Disclaimers: I do not own Fairy Tail.
A/N: Chapter two, let's go. Also I should point out that being born without magic is not unusual in this story; it's the fact that both of Romeo's parents are mages and yet he can't wield magic while his twin sisters can, that's the strange part. Also in Fiore for this story, it's now 3 in 10 people can use magic as oppose to the canon 1 in 10. Therefore there will be more guilds and more mages and the Magic Council has more power but still has limits.
Also in this world, there is no magic that can't allow you to talk to animals. Some animals can talk like a human, such as the exceed, but only a few.
Also, I have been getting a couple of reviews that said this story is starting to sound like Black Clover. To be honest, I didn't even know that anime/manga existed until the reviews mention it, but Romeo will not be trying to become a Magic Knight or anything like that.
If you're reading this and wondering: "Wasn't this story done by Elemental Storm?" you be correct. I try to see if I could manage two separate accounts and turns out I can't, but I didn't want to keep adding stories to an already ever growing list of WIP on my main account. Turn out I can't help but write stories so I'm sorry about this, I'm just going to add the story to this account and be done with it.
Please Review, Fav, or Follow if you want.
Chapter 2
The Raising of The Wild.
Magnolia X784
"Dammit Seamus, Gared, will you two calm down for just a second?", the woman known as Lisa Garney screamed as she tries to get control of her pit-bull and golden retriever, who was currently barking up a storm in her front yard, "What in blazes has gotten into you?"
The pair ignore their master and continue to bark up a storm, letting loose a barrage of yelps and barks that assault the ears of the nearby neighbor whose faces clearly convey the feeling of annoyance they were feeling at the moment.
"I'm going to get a noise citation ticket for this, I just know it if you two don't-" Lisa began to say before all of a sudden both canines cease their tantrum and are suddenly sitting down with happy panting and exciting tail wagging.
"What the?" the retire daycare staffer started to say.
"Hi Missus Garney, Hi Seamus, hi Gared!", a jubilant voice from behind greets causing a smile to appear on Lisa's face as she turns around to behold the sight of the six
-year-old Romeo Conbolt standing on the other side of her fence while waving frantically at the three of them with a radiating smile is spread across his face.
Lisa retired last year from child daycaring, the same year that Romeo and his sisters enroll, though they didn't stay long due to the rising price in child care that was going on within the country of Fiore.
She always found Romeo to be a odd child, mostly because of his highly active imagination, nonetheless he was a good kid, even if his strange anti-magic ability made him sort of an outcast amongst the rest of the kids and the staff. But on the bright side, it got the city to give them a budget increase to cover all the magical equipment he accidentally got his hands on.
"Ah Romeo, the two of them seem to burst with joy whenever you are around", Missus Garney commented as she walked over to let him in, "Why don't you play with the boys for a bit while I make you something to eat?"
"Thank you", as he dashes through the gate and under her only to be tackled by the canine duo who proceed to smother him in licks to which he accepted gracefully.
"Ah, it tickles! Stop it you two", Lisa hears as she walks inside to prepare the meal.
A good minute into the licking Romeo is able to sit up enough to look at Seamus who was wagging happily, "Why were you two barking?", he asks only to get a series of barks in return.
"Oh, I see; so that's the problem. I'll see what I can do about it", Romeo says as he lets himself up and walks over to the front door, "Missus Garney!"
"Yes Romeo?", she says without looking behind her as she finishes up the sandwiches.
"Seamus says the reason he and Gared were barking so loud was that dishwasher of yours scared them!"
This causes Lisa to turn around and stare at the boy for a moment before thinking, "Such an active imagination even for someone his age. He knows he can't talk to animals and even if he could use magic, there isn't a spell in the world that would allow you to."
"Romeo dear, I doubt my dishwasher was the cause of that ruckus they were causing, now come and get your sandwich", Miss Garney order.
"But it's the truth Miss-", Romeo started to argue before getting cut off.
