CHAPTER 7
Gajeel stared at the kid who looked like his entire world had suddenly turned upside down and felt a horrifying suspicion begin to grow in his chest. That treacherous bastard Acnologia had been the one to kill Igneel in hell after all... was it possible he'd also found Igneel and Grandine's egg?
The thought sickened him as Natsu's expression went from stunned to furious in a blink, "You're a filthy liar!" The apocalypse dragon shouted furiously, a veritable storm of emotions raging across his face, "You're worse than my dad! At least he doesn't lie to me!"
Well that was confirmation if ever he heard it.
His heart clenching a little at the thought of what his honorary nephew had gone through and cocked his head and flashed a small half smirk that was guaranteed to get under the runt's skin, "Want me to prove it?" He challenged, "Or you just wanna throw out accusations like a nestling having a temper tantrum?"
"You... can prove it Uncle Gajeel?" Lucy asked in a small voice, reminding him she was there.
He looked over at his goddaughter and his expression softened, "Yeah blondie." He grunted, "I can prove it." He reached down for his bag, ignoring how Natsu defensively jumped in front of Lucy at the movement, and dropped it on the counter. He rummaged around for a moment and pulled out a crystal sphere about the size of his palm, "You two know what this is?"
"It's a memory lacrima." Lucy replied in surprise, "Like the ones in mama's library. It's different though."
"This one ain't used yet." Gajeel nodded, "I grabbed a few for my mission and had a couple left over." He locked eyes with Natsu, "You know the process for implanting a memory yeah? And that memories can't be altered?"
Natsu nodded warily and Gajeel gently pressed his forehead against the lacrima, "Igneel and Grandine." He intoned softly as he pushed his magic into the sphere, "Everything."
There was a flash of blue light as the lacrima came to life and appeared to fill with smoke that went from slim white mist to a thick, pulsing, purple blue cloud. Gajeel pulled away, looking faintly dizzy at the exchange, and dropped onto a stool, "Damn thing gives me a headache every time."
Lucy stifled a giggle at the curse and crept out from behind Natsu, "That has your memories now?"
Gajeel nodded, "Unedited and unfiltered." He glanced at Natsu and looked down at the sphere, "First meeting with Igneel." He commanded, and grinned a little as the image of a brightly grinning young man with ruby red hair projected itself.
He was dressed in ancient clothing and appeared to be lounging on a couch as he looked up at the viewer, "You sure you're a vampire?" Igneel asked cheekily, "You look more like a pincushion."
"Igneel, be kind or Grandine will hear about your rudeness! He's a fledgling, freshly turned and a friend of mine," Anna's voice scolded, and a woman swept into the view of the crystal, followed by the taller form of Acnologia.
Natsu pressed in closer to the crystal despite himself, his eyes locked onto the grinning face of a man he had never seen before but was so familiar in all of his mannerisms. It was like looking into an mirror of an older version of himself.
He was so distracted by the contrary sight, he didn't even think to really take in what the appearance of Acnologia could mean.
Igneel didn't seem too concerned by Anna's threat even if Acnologia looked annoyed with him. He just smiled more broad and laughed at the glares he was being sent.
"I was wondering why a vampire was even walking around here without a stake in his heart," Igneel mused with a wide smile that was exactly like Natsu's.
"I thought necromancers didn't like vampires," Acnologia rumbled, not having the bitter edge to his voice that Natsu often remembered.
"He can hardly help what's happened to him," Anna turned and flicked her two dragons on the ears. They both gave her affronted looks before Igneel sprang to his feet. He was broad shouldered and looked strong, a flicker of flame very much like Natsu's lashing from his shoulders in his excitement.
"Just like us right? Alright then, fair enough Anna. Got me again," Igneel leaned in closer to Gajeel's face, coming eye to eye with Natsu in the lacrima, "Guess someone has gotta teach this hatchling a thing or two. Leave it to me Miss Anna. We'll be good friends!"
