BOOK 1 - Fairy Tail (Pirates) AU: The Curse of the Black Fairy

CHAPTER XIII: The Captain of the Black Fairy

<< The next day back at Magnolia>>

    A whole bunch of people had gathered inside the fort of Magnolia. Men, women, children, elders... They were all in the main courtyard along with lots of guard officers waiting for an event to begin: the execution of a pirate... Of Natsu Dragneel to be precise.

    Just as the pinkette assumed, Gray and Levy's crimes were forgiven for having supposedly helped in his capture. In fact, they were also present there. And the truth is that their conscience was starting to feel very heavy.

    "I never thought it would end like this" Gray said with a troubled expression. "That idiot was a hell of annoying... but still..."

    "Yeah, I know..." Levy replied in the same manner. "If only there was something we could do. I know how troublesome he is, but to see one of my oldest friends die... It still hurts"

    Everyone then silenced as Natsu entered the courtyard at that moment. He was being escorted by a couple of Fiore's guard officers, his judge, and also his hangman. The one who was going to pull the lever to leave him hanging until death.

    "It's not fair" Lucy claimed.

She was standing right next to her father and commodore Loke. These 2 actually heard what the blondie said and couldn't help but to oppose her opinion. "Commodore Loke follows the law, Lucy. And so do we" Jude replied firmly.

The blondie then remained there without saying another word. Just staring at the brave, silly and kind-hearted pirate who was about to be executed. After that, Natsu's judge stepped up front and began mentioning a long list about the many crimes Natsu had committed throughout his life: lies, robbery, slander, fraud, blackmail... The list went on and on.

But even with all that, Lucy's perception of the pinkette boy wasn't changing one bit. Unlike most of the people present there, she knew his true nature. She knew he was a good man on the inside, and she couldn't agree at all with his death.

Gray too was starting to feel the urge of intervening. Now that he knew his father was a pirate and that he, himself, descended from pirates, his perception about them changed drastically. Not all of them were bad people. Not all of them were cold-blooded killers and thieves. And Natsu was the clear proof of it.

At that moment, Gray looked at the sky for a moment. He was trying to figure out what to do. But then, his doubts disappeared the moment he saw what seemed like a flying cat very up in the air.

"Levy... Stay here" Gray said as Levy startled.

Gray went into the wide crowd of people and started pushing everyone,  making his own way through. He was also causing a lot of havoc all around. Loke and Jude noticed it and were just about to intervene. But then, Lucy caught a glimpse of the flying blue cat as well and realized what was going on.

"I... I can't breath" Lucy said as she passed out.

Loke and Jude immediately went to help her. But then, the blondie woke up in one go again. She was just pretending, and the only thing she wanted was to make time.

The executioner pulled the lever at that moment, but Gray too threw his sword and prevented Natsu from falling into his death. The pinkette struggled to maintain his balance over the sword. Then, Gray stepped up front and pushed the executioner, who ended up falling over commodore Loke.

At the same time, the rope hanging Natsu from his neck broke. The pinkette was free at last. He landed on the floor and then used the edge of Gray's sword to free his hands from their restraints. After that, he picked up the rope and headed to the fight.