heart…” she looks up with moisture-tinged eyes. “Is that true?”

“What is that boy thinking?” Igneel shakes his head. “No, it’s rare that it happens. Think about it, I’m still here.”

“That’s true…”

Igneel places a hand on Lucy’s shoulder. “It’s true that sometimes a death can be so heart breaking that a mate may not want to keep living, but that in and of itself doesn’t cause the death. So don’t worry my dear.”

“Thank you, Igneel.” Lucy smiles and hugs him. “I feel better knowing that.”

“Then come,” he takes her gently by the crook of her arm. “It’s time.”

As Lucy stands at the entrance flanked by tall, open double doors three times her height, she can feel the nervous energy flowing through her. Of course, it is to be expected. Being bound to a mate is a lifetime promise that cannot be broken sans death. Igneel led her slowly along the torch-lit passageway, and with each step her thoughts drifted to all the events that led her to this moment. Running away from home and being caught by Natsu. It could have been another bounty hunter that found her, but was it luck or destiny it was the draco? In the beginning Lucy had been wary about his intentions considering he’d captured her with the intent to collect on her reward. He was no better than her father… and yet there was never a time that she truly feared Natsu. Something inside of her seemed to just know he could be trusted. And look at where it’s lead her. ‘I think mom would be happy for me,’ Lucy smiles to herself just as they enter the large cavern where the ceremony is being held. She’s found herself a good man who loves and cherishes her for who she is, supports her magic instead of fears it like Jude towards her mother. 

The Draco’s and members of the village line several deep along the walls of the massive cavern. Everyone is dressed in their fineries to witness such a special binding ceremony for a village elders’ son. In the middle of the room, two drapes of ombré fabric like the ceremonial garments hang down from the ceiling spaced 12 feet apart. Between them stands a flame carved stone altar with a folded red cloth and pestle on top filled with herbs. Such a simple set up, but the energy radiating in the room spoke volumes of its purpose. 

It is there at the alter that Natsu stands beaming with his child-like smile. Lucy can’t help but blush as she’s lead forward and her hands placed in his care. They’re stood facing each other while another female elder takes the red cloth from the altar. The female wraps the red cloth over their shoulders, weaving, circling it around them into an infinity shape to symbolize an endless relationship. What is it about ritual ceremonies that just heightens the atmosphere of anything that happens during it? The weight of the red cloth on her shoulders, the warmth of Natsu’s hands, even the air drifting over her skin feels unnaturally palpable yet exhilarating. This is it; she takes a good inhale to settle her nerves and squeezes their conjoined hands.     

Igneel hushes the crowd of onlookers. “Thank you all for being here to celebrate the unification of my son Natsu with his chosen mate Lucy in a vow that will bind their hearts and souls to one another’s.” His smiling gaze swings between them as he speaks. “Their’s is a story born of trial and tribulations, for it is true my wayward son originally captured Lucy as a bounty and held her against her will.” Igneel chuckles as Natsu glares at him through the whispers circling the room and Lucy’s embarrassed blush. “But sometimes, that’s just what happens in life. When we feel like all hope is lost, fate intervenes in an unexpected way. It brought together two souls that needed something from the other,” he looks to Lucy, “courage,” then looks to Natsu, “and purpose. Overcoming adversity together has strengthened the simmering bonds you created and here today, the process will be completed with the linking of your souls.” Igneel then turns to the altar and picks up the pestle. “Let us begin.” He holds the pestle in front of the couple. “Please place your tokens into the bowl.”

“Tokens?” Lucy asks inquisitively, looking between Igneel and Natsu. “What’s that?”

“Toke… Oh!” Natsu’s face pales. “Sorry! I totally forgot.”

“Natsu...” Igneel palms his face. “It a personal item, something that is used in the spell,” Igneel explains. 

“Do we need to stop the ceremony? Lucy asks.

“No, it’s okay,” Igneel assures, “we can use a drop of your blood.”

Igneel takes out a small dagger he keeps in his waistband. The other female elder helps to hold the bowl, then Igneel uses the dagger to prick Natsu and Lucy’s fingers, allowing a couple drops of blood to drip into the bowl. He takes the bowl back and utters a few words that Lucy can’t understand. “Kondo chi wo tori, karera no tamashii wo eien no karamaseru.” He blows a small stream of fire into the bowl, alighting the contents. It only takes a few moments for the bowls contents to turn to ash. 

Using the ash from the bowl, Igneel draws an infinity symbol on Natsu’s forehead first then Lucy’s. As soon as he completes the loop, the symbols begin to glow a bright blue and triggers Natsu’s eyes and tongue to grow serpentine. He turns to Lucy. “It is time for Natsu to place his mark. The saliva in his bite will trigger a change in you, are you ready for this? Lucy do you fully accept Natsu as you mate?”

“Yes.”

He then turns to his son. “Is this your true decision? Natsu do you fully accept Lucy as your mate?” When Natsu says yes, Igneel simply nods and gestures for Natsu to take it from there. 

Natsu takes a haggard breath with shaking hands as he reaches out to embrace Lucy’s frame. They’ve come this far and the fear of something going wrong now has him hesitating. Untill he feels Lucy’s hands clasped around his cheeks and her voice whispering softly it’s gonna be okay. He snaps out of these thoughts. “I-I won’t let you go, Lucy, I swear.”

“I know,” she smiles as she guides his head to the nape of her neck. “Now make me yours.”

The instant Natsu’s canines break skin, and his saliva contacts her blood, a searing heat of barbed pain races to every part of Lucy’s frame. She screams as her legs give out from the sheer pain throbbing in every joint and muscle.  

Natsu braces the fall and pulls her into his lap, holding tight through her shivering convulsions, her distressing cries like daggers piercing his heart. He closes his eyes and murmurs a mantra with his head flushed against hers. “You’re strong Lucy, you can get through this Lucy. Stay with me. Stay with me…” 

Is this what it feels like to be burned alive? Lucy’s skin is on fire, or at least that’s what it feels like. That searing pain you might feel from touching a hot surface, but instead of a hand it’s your whole body being dipped in boiling water. The shock on her body is just too much. Lucy’s eyes shutter close as she slips into unconsciousness. 

Lucy’s body temperature has risen far higher than Natsu’s ever felt from the Fae before. Her normally pale skin is flushed and feverish with tiny beads of sweat creating a sheen coating. This is making him very nervous… Her heartbeat is too fast to be working properly. Suddenly, the shivering stops and Lucy’s body goes limp. Her breathing has ceased and… “I can’t feel her heartbeat!” Natsu looks frantically at his dad for help, “what’s happening?! Lucy!” Natsu shakes her. “Lucy, stay with me damn it! You can’t do this!” The tears blur his vision as he hugs her to him. “Please, Lucy…”  

All the air felt sucks out of the room as everyone’s collective breathing hitches in tenuous anticipation. Then as suddenly as she’d gone limp, Lucy’s eyes pop open and she takes a large gasping inhale as her body lurches forward into an upright sitting position.

“Lucy?! I thought you’d died!” Natsu quickly hugs her tight as a collective sigh of relief is heard echoing throughout the cavern followed by cheers of celebration all around them. 

After a pause, Lucy answers, “I think I did.” She randomly touches parts of her body as if confirming this is no illusion. Everything looks normal, but she’s sure she remembers a moment of pitch-black silence where all the pain was gone and everything felt peaceful. Yes, she’s sure she felt like she’d transcended from life till she heard a voice. “It was brief, but I think I did.”

Natsu’s face pales at the revelation that he’d come so close to losing Lucy. Tears well up in his eyes from the pain in his soul, “I’m so sorry I put you through this…”  

“It’s okay, Natsu, I’m still here,” Lucy turns around, straddles and pulls him close, resting his chin on her shoulder. She cradles his head and threads her fingers through his hair. “But don’t you feel it now?”

“Feel what?” He sniffles.

Maybe Natsu’s too wound up to feel it. “The connection between us.” Lucy pulls back to cup his cheeks, gazing with a soothing smile. “It feels like a thrumming sensation throughout my body that’s hard to describe, but I know that’s what pulled me back. Your voice, like two strings being connected I heard it call to me right before I woke up.”

As Lucy spoke, Natsu’s mind and body began to calm. Her soothing voice is a lullaby to his inner Draco, and sure enough there it is, his adrenaline rush morphing into a new pulse he’s never felt before. Natsu moves in and plants a barrage of sloppy kisses on Lucy’s lips. “My mate, my mate now,” releasing a rumbling purr from deep in his chest causing Lucy to giggle.

For the next hour, the couple spends the time being congratulated and chatting with the guests that had come for the ceremony. But with nightfall coming in a couple of hours, they say their good-byes and head back to Natsu’s— well, their home now. There’s one last thing to do to consummate their bond.

Towards the deepest part of Natsu’s home there’d been a stone door Lucy remembers seeing before that’s kept magically locked. She always assumed it’s just a safe room because of its construction. Now as they stand before it, Natsu explains as he releases the lock and opens the door it’s a marital den for fire Draco’s. The entire room is solid rock carved out from the mountain just like the other rooms except this special bedroom has no windows and the door is solid rock instead of wood. He opens a second stone door from inside the room and shows Lucy a bath area that’s twice the size as the other one in the home, then a third stone door opposite the bath leads to a walk-in closet. Against the back wall is a large stone bed frame with a normal looking mattress on top. 

“Why is everything made of stone?” Lucy questions.

“Because stone doesn’t burn.”

“Doesn’t burn…” as Lucy processes the answer and a realization hits, her cheeks flush red. “I see, but the mattress?”

Natsu chuckles. “It’s made with a special fire-retardant fabric.” With a smirk, he pulls Lucy to him, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Shall we test it out now? Because I don’t think I can hold out much longer.”

With a coy little giggle, Lucy runs her finger slowly down Natsu’s chest. “Then don’t. Embrace me mate.”

Like a whirlwind in nature, the pair is gripped by the lustful energy pulsing through their bond, tossing clothes haphazardly and hands flowing, swirling over flesh as they stumble onto the bed. This is the first time for both, but instincts take over and guide the way. Natsu lays prone over Lucy pinning her to the bed, their hands, fingers entwined and held beside her head, he noses at the nape of her neck licking and sucking at the healing bite mark that seals their fate. With every stroke of his tongue against the marks, it sends an electric shiver through Lucy’s frame. In response, she rubs and grinds against Natsu’s crotch to satiate the building heat of her loins. Not like she can help it when his hardened cock is practically wedging itself in her folds and pressing on her entrance. 

His kisses move on, traveling slowly from her neck to her chest, stopping to sightsee before journeying on to the next location. When Lucy briefly opens her eyes, she sees that Natsu’s serpentine eyes and tongue features have returned— feels the flicking of his tongue against her pert nipple, her back arches slightly to chase after his lips suckling her breast. By then, Natsu has let her hands go in favor of squeezing and fondling her supple breasts as they mold to his hands. Everywhere his mouth latches onto, she can feel the vibrations of his rumbling purr seeping through. His deep purrs are such an adorable turn on, both soothing and stimulating Lucy feels it more deeply now since they’ve bonded. 

Lucy sucks in a breath as Natsu’s oral ministrations move down to her torso where she’s a bit ticklish and sensitive to touch, trying to control her reaction. It’s to no avail as the giggling moans eek out and mix with the sounds of sucking swirling through the air. What sensual melody are they creating? Moans and groans of varying octave combining with flesh tones of skin-to-skin contact— now add in lewd slurping as Natsu dives between Lucy’s legs and clamps down over her sex, sucking at the delicate button and lapping up the flowing juices building between its protective folds. She cries out, her body twisting and thighs clamping against his head from how good it feels. Lucy takes a quick peek and finds Natsu looking up at her as he toys with her body. When he catches her, he stops briefly and flicks his longer tongue while pressing a finger against the rim of her entrance. Understanding the non-verbal communication, she shakes her head desperately, but he merely grins and sticks his tongue into her entrance as far as it will go. 

“Not there! Natsu!… Oh gods!” Lucy’s body shudders. She grabs his horns desiring to stop him but without the strength or resolve to follow through. “Oh… gods…” his tongue exploring like there’s buried treasure and now his fingers thrusting in and out… heat’s mounting like a dam bursting at the seams. “Natsu, I’m cu—” her voice turns soprano as a wave of shudders take control over her body and white noise blankets her mind. 

He places a chaste kiss on her inner thigh, left side then right, letting his lips linger over the skin before sitting back on his haunches. Lucy’s pheromones have left his mind in such a drunken euphoric state, the taste of her essence, even her heavy panting as she comes down from her high is making his cock painfully hard. 

“Please, I want more…” Lucy’s mewling pleads. 

Who is he to refuse his mate? Natsu adjusts her hips and lines up, entering slow and steady to let her body adjust to his girth. He whets his lips, drooling over how sexy it is to watch his cock fill Lucy up. “Fuck, you feel so good,” Natsu grunts out when fully seated. His brain short-circuits for a second as he stares down at his mate spread wide for him, eyes glistening, begging… flushed and fevered— almost pained. His cock twitches, yes, he too feels the intangible connection of their bodies. 

Natsu kisses her forehead… her lips… her neck, biting down a second time. Unlike the first bite, any pain is overshadowed by an aphrodisiac effect and all Lucy can focus on is their physical connection. Their bodies meld in horizontal undulations, the mellow rocking thrusts of his hips to her arching back. Sloppy kisses between the moans and sighs, mixed with the vibrations of Natsu’s gravelly purrs. His hands… everywhere he touches her skin it leaves a burning wake, so hot and bright… Lucy’s eyes crack open briefly. “Fire,” she mumbles, but Natsu only grunts in acknowledgement. His body is covered in a bluish flame and while Lucy can feel the warmth, it doesn’t hurt at all. Just, “wow,” is all she musters before fading back into hedonistic pleasure.

All around the sounds of their lovemaking echo off the volcanic stone which protects but also traps the building heat in the room. Natsu’s thrusts have risen steadily along with Lucy’s octaves. Over and over he plunges headlong as Lucy’s sex swallows him whole. Her fingers grip tightly to his arms and nails dig into his scaled skin while her legs hook onto his thighs, pulling as he pushes in a demanding manner. 

“Lu— fuc—“ Natsu clenches his jaw through the shuddering release spilling his seed deep inside of his mate, satiating his inner draco. He embraces Lucy, winding his arms around her body and tangling their legs without pulling out, kissing her mark and lips. “All mine,” he grins through the kisses. 

“All yours,” Lucy purrs in return. 

Natsu rocks his hips and grinds against her sex, tempting the overstimulated area with his cock for more. 

Lucy giggles a moan and pulls his face in for a kiss, whispering, “guess we won’t be sleeping tonight…”

How long has it been since the day of the ceremony? The young mates revel in their new bond for the next week never leaving the home once. Through countless hours of love making, they explore every inch of each other’s bodies learning all the little nuances that make them tick. It’s only when their food supplies run low that the couple finally takes a break. That’s when Lucy suggests they go to the hui to see everyone and give them the news.

