Chapter 3: A Truth to be Told
Fiore, the country whose name stands for 'flower'. A peaceful country with unparalleled beauty, ruled by the wise King Jude and Queen Layla from the Heartfilia lineage.
But that was seven years ago.
Ever since Hades rose from the shadows, Fiore turned into a total mess. Luckily, Mavis lived in a small and secluded island not far from the mainland of Fiore itself, Tenrou Island. She used to live in a forest near Crocus, the capital of Fiore. Upon realization that the area was no longer suitable for her needs (and unsafe also), five years ago she decided to move the island famous for its divine tree.
Mavis sighed as she waited for her soup to be cooked. She looked outside the window, the thick cloud looming above the land, completely encasing the sun.
She stole a glance at the another occupant of the house. A seven year old blonde girl impatiently waiting for her lunch at the table. Mavis couldn't help but notice the extreme similarities between the child and her mother. Golden blonde hair, brown eyes full of passion and an attachment towards books.
She poured the now-cooked soup into two bowls, dividing them equally. She pushed one of the bowls towards the little girl, and pulled one for herself.
"Is it delicious, Lucy?" She asked the girl who just had a spoonful of her cooking.
"Of course! After all, Mavis made it!" Lucy grinned widely. Mavis couldn't help but smile and began eating her fill.
When nighttime fell, Mavis whispered to her doorstep that she will be going somewhere and to guard the house.
"Don't go anywher. If you won't follow my orders, then you're free to consider it as an advice from a friend."
Mavis put on her robe and left shortly after, leaving Lucy who replied a quick 'Yes!'. She went to the borders of the island carefully, making sure that nobody was there. Doing a quick inspection and confirming her safety, she lowered the hood of the black robe and whispered into the thin air, "I am here."
A dragon ascended from the seas. A big, red dragon. Well, technically he didn't appear completely, only peeking his head out from the water.
"It's been a while, Mavis. I am grateful that you have spared some of your time to heed my call." The dragon greeted her in a whisper, but still loud enough for normal humans to hear.
Mavis smiled warmly. "It's nothing, Igneel. Besides, I have something that I need to say to you too. But first, what is it that you want me to do?"
"It's unsafe here." Igneel replied grimly. "Hop on—seems like seeing it with your eyes will do more justice."
Without any further hesitation Mavis walked on the water, while Igneel rose from the water until his back was visible. Mavis hopped on the enormous creature, shifting herself into a comfortable position. After confirming that the girl was comfortable in her seat, Igneel extended his wings and took his flying stance, all the while being as quiet as possible.
"Mavis, how's Layla's daughter doing?" He whispered.
"I just told her about her bloodlines a few hours ago. She's still upset, but everything will be okay, I just knew it." Mavis sighed, ending her answer and tried to reach the clouds. "But moreover, have you noticed that that has been glowing brighter by day?"
"I noticed not too long ago. And its pair has been, too."
After an hour of traveling, they finally entered a forest in the northside of Fiore; which Mavis, upon first glance, simply recognized—The Worth Woodseas. Igneel slowly descended from the sky, perfectly landing in a clearing in the middle of the forest. Shortly after he closed his wings, Mavis jumped down.
"What is it that you want to show me?" She asked. The dragon gestured for her to follow him. Mavis followed, knowing if she asked more she afraid she would anger the bad-tempered dragon.
Mavis noticed the sudden rise in temperature, so she looked towards her dragon companion. No, the heat wasn't from the dragon. Igneel gestured for her to peek through the trees.
About ten meters from where she and Igneel stood, a boy with bubblegum pink hair was releasing a steady stream of fire from his mouth, retaining it for a good five seconds, and fell backwards. He wiped the bundling sweat on his forehead and stood back from the grounds.
"That, Mavis, is the kid I took seven years ago. Apparently Hades raided the village in the mountains over there that day and out of pure luck the baby was blown right into my left wing. Also, look at that trademark pink hair of the Dragneels'. It was very unfortunate that his father got slain before he finally mastered the true Crimson Lotus arts."
