58Hi, welcome back. Once again, it appears that it took me longer than I had expected to write up the next chapter for this story. It definitely appears that I'm pretty bad at estimating how long it'll take me to write my chapters. I'm my defence though, it did end up quite a bit longer than I'd intended!
Anyway, I did have a few things I wanted to talk about, but I'll leave them till then end, so for now, please enjoy!
Heart of Fire
Wings of Light
I have withstood the harshest of winters
In this once barren heart of mine
Colder and emptier without you here
And yet my flame burns on
Had Natsu stopped to look at the weather, he would only be able to describe it as a tempest. Gale force winds whipped through the streets, pummelling anything in its way. The driving rain fell with such intensity that visibility was practically non-existent. And through it all, the menacing flash of the lightning above and the resultant roar hung over his head. Every second spent out here was inviting death. But he didn't pay that any mind as he raced through the streets, desperately searching. It was at times like these that he realized just how large Magnolia was- with so many people living here, it was impossible for it to be anything but. It was a merchant town, making it an important travel hub for a lot of travellers and therefore, there were several ways in and out of the city. There was, of course, the train station in the south-east quarter of town, or the branching road system at the town's main entrance that lead to a number of nearby locations. If Natsu could say for sure that Mirajane would be using either of these means of travel, he would at least have some idea of where to look. But given the weather and Mirajane's own lack of funds, she was more likely to travel on foot- which meant she could go literally anywhere. Time was of the essence and he daren't stop to take the time to evaluate the situation, lest the worst come to pass. So he continued to run aimlessly, looking for the slightest sign that would indicate Mirajane's whereabouts. As he emerged from one road onto another, he took a turn too sharply and the water beneath his feet caused him to slip. He tumbled to the floor, wincing as he struck the stone-hard surface, but despite the pain, he climbed to his feet again and continued to run.
More minutes passed, but then, unexpectedly, he ran past a small group of odd-looking people. His shock was such that, while he didn't stop entirely, he did slow down enough to have a good look at them. It was hard to tell if the four people before him were male or female. They all wore metal helmets, with a metal mesh at the front, making it hard to see their faces. Also, they all wore the same outfit- a heavy looking grey suit with a metallic sheen that covered them from head to toe. Reflective yellow strips ran across their outfit in multiple places, making them visible even in the gloom around them. They all carried heavy-looking packs, which were made of a similar material to their suits and one of them was holding what appeared to be a lightning rod. As soon as he noticed that final little detail, something clicked inside his head. Although Natsu couldn't say for sure, he was fairly sure these people were Storm Chasers, agents of an organisation known as Gaia. They were a natural disaster unit whose role was to help mitigate the effects of severe weather.
At first, it seemed like the Storm Chasers were going to just ignore Natsu, but as he passed the group, one of them turned and grabbed onto the collar of his shirt.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing out here, kid? Do you not see what's going on around us or something?!"
A distinctly male voice- a little hoarse from shouting over the noise of the storm and more than a little gruff-sounding. But despite that, his actions suggested that he had a compassionate soul. However, right now, he was nothing more than an obstacle to overcome.
"Let go!" Natsu yelled as he attempted to free himself from the man's clutches.
"Fat chance, kid! I don't know if you have a death wish or something, being out here alone, but I'm not going to stand for it- not again."
'Not again?' Natsu thought. 'What does that mean?'
The man's companions moved to support him, cajoling Natsu to join them, so he would be 'safe'. Making a hasty decision, Natsu stopped resisting and let the man lead him away.
The man grunted. "Good." Then, he muttered to himself. "At least you're being more cooperative than that other kid. She wouldn't even listen to me."
So Natsu wasn't the first person the man had attempted to guide to shelter tonight. "This girl… what did she look like?" Natsu asked.
Natsu looked straight into the man's face through that mesh front, now finally able to make out the man's features now that he was a little closer. The Storm Chaser gave him a look that implied that he didn't think Natsu's question was particularly important, given the circumstances.
"Well, can't say I really got a good look at her. But she was about your age. Silvery hair."
"Huh… where was she when you last saw her?"
"You're a nosey little bugger, I see. Let's see… not too far from the city gates, I guess. She seemed determined to leave town for some reason, even though I warned her against it."
Natsu took a second to absorb the man's words. "Hmm… thanks, you've told me everything I need to know. And for the record, I'm sorry."
"Eh? Sorry for-"
The poor man didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence. Natsu spun around as fast as he could and kicked the man in the groin with every ounce of his strength. Overwhelmed by debilitating pain, the unfortunate Storm Chaser loosened his grip on Natsu, who tore lose and made a hasty departure. As Natsu sprinted away, the Storm Chaser dropped to his knees and for the second time that night, swore on his life that he'd do the world a favour and never father so-called 'child-spawn'. Natsu couldn't help but feel a little guilty for what he'd done, but it had been necessary. He made a mental note to make it up to the guy should they ever cross paths again- for the clue the man had given him might have just made all the difference. Natsu beelined straight for the city gates, becoming little more than a blur as he dashed through the pouring rain. In what seemed like no time at all, he was leaving Magnolia behind him. By his estimation, he would soon catch up to Mirajane, even considering the headstart she'd had. This was, of course, assuming he could maintain this pace, which was looking unlikely. He was already on the verge of another dilemma- the road that he was following ran in a more-or-less straight line for a short distance, but very soon, he would come across the first of many branching pathways. It was a safe bet to say that Mirajane probably took one of these paths, rather than walking cross-country, but he had no idea which path she had taken. Unless he stumbled on another traveller who'd happened to see her- which was highly unlikely- he wasn't sure what else he could do.
In circumstances like this, Natsu's best bet was probably to fall back on what he did best- tracking. He wasn't sure how effective it would be since the rain would mask Mirajane's scent, but he could only hope that he was close enough that it wouldn't make any difference. And so, he activated his Dragonsense and pushed his senses to their limits, to the point where he could hear the rustle of a mouse moving through the undergrowth, or see every single grain of dirt beneath his feet. Then he turned and jogged down the length of the road. Every time he reached an intersection, he would stop for a moment and scout out the area for any signs that Mirajane had passed that way, using both his sight and sense of smell.
He didn't notice anything at the first intersection.
Nor the second.
Each and every time Natsu stopped, he failed to find anything of note. As he grew more desperate, his pauses at each intersection grew gradually longer, until he was stopping for around two minutes each time. By the time he reached the last fork in the road, his feelings of despair were enough to drown whatever hope he still had. He stopped to check both paths, his last two chances… and he found nothing. Not so much as a thread of her clothing, or the faintest whiff of her scent. The enormous sense of disbelief he felt was indescribable. As the realization that he had failed finally began to sink in, he fell to his knees, utterly defeated. He had given it everything he'd had but fallen at the last hurdle. His chances of finding Mirajane had dwindled to practically nothing… but somehow that gave him a sense of relief. He could resign himself to knowing that he had given it his all, even if it had been a fruitless endeavour. He didn't have to worry about what he would do when he found her. That thought by itself lifted a lot of the weight off his shoulders. All he had to do was go back and explain what had happened. Explain how Mira had decided to leave the guild.
And explain to Elfman and Lisanna that their big sister wasn't coming back.
Natsu stiffened as that last thought crossed his mind. He could already see it- the confusion and dismay plastered on their faces. The signs of pain etched in every line of their expressions and the heartache that would follow them as they did their best to go about their daily lives. And the sense of loss that they would feel as a result of being abandoned by the one person they felt they could rely on.
Had they not experienced enough pain? They had already lost more than anyone their age should ever have to lose. When Natsu thought about the two of them going through what he had, his heart broke. He wouldn't let it happen. He couldn't let it happen.
