When the Wind Changes

┌────◦❀◦────┐

#AAxFT

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈,

                                   ༄       𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈

└────◦❀◦────┘

Hello all! I got inspiration with the Anime x Fairy Tail event and decided to participate via my ultra amazing, non-existent writing skills and what I'm about to show you is the end result of it. Now usually it doesn't take me so long to write a piece like this but I tell ya distractions and work really made it difficult for me this time around.

I'm not going to share what Anime I crossed over with so guess who has to actually read it to find out? That's right, all of you. Hehe, no pressure or anything.

─────── • ✿ • ───────

"The air in Magnolia is different today."

At first, when Wendy first told the group that, Natsu never understood it. Then again, he's had a very weird morning and is more distracted then normal. Firstly, he somehow woke up on the floor and his head hurt like a truck had run over it. Happy's morning chanting for fish didn't help the burn he also felt in his throat and he wondered if he overdid it when he challenged Gray on a drinking contest the night beforehand.

Worst part was, Gray seemed perfectly fine.

Natsu groans and yawns, avoiding the ongoing traffic from the fellow pedestrians. The perfectly ironed dress suit hugged his form comfortably but he was far from comfortable with wearing it. The blaring sun above irritated his dark irises and caused the blaring headache to become unbearable but he pressed on as if he wasn't affected at all. He was a fire dragon-slayer, heat nor cold affected him- or at least it shouldn't.

Ignoring the protests in the back of his mind, he reaches up and clasps onto his trust scaled scarf tightly and resisted the urge to throw it away and pray it'd help cool himself down but another voice in his head told him it would be a bad idea. Igneel, his father, made that scarf and it was the last thing Natsu had of him. Scratching the thought, Natsu released the scarf and walked on alone in the crowded streets of the town he called his home.

Magnolia was home to an extremely famous Wizarding Guild called Fairy Tail. It housed many powerful wizards, Natsu and his team included, and word of their deeds had spread throughout all of Ishgar so Magnolia had been known as the safest and most protected city in all of Fiore. Criminal activities haven't been reported in years, nor has there been any criminals spotted near the growing city.

Until a few weeks ago when a new Dark Guild showed up and its Master was spotted walking in Magnolia's very streets. Natsu, along with his trusted team, were tasked with tailing this Master in hopes of finding out any information on the Dark Guild. Rumours had it the Master was strong and only allowed audiences with classy males.

Only heaven knows why Natsu was sent as a spy, even Natsu was shocked by it.

"Take this Natsu," the scarlet sorceress spoke with authority as she tossed him the ironed suit with effortless grace. "You'll need it."

Natsu, who caught it with nowhere near as much grace, felt the fabric under his fingertips and raised an eyebrow with a struggle. "What the hell for?" He questioned her as he looked back into her scrutinising gaze.

Erza, looking perfect as always in her short skirt and white ruffled blouse, placed her hands on her hips firmly as she stared directly into his gaze. The rest of the group, sitting around a wooden table inside the populated Guild Hall, watching the interaction take place eagerly. Gray especially seemed like the most amused person on the planet; it made Natsu want to slap that cocky smirk right off his face.

"To spy on Griselda of course," Erza responds before she slides into the seat beside Gray, sitting closer to the ice mage then she needed to, and leans on her elbows as her gaze hardens. "I got word from a client that she's making a move, she was spotted walking by the Magnolia Library this morning and I don't like how she's the only one game enough to come to Magnolia unless it's to do some Dark Guild scheming."

Beside him, Lucy Heartfilia, the groups book nerd and celestial-spirit mage, rose an eyebrow as she bookmarked her book she was reading and closed it. Her long blonde hair was tied to the side and her brown lashes eyed Erza curiously. "Are you sure Griselda is even in Magnolia?" She questioned. "No criminal has made a move in Magnolia in years, and with Fairy Tail as busy as it is right now, I doubt anyone would be making a move anytime soon."

"Unless they're stupid," Carla scoffed.

"Or very smart," Wendy pipped in.

"True."

Over the years, Wendy and Carla had grown -obviously- into quite the pair of lovely young ladies. Carla, an exceed, had the ability to transform herself between her species and that of a human; today she chose to stick to her Exceed form today and sat in front of Wendy -a badass sky dragon-slayer- sipping a cup of tea.

Natsu watches Gray roll his eyes and crosses his arms over his bare chest, flashing his navy Guild Mark for all to see. "Regardless, the Mayor has hired us to check it out and see if we can get any useful information. If rumours are true, Griselda will only talk to men with class and that's if they can even get near her." Gray paused. "However, of this chick doesn't turn out to be Griselda then we get paid either wa- ow!"

