afterglow | natsu x reader

Chapter 3: Grimoire Heart

"So Elfman and Evergreen are getting married?" I ask. Mira as she tells us how Elfman and Evergreen made it past her. "I think they just told me that to get me off guard. I was surprised, but I don't really see it happening." She answers.

"I don't see them as anything besides friends." Lisanna tells us.

"Wait so when and where are Evergreen and Elfman getting married?" Erza asks, like she heard nothing of what Mira just said.

"They're not. They used it as a distraction and I was left wide open. Pretty smart idea." Mira answers.

"What if it wasn't some way to distract you and they're actually getting married?" I imply as I start cutting up some vegetables.

"I seriously doubt that. They don't seem to match in my head." Mira says.

"Just imagine them married and with a baby..." Erza says and we all picture a baby girl with Elfman's face. The thought of it made Mira cry. We start to joke about it until Juvia says, "Mest and Wendy haven't made it back yet."

"That's true. Maybe they're a bit lost, I'm sure they'll find their way eventually." Lisanna says.

"I will go look for them." Juvia stands up and is about to walk off until Erza removes her apron and says she'll come along too. With my amazing hearing I'm able to hear Juvia says, "I was going to ditch them and cheer on for my beloved Gray."

I laugh to myself and continue gossiping with Mira and Lisanna. We discuss all sorts of topics like Gray and Juvia, Lucy and Loke, Erza and possibly Jellal, Happy and Carla, Bonnie and Lily, all very interesting topics.

"What about you and Natsu?" Lisanna coo'es.

"Are you out of your mind? He clearly doesn't like me!" I tell them and they both sigh.

"Y'know it's pretty obvious that the two of you have feelings for each other. Maybe you should try telling him." Mira tells me.

"Maybe he does have feelings for me, but I don't ever see Natsu as someone who would like to be in a relationship." I tell them.

-

"I think it's taking Erza and Juvia a long time to return with Mest and Wendy..." I say. I finish my soup and stand up from my seat. "I'm going to go look for them as well." I announce.

"You should go. Lisanna and I will stay here in case they come back." Mira says. I nod and leave base to search for them.

-

I start to think about Mest and Wendy. As I think about it more though, I don't really know much about Mest. Maybe he joined after I left, but Lucy didn't say anything about him. Not knowing anything about me bothers me, since he's alone with Wendy right now.

As I'm walking, I feel something collide with the back of my head, knocking me over. "What the hell?!" I yell and when I turn around to figure out what hit me, it was Bonnie.

"Bonnie?! What are you doing here?" I ask and help her up. She flies eye level to me. "Carla and Lily had a bad feeling about Mest, but I had a bad feeling about you, so I tagged along with them." She explains.

"About me? Why?" I ask.

"Your mag-" As she's about to tell me, a red flare shoots up in the sky.

"We're under attack?" I say to myself then, "Mest! We have to find Mest, Bon Bon!" I say and start running with Bonnie flying beside me. As we're running, guards appear in our way. Out of nowhere.

"What the-" I cut myself off when more start circling us. "The emblem on their mask, where have I seen it before?" I ask Bonnie.

"The library in Crocus! When investigating the Baram Alliance. I can't remember if this is Grimoire Heart or Tartaros." She responds. "Definitely Grimoire Heart. Their emblem shapes a heart." Bonnie says after getting a better look.

We were too distracted talking that we didn't notice that they were coming right us. Before one of them struck Bonnie with their sword, I got in front of her and caught the sword with my hands before it hit her.

"Bonnie, look for Wendy and Mest." I order. She doesn't for a second, "I'll be fine." I assure her and with that, she's off. I grab the sword from the guard and snap it with my knee. Then they all start charging at me at the same time.

When they're all close to me, I blast a large amount of fire energy to push them off and they go flying. "That was easy." I say to early because more start to come. If they're as easy as the ones I just took out, this should be no problem.

From one side, one of them shoots water at me, another shoots fire, one shoots rocks, and once they're close enough to me, I start sucking it all up. Taste nasty, but I mean, food is food.

"Roar of the: Elemental Dragon!" I say and they all get blown away. More guards come. They're not strong, they're just a lot. If more keeping at this rate, then I'll pass out from using too much magic.

"I've heard of her before!" One of the guards says and lunges at me. Before he reaches me, I kick him in the stomach and flies, knocking over some of the other guards.

"What have you heard?" I ask.

"You're The Black Dragon." One of them answers.

"Cool nickname." I say.

"Y'know if we don't find Zeref, your head is the next best thing." Another says and they all lunge at the same time. I managed to jump and do, "Fire Dragon: Brilliant Flame." And again, they're gone. I land and more come.

The Black Dragon.

I place my hand on the ground and they're all trapped in water bubbles. Sort of like Juvia's Water Lock. I walk up to one of the guards.

"You ruined someone very important... why are you guys here?" I ask. They stay silent, refusing to answer me. "Fine, I'll freeze you all to death." I say and slowly all the bubbles start freezing.

"Wait! No! Zeref! He's on this island and we're here to find him." The guard tells me. My eyes widen, Zeref? On Tenrou? Impossible.

I push the bubbles off the cliff and into the water below. "I have to tell the others." I tell myself and start running before more guards can appear. However I'm stopped when a huge tree starts growing from underneath me.