It's been a 3 years since the festival so a few things happened like Natsu finding an egg with Happy inside of it Lisanna dying Natsu after her death stops talking to everyone except Happy unless he has to he never steps foot in the guild anymore Happy is the one who grabs their jobs and checks out the newspaper clippings for rumors on Igneel speaking of Igneel Natsu was finally given his letter to read and keep seeing as it belonged to him but Makarov only gave him a copy.
Everyone else goes about their standard routine partying going out on jobs fighting some of them don't do anything at all or just concentrate on things that have nothing to do with magic or fighting Erza during this time has been taking jobs that take 6 months to complete nonstop back to back to become an S Rank wizard she succeeded 2 years ago.
While this was happening Makarov the guild master has been in seclusion with 2 members of Fairy Tail Mystogan and Gildarts they have been training when he doesn't have a meeting with the other masters or the council as for the 2 wizards they have been doing jobs but not anything too difficult just B rank jobs also they are training in both offensive and defensive magic as well as hand to hand in another year their training will be completed.
Laxus and the Thunder Tribe stopped doing jobs completely during these last 12 years he decided to train them then enter them in tournaments they got really good as individuals but during the team tournaments nobody could beat the trio Laxus didn't start in their country he went to a whole other continent and worked his way back while also competing in tournaments they beat 2 continents of fighters during this time away Gajeel conquered the continent which is easy to do because it's the weakest of the 4 the strongest is the Alvarez kingdom which both Gajeel and Laxus stay away from.
In the port town of Haregeon there's a young blonde woman who looks about 16 who has a nice figure her hair down except with a pigtail of the side of her head she's wearing a sky blue and white tank top a black whip on her waist a dark blue skirt knee high black socks and brown slip on shoes she looks around the town for awhile then finds a magic store she says hi to the owner looks around finds what she wants but it will clear her out so she uses a spell to make the shop owner open to suggestion.
When first asked how much the zodiac key is he says $20,000 jewel when she looks him in the eyes and flirts he says $5,000 jewel after that he passes out and she just smirks thinking about how weak minded men are then leaving with the key free of charge after that she comes upon a scene with a lot of women fawning over someone if not for spotting the rings as soon as she gets there she would have been affected she easily dispels the effect on the women thus making them attack him.
It doesn't matter because he puts them asleep except our blonde haired wizard who reflects it back at him who dodges it which shocked her that not only was he fast enough to dodge it but his powers are growing which is stronger than hers without her keys she usually is able to deal with most magicians because they hardly ever know anything above D rank spells there's a been a few that she's encountered since leaving home but only a handful.
Upon looking around she noticed that she's surrounded by several thugs and all of them are at least D rank in strength little did they know that they were being watched this spy flys as fast as he could to get his friend who is trying to mentally train himself so he doesn't destroy a town anymore he's been doing this for 2 years his control over his powers have vastly increased infact no living beings other than the vulcans at Mt Hakobe have seen him all this time.
Happy arrives in awe at what he sees flames surging through his body without burning anything or melting the ice in the cave in fact the vulcans are touching him and not being burned they even used him to light their fires Natsu senses Happy puts his flames away but smoke still smoldering around his body to keep him warm Natsu asks why have you disturbed my training.
Happy describes what is happening at Haregeon Natsu says let's go they arrive in 10 minutes to find her on her last legs Natsu takes out the thugs slowly to get a work out then draws out the fight with Bora to restore his energy and give time for the army to get there which happens in a few minutes all without destruction to the town from Natsu.
They interrogate everyone once they find out who Natsu is they immediately take him to the Magic council and send Lucy to Fairy Tail upon her request after arriving at the council building Natsu is kinda nervous so is Happy wondering what they did wrong inside the council members are ecstatic that they have found Natsu before Fairy Tail or some dark guilds could during this time.
They called them into the meeting room there's 12 members floating on a blue spinning spell circle with a smaller circle that they are floating above Natsu is standing in front of a podium with Happy on his shoulder to see what's happening Yajima the kindest and oldest there asks do you know why we've summoned you today young Natsu he replies it may have something to do with my destruction or my seclusion I'm not sure which they laugh at the first and get puzzled at the second one.
