midnightstar | (no subject)

Spending day after day in the cabin Natsu had built near the Guild, going on missions and living, being WITH Natsu was plain and simple, pure. Heaven. Lucy could genuinely not think of any time she was as happy as she was with him. It still amused her to think of the times she was too flustered to acknowledge her feelings for him, until things came to a head.

And then the kids came along during that mission - Nev and Justine, along with their 'mom' Regine. If Natsu becoming an integral part of Lucy's life was like completing her, then the kids and Regine were the added frosting on a perfected cake. Yeah that metaphor was all over the place. GRANTED it was a little difficult to get time alone with Nev and Justine almost demanding their attention a good amount of the time, but she didn't mind, and didn't think Natsu did either. They had their evenings together, and their little hiding spots to sneak away to, sometimes just for fun.

Meanwhile the first rays of light were beginning to filter in through the window-shades of their room, with Lucy snuggled up against Natsu's side, an arm wrapped around him with a faint smile on her lips. Not quite awake yet, but in that in-between point of just about to rouse. The birds had barely even begun to chirp when the distant BAM! of a door swinging open, followed by barely hushed giggling voices and scampering feet could be heard by Dragonslayer senses with ease, obviously heading towards said cabin.

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There was a sudden flicker in his expression as the fairy managed to conjure up a solution. Send them to where the kids went. Back home. Away from the Hands... But this wasn't just about him and Lucy as such he didn't relent just yet.

"All three of us."

Lucy.. didn't even expect the fairy to make that suggestion. HOw long had it been since they've been home? How many years?

But she wouldn't want to leave Regine, especially with the kids missing now, and she was glad Natsu thought of her - no, she expected it. Silently, she nodded to Natsu's stipulation, reaching over to clutch Regine's hand.

The fairy bobbed in the air a moment, silent for a while, "Fine, all three of you. But you gotta get rid of all this magic stuff, or it'll interfere with my magic. Else I can't be certain I'll send you to the right place."

Edited (oops formating n.n) Date: 2017-11-21 12:32 am (UTC)

Natsu narrowed his eyes and receeded his flames. "Don't even think of lying or trying to trick us. I can hear everything about you. The way you breath, how quick your heart is beating. The moment I hear anything that gives me reason to think you're going to screw us over, you're ash."

Y-yeah the fairy was kind of nervous now. Her little heart was beating a mile a minute. "Y-yeah yeah." She hovered in a circle, "Move closer, you lot, I can't transport an entire room."

Lucy frowned, but she moved over towards Natsu, pulling Regine with her. "I don't have a good feeling about this," she murmured to Natsu. Though they didn't have a lot of options here.

"Just hold on to me." Natsu said, pulling Lucy close against his side and with Regina flanking Lucy's as well. All the while he did not take his focus off of the fairy for even a moment to the point that it would feel as if it was being stared down by a genuine dragon already waiting to pounce on her at the first reason she would give it to do so.

With a firm nod, Lucy wrapped her arm around him, and Regine holding tight to Lucy's hand, looking like she aged fourty years.

The fairy flitted back and forth, a little annoyed and a LOT terrified. She didn't like looking like she was about to be burned into nothingness. "Okay here we go..!"

The fairy quickly zipped around the trio in circles. Again the light in the room started to get bright - blindingly bright and there was a -pulling- sensation that made Lucy instinctively hold tighter onto Regine and Natsu both. It almost felt like something was trying to pull them apart- the sensation of movement followed, a dizzying vertigo that was rather disorienting. And then all sensation is suddenly gone - Lucy is FAIRLY certain she's still holding onto Natsu and Regine, but she can't FEEL them. Still she doesn't let go.

After what seemed like far too long, that sensation of movement suddenly stops and the ground can be felt beneath your feet once again.

It's still too bright to see, but Apricot sounds further away - probably distanced herself for her own safety. "We're heeeeere!"

