Natsu's Point of View

"Hey Luce?" I asked as I stared straight ahead. I heard her move to look at me. "Yeah, what's up Natsu?" she asked and I could hear the curiosity in her voice. We were lying near the shore of the river outside Lucy's apartment, staring up at the stars. I couldn't shake this feeling like something was rushing towards us, going full speed. I knew something was about to break or change forever, and this thought was gnawing on the inside of my head. I was never the type to over think things, but somehow I felt jumpy. "I…I feel…" I couldn't bring myself to say anything because I knew my blonde friend would immediately start freaking out. I sighed and said, "You know what, never mind." And with that, we continued watching the stars and pointing out the constellations, genuinely enjoying the time we had together. I didn't know it yet, but something was barreling towards us, something that would break this temporary peace we had so desperately fought for.

Chapter 1

"Natsu, look out! Turn around damn it!" I heard the familiar voice call from somewhere behind me. I turned around, but it was too late. I felt something hard slam against my back. I flew to the ground roughly and my breath caught in my throat. The usual gang and I had accepted a job that may have been a bit of a stretch, even for us.

Earlier that day, I saw Erza standing near the job request bored with her hand under her chin. She had that signature scowl on her face, and I could tell something was bothering her. "Yo! Something the matter Erza?" I said with a giant grin on my face. "Hmm…?" she said, glancing at me from the corner of her eyes. "I'm thinking of going on a job. Naturally you, Gray, Lucy and Happy will be tagging along as well. This particular job caught my eye…" she trailed off as she continued glaring at the piece of paper. I quickly ran to the board to get a closer look at the job that was causing Erza to look so uneasy. Once I reached the board, I read over the job request. It said:

Help Needed:

Looking for capable mages from a legitimate guild to assassinate

a destructive demon wreaking havoc upon the city of Tiria. Willing to pay

a considerable amount; at least 7000000J.

EHS

I read over the request and nothing really stood out to me, well except for the fact this guy was willing to pay 7000000J for killing some stupid demon. "What's wrong with this request? Seems normal enough to me," I said, still looking at the board. I heard Erza shift her weight and sigh. "I'm not sure myself; however, the initials at the end of the request… they seem so familiar. I just can't shake this feeling of unease…" she trailed off again. "Aww, stop your worrying Erza! I'm sure you're just being overly paranoid like usual!" I nearly shouted while smacking her on the back. I knew that hitting her was a mistake as soon as I did the unthinkable act. "…Natsu…" she was basically growling at me now. I could see a dark purple aura coming off of her. "Eeep!" I said, and I was just about to make a run for it when the guild doors suddenly burst open.

"Lucy!" I shouted while running over to her. Thankfully she distracted Erza for me. "Oh hey Natsu, Erza…" she said in a melancholy tone. She looked rather sad and I started to become worried."Hey… are you alright? You look kinda messed up." I eyed her skeptically. "Everything's fine except for the fact that my rent is due in like a week and my savings have been, well you know, lacking…" she said breathlessly. Relief washed over me. "Oh well if that's all, don't worry about it! Erza found a job for us, and your never gonna believe the reward we get! 7000000J!" Lucy's mouth basically dropped to the floor and her eye started twitching. "Lucy, your face looks all ugly. Did you eat a bad fish?" asked Happy, my cat and best friend. "Shut up! I was just surprised is all! Well what are we waiting for? I need some money!" She had that goofy grin on her face that made me smile back. For some reason I had this really warm feeling inside my chest when I looked at her. That's weird, I thought. I've seen Luce smile like a million times before…what's different now? I didn't dwell on that for too long because my thoughts were rudely interrupted when Gray punched me square in the face. "What the hell was that for you snow cone?" I screamed at the ice mage. "Sorry, I slipped and your stupid face just happened to be there to catch my fall" he said with a smirk. "Yeah you will be sorry when I'm done with you—" I stopped midsentence because I could feel Erza's presence suddenly behind me. Apparently Grey felt it too because the next thing we knew, our arms were draped around each other's shoulders and we tried our best to smile. "You better not fight in front of me, you got that?" Erza's glare caused Gray and me to start sweating. "Aye sir!" we said together. Lucy started giggling and I knew we must have looked ridiculous. "Good, now go get your things. We're leaving for Tiria to complete the job." I suddenly had the same feeling from the night at the river wash over me. Why can't I shake this stupid feeling? I scratched my cheek and glanced over at Lucy. She was still smiling and I felt the unease disappear almost immediately, and it was replaced with a smile. "Yeah! What are we waiting for!" And with that Erza walked over to Mirajane to turn in the job request.