There's Still Hope

ICE MAKE ARROW
Gray shot an Ice arrow at Draven causing him to slide back. Gray, Gajeel, and Erza then raced towards him, resuming the battle as Wendy, Lucy, and Aura tended to Natsu.
"Dad please wake up." Aura said shaking Natsu.
"He can't be dead." Lucy said shaking her head in disbelief.
"No." Wendy said placing her hand over her mouth, shaking her head.
"Come on...please." Aura said low her voice wracked with pain and guilt. "We need you."
Erza slashed at Draven but he jumped into the air to dodge, the smirk still on his face. "Come back here you bastard!" Erza yelled jumping after him.
"Erza wait!" Gray yelled as he and Gajeel ran after them.
Erza continued swinging her sword, but none of her attacks connected. "Your anger is getting the best of you, girl." Draven said with a smirk. "That Dragon Slayer must have been important to you."
"Shut up!" Erza yelled slashing at his head, but once again Draven dodged, falling back down to the ground. She looked down at him, the smile on his face only serving to anger even more. She replayed Natsu's defeat in her head over and over again and began seeing nothing but red. I'm going to kill him. He has to die…now! She fell back to the ground and gripped her sword tightly, her blade glowing with a strange green light.
Gray's eyes widened in shock and he quickly back stepped. "We have to move." He said passing Gajeel.
"What's she doin?" the Iron Dragon asked confused.
"Her armor's strongest attack. We need to find somewhere safe before we're caught up in the blast." Gajeel followed Gray's lead and the two headed back towards the girls and the still downed Natsu. Gray grabbed Aura and Wendy while Gajeel grabbed Lucy and Natsu. The five then leaped down to the next floor.
"What's going on?" Wendy asked.
"Erza's going for it all." Gray answered. "And we don't want to be caught in the blast."
Mom. Aura said looking up as they fell.
"Be careful with him." Lucy scolded at Gajeel because of the way he was holding Natsu.
Erza's sword finished charging and she slightly shifted her eyes to the side. Good, everyone's gone. She then looked back at Draven.
"That's a dangerous look in your eye, girl." He said mockingly.
"I'm through talking." Erza said curtly. "I'm ending this now." She pointed her blade in front of her and raced forward as the energy began crackling. She put her hand on her stomach as she drew closer to Draven.
He welcomed her attack with open arms. "Come human." He soon sensed the power coming from Erza's sword and his eyes began widening in shock the closer Erza came. "Wait." He said just before impact.
FAIRY PIERCING SWORD 
The force from the blast shot upward, destroying the top two floors of the tower. Lucy and the others felt the tower shake and looked up to see the ceiling crumbling above them.
ICE MAKE DOME
Gray covered the group in a dome of ice as the debris fell, the dome shielding them. "Is everyone alright?" he asked looking around at the others.
"Yeah we're all fine." Lucy said nodding as she placed Natsu's head in her lap. "But what about Erza?" she asked concerned.
"Mother!" Aura yelled desperately causing the others to look in her direction. Outside of the dome was Erza, falling from the upper floor. As if on instinct, Aura teleported and grabbed her before she hit the ground. She then teleported back to the dome, Gray slowly letting it down as the debris stopped falling.
"Is she ok?" Wendy asked Aura concerned as the group huddled around the two.
"I don't know." Aura replied equally concerned. She laid her young mother on the ground next to Natsu. She still had on pieces of her armor here and there, but it was otherwise destroyed. Her body was covered in cuts and bruises, her chest slowly moving up and down along to match her labored breathing.
"Mom?" Aura said expectantly. Erza began opening her eyes, much to everyone's relief.
"A…Aura?" She said weakly looking up at her, Aura nodded with a small smile. "Are you all okay?" she said slowly looking at the others.
Lucy smiled warmly, "We should be asking you that. You had us worried." She looked up at the now exposed ceiling. "Did you win?"
"I don't know." Erza replied looking up. "I believe so. I don't feel his energy." She looked down into Lucy's lap to see Natsu. As she looked upon the dragon slayer her eyes began unwillingly misting over.
"Natsu." She said weakly as she desperately reached her hand towards him, the tears starting to flow from her cheeks. Everyone looked at the two morosely. "I'm sorry." She said, placing her other hand on her stomach. "I broke my promise."
No one knew what to say. What could they say? They had not seen Erza like this since the end of their first fight with Oracion Seis. They all felt what she was going through, especially Aura.
