After completely losing Natsu and Juvia's scent, Wendy had decided to call Gajeel anyway to try and aid them in their search. After almost an hour of waiting, the iron dragon slayer rolled up with Lily by his side and an unimpressed facial expression. His arms were crossed over as he looked stern and hard. The others didn't really know what to say.
"First of all, let's trace them to the last place you think you could smell them. How far out do you think they were?" Gajeel didn't even bother addressing the other members of Team Natsu as he only looked at Wendy for his answers.
The girl nodded, happy that Gajeel was here. He was practically her big brother, and while he seemed to intimidate most, she loved the feeling of security that he gave to her. He was protective and very elder brotherly like, that's probably why he wasn't impressed that Juvia, a younger sister of his had gone missing.
"I think they were around five miles out north east when I finally lost them. I'm sorry for disappointing you."
She bowed her head and willed herself not to cry. Carla tugged at her hand as if to give her comfort, while Erza hung her head in shame, still remembering the events that had happened earlier on that day. Gajeel just patted her head gently, making her look up at him.
"Hey, I can't even smell them at all anymore. Whoever is using this magic to mask them is doing it really well. Don't worry, we'll get them back. I guess it was a good thing you selfish bastards went after them then."
Gray frowned. "How are we selfish bastards?! All we wanted to do was help out!"
"Yeah, on a mission that had nothing to do with you. You might see it as doing them a favour, but it was for your own personal gain. Anyway, let's head north east and see if we might get any clues from around there, I'm not gonna stand here and argue."
With that, he turned his back on them and lily didn't miss a beat as Gajeel started walking away. Wendy glanced at Carla who did the same back to her and they started following the older dragon slayer. The other three had never been so ashamed of themselves. Lucy slipped her hand into gray's and he squeezed it tight as they followed on wards. They couldn't use the carriage because that would mean Gajeel would be throwing up and trojia no longer worked on him.
They all carried on in silence, only Gajeel and Wendy talking to each other about the direction they needed to head in. They finally got to a house where it looked like there had been a war. There were scorch marks everywhere and it was all burnt. Some places were even still soaking wet and all their eyes widened. Erza stepped forwards.
"It seems like they were well and truly attacked. Surely they must have won and continued on, right?"
There was just no way that any of them would accept that Juvia and Natsu lost to another bunch of mages and would have then been kidnapped, that was just an absurd thought. Gajeel took a deep breath in and looked over at Wendy who was giving him a puzzled look.
"Do you know whose scent this is?"
Wendy shook her head. "No, I'm not really aware of it. Do you know whose it is?"
Gajeel nodded his head very gravely as he went on walking towards the house. Lily followed him as they took cautious steps before the others behind ran to catch up with him.
"This smells like that old man...You know, the guild master to Grimoire Heart."
Lucy gasped. "Hades?!"
"That's the one. I wonder what they were doing out here in the first place. Pretty sure that old timer's dead anyway, so it couldn't have been him. His magic lives on though, maybe it has something to do with that..."
"Gajeel, I hear a person moving inside!"
Erza made a stern look as she ran in front of everyone else to pull the guy out. Everyone waited by the door before they saw Erza wearing a panicked expression, as she held up a guy who seemed to be sobbing and leaning on her for support.
"Thank you for finding me, I thought I was going to die!"
"Sir, can you tell us what happened?"
"Yeah, did you see a guy named Natsu and a girl called Juvia? D'you know where they might be?"
The man rubbed his head and stopped his tears as he asked to be gently put down. Wendy's healing instincts kicked in as she started healing the man of any injuries. Gajeel grumbled that he was going to go into the house and look for a few clues and Lily went to join him. Happy was impatient, waiting for the man to talk so that he could tell them where his companion went.
"We were attacked. My master hired Juvia and Natsu to transport the book of E.N.D. to this house-"
"Why this house though?"
Everyone's eyes swiveled to Gray as he asked the question, throwing them out of the story. They all glared and he waved his hands in front of him in surrender. "Hey, it was Gajeel who said that it smells like Hades! I just wanted to know what was so special about this house!"
The butler nodded. "Yes, my master, Yato, is indeed related to Hades. They are distant cousins, but blood all the same. Not sure if you've noticed, but Hades' magic does continue to live on, and as my master has no magic to protect himself, it would make sense to leave it in a house where the demons can't get into. Hades would have protected the book."
