Quick reminder before we get into it, Sabertooth came about during the time skip. So their guild master will not be at the meeting that I will be showing this chapter. Also there will be a lot of one time use OC's coming up since this is a meeting for guild masters the world over (and despite the fact the story takes place in Fiore and their strongest are called the Ishgar Four, Fiore is only a small portion of Ishgar). Also as a reminder I did say I was going to change the design of one of the characters I'm pulling from the 100 year quest arc (that character being Selene). I will put an author's note in that section as well in case you guys don't read this section and just skip straight to the story.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail. I do not own these characters. I do not own the story idea, at least not entirely. Then again, someone else may have had the same ideas I did. Eh, how about I don't own anything in this story. Is that a good enough disclaimer?

Chapter 7.

Familial Bonds

The remainder of their trip to Era was rather uneventful. Elefseria gave them ideas on how to improve their spells, or how to alter the way their magic flowed so they could use even less magic when casting a spell. But they didn't try any of his suggestions out. They really were enjoying the time with the Law dragon, but escorting him was still a job.

Eventually however they finally came close enough to start sensing some of the other powerful guild masters that had already arrived for the meeting. Of course they were also able to feel the magic of the mages that had escorted the masters to Era, so there were a few magic signatures that were familiar to the slayers. Though they tensed when Elefseria cursed.

"Shit. I didn't know that bitch had become a guild master…"

The way the dragon frowned as he spoke suggested the person he was talking about wasn't necessarily friendly. But the Fairy Tail wizards held their tongues and didn't question it. They were curious yes, but they didn't want to risk upsetting the man, especially as he had been so helpful to them.

"Ah, Elefseria master of Magia Dragon. Thank you for coming. You and your escort are free to enter the meeting hall."

One of the Magic Council messengers commented as they walked into the entrance hall.

"Of course. May I inquire how many guild masters are already here?"

The messenger looked down at the list of attendees and started to rattle off names.

"From the continent of Alakitasia, there is only one guild in attendance, Gryffin Claw, and their guild master Elbert Barlent has informed us that his guild is the only one still active on the continent because Alvarez has taken over all but Temtel and Qualfer and that the military of Alvarez has taken over the handling of magic guild jobs in all but those countries."

The guild master of Magia Dragon frowned at that. Of course having lived for just over two centuries, he knew a fair bit of what was going on in the world. Alvarez continuing on their warpath wasn't shocking, though it didn't mean it was good news.

"From Guiltina, aside from yourself, only Diabolos is in attendance, though their guild master miss Selene has for the most part been rather flippant about the meeting."

"She would be. Also I had no idea that she had become the guild master of Diabolos."

Elefseria muttered not bothering to hide his dislike of the woman.

"It's a fairly recent development apparently. Anyway, as for other guild masters in attendance, from the country of Bellum we have Phoenix Heart's guild master Hadrian Felsmer. Daphne Montague from Unicorn's Horn, and Rodrick Emerez of Atheon are here representing the country of Minstrel. Pergrande Kingdom's Lorcan Blakesley is also here representing Primal Soul."

The messenger continued.

"These are the guild masters that are already here yes?"

"That is correct. Fiore's guild masters Ooba Babasaama and Makarov Dreyar of Lamia Scale and Fairy Tail respectively are on their way. Aside from them Pixie Wing guild master Lyria Omiko is on her way from the principality of Veronica, and Cyclops Hammer's master Sumeria Tremlor is on her way from Valeria."

Elefseria nodded at the information. Eleven guild master from the world over. Despite the rising tide of dark mages and guilds, only eleven guilds were called in by the magic council to discuss how to handle the situation. Either the world was severely under prepared, or these eleven guilds were titanic forces.

Given what he knew of himself and Selene, and the magic he could feel pouring from the room the other guild masters were in, he was willing to bet on the latter.

"Right well, thank you for the information."

The council messenger just nodded politely. Turning towards the dragon slayers the law dragon sighed.

"Well, we might as well go meet my counterparts. Though I urge to to be careful of Selene."

As they entered the room a wave of magic surged around them, causing both Gajeel and Wendy to flinch. Natsu weathered the magical storm that hit them, but only just. Elefseria just narrowed his eyes at the figure he knew to be responsible.

