"speaking"

"Thinking"

On with the story

A few days later within Dragnof

Things were peaceful for the kingdom, the citizens were living peacefully in coexistence with each other, no harm of whatsoever was going on at all, except for the fact that they now coexist with the Brunnhilde Kingdom

Lucy with Levy were walking around the street before they turn to see Kaithen and the other Dragon Children running around in a game of tag

"be careful" Lucy called out to them as they replied with a 'yes!' except for Kageya, Callista, and Tanit who squeaked in reply before they all ran away

"more and more Dragons, huh?" Levy said as Lucy nodded

"Natsu's dream is about to come true one day" Lucy said before the two went off

Things in Dragnof were as normal and peaceful as it can be

Natsu was in the library as he sat by a table and was overlooking many books around him

His eyes scanned them all before he sighs as he waves a hand up and the books closed up, then brownies came and took them away

"I can't find it anywhere here" Natsu said as he got off his seat and started walking out of the library

For the past few days, Natsu has been trying to find the whereabouts of his father's sword which was as his mother had left behind in her message, was within the Flaming Pits of Garuda's Grave which he has no idea on its location at all nor does he even heard of such place

Natsu walks out of the library before he looks to his kingdom as it was more majestic than a few months before, he couldn't believe how it evolved from what it was once

"wait a minute…maybe Lucy and the others know or heard about it" Natsu thought out loud "someone must've heard about it or knows about it"

And then he went off to find his mates as he needs to find out where is the Location of his father's sword and how to find it

So he started with Lucy

"the Flaming Pits of Garuda's Grave?" Lucy said to Natsu while in a bar with Levy "I've heard of the mythical god, Garuda but never heard of a grave before"

"okay then…moving on to Kagura" Natsu said as he went off to find Kagura

"Garuda? What kind of Beastmen is that?" Kagura asked while in the docks as she had Kaithen and Levia being lifted up and down with her tentacles "is it some sort of Harpy species?"

"okay, Erza next" Natsu said not getting his answer

"Garuda? I never even heard of such beastmen like that before" Erza said while in a training field with some soldiers as she was going to teach them swordsmanship, something that she insisted Natsu that she has to do "are you sure you heard your mother's message correctly?"

"Éclair next" Natsu said heading off to find the Phoenix

"I don't think I ever heard of a Garuda before" Éclair said while in Atlas Flame's temple as she and Natsu had done another mating ceremony, after that she laid three eggs which were all Phoenix egg and no Dragon egg. Now she was with Atlas Flame and Éna and Neel, taking care of the three eggs with each other "is it a certain species of the Phoenix?"

"I had thought that it was a cousin of the Harpies" Atlas added in, the Hellfire Dragon seeming to have never heard of a Garuda before

"next then" Natsu said going off

The Dragon King went around his kingdom, asking his Mates who might know of Garuda or the Flaming Pits of Garuda's grave but not one of them even knew or heard of it

"I have never heard of a Garuda Grave before" Kamika said while carrying Noir in her arms as she was also with Warta in a walk around the kingdom's park

"a Garuda? What's that?" Ultear asked while having Eis on her lap as the Ice Queen was in the Ice Kingdom, currently managing at the moment

"Gawuda?" Eis said, misspelling the name

"it's Garuda, Dear" Ultear corrected her son's words

"heard of the drink called Garuda's tears though" Cana said in a bar with Energia and Marsha who were riding on Gildart's shoulders, the grandpa having fun with his grandkids "does that count?"

"I do not believe I have ever heard of such creature that has such name" Ikaruga said while sitting in her boat, covered in the shade and had Kageya resting on her chest, the Mist Dragon sleeping on her mother "a Garuda, you state? Is there such creature that resides here?"

"I never even heard of a Garuda before" Sorano said as she and Yukino were sitting by a roof top while Tanit was on Natsu's shoulders "have you, Yukino?"

