Previously: and then after that, once Laxus had calmed down a bit, the odd feeling of knowing a scent dawned on him. END... smelt like someone else he knew, namely someone who not only used a similar magic, but also happened to be a freaking member of fairy tail. But.... if Freed trusted the demon, then if it was who Laxus thought it was, then that was ok.

      Like it was okay for Freed not to be entirely human, okay for Laxus to be (unwillingly) enhanced by dragon slaying lacrima implants, okay for Juvia and Gajeel to be in Fairy tail despite being former enemies, it was okay if Natsu was a demon from the book of Zeref. Though that did raise the question of zeref's death, because weren't the demons from the books of Zeref supposed to die when Zeref did? Although... this was Natsu. Defying logic was kinda his thing, along with accidental destruction of property that is...

     The whole of Fairy Tail was in a bit of a panic. Lucy had been in Master Makarov's office yesterday for over an hour. Happy had followed her like a lost puppy, but he'd waited outside in the main guildhall for the celestial mage whilst she spoke to Master. The Exceed was adamant that Natsu was still missing, despite the rumours floating around. Yet Happy seemed worried. Something wasn't right. Nobody was really sure if Happy was telling the truth or not. The rumours said Natsu had been found.

     Found severely wounded and weak enough that Lucy had sent Happy to get Porlyusica urgently. However, as the rumour was several days old by this point, and Master hadn't said anything, chances are it wasn't true. Lucy and Happy were still searching for the Fire Dragon Slayer too. So either they were trying to cover for Salamander Natsu to protect his pride, or he was actually still missing.

     Something had to be very wrong. Lucy very rarely stormed about, and it was even rarer for her to storm out of the guild, unless Loke, Gray and/or Natsu were involved. But yesterday none of the usual factors were present, yet she was seen storming from the guildhall.

     Master had just returned from some meeting or other when she'd asked to speak to him in his office, then she'd stormed out after an hour or so in a foul mood. The very air around her was radiating a black aura that had everyone save Erza backing away as she went past. A worried blue Exceed had flown past after her, a scared look on his face.

     Mira had then set people speculating as she thought out loud. It really was odd that Gray hadn't been around for the past week or so. Even odder that he wasn't on a job request. And he'd been behaving oddly prior to vanishing. Though everybody save Wendy and Cana were clueless as to what the Devil Incarnate was actually alluding to.

     Wendy and Gajeel had exchanged knowing looks upon catching Lucy's scent as she had stormed past. Neither Dragon Slayer felt too concerned; all the scents about Lucy's person were healthy ones; but Gajeel did feel slightly confused. His senses had detected a strange scent on the irate celestial mage, and he couldn't quite place it.

     It was almost like e scent of that hellfire dragon back in the whole Eclipse malarkey, but not exactly. The Iron Dragon Slayer would almost say it was a mix of Salamander and Hellfire Dragon, But he knew Salamader didn't smell anything like that.

     Master had come hurrying after Lucy with a pale face, but he was just too short to keep up with the much younger, faster, taller, fitter Wizard. Lucy had stopped just outside the guild's main entrance to wait for him, picked him up like so many bags of shopping and continued to storm of at a rapid pace. Master and Lucy had been seen since, though as only 24hours had passed, it wasn't too much of a concern yet.

     Porlyusica had popped by that morning to glare at Cana over a mug of something-or-Other for half an hour. The elderly healer hadn't said a word. She'd just glared. For half an hour. What was worse was how Cana completely ignored the healer until the older woman had given up and left. It was less than ten minutes after this that a loud commotion outside the guildhall caused everyone, even the despondent Cana, to look up at the person responsible.

"Yo! I *hic* heard ya didn't wanna de *hic* me. Been on a *hic* wild long job. Did I upset my little *hic*... hah?!" The intruder greeted. Nobody save for the one he was addressing knew who he was talking to, though several of the Fairy Tail Wizards could make an educated guess. The surprised hah at the end was because of the distant but nearing screams of tourists down the road as they ran from something.

Probably something monstrous like Elfman in beast soul or Evergreen on a bad day.

It took a moment to see what all the fuss was about.

Scampering towards the Guild was a scaly red beast. It was... not unlike a dragon, but most certainly too small to be one. It did seem overly wary of the panicking tourist, but then again, it was either bold or stupid enough to approach a Wizards guild. Maybe the wariness was an act?

