Chapter Text
Chapter Forty-Two
Dragon Scales
There was yet another break in travelling with the Fairy’s Tail only being a few hours away, and not a single encounter with anything to break Natsu from the thoughts that he really didn’t want in his head any more.
Hell, he would deal with that assassin and that damn herb all over again over being left alone with his thoughts. Happy had provided a quiet outlet for him in the last couple of days, when he needed some time to himself, and it was just him and Happy. He didn’t talk back, which only made finding him another talking potion or something similar that could make that happen just another thing to add to the list of things he really wanted to do.
Natsu glanced over at Lucy and Gray sitting across from him in the grass, eating rations, each taking sips from their respective waterskins and occasionally shooting him concerned looks. They shouldn’t have to do that – he wasn’t someone they needed to worry about.
“You doing okay, man?” Gray eventually asked.
“Yeah,” Natsu replied roughly, the same answer he gave every time.
That first night, out of the village, had been a tough one. He hadn’t felt so emotionally drained in a long time. After whatever residual rage and grief simmered down after being confronted with the knowledge that, deep down, he had always suspected but never wanted to be true – that his dad had willingly died for him, he was left with a hollow, empty feeling.
And Lucy had fussed over him more than usual, as much as she could with a strained ankle, and it didn’t help. Her presence, while normally a strange mix of being both calming and exciting, was now leaving him confused and feeling vulnerable.
Looking at her for too long did strange things to his thoughts, and knowing how she made him feel when she was drunk had left him confused. And then, back in the estate, when he had felt overcome with an urge to obliterate those lords, when he didn’t really feel like himself any more, she somehow made him feel suddenly secure and normal again.
So now, he didn’t really know how to be around her, and it made talking to her awkward, and he could tell she was worrying about him all the time, too. It didn’t help that he needed to carry her for much of yesterday, but at least it was piggyback, and he didn’t have to look directly into her eyes.
But at least the act of simply carrying her felt right, and she thankfully didn’t seem to mind that he was running hotter than normal, nor did she touch his scales, which he was strangely grateful for, even if he felt like some part of him was disagreeing.
And just when he’d had enough of those thoughts regarding her, at the back of his mind, the knowledge of having a living relative out there somewhere kept resurfacing, and he really, really, didn’t know what to do with that information. It wasn’t as if he had a connection to the guy who was supposedly his brother, but it was a solid reminder of who he was and the cost that the world seemed to be imposing on him for it, his eyes finding the scales on his hands again.
His dad had told him to always be true to himself and his heritage. And even if it had been starting to feel like a burden—not to him, but to everyone around him that he cared about—it was the one connection he still had to his father, alongside his scarf.
And it only made him want to hone that power into something stronger… which only made the prospect of journeying to Iceberg with Gray even more tempting, although he wasn’t sure how the hell that was going to work with their current situation.
Natsu looked to Happy instead of his friends, not wanting to meet their eyes, and the tressym meowed at him upon noticing, and without uttering a word, Happy jumped into his lap and sat on his knee, not offering affection, but just sitting there as if to say ‘I’m here’.
… Or maybe he wanted some more fish again.
“I don’t see how this tiny relic is even supposed to work,” Gray mumbled, getting Natsu’s attention.
Natsu looked over at him and saw that Gray was holding up the orb of revelation, letting it catch the setting sunlight as Lucy looked on inquisitively. It faintly glowed a dark purple colour, and Natsu briefly wondered the same thing as Gray.
Maybe you had to throw it at someone?
“I don’t know much about relics,” Lucy replied, reaching out to gently trace her finger over it. “Most of the relics in the palace weren’t magical, just celestial heirlooms from Stella, and the rarer ones were kept somewhere out of sight, behind a magical barrier that I couldn’t pass.”
