Natsu Dragneel In Dxd - Volume 1 Chapter 30 Onward To Hell Part Ii

 

“Well, there are a few things I want to start with.” Azazel pointed one finger upward, wearing a creepy smile, “First, Hell doesn’t have a dock to stop in. Second, we are in the engine head of the train,” Azazel then slid the door open and displayed a dark cloudy atmosphere as the wind gusted in the cart and smelled of ash, “Third, we finally made it to Hell.” His smiled increased tenfold when he took Natsu by his collar and threw him out the train with his final words being

“F.u.c.k.i.n.g Shit Azazel!” Natsu yelled falling downward to the supposed Hell they were in. All Happy could do is stare flabbergasted at what just happened. Did Azazel literally throw Natsu off the train to plummet towards Hell? How high were they? How the heck was the train moving in the air without tracks!? All these questions swirling in his head; all these questions that will never be answered

Besides, the fact is, none of those questions meant Jack to Natsu at the moment. His current concern was figuring out what the heck to do with his current situation! For goodness sake, he was falling from the sky- and it wasn’t even the first time this happened to him!

“Think Natsu, think!” He pepped talked himself while batting his head, “Wait- I’ve got it!” And with that statement, Natsu flipped in mid-air and locked his legs straight and released a jet stream of fire under his feet. The result was easy to figure; Natsu floated in the air with his feet acting as rocket boots.

“Man, I almost forgot I could do that,” He wiped his brow of the thin sweat that covered his face and started to look at his surroundings. He found that surprisingly, the air around him was still covered in thick ash, making it almost impossible to see, smell, or navigate in general his way out of the place. All that he knew was that the light coming beneath his feet wasn’t from his own flames, but something from down below, most likely a place that’s grounded.

“Then I guess that’s where I’m headed. Let’s go Happ- Oh no, Happy! Buddy!” Natsu went frantic after noticing his friend, not at his side. Thoughts of torture or death plagued his mind as he was worried and concerned about his partner’s wellbeing in this anarchic place. He was about to go haywire and search wildly for Happy until a refreshing high-pitch hit his ears.

“Natsu! Natsu, I’m here!” Natsu heard Happy call out, “Don’t stop emitting that fire around you! I’m following the light!” He heard him say. Natsu realized that he was talking about the flames on his feet and started to let out an even greater flow of fire. It was only a matter of time before he had blue cover his whole vision and began struggling to pry the furball from his face. The force of Happy’s collision almost knocked Natsu off balance and plunged himself towards the ground. Then, once he got the little guy off him, his smile went wide and his cheeks were touching his eyes with how happy he was seeing his best friend.

“Hey, buddy! Oh man, you wouldn’t believe how worried I was.” Natsu said sounding relieved.

“Aye, I was worried about you too! That Azazel is mental and not in a good way!” Happy whined, crossing his arms while Natsu continued to hold him up.

“Yeah, Imma have to beat his ass once we get back.” Natsu nodded at his own statement, confirming his resolve.

“Anyway, since I’m back let me carry you.” Happy suggested, sprouting his wings once more as he flew above Natsu’s head.

“Ah, you’re right. I really don’t like flying on my own anyway.” Then, just as he said that Happy flew behind him and grabbed onto his shirt while Natsu deactivated his magic, letting Happy take control of his flight, “For some reason, I trust you more with flying me than I do myself- isn’t that odd?” Natsu asked rhetorically.

“Aye, of course not. Everyone knows I’m more trustworthy than you Natsu.” Happy remarked causing Natsu to gain a small tick mark.

“You know, who even taught you to be that quippy? It’s almost uncanny.” Natsu commented sighing, trying to look behind him.

“Well, who else could it be? I got it from Lismama!” Happy answered joyfully, as both of them reminisced about their favorite silver-haired girl.

“No, that’s impossible. Lis was too nice to have a prickly attitude like you.” He said to himself, reliving all the memories he had with her. And that’s when it clicked, Lisanna was never outwardly rude but was more passive-aggressive if anything. Every time she got slightly irritated she always said certain things that never made sense to him back then, but now

“Holy Igneel” Natsu whispered to himself as quietly as he could, all the while Happy was trying to snap him out of his trance.

“Hey, Natsu! Natsu, listen!” Happy yelled in his ear, trying to get his attention but ultimately proved useless in the end. This situation is a prime example of how useful it was to live with him all these years, getting to know what made him react; knowing his likes and dislikes, his fears and strengths as well as little ticks he had when he was nervous. And now was the perfect time to utilize them, “Oi, pinky! Try using that flame brain of yours for once!”

“Uh! Who said that!? Gray you bastard, I swear I’m gonna deck you!” Natsu screamed, completely ignorant of what just transpired.

“No, Gray’s not here. I said that to get your attention,” Happy replied once Natsu calmed down, “Now, what exactly are we gonna do? It’s not like we can stay up here forever.”

“Oh, right, sorry Happy,” Natsu quickly apologized, “Well, you see that dim light below us. I’m thinking that’s where solid ground is ’cause really, that’s the only thing that makes sense. Then, once we get settled, I’ll scout the area and you’ll set up camp. Sound like a plan?”

“Aye, sir! Let’s go, Natsu!” And so, Happy dived towards the light below them, flying fast in hopes of getting there without trouble. The dense fog around them made it hard to see so relying on the dim blanket of light made Happy feel uneasy. The flight went on for minutes with barely any progress and Natsu could tell Happy wouldn’t survive in this ash cloud for very long as his coughing grew in frequency and ferocity.

