BOOK 3 - Fairy Tail (Pirates) AU: At Earthland's End

CHAPTER VII: The Sacrifice and the Goddess

<<Meanwhile at Jellal's ship>>

    The lord and his crew were following a trail of dead bodies spread throughout the ocean. Turns out those bodies were being thrown away from the Black Fairy itself. In other words, there was someone aboard the Fairy who was guiding the enemy towards the pirates.

    Jellal smirked at such weird method being used to guide him. And then, he concluded that whoever was his mysterious ally aboard the Black Fairy was definitely someone skilled. Therefore, he decided to keep following the trail of bodies in the meantime while getting ready for anything.

<<Later that night at the Black Fairy>>

    The one who was secretly guiding Jellal and his forces was actually just about to throw another dead body tied up to a barrel. The mysterious person resulted being none other Gray. He had managed to escape from the Fairy's prison and had been planning to guide Jellal and Zeref to the Tenrou island in order to have a chance to save his father.

    But what the raven-haired boy hadn't realized yet was that Natsu had actually been aware of his plan that whole time. In fact, the pinkette was watching him from one side at that moment while resting over the bowsprit of the ship.

"Wow... You escaped a lot faster than I thought" Natsu told Gray.

"You... What are you doing here?" Gray asked.

"What am I doing? This is my ship, pal. The real question is... What are you doing? Guiding Jellal to Tenrou island? To the pirates and our friends? Really? Gotta say I expected more from you" After that, the pinkette finally got off the bowsprit and approached. "Tell me, Gray. What does your dear bluenette girlfriend said about your plan?"

Gray remained silent and faced downwards. Seems like he hadn't told Juvia anything about it. "I'm afraid, Natsu. Afraid of losing her. I promised I would give her a proper answer when all of this was over. But after finding out whoever kills Zeref has to occupy his place, I'm afraid of having to choose between her and my father"

Natsu chuckled slightly at that moment. "Wow... You really are in a pinch right now. I guess love can be very troublesome sometimes"

"And what about you?"

"Eh? Me? What about me?"

"Oh please, Natsu. Are you really going to make me say it? Everyone aboard already knows there's something going on between you and Lucy" Gray approached Natsu at that moment and gave him a piercing look. "Tell me... Have you finally forgiven her for sending you to the depths? Or is that just totally impossible?"

Natsu took a long sigh. "Who knows?" Both boys remained in silence after that. But then, Natsu broke such silence once more. "Anyway... Going back to your problem... I think I found the proper solution. Why not make a clean slate? Abandon your plans... Have someone else stab Zeref's heart"

"Someone like who? You?" Natsu displayed a confident smile as Gray startled in surprise. "Are you really willing to take your heart out and be a prisoner of the Spriggan forever?"

"Prisoner? You are wrong, buddy. I'd be free forever. Be able to sail through the ocean for all eternity and without restrictions. That's the dream I've had since I was a kid. Of course there's the risk of ending up as cursed as Zeref, but the immortality might be worth the trouble, don't you think?"

"And what about Lucy?"

Natsu widened his eyes in shock at that moment. He noticed he hadn't thought his plan through as much as he originally thought. After all, becoming the new captain of the Spriggan would also mean not seeing Lucy ever again. Or at least not for another 10 years. However, Natsu seemed to have already made up his mind.