Natsu had to wonder what kind of palace keeps its own princess from learning about her own heritage. He knew she’d had lessons, as she always did back when he was still there, and clearly she knew a lot of things, which only proved to him how book smart she was. And clearly she had to behave like a royal, so that had to be something she learned too, pointless as it seemed to him.
But the fact that she was so cagey about the last seven years troubled him a lot.
“I’m guessing that maybe just holding it up to someone who’s used dark magic recently would make it react?” Gray tried, not sounding convinced by his own words.
Lucy hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe. Hopefully, Erza will be waiting for us at the inn, and she can make contact with Jellal, and then we can figure out a plan from there. I bet he’ll know what to do with it.”
Natsu found the prospect of doing just that sat uncomfortably with him. He’d been so focused on getting the orb, and then after everything that happened at the estate, he had never really thought about the part of this trip where they would have to return to the city—to potentially the palace—to expose that damned duke.
He was enjoying being free of the city for now, as was Lucy and everyone else.
His mind immediately went to Erza and how she could maybe handle it by herself. It made the most sense – she could come and go as she wanted to the palace.
… They’d work out those details at the inn. That was the plan. No need to think further ahead than that.
“Can we get going already?” Natsu called out to Gray and Lucy, no longer wanting to sit still with his thoughts any longer. They’d eventually pass, and then things would feel normal again soon.
They both shot him a look: Lucy’s was concerned as always, and Gray almost seemed kind of annoyed with his suggestion.
“Wasn’t much of a rest,” Gray replied dryly. “We’ve been walking all day, and Lucy’s ankle still hurts—”
“—It’s fine,” Lucy cut in, but Natsu guessed she was putting on a brave face. “The inn’s not far, and we don’t want to arrive too late when there won’t be anything left to eat!”
Natsu nodded in agreement before answering, although with not as much enthusiasm as he normally would have. “… Yeah, wouldn’t want to miss out on that.”
They both gave him wary looks, and he did his best to smile at them reassuringly. He could eat, that was for sure. If nothing else, a good meal always put his mind at ease for a while.
Without waiting for Gray to disagree or for Lucy to say anything else, he stood up, knocking Happy off his lap and started picking up his belongings, determined to leave.
Looking out for threats as they walked was way easier than sitting still.
Eventually, the inn was finally in their sights, its homely lanterns lit with flickering candles on its exterior walls in the darkness of the night. Natsu breathed in the chill of the air, finding the familiar scent of ale and rosemary, and he heard the hooting of owls in the forest as Happy stepped forward alongside him.
But despite it feeling like home, something about the area felt ‘wrong’ and Natsu had no idea why that was.
“I fancy something sweet after all that walking,” Lucy said idly, more to Gray than him, given his muted responses to her for hours.
“Oh yeah? I’m kind of in the mood for an ale and something to have on some bread,” Gray replied, sounding cheerful about it. “Although I doubt it’s fresh any more.”
Lucy paused for a moment, stopping to stretch her ankle as she had done a few times already and insisted she didn’t need to be carried any more. “Ale? At this hour?”
“—You don’t always need to get drunk when you drink,” Gray replied, more as a hint to her than anything else.
“I know that!” Lucy replied sharply, going pink in the cheeks. “…I didn’t think drinking would make me so sleepy the other night. How embarrassing. It had to have been the wine—I’m betting ale wouldn’t have the same effect on me at all.”
Natsu turned and raised a questioning eyebrow at her. That’s what she thought she did? Fall asleep?
He quickly turned away from her again, not keen to revisit that thought trail all over again—not now.
“Maybe just have something to eat and a hot bath?” Natsu casually suggested to her, not wanting her to be tempted by the idea of giving ale a try. “I could make it nice and warm for ya?”
If that failed, and Erza was there, he was officially handing drunk Lucy over to her to deal with – her being her protective knight and all that.
“… Hmm, that doesn’t sound too bad,” Lucy replied, and he felt her pat his arm. “Thank you, Natsu.”
He smiled ever so slightly before those ominous feelings took over once more.
