#dark guild

You sighed heavily, glancing around at the damage that your guild had inflicted on the surrounding area. The four of you had only come to take out a singular person, and yet your comrades had ended up taking it over the top.

“This happens every time.” You muttered, running a hand through your tangled hair. Though you knew you should be used to it by now, you couldn’t help praying that they would learn eventually. “Can’t you guys just stick to what we have to do?”

“It’s not like we’re doing any harm!” Yuka giggled, grinning childishly at you.

You glanced over at her. Yuka used transformation magic, and was very good at using it effectively. She tended to distract the target, causing them to attack her, whilst the rest of your group could take them out in secrecy.

“I don’t care about the harm,” You shot back, rolling your eyes. “As a dark guild, we have to be wary of covering our tracks. We don’t want anyone tracking us down.”

A loud scoff caught your attention. Takeshi, who used dark ice magic, was already walking away from the scene with a contented smirk on his face. His light hair was being blown out around him, but his hair was messy already, so it wouldn’t make much difference to him.

“Let them come to us, [F/N]. We’d be strong enough to take them down.” Takeshi’s voice eventually reached your ears as the rest of you started to follow him. He was always overly-confident when it came to fighting.

Takeshi was the kind of wizard to attack the Magic Council single-handedly, if he could. There had been several occasions, on which he had attempted to attack the Magic Council, though your group always came along to stop him. It had usually ended up with you slapping him round the face and dragging him back to the guild, despite his overwhelming kicking and screaming.

“I wouldn’t mind fighting Blue Pegasus!” Yuka added to the conversation, skipping along beside you.

With her small figure and bright eyes, nobody would have guessed that such a young, innocent child would be part of the notorious dark guild, Shadow Heart. She was always playing with toys, or following the gossip about the famous guilds, such as Blue Pegasus and Mermaid Heel.

“I’d hate to have to fight Fairy Tail, though…” Hajime, the celestial mage of your group, had a tendency to sit at the back. He would allow to rest of you to fight, before jumping in whenever it appealed to him.

“I don’t understand what’s so bad about Fairy Tail. Who even are they?” You wondered aloud, your voice echoing around the empty area.

All of the civilians had either been badly wounded, or they had escaped before the destruction had taken place. Several of them had run away, screaming about how they were going to contact one of the stronger guilds, in hopes of getting them to drive your guild away.

“It’s not that I don’t know who Fairy Tail are, I just don’t know the people in Fairy Tail. Surely they can’t be that strong.” You continued, raising your shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. You were the kind of person that didn’t really care about the other guilds, therefore you didn’t know the kinds of magic that the other guilds wielded.

As a user of dark magic, you were one of the strongest mages in your guild, Shadow Heart. You were taken on most jobs because you could walk in, take the enemy down with a mere flick of your wrist, and then walk right back out.

But not today.

None of the people in your small group had expected to be ambushed on your way out of the destroyed town. So when a black-haired male, wearing nothing from the waist up, jumped out of a nearby bush, there were a few surprised screams from the four of you.

Hajime stumbled backwards, grumbling when he fell on his ass. He rubbed his head tentatively, before glaring up at the unknown male. His narrowed eyes fixed the unknown person with a glare so harsh that it could have melted ice.

“You guys were actually here? It was surprisingly easy to track your guild’s movements.” The male commented, narrowing his eyes at the four of you.

You were already posed to strike, knowing that this guy wasn’t here to make small talk, or befriend any of you. You also suppressed an eye roll, knowing that the encounter could have been avoided. After warning the others not to cause a big mess, it had finally come back to haunt them.

“We told you to stick to the plan, Ice Princess!” An irritated voice caught your attention.

The next voice was feminine, “Gray!”

Four more people came tumbling out of the same bush, fixing the undressed male with several glares. A female with red-hair and armour, that looked to be fairly heavy, grabbed him by the ear.

“Gray, we’ve been through this.” She told him, her voice low and menacing as she released him from her grip. Her eyes then turned to stare at the four of us, though she didn’t seem at all surprised. “Oh, you found them. Good job!”

Immediately after threatening him, she turned to him with a smile and patted his back with much force. The dark-haired male, who you now knew was named Gray, stumbled forward, his face scrunching up in pain.