"Enough of your imagination; now get your sandwich and be off!", Miss Garney snap though she didn't mean to, it was just her irritation from the dogs' barking hadn't fully gone away yet.
Romeo sulks over to the kitchen and grabs his snack, "Thank you Missus Garney", he says in a sullen tone.
"Now go, I got things I have to get done today. You can play with the dogs tomorrow."
With that Romeo left the house, passing by Seamus and Gared as he walks over to the front gate, both of them sitting patiently in the yard.
"Sorry guys, but Missus Garney didn't believe me", Romeo tells them.
Seamus lets out a whine as Gared puts his paw on top of his snout.
"I'll see you guys to tomorrow", Romeo says as he waves goodbye and leaves through the gate, "Be sure not to chase Mr. Tickles when he goes out for his morning stroll!"
Seamus barks a response to which Romeo only shakes his head with a laugh.
Lisa watches the exchange from her living room window while shaking her head, "That boy's mind going to get him in trouble one of these days", she says as goes back to the kitchen and starts back up her dishwasher now that it was done with its cycle; as the noise of the sprayer echoes throughout the house both Seamus and Gared once again began their barrages of barks and yelps that echo throughout the neighborhood.
"Confound it! What did I just tell...you?" Lisa started to say as she slowly looks toward the dishwasher and then back at the two mutts going crazy in her yard, "It couldn't be...could it?"
She presses the stop cycle button and hears the dishwasher turn off for a moment and sure enough both Seamus and Gared stop as well.
Fairy Tail Guild Hall
It has been a week since Lucy joined up with Fairy Tail and while some of Natsu and the others antics have cause her to have second thoughts for the most parts it was alright. Right now she was sitting at a table in the middle of the hall watching as Juliet, Macao's daughter was showing her what she could do with her fire magic while the other Conbolt's girl, Rosalina, was watching off to the side.
"Wow!", Lucy says in amazement as the blue-hair six-year-old created a bunny out of her flames, the details so accurate that she could see the nose twitch on the construct, "You're a natural!"
"Yep", Juliet nods as she smooths the wrinkles out of her green sundress, "Mommy and Daddy have been teaching how to create stuff with my magic and even Grandpa Makarov and Natsu teach me too!"
"Well I can do magic too!", Rosalina adds as she jump up and down in her green t-shirt and shorts before covering her both of her hands in flames with ease.
"That's so amazing!", Lucy says before a thought occurs to her as she looks around the guild all, "Hey Juliet?"
"Yes Lucy?", the girl replies.
"I met Rebecca the other day, but I hear that there's another kid in the guild, your brother, Romeo. How come I haven't met him yet?", Lucy wonders seeing how Natsu was really aggressive about introducing everyone to her, including the kids.
"Oh", Juliet coughs and as both she and Rosalina look away, "He's around, probably out in the woods again, or at grandma Poryluscia's place."
"Again? Is he always playing out there by himself?", Lucy question, amaze that a mere six-year-old is allow to go out into the woods alone without supervision, "Do your parents know about this?"
"Everyone knows about it and at first mommy and daddy did tell him not to go but he would just ignore them and go anyway, mostly because he likes to visit grandma Porylusica", Juliet explain.
"But eventually they just allow him to go as long as he came back home or to the guild before the sun went down. Besides, mostly everyone here prefers it that way anyway", Rosalina finish.
Lucy looks over at the bar where Macao and Enno were at discussing a possible job with Wakaba while Millgana Mine worked the tavern alongside Mira while their daughter Rebecca sat in her father's lap drinking some grape juice. Enno was a lot more than Lucy expected when she first learn that Macao was married, with her long purple hair that was top off with a flower crown and her two-piece dress that covered up her top and stretch to her ankles but left her belly-bottom expose.
"I guess Enno tolerates Macao's perverted behavior as long as he just looks and doesn't touch", Lucy thought before turning back to the girls, "What do you mean everyone prefers it that way?"
Juliet was about to answer when suddenly a purple-haired boy pops up next to Lucy.
