A/N: Hey there and welcome to my END theory story thingy :)
Before you start reading there are a few things you might wanna know.
First of all: There will be huge spoilers from the manga, so if you're not up to date with that, I take no responsibility for ruining your knowledge. This story is based on what we know up until chapter 445, because I had to stop at some point (and because it seems like a lot of stuff is gonna happen soon, that might mess up the stuff I've been working on the last few months.
The story happens chronologically and in the beginning of each chapter, there is a section that explains stuff that has happened. A lot of the stuff in these sections is actual canon from the manga, combined with my imagination.
There will be 4 acts or arcs in this story. At first I only used it for my own notes, to keep it all in order, but it kinda seemed nice to keep them as I wrote :3
So yeah! Grab some snacks peeps, you're in for a loooong and emotional ride :D
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima
ACT I: Dragons, Demons and Humanity – The Massacre
400 years ago ~ Approximately X372
Chapter 1: First encounter
400 years ago there was a huge and bloody war going on between two factions; humans and dragons. Not only did these two groups battle each other, but dragons was turning on each other, killing former allies.
The war was so intense that it left a bloody trail throughout the world. Both sides suffered a lot of casualties, which left a pile of corpses and innocent victims.
It all started because there was a disagreement about whether or not humans should be allowed to coexist with the dragons. Those who believed that this ideology was possible formed a new allegiance between dragons and humans. The individuals that opposed to this, formed the other site and from there on the war raged on.
As if the scenario couldn't be more dire a new group of people suddenly showed up from out of nowhere. These people were causing havoc wherever they went, using their demonic powers to get what they wanted. But all though this group was causing havoc, it seemed like they were trying to avoid the fight between the humans and dragons. However a certain demon seemed intrigued by the fight and soon he would enter the battlefield...
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
Igneel was panting after defeating yet another dragon. Fortunately for him it looked like it was the last one nearby, so he had time to take a small break to catch his breath.
This has been going on for far too long, he thought while turning his head to take in the bloody scenario around him. Corpses of both humans and dragons was sprawled all over the place, soaking the ground in a crimson colour. It was so horrible and disgusting that it seemed more like a nightmare and not reality itself.
As Igneel stood there he noticed a person slowly strolling towards him. There was something off about him, because even though he looked like a regular human, his presence radiated something evil. Something that was far from being anything remotely like a human, but more like another species. Besides that the person had visible horns coming out of his skull and weird markings that looked like tattoos spread all over his body. Furthermore his hands was more like claws, in some aspects resembling his own.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" the dragon's voice boomed towards the creature, who started chuckling.
"Nothing much" he tilted his head to the side and smirked wickedly "Just wanted to see what all the fuss was about, is all"
"What are you?" Igneel growled and narrowed his eyes suspiciously towards the pink haired brat.
"Huh?" the person blinked and stretched his arms lazily above his head "What I am? Hmm... some call me END, it stands for Etherious Natsu Dragneel. You could say that Etherious is my race, so I guess that's what I am? So... yeah my name is Natsu Dragneel and I'm the guild master of Tartaros"
"I see, I've heard about you"
"You have?" the boy's smile widened in enthusiasm "That's neat! What have you heard?"
"According to the rumours you and your guild are all demons created by the black wizard Zeref"
"Yeah! That's right!" the kid laughed enthusiastically "He created each and everyone of us! That's why I created Tartaros because we share the same purpose"
"The same purpose, huh? And what might that be?"
"Hmm?" he looked at Igneel with curiosity "Well to kill Zeref of course. That's the reason he created us and that is our only reason for existing"
"What?" the dragon snarled in anger "Are you telling me your only purpose in life is killing another person?"
"Well yeah!" the demon shrugged lazily.
"Tsch! So your only goal is taking another person's life?"
"Uh-huh" Natsu nodded.
"Then you're a fool!"
"What?" there was a flash of anger in his eyes making them sparkle in an ominous colour.
"I said you're a fool! Look around you, what do you see?"
"Dead people" the demon rolled his eyes impatiently "So what?"
"So what?!" the dragon hissed "How can you say that so casually? Life is more precious than that! All of these corpses could have had a valuable life, but instead it came to an end too soon because of some stupid ideology"
"I don't care about ideology" Natsu snarled "The only thing I care about is killing Zeref"
"You can't possibly exist for such a simple reasoning"
"Ohh yeah? Well too fucking bad!" the demon growled "Yooou just have to deal with it!"
