5

Chapter 5 – Battle the Knight and Demon, The Egg

"Erza, fight me!" Natsu challenged with a grin as he stood behind the red-haired girl in the guild hall.

"Alright fine, but only because I don't have a quest today." Erza agreed with a sigh as she stood up from her table and headed towards the back of the guild.

"Yes!" Natsu cheered as he followed behind Erza as they exited out of the guild hall's back door. He still remembered their first fight.

-Flashback-

Natsu and Erza stood across from each other getting ready to have their first fight against each other. Natsu had a wide grin on his face while Erza was calm. Natsu quickly rushed towards Erza with flames appearing on his hands. Erza let him get closer before she swung her sword and smacked the ankle of his right leg with the flat side. Natsu stumbled from the unexpected strike and struggled to regain his balance.

"Hey! What was that?!" Natsu growled at the redhead.

"I disrupted your footwork and stalled your charge." Erza responded as she kicked at his other ankle getting Natsu to stumble backward to avoid the strike.

"Stop that!" Natsu demanded only to have Erza fluidly dodge his sloppy retaliatory punch and punch him in the back of the head. "Ow!" Natsu groaned as he stumbled forward.

"If you can break your opponent's rhythm in battle it becomes easier to defeat them." Erza explained as she ducked under Natsu back fist and struck him in the stomach with the pommel of her sword. "It's basic tactics."

"I've fought Salamanders and Wyverns and they never fought like this!" Natsu groaned as he stood up from his hunched over position, it was a good thing he was so durable.

"Of course they didn't, they're strong but still beasts, humans will often fight with tactics against other humans. I have much more experience fighting human opponents than you do, so I have the advantage in this fight." Erza told him as she dodged his punches and kicks before slamming her swords' sheathe into the side of Natsu's head.

"Ow!" Natsu growled.

"Disrupting your opponent's senses is also a common tactic." Erza informed as she used the reflection of the sun off her sword to blind Natsu for a second. That instant was all the redhead needed to close the distance and sweep Natsu's feet out from under him. Natsu crashed onto his back only to feel the tip of Erza's sword against his throat. "I win." She stated getting Natsu to grumble as he rubbed the side of his head.

-End Flashback-

"Hey! Natsu and Erza are going to fight again! Get out the betting pool!" Wakaba called out as multiple mages started rushing out back to get a good view of the upcoming fight.

"So she finally agreed again, huh?" Makarov chuckled as he followed after his brats. Once outside, Makarov took up his place as the 'referee' of the fight. Most of the guild was now surrounding the large open area behind the guild hall in excitement.

"You can do it, Natsu!" Lisanna called out cheerfully. "Good luck, Erza!"

"Take her down Natsu!" Mira yelled with a cackle getting Erza to shoot her a fierce glare. "What? You wanna go, you tin can?!"

"Hey! This is my fight! No butting in Mira!" Natsu yelled back, only to get a devious grin from Mira.

"Hey, Natsu! If you beat Erza I'll finally fight with you!" Mira promised in a sing-song tone.

"For real?! Heck yeah! I'm fired up now!" Natsu cheered as Mira laughed at him while Erza scowled at her rival.

"Alright, alright, are you two ready?" Makarov questioned looking between Erza and Natsu. Getting a nod from both of his brats Makarov raised his hand into the air. "Then begin!" The old man stated as he chopped his hand down through the air.

"You think Natsu has a chance?" Macao asked with a grin as Natsu and Erza rushed at each other.

"Probably not, but let them have their fun anyway!" Wakaba answered with a chuckle.

The rest of the guild was standing on the outskirts of the field, so that they wouldn't get caught up in the fight; most of the members cheering the two young teens on. Erza quickly whipped out her sword from her waist and swung it at Natsu's right leg. Natsu spun to the side out of the path of the swing only for Erza to rush him with a thrust.

"Not this time!" Natsu grinned as he stomped hard on the ground. "Earth Dragon's Tremoring Stomp!" The ground began to shake and crack as Natsu's spell took its toll on the battlefield. Erza was struggling to maintain her footing while the crowd of mages were either falling over or yelling at Natsu to not get them involved. "You better not go easy on me, Erza! I want a good fight!" The Dragon Slayer shouted at the redhead.

"I'll manage." Erza replied as the shaking stopped.