Natsu closed his eyes, focusing inwardly. In his mind, he envisioned a flame, to which he fed all the stray thoughts inside his head. He burned away his extraneous thoughts, his doubts and his fears until all that was left was the flame, suspended within an endless void. The incandescent flame burned dazzlingly bright, imbued with his fiery determination. A determination to achieve his goal, no matter what it took. He knew now what he had to do, though logically speaking, it made little sense. Before, he had relied on reason to try and determine the best path, but he just didn't have the information he needed to find Mirajane. He had many paths to take and no way to know which was the right one. And on top of that, if he chose the wrong path, the trail would go cold and he would lose what really was his last opportunity. So he concluded that under the circumstances, the only thing he could do was rely on his instincts and take a guess.
He took a deep breath and waited for his heart to cease hammering. Then he focused once again- not on his mind, but on his stomach. In his opinion, people rarely relied on their gut feelings, or at least, not as much as they should. But in the modern world, rational thinking took on a much greater role, so he could hardly blame people for overlooking it. However, he knew from experience that if you develop them and use them correctly, one's instincts can become a powerful tool. So with this in mind, he listened… and prayed.
At first, he couldn't feel anything out of place, only the ever-present energy of nature around him. But he pushed his senses even further, refusing to give up so easily. Distantly, he could feel multiple foreign energy signatures, which he attributed to sources of magic. He analysed these signatures, noticing that one seemed familiar. He focused further on that energy and shuddered as something revolting brushed against his mind. A sense of death and decay- without a doubt, that was Mirajane.
Abandoning the road, Natsu ran cross-country, using the magic as a beacon. Like a moth drawn to a flame, the feeling within him occupied all his attention. It was in part due to this that he ended up being surprised when he noticed something following him. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flicker of movement and turned his head just enough to get a good look at it.
What he saw was a small, indistinct shape floating at face-level. It looked somewhat like a small, wispy cloud, with vague impressions of what he could only imagine to be facial features. It continually flickered with electricity, regarding him with some interest. Even more curiously, there seemed to be many more floating much higher up that he had failed to notice before.
"What the-"
He was about to ask what the hell the thing in front of him was, but then he remembered something from a while back.
"Hey, Levy. Whatcha readin'?"
It was an ordinary morning at the guild, a few months back. As she often did when she wasn't occupied with a board game, Levy had her head buried in a book.
"'Extraordinary Beasts'… it's all about weird and unusual creatures."
'Huh… that doesn't sound too bad,' Natsu thought. Generally speaking, he didn't understand the appeal of books, but this one at least sounded fairly entertaining. "Sounds cool. Found anything interesting?" he asked.
"Yeah, quite a lot, actually," Levy replied, nodding. She leafed through the pages, before stopping at a page that had apparently previously caught her interest. "This section's all about what they call 'Earthly Entities'. These creatures are like some sort of naturally occurring extension of the land itself. The most common ones take the form of one of the elements."
She pointed to an expertly drawn illustration. "This one here is a Storm Elemental, which bears the element of lightning. They're a variation of the Air Elemental, but they're particularly fond of stormy weather. Most people can't see them, because…. well, they're made of air, so they just blend in with the air around them. They're attracted to storms and will follow one around for an awfully long time. Unfortunately, their presence actually increases the severity of the storms, so the more elementals there are in the area, the worse the storm gets.
The information that Natsu had gained that day came to the forefront of his mind. Suddenly, the reason behind the unusual weather was clear to him: the last Winter had already been particularly harsh, causing the summer storms to arrive several months early. This in turn, had drawn the Storm Elementals here, creating a storm far beyond what should have occurred.
Natsu glared at the elemental as it drew closer to his face get a better look at him. He batted it aside with the back of his hand, though without any true malice, before dismissing it from his thoughts and continuing on.
He had more important things to focus on right now.
Darkness within. Light Without.
They say these things are but parts of a whole,
But my heart lacks room for both, only one lives here.
Brother, Sister, I am sorry,
This is a burden I cannot bear,
For a monster does not know how to love.
It felt as if it had been a long time since she had stepped in the woods. Though, truthfully, it had been only a little over a month, during those days prior to her arrival in Magnolia. She had spent so much time in the untamed wilderness, surrounded by trees, that she should have been sick of it.
Once upon a time, she had enjoyed times like these. Leaving civilisation behind had felt like a treat, an adventure even. Just a small outing with her loved ones- or on rare occasions, by herself- where she had been able to pretend for a little while that she had an exceptional life. To pretend that she was somehow special.
There was none of that joy within her now. Cheerlessly, she trudged forward, mud splattering all over once pristine boots.
'Mum and Dad bought these boots for me…' she thought absent-mindedly.
It was only after this random thought that she realised she'd strayed from the path she had been following. How long ago had that been? Five minutes? Fifteen? An hour? She hadn't even noticed, had been too pre-occupied with her own thoughts to even look where she was going.
She chuckled bitterly, head drooping, lifted one hand to cover her eyes and massage her temples. 'And to top it all off, now I'm lost… could it get any worse?'
Suddenly, she heard something over the sound of the pouring rain. Regular impacts and splashes as something rushed toward her. Whoever, or whatever it was, it was close- too close for her to have time to run or hide. She turned quickly to face the source of the noise, peering through the darkness towards the figure that rapidly drew nearer. The figure bee-lined towards her and she tensed, prepared for an attack. But the figure gradually slowed, before coming to a stop a short distance away.
"You know, I never thought we'd be in a situation like this. But I'm not all that surprised either."
Even though the speaker was a little out of breath, she could still recognise that voice.
"Natsu?" she asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I think I should be the one asking that. But we both know the answer to that question. I'm more interested in hearing why instead."
"I'm not sure what you mean."
Natsu scoffed, a spark of anger in his eyes. "Don't play stupid. You're leaving and I'm pretty sure you're not planning on coming back. I get that you might not want to stick around anymore- but you're not taking Elfman and Lisanna with you. So tell me… why are you leaving them behind?"
As he asked the question, he stared directly into her eyes, leaving her no room to dodge the question. Mirajane returned his gaze with an equally steely stare, stubbornly refusing to provide an answer. But as he continued to lock eyes with her, the defiance in her stance started to drain away, replaced instead by weary resignation.
"Because it's for the best," she responded finally.
The words hung in the air like a dark cloud.
"'For the best'? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Natsu responded angrily. "How could abandoning them ever be the better option?!"
Despite being relatively calm at first, his words made her increasingly incensed. "I should have known you would never understand," she said, venomously. "Let's just say that recent events have made me realise that I'm not capable of looking after them. And as much as I hate to admit it, everyone in Fairy Tail is… pretty decent. They would be far better off if I disappeared and left them behind."
"What a load of rubbish."
"Is it?" Mirajane asked coldly. "Because of me, we were forced to leave our home. When they needed me, I failed to look after them. And then there's this…" She drew back her cloak and raised her demonic arm. "Just look at me… I'm a monster."
"No, you're not."
"Shut up!" Mirajane screamed. Natsu involuntarily took a step backwards at her sudden outburst. But even more unexpectedly, her simple cry turned into a full-on tirade. "You always act like you know everything, but you don't know anything about me! You don't know what I've been through or what I've had to give up to get here. You don't know what it's like to have your childhood taken from you, to have to give your whole life to looking after someone else. And then after I've lost everything I've ever known, I turned into a freak. So don't you dare pretend you know the answer to anything, because what would you know?!
Natsu didn't answer immediately, simply choosing to maintain his hard look. And when he finally did speak, it was in a low voice, so quiet that she almost didn't hear it. "A lot more than you think," he responded. For a split second, Mirajane swore that she saw something in his eyes- his unnaturally bright eyes, that she shouldn't have been able to see in the gloom of the night. His pupils shifted, becoming that of a reptile. But when he blinked, they returned to normal, leaving her unsure whether or not she'd actually seen anything after all. Regardless, what she may or may not have seen was enough to spook her. She took a half step back, her eyes darting side to side. Her overt reactions were more than enough to alert Natsu to her intentions. She turned to run, but before she managed to even take a single step, she was stunned by a lightning bolt zipping by her face.
"Sorry Mirajane," Natsu said with sadness. "But I'm not lettin' your run away from this. If you do, you'll probably spend your whole life running."