Natsu was just about to address the issue until a loud rumbling shook the air around them and not long after, a hot stream of lava jetted straight towards them in the air with Happy narrowly missing the blast. The heat of the molten rock sightly burned Happy despite his magic protection and immediately, Natsu knew he had to get them out of their situation.

“What was that?” Natsu questioned. His thought was interrupted when more individual quakes shook the air around them while he turned to his partner with a look a worry, knowing they were both going to be in trouble. However, all he saw in his partner’s eye’s was determination staring deep into the obscured abyss below, only causing his own resolve to strengthen as a result, “Okay buddy, I don’t know what this is exactly, but I don’t plan on giving up here. Let’s hurry and get to the bottom of this!”

“Aye Sir!” Happy yelled as well only to cough froggily after finishing. Building hisMagic Powerfor one huge push, Happy clenched his teeth and flared his nose as his wings expanded even further, covering much more surface area, “Triple Max Speed!”

The backlash was almost instantly felt in Natsu’s body after Happy successfully activated his spell. Never before has he accelerated this quickly in such a short amount of time- no, forget that- never has he even reached velocities even close to the magnitude of speed they were traveling. Natsu felt his flesh rippling across the exposed skin and his hair whipping across his face as he struggled to move or even stay balanced consistently through the thrashing wind and G-forces that affected his body. He could only imagine what exactly Happy was going through.

With the rippling of your whole body, one might expect other senses of touch and audio to be exempt from any other origins, though sadly, you would be wrong. Traveling at such speeds did not make the trembling of the air from the earthquake completely null. The rumbling sound still resonating through the ear and the shaking of the air tingling their skin, never letting go of their sense of alarm and danger, continually being present.

Not long after, Natsu dipped his left side, controlling their direction, to closely dodge a scorching torrent of liquid fire that could have easily knocked them out. It wasn’t long until another erupted from the ground aiming directly for Natsu and Happy right after they escaped the other one. It was only because of his fast reaction time that they managed to barrel around the blast and fly safely away from the residue. Only seconds went by and time after time the duo was assaulted none stop by the lava whose goal seemed to obstruct their plan of descending safely to the ground and building a temporary shelter.

‘Of course, nothing goes our freaking way! Has it ever? No, it never does!’ Natsu fumed in his head after just painfully missing a wide blast. Luckily, as they continued through their obstacles, the light Natsu and Happy saw encompassing everything below was beginning to become bigger and brighter, showing how close they were to their set destination.

“Natsu! I-I don’t think I can hold it any longer! It’s so hard to breathe and my magic is almost gone!” Happy pleaded towards Natsu, begging and hoping they would arrive on the ground, away from spewing lava and burning ash.

“Hold on just a bit longer Happy! I know it’s hard but I can smell it- the place where the lava is coming from is just down there!” Natsu furrowed his brow and squinted his eyes still trying to navigate the quickest way down while avoiding the dangerous blasts of hot lava that heated the air around them. Despite Natsu’s encouragement, it wasn’t long until he felt Happy’s grip on his jacket beginning to loosen and their speed was noticeably going down. Luckily for them, the lava spews stopped not long after and now the duo was gliding downward, still somewhat skeptical of the supposed safety.

“… Natsu I think I need a nap.” Happy’s eyes grew heavy and were slowly being closed and the transition was as smooth and gradual as he also released his former iron grip on Natsu’s clothing. Natsu could only smile, feeling tremendously proud of what Happy’s accomplished during the short time of them being here. And before the blue cat could drift away in the sky, Natsu quickly turned himself, caught the furball and tucked him to his side under his arm. With his now fixed position, Natsu stared down at the ever-growing light through the thick smog of ash while sighing in relief.

“We’re finally here.” He stated casually, his grin widening as they approached the end of the toxic stratosphere. Natsu braced himself when he felt the change in air pressure almost immediately after he spoke, and it wasn’t long before Happy and himself broke through the fog and entered the lowest layer of the atmosphere. The bright light that shown through the ashy layer of air hit his eyes at full force, consequently blinding him for a few moments. After his eyes finally adjusted to the blazing light, he slowly opened them back up to find that the otherworldly sight that belongs only to Hell.

He wasn’t sure what it was- whether the reason being he was still free falling from up above and had a good view of the landscape, or if he was sightly hallucinating from breathing in the poisonous air- but the way Hell looked to him right now was terrifyingly beautiful. The whole land was lit up by streams and lakes of magma that seemed to go on for miles. Random acres of rock were continuously burning with raging fire that reached high in the sky like a forest flame. Multiple volcanoes and geysers littered the landscape for as far as the eye could see along with little cave-like structures attaching themselves to the sides of the volcanoes. But the one thing that caught his eyes was the giant tower that stood over everything else in the area. The height was obviously the most distinguishing part but the girth of the basalt colored tower was nothing to laugh about either. The diameter it had was far more than he could walk in a few hours, and judging by the size and perspective he was looking at it, Natsu judged it was a good dozen of miles away.

Securing the arm that was holding Happy, Natsu flipped from his head first position in the air, swinging his feet to point towards the red-dusted ground. Feeling a tingling sensation in his legs, Natsu gripped Happy one more time before blasting fire from his feet to keep them airborne. As he stabilized, Natsu took another look around to search for a potential settlement for them. During this time, his eyes landed on a cave significantly larger than himself but nevertheless was good enough for him. Just when he was about to start his short flight over to the giant protruding fragment of rock, Natsu heard something breaking just below them. Looking down, he noticed a crack starting to form underneath their current position.

