Hey guys...it's been a while, yeah? So before you jump down my throat, let me explain. I've been going through a lot, you know? I got into a not so healthy relationship, I joined the army, I just haven't really had time. But life is starting to get back on track and I have more time now than I have in a while. So expect regular updates. I can't apologize enough for making you all wait so long, for those of you who are still here, I'm so lucky to have you here. For those of you just joining in, welcome aboard. Without further delay, welcome to Chapter 7 of "Dragon and a Vampire'!

Chapter 7

"So...what you're telling me, is that Fairy Tail has been taken over by a bunch of monsters and demons?" Natsu asked, trying to understand the jist of what Mavis was telling him.

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm telling you. I'm not sure when or how, but in this era, Fairy Tail was taken over by a group of monsters, and has since expanded its members exponentially." Mavis stated, a grim look adorning her face. Natsu matched her look. Fighting a whole guild of demons and monsters would certainly be quite the challenge.

"I've also heard reports that former members of the Dark Guild, Tartaros have joined Fairy Tail, adding to the danger and power of the group." Mavis added. Natsu cursed. Members of the Baram Alliance? Things just couldn't be simple now, could they?

"So what are we going to do? There's no way I can take on all of them by myself. I'm sure you remember what happened the last time I did that." Natsu said. Flashbacks of his failure at the Eclipse Gate flooded his mind. He tensed up at the mere thought of it. Mavis noticed this, and focused enough of her magic power into her hand to touch Natsu's shoulder. Natsu, so focused on his failure, jumped at the sudden touch. He looked at his shoulder, surprised that Mavis was able to touch him at all.

"It's okay. We'll pull through. You always have before, and you always will. I believe in you. Everyone believes in you. You just have to believe in yourself." The First said kindly. Natsu couldn't help at smile at her.

"Thank you First. It means a lot, to know that you have faith in me. I'll do my best to make you and everyone else proud. This time, I won't fail." the Dragon Slayer said resolutely. Though he still had his doubts, he would give it his all, just as he always had in the past.

"That's the spirit Natsu! I know you can do this. I have the utmost faith in you." Mavis cheered on. Natsu's toothy grin came in out in full force, and he almost wished that he could hug the First Master of Fairy Tail for her kind words. The young slayer then looked at his clock and noticed the time. He sighed loudly, remembering that he had to start attending school now. He honestly dreaded it, but he knew it was necessary. Mavis sensed this and chuckled, realizing what Natsu was suddenly upset over.

"You'll do fine Natsu, I'm sure of it. However, you should get some rest. Wouldn't want you to be late on your first day of class afterall!" she teased him. Natsu once again sighed, and shook his head.

"Laugh it up First, you're not the one who has to deal with this crap. Man, I remember the first time I ever went through any kind of 'school'. Back when Erza and I were just little. She tried so hard to teach me all sorts of words, and how to read and write properly. It seems like a lifetime ago…" he lamented. Mavis smiled at him sadly, realizing how much he truly missed his family.

"You rose to the occasion then, and you'll rise to the occasion now. I have absolute faith in you Natsu. I know that you'll make us all proud. Now stop worrying so much and go to bed! You have a long day tomorrow, and you need your rest!" Mavis mock lectured, putting her hands on hips to accentuate her point. Natsu responded with a groggy "Aye ma'am!" as sleep slowly took hold of the young man. Unbeknownst to him, the First master stayed with him all night, to make sure that he had nothing but the best of dreams. Sure enough, no nightmares plagued Natsu Dragneel that night.

Natsu was not having the best of mornings however. Upon waking up, he found that Master Mavis was nowhere to be found. On top of that, hee couldn't figure out how to work his new clock, which kept blasting out an obnoxiously loud sound that greatly upset his enhanced hearing. He ended up just smashing the thing to pieces, frustrated beyond words over the "infernal contraption", as he thought Erza would word it. There was also very little food in his fridge and cabinets, so he only ended up eating a granola bar, no where near what he usually ate on daily basis for his morning meal. On top of that, he found his school uniform to be very restricting. He wasn't used to such clothes at all. He didn't even know how to tie a tie. It wasn't until Tsukune had come in to find Natsu with his tie somehow tied in correctly around the top of his head that had finally gotten some help.