Natsu's hold on Lucy is iron clad to the point that he doesn't need his senses to maintain it. He doesn't flinch or weaken his hold not even as it feels like the world around them falls away. This persists for what feel like a lifetime and then suddenly, his feet are on solid ground once again! Again he can feel Lucy's arm around his own. He knows its hers since he'd felt it plenty.

The fairy was wise to put some distance though it wouldn't save it if it had backstabbed them in the end.

So he slowly opened his eyes to see what and where they had been taken to.

You don't need your eyes to know. This isn't Magnolia.

At least... it's no Magnolia you'd be familiar with.

The skies are red, blood-blood red with dark black clouds like - not normal clouds, but the thick, thick clouds that blot out the sky from a fierce fire. There's so much of it is almost chokes the senses. The ground is uneven and broken, the streets are completely empty - and it feels like they've been empty for a long, long, LONG time. At one point there's even a deep chasm in the center of the street. The buildings, the homes and the businesses are empty, glass shattered, doors collapsed inwards - even in some cases it looks like the buildings themselves were -stepped- on. Glancing further downward towards the residential area shows even more homes crushed and collapsed, little more than heaps of wood, stone, glass and blood.

Or maybe Gildarts paid a surprise visit.

"Wow, What a dump." Apricot remarked. "Welp, I did what I said I'd do. See ya!" And she quickly starts to zip away.

Regine looked around, stunned, "This isn't.. how you described your home to me before..." Another glance around revealed.. nope, no children here. She turned towards the tiny ball of light, "Wait a second! Where are the kids!"

Apricot paused, turning back to Regine. "Eh, I dunno, around here somewhere. I'm not their babysitter. See ya!" And this time she did book it, trying to get as far away from the dragonslayer as possible.

Lucy, once she had her senses back, was struck speechless when she glanced around. This couldn't be Magnolia. Except there was so much that was -familiar- - though destroyed or abandoned, the buildings were in the same places they should have been. But it felt -WRONG- at the same time. "This.. this isnt' right, this isn't Magnolia... what happened...?"

Edited Date: 2017-11-21 02:35 am (UTC)

"What the hell happened....This can't be-" Natsu started before the dragon's ears picked up the traitor trying to make her escape.

"Not so fast!" Natsu roared after the fairy and shot his hand out immediately a fist of flame shooting out before opening into a energy hand made entirely of flames. If something didn't get in the way, it would cage the fleeing fairy once more.

Traitor? How rude! The fairy had also hoped she'd be able to get far enough from the dragonslayer to avoid those flames - ZOooo-ACK! The flame cage closes around her and she actually bumps into one of the fiery bars from flying so fast, singing herself again. "Ow owoww! Ohhh! What NOW? You better not blame me for your home looking like crap, because I had nothing to do with that! (probably) "

Regine on the other hand, was restless, stepping a short distance away and calling the names of both kids, to no avail. Lucy shook her head, "There's just no one around - this can't be our home.. What happen-" Oh god if Magnolia looked like THIS what about Fairy Tail?

Natsu effortlessly pulled the fairy back and trapped her in the flame cage bringing it to hover in front of his eyes. Moment when Natsu's lips parted to show a set of very sharp fangs and at that point the atmosphere around him was no less than that of a dragon having caught a thief in his cave of treasures.

"Probably? I thought I told you my senses are sharper than anyone you've ever met. So how about you stop muttering to yourself and start coming up with excuses!"

"(bunch of ungrateful humans, I do them a favor and they're not satisfied so its somehow my fault see if i do something nice for someone again s-----------)" Oh hi. RIGHT. Senses. Dumb ol dragonslayin' hear everything senses.

Lucy moved over to Natsu's side, keeping a close eye on Regina who was - at this point - nearly on the verge of tears. The fairy was agitated on the other hand, hovering in small tight circles, "Well.. well I SAID I'd send you to the same place as those little humans and I *DID*. Maybe your home was already a trashheap and you're just harassing an innocent fairy! Typical mortals."