"Ahhh!", Lucy screams in response as she almost falls back in her chair, "Where did he come from?"
"Hey Juliet! Hey Rosalina!", the boy greets before turning to Lucy, "Who's this?"
"This is Lucy", Juliet answers before looking back at Lucy, "This is my brother, Romeo."
"How do you do?", Lucy greeted as she extended her hand, only to notice the baffle expressions that appear on all three of the Conbolt triplets' faces, "Is something wrong?"
"Most people who aren't my mommy, daddy, grandpa Makarov, grandma Porylusica, or Mira avoid touching Romeo", Juliet answers while Romeo and Rosalina only nod in agreement, "In fact, most mages, in general, avoid touching him."
"Why is that?", Lucy inquire, wondering if this was some sort of guild prank.
"Mages can't use their magic while touching me", Romeo answers without hesitation Lucy notice.
"That's ridiculous", Lucy replies, "It's not like you're some sort of anti-magic device or something."
Juliet nods feverishly, "That's exactly what he is! Whenever I'm trying to use my fire magic at home, he comes up behind me and hugs me, making my fire disappear!"
"Yeah, and he likes to do it when we're trying to learn a new spell from mommy or daddy!", Rosalina adds.
"It's your own faults for not paying attention", Romeo laughs as he stuck his tongue out causing tick marks to appear on both girl's foreheads as Juliet summons a fireball and Rosalina encase her entire left hand in fire.
"Stinky face!", they roared as they prepare to unleash their attacks.
Before Lucy could move to stop them, Romeo in a burst of speed that surprises her and the girls, grabs his sisters' hands and the Celestial Key mage watches in astonishment as the flames around on both Juliet's and Rosalina's hand quickly dissipate into thin air.
"Hey, mom told you to stop doing that!", they ranted at the same time to which Romeo only chuckle.
"She also told you guys not to use fire magic against me!", he responded as he took off running away from his enrage siblings who proceeds to chase after him.
"Get back here!", they yell as the three of them duck and weave between the tables and patrons and out of Lucy's sight.
Lucy could only try to process everything she just witnesses before she hears a voice from behind call her name, "I see you met the last third of the Conbolt triplets, Lucy."
Lucy turns around to see Mira standing behind her with a smile on her face.
"Is it true about Romeo; about his condition?", Lucy suddenly blurts out before she brought her hand up to her mouth, "Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that."
Mira smiles never fades as she takes a seat next to Lucy, "It's quite alright. Believe it or not, it's usually one of the first things we tell new members upon them joining the guild. I guess it slip our minds this time."
"So what exactly is the matter with Romeo? Is it some sort of illness?", Lucy asks.
Mira shakes her head, "No, he's perfectly healthy and none of the doctors in Magnolia can explain what's wrong with him. Macao and Enno have tried other doctors from as far as Crocus and they all said the same thing: that along with not being able to use magic, whenever he touches someone that can, their magic simply disappears as long as they're touching him."
Mira then puts her finger on her chin as she try to recall something else, "If I remember correctly, there was a mage in Lamia Scale who specializes in anti-magic spells so we were looking into asking him for adivce, but we were told that he left the guild some time ago, so that was a bust."
"Wow, I never heard of something like that before. But what about magic items, surely Romeo can touch those, right?"
Mira shakes her head at this, "Whenever Romeo holds a magic item it breaks. There's an unspoken rule here at Fairy Tail to not leave magical items unattended whenever Romeo is around. Levy has gone through three pairs of magical glasses alone because the boy has gotten his hands on them."
"Really?"
"Yes, so I suggest you don't let him see those summoning keys of yours unless you want to lose them. I know I might come off a little harsh in saying something like that, but it's the truth", Mira informs.
"How did you guys find out about this?", Lucy ask.
"It actually was first brought to our attention when Master Makarov a few years back transform into a giant in order to punish Natsu and Gray for destroying the mayor's office during one of their brawls. Romeo, without anyone noticing, simply walk over to the master and touch the back of his leg", Mira recalled, "Next thing everyone knew, Master Makarov instantly turn back to his regular size."
