Prologue

A young spiky rose haired black eyed kid stumbled along a dirt path through the woods. He had blood running down his head into his eye from a cut he had received and was clutching his upper left arm. It was slow progress for him as he traversed the rocky path. In the background was a destroyed and burning village. From the distance the kid was at he could see a bunch of darkly dressed men making their way out of the village gates towards the hills...the hills where he was currently hiding.

The boy attempted to go faster but he had lost to much blood already. He was ready to just lay down and quit before he spotted a cave. His eyes widened as he hustled to the cave.

"This may be my last hope," he muttered. As soon as he set foot in the cave a strong unnatural heat washed over him. "What is that?" The further into the cave he went the hotter it got. But he was willing to put up with anything if it meant getting away from those Zeref worshippers. Finally the heat became unbearable and he sat on a rock panting and sweating heavily. The rosette sat and waited. He strained his hearing trying to hear when the demon worshippers passed by the cave. So caught up was he in his task that he didn't notice the temperature rising. Not until it was too late at least.

"Why are you here." A deep gravelly voice said. The pinkette leaped up and turned around eyes wide. Behind him was what could only be described as a demon. It had black curved horns coming out of its skull and deep fiery red eyes that were glowing. His bare upper body was covered in lean powerful muscle with his arms and hands being a dark midnight black ending in claws while his lower body had fire covering his lower legs like fur. In place of feet he had hooves and his legs themselves resembled a goat. Coming out of his forearms were mini black spikes that turned red at the tips. Finally he had a pointed and powerful black tail. The rosette gulped.

"I-I was being chased by some bad people… s-so I hid in here! I swear I didn't know you were in here Mister!" The demon scowled. He pointed a clawed finger at the child.

"I should kill you for intruding on my presence insolent child!" It roared. Said boy covered his ears before gaining his own scowl.

"I don't know what in-in-insolancet means! But my names Natsu bastard!" Natsu cried out a fist raised at the mighty demon. The monster raised a flaming eyebrow at the young boy in front of him.

"Do you know who you are speaking to?" It questioned. Natsu continued to glare at his as a response. "I am Ashbel! The demon of fire and mightiest of all the demons!" Natsu's mouth dropped. He wasn't standing in front of some ugly monster. It was actually an honest to god...demon.

"So.. you're like… a demon of Zeref?" He said wearily remembering the worshippers that had wiped out his village. Ashbel roared aloud in anger.

"DO NOT COMPARE ME TO THOSE WEAK ILLEGITIMATE CREATIONS OF ZEREF! I AM AN ACTUAL DEMON! CREATED AT THE BEGINNING OF TIME TO OPPOSE...them." He thundered before trailing off into a growl in the end. Natsu gulped. Luckily-or unluckily depending on how you look at it- he was saved from having to answer by a cry from the mouth of the cave.

"I can sense his magical power in there!" A voice cried out. Natsu's eyes widened.

"They found me…" He whispered fear in his voice. Ashbel glanced down at the rosette with narrowed eyes.

'Who are these people that scare this child more than me.' He thought. "Do you not fear me whelp?"

"I'm not a whelp, goat man!" Natsu yelled back as a response. He quickly covered his mouth but released a sigh of relief when Ashbel began walking towards the cave entrance. When Natsu could no longer see Ashbel he assumed he had made it to the mouth of the cave. He jumped when the screams started. Horrified Natsu backed further into the cave. Just as suddenly as they started they stopped. Natsu could smell burning flesh, the horrible smell wafting up his nose. He immediately began retching. Around the corner came Ashbel. Smoke was rising off of his skin. His body was also morphing back into the shape Natsu had first seen him in. Blood dripped from his claws.

"Quit your gagging." He told the boy. "Where is your family?" Natsu wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and frowned.

"They're all dead." Ashbel nodded expecting this. Those Zeref worshippers he fought were nothing to him, but to an untrained normal villager they'd be damn near impossible to defeat. Ashbel scratched his chin thoughtfully. He had an idea. It might not be a good idea, but it could work out.

'Hmm. Raising a human to be my student? That could work. Someone else out there hunting and destroying those vile Zeref demons. Plus leaving behind a legacy to tell of my strength and power… Yes.' He thought. Natsu squirmed uncomfortably in the silence. Before he could think of leaving, Ashbel once again spoke.

"You are my student in the art of Metsuaku Maho(Devil Slayer Magic) henceforth. Hono no Metsuaku Maho(Fire Devil Slayer Magic) to be exact." Natsu stared at him for a second before screaming:

"YOU CAN"T DECIDE THAT ON YOUR OWN!"

[9 years later x777]

Ashbel sat on a rock meditating his strong tail wrapped around his body. A small circle of fire had erupted around him cutting him off from the outside world. That was until a certain pinkette walked calmly through the flames.

"Ashbel-sama." Natsu greeted with a bow. Ashbel nodded his head in response. The devil slayer stood there quietly waiting for Ashbel to speak. His wardrobe had gotten much better over the years. It consisted of a pitch black sleeved waist coat with an image of a scowling demon sewed onto the back in red with flames along the hem. Under the coat he wore a tight black shirt. He also wore black pants tucked into thin matching black boots. A blood red sash was tied around his waist and he had a silver necklace hanging from his neck with a red jewel in it. Ashbel finally opened his eyes and mouth to speak.

"I've taught you all I can teach you at this point Natsu. I have taught you all of my Hono no Metsuaku Maho(Fire Devil Slayer Magic) and my Rengaku Maho(Purgatory Demon Magic). At this point it would be more beneficial for you to move on." The demon said lazily. Natsu's mouth dropped.

"Ar-are you serious Ashbel-sama?! I'm sure you still have something left to teach me!" Ashbel scoffed.

"You soaked up everything I taught you like a sponge! Did you think I was an endless well of knowledge?" Natsu frowned. "All I can tell you at this point is to keep training your Akushin(Devil Drive)." Ashbel then got to his clawed feet and stretched. Tears actually came to Natsu's eyes as he watched his adoptive father summon flaming wings and preparing to take flight.

"Wait! Don't do this Ashbel! Please! You're the only family I have left! You can't just leave me alone!" The twelve year old cried. Ashbel burst out into gut busting laughter causing Natsu to stop crying in confusion.

"You have a problem if you see a demon as your only family in this world kid! I've told you multiple times in the past… you can't count on a demon for anything." Tears continued to stream out of Natsu's eyes as he watched the demon lift into the air. He squeezed his eyes shut and started yelling in his head at himself.

'This isn't real Natsu! This is just a nightmare! You'll wake up in a few moments and Ashbel will still be around!' Natsu was in the middle of his inner speech when he felt something rough pat him on his head. He opened his eyes and saw that it was Ashbel's tail. The demon wasn't looking at him and had his arms crossed as if he didn't care but the tail patting Natsu's head said otherwise.

"See ya around kid." Ashbel said before flying into the air and becoming a distant flaming red streak. Natsu sniffed and wiped his eyes with a small smile.

"See ya around...Dad."

[2 months later x777]

Natsu walked through some woods with a bag slung over his shoulder. He had a dark look in his eyes and radiated such heat that all the woodland animals stayed away. The pinkette had travelled around by himself for the last few months training and growing stronger, but also growing more and more distant from human beings. He usually slept in caves away from villages but now he needed money. He had asked around about jobs and learned about the mage guilds of the world. After being forced to listen to some fan girl pump up every guild's best attributes he had settled on the one he wanted to join.

The fire devil slayer stopped walking as he reached the front doors of the most destructive guild in all of Fiore… Fairy tail