"It's not about the money Gray," Erza scolded, after clearly elbowing him in the ribs. "It's about keeping Magnolia safe and Griselda's guild, Nights Harp, is rising in the ranks in of Dark Guilds. Jellal of all people are having difficulties tracking them down so if we can gather more information and hopefully capture it's master, we can take it down before it can reach it's prime."

Natsu took it all in, or at least he tried. With the fancy suit in his palms and the blaring headache, most of the discussion went over his head. All he knew was Griselda was a bad guy who needed to get punched and he was tasked with that responsibility, but what he was supposed to do flew right over his head. He sighs and drops the suit on the table whilst sitting back into his chair.

Thinking was never Natsu's strong suit and today thinking was just impossible. Lucy nudges him playfully and snickers as she reaches over and folds the suit nicely in front of him. "Too much thinking huh?" She smirks knowingly causing him to scowl.

"Shut-up."

"Nah," she says amused. "It's cute."

"Aye-" Happy, the blue exceed, agrees whilst munching on a raw fish nearby. Natsu gives Happy a side-glare, causing the small cat to do a double take as if he ed something. "No- wait! It's not cute!" Happy jumped up, clasping his partially eaten fish tightly as he makes his way over to Natsu's side. "Do you know what Natsu did to me this morning?! He. Threw. Away. My. Fish. MY FISH!"

Natsu grumbled under his breath and sunk further into his seat as his best friend flailed his arms and waved the fowl fish in his face. Over the years, Natsu had grown to not mind the fowl stench of Happy's raw fish, but today it made him sick much like most strong scents, such as Lucy's perfume and Gray's odour. Yes, he did throw away that fish, but it didn't get rid of that smell that caused his head to explode.

Happy's tantrum lasted a few more minutes before Lucy patted him on the head and he'd calmed down after crying out the loss of his smelly, old fish. A short silence dawned upon their table for a moment as Natsu tried thinking to himself. When his head couldn't take it anymore, he leaned forward slightly and scratched his head with his gaze looking down on the suit that had been folded perfectly in front of him. "I don't get it."

Gray sighs and shrugs his shoulders, "Didn't think you would."

Natsu blinks and feels that familiar urge to fight Gray on the table but his head didn't obey him. Luckily, he didn't have to as Erza glared at Gray, "Watch it Gray."

"Yes Ma'am."

Pleased, Erza cleared her throat and turned her attention back to Natsu. "As I was saying, only you and Gray have a chance of completing this mission, but only you have the abilities to track someone's scent and keep your clothes on." She paused to let this sync in, causing Gray to shy away from the rest of the group with pinkening cheeks. "Plus, I don't feel comfortable with Gray going in alone."

At this, Erza's pinks turned pink and Gray's turned pinker. Their relationship, although secret, wasn't much of a secret to the guild especially when a sneaky make-out session was caught by a particular blue cat and his planned alone time with his fish had walked in on them. Ever since then, the sneakiness ceased but the guild knew nothing had changed between the two lovers.

Natsu could tell all those around him was shocked at the confession, although it didn't shock him but it did annoy him. "So, you want me to wear this and follow this Griselda chick?"

"And catch her, but only when you get close enough."

Sounded simple enough for Natsu, although a part of him thought there was more to the plan than Erza was letting on. A mission like this always had more to it, didn't it? Natsu blinks again as he reaches for the suit reluctantly. "And what will you guys be doing?"

"Watching of course," Erza responded as she reached into her pocket and brought out a handful of small crystalline pins. With a simple gesture she handed one to every person at the table, talking as she went, "We don't know what Griselda is capable of so we're counting on you to keep us posted Natsu. If you need help, tell us and we'll come in to help."

Lacrima's have evolved muchly in the last few years. First there was the travel sized communication lacrima's Warren invented a few years ago and now with the help of Wendy's enchantment magic, the lacrima's have gotten smaller and are capable of communicating telepathically as long as your team wear certain pins on them. It's a smart invention but one Natsu dreaded wearing today due to his state of mind.

The sheer look of horror crossed his featured as he looked at the small crystal he knew he'd have to wear for this mission. "You know what," Natsu says finally, preparing to back out of this mission. "I think Gray wou-"

"Absolutely not." Erza cut in with a glare that instantly shut Natsu up.

"Fine."

Across the table, Wendy leaned forward so that she was looking at him directly. An innocent smile and kind brown eyes met him as she spoke softly, "Don't worry Natsu, we'll only talk when needed to."

