Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

Etherion

It was sort of like having the world's worst stomach ache. From just below his sternum to about 2 and a half inches beneath his belly button Natsu could feel his innards clenching and unclenching. It'd been doing such since early morning and had woken him up about seven times the night before. Thus the reason why he had the right side of his face plastered over the wooden table with a mug of untouched fire not too far off later that same morning. An annoying porcupine was doing the jig from within the confines of his brain, bouncing around and piercing his tender brain matter with each small sound made by his rather lethargic guild mates.

He was unsure if whether or not he was glad that it was raining or not. Rain made him tired; add that onto the side effects of eating Etherion and little sleep and he should have passed out cold long ago. The only thing keeping him awake was likely his own stomach doing strokes in its very acid. Furthermore, the rain seemed to have a similar effect on the rest of the guild making them lethargic and rather quiet. Calm conversations drifting over the expanse that was his guild and his home.

He cringed as his stomach gave another twist and almost clenched his fists as they lay drooped down at his sides. The salmon haired dragon slayer crinkled his brows together and swallowed feeling Happy shift from beside him at the sensation of his comrade's tensing muscles. The odd blue cat had long ago stopped trying to get him to eat knowing the strain Natsu was under and understanding that Etherion was a substance best not reckoned with. Eating that stone had been a desperate move and now Natsu would simply have to pay the price for it.

Severe stomach aches and a fever, oh joy.

Grimacing he shifted again, listening to the sound of Mira passing her brother a mug of something his muddled senses couldn't quite grasp. It smelled kind of like milk but that somehow didn't sound just right. Sitting at a table not too far from his own he caught a brief passing of words between Macao and Wakaba, drawn to the sound of his own name.

"Ah," came Macao's sympathetic groan, "he really doesn't look so good, does he?"

"Well that's what he gets for eating something like Etherion," replied the blue haired man's blonde companion with a hint of amusement and pride in his voice.

"I'm sure he's fine, it happened last time he ate Laxus' lightening and he came out alright," came Max's tone and Natsu's nose sniffed the air. How'd he miss that sand wizard? He always had one of the most distinctive smells, didn't he?

"Yeah, but doesn't this look worse?" commented another that Natsu, after a few moments of trying to find the next piece to the metaphorical puzzle that was the various scents and sounds around him realized it was Warren.

Rather uncomfortable in the silence that followed and knowing they were all examining him closer he shifted again. The resulting wince of his movement bore a few concerned sounds in response.

"Ah, Natsu!" Mira called to him and he almost jumped at the loudness of her voice.

How had she gotten so close? He thought frantically, annoyed with the effects the Etherion was clearly having on him. Lifting his head a little carefully so as to avoid making himself dizzy he found the silver haired bartender passing by from a table over with a few dirty dishes in hand. Hell, when did she even leave the bar? The fire mage wondered as he forced himself out of his half state of sleep.

"Yeah?" He answered, letting her walk over and smile down in that innocent, almost motherly way.

"Could you go help Erza and the rest clean out storage downstairs? They could probably use an extra hand over there," she asked sheepishly.

He made a show of yawning before placing a hand on the table and saying with the most convincing grin-grimace he could muster, "sure!" Ah, that had not meant to look like a grimace at all.

Happy blinked sleep out of his eyes and watched Natsu stand with a calculating and observant gaze, noticing the hand that remained glued to the table for a good two minutes as his friend tried to keep himself from swaying.

"Natsu, are you still not feeling well?" his voice summoned Mira's attention and she turned back to see the dragon slayers struggle. If Natsu had been paying attention he might have noticed Gajeel turn an eye to watch as well though his head remained unmoved and the gesture was inconspicuous.

The dragon slayer let out a little moan, feeling no urge to hide something the entire guild already knew he was struggling with anyway and said sickly, "gunna hurl." The strange blue cat was immediately in the air and flying over his shoulder.

"Do you want me to get a bucket?" he offered. Just as Natsu was about to refuse and begin making his way over to storage Mira's voice once again called over to him.

"Ah, I'm sorry Natsu I completely forgot about your condition. Don't worry about going down there to help I only asked because I thought you looked bored!" To which Natsu's thoughts immediately went and scowled, 'condition'?

