'The Ember Wolf; She who will set the world ablaze so that she may feed upon the ashes of the torched world and bask in the fires of her own personally designed hell. She who brought fire to this world will use it to cleanse it if its human plague.'

– Warning from an Ancient Earthland race.

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Natsu had his reasons for never searching for his birth parents. He knew the truth as to why he was born and to why he was abandoned.

His parents weren't killed leaving him an orphan, no nothing quite like that. He was a tool. He was born a tool to rid the bloodline of an ancient curse, a curse handed down through the generations, a curse that was a shame to the family until one day it's new bearer was left at the side of the road a few days after being born; watching as his 'parents' left him with smiles on their faces.

Natsu usually hated to think about his curse, there was no one in the entire world who knew about it apart from his true father Igneel and his surrogate son Happy.

The only reason he was thinking about it now was because the guild was having one of those 'touchy-feely- moments that was supposed to bring them all closer together.

He wasn't the only one with parent issues, hell he couldn't name a single person in the guild who didn't have them.

Grey, Gajeel, Wendy, Erza and more were like him, never met their parents; not even once.

Cana had Gildarts, not that that was any easier; especially keeping it a secret for so long.

Lucy lost her mum when she was very you and her dad went from tyrant to saint.

The Strauss siblings watched their parent's burn during a bandit raid on their village. No one in this generation of guild members could catch a break.

One thing that separated him from them though was the fact that he was a tool. The rest of them were born from love or desire. He'd rather be a child of lust like Cana than a scapegoat.

But that's all he was to those 'parents' of his.

A tool and a scapegoat.

Natsu sighed. He was so deep in his own self-loathing that he completely ignored everyone talking about what they wished they had and what they still could have.

"Maybe I should look for my parents?" Grey's musing garnered a few approvals. Natsu looked at him, he was a lucky sod and he didn't even realise it. Sure not having ever met them is quite a bummer but at least he had a family that may actually want to see him again?

"I wouldn't mind trying to find mine?" Wendy croaked out nervously, she got a small confidence boost when Mira placed a comforting hand on the little girls shoulder.

"What about you Gajeel?" Levy asked, cautiously but still intrigued.

Gajeel shrugged. "I don't care too much; Metallicana will always be my father."

"Well I for one will be doing my own search as well." Erza stated triumphantly. She had no clue if they were even alive but she wanted to know.

"What about you?" Levy once again asked a dragon slayer, although this one was a miserable looking rose haired dragon slayer with a tendency to burn things.

"Pass." He stated almost morbidly.

"What?" Lucy shouted. "You're not even gonna consider it?" Lucy was angry, after recently losing her own father she couldn't bear to be around people who disrespected their own.

This is why Natsu finally came clean.

"I was abandoned at birth." He stated grimly. "The only reason I was born was so that they could get some stupid curse out of my family. I was a tool, nothing more."

"What are you talking about?" Erza asked worriedly. By this point in time Lucy looked ashamed at herself for her outburst but kept quiet, she was curious.

"Six hundred years ago a monster roamed this world. A monster so powerful things turned to ash just by being its presence." Natsu began, capturing everyone's attention especially Levy's who immediately recognised the opening of the tale he was telling. "A monster so powerful that it could never be killed. One of the four original Titans." Natsu paused when he heard Levy gasp; everyone looked at her and noted the pure terror in her eyes.

"The Ember Wolf…" Levy breathed in shock, awe and fear.

Natsu nodded before continuing. "The Ember Wolf, She who will set the world ablaze so that she may feed upon the ashes of the torched world and bask in the flames of her own personally designed hell. She who brought fire to the world will use it to cleanse it of its human plague."

The guild stared at him in silence. "Is that true?" Erza asked slowly.

"Yep." Natsu replied. "I am the bearer of The Ember Wolf." He added with a mock bow.

"Why didn't you say something?" Makarov asked, not angrily but suspiciously.

Natsu shrugged. "I can't do anything about it, and it doesn't affect me in any way so what's the point?"

"What do you mean?" Levy shouted. "A creature that powerful should be constantly fighting for control!"

Natsu was silent for a while. "I heard that too but…" He paused. "I've never had a problem with her, sometimes I wonder if she's even still in here?" He said as he tapped his head. He stood up suddenly. "Well I hope you find what you're looking for guys." Natsu stated sincerely with an equally warm smile. "But I'm outta here!" He shouted boisterously before leaving, his antics snapped the majority of the guild out of their shock as they watched the same old Salamander waltz out of the guild with Happy on his shoulder. Only a few continued to dwell on it, but they did more than just dwell.

"The Ember Wolf…" Levy repeated in awe.

"You make it sound really bad." Lucy noted quietly.

"Bad?" Levy shouted in shock. "Not 'bad', it's pure evil!" Blue haired wizard shouted in anger at her guild mate's ignorance. "It was one of the four original Titans!"

"Who were they?" Grey asked in a bored tone.