"Wow, you think something like that would draw attention or something", Lucy commented before leaning back in her chair in fright as the radiant smile that usually dons Mira's face suddenly turn into a dark scowl.
"It did", Mira hisses, "Certain members of the Rune Knights Science Division caught wind of Romeo's ability and came to Magnolia in force about three years ago."
Lucy's eyes widen in shock at this bit of information, "What did they want?"
"They basically demanded that they be allow to perform "tests" on Romeo. They wanted to see if they could harvest Romeo's anti-magic ability in order to enhance their own forces against dark guilds and any legal guilds that get out of line", Mira explain.
"What happen? They didn't experiment on him, did they?"
"Thankfully Master Makarov and a couple of his fellow guild masters demanded that the Rune Knights remove themselves before they went to the king about this. They were basically trying to conduct experiments on one of his citizens without neither his permission nor consent. Though they resisted at first, saying that they're well within their power to conduct tests on him to give their forces an advantage in combat, Master argue that since Romeo wasn't a mage they have no authority over him. They counter with the fact that since he's the son of two active guild mages that they could overturn that rule. Master Makarov then threatened to call Gildarts back to Fiore and that was enough to get them to leave", Mira said as the smile return to her face.
"Who's Gildarts?", Lucy wondered, thinking that she met everyone at the guild hall.
"Fairy Tail's strongest mage", Mira told her.
"Natsu isn't the strongest?"
"Oh no, he's one of our strongest but there are a couple people here way stronger than him", Mira laughs.
"Why haven't I met them yet?", Lucy asks
"They're usually out on jobs, but don't worry you'll get to meet them eventually", Mira said, "But anyway back to Romeo."
"Oh yeah, I was wondering; do you guys still have problems with the Rune Knights ever since that incident?"
"Every now and then the Conbolts get an official request from them to come and see Romeo but Macao and Enno burn the letters every time, other than that nothing, especially after Master Makarov went before the Magic Council and argue the case", Mira said as a frown appears on her face, "A few of us believe though that they are just buying their time, waiting for Master Makarov to retire or something. I'm actually worried about what will happen when he isn't around anymore."
"Must be hard for Romeo", Lucy voiced, "His sisters are skilled in magic despite their age, but he can't use magic at all and he's basically a walking anti-magic device that the Rune Knights want to get their hands on."
"Yeah, in the future he's bound to have some problems in Fiore but for now he seems to be contend with just playing in the woods", Mira says as she simply got up and moved to the other side of Lucy and capture Romeo in one arm and Rosalina and Juliet in the other as the trio's chase led them back to this side of the hall, "And of course causing a ruckus here at the guild hall!"
"Now what have you three been up to?", Mira asks as she tickles them.
"Hahahaha!", Romeo laughs.
"Stop it, Mira!", Juliet and Rosalina begged though they clearly had smiles plastered on their faces.
"You seem to have no problem holding him in your arms Mira", Lucy points out as she got up.
"Are you kidding? Who wouldn't want to hold this cute little thing?", Mira said as she plants a big wet kiss on Romeo's cheek.
"Ewww gross! Cooties!", Romeo screams as he struggled to break free, "Now I got cooties!"
"Oh come on Romeo, eventually you're going to be covered in girls' cooties as you get older", Mira explains, "Why maybe even Rebecca will be covering you in cooties here soon."
The look on Romeo's face was priceless as Mira's words sunk in. The terrified boy turns his head toward Rebecca whose was still sitting at the bar with her parents; she also just so happen to be looking over at the group and notice Romeo staring. She waves at him and went back to drinking her juice.
Romeo now struggles even harder to escape from the former S-Class mage's grip but to no avail.
"No! No! No!", Romeo protest, "There's no way Becca going to give me cooties, no way!"