“Plus, I really wanna get my hui symbol,” Lucy shimmies and flutters her wings in excitement. 

“Okay, okay!” Natsu kisses her forehead with a chuckle. “We can go.”

The last time they visited the hui things ended in disaster so it’s nice to overwrite that memory and start fresh. Even the flight over feels lighter. Lucy was too nervous to really enjoy the scenery, so now as they cross the land realizes how much she’d missed. When they arrive at the waterfall, they’re taken aback, or rather Natsu’s annoyed to find Levy and Gajeel relaxing on the riverbank, yet somehow Lucy’s not as surprised as she thought she would be. Levy seems like a good-hearted person so giving the rogue draco a chance was a possibility. She too chose not to harbor any ill will. Before Natsu says anything, Lucy weaves her arm through the crook of his arm while also squeezing the bicep with her other hand to send a message. She greets the pair amicably and learns how Gajeel had apologized, and they’d had a long discussion so now everything is okay. 

“I still don’t trust you,” Natsu glares at Gajeel. 

But Gajeel just smirks in response. “Read the room punk, ya ain’t got nuthin I want anymore.”

Just as Natsu is about to retort. “Come on Natsu,” Lucy tugs him to the entrance of the hui. “See you guys inside!” She waves to Levy and Gajeel.

In full Natsu style, he burst through the hui door declaring— “We’re back!”

Which sets off a wave of welcome backs and congratulatory greetings from everyone there. It’s all very nice, but Lucy has a mission to fulfill before the festivities can begin. So, they seek out Makarov who’s drinking at the bar area like usual and he takes them to his office.

“Ready?” Makarov holds the magical stamp over Lucy’s hand.

[resolvebound]

About page | Headcanons & Canon Divs | Verses | Tags | Trivia

Filler arcs etc: The filler episodes/arcs and 100 Year Quest are not included as canon, but if you are writing a character from the 100 Year Quest, I’m sure we can still put something together.

Age: In canon, Rogue (along with Sting and Wendy) is about 5 years old when sent through to the year X777. I am bumping his age up a couple of years, it’s just a small detail but an 8-year-old learning that kind of magic just seems slightly more realistic. So Rogue was 8 in X777 and is around 21/22 in X791 and is 24/25 in X793.

Main verse: I have several variations available and am happy to use them! I will, however, now be defaulting to the option where both Sting and Rogue are Guildmasters of Sabertooth, this is because they both wanted to reform Sabertooth following the X791 GMG and they work best as a team and I love that for them. The work and responsibilities are shared between them, allowing both of them to have a chance at having a break at times.

The Shadow: As detailed here, the Shadow is a demonic entity living in Rogue’s own shadow. It tries to influence him in the hopes of gaining permanent control of his body. It’s a big contributor to his insomnia and nightmares:

Insomnia/Nightmares: He suffers from chronic insomnia and nightmare disorder, this can sometimes lead to him having memory issues and trouble focusing, as well as difficulty distinguishing reality at times. His nightmares are fuelled by his fears of his potential Future, as well as the Shadow’s influence.

Skiadrum and the lacrima: There will be a full post about this at some point but the bare bones of it is that Rogue did kill Skiadrum (therefore Skia did not appear along with the other dragons during the Tartaros arc, the Faces that Skia destroyed in canon were instead taken out by the other dragons or someone else). Skiadrum, along with Weisslogia, had created a special dragon slaying technique which would allow Rogue (and Sting) to kill them and transform their bodies (more important and specifically, their hearts) into special lacrima at the same time. These lacrima would later be the ones that they implant within themselves to achieve further power, also serving the purpose of halting the dragonification process (though perhaps not quite as successfully as Igneel and the other dragon’s soul technique, as the potent draconic magic within the lacrima did alter Rogue and Sting physically before it settled)

‘Dragonification’: Related to the above, the learning and usage of dragon slaying magic results in the user adapting dragon attributes and traits – physical and behavioural most prominently. When Rogue first began learning shadow dragon slaying magic, his natural eye colour changed from forest green to red and his canines became a little sharper, he also started to become a more possessive sort and began collecting pretty stones (side note, young Rogue did not have a buzz cut, his hair was a dark floppy mop). After the implanting of the lacrima, his pupils became vertical, snake like, and his canines sharpened further, becoming much more noticeable. His behaviour and emotions likewise shifted again, becoming more draconic. He did worry for a time that the lacrima was not halting the dragonification process as it should, however things seemed to settle after a while. (another side note, after the settling period, a tattoo-like marking representing Skiadrum (shadow dragons in general actually, but Rogue didn’t know that) appeared on the site where the lacrima was implanted, which reassured him that the lacrima was a success).

Frosch: Frosch is incredibly important to Rogue, a very dear friend and companion. Rogue is protective of Frosch and is perhaps a little more emotional around the exceed but does not cry or yell or otherwise show excessive (and out of character) emotion because of them, unlike in canon.

Gajeel: Rogue has an instinctive dislike of Gajeel that he has to actively work on managing. Iron and Shadow dragons had a long rivalry for several generations, and this has been passed onto Rogue. When he was younger, Rogue did not look up to or admire Gajeel, his instincts were to fight and best him.

Totomaru/Rune Knights: Rogue spent time training with Totomaru and later the Rune Knights in his years before joining Sabertooth, this is where he became skilled with his sword and gained further knowledge of different magics.

Reputation: How he is perceived by others, how he earnt his reputation, and how it affects him. Rumours, what people might know about him, what they Don't know.

GMG - Sting & Rogue vs Natsu & Gajeel: This battle did not happen the way it did in canon, neither Sting nor Natsu disregarded their battle partners and attempted to take on their opponents by themselves. They fought as teams and the battle ended in a draw (idc what that means for the points)

GMG - The Ball: Rogue very briefly attended the ball, only making an appearance due to encouragement from others. He did not feel comfortable there and was still trying to get his head around his Future self being a villain, so he quickly left as soon as he could.

GMG - Yukino: After things had settled after the GMG, he reached out to her and apologised for not standing up for her during her excommunication from Sabertooth. He continued to keep in contact with her until she eventually rejoined.

Tartaros – Jiemma: Sting killed Jiemma during the confrontation over Lector’s ‘death’. Unbeknownst to everyone, his body at some point ended up in the hands of Tartaros member, Keyes (I refuse to call him ‘Keith’ as some translations go by). Through a combination of Keyes’ necromancy, Kyouka’s Enhancement Curse, and Lamy’s work with creating/restoring demons, Jiemma was revived in a demonic form. This fight was an important moment of closure for Sting and Rogue and a demonstration of their desire and determination for a better guild.  

Avatar: As noted here, Rogue and Minerva did not allow Natsu and Lucy to take the job from them, however they all ended up working together anyway as the events unfolded. Natsu did not defeat the war god that Arlock summoned alone, it was a team effort with Minerva’s magic being of particular use.

Alvarez: Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus are not crucified by the Alvarez army, they are merely running low on energy and magic when Fairy Tail arrives to back them up. In regard to Larcade and his magic, it’s not Like That and Rogue, Sting, and Kagura all team up to defeat him (there is no passing of Rogue’s magic to Sting). Likewise, when the dragon slayers all fight with Acnologia, there is no passing of their magics to Natsu, they work as a team to defeat him.

[the-writing-trash-panda]

The Children of Fairies|| Fairy Tail Next Gen

Chapter 8: He Looks like a Potato

{Kids}: Jessica Fernandes- 8 Storm Fullbuster- 7 Nashi Dragneel- 7 Igneel Dragneel- 6

The four kids stood around the bed looking at the baby that had just been born. They all found him to look a little strange, however, most of them knew not to say anything. Storm was like his father and spoke without thinking, so when he said that the baby looked like a potato no one knew what to do.

“I guess he kind of does,” Wendy said, smiling at the Fullbuster boy. A wave of relief washed over Gray and Juvia, glad that Wendy had not been offended by their son.

“What are you talking about, Storm? He looks more like an alien,” Nashi said, starting a fight with her rival and friend. Lucy, not wanting to deal with that, pushed the two kids out of the room.

“I’m so sorry Wendy,” Lucy said, bowing her head in apology. 

“It’s okay, I was kind of expecting this. They’re your guys’ kids, if you’re not causing problems they are.” Lucy could feel her face heating up from embarrassment and Natsu’s laugh of agreement didn’t help.

“Momma, why do babies look so weird?” Igneel asked, scrunching up his nose as he looked at the newborn.

“Hey looks so squishy, you should name him Squishy,” Jessica said, standing on her tiptoes to see the baby.

“We’re actually going to name him Ray,” Wendy said, moving the blanket away from her son’s face.

“That’s a lovely name you two,” Ezra remarked as she let the little Conbolt baby grab her finger.

“I don’t know Wen, Squishy sounds like an amazing name,” Romeo joked. Wendy just rolled her his at her husband as she handed ray to Erza to hold for a minute. The rest of the day was filled with the guild meeting the young boy.

[natsudragneelswhore]

biggest gripes i have with fairy tail (and 100yq)

1. e.n.d. need i say more

2. natsus idiocy in 100yq. we all know he’s smarter than he acts, he’s an idiot on purpose. but still, there’s so much lacking. like they threw away half of his character development from the main story (example: his reaction to losing control, mindlessly destroying everything even if it meant killing those around him, lucy being the one to pull him out of it, and BURNING LUCY. i’m still fuming about this)

3. lucy rewriting his book. as of now, she had no repercussions, even though zeref said it was IMPOSSIBLE and would KILL HER. she had demonic energy flowing through her damn body and it just…..went away?? everything surrounding e.n.d. was so sloppy.

4. the dragon slayers vs. acnologia. how they defeated him was totally fine, but the final fight was so underwhelming.

5. makarov coming back to life. sorry, i love him, but he should have died.

6. half-assed background story for cobra. he’s such a cool character and he deserved MORE

7. the fact that we got absolutely no backstory for levy or the reasons she joined the guild at such a young age.

8. natsu and gildarts convo when he was gone for a year. why wasn’t it animated UGH

9. the overall avoidance of huge, character crushing events (mainly between natsu and lucy). future lucy dying, lucy losing aquarius, natsu losing igneel, natsu discovering he’s e.n.d., zeref being his brother, lucy rewriting his book, zeref dying, him burning lucy, finding out ignia is his brother, ect. yes, we see how some of these things effected them, but they never actually TALK about it. i just want some serious convos between natsu and lucy about how much these things effected them! ESPECIALLY when lucy lost aquarius. like, these events warrant some type of comforting convos between the two! things get brushed off so quick and it’s so frustrating

i’ll be adding to this as time goes on

[ohmyburningdreams]

On Top of the World

Fanfic

Ch 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

Chapter Ten

× Lucy

It'd been four weeks. Four weeks of Lucy coming to terms with everything that had happened.

Four weeks since she'd escaped the Heartfilia Estate and her whole life had been turned upside down, taken and reconfigured.

Four weeks of dealing with the stages of grief over leaving her father and the Estate, the only home she'd ever known.

Despite everything her father had done, she still found herself missing him, missing the Estate, and missing the people she'd had to leave behind.

She grieved the loss of the father she was meant to have, the father that was supposed to love her. She didn't know what to do with that grief, but she was determined not to let it take over, like it had in the past.

Beyond the grief she was dealing with, she was also just struggling with so many changes.

Her life before had been miserable; every day was the same, nothing ever changed. She saw the same people at the same times in the same places. And that's how it was for years.

The only good things that had happened were Saggitarius, and then Levy, appearing.

Just those two people had changed her life, and then everything had fallen apart completely, only to come together again in a different way. A much better way, but also an overwhelming one, from so many things changing all at once.

Lucy sighed as she thought about it. It was the middle of the night and she was lying in bed, wide awake.

Her thoughts kept drifting to everything that was on repeat, like a bad song, inside her head, unable to escape.

Her thoughts kept flitting between the past and the present, between her old life and her new life.

She kept her eyes on the ceiling above her and let herself think over the conversation she’d had with Grandeney and Wendy, four weeks before. At least thinking about that was better than thinking about what she'd left behind.

After many tears and stuttered sentences, Lucy had managed to tell them about her mother’s death and her father’s emotional abandonment, how she’d grown up alone, with no friends, how the Estate had fallen into ruin at her father’s hands, and what his plans for her had been.

Grandeney was shocked, to say the least, and her whispered apologies as she'd held the crying girl in her arms, made it clear that she’d had no idea about any of it.

She was heartbroken at what Lucy had endured over the years, how alone she must have felt through it all. Not for the first time, she'd wished they’d simply taken Lucy with them that day so long ago, at least she would have grown up feeling loved.

Lucy sighed and tried to skip that part of the conversation inside her mind, trying to focus on what she’d learned about the Dragneels instead.

She smiled as her thoughts wandered to Natsu, to the antics he’d gotten up to before Igneel had disappeared.

Grandeney had told her all about how he’d taught the children of Fairy Tail their game, tree-top-tag, when he’d arrived, and how popular he’d become there, how many friends he’d made. She’d told her of his failed plots and schemes to run away to the Estate and bring her back with him when he was a child.

She'd told her about how he couldn't wait to get down to the ground and explore, go on adventures the way his father had, the team that'd been assembled so they could find Igneel, and about how worried she was for both of them.

Lucy could see it in the set of her shoulders, the way she held herself. She didn't need Grandeney to tell her just how worried she was.

Slowly, story after story came out, from both his mother and his little sister, that had Lucy crying tears of laughter, a welcome change after the earlier conversation.

Their visit had ended late into the night, with Lucy having updated the version of Natsu inside her head, and it turned out he wasn’t far from what she’d imagined he would be, maybe a bit more reckless, and a little more aloof than she'd expected. She wondered if their being ripped apart had changed him in some way, just as it had changed her.

She turned over in bed, sighing again, as she stared out into the dark night. She liked being able to see the stars as she lay there, so never bothered to close the curtains that hung limply at the edges of the windows.

She was trying to be patient, waiting for Natsu to return from the ground, but it was difficult.

She’d spent so long waiting to be in the same place, together, that it was a little disappointing that she’d missed him by just two weeks, and now had to wait another month and a half for him to return.

It left her way too much time to think, or overthink, about finally seeing each other again after so many years apart. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became.

She was scared of having her heart broken all over again. What if he hadn’t been waiting to reunite, like she had? What if he didn’t want to be her best friend anymore? She didn’t know how she’d handle it if that were the case. She hoped that he'd at least be open to rekindling their friendship.

She’d let herself get so caught up in her dreams of them being friends again. She knew that she may have relied a little too much on them to help her through everything that had happened.

Which was confusing for her, because she knew that those dreams had helped to give her the confidence needed to leave the Estate, when she’d learned of her father's plans. Those dreams had given her hope for so long, she didn't know what she’d have left if Natsu no longer wanted what they once had.