Gajeel closed his hand over the lacrima and snapped Natsu and Lucy out of their haze.
Natsu knew he was trying to keep himself together in light of everything that had happened to Lucy, but he didn't know how to hold onto the revelation that his dad... wasn't really his dad.
"Wait!" Natsu cried out, wanting desperately to see more, "please I—"
He jolted when the lacrima was tossed to Natsu's chest and he scrambled to catch it. He cradled the glowing gem to his chest, feeling it nestled in his scarf.
He gave Gajeel a stunned look and the burly vampire crossed his arms and gave Natsu a fierce smile that he recognized had been picked up from his own father.
"Hang onto that runt, keep it and watch it as you like. Take the time you need, because I don't know what lies you've been told — but Igneel is your old man," Gajeel told him.
The words escaped Natsu before he could really register it, "I'm not... Acnologia's son?"
Lucy gently laid her hand on the lacrima and looked her friend in the eyes, "That's a good thing isn't it?" She asked softly, hating how very lost he looked now, "Remember The Fight? What you told me?"
He nodded at her, swallowing a little at the memory of their first serious fight over a year ago. He'd been excited about his first successful ducking of his father, and had gotten a little out of control when Lucy had summoned him. The end result of which had been several things broken, including a crystal bauble that had belonged to Layla, and a tearful Lucy screaming about how he was the worst familiar ever and a threat to send him back.
The panic that threat had caused had taken nearly two days to undo, and by the end of it he'd haltingly revealed what his life in hell was really like. What his father was really like.
It had been the day he and Lucy had gone from contracted friends to family, and Jude had gained his trust, but ever since then he'd vowed to do his best to never upset her like that again.
Now, he just stared at her blankly, "But..."
"But nothing." Lucy replied firmly, "I know he was the one who hatched you and gave you your scarf, but he also gave you your scars and is mean to you." She curled around him in as much of a hug as she could manage with the lacrima there, "He lied to you Natsu." She whispered, "Even if he didn't speak it he did it."
She smiled sadly at him, "Even if it hurts, isn't it better to get to know who your real mom and dad were? Isn't that a better memory than Acnologia?"
Natsu stared into her tear bright eyes and felt a lump rise in his throat, "Will..." He cleared his throat a little around the lump, "Will you watch with me?" He asked, "I... I want you to know them too."
Lucy smiled and nodded, "I'd love to!"
Gajeel smiled at the pair, though he was disturbed by the hints Lucy had just revealed about Natsu's upbringing. It didn't surprise him in the slightest, but it added one more reason to hate the damnable dragon.
He said nothing about that however as he rescued the slightly melty bowls of ice cream, "Why don't we find somewhere comfortable to watch?" He suggested with a grin, "I can fill ya in on the details the lacrima doesn't show."
He scooted the children and the ice cream along, somewhat happy that Lucy had something to distract herself with in the meantime from her own grief. Although the timing of this couldn't have been worse.
Still, Gajeel found it something of a miracle that Igneel's child had somehow managed to land into his lap alongside Lucy.
It reminded him eerily of history repeating. Although Anna had not been contracted with Igneel, there was no denying their close friendship.
It was a friendship Gajeel could easily see reflected in the two fledglings under his care now. He was distracted from his thoughts when he sat on the couch and Lucy wedged herself on his hip between him and Natsu.
The small dragon plopped his head on her arm, but his eyes were glued on the lacrima. Gajeel hummed and thought of a happy memory to share with the two young ones.
"Flying," he told the lacrima, reaching to the side table to shut off the lights of the room. It was still light outside, but it was getting late enough to cast a shadow into the room. It allowed the lacrima to cast its magic into the room itself.
They were standing on top of a large ruby dragon that was showing off to another white dragon by doing loops and terrifying his vampiric passenger.
But there was no denying the elation he felt from the clouds, the wild laughter shared between friends and the wild abandon that freedom brought.