Why did the inn not feel right?
Natsu suddenly caught movement from the side of the inn, and a figure turned the corner, stepping into the light of the lantern hanging off the side of the back door.
Elfman.
He seemed to wave at them, but his movements were rigid, and Natsu couldn’t quite see his face clearly, the light creating shadows across his features. Something didn’t feel right about him either. … Why wasn’t he saying anything?
Natsu glanced back at the others, who had only just noticed Elfman’s appearance.
“Elfman!” Gray called out, giving him a wave back. “Good to see you! How’s things been?”
Lucy looked as equally unconcerned, and aside from the small smile she offered him briefly, she seemed content with simply reaching the inn finally.
Natsu felt as if there was something in the air, too – something that felt too familiar for all the wrong reasons, but he couldn’t name it. Not yet.
Elfman didn’t respond as they caught up to him, before he suddenly turned away from them, and he gestured them towards the door.
“Elfman?” Gray repeated, sounding a little confused as Natsu found himself going very still. Nothing about this felt right, and he looked at the tall man, trying to discern the uncharacteristic reason for his lack of response.
And in that moment, the feelings that were circling Natsu were combining into something that actually made sense, overruling all others as he quickly figured out the ominous feeling.
Gray, however, had already moved to the door and was about to open it.
“Stop!” Natsu quickly yelled out, his senses now overwhelmed with a single, clear feeling of dread. “Don’t open that!”
And in one, unexpected fluid motion, Elfman rapidly moved behind them, and Lucy suddenly shrieked.
“Lucy!” Natsu yelled out, whirling around, flames erupting angrily from his palms.
Natsu’s breath stopped for a second as he saw that Elfman had grabbed Lucy from behind, and was holding her to his chest as her legs dangled off the ground, his bulging, muscular arm pressed against her neck. She struggled against his grip, and Natsu’s instinct was to make his flames even bigger as he prepared to strike down the man he considered akin to family.
“Elfman, what the hell, man?” Gray yelled out, waving his arm at him as Elfman lifted his head.
His eyes were red, and his face was expressionless.
“Shit,” Gray murmured in realisation. “It’s mind control… like with Zash.”
Natsu’s teeth gritted angrily at the mention, which meant Elfman was a victim made to hold Lucy hostage against his will, and it left him asking where the hell everyone else was.
Laughter from a familiar male voice erupted from the other side of the door before speaking gleefully to them. “Better come inside if you don’t want to see her get hurt!”
The unmistakable smug, self-satisfied voice of Zash was calling out to them, and Natsu’s eyes left Lucy’s for a moment to look at Gray, silently trying to find a way to communicate what they should do.
Lucy strained against Elfman, letting out a groan. He was pressing her harder, and Natsu raised his fist, ready to strike Elfman, hoping for forgiveness later.
But when Lucy suddenly gasped desperately for air, his flames spluttered. He wasn’t sure what was worse when Zash used dark magic—being used as a weapon or helplessly seeing his friends suffer the same treatment.
Elfman could break her neck easily, and no pummeling he could inflict would stop that. He felt Gray’s hand on his upper arm, a pained expression on his face as his eyes darted between Lucy and the door.
“… Natsu, we gotta,” Gray began, his breath shaky as he heard yet another laugh from Zash. “It… can’t be just Lucy he has hostage.”
Happy brushed up against his leg, and Natsu wanted him to run and find somewhere safe to hide, but he didn’t know if Zash would react to that, too.
With clear hesitation in his fingers, Gray turned away towards the door, turning the knob, and he allowed the door to eerily swing open inwards to dark, foreboding surroundings.
Elfman moved forward, as if to gesture for Natsu to head inside after Gray. Lucy was no longer gasping, although she bore a pained expression that had Natsu repeatedly reminding himself to play along while keeping in mind that Elfman would never harm her if he had any control over himself.
He quietly promised himself that this time, Zash was not getting away with any of this.
