Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail it belongs to Hiro Mashima.

*A little update for the lovely favourites, followers, and readers if you haven't seen the change of the rating, I've changed it from T to M due to violence, language, and mature content* Thank you for understanding :) and I hope you enjoy the latest chapter.

Chapter Fourteen: "The Dragon Clan."

In the dark forest, a "gi-hee," came out from the man's mouth, when he sensed someone running closer from beneath him. He was moving within the trees, preying, and waiting for the right moment to strike. On a sturdy branch, he was in a prepared position, readying to throw the chains in his hands. The quickened rhythmic footsteps were growing louder, and he could hear the man's heavy breathing… just a few more seconds... now. The sounds of metal clanging and the thud of a man collapsing, "Argh!" could be heard. The man looked at the chains wrapped around his legs. "Gosh darn it!"

"Gi-hee," The hooded figure jumped, and landed in front of the figure trying his might to break loose. "Who are you?" The man asked in a steady voice, trying to buy time in figuring out how to escape.

"They call me the Metal Ranger, but since this is a special occasion, I'll let you in my real name," he stood above the man, "Gajeel, it's not like you'll live to tell the tale." The moonlight reflected on his metal arm guards, and his brass knuckles. Although the man couldn't see Gajeel's face because of his dark hood, he had a feeling Gajeel was smiling… of what was to come. "Why are you doing this? You need to let me go! I need to warn them!"

"Sorry, I don't take orders from criminals." Gajeel flexed his hands.

"Wait, what? What I'm accused of?" The man asked completely baffled that for a minute or two he stopped fidgeting.

"You criminals are all the same." Gajeel spat at the ground, "Acting stupid by pretending you have no ideas what crime you've committed or that I caught the wrong person. Well I got news for you, I ain't falling for any balderdash coming out of your mouth."

"I'm not a criminal! I'm..." Before the man could finish pleading his innocence, Gajeel punched the man in the face breaking his nose, then picked him up and rammed him to a tree, and he felt a sharp pain the back of his head. Streams of blood was running from the man's nose, and he was coughing some blood. His hearing and sight senses were becoming askew as though he was underwater.

"Did you not hear me? I ain't going to believe any crap that comes from your mouth." He said in a warning tone, Gajeel's hood fell back, showing that he had several studded piercing on his face.

"Good work, Mr. Redfox." A man entered the scene, and he was slowly clapping, "I knew I could rely on you to catch, Salamander." When the man's ear registered a different voice, he tried to focus on who it might be.

"He was an easy target, didn't put much of a fight."

"Well I applaud you're skills, Metalicana would be proud." Sawarr smirked, "I know you're anxious in returning to Ashton, but I believe you would be an effective justice figure here."

"Forget it." Gajeel said in a definitive tone, "Besides didn't you speak highly of that red knight? Why not ask her to join your crew?"

"The Scarlet Knight would be a beautiful asset, but I know where her loyalty lies, and because of that she's merely an obstacle, at least for now. Think about it Mr. Redfox, if you want to return fine by me. I thought you would be interested to know, there's a Dragon amongst the Magnolian civilians." Sawarr smirked.

"What?! Are you jerking with me?" Gajeel let go of the man, "Metalicana told me the Dragon Clan was destroyed when his great-great-many great grandfather, Zancrow took part in the Scarlet Sky War... if a Dragon did exist, he wouldn't be here."

"Perhaps, but like I said, if you want to leave then go." Sawarr said still smirking. The man's hearing was beginning to clear up, and he recognized the voice... how could he forget it?

"You! You umbag! Is dis your do-ing?" (You! You scumbag! Is this your doing?) The man said the best he could with a broken nose and blood in his mouth directly at Sawarr.

"Show some respect!" Gajeel raised his fist to strike again, but Sawarr grabbed his arm.

"Mr. Redfox, please conserve your energy for later." Sawarr released his grip, "I told you I wanted him to be brought alive. Now kindly escort him back, I'll personally deal with him later. I would also like you to keep an eye on him, mainly because he slipped passed my men... and we wouldn't want the same mistake twice. You may use any force necessary if he should act up, but make sure to keep him alive." Gajeel let out a frustrated, tch, gave a disgusted look, he put a rucksack on top of the man's head, and roughly placed him on his shoulder and carried him.

"Fine, I'll stay." Gajeel said in a gruff.