"I never heard of it" Yukino stated

"aghhh" Natsu groan in annoyance while Tanit was rubbing her head against her father's cheeks and was letting out a purring growl to him

Natsu was now flying in the sky as he flies to the Brunnhilde Kingdom

"maybe Dimaria knows about it" Natsu said as he flies into the kingdom and landed upon its ground "I hope"

The man started to make his way into the kingdom's castle where he knows that Dimaria is currently now

Entering the castle, Natsu looks around before he finds Dimaria walking around in the hall with Herja, the two seems to be conversing

"hey, Dimaria" Natsu called out as Dimaria and Herja turns to look at him "got a minute?"

Natsu went to Dimaria before placing two kisses on her cheeks and then to her lips as the Black Valkyrie was pregnant with their child

"what is it?" Dimaria asked

"you remembered my mother's message from her scythe, right?" Natsu asked as Dimaria nodded "do you happen to have heard of the Flaming Pits of Garuda's Grave or you know of it?"

"I've heard of it but never seen it" Dimaria replied

"so you know the location of the grave then?" Natsu asked

"it's not actually a grave, it's more like a name for a place" Herja stated in "the Flaming Pits of Garuda's Grave is the name of an Active Volcano in Ishgar"

"an active volcano?" Natsu said while rubbing his chin "That won't be too hard to find then"

"it's not as simple as it sounds like, Natsu" Dimaria stated "there are 12 active volcanoes in Ishgar, all different than the last one. Not only that, the Flaming Pits of Garuda's Grave is an active Volcano that it said to be the most dangerous active volcano ever."

"it's lava burns the land and sky, smoke that withers plants, and the terrain there is unforgiving" Herja added in "not only that, the Volcano is no longer in existence"

"no longer in existence? What do you mean by that?" Natsu asked her while looking a bit confused

"it means that the volcano that you are looking for, is gone" Dimaria explained "the Flaming Pits of Garuda's Grave was said to be an active volcano that existed within the borders of ice, fire, water, and land; several centuries back. Times pass and the volcano was soon gone from sight"

"how does that happen?" Natsu asked as Dimaria and Herja shrugs their shoulders

"possibly because of the passing time, the environment change and so did the terrains" Dimaria stated "to be more logical, the changing earth plates must've sunk it to the ground, and it was gone forever"

Natsu rubs his chin as he started thinking

"a volcano that sunk into the ground, logically that would be possible if times passed and all" Natsu thought before he realized something "wait a minute, there's still that, right?"

"Dimaria, within the Brunnhilde Kingdom. Any information of my mother is recorded in your archive halls, you said right?" Natsu asked as Dimaria nodded "then don't you also have records of my father too?"

In a dark room, there was a single large mirror that was emanating a golden aura

Natsu, Dimaria, and Freyja who was in the room stood there as they look at the giant mirror

"this is how you record any information, huh?" Natsu said as Freyja holds a hand out and the mirror glowed and upon the glass, everyone sees images of Hael and Igneel appearing in the mirror "very interesting"

"what do you want to find from here?" Freyja asked as Natsu looks at the images of his mother and father in the mirror seeming to trying to find something in them

Scanning the images, Natsu's eyes widen a bit when they landed on a particular image

"there, enlarge that image" Natsu said as he points to a picture where Freyja sees and it soon enlarges in size

The image showed Igneel in his human form, wearing his armor while holding his sword near a volcano

"so? did you got something?" Dimaria asked as Natsu nodded

"where was this image taken?" Natsu asked Freyja who snaps a finger and the image enlarges to show a scene of Igneel at a volcano that was erupting "I knew it"

"wait, do you think that the volcano your father was at, is the Volcano of the Flaming Pits of Garuda's Grave?" Dimaria asked as Natsu nodded again

"my mother once told me that before my father became the Dragon King of Dragnof centuries back, she told me that my father was living by a volcano where he forge his armor and sword from his own fang and scales" Natsu explained before he looks at the image again "and I think we found it"

At the docks, Kaithen and the other Dragon Children were playing tag before the older siblings perked their head up while looking at the direction of the sea gate

That's a wrap!

Bye bye