The younger dragon slayer knew better than anyone how much pain his head was going through. She had tried using her magic to cure his headache when he first walked into the Guild but unfortunately due to the cause of his pain being the result of alcohol, she was unable to cure him but she did lessen the pain temporarily. For this, he was grateful.

Sighing in defeat, Natsu complied to the plan. He ran a hand through his fine salmon locks and closed his eyes. "Alright fine," he opened his eyes and kept his hardened gaze on both Erza and Gray. "I'll do it." Although there was no denying he was still confused, they all knew Gray had more experience in being a spy then Natsu did.

Erza gives him a short nod and smiles. "I expected nothing less."

Gray smirks and tosses Natsu a pair of sunglasses which was caught easily. "Take these too, they'll help with that cursed hangover you have," Gray says smugly.

"Thanks," Natsu mumbled unamused as he dropped the glasses on the table and stood. With a single movement, he takes a hold of the suit and pin as he starts on his way towards the guild halls entrance. "But I don't need them."

"Whatever you say pink-haired loser."

That was the last straw for Natsu. He stopped walking and lost all of his self-control, and lost another battle against Gray.

──────────

"Stupid Gray," Natsu mumbled under his breath as he scuffs a foot into the cobblestone footpath and stuffs his hands into his suit pockets firmly. His eyes hardened on the path as he walked through the crowd, relying on his enhanced hearing and smell to guide him through the streets. "Stupid jerk."

"𝘏𝘦𝘺!" A booming voice shouted inside his head, causing him to flinch. "𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬."

"𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘺!" Natsu flinched again and grabbed his head as another loud familiar voice boomed. Erza, quick as always to break up their bickering's. "𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮."

"𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺."

"Ow.." Natsu grumbled, slowly lowering his arms when the voices stopped ringing inside his head, ignoring the strange looks he was given by the surrounding pedestrians. The pin he was given was threaded through the collar of his suit jacket, which he'd completely forgotten about. Oops.

The device he was given was quite useful but given the circumstances it was a pain to deal with. He could hear everything any of his teammates said, and most of them were scattered around Magnolia prepared to strike at any given moment. Unfortunately, most of the were engaging in conversations of their own and it made it difficult for him to focus on the task at hand.

"Fish, fish, fishyyyy."

"Stop saying that tomcat."

Overtime he'd gotten used to the mumbles and conversations, just as he'd gotten used to relying on his other senses as he walked through the street. Gray was right, with the bright sun glaring at him from the sky, he was going to need those sunglasses but he wasn't going to it that out loud. Every time the sun became to much for his head to handle, he'd close his eyes and trust his other senses to avoid bumping into anything that'd cause a scene.

So far, he'd hit nothing and avoiding bumping into anyone. After an hour of travelling this way, the sun's rays started to dull and his senses started to pick up things he wasn't picking up before. A startling scent of cool fresh air flying through the summer breeze piqued his interest the most as the air he breathed usually didn't smell so clear and nor did it feel so cool against his skin during this hot weather.

𝘞𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, he thought in realization, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵. The air was different today and he wondered what that meant for Magnolia and Fiore, or rather what changes would follow...

He groans in frustration as another wave of pain sent his head into spirals. 𝘕𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘦𝘵. He clasps his head and stops walking as he waits for the pain to cease its mindless attack. A grunt escapes his lips as his senses pick up on the new scents that surrounded him, he instantly steps to the side as one particular presence brushes ed him.

The scent he picked up as she ed was quite peculiar indeed. It seemed to show up out of nowhere, as if the woman he sensed teleported right behind him right as he stopped moving. The scent of fresh roses and perfume coaxed her entire aura but underneath all the exterior, Natsu caught the emotion that fell off her in waves and her magic power. Darkness.

In an instant he knew that was Griselda, the person he was supposed to be spying on, but it appears she was the one who found him. "Hmm," he heard her hum with a thick accent he hadn't heard before. "Quite impressive," she mumbles as she es by completely. "Quite classy indeed."

A few short moments and Natsu doesn't move until he was sure she was out of earshot before he lets out a scoff and uses his senses to trail off to the complete side of the sidewalk, avoiding all people he ed in the process, until he reached a spot under the shade right next to one of many shops that lined the street.

He opened his eyes and allowed his sight to adjust to the new light before scanning the area for the woman he momentarily crossed paths with. It didn't take him long to find her as he'd memorized her scent when she ed, and by her appearance he wasn't let down. Her very scent gave away her very appearance.