Natsu was led then told to wait in the room for Lucy, when he asked about the Prince, the maid responded that he went out last night and hadn't returned yet. Oh well, it didn't matter to him, actually he preferred it that way, besides he hadn't spoken to Lucy in a while. "Thanks." He said before the maid bowed and closed the door. He let out a huge sigh of relief, he made it, opening up the satchel and double checked he brought the tools he needed. Satisfied, he took the waiting time to look around; it looked like the room where he saw the Prince. Except, this room had a family portrait above the fireplace, whereas the other didn't. Natsu had to do a double take on the portrait because the Queen looked almost identical to Lucy, but when his eye caught the year with quick calculations meant, the Lucy look alike would be 36 years old… there's no doubt, he was looking at the Queen, Lucy's mother. Well, now I know where Lucy gets her looks from. Wait what? Shaking off his thoughts, his eyes trailed from the queen's gentle smiling face, to the young blonde toddler in her arms. The family portrait was quite beautiful; it had the King standing behind the couch, while the Queen sitting, and the princess on her lap. The Queen looked like a loving mother, she was focusing on her daughter with a gentle and sweet smile on her face. The King had his hand on the Queen's right shoulder, although looking directly at the viewer, his expression of pride for his family was visible.

"Natsu! What are you doing here?" Lucy and Siegrain entered the room.

"Hey Lucy, I'm here to discuss about this ring making business… the prince didn't tell you?"

"Sawarr did mention someone was appointed to make my ring, but he left out the minor detail that it was you."

"Are you disappointed?" Natsu wasn't quite sure how to read Lucy's behaviour.

"No! No! Of course not, I just… well… I'm glad that you're the one doing it." Lucy said feeling flustered.

"Great, let's get started. Anyway, who are you?" Natsu acknowledged the other presence in the room.

"I am Siegrain, an adviser. I was asked to accompany Miss during the absence of the third Prince." He gave a little bow.

"Ok, so first off I need to know is when do you need the ring?" Natsu said while pulling a chair out for Lucy to sit, and another for Siegrain, and then one for himself. He then proceeded in taking out a parchment, a writing utensil, and a ring gauge.

"Three weeks from now, is that plenty of time?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, I can do that. So, have you thought of the design? Metal? Any gems you want on it?"

"Pardon for the intrusion, but Prince Sawarr wanted me to show you some ring designs from Ashton. He also suggested to have it made of gold, and decorated with sapphire jewels." Siegrain intervened, and handed Natsu some scrolls, which contained pictures of luxurious looking rings; beautifully decorated with gems, and designed with fine artistic detail.

"What would you like Lucy?" Natsu asked, as he noticed the disinterest in her eyes when he flipped through the scrolls.

"Siegrain, thank you for taking your time as a placement to Sawarr's absence in presenting these glamorous rings, but none of these are what I had in mind." Lucy directly said to Siegrain, then she turned her attention to Natsu, "I would like my ring to be a simple bronze band, with white gems to shape the magnolia blossom." He wrote it down.

"Bronze, Miss?" Siegrain asked with a hint of shock in his voice.

"Yes bronze," Lucy simply said, "Although I agree it's quite plain compared to gold, I find bronze has a charm that surpasses gold."

"Here, tell the Prince thanks, but I won't be needing these." Natsu handed back the scrolls to Siegrain; and he just nodded in response. "Ok, so I'm going to need your left hand and I'll measure your ring finger." Lucy moved so she was facing the complete opposite of Natsu.

"Excuse me! Siegrain, the king needs your assistance." A maid knocked on the door.

"Well that's all Prince Sawarr asked me to do, I suppose I take that as my cue to leave, Miss would you be alright on your own?"

"I'll be fine Siegrain, thank you." Siegrain bowed and left the room, leaving behind Natsu and Lucy alone in the room. The only sound that could be heard was the clinking of the metals, where Natsu was figuring out which size he should start with.

"How are you doing?" He asked when he found a size to start, and he placed it around her finger. Whoops, guess he started off with a size too small that the round tool couldn't go over the knuckle... maybe, he should try another two sizes up.

"I'm doing just fine..."

"That didn't sound convincing, you know you can be honest with me. Come on Lucy, I've noticed when you were in the city, any mention of the royals and you acted... weirder than usual. Obviously, you don't like being here." Hmm... this could be a right size, it just seems a little loose, maybe a .5 smaller.

