Near the kingdom border, soaring high above the clouds; a crimson dragon fly over the many roads leading out of the border towns, particularly the mines of Solsthrain. After having learned the slayer had moved on long ago, the Fire King decided to search the surrounding area, following the main trail towards what could be a nearby town. Apparently, news of a dragon bring spotted by the kingdom's borders led to an increase of Rune Knights patrolling around the border of Seven. While traveling merchants and farmers kept their eyes towards the skies nowadays, the dragon in question kept itself hidden in the clouds. Oddly enough, as the Fire King approached what appeared to be a small city, he noticed a gathering of storm clouds overhead. The oddity being these clouds were not moving, they simply hovered over the small city. As he approached, he soon took notice of the seemingly endless rain pouring down. A familiar scent caught the Fire King's attention, and as he flew ever closer, that scent grew ever faint, the weather being the cause for losing the scent. While irritated, Natsu kept his course, knowing if he went in in his human form, the Iron Slayer would be harder to find.

Once the town was well within sight, he descended from the clouds, the wind beneath him made the forest shudder, leaves scattered about, beasts of all size scurried in all directions. Not long after his reveal from the bosom of the clouds a chorus of bells rang across the valley as he could hear faint screams emitting from the small city. With his enhanced sight, he could see the people scurry into buildings, doors and windows closed and boarded in haste. Livestock and animals were rushed into their respective stalls, armed guards lined at the entrance to the city, a hundred so far, more poured in from their other posts. From what he could see, it appeared as whatever mages in the city were preparing to face off against him as well. A small number, a dozen or so, and from what the crimson dragon could sense, these weren't even close to being half as powerful as S-class mages. Knowing he couldn't enter the city without causing a panic...or rather, more of a panic than he already did, Natsu descended lower, intending to land a few yards in front of the small army. What caught his attention was a formation of soldiers at the helm of the defensive unit. Their armor consisted with that of the royal guard in Crocus. Given what occurred in Magnolia, it didn't surprise him to see the king's guards here. Of course, he wondered why this city contained a large number of them. As he landed, he remained idly, allowing only the rain and mud beneath his feat to touch his scales. The small army flinched; he could see the fear in the eyes of the grunts lined at their city's gates, waiting for something to happen. Their shields held in front, spears aligned and prepared for a charge. Though, given the circumstance, these soldiers weren't exactly a stern wall. Many were shaking, others wavered, as if by merely blinking these grunts would drop their weapons and run. Then again, why wouldn't they? A dragon, rumored to have been spotted on the coast, and now one standing before a small detachment of their kingdom's forces.

It took a bit, but the entire mobilize force was approximately five hundred strong, that included the royal guard and small group of mages. From whatever way you could look at this, even with half a million soldiers; the crimson dragon was well within his own to scorch this patch of land within half a day. These soldiers couldn't hope to make so much as scratch the dragon's hide, and yet, he did nothing more than sit idly a few yards from the mages, his eyes glancing around.

Natsu sniffed around, his nose twitched when he caught a glimpse of his prey's scent, and something else included. Something familiar. From the moment the rain hit him, he could feel something, almost as if in the rain itself. He felt sadness, bitterness, and resent. There was a theory as to why he felt magic in the rain, but the dragon couldn't go into the city and search. Not as he was, and it was far too late to change into his human form and waltz into the city. Still. He was impressed, as soon as he left the comfort of the clouds, watch towers gave away his location, allowing for the city to prepare for his arrival.

Regardless, knowing he was probably risking his skin, Natsu lifted his head into the air, and released a mighty roar. A few soldiers flinched; many had started to retreat before their commanding officer shouted to them to stay in formation. The mages, collectively, almost broke into a run as well. To any, this looked as if the dragon had intended to intimidate them, but for the dragon, and any who knew of their culture; his roar was a rally call. As soon as the small army had regrouped, another roar echoed in the clouds, though, this was not the reply of another dragon. Rather, something else acknowledged the dragon's call. Another, softer roar, from within the city caught the attention of the soldiers. A majority seemed to be panicking, believing there to be something in their city that was of value to the dragon. And if the stories were anything to go by; there was no way anyone wanted to be in the way of a dragon and its goal.