“What the- what’s happening? I’m almost a thousand feet in the air, so why can I see a crack forming?” Natsu’s curiosity quickly turned to anxiousness when a familiar rumbling in the air tickled his skin. His concerns became reality when he felt the hot air rise from the open earth, “Oh crap oh crap oh crap! Happy, wake up!” He called out to the blue cat in between his arms. The only reaction that came out of the Exceed was a light groan, then nothing.

“Damn it.” Natsu cursed under his breath as he jetted away using his magic. He knew he had to get out of the blast radius soon or else Happy will be in serious danger, but at the rate the crack was forming, it didn’t look like he would get out any time soon. Fortunately, it was this fact that drove Natsu to push harder and fly faster than before, but soon he’ll realize that all was for not.

The crack that was forming moments ago was slowing turning into a canyon as its width and length far surpassed any of the geysers he saw before. But the most terrifying thing was when the ground collapsed all around, instantly forming a hole in the ground that would shortly be filled with lava. The currently black, endless hole that sculpted beneath them was utterly and unbelievably ginormous, and the darkness within the trench didn’t last long. The magma was getting to the top at an alarming rate, and all Natsu could do was stop and gape at how surreal it was. It was as if he was witnessing the birth of one of those oceans of lava he witnessed earlier.

He started to realize that moving at the rate he was going wouldn’t help at all, and the only option would be to stop it somehow and that was what stumped him.

The shaking in the air startled Natsu during his thought process while he surveyed the area to analyze the exact position both him and Happy were in, which just so happened to be “screwed”.

“Gah, damn it! What can I do!?” Natsu blurted out, hitting his head with the hand that wasn’t currently holding Happy. He couldn’t go up, he couldn’t go down, he couldn’t go left, right, through or around, so what was he supposed to do? His frantic thinking only increased when the pressure of the air pressed against his lungs and the dry, sizzling waves of heat itched at his skin, “What is this? Is the heat actually hurting me? That doesn’t make any sense, there’s no way I lost my resistance!”

At this thought, his panicking went through the roof, and while he knew now was the time to keep his cool, the things around him, however, kept heating up. The chances of Happy surviving dropped exponentially after gaining this information; if he could actually get burned by the lava, then there’s no way Grayfia’s spell on Happy would survive something like this (no offense to Grayfia).

The magma was now boiling at the top and was about ready to blow from Natsu’s observations, and he still hadn’t come up with a way to fight it off. It would be stupid to attack a blast of lava, but at the same time, he had no defensive moves.

“Oh, my Igneel Natsu you’re a genius!” Natsu yelped with joy, complimenting his own figure.

Both literally and figuratively, the tension in the air rose all while Natsu was building and focusing his magic to accommodate for his plan. Taking a deep breath, Natsu managed to calm himself for this moment of adversity and started to unwrap his scarf from his neck using his one hand. Finding a way to tie the piece of cloth, Natsu proceeded to wrap it around his body like a sash and cradle Happy in the open pocket that was made, leaving both his arms open and ready.

He didn’t have to wait long for the build-up of pressure in the giant trench to finally give its toll and rocket the thick substance of rock and metals directly toward their static position in the air. The lava that escaped flew at neck breaking speeds due to the constant rise of pressure beneath the surface, as the explosion was the cause of the release of gases. A loud, ear thumping sound rang throughout the volcanic wasteland in Hell and all Natsu could do was shake off the ringing in his sensitive ears and deal with the pain later, for he had to focus at the threat currently aiming to burn both of them alive.

The light of the hot liquid burned brighter and with each passing moment, Natsu somehow felt more and more confident about his plan despite seeing the flood of hot death about to overwash him. “Fire Dragon’s…” he began to chant, holding out two open palms, both steaming from the heat that was radiating off of them, and just like the lava, both hands started to glow red hot and shine brightly.

It seemed too close, but for Natsu, it was the perfect timing. He waited till the direst moment to finally put his plan into action; only when the lava was a few meters away from searing him did his final words come out, along with his infamous fight-crazy grin.

“Burning Hide!” A pulse of red magic came from his body, and from that came a dome of orange-yellow flames that seemingly ate the lava as it came in contact with the fiery shield. A wretched sound came from the fire hitting the lava, like a hot metal was dipped in cold oil, and additionally, the combined heat caused a light show of bright colors to form around both Natsu and Happy as if they were in a tornado made of flaming rainbows.

“What the actual Hell?” Even though Natsu was purely focused on keeping Happy alive and sustaining the shield, even he had to stop and think about what was going on with him and his magic. Why is it that he was slightly burned by the lava? He knew that it wasn’t his main element, but still, it was a branch of the same thing and overall heat couldn’t andshouldn’thurt him. Along with the fact that he not only felt the pressing of the lava on his fiery shield but also he could feel his own fire overpowering it, which for him was the oddest thing in the world. He may not be smart, but he had to know stuff in order to get stronger; he knew fire itself wasn’t tangible along with lava being heavier and denser, so why were his magical flames practically consuming the lava for lunch.

While his thoughts deterred, his resolve did not. Natsu’s outstretched arms and flaming hands kept the lava at bay, and by the look of things, the surging blast was just about ready to subside.’Just a bit longer and I can stop this new spell. But man, using this is exhausting…’Natsu thought as his arms slowly reeled themselves back to his side from fatigue. Luckily for him, his observations served fruitfully and the eruption died down relatively quickly. Still cautious of the surroundings, Natsu had to maneuver himself in the air with flaming legs to dodge the cooled lava that started to rain down in huge chunks of rock.