Mavis observed the boy. He may still be seven years old, but he had shown some potential in magic. And his magic power vessel was quite decent considering his age.
"You knew that dragon slayers were hunted all over the world." Mavis said with a warning tone. "Then why did you train him? Aren't you putting him in more danger by doing that?"
Igneel chuckled lightly. Mavis raised an eyebrow. "Well, I believe it is time for you to get to know each other. Natsu!" Igneel called the boy. Natsu rushed to the dragon's side, but upon noticing Mavis he hid behind a tree.
Natsu slowly peeked from the tree, and Mavis smiled. Realizing that the girl wasn't a threat, he walked closer. Mavis held out her hand.
"My name is Mavis Vermilion. You can say that I'm Igneel's best friend. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Mavis introduced herself.
Natsu took her hand and shook it. "I'm Natsu Dragneel! I'm the student of Igneel and the last of the Dragneel clan. Nice to meet you too, Mavis!"
Natsu sat cross-legged on the ground, and Mavis followed.
"You know, Natsu..." Mavis began. "You remind me so much of my foster daughter. He's about the same age as you now. In a few days I'll be teaching her some magic too."
"A girl? What's her name? And what kind of magic?" He asked out of curiosity.
"Lucy. She'll be learning Celestial Spirit Magic. It's a magic that allows you to summon beings from other world and use them for various purposes including battle."
"You really are going to teach the girl that magic? You're just putting her in more danger too!" Igneel objected.
"There's nothing I could do, it's her mother's legacy. Besides, those keys would be a waste if she didn't learn how to use it." Mavis replied calmly. "She's a pretty quick learner, doing this would be just a piece of cake for her."
Natsu watched as the two argue. The name Lucy rang in his head like a bell. He didn't know why, but her name had a good ring in it.
"Igneel, it's not safe discussing about her magic here. You too, you shouldn't have stand out too much. He has eyes all over Fiore, remember?"
Igneel sighed in defeat. "Just...tell him, okay?" Mavis nodded once, and turned to Natsu.
"Natsu, I think you should know the true nature of your magic. Tell me, what do you know about your own magic?"
"Fire Dragon Slayer Magic... A magic that transforms parts of my body to that of a dragon's. I can breathe fire and I can produce them from any parts of my body. I eat fire to restore my stamina, therefore I'm immune to fire."
Mavis nodded affirmatively. Natsu sat straight, readying himself to process the new information he was going to receive. "Actually, the magic you've been learning all this time—Dragon Slayer Magic—it's a forbidden magic. Seven years ago the King declared that Dragon Slayer Magic and Celestial Spirit Magic users were to be killed, and anybody who wishes to learn their magic will be punished... brutally."
"But why?" He asked his mentor. "And if you knew that, why are you teaching me this magic?"
"More than ten years ago a master of the arts of Divination, Cornelia Alberona had a vision of... Well, it's a secret. But eventually, you will know." Igneel explained to the boy. "This is a very top secret information; less than twenty people in this whole world knew. I decided to teach you the arts of fire dragon slaying because I believe that you have the power to do it. You came from a clan of dragon slayers. It raises the possibility of you being one of The Chosen Pair higher. Also, the numbers of dragon slayers left in this world keeps decreasing even as we speak."
Natsu nodded slowly as he processed his master's explanation in his head. "How about the celestial mages?" He asked out of curiosity.
"It's very hard to spot celestial mages all over the world." Mavis chose to answer. "People rarely learn this magic because it's very hard to learn and the keys are rare. They usually have a good way of hiding their keys, for example with Requip Magic which allows you to store your belongings to a separate dimension and summon them whenever you need them. So while dragon slayers are decreasing vastly in numbers because of their easy-to-spot habits, the number of celestial mages decreases far more slower."
Natsu gulped. Mavis continued, "Igneel asked me to meet you today to help him tell you the true nature of your magic and to tell you all this. As you can see, your master here has a habit of resorting to unreasonable and unnecessary violence and he's no good with words."
"I second that." Natsu responded. Both of them laughed, while Igneel sighed in defeat. Again.