"The damn tie is evil, I swear. It was trying to kill me!" Natsu exclaimed, only for Tsukune to chuckle at his new neighbors antics.

"I'm sure it was man, I'm sure it was." he said, trying his hardest not to feed into the Dragon Slayer's delusions. After helping his new friend get properly situated, the two made their way to the cafeteria, where Tsukune usually met up with the others before class. The two walked in awkward silence, neither knowing what to say to the other. Natsu, not really being able to handle the silence anymore, finally tried to start a conversation with his neighbor.

"So, uh...what's there to do for fun around here?" the young mage asked awkwardly. Tsukune, not really expecting the question, jumped at first at the sudden noise coming from Natsu. After composing himself, he put his hand under his chin and struck a sort of thinking pose as the two continued along their path.

"Well...not much really. We're not allowed to leave the school grounds unless we're accompanied by a teach on a field trip. There is a beach that some of the other students tend to go to over the weekends. For after school though, it's mandatory that students join an after school club. Maybe we could find you one to join that would be appealing to you?" the young student offered. Natsu thought on it for a moment.

'After school club? Maybe it's something like a guild...it doesn't sound too bad…' he thought to himself.

"Yeah, sure. Count me in." Natsu said nonchalantly Tsukune lit up at the prospect of showing his new friend around, and even being able to help him find his place in the school.

"Alright! We'll meet in Ms. Nekonome's class after school ends today then. We actually have a club we run in there." Tsukune explained. Natsu's ears perked up at this.

"What do you guys do in there? Is it some kind of fight club?" Natsu wondered, excited at the prospect of being able to fight strong opponents here. He did have to train after all. However, Tsukune let out a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head in a comical fashion.

"Err...no, nothing like that man. We run the school newspaper club from there." Tsukune said. Natsu looked at him confusedly.

"Newspaper club? So you like...interview people and what not then?" the Dragon Slayer inquired. Tsukune nodded in the affirmative, causing Natsu to sigh deeply in response.

"I'll pass. I've had my fair share of time with the paparazzi in my time." Natsu said dismissively, thoughts of Jason harassing him for an interview sending shivers down his spine. Tsukune, disappointed in his decision, just nodded.

"Well, I'm sure Moka, the others and I can find you something to do after school today." he offered. Natsu just nodded as the two had finally made it the cafeteria, finding the others waiting at a table for them. They all seemed happy to see them, or rather, most of them seemed more happy to see Tsukune rather than Natsu. However, a certain pink haired vampire made it a point to say "hello" to her new friend.

"Good morning Natsu! I hope you slept well for your first night here!" she greeted him excitedly. Natsu offered her a small smile before responding to her.

"Yo. Yeah, I guess I slept alright. How about you?" he asked. Moka responded with a bright smile.

"I slept great! Though I could have gotten more sleep...I guess I was just so excited about your first day here with us!" Moka exclaimed happily, a bright smile and a light pink adorning her face. Natsu found her smile contagious and couldn't help but smile back.

"Aw, it's not that big a deal." Natsu responded almost shyly. Moka looked shocked.

"How could it not be?! You're here with us. It's like the start of a brand new adventure!" she replied dramatically. Natsu's eyes widened for a moment.

'I just wanted to have more adventures with my precious friends…' he heard Future Lucy's last words echo in his head.

'I'm sorry Lucy...I couldn't keep my promise...I'm sorry…' he thought bitterly. It was true. He failed to keep his promise to his closest friend. It didn't matter if she was from a different time or not. She was still Lucy, and he let her down. No, he let everyone down. Without even realizing it, a tears started flowing from his eyes. This didn't go unnoticed by Moka and the others.

"Natsu, are you okay?" the vampire asked worriedly, very clearly concerned over her new friend. Natsu, who didn't even realize he was crying. Upon realizing it, he quickly turned around to dry his now wet face.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Great actually! Just...have something in my eye is all!" he tried his best to make himself sound happy. He didn't want to worry his new friend. It wasn't her problem to bear afterall. However, from inside the Rosario, Inner Moka saw through his lie.