In a surprising twist, one of hooded mage stood forward, those around urging the mage to return to their lines, particularly two other hooded mages, but instead, this individual continued forward. Stopping only when they could feel the heat from the dragon's breath hit their face, which was still a few feet away mind you. From where they stood, the dragon appeared not to notice, or care for the mage in front of him, but rather awaiting for another response from his call.

"Hey!" Almost as if instantly, Natsu's eye twitched in both a slight sense of nostalgic fear and utter annoyance as he very clearly recognized the voice calling to him. His head turned ever so slowly to meet the gaze of the teen glaring at him. Although, even with her hardened stare, the Fire King could see a tangent of fear in her eyes. Of course, she was not the only one exhibiting fear. The field was ripe with the stench. It was then that he realized; most of the soldiers and mages out here were probably plucked from their homes, young boys and men with little to no training. Farmers, blacksmiths, and florists who have no business on the battlefield, and now a little over five hundred stood before him and the city. Natsu had no intention of killing any of these soldiers, nor did he intend to start a skirmish. What he wanted was inside the city, but in order to get to the Iron Slayer, he'd need to get through the current blockade. And of course, the young mage in front of him. "The hell does your scaly hide want with the city?" As peaceful like as possibly, unfortunately.

He lowered his head to her level, the bravado she displayed almost quickly dissipated once he had given her his attention. "You are either extremely brave, or incredibly foolish, young mage. Regardless of whichever it is, my business is not with you. So…" His wings extended and with restrained strength, rushed forward, creating a gust of wind strong enough to send the young mage flying backward. "Be gone from my sight."

The young mage's hood fell off as she landed just a few feet away from the armored lines. The other hooded mages rushed to her aid, with one yelling her name as she ran to her fallen comrade. "Mira!" Although, they had little time before a royal knight approached the dragon, he had removed his helmet, and while he was rather young, Natsu was able to recognize this particular individual, and also put two and two as to why this city had a rather large number of royal knights present.

"Dragon, I am Arcadios, chief of the king's royal guard. What business do you have in Lavender?" The man spoke, his voice clear as day, though it almost felt like it would break simply by the fact that he was addressing a rather large, possibly ancient, and powerful beast.

"As I told the young mage, I have no business with you, nor do I have any qualms with your people. My business is my own, speaking of which..." Now, Natsu could've easily told the royal guard chief that he was seeking a dragon slayer, but considering the circumstance, and the misunderstandings that could've arisen from it, he choose to be subtle. His eyes focused on the gates to the city, as did Arcadios. They heard faint yelling from the city, what occurred next was enough to even surprise the dragon. The gates were opening, from the inside. The soldiers near the back repositioned themselves, no one was supposed to open the gate, whoever did, most likely, was the one who responded to the dragon's roar. As the grunts prepared for a fight, they were instead met with two children. A black-haired boy with a few piercings, soaking long hair, and beading crimson eyes. The child behind him was smaller, though, her blue hair and magical aura was what caught Natsu's attention. The two children, slowly, made their way past the armed battalion that had made way for the young ones to pass through. As they drew closer to the large beast, the blue-haired child hesitated; grabbing hold of the black-haired boy's arm and holding him back. As the boy attempted to get her to continue onward, he barely noticed that the dragon had grown tired of waiting and had made his way to them. His only hint that the large beast was behind him; was that the blue-haired girl's eyes had widened when she noticed how close the beast was.

As he turned to face this crimson beast, his heart skipped a beat when he realized that it had grown tired of waiting and came to him instead. The young boy froze in place, unable to move. He had choice words for this dragon, but he didn't think he'd actually come face to face with it. Natsu took his time analyzing the two children before him, he knew these two would become essential in the future, but he wondered how things would turn out both of them were brought into the fold early on. With the boy seemingly at a loss for words, Natsu decided to spark a conversation.

