Chapter 8: Training of the Brood
The command from Draco hung in the damp air, thick and suffocating. Natsu felt it coil around his mind like molten chains, searing through the frantic, internal scream of protest. Lucy. Happy. Erza. Fight them? His own amplified fire, a churning inferno beneath his scales, surged wildly, threatening to erupt. It scorched his throat, tasted of ash and despair. Beside him, Gray was a statue carved from glacial ice. Frost spiderwebbed violently across the cavern floor beneath his claws, spreading outwards in jagged patterns. The unnatural cold emanating from him bit deeper than any natural freeze.
"Begin, Captain," Draco purred, the dark shimmer across his scales intensifying. He settled back, a monstrous observer, crimson eyes glowing with anticipation. "Show them the purpose of their strength."
The words ripped from Natsu’s maw before he could choke them down, rough and guttural. "Lucy. Erza." He couldn’t look at Happy hovering near his snout. "Fight. Now."
Lucy’s golden, starlight-scaled head snapped up, her vacant crimson eyes brightening with unnerving eagerness. "Okay, Natsu! I'll win!" Her voice held the cadence Natsu knew, twisted into chilling obedience. She flared her wings, sending motes of golden light drifting in the damp air.
Erza’s response was immediate, crisp, the fierce determination now a weapon aimed inward. "Understood, Captain." Her crimson scales seemed to darken, radiating focused power. She didn't hesitate. With a powerful beat of her wings that kicked up dust and loose pebbles, she launched herself at Lucy, claws outstretched.
Lucy met her charge, not with fear, but with a delighted chirp. Golden light erupted around her claws as she swiped. Scrreeetch! A shower of sparks flew as golden claws scraped across Erza’s tougher crimson scales. Erza barely flinched, barreling into Lucy, bowling the smaller dragon over. They tumbled in a tangle of gold and crimson, wings beating chaotically against the stone.
"Gray-sama! Juvia will fight too!" Juvia’s watery azure form surged forward, her eyes fixed adoringly on the ice dragon. She looked towards Wendy, who was flapping her sky-blue wings nervously. "Fight Wendy?"
Gray’s voice, when it came, was like cracking ice, jagged and brittle. "Wendy. Juvia. Engage." The command felt like shards of glass tearing his insides. Protect her. Not this. Never this.
"Aye!" Happy buzzed excitedly, darting towards the tumbling pair of Lucy and Erza. "I'll help, Natsu!" He inhaled, a small blue glow building in his throat. "Sky Dragon’s... Roar!" A condensed blast of pressurized air shot from his tiny draconic maw, not at Erza, but directly at Lucy’s exposed flank as she scrambled up.
The blast hit Lucy squarely, knocking her sideways with a pained yelp. Scales cracked. A faint trickle of something dark and wet seeped from her shoulder. Erza, seizing the opening, pinned Lucy hard, one massive crimson claw pressing down on her golden chest.
NO! The fire inside Natsu exploded. A gout of uncontrolled flame roared from his jaws, not towards the combatants, but straight upwards, scorching the cavern roof. The luminescent fungi blackened and died instantly, plunging part of the cavern into deeper shadow before the remaining fungi adjusted. The heat was intense, palpable.
"Control your element, Captain," Draco's voice slithered through the sudden tension, cold amusement lacing every syllable. The chains in Natsu’s mind tightened viciously, dousing the rebellious flare of his fire, forcing his focus back onto the grotesque training session. He choked back the smoke rising in his throat, the sight of Lucy pinned, dazed, a searing brand on his soul.
Laxus, standing rigid nearby, was a storm barely contained. Arcs of white-hot lightning snapped and hissed across his scales, earthing themselves in the damp stone with sharp cracks. Every muscle trembled with the effort of not unleashing it all towards Draco. "Stupid salamander," he snarled under his breath, a low, crackling growl only those closest could hear, his contempt aimed at the situation, the command, the unbearable helplessness.
Gajeel remained motionless, an iron monolith. His metallic claws flexed, grinding against the stone floor. His crimson eyes tracked Juvia and Wendy. Juvia, eager to please Gray, was weaving streams of pressurized water around her azure form, her movements fluid and aggressive. Wendy, smaller and gentler even in this warped state, was dodging, trying to use her sky-blue wings to stay airborne, a faint, distressed whimper escaping her as a water-whip grazed her flank.
"Fight properly," Juvia urged, her voice cheerful yet chilling. "Gray-sama is watching!" She launched another jet of water.
Wendy tucked her wings, dropping abruptly to avoid it. She landed hard, scrambling back. "I... I will!" she responded, the crimson in her eyes flaring with effort. She inhaled shakily, a pale blue glow building – Sky Dragon’s Roar, but weaker, hesitant, aimed at the ground near Juvia, kicking up dirt rather than striking true.
Carla, perched on a higher ledge, watched it all with unnerving stillness. Her pristine white scales seemed to absorb the cavern's sickly light. Her crimson gaze was analytical, sweeping over the chaotic pairs: the brutal efficiency of Erza dominating Lucy; Juvia’s relentless pressuring of a flustered Wendy; Happy darting around the edges, firing small, distracting bursts at Lucy whenever she tried to rise. "Combat readiness requires commitment," Carla stated coolly, her voice devoid of its usual warmth. "Hold nothing back."