"Book? What book? Why do I feel like there's a big secret where us as mages actually need to know what's going on?"
Everyone hummed in agreement with Lucy's words as the butler sighed.
"I'll just do my best to explain all that I know then. Please, no interruptions." He waited for them all to nod in agreement and he nodded back. "Many of you know about Zeref, the strongest dark mage to ever live. We all know of the demons that he has roaming around earthland. Those demons were actually made in order to kill him, but they also ran amok and attacked humans. There is one hidden demon that needs to have the whole words of a book read to them in order to awaken them. That is the book of E.N.D. The lucky thing about this book is that it's written in Mildian language which is now a dead tongue, rendering Zeref worshippers useless in the enchanting."
The man coughed and Wendy patted his back for him. He shot her a grateful look. "I don't actually think that even Zeref's demons are able to enchant it, but that I'm not quite sure on. I do know that my master is from a long line of Mildian readers, where they have kept the language alive in their households. That's probably why my master was taken away."
The man's shoulders sunk and he held his head low. "Then I woke up to see neither the carriage or my other colleague here."
"That's because they knocked you guys out with this assassin's bomb." Gajeel exited from the house with Lily behind him as he held up the case. Lily spoke.
"Judging from how empty it is, I'm going with the fact that they used every last drop of it as well. The others probably all breathed it in and are heavily knocked out. Gajeel said that this stuff could keep you asleep for hours. Anyone with any magic within them wouldn't be able to use magic for the next 24 hours, but seeing as you're not able to use magic anyway, you're fine."
The man sighed and nodded. Suddenly, there was a sound of hooves heading towards them and everyone got in stance to see what was heading their way. They stopped short when they noticed that it was just a horse and the man stood up, smiling a little bit.
"Byron! That's one of the two horses that we had, it seems like he got away. Here boy!"
The horse ran around in panic, but was starting to calm down when he saw the butler and headed towards him slowly. The butler stroked the stallion's head to calm him down and whisper to him. The horse made soft noises and the butler nodded his head and gasped.
Erza raised an eyebrow and nodded at him. "What is the horse saying?"
The others looked at her weirdly and Erza shrugged. "There are some people that although have no magic, they have other talents. My guess is that he's a horse whisperer. He must be getting the information out of him."
They all waited for the man to be done before he turned around to them with a grave face. "Byron spoke of how they stopped here to put everything away when Juvia was feeding him. He ran off but watched from the trees of how Juvia was attacked by a man who looked like a crossbreed of a human and a jackal. He and Juvia fought, but he has some type of exploding magic and overwhelmed her. He is from a guild called Tartaros and mentioned that he is one of the 9 demons gates.
"Eventually, Natsu came out of the building after the canister was thrown inside and he got mad when he saw an unconscious Juvia in Jackal's hand. He slammed her face first to the ground and Natsu attacked him for that. Natsu would have won as well, but it seemed as if Natsu had breathed in too much of the smoke to stay standing. He too fell, and a woman came out from the carriage. She must have sensed the other butler inside and her magic turns people to do things against their will. She sent him to drag out Master Yato's body and then they took the carriage and went on their way."
Everyone was silent as they realised that he had gotten all that information by talking to a horse. They ignored that and noticed that the worse was still making grunts. "What's he saying now?"
The man jumped at the sound of Lucy's voice and his eyes widened before they went back to normal, that Lucy thought she was imagining it.
"Oh, Byron is much afraid, especially since the other horse is his wife." The horse bumped his nose onto the butler's head, but paid no attention. What the horse had told him after was disturbing news that he wasn't sure whether or not he should tell the other mages. It would be wise if he did, but by the sounds of it, it wasn't Natsu's fault and he knew that he was a great mage. He wouldn't let this news taint his mind.
"Byron mentioned that they went off into that direction over there."
They saw where he was pointing and they nodded. Gray stepped forward to the man. "Okay, we think it's best you get Byron back home and you guys stay there. We can handle it from here. We thank you for your help."
Happy piped up. "Don't forget Byron's help."
They all laughed, trying to make the situation a light one after the bad news of the kidnapping. The man nodded before they headed towards the house.