Long flowing silver hair swaying in an invisible breeze. Eyes black as night with twinkling white pupils. Ivory colored skin. She wore a sleeveless black and midnight blue gothic gown like dress and a black lacy choker. Draped across the back of her chair was a deep midnight blue cloak. If it weren't for the fact she was sitting and there was a table in the way, Elefseria knew that if he had looked at her legs he would see that her right leg had a trail of tattoos resembling the different phases of the moon. All in all, if he didn't know any better he'd have assumed she was somewhere between her mid twenties to mid thirties in age.

(A/N:just in case you guys weren't paying attention to my author's notes, I did mention that I was going to change the design of one of the characters from the 100 year quest arc as I didn't really like it. Also because I'm bored, I'm altering her personality towards Natsu and family for a reason you will see shortly.)

'Oh calm yourself you old fool.'

He heard her voice in his mind. His frown deepened at the use of telepathy, though he understood that there were secrets that needed to be kept, at least for now.

'When the hell did you take over Diabolos... Scratch that, better question. Why the hell did you take over Diabolos?'

'That's not important right now. Since you're here however I don't mind letting you listen in on the conversation. I need to speak with the pink haired young man you've got behind you.'

The way she responded so cheerfully wasn't anything he had expected. While it was true that she was one of the most reclusive dragons in the world, her mentality and attitude were fairly well known in Guiltina. He really was curious as to what her plan was, especially given he couldn't sense any ill intent. Not willing to trust her, but knowing there wasn't really anything he could do to stop her should she try anything the humanoid dragon just sighed.

"I know I said to avoid her, but it seems like Selene has business with us."

He spoke softly, knowing the three slayers would hear anyway. Had he not have been as attentive as he was, Elefseria wouldn't have even noticed their reactions. Natsu and Gajeel both stood just a touch straighter, as if they were more alert. Wendy moved ever so slightly closer to him even as she nodded.

Giving it a few minutes so as not to draw attention, they waiting to follow after the silver haired woman who had left the room after cutting off her telepathic conversation with the law dragon. The quartet didn't take long to find the smaller meeting room that Selene had moved to. Without missing a beat Elefseria cast multiple privacy spells on the door behind him in case they had been followed.

"How prudent."

Selene teased with a grin, before turning to face Natsu. As she looked at him Elefseria was surprised to see her eyes light up. In fact her whole persona gave off a different air as she faced the pink haired man. The really strange part was that it seemed familiar to the law dragon, but he couldn't figure out why.

"Come give grandmother a hug!"

She commented as she stepped forward to wrap her arms around the Fire Dragon Slayer, who was looking at her with a stunned expression. An expression that was mimicked by everyone else in the room.

"The fuck?!"

Gajeel managed to choke out after a moment, earning a glare from the female dragon that was hugging his alpha.

"You should know better than to swear in front of younglings."

She responded before eyeing Wendy softly. The fact that she exerted just a bit of magic as she scolded him caused the Iron Dragon Slayer to gulp and nod swiftly.

"While I agree that he should watch his language, I do have to echo his confusion."

Elefseria commented after he regained himself from the shock.

"If a female dragon uses transformation magic and then falls pregnant, we will not be able to leave the form we took until after the child is born. Whatever our form is, that is the race the child will be. I gave birth while in my human form here, so my daughter, Calla, was born as human rather than a dragon."

The law dragon was stunned to learn that fact. Wendy was blushing up a storm at the topic of childbirth. Natsu and Gajeel both choked at the mental images they had come to mind with the idea. Having expected their reactions Selene just nodded.

"Where were you when Igneel was raising Natsu then?"

Elefseria questioned after a moment.

"I was heavily wounded and nearly out of magic after a fight with the Solar Dragon King. His magic apparently resonated with mine so much that he thought I was supposed to be his mate. Yet my magic didn't resonate back, so I spurned his advances and he tried to force me. It was harsh battle and I wanted nothing more than to sleep afterwords, so I went into hibernation mode. In fact I fell asleep only a few days before the Dragon Civil War began and didn't wake up until a good eighty years had passed."

But the law dragon wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"What does that have to do with anything? These children aren't that old."

Yet it was Gajeel that answered.

"About that… Metalicanna told me that they had to rush through their plans and didn't get to tell us what was going on. Apparently Acnologia was becoming so much of a threat that they made a deal with a powerful mage. To prevent us from being hunted down by that monster, they would do something for the wizard. Then after the dragons sealed themselves inside us, he'd send us slayers into the future where Acnologia wasn't so active."

If it had been one of the two dragons that had said it, Natsu and Wendy both would have protested the idea of traveling through time. But Gajeel was part of their den, and they trusted him not to lie to them. So they both accepted his words with zero hesitance.

