The idea of Natsu belonging to the Vermillion Familia was inspired by Maximillian Havisham's story "Dungeons & Dragons" which is another Fairy Tail x DanMachi Xover, so make sure to check that one out!

Chapter 1: Adventurer

"So THIS is the place that Goddess Vermillion was talking about?" someone voiced out his thoughts to himself as he stared at the massive gates in front of him in awe.

The man was around the age of seventeen years old, and had spiky pink hair and black onyx eyes. The clothes he was wearing consisted of an open-collared, one-sleeved coat that covers his entire left arm black trimmings around the edges of his coat, white knee-length trousers and sandals. He also had a white scaly scarf wrapped securely around his neck securely.

The man was none other than Natsu Dragneel, a member of the Vermillion Familia.

'Damn, it took me a while to get here, but I'm glad it didn't take the entire week.' The pinkette thought to himself as he walked up towards the gate, unconsciously thinking to the events which took place at the Vermillion base which brought him here in the first place.

Flashback

Location: Eastern Forest

"Come on! You have to try better than that!"

A Forest Kobold growled in annoyance after failing to strike down its opponent for the umpteenth time while Natsu merely flashed it a confident smirk and carried on taunting the beast.

"I'm right here! All you have to do is just hit me!" He extended his arm, making a "come at me" motion which caused it to growl at him before the dog-like beast lunged at him, slashing its claws at him, something the male was able to avoid without any problems. The monster kept at its assault but was simply too slow to land any substantial blows on its tormentor.

The pinkette dodged one more slash from the monster before retaliating with a normal punch which managed to push it back. The Kobold suddenly howled loudly and not even a few seconds later, a pack of dog-like monsters emerged from the woods, and rather than feeling perturbed, the pinkette grinned excitedly.

"Oh? Calling some back-up now? Now we're talking!"

Without any hesitation, the Kobolds charged at Natsu, one lunged at the pinkette who ducked under but not before sending an upward kick at the monster which knocked it back as he jumped backwards in order to avoid a vicious swing from another one of them.

The rosette immediately jumped on one of the Kobold's shoulder in order to give him a boost up into the air, "Time to end this!" Natsu then inhaled some air as he puffed out his cheeks, "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

The pinkette immediately fired out a torrent of flames from his mouth at the monsters, the waves of flames engulfing them as they roared out in pain before disappearing into nothing but ashes, leaving nothing behind but some magic stones in their places.

Natsu smiled when he saw the average sized magic stones littered all across the ground, unfortunately, none of them had left any drop items for him, not that they would have costed any more. The pinkette then proceeded to pick up the magic stones before dropping them in his pouch, but as he was doing so, he could detect the scent of a few people from his Familia nearby.

"Heh, look at him picking up the magic stones by himself. Wouldn't it be easier to have a supporter to help him do that? Oh wait a minute…"

"Hey, leave him alone. It's not his fault he was too weak to save him."

The two shared a laugh before walking off, most likely towards the Vermillion base while the pinkette clenched his fists tightly and bit his lips to prevent himself from retaliating at them.

After all, it wasn't the first time that someone had "accidentally" said something along those lines whenever he was around the vicinity to hear. Usually, it had merely been looks of disdain wherever he goes, but it got worse as time passed on.

Natsu shook his head, deciding that it was best to forget about it all before resuming in collecting the magic stones all on the ground, the cheerful mood he was in, now dampened as he decided to venture deeper into the forest in order to fight more monsters.

Location: Vermillion Familia Base

"Damn, I didn't expect it to be THIS late when I got back…" Natsu cursed slightly, looking upwards at the sky that was painted with a dark blue hue, while the building in front of him was illuminated by the moonlight. The building itself looked to be two stories tall that was completely grey in colour.

The pinkette was about to push open the door, had it not been for the fact he heard some loud guffawing coming from inside, which was something normal considering that most of the elder members spend their days drinking, but his instincts was telling him that it was a…different sort of laugh and that he should listen rather than walk in.

"Today I saw Natsu fighting against a pack of Kobolds by himself, when is he going to learn that his actions has consequences?"

