To Kill A Dragon

First Steps

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima, Tiamat is loosely based on Tiamat from Forgotten Realms which Belongs to Wizards of the Coast, LLC. The traits of the chromatic dragons have been altered to match the dragon slayers in the Fairy Tail Universe.

Revised and edited June 26, 2019

Chapter 10: First Steps

Igneel stirred in the part of Natsu's consciousness where his soul resided. He looked around in confusion, trying to determine what had caused him to wake. There was something, it felt like another presence hovering near him. Not quite defined, but powerful and definitely there.

"Is someone there?" Igneel called out softly.

"I'm here," The presence answered in a voice that sounded like it belonged to a youngling.

"Who are you?" Igneel's curiosity was growing in leaps and bounds. How had this presence made its way inside of Natsu?

"I don't know. I wasn't, and then I was," It replied simply.

"How did you get here?" Natsu's body was certainly getting very crowded these days. Dragon seed, demon seed, dragon soul and now this, whatever it was.

"How did you?"

"I arrived here by casting a spell called Dragon Soul."

"Where is here?" The voice asked, its voice trembling a bit.

"We're inside my son's body."

"Does he know we're here?"

"No, but we're safe," Igneel tried to make his voice sound comforting, but it was still a bit rough around the edges.

"That's good. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be here. I'm waiting for something to grow."

"Grow?"

"Yes, my vessel is not yet ready to house me. Can I see what you look like?" The presence asked nervously. It was still weak, not much more than an idea or a dream at the moment.

Once it became aware, it had felt lonely and had gravitated towards the strong presence it had sensed sharing this space. It had been surprised to be detected at all.

Igneel projected an image of himself for the presence to see. He made sure to make it look non-threatening.

The presence didn't know why, but it felt warm and safe as it looked at the image of the red dragon. Was the dragon here to protect it until it was stronger?

"What about you?" Igneel asked curiously.

"I'm not sure. I think I'll have more than one form. I'm still mostly potential, but I think I'll look something like this." The presence projected an image of a small pink haired boy with slightly droopy dark blue eyes.

Igneel gasped, excepting the eyes, its features looked very much like Natsu as a child. He thought he was beginning to understand who the presence was.

He held back his anger not wanting to scare it. Igneel was going to have to tread very carefully, but if it was still mostly potential, maybe he could help mold it into something unlike the goddess that had created it.

"What other form do you think you'll have?" Igneel asked with interest.

"I will also be a dragon, but my form is not yet certain. The one I see the most clearly has five heads, but I also see the possibility of one strong red one."

The presence had felt the dragon's distress to the form he had shown it, and it was curious about what it meant. "Why did you react like that when I showed you my form?"