When asked what he meant Natsu said that he hasn't taken on a job in 2 years if you have seen me do jobs in the past 2 years that was Happy taking on my form I trained him to be a B rank mage they are surprised by this and have doubts but when Happy turns into an exact copy of Natsu while also unleashes power equal to that of a low level B rank mage they no longer question him.
Yajima says that the reason we summoned you here is because there's a war coming we need wizards who will do anything they can to protect not only themselves but their guilds and this country we know that you're a lot smarter and stronger than you let the people around you believe you to be also one of our recent recruits is who recommended that we search for you says that you have a lot of untapped potential we tend to believe those who are about to become a wizard saint in 2 years.
Natsu is shocked by what he hears then asks what do you want me to do they say that we want you to join us train our people fight in tournaments and search for information on Zeref or something stronger to combat him hearing this shocks him again but he decides to wait until his gut instinct is right before revealing his letter to them.
The doors open surprising no one but Natsu and Happy Erza walks in with a smile on her face seeing Natsu again she gets a blush on her face but hides it quickly then upon seeing his not only dumbfounded state but that he's captivated by her looks and body makes her come up with an idea on how to wrap him around her fingers and get him to do whatever she wants.
She walks up to Natsu slowly with a sensual look on her face a seductive sway of her hips a sexual teasing of licking her lips and a casual playful flirtatious moving of her hair that makes Natsu fall under her spell when she reaches him just by saying hi and looking into his eyes she can tell that he's not hers yet but he's taken the bait and will be completely devoted to her in 2 years time she gets super close to him whispers huskily in his ear there's no need to be wary of anything just put your trust in me I'll take care of this for you all you have to do is let me run everything I'll make sure that you're taken care of and that Happy gets plenty of fish.
Natsu unable to resist her seduction as well as her offer hands her the letter when she asks for it which prompts her to kiss him on the cheek then hands it to the council if they promise to make a copy and give it back to Natsu because it was given to him by his father they agreed after reading it they are shocked especially Ultear who is trying very hard to not show how happy she is that the person that she has been crushing on is alive.
Natsu after recovering his head a little bit asks a question that shocks everyone is it a good idea to revive someone as powerful as him even if he can end this war by himself how could we stop him if he gets out of control I bet he's not going to let himself be sealed again and guys like him are always looking forward to finding someone stronger than the person that they just beat.
Erza smiles at his reasoning then thinks about it and says it doesn't matter because he's not our enemy he never was they only sealed him away because he wiped out those causing the war back then and those in charge were ready to make money off of it so someone like him hurt what they were after which is making money.
Hearing this makes everyone doubt her statement until she and Ultear produce the documents supporting what she said even more it shows which country started the war and they were surprised that all 4 continents were involved with this war also that they chose to fight on some huge random island instead of the mainland.
These documents also paint a pretty horrible list of crimes from each army everything from stealing to rape and murder these crimes were not happening in battle but while visiting a new town or country it also describes the horrible depictions of various things done during war time that wouldn't be allowed in this day and age it sickens them the depravity that people were capable of back then.
Siegrain asks do those papers say where they sealed him away everyone looked at him like he was nuts asking if he had a death wish he simply said no but we won't be the only ones looking for him our enemies will be looking for him thinking he's Zeref according to the letter people tried finding both centuries ago.
Ultear says that according to research on Zeref and other dark wizards he's not anywhere in this continent but according to my sources his resting place should be in the Alvarez kingdom though I don't know where just that it's really cold there and that no normal person can reach him without freezing to death.
Natsu asks why does it feel like you want me to go on this nutso job because I can use fire magic so can Erza she gets bashful says um Natsu I quit practicing fire magic I only use Thunder and Lightning magic now Natsu asks then why did you learn it if you weren't going to use it she says that it was to unlock a powerful weapon that she at the time wasn't strong enough to wield.