You exchanged a confused glance with Yuka, her confusion seemingly reflecting yours. Your guild had been approached by five strangers, but instead of fighting you, they were exchanging some friendly banter.

“Guys, this isn’t the time for this!” A blonde-haired female whined loudly, clutching her hands to her chest. Her eyes were fixated on our group and you realised, with much satisfaction, that she seemed scared.

“Natsu, I got stuck in a tree!” A blue cat flew into the clearing, followed shortly by a white cat. You rubbed your eyes, wondering when you were going to wake up.

And then something resonated within you.

That name was familiar. The name Natsu was familiar to you. Where had you heard that name before?

“Look, you guys are cute, but we’re kind of going somewhere.” Takeshi told them, before attempting to stride past their group. He was immediately met by a flaming fist. Takeshi fell backwards, his back colliding harshly with the floor.

“Natsu-san, you didn’t need to do that!” A young girl, with deep blue hair, turned to the salmon-haired male with wide, pleading eyes. She looked to be the same height as Yuka, though they were visibly different in the chest area.

Once again, the name struck you as familiar. As did the fire magic used by the pink-haired male. Both were shockingly familiar to you, striking up a feeling of nostalgia within you, though you were unable to remember where you knew it from.

“Natsu…” You breathed, the name feeling strangely comforting as it fell from your lips. It felt as though you had spoken that name a million times.

“[F/N]-chan, is everything okay?” Yuka glanced over at you, placing a hand upon your arm comfortingly. You looked down at her with wide eyes, and nodded gently, fixing her with a small smile.

This time, it was the fire mage’s turn to stare with wide eyes.

“We weren’t intending to fight you, but it seems you’ve hurt our comrade. That is something unforgivable.” You stated, before raising your hand. A thick wave of dark energy lashed out at the blonde-haired female, sending her flying backwards.

Before any of them could react, you immediately raised your other hand, causing the younger child to fly backwards. She collided with a nearby tree, then fell limply to the floor.

“Requip!” The red-haired female yelled loudly, causing a light glow to surround her body. With furrowed brows, you realised that her armour was changing. Instead of the simple armour she wore before, she was now dressed in an outfit that had a very long skirt, with wings protruding from her back.

As she fixed you with a harsh glare, you saw a wheel of swords gradually appearing behind her. A smirk tugged at the corner of your lips; you realised that you were facing strong opponents. Perhaps it would be fun.

“Ice Make: Lance!” The unclothed male shouted something at your group, before a shot of ice ran towards you.

Takeshi laughed aloud, intercepting the ice with his. A black mist settled upon the ground, before a large number of black ice bullets began to rain down on the ground.

Gray seemed somewhat taken aback, before he attempted to dodge the attack. He then turned to his comrades, “I think I’ll take on this guy!”

“I was going to say the same thing.” Takeshi interrupted the other male, firing another cold attack in his direction. As the dark-haired male lunged away, Takeshi followed, which took the two of them away from the small gathering.

That left two other opponents, assuming the females didn’t stand up again.

“Transform!” Yuka immediately threw herself at the red-haired female. The two of them stumbled backwards, immersed in their fight. As they hesitantly moved away, still throwing hasty attacks at each other, you rolled your eyes.

Now you were left with the pink-haired male. He glared at you furiously, probably enraged from where you had hurt his comrades. Hajime stood slightly behind you, staring down at his hands with a bored expression.

“I’ll go on ahead. You can have fun, [F/N].” Hajime muttered, before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

Natsu, your opponent, could have easily attacked him there and then, but he seemed frozen to the spot. His eyes were wide again. You cocked your head at him, wondering what was bothering him.

The more you stared at him, the more it clicked into place. His hair was familiar to you. It reminded you of the mop of hair that you were so used to seeing as a kid. His eyes were familiar to you. They reminded you of the sparkling eyes that met yours whenever you were sad.

“Natsu…” You repeated yourself quietly. “Natsu Dragneel…”

Natsu Dragneel! He was your childhood best friend. In fact, you’d even go as far as to say you’d developed a crush on him. The two of you had been so incredibly close, and yet you hadn’t spoken to him for years.

When your parents mysteriously disappeared, you fell into a state of despair. Natsu kept trying to contact you, but you kept shutting yourself away from everyone. You eventually left Magnolia, wandering aimlessly for several months, before you had stumbled upon your new home – Shadow Heart.