"Yeah, there's no way Becca going to kiss someone as disgusting as my stupid brother!", Juliet joined in and Rosalina nodded vehemently.
"Now I don't know about that, there's always that childhood friend angle. Now you three come with me and I'll get you something to eat", Mira said as she put Juliet and Rosalina down and carried a flailing Romeo over to the tavern, "You're more than welcome to join us, Lucy, seeing how Natsu has yet to show up."
Lucy could feel her cheeks redden a bit at the mention of the dragon-slayer name but she quickly shakes it away and moves to follow the group.
"A non-mage who has the ability to take away someone magic just by touching them; I certainly have joined a strange guild."
The Conbolt's residence
It was a simple two-story building located on the main street of Magnolia. On the outside, it looked like every other house on the main road and one would think that it shared a similar interior design as well.
For the most part, they would be right except for one minor flaw…there were almost no magical items within the house. Other than the lacrima-vision set there wasn't a single object not lock up that was magical in the house. When the bill to replace items touch by Romeo started to mount up, Macao and Enno decided to go with the easier choice of just purchasing non-magic items, which were not easy to find in a country like Fiore.
Eventually though, they were able to find a non-magical version for almost every appliance in the house except for the vision set to which they had to lay down strict rules for Romeo to never touch.
Anyway back to the Conbolt family as they prepare to turn in for the night.
"Juliet! Romeo! Rosalina! Hurry up and get ready for bed!" Enno orders as she stood at the bottom of the stairs calling up to her three kids.
"Okay mommy!", they all reply simultaneously as they ran to the bathroom to brush their teeth, shoving one another as they struggle to get in the doorway first.
"Move smelly breath!"
"No, you move, cooties magnet!"
Suddenly the three of them feel a slight push from behind as Macao walks by them, "Hurry up you guys, you don't want to keep your mom waiting!"
"Yes daddy", they say as they began to clean their teeth, even though they were all still slightly elbowing each other while they did so.
Later on that night the trio were being tuck in by Enno, "Now who wants to hear a story?", the mother of three ask.
"I do! I do!", they scream in excitement.
"Okay, which story do you want to hear?", Enno asks.
"The one about Acnologia-The Devourer of Souls!", Romeo pleaded while Juliet and Rosalina roll their eyes.
"We already heard that one like a million bazillion times! I want to hear something else", Juliet complain to which Romeo stuck his tongue at her from across the room.
"Well mommy did your story last night so it's my turn!", Romeo counter.
Enno shook her head at her children's antics while a smile spread across her face.
"I'm so glad me and Macao went to marriage counseling instead of filing for divorce all those years ago, or else I probably would have missed these three growing up together", she thought before speaking, "He's right Juliet, it's his turn to choose a bedtime story."
"Humph, fine", Juliet says as she crosses her arms and pouts.
"Now where to begin", Enno thought in a mocking manner, "Oh yeah….'
"Centuries ago when the kingdom of Fiore was still young, there was a terrible war among the metallic dragons of Bahamut and the chromatic dragons of Tiamat, that torn the very land apart. The heavens shattered as their mighty forces clash in the sky, the earth trembles and quake underneath them when they fought on the ground, and even the ocean produce powerful tsunamis whenever their battles took to the seas. Where ever these two forces met, unimaginable death and destruction follow."
Romeo's eyes widen in amazement as he listens intently to his mother while his sisters tried to fall asleep through it all.
"The lesser races of men, elves, dwarves, and so forth could only watch in horror as the war ravage their lands and decimated their homes, for their armies could do nothing against the might of the true dragons. Then one day, the most powerful of dragons, the neutral Royal Dragons who worship neither Bahamut nor Tiamat, came forth with a solution that could aid the lesser races in the fight and restore peace to the land. They bestow upon them the magic that would allow them to bring a quick end to the war: the magic of dragon-slaying."
"The same magic that Natsu uses!", Juliet and Rosalina suddenly squeal as they bolted up and was now diverting their full attention to her mother.
"That's right", Enno said before continuing her story….