"You really enjoy calling me weird." Lucy said half-sighing. Natsu had a little smile forming, Lucy was loosening up, and started acting like the Lucy he met in the city.

"It's because you are. Anyway, how does that feel?" Natsu feeling confident this was Lucy's ring size, 5.5, he let go of her hand, so she could test how it felt.

"How charming." Lucy said sarcastically. She moved her fingers, made a fist and released it, and she used her other hand to move the metal object around her finger, "I think you got the right size." She concluded. Natsu wrote down the ring size, and gently took off the ring gauge on Lucy's finger.

"Well that's about everything. Would you like me to deliver the ring as soon it's finished? Or wait until the three week mark?" He asked as he packed his things back in the satchel.

"Whenever it's convenient for you, but I would be happy if you visited sometime... drat! If I had known you were coming today, I would've had documents signed to allow the others to visit without having any troubles with the palace guards. I miss seeing the Fairy Tail gang."

"We miss you too, do you think you'll come to the city one day?"

"I would love too! When I become Queen I'll be making regular trips to see how Magnolia is growing without resorting to books, I want to be actively be part of the change, instead of doing behind the scene work." Lucy said with determination.

"I'm not going to lie, but I'm still having troubles wrapping my mind the fact that you're the princess." Natsu said in a rather serious tone.

"I'm not sure whether to feel insulted, or to take it as a joke and laugh... like that time you debated whether I was a farm girl." Lucy giggled, "You sure know how to charm the ladies."

"Want an arm wrestle, again?" Natsu challenged, as he put his left arm on the table.

"Sure, but we both know the outcome." Lucy said taking hold of his hand.

"On the count of three. 1... 2... 3." Like the previous time, Natsu watched Lucy trying her very best to move his hand... but it wasn't budging. Then he slowly put hers down. "Maybe next time." He said jokingly.

"You know you're going to win." She let out a frustrated sigh.

"We can't be 100% positive, who knows maybe you'll get a boost of strength the next time we meet." Natsu said grinning.

"Anyway, I've noticed your arm looks better, are you using the cream Wendy made for you?" Lucy asked.

"I can't believe you remember, but yeah, the cream works wonder." Natsu said looking at his arm, there was scarred tissue but the burn was noticeably less swollen and red. "Thanks Lucy, I don't know how it would be without it." When he looked up at Lucy, she was no longer smiling... but instead looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Lucy, are you really just fine?"

"You're not going to let that question go are you?" Lucy tone indicated she was tensing up again. The few minutes when she acted like the upbeat and assertive Lucy was fading.

"Not if you're miserable or you're being mistreated here." Natsu, even though he meant well didn't realized he trodden on a delicate subject.

"Natsu, it's kind of you to worry about my well being, but it's not your burden to bear. Thank you for coming, but I have to go somewhere. Have a safe journey, and tell Igneel I said, hi." Lucy's demeanour suddenly became aloof, she did a curtsy and headed for the door.

"Wait, Lucy." Natsu grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Out of reflex she jerked her shoulders away from his grasp.

"Lucy!?"

"It's nothing... I... I'm so sorry. I have to go!" Lucy said clearly upset, and she rushed out of the room.

"Lucy!" Natsu called her name, he didn't know what he did or said that triggered her, but whatever it was really did upset her. When he came out of the room, Lucy was out of sight.

"You know my boy, I hate seeing my sweets upset." Really? Really, did he had to show up just at that moment?

"When did you get here?" Natsu asked, looking at Sawarr leaning on a column.

"Just a few moments ago, the maids kindly directed me which room you were in. So which ring did my sweets pick, I brought the best designs Ashton could offer... What?"

"A few seconds ago, you said you hated seeing Lucy upset... yet here you are nattering on something so stupid instead of running after her to comfort her... either cut the crap of pretending you care for her or at least show some sensitivity towards her." Natsu said disbelieved in what he heard.

"Interesting." Sawarr smirked which now only pissed Natsu off.

"Are you at least going to tell me what's, interesting? Or are you just going to smirk like a condescending jerk?" Natsu was losing his tolerance over Sawarr's habit of smirking like he knows something, and withholding it in such a way that made Natsu feel like an inferior moron, or shit at the bottom of the Prince's boots. "Forget it." He went to get his satchel, when he turned around Sawarr also entered the room. What was wrong with this person? Natsu was trying his best to ignore Sawarr's presence, and was going to pass him when... "My boy, how well do you think you know, Igneel?" Sawarr asked.