"You responded to my call, Slayer?"

The boy nodded.

"Then custom dictates a show of curtesy; your name, Slayer."

"Gajeel, son of Metalicana." The boy announced.

"I am Natsu, Son of Igneel." Natsu responded, his head lowered to the level of the Iron Slayer "It has been too long since I had the pleasure of speaking with more of my own kind."

"K-kind?" Gajeel appeared confused as to why the dragon was referring to him as he would kin.

"Yes, you are a Dragon Slayer, and therefore partially draconic…hmm, now that I think about it, that title feels self-defeating." The crimson dragon mumbled that last bit to himself, ignoring the fact that there was an army behind them, confused and baffled as to how easily the attention of the dragon was taken by these two kids. "But, that is a discussion for another day. Where is Metalicana?"

Hearing his dragon's name made the Iron Slayer tense, the Fire King knew how much the dragons meant to their slayers, but he needed to give off the impression of being oblivious to whatever plan their parental lizards had in motion. If only for this moment.

"I don't know." Gajeel responded. "He…disappeared."

"Hmm, you as well…" Natsu muttered, keeping silent only until Gajeel was looking at him again, this time with a confused expression. He had thought his father had left him for something he did, but now, it appeared he was not the only one whose dragon had disappeared on him. And from the looks of things, this dragon was searching for answers as to why this was occurring. "You are not alone in this, my hatchling's mother, Grandine, has also disappeared."

"You're hatchling?" The boy sounded both surprised and extremely curious. How could he not be? It was one thing to see another dragon, but to hear of more slayers like him. Although, now that he thought of it, this dragon's hatchling might just as well be another dragon as well.

"Yes, another slayer, like yourself." Of course, he knew now. "And I can only assume there are other slayers whose dragons have also disappeared. If that's the case…something bigger is at play, and there is much to be done. With that, my business here is done, it has been quaint speaking with you child of Metalicana, but I am not spending any more time near this city than I have to. You will come with me, and I shall help you search for your father, and if you have the strength, I can show you a few tricks most slayers are unaware of." Natsu didn't plan to wait nor except any arguments from the slayer, he had looked for an entire week, and was exhausted. He wanted to return home with the boy and spend some time with his family. As he had begun to spread his wings, preparing to take off, until…

"Wait!" he glanced down, seeing the young slayer with a sliver of desperation in his eyes. "I'll go, but you're also taking her with us!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow, lowering his head to the same level as the iron slayer. He had planned to take just the young, through his own means of course. But he was somewhat surprised that the boy was including what could be assumed was the girl behind him. Normally, the Fire King would simply just take the boy with him and be done with it. Of course, nothing is ever simple or easy. "And pray tell, why? I would take you; and have a slayer amongst a nest of his own. But what of the girl, what would become of a human child in a nest of dragons? My attention will be focused solely on your fellow slayers, and my little ones."

Gajeel gripped her hand and stood his ground against the crimson beast. "I'll watch over her!" For a second, there was only silence, as it appeared the rain had stopped. From where he stood, Natsu could've sworn he saw a smile form on the young girl's lips as she held the slayer tighter whilst keeping her head down.

The Fire King let out a faint growl as he made eye contact with the slayer, assuring the boy was under increasing intimidation. The effects were immediate, his bravado was crumbling, but his grip on the girl's hand didn't cease. "Take head boy, a dragon/slayer, whatever be it the case, any that I take under my wing is seen as kin. If you are to bring this one with you, she is to be your responsibility, but your loyalty is to your kin first. No exceptions. Do I make myself clear?" He growled, receiving a rather furious nod from the Iron Slayer. "And you…" he turned to the young girl, who almost jumped out of her skin upon being called by the dragon. "Look at me when I speak to you." the young girl, hesitantly, turned her gaze to the looming beast standing over her. "Do you understand what I've said so far?" When she nodded, the Fire King sighed, realizing he had instilled fear where he least wanted. "And what is your name, child?"