"I'll just get a few supplies and a saddle to ride with him. What are you guys going to do?"
Gajeel crossed his arms over his chest as he stood next to Wendy who hadn't had the heart to look cheerful all day.
"We'll wait for the 24 hours to be up before their scent goes live for us to follow again. Right now, we have no idea what way they went. Unless I go on ahead and see if there are any people who might have spotted them."
The man shook his head. "There are no more people from here on out. As you can probably tell, Hades just wanted peace and quiet away from everyone. He rarely came here, but when he did, he didn't want anyone around him, hence why there's no people."
Gajeel nodded. "Looks like we're staying here until the 24 hours is up then. Thanks for your time."
"No problem. Please, alert me when you've found everyone."
"We shall sir, you can rely on us."
The man nodded. "Thank you, Titania. Thank you all of you."
The man rode off while the others stayed back. They glanced at one another and Gajeel nodded. "Now, we wait."
When Natsu woke up, He was staring at the ceiling. He groaned as he stood up, his muscles roaring that he shouldn't do so and he ran his hand through his hair. The events of the kidnapping came back to him and he quickly looked around him, wondering where the hell he was.
He looked around for Juvia and noticed her lying on her front in the cell next to him. She was against the bars closest to him and he swore before practically crawling over to her. "J-Juvia. Juvia, wake up. Juvia!"
He shook the female mage gently through the cold bars of the cell and he gritted his teeth, trying to shake her awake. "Juvia, please, you've gotta wake up!"
The girl finally stirred and she moaned out loud, making Natsu sigh in relief that she was at the very least alive. Her breathing had been really faint and Natsu panicking couldn't really make him hear her. She slowly opened her eyes and found that Natsu was staring right at her, worry marring his face. She couldn't move, her body was so sore from the fight that she had had with Jackal.
"N-Natsu. Where are we?"
Natsu looked around and shrugged helplessly. "I've got no clue Juve, but I'm pretty sure they captured us while we were knocked out. I'm so sorry I couldn't get to you in time when you were fighting Jackal. Maybe if I had been listening out for them, I would have managed to get to you on time and we wouldn't be here."
Juvia smiled lightly and shook her head a little bit. "No Natsu, it's fine, please don't blame yourself. Juvia wonders what they want with us though, Juvia thought they would have just grabbed the book and left us alone. What do we have to do with it?"
Natsu shook his head and sighed. He saw Juvia wince as she sat up slowly and he remembered how Jackal had just slammed her into the ground head first. His anger was boiling up as he clenched his fists. He couldn't even feel his fire around him, it was like they took it, making him all the more angry.
Juvia looked at him and held his hand through the bars. Natsu looked up at her as she threw him a smile that made his anger diminish. He locked his fingers within hers and gave her a smile back. "It will be okay, Natsu. We're members of Fairy Tail, nothing can keep us here. The others will find us, and even if they don't, we're strong enough ourselves to find a way to get out of here."
Natsu grinned at Juvia's words of encouragement and nodded his head. "Yeah, you're right!"
They heard another groan their heads snapped towards the sound of it. Opposite their cell was Yato. He was just coming to after being knocked out by the sleeping gas. They other two crawled their way to the front of their cell to get his attention.
"Yato! Yato, are you okay?"
"Do I look okay to you guys?" He snapped at them before sighing. "They already knew where I was going to be heading and they came to take the book."
"Okay, they've got the book, but what do they need you for?"
"Despite them being Zeref's demons and being created by him themselves, he didn't actually give them the ability to read the Mildian language. The Mildian empire was destroyed, except from my family. My ancestor was a quadruplet. At the time, most men who didn't go into magic, had to become warriors and go for their coming of age ceremony. Before that was to happen, they had to travel and learn what is was to become a man. This meant that my ancestor and his 3 brothers weren't around at the time of when Zeref's curse killed everyone in the land. That made the four of them the last Mildian survivors, alongside Zeref of course."
Juvia nodded her head, understanding the situation. "So because of that, Juvia guessing that they kept the Mildian language alive through their families, therefore passing it on for many generations. Is Yato the last one?"
"No, I'm very sure that I have more family members somewhere, but as I said before, we're dying off one by one. Probably something to do with this guild. My best guess is that when they get a lead of one of my relatives, they try and see if they have the book of E.N.D. If not, they kill them anyway."