"No! I can't ignore it when a person tries to throw his life away for something so stupid!"
"I don't give a fucking damn about what you think, idiotic meat head!" Natsu cracked his knuckles in intimidation "You know what you're getting on my nerves, so bring it on!"
"Violence isn't the solution you stupid brat!" Igneel dodged the pink haired kid as he came flying in his direction with a clenched fist covered with black fire "Are you really so ignorant and selfish?"
"Yes I am!" Natsu wiggled his tongue teasingly as he jumped from his position, turning mid-air to aim a roundhouse kick towards the dragon. Igneel groaned in annoyance and slammed his gigantic claw against the kid, making sparkles fly in all directions from the impact fly.
Natsu let out a battle cry as he used the claw as a catalyst to jump higher up into the air, where he raised one of his arms behind his head.
"You're such a kid" Igneel muttered as he let out a deafening roar and shot a huge amount of bright flames in the demons direction. The kid let out an intense scream as the flames hit him, making him twist and turn in what looked like agony, as he fell to the ground.
For some reason the yell from the kid grew in volume, until it was suddenly replaced with a howling laughter.
"Just kidding" Natsu chuckled darkly while opening his mouth and to the dragon's surprise the kid ate the flames.
"How is that possible?" Igneel wondered out loud.
"What?" Natsu crooked his eyebrow defiantly "I have an affinity with flames. It's pretty cool isn't it?"
"Hmm..." Igneel hummed in a lazy voice, clearly not that impressed with Natsu.
"Oy!" the demon pointed his finger accusingly at the dragon "Don't you hmm me! I'll show you how amazing my fire is!" Black flames was suddenly covering the kid's body "See?"
Sighing Igneel turned his head to the side, feigning interest in the other person.
"Hey!" Natsu's eyes bulged in surprise "Stop being a shit head and look in my direction!"
"You're such a brat..."
"So what if I am? You're just an annoying and ugly dragon!"
"Say that again!"
"You're ugly!"
"You're calling me the almighty Igneel ugly?!"
"Yeah!"
Igneel once again sent flames in the kids direction, but Natsu easily evaded it, chuckling like he was having the best time of his life.
So the brat enjoyed fighting, huh?
The dragon dodged an attack from his opponent and swung his tail at the kid, who was caught mid-air from the attack, making him skid against the ground a second later. Once the tail swish stopped the kid jumped backwards and took a deep breath making his cheeks bulge before he sent a huge amount of black flames towards the dragon. The flames hit Igneel and to his surprise it actually stung a bit.
What was with those flames?
Snorting the dragon launched himself against the kid with teeth sparkling from the flames that was about to emerge from his mouth.
Natsu was chuckling when he ran away from the attack, that was following his moving body. When the flames vaporised from the dragon's mouth Igneel once again raised his claw, because the kid was coming against him with a clenched fist covered with black flames. Once again the claw and the kid collided and once more the impact sent sparkles flying. They kept pushing against each other using all of their force in that one encounter.
"Hey kid" Igneel asked in a serious tone.
"What?"
"You're having fun aren't you?"
"Yeah so what?"
"Then can you still honestly say that there is nothing else in your life, that is important besides your one goal?"
"Well..." Natsu sounded somewhat baffled "... I... sure!"
"Let me ask you another question then"
"You're really annoying..." the demon sighed impatiently.
"Did you only create that guild of yours, so you could join forces against Zeref? You didn't have another motive, like perhaps seeking company that are like-minded with yourself"
Natsu's eyes widened momentarily in what looked like surprise "Tsch, you aren't making any sense lizard"
"I'm a dragon not a lizard you insolent brat! But back to the point! You created that guild of yours because you were lonely! Isn't that true? You needed company because it was hard carrying the burden of killing Zeref on your own"
Natsu seemed to be thrown off guard for a second which Igneel took to his advantage, as he used his claw to smash the kid against the ground, making the rocks underneath him crack and splinter.
The brat underneath his claw was panting and staring defiantly at the dragon. But there was also a hint of something else... like there was this lingering sadness and pain deep inside of him.