     Blatantly ignoring Bacchus gaping at it from the front entrance, it ambled up the front steps, the paused at the top, where the stairs started to descend again into the main hall. It huffed out a small puff of greyish white smoke, which curled into wispy patterns as it climbed into the air. It was too big to be a normal lizard, now they saw it up close; it was the size of a large dog; yet it was clearly too small to be a dragon, despite how it looked uncannily like one.

     It's scales were a glossy red colour, with paler splotches that could almost be described as pink in the soft Guildhall lighting. The eyes of the dragon-like beast were a deep, familiar crimson, lit with the curiosity of a child rather than the malevolent gleam the Wizards had expected. The ears were pretty much smaller versions of Igneel's ears, or they were to those who remembered seeing the Big red Fire Dragon King. The other wizards could only compare them to the drawing and carvings of dragons that they had seen.

     It's muzzle looked much, much softer up close; less mature and more rounded and stubby. Could it be that this beast was actually a juvenile Dragon? And the paws...! The paws of the thing. They were grossly out of proportion to the rest of it, being about ten times too big for it. This suggested to Freed (And the others who knew about various young beasts and growth rates) that it still had a terrible amount of growing to do.

     Most of the wizards (save for Cana, who was moving into a teacup, and Bacchus, who wasn't exactly the most educated of mages) came to the conclusion that the beast was very young, and probably the runt. Even those who didn't know much about young animals could see that the creature would get much bigger, if the paw size was to go by.

     A red wiry tail lashed out behind it's slim frame, in a sort of nervous-puppy wag, the scales shimmering in a fiery display of ruby-Amber-gold-Pearl light. Nobody could see the wings clearly as they were tightly curled against it's body, and yet.... and yet, despite the blatant nervousness, the beast seemed infinitely curious of them. It showed not a shred of true fear, though the still-screaming tourists outside seemed to set it on edge.

     A faint spark of blue-fire hit the wooden floor of the Guildhall as the seemingly young creature sneezed violently enough that it head-butted the floor. The fire was swiftly extinguished by a well crafted, perfectly aimed water-shuriken. (Thrown by none other than Juvia of course.)

     "Ah! So that's the cause of that strange scent I caught a whiff of on the wind yesterday." Gajeel commented off handedely, earning a sharp, red eyed glare from the strange creature and a firm book-whack to the back of the head.

     The beast sat on it's haunches, suddenly becoming much taller somehow, and tilted it's head to one side curiously. The others wondered if it realised Gajeel's eyes were identical to it's own. The expression it was wearing seemed to shift, somehow displaying worry as it began to scan the room, as if searching for someone.

     Several of the wizards shifted uncomfortably under the sharp gaze, the piercing red seeming to reach deep into their souls, before flitting to the next person. The gaze lingered more on those male wizards with dark hair, and even longer on those with navy blue-black hair. Eventually the cat-like gaze broke, seemingly into a blink of recognition, as it spotted whoever it was looking for. A happy little rumble, much like a deeper version of Happy's purr, escaped it's throat.

A blur of movement, too fast for all but the Dragon Slayers to track, and it seemed to teleport across the hall. Several mages paled. It hadn't teleported, hadn't used any magic they could sense, but it had moved so fast. It just wasn't possible to be naturally that fast. Was it?

Warren froze, a combination of fear and shock holding him in place as what appeared to be a small S-Class monster appeared practically at his side. Just so it could nuzzle up against his hand. It was... somehow reminding him of a younger Natsu for some bizarre reason, especially when it opened it's little mouth and displayed an impressive set of pearly-whites, complete with little fangs.

The telepathy mage then yelled out in sudden, wordless surprise as a foreign magic creeped into his own. One instant, he was in control, the next, his magic was entirely not his to command. A kind but firm twist of will had it handed over to the little creature's control. It was... more than a little freaky, and such an odd sensation to boot.

The mind talking to him wasn't quite human, but nor was it anything like anything else Warren had encountered before. The only thing that came anywhere near close was that one time he'd tried to read Gray's surface thoughts when he'd gone full Demon Slayer Mode back in the whole Alvarez malarkey. But that was a rather loose comparison, especially as this beast's accent and way of talking were... rather childish.

/sewiouswy? You fink me monsta? Neffa see babby dwagom demum afore?\ everyone gawked at the little (for despite it's size, it was clearly only a baby.) Dragon-beast as it spoke to them using Warren's Telepathy magic. It's speech was limited and soft, like little Asuka's had been when she'd been much younger. Back when the little sharpshooter was just learning to talk as a toddler.