Watching them pass by, he noticed something, “I can’t believe the explosion sent it so high that it cooled enough to turn back into rock. Unreal…” Natsu stared blankly down at the now present sea of molten rock and gazed at the irregular currents it had developed, “Awesome! This place is perfect! Aw, I wish Igneel could come out and enjoy this place. It’d be like returning home where ever he used to live.”

After his “stargazing”, Natsu final remembered what he had to do and got his priorities straightened- or at least as straight as he could get them without outside help.

“So, wasn’t there a cave around here that I picked out earlier?” Natsu stated, talking to himself while he flew through the air with Happy still laying in the sash. Putting his hand on his chin as he flew, he began to look around for potential hideouts, but currently, he was lost, “Wow, I guess I got too excited- I can’t even remember where I was facing last!”

Now he knew was screwed. Lost in Hell, with no way of navigation, along with new terrains and crazy volcanic eruptions and some potentially devious murders wandering for eternal suffering. Great. Calculating his imminent doom, Natsu decided the best decision presently was to wake up Happy. With that quippy brain of his, he could probably think of something.

“Oi, Happy, you sleeping? We’re out of trouble right now so you can wake up. Oi,” The task of waking up the blue feline was never easy, but while Happy knew Natsu’s quirks, he also knew of his.”Hey Happy, if you wake up now we can go fishing in a lake of lava.”

“No way, really!? I wonder what kind of demon fish we’ll catch!” Happy sat up in a blur and quickly spread his wings to fly dizzily around Natsu. His excitement, however, dwindled down after realizing the situation, “Not cool Natsu. Tricking a fish-loving Exceed like that.”

“Come on, Happy. I may have tricked you about it to wake you up, but I’ll try my best to make it happen too.” Natsu looked earnestly at his blue friend who stopped his frantic flight around his body. Happy held out his paw in a handshake-like gesture.

“Aye, I’ll keep you to that Natsu,” Natsu read the sign and shook Happy’s paw sealing the deal as he nodded in agreement, “Anyway, Natsu, where are we? Did you find shelter yet?”

“Well, some good news and bad. Good news: I flew us over a giant sea of lava that attacked us. Bad news: I kinda got us lost,” After seeing Happy’s unpleasant face, Natsu put his hands up and started to defend his case, “Look it isn’t my fault! I was busy trying to save our lives- I didn’t have time to remember Where I picked our stay!”

Still having a look of disapproval, Happy sighed at his partner’s unreliability,”So, you need any help? I finally got used to this place’s atmosphere.”

“Uh, yeah actually. Before you woke up, I used this new spell and it really drained me.” Natsu explained briefly.

“Aye, say no more.” Correctly interpreting Natsu’s statement, Happy flew behind him and grabbed hold of his shirt, relieving the pink-haired boy from flying on his own again.

“Thanks, buddy. But now, I gotta find us a place to stay again.” Natsu sighed tiredly with Happy flying him over the ground to survey where they’ll be staying.

Unfortunately for them, the direction Natsu initially flew them in was nothing but plains of rock and tiny cracks of lava; no safe hideout could be seen for miles. After their effortless searches, the duo stopped the pointless scavenging and decided to settle down after their exhausting efforts that day. Picking a spot to stay was easy considering how everything looked eerily the same. As Happy flew them down to the anointed spot of rest, Natsu plopped on the ground the minute his feet touched the solid surface.

“Aaawwww! Happy, I’m so tired get me some fish will ya. Oh, and set up the tent too.” He lazy demeanor quickly got on Happy’s nerves unbeknownst to him while a piece of rock flew at his noggin.

“Don’t be like that Natsu- help me! I’m the one carrying all the stuff.” Happy’s rock swiftly knocked Natsu up on his feet and caused a small bump to form on the side of his head.

“Ow Happy, that hurt! I’m already fatigued so let me rest.” Natsu argued, wanting desperately to lay back down. In truth, his whole body was aching at the use of his new spell and put some strain on his arms and legs.

“Come on, it’ll be easy. You do this all the time so help me and I’ll give you fish.” At this point, Happy activated hisRequip Magicas the needed supplies dropped from the air to the ground. Although he knew of Natsu’s current state of weariness, he also knew there was no way to set up the tent with such pudgy arms. His partner sighed in defeat and swung his arms around in fake protest.

“Fine, I’ll help, but I expect one of your best fish.” Natsu smiled weakly at Happy while he did the same.

“Aye, sir!” Luckily for Natsu, the assembly for the tent wasn’t long at all and he got to have both his fish and his sleep after all. Happy followed suit not long after, and as far as they could tell, it was night time- despite the sky stay the same shade of dark gray and the area forever being lit by fires and lava. The two amigos stayed in their clothe tent and were sleeping on thick covers to soften the hard ground while Happy was actually sprawled all over Natsu’s face.

Right now, their “Night” was relatively peaceful with only the occasional shaking in the ground form distant explosions and the light from periodic flares, but those aren’t enough to wake the dynamic duo up. In fact, with the way things are and what they’ve been through, they’ll grasp onto their sleep for as long as possible. Which, unfortunately for them, is an unbelievably long amount of time.

Also, because of their exhaustion, Happy still had his wings out while sleeping and Natsu was sleeping in a pretzeled position. Overall, They’ll be waking up sore and cranky.

Not too far Away from Their Position:

“Come on men, we have to find something or else it’ll be our heads!”

