The strange man took Natsu far out into the desert just as the sun was going down. They walked for miles as the day slowly turned to night, stopping only when they came over a hill.

"What are we doing here?" Natsu asked the man. 

"Just watch." He said looking toward the sky and waited. Waited until the full moon had risen  high up and stood between the stars, shining down upon the sand. Suddenly the ground opened up to reveal a dark stairway leading into a cave.

"Now listen carefully to exactly what I say." The man told Natsu. "You are to go down those stairs until you reach a hall, while going through there don't touch the walls or you will die instantly. In the hall you will see a garden where a terrace stands and on that terrace is a lamp. You are to grab that lamp and bring it to me. Is that clear?"

"Yes." Natsu nodded. 

"And hurry! The entrance to this cave will stay open only as long as moonlight shines upon it. When the moon leaves this spot, the cave will close and never open again fpor another seven months, seven days, and seven moons."

Natsu nodded again and slowly approached the entrance of the cave. 

"It's not too late to back out you know." Happy told Natsu from within his satchel. 

"Yes it is Happy. Because if I don't do this, I may never see Lucy again."

"Is that really so terrible? She's only the first girl you've ever really met and maybe in the end she doesn't even feel the same way. What will you do then?"

"I'll give up. I can accept defeat. But only if I try and fail. If I fail just without trying then I'll be forever tormented by what might have been." Natsu explained. "But you don't have to do this with me Happy. You can wait up here until I come back. There's no reason why you should do something crazy."

"Yes there is. If you do something crazy then I'm obligated to do it with you. That's how friendship works and I chose you to be my best friend. Granted it may not have been the smartest choice, but it's still my choice and I wouldn't take it back for anything."

Natsu smiled, feeling braver.

"Thanks Happy." He took a deep breath and faced the dreaded cave. "Well, here we go."

Without any further hesitation, he slowly descended down the stairway into the dark cave below. When he reached the bottom of the stairway he found the hallway that the old man had mentioned and he cautiously walked through, taking care not to touch the walls. Then he reached the terrace and stopped in the garden to observe the trees which were loaded with extraordinary fruit. For the first time in days, Natsu wanted to appease his hunger.

"Stopping for a little snack won't hurt."

"Oh finally! I'm starved!" Happy said licking his chops.

He walked over to the first tree which was ripe with delicious pomegranates. But as soon as Natsu plucked the pomegranate from it's branch, the red fruit changed into the biggest ruby he had ever seen. He blinked and rubbed his eyes in disbelief. 

"Happy did you just see that?" 

"Yeah." The cat whined. "A tasty fruit was changed was into a worthless rock."

"It's not a rock! It's a ruby! A real live ruby! And it's almost the size of my hand!" He looked over at the other fruit trees. "I wonder."

He went to the second tree which bore figs and when he picked one of them, the fig changed into a diamond. The last tree had pears growing but when the pear was picked it became a topaz.

"Wow! This is incredible! Do you think Lucy would like these?" 

"Sure but she's a princess, doesn't she have like a million jewels already?" Happy asked.

"I'll give them to her later."  

He opened his satchel to put the three jewels inside and continued to go further through the garden. From the shadows, a pair of gold eyes watched the young man as a predator would watch prey. Carefully studying his movement and thinking on how it would catch and kill him. The being with golden eyes slowly crept through the shadows, taking care not to be seen or heard. Though no matter how quiet a creature is, it cannot escape the highly advanced senses of a cat. 

"Don't move." Happy suddenly said. 

"Why? What is it?" Natsu asked.

"We're not alone. Something is in here with us. Make no sudden movements."

Natsu stood perfectly still, not moving an inch, for a moment he didn't even breathe. Suddenly the ring on his finger started to glow and a vicious, bone-chilling roar filled the room. Before the young man could react, he felt a giant pair of claws come down on his back, pressing him the ground. Turning his head, he saw that he had been pinned by an enormous, powerful, and mighty crimson dragon with massive wings, razor sharp fangs, and golden eyes. 

"Oh God!" Natsu cried out in fear, feeling Happy tremble from within his bag. 

The dragon lowered it's face toward Natsu. Their eyes met. Natsu could see nothing but fire and fury in the beast's gold eyes.

"Uh...Nice dragon." Natsu said meekly. "Good dragon. Gentle, harmless, merciful dragon."

The dragon started to sniff him, he closed his eyes expecting this to be the end. However instead of getting swallowed up or burnt alive like he expected, the dragon just licked him. Natsu opened his eyes and saw that the fire and fury in the dragon's eyes had no been replaced by playfulness. Like the kind you would see in a dog when he meets someone he likes. In fact, like a dog, the dragon kept licking Natsu's cheek over and over again.

"Hey! That tickles! Ha! Ha! Stop! Stop! Down boy! Ha! Ha!" Natsu laughed.

The dragon lifted it's claws off of Natsu, allowing him to stand up.

"Eww! We're covered in dragon spit!" Happy complained. 

"Happy you're covered in spit half the time, you like yourself."

"That's different, unlike this overgrown lizard, I don't drool."

The dragon then started to rub it's head up against Natsu's side.

"Wow, you sure are friendly. What's a nice guy like you doing down here guarding something?"

The dragon's eyes suddenly became sad and he hung his head mournfully as he tried to fly upward only to hit the ground-ceiling and not be able to break through no matter how hard he banged against it.