"Anyway, powerful mages took this gift and use it against the draconic forces and soon both the metallic and chromatic forces were on the defensive against the new threat. Along with their vast armies and technology, the lesser races were able to force the dragons to agree to a truce and peace once again reign across the land while the Royal Dragons were hail as the lesser races saviors. But to the powerful mages who were bestow dragonslayer magic, they were no longer needed in this new era of peace. During the war, they were held up in the highest of position, but now that the draconic forces have dispersed and went about their way and peace was restore, they were cast aside and became the outcast of society, held in suspicion due to their powerful magics and war-craze behavior."
"And that's when he show up", Romeo spoke.
"Yes", Enno said as her voice got low…
"And that is when the self-proclaim Dragon Emperor show up. Acnologia was his name and he held the title of being the strongest dragon-slayer during the war, killing more dragons by himself than the entire allied forces combine and by dipping into dark forbidden magic, he became the very thing he sought to eradicate from this world. His eyes were as cold as the winter night, his scales were as hard as diamond and blacker than shadows. His roar causes earthquakes while his wings created hurricanes with a single flap. His claws torn through armor and dragon's scales as though they were paper and his tail could cleave through a mountain with the greatest of ease."
"Where ever he travel entire countries along with hundreds of dragons died in his wake and even the Royal Dragons were not spare from his wrath for he fed upon on the souls of living creatures, especially dragons and Royal Dragons' souls were the rarest and most delicious of all to him."
"But it wasn't just dragons he was after, every remaining practitioner of dragon-slayer magic soon became a meal as well to him for they say that he fear that any one of them could raise up against him."
"For decades he rampage across Ishgar, destroying all in his path until one day he simply vanish into thin air. No one knows what happen to him and even to this day dragons still whisper his name in fear, a fear that was once only reserved for one other creature :the Draconic Stalker."
"Where is Acnologia now mommy?", Romeo asks while the girls shiver in fright, they always hated that part of the story.
"Like I said, no one knows. Some say he was defeated by a coalition of dragons in a land far away, while others say he is waiting somewhere, bidding his time until he can return and once again show the world the true meaning of fear", Enno spoke in a ominous tone, "Either way, the dragons learn a harsh lesson back then; your ally today could easily become your enemy tomorrow."
The Conbolt's triplets stare at their mother as her words sunk in; a while later Enno got up and kissed each of her children good night.
"Sweet dreams you three", she said as she heads for the door.
"Good night mommy", Juliet says from her bed on the right side of the room.
'Good night mommy", Rosalina echoes from her bed on the left side of the room.
"Night mommy", Romeo says a second later from his bed in the middle of the room.
"Good night my little angels", Enno says as she turns off the light and closes the door.
Within a couple of minutes, all three kids were out like a light, their soft snoring filling the room. Enno was always surprise at the fact that the three of them never had nightmares from that story even though Juliet and Rosalina both hated the last part.
As Enno went to her bedroom she spots Macao looking slightly irradiated at a letter he was reading.
"Is it from the Rune Knights again?" she asks.
"Yeah, this time they're a little more forceful in their message, saying that our continue refusal may complicate things in the near future", Macao spat.
"Macao, I'm worried", Enno said as she hugs him from behind, "The old man is not going to be around forever and Gildarts is not always going to be in the next country over to scare the Knights."
Macao puts a hand to his forehead, "I know, eventually we're going to have to deal with this problem. We're just lucky that the kids were too young to remember that whole fiasco, I hate for them to have been scar by all that."
"Thank goodness", Enno voiced, "They were ready to come take him by force if the old man didn't step in."
Purple flames erupt from the hand that held the letter and the couple watches as it turns to ashes and blows out the window as a breeze went thru the house.
"Master Makarov still got a good decade or two on him and maybe by then he can finally convince Gildarts to take up the title of Guild Master", Macao reasoned, "That should keep those Rune bastards in line. Also remember that because Romeo can't use magic they have no authority over him, Master Makarov argued that to the Magic Council."