Of course he normally would have argued and insisted that he go down there and help anyway but given the way his stomach was presenting some very impressive acrobatics he didn't really feel it necessary. He'd rather not end up in the infirmary today, thank you very much. He knew full well what happened when you pushed yourself after eating magic you weren't supposed to and he was pretty sure that this time the effect would be worse than a day or two home sick with a mild flu.

So he simply took what he was given and slowly melted back into his seat, ignoring the various murmurs of concern that flew through the ever watchful eyes of his friends.

"Idiot," Gajeel murmured quietly, seeming to forget about the other's good hearing.

"Iron-head," Natsu responded at normal volume, knowing that Gajeel would hear him. The other twitched and stood ready to fight either verbally or physically or both but was of course was met with a very much passed out Natsu.

Happy held his paws up on either side with his pads facing the ceiling and shook his head, "you guys are hopeless."

Despite Natsu's efforts at keeping his own fever down it seemed to choose rebellion rather than obedience, rising as time continued to tick. It wasn't really severe, he'd reason, more of a nuisance that he could sleep off in time. How much time, however, was another subject entirely.

Four hours later (or maybe it was five?) he could dimly hear the sounds of his closest friends drifting from out of storage. It was weird though, he had no idea what they were saying. Had someone filled his ears with cotton balls while he slept?

He could smell the mold and dust on them as they neared his table and somehow caught the sound of his name being called. The world around him was murky at best, leaving him with a feeling of being stuck underwater and only half conscious. Rolling waves washing over him and leaving his head above the water only long enough for him to gather bits and pieces of things before dragging him back beneath their dark warmth.

The salmon colored dragon slayer had absolutely no idea that the sounds he was catching, the inky scent that his nose grabbed a hold of, and the brush of fur flying past him was Happy trying to steal the black pen Gray was threatening to draw on him with. The insults the black haired mage threw at him went completely unheard, and even if some of them didn't Natsu simply did not have the energy to throw some back. It was this particular lack of response that probably had them all stopping to get a better look at him.

"Natsu?" Lucy asked slowly, voice concerned. When he didn't reply Erza bent down to get a better look at his face, her own expression dropping at what she saw. Pulling off a gauntlet she placed a hand over the teen's forehead and raised her eyebrows at the temperature the action presented her with.

"He's got a high fever," she reported and from his seat at the counter Gajeel released an I-knew-it kind of sigh. "Gray go set up one of the beds in the infirmary and Lucy go get a cloth and a bowl of water," the red haired woman ordered.

"Hey wait a minute, he's not that serious is he?" Lucy protested, voice filled with surprised concern.

Straightening Erza looked at her and said seriously, "he's not in critical condition, but his fever could get worse if it's not treated and I'm sure sleeping here isn't going to feel great later either."

Looking just a little less worried, Lucy's face hardened in determination and she nodded before setting off with Gray to complete the task given to her.

Satisfied that the tasks were getting done Erza then turned to the unconscious fire mage and began to pull him onto her back.

He immediately knew he was in the infirmary because of two things;

He was laying down on something soft

There was the heavy scent of medicine in the air.

So of course his very first question was a very insinuative and thoughtful sounding, "meeeerr."

"Natsu, have you woken up?" came Erza's voice from beside him. He released a toothy yawn and his sharp canines probably would have glistened if there'd been any light in the infirmary. The absence of such had him thankful as did the limited sound from outside. It was so quiet he thought that everyone must have gone home and judging from what his ears were telling him it had stopped raining.

"Guess so," he replied and sat up, seeming in no way shape or form as impaired as he had been a few hours previous as he studied the cloth that had fallen into his lap. "The hell am I doing in the infirmary?" he asked, glancing around at the shadowed beds and medical supplies. In doing so he noticed the unceasing downpour from out the window, rain beating at all those foolish enough to stand beneath it, and Happy sleeping soundly at the end of his bed.

"You fell ill and passed out at one of the tables in the dining hall," Erza smiled relieved that he seemed well, "how is your stomach?" Natsu hadn't noticed the slight quivering of his abdomen until she'd mentioned it and folding his legs across each other he put a hand on it. It was no longer doing any flexible acrobatics but rather sluggishly rolling. A slight twinge of pain here and there but other than that it felt relatively fine.

