The Beat of War Drums

Chapter 8 - This Is Stupid...

Chapter 8

Two Weeks Later - Third Person P.O.V.

Natsu strolls off away from camp. It's near dusk, and he knows that he'll have to get the timing perfect if he truly wants an impressive show. He sits and crosses his legs. Instantly, the blood he begins to generate starts to form walls several meters away from him, becoming a decagon in shape. The walls began carving patterns in themselves as blood began to fill up within the three-foot-tall walls that acted as the edges of a pool. The blood stopped filling just before the top of the walls and Natsu balanced on the liquid blood with ease. A new structure began forming in the center of the little pool.

The rest of the Meyers-Dragneel family watches Natsu's new creation with curiosity and awe. As the sun crests the hillside, the gazebo is finished, the structure and the walls becoming stone, and the pool becoming water. Fire shoots out from the designated places, and Natsu simply remains seated calmly in the center of the creation, as if making something as extravagant as this in under five minutes was perfectly normal.

"Think he's mastered his curses yet, Zeref?" Actin asks. He doesn't bother keeping his voice down. Natsu's ears are so freakishly sharp that he'd be able to hear a baby mouse creep around a mile away. Actin sometimes wonders how his baby brother even tolerates hearing that good. No way would he be able to handle it. Such hearing would be too distracting.

"Alright. I concede." Zeref sighs, throwing his hands in the air. "He even timed it perfectly, the damned brat." he grumbles, his lips twisting into an expression of unease. He can't pinpoint it, but for some reason, he feels as if that show was too perfect. "And changing the properties of the blood, amazing, really." Zeref insists with a nod to himself. What Natsu has made himself capable of in a mere two weeks is incredible and unlike anything any of them had seen previously. He's improving so fast that it's frightening. His little brother's vast improvement made Zeref uneasy. He felt as if his progress was coming to naturally to be natural. "Natsu! You're officially done training with your curses!" Zeref shouts. Honestly, he could've whispered it as quietly as humanly possible, and Natsu still would've heard it, but shouting makes any situation more dramatic.

"HOORAY!" Natsu roars, leaping to his feet within the gazebo, rocking a blazing fist into the air to celebrate his victory. Kida chuckles at her older brother's antics. It had taken plenty of persuasion from an enraged Natsu to convince her to like the youngest of her older brothers, but he's so stubborn that she simply had to do what he told her. Now, Natsu is one of her favorite people in the world. It's impossible to hate the lovable little lizard for long.

"I think that we really need to form a more specific plan, Zeref." Mavis states over Natsu's shouts of glee. Now that Natsu's curse training is done, it would be the perfect time to sit down and think things over. The group now knows what Natsu's capable of, therefore making a plan will be much easier now.

"I agree." Zeref replies. "Now that Natsu is done with this aspect of his training, I think that we should take time as a family to discuss what exactly we should do." he explains. His unease is seemingly gone, for now, at least. One chapter has finished, but before the next one gets written, an outline is necessary.

"We have an idea of what's lurking in the barrier now. Maybe we can convince the kid to take another look within." Actin suggests. Zeref winces slightly at the idea. It would be beneficial for the group, but Zeref can't help but remember the terrified scream and the horrified murmurs. He hates to see his little brother like that.

"I don't think that he'll be willing, but we can suggest it at the very least." Zeref sighs. The rest of the family nods in acceptance of the situation. They had all been told about the severity of Natsu's panic attack after fazing through the barrier the first time. The venture had been evoking nightmares every night since. None of them particularly wanted to make the Dragon Slayer suffer, but if he was willing to gather more information, it certainly wouldn't hurt them at all. They would accept it if the idea was simply too much for him.