Heels clicked on the ground, a black skirt hugged her hips tightly and a black jacket with a fur collar hugged her torso. An expensive looking beret sat on her head with thick long, white locks were tied in a high ponytail swayed with as much enthesis as her hips did with every step the woman took. Her back is what faced him, so her facial features were hidden to him.

𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, he scowled. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬.

And that's what he did, Natsu Dragneel made his move. He kept to the shadows and walked with his eyes open, quickening his pace to catch up with the suspected Dark Guild Master who somehow managed to keep her distance from him. His frustration was quick to affect him and his quickened walk started to change into a jog.

Avoiding fellow pedestrians was more difficult at this pace, but he managed to avoid any serious collisions that'd slow him down. "Sorry," he'd mumble as he crashed into a young woman's shoulder causing her to stumble forward. He'd heard her profanities before continuing on his rush to catch up to Griselda.

"𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶?" He heard Lucy's voice softly in his head. "𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?"

He ignored her, too focused on the task at hand. It wasn't long before another voice spoke in his head, and this voice was one he couldn't ignore. "𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵?" The tone of Erza's voice, calm but also serious. "𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳?"

At first, Natsu didn't respond due to his focus, but when his gaze caught the end of his shadow cover, he cursed. If he were to succeed in this mission, he'd need to go out into the sunlight again and he knew he'd be unable to avoid the people and run blind at the same time, despite his enhanced senses. "I did," he finally said as he ran back into the centre of the crowd and instantly recoiled at the sun's rays. "I'm pursuing her as we speak."

His head burned and his eyelids fought to close to find some relief, but he didn't allow them and instead pressed forward- ignoring the pain that increased with each ing moment. He heard a deep voiced curse in his head before Gray's voice said, "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵. "

"There's no need," Natsu responded out loud, squeezing himself between two people. He ignored their cursive protest and continued speaking. "You didn't feel her presence. She's definitely the Master of that guild."

Another curse followed, a feminine one this time. "𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘵 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶."

"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?" Erza enquires. "𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

Natsu didn't have the time to respond before his gaze caught the very back of her head in the thickening crowd, catching the expensive looking cigar in her left hand and the diamond ring that sparkled on her ring finger. He spotted a small break in the crowd ahead and knew that'd be the perfect place to gain some ground to catch up to the mysterious woman.

"Hey!" Natsu heard a voice up ahead. "Excuse me ma'am," Natsu's gaze widened and he ignored the protest his mind screamed as he halted due to the thickened crowd. In front of him, he saw Griselda in the centre of the street, listening to the pedestrian who'd stopped her.

An itch in the back of his mind told him to keep moving, and his senses could do nothing but pick up traces of anger and malice from Griselda's form. He felt a growing horror sprouting from within and he knew that he had to intervene before he loses her or worse, she hurts someone. Natsu groans in frustration as he tries pushing through the crowd, but it only seemed to slow him down.

"Oh," Griselda speaks smoothly to the young man in red. "What is it?"

The young man in question, looked no younger or older than Natsu. His spiky black hair and eyes were similar in appearance to Natsu's own, his body shape and mass were also similar other than being a few inches taller and having what looks like, a white bandage slapped across his left cheek and pair of goggles sitting along his hairline. The appearance altogether wasn't all that was strange to Natsu, it was also the young man's scent.

It reminded him of the air Wendy spoke of... a scent he couldn't recognise or understand.

A power he couldn't measure by his senses alone.

The man seemed friendly enough as he chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "My friends and I seem to be lost, do you mind telling us what planet and year we're in?"

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, Natsu thought to himself as a sense of unease washed over him and he pushed himself further into the crowd that didn't notice the conversation like he had. He was relieved by that, but also worried and irritated.

Within moments that worry and irritation grew into concern when his senses picked up and massive amount of pressure and hatred from Griselda. 𝘖𝘩, 𝘯𝘰. "Get out of the way," Natsu suddenly shouted as he pushed himself forcefully into the crowd, uncaring if they'd cursed at him. There was no way he was going to let Griselda hurt someone on Magnolia's streets, not when he was on the scene. "Move it."

"Hey!"

"Natsu?! What's going on?"

He ignored it all. The protests and curses, the concerned voices of his friends and teammates and even the headache that was about to destroy his brain. All he could think about was Griselda destroying that poor boy's face despite him only asking a simple -but strange- question.

"Well, young man." He heard her voice and urged himself forward. "I'm afraid I'm unable to help you." No! Natsu cursed, the restrictions of the damned suit were starting to get to him, the perspiration that coated his skin had made moving more difficult. "Maybe..." Griselda continued speaking slowly with a tone Natsu wasn't liking. "If you had more class, I'd be able to help you."