"Come on Mom. It's time to go." Aura stood up, grabbing Erza and wrapping her arm around her shoulder to help her stand. However, the knight's eyes were still focused on Natsu.
The others stood up after, Gray placing Natsu on Gajeel's back, as they headed towards the exit of the third floor. They had won the battle, but at a terrible price.
As they moved closer to the door, Wendy couldn't help but look at the sky. To her surprise, it was still pitch black. "The sky is still black." She said it low, but it was just loud enough for the others to hear her.
"What?" Gray asked.
"I said the sky is still black." Wendy repeated a bit confused.
"If he's dead, the sky should be turning back to normal right?" Gajeel said as he and the others looked up at the sky.
"He should be." Aura said. Her eyes widened when she saw a light coming from a pile of rubble on the opposite side of the floor.
A large explosion rang in everyone's ears as a bright light blinded them. The force of the explosion sent them all flying back, but Gajeel managed to shield Natsu from harm.
Everyone looked on in shock as Draven emerged from the rubble. His clothes were all but torn to shreds and his body was covered in cuts and bruises, blood dripping from cuts above his eye and on his right arm. He looked at the downed wizards and his gaze narrowed in disdain when he looked upon Erza. She returned his look.
"I admit you surprised me with that attack." He said lightly dusting himself off. "But you will never have an opportunity like that again." He began walking towards them.
"Dammit." Gray said slowly standing up. "This guy just won't stay down."
"Yeah, he's really startin to piss me off." Gajeel sat Natsu against the wall next to the girls and stood up next to Gray. He licked the blood dripping from his lip and clenched his fist. "Can you still fight streaker?" Gajeel asked looking at Draven.
Gray looked at his palm as it slowly misted. "Yeah iron breath, I can still fight." He replied clenching his fist and looking forward. "Just make sure you don't drag me down." Gray said with a smirk. He looked at his hand again, neither of them had much power left but they knew they couldn't give up.
Gray looked back at Natsu with remorse. 
He and Gajeel then dashed forward once again.
ICE MAKE SAUCER
IRON DRAGON SWORD
Erza watched the two fight Draven, and she slowly tried to rise to her feet despite her injuries. Aura looked on as she watched her mother struggle to her feet. "What are you doing?"
"I…have to…help them." Erza said straining. "They can't defeat him on their own."
"Erza you're in no condition to fight." Lucy protested.
"I don't care!" She yelled startling the three. "I have to fight, I have to defeat him. He took Natsu from me. I'm not letting him take anyone else."
"Natsu." Wendy said looking at the downed dragon slayer. She then looked over to Aura and her eyes began widening in realization. "Wait." Wendy said causing the others to look at her. "How do you feel Aura?"
"I'm banged up, but otherwise I'm fine why?" she asked with a confused look.
"You're from the future. So If Natsu died now you would disappear or something right?" Wendy asked.
"What are you getting at?" Aura asked even more confused.
"I get it." Lucy said, her eyes widening as she slammed her fist into her open palm in realization. "She's saying you would disappear because his death means you wouldn't be born. So he must still be alive. Right?" Lucy asked, Wendy nodding in agreement.
Erza looked on at the three's conversation more than a little lost.
Aura placed her hand under her chin to think. "I guess but-"
"His heart's still beating!" Wendy yelled happily as she placed her head on his chest, "It's faint but, he's still alive."
"What?" Erza said looking at the blue haired young girl, the light in her eyes slowly returning.
"He is?!" Lucy said, Wendy nodding in confirmation.
"Really?" Aura asked in disbelief. "What does that mean?" she said, a gleam of hope in her eyes.
"I think we can bring him back." Wendy said with a determined look, causing everyone to smile relieved.
"Ok, then there's still a chance we can win this battle." Erza said, fully standing and requipping into her hakama pants, twin katanas in hand. She gripped their hilts tightly. "Aura, can you use your dragon slayer magic?" she asked not looking.
"Huh?" she asked slightly confused.
"Can you use your Dragon Slayer magic or not?" Erza asked in a more demanding tone.
"O…oh." Aura replied quickly, fearing the tone in Erza's voice. She looked at her hand and saw a medium sized flame rising up from it. "Yeah I can use it." She replied. "But I only have a few more spells before I'm tapped out of magic."
"That's fine, this is my last requip. We're going to assist Gray and Gajeel." She delegated. She then looked at Wendy and Lucy, the former having Natsu's head in her lap. "Lucy and Wendy you two stay here and try to revive Natsu."
"Right." Lucy said with a determined nod.