Levy's face dropped with her mouth almost hitting the ground.

"Do you seriously not know?" Makarov asked, almost ashamedly. Grey answered by shaking his head. "The four Titans were the creators of the world, but they are also its destruction." Makarov continued in a sombre tone. "The Stone Bear made the earth for man to walk upon, The Rain Hawk flooded the oceans and lakes for man to drink from, The Ember Wolf through the Sun into the sky so that man could see and The Cloud Bison made the heavens so that man could rest when his life was at an end." Makarov recited the ancient legend word for word.

"If they created the world then why would they want to end it?" Lucy asked, completely enthralled with the tail. Erza seemed to be the only one apart from Makarov and Levy to be considering Natsu through all of this.

"Because man failed." Makarov continued. "Man plunged the world into chaos and disorder spitting in the faces of the Titans. But The Ember Wolf had faith in man and decided to give it another chance, she created women." Makarov continued. "And with women and men working together they pulled the world out of the darkness and breathed into it new life just as the Titans had done for them. But once again they failed. Humans spat in the faces of the Titans, disregarding everything they had done for them and ignoring their existence. The Stone Bear went into a deep sleep, waiting for humans to plunge the world into chaos so that he could build a new world for the next species. The Rain Hawk wept for days turning the oceans salty before she too disappeared. The Cloud Bison created Hell, so that only those who deserved Heaven may enter. However the Ember Wolf was hurt. She had done so much for the human race and they responded to her kindness with hatred. She filled mountains with lava and scorched entire forests to the ground creating deserts. But she was not done; she vowed to set the world ablaze so that she could start again."

"Is all this true?" Was the last thing Erza heard before she marched out of the guild, it may have been Lucy who asked but she wasn't paying enough attention to note who it was.

A million thoughts raced through her usually fast working mind which was now in overdrive. Natsu, her closest friend harboured a world ending spirit within him and never told anyone? The people who gave birth to him used him as nothing more than an object and yet he never mentioned it?

She wasn't sure if she should be mad that he'd never told her about this or sad for all that he'd been through.

'He never could catch a break, could he?' The famous red haired knight thought to herself as she marched towards the fire dragon slayers home.

She reached his shack in the woods in record time; she approached the door but didn't bother knocking. Instead she raised her right foot and booted the door down. The wooden door went flying across Natsu's shack landing with a huge thud on the opposite side of the room, followed by the cry of an angry cat who'd been in the way of the odd projectile.

"Oops, sorry Happy." Erza apologised sheepishly to the blue exceed who stumbled grumpily out from behind the door that now lay across the back wall of their home.

"Erza?" Natsu asked in shock, he'd heard the noise and come running from somewhere else in the shack to investigate.

"Natsu, we're talking. Now." She demanded.

"Aye sir!" Natsu shouted lamely before following her to his couch and taking a seat after she had.

"Explain." She commanded. Natsu only replied by raising his right eyebrow in confusion. Erza sighed. "Explain why you never told us about the demon or your parents." She clarified.

"First off she's not a demon." Natsu stated, Erza couldn't figure out his emotions; his voice didn't seem to carry any but nor was it monotone. "She's a spirit, a Titan. Definitely not a demon."

"My apologies." Erza replied warmly, she wasn't sure why she apologised but she just did.

"I didn't tell anyone because there was no need to. She's not trying to take control of me or trying to convince me to do anything so I figured I'd just not say anything; it's not like I wanna brag about having an apocalyptic creature attached to my soul." He stated casually, like it was common sense. "And to answer the other question, Igneel taught me that it doesn't matter what we were born, all that matters is who we are and who we want to be." He added calmly.

Erza looked at Natsu for a few seconds in deep thought before smiling warmly at him. "I understand." She stated in a gentle tone. It was times like this that Natsu thought she was at her most beautiful, not that he'd ever tell her that; no matter how much he wanted to.

"Thanks Erza." He replied warmly.

She nodded at him before standing. "Alright here's what we're going to do." Erza began, her usual confident tone returning. "You and I are going back the guild where we will pick out a mission and go. Just you and me." Her voice returned to the gentle tone before she continued. "It's been a long time since just you and I did something." She finished with a smile and a blush that Natsu couldn't understand but he couldn't deny it looked damn cute on her pretty face.

"Sounds good to me!" Natsu shouted as he jumped from his couch and followed Erza out of his house and towards the guild leaving Happy standing there with a confused look on his face.

"They liiiiiike each other!" He shouted teasingly even though they were too far away to hear him.

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"I hate trains…" Natsu groaned.

He was now sitting on a train with Erza as it hurtled towards the town where their mission objective was, well sitting wasn't entirely accurate as he was actually laying down with a face as a green as a cucumber.

"Just try to focus on something else Natsu." Erza offered distractedly.

