When Natsu finally came to, his vision swam before slowly sharpening. The first things he saw were two familiar faces hovering anxiously over him.

"Oh my head..." he groaned, pushing himself up.

"Are you okay?" Happy asked quickly.

"I think so..." Natsu muttered. "Did we make it out?"

He looked up. Solid stone. No sky. No opening. No escape. They were still inside. The realization hit like a punch to the gut.

"That two-faced son of a jackal!" Natsu snapped, slamming his fist into the ground. "He left us here!"

"I told you not to trust him!" Happy shot back. "I told you this would happen!"

"Yeah, yeah—nobody likes an 'I told you so,' Happy."

Oh we're going to die down here!" Happy moaned pitifully. "Well at least we're already buried."

"Don't panic Happy." Natsu said.

"Don't panic?! Look where we are! We're underground and with no way to get back up to the surface! It's over! We're done for! My only hope is if that myth about cats having nine lives turns out to be true!"

"I'm sure if we try, we can find a way out. Or at least make one. Let's start digging."

For hours, they tried. Natsu clawed through sand and stone, Aatamgosh using his strength to shift heavier debris, while Happy fluttered around, trying to help where he could. But for every bit of ground they cleared, more sand poured in, filling the space faster than they could move it.

"This isn't working," Happy said at last, collapsing onto a rock. "We might as well just give up, say our goodbyes, and wait for the end."

Natsu wiped sweat from his brow, breathing heavily. "Maybe we just need more light."

He looked toward Aatamgosh. "Hey, think you could give us a little fire?"

"Bad idea," Happy said immediately. "One sneeze from him and we're toast."

"Right. Good point."

Natsu paused, then snapped his fingers. "Wait—what about this?"

He pulled the lamp from his satchel.

"If there's oil in here, I could spark it with a rock."

He quickly checked inside. Empty. Not a drop.

"Damn it!" he groaned. "Alright... It's made of copper so let's see how well it sparks."

He picked up a small stone and began rubbing it against the lamp's surface. Once. Twice. Then the lamp trembled violently in his hands. Suddenly, a burst of colorful smoke exploded from the spout, swirling wildly through the air. Sparks and embers shot out with it, crackling like fire given life. The smoke twisted and coiled, rising higher and higher until with a flash of flame it took shape. A towering figure stood before them.
Broad-shouldered, muscular, with shoulder-length orange hair and a rough stubbled jaw. An otherworldly aura flickered around him like heat off a flame, his lower half still dissolving into drifting smoke.

The man stretched slightly, as if waking from a long sleep. Then his eyes opened.

"At last... fresh air," the man sighed, stretching his arms wide. His joints cracked loudly as he rolled his shoulders. "Oye... twenty years in there will do that to you. Or was it thirty? Forty, maybe?"

For several long moments, he did nothing but stretch—twisting, bending, groaning in relief as though rediscovering his own body after ages of stillness. Then, at last, he noticed Natsu.

"What?" he said, raising a brow. "Haven't you ever seen an all-powerful genie before?"

Natsu just stared.

"Uh... uh... I... I—uh..."

The man smirked. "Not much of a talker, huh?"

His gaze shifted—and immediately lit up.

"Well I'll be—! It's my favorite reptile!"

Aatamgosh perked up and rushed forward, greeting him with the same enthusiastic licks and nuzzles.

"Hey, hey—cut it out!" the man laughed, pushing the dragon's snout aside. "Nobody likes a kiss-ass."

"Um..." Natsu finally managed, still wary. "Sorry, but... who—or what—are you?"

The man blinked. "Oh! Right. Duh! Where are my manners?"

He cleared his throat, straightened up, and spoke with exaggerated importance.

"I am Gildarts—former student of the great wizard Zeref and now the all-powerful genie of the lamp. For decades, I have been trapped within that tiny prison until freed by a descendant of my old mentor."

His eyes narrowed slightly at Natsu.

"That would be you, I'm guessing?"

"I... I guess," Natsu said. "But I didn't think genies were real."

Gildarts froze. Then his expression darkened dramatically.

"You doubt my existence?" he boomed, his voice echoing through the cavern. "You call me false? You dare insult a being of my power?! For this insult you deserve to die!"

Natsu panicked instantly. "Wait—no! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! I'm too young to die! I have a cat!"

Then Gildarts burst out laughing.

"I'm just messing with you!" he said, wiping a tear from his eye. "Relax. I can't kill you—even if I wanted to. Comes with the job."

Natsu sagged in relief. "Okay... that's good to know."

"Now then," Gildarts said, folding his arms. "I've introduced myself. Your turn."

"Alright... I'm Natsu. And this is Happy. We're just... you know... trying to get by." He glanced around the cavern. "...Though right now, that's not going so great."

"Nice to meet you," Gildarts said casually. "Honestly, it's nice to meet anyone. You try being stuck in a lamp for decades with no one but your own thoughts. You start talking to yourself after a while."

"That explains a lot," Happy muttered.

Natsu blinked. "Wait—you're saying that you, a great big guy, was trapped in this teeny, tiny lamp?"

"Yep," Gildarts said. "You see the lamp is cursed. All genies are bound to it—forced to serve whoever rubs it. I was once a man, you know? But after becoming a genie, someone trapped me inside."

"You were a human before?" Natsu asked.

"Once," Gildarts nodded. "A long time ago."

"Who trapped you in there?"

