"Tiamat..."
After whispering that name, Natsu fell silent. As if just waking up from a long daydream, he shook his head vigorously to shake off the dizziness caused by the foreign memory. He looked up, returning the giant's gaze. "Is your name... Tiamat?" he asked to make sure.
The giant did not answer with words. There was a moment of silence before Happy, who was still hiding behind Natsu's legs, peeked out tremblingly.
"Na-Natsu... how do you know her name?" squeaked the blue cat.
"I don't know, Happy. That name... suddenly just came out on its own in my head," Natsu answered honestly.
Ignoring his confusion, Natsu asked the giant again. "Oi, Tiamat! You said earlier that you are a 'Mother', right? Whose mother are you?"
Inside his head, the sorrowful song echoed once more. "Aaaaa..."
"I am the mother... of everything..."
"The arrogant gods... the crawling monsters... the dragons flying in the sky... and the children who walk on two legs..."
"Their flesh... is my flesh..."
"Their blood... is my ocean..."
"Huh...?" Natsu tilted his head. His face scrunched up, processing the poetic terms that completely failed to enter his brain. However, among those complicated sentences, there was one word that his ears immediately caught.
"Dragon!" Natsu punched his palm as if he had just received a grand epiphany.
His muscles, which were stiff from pure terror earlier, slowly began to relax. That absolute terror evaporated, replaced by his signature simple logic. "So, you are the mother of dragons? Well, with a body this huge and that terrifying power of yours, it's not impossible for you to be a dragon mother."
Since when he didn't know, Natsu's body stopped trembling. His fear completely vanished, reverting to his original relaxed and carefree nature.
"Oh, if you're the mother of dragons, do you know Igneel?!" Natsu exclaimed enthusiastically. "He's also a dragon! Could it be that Igneel is your child too? But... your smell and Igneel's smell are very different."
A whimper in Natsu's head answered his question, sounding much more fragile than before.
"I... do not... know... My children... left... they abandoned me in this darkness... all alone..."
Hearing that heart-wrenching tone of loneliness, the crease on Natsu's forehead reappeared. This time it was not out of confusion, but out of anger.
"They left their mother here all alone?!" Natsu growled. "They really aren't good children! How dare they throw away their own family! If it were Igneel, there's no way he would leave you!"
Natsu clenched his fists tightly, then raised and pointed it straight at the giant Tiamat. His eyes flashed with full conviction. "Alright! If that's the case, I'll be the one to give a solid punch to your bratty children later!"
Tiamat only stared at Natsu in silence. "You are very warm... your fire... does not hurt me..."
"Oh, you like my fire?" Natsu smiled widely. From both of his hands, he conjured a brighter blaze. "In that case, look at this!"
Natsu started running in the void and performing silly acrobatics with his fire. He jumped and spun, purely trying to entertain the grieving giant.
From Tiamat's incredibly massive point of view, Natsu's figure down there was just a speck of light. The young man was like an extremely tiny candle flame—even smaller than the tip of a human's pinky nail. For Tiamat, with just one gentle puff of breath, that small fire could be extinguished forever.
However, from that fragile candle flame, the dimension that was once pitch black slowly became bright. That fire provided a glimmer of warmth that had been missing from Tiamat's life for billions of years. The Mother stared intently at the 'candle'; instinctively, she wanted to reach out her hand, guarding and protecting that small fire very carefully so it would keep burning.
"Hehehe, how is it? Great, right?" Natsu's laugh broke the silence.
Tiamat seemed entertained by the young man's innocent smile and antics. The Mother's telepathic voice echoed in Natsu's mind again, this time sounding hopeful. "Are you... willing to become... my new child...?"
Natsu fell silent for a moment. He looked up, staring directly into Tiamat's eyes, and then replied with a sincere smile. "Sorry, but I already have a dad! His name is Igneel!"
"You... do not wish... to be my child...?" Tiamat whimpered softly in Natsu's mind.
"I already have a parent, so I don't want to be someone else's child," Natsu answered softly yet firmly. He then looked up, staring far into the ceiling of the pitch-black imaginary space. "Besides, I have to find a way out of here right away. My friends must be waiting."
The void suddenly shook violently. Tiamat looked angry and desperate. "You... must become my child... Do not leave... me in this place... alone..." Tiamat's voice echoed, as if she wanted to force Natsu to stay there.
Suddenly, Natsu and Happy felt a very strong pressure fall upon them both. As if crushed by a giant boulder, their bodies immediately collapsed downward.
"Natsu!" Happy shouted in panic.
