Ch 13: The Mixed Emotions

A week later at Fairy Tail:

"And then he walked off still upset with himself I think." said Gray as he tried to scratch at an itch under his cast. Not noticing the shocked looks of his fellow guild members after hearing what happened to him and Erza on their first encounter with Salamander since the Council incident.

"Did that really happen?" asked Mira with a hopeful expression.

"Of course it did, I have the goddamn wounds to prove it and if you don't believe me why don't you just ask Erza." replied the ice mage as he continued to try and scratch his irritated skin under his cast.

"Juvia will get that for you." Said Juvia with a bright smile as she sent a small stream of water underneath his cast and to areas he never would have been able to reach on his own.

"We would Gray, but after bringing you here yesterday she just took off and we haven't seen her since." stated Makarov with a worried look on his face. Wondering if the Knight came to the same conclusion that he and Mira just did after hearing what transpired a week ago.

"Well it's all true, and as much as it pains me to admit, but Salamander is correct about me being completely useless against him now. And man I really wish Wendy was not avoiding the guild right now along with the rest of the dragon slayers." he said, knowing that if she was here right now he wouldn't even be in a cast.

"You only have yourself to blame for that." declared Mira as she glared at the ice mage.

"Gray-sama did nothing wrong." replied Juvia as she sent the bar maid a glare.

"It's okay Juvia, and I know Mira." he agreed with a frown coming over his face. "And I plan to fix that before it gets any worse, like what happened with Natsu while he was gone from the guild." he continued as his frown only grew, and the rest of the members gathered there had their own. It became one of the few things that the whole guild could agree on, all now regretting that they hadn't put more effort into looking for him while he was gone, with some of them imagining how hurt he must have been when he found out that they were barely doing anything to find him.

"None of you are to blame for that, I told you all to not worry about him and even forced a few of you to stop looking for him. All because I believed he was just out training to get stronger, and because of that the Salamander was born." said Makarov with a frown and a guilty look coming over his tired face.

"Master you never could have guessed he was captured." pointed out Mira, knowing that it was most likely not going to help their elderly Master. Who over the past few months looked like he aged by at least five years and rarely ever smiled or even drank anymore.

The small group remained silent for a few moments in the hopes that Makarov would agree with her, or at least say something in response to it. But all he did was keep looking down at his own hands in shame, most likely believing that all the blood spilt by Salamander was on his hands for not saving Natsu when he needed them the most.

"By the way, where's the research team anyways?" asked Gray, wanting to get rid of the awkward silence that had just fallen over them. And the easiest way for him to do that was to ask about Lucy, Levy and Freed not being there with them on their weekly discussion about Salamander.

"Freed believed the Council might have missed something at the guild hall of Rising Tide. So he and the other two decided to head there and see if he was correct about his hunch." replied Mira with a slight smile, remembering how hopeful the three were when they left a few days ago.

"Fat chance that the Council missed anything, also isn't that place destroyed or something different by now?" he asked back after giving Juvia an appreciative smile for her help on getting rid of his itch.

"It would have been if the Salamander Clan didn't make a big fuss over it and eventually purchase it. They haven't done anything with it yet and are waiting for Salamander to personally tell them what to do with that horrid place." she explained with a hint of venom in her voice, not directed at the Salamander Clan but at the place that started all of their current troubles.

"Are they even going to let those three into it?" he asked, surprised that the three weren't already back here complaining about that group turning them down.

"The Salamander Clan for some reason holds Fairy Tail in the highest regards and would almost do anything for any one of our members." stated Cana since she has interacted with them probably the most out of the current members gathered here today.

"And the reason for that is because they know how much Natsu cared about Fairy Tail before he became Salamander. It might also be because they still think he cares about us in his current state and don't want to possibly anger their Hero and Master." explained Gildarts before Gray could even ask why.

"That group is really odd, it's almost as if it's some sort of cult just waiting for their crazed leader to return to them." said the ice mage with a confused expression on his face, not really knowing how to feel about a group forming around Natsu in his current state. All of it done without him doing a single thing to start it other than constantly eliminating dark guilds in the most brutal ways imaginable.

"All of them are just waiting for their leader to tell them his wishes." continued Cana, who knew that most of their members were good people. But she also knew how easy it would be to lead most of them down a path that they normally would have never gone down by themselves.

"If it's not Salamander then someone claiming to speak for him." replied Makarov now having a disgusted look on his face.

"What do you mean by that Master?" asked Mira, once again not liking what her brain instantly jumped to on its own.

"A few days ago one of the supposed founders of the Salamander Clan claimed that Natsu came to him, and he went on to say that Salamander appointed him the temporary Master while he continues his work. This of course caused a huge change in how things were being run over there, no longer is there a meeting where they discuss what actions they should take. Now all of that stuff is decided by one man who we have no idea if he was actually picked by Salamander." he explained while continuing to have that disgusted look on his face the entire time.

"And how exactly do you know all of this?" asked Gildarts as he set down the bottle that he used to be drinking out of. No longer was he trying to drown himself in booze to numb the guilt he felt about all of this, no Gildarts was somehow almost back to his old reckless and cheery self. All it seemed to take for him to go back to how he used to be was that little visit he had with the dragon slayer and possibly a few more. Something that the guild was still trying to figure out since he would occasionally go missing for a day, only to return the next day as if he was the happiest man alive.