“We’re trying sir but everyone knows this place is a wasteland. Nothing is here.”

“Shut up! Do you wanna be left for the dogs? Our master gave us this territory so he expects something out of it!”

“Y-yes Sir!”

“Hey, Hybrid, do something useful for once and use that nose of yours to help.”

“Yes, master.”

A large group of men and women clad in black fur clothing and small armor walked together in formation, following their leader- the person in the front yelling. They all had an assortment of weapons and shields that accompanied them along with a stigma burned to the side of their necks. The leader, however, could barely be distinguished from the rest beside the lack of armor and weapons. The only thing that stuck out was the leash he was carrying and the person attached on the other end.

The supposed slave had animal ears on the side of its head and long sharps nails. Going with the dark purple fur that it had on its forearms and shins, the hybrid had a small brown tipped nose that glistened in the light. All that it was wearing was rags of what the others had with minimal footwear.

The troops moved forward, desperately looking for something to appease their anonymous “master” while their leader tugged at the leash constantly to “encourage” the hybrid to search harder. An hour past and soon the group was convinced that nothing was going to appear and turn back to trace their journey, but the moment the hybrid jerked up, the leader smiled.

“Men, cheer up. We have something.” He commanded gleefully, having the hybrid lead the way, “What did you find?”

Quickly sniffing, the hybrid turned to face its master, “Smells like a male and an animal. Probably his pet. They’re right ahead of us, see? And by their breathing patterns, they appear to be asleep.”

Squinting his eyes, the leader’s grin widened after seeing a tent in the distance. Today would not be fruitless after all his efforts.

“Let’s go! We will conduct this covertly. We have no idea how strong the pair is, so catch them quickly and quietly and subdue our prey.” The leader raised the hand not currently holding the leash in the air to signal the different teams, and like ninjas, a third of them vanished from sight and started their mission.

As expected from the leader, the task was done swiftly and now he had a good look at the two captives. A pink-haired teenage boy and blue furred cat with… wings? In his eyes, with such a rare catch, he was sure to use these two as good slaves, but meanwhile, he had to follow through with his job and put shackles on the duo. No way did he want them escaping.

“Somebody carry those two and guard them. As of right now, we’re returning to base.” Cheers erupted within the crowd of “soldiers” and many of them volunteered as tribute to their leader’s skills. “Come on, I wanna present our catch to the boss already!” Making a sharp turn, he pulled at the leash and had the hybrid following beside him.

“And I guess you’ll get a treat too, dog. How about extra rations?” He looked down at the shorter person and his eyes did the rest of the taking for him.

“Yes, master.”

Location in Natsu’s Head:

Groggily, our Salmon haired protagonist rubbed his head to calm a pulsating headache bothering him.

Minutes before this, Natsu woke up in a black void, laying on a ground that wasn’t even there. He sat up with a sigh already knowing who sent him here. As he was about to take a step to start a journey in his mind, a vague memory of him falling into the nothingness stopped his leg’s movement. Natsu really didn’t need to experience any more falling, mostly because he had his fill when Azazel pushed him off the train. Crouching down on his knees, he began to feel around in front and behind him to make sure a platform was there waiting for him.

Confirming that there was, the pyro stood up again and confidently took a step forward, but this time not stopping his motion due to the irrational fear of plunging into the nothingness. Just when his foot was supposed to hit a floor, his whole body abruptly started to free-fall down to somewhere in the depths of his mind.

Really though, he should have seen this coming.

Peeved at his predicament, Natsu began to whistle to past the time he would be plummeting in his own head. His face clearly showed how upset and bored he was but those emotions were mostly pointed towards himself. If this is his mind, why can’t he control what goes on in it? His pondering surely made his trip a lot more durable, because before he knew it, he slammed face first onto something hard.

And that’s where we are now.

“Hey, Igneel! Are you gonna come out now or what?” Natsu called out for his father, cupping his hands around his mouth for extra measure. Thankfully he didn’t have to wait long before a mirage outline of Igneel was forming in front of him as the froggy image slowly took on a more solid appearance.

And the minute Natsu saw his face, he knew what was to come, “Hello son, did you have a nice trip?” Igneel jokingly asked, knowing how much it would get on his son’s nerves.

“Haha, real funny dad. It’s a knee-slapper,” Natsu sarcastically replied frowning in return.

“Oh don’t be a stickler, Natsu. It’s all fun and games. Besides, I thought you would need something to get your mind off of what happened today.” Igneel’s Dragonic smile never left his face even after his son childishly crossed his arms.

“Hmpf, tell me about it. My body is so sore I could barely lift my neck after I dropped myself on the covers. Well, my physical body,” Realizing holding a small grudge would get him nowhere, he uncrossed his arms and sighed deeply. Maybe he did need an outlet, “I got attacked by lava geysers, almost eaten by an eruption that made a sea of lava and got myself lost in a place full of sinners. I couldn’t even eat a full dinner because Happy said we had to conserve our fish rations! This is really the worst.”

“It does sound like you had quite the day, my son. I wouldn’t be surprised if you- I don’t know- experienced a new property of your magic.” Igneel vaguely replied, looking down on Natsu’s wide-eyed face.

“Hey, I did have something like that; how did you know?” Natsu put a finger on his chin, really giving it his all to figure out what his father supposedly did.

“Haha, well you see…” A sweat drop formed down on his long neck as Igneel sheepishly looked away, hoping his son would forget what he said long before any of this.