"What?" Natsu stopped in his tracks as soon he heard Sawarr said dragging Igneel's name into the conversation.

"No need to sound hostile, I'm only concern for you my boy." Sawarr smirked.

"Sir Igneel is a respectable man, a fantastic father, and the best blacksmith. I'm not standing here if you're going to bad mouth him."

"Loyalty. Had Igneel ever talked about his life prior when he settled down here, Magnolia?"

"What are you talking about? Igneel always lived at Magnolia, but he did a lot of traveling to learn more about forging techniques in other regions. What's amusing?"

"If Igneel always lived in Magnolia, why isn't his name in any birth records in the library?"

"Ok, so maybe sir Igneel was born somewhere else, but he lived most of his life here or maybe someone forgot to register his name." Natsu had no idea what the Prince's aim was... but he didn't like how this conversation was going... what was it about the Prince that he loathed so much yet at the same time he couldn't pull away from his conversations? Plus... when did he ever had time to go through the birth records? The Prince arrived only a few days ago, and Natsu was pretty sure it would take months going through the birth records...

"Gildarts Clive."

"What?"

"Next time you see Igneel, ask him about who Gildarts Clive is."

Natsu did something he's never done before, went to the library. Gildarts Clive, Natsu didn't know who the man was… Igneel never mentioned him. He couldn't help the nagging sensation after hearing the nonsense coming from Sawarr's mouth, and that smirk on his face… arrgh, he's far worse than Gray! The worse part, he couldn't simply punch the smirk off his pretty face without getting arrested, and then facing sir Igneel with the news. Consarn it! It was the type of smile that says, I know something and you're an ignoramus to figure it out. What was Sawarr implying on Igneel that Natsu didn't know? Whatever it was, Natsu wasn't going to believe it, how the hell can Sawarr know more about Igneel than him? Igneel has been his fatherly figure for fifteen years, and Sawarr had only just met him. "Hi, and welcome to… Natsu?!" Levy was in utter shock to see the pink hair individual walk into the library.

"Hey Levy, just the person I wanted to see." Levy's jaw was opened, not only was Natsu in the library, but he wanted to see her? Then a hopeful thought crept up on Levy's mind.

"Are you and sir Igneel making a flying contraption and you need me to calculate the measurements?" Levy asked excitedly, now it was Natsu's turn to be a little speechless.

"Err… no… what?"

"Pity, well if it wasn't that, how may I help you?"

"I was wondering if you knew anyone named, Gildarts Clive." The reaction Natsu received was quite unexpected, the expression on Levy's face was full of shock and she wasn't responding. "Levy?" Natsu asked waving his hand in front of her face.

"Did… you say, Gildarts Clive?" Levy leaned over and said in a quiet voice. In response he nodded, and Levy let out a sigh, "Laki, will you be fine by yourself at the front? I think this may take a while."

"Sure, you're always helping me, so take your time." Her colleague assured her.

"Thanks, Laki. Right, follow me, we're going to a more private room." Levy led Natsu to a study room, it was a small and simple room with a few desks (with some piles of scrolls and writing tools), chairs, and a couple of shelves. "What was with the reaction after I said, Gildarts Clive?" Natsu asked, as he sat down.

"Gildarts Clive, was a member of the Dragon Clan."

"That's awesome! Did they look for dragons?" Levy almost face-palmed at Natsu's question, instead she politely continued as though he said nothing.

"No, Dragon Clan is a title of an organization. For instance, there's the Phoenix Talon in the South; a guild aimed for naturally gifted and highly skilled Knights. There's also a mercenary guild called Sabre Tooth located near Crocus… then there's an academy for maidens, called Mermaid Heel." Levy patiently explained.

"So, what is the Dragon Clan?" Natsu hoped Levy would just get to the point and not give these long lectures... as long Natsu was actively figuring out the answer in his head and still held enough interest he doesn't mind listening to lectures, but once he loses interest that's it, he would be a lost cause.

"The Dragon Clan was founded by a man named Acnologia, a dangerous rogue, 700 years ago. At first, he acted alone, causing chaos and destruction in every place within his path."

"Why?"

"He probably had a power complex, meaning he did it to show people what he's capable of. All I know is, it couldn't have been for money because he even did it to the poor villages. Anyway, due to his carnage reputation not only did it bring fear but it also attracted some followers. Slowly the Dragon Clan was formed, with Acnologia as the leader. The Dragon Clan when they were at their peak of power, for a couple centuries was the most feared group. Whenever they arrived at a town, they leave with blood on their hands... lots of blood."