"The Council and the rest of the other guilds have been keeping a keen eye out on the Salamander Clan for this exact thing." he replied while shaking his head.

"Do you have any plans of how to deal with this new leader if he starts to abuse his new power?" asked Mira, only for her to see by the look Makarov had on his face that they didn't. This once again caused an uncomfortable silence to fall over their group again that is until Ultear decided to speak up about something she noticed after Gray finished his tale of what happened to him and Erza.

"So why did you look so happy Mira after hearing what happened to the two of them when they met Natsu?" she asked with an eyebrow raised as she and everyone else looked at the barmaid. Who now looked a little embarrassed by all of the attention quickly turning on her just like that.

"Yeah, why did you look so happy?" asked Gray. Who was going to bring it up at the time but got sidetracked when the topic of Erza not returning to the guild was brought up.

"I don't know if I should really say it since it's only just a hunch and I could easily be wrong." stated the barmaid in an unsure tone that was completely out of character for her.

"Considering that it is dealing with him, I'd be more concerned if you weren't uncertain about whatever it is that you figured out after Gray's story." replied Cana with a small smirk that only Gildarts mimicked.

"I still don't know if I should." she said while looking at Makarov, who gave her an approving nod to fill the rest of them in on their current theory.

"Okay then, after hearing what happened at the end of Gray's retelling of what happened to him and Erza. I think that we might have figured out our best candidate for a possible mate for Natsu, which is if he's even able to have another one that is." she finished with a small yet hopeful smile. She was the only one to have that expression, with most of them only having a confused look on their faces after hearing this from her.

"Holy crap, you don't think she could actually be his mate!" shouted Cana with a now completely shocked look coming over her face. And she wasn't the only one to figure out who the barmaid was hinting at being his next mate, all of them having just as shocked expressions as her.

"Who in the hell are you talking about?" asked Gray, the only one who somehow couldn't piece all of this together.

"Who else could it be other than the woman he has already mistaken as his previous mate." she replied while also throwing an empty bottle at the stupid ice mage.

"Erza, you've gotta be kidding me!" he shouted back after easily dodging the bottle thrown at him.

"We're not Gray, and I have a feeling she might have realized that during your trip back here. Which is why she hasn't come back to the guild and is trying to figure all of this out on her own." said Mira with a concerned look coming over her face once again. Because she knew that Erza would definitely have a hard time processing all of this on her own, especially if her hunch that the knight used to have feelings for the dragon slayer was correct.

"Fuck, why can't anything ever be easy with Flame Brain." he mumbled as he took a seat, having no idea what Erza's response to all of this would be.

"If I didn't know any better I would say the poor lad has a curse on him. Throughout his whole life he's had to constantly deal with losing those that he holds dear, all of which would be enough to cause any normal person to give up just from one of them. But Natsu is a fighter, who won't give up even if it might appear that he finally has." stated Gildarts with a large smile that caught most of them slightly off guard since it wasn't caused by copious amounts of liquor.

"Gildarts, what are you not telling us?" asked Makarov now glaring at the Ace of his guild, clearly intent on figuring out exactly what was going on.

"A lot, but what I can tell you is that after my few meetings with Salamander I know that without a single doubt he's still in there and giving it his all. If he wasn't then the rest of Fiore wouldn't be viewing him as a hero and would most likely be completely terrified of him and wondering why the Council isn't stopping him from rampaging across the country and destroying everything in his path." he explained still smiling.

"You're not going to tell us any more are you?" asked Mira, who was also smiling because if Gildarts had such faith in him then she would too. The crash mage just shook his head no as he went back to drinking with his daughter all the while still having a slight smile on his face.

"I also have to concur with Gildarts on this one as well, despite Salamander trying to constantly convince us that the old Natsu is gone for good. His actions pertaining to a few of us shows it's anything but that, otherwise I wouldn't be standing here right now. When we all know he could have killed me and no one would have even realized it, but instead he gave me back my youth and the opportunity to atone for my past wrongdoings." said Ultear, glad to see that a few of the members seemed to have hopeful looks after hearing her words.

"That does sound like the old Natsu." stated Gray, who was one of the few still not smiling. But it was mainly because he didn't want to get his hopes up just yet, because even if Natsu was still in there just a bit it wouldn't even matter if they couldn't bring him back out. And apparently a lot of that depended on Erza possibly being his mate, even if she was they still didn't know what she would do with this new information.

"I think that concludes this meeting for today everyone and we'll have another one when our research team returns." said Makarov as he stood up and headed to his office as everyone else separated and headed off to do their own things.

On a cliff that used to have Lisanna's Tombstone:

After Lisanna's return from Edolas, she and Natsu decided to remove her gravestone and replace it with a small flower bed that contained pink and white roses. And ever since then it was looked after with the utmost care by the two of them, except for when the Tenrou Group went missing. But one of the first things that Natsu did after returning with the rest of them was coming back to this place and fixing it up to his standards. Standards that most of the guild would find shocking if they learned about how well he maintained the flowers and the small hut from their childhood.