“Wait a second, you already knew what happened you bastard! I remember you saying something like ‘I can see what you’re doing’ or something like that! Does that mean you know everything I doand think!?” Natsu accusingly threw his thinking finger towards his Dragon dad, hoping what he said wasn’t true, “I’ve never really thought about it before but now that I think of it, you always seem to know what’s happening around me.”

“Okay, I won’t hide anything from you Natsu; I’ll tell you the truth. I know everything single thing you did, are doing and still want to do.” Igneel flat out told his son that he had no privacy whatsoever from his all-seeing eyes while Natsu did the most uncharacteristic thing he could ever do: Natsu was blushing. Steam was coming out from his ears and nose, and his face was red with embarrassment and rage as he comically clenched his fist and raised at his father.

“Why you I swear, once we get home, I’m gonna kick you outta my body and get you outta my head!”

“Well, I can already tell that you want to beat me up, despite both of us knowing it’s impossible.” Natsu’s father scoffed at the thought of his son with some miracle beating him up. What a laugh.

“What, did you get that from my head too?” Natsu angrily asked.

“No, it’s just painfully obvious to see, you’re like an open book. And anyway, even if you do somehow kick me out, it won’t break our connection. I’ve been in your mind for so long we practically share a conscience.” Raising his claw as he talked, Igneel explained to Natsu the flaw in his plan.

“This is the worst,” Completely deflated of his previous vigor, Natsu hung his head down in total defeat, “So you know about-”

“Yes.”

“Along with the fact that-”

“Yes.”

“Despite all the-”

“Yes.”

“And with all those-”

“Yes.”

“Please kill me.” Natsu fell on his butt and covered his face in embarrassment.

“Don’t worry son. It’s completely natural for a boy your age. Especially with you technically being half Dragon. Although people don’t see it, I know you’re not that dense at all.” Igneel used his one claw and softly petted Natsu’s head to comfort him. The two stayed like that for a while until Natsu finally accepted his fate and worked up some spirit to live again, although it would take some time getting used to.

“Okay, I understand that I have no privacy so let’s move on with something else,” Natsu, still sitting on the “floor”, brought his head up looking straight into Igneel’s giant gold eyes, “Uh, what about the thing you said before? Mhmm, what was it?”

“Ah, you mean your “weird experience” with magic. I guess we can talk about it.” Igneel said a little enthralled with the idea.

“What do you mean ‘I guess’? I thought it was something important?” Sounding somewhat annoyed by his father’s behavior, Natsu pouted slightly knowing he was missing something.

“Well, to make it simple, you’ve already done it before. How could you forget? There’s was the one guy with purple hair in your guild who was it?” Igneel quizzically looked down towards his son for help. Surely he knows, right?

“Oh, you mean Macao! Man, do miss him- he was basically my mentor when you weren’t around,” Natus fondly recalled his former teacher as well as best friend, but sadly did not see where this was going, “What about him?”

“Well Macao, as you say, taught you not about increasing your fire’s strength, but purely taming it as a whole. That’s also one of the reasons why you came here, isn’t?” Igneel’s explanation gave Natsu vague moments of being yelled at when he accidentally burned random things Macao told him not to burn as part of his training. Those memories didn’t really sit well with him

“I guess it is, but where are you getting with this Igneel?” Natsu’s slow nature almost gave Igneel an excuse to hit him on the head like he did when he was a child.

Sucking in a breath and calming his nerves, Igneel decided to just reveal what he’s been hinting at, “Okay, just listen Natsu. I’m going to tell you our main objective in this training regimen,” ‘Why can’t he just remember what Macao taught him.’”During this time, you’ll learn how to improve your understanding and bond with yourFire Magic. You have to recognize that fire doesn’t always burn and you can control what it does. And finally, with the right practice, you can shape and harden fire to your will.”

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re saying that if I learn this, I can make some gauntlets out of fire to do an actualIron Fist?” Natsu questioned, his eyes gaining a twinkling light of excitement.

“I don’t see the need for that but I think the answer is yes. Yes, it is possible to make gauntlets out of fire.” Igneel sighed after hearing what Natsu just asked. After all of these years, he expected him to at least think logically

“Whoohoo! I just thought of an awesome new move!” He pumped his arms in the air and shot fire from his mouth, “Imma call itFire Dragon’s Shotgunand shoot hardened fire bullets at my opponents!” Natsu’s excitement never died down, in fact, he started jogging in place to blow off some of his newly gained energy.

“Natsu, it’s not exactly traditional to make new spells inDragonslaying Magic. I only put off the others because they were relatable to what Dragons do, but I’m sure no Dragon would ever stoop so low as to use a shotgun.” Igneel deadpanned.

“Well if I rename it, then is it fine?” Natsu asked. I guess he already found a loophole.

“If it makes sense, then sure,” Igneel shrugged, not at all seeing the problem with that. His son was pretty creative so he most likely had nothing to worry about(But the author does- now I’m obligated to make new techniques aren’t I), “But let me ask you this, son; do you remember your fight with the wind user called Marigold?”

“No, his name isn’t Marigold, it’s Ear of Gore. But yeah, I recall fighting that coward- I would love to beat his c.o.c.ky ass again.” Natsu slammed his one fist into a palm and caused a small explosion, showing his fighting nostalgia.

“Do you also remember falling off the cliff?”

“Yeah actually. I used my fire to pull oh, I see where you were trying to go.” Natsu facepalmed after finally realizing what his father was trying to do. If he remembered all the training he went through before, then he wouldn’t have to start at zero again. Sometimes he amazes himself with his own ignorance.