"Wait a minute!" Natsu said wrapping his mind on the information, "Are you saying the Dragon Clan is an assassin organization? Like… Ashley Heartfilia, in the Origins of Magnolia?"

"First off, it wasn't Ashley it was Anna Hertfilia." Levy had to correct that mistake, "To answer your question, no, it was much worse. Assassins and shinobis generally were hired to kill a specific target or at most served in war, the Dragon Clan…" Levy gave a little shudder, "Were hired to massacre… wipe out a civilization."

"... Hold on! Gildarts Clive is a member of the Dragon Clan?" The information was swirling in Natsu's mind… what connection did sir Igneel have with someone part of a heinous group? Stop it! Stop doubting, you know sir Igneel. There wasn't any possibility sir Igneel, a respectable man would be tangled up in something so dark.

"Was," Levy corrected, "He was executed not too long ago… around three decades ago, I think." Levy had a thoughtful expression, racking her memories on the documented reports she read.

"Where?"

"Here in Magnolia."

"What?!" Natsu almost toppled off the chair.

"I know, it's remarkable how many secrets lie in the history of Magnolia. I doubt anyone knows about Gildarts Clive, because the predecessor kept it hush-hush. He probably didn't want to start a panic, since the Dragon Clan was believed to cease to exist after the Scarlet Sky War when the Countries banded together to stop the organization."

"How did they know he was part of the Dragon Clan?"

"He had their dragon insignia tattooed on his back… it was powerful symbol. Anyone caught with the tattoo on their backs were executed without a trial."

"…" Natsu was utterly speechless, and not at the incredible vast of knowledge Levy picked up at the local library. Magnolia… his home, a place he thought he knew so well held history he could never imagined. He didn't know it used to be part of Ashton… he didn't know a Dragon Clan member was executed here… he didn't know Anna Heartfilia fought hard for Magnolia's independence… he thought, Magnolia had always been peaceful and always was the way it was. If he didn't know that much of Magnolia, did that mean… sir Igneel…? Shit, he didn't want to know the answer. He thought the Prince was sputtering claptrap, and made up the name, Gildarts Clive and acted like a complete know it all, just to piss him off. He shouldn't have seek for the answers, he should've left it alone. Coming here just left him with even more questions.

"If you want to know more, the best place to go is the Royal Library, it's been one of my dreams to spend a whole day there." Levy let out a sigh as she thought about all the gems she would find in there, "The books here only touches the surface of information about the royals and historical content such as the Dragon Clan, but since I spend most of my days reading I tend to pick up references and scrape together the abstract information from different sources. I was shocked to find, The Origins of Magnolia, on the shelf that was a treat to find." Levy explained. "Natsu… are you ok? You don't look at well." Levy grew concerned when she saw the conflict in Natsu's expression.

"I'm just... shocked..."

"Out of curiosity, how did you come across Gildarts name?"

"The Prince mentioned his name."

"The third prince of Junelle? Hmm... that's weird." Levy had a thoughtful pose, "Although... Ashton has a high record of executing Dragon Clan members, I guess it makes sense that he would know..." At this point however, Natsu lost complete interest in the conversation and didn't register the last fact Levy presented.

"I have to go, thanks for taking time." Natsu said heading for the exit.

"Thank you for picking an interesting topic, take care Natsu. Oh! I'm planning on seeing Luce soon, let me know if you want to tag along." Levy said but Natsu was already out of earshot.

x

Auhor's note: Hello lovely readers (again)! Happy New Year! ^-^ I hope you had all a wonderful holiday, and that you all will be blessed for 2017. This was suppose to be the last chapter of 2016, but instead it's the first one for 2017.

I'm not going to lie, the chapters are getting harder and harder to write, no matter how much brainstorming I've been doing XD (*cough*cough* but that's my fault for complicating things*cough*cough*). As you probably have guessed by the early (1-10) chapters, I mostly lean towards writing cutesy, and happy scenes... so, I'm not use in writing dark themes or set a serious tone, so please forgive me for my fail attempts in placing comical scenes at inappropriate moments to lighten the mood... or failing generally in setting any type of mood XD, I do try.

On another note, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter... it was intense to write, whoo but it's done. Until next time :)

Cheers!