There was only a select few that knew of this, or that if he was ever upset or need to be by himself that he would most likely end up here. The whole Strauss family knew of this since they were all really close to the dragon slayer and even considered him a member of their immediate family. Of course Happy knew about all of this too since he was usually glued to the side of the pink haired man when he was a member of Fairy Tail, but there was only one more person that knew about this side of him. And that was none other than Erza Scarlet, the only reason she ever stumbled across this side of Natsu was due to her trailing him a long time ago.

She was currently kneeling in front of the small flower bed, thinking back to when she first found out about this place and what circumstances that led her to here.

X782:

It was just two weeks after they all thought that Lisanna had died and things were finally starting to go back to how they once were at the guild. And the biggest contributor to getting that to happen was Natsu, he was somehow able to get both Mira and Elfman to stop beating themselves up over what happened and actually return to the guild. And at the guild he was also able to make everyone else realize that the last thing that Lisanna would have ever wanted any of them to do was be sad over her passing away. So the loving idiot did everything that he could to make everyone laugh and have fun again, and since it was Natsu doing this of course meant starting a brawl whenever he could.

But there was one person that noticed he was definitely still hurting on the inside, but since he always cared more about his fellow guild members more than himself he did his best to hide it. Choosing to sneak away while everyone was distracted and head into the woods to disappear for a few hours, only to return and pretend like he was never gone in the first place. All of this was observed by Erza, who could only imagine how hard this was on the poor dragon slayer who was the closest to Lisanna, next to her actual siblings of course. But after following him for the past week she finally came upon the little memorial he made for her as he was sitting in front of it with a sad smile as he talked with her about what happened since yesterday.

This of course shocked the scarlet knight, so much so that she remained there completely motionless as Natsu continued to talk with his first friend at the guild as if she was there with him. And after he finished talking with her, he remained there with that same sad smile looking at the setting sun for a few minutes in silence. During which, Erza realized that she might have intruded on a very personal moment for him and tried to sneak away before she was found out. And considering who she was watching it might be too late for that, which was proven to be correct when she took her first step and he spoke up.

"She told me this was her favorite spot in the whole world." he said in a sad tone as he continued to watch the sun slowly setting. Erza was hoping that he was just saying this out loud and that she could still sneak away, but she knew that was just wishful thinking on her part as she turned back to look at him.

"At first I couldn't figure out why she liked it up here so much, I mean it doesn't have anything that extraordinary about it that would set it apart from anywhere else in the world." he said looking at the scarlet knight with his eyes that usually looked so bright and full of life. But what Erza could see in them right now could only be described as dull and that of someone who was in immense pain, someone that looked as if they were ready to give up. Things that she had never seen in him and wished she would never see again, since he was probably the guild's most positive and upbeat member so how he looked right now was just wrong.

"But now I think she liked it up here because from up here it looks so peaceful and perfect. As if nothing could possibly go wrong and that each and every day will continue to be like that, something that I know is far from the truth." he continued with a sad chuckle as he went back to looking out at the sun setting over Magnolia. Erza honestly didn't know what to say to the broken dragon slayer before her, feelings were never a strong point for her. Something that she would actually say he was better at dealing with than her, even if the dragon slayer didn't say anything to you he was still somehow able to make you feel better. It was just one of the things that made him special, so now she found herself staring him down when he was the one that needed to be comforted.

"Can I take a seat?" she asked quietly as she approached him. Watching as he decided to not look at her and motion with a hand that it was okay as he had a distant look in his eyes. So she did just that and remained sitting next to him, not knowing what to do in a situation like this since it was all new to her. But after a few minutes of silence with him, someone that until just now she didn't even know if he could remain quite for more than a minute, she decided to try and talk with him.

"How are you feeling Natsu?" she asked, instantly berating herself for asking such a stupid question. Of course he was sad and upset, his best friend only died two weeks ago and she just happened to stumble upon him conversing with her like he used to do at the guild on a daily basis.

"Fine I guess." came his reply in a dull tone that didn't sound right coming from him of all people.

"Natsu." she stated in her commanding tone. The one that she uses on him when he and Happy are getting into trouble, or when she wanted to hear the truth from him. Once again Erza felt terrible that she was being so callous with him, but it was just how she was with everyone in the guild.

But to her surprise he remained quiet for a few moments to then let out a long sigh. "Terrible Erza, this is the second time that the most important person in my life just vanished in the blink of an eye. Actually it's the third time if you count my parents leaving me out in the woods to die." he replied with a sad and broken chuckle.

"Natsu I…" started Erza in her gentlest tone possible, but apparently he wasn't done.

"What's wrong with me, what keeps causing this to happen to me? Am I that much of a disappointment or weakling that this is going to be how the rest of my life is? Because if that's the case then I might as well…" he said now with tears streaming down his cheeks. But before he could finish that last statement, his head was slammed into something hard which was the breastplate of the already famous Titania.

"Don't you finish that sentence Natsu." she demanded while trying to not start crying along with him. Once again she was caught off guard by this whole situation, because from how he was acting at the guild she never would have guessed he was in this much pain.

