Ch. 1

"Fire Dragons Ro-" *couch* *cough* The young boy fell to the dusty ground, clutching his throat while coughing up smoke. The sweat in his curly blonde hair mixed with the dust, forming a thin layer of mud on his head. His deep blue eyes threatened to spill tears as he sluggishly pulled himself up. His grey hoodie that he never seemed to take off was caked in mud as well. "Why cant I get this? I've been trying for months!"

"Keep trying Marcus! When Igneel taught me this spell, I nearly burned a hole in my throat," the boy's father replied. The pink haired father was none other than Natsu Dragneel, Fire dragon slayer and savior of Fiore. The young man repositioned his son and encouraged him to make another attempt.

Marcus instead reflected on his life for a moment. His parents were two of the most famous wizards in Fiore. When Natsu Dragneel had married Lucy Heartfilia, it had surprised no one. They had gone on to have 3 kids. Marcus, the oldest, was 12 years old. Annabell, the middle child and only girl, was 10. She had a twin brother, Jacob. The twins had taken after their parents. Annabell had long, pick hair and onyx eyes, like her father. Jacob had blonde hair and brown eyes, like his mother. They practiced Fire Dragon slayer magic and Celestial magic, respectively. Marcus had blonde hair like his mother, but beyond that, the family resemblance ended. Nobody knew where his blue eyes came from, often the source of teasing from other children.

Magic came easy to Marcus, to a certain extent. Many called him a prodigy. He gave off a strong aura, signaling tremendous potential. Marcus, however, thought of himself as a failure. He could not find a magic that suited him. Whenever he tried fire magic, like his father, his flames were golden, but he had trouble controlling them. He couldn't summon a celestial spirit if his life depended on it. Even trying to unlock Plues gate, which he should have been able to do because his mom had a contract (Something to do about inheritance. Celestial politics were complicated.) left him drained of energy.

At Mira's suggestion, Marcus tried different magic styles. Although it was rare for a child to drift away from one of the base magic styles of their parents, the phenomenon wasn't unheard of. So Marcus began searching. Takeover was definitely not his strong suit. He had been stuck with a tail for 2 weeks. Requip magic was just as bad. Marcus had been chased around Magnolia by his summoned butter knife before Erza had intervened. He still refused to eat toast in fear of confronting another butter knife. He even failed at making a simple icicle, much to his fathers delight.

His parents were fine with Marcus trying different types of magic. All they wanted was for the young boy to be happy. Natsu, however, insisted that Marcus was a fire mage since the night before the boy had been found asleep, enveloped in golden flames. Thank goodness Lucy had woken up and summoned Aquarius to douse the spreading flames. (The spirit and the mage had begun to get along fairly well after Lucy had gotten married.)

This experience is what brought Natsu and his son to the training ground for some practice.

"Dad, maybe I'm just not meant to be a dragon slayer like you. I haven't even met a dragon. I'm just a disappointment."

"Marcus, you're not a disappointment. I'd be proud of you even if you were an ice mage like Frosty the naked snowman and his daughter, Holly the Ice Princess" Natsu said, referring to his friend/rival Grey Fullbuster and his daughter, Holly Fullbuster. Marcus blushed slightly at the mention of the girl. Holly was only a few months younger than Marcus. She had blue hair, like her mother, and the same piercing dark eyes as her father.

The girl was particularly cruel to Marcus. She mocked him more than any of the other children in Magnolia did. While Marcus had no trouble standing up for himself without magic, he couldn't bring himself to fight, or even hate Holly. For some reason, Marcus was drawn to her. He couldn't put into words how he felt about her, whether he wanted to be her friend, or brother, or even if he "liiiiiiiiked her," as his uncle Happy put so elegantly whenever the cat caught Marcus looking at the girl.

"Dad, let's take a break for today. Can we just go back to the Guild?" Marcus normally would have rather gone off to the woods to wander around, but the thought of seeing Holly at the guild hall changed spurred him on.

"Sure. I'm hungry any ways." A sudden rumble in his stomach reminded the boy how long it had been since he had eaten. While he may not have had a dragon slayers skill at magic, Marcus certainly had the stomach of one. While the father and son marched off towards the famous Fairy Tail Guild hall, Marcus only had three things on his mind, the same three things that always seemed to be on his mind.

1. Food

2. Magic

3. Holly