"Huh?" Natsu heard the young man say in response. "I don't get it."

"Master..." a new voice spoke up, a voice belonging to a creature that didn't have a natural scent.

Natsu tuned out the rest of the words as he gave one more final push the escaped the crowd, instantly reaching forward to grab Griselda before anything could happen. As he did so, things suddenly turned in slow motion for him. He saw the young man looking at him with quite the shock, and saw the smirk that pressed along Griselda's bright red lips. The group that huddled around the young man, went completely unnoticed by Natsu because all he saw was her.

His gaze caught the sheer coldness from her single blue eye. His gaze widened as her smirk deepened and he felt the magic power within her shift. It was as if before she let her magic power run loose to scare him off but now that she seemed to be preparing to use it, it felt like it was more controlled and denser.

"No!" He shouted out and rushed forward. "Don't let her escape!"

Unsurprisingly, no-one moved forward to help him, not that he needed it- but he wished someone had as the next step he took she completely disappeared faster than a blink of an eye. Her smirk, which was implanted in his mind, had told him this game they were playing wasn't over. 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘵!

Natsu stumbled forward, struggling to stop running due to the speed he pushed himself through earlier. He flailed his arms and skidded ed the young man and his little group of weird cronies, not noticing the shock and confused expressions dazzling their faces.

"Did..." an unfamiliar female voice suddenly spoke as Natsu came to a successful skidded halt. "Did she just 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳?"

"I think so..." the young man said in response.

Irritation, frustration and anger had never been emotions Natsu could control, especially when it was potential lives at risk- or Gray. Gray's ugly face always left him expressing fits of rage. This mission, was supposed to be a simple one. Find Griselda, and take her down. Due to lack of knowledge of her, he failed and he felt responsible, but instead of taking the anger out on himself...

He took it out on the young man and his group.

"It's your fault." Natsu said darkly as he stood up straight, clenching his fists. "Why didn't you stop her?" He breathed and closed his eyes deathly calm, the ache in his brain used the momentary darkness to ease the painful pressure. The relief was short lived however, as he turned as looked straight at the young man with a hardened gaze. "She was right 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 and you didn't even attempt to stop her."

Around him, he picked up the mumbles of the crowd. His name being whispered by the townsfolk and the space he was quickly given. He started to appreciate them for knowing who he was and what he was capable of despite the outfit he was forced to wear. He also used this chance to get a better look at his opponent- or opponents.

The young male he spoke to stared right back at him with a guard of his own, all tensed up with clenched fists of his own. A small kitten sized creature stood on his shoulder, a pair of pointed ears poked out of its head and it wore a small dress. Upon closer inspection, this pink creature he realized was the one that didn't have a scent, nor did it have a heartbeat. He wondered what it was.

Behind the man were three others who appeared to be close in age, two females and one male. One female, dressed in attire that reminded him of his best friend Lucy, had long ash-blonde hair that waved to her middle-back and a pair of bright blue eyes he quickly got mesmerized by, and curious- if she didn't have a similar expression to the man she stood behind.

The last two, standing further back, likewise had that hardened and guarded expression. The male, styled-blonde hair and blue eyes wore a simple purple hoodie and jeans. The female beside him, long indigo hair and leaf patterned kimono, seemed to be the odd one out of the bunch although something told Natsu the whole lot of them were not to be messed with. But he was prepared.

"Master..." the creature on the young mans shoulder said cautiously. "I-"

"I know Pino," the man responded calmly, not once did his eyes more from Natsu's gaze. "I take it that woman wasn't going to be one of my friends."

"Shiki," the blonde-haired woman warned. "I think that's the least of our problems."

Shiki didn't respond but instead kept his gaze glued to Natsu's, taking him in just like Natsu was. A deathly silence took over and all that could be heard was the whispers of the growing crowd and the rustling of the leaves being taken away by the cool breeze.

Natsu eyed them all, taking a single step back and braces himself against the ground for a fight. "You smell weird," Natsu says. "Like nothing I've never smelled before. Maybe you're in with her and showed up at the right time to give her an escape. Which means..." he raises a clenched fist, allowing the burning desire of fire and ash to ignite on his fist without warning. "All I've got to do is take care of you before sniffing her out again."

There was a wave of surrounding gasps, the woman in the far back squeaked. "His fist is on fire!" She whispered harshly and grabbed the sleeve of the blonde-haired man. "Did you see that?"

"We 𝘢𝘭𝘭 saw that." The man responded.

"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 are his Ether Marks?"

"I don't know."