"Yes. Only dragons like myself that didn't take in a slayer remained in the past. I learned that after conversing with an old friend shortly after I woke up."

Selene commented, cementing Gajeel's words as the truth.

"But how did Natsu come to be raised by Igneel in the first place?"

Wendy cut in, curious as to the truth of Natsu's past.

"As far as I've determined, Calla and her husband Egan were killed during the Dragon Civil War. So I guess Igneel stumbled upon him and decided to take care of him."

The female dragon answered with a sad look on her face. 'Whatever happened that lead Natsu to being raised by Igneel, it indirectly lead to the rise of the man the world calls the Black Mage. After all Zeref is Natsu's older brother' she thought to herself, deciding that she'd wait to see how mature Natsu was before mentioning his brother.

At this point Natsu spoke up. While he wanted to take her words at face value, he really wasn't sure what to make of the situation.

"How sure are you that we are related?"

"A dragon always trusts their senses. I memorized my families scents, including yours as I was there the day you were born. Not to mention my magic is reaching out to you the same way it did for Calla."

"Is that why you let out the pulse of magic earlier?"

Natsu asked recalling the pressure he felt when they entered the room with all the guild masters.

"I didn't do that on purpose. When you came close enough for me to scent you my magic started acting like an eager puppy. The moment you walked into that room it leapt towards you just like it used to for your mother. I haven't quite figured it out, but something about our blooded connection makes it so my magic acts on it's own and swirls protectively around you."

The three dragon slayers just shrugged, not sure how to explain why her magic would act that way. Even Elefseria was confused by her explanation. Despite all his knowledge, he had no way to answer the reason to why her magic would do that.

"So what now?"

"Now we go attend this meeting and then I follow you. I probably won't settle down and live too close to you, but I'd like to stay close enough that we can visit whenever we want."

Selene retorted to Natsu's question as she ruffled his hair.

"That would mean settling down here in Ishgar. I didn't bring any of my mages. I asked the council to provide these three specifically after hearing some rumors about them."

Elefseria told her as he broke down his magical protections that had given them the privacy to talk.

"I'll just hand control over Diabolos to you then old man."

The law dragon stumbled in shock at how nonchalantly she'd hand over her guild, despite the fact he still wasn't sure how she came to be Diabolos's guild master.

Before he could reply however noise from the buildings entry way alerted them that the last few guild masters had arrived. As the sound of other guild masters arriving was noticed by others, an intercom system kicked on.

"To the wizards acting as escorts for the guild masters, you may freely roam the building and surrounding city while the meeting is ongoing. While we do not know how long the meeting will last, we do request that you return by 3pm to escort the guild masters on their way back to their guilds."

Selene wanted to shirk the meeting and hand control over to Diabolos then and there so she could spend more time with Natsu, but Elefseria dragged her into the meeting, telling the three slayers to have fun.

"So what now?"

Wendy asked as they were left standing in the hallway.

"You two can go do whatever it is you want, just keep in mind that you need to be back here by three. Gramps said Erza and Gildarts were going to be his escort and I've got something to talk to Gildarts about."

"Who is Gildarts anyway?"

The bluette inquired, causing Natsu to realize that the Crash mage hadn't yet returned to the guild while Wendy was there to meet him. In fact, he didn't think Gajeel had met the man either.

"Gildarts is Fairy Tail's ace. In other words he is the most powerful member of the guild. Come on, I'll introduce you."

The pink haired man responded as he lead them back towards the entrance hall of the building. The redheaded Erza was the first person they came across.

"Master told us you were here as escorts for another guild master. Please tell me you haven't screwed things up."

She commented upon seeing how carefree Natsu was being. Noticing that he could smell Gildarts but that the man wasn't near, Natsu replied to the female knight.

"Relax Erza. We escorted Magia Dragon's guild master without any issues. Where'd Gildarts go?"

"He said something about needing to get a new cloak and wandered off into town, Why?"

"I've got something I need to talk to him about. Not to mention Wendy and the metal head here haven't met him yet."

Nodding her head Erza joined them in leaving the building that was Era. It was a short ten minute walk into the town and from there Natsu was able to track Gildarts down in less than five.

"Oh hey kid!"

The orange haired man that was Gildarts called out to him as they approached. Natsu grinned as he held out a fist towards his fellow Fairy Tail wizard. The guild ace gently bumped fists with him. While they did that Erza introduced him to Wendy and Gajeel.