"Tch, does he think so lowly of us that he could fool us with that poor excuse of a lie?" She said from within the Rosario. Outer Moka's brows furrowed at this. It did strike her as odd, but she didn't wanna push the matter.

"Whatever's bothering him must be pretty serious. If he wants to talk to us about it, he will. I understand now wanting to burden others with your problems." Outer Moka said to her other self. The only response she received was a huff of indignation. Coming too from her conversation with Inner Moka, she looked to find Natsu facing her again, a small smile adorning his face, but his eyes full of sorrow. She offered him a smile of her own, before placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, if you ever need to talk about anything, we're here for you, okay? Don't be afraid to ask for help, cuz that's what friends do right?" she said. Natsu's eyes widened a fraction of a bit, and just nodded.

'You know, I think you would have fit in just fine at Fairy Tail Moka. Maybe one day, you could meet everyone. I think you'd love them.' the salmon haired slayer thought to himself. The interaction between the two fast friends didn't go unnoticed between a certain brown haired neighbor of Natsu's, who looked on in sadness and jealousy, which didn't go unnoticed by the rest of Tsukune's entourage. However, before anyone could say anything, the bell sounded off, making everyone realize it was time to go to class.

"Oh, Natsu, what class are you in? Who is your home room teacher?" Moka inquired. Natsu pulled out a piece of paper from his khakis, looking at it oddly.

"It looks like it's...Ms. Nekonome…?" he answered, not sure if he was actually pronouncing her name right. Moka's emerald eyes lit up brilliantly, but before she could get too excited, she requested to see her new friends schedule. He handed it over without a word, and she calmly took the sheet of paper. After looking it over and comparing it to her own schedule, she couldn't help but feel even more excited.

"This is great Natsu, it looks like we have all the same classes together!" she told him happily. However, Natsu didn't seem to share her enthusiasm.

"Is that so? That's cool.." he replied, almost dejectedly. Moka's mood instantly dropped after seeing him practically uninterested, possibly even uncaring attitude towards her. But even so, she persevered, determined to make sure he had the best welcoming to Yokai Academy.

"Well here, I'll show you where our class is. Just follow me!" she told him, grabbing his hand leading him through the crowds of various students who were either rushing to get their class, or taking their sweet time. Once they had enough of a start, Tsukune and his group started to speak freely.

"I'll be honest, I don't like him." Kurumu was the first one to speak up, which caught the others off guard. Tsukune looked conflicted. He truly thought that Natsu was nice enough, but he was stealing Moka's attention, and that truly made him unhappy.

"I'll have to agree. He's much too…" Yukari couldn't find the words.

"Loud and obnoxious." Mizore finished. They all looked at her for a moment.

"That was a little harsh, don't you think Mizore?" Tsukune asked her, but the Yuki-Onna merely shrugged in response. However, Kurumu jumped on the opportunity.

"Well what do you think of him then Tsukune? You have to have an opinion of him." the succubus pestered. Tsukune really didn't know what he thought of him to be honest. He didn't know the guy well enough to give an honest answer.

"Well...he doesn't seem like a bad guy. He seems sad though, like something really bad happened to him." Tsukune answered honestly.

"You noticed that too? I thought it was just me. He seems like he's trying hard to hide some kind of secret. I don't really care what it is though, as long as he doesn't come between the three of us." Yukari said, again referring to her want of a threesome between Moka, Tsukune, and herself, causing said male to blush and look away shyly.

"You're still going on about that…?" asked the young student awkwardly, though he already knew the answer. Though, before she got to answer, Kurumu jumped into the conversation.

"Hey, you need to grow up some more before you can even think of trying to get with MY Tsukune, got it shimp? But I wouldn't even bother by the time you're old enough, cuz we'll already be married, isn't that right, Tsukune?" she exclaimed, trying to crush Tsukune in a tight hug, but right before she could capture her prey, she felt an intense cold feeling washing over her whole body. Wondering what had happened, she looked to see her body from her waist down completely frozen in ice.