It was to the clouds the floated on that the kids both began to find a comfort. Enough that with all the upheaval in their lives they both fell asleep.
—::—
"Home sweet home," Gajeel threw open the door of his home. He whistled as he took in the metric ton of dust that coated the furniture in his absence.
"Uncle Gajeel, when was the last time you were here," Lucy asked him slyly, knowing her uncle was always on the move and rarely had set roots down anywhere.
"Gotta say it's been a minute," Gajeel admitted.
"I'd say more than that." Natsu huffed in disgust, his nose twitching at all the dust.
"Shut it runt or I'll make ya clean it." Gajeel growled only for Natsu to stick his tongue out at him.
He rolled his eyes, internally pleased that Natsu was relaxing enough to do that at all, and glanced around. It really was a mess. He should've called ahead and had everything arranged for their arrival, but he'd been so caught up in everything he'd forgotten.
Of course, part of that he blamed on Jude's business associates and board of directors. They'd all been universally displeased to learn that he was now in complete control of Lucy's stock and therefore the company, and most had fought tooth and nail against the change until Jude's lawyer, a man Gajeel had decided he liked quite a bit, had proved that they really didn't have any room to move. Gajeel was in until Lucy turned eighteen and that was final.
The only one who hadn't argued with the appointment had been a relatively young vampire from one of the covens. She'd taken one look at him, gone paler than usual, unable to say a word. She'd been amusing. Especially when she'd cornered him privately and nervously demanded to know his intentions.
He was pretty sure his decree that as long as she did her job fairly and honestly, and remembered who was the boss, he didn't care what she did hadn't reassured her much.
He doubted the reminder of the Heartfilia family magic, and their views on most undead, had helped either.
Still, as entertaining as that was, it was no excuse for not having thought about the actual state of his house before now.
"Alright runts." He grunted, "Grab your bags. We're headin' to the inn until we can get this place cleared out."
He smirked a little at the looks of relief on their faces and pulled out his phone. In less than ten minutes he had rooms arranged at the inn, and a good cleaning service lined up to get the house back in order. Under other circumstances he'd be tempted to make the kids help him clean, but they'd both been through enough recently.
"Okay you two, we're all set for a couple days." He grinned, "Let's go unpack and get some dinner. Tomorrow we'll go sightseeing while the cleaners get started."
He had to perform a small miracle to get Natsu to stop jumping on the bed, especially since he was busy convincing Lucy how fun it was. So of course she climbed on to jump with him.
It had taken Gajeel's much heavier body jumping on the bed and richoeting Natsu off to get them to calm down. Of course it had only caused them both to find it even more fun when that happened.
Eventually he corralled the kids into having dinner, finding Natsu sniffing a plate of chicken nuggets with so much suspicion that Gajeel couldn't help but find it hilarious.
The bond was still weak between him and Lucy, but was growing with each day. Gajeel didn't know how long Natsu went without going back to Hell, but he didn't currently show any signs of weakness or needing to return to recharge.
He could tell Lucy was still aching over the loss of her father, still so fresh, but Natsu was serving as an excellent distraction for her.
He pulled her into games and forced a smile onto her face when she seemed to fall into that sadness again. Natsu seemed to sense just when she was in need of comfort too because he would suddenly stop acting like a brat and curl her into a hug.
Gajeel put a hard stop to their begging for room service though. He wasn't going to entertain what that bill would look like. Four hundred year vampire or not, Gajeel was not going to put his life savings into the sheer mountain of sweets a demon and little girl could consume.
He walked out onto a pier that was wrapped around the inn they stayed at, keeping an eye on the two kids that were running just ahead of him. Sunglasses plastered to his face and long sleeves rolled down to his wrist, he kept his hands in his pockets while he walked after the running kids with a more sedate pace.
Never had he thought he would ever be in a situation where he would be caring for a child, much less two. But here he was, and that much wasn't changing.