"Oh...You're trapped here, aren't you?"

The dragon nodded. Centuries ago, this dragon was once a most sweet and dear creature but because his fearsome appearance everyone regarded him with disdain. Everyone that is except for the wise and kind Zeref, who could see past the fire, scales, and claws to find the gentle soul within. He treated the dragon as a friend and in turn he made himself a loyal companion to the benevolent wizard. Sadly though, when Zeref died, humanity forced the poor creature was into this cave to guard one of the few remainders of Zeref's magic, cursed to stay there forever. The centuries alone in the dark turned him angry and hateful. Hence why he killed anyone who came near. Anyone that is, who didn't share blood with Zeref.

As soon as the dragon sniffed Natsu, recognizing that he and Zeref had a similar scent, his long repressed happiness was released. He had loved Zeref dearly and had loved his children and grandchildren as well. He would love anyone with any relation to the first friend he ever had. That's why he took to Natsu so quickly, and why Natsu would take to him so quickly as well.

"Poor guy. How could anyone trap someone like you down here?" Natsu said with compassion. "Well I don't have the heart to let anyone be held prisoner. Tell you what, once we get what we need down here, why don't we get you out of here?"

The dragon perked up again and started to gleefully zip all through out the area and then swooped down to once again lick Natsu's face again in gratitude.

"Now stop it! Ha! Ha! You've got a lot of a spirit huh? Must mean that you've got one hell of soul." Natsu chuckled. "Hey, you've got a name?"

The dragon shook his head.

"Do you want one?"

The dragon nodded.

"Good because I've just thought of the perfect name for you. Aatamgosh. It means inner light and inner soul. Do you like it?"

The dragon nodded again. 

"Great. Nice to meet you Aatamgosh, I'm Natsu and this is Happy."

"A pleasure." The cat said. "A pleasure and a surprise, that you didn't eat us. Thank you."

"Listen we came down here to find a lamp, do you know where it could be?"

The dragon now named Aatamgosh nodded for a third time and excitedly pointed further down the terrace, zipping off. Natsu and Happy quickly followed him. Soon they reached a platform where an ancient, oil-lamp stood alone. 

"That's it?" Natsu said skeptically. "That's what people have been risking their lives for? An old lamp?"

Natsu carefully lifted it from the platform and took a moment to study it. It was dusty, dirty, and rusted. Not made of gold or silver or even bronze. It was copper. At first glance, this thing was completely useless. It probably couldn't even light anymore.

"Oh well, if this is what the old man wants."

Natsu put the lamp into his satchel and began to head back up the stairway with Aatamgosh following him. When they were closer to the entrance of the cave, Aatamgosh suddenly started to growl.

"What is it?" Natsu asked him. "What's wrong?"

He backed away. 

"What's the matter? I thought you wanted to get out of here?"

But then the ground began to shake and the ceiling started to collapse. 

"Whoa! What's happening?" Natsu asked looking around.

"We gotta move!" Happy cried out. "Now!"

Natsu started running up the stairway as quick as he could. But the stairs were quickly giving away and stones were falling from above. He could hear winds swirl ferociously and thunder booming. He could lightning flash before his eyes and had the terrible feeling the flames were about to arise. Just what kind of cave was this? A one-way trip down to the underworld?

A gigantic stalactite broke off and fell on to Aatamgosh, pinning him down. Natsu wanted to go back and help him but he was thrown forward by chasm that suddenly opened and cut him off from the dragon. By the time he reached the opening of the cave, the stairs were completely gone and Natsu found himself clinging to the edge. The old man stood outside and hovered over the young man menacingly. 

"Help me out!" Natsu cried.

"Do you have the lamp?" The old man asked.

"Yes now help me out!"

"Give me the lamp first! I want the lamp!"

"You'll get it! Help me out! Hurry! I can't hold on much longer!"

"The lamp boy! Now!"

"No!"

"Then you'll never get out!"

"And you'll never get the lamp! Why can't you just help me out?! You'll still get the lamp!"

But the old man just reached his hand into Natsu's satchel, trying to just take the lamp and then leave the boy to die. 

"Oh no you don't!" Happy bit his hand hard.

"Ahhh!" The old man bellowed.

Finally the opening closed up and Natsu was sent falling to the ground. Luckily though, Aatamgosh managed to pull himself free from the stalactite and zoomed up to catch him just in time.  Then used his wings to shelter him and Happy from the falling debris. From the outside, the old man watched as the cave and any sign that it had ever existed just vanished under the sand, trapping anything and anyone down there until the next seven months, seven days, and seven moons.

"Damn it all by Allah!" The old man cursed, tossing aside his fake beard and wiping away make up to reveal that he was no more than Zash in disguise.

"Nice going genius!" Nebaru squawked, from his perch in a tree where he had witnessed the whole thing. "You really did it this time!"

"Oh shut up you rat with wings!" He snapped.

"Hey don't get mad at me just because you screwed up! If you had just pulled the kid out liek he wanted, he would have given you the lamp and we'd be living the high life! But no, you had to double-cross him too early! Selene's right, you are too arrogant for your own good!"

"Enough! Or I'll send you back to her plucked, stuffed, and basted!"

"Polly shutting up." Nebaru said fearfully, aloowing his master to furiously vent over his failure.