Natsu moved inside as Gray went ahead, stepping aside to allow Natsu to see what they were up against as they entered the tavern area, where the candle lights had reached the bottom of their wicks as if they had been burning for some time. All the tables and chairs had been pushed aside to the walls of the room, save for one seated in the middle where Zash sat smugly upon it with a stein of ale for himself on a solitary table nearby.
Dark magic was reeking off him in waves with the unmistakable scent of blood lingering in the air, making Natsu fear for what might have happened in their absence.
Several guards and a couple of knights surrounded them, all wearing their protective stellanium armour and helmets.
But it was the status of his friends and family that drew his attention.
Kneeling on the floor were Mirajane, Lisanna, Erza and a few innocent tavern goers, heads down slightly, and their eyes red and unfocused.
Each of them bore bruises where Natsu could see their skin, with Erza looking far more beaten than the others, reduced to wearing simple clothes and lacking any armour at all. She sported several cuts on her arms, as if she had fought bravely briefly before Zash had probably been forced to use his magic on her.
Natsu thought Zash could only mind-control one person at a time. But this show of power was far from the case, and he had some of the strongest fighters in the kingdom under his control.
It was a horrific display.
Erza had long been his hunter, formidable in her own right, and he admired her strength and tenaciousness. Mira was the big sister he never had, and he had seen her strength first-hand on a few occasions, making her someone truly to be feared if you wronged her in any way. Lisanna was his partner in crime, the constant companion who stood by his side in their quest to save Lucy from the palace.
And they had been reduced to being puppets for the monster on his makeshift throne.
And amongst his inner turmoil regarding everything that had happened in the last few days, his barely suppressed anger was building erratically fast as he ached for a fight and to unleash everything he had on Zash, for all that he had done.
But his friends’ well-being always came first, and all he could do was seethe and glance back at Lucy, who was watching the scene before them helplessly with the same horrified expression he undoubtedly had.
Zash leaned forward in his chair. “Good. Both of you turned up. The dragon spawn and the ice criminal,” he said with obvious disdain as he placed his head into his hand, where his elbow rested against the table. “Do either of you two understand who I am in this kingdom?”
Neither of them answered. Natsu didn’t even want to dignify him with an answer if he had been expecting one.
“I am the one who puts the criminals and the scum in their place,” Zash continued, sitting up with a malicious glare. “And both of you are going to pay for what you’ve done, and for what you did in my prison.”
His hand shot out suddenly, his finger pointed determinedly at Natsu. “Starting with you, dragon spawn.”
Natsu only glared at him as his fingers twitched with energy, and his scales grew intensely warmer.
“Let Lucy go,” Gray suddenly stated firmly. “You’ve got everyone else under your control, so you don’t need her as a hostage!”
Zash sneered at him. “That spoiled brat can stay where she is and watch the show.” The smile that followed was sinister and far too jubilant as he focused on her, raising his voice gleefully again. “… Before I cart her back to the palace where she belongs! I can’t wait to see your new punishment princess! If you thought it was bad before, wait until you see what new ideas Daddy has for you this time!” He let out a booming laugh. “It’ll be something far worse than a cane!”
Natsu froze, Zash’s words echoing in his mind as the implication hit him head-on.
“… What did you say?” he asked slowly, followed by an uncontrolled, low growl as his eyes narrowed, before Natsu then glanced at Lucy, seeing a pained expression spreading across her face as she tried to shake her head in Elfman’s grasp, and her eyes were suddenly deeply haunted.
He didn’t need details or an explanation. Not then and now. The implication was enough.
And then the fire in his palms was there again without even thinking about it, blazing violently and threatening to catch on anything nearby, which made Zash shift uncomfortably for a moment before he raised an eyebrow at him and scowled.
The only thing holding back the torrent of emotions threatening to burst out in fire and fury was the cage Zash had created out of the people he cared most about.