Gajeel was nervous about doing a good job. He had experience in a great many things, but raising a well-adjusted kid wasn't one of them.
"Layla, Jude... if you two are watching from the other side," he whispered when the kids ran after some seagulls, "what did you get me into?"
"You too Igneel and Grandine, don't think I forgot about you," he growled.
-::-
As the days turned into weeks and months Gajeel and his fledglings settled into a routine that probably looked strange to outsiders, but worked pretty well for them.
After calling in a couple favors he was able to get an official identity for Natsu, making him Natsu Dragneel and his official ward. After that he had debated sending them to school, wanting them to interact with kids their own age, but had ultimately decided against it as there was no sending Lucy anywhere without Natsu, and Natsu was still prone to erupting into flame when he was excited or angry. To say nothing of the headache his vanishing back to hell regularly would cause.
Though those episodes were slowly becoming less frequent.
So he'd elected to home school them himself and compromised by making sure they had free time between their regular and magical studies to go play with other kids.
It was a system that somehow managed to work exceptionally well for them, and by the time a year had passed he couldn't imagine his life without Lucy attempting to go through her beginning necromancy lessons, and sometimes blowing up a spell as a result, or sparring with Natsu.
He hesitated to call himself any kind of father, but before he'd realized it he was slipping happily into the role of a sire as if they were truly his fledglings, and they'd formed a mini-coven.
It was... oddly reassuring after so long without anyone he considered coven living with him.
He smirked a little at the thought as he poured himself a glass of wine, and settled down to enjoy the taste as his thoughts shifted to what he would fix the brats for dinner. Maybe some type of pasta? He hadn't needed to cook since he'd been turned, and went for very long stretches without doing so, but he was old enough that food was something he could savor if he wanted to. And with the kids around he was happy to indulge in the taste with them.
It felt like being part of a real family again.
He was jostled out of the thought as the afore-mentioned brats burst through the door looking a little wild eyed and practically dragging one of their playground friends with them.
"Gajeel you gotta hear this!" Lucy gasped breathlessly as she pushed their friend forward.
Gajeel huffed a little as he set his wine down and eyed the upset girl in the middle, "Cool your jets Lucy." He grunted, "I think you're scarin' your friend here."
Lucy blinked a little and shot their friend and apologetic look, "Sorry Lisanna." She apologized, "Just... this is really important."
"I reckon she knows that already." Gajeel said calmly as he studied their friend, "Lisanna was it?" He asked, "Last name Strauss by chance?" He waved his hand soothingly when Lisanna stiffened, "Relax kid. I ain't gonna bite ya or nothin'. Just wanted to be sure you were who I thought."
"You... know here?" Lucy asked in surprise.
Gajeel nodded, "I keep an eye on everyone supernatural in my territory." He replied, "The Strausses are good kids."
Lucy blinked at Lisanna in surprise, "Lisanna?"
Lisanna ducked her head a little, "Please don't be mad." She pleaded softly, "I didn't say anything because you've been so nice to me."
"Why would we be mad?" Natsu asked in confusion, "You guys are real nice!"
Lisanna looked up at him in surprise, "I... really? You don't mind what we are?"
Lucy looked between them in confusion, "I'm missing something." She declared, "What's going on?"
Natsu blinked at her, "You mean you didn't notice?" He asked innocently, "Lisanna's half-demon."
Gajeel chuckled at Lucy's stunned expression, "She ain't old enough to have developed that sense yet runt. You're the only exception, an' that's only because of your contract?"
"Contract?!" Lisanna yelped, scrambling away and casting a worried look at Lucy, "You mean you're a necromancer?!"
Lucy cocked her head slightly, "Well, yeah." She replied in confusion, "What's that go to do with anything?"
"Necromancers are known for forcing contracts on a lot of demons." Gajeel supplied and looked at Lisanna, "Relax kid. Lucy ain't like that. She's one of the good ones."