"J-J-Juvia." She responded, while meekly, the dragon heard clearly. Natsu raised his wings up and lowered his body. The two children were confused, that is until they heard the beast order them to "Climb on, while the day is still young." Without hesitation, the boy helped the girl unto the dragon and afterwards climbed on behind.

"Wait!" Natsu's attention was now on Arcadios who, in all honesty, he had forgotten was present. Though, he was not alone as a small platoon of royal guards approached from the blockade. "Dragon, do you expect me to just allow you to leave with those two children." Before his soldiers could surround the over grown lizard, he had already lifted himself off the ground.

"I do indeed." He responded, followed by a harsh glare "And if you and your men value your lives, you would be wise to let a dragon and their kin be." He snarled, easily intimidating the grunts, but not the chief of the guard. Though, he cared little for him now, Natsu had what he wanted, and was prepared to take off, just before turning his gaze towards the mage he had blown away earlier. The young girl noticed his stare and stiffened. "I have few times been taunted in the manner you have shown, and the few that I have were by those who were indeed worthy of my respect and admiration." The dragon's words surprised the lot of those watching, particularly the young mages riding on his back and the white haired mage still sitting on the ground. "I expect great things from you child, until then, farewell, Strauss." With widened eyes, the white haired mage jumped to her feet, unsure whether she had heard the beast call her by her family name. In a fit of rage, she called out to the dragon as he was making his way south.

"Hey! Get back here! You…Salamander!" She ran after the beast, though futile as it had already reached the forest and returned to the safety of the clouds. Shortly after, it appeared as though the city had partially lifted its lockdown; the soldiers began returning to their homes whilst the Royal Guards made their way to the city's center. All the while, three mages stood in the middle of the muddied field, their eyes set to the direction towards which the dragon flew. The smallest of the trio walked up to the white haired mage.

"S-sis, are we gonna follow that thing?" She asked, feebly. Unsure of whether following her sibling in this endeavor would be worth the risk.

"What choice do we have? It knew our family name, it knows about us…somehow. We'll get our answers. One way or another." She muttered the last bit to herself, placing her hood back on before darting into the forest, her siblings not too far behind.

Hours had passed since the crimson dragon had departed from Lavender. While keeping himself hidden in the clouds, soaring above the forests of Fiore, the Fire King remained quiet after finding the young Iron Slayer. Truth be told, he had only expected to find the boy, but to find his companion so early on, he wondered how Ultear and Levy would react, especially the latter. Glancing back, he noticed the excited expressions of the little ones, particularly the blue haired girl. In this whole ride, he kept his attention focused solely on getting home. When he didn't expect it, a sound echoed in his ear, one he didn't think he'd hear from the little one's riding on his back; laughter. While his impression didn't exactly give off any warm sentiment, he still found it amusing that these two would find some joy in this. Still, there were some things he wanted to cement with these two, especially since they would soon be a part of his family once they reached home. As carefully as he could, Natsu managed to set down at the base of a mountain. He chose this particular spot for a small cave nearby. Calmly, he gestured the little ones off, to which they begrudgingly, albeit silently, complied. As the children stepped into the ground, they quickly turned back to the crimson beast. Before anything else, he gestured the two to sit, to which they immediately complied. After which, the Fire King had sat in front of them, his eyes shifting slowly between the two.

"I understand you have questions, but I must have you understand something, Gajeel." Upon hearing his name, the young slayer stiffened. "At this moment, all I have as to the disappearance of your father is mere speculation, and nothing more. We will discuss more later, for now, I want you two to gather wood. I will search for dinner. Stick together, and don't stray far from this cave." Without waiting for a response, the beast lifted itself off the ground and flew into the forest in search of food. Leaving the two young mages to go and search for the firewood the dragon had asked for.