"Magnolia was NOTHING like this..! This place looks like... like it's been destroyed by some natural disaster or something..!" Lucy protested. Jeez, the first time they meet an honest to god fairy and it turns out to be an ass. That figures.

"This is not our home. It doesn't even look like the same world. THe sky was not red the last time we were home for one and sure as hell wasn't blown up like this!" Natsu snarled, no longer feeling any hint of fondness for the creatures that had inspired his guild's name.

"If something's happened to those two kids, I am going to make it so you will never fly again. Lock you up in a jar and throw you down the deepest well."

Not being able to fly away is TERRIFYING, okay. Being trapped in a jar at the bottom of a well - dear GOD. The fairy goes dead silent at the threat - or maybe it's because of the thunderous roar from the sky, flames ripping across it from the south, followed by a large shadow passing over head. A dragon. It took no notice of anyone on the ground, but kept going, heading north. Depending on how well Natsu was focusing at this distraction, he would be able to smell humans -- a disturbingly small number of them though, also to the north. The fairy, obviously, was just going to biiiiiiiide its time to escape. SHE WANTS TO LIIIIIIVE. But not by cooperating.

Natsu's eyes shot up to the skies immeidately when he heard that roar. A familiar roar but not the same as the one of his final foe. But there was no denying it. This was truly a dragon. Natsu watched it fly by and head towards the few human scents trying to move away form it. It was too fast. Natsu gritted his teeth and turned to Lucy.

"Hey Lucy. Call capricorn out and have him bottle up this pest. Then have him take her to the celestial spirit realm. She's a fairy. She should handle it just fine. Maybe" Natsu was going to pay her back in full for bringing them here. However right now he had to get to those people

Lucy nodded, a frown marring her face as she drew Capricorn's key from the ring. She hasn't called on her spirits that much recently, partly because they had had so much money saved up back in that other world and partly because she was using her own abilities more often. It gave them more free time to relax.

Once Capricorn had manifested, he unscrewed the cap of the jar, handing it to Lucy, who in turn passed it to Regine. She would probably like bottling it up much more. So Regine glowered at the fairy and stepped forward.

The fairy on the other hand, did not like this idea one little bit, actually trying to edge back in the cage as much as possible. "Hey hey hold on! You know I was just foolin' around right? Can't we talk about this!? I'll help I swear - I'm totally worried about little .. uh. Nevelle and Jerrica..! Yeah! Come on g-" Clink! Regine sealed the little fairy inside the bottle, glaring down at it.

"Awful creature.." She tightened her grip, and suddenly started shaking the hell out of it, "Their names are Justine and Nev!" Little clinking rattling from the jar as Apricot bounced off of the walls of her prison - until Lucy quickly stepped forward and stopped the other woman from potentially giving the fairy brain damage.

"It's okay Regine..we're going to find them. I promise." She passed the jar back to Capricorn. "Keep an eye on her. And if you can, see if you can get some information out of her." Lucy told the spirit. He nodded, and promptly vanished again with it - unless Natsu had additional instructions.

Lucy glanced over at Natsu though, tilting her head. "North?" She saw which way that dragon was heading too.

Natsu acted as if he didn't hear a single word from the fairy and just let the two ladies handle it while his focus shifted completely on the dragon and it's likely prey.

After the spirit left, Natsu turned his head to the side to look at Lucy and nod.

"Yeah. There's people in that direction too. You need to keep Regine safe. I'll go take care of the dragon and then we can get some answers from the people."

Now she was a little torn here - she wanted to help him fight, but Regine DID need looking after, the poor woman was not in a good place, mentally. And.. Natsu was /frighteningly/ strong at this point, one dragon surely was no match for him. Still.. she still looked like she was going to argue with him on the matter, and instead settled on looking thoroughly displeased. "Fine." She reeeeeeeally didn't want to let him out of her sight, but she knew he'd be fine - and if that dragon actually was tough, he'd have to go all out, in which case that was a lot of property destruction ahead of them.