On top of that, she had a slight suspicion that she was just being silly, wanting the friendship back that she’d had at five years old. So much time had passed, and Natsu could easily just tell her to let go of the past and move on.

So many thoughts were constantly rushing through her mind, and ever since she’d arrived at Fairy Tail, she’d been unable to stop them. It was frustrating, so she kept herself busy with jobs, making sure her mind was always occupied and her thoughts couldn't run away on their own.

Lucy groaned and pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes, wanting her over-active imagination to stop. She was on the breakfast shift the next morning and would like to have gotten at least a little bit of sleep.

She lay there for what felt like hours, thoughts bouncing around in her head, before she finally drifted off. Her sleep was restless, and she tossed and turned most of the night.

Running late and rushing out the door the next morning, Lucy pulled her hair up into a ponytail, before taking off down the walkway.

Though the morning was cool, the sun was warm, heating her back as she ran. Her feet made little noise on the wooden path beneath her, while she made her way towards the dining hall.

She grinned as she passed people she’d been getting to know over the weeks she’d been there, yelling out to them in greeting as she zipped past. All of them smiled widely and greeted her in return, used to seeing the same thing every morning.

"Late again, Lucy?" Someone called with a laugh, as she wound around groups of people chatting and leaning against the railing, basking in the sun.

"You know it!" She yelled back as she threw a hand up to wave.

Fairy Tail was a lively place in the morning, always bustling with activity as people started their days, and Lucy couldn’t help but compare it to the gloomy air of the Heartfilia Estate; she’d never before loved mornings so much.

Everywhere she looked, there were smiling people, happy and laughing, and buildings painted in bright colours, all of which went a long way towards creating a pleasant atmosphere. The people in the village certainly seemed happier as a whole, when compared to those of the Estate.

Lucy sprinted through the open double doors of the dining hall, immediately ducking to slip underneath Mira's arm, who was holding up a full tray while she was setting meals down.

“Oh my goodness! Lucy!” She turned after her, shaking her head with a smile as she watched her hurry into the kitchen.

A moment later, Lucy reappeared with a tray of her own and started setting plates down on tables.

“Sorry, Mira!” She laughed, shooting the older girl a rueful smile as she got to work.

Mira had been keeping a close eye on Lucy since she’d arrived at Fairy Tail, and was pleased to see that she was starting to glow with genuine happiness, something she’d been missing when she’d first turned up.

She hoped that Lucy would only continue to flourish in her new environment. It seemed to be doing her a world of good, providing her the opportunity to thrive while she, slowly but surely, came out of her shell as the days passed by.

Mira knew of the situation at the Heartfilia Estate and was well aware of how Lucy had been treated and what she'd been through in the past. Thinking about it never failed to put a scowl on her face.

Privately, Mira couldn't wait until Natsu returned, curious to see what'd happen between the two. And she wasn't the only one, the whole village was aware of Lucy's arrival, and the stories that Natsu had once told as a child were circulating again.

Mira was sure Cana had already started a betting pool; everybody was waiting to see what would happen between the two.

Once the breakfast rush was over, Lucy dropped down into a chair at a table with Levy, Cana, and Wendy. Mira and Lisanna quickly joined them, bringing breakfast from the kitchen.

The six of them sitting down to breakfast together had become a morning ritual, and Lucy looked forward to it every single day after her shift.

She sighed happily as she bit into her toast and strawberry jam, the bread made fresh earlier that morning, and listened as her friends talked about their schedules for the day, and the events coming up at Fairy Tail in the following months.

It had taken Lucy an entire conversation to understand what was meant by ‘events’ the first time they were mentioned, and she’d been surprised to learn that Fairy Tail often organised village-wide parties or competitions, another thing which helped to raise the overall happiness of the people who lived there.

She'd found that idea intriguing, as nothing similar was done at the Estate, and it further reminded her just how little she knew of the world outside of her hometown. She'd never been to a party, at least not one that wasn't for a birthday when she was younger.

“The cherry blossom festival is coming up soon,” Mira announced to the group with a smile and a sly glance in Lucy’s direction.

Wendy looked up, frowning, “oh, wow, already? Has it really been a year since the last one?”

“There’s still a month and a half to go. It’s been quite a year for you, hasn’t it?” Mira replied gently, sliding her arm around Wendy’s shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"What's the cherry blossom festival?"

"Oh, Lucy, you'll love it! It's beautiful. A big festival with games and competitions, to celebrate the blooming of the cherry blossom trees around the village," Lisanna smiled wistfully, twirling her spoon around in her fruit salad.

Lucy frowned, "I don't think I've ever seen a cherry blossom tree, why do we celebrate them?"

"Just wait 'til you see them, they're really pretty. They mark the coming of spring, and seeing them flower is like a dream, Lu," Levy added.

"And, Natsu should be back around the same time they blossom," Cana wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at her blonde friend, having caught the sly look Mira had sent Lucy before.

Lucy blushed and ducked her head, looking down at her breakfast with a sheepish smile, as Cana erupted into laughter at her reaction.

Beside her, Wendy giggled, "he's going to be so happy to see you, Lucy."

Wendy had heard stories of her brother's and Lucy's friendship her whole life, and not only from Natsu, but also from her parents and Zeref. So much so, that she'd always just thought of Lucy as part of her family, as the sister who had tragically been left behind.

Because of that, she'd felt a closeness to Lucy from the moment the blonde had arrived, and Lucy, in turn, had easily picked up on that bond and treated Wendy the same way.

Lucy had been welcomed home by the Dragneels, slotting straight into their family as though no time had passed at all. She regularly had lunch with Grandeney and Wendy, or visited them in their home when she had an evening free.

Before Lucy could reply to the small bluenette beside her, she suddenly realised the time and sprang out of her chair, "shoot, I'm going to be late for that self defence class, I'll see you guys later!"

To the rest of the village, it seemed as though Lucy had developed a passion for running. Really, she was just constantly running late; she'd never been so busy in her entire life, which had everything to do with her move to Fairy Tail and the jobs, programs, and events it had to offer.

She supposed she was starting to enjoy running, though, as it made her feel alive to sprint through the village, like she was always running towards the good, rather than running from the bad, as she had at the Heartfilia Estate. The only time she'd enjoyed running there, was when she'd been running through the trees above and around it, through nature.

There was something about being surrounded by nature and the wildlife within it that had a calming effect on Lucy. Surrounded by nature, things were exactly as they were meant to be, and the natural flow of life was soothing.

Lucy dashed in through a door that opened into one of the cliff's hallways and raced down a set of stairs, making her way to the training rooms.

As she stopped outside the door, she paused to take a few deep breaths, before stepping inside, hoping not to draw too much attention.

It was the first lesson, the specific class she was about to take had only just opened to cope with the overflow of students wanting to learn self defence.

The room was big, with padded mats on the floor and a large, haphazard mix of mismatched mirrors on one wall. There were even a set of training dummies and racks of weights, lined up off to the side.

"Miss Heartfilia, you're late," a calming voice chided her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise the time," she puffed, moving to stand by the other students inside the room, "it won't happen again."

The man at the front of the room nodded, his white beard bobbing up and down with his head.

"As I was saying, most of you already know me, but for those who don't, my name is Capricorn, and I specialise in hand-to-hand combat, as well the gentler arts of spiritual wellness. I encourage those of you who are interested, to also join the class I run for that. Fighting and spirituality can often go hand-in-hand."

Lucy's eyes went wide as she stared at the teacher. Capricorn? He has to be… Right? Did Makarov know? Is that why he suggested self defence?

The man was rather tall with white hair, dressed in black clothes that looked loose enough to easily fight in, and a pair of dark glasses sitting comfortably over his eyes.

"Today we'll be working on the basics of hand-to-hand combat."

Lucy couldn't help but zone out as he talked, still trying to untangle her thoughts. She jumped when she heard her name, pulling her back to the present.

"Miss Heartfilia, if you'd be so kind," he gestured towards the space beside him, "as to help me demonstrate a correct fighting stance…"

She nodded and walked forward to stand awkwardly beside Capricorn. Allowing him to guide her into the correct position, as he told the class why it was so important.

She didn't know the first thing about hand-to-hand combat, never having had the opportunity to study it before.

It had been a little bit of an eye-opener when she'd realised the amount of classes and programs that Fairy Tail had to offer, and the way they were aimed towards the younger generation and new residents of the village.

The Heartfilia Estate had adopted the attitude that it was much safer to live above the ground and stay there, while it seemed that Fairy Tail wanted to prepare people for the world below and give them the best chance of survival as possible.

It had thrown her when she'd arrived, as she'd assumed the rest of the world held the same beliefs that she'd been taught in her hometown, but she'd quickly realised that it was just another way her father had tried to gain more control.

Either way, Lucy found herself preferring the preparation route; she'd much rather know the dangers and be ready for them, than to not know at all and only find out through experience, simply because someone else thought it was better to ban it altogether.

Keen to learn how to protect herself, Lucy listened intently, absorbing Capricorn's lesson as best she could, and before she knew it, the two hour class had come to an end.

She hung back, waiting for the room to clear, trying to figure out what to say to him.

"Miss Lucy," Capricorn acknowledged her presence as he tidied the room.

"Are you..? Twelve..?" She blurted out, stumbling over her words, frowning as she mentally facepalmed herself.

His quirked brow and curt nod had her moving closer, desperate to find out more, as he replied, "yes, I'm one of the twelve."

"I knew it," she breathed, before shaking her head in confusion, "but why did you find me here, and not at the Estate?"

He smiled shrewdly, "you found me, Miss Lucy, and I knew you would when the time was right. Layla was certain that you'd come to Fairy Tail, and I simply trusted her judgement."

Lucy wasn't sure what to say. She'd had so many questions she'd wanted to ask but, at that moment, she was shocked enough to have forgotten them all.

She'd expected a huge lifestyle change when she got to Fairy Tail, but she hadn't expected to run into one of the twelve there, though she was glad she had.

"I'm sorry, Miss Lucy, but I'm scheduled to teach another class and I must leave. I will see you soon," Capricorn put a comforting hand on her shoulder as he kindly excused himself.

As he headed off to his next class, Lucy wandered from the room, confused, and lost in thought.

Capricorn hadn't seemed particularly interested in talking to her, not that she'd made the best first impression to begin with. She wondered what, exactly, she was supposed to learn from each member that she met.

Sagittarius had taught her how to hunt, how to wield and maintain her bow, and how to craft arrows as well.

Capricorn was teaching her hand-to-hand combat, and she supposed she should also join his spiritual wellness class.

She wasn't sure exactly what was taught in that one, but she had the feeling that she was supposed to learn everything she could from a member of the twelve if she came across one.

Lucy frowned as she walked, wondering what her next move should be. She wanted to make Capricorn and his classes a priority, as it was her mother's wish that her friends help to guide her through life.

Not only for that reason, though. She wanted to do it for herself, she wanted a full life that felt like she was actually living. She wanted to be stronger emotionally, mentally, and physically.

She'd spent enough time living a life that she hated, caged in and broken and alone.

Fairy Tail was giving her a new chance at the life she wanted, and she was going to take it.

× Natsu

After their night drinking strawberry wine, Natsu woke with a slight headache as he slowly opened one eye, only to see the blue kitten standing on his chest and staring down at him.

After the surprise wore off, he noticed that the others were still fast asleep. He had no clue what time it was, being so far underground, but he got up, gently placing the kitten on the ground beside him, and gave it a quick scratch behind a pointy blue ear.

He stretched and headed for the river, the kitten following behind him.

Pulling his shirt off, he quickly rinsed it in the warm water, before draping it over a glowing root-tree branch to dry, not that he expected it to, considering how humid the air was. Still, it might be nice to have something cold and wet against his skin while in the hot rainforest.

As the kitten watched from the bank, Natsu waded into the warm water, moving to stand in the stream that fell from the rocky ceiling, scrubbing his face and hair clean. He tilted his head back to take a few mouthfuls, enjoying the warmth in his belly.

He let himself relax under the pressure of the waterfall pounding against his back and shoulders, the steady beat of it against his skin helping to release some of the tension he held there.

He stood there, lost in thought, for a long time while he waited for the others to rouse, trying to decide whether they should stay in the rainforest for a while longer, or move on to the town to the east.

Gildarts had, so far, let Natsu call the shots about where to go and what to do in their search, offering advice and opinions where needed.

For all of his impulsiveness and rule breaking attitude, Natsu really did respect Gildarts's opinions. And he'd taken all of his thoughts on board, knowing that the man had far more experience and knowledge to offer than he, himself, possessed.

The rest of Team Natsu eventually began to stir and, shaking the water from his pink locks, he climbed out of the river, and went in search of Gildarts, the blue kitten still trailing behind him.

He glanced back at it with a raised brow, "you gonna follow me everywhere, little buddy?"

"It seems he's taken a liking to you, Natsu," Warrod noted as he emerged from the entrance to his living quarters.

Gildarts appeared a moment later, very obviously hung over.

"Yeah, seems like it," he turned to pick the kitten up, letting it nuzzle against the side of his face as he walked over to where Marl was lazing on a patch of grass.

He put the kitten down with its siblings before turning back to Warrod and Gildarts, who were both watching him.

"So, Natsu, what's the plan?" Gildarts croaked, his voice rough from the night of drinking.

"Not sure, I was just coming to find you to ask what you thought," Natsu replied, looking down as he felt a weight drop onto his toes.

Marl had brought the kitten back to him and dropped it atop his bare foot.

"Ahhh," Warrod watched with amusent, "the kitten is yours now," he said simply, as though it were the logical conclusion to Marl's action.

Natsu's head snapped up, a look of confusion on his face, "mine?"

"Yes. They have long been old enough to leave their mother, and it seems that Marl has chosen you to take care of one. Marl is never wrong," he added with a smile.

"Uh… Okay? Can I have a cat, Gildarts?"

"What're you askin' me for?"

"What do you mean, what am I asking you for? You're the one in charge here, old man," Natsu glared at him.

"As long as it doesn't get in the way, I don't give a damn, Natsu," Gildarts replied in slight annoyance, dragging a hand down his face. Sometimes, Natsu tended to make headaches worse.

Natsu sighed, bending to pick the kitten up as he watched Marl, silently questioning her decision. Marl watched him back and ducked her head once, making it clear that she knew what she was doing.

"Alright… I guess I'll call ya 'Happy'," he smiled a toothy, lopsided smile at the kitten.

"What kind of name is Happy?" Gray asked as he walked over to join the conversation, Erza beside him with an armful of strawberries.

Natsu turned to Gray, narrowing his eyes at him, but as he opened his mouth to reply, the kitten meowed happily, stopping him short.

Warrod laughed, "Happy is a fine name and he approves of it."

Gray shut his mouth, staring suspiciously at the kitten as though he were entirely unconvinced.

