The Beat of War Drums

Chapter 5 - Shattered Reality

Author's Note: Hello, everyone. I just want to let you know that I have finals coming up. I've already begun preparing for them, so I won't have much time to write. I thought that this would be the perfect time to change up the update schedule. We'll resume on the 28th of May (Sunday) and upload every other Sunday after that. Once Fairy Tail finishes (in two volumes is the current prediction) I'll see if I can upload weekly. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 5

Third Person P.O.V.

Natsu blinks once, then twice. Porlyusica carefully watches him. "I'm sorry, I think I must've spaced out for a second. What'd you say?" he says easily. Porlyusica eyes widen comically. For a second, she had been wondering if she had failed to trigger a flashback. She knew that whatever he was seeing must be horrific, but he down played it well. Almost too well. It was incredible that he's made such an improvement. She knew that she would have to work harder to detect his moods from now on.

"I think that you've got this down, Natsu." Porlyusica says, stunned. They had worked all evening and all morning. It was afternoon now, and Natsu seems to have already gotten the hang of hiding his reactions. That was certainly a good thing. Porlyusica really didn't want to put him through all that. She was certain that it absolutely wouldn't help his mental state, but she'd do almost anything to make him feel as if he were improving. He had already lost the belief that he had the capability to get better, so anything would help at this point.

"Are you positive?" Natsu asks unsurely, looking worried. He really didn't need Fairy Tail finding out just how twisted he was. They say that Fairy Tail is the most forgiving group of people in the world, but Natsu doubted that even Fairy Tail could bring themselves to forgive his past. He's simply done too many bad things in his time.

"Natsu, I was beginning to wonder if it didn't work." Porlyusica grumbles, swiping a lock of pink hair out of her face and releasing an exhausted sigh. It was surely a trying experience for Natsu, but it was still tiring for Porlyusica. Triggering flashback after flashback really exhausted her, and watching him squirm and scream broke her heart.

"Really?" he screeches excitedly. His entire face breaks into a grin, but Porlyusica can see through the instinctive fake reaction. He was indeed pleased, but not enough to so much as smirk about the matter, much less break into an ear-to-ear grin. Even he couldn't remember the last time he had genuinely grinned. Smiled, perhaps, but not grinned. He was a rather stoic person who didn't actually show many emotions. He was the exact opposite person that Fairy Tail assumed he was.

"Yes, now shut up." she snaps. "You know that I don't like your screeching." Porlyusica rubs her temples to ease the sudden headache brought on by the loud, high-pitched sound.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, old lady." he mutters. "I'm so glad that that's over with now. Hopefully I'll actually be able to control myself now, instead of just flipping my shit and gawking at my hands in horror." he chuckles. Porlyusica had long since gotten used to Natsu's morbid and self-deprecating sense of humor, but that didn't mean that she liked it. Especially when she considered him to be absolutely ridiculous for thinking in such a manner.

"It isn't your fault." Porlyusica grumbles in response.

"It's kinda my fault I have PTSD in the first place, so let's just say it is." Natsu grins cheekily. He had always been a complex little shit, so Porlyusica assumed that his prankster personality had come from well before his tragedy. She couldn't blame him for something that had stuck around since before he died. It was better if he felt as human as possible. He was actually human, but the presence of the demons within him merely enhanced his abilities. That didn't mean that Natsu actually ever felt human. Natsu always called himself human or a dragon slayer, but the two of them along with Gildarts knew the actual truth. He was a demon, and a damned frightening one at that.