"What about Laxus?", Enno worried, "He's definitely up there in strength with Gildarts and he's Master Makarov's grandson. He would probably just step aside and let them do what they want."
"Well let's hope it doesn't come to that", Macao reassured her, "Now come on, let's got to bed."
Scene Break
A few days later Romeo was out in the forest walking around in the shrubbery. Him and his sisters were no longer enroll in daycare due to his parents deciding that it would be easier and cheaper if one of them just stay home to watch them while the other went out on jobs, so he was free to explore the forest all day now.
As he went further into the woods, he felt a presence watching him from nearby. As deep in the forest as he was the average person in his place would assume that a creature of some sort was stalking them and they would be correct in that assumption.
Romeo watch in calm silence as a hulking figure lumber out of the trees toward him; its green ape-like body allowing it to blend in perfectly with the surrounding area. As it stomps along the ground, Romeo picks up slight tremors that one would expect from a primitive beast that easily stood over eight feet tall and with a body as wide a dinner table. Soon it was towering over him, breathing heavily while doing so, its eyes heavy in primal rage.
All of a sudden a smile breaks out across its face.
"Hey Stone-Thrower", Romeo greets while giving him a smile in return, "What are you up to today?"
The beast lets out a series of grunts and howls.
"Grandma Porlyusica needs to see me?", Romeo asks.
Stone-Thrower grunts as he lays out a hefty palm to Romeo.
Without hesitation, Romeo climbs up the forest vulcan hand and onto his shoulder. Once firmly seated the beast took off in a dead sprint further into the woods, far from prying eyes.
On the Road to Magnolia
"Hey Natsu", Lucy asks as he walked ahead of her with Happy on his shoulder. The three of them were just getting back from first job together in Shirotsume Town that involve them stealing a book back from Duke Everlue, "What can you tell me about Romeo?"
"Macao's son?", Natsu calls back, "He's alright I guess, never really had a problem with him and his no-magic thingy. I mostly talk to his sisters though because he's hardly ever around the guild hall."
"I hear he likes to spend a lot of time out in the forest; do you see him out there whenever you're at your house?", Lucy asks.
"No", Happy answers in Natsu's stead, "The areas he likes to hang around are deeper in the woods than where we live. Now and then we bump into him when he's on his way home but that's about it."
"Huh, I assume the forests around Magnolia were pack with dangerous creatures but seeing how Romeo can travel within them and come home safely I guess there is nothing to worry about", Lucy concluded before seeing Natsu stop in front of her. He was staring off into the distance toward Magnolia with an unreadable look on his face.
"Natsu?", Lucy asks.
"The forests around Magnolia contain some of the most dangerous beasts in the country, including a few dragons", Natsu began.
"I thought your main job at Fairy Tail was to clear out dragons that settle near cities and such", Lucy said.
*Dragons and their cousins are a common sight in this world, though they tend to make their lairs far from civilization. There are several categories of dragons but the most widely used are True Dragons, Drakes, Wyverns, Landwyrms, Miscellaneous (for those that can still be call dragons but don't fit into the other categories), and the rarest of all; The Royal Dragons.
Metallic and Chromatic dragons make up the majority of the True Dragons and while most Metallic dragons have kept to the truce forged centuries ago most of the Chromatic dragons have cast it aside and went back to indulging in their rampages across the land.
Anyway, a dragon-slayer main job when they join a magic guild is to dispose of dragons who are causing trouble, while they're not the sole receptive of these types of jobs, their magic usually makes them the best choice.*
Also it should be pointed out that most dragons only speak in Draconic even though they know other languages. Dragon-Slayers are among the few non-dragons beings who are fluent in Draconic and thus also act like translators between Dragon and Humans.*
"They are of the Metallic branch so their presence is tolerated as long as they don't start trouble. If they were Chromatic then I would have no choice but to get rid of them", Natsu reply.
"How many dragons kills do you have to your name again?", Lucy asks.