Grinning with satisfaction, Igneel crossed his arms and lowered his head close enough to Natsu to breathe hot air on his body, “Now my boy, I’ll go into more detail but you should wake up now. Something interesting happened outside.”

Raising his brow, Natsu was just about to open his mouth and ask what it was until the fire-breathing Dragon blew fire towards him and engulfed his whole body.

Somewhere in Hell:

As far as Natsu cared, he just had the worst sleep ever. His body was twisted in ways he couldn’t describe and the soreness and aching of his back and legs were unreal. With the idea of going back to sleep to sleep off his previously terrible sleep, Natsu decided against that notion because of his instincts suddenly spiking.

Jerking up from his side, he hastily looked around in the roomier but less comfortable place he was in. It was dark with barely any light source outside from the few holes in the walls. The air was musky and heavy and smelled of the dead. He was also pretty sure the floor he was on earlier wasn’t very sanitary either. From his observations, there was no direct way out as all six sides of the container were closed off with a rock wall.

Natsu also found himself with a pair of shackles on both his hands and feet, restraining his movement.

In short, he was captured.

After confirming his situation, Natsu sighed at his predicament. Stuck in a cell with no opening, no food or water, no nice beds and especially no Happy

Oh my Dragons, he forgot about Happy.

“Holy shit, Happy! Are you here!? Are you okay!?” Frantically, Natsu stood up and looked around for his blue partner. With barely any light In the dark and musty room, he searched for Happy like his life depended on it. Rolling around and feeling for his environment was only one of the ways he started searching. He eventually felt around the corner and touched what seemed to be a softball. Thanks to the shackles cuffing his hand in front of his body he was able to pick up the ball and shake it in fear that his buddy was taken away from him. ‘What deja vu.’

“Oh please, tell me that this is you, little buddy!” Natsu manic nature was quickly shut down by a slap in the face by something boney and feathery. Most likely wings.

‘Wings?’

“Aye, Natsu, what’s with the rude awakening? Are we under attack?” He’d recognize that high-pitched voice anywhere- it was Happy! He was here! “Oh no, did someone still our fish!?”

“Oh geez, Happy, you sure gave me a scare. And thankfully no one took our food, it’s safe in your little fish pocket dimension,” Natsu placed Happy on his head as per usual while said person leaned back against the corner wall. Finding his bush of hair comfortable, Happy began to relax in his favorite seat and retract his wings.

“Aye, that’s good and all but what is this place? Did you take us somewhere?” After briefly looking around, he found that they weren’t in their normal tent and rather in a rocky cage. That’s also when he found out… “Ahh! Why do I have shackles on!?”

“The short and only story I know is that we got captured. Must have been in our sleep.” Natsu elaborated.

“Have you tried escaping?”

It was at this moment he knew, once again, he screwed up. They should just make his name into a verb already.

Sheepishly, Natsu’s eyes darted back and forth trying to find a way to explain his tiny mistake, “Haha, that’s a good question. Well, you see Happy There comes a time in man’s life where he just wants to get captured and-”

“So you didn’t try escaping, is what I’m getting from all of this.” Happy looked down on Natsu’s forehead and saw the guilty sweat rolling from his head.

Sighing, he knew was caught, “Yes. You’re right, I didn’t try escaping yet, but surely I can do it now.” With redemption well within grasp, Natsu grinned as he felt his magic flow through his body and focused it on his arms and hands. His limbs started to get red hot but no flames came out, and the metal cuffs didn’t seem to even get remotely warm, “What the hell? This can’t be…”

“Aye, Natsu, I think those are magic resistant cuffs. It seems unlike the ones in Fiore, these don’t prevent the flow of magic but just the activation of it. Probably why I can still sprout my wings but can’t fly.” Happy observed slightly worried. It was a matter of fact that whoever enchanted these chains had strong magic to not be burned away by Natsu’s.

“Okay then, if that’s how you want to play, then how about this!” As Happy told him, magic was useless, so then how about bruted strength. There were many occasions where he got cuffed by the Magic Council and he broke out of jail by using his muscles only. This piece of metal was nothing compared to him. Though, that’s what he thought.

Horizontally pulling against the chains and cuffs, Natsu felt his arms bulging and veins popping as he tried to acc.u.mulate all of his strength, but obviously, the multiple attempts weren’t working, either on his hands or feet.

“Gah! What is this stuff made of! I know I’ve gotten stronger so this should be easy.” Breathing heavily, he slumped his arms down to rest and leaned back more onto the wall for support with Happy still on top of his head.

“I don’t know Natsu, the people who captured us must be strong. Maybe we should be careful.” Happy forewarned his hot-headed partner, but his frustration seemed to be getting the better of his barely rational judgment.

“Nevermind being careful, Happy. These people here are mocking me with these chains,” Natsu’s hostile speech gave Happy shivers as he thought about what the future actions of his pyromantic friend and the consequences it bore, “If I can’t break these chains, I’ll just break the whole cage down!”

“Oh no…” Happy choked on his breath when he heard the last statement. As long as Natsu was this fired up, there’s no telling what he would do the surrounding area. Not only was he worried about himself, but he was fearing for his own life as well! Really, the only thing that mattered right now was his own safety! “Listen Natsu, maybe there’s another way to get through this. Maybe some people will find us and free us before you do anything rash. So please, I’m begging you, don’t do anything stupid while I’m around!”