- : -

They'd spent a week in Warrod's forest, using it as a base to explore the rainforest above.

Finding not a single clue that could lead them to Igneel's whereabouts, they'd decided to move on to the town towards the east.

Warrod had sent them on their way with a couple of bottles of strawberry wine, and as many strawberries as Erza could manage to carry.

Even Natsu wondered how she could stomach any more of the fruit, after the week they'd just spent eating them and drinking the sweet strawberry wine.

He didn't think he could look at another strawberry, let alone keep eating them the way his scarlet haired friend had.

It'd taken them a few days to make their way to the town, having to trek through the thick rainforest to get there, avoiding the hazards along the way. They didn’t have much time left for learning opportunities before they had to return to Fairy Tail, to check in with Master Makarov.

As they trudged up to the village gates, they quickly realised that something was definitely amiss.

The normal process when arriving at a new village, entailed mandatory questions, identification check, and a body pat down. Some villages even demanded that visitors turn in their weapons to collect when leaving.

The four of them awkwardly waited for someone to come down, all of them noting that there were no sentries watching them either.

When nobody met them at the gates, they warily walked straight in and made their way up to the treetop village via the staircase wrapping around a massive tree trunk.

At the top, the town was almost completely deserted, and the few villagers they could find seemed anxious and jittery, hurrying in the opposite direction.

The group took a room each at the visitors' accommodation, in the middle of the town, as they figured the place was deserted enough to spare the extra rooms to house them. There didn’t even appear to be enough residents to fill the rooms at the accommodation, from what they’d seen.

Natsu dropped his stuff and went straight to the window, cradling Happy against his chest as he pulled the lace curtain aside to stare out at the town, "I've got a bad feeling about this place…" He muttered to himself.

As he watched, another resident glanced up at him standing in the window, and promptly turned to flee, causing Natsu to scowl.

"Yes, something is definitely very wrong here," Erza replied, entering his room and joining him at the window, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Where is everyone? Isn't this meant to be a thriving city?" Gray asked, also wandering into Natsu's room, pulling his shirt off as he did.

Natsu sent him wry look, "oi, ice princess, don't come into my room and start takin' your clothes off!"

Gray looked down at his bare chest, surprised, and slipped back into his shirt.

"I think we need to interrogate every person here, find out what happened," Erza said grimly, pointedly ignoring their bickering, "I'll take the east side of town, Natsu, you take the north, Gray, you take the south. Gildarts can take the west. I'll inform him of the plan, if you two want to get a start on that."

So Natsu scooped Happy up and went to leave the room, just as a shadowy figure stepped into the doorway, blocking his path and bringing their plan to a screeching halt.

"You must leave this place," the man quietly urged, anxiously glancing around, "it's not safe here."

His eyes glinted with something Natsu struggled to name, and his body language was all over the place, as if he was stuck on an adrenaline high that he couldn’t come down from.

He wore a long, dark cloak and his clothes were dirty and torn, his cheeks were hollow, his beard was an unkempt mess, and he gave them the distinct impression that he’d been struggling for a while.

Before Natsu could say anything, Gildarts replied from the hallway, "why's that? What's going on in this town?"

The man spun around, holding his hands up in front of him as he tried to edge past Gildarts's big frame, "I can't say. The more who know, the more who’ll go missing. Please, just leave, before you get trapped. You can't help us here!" His words came out fast and clipped, his breathing heavy, as though he’d run all the way there.

It was then that Natsu recognised it; the man was in fight or flight mode.

Gildarts folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes, stepping forward to block the man from leaving the way he’d come.

The man pulled his cloak tighter around himself, looking wildly around the room for another means of escape, before he darted towards the window.

The whole scene seemed to happen in slow motion as Gray and Natsu instinctively stepped back, watching as the man lifted his cloaked arm to shield his face, and hurled himself through it.

The sound of shattering glass filled the silence, Team Natsu and Gildarts, left alone in the room, were stunned, staring at the empty window frame.

Gray slowly shook his head, trying to understand what'd just happened, "well, that was…"

"Weird," Natsu finished, scowling. He crossed the room and stuck his head through the window frame, looking down to see if the man had managed to land safely from the second storey. He was nowhere to be seen.

"So, we have a town with missing residents, near the area where Igneel disappeared. I'd say that's more than a coincidence,” Erza said, stepping past Gildarts.

Gildarts nodded, “I think you’re right.”

“So, uh, what’s the plan now? Go out in pairs?” Natsu asked, still staring out the window.

"You and Gildarts, and Gray and I. You and Gray fight too much when you're together. Question everyone you come across," Erza replied, authoritatively.

Gildarts just shrugged and nodded his head, leaving the room as Natsu followed him out.

- : -

Over the following four weeks, Team Natsu and Gildarts interrogated every resident they could find. Most of them had refused to talk, presumably, out of fear. And the very few that did, went missing soon afterwards.

They never ran into their cloaked friend and had to assume that he'd been 'taken' too.

When they realised that their contact with the residents only led to more people disappearing, they'd stopped asking questions and turned to searching the buildings and houses, looking for anything that would lead them to any kind of answer.

House after house, they came up empty handed. Nothing much else seemed to be out of the ordinary, except the way things were left.

The state of some of the houses suggested that people had been disappearing for months, given the thick coating of dust on every surface, and the rotting and mould covered food left on tables.

They searched inside the city as well as outside. Natsu took to the trees, the others looking on the ground.

As one week became two, and then two became three, strange things began occurring. At first it was small things that were difficult to notice; they'd find their belongings slightly out of place, as though someone had rifled through them, and little things had gone missing altogether, but never anything too important.

After that, each of them had begun to feel as though they were being watched from the shadows, something silent and careful keeping tabs on them wherever they went.

It seemed that the further they looked into whatever was going on, the more attention they drew to themselves. Not the right kind of attention, either. Their investigation was turning them into targets, just as their mystery friend had warned.

Then one night, when Erza had gone to the bathroom alone, something crept from the shadows, an undefined shape sitting slightly out of place against the wall. It was easy to miss, and the moment she turned her back, it lunged for her, sinking its sleep inducing claws deep into her skin.

At that same moment, Natsu felt something in the air that made him stop what be was doing, his brow furrowed. He turned with a panicked look, momentarily locking eyes with Gray, and a silent conversation passed between them before he shot up from his chair. He ignored Gildarts's questions as he ran from the room, shouting Erza's name.

He shoved through the door to the women's bathroom, just managing to snag Erza's arm as she was being pulled into the darkness of the shadows that spread across the wall.

It took him a second to realise what it was that had her in its clutches, but he wasn't going to let his friend slip away into the darkness so easily.

Gray and Gildarts burst into the room behind him, freezing for a moment as they processed what they were seeing.

"Ah, shit. What the hell is a Shadow Trapper doing here?!" Gildarts swore as he turned to leave the room, shoving Gray towards Natsu and Erza.

Shadow Trappers normally stayed within the bounds of their own shadow lairs, only venturing out into dark forests and shadows inside caves, snatching anyone they could find.

Usually, their territory was fairly small, as they were unable to create doors to places they'd never been. Which meant that the Shadow Trapper had somehow found its way inside the town.

Sharp shadow claws slid up Erza's arm, trying to drag her back inside, leaving raised marks against her skin. As Natsu tried to pull her out, the claws dug in and pierced her flesh again as the Shadow Trapper tightened its grip.

Natsu braced himself with a foot against the wall, trying to get more leverage, pulling as hard as he could.

Gray plunged his arm into the freezing shadow, gritting his teeth as he blindly grasped around in the darkness for Erza's other arm. She was barely conscious, the Shadow Trapper's venom lowering her body temperature, trying to make her sleep, so it could easily drag her into its lair.

Erza groaned as Natsu and Gray fought against the shadow for her, tugging her between consciousness and sleep, blood running down her arm and dripping onto the tiled floor beneath their feet.

"Natsu," Gildarts roughly shoved something against his chest, then dipped his own arms into the shadowy depths, almost pulling Erza free of the shadow's grip, "you know what to do. Gray, you got a torch on you?"

"Yeah, but what about you? You can't--" Gray grunted, as he kept pulling.

"Stop arguing and get the hell in there!" Gildarts growled through gritted teeth, "she's the only thing holding the shadow door open! Go!"

Gildarts twisted one of his arms dipping deep into the shadow, shining the light of a torch around, aiming for the Shadow Trapper. The yellow beam ripped a light-filled hole right through the centre of its chest. It shrieked and dissipated, releasing it's hold on their friend.

It wouldn't take long to form again, already being in its lair and surrounded by the power of its shadows.

Natsu growled, an angry rumble rising from his chest, and slid through the shadow door, climbing his way past Erza and into the darkness. Gray followed closely behind, turning his torch on, thankful that he'd charged it that morning.

Natsu shivered as he looked around, the cold working it's way into his bones.

The place between the shadows was a freezing void, darker than the black of night. Each shadow belonging to it, out in the world, just another door into a Shadow Trapper's lair. There was no telling how many it had created.

Shadow Trappers pulled their victims in through the shadows, lurking in dark crevices and corners, anywhere they could, in spots devoid of light. They fed off their victim's fear and torment, and could make their captives fall asleep and wake, taking snacks as they needed, as long as they kept them scared.

"How many people are in here?" Gray asked quietly, shining the torch around, a look of horror forming on his face.

Natsu sucked a cold breath in. The bodies spread across the floor, some huddled in groups, sitting in their frozen sleep, as far as they could see.

His thoughts briefly wandered to his father; he had to be among them, and it took everything he had to stop himself from searching as he grit his teeth.

Suddenly, the re-formed Shadow Trapper slammed into Gray, tackling him to the floor. He made a strangled sound as he barely managed to hold onto the torch, shining it around like a weapon, stabbing at the dark figure that was trying to pierce him with its claws and make him fall asleep.

Crouching down, Natsu set a small, metallic looking cube on the ground, pulling a thin length of material from the top, laying it out along the floor. He pulled his fire starter out and started scraping the bits against each other, working hard to bring a flame to life.

He tried to keep an eye on Gray, who was still wrestling with the Shadow Trapper, and as the seconds ticked by, he started to panic, moving his hands faster, getting frustrated when he struggled to light the material on fire.

The room suddenly went silent. Just as the Shadow Trapper threw itself against him, the material lit up in a tiny burst of light.

Natsu hit the ground, his breath leaving his lungs from the force of the impact. He growled again as the Shadow Trapper's claws sunk deep into his chest.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to roll away, just as the cold darkness began to settle in, forcing him towards an icy sleep. He barely had time to lift his hands and cover his ears, before the Shadow Trapper hissed with pain.

A loud bang and a shower of sparks, then a bright, white light exploded through the Shadow Trapper's lair, lighting every little bit of darkness, destroying everything made of shadow, stealing away its only means to regenerate.

Natsu, his ears ringing loudly inside his head, found himself lying on the floor clutching at his chest. His vision blurred as the darkness continued creeping in, and he slowly slipped out of consciousness.

Resting his head back against the bathroom floor, where he'd entered the shadow lair, he let the darkness take him. The last thing he saw was Gildarts' worried face peering down at him.

× Next chapter

[frostfireft]

Can you headcanons about Natsu being short?

OH BOY CAN I-         

-Natsu is 5'2″ (roughly 157cm for the Non-Americans.) and entirely made of rage and spite, but he’s also far more intelligent than people give him credit for, so he got really good at finding ways to hide it. 

-No one who fights him notices this. They’re too busy getting their ass kicked or avoiding his attacks. he makes sure to keep them busy. 

-And no one in the guild really pays attention to it because they’re so used to it! Besides, he’s so loud and in your face anyways. Height doesn’t matter if he’s about to use you to start a brawl! 

-Also he sits down a lot or dramattically leans in a way that makes people think he’ll be taller than he is when standing. He also avoids standing next to Levy, Romeo, and anyone else who’s relatively short. Because he knows he’s short and doesn’t want to deal with people teasing him for it. 

-He also tends to wear platformed shoes, but only enough that it just looks like a thicker sole. He’s sneaky like that. 

-And before he joined a his team, no one would have thought about it twice. They only ever saw  him in pasisng, and people didn’t know his face well enough to reconize that Bora wasn’t him in Hargeon. After he joined the team though.... They became very well known, and he walks beside them all the time. 

-Gray’s nearly a foot taller than him (6″1′/185cm). Erza’s about half a foot taller than him(5′8″/173cm). Lucy is taller than him by two inches, but she has the tendency to wear heeled shoes too(5′4″/163cm). Even if his shoes even their height, Lucy is taller in her heels. Wendy is catching up to him(5′0″/152cm). 

-So random people on the street? They definitely notice that Fairy Tail’s “Salamander” is a tiny dude, and they tell him as much..... then they get punched, because despite his size, he’s build like a fucking tank (and the dragon magic just makes him more of one than he already is). 

-and because of this, the rumor doesn’t spread much..... at first. 

-Then one day, Jason from Sorcerer’s Weekly gets wind of this rumor, and he disguises the need to validate this information by wanting to do little profiles on all the mages that were willing, including their height. He mainly got away with this because of that years grand magic gaes coming up.

-It’s pretty much checkmate at that. If Natsu refuses, everyone will know it’s because he’s short and doesn’t want people to know how short, and if he does, then everyone finds out his exact height. His hands are tied. A week later everyone in Fiore gets a kick about how “tiny and cute” Natsu is, because he took a photo of him standing next to Elfman(7′3″/221cm) to include.

-They laughed a little less when he let his rage feul him for one of his fights and he absolutely decimated his opponent in seconds. 

-That being said, once the cat was out of the bag, it was out. 

-He can and will climb the tall people to avoid anything he doesn’t want to do. The first time he did this everyone froze, compltely startled. He scaled Elfman in under two seconds and pulled himself into the rafters because he didn’t want to sit at a table. 

Gray: How’d you learn to climb so fast? 

Gajeel: it’s because he’s short. 

Natsu: Fuck you

-It’s half because hes short and half because he grew up cllimbing in the mountains with Igneel. He will stack and climb the most unstable shit just to get to the top shelves. He does not fear falling. 

-He liked to hide in the guild’s rafters even before this, but not he does it even more often now. 

-If you;re the asshole who holds shit over his head, he will climb you to get it back. 

-if someone has to get into something out of a small space (a vent, a drain, ect) he’s the one to go crawling to get it. 

-He actually really likes small spaces, because not only is he small, he’s double jointed. He can comfortably contort in all sorts of ways, and he’s not above hiding in cabinets, beneath booth seats, ect. Sometimes it’s because he wants to be left alone, some times it’s to pop out and spook people, and sometimes just to see if he can fit. 

-So far he’s managed to fit himself into a carry on suitcase, a pillowcase, and one of Erza’s backpacks. she almost punched him when he unzipped it and popped his head out. 