Zash suddenly sat up straight as if he were preparing to sentence him like some sort of judge, and indicated for Natsu to step towards him before gesturing to Natsu’s hands. “Put it out, spawn, and I won’t have everyone here butcher each other for fun.”
Natsu clamped his teeth tightly together as he forcefully snuffed out the fire, flicking his hands in the process in an effort to show he wasn’t the least bit afraid of him.
“Good boy,” Zash mocked him, and Natsu glanced over his shoulder again. Lucy’s pain was replaced by fear, and Gray stood there, helpless, with frost forming on the tips of his fingers that hung loosely at his side. He could unleash a quick ice-anything, maybe break Zash’s concentration on the dark magic, but they both knew it was risky. Too risky for Gray to gamble with their friend’s lives.
“Remove your cloak and shirt, spawn,” Zash commanded Natsu, smiling intently before he retrieved something from beside him on the chair.
“You some kind of pervert?” Natsu asked jeeringly, not complying in the slightest.
Zash snorted at his attempts to annoy him. “When I’m done here, my knights are going to have to teach you what it means to be flogged. Now get on with it before someone else here gets hurt.”
And as if on cue, Lucy painfully whimpered again, getting his immediate attention once more as he glanced back to see Elfman’s arm flex, and Natsu caught a single tear dripping down Elfman’s cheek in response.
“If you think I wouldn’t hurt her because of her status, you’re dead wrong, spawn,” Zash stated. “It’s not like her daddy is going to believe anything she says.”
Natsu took a deep breath, unsure how much he could keep the fire within him contained at every word that poured out of Zash’s vile mouth. He had never killed before. But it wasn’t beyond him, as loath as he was to admit it. Even in his grief-stricken state earlier, he’d almost ended the lords if it weren’t for Gray. And now he wasn’t entirely sure Zash would survive the concentrated fire that he had every intention of striking him with the first chance he had.
He just needed an opening.
Reluctantly, and slowly at first, Natsu reached for the buckle on his cloak near his neck and unclipped it, allowing it to fall to the floor.
“Natsu, don’t!” Lucy managed to yell before she was abruptly cut off again, and Natsu felt all of himself tense and coil tightly from the constant reminder of the threat against her.
He found the buckles for the dark leather armour that he wore over his black shirt, unbuckling them one by one. The armour had only proven useful against fighting beasts anyway.
It, too, fell to the floor before Natsu gripped his scarf, thumbing it briefly before uncurling it from around his neck and letting it drop to the floor as well.
Finally, he grabbed the bottom hem of his shirt with both hands, scowling at Zash for a second before the knight waved his hand upwards, silently ordering him to hurry up.
Natsu pulled the shirt off without theatrics, wanting to be over and done with it, the flaming rage inside him replacing whatever insecurity he might have had regarding everyone around him seeing his bare chest and back.
He dropped his shirt to the ground, staring intently at Zash before he looked down at himself, before he looked at his arms, and Natsu could feel the prickling, barely contained heat across his upper body.
He knew what Lucy was seeing.
Red dragon scales covering the lateral parts of his arms and encompassing the entirety of his shoulders. Scales around the sides of his neck, and he was well aware of some on his upper back, too.
Every part of his draconic heritage was on full view for everyone.
He didn’t know how Lucy and Gray were reacting, but he could see the knights and guards behind Zash lean towards each other, whispering.
And then Zash abruptly stood, seemingly pleased, and Natsu saw what he had been holding.
It was a small knife, but the tip had been designed for a singular purpose – he had seen them before, meant for use on monsters whose scales were magical or valuable.
And now Zash clearly meant to use it on him.
“You sick bastard!” Gray yelled as Natsu felt the simmering heat that he had been producing was suddenly and briefly tempered by a penetrating wave of cold.
Zash mockingly tutted at him, and then Lisanna suddenly and awkwardly swung her hand around from where she was kneeling, slapping her sister across her cheek with a resounding smack. Mira did nothing other than sit completely still, utterly emotionless.