"So what? Are you going to kill me?" Mirajane asked. "Are you going to go that far to stop me?"
"I'd rather not do that if, I have any choice. That's why the first shot was a warning." Steadily, his whole demeanour grew darker as his face set into a mask of stone. "But if you don't accept that this is who you are, I might just kill you after all. It would be better than letting you go through with this."
Mirajane shuddered at his grave declaration, the shudders running up her spine confirming the sincerity of his words. This was not the laidback young man she had come to know- he was the embodiment of unrestrained hostility. He was a threat. He was an enemy. The thought of fighting Natsu, who was an experienced and capable wizard, was enough to make shivers run up and down Mirajane's spine. She adjusted her stance, both physically and mentally preparing herself for a fight.
It was only because of this that she managed to avoid Natsu's first attack. As soon as she moved, Natsu raised one hand and launched another bolt of lightning. The attack rocketed towards her, but just in time, she twisted her upper body, causing it to fly harmlessly past her left shoulder. She wasn't, however, prepared for the follow-up attack that came a fraction of a second later. Left off-balance, she had no choice but to throw herself backwards to avoid it, resulting in a hard tumble into the mud. Instinct, rather than thought, took over then, as she scrambled backwards to avoid the flurry of attacks that Natsu aimed at her legs. A quick roll put a tree between her and Natsu, breaking his line of fire. She sprung to her feet as quickly as she could and ran in the opposite direction, using the trees as cover. Every other step was accompanied by the whizzing sound of a lightning bolt as it lanced towards her, fizzling out as it struck the ground, the trees and thankfully, everything but her. She ran as if her life depended on it- which was, unfortunately, the case, as far as she could tell. She hadn't seen the slightest indication that Natsu had been anything less than serious- in fact, the merciless glint in his eyes all but confirmed his intentions. It instilled in her a boundless dread too vast to even comprehend. She may as well have been facing a force of nature.
So she ran. Forcing her body to move forward, to put one foot in front of the other, even as she trembled with fear and exertion. She realized all too quickly that she tiring at an alarming rate. She had never been as physically active as she could have been, so her full-on sprint coupled with her malnutrition from eating poorly for several weeks quickly sapped her strength. The acid-like burning in her chest continued to build and with each step, her legs grew weaker until she was sure she would collapse at any moment. But despite that, she continued on. To stop now would be to admit defeat and die- and that was something she had yet to do, ever since her mum and dad had passed. Oh, she'd come close, on many occasions. But she'd never quite crossed that line, never sunk completely into despair. And she sure as hell wasn't about to do that now.
She took another step, then five, then twenty. Against the odds, she'd yet to take a hit, despite the persistent rain of magic projectiles that still landed at her heels. She'd managed to stay ahead and out of range of the oh-so-powerful dragonslayer of Fairy Tail. It occurred to her that perhaps she had a chance still; Maybe she could just keep running- surely if she could run from something like this, she'd be able to run away from all her problems. Just keep running and leave it all behind. A faint spark of hope bloomed in her mind. Then she emerged into a clearing in the trees, perched on the edge of a large hill. The spark of hope vanished without a trace and in its place, apprehension bloomed.
All she saw was a surreal blur and a flash of pink as something- or rather someone- leapt to her side. The figure slid one foot into her path and swept her feet out from under her. It took Mirajane a moment to process what had happened. As her brain struggled to catch up, the only thing she could think about was how the ground seemed abnormally close. Eyes widening, she just about managed to throw up her hands in front of her face before she hit the ground. It was enough to lessen the impact, but not by much. Plus, it did nothing to stop her from tumbling end over end across the rough ground. She came to a stop quickly, however. While she wanted to do nothing but lay there and groan until the pain subsided, she ignored the bleeding from her scraped hands and forced herself into a kneeling position. Her vision was blurred, but it cleared after she blinked a few times.
He was there.
Natsu stood before her with death in his eyes. She knew then that there was no running from him. He always had and always would outlast her, until the very end. Even if she was to lose him, he would find her.
With a grip of iron, he picked her up with one hand and threw her backwards, though this time, she managed to land on her feet. Natsu rushed towards her once more and she reflexively threw up her arms in front of her face, feeling a stab of pain as his fist struck her raised forearms. Then she almost blacked out as her exposed torso took a hit so strong that she was sure her ribs were going to cave in. She gasped as agony washed over her and staggered back a couple of steps. Unrelenting is his assault, Natsu lowered his stance and charged, ploughing into her forcefully and knocking her to the ground. But that wasn't his only intention. As she fell, he rolled with her, moving his body close to hers and holding onto her tightly. She twisted and turned in an effort to escape his clutches, but he used her every movement against her. In the end, she found herself pinned to the floor, facing up at him as he knelt over her in his terrifying visage, set against the backdrop of the stormy sky above.
Was this it?
Was this… the end?
Restrained as she was, there was nothing that she could do to defend herself. She could only watch as Natsu drew back his fist and prepared to deliver the finishing blow.
Was this how she was destined to die? To go out with a whimper, before she'd even had a chance to live a full life?
She had lived her whole life on the whim of others. When she was born, she had been the light of her parent's life; Their first-born, their little star. They had showered her in all the love they'd had to give and she, in turn, had given everything she had to return their affections and make them as proud as could be. Forever seeking their approval, she had endeavoured to be a model child: respectful, well-behaved and diligent. For a while, she had been the centre of their world.
But it was not to last.
Soon after, Elfman was born. Then, after a similar length of time, Lisanna followed.
Mirajane was no longer the only one in her parent's hearts, but in truth, she didn't mind too much. Even if she had been a little jealous at first, she had come to adore her little siblings and wished to nurture them in much the same way that her parents had. And so, she'd chosen to step out of the spotlight that was their parent's attention and instead support her younger siblings from the shadows. She'd still played the part of a perfect child, but she'd no longer sought to garner her parent's favour. At the time she had told herself that she was content with that life. So why did she only now realize how hurt she had been?
She would never again hear her parents say that they loved her. That they were proud of her. She had squandered the time she'd had left with them, believing that they had years ahead of them. Now that they were gone, there was no-one to care for her little siblings. She had willingly taken up those reins, chosen to play the part of Protector. No… it would be better to say that she'd shackled herself. Trapped herself in a new role, unable to just be herself. It struck her that there was something terribly… unfair about that. Why did everyone else get to live the life they wanted, while she dedicated herself to someone else? Why was it that, when she finally decided she wanted to be her own person, she was going to die?
No… that wasn't about to happen. It couldn't.
She had almost let despair swallow her, certain of her own demise. But she could still live. While Natsu had her all but pinned down, he had left her transformed right arm unhindered. Recalling what she had once managed to do with this very arm, she shuddered involuntarily. Though the prospect of using that power again sickened her, there was nothing else she could do now.
A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating Natsu as he embraced his magic once more, starting the downward swing that would finish her. With a wordless cry, Mirajane threw her right hand out, fingers splayed and struck Natsu's chest. She did not truly know how to use her magic, yet it seemed to respond to her desperation. Just as it had that day, she felt a peculiar sensation as something inside of her trembled and a familiar purple light flashed out of her hand. With a resounding boom, her magic rushed out of her, catapulting Natsu backwards like a rag doll. No longer restrained, Mirajane climbed to her feet, feeling empowered by the magic that flowed through her. It was incredible… and so incredibly vile, like poison flowing through her veins. Using this power was enough to make her sick to her stomach, but that wasn't something to concern herself with right now. There was something else that required her full attention at the moment.
As Natsu sailed through the air, he just about had time to question what had happened, before he fell back to earth. A second or two later, he slammed into the ground with significant force, which would have no doubt been excruciating if he hadn't twisted in mid-air so that he could turn roll into his inevitable landing. As it was, the pain of the impact was merely uncomfortable, rather than debilitating. Allowing himself a small sigh of relief at his close call, he pumped his fist in celebration. Step one of Plan Convince Mirajane to Stay: complete.