-He can and will steal everyone’s hoodies. He likes that they smell like his nakama, and they’re always huge on him, even when they belong to guild members closer to his size, because they also like large hoodies. 

- He owns several pairs of platform boots and heels, which he can fight in because he tained himself too. He’s fucked up his ankles many times while getting to that point though. 

-The spell that turns someone into a dragon slayer basically makes them into a dragon in human skin, right? So his muscle and bones are stronger, but less dense. That combines with the fact that h’es short means there’s no way he’s more than 100 pounds/45 kilos. 

-This means that when people try to pick him up they damn near throw him. 

-It also means he’s really easy for them to carry when he does dumb shit and gets hurt. 

-Being small causes his center of gravity to be closer to his core, and this aids him in a lot of the gymnastic and arial shit he uses in fights. This plus the fact that he’s a speedy little shit  and the fact that he’s small means he’s really hard to hit. Sure, some people could knock him out in one attack, but that attack has to actually fucking land before he darts in attacks, and zips back away before they can touch him. 

-He’s hug sized. This is his favorite thing about being small, because he can go and sit in the laps of those he’s close to and get tucked under people’s chins. It makes him feel loved when he’s having a bad day. It makes him feel loved, and he’s touch starved anyways so. 

-Not to mention the fact that most of Fairy Tail is touch starved, so somtimes he does that just to help them. (also platonic cuddles are incredible)

-He makes his own clothing anyways, but if he didn’t he could fit in some of the clothing from the kids section. He does tend to buy kids sneakers because they’re cheaper and his size. 

-This also means his clothing is cheaper to make because he needs less fabric.

-He’s absolutely gotten into a theme park or two at the kids price with Wendy. The rest of the team thinks it’s hilarious. 

-The few times he’s watched the parade instead of participating he’s had to watch from a room because he can’t see over the crowds. This happens anytime he and the team go to watch something too, so sometimes Gray will let him sit on his shoulders, and Wendy will sit on Erza’s. 

-When stuff goes flying in the guild, it tends to go right over his head and hit whoever is behind him. 

-So he’s happy being himself as long as people aren’t being assholes about it.

[gratsustingue-the-ot4]

Okay I’m gonna ask 6 and 8

6. How do you feel the environment your character(s) grew up in shaped them as a human? How does the environment they’re in now shape them currently?

man these are intense questions!! i love it.

natsu was raised in a close, loving home in BC with lots of extended family over all the time. his parents were strict but caring and erza was a protective older sister who loved to tease him and take care of him. his parents and uncle igneel were both immigrants who came to canada before he was born, and his extended family here is now enormous. having all of that love and so many people to be around turned him into an extrovert and goofball who likes to do silly things to make other people laugh.

gray grew up in a in québec, with a close relationship with his parents (especially his mom), and a typical loving-but-antagonistic brotherly relationship with lyon. his family's francophone heritage is important to them and their entire family is bilingual. gray was always more introverted in comparison to lyon's outgoing personality, and he struggled with depression and anxiety throughout his teenage years.

rogue grew up on a reserve on vancouver island with gajeel and his parents. his family was always very chill and relaxed about everything, lending to his laid-back personality. his relationship with gajeel was very competitive, though, and that trait still pops up from time to time when he's challenged to do something stupid (usually by natsu 😂). he also had lots of family either living with them or nearby and it made him both a good uncle, and a desire to never be a dad.

sting grew up in niagra falls, ontario with his parents and grandparents. his mom and dad died when he was five, and he was raised by his oma and opa. sting struggled a lot with fitting in when he was younger, especially after his parent's death, and he still deals with anxiety as an adult because of it. his oma's care and compassion rubbed off on him though, making him into a sweet, loving partner.

their current home is a great fit for all of them. natsu has a place to love and be loved, and living with multiple partners gives him an outlet for all his energy. they all understand his ADHD and are able to help him when he's frustrated. gray has more than one person to lean on when he's depressed, and is able to be a bit more extroverted thanks to his partners. rogue has a bunch of idiots to look after and he loves them all very much, and sting has lots of people to reassure him and give him cuddles!

8. How does your character(s) feel about religion? Marriage? Death?

natsu was raised hindu, both religiously and culturally, and is still involved in cultural celebrations. gray's family was originally roman catholic (as most québécois families are), but shifted to atheism as he grew up. rogue has always been athiest. sting's parents used to take him to catholic church but he stopped going after they passed away.

none of them are interested in marriage (polyamorous marriages aren't legal anyway). they're happy being common-law partners (with complicated tax profiles 😂) although sometimes they'll refer to each other as husbands.

natsu and rogue have a fairly laid-back approach to death - it's gonna happen one day and we can't stop it. gray's got a bit more anxiety about it because he was with natsu when he almost died, so it's a much more real concept for him. sting also has complicated feelings about death after his parents and opa passed away.

[natsubeatsrock]

The Rewrite of Fairy Tail: Part 26 (Zeref)

Is Zeref a villain?

Wait, no. That's not the right question. 

That makes it seem like I'm saying that Zeref didn't do anything wrong or that he isn't responsible for any of the bad things that happened in the series in his name. Make no mistake, that's not what I'm asking. What I am asking is if he did what he did for bad reasons.

Now, one complaint about the end of Fairy Tail is that it shifted focus from the big evil being Zeref to Acnologia. I mean, that series was setting Zeref up to be the villain, only to trick us into seeing that the real villain was Acnologia. The shift in focus from one bad guy to another is bad writing, right?

To be fair, I don't know that Fairy Tail handled this in the best ways. However, the idea that the big evil force isn't the one that we thought it to be isn't one unique to Fairy Tail. This is a fairly common twist in fiction, in general. One really popular theory about the Kanto Region Pokemon games is that the actions of Crime Boss Giovanni are really to make up for making the legendary Pokemon Mewtwo. It was even the angle that the Nuzlocke comics went with. (Yeah, like that Nuzlocke.)

Of course, that's based on the precedent that Zeref was trying to do something good. Was he though?

Only kind of, I guess?

Zeref was interested in the study of life and death in response to his family dying. Out of this study, the R-System and the Eclipse Gate were theorized as possibilities. After some wacky stuff happened, Zeref accidentally gained eternal life. He turned to the creation of the Etherious, which would eventually lead him to revive Natsu. However, his purpose in that was to create a way to kill himself. Sometime afterward, he got involved with the plan to defeat Acnologia and volunteered Natsu to help complete his goal.

I would say that Zeref had four main motivations for his actions, three of which are found in this explanation of his backstory: defeating Acnologia,  reviving his brother, and ending his own life. Defeating Acnologia was an ultimate good. I don't think that's something that needs to be argued for. Presentation, introduction, and necessity aside, it's hard to argue that Acnologia wasn't a bad guy, even if he did what he did for not terrible reasons.

Was it ultimately a good thing to want to bring Natsu back? Considering, I started writing the first draft of this post not too long after watching FMA: Brotherhood, I should feel a bit conflicted. Of course, this series is about rewriting Fairy Tail and not a discussion of the rewrite of FMA 2003.

In Fairy Tail, Zeref gets warned that what he is doing is wrong repeatedly by the elders around him. The reason he ends up cursed is that he was trying to bring people back to life. However, it would be foolish of me to argue that bringing Natsu back from the dead didn't result in good things happening, especially towards the end of defeating Acnologia.

Now, should he have been trying to kill himself?

Here's the thing. I'm not pro-suicide (as if such there is such a thing). I've had my struggles with suicide, as have many people I know. I believe that you ought to seek help if you have those kinds of issues. 

Nonetheless, I feel like this isn't the same kind of thing. Zeref's longing to die comes from a place that few, if any, could compare their situations with. He can't die and has been alive for hundreds of years. That's not to say that I don't think that there are things that can be latched onto from Zeref's situation. I don't know that it's entirely wrong for someone who can't die to want death.

What I do think is wrong is how this was written through the series. The simple facts that Zeref made Natsu (his brother) into the thing that would eventually destroy him and sent him into the future as a plan to help kill Acnologia make sense, given that he gave him away as a part of his ultimate plan to die. But if he's also responsible for the Etherious, I'd assume that he would have come up with some of them throughout his time, maybe he would realize the futility of sending his "one true hope" 400 years away. At least, he could have made the Etherious that would be members of Tartarus in between that gap using the extra knowledge he learned from recreating Natsu.

Though, this is getting a bit away from the main question: Was Zeref doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons? So far, the answer has only been kind of. The stuff he created ultimately achieved bad things, but I don't think that trying to defeat Acnologia or bringing his brother back were bad things. Wanting to die may be a bit more questionable, but it makes sense for him to want death.

Of course, there is one thing that does make him more of a villain than an anti-hero: his views on humanity. While he was alive, he had seen humanity fail over and over. His one romance was incredibly short-lived (pun not intended, I swear). Just as he was starting to get hope in humanity, the events of Tenrou caused him to throw that aside. He even goes so far as to say that true humanity has died a long time ago.

And this shift changes things. Zeref went from only trying to help kill Acnologia and himself to trying to destroy both Acnologia and humanity as a whole. He even says as much in his war declaration to Acnologia.

Though, there may be a reason for this change that isn't just about humanity being rotten. Natsu was asked point-blank by Zeref to kill him in Tenrou and he refused. He only concludes that he ought to destroy humanity after the first time skip and part of that may have started off the back of Acnologia supposedly destroying Natsu and other important members of Fairy Tail. Could it be that part of his will to die changed when it became clear that Natsu wouldn't kill him?

Actually, not really. He still does stuff to make Natsu angry enough to want to kill him. He sent his little gremlin (whatever that thing Oba had) to accompany the guild member who sapped Wendy's magic ability. He took the Book of E.N.D, stopping him from completing the mission that Igneel had given him. He even tried to kill Makarov with the explicit purpose of trying to get Natsu mad.

Why would he want to destroy humanity, kill Acnologia, and die? The idea that humanity has no value is fairly fatalistic. However, this feels like there's no plan to rebuild. If Zeref feels that the entire human race is imperfect, why wouldn't he also believe that he is the only one who should be able to rule over all of them? After all, he seems to have the ability to recreate life from the dead. 

Stuff like this is why I think of Zeref as a tragic villain. He was given several bad hands and couldn't have played many of them well even if he wanted to. It's easy to see why he ended up the way he did. 

At the same time, he is a villain. He does terrible things. Many of his actions aren't justifiable. There are good alternatives to what he wants to do. Often, doing literally nothing is a better alternative to whatever action he did in canon. It results in a lot fewer dead bodies in a lot of cases.

That being said, a lot of terrible actions committed by him or in his name aren't his direct fault. It's not his fault the Eclipse Gate wasn't destroyed after the Eclipse Project succeeded. It's not his fault the Tower of Heaven was created by slave labor, especially and notably by children. It's not his fault people used his demons in his stead. Heck, the Curse of Ankhseram (as far as canon is concerned) is considered a curse, as in not something he put on himself.

Will I change things about Zeref? Not a whole lot of things. Some things are worth changing regarding Zeref, but many involve other things surrounding Zeref. Much of what I want to do with Zeref is clarify and provide context to his canon goals and actions. Zeref as fans know and love him (?) is going to stay very similar to his canon iteration.

Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19  | Part 20  | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25

[sweetmemories2606]

Dangerous Game (NaLu  and Gruvia fic)

Wrote this piece for @gruvia is coot from Discord since today is their birthday.

It's yet another plot twist I've thought of-though this time it's less insane- and the focus will be on NaLu and Gruvia.

Title: Dangerous Game

Summary: While Natsu wonders about all the times he failed to protect Lucy, Gray worries about the dangerous game that he's been playing. Who will have to pay the price for his decision to leave Juvia behind? 

Timeline: Avatar Arc (SPOILERS if you haven't watched the first 8 eps of the Final Season)

Genre: Angst

Word Count: around 1500 words

I hope you'll enjoy! 

                            _______________

                          Dangerous Game

"I need to get stronger." Natsu whispered while he concentrated on increasing his magic power. Flames ignited his skin, however he didn't mind the heat. "For Lucy. I have to protect her."

He remembered the first time he had failed to protect her and how much it had changed him.

It had happened during the battle against Phantom Lord; when Lucy had been kidnapped while he was too busy fighting them. When he should've been there for her, but he wasn't.

The dragon slayer could never forget how his heart had stopped and his blood ran cold once he overheard Gajeel talking about Lucy's successful capture by the Element 4.

Natsu recalled emotions that overwhelmed him at that moment. Fear. Dread. Anger. Regret. He had been so scared of losing her, of losing his best friend-besides Happy, of course.

Thankfully, he was able to rescue her from Jose Porla.

After she was back at the guild, safe and sound, the realization still stayed with him: something had changed that day.

After that, he became more protective, careful. Remembering what it felt like to lose her, even if for a short while, was enough to make him always wish to be by her side.

Unfortunately, he couldn't always be.

During the Battle of Fairy Tail, it happened again. Lucy was taken away, or at least that's how he saw it when she was turned to stone.

Once again, he wasn't able to protect her. He didn't even see the danger coming because it came from old friends.

That moment also changed him forever, because he finally understood the phrase: "Betrayal only hurts so much because it always come from those we would least expect; those we trust the most."

Natsu kept those words in mind during every mission; every battle. It made him less trusting of people, but also enabled him to protect Lucy better.

Over the course of the next few battles they had-against Oracion Seis, in Edolas, on Tenrou Island- Natsu managed to keep her safe.

He wasn't always by her side, but that was okay because Lucy had grown stronger over time. He was proud of her; even more so knowing that he was the one who had helped her grow.

Thus he hadn't worried much during those fights, knowing she could take care of herself just fine.

                            _______________

Until the Grand Magic Games.

Those 7 days when they were competing, Natsu failed her more times than he could count.

First there was her battle with Flare, when he took so long to figure out why she wasn't fighting back.

If he claimed to know her so well, why didn't he realize that she was selflessly taking the heat in order to protect the ones she cared about?

Then, during the fourth day, he was forced to watch once she was mercilessly tortured by Minerva.

In those terrifying minutes, Natsu completely lost it and later he started to wonder about his reaction to seeing her get hurt.

He realized that if it had been anyone else he wouldn't have been as scared, angry or broken. Not because he didn't care about his other friends, but Lucy was more important.

She was his best friend, but was she just that?

Remembering when Erza and Gray had been talking about his situation with Juvia a few days before-they always forgot he had dragon slayer hearing-he decided to figure out exactly how he felt about Lucy.

The answer came 3 days later and it wasn't too unexpected.

Natsu loved her. For real.

When Future Lucy died right before his eyes during the most dreadful moment that would haunt him forever, his feelings became crystal clear.

Unfortunately, he wasn't sure what to do about them. Should he tell her? Was that a good idea? Or could it ruin their friendship if she rejected him?

Natsu didn't have time to think about it, though, for their world was soon thrown into chaos. After the long, exhausting battle was over and they had won, all he could think was that he had failed Lucy.