"Yeah, I'm worried he might burn down the entire forest with the way he fights. It's a miracle he didn't lose his own life that day."

"Hah! I'd rather Happy be here rather than Natsu. At least with Happy here, he'd be able to lighten the mood while all Natsu does is put us in a bigger debt with Magnolia Town." A deep male voice laughed out.

"Our extermination quests would probably go a lot smoother too and we'd be doing more good for the people rather than cause trouble for them." A cheery female voice added.

"That would mean I'd be able to get more money from those quests as well! Then I would be able to save up more money on food and clothes as well!" Another female tone laughed before he could hear everyone follow in suit,

More and more comments began coming from the members of the Familia as Natsu lowered his head as he clenched his fists tightly, everyone's words playing back in his head as if it was run by a gramophone.

Though the words from three particular individuals had hurt him the most. Three individual whose names he remembered as Gray, Erza and Lucy. Out of everyone in the Familia, he had believed the three to be his best friends, the ones who would stick by him thick or thin. Yet there they were, talking behind his back as if he didn't matter to any of them.

And based on how they joined in with the others' laughter, he definitely didn't.

A stray tear fell from his eye as he turned back from the building and began walking away. However, before he could go far,

"Natsu? What are you doing?" The pinkette immediately turned back to see a young looking girl, with a body resembling that of a fourteen year old, walking up towards him. Her wavy-golden was almost long enough for her to step on it and trip over if not careful and sticking out from behind her ears were what seemed to be like small wings. She sported a long pink and white dress that reached to her knees. The most distinguishing thing to Natsu, however, were her emerald green orbs staring into his black ones, concern in them.

This was the Goddess known as Vermillion.

"Nothing Goddess Vermillion, I was just thinking of taking a walk before heading back to the base." Natsu said, giving a fake smile to his goddess who immediately frowned, knowing for a fact that he was hiding something.

It wasn't difficult if you had known the boy for more than a decade. After all, there had only been a few times when he called her that, rather than "Mavis".

"Natsu, you know that lying to a Goddess is impossible. So please…what's bothering you?" The boy in question tried averting his gaze elsewhere, knowing that if he stared back, he would eventually confess everything to her. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he eventually turned back at those green orbs, tears beginning to form at the end of them.

With a sigh, Natsu gestured his goddess to talk somewhere else and the only place the pinkette knew was a safe place to talk was his home.

"Wow, I haven't been here in a long while." She commented with a smile as Natsu turned the lights on before proceeding to dropping onto his worn out couch.

"Sorry about the place, if I knew anyone would be coming I'd make it more presentable." He said as ever since the incident, he hadn't been staying at home much, which meant all the valis he earned would only be used for food and equipment.

"It's fine, though I will admit it's a tad bit cleaner than I expected it to be." Vermillion waved, not minding it at all before joining Natsu on the couch as she stared at him.

Natsu sighed before proceeding to tell the Goddess of all the events that has been bothering him, including the two most recent events, and it was safe to say that she was disappointed in every one of them.

She had always wanted her Familia to be one where they would all support one another and care for each other, no matter the race or background each member had, as if they were actually one big family.

To hear that everyone was not only openly mocking, but also talking behind the backs of one of the members when he was down, was completely unacceptable. And the petite Goddess was about to give the members of her Familia a piece of her mind, had it not been for Natsu who stopped her before she could do so.

"It's okay, if that's how they really feel about me, then I'll just have to deal with it. After all, it was my fault that Happy died." The blonde didn't know which had almost brought her to tears, the memories which surfaced from his words or the look of depression and self-loathing crossing his face.

How had she been so oblivious to the boy's pain when he was always the most cheerful out of all the children she had? It made her feel like a failure if she hadn't been able to detect it.

While she wanted to reprimand the people in her Familia, she'd knew that it would only make the boy's treatment worse off than it already is. But, she also knew that the longer he stayed in the base, the more pain he would feel.

She wanted to provide some form of help to the boy, but the question was, how could she help him?

'I wish Miach and Take were here to help me, they'd be willing to give some advice…' She pouted before realisation dawned upon her as she snapped her fingers, before flashing a smile at the pinkette.