Gildarts scratched his head. "Honestly? No clue. Memory's a little fuzzy. Happens when you spend years alone in a magical prison. But I remember the important stuff—my name, my powers, Zeref and this big guy."

He patted Aatamgosh, who happily leaned into it.

Natsu took that in, then asked, "So... what exactly does a genie do?"

Gildarts grinned.

"In a nutshell?" he said. "I grant wishes."

Natsu blinked. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. You want something? Just ask."

He held up a finger.

"Well within reason. There are some limits."

Natsu leaned forward slightly. "What kind of limits?"

"Well, for starters—you only get seven wishes," Gildarts added. "No more, no less."

Natsu groaned. "Again with the sevens. Why is seven such a big deal with all this?"

Gildarts rolled his eyes. "Come on—seven days of the week, seven colors of the rainbow, seven virtues, seven sins. Seven's kind of a thing."

"Alright, fair," Natsu admitted.

Gildarts lifted a hand, ticking off more rules on his fingers. "I can't kill anyone, so don't ask. I can't make anyone fall in love with anybody else. I can't raise the dead, grant immortality, or turn anyone into a god. You'd be surprised how many idiots ask for that last one."

"That's it?" Natsu asked.

"That's it," Gildarts said with a shrug. Then he grinned. "So... what's your first wish, master?"

Natsu hesitated. He eyed Gildarts carefully, suspicion creeping back in. He still wasn't completely sure if any of this was real. After all, he had taken a nasty fall and had been underground for hours. How much oxygen was there down here, anyway?

"Happy, I think I hit my head harder than I thought."

"I don't think this is in your head," Happy replied. "Because I see him too. And I understand him."

"Of course you do," Gildarts said casually. "Supernatural beings like me can understand animals."

Natsu pointed toward Aatamgosh. "What about him?"

Gildarts glanced at the dragon and shook his head. "Nope. Dragons don't use language the way you do. They communicate through feeling—instinct, aura. Same goes for creatures like phoenixes, manticores, water horses. That's why they always know when someone is lying."

Natsu glanced at Aatamgosh, who stared back calmly.

"Good to know," he muttered.

Then he looked back at Gildarts. "And you're sure you're real? Like... actually here? I'm not just having some weird, dying hallucination?"

Gildarts raised an eyebrow. "Kid, I think I'd know if I were a figment of your—let's be honest—probably very small mind."

"Hey!"

"But believe me," Gildarts went on. "I am very real. I've got real, phenomenal, cosmic power and a very real obligation to grant you seven wishes. But if you'd rather keep doubting me, be my guest. Stay down here. Starve. Suffocate. Get crushed by falling rocks."

He shrugged.

"Makes no difference to me."

"No, no, no—I believe you!" Natsu said quickly. "And for my first wish... I wish you'd get all of us out of here."

Gildarts grinned. "Your wish is my command."

He raised his arms in a grand, sweeping motion so wide it spun him in a full circle. Power flared around him like a storm. Then—BOOM. A crack split open in the cavern ceiling above them. Blinding light poured through, golden and warm, cutting through the darkness like a blade.

"Move!" Happy shouted.

Aatamgosh didn't need to be told twice. He scooped Natsu and Happy onto his back and launched upward, wings beating hard as he shot toward the opening. Gildarts followed close behind, trailing smoke and sparks. They burst through the surface. Into sunlight.

The desert stretched endlessly beneath them, glowing under the morning sun. Fresh air rushed past, clean and alive—so different from the stale darkness below. Aatamgosh let out a triumphant roar as he soared higher, finally free.

Gildarts stretched midair, laughing. "Now that is what I call a proper exit!"

For the dragon and the genie, the sunlight was freedom. But for Natsu this was something else entirely. He clung to Aatamgosh's back, eyes wide with awe as the wind whipped past his face. He was flying. Actually flying. Above the desert, above everything—so high it felt like he could reach out and touch the sky itself.

"Isn't this amazing, Happy?!" Natsu shouted over the wind.

"Aye!" Happy cheered, gripping tight.

Natsu laughed, pure and unrestrained, the sound carried away into the open sky.

"I wish Mother and Father could see this," he said quietly. "They would've loved it."

As they neared Lazan City, Aatamgosh climbed higher, slipping into the cover of the clouds. From below, he would be nothing more than a shadow—if seen at all. But from where they rode, the entire city stretched out beneath them like a living tapestry.

"Hey! I can see our hovel from up here!" Happy said, pointing excitedly.

"And I can see the palace," Natsu added, leaning forward slightly. "And the princess."

Even from that height, she stood out.  Draped in flowing robes and delicate veils, radiant in the morning light, she was being escorted by guards toward an ornate litter. The palace courtyard buzzed with movement—preparations already underway for her journey to the Magnolia Nation. For a moment, Natsu just watched.
Then the feeling hit him. Heavy. Quiet. Sinking.

By the next time he saw her she might already be married. Married to a prince. Some arrogant, self-important noble who saw her as nothing more than a political advantage—a prize to be one, not a person to cherish. His jaw tightened.
Lucy didn't deserve that. She deserved someone who would see her—really see her. Someone who would laugh with her, listen to her, stand beside her. Someone who cared about who she was, not what she represented. Someone who wouldn't treat her like a trophy to display.

Because that was all those suitors ever saw.
A prize. Never a person. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. Natsu's hands curled slightly against Aatamgosh's scales, his expression hardening as the thought settled deep in his chest. But what could he even do about it?

Well luckily he'd find out very soon.