"Natsu." Mavis finally got a grip of herself. Natsu shot his head up, while still giggling. "Promise me that no matter what the circumstances, you will not reveal your true identity as a Fire Dragon Slayer, except to those that you really, really trust. Avoid battle as much as possible, and when necessary, simply use hand-to-hand combat. If you have to resort to magic, use it at a very minimum expense. Don't eat any kind of fire no matter how tempting it is, and don't use Dragon's Roar, okay?"
"You got it, Mavis!" Natsu grinned.
"I think it's time for me to get home." Mavis stated simply. Igneel lowered himself, allowing Mavis to hop onto his back. Natsu waved his hand, and Mavis returned the gesture.
"We'll meet again sometime!" The pink haired grinned warmly as his foster father began floating in the air.
The next day, Mavis approached Lucy who fell asleep on the sofa. Not wanting to disturb the girl's peaceful slumber, she tiptoed all the way to the kitchen, attempting to cook some breakfast.
But much to her shock, there was a bowl of chicken porridge in the dining table. Well, technically there's two bowls, one with the semi-warm porridge and one more empty with traces of the porridge.
Her head reflexively turned towards the sleeping figure of Lucy in the couch. She smiled, and began eating her fill.
She, however, had failed at noticing someone who crept up behind her while she was washing the dishes, so her 'stalker' took the chance as an opening and splashed some water towards her.
"Lucy!" Mavis exclaimed in shock. Lucy giggled.
"Morning, Mavis!" She chirped merrily. "Where'd you go last night?"
"Last night? Oh, I was meeting an old acquaintance of mine." She replied calmly. "Thanks for the porridge, by the way."
"Your very welcome."
An awkward silence fell between them.
"Lucy." Mavis interrupted the silence. "Um... You know... Actually... Layla left me to train you in the arts of Celestial Spirit Magic."
Lucy laughed, much to Mavis's confusion. Mavis raised an eyebrow.
"And I thought you knew!" Lucy laughed so hard, clutching her stomach. "Actually I have been secretly learning that magic!"
"You what? But how did you get the keys?"
"I thought you were the one who put it in the box under by bed?"
"Oh."
Fifteen-year old Ultear was striding down the long hallway directed to her King's study with a little pink-haired girl clutching on her hands. During these seven years, Hades seemed to alter much of Mercurius's interior design. He destroyed many rooms and used them as hallways that displayed his collections of art, attempting to show to every single soul a small part of his so-called 'gracefulness as a King'.
Behind his study, he placed his bedchamber. The bedchamber was nothing much of a surprise, it is indeed big but lacked decorations.
However, his main priority is his study. Every inch of the wall were covered in bookshelves; thousands of books filling them. Not just books, but decorations too. His desk was neatly placed in the middle. He insisted that the room ceiling will be painted like the night sky, most likely because Hades always stayed in the dark side.
She carefully knocked the door, and when Hades told her to enter, she obliged. She walked closer, the little girl still clutching onto her hand.
"Well, well, look what we have here." Hades greeted her. "Who's the little girl?"
"Her name is Meredy." Ultear said. "She may be little, but she has a unique ability. She could read people's feelings by simply looking at their faces. She may become an asset for us in the future."
Hades closed his eyes and stroked his beard, and all of a sudden he smirked. Ultear raised an eyebrow out of confusion.
"Ultear, my dear. Actually I was searching for names and thanks to you, I got it. You as the leader, this Meredy, Kain, Rustyrose, Zancrow, Azuma and Caprico. All of you are, from now on, a team." Hades explained, a gleam of excitement lurking in his eye. "Seven Kin of Purgatory. It has a good ring on it. And for Meredy, I'll be training her with a magic I think suits her well."
"I am very honored, Your Highness." Ultear bowed.
"Now remember. Seven Kin of Purgatory is created for a sole purpose; To retrieve him."
A/N
YAY FINALLY NATSU AND LUCY APPEARS!
guys i'm sorry for not updating sooner, approx. five hundred words before this chapter finished, i got a little writer's block.
but it's gone YAY
so here, read your fill;)