"We'll hold him off as long as we can. I'm counting on you two. Bring him back to us." Erza said, her last words sounding like a plea.
"We will." Wendy said determined.
"Let's go Aura." Erza said.
"Ok." The two raced off to assist their comrades. Lucy and Wendy watched them briefly before turning their attention back towards Natsu.
"Ok if he's not dead then what's wrong with him? Is he just unconscious?" Lucy asked.
"I think so. I feel a dark energy inside of him. The air around him tastes bad." Wendy replied.
"What does that mean?"
"I think Draven cast some sort of dark spell on Natsu, but I don't know how to counteract it."
"You can't just heal him?"
"I could but the magic is mixed in with his wounds. I would just be healing his body and not his mind. I need to know what the spell is to counter it."
"I think I have a spirit for the job." Lucy said with a smirk. She reached into her key pouch and pulled out a silver key. She then waved it around.
OPEN GATE OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS: CRUX
Soon a sliver cross with bushy crossed shaped white hairs coming from his nose appeared before the two girls. He floated above Natsu's head and grumbled.
"Crux?" Draven said looking in the Lucy and Wendy's direction with a surprised look.
"Eyes front!" Erza said slashing at him. Draven jumped back to dodge, but Erza simply smirked at him. Draven's eyes widened and he felt a presence behind him. Aura had gotten behind him using Skywalk and landed a crushing kick into his back, causing him to gasp for air as he slammed against the ground.
The impact created a crater, and Draven once again found himself down on one knee. These humans are starting to become irksome. He stood up and his eyes widened again as he felt another presence.
FIRE DRAGON-
IRON DRAGON- 
ROAR- 
He looked saw Gajeel and Aura attacks heading towards him from opposite directions. He managed to block them, but he was too late noticing Gray, who slammed him down to the next floor with another giant ice hammer.
Erza looked over to Lucy and Wendy. "Keep working on Natsu!" the two replied with a confident nods and Erza jumped down the hole after the others, resuming the fight on the second floor.
"Grandpa Crux I need you to do a search for me about this spell Natsu is under please." Lucy said.
Wendy watched in amazement as the spirit placed his hand on Natsu's head, but that amazement turned to uneasiness when Crux fell asleep.
"He's sleeping." Wendy said nervously.
"No he's just searching." Lucy replied looking on with a smile.
After a few second's Crux eyes opened wide, a look of fear on his face.
"What is it?" Lucy asked concerned.
"Draven cast this spell?" He said his voice quaking.
"Yeah he did. We need to know how to lift it." Lucy replied.
Crux nodded in compliance. "The spell is called BLACK DESIRE. It's an ancient celestial spell, long thought lost." Crux explained.
"What does it do?" Lucy asked.
"It uses the power of the stars to put its target in a deep sleep, placing a dream suggestion in their mind."
"A dream?" Wendy asked intrigued.
"So it's like illusion magic." Lucy said.
"Yes." Crux nodded. "It places the target in an illusion world based off their deepest desire, but there is a price."
"What is it?" Lucy asked concerned.
"The longer the target stays under the influence of the spell, the more of their life force drains away. In about 5 minutes his heart will stop completely and he will die."
"What?!" Lucy said in disbelief. "How do we stop it?"
"You have to neutralize it with light celestial magic." He explained looking at Lucy. "Pour your energy into his body and project yourself into his mind."
"Is that it?" Lucy asked.
Crux nodded. "However you can't just forcibly pull him out. He has to want to come out on his own."
"Ok." Lucy said with a nervous nod as she looked down at Natsu.
"I'll try and heal him as much as I can while you're gone." Wendy said giving Lucy a determined look.
They could hear the yells of their friends from the lower floor and knew what they had to do. Lucy sighed to calm herself down and placed her hands on Natsu's chest, pressing down a bit.
"Like this?" she said looking at Crux.
The spirit nodded. "Yes, now let your magical energy flow out of your hands and into his body.
"Okay." Lucy said with a nod. She exhaled deeply. "Hold on Natsu, I'll get you out."
"One more thing." Crux said. "If you're still in there when he dies, you'll be trapped forever."
"No pressure then." Lucy replied with a nervous laugh. Her hands began glowing as a small circle appeared under them. She looked up and her pupils began to disappear as she fell into a trance like state.
"Lucy?" Wendy asked looking at the blonde. "Did it work?" Wendy asked looking at Crux.
"Yes, Ms. Lucy is inside the boy's head." Crux said nodding.
"Okay good." She said, even though she still felt a bit uneasy. "Can you tell me about Draven?" Wendy asked with a determined look.