The two searched silently, neither had much to say. Being taken by a dragon was one thing, but to taken to his nest, to live amongst its own. While Gajeel seemed excited with the idea, Juvia was of a different mind. She had only ever heard of dragons from fairy tales and old wives tales, when rumors of a dragon being spotted in one of Fiore's cities, she assumed it was just a rumor. Although, when it suddenly appeared like it did; descending from the heavens followed by the frantic ringing of bells across the valley; she didn't know what to believe anymore. Of course, along with the old tales, dragons were depicted as being hoarders of grand treasure, and perfectly willing to destroy everything around it.

Even when he had returned, he showed no hostility, and was more along the lines of a protective parent. Shortly after she and Gajeel had eaten, Natsu had ordered them to bed, the Iron Slayer refused initially. That changed of course, with a little persuasion, that being; Natsu didn't singe him. Of course, she felt out of place. Especially with the idea of living with a couple more over-grown lizards. Would she belong among a family of dragons, or would she simply be an odd one out? Again?

Thinking too much into this, Juvia tossed and turned for the better part of the night before eventually arising and attempting to go for a walk. That is, before she realized how stormy it had gotten outside. The rain didn't affect her, but in a sense, it was bothersome. She instead sat by the entrance to the cave and watched the rain fall.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" The blunette's heart nearly skipped a couple beats. She turned back to see the Fire Dragon watching the rain as well. He had settled himself down shortly after she had. "It's late little one, you should be sleeping. Tomorrow is a long fly home…" It was then that a thought occurred to the Fire King that he failed to bring up before departing from Lavender. "Speaking of which…the seasons seem to be off; I assumed the rainy seasons had already passed. Do you have any clue as to what might be the cause for this erratic weather?" If heart were beating any faster it would've burst through her chest by now. A subject like this was not one she would dive into carelessly. She knew full well a dragon, with his extensive knowledge, would have a way to help her control her own abilities. However, she kept quiet. Nothing personal to anyone, but she had little experience talking to folks, Gajeel being the exception. But, that was a story for another day. Feeling a gently nudge to her left, Juvia turned to find the Fire King staring at her; no malice or resentment in his eyes.

"You don't have to tell me until you feel more comfortable, there is no pressure, little one. If you wish, I could teach you how to control it." As the dragon was laying his head down, and his eyes shutting closed, he muttered a few last words for the night. "Goodnight, Juvia." It was perhaps the first time he had used her name. And while it did little to ease her thoughts, the young blunette was now mildly curious as to whatever adventures would be waiting for them in the near future.

-Magnolia, Dragneel household-

It had been a week since the Fire King set off on his mission, and Flare sat alone atop the house, keeping a constant look out, wondering when her father would return. Twice she had tried to follow him, and each time she had been caught and brought home. No matter how much she asked, her father refused to take her and simply told her to stay put. She was angry first, but given time to reflect; she was still bitter, but she could see why he left her. Or rather, she stumbled onto her mother and Levy talking in her father's study. At first it was the usual bitter remarks, but almost quickly, the two had a rather heated debate over some object. A stone? No, that wasn't right. Whatever it was, the two had gone for hours discussing it, to the point that Flare had almost fallen asleep. That is, until she heard something incredibly interesting from the blunette over what the stone was. As soon as the two had locked and left the study, the young redhead managed to sneak in by simply, and painfully successfully; opening the window and entering. Finding the stone was easy, it was what to do with it that had the young fire mage in a rut. She had spent the better part of the day trying to 'activate' the stone and yet nothing. Of course, that wasn't completely true. She indeed felt a magic aura seeping from the object, much to her comfort, that warm aura reminded her of her father. That didn't surprise her much, considering she knew what exactly the stone was and the significance it would make should she use it properly. Although, as she fiddled with it on the rooftop, she failed to notice a second figure had climbed up and walked carefully to join her.

"Flare?" The young red-head's heart nearly pounced up her throat, had she not instantly remembered where she sat exactly. She clutched the object close to her chest before turning to face the newcomer. Much to her annoyance, it was Erza. Her fellow red-head had been looking for her. "Lady Ultear says dinner is ready."

"I'll be down in a sec." Flare responded, immediately regretting it upon feeling a chilling aura crawl up her spine.