"Shut up!" Natsu growled in irritation, fighting the urge to scream at the burning that went on inside his head. He really regretted rejecting those sunglasses but with this pain he doubted they would have even worked. "Just shut up. Do you have any idea what kind of woman she is?"

"Who the hell is this guy?"

The blonde-haired woman opened her mouth to talk but the man, Shiki, threw his arm to the side. "No Rebecca," his gaze, turning cold, never once left Natsu as he too stepped back and braced his knees. Like Natsu he raised a clenched fist and faced him off as if they were preparing to have a duel.

Bright glowing green marks grew on the man's hand and wrapped around his wrist; the air surrounding them suddenly grew heavier and Natsu tried his hardest not to get thrown off by the sudden pressure that made him feel glued to the ground. It was if the gravity surrounding them became heavy- but that didn't explain the small rocks that started to rise up by Shiki's feet.

"Ready your EMP Pino," Shiki commanded, the air around them becoming heavier.

"Yes Master," Pino, the small creature upon his shoulder, complied.

Natsu refused to get nerved by these guys. He held his ground and upped the power of the magic in his fist, instantly melting away the cool air and before anyone could notice the next step, a voice suddenly boomed inside his head. "𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵!"

He'd completely forgotten about them.

"𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯!" Gray shouted. Natsu recoiled to the voice and the noise. "𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯."

"Damnit!" Natsu shouted out of nowhere and retracted his magic, shocking the group in front of him.

"𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺? " Wendy's curious voice enquired.

"𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘢 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺," Carla retorted.

Natsu groaned. "Seriously guys. Tch." He slouches in defeat for a few moments and then stands up, forgetting about Shiki who had suddenly dropped whatever spell he was conjuring. "Why show up now of all times?"

"Huh?"

"𝘞𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴," Wendy commented. "𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘶𝘴?"

"No..." Natsu says.

A masculine chuckle echoed inside his head, amusing slick within the tone as another voice, Lucy's voice, spoke equally amused, " 𝘛𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶."

"Aye."

"𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵," Erza's voice cut through. "𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶."

And that's what he did. He paced left, right, forwards and even backwards in his not very detailed explanation. During the whole talk, the group he'd met were watching him with the most concerned expressions; Natsu was sure he'd heard someone ask Pino what was going on.

"It appears he's talking to someone telepathically." Pino said in response.

Throughout the seemingly one-way conversation, the sun started to slowly sink into the afternoon light which generated more heat into Magnolia and temporarily made things more difficult -headache wise- for Natsu. As his report drew on, the more he was beginning to feel it and the more he was getting irritated by the questions.

As the minutes by, the crowd disperses and Shiki with his friends start to take their leave- until Natsu had enough. His head couldn't take the stress any longer and desired darkness to rest. He let out a massive roar in anguish and reaches up to his collar, tearing the pin right off his jacket carelessly. He felt and heard the fabric tear at his roughness but in that moment he didn't care.

Natsu slammed the pin into the ground and stamped on it not once, not twice, but three times and feeling satisfaction when it crumbled under the pressure of his boot. 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺! 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵! Sadly, it didn't relieve the pressure, or take away any pain. He growls as the pain became unbearable and grabs a hold of his head, tugging on the strands of his hair in hopes to relief himself.

"What's going on?"

"No idea."

"I won't say this out loud," a third voice mumbles. "But he appears to be in pain."

"No shit!"

"Pino."

"Scanning now Master," Pino responds instantly but Natsu didn't know what they were saying.

Natsu cursed and crouched to the ground, clenching his eyes tightly closed. He knew he was about to get into trouble from Erza for removing the pin but he couldn't take it anymore. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep- praying that'd cure this pain. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, he promised himself. 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯

The voices, the crowd and the peering eyes, which he knew were all on him, he ignored to the best of his ability. The further whispers were easier to ignore but he could still all of them regardless. Slowly, but surely, the pain started to ebb away the longer he stayed still and kept his eyes tightly closed, hearing more voices. "Analysis complete." Pino, one of the many voices, had spoken. "Dehydration, lack of sleep, and what appears to be a sensitivity to sunlight has caused something called a migraine. Searching for the cause now."

"Pfft," the other male citizen Shiki was travelling with sounded amused. "The idiot has a hangover."

"Hangover? I don't seem to have that term in my memory, searching now."

There was a feminine sigh and suddenly a hand touched his shoulder softly. In surprise, Natsu opened his eyes to be met with quite the bright azure gaze, light surrounded her with a brilliant golden shine and for a moment Natsu wondered if she were an angel coming for him from heaven. Was he dead? Surely not for his head still burned but there was something about it now.