"You have more in life than death Natsu, why can't you see that?"
the demon's mouth formed a straight line, but it looked like it was trembling ever so slightly. A sigh of frustration escaped the dragon's mouth as he removed his claw. Natsu didn't do anything at first, but after a moment he staggered to his feet with his head lowered, making it impossible to see his face.
"Why are you so defiant to listen to reason?" Igneel asked in a concerned voice "A life that is filled solely with death, is not a worthy way to live..."
The demon snapped his head up and glared at the dragon with eyes sparkling with menace and anger.
"Okay you know what..." Natsu's voice was hoarse and dripping with hatred "... fuck it!" he swung his arm demonstratively to the side "You're telling me that living with the sole reason of taking another person's life isn't worth living, right? Then go on! Kill me! If you're so sure that it's SO bad to only have one purpose in life then do it! Kill me!"
The demon was shaking visibly from anger and defiance, as he stared challengingly at his opponent.
Igneel sighed impatiently "I can't do that"
"Why not?!"
"Because that would be a contradiction to the things I just told you. As I said life is more precious than that"
"Ugh! You know what? If that's how you want to play, then fine! I'm just gonna kill you!"
Natsu was about to attack when someone suddenly appeared behind him and grabbed his shoulder.
"I can't allow you to do that" the person said.
A growl escaped Igneel's lips "You..." the dragon snarled "You must be Zeref"
"Igneel the mighty fire dragon" Zeref nodded in acknowledgement "So we meet at last"
"Tsch!" Natsu snorted as he took a few steps away from Zeref. He stood there turning his head to glare at them in turn before letting out an annoyed groan "You know what I don't have time for this shit!"
The demon started stomping away leaving the dark mage and the dragon alone.
"What are you doing here?" Igneel said in a deep and threatening tone.
"Humans... dragons... none of them matter to me"
"What?"
"I don't care who lives and who dies... however the dragons era will end soon"
"Tsch" Igneel snorted, thoroughly annoyed by the cryptic mage.
"You'll see..." Zeref turned his head to the side and glared into the distance, in the direction Natsu had left "... maybe it isn't today or even tomorrow but soon enough. Why? Because humans are treacherous beings... they live their lives with meaningless goals, that they try to achieve by fighting and using violence to destroy everything"
"Says the person who created a demon to be his own assassin" Igneel snorted.
Zeref nodded "I myself have used desperate methods to ensure the future of this world. That I can't deny, but that doesn't matter, not as long as the fate of this world is secured from evil beings such as myself"
"You're quite narrow-minded aren't you?"
"What makes you say that?" he sounded surprised.
The dragon sighed "Just like that brat you created, you see the world in black and white. But it isn't that simple. Not everything is concealed in darkness... people and creatures... everyone has a certain amount of their soul that is pure, because every living thing has the ability to love"
The mage chuckled "Sadly not all humans are like that" he shook his head "Some are so impure that they will never know what real light or love is. All they know is hatred and the only way to reach their goals is through darkness and death"
"No, you're wrong... all humans have a tiny flame of hope inside of them. It is with this hope that they are capable of knowing and loving others. It's true that a lot of people and creatures carry a heavy burden of darkness inside, but if they are given the chance then that flame of hope can grow, making them open to feel love"
"You're a fool... an optimistic and old fashioned fool" the mage shook his head.
"I'm not..." he pointed in Zeref's direction "... even that brat you created carries hope and if he allowed, or even dared to acknowledge it himself, then he would also be capable of doing good things"
"Hmm..." the dark mage scratched his chin in thought "I don't think it is as simple as you say it is. But you've got me interested... I might not look like it but I really want the best for him... so maybe some day..." he turned around and started walking away "... maybe we'll met again" he cast a glance over his shoulder towards the dragon "Igneel the king of fire dragons"
Igneel narrowed his eyes as he watched the mage disappear "Yeah maybe..."
And with that Igneel had his first encounter with both a demon and a dark mage. He couldn't know for sure if he would met them again, but something told him that he would. For better or for worse...
A/N: I'm so sorry for making this chapter so heavy, with the talk and stuff. I just needed to lay the basics for the events that starts happening.
So why do I think END/ Natsu uses black flames? Well because Zancrow stated that it was an ancient and lost magic. Also Natsu hasn't learned Dragon Slayer magic yet, so I think it's safe to assume it would be different somehow.
But yeah, that was chapter one! Hope you liked it :)