Lisanna relaxed a little at that and Lucy nodded firmly, "Yeah, Natsu's my familiar." She promised, "And I didn't force him into a contract either. I'd never hurt you or Mira or Elfman I swear!"
Lisanna's relief was palpable and Natsu slung an arm around her shoulders, "Yeah, Lucy's great!" He shot his mistress a smirk, "When she's not being a total brat!"
"Says the walking, talking, stomach." Lucy huffed, crossing her arms, and Gajeel rolled his eyes before this could devolve into another fight.
"The reason you dragged her here?" He prompted, hoping for an explanation before sunset. He needed to feed tonight and he preferred to get it out of the way with as soon as possible.
"Oh right!" Lucy exclaimed, "Lisanna thinks she saw a werewolf!"
"A werewolf?" Gajeel raised an eyebrow, looking to take exception to the idea of something encroaching in his territory, "that ain't good."
He sighed and approached Lisanna, kneeling down beside the frightened looking girl where she was locked against Natsu's side.
"Are you sure?" He asked her, making eye contact with the girl. Demons and half-demons could usually peg other species, although Natsu usually threw people off because they didn't recognize him.
They usually just associated him with a normal Devil, which suited Gajeel just fine. Natsu and Lucy staying below the radar was precisely what he wanted.
And the last thing Gajeel wanted was a ton of light and dark guild members flocking in on his turf to hunt down a feral werewolf. If that was the case then Gajeel had to handle it before anyone got hurt.
He would protect the safety of his little coven at all costs.
"I am," Lisanna said in a small, but determined voice.
She met Gajeel's eyes and took a breath, "I know it was a werewolf sir. He was turning outside of the moon, which could only mean—"
"He's wanting to create a pack," Gajeel finished with an angry growl and stood up.
"Natsu, Lucy, I need you to stay here with Lisanna," Gajeel grabbed a jacket and snagged his sunglasses. He jabbed them on and turned towards the protesting children.
"No, whining," Gajeel snapped when they all began to loudly complain, "Heat up some of the corn dogs if I'm not back by dinner, but under no circumstances are either of you to leave this room."
"But Gajeel!" Natsu protested hotly, but the vampire glared back at him.
"Vampires and werewolves have been mortal enemies since the dawn of time!" Gajeel growled at Natsu, "you both are drenched in my scent, and there's a good chance he could try to hunt you down. Even here you may not be safe."
"So you all need to stick together here where it's safe and can watch each others backs," Gajeel sighed, "promised me."
Natsu and Lucy looked at each other and reluctantly nodded, "Alright Gajeel." Lucy replied, "I promise we'll stay here."
Natsu puffed out a breath of smoke and crossed his arms, "I still think I could help fight 'im." He grumbled, "But I can't protect Lucy if I'm not here, so I'll stay."
Gajeel nodded, satisfied that there weren't too many ways he'd suddenly find the children in the thick of this, "Good."
"Um..." Lisanna spoke up, "What about my sister and brother?"
Gajeel cocked his head at her and she shrank in on herself a little, "I mean, Mira's real strong." She said quietly, "And the oldest. She could help protect us?"
Gajeel considered that for a moment and nodded, "Give 'em a call." He instructed, "If they're willin' I'll welcome the extra eyes. If not, I suggest you get home quick."
With that he vanished, leaving them looking at each other slightly lost.
"Well..." Lucy said after a moment, "I guess we should start with that call." She smiled at Lisanna, "C'mon. There's one in the kitchen."
Lisanna smiled and followed her friend into the surprisingly clean and cozy kitchen. In fact, the whole house was a lot cozier than she'd expected. Was this normal for a vampire? She wasn't sure, but she hadn't thought so from the stories she'd heard. Still, this was a pretty weird vampire.
She picked up the phone with some trepidation, wondering just how she was going to explain all these revelations to her very protective older sister.