It was like it was the least of his worries.

He realized Rebecca blocked out the sunlight, her kind eyes told him so. "Hm. Come with me," she says kindly as she nudged him and softly guided him towards a dark alley that wasn't too far of a walk from where they stood.

Natsu couldn't help but comply, those mesmerising eyes being saved inside his memory as he and the rest of Rebecca's friends made their way towards their new destination, a dark alley, away from the crowd and away from it all. When they were inside the shadow of the alley and confidentially away from the sunlight, Rebecca let Natsu go and started going through a bag that hung off one of her shoulders.

There was a gasp and an uncertain voice broke the awkward shadow silence. "Rebecca?" It was Shiki. "Are you sure you should be doing that? That's the only one Sister gave us."

"Yes, I'm sure." Rebecca says certainly, glancing back at him with those same eyes she gave Natsu moments earlier. "We want help, don't we? Something tells me the only way we'll get it is if we help out first."

Huh?

"I hate to it it," the other female says quietly. "Or say it out loud, but I agree."

"Of course," the blonde-haired male rolls his eyes. "And while you're doing that, we're going to lose limbs all because someone decides to use our only source of healing and health."

"That's enough Weisz," Shiki cut's in. "I won't let anyone lose limbs."

"Tch."

Natsu struggled to keep up with the conversations, blinking and trying to shake off the slowly dulling pain. The shade from the darkness had allowed him to use his eyes without needing to close them, but his head still burned and he still felt tired- there was sure to be black bags under his eyes, bigger ones then the ones he woke up with at least.

Rebecca pulls out a small can of what Natsu assumed was some sort of soda. She offers it to him and says, "Drink this, it'll cure you."

What?

Natsu eyed the can, suspiciously. "No, no, I can't get cured," he says with a shake of his head. "Wendy's already used her healing magic and it didn't cure me, only helped temporarily."

"Healing magic?"

Weisz rose and eyebrow and enquired, "She's like Sister?"

"That's amazing," Shiki says in awe. "Can she mend wounds and cure sicknesses too?"

"She can heal scars," Natsu said proudly. "She just couldn't help with this because she can't cure whatever caused- this thing?" He was proud of Wendy, this is true. The youngest member of their team was the biggest and best , and he couldn't be happier about that. Even when Wendy started beating herself up over not being able to cure him, he couldn't be mad or even disappointed by it.

"Oh wow," the woman with the dark hair says surprised. "That truly is amazing, this Wendy- she's human?"

Natsu nods slowly, careful not to move too fast. Rebecca seems to notice his movement and gestured to the drink so offered him. "Here, just try it. I know your healer, with whatever magic she has, has limitations but our healer who isn't human doesn't have any limitations- not that we know of at least."

"Not human?" Natsu hesitates before slowly grabbing the drink. He notices the coolness the tin had to his touch and an unfamiliar tingle that radiated through his bloodstream. He didn't know what 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 this was but he could tell it was a lot of it. He took a massive pause, looking between Shiki, to Rebecca, to Pino and the rest of them waiting for some sort of indicator but he never got one so he carefully opened the lid and instantly got a whiff of a sweet scent.

Pino raises a hand and answers his enquiry. "Yes, like me, Sister is an Android and a fellow Shining Star of the Edens Zero Warship. We're robots."

Natsu didn't get it, at all, but he didn't care that much as he downed the contents of the drink as if he was completely drawn to it. The effect was instantaneous, all the pain and desire to sleep away his entire life fell away from him as if it were taken away from a raging river. His glee and happiness of being free from it was also an instantaneous response as he looked to the sky and shouted with glee, allowing his magic to spew out in bursts of bright flames. "Hell yeah baby!"

His reaction caused the group to flinch away in surprise, he'd noticed they'd stepped back and mumbled to themselves.

"First flames coming out from his fist, now it's spewing out of his 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩. Who is this guy?"

"Not who," Weisz responds. "What is he?"

"I'm Natsu!" Natsu cuts in, standing straight and offering a hand towards Shiki with a proud smile on his face. "Natsu Dragneel, human and member of the Fairy Tail guild. That was quite the medicine, cured me right up!"

For a moment, Shiki hesitated before reaching forward and accepting the handshake with a grin equal size of Natsu's own. "I'm Shiki Grandbell. Captain of the Edens Zero Warship."

"Warship? I don't know what that is but it sounds pretty cool."

"I don't know what a Fairy Tail is either but I'm sure it's pretty cool too."