While enduring his heavily suppressed body, Natsu heard Tiamat's voice again. This time, her words were filled with heart-wrenching sorrow.
"I gave everything... but they hate me..."
"They said... they do not need me anymore... to grow up..."
"They cut me off... threw me away into this cold darkness..."
"I am the mother of all that lives... but here... I am no one's mother..."
Natsu could feel and smell the very thick scent of despair from each of those words. With heavy and panting breaths, Natsu forced himself to raise his face and shout the giant's name.
"Ti-Tiamat!" he yelled, trying to break through the aura pressing down on him. "You must be suffering so much from being betrayed by your own children! But sorry... I refuse to be your child if it's only an escape to replace them!"
Natsu forced himself to try to get up. He clenched his fists tightly until his veins bulged. "A family cannot be created from chains of coercion! A family is a place where you take shelter... created from laughter, tears, and sincere bonds built together over the course of time!"
Hearing Natsu's shout, Tiamat slowly began to calm herself down. "Feelings... bonds... relationships..." she repeated softly. The Mother restrained herself not only because of the young man's words. She realized that if she continued to suppress this dimension with her emotions, then the warmth from Natsu's fragile 'candle flame' would be completely extinguished. She did not want to destroy that warmth.
Feeling the crushing pressure disappear, Natsu immediately stood up and looked at Tiamat. His face wrinkled with emotion. However, it was not anger directed at Tiamat, but rather a massive rage toward Tiamat's children who had made her suffer in a place this dark. Above all else, Natsu absolutely hated anyone who betrayed or abandoned their own family.
"Your children are truly a bunch of ungrateful fools!" Natsu exclaimed, and then his hand scratched the back of his head. "Leaving their mother freezing in a dark place like this just because they're all grown up? Tch! If I meet them, I'll definitely burn their asses one by one!"
Natsu slowly lowered his hand. He stared straight at Tiamat's majestic figure. "In that case, Tiamat... join my guild, Fairy Tail!" Natsu invited in a loud voice.
Happy, who was still panting from exhaustion on the ground, instantly froze upon hearing that crazy invitation. "Natsu!!! Are you planning to bring a giant this big to our guild?!" the blue cat screamed in panic.
"Guild..." Tiamat repeated softly inside Natsu's mind.
"Listen here, Tiamat," Natsu said. He pointed at his right shoulder with his thumb, showing off the red tattoo of his proud guild's emblem. "Where I come from, we have something called a Guild. Its name is Fairy Tail."
Tiamat's starry eyes stared intently at Natsu, listening to every word from the young man carefully.
"Smart people who wear glasses might say a guild is just a gathering place for mages to find work or money. But for us, that's not it." Natsu smiled widely, radiating a sincere warmth.
Without Natsu realizing it, Tiamat used her ability to delve into the young man's mind, peeking directly into the source of his warmth.
"Fairy Tail is a Home," Natsu continued with full conviction. "And the people inside it? They are all Family."
Within Tiamat's consciousness, a peaceful vision slowly formed. From Natsu's memories, she saw a sturdy building adorned with a tailed fairy emblem.
"You said your children threw you away because they are already independent and strong, right? In my family, that rule doesn't apply! No matter how strong you grow, you will not throw away your family. The stronger you are, the tighter that bond will actually become, because that strength is used to protect each other!"
Inside the illusion of that building, Tiamat heard many voices full of laughter. As she looked inside, she found people who were partying and fighting cheerfully.
"In my guild, there are humans, there is this flying blue cat," Natsu pointed at Happy who nodded fearfully, "there are weird people, and I myself was raised by a Fire Dragon. We were all born from different places. Most of us have no blood relations at all. But our bond is much thicker than blood."
Tiamat saw all kinds of people there. There were big ones, small ones, ones that looked like humans, and ones that didn't. They all radiated various kinds of warm, colorful auras.
Natsu clenched his fiery fist, then punched his own palm with enthusiasm.
"For us, family is a bond that will never break. If even one member of our family is hurt, or thrown away until they cry alone in a pitch-black place like this... all of us in Fairy Tail will come crashing in and destroy anyone who stands in our way to bring them home!"
From those memories, Tiamat saw the figure of a small Natsu inside that building, who slowly grew up together with his guild members.
Then, Natsu's memories stopped rolling. Tiamat looked at the young man in front of her who was now reaching out his hand, as if wanting to invite her away from there.
"So because of that, come with me, Tiamat! I will bring you to a family that will never leave you behind!" Natsu said while smiling widely, showing off his teeth.