Eye of the Fire Dragon

There have only ever been two major priorities in Natsu's mind: find Igneel, and protect those he loved, in other words, Fairy Tail. Nothing made the Dragon Slayer angrier than someone bringing one of his family pain. And seeing Erza cry over the death of her friend… And the one who brought the pain laughing…

"If that's not pure idiocy I don't know what is!" Jellal cried, roaring in laughter, "That's what we call 'dying in vain'! The complete and utter…" He was abruptly silenced by Natsu's fist colliding with his face, sending him flying away.

Natsu didn't bother to say anything, as he grabbed a piece of Etherion, and held it up to this mouth. Erza looked up, as she watched through her tears.

"Natsu," she whispered. Jell looked up in shock at the pink haired man.

"Wait! You're not going to…," he said, but it was too late.

Natsu bit a massive chunk out of the Etherion crystal. He then let out a massive, animalistic roar, as fire flared around him.

"Did he just… eat the Etherion?" Erza asked.

"This guy….," Jellal muttered.

"Are you crazy!" Erza cried at Natsu, "Etherion is composed of lots of elements, not just fire! That can kill you!"

Natsu fell to his knees, as he grabbed another piece, and forced it down his throat. Jellal stared in shock.

In his desperation, he tried to eat raw Magic Power? he thought What did he think would happen? This guy's getting destroyed by his own stupidity!

The fire that surrounded Natsu flared brighter, as it began to consume him.

"NATSU!" Erza cried.

(in Natsu's mind)

It hurts.

He generally didn't feel hot. Now he didn't just feel hot, he felt like his skin was burning away. The power of the Ehterion was consuming him.

In his mental plain, Natsu could see nothing but fire, as it slowly began to swallow him. He could see Igneel flying away, as Natsu tried to reach for him, only to find he couldn't move.

Don't leave me, Natsu thought. Then he saw the members of Fairy Tail. The Old Man, Levy, Gray, Erza, and all the others, they were all fading away. Natsu then began to feel his eyes beginning to grow heavy.

That was when he saw her…

The image of the blonde girl appeared before him. Natsu could see every detail about her; her soul seeing eyes, her sun-kissed hair, and her beautiful smile.

Lucy…

(in the real world)

Natsu let out another roar, as the fire suddenly formed into a shape of a massive dragon.

A dragon? Erza thought in awe.

"What the hell?!" Jellal said out loud. The fire then suddenly began to swirl over Natsu, as it concentrated into his right eye. Then it suddenly rippled out in a wave. Erza and Jellal stared through the dust at Natsu, as he turned to face them. But something was different, namely his eye.

His eye had turned a glowing, fiery orange, with a reptilian slit in the center. The eye blazed like a wildfire.

"Eye of the Fire Dragon."

(outside the Tower of Heaven)

Lucy turned, she could sense something. No one else on the boat seemed to notice it.

"Natsu…," Lucy murmured. She then looked up at the Tower of Heaven.

"Just come back to me," she whispered

(in the Tower of Heaven)

"'Eye of the Fire Dragon'?" Erza echoed. She could feel the power surging from him; the power was absolutely immense.

"What is this?" Jellal muttered.

Natsu looked at his hands. This power… It was beyond anything he had ever felt before. He then clenched his fists. It was time Natsu ended this battle, and Erza's pain.

"So what if you survived eating the Etherion?" Jellal demanded, "It doesn't matter!" His body then began to glow, as he got ready to shoot at Natsu. However, Natsu beat him to the punch, as he sprung at Jellal, holding up his fist.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" he said, as he smashed his fist into Jellal. However, the power behind this fist was greater than ever before. It sent Jellal flying, slamming him into the Etherion crystal. Natsu then held up his arms, as a cloak of fire coated his body, including wings, and a tail; even a crown of horns formed from the fire. With that, Natsu then flapped his arms, flapping the wings in the process. He then took to the air, and soared towards Jellal.

"Meteor!" Jellal said, as he shot away from Natsu, crisscrossing around. He then turned to face Natsu, holding up his arms.

"Heavenly Arrows!" he said, shooting out his golden arrows at Natsu. Natsu didn't move, as the arrows hit him, only to harmlessly bounce off Natsu's fire armor. Jellal cringed, as he tried to fly away, but Natsu was faster, as he quickly caught up to Jellal.

"Fire Dragon's Tail!" Natsu roared, as he lashed the fire tail at Jellal, knocking him away. Natsu's chest began to glow, like there were embers beneath within his body. He then let out a roar, as he exhaled a massive cloud of fire at Jellal. Erza gasped. That wasn't Natsu's "Fire Dragon's Roar", that was him breathing fire. Jellal held up his arms.

"Heavenly Shield!" The shield formed in front of Jellal, but the fire quickly overcame the shield. Before the fire could completely disintegrate the man, Jellal managed to escape with his Meteor. Natsu then held up his hand, as a three-clawed made out of fire formed around his hand. He then descended upon Jellal, and slashed, hitting Jellal straight in the chest, leaving three burn marks across his chest. But Natsu wasn't done yet. He grabbed Jellal by the head, still with the fiery talon, and threw him across the area.

Natsu took a breath, as he turned to face Jellal. His fire tail didn't dissipate, instead it just lashed about around him. He clenched and unclenched his claws, as he stared down his foe. Jellal weakly rose to his feet to try and face Natsu.

"This ends now!" he declared, as he held up his hands, gathering together a black orb of energy, "Altairis! Now die!" He then launched the orb at Natsu, who held still. His chest then lit up again, as he let loose his fire. The fire completely consumed the orb, burning it away completely.