"Prove her right, Erza!" Draco commanded, his voice cutting through the grunts and clashes. "Show the hatchling her place."
Erza’s claw pressed harder. Lucy gasped, a strangled sound. The trickle on her shoulder became a steady flow. The vacant obedience in Lucy’s crimson eyes flickered for a microsecond – not with pain, but with a deeper confusion. Why is Natsu letting this happen?
Natsu felt the phantom pressure on his own chest. The fire raged, trapped and impotent. Gray’s frost was spreading faster, encasing his own forelegs in jagged ice. The cavern echoed with the sounds of their friends hurting each other on their command: the scrape of claws, the bursts of pressurized air, the hiss of water, Lucy’s pained gasp, Wendy’s panicked flutters. Draco’s satisfaction was a tangible, oppressive force.
"Again," Natsu forced out, the word ash in his mouth, the command tightening like a noose. "Fight harder."
The command, "Fight harder," scraped raw from Natsu’s throat. It tasted like betrayal and burning stone. Across the cavern, Lucy whimpered beneath Erza’s crushing claw, golden scales marred by dark streaks. Erza’s crimson eyes held no recognition, only purpose. Her claw tensed, ready to press down decisively. A low, guttural growl rumbled deep in Natsu’s chest, fire churning uncontrollably in his gullet.
Suddenly, Erza’s claw didn’t move. It hovered, trembling minutely. The ruthless focus in her eyes flickered, replaced by a microsecond of profound confusion. Her gaze darted from Lucy’s pained face to Natsu’s tormented one. "Lucy…?" The name escaped her draconic maw, rough and questioning, devoid of its usual command.
Simultaneously, Juvia saw her opportunity. Wendy stumbled back, tripping over loose rock near the cavern wall. “Juvia wins!” the azure water dragon declared triumphantly, coiling a tendril of water around Wendy’s ankle. Wendy yelped, sky-blue wings flapping uselessly against the damp stone. Juvia beamed, her crimson eyes seeking Gray’s icy form. “Gray-sama! Did you see Juvia…?”
She stopped. Gray wasn’t looking at her. His glacial eyes were fixed on Erza’s hesitation, on the agony twisting Natsu’s draconic features. Frost encased Gray’s forelegs entirely, climbing towards his shoulders in jagged shards. The unnatural cold he radiated deepened, making the very air crackle. Juvia’s triumphant posture faltered. Her water tendril loosened, releasing Wendy. "Gray-sama…?"
The cavern fell into a breathless, charged silence. Happy landed near Lucy’s head, his small blue form tense. Carla remained unnervingly still on her ledge, observing. Erza slowly, almost painfully, lifted her claw from Lucy’s chest. She took a step back, her head bowed slightly. Scales cracked. Lucy gasped, scrambling upright, her wound pulsing. The vacant obedience warred with dazed confusion in her crimson eyes.
Laxus’s lightning ceased its furious snapping. He stood rigid, a monument of contained voltage, watching Natsu. Gajeel’s metallic claws scraped stone again, a grating sound in the quiet. His crimson gaze shifted from the subdued combatants to Draco’s immense, shadowed form near the cavern wall. The ancient dragon’s red eyes glowed like dying stars, watching the unexpected lull.
Natsu felt the crushing pressure in his mind shift. This was the opening, forced or instinctive. He sucked in a breath thick with damp earth, ozone, and the sharp tang of blood – Lucy’s blood. “Enough!” His dragon voice boomed, rough but decisive. He forced a semblance of enthusiasm. “Good! Real good! You all… fought hard.” The words felt like gravel in his mouth. “Tie! Solid tie!”
He forced himself to look at Lucy, then Wendy, then Erza and Juvia. He couldn’t look at Happy. “Strong start! Real strong!” Gray’s icy voice cut through the lingering tension, colder than the frost encasing him. He looked directly at Juvia, his words clipped. “Good job, Juvia.” He couldn’t bring himself to look at Wendy. Juvia practically shimmered with delight at the praise, momentarily forgetting the brutal context. “For Gray-sama!”
Happy fluttered near Lucy’s injured shoulder. “Aye! Weird fight, but kinda fun!” His chirp was jarringly cheerful. Lucy touched her wounded shoulder gingerly, the crimson glow in her eyes dimming slightly. “Did… did we do okay, Natsu?” Erza remained silent, head still lowered, a tremor running through her crimson scales.
Draco’s low, rumbling purr vibrated through the stone beneath their claws. “Satisfactory,” the dark dragon intoned, the word dripping with condescending approval. “The spark of their former selves… useful, perhaps. Harness it, Captain.” His gaze, heavy as lead, settled on Natsu. “Make them want to obey.” Natsu’s fire roared silently within him, a caged inferno. He dipped his head, a sharp, jerky motion. “Yes.”
He turned back to the newly hatched brood – his friends, transformed, bleeding, confused. He tried to summon his usual reckless grin, but it felt like a rictus on his draconic muzzle. “Alright then! Welcome… to the brood.” The cavern’s damp air swallowed his words. He instinctively reached for his scarf, claws closing on empty scales where fabric should be. His hand stayed there, hovering awkwardly over his naked, scaled neck. Silence stretched, punctuated only by dripping water and Wendy’s shaky breath. Familiar faces stared back, trapped in strange, powerful bodies, waiting for his next command.