…
Lucy opened her eyes slowly as the sun hit her eyes. She rose and rubbed her eyes to wake herself up more. She tried to get a feel for her surroundings, to her surprise she was fully clothed. "I'm in my apartment?" she said confused as stepped out of her bed and walked to the window, opening the blinds and looking into the blue sky. "The sky's back to normal."
She walked to her bathroom, and looked in the mirror. She felt her face and her body to make sure nothing was missing. "Everything looks like its intact." She then placed her hands on her cheeks and looked around her bathroom. "This is so weird, everything is where it should it be. I don't know whether I should be impressed or uncomfortable that Natsu knows so much about my apartment layout."
She stepped out of her apartment and saw the entire town of Magnolia had been recreated, although with a few minor changes; such as Natsu's face being on banners all across the city. Lucy looked around and saw everyone was wearing Natsu's trademark scarf around their necks. "Wow someone's full of themselves." She said with a confused laugh as she walked down the streets. "I can't afford to waste time. I have to find Natsu." She ran towards the Fairy Tail guild hall.
…
"I'll tell you all I know." Crux replied
"Thank you." Wendy said with a smile as she continued healing Natsu.
Crux cleared his throat and began. "Draven was once a celestial spirit and advisor to the Celestial king."
"He was?" Wendy asked slightly amazed."
Crux nodded and continued. "He was always a conniving being. Shrewd and condescending, but he did care about his fellow spirits. Although he never did care much for humans. He saw them as worthless creatures and viewed them as lower than Celestial spirit kind. The king always knew of Draven's feelings towards humankind and although he disapproved, he knew Draven didn't have enough power to do anything to drastic…until he met Layla Heartfilia."
"Lucy's mother?" Wendy asked her eyes widening in surprise.
Crux nodded "Captivated by her beauty and kindness toward spirits, Draven watched her every day from the celestial world, and soon fell in love with her. He became obsessed with her and his obsession coupled with his growing rage against other human's treatments of spirits caused Draven to commit the greatest sin."
"The greatest sin?"
"Believing that he and Layla could usher in a new golden age for Celestial Spirits, he began seeking a way to leave the celestial spirit world without being bogged down with the need to return."
"How did he do that?"
"His natural magic allows him to absorb energy from nonliving material. He used this ability to absorb the life force of many of our fellow spirits in order to gain enough power to leave."
"That's horrible." Wendy said with a shocked expression.
"He used his ill-gotten power, along with his knowledge of ancient spells to force his way into the human world in order to both find Layla and subjugate mankind. We tried stopping him, but he was too powerful for us to handle; even the king had trouble restraining him. He ran amok in the human world and eventually we had to enlist the help of Layla Heartfilia and the dragons to defeat him."
"Is there any way to stop him?" Wendy asked, her concern growing.
…
Lucy made it to the guild hall and to her relief it looked relatively normal. She walked inside and everyone greeted her with a smile as they would in the real world. She walked towards the bar and saw Mira standing there as usual. "Good morning Lucy." She said with a smile.
Well nothing seems too different here. Lucy thought relieved
"Hey Mira." She greeted. "Have you seen Natsu? I have to find him." Lucy asked urgently.
"Oh are you going to confess your love to him?" Mira said with a mischievous smile.
"What?" Lucy began blushing. "No, I just need to talk to him. Is he around?"
"He and Happy are on a Decade quest."
"Decade Quest?!"
"Yes." Mira answered with a smile. "They left yesterday."
"Master authorized it?"
"Why wouldn't he?" Mira asked with a confused look on her face. "Natsu is the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail after all."
"He's what?!" Lucy's jaw dropped in surprise. She always knew Natsu was strong but he was a far cry from being the strongest in the entire guild. Even if she was in his dream it was still a bit much for her to process.
"I'm back everybody!" Natsu yelled into the guild hall as he burst through the doors to everyone's pleasant surprise. Everyone cheered for his safe return, save Gajeel and Gray who were cowering in fear behind the bar.
"He's back." Gray said nervously.
"I know." Gajeel said equally nervous. "You say something." Gajeel urged.
"Why me?" Gray whined, but soon he sighed and rose from behind the bar.
"H-hey Natsu." Gray said nervously as he walked up to him. "Y-you're back?"
"Put on a shirt ya perv." Natsu said as he happily walked past the ice wizard.
"Y-yes sir." Gray replied sullenly.
"Natsu sure is a cool." Max said. "We keep selling out of his scarves and action figures."
