S.R: It's been a while, my bad. I had forgotten to save all the edits I made after getting it back from my beta reader so I had to redo it all. But I've been a bit too busy until now. However I have a feeling this chapter will make up for it at least somewhat… So without further ado, here you go.
Last Time
At that point the door to the guild hall opened up. Since he had felt the presence getting closer, Natsu knew it was one of the Dragon Gods without even looking. But because he didn't know which one he tilted his head just enough to see them out of the corner of his eye.
Burnt orange colored hair. A red sun shaped tattoo on his bared chest and tribal markings on his arm. Loose fitting pants with a fur lining, and a golden cross shaped pendant hanging from a golden chain around his neck. Without a doubt Natsu was looking at the human form of Ignia.
"Hey Michiko, want to meet another uncle of yours?"
This Time
Ignia had heard his supposed brother's comment to the little girl that was sitting with him and snorted. It wasn't that he was against the idea or that he didn't like it. He just thought it was a bit funny to be labeled as such without having ever met Natsu before. Though the excitement that she displayed at the idea brought a smile to his face for some reason. Shaking his head Ignia moved to sit with the two.
"So we finally get to met face to face, little brother."
"Right. I'm glad to finally meet you Ignia. I can't say I've heard a lot about you though."
Michiko looked between the two in slight confusion about how they wouldn't know each other. But she didn't say anything as her daddy started to speak again.
"This is my daughter Michiko."
He said as he pulled the little girl into his lap from her seat beside him. Ignia smiled as he responded.
"Beautiful, eh? I imagine she'll be quite the looker when she's older, so it fits I guess."
The Dragon God commented with a smile as he knew exactly what her name meant. As a good chunk of what he wanted to talk with Natsu about was quite important, and likely something Selene also wished to discuss, Ignia just made small talk with the pink haired man and the little girl as they sat there.
After a little while Michiko climbed out of Natsu's lab. She had played a little bit with some her toys while they talked, but even that was boring to her. So she went back to helping Mira out with making food deliveries around the guild hall. The sight was enough to bring a smile to both Natsu and Ignia's faces. It was too cute to not be happy and smile at after all.
"So. How much of what you want to talk about are we waiting for Selene to talk about?"
"A fair bit. For now I just want proof that you are the one the old man picked as his heir."
Having expected at least a little bit of talk about that issue, Natsu nodded as he gestured for Ignia to follow him. When they got to the door Natsu called out.
"If something happens and we aren't back yet we'll be at my place Mira. I've got to grab some stuff for Ignia here."
Back when Natsu and Wendy told the guild about the meetings that had been set up, Natsu just explained that two powerful dragons that were in hiding from Acnologia had heard about him and wanted to talk. He mentioned their names, and of course Ignia's appearance so as to prevent any possible issues. So when she heard the name, Mira just nodded and said she'd keep an eye on Michiko.
As they exited the building Ignia commented about the guild.
"As far as I can tell your 'guild' is the strongest group of mages here in Fiore. Of course I can feel several other strong individuals but the majority of the power in this country is here."
"How strong are your magical senses?"
Confused as to why Natsu would ask him that Ignia tilted his head as he answered.
"I can sense that bastard Acnologia is in hiding up to the northern end of the country. Why?"
"In the sea to the south is an island that went missing. A powerful spell called Fairy Sphere engulfed the whole island and moved it to a pocket dimension a few years ago. Can you feel any traces of the spell?"
Natsu wondered. Eye's lighting up in realization of what Natsu wanted, Ignia shook his head sadly.
"Not really. That sea is full of eathernano, which makes it hard to pinpoint anything."
They would have kept walking but another presence made itself known to them as Natsu almost bumped into a dark haired woman.
"I'm sorry ma'am. I didn't see you there."
"It's alright. I completely suppressed my magic, so unless you were looking right at me you wouldn't have noticed anyway."
She responded as she brushed a her hair away from her face, letting Natsu see her eyes. Orbs of starlight, twinkling starlight. That's what he thought when he saw her eyes. Though he did have to correct himself when he noticed the inky blackness hidden by the glow. The woman's eyes were as if he were looking at the nighttime sky.
"You're Selene aren't you."
Ignia gave a start at that. She wasn't kidding when she said she completely suppressed her magic. He couldn't feel a drop of it from her, and that was the only way he'd have been able to tell it was her. As one of the most reclusive dragons he'd ever met, he didn't' know what she looked like or sounded like. Only what her magic felt like.
