Chapter 18
Erza's hair blows through the wind as she rides atop Igneel with Natsu. The experience of flying with a dragon is new to her. She is sitting on top of Igneel trying to keep herself from falling off. Despite her upbringing, she has not had many interactions with dragon's herself. Thinking about her upbringing, she recalls her mother telling her about the dragon that taught her dragon slayer magic.
Flashback
"He would have loved to meet you." Irene told her daughter.
A much younger Erza was sitting with her mother eating strawberry cake.
"What was he like?"
"He was the kindest person you'd ever meet. He truly believed that humans and dragons could live together in peace." Irene informed her daughter, "Belserion was a true friend and a mentor like no other."
Erza gave Irene a big smile, "He sounds amazing!"
Irene smiled back at her daughter, "I'm sure he would be flying you around everywhere."
"Really!?"
Irene chuckled to herself and took another bite of her cake.
Flashback End
Erza smiles fondly at her memories.
"You seem happy." Natsu remarks.
Erza looks over to the pink haired dragon slayer who is standing across from her. His hair is also blowing in the wind. Unlike her though, he seems completely comfortable flying a top Igneel. This is most likely not his first time flying with the dragon.
"Just…thinking about my childhood."
"And what about your childhood?" A curious Igneel asks.
"Nothing much, just the time I spent with my mother."
Igneel bobbed his head in understanding, which has the unfortunate side effect of throwing Erza off balance. Fortunately, Natsu is close enough to grab her. He pulls her closer to him, so close in fact, that Erza feels a heat building on her face. It occurs to Natsu how close the two of them are and he quickly assists Erza in sitting back down.
"Hehe, sorry about that." A smirking Igneel says.
"That's alright. Say, Igneel, did you know Belserion?"
"If you teach Dragon Slaying Magic, you know Belserion. But I assume you mean personally, in which case, I unfortunately did not know him very well."
Weisslogia and Skiadrum fly up closer to them. Those two dragons look a bit older than the other dragons present.
"We knew him though." Weisslogia says, "Poor guy. He was so excited to meet you, you know?"
Erza looked at the white dragon in mild surprise, "Really?"
Skiadrum spoke up next saying, "He cared about Irene a great deal; considered himself a surrogate father to her. Even thought of you as a grandkid."
Erza smiled warmly up at the two dragons. She knew Belserion was close with her mother and could assume from their conversations that her mother considered Belserion a father figure. It was heartwarming to know that he thought the same way about her.
"Well, I'd hate to break up this conversation, but it looks like they're expecting us." Came Zeref's voice from atop Skiadrum.
A few hours earlier
A black-haired man with a small goatee sits on a throne with his eyes close. The man looks to be relaxing as the subjects around him go about their business. This man is King Rung, the husband of Queen Irene and father of Princess Erza.
A courier comes running into the throne room. He makes such a commotion that Rung gives him his immediate attention.
"Your majesty, I have urgent news!"
Rung stared down at his subject with a bored expression, "And what is that?"
"We have received reports of six dragons en-route to Castle Dragonfall!"
"And what of it?" Rung isn't fazed in the slightest. As powerful as dragon's are, they have some slayers on hand, and very few hostile dragons would dare make the trek to Dragonfall. Even if they were to attack, the castle is well armed to defend against them.
"The reports also claim that Zeref and Erza may be accompanying them."
The entire throne room falls silent. Although he has tried to keep the situation involving Erza secret, most people in the Castle were aware of what was going on. Rung would have been happy to hear Erza would be returning, but given what she is trying to do and who she is with, he can't help but feel that this will not be a happy reunion.
"Ready the soldiers. Do not allow them into our walls." King Rung orders, "Let them know that only Erza is permitted to enter. Anyone else is to be struck down!"
The atmosphere of the throne room only grows heavier. Ordinarily, having an entire army at your disposal would fill one with confidence. Unfortunately, with the likes of Zeref among the "enemy" ranks, nobody can be too sure that they can stop him. Zeref is not known as the Archmage for nothing. His magical power is beyond anything anyone has ever seen. Rumor has it that his power is comparable to that of a dragon.
"Y-yes your highness!"
"Good, then go!"
The courier bows and makes his way out of the throne room. As he leaves, the clacking of heels echoes out from Rung's left. He cranes his neck to watch as the beautiful Ultear Milkovich approaches him.
"So, Zeref finally approaches?"
"It would seem so."
Ultear takes a deep breath. Rung has known for awhile that Ultear has a tooth to pick with Zeref. He is more than happy to help her achieve her goal.
"Then you better hope that my associate can reach him before he reaches us." Ultear warns him.
Rung looks at Ultear confusedly, "What do you mean?"
Ultear chuckles to herself, "Even an army isn't enough to take down Zeref."
"And this associate of your is?"
"She says she is."
Rung picks himself up off the throne and begins to walk to the door to his right, "Then you better hope she is."
"As do I." Ultear turns around to leave.
"You are one mysterious woman, Ultear." Rung says as he parts ways with her.
Thank you for reading!
Who is Ultear's associate? And will she be strong enough to take down Zeref?
I have some bad news. I won't be putting this story on hiatus or anything, but right now I'm too busy to have this on a weekly update schedule. Over the summer that was doable, but I'm back in college and too busy to get these chapters finished in a timely manner. As such, I will be updating this story every other week instead of every week. I hope you understand.
Once again, thank you for reading and please review!