"What happened to Lisanna was an accident that had nothing to do with you." she continued while holding him in what she thought was a comforting hug.

"But if I had gone with her maybe I could have stopped it." he stated while not even trying to get out of her uncomfortable hug.

"For all we know then it could have been you who died." she replied, knowing that Natsu wasn't the only one thinking about how things would have been different if he had done something different.

"That would have been better." he mumbled just loud enough for her to hear. Something that he knew she heard when his face was then slammed into the ground.

"How can you even think that Natsu, everyone at Fairy Tail cares for you and would be just as upset if it was you that died. And as long as you're a member of Fairy Tail you'll never be lonely again since we look after each other." she shouted at him while glaring as he picked himself up. But rather than seeing an upset dragon slayer like she thought, he had a small but genuine smile on his face as he looked back at her.

"I'm pretty lucky aren't I? And thanks for hitting some sense into me Erza, Lisanna did always say that you were one of few people that could get through my thick skull." he replied while scratching the back of his head and still having that slight smile.

"You're welcome, and you know she would never blame you for what happened and would just want to see you go back to your happy and hyper self." she stated with a slight smile of her own, noticing that his smile seemed to slightly get bigger after she smiled back at him.

"I know that, but it's hard to go back to how it once was when I'll always be reminded of her." he said while once again going back to looking over Magnolia.

"It'll get easier with each and every day." she replied, having realized that it was true in her case after joining Fairy Tail. But that didn't mean she forgot about all her friends at the tower that she swore to one day go back to and free them from that terrible place.

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience." he commented while not looking back at there, something that she was grateful for since she became a complete bumbling mess after he said that.

"I hope you're correct about that anyways Erza. I really don't think I could stand feeling like this for the rest of my life, well thanks again for coming out here and checking to make sure that I'm okay." he said with a smile appearing on his face again.

"Any time Natsu, and like I was saying earlier, since you're a member of Fairy Tail we'll always be there for you." she said while getting up to leave the young man to his thoughts.

"That's just one of the many reasons why I love our guild." he stated as she started to head back into the woods and back towards the guild.

Back to the present:

"Why didn't I look for you harder? We all knew that you wouldn't just leave without saying anything to any of us, but we all just continued on as if you would show up any day with that stupid grin of yours plastered to your face as you kick open the door." thought Erza as she looked at the flowers swaying ever so slightly in the wind.

"This is one of my favorite spots in the whole world, actually it definitely is my favorite one." said Lisanna with her angelic smile, causing Erza to actually let out a little shout in surprise.

"Sorry Erza, I didn't mean to scare you. I decided I needed some time to think and the next thing I knew I was here watching you in deep thought." she said while still smiling at the knight.

"It's fine, you just caught me off guard and I've been told about that." said Erza with a slight frown.

"When did Natsu tell you?" asked the youngest Strauss as she took the spot next to Erza's left side. She knew that he was the only one who actually knew that this was her favorite spot, since it was where the two of them raised Happy and were a little family of their own.

"It was a few weeks after we all thought you were dead." she answered, noticing the look of guilt flash across Lisanna's face. Clearly she still felt bad about all the pain she caused them when she went to Edolas all those years ago, and even apologized to the guild about it once she returned to them.

"From what everyone else has told me, he was responsible for getting everyone back to normal. But I have a feeling that he did what he always does and was more worried about everyone else while he tried to deal with it all on his own." said Lisanna with a knowing look, something that the two Strauss women were extremely good at doing.

"You'd be correct, that idiot was always more concerned about the guild." she replied with a slight frown.

"Don't you mean he is always more concerned about us?" stated Lisanna with a small grin as a look of shock came over the knight's face.

"If he didn't then he would have succumbed to his grief and rage like Wendy and Gajeel expected him to after learning what he went through." she continued, glad to see the scarlet beauty nod her head in agreement.

"A part of me knows that, but after everything he's done recently." said Erza only for her to trail off and have a sad and guilty look come over her face.

"You're afraid that he'll always be like this and possibly even become worse?" she asked, nailing Erza's fear right on the head. This caused the usually confident re-equip mage to look at the white haired take-over mage with a hopeful expression.

"Unfortunately with how things are going that could easily happen." finished Lisanna and for the first time since they started talking had a frown of her own.

"Why didn't we look for him like he would have done for us?" she asked while looking at the roses with the same color as his hair.

"Are you still beating yourself up over that? Even if we did spend every second looking for him none of us would have ever thought to suspect a supposedly legal guild like Rising Tide." replied Lisanna, having already gone over this by herself hundreds of times and finally coming to that conclusion.

"You don't understand Lisanna." she stated in an angry tone as she turned away so Lisanna couldn't see her face anymore.

"What don't I understand exactly?" asked Lisanna, now concerned about what happened to Erza and Gray on their last excursion to track down Salamander.

"We're the reason he's this way, we're the reason Salamander is brutally killing any dark mage he can get his hands on!" she shouted while getting up and having her back to her white haired friend.