"How about going to Orario?"

"Orario? What's that?" Natsu tilted his head in confusion, the foreign word rolling off his tongue and Vermillion nodded her head and began explaining everything she knew about Orario from the letters she had been exchanging with her friends who had all made familias in the city and it was safe to say that Natsu was excited after each word that escaped her mouth.

"So, what do you think? Interested in going there?" She asked getting an ecstatic nod from the pinkette who smiled brightly, similar to that of a kid who received news that Christmas was coming early.

"Definitely! I didn't even know there was such a place! I can already imagine fighting all sorts of monsters IN there!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly standing on his couch as Mavis giggled at the childishness he had.

"So when do you plan on leaving?" The excitement Natsu had immediately died down as he looked away, unable to look at his goddess as a deafening silence filled the room.

It felt like years had passed before Natsu answered, "Probably tonight…I want to leave as soon as I can." Natsu turned back, predicting that he'd get a look of disappointment on his Goddess's face. However, instead of the disappointed look he expected, all he got from her was a warm smile and a nod.

"Alright then, but why don't we check your status one last time before you leave?" the blonde Goddess suggested, getting a nod from the pinkette who immediately took off his vest and laid down on the couch. On his back was the Falna which Vermillion had placed on him the moment he joined her familia.

"To think it's been over a decade since you first joined, huh Natsu?" she said her voice filled with nostalgia, as she straddled his back, placing her hands on it with a smile plastered on her face, enjoying the heat which was emitted from it.

She could still remember the little toddler who walked into their base, demanding to join their familia only for him to be begging to join after their initial refusal.

"Yeah, time really passes by real fast." He responded as he looked up at the ceiling of his roof. So much things had happened in the past years that he hadn't even realised it till now.

"It feels like so much had changed since then."

"Nah, you haven't changed at all, you're still as devious as you are cruel." Natsu said jokingly which caused Vermillion to slap the boy on his back with an audible smack, but it wasn't enough to hurt him.

"That's like the pot calling the kettle black, you know?"

"What?"

"Never mind, just sit still while I update your status." Vermillion then held out her hands to his back as a bright light emerged from the palm of her hands as hieroglyphs and numbers began appearing on the pinkette's back.

Natsu Dragneel

Level 3

Strength: B794 – A801

Endurance: B703 – B721

Dexterity: D591 – C609

Agility: C605 – C634

Magic: B712 – B738

Magic

(Flames of the Fire Dragon)

"Looks like you did quite a lot of work these past few days when you didn't have your status checked." Vermillion commented with a smile.

"Really?"

"Yeah, let me get a pen and paper first and I'll show you." After getting both of those, Vermillion began writing the boy's status in a language he'd be able to understand and once she was done, she handed it over to him. Though it was safe to say the boy had mixed feelings after seeing it, something the Goddess noticed.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing…it's just that in comparison to Erza and the others, these stats aren't as…great at all." The Goddess immediately placed her head on his back as she closed her eyes with a small smile on her face.

"This is why I'm telling you to go to Orario, Natsu. While I want you to be always be here in the base, but I have a feeling you'd be much happier if you leave."

"Goddess…"

"So go and pack your stuff, you need to leave immediately right?" Natsu smiled as he nodded before getting up to gather all the necessary equipment he needed to stay outdoors for a long period of time, with the help of his Goddess of course, before placing them all in a large duffel bag.

Currently he and Vermillion were out at the exit of the Eastern Forest, where he was petting his goddess's head gently as she clung onto him tightly with no intention of letting go as well.

"I really need to go before the others catches on to this, Goddess Vermillion…" Natsu said uncomfortably, trying to break free from her grip, but to no avail. Who knew that she could muster this much strength in the first place?

"Just a little bit longer…" he heard her mumble softly under her breath and while he wanted to leave as soon as he can, he decided to let her hold on for a while longer. After all, it would be a very long time when they would meet each other again.