"Yeah he's a real man." Elfman commented with a smile.
"I'll beat him in a fight one of these days." Laxus said sulking as he sipped his beer.
"Sure you will Laxus." Wakaba said patting him on the back.
"That boy truly is the best of us." Makarov said with a grin from the second floor.
He walked towards the bar and leaned on it, a cocky smirk on his face.
"You're back already?" Mira asked surprised. "You just left yesterday."
"Yeah, that mission was easy. I was pretty bored most of the time."
Man he's cocky. Lucy thought to herself as she continued to hear Natsu speak about how easy his "not as long as a decade" decade quest was.
"Natsu." Lucy said trying to get his attention.
"Hey Lucy." He greeted with a smile. "What's up?"
"I have to tell you something."
"You're not gonna challenge me to a fight are you?"
"No." she said exasperated. "Why would I do that?"
"Oh good, I'd probably beat you anyway." He laughed much to Lucy's annoyance.
"I'm being serious Natsu."
"Well you can tell me on the way." He grabbed her arm and the pair ran out of the guild.
"On the way to what?" Lucy asked astonished as she was pulled along.
"To see Igneel silly."
"Igneel?"
"Yeah, I told him I would come visit today. Bye Mira!" he yelled back waving.
"Bye you two." Mirajane waved back.
"You found him?" Lucy asked as the two exited the guild.
"What do mean by found?" Natsu said confused.
"I thought he disappeared."
"What are you talking about? Hurry up."
Lucy continued to be strung along and she suddenly felt the ground shake beneath her feet.
"Did you feel that?" She asked Natsu.
"Feel what?" Natsu said clearly not noticing it.
I must be running out of time. She thought to herself. "Natsu stop." Lucy said holding her ground so Natsu had to slow down.
"What's wrong?" He asked slightly annoyed.
"I have to tell you something."
"I told you we can talk after we see Igneel."
"Natsu, Igneel's not here." Lucy said sullenly.
"What are you talking about? I just saw him yesterday." Natsu said with a grin.
"Listen to me Natsu, Draven put you under a spell and its killing you."
"You're being weird Lucy. Who's Draven?" he said with a slightly uneasy look.
"You have to remember Natsu." She grabbed him by the side of the arms. "None of this stuff is real."
"Okay, now you're starting to freak me out." He said loosening Lucy's grip and stepping back. She could see the slight fear in his eyes. "Come on, let's just go see Igneel."
"He's gone Natsu. Igneel disappeared years ago."
"This joke isn't funny anymore Lucy." He said slightly frightened, stepping back again.
Magnolia slowly started to crumble away around them as Lucy continued to look at Natsu. He looked around and fear began overtaking him as he saw all of the citizens, the buildings, and the guild hall slowly fade away before his eyes. He fell to his knees and gripped his head, wincing in pain as his memories began flooding in.
"No. You're wrong." He said gripping his head. "This is real. All of this is real. You're not Lucy, you're some dark wizard trying to trick me."
"No Natsu it's not and I am Lucy." Lucy said empathically as she knelled next to him. "You have to remember. We have to go back and help the others. They'll die without us."
"But everyone is right here." Natsu said. Suddenly everyone in Fairy tail appeared and circled around Natsu and Lucy. "Everybody's here I don't need to go anywhere."
"Natsu please, you're under a spell and its killing you. We don't have much time left, we have to leave."
"Why?" His words startled the celestial wizard.
"What do you mean why?"
"Even if this is a dream, everything is perfect here. Why do I gotta leave? "
"Why are you giving up?!" Lucy yelled causing Natsu to open his eyes wide. "Our friends are fighting for their lives out there and you're in here sulking. This isn't like you at all. The Natsu I know never gives up, he would do anything to protect his friends."
Natsu continued to sulk.
Lucy looked around at all of the fake members of Fairy Tail, but she noticed one person was missing. "Natsu where's Erza?" She asked sternly.
"Erza?" Natsu's eyes opened wide when his memories of Erza began to enter his mind. Their first meeting, their first mission together, her teaching him to read, the mission against Eisenwald, the fight against Phantom Lord, the Tower of Heaven.
Soon the memories began going deeper. He thought of their first date, their first kiss, and the time they spent away from the guild. He began to recall her look, her voice, her eyes, her smell, her smile, the way she would blush when reading her weird books Natsu found in her room. How could a world he created be perfect, if Erza was nowhere to be found?