Yes, he hadn't attacked Mirajane for the sake of it. He'd actually had a plan all along, one which first required that she come to terms with her magic. And so far, everything was working out just fine. Feeling incredibly satisfied, he climbed to his feet. He staggered a little as he did so- it seems that whatever magic Mirajane had used on him had left him feeling somewhat drained, as if his energy had been sucked out from him. Honestly, he felt… sickly. But it wasn't anything he couldn't deal with. Now, time to move on to step-
"Now you've done it."
"Huh?"
Natsu was a little startled by the harsh tone in Mirajane's words. There was a distinct undercurrent of animosity in her speech that hadn't been present before. As he took a closer look at Mirajane herself, he could see much of the same thing in her body language. A purplish-black miasma of hatred seemed to ooze out of her every pore.
No… it didn't seem to. It actually was.
Mirajane's heightened emotions were causing her magic to manifest as a physical entity- a noxious cloud of smoke that was mostly see-through and most likely highly dangerous.
"You couldn't leave well alone, could you? You had to keep pushing me!" Mirajane screamed, her voice choked with emotion. "I suppose you're happy now. You got what you wanted, right? You forced me to use this disgusting power. Was it all worth it?"
The fumes surrounding Mirajane grew more intense with every word, billowing out in a great cloud. The sight of it was unnerving enough that Natsu had the urge to back up… but at the same time, he wanted to rush towards it. To test the limits of its effects. To pit his strength against someone who wielded the power of a literal demon.
"You got what you wanted, alright," Mirajane growled. "And I'll make sure you wish you never had."
To be quite frank, Natsu couldn't help but feel a little disturbed. MIrajane's sinister appearance as of that moment, combined with those ominous words, were enough to make any ordinary person quiver in their boots. However, Natsu was far from ordinary. How could he be? He had literally been raised by one of the most powerful creatures known to man. There was no way that a mere novice wizard would intimidate him into turning tail and running, no matter how powerful their magic. So, instead, he channelled his inner Laxus and replied to her threat with as much arrogance as he could muster:
"You're welcome to try."
Mirajane's eyes flashed at the provocation and with that one simple reaction, he knew he had her. He grinned smugly, which only seemed to aggravate her more.
"What the hell are you smiling at? I'll rip that smile clean off your face!" Mirajane howled, sprinting towards him. And very quickly at that. She crossed the intervening distance a lot quicker than he expected and threw a punch at his chest. Surprised by her speed, he reacted slowly and was thus unable to defend against the attack. Instead, he leant backwards as the blow landed, reducing the force behind the punch. His centre of gravity shifted to somewhere behind his heels and he started to fall, but he let his legs collapse under him and rolled into it, landing on his feet again in a feat of effortless athleticism.
Or rather, it should have been. Yet his heart hammered in his chest and breathing was nigh-on-impossible. His entire body felt… heavy… as if he'd spent the entire day lifting weights. This wasn't right. He shouldn't feel this way. Something was off, but his mind was foggy and he couldn't quite focus enough to think it through. In a daze, he watched as Mirajane moved seemingly in slow-motion, raising her right arm to strike him once again.
Something in his head screamed that he couldn't let her land another hit. The instant the thought crossed his mind, time resumed its normal course and the arm that had been drifting towards him at a leisurely pace instead rocketed towards his face.
She had managed to sucker punch him with her last attack. However, this time, he wasn't about to let her do it a second time. Ducking beneath her wild swing, he slammed the palm of his right hand into her midriff, which was enough to wind her. But he didn't stop there- instead, he stepped under her still-raised arm and grabbed the back of her collar. Hooking her right foot with his left, he pivoted and yanked her backwards to fall into the mud. Unlike Natsu, she wasn't able to fall quite as gracefully and so she hit the ground hard. But, to her credit, she didn't stay down long. Scrambling to her feet quickly, despite the pain she must have felt, she turned, intent on renewing her attack on Natsu, who had taken the opportunity to create distance between the two of them.
The dragonslayer contemplated the young lady before him. When he looked into her eyes, he could feel the rage rolling off her. It was unrelenting. An unending well of emotions born from years of pain… pain that desperately needed to be brought to the surface and released. Hell, if she really needed to vent that badly, he was more than happy to facilitate that.
Once again, Mirajane dashed towards him, lashing out again and again, with such a speed that each attack blurred into the next. The sheer power coursing through her lent her speed and strength that far surpassed her normal limits. At that moment, she was something more than human- but in the end, it mattered not. Her attacks were sloppy and executed without any form of strategy and so, Natsu was able to evade each and every one. His movements were like flowing water, fluid and unrelenting, leaving him ever out of reach. The gap in their skills was so vast that he could likely continue to evade her attacks until she collapsed from exhaustion.
However, that was a counter-productive approach to the situation, as Mirajane could hardly vent her frustrations on him if she couldn't at least get a few hits in. The question was, could he do that safely? The one time Mirajane had actually landed a hit on him, it felt like she'd literally drained the life out of him. Actually thinking about it, she'd done much the same thing when he'd had her pinned earlier: a simple touch with that transformed right arm of hers had sapped his strength and sent him flying. He could only assume it was an ability that stemmed from her magic. But what were the limits of that ability? Was it reliant on physical contact, or was it possible to cast it from a range? It was difficult to say for sure, as Mirajane was only just utilizing her powers for the first time, so not even she knew the extent of her new-found abilities. However, he felt it was safe to say that, even if she was capable of using said power over an extended distance, she would likely be limited to physical contact for now due to her lack of experience. So that led to the second question: could she exude that effect from any part of her body, as he did with his fire, or could she only use it with her right arm?
He could only think of one way to determine the answer to that question, but it would be rather risky. Eh, to hell with it anyway, he had never been one to let his fears stop him from doing what he needed to do.
He made sure to watch her moves carefully, trying to get his timing just right. Then, just as Mirajane threw a punch with her left hand, he deliberately allowed her punch to graze him. It was just the briefest touch, but to his relief, there was no sensation of weakness as she made contact. Thinking that it might just be a fluke or a trick, he allowed her to get another hit in. Then another. After half a dozen hits or so, he came to the conclusion that his initial hypothesis was right on the money. Now that certainly made things a little easier for him. As long as he could avoid that right arm of hers, he would be just fine.
Emboldened by her prior 'success' and Natsu's lack of retaliation, Mirajane had exerted herself even further as she continued to lash out at him. But now that Natsu was confident he had an accurate gauge of her abilities, he wasn't going to let her do that anymore. There were many openings in Mirajane's flawed defence and as she threw out a forward kick, one such opening became apparent- and Natsu exploited it ruthlessly. Mirajane's had aimed her kick at Natsu's somewhere in the region of Natsu's stomach, which could have been devastating if it had landed. But she lacked the skill and efficiency of a practised martial artist, so the kick was both slow and easily predicted. Natsu's response was a mere twist of his upper body.
Mirajane's kick, which should have hit Natsu square-on, merely grazed his stomach, making her foot slide past him. Mirajane only had time to express shock that her kick hadn't met the level of resistance she'd expected before Natsu grabbed the heel of her extended foot in one hand. Then, he took a single, long step back… dragging Mirajane's foot with him. As Natsu pulled her forwards, gravity pulled her down and before she knew it, she found herself doing the splits. The muscles in her legs screamed in protest and out of reflex, she swiped at Natsu with her right hand, forcing him to release his grip on her leg. As he stepped back out of reach, Mirajane dropped to the floor heavily, before sweeping one leg out in front of her in an attempt to trip him, or at least drive him back. Continuing her spin, she rose to her feet.
Chest heaving and head booming, Mirajane raised her forearms in defence, an instinctive move to protect her body. She knew her instincts were on the mark as she felt the sole of Natsu's boot strike her hastily raised guard. Such was the force of the blow that she feared that her bones were on the brink of shattering. Unable to resist the force of Natsu's kick, her arms collided with her chest and she skidded backwards, barely able to remain on her feet.