It lasted for a few more minutes before the Goddess eventually released him, albeit reluctantly, as she sniffed back the tears she was holding back and Natsu frowned when he saw this. He never liked to see tears on anyone, especially if he was the cause of it, "Goddess Vermillion, I promise you that we'll meet again. This isn't the last time we see each other." He said, placing a comforting hand on her head.

"That better be the case mister, otherwise I'll find you at Orario and drag you back to the base myself." She said with a giggle and the pinkette smiled, patting himself on the back knowing he had successfully cheered up his Goddess.

"Goodbye Goddess Vermillion, and I thank you for everything you've done for me." Natsu said with a slight bow as he took one last look at the place he called home for most his life, before turning back and walking off, never turning back once as a warm smile appeared on Vermillion's face as she watched the retreating figure of the pinkette get smaller and smaller.

"I wish you luck on your journey, Natsu. And I truly hope to see you again soon."

Flashback End

While he was extremely angry and upset with the people whom he had considered as his own family, he couldn't falsify their words. If he hadn't been reckless and weak, he would have been able to save Happy and perhaps the two of them could be relating at their makeshift home, eating some fresh fish they managed to fish out of the river.

One might say that he was a coward for running away from his problems rather than dealing with it, but the pinkette would say that he was taking some time off for himself, in order to become a better person.

Natsu immediately shook his head, he should be grateful to his Goddess for granting him this opportunity to start a new life here in Orario. Though there was one problem with this, and it was that he wouldn't be able to update his status anytime soon since Vermillion had refused to remove her Falna on him no matter what and he wasn't sure if there would be a way to convince her at all.

Though he didn't mind it as much since he would only update his status occasionally anyways.

Thus, without any more hesitation, the pinkette walked up towards the giant gates in front of him with a smirk on his face.

Everyone better watch out because Natsu Dragneel is coming!

(Line Break)

The Labyrinth City of Orario,

The town of adventurers and gods with a tall white tower that stretched to the sky. It was known as the centre of the world, a place where people of all nations, all races and backgrounds, came to make a name for themselves.

Standing at the entrance of the city, was a lone pinkette staring at the massive tower in awe, and considering he's only been to a few towns, his mind was definitely blown. Deciding that it was best to move from his current position, Natsu walked along the paths as he scanned the area.

Despite the orange hue which painted across the wide skies, there were a large number of people walking around the streets and Natsu deduced some of them to be Adventurers since they were all equipped with armours and weapons of all colours and variety. There were also plenty of stalls were lined along, the merchants yelling at passer-by's to try out and buy their various wares.

Natsu ignored the hustle and bustle that was happening and carried on walking, the first and most important thing Goddess Vermillion had told him when he arrived at Orario was to head to the guild and register to become an Adventurer.

Though the pinkette was slightly worried that the moment he reached the guild it would be closed, especially when the chances of him getting lost in the city was ridiculously high.

"Hey there kiddo!" one the merchants yelled out to Natsu, who looked around him and upon seeing there was nobody else who reacted to the man's call, turned back to him and pointed at himself in confusion to which the merchant laughed and nodded his head. The pinkette immediately rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before walking up to the stall which was filled with all sorts of goods, ranging from

"You must be brand new around here because I've never seen a man with pink hair here before." Natsu's eyebrows immediately twitched when he heard that but he decided to let the comment slide as he stared at the old man, "So, what is it?"

The old man then took out a roll of paper from a box on the ground under his stall before handing it over to a confused Natsu, "What is this?" the pinkette asked, getting a smile from the man.

"That's the most updated map here in Orario. Seeing as you're new around here, I figured that it'd be best to provide you with this so that you won't get lost around here and believe me when I say that it's a very common thing, especially in Daedalus Street."

Natsu smiled and was about to thank the merchant had he not remembered one major thing, "Sorry to say old man, but I don't have much money on me right now."

Correction, he only had enough money to buy food for the day considering he had left majority of them back at home under Goddess Vermillion's surveillance. After all, he didn't want to put a target on back for the thieves roaming around the city by bringing in a large sum of money. He was confident in his strength to face them, but he didn't want to take any chances seeing that he was new.

Though the old man laughed and waved it off, "Don't worry about it, with your figure alone I can already assume that you're aspiring to be an Adventurer. Just make sure to come back in the future and purchase some stuff then I consider your debt to be paid."