"Hey, what the hell snow woman!?" the succubus roared furiously, with said snow woman giving her an uncaring glance before she tightly hugged Tsukune's arm.

"Mine." was all she said. Tsukune merely sighed deeply in response as a pan appeared and smacked the top of Mizore's head, stunning the young woman just enough for her to let go of Tsukune. The three students then began a fierce argument over who Tsukune should marry, or who he belonged to. Though, without them even realizing it, he had walked away from them and quickly shuffled into this classroom, not too far behind Natsu and Moka. By the time they had realized it, the final bell had sounded off, making the three officially late. Begrudgingly, they had all walked (after freeing Kurumu out of her icy prison, much to Mizore's disappointment) to the school's office in order to obtain a late slip.

"Oh, it seems like we have a new student in class today! Why don't you,come to the front of the class and introduce yourself?" Ms. Nekonome instructed, causing the young mage to awkwardly walk towards her while the rest of the classes student's looked at him.

"Yo, I'm Natsu Dragneel. It's uh...nice to meet all of you." he greeted awkwardly, his toothy grin out in full force. At first no one said anything, causing both Tsukune and Moka to feel a little bad for him, but not long did it start.

"OHMIGOD HE'S SO CUTE!"

"He literally has the best smile."

"I want him. I need him."

"I wonder if that's his natural hair color or if he dyed it pink?" and with that last statement, Natsu lost his temper.

"First of all wise guy, my hair isn't pink, it's salmon, and yes, it's natural. Got a problem with that?" he threatened. All that followed was silence, which made Natsu give a small chuckle chuckle in satisfaction, however Ms. Nekonome wasn't so happy with his introduction.

"Well...thank you for that rather enthusiastic entrance Natsu. Please take your seat. It looks as though there's an open seat next to Mizore." the cat monster instructed, to which Natsu nearly nodded. Taking his seat next to the Yuki-Onna, he was met with a glare, which made Natsu confused.

"Did I uh...do somethin wrong?" he asked her. Her glare only hardened, which made Natsu frown. After what seemed to be several minutes of silence, she finally answered him.

"You're hot." was all she said, causing Natsu to blink several times out of confusion.

"Uh...thank you?" he said awkwardly. She shook her head and sighed, choosing to ignore him and focus on the lesson at hand. Natsu sighed as well, choosing instead to look out the window, watching as a bird flew by.

'Gray, Erza, Wendy, Lucy...I'll get through this. I will avenge you.' he thought too himself solemnly.

"How soon can they deploy?"

"As soon as you give the command."

"Good, we strike today. Time to see the fruits of your research doctor."

"Ah, but of course. I'm sure they won't disappoint. They were of course, among the strongest mages of their time. Project G.E.L won't fail you." as the two voices discussed, the three figures sat there, dreading what twisted plans they had in store for them.

'Natsu…' they all thought collectively.

Natsu snapped out of his daydream, looking around him confusedly. Ms. Nekonome noticed this.

"Is there a problem Natsu?" she asked. Natsu continued to look around him for a moment before responding to her.

"No, everything's fine. Sorry." he said quietly. His cat-like teacher merely nodded and continued to teach her lesson, something about blending in with humans as to not attract attention to themselves. He didn't know, he wasn't really paying attention.

'That's weird...I could have sworn I heard someone call my name just a moment ago…' he thought to himself.

So not much happened, and I'm sorry about that. Not as long as I would have liked, and I'm sure you'll notice that as well, but for this chapter, I was trying to focus more on character building and establishing roles. Next chapter is when everything hits the fan, and I know you'll all be in for a treat. All that stuff going on in the background is finally going to reveal itself too Natsu and the others, and I promise, you won't have to wait too long for my next update. As for some of my other stories, the next chapter for "Nothing is left to Fate" should be coming out within the next few days, as I'm almost done with the next chapter. As for "Devils and a Devil Slayer" I just started the next chapter, as inspiration was pretty hard to come by for that one. Also, expect a couple one shots here and there. Just because I haven't had time to update, doesn't mean that I haven't been writing. But I won't keep you any longer, please read and review! Tell me what you loved, hated, and what you think I could work on! Have a great night everyone!