"Then I'll make you use one of those new Magic Armors of yours!" Natsu growled before his magic spiked and a wave of heat rushed over the battlefield. "Magma Dragon's Roar!" A blast of molten lava emerged from Natsu's mouth and rushed towards Erza. The heat of the spell making most of the crowd back away further from the fight.

"Very well, if you want to see them that badly." Erza replied as her body began to glow and her clothing was replaced by armor. A swing of her new sword split Natsu's Roar in two making everyone behind Erza dash out of the way of the lava as it impacted the ground. The magic energy dispersed, revealing Erza in her new armor. Orange, red and black made up the Magic Armor's colors and it even had dragon-like wings on the back. It left Erza's upper thighs uncovered for mobility and revealed the top of her breasts and her bare shoulders while a gold band with a red design protected her neck. Her arms, legs and body were all covered by the armor and its dragon-like motif. "This is my Flame Empress Armor; it reduces Fire Magic's effectiveness by half."

Natsu felt like his eyes couldn't stop moving up and down Erza's form to take in the armor. The clear dragon styling and the colors looked amazing on Erza and her developing figure. Natsu wasn't completely oblivious to how his female guild mates had started growing in the last year or so. At fourteen Erza, Cana, and Mira had all started to develop some curves, especially in the bust as all three girls were proving to be rather, blessed, in that area. Heck even Lisanna was starting to show some growth and she'd been so small just over a year ago being two years younger than Mira.

"You look great!" Natsu beamed at Erza getting the redhead to almost stumble as she processed the Dragon Slayer's words.

"Natsu! Take this seriously!" Erza half demanded half whined while pointing her matching sword at the smiling pinkette. The blush on her face almost matched the red of her armor.

"Sure thing, Erza!" Natsu agreed as his magic spiked again while another wave of heat spread over the battlefield. The two mages quickly met in the middle of the field as Natsu's lava covered fist met Erza's flame sword head on. The two rapidly exchanged blows trying to find a weakness in the other's defense. Erza found a small opening and swung her sword at Natsu's side. To the shock of everyone watching, and especially Erza herself, Natsu stopped the swing by slamming his knee and elbow onto both sides of the sword.

"Got you now, Erza!" Natsu roared as his left hand was covered in rock. "Earth Dragon's Gauntlet!" A powerful punch coming at her forced Erza to abandon her trapped sword and dodge, taking several steps back.

"I'm impressed Natsu, I didn't think you'd block that." Erza complimented as she made her trapped sword dematerialize from Natsu's hold and reappear in her hand.

"Hey! No fair, I disarmed you fair and square!" Natsu grumbled getting a giggle out of Erza before she became serious again. The two engaged each other again with Natsu shrugging off any Fire Magic Erza's sword produced and Erza dodging most of Natsu's Earth Magic.

"Man, I didn't expect Natsu to last so long." Wakaba muttered in disbelief while Macao nodded beside him.

"Kick her ass, Natsu!" Mira cheered loudly, she was actually hoping he'd win just so she could have a go at him now.

"You're both doing great!" Lisanna encouraged as she stood beside her sister.

"You're doing well, Natsu." Erza acknowledged as the two jumped back from each other. Natsu was grinning at the compliment while Erza was panting slightly. Natsu was still exuding the high temperature from before and the heat was even starting to get through her Flame Empress Armor. That realization made Erza widen her eyes as she figured out what Natsu had been doing. "You've been increasing your heat output since the beginning. You're trying to find the limit of my armor!"

"Yep!" Natsu growled as he coated both hands in lava. "Magma Dragon's Burning Claws!" Natsu quickly closed the distance with Erza sending the girl on the defensive as she blocked the lava claws with her sword. With a grunt Erza kicked Natsu back a few steps and swung her sword at him. Natsu retaliated with a downward swipe of his lava claws the two attacks smashing into each other with enough force to make a small shockwave of magical energy. Unfortunately for Erza it was her sword that gave in first, a snap and the top half of her blade flew off to the side while Natsu's claw swiped down her torso and sent the teen girl to the ground. Before she was able to recover Natsu had straddled her waist and held his burning lava claws at her throat. "I win!" The Dragon Slayer claimed with a fierce grin that made Erza's cheeks warm.

"Winner, Natsu!" Makarov declared as several mages bemoaned the bets they'd just lost.

"Great fight, Erza! Let's do it again soon!" Natsu smiled getting a small nod from Erza.