"It's not our fault Erza, all of this is happening because of what those terrible people at Rising Tide did to him." stated Lisanna, since it was what she had been telling herself this whole time.

"But it isn't Lisanna, when he was counting on us we let him down and because of that he now believes he's all by himself with on one to count on. And everything we've tried to do up to this point has only made it harder on him and is only pushing him farther away from us." she replied, while having a hard time trying to keep her emotions in check. They were raging from intense anger to soul crushing guilt that they, and more specifically her, wasn't there for Natsu like he had been there for them so many times when they all needed him the most.

"You don't know that, and I bet if he was in his normal state of mind he'd be saying the same thing. He would also probably be saying that none of this is our fault and we need to stop beating ourselves up over this." said the take-over mage with a small smile, that only lasted until she saw Erza's face as she turned to look at her. Right now standing before her was probably one of the strongest women she's ever known next to her older sister, but her current state would say otherwise. Erza looked like a complete mess of conflicting emotions, with the most prominent ones being sadness and guilt.

"But he isn't in his right set of mind and hasn't been for six months, not only that but I do know that he feels completely alone right now and it is because of us." she replied no longer being able to contain her tears that started to stream down her face. All of her pent up anger and sadness over the past six months were now coming flooding out of her, luckily she happened to be with someone who could handle a situation like this.

Without saying a word Lisanna brought Erza into a loving embrace and brought her to a sitting position so they could spend the next few minutes together. Erza crying her eyes out while Lisanna continued to hug her and occasionally whisper comforting words back to her while making sure that the knight knew it was okay to let it all out. This took almost a full hour, which is actually quite short when considering that this was the buildup of almost six months' worth of emotions.

"So could you fill me in on what happened when you last saw him?" asked Lisanna quietly as the two now sat next to each other looking at the flower bed in front of them. She could instantly tell that Erza didn't really want to talk about it, but before she could tell the woman that it was okay if she didn't want to Erza launched into what transpired a week ago. And to Lisanna's surprise she even told her what she started to suspect on her trip back and how that only made everything even more confusing than it already was.

"Wow, that is definitely not what I was expecting." stated the youngest Strauss with a shocked expression still on her face.

"I know, but I could be wrong about me possibly being a potential mate for him." replied Erza as she looked over at Lisanna to see what she thought about it.

"I don't think you are Erza, it would explain why he didn't take away your magic even though he threatened to do it a few times that first time we confronted him." she said as a small smirk made its way across her lips, something that the knight instantly took notice of and had to turn away from.

"That's ridiculous, if I was his mate then why didn't he realize it before." argued Erza, trying to come up with a logic argument to all of this since it would only make her life more complicated than it already is. Not to mention that her feelings right now for said dragon slayer weren't ideal for possibly starting a relationship with him.

"You know how dense he could be, what if he only realized Subject 8 was his mate because of their circumstances. I mean, he also knew her from before she was brought there and yet he didn't know she was his mate until way later." she refuted right back as her smirk only grew.

"He was pretty dense, he didn't notice the obvious hints that you left him when we were little." stated Erza with a slight smile, but after realizing what she just said and to whom a look of horror washed over her face. But it too was quickly lost at hearing the sounds of Lisanna bursting into laughter that lasted for a good minute.

"It's fine Erza, I realized after coming back that Natsu and I were never going to end up together like I used to dream about when I was little. I honestly suspected him to end up with Lucy with how close they were, but it kind of makes sense that he would be with you." she said with a warm and honest smile as she looked at the scarlet beauty.

"What?" asked Erza, not being able to come up with anything else to say at the moment. Mainly due to her being stunned with how calm and happy Lisanna was while saying all of that about the person she used to love, and actually still might for all she knows.

"You two are almost like complete opposites, yet also somehow exactly the same at the same time." she answered only to let out a small giggle at Erza's confused expression.

"He was always a hyperactive and over all giant goofball that could rile the whole guild up, while you on the other hand are usually calm and collected with the innate ability to bring back order to the guild just with a glare. But both of you are willing to do anything to protect the guild and make sure everyone there is happy and safe. Not only that but both of you are extremely stubborn and a little clueless about how to interact with people under certain situations." she explained with a bright smile as Erza contemplated what she was just told.

"I guess I could see that, but that was before all of this happened." stated Erza as a depressing frown spread across her lips and the rest of her face.

"Erza I want to you to look at me." said Lisanna in a commanding tone that surprised the knight into doing as she was told.

"Can you honestly tell me that you believe the Natsu that we both loved isn't still in there?" she asked with a stern look directed at her friend.

"I didn't love him like you did." mumbled Erza as she looked away as the faintest blush made an appearance.

"Yes you did and I still think you do Erza, but that's something we can talk about later. Now I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me one way or the other about Natsu still being himself." she said in a tone that reminded Erza of how Mira used to talk with her when they had their rivalry.

"I don't know Lisanna, the stuff that he has done and keeps doing goes against everything that Fairy Tail and I stand for." she replied while looking away from her white haired friend.