"Impossible," Mirajane whispered. She had pushed herself to her limits in an attempt to defeat the young man in front of her. For just a moment, she'd allowed herself to believe she'd had the upper hand in their altercation, yet he had so casually turned things around on her. And he didn't even seem out of breath. A feeling of extreme bitterness welled up inside her. "I guess you were just toying with me all along. I should have known."
"You're not wrong, I guess. But that wasn't the point of this."
"Oh really? So what exactly was this all for? Just wanted to point out once again how powerless I am? How I'm unable to do anything?"
She laughed, but there was no joviality in her voice. If anything, the sound screamed 'unhinged'.
"The opposite actually," Natsu replied quietly.
Mirajane didn't respond to his words. In fact, there was no indication that she had even heard his words at all. Instead, she continued to laugh, the sound growing increasingly bone-chilling. She spoke once more, but it was clear that she wasn't addressing him, or anyone else for that matter.
"But that's how it's always been, hasn't it? I was never strong to begin with. It was all a lie, just a way to convince myself that things would be alright." She laughed again. "But it will never be alright again. The world has no place for someone like me…"
Her quiet laughs slowly trailed off. The gentle pitter-patter of the rain and the sporadic booming of thunder were the only sounds to disturb the silence between them. She turned her face to the sky as if praying for deliverance. The rain ran down her face, merging with the tears that trailed from her eyes, filled with tormented images. Then her face twisted and she unleashed an ungodly scream.
The dark cloud surrounding Mirajane exploded outwards, enveloping all. The world grew dim, so much so that even the dazzling brilliance that flashed above appeared feeble. Shadows stirred and twisted, forming intangible shapes, suggestions of incorporeal existences. The Storm Elementals danced in response, their trilling voices raised in fear. Amidst it all, Mirajane writhed like a spider in its web.
Natsu shuddered and his skin crawled as if many unseen eyes were fixing him with an unwavering stare. He felt the presence of something, or rather many 'somethings' lurking somewhere, yet his eyes detected no indication of other people nearby. But as the shadows around Mirajane continued to swirl, he saw patches of a deeper darkness within the gloom, forming into vaguely humanoid shapes. Shapes that gradually drew closer to Mirajane. One quick look using his Dragonsense told him all he needed to know about their sinister nature.
He gasped. "Mirajane, look out!"
Even as he cried out to her, his legs blurred into motion. He darted towards her, his entire body feeling as if it was about to fall to pieces under the strain. But he didn't care- if he could push his body further, he would have. Anything to get to Mirajane quicker, to save her from the shadowy, undulating limbs that were on the brink of entangling her.
"Get away from her!" he roared, before unleashing a wide-spread lightning blast, driving the demons back. He collided with Mirajane, tackling her to the ground. The shadows tried to swoop in again, but Nastu repelled them by releasing an electric field that surrounded the two of them. Mirajane fearfully squirmed out from underneath him and turned to run once more, so he leapt on her back and pinned her to the floor.
"Keep your head down, idiot." he hissed in her ear.
"Let go of me!"
"No way! If I do that, your new friends will probably kill you."
"What?"
Natsu loosened his grip on Mirajane slight, just enough that she could move a little easier. "Look up."
Still lying prone in the dirt, Mirajane turned her head towards the sky above. She gasped, finally seeing the phantasmal beings that circled above their heads. Even as she watched them, their form began to change, revealing substance where there had been nothing but shadows. The creatures resembled humans in terms of shape, but they all possessed body parts from numerous other species, creating entities unlike anything else that walked the Earth. Huge fangs, tentacles, twisted limbs with reversed joints, the only common factor that each creature shared was that they looked like something out of a nightmare.
"Oh my god! What are they?" Mirajane asked.
"Isn't it obvious? They're demons."
Mirajane flinched at his use of the word. "Demons? Why? Why are they here?"
"If I had to guess, it's 'cause of you. Probably felt your magic and your dark emotions and it drew them here. I heard they're supposed to be sensitive to stuff like that."
"No… no no no no…" Mirajane babbled. She drew in a shaky breath. "What the hell are we supposed to do?"
"What do you think? Gonna have to fight 'em."
"What?! Are you insane?"
Natsu chuckled. "Some people might say that… not that I agree with 'em. Anyway, what are you worried about? All you gotta do is use that magic of yours. You watch my back and I'll watch yours."
Mirajane didn't seem too reassured by his words, but she nodded none-the-less. Then her gaze slid past his face and up to the sky, her eyes widening.
"Natsu…" she whispered. "I'm not sure what those things are doing, but I don't think it's anything good."
Following her line of sight, he saw something rather concerning. The demons continued to circle above them, but while they had been almost docile before, now they whirled around as they worked into a frenzy. In perfect synchronisation, they left the encirclement, spreading throughout the clearing.
'Why?' Natsu thought. The demons had had them completely hemmed it and at their mercy. What did they have to gain be relinquishing their advantage? As he considered the meaning behind their actions, his thoughts were interrupted by a panicked chirping. A Storm Elemental flitted around erratically, pursued by one of the flying demons. The usually placid creature seemed petrified and was doing its utmost to escape. In the end, the demon proved to be the faster of the two. The shadowy creature caught up to the unfortunate elemental and engulfed it. In the midst of the demon's phantom body, the elemental thrashed around ineffectively. It's feeble attempts lessened until it fell still, a darkness starting to creep into its form, like ink seeping into paper. The shadowy form of the demon started to shrink and the elemental started to transform, taking on some of the former's characteristic. After a few moments, only one creature remained of the two, which now no longer resembled either of the two creatures. Instead, its appearance was somewhere between the two. Looking around, it seemed that the other demons were in the process of doing the same thing.
Things had just turned from bad to worse.
Natsu inhaled sharply and climbed to his feet. "Get up, quickly."
Mirajane started to comply, but nowhere near as quickly as he would've liked. "Do you know-"
Before she even had the chance to finish her sentence, the demons dived towards them. Sparks flickered as they passed through the lightning barrier, but they shrugged off the effects of his magic, barely fazed by it. As one, they released a widespread lightning blast that decimated the surrounding area. The sheer power behind the attack was so great, that Natsu couldn't confidently say he would have emerged unharmed if he'd taken it head-on, even with his resistance to lightning. In this case, it was rather fortunate that he hadn't- the moment the demons had made their move, he'd turned to shove Mirajane as hard as he could, before leaping in the same direction. As it was, he was merely caught by the outskirts of the attack. The lightning washed over him, dancing across his skin. As expected, it did next to no harm, yet there was a distinct tinge of… something else infused with it. Something darker, reminiscent of the magic Mirajane had used on him earlier, albeit a lot weaker.
Shielding Mirajane from the demons, Natsu turned to face their adversaries, two balls of fire igniting in his palms, which he threw toward the phantom creatures. Streaking through the air, the fireballs blasted through two of the demons, which should have proved to be fatal. However, it soon became apparent that it wasn't enough to kill them when their phantom bodies began to reform.
Okay, on to plan two. Focusing on the nearest creature, Natsu opened his mouth and inhaled, willing the lightning within it to come to him. The thing flickered momentarily as he attempted to devour it, the familiar feeling of magic rushing into his body. Yet, the magic was not pure. The demon's essence tainted the magic, twisting it into something vile. He nearly emptied the contents of his stomach right then and there, but after he abandoned his attempts to devour the hybrid creature, the feeling receded somewhat.
Still reeling from the sickness, he barely raised his arms in time to block a series of smaller lightning strikes. Okay… now for plan three.
"Natsu!"
"Mirajane! I'm going to need your help! I don't think I can kill these things."
"Huh? Then what the hell are we supposed to do?"
"You're gonna have to fight 'em instead."
"WHAT?!" Mirajane squawked, dancing around to avoid a few stray attacks that made it past Natsu's guard. "Aren't you a lot more qualified to do that?"
"Listen, I think the demons used Take-Over magic on the storm elementals. Don't ask-" he said, seeing that she was about to interrupt. "They're like little lightning sprites. They're invisible and don't have a proper body. It makes them hard to kill, but they're friendly, so it's normally not a problem unless you annoy them."