He dropped his hands to his side and Lucy saw that she was getting through to him. All he needed was one more push. She scratched her cheek and looked away nervously. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this but Erza is..."
…
Lucy's body jerked violently and she closed her eyes. She opened them slowly, her pupils returning as she looked down to see Wendy looking up at her. "Wendy?"
"Lucy you're back." Wendy said with a smile. "Is Natsu…?"
The pink haired dragon slayer groaned and slowly opened his eyes. "Wendy…?" He said weakly.
"Natsu!" She hugged his neck as he sat up. "You're okay!" he wrapped his arm around her back, returning the hug as he smiled warmly.
"Yeah I'm back." He said as Wendy let go. "Thanks Lucy." He said looking at the blonde with a smile.
"Don't mention it. We're partners after all." She replied with a smile.
"Now…" He said slamming his fist into his palm. "It's time for me to go kick Draven's butt. Where is he?" he asked as he looked at the rubble laden floor.
"He's on the floor below us fighting Erza and the others." Lucy said, pointing at hole in the floor.
"Alright. Time to go." He said determined as he stood up and cracked his knuckles.
"Wait Natsu we need a plan." Lucy said much to the dragon slayer's annoyance.
"Mr. Crux can you tell those two what you told me?" Wendy said looking at the cross.
"Certainly little lady." The spirit said with a nod.
He recited Draven's origins and ambitions to Natsu and Lucy. Natsu obviously didn't get it or care, but Lucy hung on every word. She began thinking of a plan. "I got it!" a light bulb clicked in her mind.
"Well I'll be taking my leave now, I'm not built for all this battle stuff anymore." Crux said bowing.
"Hold on Crux, when you get back can you tell Virgo to bring me something?"
"Certainly miss, what is it?"
Lucy whispered in Crux's ear as the cross nodded. "I'll pass the message along. Be safe."
"I will, thank you Crux." Lucy closed his gate and looked at Wendy with a confident smile. "Ok we can do this, I just need an opening. Wait, where's Natsu?" The two looked over to see Natsu preparing to jump in to the hole left by Draven and the others.
"Wait Natsu!" Lucy yelled.
"I'm tired of waiting I have to help the others. You have a plan right?"
"Yeah but-"
"Well then I'm going down. You coming Wendy?"
"Y-yes!" Wendy said with a nod as she ran to him.
"Be careful you guys." Lucy said concerned.
"Don't worry, I can't die now. Not after what you told me." He said with a smile as he and Wendy jumped down the hole.
A nervous smile appeared on Lucy's face as she laughed uncomfortably. Erza's going to kill me.
Draven grabbed Gajeel by the leg and threw him into Gray, the two wizards hitting the wall. Erza used one of her swords to prop herself up, Aura was down to one knee next to her holding her other sword.
"Can you still stand?" Erza asked her breathing labored.
"Yeah. Are Lucy and Wendy done yet?" she groaned as she finally made it to her feet.
"I'm not sure, but we have to give them as much time as they need." Erza gripped her katana tightly as she stood once more, her and Aura dashing forward once again.
"How many times do I have to repel you before you realize it's futile to stand against me?" Draven up his palm and a black circle appeared above it.
FIRE DRAGON TALON
The four Fairy Tail wizards looked up to see Natsu descending upon Draven with a flaming crescent kick, hitting him in the head and sending it crashing into the ground and dissipating the magic circle. Natsu slid back towards the entrance to the floor and stood up, gripping his scarf tightly as a toothy smirk appeared on his face.
"Natsu." Gray said with a smirk.
"I knew that guy wouldn't stay down." Gajeel said.
"Dad." Aura said relieved.
"Don't move." Aura heard a voice and looked behind her to see Wendy healing her. "I'll heal you a little bit."
"Wendy." Aura said with a small smile.
Wendy then moved to Erza. "Hold still please." She said, focusing her energy.
"Thank you Wendy." Erza said with a warm smile. "Thank you for saving him."
Wendy smiled back. "You're welcome."
Natsu looked over to Aura and Erza and gave the pair a wide smile, unnerving them a little bit.
"What is he smiling about?" Aura whispered to Erza.
"I have no idea." Erza replied.
Draven stood up from the rubble, his face twisted in anger as he turned around to look at Natsu. "You again?! Your tenacity is growing tiresome."
"Sorry pal but I can't die, just yet." Natsu stood straight up and triumphantly pointed his thumb at himself as he puffed his chest out. "Because I'm going to be a dad!" He yelled with a confident smirk. Everyone's faces turned white with shock, except for Draven who was more than a little confused.