Gray uttered something indiscernible before the air warmed again.
Zash, satisfied that Gray would be nothing more than a member of his audience, approached Natsu intently. “Kneel,” he commanded.
Natsu took a deep breath, snorting defiantly through his nose as he did so. Reluctantly, he lowered himself to the ground.
But he knew he wasn’t about to let this go the way that this sadistic bastard wanted.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” Zash said with a nod of amusement, unable to contain his excitement. “Normally it’s women’s blood that I need for the magic I use, but I’m gonna enjoy finding out what all those scales do.”
“Don’t do it!” Lucy shrieked from behind them, desperation in her voice. “Zash, as your future queen, I shan’t ever let you be forgiven for this!”
“Shut up,” Zash simply answered harshly, without looking at her, his eyes never leaving Natsu.
“Don’t let him do this, Natsu!” Lucy tried instead, yelling loudly. Her voice only made the fire inside him grow even hotter, if that were even possible, and a glance at his hands and forearms told him his scales were almost starting to look molten with scorching heat.
And he then realised that he had found the moment he needed, and Natsu briefly smiled confidently at what was about to happen.
“To hell with this!” Gray yelled out, raising his hands.
“DON’T,” Natsu harshly commanded, making Gray go still. He didn’t raise his head, but he needed Gray to trust him.
“Good, you’re learning,” Zash grunted before he appeared to eye up Natsu’s right shoulder, playing with the blade in his leather-gloved hand before seemingly making up his mind on which scale he wanted to start with. “Think it’ll be painful, spawn? I’m hoping it is.”
Natsu gritted his teeth, ready to react as he hoped that Zash would do what he was hoping for.
He barely held back the smile when Zash’s hand went for the largest scale on his shoulder, probably to steady his grip before he would use the prying tool in his other hand.
And then the pleasant sound of Zash suddenly crying out reached his ears as the so-called knight quickly realised his mistake.
His scale had just burned Zash’s hand horribly, and when Natsu glanced up with a cocky grin, he saw that the heat had burned right through the glove and charred his skin red and black, splitting it, as his knights behind him looked around anxiously.
And it was also enough to break the spell over his friends as he caught the red, unfocused glares from Erza, Lisanna, and Mirajane’s eyes fade in front of him. Elfman had undoubtedly been freed, too, meaning Lucy was no longer in danger. He was finally free to react to the hostile threat.
And the air in the tavern didn’t just warm; it detonated.
A wave of suffocating heat blasted outwards from Natsu, causing the guards to stumble back and the dim candles around the room to snuff out and die.
“Natsu!” Lisanna’s shout was swallowed by the roar of the fire that now wreathed his entire body. All hell didn’t just break loose; it was unleashed from a single point of origin.
Zash whirled back around angrily, dropping the small knife, his fist aimed right for Lisanna specifically, and Natsu lunged at him. He slammed into Zash not with a punch, but with the force of a battering ram. The impact sent the knight flying backwards, crashing through a table which instantly burst into flames alongside several other pieces of furniture in the room.
The knights and guards reacted by drawing their weapons, but Erza was the fastest to respond to the threat, even without understanding the situation. She was on her feet in a flash and was soon effortlessly whirling, disarming and taking the sword from a nearby guard for herself.
Even without armour, the guards were no match for her as they descended upon her, easily parrying their attacks.
A deep, guttural roar shook the very floorboards as Mirajane exploded into the form of an owlbear, the splintering crash of tables punctuating her charge towards the knights.
A sudden drop in temperature and a hiss of forming ice confirmed Gray was cutting off the guards’ advance, and Natsu saw Elfman, half-wolf and snarling, barrel past him into the fray. He didn’t need to look back. His family was here. They had his back.
“You got this, Natsu?!” Gray yelled out to him.