"Friendly?! They're trying to kill us!"
"Well yeah, but it's 'cause the demons are controlling them. Now they've got their own magic, plus the elemental's magic too. Their magic doesn't work all that well on me because of my lightning resistance and my magic won't work on them either 'cause they're basically spirits. But there's no reason why your magic shouldn't work on 'em. Only you can do this."
There was a small pause. "I… I don't think I can-"
"You can do this," he interrupted. "You've got all the power you need. You just need to use it."
"But I know nothing about fighting-"
"Then I'll protect you. I'll be your shield, if that's what you need. Just focus on taking these things out and I'll handle the rest."
Mirajane's breath caught in her throat. Damn it, that almost sounded like he was flirting with her. Maybe that wasn't the best choice of words, but at least he was earnest about his intentions to support her. Maybe those few words would be enough… to let her know she could trust him.
As he waited expectantly for her answer, he continued to fend off the demon's attacks. Despite his resistance to the lightning itself, he was starting to feel drained by the effects of the demon's magic. If one considered this a battle, then it was one of attrition, one which he was slowly losing. If things continued as they were, then it was only a matter of time before he would fall down from exhaustion… and he would never be able to get up again. He didn't even entertain the thought of fleeing and abandoning Mirajane to her fate, so he could only pray that she would come to.
The sound of a gentle footfall. The swish of a cloak as it brushed up against its wearer's legs. A cool hand slipped into his.
"Okay, I'll trust you," Mirajane said quietly. "Now what do we do?"
"First, we need to change the battlefield," Natsu replied. Keeping a tight grip on Mirajane's hand, he ran across the rocky ground. He had to steady Mirajane several times, but miraculously she managed to stay on her feet. Even as he ran, Natsu scoured the area with his eyes.
"C'mon, c'mon, there's gotta be somewhere… ha!"
In the more-or-less open clearing, there were a few rocky outcroppings. Most of them were quite small, but there was one that was large enough for his purposes. Still dragging Mirajane behind him, he ran up to the giant rock, pushing Mirajane towards a slight hollow in the rock. Then he turned to face the demons, using his own body to cover Mirajane as well. With the rock at her back and Natsu at her front, it would be next to impossible for the demons to get to her.
"Alright, here's the fun part," he said. "You've gotta work out a way to take those things out."
"Hmph, I can certainly give it a go. But first…"
That was all the warning he got before Mirajane pressed herself up against his back.
"W-woah, what are you doing?!"
"You said you'd be my shield, didn't you? I want to be doubly sure that those things won't hit me, is all," Mirajane responded in a wicked tone.
"UGH! Fine." Natsu knew better than to argue. Instead, he made himself as large a target as possible, the demon's attacks once again starting to rain down on him. "But I can't stand here doing this all night, so you gotta pull your weight."
"Of course," Mirajane agreed. "Now, how do I do that?"
"I don't know, it's your magic!"
"I've only just started using it, I don't know anything about it either!"
"Then improvise."
She sighed and muttered something along the lines of 'Some help you are'. But even so, she lifted her right arm, pointing at one of the demons over his shoulder, even as she continued to use him as cover. She clutched the back of Natsu's shirt tightly as she attempted to focus both her mind and her magic. Natsu himself was a little too preoccupied to turn around, but he imagined that if were to do so at that moment, he would be greeted by the sight of her face screwed up in concentration. He waited tensely for what seemed like forever, but then, just as he was about to concede that his gamble had failed, his skin began to crawl. Mirajane's outstretched arm started to glow with a flickering purple light, the trademark symbol of her branch of magic. The light steadily grew more intense, the flickering giving way to a persistent glow. Then, the build-up of energy shot forward, forming a projectile that flew through the air, accompanied by another loud boom. The bolt of energy struck one of the demons as it turned lazily mid-air. For a mere fraction of a second, the pitiful creature seemed surprised at this strange turn of events, before it shrivelled up and disappeared.
"Yeah!" Natsu cheered. His glee soared even higher when the demon failed to re materialise within a few seconds as it had previously. "Just like that, keep going!"
"Obviously, you don't need to tell me." The slight lilt to her words suggested the presence of self-satisfied smirk on her face.
Mirajane turned her gaze to the remaining demons, with something approaching a feral glint in her eyes. Just as she did before, she focused her mind and took aim. It took her a few seconds to gather her magic together, but as she'd already managed it once, it didn't take her as long the second time. Another bolt of energy streaked through the night and another demon vanished without a trace.
Natsu couldn't help but think things were going rather well. True, things had looked rather grim at first, but the tables had turned in their favour now. He still had plenty of energy left, despite the constant drain of the demon's attacks and now that Mirajane was thinning their numbers, things would be over before they knew it. Still, he wasn't exactly happy to leave the majority of the work to Mirajane, who between the two of them was the least experienced.
'How am I supposed to help though?' he thought. His earlier attempts at fighting the demons hadn't worked so well, but surely there was something he could do at least. Perhaps it was time for some experimenting of his own.
Natsu turned his mind inward, his mundane senses fading somewhat as he did. He attuned himself to what lay beneath, that which he felt so distantly all around him, but within him also. The energy that resided inside all things, great and small, whether good or evil. He felt it in the earth, the air, inside the person behind him that even now he chose to protect and in his foes gathered before him. That energy took many forms, some familiar and some alien, but regardless, the air radiated with it. For the most part, he couldn't so much as touch that energy- controlling that energy was beyond his skills. But in the midst of the storm that still raged, everything was charged with electricity, the air practically pregnant with it. Even the demons before him were filled with that energy. He had tried to take that energy before, which had proven to be a poor decision, but maybe a different approach would work where the first one had failed.
In an act of will, he reached out to that energy, called it to himself. It was an imperious command that brooked no room for disagreement, there was no resisting his will. The demons lethargic dance slowed momentarily as he pulled their energy towards him.
If he couldn't devour that energy, then he would siphon it off… slowly, but surely. He would drain them of every last shred of power until there was nothing left.
Such was a dragon's way of waging war: take what you desire and let none defy you.
Having achieved what he'd set out to do, he let his state of meditation fall away, at which point the sound of Mirajane berating him reached his ears.
"Hey, pay attention, idiot! That last one almost hit me!"
Natsu muttered an apology that almost certainly went unheard, before turning his attention back to the task at hand. Mirajane fired off a few more shots, each one coming quicker than the last. The demons were fewer than they had been, only a dozen or so remained. Evidently, Mirajane had managed to pick off a few of them while he had been… meditating. But it seemed as if they had started to realize that too. They started to change up their flight patterns, moving much quicker than before and more erratically too. Unable to predict their movements, Mirajane huffed in annoyance after she failed to hit her mark for the second time in a row.
"Are you even trying to hit 'em?"
"Shut up," Mirajane retorted. "As if anyone can hit these stupid things when they're flying like that."
"I guess. Kinda like trying to hit flies," he mused. He turned his head just enough to give her a sidelong glance. "You know how you deal with flies? You hit 'em with something they can't dodge."
She gave him a confused look that begged for an explanation, but rather than answer her question, he raised one arm to mirror her. His hand ignited into flame as he channelled his magic, but as he took aim at one of the demons, he gave the magic a little twist. A fiery bolt leapt forth, leaving a blazing trail as it flew through the air. His target saw through the attack, swerved to avoid it, causing the projectile to miss narrowly.
Fortunately, he had accounted for this. Just as the fireball passed the creature, he gave a mental command and the flux of unstable magic detonated, enveloping the demon in flame. It emerged a second later, barely singed by his flames, but at the end of the day, Natsu hadn't been expected to kill it.
"These things aren't fast enough to dodge a wide-area attack," Natsu explained, having delivered his demonstration. "Play around with your magic a little… maybe you can manage something like that."
Mirajane murmured an acknowledgement, before attempting to recreate his feat. She took a few seconds to focus her mind, fire off one shot, then a second, then a third, with mixed results. From the fourth shot onwards, she managed to achieve something that could be considered fairly successful and again, the demon's numbers began to thin as she continued to bombard them with deadly attacks. Now only half a dozen remained.