She sighed softly, "I mean.. all right. I don't like it, though." No be selfish Lucy. She reached over to snagged Regine's hand, pulling the other woman close in order to slip an arm around her shoulders, soothing the distraught woman. "We'll go and head towards the guild...." she inwardly grimaced at her next words. "Or...where the guild would be." In case its gotten crushed like the rest of the buildings. "It's the most likely place Nev and Justine would go." after hearing so much about it from Lucy and Natsu, and the guild being their home for the past year or so in Fayren.

Natsu had been training to take on none other than Acnologia. A random nameless dragon didn't stand a ghost of a chance really. But Natsu could see Lucy was very torn indeed. So he howed her an apologetic smile before walking up to her and giving her a peck on the cheek before whispering in her ear.

"I promise I'll be back before you know it." With that he stepped back and quickly went fire lightning mode before he disappeared with a flash turning into a streak of light and fire that was heading straight for the dragon, starting its path on the ground for now.

He'd better. That's the only glance Lucy gives him as she watches him dash off at a ludicrous speed only he could achieve, before turning and heading off at a slower pace with Regine, towards where she hoped the Guild was still standing.

Meanwhile, Natsu, you're getting all sorts of familiar scents and feelings zooming through even at the speed of light. Places you've been and seen, though though they obviously don't look anything like you remember them. But as you get closer, there's one scent that really begins to stand out. Familiar and not at the same time - of course there's also the scent of dragon getting strong, so that scent may be getting a little mixed up in that too.

Thanks to sensitive dragonslayer hearing, you can also hear the faintly mumbled words of the people who were apparently in hiding from the dragon. There's a mix of fear and anger in the voices, but the loudest is a female, who sounds both furious and frustrated, occasionally shifting to pleading.

When you reach the spot the dragon is.. it's big. Not as big as Igneel was, but it's also much younger than Igneel was, so it wasn't fully grown. The dragon looked like it'd been in a number of battles before too - scales red and dull, its wings half furled - and it does have a few scars here and there. It hadn't started an attack yet, but it was still in the clearing near the buildings, an angry growl in an undercurrent to its breathing as it surveyed the area restlessly, flames starting to trickle out of its mouth.

The closer Natsu got, the more puzzled he got over the state of the Town. But that was not all. The scents were also confusing him further. Some familiar but also different in a sense.

But the dragon was his priority and within a few heartbeats he landed behind the creature eyeing it sharply from behind not doing anything to draw its attention yet.

Only to open his mouth and call out.

"Who the hell are you anyway, scale face?"

The dragon swivels his head at both the arrival and the challenge, golden eyes narrowing at the small Dragonslayer. Almost easy to mess is the scar along the right side of its head as if something sliced it there too and when it GLARES down at you Natsu, there's that split second where that feeling of familiarity intensifies.

... and then there's a massive amount of fire exhaled in your direction - though it looks like it means to just block off the tiny human anyway.(pff as if that's a worry for you!) But there's no response, verbal or otherwise, beyond that growl. The voices in the building do cut off with a number of screams from the people inside though, and then pounding footsteps of one person, who may be rushing to see what was going on.

"Hey you had business with me not them!" Natsu bellowed before he started sucking in air and with it absorbing the flames he'd just laid at the entrance. Dragon Fire was a rare treat indeed yet he also felt how filling the magic was as his own powers soared to their peak the more he sucked up.

Oh very filling, yes! And ... yet the taste was ... ODD. Proobably not something you'd want to inhale again, though it's more of an acquired taste kind of thing. And fortunately does not conflict with your own powers. The red dragon snarls down at Natsu, ,, tongue flicking out into the air briefly before his tail whips out - smacking several trees down and meaning to swat Natsu aside if he was silly enough to stay put.

As if he was never there, Natsu disappears from sight. But he wasn't flattened or thrown aside by the tail. Instead the Dragon will feel its tail gripped with startling strength as one word slipped out of Natsu's mouth.

"Gotcha~"