'Easy for you to say." Natsu grumbled internally as he eyed the great Titania. His eyes stayed trained on her figure, taking her in. 'I wonder what Erza's thinking about? It's probably Jellal judging by the blush on her face.' He thought to himself, a strange feeling began to bubble in his gut as he thought of Erza thinking of Jellal, and it wasn't caused by his motion sickness. 'I wish I could be more like her, I'll never beat her if I can't even beat this fucking train… I really should try… If Laxus can beat his motion sickness then I can too!'

As his thought train ended he began building as much strength as his motion sick body could muster and with a single push he forced himself to sit up.

Erza snapped out of her thoughts as she caught motion from the corner of her eye only to be surprised to see Natsu sitting up… on a train… while it's moving.

She had to fight the urge to talk to him; the look on his face was one of massive concentration which was exceedingly rare on the face of the fire mage. She knew not distract him.

She continued to watch him all the way to their destination.

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"I'm very impressed Natsu." Erza complimented as she stepped off of the train with Natsu following just behind her. "What gave you the strength to sit up?" She enquired.

"You did." Natsu answered honestly. Erza blushed a little at his confession. "I need to be more like you if I'm ever gonna make S-class." He added with his signature grin.

Erza was still a bit shell shocked when she turned around and continued walking away from the train. She didn't know quite what to say. Eventually she decided to turn around and talk but stopped when she noticed Natsu had stopped walking a few paces earlier and was now staring intently at a group of girls not too far away. A strange feeling started to churn in her gut as she watched.

"Natsu?" She asked a bit snappier than she had meant.

"They're talking about me." He said in a suspicious tone. "But they're not really." He added.

Erza watched as his sensitive hears twitched slightly as they focused on the girl's conversation even as they began running in the opposite direction.

'I envy those ears.' Erza confessed in her head. 'I'd love to be able to hear the way he does… the way they twitch just makes me wanna nibble on them…' The scarlet haired mage jumped out of her train of thought after an image of her nibbling on Natsu's ear seductively jumped into her head. 'Too many smutty novels…' She tried to convince herself.

Erza quirked an eyebrow at his statement, trying to force down the huge blush on her face. "What do you mean?" She asked as she stepped towards the fire mage.

"They're talking about Salamander."

"But you are Salamander?" She asked confusedly.

"Exactly." He replied before he started walking towards where the girls had run off giggling. "So why did the say they were going to see me then run in the opposite direction?"

Erza followed him. "An imposter?" She questioned.

"Wouldn't be the first time." He replied. "The same thing happened on the day I met Lucy."

Erza felt a tinge of jealousy at her blond friend, she wasn't sure why… at least she didn't want to admit why.

They continued to walk in the direction that the girls had run off to. Neither one of them were really thinking about their mission to capture a rogue mage who had supposedly stolen some sort of treasure from a wealthy nobleman who lived a few towns over.

They followed the girls until they were met by a huge crowd who was being entertained by a fire mage, a fire mage who was apparently nothing more than a street performer who was pretending to be the famous Salamander.

"And that ladies and gentlemen is why I, Natsu Dragneel, am the greatest fi-" He was cut short by a flaming fist to the face.

The crowd jumped back in shock. Erza could only mentally face palm at her partners' brashness.

"I wish people would stop imitating me!" Natsu shouted at the dazed man. The crowd looked at him confusedly until they noticed his guild mark and realised he was the real Salamander.

"Natsu was that amount of force really necessary?" Erza asked like a mother scolding her child.

Natsu grinned in response. "Look at his neck." He said confidently.

Erza didn't understand what he meant but complied anyway. She looked down at the imposters' neck and noticed a strange guild mark. The same guild mark that was supposed to be on the thief's neck, the thief they were sent to find.

Erza smiled brightly. "Well done Natsu!" She complimented happily. "That takes care of that." She added as she finished tying up the imposter/thief just before the city guards came and arrested him.

"That was boring." Natsu whined as he and Erza left the area where they had caught the thief. "I was hoping we'd be out here together for a bit longer."

Erza felt herself blush at the way he phrased himself. "W-well we don't have to go home just yet." Erza stated without looking at him, more like refusing to look at him to hide her blush. "We booked a hotel for two nights so we might as well use them. I hear the hotel has a great spa!" She finished excitedly.

"Sweet!" Natsu shouted excitedly. "Sounds good to me Erza."

Erza smiled at him, ignoring her blush and forcing herself to look at him. Happy with the thought it would just be her and Natsu for a few days.

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Deep within Natsu's soul a creature continued to watch her host's actions just like she had done for the past six hundred years but for some reason this host was different. She had spent the last six hundred years hating humans with every fibre of her being but not this boy, this boy she had watched grow up without humans but was still drawn to them in the end, to humans that she intended to create in the first place. And it was for these reasons and many more that she had grown to like him, almost like a mother.

'Be brave my boy.' The creature whispered in a beautifully elegant voice. 'Take the chance with this woman and you will not regret it… ever.' She added, referring to Erza.