Natsu grinned triumphantly, confident that victory was within their grasp. Most of the demons had already fallen and those that remained looked sluggish and insignificant, weakened by his own constant draining of their energy. Curiously, their appearances had reverted somewhat to their previous form, prior to merging with the elementals.
All of a sudden, he sensed a change within their demons. Their movements faltered for a mere second, before synchronising with each other. Then, as one, they dived towards himself and Mirajane. Without a moment's thought, Natsu stepped forward to challenge them, fire blazing around him in a raging inferno. But the demons didn't meet his challenge, rather, they streamed right past him…
Stunned, Natsu failed to realise his mistake until it was too late. Kicking himself for not seeing through the ploy, he turned around, only to see the demons rush Mirajane. She completely disappeared from his sight as the demons swarmed her and started contorting into a single deformed mass, swallowing her whole.
"Mirajane!" Natsu screamed, drove his hands into the mound of flesh, digging deep. But his delving hands met nothing but the pudgy sensation of the demon's semi-corporeal body. No matter how much he wailed, begged, pleaded, Mirajane remained out of reach. Briefly, he contemplated blasting the demons away with his magic, before realising that he was more likely to harm Mirajane than help her. Overcome with his feelings of helplessness, he relinquished the last spark of hope within him.
It seemed as if the demons revelled in his despair. The undulating body before him looked as if it was dancing, taunting him. He could only imagine what horrible things were happening to Mirajane inside. A ripple passed across the monstrosity's skin, it's entire body shuddering violently. Suddenly, the mass expanded and separated back into the individuals that had formed it. The demons wriggled, as if trying to extricate themselves, yet it appeared that something wouldn't let them. Some unknown force pulled them inward, denying their escape. As Natsu watched in disbelief, the demons began to wither before his very eyes and eventually vanished into wisps of shadow. Even those fine slivers of their remains dissipated, at which point, he saw what had become of young Mirajane. Somehow, it seemed as if she had gone through another transformation, becoming almost unrecognisable from the person she had been before.
Her right forearm looked exactly as it had before, but now the rest of her body had taken on a similarly demonic appearance. Her once pale skin had turned dark and withered away, giving her an emaciated look more suitable to a corpse than a living being. Dark hair splayed out behind her, an unkempt mane that was black as night, yet flickered with purple highlights when the light caught it a certain way. Her upper body with covered in scales that glistened with a metallic green sheen, while her lower half was clad in insectile plates. Her once form-fitting clothes were now ragged and hung loosely from her frame.
Mirajane stood still for the longest time but eventually turned, transfixing him with her inhuman gaze, soulless eyes staring. Dark as the void, those eyes lacked any trace of the emotion they had once held.
"Mirajane," Natsu said warily. "Are you alright?"
His body was tense, prepared to fight if need be. Unfortunately, he couldn't rule that out as a possibility.
The… thing before him stared at him for several seconds, but eventually shook its head slowly by means of response.
"I've been better." Its voice was deeper than he'd expected and slightly gravelly, but it was still Mirajane's voice. She looked down at herself. "What just happened?"
"You tell me. Pretty sure you already know the answer."
She took a deep, shaky breath. "The demons… they tried to possess me, didn't they? I couldn't… couldn't let them do it. So I fought back and I…"
"...Used Take-over on 'em instead," Natsu finished, finally relaxing. "Good thing you managed to use your magic, huh? Things mighta gone badly if you hadn't."
Mirajane snickered, more out of relief than amusement. Slowly, she shifted back to her human form, even her formerly-transformed right arm. The relief faded away, her face dropping. "Are you going to try and kill me again?" she asked.
"I wasn't tryin' ta kill you. Just wanted to open your eyes."
Mirajane slouched, her adrenaline levels dropping as he offered his assurance. "I see. You know, this doesn't change anything."
"Heh, I had a feeling that it wouldn't be enough to change your mind," he remarked bitterly. "But even if I helped you just a little bit, I guess that's enough. If you really want to leave, I won't stop you. It's your choice and you've gotta make it on your own."
With those words, he turned and made as if to leave.
"Wait a minute," Mirajane said. She stepped forward and he turned to face her. Abruptly, she swung, catching the side of his face with one fist. "There- that's for pulling that stunt earlier. Now we're even."
Natsu rubbed his face, already anticipating the bruise that would no doubt grace his face later on. "I guess that's fair."
'It's more than fair,' he thought. He turned to leave, for real this time, but paused as one last thought crossed his mind.
"I know that you think your magic somehow makes you… not human any more. But even after all that's happened today, I still don't think that."
"Oh? And why not?"
He shuffled his feet, as he tried to find the words to express his thoughts. "Dunno… guess I just feel that someone's magic doesn't make 'em good or bad. It just depends on what they do with it. I mean, even though we were fighting, in the end, you used your magic to protect yourself and me. You used it for something good."
He glanced at her face quickly, seeing that she had a contemplative expression.
"But that's not just true when it comes ta magic… but other things people do too. People choose whether to be good or bad. I guess I just can't help thinking that what you're doing now isn't right. I know I haven't known you, Lisanna or Elfman that long, but even I know how much you care about each other. You've gotta know better than me just how much they love you… so why?" Suddenly, it became hard to speak. "Why would you do this to them?"
"...I-"
"You have every right to walk away," he interrupted, still looking away from her. "But I can't help but think that if you walk away now, knowing how much they need you… then you really will be a monster."
Natsu had left the scene some time ago, yet despite that, Mirajane continued to stand stock-still. Unable to move, barely able to breathe even, she agonised over his scathing parting words.
"...if you walk away now, knowing how much they need you… then you really will be a monster."
It was funny, really. The fact that the young dragonslayer would say such words was interesting. After all, had he not gone through such a thing with Igneel, whom he considered to be his father? Perhaps for that same reason, those words had hit her a lot harder than they would have otherwise. He knew what it was like to be abandoned by someone you cared for.
Consequently, Mirajane felt conflicted. On the one hand, so desperately wanted to stay. On the other, dark thoughts in her mind told her to take flight and leave it all behind. To leave the crippling burden that had fallen onto her shoulders, her fear of rejection, the uncertain feelings that threatened to tear her heart to pieces.
Natsu's words had held weight indeed, but Mirajane had already made her decision. It would take more than that to make her change her mind… this just made leaving all that much harder. But still, she gathered her resolve, prepared to take the first step towards her new life, whatever that may entail.
Raising her eyes to the horizon, she started to walk away from the place that she had almost, almost started to think of as 'home'. But even as she walked away from everything that she cared about, something stopped her in her tracks.
A distant call, carried by the wind.
"Miraaa! Wait up."
It was a voice that Mirajane recognised, yet she wouldn't have expected to hear it here, of all places. She turned around and despite the darkness around her, she couldn't not recognise the figures that approached her at that moment. Running with reckless abandon, Lisanna and Elfman sprinted over to her, stumbling over the rocky ground.
Mirajane's brain fizzled out and ceased functioning as she attempted to comprehend what was going on. "Lisanna… Elfman…" she mumbled as they reached her. "What are you… wha-" Her eyes drifted past them, catching sight of Levy and Cana some distance away. The two young girls gave a small wave and smiled mysteriously, before stepping out of sight.
"Jeez, Mira! What were you thinking, running off when the weather's like this?" Lisanna chastised, pulling Mirajane's attention back. Her eyes grew wider as she noticed Mirajane's dishevelled state. "Oh my god, what happened to you?"
"I-"
"Never mind, we should go find somewhere safe."