"Flare, Lady Levy made Strawberry Cheesecake…" Scarlet had placed a firm grip on the fire mage's shoulder before whispering with an empty smile. "And no one is eating until everyone is present."

"A-alright, I'm going." Flare corrected, though, as she turned to face her fellow redhead, the object in her hand caught the attention of the reequip mage.

"What's that?" Erza's glare had almost completely disappeared, replaced with an intense curiosity of whatever it was that Flare had gotten her hands on this time. She leaned over to get a better look at the item. A tint of pink appeared on her cheeks as she felt the magical energy the item emitted.

"I dunno, momma and Levy were talking about this earlier today…for some reason, I can feel papa's magic in this." Flare revealed the tear-shaped stone; its color had changed from sky blue to blazing crimson. The two redheads stared at the stone, neither making a sound as they merely kept their attention on the object. For a moment, as softly as could be, the older Dragneel could've sworn she had heard whispers coming from the object in her hands.

"Do you know what it is?" Erza asked in a whisper-like tone. In response, Flare shook her head. Her eyes still glued to the stone.

"No, but maybe papa will know a bit more about it, I took it from his study, and-"

Without warning, Erza had grabbed, tightly, Flare's shoulder and was now glaring at her intensely after discovering under what pretenses her friend had acquired this object. "You did what?!"

The eldest Dragneel flinched, recoiling too hastily, catching the reequip mage by surprise as, by the shock alone, she had released her grip. Flare attempted to recover her balance, until she felt her leg slip. She felt her body falling backwards as Erza had attempted to grab her arm, to no avail. With no scream, and nothing to grab, Flare fell face first onto the ground, her hands clutching the stone to her chest. It wasn't until she had hit the ground that Erza had heard a piercing sound, almost as if a sword to flesh. She peered over to the side, seeing her friend lying idly on the ground, with nary a sound or movement; she screamed. As loud as she could, the reequip mage screamed. Though, it was fleeting, for in that second of pain and regret, she felt an immense magical aura beginning to take shape, and it was coming from Flare. That same magical aura had reformed into an intense heat that almost instantly dried the tears that had fallen down her cheeks. Without warning, the girl had combusted into flames, her own screams filling the night air. Those within the house had run out upon hearing Erza's cry, but after watching the eldest Dragneel daughter suddenly burst into flames, the two older women of the house rushed to aid the little one. Levy had placed a barrier around her, while Ultear made haste to seal whatever power was being expelled from her daughter. Or at the very least, contain the magical energy. What made matters worrisome for the Time Mage was the increase the fact that, even while being engulfed entirely in flames, the fire had no effect on her eldest child. In addition, she could swear she could also feel Natsu's magic.

"What the hell is happening to her?!" Levy yelled out, her barrier seemingly breaking regardless of the amount of magic she pumped into her barrier. For a young mage, she expected some of her potential to show fruition in the future. But, nothing like this.

Ultear was still trying to seal the raw energy her daughter was expelling before she could expend all her magical energy. Although, from what she could see, the amount of power stored she was producing far exceeded what she expected from her eldest child. It was only when Flare's body began twisting and turning that she noticed the object embedded into her chest; the dragon scale lacrima. Her heart had sunk, she swore to Natsu she'd never use it, nor would she allow her children near it. And yet, here she stood, knowing full well she couldn't do anything more at this point. Much to her relief, the magical energy had begun to die down as only a field of fire surrounded the young mage's body. The fire had yet to die down, but it had no effect on Flare's skin. There were two scenarios from here on out for the young mage; if she was strong enough, the lacrima would fuse with her. Essentially, Flare would become like her father; a Fire Dragon Slayer. But then, there was also the alternative…

Hey guys, sorry for the lag on this chapter, I've been caught up with school and work. One more chapter of them being in the past, and then we time skip. How far? You'll have to stick around and see. Anyway, I'm sure you're all aware of what's coming up, so yea, more dragon slayers on the way. I won't say who else, but more will come, of this I promise you. Now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter; the next will hopefully be out soon. Until next time!