They heard a noise and when they both looked up, they saw Natsu had punched the wall. "Well, that's gonna have to stop. There's gonna be no more killing, I'm gonna make sure I put a stop to that."
Juvia smiled at Natsu determination and nodded. "Right! And Juvia's going to help." She watched as Natsu turned back to face her and when she saw the look in his eyes, she couldn't help but blush and turn away. Sometimes, when they looked at each other, she got this intense wave of feelings just rush over her and it was overwhelming.
"Well well well, look who's finally woken up."
Their heads snapped up as they turned to the door of the cellar. Natsu growled and even Juvia had a look of anger written across her face. Natsu was up against the cell bars, grasping it in his hands and shaking the bars, trying his best to rip them down.
"Jackal, why don't you let us go and we have that fight of ours, huh?"
"Well, you've still got no magic for a few hours, so what fun would that be? Either way, I would still cream you, you weakling."
"Jackal, stop antagonising him. Lord E.N.D. it's a pleasure to meet you."
Yato, Natsu and Juvia blinked at Seilah's words. Natsu raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh, my name's Natsu, what are you talking about?"
Jackal laughed and even Seilah smirked. Juvia was looking at Natsu while Yato's eyes widened in fear. "N-no! You don't really mean it!"
Jackal laughed even harder. "He gets it! Oh this is great, such a plot twist! Everyone's gonna be shocked about this one! Natsu Dragneel is E.N.D himself! Even if you're pathetic guild were to come and find you, will they still want you after they find out that you're actually a demon?"
Natsu frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about, are you tryna get into my head?! Open this fucking cell for me now and I'll beat you to a pulp!"
"Natsu...it's true."
They all looked at Yato who was staring at the floor, almost as if he were afraid to look into natsu's eyes. Natsu faltered. Yato's actions were too genuine for him to be lying and he could hear his heart pounding from fear. Juvia shook her head in disbelief as she let out a hushed, "what?"
"E.N.D. is a demon that has been sealed away for many years. No one knows who he or she is. All we know is that as soon as the whole book has been chanted to them, it will reawaken their true form, reinstating them as the demon they were made to be. There is no reason for you and Juvia to be here unless one of you would have been E.N.D. I'm here to translate the book, you're here-"
"NO!"
Everyone in the room turned to look at Juvia. Her head was down as her hair covered her face. She was vibrating with visible anger and her fists were clenched so tightly by her side, that she drew blood.
"No," she said once more. "There is no way that Natsu is E.N.D. Juvia won't believe it! Natsu is the kindest person Juvia knows. His heart is large, and he's always proving people wrong. He knows how to laugh and how to make someone's spirits feel lifted after they've been kicked down. Natsu is the epitome of a loving Nakama and you're standing there, trying to tell Juvia that Natsu is E.N.D? Please, save the bullshit for someone else!"
Seilah who was usually the calm one, stood in front of Juvia's cell and stared at her, unspoken rage in her eyes, though her face was calm. Juvia reflected that look as they stood there face to face.
"We may be demons, but we do not lie and we certainly do not lie like you humans do, in order to make people feel better. We do not sugarcoat the truth, we are blunt with it. It's not my fault that your emotions are clouding you judgement and ruling you. Natsu here is indeed E.N.D. His name is Etherious Natsu Dragneel, hence the initials. I'm not here to make you feel hope, little girl, we are here to collect what we need to kill Zeref."
Juvia was taken aback by the end part as she raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"It's as I told you guys before Juvia. Zeref made his demons in order to kill him, but because they're demons, they've also run amok and gained a dislike for humans. Zeref has programmed them to take him out, as well as wipe out humanity in order to start all over."
Juvia remembered the history that Yato had told them and she nodded. She noticed Seilah smirking and she reached out through the bars to touch her. Juvia smacked her hand away from her and growled. Natsu growled as well. No one was to touch Juvia.
"You would make a fine demon. I like your attitude. How would you like to become a demon with us? You will not be part of the destruction that we are about to rain down on you humans. No, you shall be exempt from this, as well as able to stay by Natsu's side, seeing as you are fond of him."
"Why would Juvia want to do that. We're going to be getting out of here soon, so the only time that Juvia will be by Natsu's side is back in Fairy Tail, after we've defeated you guys."