"Um, Natsu, could you get off of me?" Erza asked shyly as Natsu was still straddling her waist and the position was rather…intimate.

"Oh yeah, sure thing." Natsu nodded as he looked down at Erza only for his eyes to widen and almost pop out of his head. It turned out that Natsu had indeed surpassed the limits of Erza's Flame Empress Armor. This was noticed by the fact that where Natsu's lava claws had struck, the armor had broken revealing what was beneath. In this case it was Erza's bare torso, including her B-Cup breasts which Natsu had just gotten a full view of for the first time since Erza had started to develop. "Erza, shirt! Shirt!" Natsu warned as he leaned back over the downed redhead to block anyone's view. He was also emitting a low warning rumble from his throat at every male within his sight.

"What?" Erza questioned as her cheeks burned red when Natsu leaned back over her. Their faces would only be a few centimeters apart if the boy looked down at her. Hearing Natsu mention her shirt she looked downwards to see her breasts out in the open. With a muffled squeal of embarrassment a glow overtook Erza's body as she re-quipped into her clothes from before the fight. "Thank you for protecting my modesty Natsu." She managed to say after her face stopped being so red. The two separated with Natsu helping Erza to her feet. The redhead nodded to Natsu before her face went red again and she quickly went to sit next to Cana on the sidelines. 'Natsu saw my breasts! What am I going to do?! I'm glad he shielded me from everyone's view. But I wonder what he thought of them? Did he like what he saw? No! Bad thoughts, Erza! Stop thinking about it!' Meanwhile Cana was simply sitting beside Erza confused at the myriad of emotions crossing Erza's blushing face.

"You wanna fight now Mira?" Natsu asked as he stared at the eldest Strauss sibling. Mira smiled devilishly as she strutted out onto the field and stood across from Natsu.

"I'm not going to go easy on you Natsu! Especially since you look so cute when you pout!" Mira giggled as she teased Natsu.

"Hey! I don't pout!" Natsu yelled back as he took a ready stance.

"You will when I beat you!" Mira laughed as she transformed into her Satan Soul form. The red leotard left a huge amount of Mira's torso visible including her cleavage, a bit of her own B-Cup breasts and all the way down to just above her pelvis. The large scaled tail and bat-like wings that formed only further accentuated the demonic claws that Mira's hands had become. She had truly turned her form into that of a demon.

"Are you brats ready?" Makarov questioned looking between Mira and Natsu. Getting a nod from both of teens Makarov raised his hand into the air. "Begin!" The old man started the fight as he chopped his hand down through the air once more.

"What do you think Natsu's chances are this time?" Macao asked since he'd just watched Natsu defeat Erza.

"Not a clue." Wakaba answered while shaking his head.

"Go Mira! Go Natsu!" Lisanna cheered on her sister and her friend.

"You can defeat her Natsu!" Erza yelled before her cheeks went red when Natsu smiled back at her. She sat down and began to gently run her fingers along her Fang Necklace while trying to hide her blush. Cana grinned as she watched Erza become flustered even as she held her own Fang Necklace against her chest.

Natsu didn't even have time to react before Mira launched herself at him, kicking him the stomach, and sending him stumbling back.

"Not bad, Mira!" Natsu growled before slamming his foot into the ground. "Earth Dragon's Shrapnel Barrage!" Dozens of large rocks erupted from the ground at high speed aiming at Mira forcing the teen to take to the air to avoid the barrage of rock.

"You think you can beat me at long range?!" Mira questioned, before increasing her speed and diving at Natsu with her fist raised. The Dragon Slayer cocked his fist back and engulfed it in lava before throwing it forward. In a split second Natsu and Mira's fists collided. The force of the blow blew through the area ruffling their guild mate's hair and clothes. Mira quickly responded to this stalemate, by lashing her tail into Natsu's side and knocking him away. Mira then brought her hands together, forming a massive orb of Dark Magic, before launching it at Natsu.

"Magma Dragon's Roar!" Natsu roared out sending the stream of molten rock against the orb of darkness. The two attacks struggled for a moment before the orb was destroyed and Mira had to dive down to avoid getting a face full of lava.

"I'm winning this now!" Mira growled in an inhuman voice, as she formed a swirling mass of Dark Magic in her hands. The orb was smaller than the first but felt much more powerful. "Soul Extinction!" She then fired it at Natsu, who only unleashed even more magic in response.