"It's arguably way better than what Jellal did, yet you forgave him and even had feelings for him." stated Lisanna still having a stern expression on her face. This of course was one of the main reasons why Erza was having so much trouble with all of this, because she knew that logically it should have been just as easy for her to forgive Natsu. But for some reason it just didn't seem to be that way, and she was suspected that it might have to do with Jellal once again betraying her and she didn't know if she could handle that happening with Natsu.

"If you are his mate Erza, you know there is no way he would ever betray you like Jellal did." said Lisanna as her stern look turned to one of concern. Erza was a little shocked at hearing this, making her wonder if the two Strauss sisters could both read minds a little bit since this wasn't the first time something like this happened.

"But what if he does?" asked Erza as she looked up at Lisanna questioningly.

"He won't Erza, and we still don't know if you are even his second mate. Even if you aren't I know for a fact that he still won't betray you or anyone else from Fairy Tail if we can ever get him back. Because the one thing that will never change about him is that he'll do anything for his family. And unfortunately right now that means he has to keep doing what he's doing right now for the two that he lost that day." she answered with a frown, trying hard to not break down and cry at how awful Natsu's life has been when compared to most.

For some reason Erza had never thought about the situation that way before, but now that she had it all started to make a little more sense to her. Lisanna was correct about Natsu literally doing anything for his family, and unfortunately for him he gained two more only for them to be taken away right before his very eyes. This was something that she has tried to put herself in that situation, but came to the conclusion that you could never really know how you would react to something like that unless it actually happened. But then if you add on the whole dragon slayer thing it is a miracle that they now have the Salamander and not some new dark being terrorizing the whole country.

"So Erza, look me in the eyes and just try and tell me that he still isn't in there waiting for us once again to save him." said Lisanna once again giving the knight a stern look as they gazed into each other's eyes.

"I can't Lisanna, I also know that you're correct and he's in there and needs us." declared Erza with a new look of determination coming over her.

"Now that's more like the Erza that we all know and love, so let's head back to the guild and see what the new plans are." she said while getting up and offering her a hand, which Erza accepted with a smile.

"We could also go shopping to possibly get you a new outfit that he would love seeing you in." teased Lisanna as she took off towards the guild with a little snicker.

"For the last time Lisanna I don't like him in that way." stated Erza as she glared at the woman out of her grasp.

"Sure you don't, you definitely don't have all these conflicting feelings going on in your head about him. That resulted in what just happened when I got here." sang Lisanna as she disappeared into the woods. She left behind a still very confused and slightly flustered knight to her own thoughts as she followed after her.

At the bottom of a canyon on the other side of Fiore:

"I've just got one final question for you Briar, when I kill one of these clones does that mean you can no longer have that emotion anymore?" asked Salamander as he held up the beaten from of Briar that embodied sadness by her head.

"Why yes it would my love." stated the Briar now in love with him.

"Shut the hell up!" shouted Raging Briar as she struggled to get back to her feet. She was having a really hard time with it since Salamander thought it would be fun to infect her with his poison so she had to watch him man handle the rest of herself, which was now just love and sadness.

"Interesting, I guess that explains why you were forced to pull out emotions that were as weak as these two." he said while crushing the head of the Briar in his clutches with just his bare hand. And in the next second he plunged his other hand straight through the Briar that was in love with him for some reason.

"I'm going to fucking murder you and everyone that you love!" shouted out the last Briar now leaning up against the canyon's wall.

"Well that is something I'd really like to see, since it has already been done to me. Oh and the likelihood of you accomplishing that is an absolute impossibility, given that you're going to die in the next few seconds." he replied as both of the Briars he just killed fell to the ground, making a sickening thud as they connected with it.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that Salamander." came the feminine voice of someone just around the bend in the canyon as he staggered ever so slightly.

"Right now all of your internal organs are starting to fail you as we speak. Usually I would enjoy toying around with you more, but you've proven to be quiet the advisory for us recently." stated Mary as she rounded the corner with a cheerful smile on her face. Briar watched in disbelief as Salamander fell to his knees and started to cough up copious amounts of blood.

"Who would have thought that the golden boy of Fairy Tail would become one of Fiore's most famous killers? Honestly Salamander I hate to do this to someone as skilled in the craft of killing as you, but unfortunately the rest of Tartaros has decided to dispose of you." she stated with a smug look of superiority.

"Is that so Mary? Sorry to disappoint you but today isn't the day that I'm going to die, but it just so happens to be the day that you do." replied Salamander as he slowly stood back up and had a wicked grin plastered across his mug as he looked back at her with his glowing red eyes.

"That's not possible, all of your organs should be failing you right now!" she shouted while throwing a childish temper tantrum.

"My very existence should be impossible but here I stand. DEATH DRAGON'S FERAL STRIKE." he whispered as a jet of black shot from his right arm and connected with the stunned Briar, who wasn't even able to let out a scream. Mary watched as the last remaining Briar went through the rest of her natural life in a split second, resulting with the woman turning into dust before her very eyes.

"DIE YOU MONSTER!" screamed Mary as she sent her virus at Salamander, no longer willing to take any more chances with someone so deadly. But rather than falling to the floor instantly dead like most people did when she targeted their brain, he remained completely upright and his grin only grew in size.