Asuka was now seven though. And probably the second most devious of the terrible terrors. (Natsu, Romeo, Erza, Mira, Gray, Asuka.) (she might have been able to claim to be the terror of the entirety of magnolia, had Natsu not earned a reputation not quite as bad as Gildarts.)

A sound very much like soft wingbeats could be heard momentarily, though nobody really paid it much mind. At least not until someone answered the little dragon-hybrid.

"That's because they haven't, sweetheart." Every Fairy Tail Wizard In The main Hall and Bacchus turned to stare at the speaker, after starting at the voice in the first place. You could have heard a pin drop, such was the silence in the usually rowdy hall. This was because the usually boisterous wizards had registered just who was talking to the beast in such a familiar way.

The little dragon-hybrid made a very cat like little chirrup as it recognised the wizard in the doorway, a deep rumbling purr emanating from it as it launched itself across the guildhall in a blur of blood-red towards the famous Wizard.

A seemingly well practiced flick of the wizard's wrist had a wall of icy blue fire spring up around him in a protective wall for just long enough to block the young hybrid's headlong rush at him. It's tail began to lash from side to side frantically, like an angry cat or an excited dog. Nobody knew which.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Natsu observed his friends faces as he deflected his daughter's (And wasn't that both an elating and terrifying thought?) fierce tackle-hug with ease, noting the shock, relief and outright confusion on everyone's faces.

The short burst of cold fire was enough to slow little Nashi down; the temperature drop drastic enough to remind the younger hybrid that glomming her daddy was a Bad Idea right now. She knew he was injured still, still easily knocked over, and the etherious Wizard knew, without doubt, that his healing was accelerating now, but not enough to call him fit and healthy yet.

A glomp or tackle could easily undo what healing had already occurred and put him back in a wheelchair, possibly even permanently. Natsu felt lucky, being able to walk again. He didn't want to lose that if he could help it. Being trapped in what was essentially a vehicle again was.... not what he wanted.

Most of the wizards stared blankly at Natsu, not really believing the man in the doorway was actually their crippled Salamander, probably. Those that did know it was really him were probably more curious than disbelieving. Did they think the baby S-Class hybrid was Lucy or something? (Stranger things had happened, and he had called Lucy sweetheart a few times in public.)

His hybrid daughter nuzzled at the Dragon Slayer's hand affectionately, earning her his winning, disarming, charming smile, even as he shifted uncomfortably as his shoulders ached slightly. How many times had that same smile saved his hide anyway? Probably more than just a few times. Nashi gazed up at him, or seemed to at any rate.

(Natsu knew Nashi was scarily smart, when you thought about it in human terms. Normal eight day olds did not act anywhere near as animated as she did. Nor did they think on any level close to what Nashi did. But that might have been because she wasn't human, not really. She had demon blood, courtesy of her 'mother', dragon and Etherious blood thanks to him, and some human blood too, thanks to both his parents having it as a base.

Igneel's had once said to him about how various rare and powerful beasts matured, so it hadn't surprised him at all that Nashi was as grown-up as she was. A mixture of human, domon and dragon in her blood had caused her to grow very differently to a human. She'd had her first growth spurt. She wouldn't have another for probably another decade now.)

(Dragons and Demons aged so differently to humans. They'd be born or hatched, maybe spend a few days as a tiny newborn/hatchling, have a growth spurt and look about six in human terms for a decade or two, depending on what subspecies it was, then another growth spurt into teenager, spend another decade or two like that, then again into full adulthood, possibly remaining that way for several decades, even centuries. Then they'd age once more, in a way much closer to humans, until they were too old and passed on.

He didn't know about natural born Slayers or Etherious though. Often the Slayers' children had to be taught the magic their parents used; it wasn't really the sort you could inherit; and he knew Etherious like him weren't supposed to be able to breed. So who knew about little Nashi? She could like out a normal, human length life, like Lucy and Erza probably would, or she could live as long as a real demon/dragon could, like Natsu and Gray probably would.)

     Natsu wondered briefly what it'd be like having a normal life, then dismissed it. It sounded so... boring. Maybe he'd have ended up like one of the regular townsfolk? ....not the nicest thought, not that they were boring or anything.

     The infamous Salamander was almost embarrassed at how long it was taking for most of his guildmates to properly recognise him. Sure, he looked a little bit different to usual, but not by much. His hair was still salmon coloured, and his face was only touched by faint flesh coloured scales, with little 'sideburn' scales in red that made it look like he was wearing a dragon scale helmet.

