"I was told to stay away. Those two words I can't obey. Pay the price for your betrayal. Your betrayal, your betrayal!"
-Your Betrayal, Bullet for My Valentine
~
"Hi Natsu!"
Happy, floating in the air above Lucy, looked...well...Happy, "We finally found you!"
In dread, Natsu pulled his hand out of Lucy's and turned slightly, seeing Gray and Erza on the other side of the blonde haired mage.
He backed away, not wanting to talk to them. It only made him feel worse by seeing them.
Eventually, Natsu's eyes met Gray's, who held a cold, piercing, hatred within them. It was almost enough to take away all the air in the fire mage's lungs.
"I...I have to go."
"Natsu! Don't go. Come back to the guild with us." Erza demanded with concern. She grabbed his wrist before he turned to leave.
In fear, the dragon slayer jerked away from her, not wanting to see any of his friend's expressions.
"Erza. Leave him be. He's a demon. Demons don't have feelings." Gray said breaking the silence, his voice dripping with malice, "He's part of the reason so many people died. Including Ur."
By now, the wizards and mundane who were walking the street felt the tension from the group and tentatively walked around them, whispering among one another, curious about what was going on.
No... That wasn't Natsu's fault... He didn't want to be blamed for others' deaths. He had gone on missions most of his life that were meant to protect people or save them. Not kill them or let them die.
"You deserve death Natsu."
"No Gr-" Lucy starts to tell but is interrupted.
"Kill me then."
The words were out of Natsu's mouth before he had a chance to think. But perhaps it would be best...for everyone.
It'd be a burden taken off his shoulders. His friends could live their lives without him. He wouldn't have to eventually kill Zeref. Kuro wouldn't have a chance to control him.
Everything would go back to the way it was.
The world wouldn't burn to ashes because of his dark self. He was happy to die if it meant that everyone else stayed safe. But something in his heart cracked. As much as Natsu tried to tell himself that he didn't care whether he lived or died...he did care. A lot. Yeah, he still wanted to protect everyone with every fiber of his being but he also wanted to experience things that normal teenagers experience. He hadn't gotten to enjoy the amazing parts of life. There were so many things he wanted to and even though most of them included pranking the council, sparring with Erza, arguing with Gray, hanging out with Lucy, and eating fish with Happy, he didn't want to miss out on anything.
He just wanted to scream. Dammit! Why did he have to be so conflicted. Live or die. What did Natsu want?
But Natsu forced himself not to care at the moment. If killing him made Gray happy then.... He'll gladly die. But would Gray really kill him? Was the ice mage's hatred towards Natsu that serious? It was Natsu's test for Gray. Was everything they had done together worth nothing? Or would the ice mage spare him?
"What?" Gray seemingly hadn't registered what the fire mage had said.
In a more forceful and insistent tone, Natsu replied, "Kill me."
"If you insist." An Ice-Make Excalibur Sword, Gray's specialty, appeared in the ice mage's hand.
Natsu froze. Not literally though.
Gray was his rival, and one of his best friends. He swore to his father, Silver, that he would defeat E.N.D. But everything they had gone through, everything they did, every fight they fought beside one another...had that all been for nothing? Did Gray really not care?
Natsu might've told Gray to kill him.
But Natsu never expected him to actually try. In the blink of an eye, Gray ran towards him, sword aiming for Natsu's chest.
No..... Why did this have to happen.
Tears welled up in Natsu's eyes but he didn't move. Didn't try to get out of the way.... Natsu was willing...willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of his friends happiness.
But he didn't want to die.
He was conflicted but in a second it wouldn't matter anyways. A white hot rage flared within him. It was a feeling he did not recognize. It had the same presence about it when Natsu had passed out after being attacked by those other guild members. Like some unknown entity disagreed with what was going on.
E.N.D.
And then Gray reached him, the point of the sword barely piercing Natsu's chest, the rage the fire mage had felt within him disappearing as if E.N.D. had given up, thinking that there was nothing in his power he could do to stop his host's death.