"Wow, I didn't know Mira was this competitive! This is awesome!" Natsu cheered his magic flaring around him as the Soul Extinction was flying towards his position. "Magma Dragon's Eruption!" A massive column of lava sprang from the ground all around Natsu and launched over a dozen meters into the air. The Soul Extinction hit the column of molten rock and slowly forced its way through. Before the orb could pass any further than a few centimeters it was quickly caught up in the lava's upward stream and launched high into the air were it exploded in a black haze that temporarily blotted out the sun over the Fairy Tail Guild. With a roar Natsu launched himself at Mira with flames coming from his feet. Mira was shocked that Natsu was suddenly in the air with her and almost failed to block the first rock covered fist. The two rapidly exchanged blows as they fell to the ground. Every time Mira tried to disengage to gain altitude Natsu would blast himself into her guard with his fire and force her to block another strike.

The two mages landed roughly and quickly began to tumble along the ground as they threw blows at one another. For a moment Natsu would have the upper hand before being flipped by Mira. Then it would be Mira flipped by Natsu as they struggled to pin the other to the ground.

"Evil Spark!" Mira cried out discharging blue lightning from her body shocking Natsu and letting her pin him down.

"Earth Dragon's Seismic Slam!" Natsu roared out as he grabbed Mira by the waist and slammed her into the ground beside him. The shockwave that shook the ground let every onlooker know just how much magic Natsu had put into that spell. The Dragon Slayer was quick to pin the She-Devil to the ground and encase her hands and feet in rock to secure her completely. Straddling Mira's waist and with a lava coated fist hovering over her head Natsu growled lowly. "I win."

"Well, this is a bit more than I was ready for Natsu." Mira blushed bashfully as she realized she was not only pinned and straddled but also tied up at the same time. This situation wouldn't be out of place in that adult novel she and Erza had taken a peek at a while back. Mira blushed even darker at that realization causing Natsu to cock his head to the side in confusion.

"Winner, Natsu!" Makarov declared as more mages grumbled about losing bets while others celebrated their winnings.

Natsu quickly released Mira from the rock and stood up. Mira sat up and huffed as she tried to get her blush to go away. Natsu held out his hand to help her back onto her feet and Mira gently took it and let the pinkette pull her up. Mira stood up but stumbled slightly only for Natsu to catch her in his arms and pull her into his chest. Mira's blush returned full force as she was essentially pulled into a hug by Natsu.

"You okay Mira?" Natsu asked as he let Mira take a half step backwards so he could look her in the eyes.

"Yeah, thanks Natsu, I'm fine." Mira mumbled as she tried to get the heat to leave her cheeks through sheer force of will.

"That was awesome, Mira! We should fight more often!" Natsu grinned making Mira smile shyly as she nodded along with the pinkette's request.

It had been almost a week since Natsu had fought and defeated both Mira and Erza and the Dragon Slayer was looking for something to do. Lisanna was walking with him through the forest happily spending time with her friend. Natsu hadn't found a job he'd been interested in today and Cana, Mira, and Erza were all on jobs of their own. Though he and Cana had made plans to hang out when she got back. The two had been spending time together like this since shortly after Natsu joined Fairy Tail. Often times it was the two of them just practicing their magic together, but every now and then the two would just find somewhere peaceful and simply enjoy each other's company.

"So what are you hoping to find out here Natsu?" Lisanna asked as they slowed down a bit and Natsu looked around.

"No idea, Lisanna, just something to do for a while." Natsu sighed as he looked around the forest for anything remotely interesting.

"Well we could always go fishing, that's relaxing and has a chance to get us dinner." Lisanna suggested with a smile getting one from Natsu in return.

"Not a bad idea, Lisanna, just you wait I'm gonna catch a huge fish for you!" Natsu exclaimed getting a happy cheer from Lisanna. "When I catch it I'll give it one of these!" The pinkette boasted as he punched the tree he was standing next to causing some leaves to fall from the branches. Without warning a large object fell out of the tree and hit Natsu in the head. "Ow! What was that?!"

"It looks like an egg." Lisanna replied as she looked the object over. "It has blue markings on it though."

"What kind of egg is this huge?" Natsu wondered curiously as he sniffed at the egg.