She asks do you still use your Electric magic he says no not right now I'm trying to master my fire magic first and control my magic so I'm not as destructive as I used to be the council is happy at the news because of less paperwork but concerned because they don't know what caused him to become a recluse for 2 years Natsu accepts the job with a little bit of prompting from Erza and Happy.
Natsu leaves the room to rest for the night to find his target Erza stays behind because the council asked her to then says we have a long term job for you one you might not like but one that's for the greater good of this council you're to seduce Natsu gain his trust gather everything you can that can bind him to the war and make sure that he tells you why he doesn't want to destroy things anymore when we desperately need him to also you have free reign to kill anyone who you deem a threat to your own agenda with the boy just make sure that they're actually trying to steal him from you not asking for directions or just being nice.
She smiles deviously then asks how long have you known about my desires towards him Ultear says for about 4 years now we simply waited until you were more loyal to us to summon him and don't worry we don't expect complete obedience just that you help take out the dark guilds when it's time Erza laughs so hard she falls on the floor and kicks like a child starts crying while holding her stomach then gets up calms down and asks why didn't say something when Natsu was still here It wouldn't have taken much to convince him to participate if they were involved as our enemy.
They look at her puzzled for a moment then she thinks about it for a few minutes says maybe it's better that he's not here it would take several members of this council to restrain him if he heard that piece of information this both makes the council glad and nervous at the same time she says that according to Natsu there was a few dark guilds causing trouble where he lived with Igneel at the time Igneel went to go check it out and never returned.
Some of the council sees through this they know about the dragons going into hiding but the others are terrified not of the dark guilds but of what will happen to them if they find Zeref or something worse some of them are afraid that Natsu will go to far upon seeing their faces Erza says don't worry I spent years training with Natsu so I know how to handle him just don't put a time limit on eliminating the dark guilds we don't know how many there are and don't let anyone else know about Igneel I'll tell Natsu when we're far away from people and civilization.
The council nods then says that before you go we'd like Natsu to be tested and trained like our knights and magic enforcers that way we know that he will be able to handle the heavy hitters of the dark guilds Erza hearing this frowns then asks how long would it take to do everything properly in just basic training including attack illusion and defensive magic along with surveillance survival tracking and combat training they say about 4 months Erza is shocked Ultear takes her and Natsu to a special room where using her powers makes their training go very quickly 4 years of training there but on the outside only 4 months have passed during this time they fought the weakest of the knights and the magic enforcers to the strongest beating them.
Erza spends her time during the training learning other forms of magic instead of just combat magic or elemental magic she learns illusion and barrier magic while Natsu spends his time learning how to fight like a knight while also learning survival and tracking techniques along with how to dual wield a sword so he can fight with 2 of them should he need to they also increase their speed and strength the training went very well for them but when presented with the results the council was less than pleased with what they have achieved even though they have lasted longer than anyone else has so far in the training room.
However Natsu completed all that they wanted to teach him in 1 month of training because time moved so differently one year of training equaled 1 month on the outside world the next month Natsu taught Happy everything he learned from them once done he spent the rest of the time teaching Happy his affinties which were wind water earth and fire befor now Happy was only trained in wind magic now he's being trained in earth magic he reaches the same level as Gajeel did except that he can't use meteor he can only use sand mud and rock Erza teaches Happy illusions barriers and healing magic the final thing that Natsu decides to learn is a technique of old it's called synchronization it helps you learn the same types of magic as your companion and be equal in power with them but it can be only done 3 times.
Natsu does it with Happy they channel their power through each other and synch their powers together until they become even and stay that way until they can merge their energies together which happens after another month of doing so a blinding light takes over the chamber and their powers are vastly increased as well as their control is as well not to mention that now Happy can use smoke magic and Natsu can use the rest of the elements other than fire and lightning but he must choose one to sacrifice using in order to learn more types of magic other than just elemental magic and dragon slayer magic as well as being allowed to absorb other elements without issue so he sacrifices earth he will be able to use it in the future but only one type of earth magic will be available to him now the rest will be off limits as it will injure him .