“Yeah,” Natsu replied darkly. “Time to make him pay.”
A swift glance over his shoulder showed Natsu that Lucy was okay, sitting limply on the floor, taking a deep breath, her hand on the small dagger on her boot, ready to use it before she looked to him and offered a small nod to confirm she was fine.
It was all he needed to begin his assault.
His attention turned solely to Zash, who had managed to stand once more, and he was yanking the sword from a nearby guard who had decided cowering was his go-to method, before he held it menacingly towards Natsu.
But it was the small, arrogant smile on Zash’s face that told Natsu what was coming next, and Natsu instinctively raised his arm over his face as the knight’s eyes went red for a millisecond. The dark magic failed to reach him, his scales absorbing the effect most likely, as they had done back in the Underbelly.
Natsu grinned at Zash’s failure – who needed Stellanium armour when you had dragon scales?
And then he allowed every emotion to be unleashed as he charged Zash, fire bursting forth from his hands, the sword clattering to the ground as Natsu recklessly knocked it out of the way.
Each blow upon Zash was cathartic, one for his father’s stolen life. Another for Lucy’s stolen childhood. A third for the brother he never knew. And every mote of fire scorched Zash deeply as the knight tried helplessly to hit him back, but shrieking in agony when his curled fist met super-heated scales.
Fire caught on more of the nearby furniture, ash burst out from burning Zash’s clothes and armour, and blood burst forth from the blows to his face, violently painting Natsu’s torso with splatters of crimson.
In a desperate effort to escape Natsu’s wrath, Zash suddenly found an opening by elbowing him hard in the ribs, causing Natsu to recoil from the sharp and sudden pain.
It was the only opening the knight needed. Zash scrambled away from him, his eyes wild with terror, no longer seeing a boy but a monster he had foolishly provoked, and once Natsu had recovered from the blow to his ribs, he saw Zash’s new target.
Lucy.
Natsu charged, his eyes going wide as flame lapped around him as he saw Zash rearm himself, raise his sword with manic and vengeful intent, no longer caring about whether Lucy, the crown princess of his kingdom, lived or died.
Natsu felt time slow as Zash thrust it forward. Natsu desperately tried to intercept him, realising in horror that he wouldn’t reach her in time.
Lucy turned towards her oncoming attacker, yet she didn’t cry out or shriek. She refused to be his new victim.
She ducked the piercing sword aimed at her head.
And as she did, she turned and spun around with that small dagger in her hand and cut across the side of his waist. Not deeply, but enough for Zash to wince and groan as she quickly backed away from him, towards Natsu, towards the protection he willingly gave her.
Time felt as if it suddenly caught up, and Natsu saw Zash whirl around, catching the tail end of her cloak as Lucy fled towards him, and Zash yanked it, pulling her harshly backwards.
But Natsu’s hand had already found hers, and he dragged her towards him instead of allowing her to fall, his determined grip far stronger than Zash’s. Natsu’s other hand shot out a firebolt, aimed perfectly at the knight’s already seared hand. It struck it with a bang, causing him to recoil and let go of Lucy’s cloak, and she almost crashed into him as Natsu pulled her strongly towards him with a firm yank. It wasn’t graceful, but she was safe.
There was a sudden clink of something falling to the floor as both he and Lucy quickly realised that the orb of revelation she had been carrying inside the interior cloak pocket had fallen out in the scuffle, and was now rolling across the floor, right towards Zash. It stopped when it hit the toe cap of his boots.
Zash wasted no time grabbing it, and his frantic expression changed to one of delight.
He thought he had acquired a new weapon.
Natsu moved towards Zash, ready to take it back and finally put the knight down in any way he could, as flames continuously licked angrily at his fists, only for Zash to suddenly hold up the orb and aim it squarely towards him in what Natsu assumed was a desperate act of hoping it would harm him.