Jackal yawned loudly. "Soooo typical. We knew you were gonna say that, but don't worry. We always get what we want into the end, there's nothing you can do to stop us."
Juvia looked over at Natsu who was staring at Jackal. They were magicless and Yato wasn't even a fighter, talk less of able to use magic. How were they going to get out of this one? She didn't want to believe it, she really didn't. There was no way that Natsu could be a demon, there wasn't!
"You must be hungry. I'll have Lamy bring in some food for you all. Rest well, we have a big enchantment ahead of us soon."
Juvia there and then decided that she didn't like it when Seilah wasn't showing them a blank face. She looked absolutely creepy and she looked like the sort of demon who can get things done in a very precise way. Her smirk brought that of promise, not a threat.
Both demons left and Juvia felt like she could suddenly breathe again. She looked up at Yato who was staring at Natsu. She noted that he longer has fear written in eyes, but more of remorse. Juvia could understand why in his situation. He had no magic to protect himself. The demons could easily take him and make him read the book.
She turned to Natsu who was just standing there, staring at nothing. Juvia's heart broke for him as tears started welling up in her eyes. She rubbed at her eyes furiously and scolded herself mentally. Now was not the time to cry, she had to stay strong for Natsu.
"Natsu..."
"Juvia, I want you to run. When we get our magic back, you've gotta go. Take Yato with you and go. I'll try my best to be a distraction so that they don't get Yato and that he doesn't read that book."
Juvia gasped and held onto the bars as she shouted at Natsu. "How could Natsu say that? Juvia isn't leaving Natsu here! We can get out of here together, the three of us!"
Natsu turned his head to Juvia in anger. "It's no use! If you stay back and fight, who's going to take care of getting Yato out of here? There's nine of those strong demons, and I bet that every other member of this guild has already been turned into a demon! Yato could get ambushed by one of them! Just THINK!"
Juvia stared at Natsu in shock as he had yelled at her and she diverted his eyes. Yato sat there not looking at them. It was awkward for him to be in such a situation and he tried to stay out of it, though it was hard because it was about him.
Natsu finally realised what he had done and sighed. "I-I'm sorry for shouting."
"No, it's fine, Juvia is just having a hard time believing all this. Juvia doesn't want to believe it at all. Is there no other way to get out? Can't we think of something better?"
Natsu sighed and walked towards Juvia. He put his hand through the space in the bars and cupped the back of Juvia's head and he rested his forehead against hers, bars on either side of their heads. Juvia closed her eyes as she could feel the tears starting to build up once more. She had to stop them falling. She wanted to nothing more than cling to him and cry, but she had to be strong. Now was not the time to cry.
"I'll try and think of a better way, but for now, this is all I've got. It'll be okay."
They heard the door open up again and some smallish looking girl with rabbit ears and a lab coat came rushing in. She took one look at Natsu and started swooning with the trays of food in her hands.
"Wow, no one told me that E.N.D was this hot! Oh Master, I can't wait to get to know you!" She then noticed how close Natsu was with Juvia and her eyes flashed green with envy, almost throwing down the food.
"You slut, how dare you touch my Endykins?!"
Juvia rolled her eyes at her and ignored her before staring up at Natsu. She blushed at how close they were together and how he was staring into her eyes, showing her signs of promise. They were going to be okay if she cooperated. It will be fine, Natsu will get out safely and if anything, she will leave Yato somewhere safe and go back in to help him, simple!
"Here's your food old man." They watched Lamy open the door to Yato's cell and slide his tray across the floor before closing it off again. She turned around to face Juvia and Juvia knew instantly that she was debating on whether or not she should give some food to her. Juvia would have laughed at her jealousy, had they been in a very different situation.
After a mental debate, she saw Lamy grumble to herself and she opened the door and pushed her tray across the floor. Before anyone knew what was going on, Juvia had already knocked the little demon out. All three of them blinked at one another before Juvia grabbed the food and threw Lamy inside her cell and locked it.
Natsu was jumping up and down in excitement as Juvia unlocked his and Yato's cell, the three of them looking at each other in shock.
"I can't believe you just did that Juvia! You knocked her out so easily!"
"That was quite extraordinary!"