He had let her die-or at least a version of her-thus he didn't deserve to love her. He wasn't good enough.

That's why, in the following months, he pretended as if nothing had changed and they were still just good friends. Even though it killed him to be so close to her without being able to truly be with her, he stayed strong.

When they fought against Tartaros and he failed her again, that was the final strike.

He wasn't there for her when she had broken down. He wasn't there when she was forced to fight against Demons by herself.

Thus Natsu decided that he needed to get stronger; not just to defeat Zeref, as his friends had assumed, but to make sure that he would never fail Lucy again.-also to avenge Igneel, but that was another story.

The dragon slayer decided to leave for a year of training and, when Happy wondered why he didn't bring Lucy with him, Natsu was honest.

"Lucy just lost Aquarius, so I think she needs some time by herself to come to terms with it." He shrugged. "Besides, this training mission will be dangerous. I don't want her to get hurt again."

Happy understood then that leaving Lucy behind was Natsu's weird way of keeping her safe.

With Tartaros gone and the Balam Alliance broken, he believed there no immediate threats to her life. She would be fine until he came back and, and afterwards, he would always be there to protect her.

Unfortunately, things didn't work out the way Natsu had wanted. Though he did grow stronger during that year, when he returned it was only to discover that Fairy Tail-his family and home- had been disbanded.

He came home to find none of his friends and Lucy really mad at him. It saddened him that he had spent a whole year trying to become a better man who could protect her only to fail her again.

At least, this time, he could make it up by bringing Fairy Tail back together.                                     _______________

Their journey to find their friends led them to Gray's secret mission at Avatar and they helped the ice mage defeat them.

Then, the day after this battle, an unexpected threat presented itself and Lucy's life was in danger once again.

They were back in Magnolia, having traveled there for Fairy Tail's reunion.

Natsu was proud upon noticing that most Fairy Tail members came despite Lucy's fear that they might've moved on. If he were to be honest, he had been scared too.

Fortunately, their worries were untrue, thus he was able to relax while watching everyone sharing hugs and talking about the past year.

The dragon slayer chose to stay silent; taking in the atmosphere once memories of the good days crossed his mind.

Until he suddenly got the feeling that something was wrong.

It was like a chill ran down his spine and he immediately knew that the enemy was close.

Natsu looked around, waiting for someone to come and attack then. There was nothing.

Once he watched his friends, he saw nothing different. There were no strangers ready to ambush them and no one else seemed to be alert.

Except for Gray that is.

The dragon slayer followed his gaze towards Lucy and Juvia, who were hugging. Though he failed to understand why the ice mage seemed so tense, he figured Gray must sense it too.

Noticing his stare, the ice mage looked back at him and there was a familiar expression on his face.

Natsu knew then that he was hiding something, but before he could ask, Gray looked back at the two girls; even more anxious.

Trying to figure out what made him so tense, the dragon slayer chose to follow his gaze again. His blood immediately ran cold once he saw it.

There was a knife. Juvia was holding it and she was about to swing it at Lucy. What the hell?

It made no sense, but in that moment all Natsu could think about was keeping Lucy safe.

"Lucy!" He screamed her name at the same time as Gray.

The celestial wizard looked at them, confused, before turning around and stepping away from Juvia's embrace. "What's wrong?"

The water mage rolled her eyes at this and, before either man could say anything, she was behind Lucy. The knife pressed against the celestial mage's throat and suddenly Natsu couldn't breathe.

He vowed he wouldn't fail her again.

Once everyone stared at the scene in complete shock, Juvia turned to Gray with a smirk that they had never seen.

"What's it gonna be, Gray? Who are you going to save?"

PS: there is a part 2 coming on September 7th. 

[mamabearcat]

M Rated ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) NaLu Fic Recs

Ah yes, my other list. This one is a lot longer. But it’s still no where near all of them there are lots more I could add, but it’s already crazy long. All the ones on this list were ones that I immediately thought ‘yes, I’d love to read that again!’

One day soon, I’ll do some Inuyasha Fic Rec lists. But until then, enjoy the NaLu!

One and Two Shots

Anatomy by x-benihime:  Keeping up with your classmates at the most prestigious art school in the country is hard enough without distractions. But for Natsu, the blonde he caught in the art store was more than welcome to drop into his life...literally. Modern ArtSchool!AU. OneShot. Complete.Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Hurt/Comfort - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] Gray F., Igneel - Words: 14,234   

Bite Me by edxwin-elric:  Nalu One Shot/Smut - Natsu and Lucy finally get some much-needed alone time after a particularly long job, and Natsu gets a tad bit kinky.Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] Happy - Words: 3,484

Cupcakes by Rivendel101:  NaLu Week Day 3: Ribbon. A bet, a red ribbon, and some sinfully good cupcakes on the line. Natsu blames everything on the ribbon, but he's not really complaining. Warning: Lemon/Smut. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Humor - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] - Words: 4,266

Garden and Lace by Shelbyshoe:  Levy had enough of Natsu and Lucy's argument by the end of their mission. She decided to solve her problems by trapping her partners' in a little glass bottle that housed her precious secret garden. With lots of time to kill, Natsu and Lucy must make up, but Lucy has other sensual plans of revenge. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] Levy M. - Words: 4,553  

Hanging by a Thread by AbsentAngel:  Lucy just wished that Natsu would let her take control in the bedroom every once an a while. Cana's solution? Simple - tie the bastard up. [NaLu] [Oneshot] [InexplicitLemon] Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance - Lucy H., Natsu D. - Words: 3,954

Happy by Tonoxic:  He had convinced himself a long time ago that his desires were a concern that was tertiary compared to her happiness. Rated M for lemons. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Humor - Lucy H., Natsu D. - Words: 5,388

Hot to Touch by AbsentAngel:  Every move he makes in that ring is painted foreplay. The way his muscles flex and strain, the burning in his eyes, and the power in his limbs calls to her with the subtleness of a wildfire. He is a honed blade, and she wants so very much to be the sheath that keeps his edges sharp. [NaLu][AU Oneshot][InexplicitLemon] Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance - Lucy H., Natsu D. - Words: 2,355

I’m back by Chikachoo:  Natsu welcomes Lucy home, in the way he knows best. NaLu Smut OneShot. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Drama - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] - Words: 3,226

In the Closet by nalusaurus:  AU. Lucy finds herself trapped in the closet whilst the boys are getting changed and overhears some interesting stuff. Just as she thinks she's safe from being discovered, Natsu gets thrown in with her. Nalu. One Shot. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Humor - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] - Words: 3,856

Master by LoadedEel (EndLu): In which Lucy deems END a little dirty, and like a good Maid, decides to clean her Master up... (Rated M for mature language and adult situations) A companion chapter to the story "Stolen" same universe, PWP. Smut. A gift fic for all the reviewers who helped get "Stolen" to 550 reviews. ENDLu. (one-shot) Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance - [Lucy H., E.N.D., Natsu D.] - Words: 6,020  

Nest of Gold by notjustanyfangirl:  The freedom of True Love is not always just a happy way to end a fairy tale. Sometimes, it may be the solution you never thought possible. Princess!Lucy and Dragon!Natsu AU. Nalu Lovefest Day 2: Bite  Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Fantasy - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] Aries, Loke/Leo - Words: 10,985

Rising Steam by Voltage Axe:  Little did both Natsu and Lucy know that their unexpected encounter, in an unlikely place...would result in more than a good soak in the hot springs! Oneshot. Heavy sexual content, reader's discretion is advised. Read and review! Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] - Words: 16,300

Sway With Me by Preussenlied:  In theory, doing it in Natsu's hammock sounded like a fun idea. In practice... not so much. NaLu smut. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] - Words: 1,234

Unsatisfied by Moeruhoshi:  "You're messing with an impatient woman." She grinned wildly as he purred, his hands gripping her hips and relished in the delicate feeling. He smacked her ass with an erotic force, gripping the creamy skin of her behind as he dipped his tongue into her honey center. "...Greedy dragon..." Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Supernatural - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] - Chapters: 2 - Words: 10,916

Chapter Fics

Angel of Oops by ShanaHollows:  The Fairy Tail Division of Heaven didn't know what to do with him. Natsu Dragneel was incapable of performing his duties without major disaster. Known as the "Angel of Oops", they pair him up with an unlikely mentor in an attempt to give two young ladies a chance at a normal life. It's not clear, however, who is giving who that opportunity. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Adventure - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] Gray F., Levy M. - Chapters: 68 - Words: 232,848

Banging Beats by mushi0131:  All Lucy wanted was to go to the concert with someone. Her friends were busy, so she had to look outside of her inner circle. She wasn't too picky, as long as they agreed to accompany her to the event and weren't creepy. When she found the guy she wanted to go with, she quickly realized she might have been in over her head with this one. Modern AU. Rated: Fiction M - English - Friendship/Romance - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] - Chapters: 4 - Words: 31,875

Boiling Point by Satyrykal:  Lucy and Natsu have known each other for years, facing crisis after crisis as the bond between them grew stronger. With the fall of Alvarez, life has finally begun to settle down and there's no impending doom to distract them from how much they've changed. When bottled up feelings no longer have an excuse to hide, it's only a matter of time before they reach their boiling point. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Friendship - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] - Chapters: 13 - Words: 84,949

Celestial Dragon by Silken Ink:  What if – instead of Natsu bringing Lucy into Fairy Tail, it's the other way around? This is the story of a Fairy Tail celestial mage who stumbles across a red burning key…one that summons a celestial fire dragon. Nalu pairing. It will be a slow burn romance with eventual fiery lemons. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Adventure - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] - Chapters: 56 - Words: 490,987

Chains by shelbyshoe:  Lucy is rewarded a virtual reality headset by a client. It was fun to create new places with one of her best friends. It isn't until Natsu turns up, with sexy intentions, that she finds herself way over her head. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] - Chapters: 3 - Words: 16,080

Compulsive by stopnatsu:  Lucy's been sent to Tranquil Pines, a rehabilitation facility for troubled teens to help overcome her destructive behaviors. There, she encounters others dealing with their troubles and addictions. Although,one person stands out: Natsu, a boy who never tells the truth. Will she be able to unlock the truth about his past, as well as overcome her own? *Warning: depicts self harm* Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Drama - Lucy H., Natsu D. - Chapters: 31 - Words: 87,305

Deck the Halls, Bitches by Rivendel101:  One week before Christmas Lucy realizes she has a problem. In her frustration, she may or may not have told her entire extended family she was bringing a date to Christmas. She lied. Cana's solution? A Craigslist Ad posted by one Natsu Dragneel. Too much whiskey, crazy family members, and a multitude of awkward situations only serve as obstacles. There will be casualties. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Humor - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] - Chapters: 8 - Words: 76,855

Dirty Daydreams by joydragon:  Lucy can't seem to get her mind out of the gutter- how long until her naughty secret is discovered? Where will these thoughts lead to...? MA ONLY FOR ADULTS Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Humor - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] - Chapters: 28 - Words: 68,577

Friction by seehunnybees:  A simple job meant to take her mind off things, becomes more than Lucy bargained for as she tries to make sense of her feelings for her salmon haired partner. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Hurt/Comfort - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] - Chapters: 5 - Words: 22,797

Hakobe Ice by mushi0131:  A twist on episode 221. When Natsu, Lucy and Happy go to Mt. Hakobe to find some magical ice for a client, they run into some unexpected trouble. With Happy leaving for help, Natsu and Lucy spend their time in the freezing depth of a dark cave. The temperature is dropping, but the heat is rising for these two wizards, who are forced to turn to each other for comfort. [NaLu] Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] - Chapters: 4 - Words: 23,641

Heartstrung by x-benihime:  It's been said that wherever you have/had a birthmark, is how you died in your past life. A scar that marks the fatal wound that killed you so you could be reborn again. It is also said that when/if you meet the person who killed you, you remember your past life and death and Lucy isn't a big fan of the pink-haired man she's run into. Soulmate AU. NaLu. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Hurt/Comfort - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] Gajeel R., Gray F. - Chapters: 8 - Words: 81,963

Heated Nights and Dark Shadows by Princess Cherry Blossom:  Natsu and Lucy head out on a mission to take down a brothel that forces girls into prostitution. In order to succeed, Lucy has to infiltrate the brothel as a prostitute. But when a certain dragon slayer's possessive instincts kick in and all kinds of challenges occur, will chaos ensue? (NaLu) Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Drama - Lucy H., Natsu D. - Chapters: 8 - Words: 30,390  

Her Strength by yeetedaway:  Lucy doesn't want to be protected anymore. In her desperation to be seen as capable in her friends' eyes, Lucy sets out on the path to becoming powerful. Only one problem: Natsu just always seems to get in her way. So what happens when the two of them are kidnapped and Natsu is rendered useless? Lucy's greatest chance arises. Soon, everyone will know her strength. Rated: Fiction M - English - Friendship/Romance - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] - Chapters: 71 - Words: 169,989

Ignite by AbsentAngel:  Puberty hits late, and it hits hard. Natsu quickly learns that not even he can extinguish a fire when there is fuel to feed the flames. [NaLu] Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Friendship - Lucy H., Natsu D. - Chapters: 21 - Words: 75,046

Love Thy Neighbour by snogfairy:  Natsu has taken a liking to his new next door neighbour, a dorky blonde in space leggins. His newfound fascination leads to an elaborate scheme and a strong desire to show her his dragon - if you know what he means. (You don't.) But who will truly be left speechless in the end? What surprises does she have in store for him? (NaLu Next Door Neighbour AU - with a little twist) Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Humor - Lucy H., Natsu D. - Chapters: 4 - Words: 14,124

Matrimonial Madness by eviltrinity:  He wondered if her lips would taste like the Piña Colada she had been sipping on and there was only one way to find out. Weddings were the best way to meet new people. NALU Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Humor - Lucy H., Natsu D. - Chapters: 2 - Words: 11,377

Of Piercings and Dreams by notjustanyfangirl:  A late night text from Natsu sends Lucy's mind down a oneway track to more-than-friendly places. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Humor - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] Gajeel R. - Chapters: 2 - Words: 19,534

Parallels by Mslead-Kytrin:  Lucy always knew books opened roads to new adventures, but never had she dreamed she would be falling into one herself. When she comes across a dusty old book, Lucy finds herself thrust into a journey filled with evil wizards and a tricky dragon who kept looking at her like she was lunch. She had to find a way to return home, but at the end of the day - would she want to? NALU Rated: Fiction M - English - Fantasy/Romance - Lucy H., Natsu D. - Chapters: 61 - Words: 265,197  

Paranormal by riverofmemories:   Living with a mostly friendly poltergeist and dealing with his "generous" acts of "kindness" is one thing. Figuring out just how he ended up there is a completely other matter that has Lucy's head spinning. And it certainly doesn't help that he's getting to be not nearly as friendly as time goes on. {WARNING: some of the content might not be for sensitive readers!} Rated: Fiction M - English - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] Gajeel R., Levy M. - Chapters: 31 - Words: 99,628  

