afterglow | natsu x reader

Chapter 44: Sign of Rebellion

A/N: I have decided to write the Eclipse arc because if I went straight to Tartaros, then the book would end too soon.

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"Whoa! It's empty!" I state as Lucy, Bonnie, Happy, Natsu, and I all enter the Fairy Tail guild. The guild has never been so quiet. We all walk up the counter and Natsu asks Mira, "Is everyone out on a job?"

"Yup! There's been strange weather lately, you know? Natural disasters, too. So we've been getting job requests from villages and towns all over." Mira answers.

"There must be a ton of work then!" Natsu says.

"Let's check out the request board!" I suggest.

Lucy chimes in, "This is perfect for me! If the heats's got someone down, I'll just have Aquarius cool 'em off with water!"

Mira bursts Lucy's bubble, "Oh, Gray and Juvia already took that job."

"Reconstruction work would be perfect for a brawny spirit like Taurus!"

Again, someone took a job like that. Erza.

Mira starts telling us about the other jobs taken.

"Is Nab out for a job too?!" I ask. Mira denies and tells me he's stuck in bed after reading too many horror novels. I look through the board and see nothing.

"No worries! I saved a job just for you, Lucy!"
Mira tells us and we all feel discouraged. Mira hands us the sheet, "It's from a seaside village called Seabellus. Reward is pretty nice."

"Then let's get to it!" Bonnie says.

> time skip

"Everytime..." Bonnie sighs as Natsu lays his head on my lap from motion sickness.

"2 more hours!" I try to encourage Natsu, but instead it does the opposite. I look at the job in Lucy's hand. Celestial wizard needed. A bit weird, but oh well. A bit specific. Makes me wonder if Sabertooth also got the same job request.

We take a carriage up to the village after getting off the train. When we make it to the "village" though, we all see nothing but sand and water. I start to smell something and before I could do anything, some sort of sea slug comes out the ocean.

Bonnie, Lucy, and Happy all scream and we all start running. Lucy steps into the water and places her Aquarius key in it, "Open! Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!" Nothing happens. Bonnie, Happy, and I all look at each other a bit confused. Lucy tries again and nothing happens. The water slug was ready to attack us when I heard Natsu say, "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" And Natsu went into the sea slug's mouth.

We all scream. "It ate Natsu!" Happy cries. Lucy pulls out another key, Taurus' key. I step forward and open my mouth, inhaling the air and water. "Roar of the Water Sky Dragon!" I say and shoot a blast of blue energy from my mouth.

My attack does nothing and Lucy couldn't open Taurus' gate. We hear Natsu scream from inside the sea slug and fire shoots from its mouth. It also spits out Natsu. Lucy tries every key. Right as the sea slug is about to eat Lucy, Natsu and I take the chance. "Fire Dragon's roar!" We say together. It shoots into the sea slug's open mouth and it starts growing bubbles and it's sent flying.

Lucy sits on the sand and sets out all her keys. "What's wrong?" Bonnie asks her.

"Why couldn't I summon my celestial spirits?" Lucy questions. We then all sit out as Lucy tries to open any gate. The golden keys wouldn't open.

"How about a silver key?" Bonnie suggests. Lucy nods and pulls out a silver key, "Open, Gate of the Souther Cross! Crux!" And it opens. Once Crux is opened, he immediately falls over. We all run to his aid.