Natsu nodded his head and with the help of the map along with some pointers from the merchant, he was able to find the guild and the pinkette was relieved when he saw the lights still on, which meant that it was still open. Walking through the oak-wood doors, Natsu could see several adventurers handing over pouches of magic stones to the people behind the counter, who he assumed were the staff of the guild as they were dressed in uniforms, in order to exchange them for valis.

It was, after all, the most practical way for most, who were a part of a Familia, to earn money and the same could be said for the Vermillion Familia as well since they perform extermination quests and exchange the magic stones from those quests for more valis.

It was a sure-fire way to wealth!

He then walked up towards the counter where he saw a woman who, like the others, was dressed in a uniform and Natsu could tell that she was a half-elf due to her pointed ears. She had shoulder length brown hair and emerald-coloured eyes. A pair of glasses is seen in her eyes which added a bit of a charm on her part. Though now wasn't the time for him to appreciate her beauty.

"Excuse me, could you help me out?"

"Oh of course, how may I help you?" the brunette asked with a gentle grin on her face as Natsu then rubbed the back of his head as he gave the girl a sheepish grin, "Well I just got here to Orario and I was hoping to register as an adventurer."

The pinkette could only hope that they wouldn't ask what Familia he belonged to since he didn't want to be recognised by anyone. While he may not know how well-known the Vermillion Familia, and their members, were in comparison to many other Familia's, but he wasn't about to take that risk, especially when word about him could spread easily like a wildfire.

After all, how common was it to see a pink haired man who could shoot out flames from his mouth anyways?

"Well what other reasons would you have to come to Orario anyways?" she joked as she grabbed papers from under her work space behind the counter before placing a couple of them before him.

"These are just legal papers that say you understand the risks of going to the Dungeon, and that the Guild is not responsible for your death. They also explain what the job of adventuring is, how you will protect the city from dangers that the Dungeon poses, what the Guild offers you as an adventurer, and why we need to go into the Dungeon. Sign at the bottom of each paper."

Natsu, completely lost in her words, could only nod his head as he signed at where she pointed at without any hesitation whatsoever.

"Hmm, is that it?" Natsu asked hopefully, clearly not enjoying all the paperwork he had to deal with.

Ever since leaving the Vermillion Familia base, he had been restless and it worsened the moment he arrived in Orario. He wanted to be an adventurer and fight those monsters in the Dungeon already!

The half-elf giggled as she gave the pinkette a warm smile, "Of course not, since you're new around here, there's still the lessons you need to attend right now if you were planning on heading to the dungeon tomorrow."

Natsu dreaded at the thought of having to go through lessons, especially if any of them were similar to how Erza's went in the past. The pinkette couldn't help but shudder at the thought.

All those sleepless nights…All those painful beatings…

But if he were to let this stop him now, how could he become an adventurer? He was already a step away from becoming one and there was no way he's going to let all his Goddess's work go to waste just like that.

"Sure, I can deal with it!" the half-elf was surprised by Natsu's sudden surge of enthusiasm but she couldn't stop the smile from forming on her face.

She had been the advisor for many greenhorn adventurers, and usually at every mention of a lesson they'd normally groan and complain, Natsu was probably the only one who showed the most amount of energy when she mentioned it. She wished that the other adventurers she was assigned to would be as enthusiastic at their lessons like the pinkette.

Though she was certain that it was impossible.

As she guided Natsu to an empty room for their lessons, she suddenly gasped and turned to face him, "Oh right, I forget to ask but what's your name?" Natsu realised the same thing and chuckled before pointing at himself, "My name's Natsu Dragneel, it's nice to meet you!" The pinkette greeted with a toothy grin as the girl returned with a smile of her own.

"Well my name is Eina Tulle and I'll be your Dungeon advisor from here on out, it'll be a pleasure to work with you, Natsu."

End Chapter

Natsu at Level 3 is as strong as the Anime Natsu at the end of the Edolas Arc, hope that clears it up.

Beta Read by: Natsu is Awesome and GUIDix