Reckless by Preussenlied:  Natsu and Lucy took a job request that seemed to be simple enough, but proved to be slightly more difficult than they thought. Upon their return, Natsu expresses his anger about Lucy's reckless behavior on the job. NaLu smut. Lots of it. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Drama - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] - Chapters: 10 - Words: 32,566

Sandcastles by Mslead-Kytrin:  Lucy's job wasn't the best, but it paid the bills. Plus, she could catch up on her reading on local legends while watching her crush surf. She just never dreamed the two could possibly mix. Or what would happen when they did. NALU Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Fantasy - Lucy H., Natsu D. - Chapters: 9 - Words: 36,265

Sensory Overload by Edo-Salandria:  Natsu and Lucy have been targeted. A mysterious tattoo appears on both of them that changes their relationship in ways they could never have imagined. *Lemons (sex/smut/intercourse whatever you prefer to call it ;-), Explicit Language and Adult Situations* Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance - Lucy H., Natsu D. - Chapters: 18 - Words: 33,565  

Spread Your Wings by noseinabook145:  A series of unfortunate (or fortunate?) events leads to Lucy taking an offer to travel Fiore on a secret mission. She'll save lives, grow her skills...but will have to leave Natsu, with whom things are starting to heat up, behind. She swears to return, stronger than ever, but can she survive her adventures to face a hidden danger at home? NaLu Rated: Fiction M - English - Adventure/Romance - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] Lisanna S. - Chapters: 14 - Words: 67,432

Tempest by Mslead-Kytrin:  Captain Heartfilia lived a cursed life, her steps plagued by the shadow of a god seeking to destroy her. Thrown into a maelstrom not of her making, she is plunged into a cycle of rebirth, and it will take all her strength to survive the coming tempest. [NALU] Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Fantasy - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] [Gray F., Juvia L.] - Chapters: 52 - Words: 245,725  

The Astrologist by NavyBlueWings:  When Mira stumbles upon Lucy's secret talent, she offers her the chance of the lifetime; becoming Fairy Tail's love astrologist. To find her friends' happiness, Lucy takes the job. But can she teach these scarred dogs new tricks? Can Lucy handle her past and present crashing into each other? And will she be able to find her own happy ending? NaLu, GaLe, Gruvia, Jerza, and more! Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Humor - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] - Chapters: 17 - Words: 166,273  

The Dark Gauntlet by Arzuera:  Lucy is angry at Natsu and decides to go on a mission by herself. Only for it to go completely wrong. Will she be able to save herself or will her friends get to her in time? NaLu pairing Rated M for language and dirty stuff that will happen later. Rated: Fiction M - English - Adventure/Romance - Erza S., Gray F., Lucy H., Natsu D. - Chapters: 13 - Words: 35,754

The Game of Life by riverofmemories:  "You're new here, so I'll explain the rules once. Winners get one lash, losers die. It's quite simple. The last one standing gets no lash. We do one game a day here and you live as long as you can stand it. If you somehow miraculously try to get away, I kill you. It's quite simple really." [Not for sensitive readers!] Rated: Fiction M - English - [Natsu D., Lucy H.] [Gajeel R., Levy M.] - Chapters: 13 - Words: 29,222

The Keys of Fire by LoneStorm:  Runaway Lucy Heartfilia finally gets to join Fairy Tail, house and school for homeless kids. What she didn't expect was to be brought there by a pink-haired, pyrotechnic black belt with a blue cat, that she might start falling for him, or that this boy could help her solve the mystery behind the golden keys left by her mother that hold a deadly secret. High school ninja AU. Nalu. Rated: Fiction T - English - Adventure/Romance - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] Levy M., Team Natsu - Chapters: 51 - Words: 343,076  

The Next Morning by thyFreshPrincess:  Lucy and Natsu have made a mistake. Humans make mistakes, right? Well, when it comes to booze, a city that never sleeps and a can of feelings that should never be opened... they made one of the biggest. So when Lucy wakes up in a wedding dress, with a ring on her finger, and a tattoo on her ass, she realizes that a raging hang-over isn't the worst thing she has to deal with. Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Humor - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] Happy - Chapters: 26 - Words: 112,014

The Raven by Rivendell101:  Magnolia is no longer a safe place to live. Seven girls are already dead, murdered brutally by the Serial Killer dubbed "The Raven," and Magnolia's Police Force is no closer to finding out who did it than they were the day it started. There are no leads, no clues, and no suspects. To bad Lucy's next. AU Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Suspense - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] Igneel - Chapters: 30 - Words: 168,413  

Village in the Stars by madartiste:  Getting lost in the woods is the least of their worries when Natsu and Lucy blunder their way into a cursed village and a prophecy that leads them to understand something about themselves. Rated: Fiction M - English - Mystery/Romance - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] - Chapters: 6 - Words: 29,160  

What’s Your Fantasy? by notjustanyfangirl:  Natsu frowned at her tone, he had no idea what she would be so scared to say. Giving a short nod, Natsu turned his hand over to link their fingers together, giving her small hand a light squeeze. Lucy smiled up at him slightly, though he could still feel waves of nervousness roll off of her. Taking in a deep breath, Lucy rushed out her words. "Iwaswonderingifyouhadanyfantasies?" Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Humor - [Lucy H., Natsu D.] - Chapters: 2 - Words: 8,336 

[mdelpin]

To Kill A Dragon - Chapter 7

Previous: Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Next: Ch 8

Chapter 7: Safe

Natsu woke up in more pain than he could ever remember having experienced before, and considering all the stupid shit he regularly did, that was saying something. It felt like every cell in his body was screaming in agony.

He opened his eyes and looked around, wondering what would be in store for him that day. It took him a moment to realize he was no longer bound and that he was laying on a bed. He looked at the room around him and felt it seemed familiar like he'd been here many times before. A sense of dread flooded him as he saw an elderly woman with red eyes and pink hair glaring down at him.

"Finally decided to get up?" She growled at him, although the concern in her eyes was unmistakable.

Natsu gulped, instantly recognizing Porlyusica, the guild's healer. He searched the room, looking for help, and his eyes fell on Wendy, who was fast asleep in the bed next to his.

"Is she okay?" He asked the healer, his voice sounding scratchy to his ears. He was parched, and when Porlyusica offered him some water through a straw, he accepted gratefully.

"She's fine, worry about yourself, idiot." To his surprise, Porlyusica smiled down at the little girl, rearranging the locks of hair that had moved in her sleep away from her face. "She wore herself out trying to heal you. Welcome to the world of the living, I was getting ready to give up on you. You were out for several days."

Natsu nodded carefully. Over the years, he'd learned to say as little as possible around the healer, never knowing what would set her off on one of her rants.

'How did I get here?' He wondered. He was definitely in the guild's infirmary. He reached for his magic, but it felt very weak.

"My magic?" He asked with concern.

"It's still there, it'll just take a while to replenish."

Natsu was relieved, he couldn't imagine a life without magic. He had no idea how he'd gotten back to the guild, but he had a feeling Tiamat was not done with him and that worried him.

The healer, not one for small talk, got to work checking him over now that he was awake. The door of the infirmary opened, and the rest of the dragon slayers walked inside.

Natsu looked at them but quickly looked away, not ready to face anyone yet. He certainly was in no mood to be mocked by the other slayers for his weakness.

They all began talking at once.

"It's about freaking time, Salamander. Hell of a time for a nap."

"What's our plan? How are we going to take this bitch down."

"I'm impressed, you really are a tough bastard, for someone so pathetic."

"It's good to have you back. How are you feeling?"

Natsu looked at them in surprise. They weren't mocking him? They actually sounded kind of happy to see him, and they looked worried. That was...unexpected. He thought of the other dragon slayers as his family, but he hadn't expected them to act the same way towards him.

"It hurts like hell, but I think I'll be okay." He told them, the beginnings of a smile flashing across his face as he began to accept that he was back home.

"I heard she took your magic, she took mine too." Natsu stared at Sting in surprise, but before he had a chance to ask what had happened to him Sting blurted out, "So I just have to know who did you fuck? Was it Lucy? She's so hot! I got Minerva."

Natsu's face flushed in embarrassment as he realized that they all knew what was needed for Tiamat to take his magic. If they knew, that meant others did as well.

Great, Cana probably already had a betting pool going downstairs, and he was a horrible liar. His secret would be out before the end of the day, and then Gray would find out it had been him. He couldn't have that happen.

Rogue slapped the back of Sting's head. "Idiot! Did you have to bring that up right away?"

Gajeel snickered knowing full well who would have been involved in that particular scenario. Natsu glared at him, daring him to say something.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Natsu said as he painfully repositioned himself on the bed, facing away from them and peering over at Wendy. The dragon slayers commotion had woken her up, and although she looked at him with concern, her smile felt like a ray of sunshine. His movement earned him another glare from Porlyusica.

Natsu couldn't help but think of the last words that fake Gray had said to him as he was beating him.

I could never love someone like you. You disgust me.

He tried to remind himself that it hadn't been real, but he couldn't stop the pain in his heart at the venom behind those words. Even though he knew it wasn't the real Gray saying them, it may as well have been.

Natsu had resigned himself a long time ago to the reality that Gray didn't harbor any romantic feelings towards him. Honestly, most of the time, that was fine with him. Natsu accepted it and appreciated the friendship they did have.

Being able to stand with Gray in battle as an equal and to protect him from harm was usually enough to quiet his draconic impulses. Knowing that Gray was ready to do the same for him, even if only platonically, made him feel loved. It wasn't what Natsu would prefer, but he'd learned long ago to take what he could get.

But now, after mating with the fake one, he had images and feelings that he couldn't easily forget or ignore and it hurt.

To make matters worse, someone other than his destined mate had laid a claim on him, and he didn't know if he would be able to get out of it.

He was heartbroken about that. He didn't want to be mated to a dragon goddess that hated his guts. Nor did he want to think about that five-headed avatar he'd be forced to mate with in the future or about any of the other things she might do to torture him. He felt an ache for Gray that was stronger than any he'd ever felt before, and with a start, he realized that had been her plan all along. Her cruelty shocked him.

Igneel had never really talked to him about mates before he disappeared, but maybe these guys knew something that could be helpful. Otherwise, his only hope was to somehow defeat her, and he had no idea how to go about beating a god. He'd had enough trouble going up against a God Slayer on Tenrou.

"What do you know about mates?" Natsu asked them, trying to keep himself from revealing the desperation he was feeling, "Tiamat had some...uhm... Igneel issues. She claimed me as her mate to get back at him."

The room quieted down as all the dragon slayers looked at him in horror.

"What do you mean she claimed you as her mate? What the hell happened?" Gajeel asked, his eyes burning with an intensity that surprised Natsu.

"Do you remember Zirconis telling us about the Dragon War?"

Gajeel nodded.

"Well apparently, Tiamat was in love with Igneel, but he was on the side of humans coexisting with dragons, while she most definitely wasn't. When she tried to get him to be her mate, he rejected her and then went on to teach humans dragon slaying magic and recruited others to do the same."

The dragon slayers remained quiet for once, listening intently to Natsu's words.

"As more dragons died, her love turned to hate, and she blamed him for all their deaths, but she was banished before she could punish him. When she realized I was connected to him..."

Natsu refused to meet any of their eyes, even though he could feel the weight of their gazes on him. "Let's just say she's really good at holding grudges."

"She tricked me into taking some potion she said was created by humans to help keep dragons from dying out. It was supposed to induce my first heat and then she claimed me as her mate in revenge. I couldn't fight her off." Natsu turned his attention to his arms, moving them slowly and ignoring the pangs of pain that shot up them, grateful to no longer be immobilized.

"Hold on, Zirconis said it was Acnologia that killed all the dragons," Gajeel reminded him, "Is that what she's trying to do, kill Acnologia?"

"She didn't talk about her plans at all," Natsu declared with frustration, "All she was interested in was finding out who I was into so she could take my magic."

"Did she bite you?" Sting asked urgently.

"No. Tiamat didn't do it herself, she shapeshifted into someone else, but they didn't bite me either. She also said something about me being a submissive type. What does that mean?"

"I've never heard of it. If Tiamat didn't bite you, I don't think you're really mates. Besides you're also supposed to bite her back. At least that's what Weisslogia told me."

"She was probably just messing with you, she tortured you for days. She probably knew she could scare you into believing anything she wanted. She was after your magic after all," Rogue pointed out.

"I was never scared. Hungry, confused and in pain but not scared," Natsu said with a bravado he didn't really feel.

Laxus snorted, "You keep telling yourself that, Natsu. I was there when you saw Fullbuster. You were definitely scared of him. He looked like a kicked puppy when you were begging us to keep him from hurting you."

Natsu narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about? I don't remember that."

"It was when you first woke up, at Lamia. He was sitting by your bed, holding your hand like the princess he is, and then you woke up and freaked out on him."

Gray was holding his hand? It made Natsu feel warm inside to know he cared that much.

Stop it! He was just worried about you because you're friends.

This was going to be a problem. Gray knew that someone looking like him had hurt him. That wasn't good. Natsu had never wanted Gray to find out he'd had any part in his torture.

Knowing that idiot, he was going to go on a guilt spree. He was probably already trying to figure out how to use Iced Shell on Tiamat. There was no way around it, he was going to have to talk to him. Which was precisely what he'd been trying to avoid.

Dammit!

Natsu could see Gajeel watching him, trying to analyze his reaction for future teasing. He ignored him, wondering what else might have happened at Lamia Scale that he didn't remember.

"Hey! In my defense, the last thing I remember is him beating the crap out of me before I passed out," He protested, even as he tried to keep his mind from returning to that moment, and those words that had cut through him deeper than Erza's knives.

"Ice Block finally beat you?" Gajeel teased.

"He didn't beat me, I was chained and tied up in magic sealing cuffs, and it wasn't even really him. It does not count!" Natsu huffed.

He was working himself up to challenging one of them to a fight, which was ridiculous since he couldn't even stand, when he looked around and saw the other dragon slayers snickering at him. They were only baiting him to try to get him back to his usual self. He calmed himself down and gave them all a dirty look.

"If you keep riling him up I'm going to kick all of you out of this room. He needs rest, not a brawl," Porlyusica growled at them.

She'd been listening to them talk, and she was a little concerned as to why the dragon goddess had induced Natsu's heat. It didn't seem necessary for what she was trying to do. What had the idiot said? She tried to remember his exact words, and then she blanched.

Could that woman really be that cruel? She looked over at Natsu's beaten body and got her answer. She was going to have to test him to find out for sure.