"That's… that's not possible," Jellal muttered, completely appalled that his attack failed. His anger than began to flare up like Natsu's fire.

"You can't beat me! I'm the one who hears Zeref's voice! I'm the one who will create the world of freedom!" Jellal then held up his hands, as he an enormous magic seal flared up. Erza recognized that spell.

"Jellal! You can't do that! You'll kill us all!" she cried.

"I don't care!" Jellal roared, "I have to create this world! Now fast the power, of the Abyss break!" Natsu then flapped back into the air, as he folded his wings in, before spinning, creating a massive tornado of fire.

"You and your 'world of freedom', can go to hell!" Natsu roared, "Any world given by a ghost is no world worth living!" The tornado of fire then blasted at Jellal.

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Technique: Fire Dragon's Storm!" Natsu roared, as he shot at Jellal. He then crashed into his foe, consuming Jellal in fire, and sending him crashing through the Lacrima. With that, Natsu landed on the ground, as his fire cloak vanished, but his Dragon's Eye remained. He then turned his attention to Erza.

"Are you alright?" he asked, as he tried to move towards her, only to lose his footing, and fall down.

"Natsu!" Erza called, as she moved over to him.

"I'm fine," Natsu said, as he looked up, the same goofy smile he always had on his face, "Can't you see I just took down this guy?" Erza just smiled at her friend. Suddenly, she sensed something.

"The Tower of Heaven," she muttered.

"What about it?" Natsu asked. Erza weakly rose to her feet.

"It won't be able to contain the power of the Etherion much longer," she said.

"Then let's get out of here!" Natsu said, "I'll just fly out!"

"No." Natsu looked at her in surprise.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, "I can fly us anywhere!"

"It won't matter," Erza said, leaning on the crystals, "The explosion will be too big. You won't be able to get to a safe distance in time."

"Then what do we do?" Natsu asked, "Maybe…"

"I've got to merge with the Etherion," Erza said, as she turned to the crystal, staring at her reflection, "Its the only way."

"The hell its the only way!" Natsu roared, as his eye flared up, as did his chest, "There's always another way!"

"Not this time," Erza said sadly, as she turned to Natsu, smiling slightly, "All I can tell you, is to live on. I can't imagine a world existing without you or the others." Natsu just stared at her, his teeth clenched.

"Take care of the others, especially Lucy," Erza said. With that, she put her hand on the Etherion, which began to be soaked in, followed by her body.

"No!" Natsu roared, as he leapt at her, tears streaming down his face, but it was too late. Erza vanished into the crystal.

"ERZA!" Natsu roared. But he received no response, as the Tower of Heaven began to glow. Natsu's fist clenched, as he let out a roar that didn't seem human, but draconic. His eye glowed brighter than ever before, as a colossal column of fire consumed him, and the entire area.

(outside of the Tower of Heaven)

"Look at that!" Millianna said, pointing. Everyone turned, save Lucy who was already looking, at the Tower of Heaven, as it was consumed with fire.

"What is that?" Sho asked.

"That looks like Natsu's magic," Gray said, "But it looks much more powerful!" Lucy folded her hands, and held them to her face, as if praying.

Don't you leave me, idiot she thought.

"Natsu," Happy mumbled.

Suddenly, the fire collapsed, as did the Tower of Heaven, and shot into the sky.

"Erza!" Gray cried.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried. There was nothing but silence, as the last traces of the fire faded away.

"No, that can't be!" Gray yelled.

"That's not dandy!" Wally said.

"Erzy," Millianna whispered, as covered her mouth, tears dripping down her face.

Lucy just stared, as a tears formed in her eyes.

(later)

Erza let out a gasp, as she opened her eyes. She could see a blue sky, with light beginning to come into existence. She then heard a cry, as she turned, and saw everyone running towards her.

"What..," she muttered, then she looked up, and saw Natsu. He was carrying her.

"Good, you're awake," Natsu said, before looking down at her, "Don't every do that again! You hear me?"

Erza stared in shock, before it turned into a smile. She then felt tears dripping down both her eyes, for the first time in years.

"Loud and clear," she said, as she embraced her friend.

Note: Well, here it is, my attempt at "Eye of the Fire Dragon". Now first thing I want to establish is the pairing in this WILL be NaLu. Because this is technically canon Natsu, and I think its apparent that canon Natsu is going to end up with Lucy. So I apologize for NaZa fans, like myself (though I like NaLu more). That said, don't assume "Eye of the Black Dragon" will be any certain pairing at this point.

I'm still very worried about the potential of this just turning into a recycle of canon, or "Eye of the Black Dragon". That said, Natsu Dragneel's fighting style with Dragon's Eye, is much different from Natsu Dragonia's. Unlike Dragonia, Dragneel wouldn't use the power of Dragon's Eye to create massive arms to reach and grab at Jellal. To the contrary, Natsu would use this power to create armor that he could fight with. I decided to omit Erza's vision in the Etherion, since I figured it would more or less follow canon.

Natsu's Dragon's Eye, is essentially supposed to be the eye of Smaug the Dragon. You just might end up getting a number of nods to Smaug in this, seeing as he's my all time favorite dragon in fiction, and since like Smaug, Natsu breathes fire…

In all, I hope you enjoyed this. I wasn't sure how to end this, since it is supposed to more or less follow canon, only Natsu defeats Jellal, and saves Erza a different way.