Since Mirajane was still reeling from her siblings' unexpected arrival, Elfman and Lisanna managed to coax her into following them back down the road towards Magnolia, the two of them standing either side of her like sentinels. As they walked, Lisanna nattered about anything and everything, giving Mirajane no time to get a word in edgeways, while Elfman remained quiet, his gentle grip on her arm conveying just as much as words ever could. Eventually, Mirajane's head cleared enough for her to realise what they were doing- distracting her. Keeping her off-balance, in order to trick her into following them back to town. How crafty of them… times like this made her realise that she didn't give the two of them enough credit. Her little brother and sister were more grown-up than she'd thought…
Instead of resisting, she simply stopped walking. Lisanna ceased her chattering and Elfman let her arm slip from his grasp. The two of them turned back after taking a couple of steps as if this was something they'd expected. Not a single word passed their lips… they simply waited for her to speak.
"I… I can't go with you," Mirajane whispered quietly.
The two children… two youths rather, looked at her with a sad smile.
"Of course you can, big sis," Elfman said.
Lisanna nodded. "You're always welcome around us."
"No… you would be far better off if I wasn't around any more."
Lisanna laughed. "If that's meant to be a joke, it's a bad one."
"Yeah," Elfman echoed. "Sis, you protected us with your power when we needed you the most. We both feel bad that we never really told you how much it meant to us. But now, things are different… because we can always do the same for you, too."
"...What do you mean?" Mirajane asked, confused.
The two of them gave each other a smug, knowing look, before turning their attention back to her.
"We've been… working on something," Elfman said simply.
"Yeah, kinda like a project."
"If you can call practising a 'project'."
The two youngsters took a few steps back, striking a dramatic pose.
"Now, let us show you the result of our hard work!" Elfman exclaimed, Lisanna nodding along to his words. The two of them grew serious, their faces screwed up in concentration. Suddenly, a pulse of light emanated from the two of them, before dimming to a faint glow. The air around them eddied, making it appear as though space was bending around them. The light bloomed once again, so brightly that it was dazzling. And when the light finally faded away, Mirajane saw something that her mind struggled to accept.
Both of her siblings were… changed. Somehow, Lisanna had assumed the form of some sort of anthropomorphized cat, completely human in appearance, with the only exceptions being the addition of catlike ears and paws in place of her hands. Elfman, however, had undergone a far more dramatic change. Much like Mirajane's first transformation, his entire right arm had transformed, though in his case, it was that of a bear rather than a demon.
Mirajane gaped, disbelieving.
"They taught us these spells!" Elfman exclaimed.
"We both wanted to be more like you!" Lisanna confessed, her works hitting Mirajane in the heart like a physical blow. They would go this far, just for her sake? Did she really mean that much to them?
"I can only really make it work on one arm so far…"
"Cool, huh? I know you were feeling lonely before-"
"But now the three of us are just alike!" Elfman interrupted.
Mirajane wept openly now, unable to hold back the flood on emotions. "You're so sweet."
"We all have the same magic now."
"And it's super awesome!"
"Ready bro?"
"Oh yeah!"
The two of them concentrated once more, as they tried to return to their human forms. Unfortunately, when the light faded away, it appeared that they hadn't exactly been successful- Lisanna had instead transformed into a little piglet, while Elfman's arm had shifted to that of a giraffe.
"Ah! I think I messed up… I still need a lot more practice." Lisanna complained.
The two of them bemoaned their mutual slip-up as Mirajane looked on, still reeling from the unexpected demonstration. Abruptly, the gloom around her seemed to lighten, both figuratively and literally. She looked up to the sky, the faint glow of the moon greeting her, the clouds slowly parting as the storm around them came to an end. She stared in disbelief for a long moment, before bursting out laughing at the absurdity of it all. How could she possibly leave them now, after they'd done all this? Feeling lighter than she had in years, she howled at the moon, the drying tears on her cheeks already nothing more than a forgotten memory.
'I was scared at first… I didn't want this power. But I will do whatever it takes to protect my family. And if that means I have to be a monster or a demon… then so be it.'
Elfman and Lisanna looked at her in concern, bordering pure panic.
"I think she's lost it…" said Elfman to his little sister.
"Oh no!" Lisanna cried, grabbing hold of her older sister. "Snap out of it Mira, you can't go insane now!"
And so concludes the tale of how Mirajane decided to settle in Magnolia and dedicate herself to pursuing the path of wizardry. Content with the path she had chosen, she joined her siblings in returning to the dorms for the night, determined to start anew.
-March 16th X778-
"Erm… hi. I know I didn't give the best impression when I first got here, but I wanted to do things over."
It was morning, the day after Natsu and Mirajane's confrontation. As of that moment, the young lady in question was stood in the centre of the guildhall, surrounded by people, as she attempted to deliver the introduction that she had failed to give when she first arrived at the guild.
Natsu casually watched her from the bar as she bashfully reintroduced herself to the guild. Most likely she was remembering how she had acted previously and was feeling self-conscious about it. Even so, her earnest attempts to make amends seemed to be going well, as her reception was a lot warmer this time around.
"My full name is Mirajane Strauss… but if it's alright…" she started, fidgeting. "I'd really like it if you all called me 'Mira' instead."
She shuffled on the spot nervously, but relief washed over her as the people around her erupted into cheers. Her eyes wandered, meeting Natsu's for a moment. She smiled gently, before stiffening and looking away in a huff. Welp, guess she hadn't forgotten about their fight yesterday.
A small smirk graced his lips and he turned his attention back to the drink he was nursing in his hand. As usual, his plan had done just the job… even if things had gone a little differently than he'd expected.
"Hey kid," said Evie, the bartender from the night before. "What's with that mark on your face? Looks like you got hit by a sledgehammer."
"...Nothing much. Just an accident."
Some stories were better kept as secrets.
The young bartender gave him a disbelieving look, shrugged and walked off to serve another customer. Sighing to himself, he brushed one hand against his tender cheek, before forcing thoughts of Mira and demons from his mind, in favour of savouring his drink and new-found peace. Now that the issue had been resolved, he could relax, as surely things would be a lot calmer going forward.
Right?
And there we have it, one more chapter down. Not long now until we break the 100k words threshold for this story, how about that? As always, hope you enjoyed reading it.
I kinda had to make up some additional backstory for Mirajane is this chapter, because I was trying to make sense of the severe personality changes that she goes through. So essentially my way of interpreting it was, her rebellious teenager stage was her branching out and exploring her own identity, while prior to her parents passing, she acted as the perfect child in order to get their approval. Or something along those lines anyway. Believe it or not, coming up with the little poem to summarise all her personality traits was more difficult than writing pretty much anything else in this chapter.
Now, as for the things I said I wanted to talk about. The first thing is regarding the idea of starting a new story. I've noticed over time that it's gradually gotten a little harder to write this story- the words just don't seem to come as easily as they used to and I feel like I've fallen into a trap of writing repetitively, you know? Like it's not as fresh as it should be. And I think it's because I've been solely focused on this one story. Soooo, I'd like to start a second story and write it alongside this one, as I feel like alternating between the two will help me avoid falling into a mental rut.
I've gotten it into my head that I'd like to start a crossover story for Fate Stay/Night and the Percy Jackson books. I started reading a story by hahy4040 that explored this concept and I quickly found myself really interested in the idea. The writer put the story on a hiatus for a while as they weren't sure what direction they wanted to go, which was why I wanted to write my own version. However, they've actually started a new version that hopefully, they'll continue. It's called 'The Hero Remastered' if anyone is interested.
If anyone has any other ideas for stories that they'd like to see me write instead, drop a review or PM me and I'll have a look into it. I don't even mind taking a look at new fandoms that I'm unfamiliar with if there are some potentially interesting story ideas there.
The second thing I want to mention is, I've now set up a P.A.T.R.E.O.N. page for anyone who wants to support me in writing this story as well as others. Don't worry, there's no obligation to donate if you want to continue reading and I'm not going to continually shove it on your faces either. But if it is something you're interested in, the link to my creator page is at the bottom of my profile, so feel free to check it out. Donations start from as little as $1, so it's not something that's gonna break the bank or anything, plus donators receive a few perks depending on which donation tier they select.
Right, I think that's everything from me. As always, thanks for reading, please consider dropping a review to let me know what you liked/disliked etc. Until next time. Ciao!