Vivian's P. O. V:
I stare at Natsu in stunned disbelief, usable to quite believe what I'm seeing. All this time... Igneel was inside Natsu?!
Behind me, Gajeel leans against Levy for support as he breathes heavily. We watch as the two dragons butt heads again, growling.
"I can't believe it!" Natsu says, tears dripping down his face. The two dragons begin to battle it out.
Lucy says, "Igneel was inside him? How? Is that possible?"
Levy replies, "Maybe. Do you have one, Gajeel?" She glances at him questioningly.
Looking up at her, the black haired man responds, as he shakes his head, "Don't really know. But the pain's gone."
Levy asks Gajeel, "We're gonna be okay, aren't we?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure," He says truthfully. He addresses Natsu, "What's going on, Salamander?! I mean, is that really Igneel?! What was up with all that stuff about being inside you?"
Bowing his head, the pinkette replies, "I have no idea. He left. I looked for him for so long!" He wipes the tears from his eyes.
Lucy whispers, "I'm sorry..."
Flames burst from Natsu's feet as they launch him into the air and he shouts, "DAD! WE GOTTA TALK, NOW!"
Igneel looks behind his shoulder to see Natsu shooting straight for him. "Natsu, I told you: we'll talk later!" Igneel tells him with annoyance.
Natsu demands as he lands on Igneel's wing, "Tell me, now!! Why did you disappear and leave me?! Oh, and if you were with me the whole time, why didn't you say something?! Do Wendy and Gajeel have dragons inside them, too?! And what happened that day?! On July seventh, the day you left me?!!! Come on, you owe me!!!"
Acnologia roars as he charges Igneel. He dodges as he yells, "Enough!" The attack hits Igneel and Natsu goes tumbling.
I gasp, "That was close!"
"Quit distracting him!!" Gajeel shouts. Natsu looks up to see Acnologia right in front of him.
Igneel expels a powerful burst of fire from his mouth at the black dragon. The flames expand as they hit him. We could feel the heat from here. Lucy, Juvia and I throw our arms up to cover our faces from the heat, while Gajeel throws out an arm to shield Levy from the heat.
The flames then explode around Acnologia before vanishing.
"So, you killed him?!" Natsu asks in shock.
"Not at all," Replies Igneel. "Just wait and see."
Acnologia spreads his wings as he lets out a furious roar, standing in a large crater.
"Wait! That fireball did nothing?!" Lucy gasps.
"Seriously?!" Gajeel exclaims.
I exclaim, "You've gotta be kidding me!"
Acnologia launches himself into the air again, and Igneel appears to be smirking as he says, "I'm fired up now!"
Igneel turns to Natsu as he says bluntly, "Son, you're a pest."
With steam puffing from his head, Natsu snaps back, flustered, "Whaddya mean by that?! You sure have a weird way of showing that you missed me!!"
"I've already told you: we'll talk about everything later. I've got a job I need you to do."
"What kind of job?" Natsu asks curiously.
"You are in one of those guilds, aren't you?" Igneel inquires. "Well, I'd like to officially hire you."
Igneel then goes onto explain his job request to Natsu. He apparently wants Natsu to steal the book of E. N. D from a black haired man, whom I'm assuming is the same guy Rogue and Sting were fighting earlier. Natsu questions why he should be the one to do it, and Igneel tells him that he's the only one who can, and that the man with the book is also the one behind all this. Igneel also orders the Fire Dragon Slayer to not open nor destroy the book, no matter what. Natsu asks what the reward is, and Igneel replies that he'll tell Natsu everything he wants to know about what happened that day, when Igneel disappeared.
Natsu eagerly accepts the job request and Igneel launches him off his paw, toward the man holding the book. Natsu doesn't forget to remind Igneel about the promise he made him, and Igneel replies he didn't.
🗡🗡🗡
The battle between the two dragons continues, with neither side letting up an inch, and everyone on the ground was forced to take cover from the flying debris and the heat from the attacks both dragons were sending each other.
We continue to watch, the dragons crashing into the ground in the distance.
The McGarden notices Gajeel gazing at the ground, his body stiff. She questions, "What's the matter?"
Gajeel strains his ears to listen as he mutters in response, "There's something beneath us."
"It couldn't be the dragons, could it?" I query, tilting my head.
"Yeah," He responds, nodding. "They must've taken the fight underground."
From what I could gather, the two dragons seem evenly matched. I could do nothing except hope that Igneel could defeat Acnologia.
"What?!" Exclaims Lucy, chocolatey brown eyes wide.
Gajeel murmurs wearily, "The ground's about to get real unstable."
As soon as those words leave the Redfox's mouth, the ground beneath us begins to shake. We have to immediately take cover when the two dragons shoot up from below, creating more flying debris and fire to shoot out, making it hotter.
🗡🗡🗡
I wince at the pain in my body as I walk next to Levy and Gajeel, the crimson eyed man lugging Laxus over his shoulder. Gajeel, Levy and I were on our way to deliver the blood to Porlyusica for her to make an antidote from, which the Script Magic user is currently carrying.
My mind just refuses to stop wandering back t everything that has transpired so far. Gray and his father, the fact that Igneel was back, and the FACES that were about to go off, not to mention, the whereabouts of Wendy and Charlele.
I hope those two are alright and pray this chaos would end soon.
It was so overwhelming to think about that I just want it to be over. But more than anything I fear the reaction of the man I call my best friend when he learns the truth about his father, who had perished along with Keyes and that leaves an ache in my heart that refuses to subside.