     The only really noticeable difference were his impressive red and tan wings (like Igneel!), red and tan tail (again. Like Igneel.) and red scaled 'gauntlets' on his wrists and hands. His half-dragon form. Not human, but not a dragon either. And it was how dragon slayers should have changed, before a magical mishap had changed the slayer's magic so they'd turn into a real dragon after achieving full power.

     The final difference wasn't so blatant, being hidden by his lips right now. His fangs. Ok, sure, they were usually partially retracted when he was human, but now? When he wasn't quite human in appearance? Well, he didn't see the point in keeping them short, so they were mostly showing, but not quite long enough to show even between closed lips.

     "Hey Salamander! Where've ya been? Bunny Girl and your Cat have been fretting like babies!" Natsu turned his head slightly to send Gajeel a piercing glare. The Iron Dragon Slayer shifted uncomfortably in his seat, much to the Etherious' amusement. Should he answer truthfully?

     "I was helping a friend, metal headed moron. What's it to you?"

     Gajeel bristled angrily, but before he could come up with a suitable retort, Lisanna cut in, preventing a brawl before they could even consider it. "There were rumours that a demon carried you off and that you turned up half dead and insane."

     Lisanna wasn't stupid, Natsu knew. She had seen through his tough guy façade easily. He was still rather weak, and still healing, and she knew it, even if he was hiding it so well the others didn't notice.

     (Lisanna would admit to being... attracted to the draconic mage, with his currently ruggedly handsome appearance, and usually chaotic personality. But never to his face. It wouldn't do to to even think of stealing him from his 'mate', if that was the correct term for a dragon slayer's girlfriend.)

     "Who is your friend Natsu?" Both Etherious shuddered at the sweet, innocent voice. Ugh. Mirajane the demon shipper.

    Nashi made a cat-chirrup sound, bumping her head against Natsu's elbow affectionately. She was so much more like a dragon kit than a demon kit, even if genetically she was mostly demon. It didn't help that she was a quadruped still, and not bipedal like her parents. Yet.

     "Hey Mira." His voice was exactly the same as normal, if a tad thicker because his fangs were now at just over half extension and too long to keep in his mouth properly. The demon shipper was stood in the guild entrance, just behind him, having probably gone out to get more supplies for the kitchen. She walked smoothly past him, not batting an eyelid at the two dragon-beasts.

    A voice answered before Natsu could. "His daughter. She's frighteningly cute, isn't she?" Everyone, except Bacchus, who was trying to cheer 'his girl' up, and Cana, who was ignoring 'her man' and moping into a teacup again, turned to stare at Natsu, who nodded, then at the little dragon, then at the speaker, whose blonde hair was currently waving silkily around her neck, not tied up.

     "WHAT!?!?" Nashi cringed and yelped at the insanely loud collective yell of surprise. He crouched over her protectively, wings used as both a shield and a crutch for him to lean on. Natsu saw Lucy scowl, a blur of blue telling him Happy was out by the door.

     "That little dragon-like girl? She's called Nashi. Her Mother is at home, resting. Raising a Dragneel is apparently exhausting." There was amusement in the last sentence, and also a hint of concern. "Also, no. You aren't allowed to know who her mother is, but I promise you, it's not me."

     "...." Silence. Natsu almost laughed. Let them come up with some crazy theories. Who knew, maybe they'd even come up with the truth?

.........................................................................................................................

Leaf green scales blended perfectly with the thick foliage as Azalea crouched low, well aware that she was probably what those Wizards she'd just spotted were after. Or at least, the sort of rare beast they'd be happy to capture, them clearly being part of a guild who trapped and probably exploited beasts for a living. (The big metal cages and the net-shooting-guns were sort of a giveaway.)

She had to get back to Mistral. She'd promised her. When Azalea had first decided to go searching for the Dragon's Heart, she'd promised 15 year old Mistral that she'd return only when she'd solved the mystery of the Dragon's Heart, whether that be finding it or proving it had never existed. Now, so many long years later, she had found it; the Legendary place she'd heard about when she'd been just a hatchling, listening to her Kings fanciful nest-time stories. She just hoped Mistral was still around -humans had much shorter lifespans than Dragons, and even the extended life of a Dragon Slayer was nothing compared to how long some species of dragon could live.