"Oh- it's my guild, my family." Natsu responds, grin widening. "I can introduce you to them if you want."

"I'd love that."

A throat was cleared, interrupting the moment before Natsu could link arms with Shiki and take him away on a skipping journey towards Fairy Tail. "Ahem," Rebecca sounded unamused. "Our 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 Shiki."

"Oh- I forgot about that." Shiki snapped up and suddenly turned serious. "You don't happen to know where we are, what planet we're on or what year it is- do you? It's important."

Natsu was surprised by the question, and didn't know how to respond as some of what was asked. He didn't know the answer to some of the questions, so he answered what he could and the conversation taught him a lot about the world he never would have expected or knew existed in the first place.

He learnt the whole group was proud of this Edens Zero Warship, none of them used Magic but this thing called Ether Gear which happened to be generated by the same Ethernano that powered up Natsu's magic which was why Shiki was able to use it in Magnolia even if it were briefly. Turned out they were on the run from an army after their heads for reasons unknown to Natsu, although from what he could tell it were probably a stupid reason.

Due to one of many chases, Shiki and his crew here were shot down by the army and crash landed here with the Edens Zero off in hiding somewhere. They needed help finding new parts for their ship so that, Weisz, could fully repair their ship and return them back to the Edens Zero. Natsu had never even heard of some of the parts they were after but he figured Fairy Tail would know more about this then he would.

Their conversation continued as Natsu lead them through the streets, explaining the Fairy Tail guild to them. They, as well as Natsu, learnt more things. Turns out Guilds are a thing out in space too, except the guild Shiki and his friends were in didn't treat each other like family. It was just a place for work- which both shocked and surprised Natsu, he hid his fury over it pretty well.

When they reached about half-way towards the Guilds location, the story about Griselda came up.

"I'm surprised," Homura said -he'd finally learnt her name in the discussions-, "She didn't seem evil to me."

"Looks can be deceiving," Weisz commented.

"True."

Natsu nodded his head, walking a little bit ahead of the rest with his arms linking at the back of his head. "She smells like ash," he paused. "Can smell her malice from a mile away."

"Smell?"

"I've decided," Shiki announced suddenly, causing the whole group -including Natsu- to stop walking and turn towards him curiously. "We're going to help you get rid of this 'Dark Guild' problem, in return you help us get back home to our ship." The Captain of the Edens Zero looked directly at Natsu, a seriousness in his expression as he offered his hand.

Natsu took a glance at the offering and Shiki's hand, before he reached his hand forward and shook it in acceptance. "You've got yourself a deal," he says unhesitantly, grinning.

"You do?" Rebecca questions before sighing in defeat. "Guess we got no choice."

"Indeed," Homura adds.

Pino gives a curt nod and Natsu took that as a sign to let go of Shiki's hand before the small Android stood on Shiki's shoulder and raised an arm to their forehead, and says, "Searching the perimeter for the location of human Dark Guild Master, code name Griselda." There was a short silence in the air, a much heavier silence, before they speak again. "Search results return as a failure. Griselda is no longer in Magnolia."

"I know," Natsu responds. "Her scent disappeared the moment she teleported."

"Hm. How strange."

"So, what now?" Rebecca questioned.

Natsu didn't know how to respond to that, so he stayed silent- an unsettling feeling began to sit in his abdomen and he didn't like it. Thankfully, the question wasn't directed at him so he didn't need to find an answer, but turned out he didn't need to as Shiki opened his mouth to speak. "We start from the beginning," he says with this authority Natsu had never witnessed before. It quickly became clear to him why Shiki was chosen as the captain. "We start where she disappeared and continue forward until she can't hide anymore."

There was more silence, this time it was awkward. The pedestrians around them moved, and stepped around them silently as if they weren't blocking them at all. The air Natsu had been breathing in had someone grown denser again, an unsettling heat had wafted its way through the breeze. If he hadn't met Shiki, he would have thought the sudden change was normal but he knew better than ever to never doubt the change of the breeze.

Now knowing this, Natsu grew a new appreciation for Wendy.

─────── • ✿ • ───────

Ta da! Sorry, not sorry, for the length of work. When I say I got hella inspired, I meant it. Edens Zero always was my second go to fictional story after Fairy Tail due to their similarities and I quite enjoy them both despite the hate both series get. I also haven't written since my last writing event entry which was the Pirate event last year so it was good to get some actual writing in for once.

Lemme know if y'all enjoyed this, I honestly felt like making a Part 2 but that's not confirmed thinking just yet <3

Stay awesome lovelies. Roro is g out

MicDrop

#BloggingBandits

PROOF!