Eyes like the night sky, and glossy silver hair. Very distinct features, but given the fact no one bothered to give her a second glance, Ignia and Natsu both felt like she was doing something to avoid drawing attention. Which was something Natsu commented on.
"Quick witted. I'd heard you weren't the sharpest tool in the shed, but it seems you decided to improve yourself."
She chuckled as she nodded that Natsu was correct. Brushing her words off, Natsu explained how he and Ignia were heading towards his home so he could show Ignia the proof he had that Igneel had acknowledged him as the heir to the throne of the Fire Dragon King.
"But that's all we're doing. I don't want to keep anything from my mate, so when we're done we'll be heading back to the guild so she can be part of the talk."
"What if she goes into labor during our talk? There are several things to discuss and I have no doubt that Ignia and I both will be sticking around for a few days afterwords anyway."
Selene pressed. She could understand Natsu's desire to not keep anything from his mate. But given the situation she wasn't sure it was wise to include his mate in the talks.
"What do you want me to do then? I won't budge on Cana knowing everything we talk about. It's just far easier for her to be part of the conversation."
Natsu responded. There wasn't enough heat to his voice for her to feel like he was frustrated or angry, though. But Ignia was the one with a solution.
"Why not use a recording lacrima and have her listen to it when she gets a chance?"
"… I guess that works. But we will be having this talk at the guild hall. Even if it's something that needs to stay between us."
Ignia and Selene both had a feeling that Natsu had a particular location in the guild already in mind. Which was true. After they got the guild in gear and managed to save up enough money to start improving the guild hall the spent a lot of time and effort sprucing the place up. Not only did they build an add-on to the guilds library, improve the quality of the furniture, and renovate the guild masters office, Natsu and Cana also built several meeting rooms, enlarged the guilds money vault, along with several other projects that only the S-class were allowed to know about.
By this point Natsu had finally lead the two Dragon Gods to his front door. Since there was no one stupid enough to even attempt to steal from him and his family, Natsu and Cana typically left it unlocked. So without missing a beat he opened it while moving and walked straight to the stairs. Taking them down into his basement, Natsu opened the door to his private training room. Because they didn't want to risk anything happening with Michiko now that she was old enough to play in the forest so long as someone was keeping an eye on her, Natsu had dug out a massive cavern and connected it to their basement.
This cavern was where he would do all of his training, so that he could be uninterrupted. It also held several chests and a couple bookshelves. Some of the older and more dangerous tomes that he and Cana had found while renovating the guild hall were on those shelves. Along with the few things he had from his time with Igneel.
Only Cana, Gajeel, and Wendy knew about it, but Igneel had left Natsu with more than just his treasured scarf. The scarf was just the only thing he could talk about with non Dragon Slayers.
Ignia and Selene both zeroed in on a bookshelf in particular, their senses easily noticing the special tomes that Natsu had placed on the bookshelf. Whistling as he noticed exactly which books they were Ignia spoke up.
"Wow, pops left you some interesting things."
Selene nodded, though she was particularly interested in a book that had a black binding. She wondered how it had come to be in Igneel's possession, in order for it to have been passed to the pink haired man that was in front of her.
But Natsu ignored the curious look she sent him as he grabbed a fiery red book from the shelf and opened it to the last page that had anything written on it. Presenting the page to Ignia and Selene, Natsu closed his eyes. He had memorized it long ago. In perfect draconic he read.
"(I Igneel, the current Fire Dragon King, have adopted one Natsu Dragneel as my son and Dragon Slayer, for reasons pertaining to securing my legacy. Natsu Dragneel is my chosen heir, and from the moment these words are inscribed he shall hold the title of Fire Dragon Prince. Upon his 30th year, he shall be allowed to lay his claim on my throne as tradition dictates.)"
Since they had the proof right in front of them both Dragon Gods nodded, accepting Natsu's tie to Igneel's throne. But as they looked at him, the two realized Natsu didn't seem to be old enough to lay his claim just yet.
"How old are you right now Natsu?"
Ignia asked, wondering how much longer they would have to wait to have a legitimate Dragon King on the throne, rather than it sitting empty.
"I'm almost 27 now. So a little over 3 years until I can take the crown and throne."