"How did I get here?" Natsu finally asked, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Vastia found you in a magic sealing stone inside of a burning building in Margaret Town, and he took you to Lamia Scale. Doranbolt teleported you here since you were in no shape to be transported normally. They also found a bunch of books and stuff on dragons and rituals in the building, we think it was the headquarters for that cult. They're in full research mode downstairs," Laxus informed him.

"We are your loyal dragon slayer guard, at your service," Sting grinned before attempting to bow formally. "Your team has been dying to see you, but Makarov won't let them near you 'cause he thinks they'll traumatize you. Especially after what happened when you saw Gray."

"Are they okay?" Natsu asked worriedly. He didn't like them feeling bad on his account. None of this was their fault.

"Makarov gives them daily reports on your condition. I don't know how much longer Erza's going to tolerate being sent away though, especially now that you're awake," Gajeel reported.

An image of Erza gleefully covering herself in his blood rose unbidden to his mind, and he felt sick to his stomach. Maybe Makarov was on to something. He didn't think he was ready to see Erza yet. His eyes started feeling heavier, and he knew he wouldn't be able to stay awake for much longer.

Wendy looked at him nervously. "Do you want to talk about it, Natsu-san? We already know they used Erza, Lucy, and Gray to torture you."

"H-h-how?"

"Your injuries. It was pretty obvious."

"Oh, right."

Porlyusica finally noticed Natsu's tiredness and sent them away. "Someone go update Makarov. I only want to see one of you in here, besides Wendy, while he sleeps. Are we clear?"

Natsu was already fast asleep by the time she'd finished talking. She drew some of his blood for the test she would need to perform to confirm her suspicions. She really hoped she was wrong, this boy had already been through enough.

The dragon slayers looked at each other, and Gajeel sat down in a chair while the other dragon slayers left the infirmary grudgingly.

xxx

Makarov was sitting at a table in one of the guild's libraries surrounded by ancient texts. Other members of Fairy Tail were busy with the books as well. Levy, Freed, and Lucy were each immersed in a tome, occasionally stopping to take notes.

Laxus had brought the books back with him from Lamia Scale the day Natsu had been returned to Fairy Tail, and they had been working on them ever since. So far, they'd found a lot of exciting things about dragons but not much to help their current predicament.

Laxus entered the library and headed towards his grandfather. "Natsu woke up briefly."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the Lightning Dragon Slayer with relief. It had been several days since Natsu had woken up at Lamia Scale and they'd been worried when it hadn't happened again.

"How is he? Can we see him?" Lucy asked loudly. She hadn't been allowed to see her friend since she'd returned from the Magic Library, and the little information she'd gotten from Happy broke her heart. How could someone do that?

"He's exhausted, which is not surprising, but he talked for a little while. Gajeel is with him now," Laxus hedged. He was trying to decide how much he wanted to tell them about what Natsu had said.

Gray, Erza, and Lyon entered the library quickly, having heard Lucy in the quiet guild hall.

"Did he say anything about what Tiamat told Lyon?" Makarov asked immediately. As much as he'd thought about it, he was no closer to coming up with an answer that made any sense. That had been making him very nervous. What could the boy have that belonged to the goddess? She'd already taken his magic.

"Maybe? I'm not sure. He said that Tiamat had claimed him as her mate to punish Igneel," Laxus explained, " Maybe she was just referring to Natsu himself."

Makarov looked unconvinced. "Tell him I will be back for him and for what is mine. That's what she said. It sounds to me like there's something else."

"Claimed him as her mate?" Gray asked suddenly, "What does that mean? How did she even know about Igneel?"

Laxus looked at Gray and said, "Honestly, you're better off asking a First Gen, I'm not entirely sure about any of that stuff. He said Tiamat had tried to make Igneel her mate, but he refused her. Then they were on opposite sides of the Dragon War, and she blamed him for the dragons dying."

He thought about Natsu's words for a minute and added, "I think she tortured him so badly because she couldn't get to Igneel anymore. He did say something interesting, though. Apparently, she was banished from Earthland during the Dragon War."

Makarov considered this new information. "We'll need to research how it was done. At least now we know it's possible. I suppose that's more than we knew before."

Porlyusica entered the library looking angrier than anyone had ever seen her before. She headed straight for Makarov and waved a vial violently in his face. "This, this is what she's after!"

She immediately launched into an angry rant that quickly devolved into curse words, which no one had ever heard her use before. She looked and sounded terrifying.

They all looked at her in confusion and some apprehension. The dragon goddess was after a vial of greenish goo? All of them wanted to ask what it was, but only Lyon didn't know enough to stay quiet until she was ready. Lamia Scale's healer was a very different type of lady.

"She's after a vial of greenish goo?" Lyon asked Porlyusica stupidly, stopping her mid-rant.

Porlyusica glared at him, wishing she had brought her broom with her. "Are you stupid? He's pregnant! She's after the baby."

A/N: So a brief note, I’m not a huge fan of mpregs so rest assured this won’t be a typical one if there is such a thing. 

[billreeseblog]

Anime I Am Enjoying - Upcoming NEET Design Schedule

Anime I am Enjoying

The summer 2019 season has some great series. From fire starters to family curses this anime season has many great stories. Here are a few of the anime I am watching:

Fire Force

Image from Wikipedia

They aren’t your average firemen fighting your average fire. In the Fire Force universe some building fires are caused by fire demons, and the best people to fight them is the Fire Force made up of specialty firefighter, Nuns (the religious kind), and pyrokineticist members who fight these demons. Fire Force follows Shinra Kusakabe and the other members of Special Fire Force Company 8 as they fight the demons and investigate the other Special Fire Force divisions for their illegal actions. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

At an unspecified point in the future, world sea levels have risen and the world is in a shambles. The rising sea levels have been carving up continents and causing the disappearance of many countries. Japan is now much smaller with people gathered within the small Tokyo Empire where the Holy Sol Temple and Haijma Industries have developed the Amaterasu, perpetual thermal energy plant. In the year 198 of the Solar Era in Tokyo, special fire brigades called the Fire Force fight increasing incidents of spontaneous human combustion where humans beings are turned into living infernos called "Infernals" (焰ビト Homura Bito). While the Infernals are first generation cases of spontaneous human combustion, later generations possess pyrokinesis while retaining human form. The Fire Force was formed by combining people with these powers from the Holy Sol Temple, The Tokyo Armed Forces and the Fire Defense Agency, and is composed by eight independent companies.

Shinra Kusakabe is a third generation pyrokinetic youth who gained the nickname "Devil's Footprints" for his ability to ignite his feet at will. He joins the Special Fire Force Company 8, which features other flames users who have the task of both work to extinguish any Infernals they encounter and investigate companies 1 through 7. As a faction that is creating Infernals appears, Shinra begins to find out the cause of a mysterious fire that killed his family 12 years ago. -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Force

Fairy Tail: The Final Series

Image from Wikipedia

Fairy Tail follows the adventures of Lucy Heartfilia, Natsu Dragniel, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, Wendy Marvell, Happy and Carla, the rest of the Fairy Tail guild, and their friends as they fight for their lives, home, country, and their survival against the Alvarez empire, and their evil emperor Zeref. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

The world of Earth-land is home to numerous guilds where wizards[4] apply their magic for paid job requests. Natsu Dragneel, a dragon slayer wizard from the Fairy Tail guild, explores the Kingdom of Fiore in search of his missing adoptive father, the dragon Igneel. During his journey, he befriends a young celestial wizard named Lucy Heartfilia and invites her to join Fairy Tail. Lucy forms a team with Natsu and his cat-like Exceed partner, Happy, which is joined by other guild members: Gray Fullbuster, an ice wizard; Erza Scarlet, a magical knight; and Wendy Marvell and Carla, another dragon slayer and Exceed duo. The team embark on numerous missions together, which include subduing criminals, illegal dark guilds, and ancient Etherious demons created by Zeref, an immortal dark wizard.

After several adventures, Natsu and his companions find Zeref living in isolation on Fairy Tail's sacred ground of Sirius Island.[8] A battle over Zeref ensues between Fairy Tail and the dark guild Grimoire Heart, which attracts the attention of the evil black dragon Acnologia. The Fairy Tail wizards survive Acnologia's assault when the spirit of their guild's founder and Zeref's estranged lover, Mavis Vermillion, casts the defensive Fairy Sphere spell that places them into seven years of suspended animation. After later participating in the Grand Magic Games tournament, Fairy Tail wages war against Tartaros, a dark guild of Etherious that aim to unseal a book believed to contain E.N.D., Zeref's ultimate demon. When Acnologia returns to annihilate both guilds, Igneel – revealed to have sealed himself within Natsu – emerges to battle Acnologia. However, Acnologia kills Igneel in front of a helpless Natsu, who departs on a training journey to avenge Igneel.

One year later, Natsu returns to discover that Fairy Tail's master, Makarov Dreyar, has been futilely trying to postpone an invasion by the Alvarez Empire, which Zeref governs. Zeref and his forces assault Fiore, intending to acquire Mavis' body preserved beneath Fairy Tail's guildhall, which houses a wellspring of infinite magic power called Fairy Heart. While battling Zeref, Natsu is informed of his own identity as both Zeref's younger brother and the true incarnation of E.N.D., whom Zeref resurrected as a demon with the intention of being killed by him. When Natsu fails to do so, Zeref absorbs Fairy Heart from Mavis in a bid to rewrite the present timeline with one where he might prevent the atrocities he and Acnologia have caused. After Natsu defeats Zeref to stop the drastic changes to history his actions would create, Mavis lifts her and Zeref's shared curse of immortality by reciprocating his love, which kills them both.

Meanwhile, Fairy Tail and their allies detain Acnologia within a space-time rift created by the use of Eclipse, Zeref's time travel gate. However, Acnologia escapes while his disembodied spirit traps all of the present dragon slayers within the rift to maintain his godlike power. Lucy and the other wizards across the continent immobilize Acnologia's body within Fairy Sphere, while Natsu accumulates the other dragon slayers' magic and destroys Acnologia's spirit, killing him and freeing the dragon slayers from captivity. The following year, Natsu and his team depart on a century-old guild mission,[9] continuing their adventures together. -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_Tail

Fruits Basket (Season 1)

Image from Wikipedia

Fruits Basket follows Tohru Honda, an orphaned highschool student, as she navigates her life living in the house of the famous author Shigure Soma and her housemates Yuki and Kyo Soma, as she learns of the Soma family curse. As the story continues she manages to help every member of the Soma family get over their social problems, anxieties, and the family’s internal strife defeating the Soma family curse. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia: 

When high school student Tohru Honda's mother dies in a car crash, Tohru decides to live with her grandfather. Renovations on the house and unsupportive and unkind family members cause her to move out of her grandfather's house temporarily and, since she has nowhere else to go, Tohru begins living in a tent and supporting herself. That is, until she finds a home in the least likely of places, inhabited by her popular classmate Yuki Soma and his cousin Shigure. The first day Tohru moves into the Soma house, an orange haired teenager crashes through the roof of her new bedroom and starts attacking Yuki. This newcomer is Kyo, Yuki and Shigure's aggressively angry cousin. Tohru ties to stop the fight by holding him, causing him to transform into an orange cat in front of her.

The Somas live with a curse. Twelve members of the family (not including Kyo, who is the cat) are possessed by spirits of the Chinese zodiac and turn into their zodiac animal when they are weak, under stress, embarrassed, or when hugged by someone of the opposite sex.

When Tohru discovers the Somas' secret, she promises not to tell and is allowed to keep living with them. Although the Somas' curse is deeper and darker than Tohru realized, her presence and her acceptance of them soon becomes a large, positive influence on those possessed by the zodiac. She sets out to break the curse and, on the way, meets and discovers the Soma's vengeful zodiac spirits. Each has a different personality, just like the animals in the Chinese zodiac. One by one, Tohru's existence changes the Soma clan's lives forever. -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruits_Basket

Schedule Changes

In the first 2 weeks of September, NEET Designs will be closing so that I can facilitate systems upgrades and backups to files. That means no artwork for the first week of September. I will still try to post articles as usual. This scheduled closing may change as we are waiting on parts, and with my busiest season coming up everything is in flux.

[imthekomodo]

i just saw @phoenix-before-the-flame‘s fairytail ethnicity headcanons post and it made me want to do my own cause I’ve definitely got some ideas (mine I think are more ethnicity au type things) PLEASE CORRECT ME IF ANY OF MY IDEAS ARE IGNORANT, INCORRECT, OR OFFENSIVE! I am attempting to do thorough research on these ideas but I am ignorant to the issues faced by poc and in countries other than America. I would love insight on anything I have gotten wrong.

1. Egyptian Natsu. Like, tan skin, green eyes, pink hair, oh my. I imagine him living in Cairo and working as a tour guide of the pyramids and sneaking in to the work sites to climb them at night and Lucy is an American journalist/tourist doing a story on mysterious disturbances near the pyramids and idk where it goes from there but there’s a spiderman kiss while Natsu hangs off a pyramid

2. Set during British Regime in the 1890s. Indian Gray, Juvia, and Lyon. Juvia is dalit (instead of making it rain all the time, she makes the rains go away during monsoon season and ends up causing drought) and sells her dolls in a stand right outside a small village, but finds herself falling in love with gray, a farmer in her village. His brother, Lyon, training to be a doctor, finds himself falling in love with Juvia, an untouchable, and struggles with the implications of the feelings. Gray has always been nice to Juvia, appalled by the way she is treated by their fellow villagers, and stops by the stall every other day to bring her a basket of food. One day she grabs onto him as he hands her the basket and whispers “I love you” little do they know Lyon was walking up behind Gray, prepared to propose to Juvia. 

3. Lucy is Jewish in Berlin in 1940. Her father is a very successful banker. Something similar to the night of broken glass happens and they decide to flee the next morning, but the german officers recognize her father on their way out of the city and detain him, but are unaware of his religion. Lucy is free to go, as long as she remains within the city. She likes to wander around the ruins of her old synagogue at night. There’s a British bombing one night when she’s exploring the site and a British ship crashes. Lucy rushes to save the pilot (Natsu, who definitely has a strong british accent) and they escape Berlin together

4. Lucy, Princess of Sweden. Natsu, Kingsman. 

5. Erza, but Mulan. Natsu is Mushu. Jellal is Li Shang. Gray, Lucy, and Wendy are Yao, Ling, and Chien Po. Shan Yu is Azuma. Ahhhhhh

6. Natsu is Mexican, he’s taken in by Igneel (who is also Mexican) after illegally crossing the border into the US. 

7. Cana is absolutely Brazilian that fits her so well. Makes me think maybe she’s mixed. Gildarts was a Scottish businessman. 

8. The Strauss’ are Japanese Ghanaian. They live in Accra and run a small graphic design company together. Mira has a habit of hiring people without consulting Lisanna and Elfman and she ends up hiring Lucy, who is Ghanian, and Natsu, who is a Sudanese refugee. 

I’m sure I have more swirling around in my head but i cant articulate them so thats all for now lol