"Your final trump card didn't work on me Mary, so what are you going to do now?" he asked in an menacing voice, causing the girl to let out a scream and take off running in the direction that she came from. And she kept running as fast as she could until she was fairly confident that he wasn't chasing after her anymore.

"There's no way that man is even remotely human anymore." Mary said to herself as she bent over and tried to regain her breath.

"I'd like to think that I have just a little bit of humanity left in me, at least more than any of the pieces of filth that I've been disposing of that is." came the voice of Salamander from right behind her. She let out a terrified scream as she whirled around but was met with absolutely nothing and no signs of him ever being there.

"It's just got to be my imagination getting the better of me." she stated in an unsure and shaky voice.

"Sorry but I'm very real my dear little Mary." he said again right in her ear, allowing her to feel his breath on her. That elicited the same reaction from her with the addition of her taking off again and running until she physically couldn't anymore. But unlike the last time she ran from the monster after her, this time she could constantly hear an eerie whistling coming from where she was fleeing from.

"Why, why are you doing this?" she asked in between pants as the whistling continued to draw nearer to her.

"It's my purpose for still existing in this cruel and terrible world. I am the monster that devours the other monsters of the world that prey on the weak and helpless. Just like you and every other dark mage out there, and I was actually slightly surprised to learn that Avatar joined up with the new Tartaros." replied Salamander once again from behind her, but this time actually being there when she turned.

"You're just as fucked up as they say you are." she stated while glaring up at him with pure hatred and contempt.

"I would probably guess that I'm even more fucked up than that actually, but what do you expect after everything that I've been through over the past few years." he said while leaning up against a large jagged edge of the canyon wall.

"Why haven't you killed me by now?" asked Mary, seeing no purpose in toying with her after finding out that she couldn't kill him for some reason.

"After I started this cleansing of mine, on some of the people that I know a little better like you and Briar. I've decided to make your deaths a little more personal and if at all possible mimic what you've enjoyed doing to others." he said as he knelt down next to her, enjoying the look of terror in her eyes that then turned to pain filled as he placed his seal on her. Causing her to start screaming out in pain as her magic was being torn from her as she writhed on the ground beneath him.

"Now I usually don't take the magic away from someone I plan on killing, but since I don't understand your whole virus thing completely I decided it would be better to be safe rather than sorry." he said with a little chuckle as she continued to be in immense amount of pain. "So like I was saying I try to mimic what you do to your victims and since I don't have the ability to give you a virus like you do. I decided that the next best thing would be to infect you with my poison after I'm confident you can't counter it with your own magic." he explained as he coated both of his hands in poison that had hints of his crimson flames mixed in with it.

She couldn't believe how much pain she was in and was starting to wish that Salamander would just finish her off. When out of nowhere it started to lessen and even start to feel good, finding this extremely odd she opened back up her eyes and was met with him smirking down at her. "Now that you're almost as good as new, time for round two." he stated before putting a hand over her mouth and forcing his poison and slight flames down her throat and affectively into the rest of her entire body.

"Okay Mary, I've just given you more than enough poison to kill you by the end of the hour. And just so you know it wouldn't matter if you had the best healers in the country with you in the next few seconds. I've added my flames to help make the process even more painful than just the poison alone." he stated while standing back up as the young dark mage squirmed in pain at his feet.

"Sooner or later you're going to die Salamander." she hissed out while trying her best to not scream out in pain like she assumed he wanted her to.

"That is the one absolute rule for all humans, but like you said earlier Mary. I'm not human anymore so I don't play by those rules anymore, and even if I do die it'll be after all your kind has gone before me." he stated while walking away from her.

"Like hell it will Salamander, there will always be the dark so long as there is also light." she screamed out before she could no longer withstand the pain and started to scream out in pain. But what she said brought him to a complete stop as he went over it in his head, coming to a conclusion that brought a small smile to his face.

"You may be correct about that, but after I'm through with my mission all of the big players on your side will no longer be on the board." he stated before heading in the direction that he knew their base was hidden in.

A few minutes later:

"Halt, who goes there!" shouted out one of Tartaros's grunts, with a large group of fellow grunts right behind him. Now with the entire group taking notice of the lone figure heading towards them, with the figure's cloak obstructing any definitive features.

"Stop where you are or your next step is going to be your last!" shouted another one as they all readied their spells or weapons as the figure came to a standstill.

"Is that any way to treat your Master?" asked the figure in a deep voice, which caught most of the people blocking his way off guard.

"There is no way you're Torafuzar, KILL HIM!" shouted someone within the group of grunts. Causing the next few moments to be complete chaos as they all attacked the lone figure, leaving nothing but a large cloud of dust in their wake.

"So much for being our Master." stated the first one to speak up with an amused tone to his voice.

"EARTH DRAGON'S DEVOURING JAWS!" came the calm and deep voice of the stranger from before. The poor man was just quick enough to jump to the side as the earth underneath most of the group opened wide and swallowed them whole. With the ones just barely getting out of it, witnessing the ground closing back up, but with the addition of the sides now having jagged teeth making it actually look like the snapping jaw of a colossal dragon. Unfortunately this left the few remaining there to now be treated with an unexpected shower of blood from their former colleagues.