The Sky Dragon Slayer was a bit shy as she greeted the man, though she smiled a bit when he ruffled her hair. The Iron Dragon Slayer on the other hand found himself grudgingly impressed with the man when they shook hands.

"So what brings you up here to Erza?"

The older man questioned. Natsu filled him in on the fact they were escorts as well, before he lost his grin for a moment.

"Hey old man, when you get back to the guild, look for Cana. She's got something she needs to tell you. Don't let her walk away without talking to you."

The other three wizards from Fairy Tail were confused, but they didn't interrupt as it wasn't really any of their buisness.

"Alright. I don't know what she could have to talk to me about, but I'll look for her."

The sides of Natsu's mouth quirked back up a bit as he took in the older mans words.

"Good. She's been wanting to tell you this since she joined the guild, but just doesn't have the courage. It isn't my place to say, so I won't say more, but I'm being serious when I say you shouldn't let her walk away without saying it."

Gildarts just shrugged.

"Alright, alright kid. I got it. Though I wonder why you're being so pushy."

That made Natsu smirk.

"You were only back in town long enough to report before gramps dragged you over here weren't you?"

The Crash mage just nodded.

"Well long story short, there was an incident that led to Cana and I adopting a kid together. Not to mention the fact that we started dating."

The first bit wasn't new to Erza, but to hear that Natsu and Cana were dating caused her to go wide eyed. She didn't realize that they had gotten together along with adopting little Koharu.

"Well good for you Natsu."

The orange haired man commented as he gave Natsu a hearty pat on the shoulder.

- XXxxXxXxxXX-

After the meeting with Gildarts the Fairy Tail wizards split up to do their own thing while killing time. The rather mature way Natsu handled the meeting with the Crash mage caused Erza to follow him, wondering how he had changed so quickly. Natsu from before he and Cana had adopted Koharu would have challenged the older mage to a fight the moment he laid eyes on him. The Natsu from before wasn't as calm and considerate of others. He wouldn't have talked with Gildarts the way he had when telling him to speak with Cana.

Eventually she had pestered him enough that Natsu had to sigh.

"Alright fine I'll tell you so stop pestering me."

The redhead's eyes lit up in triumph, though the rest of her face remained neutral as she nodded.

"Growing up with Igneel, I learned that making others underestimate you can work in your favor for a lot of things. Pretend to be too dumb to understand things beyond the simple and someone may become loose lipped around you about their goals, thinking you wouldn't understand anyway. Acting brashly and talking big can cause someone to look down on you and hold back, so they can gloat over how little effort they had to put in, only for you to overwhelm them before they realize the mistake. Things like that. I started to do it so often that by the time gramps found me and brought me to Fairy Tail, it was simply habit."

"So you aren't really an idiot that doesn't understand anything if it doesn't involve food or fighting…"

Erza responded, trailing off as a blush came to her face before she stammered out an apology for thinking that way.

"It's fine Erza. I mean yeah I really just wanted my enemies to feel that way, but as I said acting that way became a habit. It's a bit annoying that everyone at the guild thinks that way and will occassionally make a comment and chuckle about it, forgetting that I can hear them even if I'm not sitting close to them. But I've been able to put up with it this long. Putting up with it a little longer to make them think I've started to mature and grow up thanks to adopting Koharu is going to be easy."

But the Re-equip mage just shook her head.

"No it isn't fine Natsu. Even if we thought that way, it's still rude to talk about you like that, especially when you can hear it. I know I'm guilty of muttering to myself about how stupid you can be. Please hit me."

She retorted before bowing low enough for him to easily bring his fist down on her head. Just as he always would when she apologized and offered to be hit, Natsu rolled his eyes.

"You really need to stop asking people to hit you when you apologize. Even if you allow it, it's still considered assault."

"While that is true, it would be pretty funny to see."

A new voice interrupted them. Of course he hadn't spent much time with her, but having met the woman recently Natsu recognized the voice as Selene's.

"Shouldn't you be in the guild masters meeting right now?"

"Nah. I handed control over Diabolos to the old man telling him feel free to merge it with Magia Dragon and then walked out."

"I'd ask if it's alright for a guild master to be so lackadaisical but I think that'd make me a hypocrite so I won't."

Natsu said as he turned to face the silver haired woman. He didn't even flinch she she threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

"It's fine. Elefseria knows I'm a lazy bitch unless family is involved. Speaking of, is this lovely lady beside you your mate, dear grandson?"