And in the chaos around them, as the knights fell to Mira’s claws and Lisanna’s determined pecking at their faces as a newly transformed white eagle, and Erza violently showed the guards what skill level was needed to be a knight. Alongside Elfman, who pinned them down with pure brute strength, and Gray freezing them in place, every one of his friends took control of the deadly situation.
That left Natsu to observe Zash’s last stand. And while Natsu knew what the orb was supposed to do, he still had no idea how to use it, and Zash was going to try to use it regardless, without obviously knowing what it was for.
And it seemed whatever he did by holding it up menacingly was enough to activate it as it began to glow ominously, and he began to laugh, as if he had suddenly found his winning hand.
The orb loudly shattered with a piercing crack across the room.
And only agonising shrieks of Zash lasting no more than a few seconds penetrated the atmosphere, dominating it over all the fighting, clashing, chaos and burning furniture as he was instantly enveloped in dark purple flames, completely separate and different from Natsu’s.
Natsu instinctively stepped back, shielding Lucy’s body with his own as Zash burnt up in a truly horrifying display that lasted mere moments before all that was left of him was a pile of faintly glowing purple ash on the ground.
And with him, all the fight from the still-standing yet severely injured guards went too, alongside their only hope of exposing Dyst to the king.
But that wasn’t really at the forefront of Natsu’s mind in that moment as he whirled around to see how his friends were doing, and if Lucy was unharmed—
She was suddenly enveloping him tightly, pressing her face into his chest, arms around his neck as she took deep anchoring breaths, and he went still as his first instinct was pure horror that his scales would burn her.
And as he was about to shove her way for her own protection when he realised that he wasn’t burning her at all.
Whether he had expended all of that raging fire within him on Zash or perhaps his body had readily cooled down for her as a response when she touched him, he wasn’t sure.
And then Natsu’s next thought was that while she was clinging to him, whether it was from relief, or fear, or something related to what Zash had said to her, he didn’t know, but the physical aspect of his draconic nature was completely exposed in front of her, and… it didn’t bother her at all.
And he briefly felt like an idiot for ever thinking that there was a chance she might have ever been.
It didn’t seem to matter to her that he was covered in ash and blood splatters and probably looked like the monster that the kingdom had made him out to be.
She wasn’t drunk or curious, or crying from grief.
She was just… Lucy.
“You’re okay,” she mumbled against him, and he awkwardly swallowed, not realising how dry his mouth had gone.
He could feel her fingertips resting gently against the scales on his shoulders, still calming and exciting him all at once, but with the same acceptance that was now elevating to something else he struggled to name in the moment.
And those swirling dark thoughts that had been poking at his ancestry for days and making him question everything he had been taught to believe by his dad vanished.
“Is everyone alright?” Erza called out across the room, and Natsu’s eyes briefly met hers, and he silently nodded to her before she whirled towards everyone else. “Somebody check on those travellers, while I deal with these traitors.”
Gray shot him a curious look before turning his attention to what Erza was doing.
And Natsu looked back down at Lucy. The battle against Zash had made his magic feel validated again. But she was doing something else to him entirely that ultimately left him with a deep-seated feeling of wanting to keep her close by that went far beyond his control… as if something inside of him that saw her just as she was and was defiantly refusing ever to let her go again.
And as the adrenaline died down, he desperately needed to know what exactly she had been through in the palace as Zash’s taunting voice echoed in his mind, and what saving his life had cost her.
And tentatively, he raised his arms slowly and gently placed them around her, uncertain if she would react to him or not. He needed her to know he was there for her, too. She didn’t flinch, and he felt comfortable pulling her a little closer; the act of doing so steadied his ragged breathing. When he spoke, his voice was rough, and he whispered into her tousled hair, “Yeah, Lucy… I’m okay.”
And after a few moments, he let go of holding her, unable to cut away those thoughts, but his hands grabbed her upper arms as he stared straight into her eyes. “… What did he mean, Lucy? What punishment was he talking about?”