"You are correct about me not being that bone headed shark freak, I'm the one that Mard Geer was trying to find this whole time with the sole purpose of handing this guild of his over to." said the figure now standing in front of the completely terrified dark mages. One of them thought that this would be the opportune time to slip away, but before he took more than three steps the figure smashed one of his fists into the ground while releasing some magic and mumbling something. The next second they all watched as the fleeing man was quickly reduced to nothing but ashes thanks to a pillar of crimson flames.

"But I'm willing to bet that all of you already know me by another name, and that would be Salamander." he said enjoying that they became even more terrified of him after hearing that. "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" he shouted before engulfing all but one of them in his crimson flames that made quick work of them.

"Oh dear god, please don't kill me." screamed the only surviving member of Tartaros on the outside of this base of theirs.

"Then it's your lucky day my friend, because you get to have the honor of going back to the rest of your guild and telling them that END has returned. And he'll be visiting each and every one of them shortly, oh and don't forget to tell them that I hope they put up a better fight than the rest of your guild has done so far." said Salamander before placing his seal on the man and then heading towards the entrance of the guild with a crazed grin on his lips.

After he entered the base the poor dark mage watched in complete disbelief as the canyon's walls then swallowed up the entrance as if it wasn't even there. But before he could do anything else he was then hit with the most excruciating pain that he has ever been subject to in his life as his magic was being ripped from him.

Two days later at Fairy Tail:

"Master I don't like this at all." stated Erza as she and a few others kept their eyes peeled on the doors.

"I don't either, but they said that whatever they found at Rising Tide needed to be kept a secret at all costs." he replied with a slight frown as he scratched his chin.

"What could be so important that they decided to cut off all communications with us and walk all the way back here?" asked Mira, a question that everyone was trying to figure out. But since no one could come up with a good answer they all remained at the guild anxiously awaiting the Research Team's return.

"I'd have to say that it most likely deals with Subject 8." stated Ultear, only for a good portion of the guild to look at her suspiciously.

"I believe that you are correct on that Ultear, and given your situation with Salamander I'm assuming they didn't want to risk you finding that out until they were back at the guild." said Makarov as he glared at a few of the members that were still giving her a hard time.

"Even if they hadn't I am not supposed to send him an update until the end of the month." she replied with a small smile sent to Meredy who was sitting right next to her. The young girl was still extremely grateful that Natsu returned Ultear to an appropriate age again and subsequently back to her.

"I still don't understand how you can stand working for him." stated Gray with a disgusted look on his face as he tried to ignore Juvia doting on him because of his injuries.

"Would you have preferred some random dark mage constantly watching all of you!" snapped Meredy as she glared at the ice wizard.

"Easy Meredy, I don't blame him for being upset with me and I would probably be doing the exact same thing if I was in his position. But to answer your question Gray, I can stand working for him because he gave me a third chance at living a good life. And if all that he expects for me to do in return is give him the occasional update on all of you and any information about a dark guild. Then I would be a complete moron to not take him up on an offer like that." explained Ultear with a confident grin, since Gray was smart enough to know that anyone would have done the same if given an opportunity like that.

But before anyone else could weigh in on the discussion the guild's doors were opened by the group of three mages that they were all waiting for. Everyone was about to celebrate their return, but just one look at their expressions showed them all that this was definitely not the occasion for that. So they all just remained silent as the group slowly made their way over to Makarov with that glum look remaining on their faces.

"What did you three find?" asked Makarov as they came to a stop in front of him. Without even looking up at him Levy and Lucy both turned away and headed towards an empty booth, not acknowledging anyone on their way there. Making the rest of the guild really concerned since those two have never just walked away from Master after being asked a direct question like that.

"I've got a feeling that I'm not going to like what you found out am I?" asked the elderly guild Master, already knowing that it had to be bad to cause the two women to act like that.

"You definitely aren't." replied Freed, who looked just as shaken by whatever they found as the other two.

"What is it?" he asked, now wishing that they hadn't given them permission to go there in the first place. Because as the saying goes, ignorance is bliss and it looked like the whole research team would rather go back to that then knowing whatever it is they found out at Rising Tide.

"We now know who Subject 8 is." stated Freed as he set a large lacrima on the table that could easily contain a month's worth of footage. If the guild was quiet before, that was nothing compared to how it was as they all looked at the lacrima wanting to watch it as soon as possible. But none of them made a move to do that, as they looked at the three members who had most likely already viewed it. And judging from how they were all acting right now it definitely couldn't be very pleasant to watch.

End of Chapter

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry with how long it took me to update this story but that's just life for you. So as you can probably tell the next chapter is going to finally reveal once and for all who Subject 8 is, while also most likely having Salamander taking down the rest of Tartaros once and for all. After that is all wrapped up I'll probably start setting up for the Alvarez Arc, which I have done a little bit of in the previous chapter. Well that sums it up for this note of mine so feel free like always to send me a review or pm and tell me what you thought. And if you do I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Oh and if you would like me to update faster or possibly start a new story I have information about my page that I set up on my profile page.

Until the next Chapter

Digem Out!