'Biologically at least.' Selene thought to herself as she tried her best not to snort. Ignia glared at her, knowing exactly what she was thinking. He didn't want that revelation to be the first thing they discussed, despite the fact he knew they had to tell Natsu about it. The information was too important for him to be ignorant.
"That is among the things we have to discuss. But we should hold off on talking until you are ready."
Ignia said, quickly cutting off Selene who had opened her mouth. Since he had a point she closed her jaw and nodded.
"Alright, let's head back then. I want to check in with Cana before we start talking anyway."
A Few Hours Later
The guild hall had quieted down, despite the fact they were partying. Natsu and the Dragon Gods had returned to the Fairy Tail guild hall mere moments before Cana went into labor. Unwilling to leave her side, Natsu stayed by his wife until Porlyusica kicked him out of the room stating "They need some sleep so stop bothering them!"
Because he couldn't stay by Cana's side after being kicked out of the room by Porlyusica Natsu found Ignia and Selene just sitting in the guild common room. Even though he knew what she looked like Natsu took the time to properly study her appearance. Her silver hair was neatly pulled back into a ponytail whille her bangs framed her face. Ignoring her twinkling eyes he looked at the rest of her. Selene's figure reminded him a lot of Cana, except a the Dragon God was a bit more slender and less curvy. Natsu realized she reminded him a lot of his wife as he recalled that he once convinced his wife to wear a kimono just like the one the Dragon God wore. Except Selene's kimono was a simple and clean white color with black trim. Her obi was a dash of color since it was a nice soft yellow. On each sleeve there was a black circle that housed a yellow crescent moon.
"Are you going to stare at us all night, or are we going to start our talk?"
Ignia asked after a bit. Since he could hear the impatience, Natsu lead Ignia and Selene towards one of the multiple meeting rooms they had built in the guild hall. Activating the magic circle that sound proofed the room, Natsu sat plopped down into a chair with a sigh.
"Parenthood is stressful is it not?"
Selene commented with a wry grin, knowing exactly what Natsu was going through.
"Wait you know what it's like to have a child?"
Ignia asked shocked by the revelation. He hadn't met Selene or Viernes before, but he had assumed they were the same age as himself, Mercphobia and Aldoron.
"Yes. Viernes and I are quite old actually. Viernes was my sister Solari's mate before she was defeated and killed by Acnologia centuries ago."
Natsu was only half listening, his mind still on his two newborn children. But he was giving enough attention to still converse.
"So you're the same generation as Igneel then?"
A small smile came to her face before Selene let her voice out.
"Nope. I must be doing something right if you both thought I was younger than I am," she got out before chuckling. When she was done laughing at the idea she continued "But I am old enough to be Igneel's mother. In fact Solari was Igneel's mother. In other words I am your great aunt boys."
Ignia and Natsu both felt their jaws hit the floor. 'Holy shit!' they thought, completely unaware that their minds were in sync. Knowing that they were shocked Selene just smiled softly.
"That is one of the things I wished to talk with you about Natsu. But that can wait until we've officially congratulated you on the birth of your children."
"She's right. Pops made sure you knew about Dragon culture, I have no doubt about it. Family matters always come first when there are multiple discussions to be had. Especially when it involves hatchlings."
Ignia commented having recovered from the shock at finding out he was related to Selene. Natsu still took another moment to regain himself but when he did a grin stretched across his face from ear to ear.
"Thank you. It means a lot to have both of you here right now."
"Speaking of hatchlings, have you and your mate decided on their names yet?"
Selene asked. Ignia and Natsu both sweatdropped at the sudden eagerness she was displaying. Sharing a look they communicated with just their eyes.
'Why do women always like to talk about babies?'
'I have no idea, that's just the way it is. Get used to it.'
Shaking his to get his thoughts back in order Natsu turned to face Selene as he replied.
"Yeah… One son and one daughter. In honor of her mother, Cana and I decided to name our little girl Cornelia. As for our son, we took a while to figure it out. In the end, because they're twins we decided to use a male name from the same region Cornelia is from, so our son is Dante."
"Cornelia and Dante Dragneel… Not bad, not bad."
Ignia said after a moment. But Natsu shook his head.
"When Cana and I got married the human way we took each other's last names. So actually they're Cornelia and Dante Alberona Dragneel."
S.R: Yeah this chapter is shorter than the last few (and one of the shortest in general for this particular story), but trust me when I say it was a better idea to cut it there. I don't want to spoil any of it, so I won't say anything else. Anyway, I'll see you all next time!