Juvia shrugged, her cheeks flushed from the adrenaline rushing through her. "Juvia wasn't really thinking! She made Juvia so mad and Juvia knew that she probably wasn't expecting an attack from us, seeing as we have no magic. She must have thought she was safe. Grab your food, we don't know how long we will be here for finding a way out, so if we eat now, we're good to go."
Natsu nodded and decided to lead the way. With his sense of smell and hearing, he'll guide them away from any danger. That was the best thing that they could do for now. Yato smirked at Juvia as he walked by her.
"I know why you attacked her."
Juvia raised an eyebrow and yato leaned in.
"You liiiiike him."
Juvia almost squealed as her hand flew to her mouth to stop the sound from coming out. She didn't doubt for a second that demons have good hearing just like dragon slayers. Her eyes were wide as she looked at him and her face went bright red. She diverted her eyes from his and smiled a little, removing her hands from her mouth. She shrugged. "Juvia guesses she does."
They were walking silently around the place before Natsu turned to them and placed his finger on his lips to silence them and to make them halt. The two of them nodded and they could suddenly hear the voices.
"I heard that Lord E.N.D. is here!"
"I know, we can finally end Master Zeref's life and destroy the magic that this world has to offer. Humans have ruined everything with their war and selfishness. The world shall start anew."
The two voices chuckled and Juvia practically had to hold Natsu back from attacking the two of them. Their footsteps were getting fainter and fainter before they didn't hear of them again. Natsu nodded as they headed across the hallway. They then heard a door open and panic arose in their system. The figure who had opened the door, luckily hadn't walked out of it, but they were still talking to someone in there.
Yato noticed another door and silently opened it as he pulled the two magicless mages through it and again closed the door in perfect silence. They heard the door next the room they were in shut and footsteps pass by their room before they too faded.
They released a breath that they were all holding, and when Natsu was about to say something, Juvia's hand covered his mouth. His eyes widened as he looked at her serious expression and she shook her head, pointing to the wall next to them. Someone else was still in there, and if they heard them, they would be done for.
Natsu nodded his head and continued to stare into Juvia's eyes. She stared back at him as they were lost in their own little world, until Yato started shuffling around them. Juvia removed her hand slowly from Natsu's mouth and he suddenly missed the feel of her soft skin against his lips.
They looked around the room and saw a window. Natsu smirked and walked up to it. He looked down to see how far they would have to jump and he shrugged his shoulders at it, thinking he could probably land it. He turned his head when he heard movement in the next room and he froze. The other two followed in suit when they heard the door from the next room open. The footsteps came towards their room and they closed their eyes, praying that they would walk by like the first set of footsteps did, but it paused at their door.
The three hostages looked at each other, a hidden panic settling in their eyes as they all said the same thing mentally.
"Shit."
The door was thrown wide open, and just as Juvia had done, Natsu had launched himself at the person who had opened the door. The demon didn't even know what hit him. One minute, he was staring at Natsu and then next, it was dark.
Juvia giggled at Natsu as he turned and shot her wink. He closed to the door and dragged the body off into the wardrobe before turning back to the other two in the room.
"I was looking out of the window and thought that the best way to get out of this place is probably to jump down."
"WHAT?!"
Yato and Juvia were looking at Natsu as if he had suddenly grown two heads on his neck and started eating poo. Yato didn't know if Natsu was this crazy and did stuff like this all the time, but he had looked out of the window at the same time Natsu had and saw how far up they were. That wasn't gonna happen.
Juvia was only scared because her magic still hadn't returned back to her yet. Although the fight with Jackal hadn't made her lose her magic, she guessed that Jackal and Seilah made her inhale the assasin's sleeping gas while she was knocked out. That would mean that it wouldn't be until a few minutes after Natsu got his magic back that she would get hers and it hadn't been 24 hours yet. It had probably only been 12 hours by now.
"Yeah, I'll jump down with Yato first and once I've put him down, Juvia can jump after. I'll be down there and you just jump into my arms, okay?"
"Not okay, Natsu, it's so high up, there's no way you'll catch Juvia. Juvia suggests we just tie up the demon and stay in here until the 24 hours are up and we get our magic back, then Juvia can at least safely transport us down using water magic! There's no rush!"
Natsu walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "What, are you afraid I won't catch you? Because I will. I'll never let you fall. I'll never let you go."