Erza goggled at the statement the woman had just made. She knew that Natsu didn't have memories of his time before Igneel, and that he'd been searching for the dragon for a while now, but to hear that he'd found someone from his original family instead was a bit shocking. Then the word mate registered in her mind and she began to blush as images of her and Natsu being together started to flash through her imagination.

While she started to fantasize Natsu laughed and shook his head.

"No, Erza isn't my mate. She is a guild mate and a good friend though."

"Pity. I'd imagine that underneath that armor she's hiding quite the figure."

Still shaking his head, Natsu did respond that he had already found his mate.

"While I can confirm that Erza is quite the beautiful woman, just like all of the women in Fairy Tail, I've already met my mate. Though I still haven't fully explained what being a dragon slayers mate means to her."

Selene smiled at that, and for some reason Natsu could see that in her mind she was screaming 'GREATGRAND-BABIES TO SPOIL!' Then her smile faltered just a bit.

"You really should tell her the full story behind being your mate. Then you can get started on giving me great grand-babies to spoil."

Facepalming at how well he'd read her mind Natsu just nodded his head dumbly. By this point Erza had recovered enough to interject.

"Natsu, don't you think it's a bit early for you and Cana to be considering having a child? I mean you already have Koharu to take care of."

The female dragon in human form turned to Erza as she spoke before her head tilted back towards Natsu.

"Given how your friend worded it I assume Cana is your mate's name. But who is this Koharu?"

Unlike earlier with Gildarts, Natsu launched into the full story of how he and Cana came to be dating and adopted a little girl. By the time he was done Selene was smiling warmly as she gave him a hug and ruffled his hair.

"I admit I'm a frigid bitch unless family is involved so I probably wouldn't have acted as you did, but I'm proud of you Natsu."

For his part Natsu put up with it, only rolling his eyes. Though when his grandmother pulled back he looked to Erza.

"What is it with her and wanting to ruffle my hair? I'm already eighteen!"

"Despite how messy it is, your hair looks soft so maybe it's just to touch something soft?"

The female knight offered with a shrug. Then she pulled a pocket watch out from a hidden pocket on her armor.

"It's almost three now, so we should head back to Era."

"You go on ahead Erza. I want to talk a bit more with my grandmother here."

Natsu replied waving her on ahead. She frowned at the fact Natsu wasn't going to be punctual, but she understood he wanted to spend more time with the silver haired woman, so she nodded. Once Erza was far enough away he looked towards Selene.

"I know Acnologia isn't as active about hunting dragons now, but how long do you think it'll be before he comes after you?"

"He won't. I spend more time in my human form than my dragon one. Because of that I've learned to suppress the draconic feel of my magic, so I just feel like a powerful human. Of course he actively tracks down anyone that feels strong enough to give him a challenge, which I am, so I'm also hiding a good bit of my magic as well to avoid that too."

Natsu accepted her answer with a small smile.

"So if I asked you to help me train and prepare to take the Trial of Dragons we'd be safe from him coming after us?"

Selene nodded though her eyes were wide.

"Igneel wants you take the trials?"

Instead of answering Natsu reached into his bag, undoing the seal hiding the pocket he wanted. When he pulled out an old and somewhat tattered book the dragoness in front of him snapped her arm forward to stop him from handing it to her.

"He gave you the Tome of Kings?!"

Realizing she stopped him from just handing it to her for some reason that might be important, he instead flipped the book to the last page, allowing her to read it.

"I've reached the age of eighteen which is the humans age of majority, but I haven't had the knowledge about the location of the trials imprinted into me or anything else."

Natsu told her, with a slightly worried tone. After all the note said that he was magically Igneel's heir to the throne and he would have the knowledge given to him magically if he didn't already know it. But Selene just chuckled softly.

"It won't imprint on you if you have access to a way of learning that information. In other words if you didn't have the Tome of Kings in your possession it would have happened."

"But I was already eighteen when I found the tome behind a seal in the cave Igneel raised me in."

The silver haired woman shook her head.

"Doesn't matter. The moment Igneel sealed himself inside of you he gave you all of his possessions. It was yours from that day, even if you didn't know it."

"I see. But you didn't answer my question on if you would help me prepare. Of course now that I know the mind link spell I can talk with Igneel and he can help too, but I'm not sure how much help he'll be at the moment."

Natsu commented as he closed the book and put it back in his bag, reapplying the seal as he did. Selene just threw an arm around his shoulder.

"Of course I will."