"Feeling a lot better than it did before," he yawned, "did you guys give me anything while I was out?" Natsu probably sounded too suspicious there for his own good.

"Oi, oi, what's that trepid tone for?" Gray's voice came from the door and Natsu looked over, his nose catching the scent of fresh bread. As much as he wanted to eat meat and more flavorful meals he knew well enough that bread was the best option. It'd soak up the liquefied magic in his stomach and make it easier to digest. The salmon haired dragon slayer was further confused by the appearances of several people on the other side of the door, seeing people still seated and talking and lights still on.

"Whaddya mean 'trepid' droopy eyes?" Natsu glared, ignoring his own confusion and the discomfort brought by the light that had spilled into the blackened room.

Any further argument between the two was silenced when Lucy piped; "Nastu, you're awake! How do you feel?" (where the hell did she come from?)

He responded the same way he did to Erza; with another yawn.

"Ah, still sleepy, eh?" she grinned.

Gray handed the dragon slayer the bowl of bread and snapping shortly "you better be grateful for all this ya squinty-eyes. We've had to put up silence spells around the room to help your stupid headache and Mira even made a fresh batch of bread for you to soak up the shit in your stomach!"

Natsu looked up, surprised at the worry evident in the others tone and vaguely feeling Happy sit up at the end of the bed. Crap, he must of gotten pretty damn bad if everyone was like this.

Erza grabbed his attention next, saying "you're fever continued to get worse as time passed and it wasn't until Gray used his ice magic to cool you down that we got it under control. Happy was the one that told us about your headache and that you would need something to help with the Etherion in your stomach- not just pain killers."

Natsu had been only dimly aware of little pockets of time over the duration he was out, remembering intense pain each and every time. It seemed to vary from different places; his head, his stomach, or even his skin as it failed to decide if whether or not it wanted to stay blisteringly hot or hypothermic. Chewing on a piece of bread he looked to Happy eyes half lidded and face fallen in his lack of amusement, he seemed annoyed by it all.

"I guess this time around it's harder to predict," he noted casually.

"Aye," the little one groaned. The last time this had happened to Natsu the fevers had been more predictable and at a lesser magnitude. Maybe the Etherion was affecting him more because it had so many different elements in it?

"How long was I out for?" he asked, swallowing another piece of bread- damn those things were delicious.

"All day," Lucy told him. She expected the poor fire mage to react in some sort of drastic manner at this news, maybe not surprise but something else at least. There were a number of different ways he could respond to it but blinking and shoving another piece of bread into his mouth with an uncaring shrug was all they got.

"That's not that bad," he said pushing aside the now empty basket and jumping off the bed.

"Oi!" Gray cried in protest, "what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Natsu you've only just recovered from a dramatic fever, it's better if you rest," Erza advised.

Hopping up and down to test himself Natsu assured her with an offhanded, "I'm fine, I'm fine!"

"Natsu-" Lucy almost joined in as well but Erza was persistent.

"Natsu! You haven't slept enough," the red head insisted.

"Erza I'm telling you I-" the fire mage was probably right. He should know his body better than anyone and at the current moment he felt like he was at 95%.

She had suddenly attained a very demonic expression, eyes glowing in the darkness, "sleep." That was a do-or-die order.

Natsu, deciding he didn't want a concussion on top of an aching head and stomach acquiesced and a few moments later both he and Happy were sound asleep again.

Smiling in that motherly way Erza gazed down at the salmon haired dragon slayer affectionately. It was difficult to put into words how thankful she was and how proud she was of the teen she'd known for so long. He'd risked his life more than once in such a short amount of time for her, taught her to value her life just as much as she valued the lives of her friends and for that she was in his debt. Due to this she'd later talk a number of others, telling them to keep an eye on Natsu so they'd be ready if this were to occur a second time.

But for now, she simply smiled and waited with an unspoken thought floating in her eyes.

- Thank you, Natsu -

Mmmm, that ending feels a little rocky to me...

Bah, whatever, it's smoother than it was the first time :) thanks for reading this far!