"Well the only way to find out is to hatch it, right?" Lisanna questioned before glowing and taking on the form of a large bird with pink and green feathers. This was Lisanna's Animal Soul: Bird, she often used it for scouting when she went on jobs with her siblings. With her new form Lisanna gently enveloped the large egg with her soft feathered wings in an attempt to start warming it.

"Yeah, that's probably the easiest way, but maybe we should make a nest for it? You know, to keep it out of the rain and stuff." Natsu suggested getting a nod from Lisanna. The two spent the next few hours making a small hut out of long grasses found in a field next to the forest. It was nothing amazing but for two kids without any building experience it was at least mostly water tight. They placed the egg in a nest inside the hut made from the same grasses and sat next it to warm it with their bodies.

"You know this is kinda like us being a mom and a dad." Lisanna giggled getting Natsu to tilt his head in thought. It was sort of like that he supposed.

"I guess so." Natsu nodded as he looked over at Lisanna to see the girl staring back at him.

"I'd like to be a mom if you were the dad, Natsu." Lisanna smiled getting Natsu to smile back as he blushed slightly. "Then we could be happy together."

"What about Mira, Cana, Erza and everyone at guild?" Natsu asked.

"I want them to be happy too, of course." Lisanna replied while leaning against the egg. "But I think you could make me the happiest of all. If Mira, Cana and Erza wanted to be happy too we could just have one big family together."

"Lisanna?" Natsu questioned as his face grew red. "What are you saying?"

"I like you at lot, Natsu, and I know Mira, Erza and Cana do too. But I don't think we have to fight about it, love should bring joy not cause pain. We could all be happy together." Lisanna answered as she locked eyes with the pinkette. "I'd like to have that kind of love-filled life with you."

"Oh, really, well that's…um…I don't really know what to say." Natsu stumbled over his words at what Lisanna was saying.

"I want to ask them about this, but I wanted to hear what you thought about it first. It's different than what most people normally do but I don't want any of us to be left out." Lisanna continued as she looked out the small doorway of the hut. "So what do you think, Natsu? What do you want?"

"Lisanna, I really like all of you, but I'm not sure anybody would be willing to accept this kind of thing." Natsu replied flustered, how was it that Lisanna was so insightful when she was a year younger than him?

"But what do you want, Natsu?" Lisanna asked again getting a sigh from the pinkette.

"I want all of you to be happy of course, but would I be able to make you all as happy as you deserve?" Natsu responded as he looked down at the floor of their hut. Natsu shifted over almost instinctively when Lisanna moved to sit in his lap and wrap her arms around him.

"You're the only one that could ever do it, Natsu, the only one in the whole world." Lisanna confirmed as she nuzzled into his chest. Natsu wrapped his arms around Lisanna's waist as he pulled her closer.

"But what if the others don't agree?" Natsu questioned as they held each other.

"Just leave it to me. I'll explain everything to them. Promise." Lisanna promised as she and Natsu leaned against the large egg while holding each other. Natsu nuzzled into Lisanna's soft white hair as he breathed in her scent.

"I'll leave it to you then." Natsu agreed as the two continued to take care of the egg while holding onto each other. Near sunset the two were still warming the egg with their shared body heat when Lisanna asked a question Natsu hadn't been expecting.

"Hey Natsu?" Lisanna asked from her comfortable position in Natsu's arms.

"Yeah?" Natsu questioned as Lisanna pulled back enough for them to be able to look at each other.

"Your dad taught you Dragon Slayer Magic, right?" Lisanna queried.

"Yeah, why?" Natsu responded.

"How did he teach you? Was it like when Master Makarov taught Mira, Elfman, and I?" Lisanna asked.

"Mostly, but I had to go through the Dragon Soul Ritual first, after that it was mostly just practicing over and over again until I got it right." Natsu explained to the curious blue eyes of his friend.

"What's the Dragon Soul Ritual?" Lisanna questioned. Natsu spent the next few minutes explaining everything Igneel had forced him to memorize about the Dragon Soul Ritual. Including how it was performed. Lisanna was quiet for a few minutes after the explanation before she spoke again. "Can you perform the Ritual yourself?"

"Yeah, at least Igneel said I could, though it would take me more than the three days that it took him. I'm just nowhere near as strong as him yet." Natsu lamented getting a smile from Lisanna.

"Will you teach me?" Lisanna asked getting a soft smile from Natsu as he pulled her close again.

"Sure." Natsu mumbled as he nuzzled into her hair again to take in her scent