And then everything froze, the air literally going dark. An unseen force crashed into the ice mage, sending him flying across the cobblestone street, sword falling out of hand. The pedestrians quickly scrambled away, scared to stay and get in the way of something major.
Natsu fell to his knees.
He should've expected this right?
He...should've known....
Gray had only drawn blood, barely slicing Natsu's flesh before being knocked away. The attack left only a small cut behind, never getting close to piercing his heart.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" a quiet voice asked, anger, darkness, and utter chaos hidden in the tone of the speaker.
Natsu lifted his chin to see Zeref standing protectively in front of him, a darker than black atmosphere surrounding him. The world had become a blur, Natsu's head pounding painfully. He became increasingly aware of the fast pace that his heart was beating. He was cold. So cold it felt like his blood had frozen solid. It was hard to breathe, like he was underwater, trying to break through the ice above him in order not to drown. He was no longer aware of anything. Natsu was alone, in the dark, with nothing but his own thoughts to haunt him.
Even still, his eyes wide in terror, he managed to grab the sleeve of Zeref's shirt, tugging slightly, "Don't....hurt them..."
Natsu saw Happy hiding behind Erza, the cat was shivering. He turned to look at each of his friends.
Lucy, Happy, Erza....Gray....
They were all terrified.
Of him. Of the demon inside him.
Natsu keeled sideways, laying on the ground, completely terrified. More than ever, he wished to die.
Who was he really?
"Natsu!" Zeref knelt beside his brother, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and the other beneath his knees, lifting slowly. He needed to get Natsu out of here.
He glanced at the Fairy Tail mages. The red haired mage, Erza, was staring at Gray, a deep disappointment and sorrowful look on her face. Lucy held Natsu's talking cat, Happy, in her arms, crying quietly. None of them seemed to be able to move or speak.
"If you bastards ever harm Natsu again, whether physically or mentally, I will make it my personal mission to wipe you all out." Zeref said, putting emphasis on each word, "You were supposed to be there for him... If Natsu hadn't stopped me, you all would be dead by now."
On that note, Zeref fled the village, not waiting for a response from the Fairy Tail mages, Natsu trembling in his arms, eyes wide open.
"It's alright. You're safe. I promise."
"H-He...He actually tried to k-kill me."
Even Zeref hadn't expected this to happen. A hiccup escaped Natsu's mouth and then the dam broke, tears flowing freely down the fire mage's cheeks, sobs racking his body.
Zeref, still walking quickly away from the village, murmured soothing words, every fiber in his being shaking with rage. It took all the self control that he had, not to drop Natsu then and there to go destroy Miyabi Village and everyone in it.
HOW DARE THEY!!!
Other than a small cut and some dried blood on Natsu's chest, no other damage had been inflicted. Luckily Zeref had arrived when he did, otherwise Natsu and everyone in the world would be dead.
Even so, Fairy Tail was lucky that their guild hadn't been demolished yet.
Zeref eventually came to a stop, slowly sinking to his knees, rocking the crying fire mage back and forth.
There was nothing he could say that would calm him.
Natsu had been through too much already. And yet he still wouldn't get angry. He still wouldn't blame it on Zeref, or on Fairy Tail.
Zeref found it amazing how much love, kindness, forgiveness, and strength his younger brother possessed. They were all qualities that Zeref somewhat lacked.
Eventually, after half an hour of non-stop waterworks (but really, who could blame him?) Natsu relaxed, his eyes extremely red, sniffling occasionally.
"Onii-san....It's not fair."
Natsu hid his face in Zeref's white sash.
Zeref's eyes grew red, the very air seemed filled with static, magic power crackling around him.
"No. It's not."
~~~
hehe
Who saw that coming?
*raises hand*
I did! Anyways, I'm updating this chapter early because I'll be really busy during Thanksgiving and Christmas! I'll still find time to update though! I promise.
And what is up with all the Christmas commercials?? It's not even December?
What about Thanksgiving? People are forgetting about that! Thanksgiving comes before Christmas, I mean come on commercial creators, give turkey day some credit!
-aʟɨċɛ