At first, you hadn’t realised it was a dark guild; everyone had been so friendly and inviting that it hadn’t even occurred to you. But when you listened to the news that spread, you realised what you had gotten yourself involved in. And you didn’t mind.

They had welcomed you. They had given you the home you thought you’d never find. Shadow Heart was your family, and you wouldn’t give them up for anything.

It was only now that you began to wonder what had happened to Natsu Dragneel. It was only now that you wanted to know where your best friend had been this whole time, and if he still remembered you.

“How do you know my name?”

You immediately stared back at the boy, your eyes wide and your face pale. “What?”

“My name is Natsu Dragneel. How do you know it?” He repeated himself, this time speaking with more anger. There was something about his voice that was familiar, too.

“It seems you share the same name as my childhood friend.” You told him, laughing awkwardly. There was no way it could be possible. There was no way that the person in front of you could be the same Natsu Dragneel that you had grown so close to.

“Hold on… That girl said your name was [F/N].” Natsu kept muttered quietly. He seemed to be as shocked as you were. “That was the name of my childhood friend.”

And then it clicked.

The person stood before you was, in fact, the Natsu Dragneel that you had been in love with. The person whose comrades you had just hurt was, in fact, your best friend.

You shuddered. “No way.”

“Why, [F/N]? Why would you join a dark guild?”

“They were all I had. They welcomed me, Natsu. When I had no one, these guys were my family!” You told him, feeling your hands begin to shake at your sides. You didn’t want to fight him. You didn’t want to hurt him anymore than you already had, but you didn’t think you had a choice. “I didn’t want to be alone.”

“I was your family, [F/N]! You had me!” His face, too, was pale as he stared back at you. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, in time with his breathing. “Do you know how much it hurt me when you went missing? I searched for you for months! Years, even!”

“I-I didn’t know…” You whispered, feeling tears in the corner of your eyes.

“I don’t want to fight you, [F/N], but you’ve hurt my comrades.” Natsu breathed as his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Flames engulfed his shaking fists and you realised that you might have to fight him.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Natsu.” You told him, your voice quivering as the fear slowly settled in. The love that you had felt for him had never truly died away. It had always lived deep within you as a hushed secret, a whisper of hope that you might meet him again.

But you hadn’t wanted to meet him like this.

You could do nothing but watch on as he prepared to throw his first attack at you. As much as you didn’t want to fight him, you also didn’t want to just stand there and take what he was going to throw at you.

Just as he was about to charge at you, you shrieked, “I loved you, Natsu! I still do!”

He froze just in front of you, his face barely inches from yours. The flames around him slowly fizzled away, until they were nothing but mere embers. You breathed a sigh of relief, though you knew that you weren’t in the clear just yet.

Natsu dropped his hand back to his side, his hot breath fanning across your face as you tried to control your breathing. His intense gaze met yours, seemingly locking your eyes in place. The lack of distance between the two of you was something that you couldn’t quite ignore.

“I’ll give you two choices, [F/N]. You can hand yourself in, or you can leave her with me. If you come with me, you’ll join Fairy Tail and you’ll stop working for bad guilds.” He told you, constantly avoiding your gaze as he spoke.

The first option was out of the question. You’d be locked up for ages, and potentially forced to hand over the rest of your guild. That was something you couldn’t do; you couldn’t betray their trust.

But you didn’t want to leave them. As much as you wanted to be with Natsu again, you couldn’t just leave your family. You needed them, and they needed you. They would never forgive you if you just abandoned them.

“Natsu, I-I can’t just leave them.”

He glanced away from me, “We’ll let them go.”

“I can’t leave them, Natsu. They’re my family.” You pressed again, knowing that it wasn’t going to end happily either way. No matter which you chose, you would be leaving someone behind.

With a deep breath, you leaned forward. You leaned towards Natsu until you felt your nose brush against his, until his serpentine eyes were right in front of yours. A sad smile danced across your face as you leaned forward, pressing your lips against his cheek.

“It was nice to see you again, Natsu.” You whispered, before walking past him. If there was no way to be with them both, then you would choose neither. You would hand yourself in to the Magic Council, despite the pain it was causing you.