Juvia clutched at her heart when she heard the words that natsu had told her and she smiled and nodded, giving into him. Juvia then remembered what Jackal had said.
"Ah! Jackal had said something about them not having magic, but rather curses! Juvia thinks it would be wise to go now, while they can't sense our magic now! They sense magic to pinpoint exactly where we are, hence why they can't really find us now! Yato, Juvia knows you're scared, but we need to jump."
The man sighed and nodded. Natsu grabbed him as Juvia was opening the windows. Natsu looked at her and nodded as she nodded back to him. He jumped down from the window and landed on his two feet, Yato practically fainted and Natsu had to set him down as the man was spouting nonsense about jumping and dying. Natsu chuckled and when he turned to look at Juvia, she wasn't there.
His eyes widened as he could hear signs of a fight going on in the room. "Natsu! Natsu, they're here!"
Natsu swore and hid Yato in a bush before starting to climb up the wall. There were loose bricks here and there, but Natsu didn't even care. Juvia was up in there and there was no way he was going to be leaving without her.
He finally climbed through and he was met with a very different demon. She had what seemed to be a helmet on her head that covered mainly everything, save for her eyes, mouth and nose. She had green wing like things coming out from the side of the helmet and Natsu couldn't help but stare in shock at the claws she had for hands.
"Why, Lord E.N.D. it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person! My name is Kyoka, one of the 9 demons here and the strongest underneath the guild master himself. Please, allow for me to get rid of the garbage standing here before you, nothing would make me happier."
She smirked slightly and Natsu tore his gaze away from her claws and growled when he saw that she had grabbed Juvia around her neck. Juvia was struggling to get out of her grip and it made Kyoka's smirk widen even more.
"I must say Lord E.N.D. you do have good taste in play things. Hopefully you'll let me borrow her sometimes."
She stroked Juvia's face and let her claws brush gently over Juvia chest. The girl cried out in disgust, but her body yearned to be touched more. She felt dirty as she didn't know what kyoka had done to her. Natsu was enraged.
"What are you doing to her?"
"My curse is of enhancement. I can enhance one's pain, pleasure and even physical attributes. I've done a lot to your body in the time that it took for lord E.N.D. to climb up here, yet it would seem like you're still alive. You will make an amazing demon."
She dropped Juvia as she blocked Natsu's punch and she laughed as she kicked him in the gut, making him grunt of the floor.
"But unfortunately, you're still your human self, Natsu. Unfortunately for you, Seliah has already found where you put Yato and has used her own curse of Macro against him. You now stand no chance against turning into your true self."
Juvia had crawled over to Natsu with tears in her eyes and cupped his face. "What are we going to do, Natsu?"
Natsu held her hand and kissed her forehead gently, making her pause as he got up. Kyoka watched in amusement as Natsu stood up and glared at her.
"Let Juvia go. In fact, after Yato's read the whole book, let him and even the other butler that drove the carriage here, let them all go. They're not your play things and I'll become your E.N.D. If you don't keep your end of the bargain, I'll kill you all."
Kyoka nodded her head and bowed deeply. "Very well, as you wish it. I shall have Seilah release the butler and he can get Juvia back to safety. Thank you, Lord E.N.D."
Natsu glared at her to get out as Juvia stood up and grabbed him. "What does Natsu mean?! Juvia will rather go in Natsu's place, we should just escape while we have the chance now! Please Natsu, you can't do this!"
Natsu grabbed her into a hug as she held him tight and sobbed. "Juve, it's the only way. I just hope I don't lose my conscience if I do. Even if I do, I trust you to be able to bring me back. All of Fairy Tail can do it, you hear me? I need to get you, Yato and that butler safe. This is the only way."
Juvia cried harder as her tears sent spasms through her body. She couldn't let him go. She would rather become a demon with him than let him go, but he was right. They were surrounded by demons and they had too many hours to wait for their magic to come back. There was no way that they would be able to fend off a whole guild without their magic.
Juvia calmed down and pulled away from Natsu. Reaching up to her neck, she unclasped the Fairy Tail necklace that she had made before she officially joined the guild. She held it in her hands as she held into Natsu. Giving him a light, she looked up at him.