One of the wizards she could see cried out suddenly, pointing almost directly at where the Forest Dragon was currently hiding, but she did not move. Instead, she relied on staying as still as stone, knowing that her shape would blend almost seamlessly into the surrounding plants, hiding her almost perfectly from human sight. However, she also made shire she was ready to flee at a moments notice, a Forest Dragon's Healing Roar already brewing in her belly in case she needed it.

     The wizards came closer, too close for her liking, before something interposed between her and them. The Forest Dragon has never seen such a creature before; it certainly wasn't a forest animal; and was almost afraid for it as the strange wizards began shooting their nets at it. The creature's black eyes seemed to sparkle as it allowed a net to capture it, a cry of triumph going up as it was caught.

     Or not.

     Azalea couldn't help but stare as the net just.... exploded. Into hundreds of tiny little rope cubes. The little beast made an odd sort of Big Cat chuff that seemed almost like laughter. Though what was so funny about an exploding net was beyond her. Maybe the little beast had done it?

....scratch that. Of course the little beast had done it. She could feel the waves of terrifying magic rolling off it from here; this beast had the equivalent strength of a dragon, and could possibly give her King a run for his money. Power that the Wizards could clearly sense, considering the fear on most of their faces. She wondered if they'd scream if she burst from her hiding place. Probably not. It would be fun to do that though.

     "Rrrrriii." The creature rumbled softly, it's beak clacking slightly at the end. It seemed just a little surprised to Azalea; the look on it's face was more of a 'I didn't know I could do that' look, rather than the one of 'caught you by surprise didn't I?' That she'd been expecting to see.

She really couldn't help it. She had to. She just had to.

A single powerful bound had her lithe body exploding for her hiding place, a twitch of her wings ensuring she landed with precision and grace next to the smaller rare beast. She joined in with the smaller creatures laughter as every Wizard in sight screamed and fled. A terribly strong scent hit Azalea's nose as she tested the air; it seemed a couple of the mages had lost control in their fright. Urgh.

..........................................

     Pale light filtered through the curtains, casting soft shadows around the darkened room. The walls had been painted blue and white, like a cartoon blizzard scene. along one wall was a stand-alone oak wardrobe and a chest of drawers. In the centre of the far wall stood a soft, downy double bed, a bedside table nestled one side where it was closer to the window, and a study desk the other, where it was closer to the bathroom. A chair lay on the floor in a haphazard way, as if it had been pushed over recently.

     The carpet was a dull white, webbed with glistening frost and littered with flakes of real snow, where the occupant of the room had loosed an attack in their troubled sleep. The curtains themselves were a thick velvet of navy blue, and blocked out most of the daylight. These too, had webbings of glistening frost on them.

     In the soft bed lay a muscular young man, whose tousled blackish blue hair, half crowned by a thick, downy pillow, was the only visible sign the bedroom was occupied. The rest of his shivering, strong-yet-frail form was cocooned in a thick down quilt cover, though it probably wasn't helping him all that much, all things considered.

     The young man was clearly locked in some kind of nightmare that involved him using his magic; frost had already crept across the carpet in a fine film of ice crystals, and the very temperature of the room had dropped significantly since the day before. His skin was a ghostly pale too.

     (Though admittedly that was probably normal for an ice Make Wizard like him. Except... he was usually a little healthier looking, with more colour to his cold, pale complexion.)

     Gray was not aware of any of this, locked away in nightmarish sleep as he was. He was aware of the very real pain that raced through his body sporadically though. It was seeping through his mind and invading his dreams, so that he could not escape it even in slumber.

It seemed like the transformation back to male after such a prolonged and abnormal reaction to that temporary potion wasn't going down very well with his internal system. It was causing him to feel very sick indeed.

     A bolt of sharp, terrible pain shot through him. A pain so severe he jolted awake with a silent scream, only to realise that he was still at home. He had to hide this torturous pain from his mates. He had no choice. He couldn't worry them like that. Not with Natsu still unable to really walk normally and Lucy responsible for both of them and Nashi. He just had to tough it out for a few more days. He'd go see Porlyusica if the pain remained after his Mates had returned. What had the Guild thought of Nashi?

     A few hours passed with Gray silently suffering, his body trying to adjust back to what it had been, but not quite getting there and shifting back again with a terrible twist of magic.

Then the Ice Make Wizard felt a pain that made his very blood boil, his vision blacken and his ears ring. Confusion and nausea hit him like a punch to the gut, and he felt himself stumble (when had he gotten out of bed?), falling into a dark abyss of nothing.

     He did not feel himself hit the floor.