“Sorry Happy, no can do! I’m dead set on making our captors pay!” Suddenly jumping up from his seating position, Natsu let out his battle cry of ‘I’m FIRED UP!’ and gently placed Happy down on the floor where he was previously sleeping.

Walking towards one end of the wall, he crouched in the best position he could with the cuffs on and charged wholeheartedly at the other end of the rocky cage. Going as fast as he could, Natsu lowered his shoulders and tucked his head, bulldozing towards the intended. All Happy could do was close his eyes, not wanting to see the unrelenting destruction that was about to go down. However, the moment Natsu made contact with the wall, a loudthumpsound was heard but not the crumbling sound of destroyed rock he was so used to hearing.

None whatsoever.

Opening his eyes to view exactly what happened, Happy was baffled when he saw Natsu on his back a few feet away from the wall he was trying to crush. What surprised him, even more, was that the spot he “attacked” didn’t even have a dent, the only thing were multiple cracks.

“Huh, I did not see that coming.”

“Damn it! What the hell!” Natsu speedily launched himself upright and angrily walked towards the spot he hit. As if examining what he did wrong, Natsu placed his ear against the wall and knocked around a few places until a sigh was heard. Doing one last check, he took long sniffs of the metal shackles he was wearing and then did the same for the rocky wall, “You’ve gotta be kidding me…”

His hair shadowed his eyes for a moment while steam leaked from his mouth, showing the intensity of his anger and frustration.

“What’s wrong Natsu? Why didn’t the wall break?” Happy curiously asked. His interest was peaked at this rate. Not only did Natsunotbreak the chains, but the wall as well? That must be a new record for the engineers who built this.

Natsu: 1000-and so on, Engineers:2

“This wall is made from the same material as the chains except that they’re not coated in magic resistance. Least I don’t think so. And along with that, it must be maybe twenty centimeters thick,” Happy nodded acknowledging the facts, which basically meant, “We can’t get out through normal means”. Crossing his arms in thought, Natsu continued, “It is possible for me to break this down but it’ll take a while- probably a few hours, but we don’t have that time.”

“Aye, sir then, what are you planning to do?” Happy raised his cuffs to draw Natsu’s attention.

“I’m planning to burn a hole through the wall.” As he nodded sagely at his reckless plan, Happy’s face turned white and his soul practically left his body. He should have just died then if that’s what he was planning.

“Are you crazy! If you do something like that, I’ll get roasted alive!” Happy panicked, “We’re in an enclosed space, you idiot!”

“Look Happy, I know this sounds crazy but I sorta know that it’ll work.”

“Sort of!”

“Just let me explain, okay. These cuffs just block out the activation of my fire, but one of the products of fire is pure heat which this doesn’t block because it’s not my prime magic. All this is banking on is that the wall also doesn’t have magic protection.” After his explanation, Happy was still against this stupid idea. Even if the wall wasn’t protected, if Natsu didn’t make it in time he’ll suffocate from lack of air and die regardless.

But despite hearing the constant warnings his partner gave, Natsu didn’t give his actions any more thought while he steadily began his new mission: Operation Roasting Bath.

‘Huh, that would make for a good spell.’

Putting his chained hands on the cracked part of the wall, he closed his eyes in concentration, seeping his magic through the walls to find any resistance. After feeling it out, he found no repulsion meaning this was not coated with magic resistance. Perfect. This hopeful fact pushed Natsu’s beliefs further; this stunt rides on everything, and if he fails, then he won’t be the only one sharing the consequences. This was for Happy(even though he was highly against the notion).

Summoning his magic from his open hands, Natsu pressed them against the wall and as expected no fire came out. But the heat did. Like before, the hands started glowing red hot and after a few seconds, steam started to swirl around his arms. All the while, Natsu never stopped pumping more magic into his fingers and palms to make some sort of difference in the temperature of the rock, however, one simple problem openly glared at him.

Just like the cuffs, the wall didn’t seem to heat up.

‘Shit! I thought the chains didn’t heat up because of magic, but this material seems to be naturally resistant to heat!’ Turmoil flowed through his veins and his heart thumped heavily in his chest, ‘But how much can it take!? I’ve never gone past this temperature withoutDragon Force!’

By now, the wall started to glow bright, but obviously, it still wasn’t enough to melt the substance in time. Natsu could hear the small coughs Happy made in the background of all the sizzling the steam made as it rushed upwards. Exhaustion already hit Natsu long before and sweat poured down his face while he gave it his all.

“Gah! Why won’t you melt!?” Although frustrated and tired, Natsu never gave up on his mission. His lungs felt heavy from the lack of oxygen and hisMagic Reserveswere close to none, yet somehow he was still able to find the energy to stand. Surprisingly through all his efforts, slowly his fingers began to sink into the rock wall and make their way through. Digging deeper than before, Natsu used up the rest of his reserves and summoned the most powerful burst of magic he could muster while the heat wave blasted Happy back making the blue exceed collide with the wall.

Then, opening his eyes, Happy saw his friend screaming but not with determination as usual but in pain. His teeth were bared and his eyes flared in anguish all while his arms sunk deep into the wall and the surrounding rock started to liquify from the suffocating heat.

“Natsu! What’s happening to you!?” Happy yelled distraughtly, but his voice grew deaf to his ears by the surrounding hissing noise that originated from the now melting stone. And just as a big enough hole was made, Natsu’s eyes went blank and his legs began to wobble until his knees met the floor, and soon after, his face.

“Men, take him now! Whatever he his take him away!”

“Natsu! Natsu, wake up!”