"Juvia wants Natsu to have this. Just something to remember Juvia by when Natsu's dormant power is unleashed." She didn't want to believe that he was E.N.D. but more of something that was sealed within him.
She went to put it in her hand when he stopped her. She looked up at him with curious eyes. "No, can you help me put it on? I want to wear it."
She nodded, feeling a little shocked. She thought that he might want to keep it in his pocket or something, not actually wear it. She tiptoed and wrapped her arms around his neck and put the clasp on. Natsu's hands wound themselves around her waist and he drew her in for one final hug. He buried his face in the crook of her hair and sniffed in deeply.
They stayed in that position for a while before Seilah walked in and rolled her eyes with a scoff. "Come along now. The quicker we get this done, the quicker the three humans get to leave."
Juvia glared that the horned demon and let go of Natsu. They walked close together and they left the room. Kyoka was still standing there, smirking a little bit. "I still say we turn her into a demon though. She would be perfect."
"Do that and I'll finish you all without my magic."
Natsu was no longer playing. His face was straight and held held onto Juvia's hand for her to stay close to him. Yato stood there, frightened by everything, but it was too late. He had been commanded to read the book of E.N.D. and in fact, he had already started reading it. Juvia glared at Seilah and she shrugged.
"The book of E.N.D is a long one, we needed to get a head start on reading it before we came up here."
"So either way, you guys were already going along with the plan?"
"Exactly. Don't worry, the little deal saved you though. If Natsu hadn't agreed, you would already be dead, and after the chanting, so would Yato. Your lives have now been spared."
They were taken to the huge room where there was a man sitting on the throne, his leg crossed over the other and his right arm propping up his head, almost as if he were bored. He opened his eyes lazily and smiled darkly when he saw who was entering the room. His left arm clutched onto another book and Juvia deduced that that's the book where all the other demons come from.
"Well, if it isn't E.N.D. It is an honour to meet you, your majesty. Please, make yourself feel welcome to your home."
Juvia's grip on his hand tightened and Natsu squeezed it right back, to say that she was safe for now. The other butler was brought in and rudely shoved next to them. Juvia helped the man stand up and noticed that he was quaking with fear. Juvia flashed him a small smile to show him that everything was going to be okay, but he couldn't seem to calm down. Juvia could understand that.
Slowly, the demons started filling the room up one by one and it dawned on Juvia that Natsu unlocking E.N.D. was really the only way for them to get out. There were so many of them coming in and there were 7 others who came and stood by their master, showing that they were the ones that completed the 9 demon gates.
Natsu looked up at the most human looking one of them and raised an eyebrow. There was a certain scent about him, almost as if he smelt like someone he knew, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. He looked back down at Juvia who had started looking around the room and he knew what she was thinking. There were too many demons to shake off if they were to have just run on time.
"Well would you look at that, we're on the final 2 pages already. I suggest you let go of the human's hand now, my liege. I doubt you would want to rip her apart."
Natsu snarled as everyone around him cheered. He looked down at Juvia, and suddenly, the urge to kiss her was there. He really wanted to kiss her. It was almost as though it were the countdown to his death and if he didn't do this, it would grate on the back of his mind. Over a week he had come in contact with Juvia and they went on a few jobs together and even trained in the woods. It was fun. He felt like they had gone through so much already, that he wanted for her to have something to remember him by.
He looked at all the watchful eyes as they were looking closely to see their 'Prince' come back to them and help them fulfill their destiny. It was finally going to happen. Even their calm looking master was leaning forward, a crazed look in his eyes. It was like he hadn't been excited in a long time.
"Juvia-"
"Unleash."
Yato had finished reading the whole book and Natsu collapsed. Juvia screamed and suddenly, Yato and he butler were ripping her off of him. She had to unclasp her hand from his because soon enough, all the demons started swarming in, in order to make sure that E.N.D. woke up in a bed and not on the ground. The butler placed Juvia on his back as the three of them ran. Juvia had no more strength. She was weak. She had tears running down her face, but she dare not look back.
Once they got outside, Juvia jumped off of the butler's back and they all ran to the carriage. The butler got on top make the horse move and Yato and Juvia sat in silence in the carriage. She had dried her tears. It was too late, crying wasn't going to solve anything. It was time to find a way for her to get Natsu back.
"Juvia is coming Natsu. Juvia will get you back."