"Seven, but five of them were Drakes and the two true dragons I have taken down were young adults though, not exactly the type you read about in legends that have destroy entire kingdoms and lay vast armies to waste.", Natsu grumbles while wondering if he'll ever find information about Igneel, the Royal Dragon that raise him. None of the Metallic dragons in the area had any information about him and most of them said the last time they saw him was at the end of Ishgar Dragon Civil War four hundred years ago, but that couldn't be right, could it? The fact that Igneel was consider a traitor for his part in the war didn't help Natsu at all while he was trying to attain information from them
Lucy stared at Natsu for a time while thinking about what he just said. Despite his goofball tendencies, he was still one of the few professional dragon-killers in the country and at such a young age too.
After a moment she suddenly remembers the original topic that they were talking about and decide to get back on track.
"You said the forests around town hold some of the most dangerous creatures in the country; if that's true then why do Enno and Macao allow Romeo to go playing out in the forest?"
"Anyone could tell you that at first they try to keep him from going, but Romeo seems to have a talent for disappearing without anyone noticing him", Natsu answers as they resume their journey, "So eventually they just gave up. Now don't go thinking they're bad parents or anything, it's just that they found out from Porlyusica that Romeo usually comes around her house anyway, how no one knows, and he's usually back by sundown so they stop worrying."
"That much is true",Lucy thoughts remembering the incident from yesterday when Romeo appear out of nowhere.
"Plus I doubt any beast of the forest would actually hurt him", Happy added.
"Why's that?"
"Whenever I'm around Romeo, he seems to give off an aura that smooth my soul, no matter what mood I'm in," Happy explained, "I figure the reason why he always comes home safely is because of that."
Lucy could only sweat-drop at this explanation, Don't go assuming that because you're calm around Romeo that every creature is", she said aloud.
"Don't worry too much about Lucy", Natsu assured her, "Igneel once told me that the forest is a living creature and that it protect those it care for. Romeo has been going out in the forest for little over a year now and nothing bad has happen to him, so it's probably the forest keeping an eye on him."
Lucy sweat-drops once again, "That makes even less sense than Happy's explanation."
Scene Break
An hour later of riding on top of Stone-Thrower and Romeo arrive at the small cottage of Porlyusica, or "Grandma Porlyusica", as the the Conbolt triplets call her.
As Romeo slides down the vulcan arm the front door of the cottage opens up and the Potion Mage herself comes walking out with a somewhat neutral look on her face.
"Romeo", she greets.
"Hi grandma Porlyusica!", Romeo response in kind. A second later he is on the ground clutching his head in pain while Porlyusica was standing in front of him angrily holding a broom while Stone-Thrower was quietly side-stepping away from the scene.
"What have I told you about calling me that name?"
"That you prefer the name Miss Porlyusica?", Romeo groans as he struggles to get up.
"Exactly, now come with me. I'm in need of your help", Porlyusica all but demands as she walks away to behind her house, a glaring Romeo behind her.
As they turn the corner of her house and start head into the forest, Romeo notices something on the ground nearby. Upon further inspection, he discovers that they were footprints. But not just any old footprints, they were ones he has never seen before. It was larger than most creatures of the forest, but it had four toes along with a thumb on the side. If the pointed ends were anything to go off of then whatever may these had claws.
"Grand-", Romeo corrects himself before continuing, "Miss Porlyusica, what made these tracks?"
"A dragon", Porlyusica says without breaking her stride.
Romeo stares wide-eye at her, "A Dragon? A real dragon?"
"Yes Romeo, a real dragon.", the Potion Mage answers while still walking, "That is why I need your help."
"What do you want me to do?", Romeo asks as they come up to a cave that the footprints led into.
"I want you to get it to come out", Porlyusica says as she points into the cave.
Romeo peers into the darkness and was about to tell her that he couldn't do anything when two glowing yellow eyes appear and they were staring straight at him.
A/N: So yeah. The term dragon-slayer takes on a new meaning.
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