"Talking"
"Thoughts"
"Attack names"
"Flashbacks"
Chapter 1
Year (X773)
"Igneel, Igneel, Igneel, Igneel" An eight year old Natsu repeated.
"What do you want Natsu, it's too early to go for food" A mighty Dragon with red scales with patterns of black diamonds said.
"I'm not hungry you damn lizard, look over there" Said Natsu while pointing to a side of the big mountain which was somewhat melted and covered in ashes.
"Hmmm? What happened here? There isn't any scent that could indicate that someone was here..." The Mighty red dragon thought to himself, Natsu looked up to his father.
"Impressive right? it took me a week and a half to get the hang of the technique, it isn't perfect but it is as strong as it can be right now since I don't have more magic to complete it" Natsu said with one big toothy grin on his face.
"Wait, Natsu. You did this? How? Which technique did you use?" questioned the dragon.
"I used the one you taught me two weeks ago Metsuryu Ogi: Guren Bakuenjin (Dragon Slayer's secret art: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade)" answered Natsu.
"Can you do it again?" asked Igneel, Natsu nodded.
"Alright hold on. Elaine! Elaine, come outside" Igneel yelled at the entrance of the cave of which he had come out, and from it a slightly smaller dragon came out. this dragon had only scarlet scales and golden ones, the scarlet covered her upper body and her golden ones on her stomach, unlike Igneel that had two horns she had only one that came out of her forehead like a razor sharp golden blade.
"What is it Igneel, it is still too early to be roaring around" said the beautiful female dragon that was shaking her head to wake up completely.
"Hey! I don't roar around all the time" Igneel said in defense.
"keep telling yourself that and it may come true dear, right Natsu?" asked Elaine.
"Yup, dad is always roaring around the place" Answered Natsu with a big grin on his face and his hands behind his head.
"You two gang up on me too much... whatever. Elaine, I called you here because Natsu apparently has been practicing more than we thought for the last half a week, and guess what. he can do the Guren Bakuenjin technique now" Said the fire dragon king with proudness in his voice.
"Is that true Natsu? it's only been two weeks since your dad taught it to you, I'm proud of you my boy" said Elaine proud while lowering her head to the altitude of Natsu.
"Hehe. It really took out a lot of me. but I'll keep going, I won't stop here. I'm going to become way stronger, I'll be strong enough to fight dad in equal ground and maybe even surpass him" Natsu said with confidence.
"You probably will my little dragon, you probably will" Elaine told Natsu as she hugged him with all the care of the world.
"Don't say that 'maybe' you will surpass me Natsu, say that you will definitely surpass me. I see a fire in you Natsu, it's a flame that it's taking in everything that we are teaching you, and once that flame has consumed all that we have to teach you then you will shine like no other, you will shine with the light of a thousand suns... now why don't you two go and find some food, I'll be thinking on a new way to train you Natsu after you show us the technique, you are clearly ready to learn more magic since you can use a secret art" Igneel said.
"EH? Really? am I ready to learn more magic? can I really do it? Am I going to learn my mom's magic too?" asked Natsu for he was so surprised for what his father had just said.
"You are Natsu, but in order for you to be able to learn it without side effect in that same moment we will have to seal away your fire magic so that your body can get used to the new magic, normally it wouldn't be that complicated, but my magic will be somewhat opposite to your dad's slaying magic" said Elaine with a somewhat worried voice.
"Opposite? What do you mean, your magic is fire right? so what's the difference between the two?" asked the small boy with a completely confused look on his face.
"Natsu, you normally see me using fire but, that's not everything that I can use. Natsu, many dragons know me as Elaine the queen of the fire dragons because I'm your dad's mate, but that's not my real title, my real title that I gained many years ago is Elaine Yōso no joō
(Queen of the Elements)" Elaine said with pride in her voice.
"... That's awesome! you can breathe more than fire? what about water? Ice? Lightning? Wind? Earth? Poison? what about lava?" asked Natsu with huge stars in his eyes.
"Hehe. All of them Natsu, but because of that it will take time to master, but if you do... then you will become a force to be recon with, your fellow dragon slayers will have more respect for you, or will also envy you for you will be in a dimension that they cannot go into, but let's leave the subject for later, we need food now, and after that you can show us the technique" said the scarlet dragon while she started to walk towards the woods.
"Okay" Natsu says while following his mother.
"Igneel, he's getting closer. His on the move, and if I'm not wrong then he is coming this way. what should we do?" Asked Elaine to Igneel with telepathic magic.
"It's actually good that Natsu is at that level now. right now, he can easily go against any normal mage. From now on we will have to move from this place to another. We will use Natsu's training as an excuse to move around. We'll have to move in about a month. that should be enough to teach Natsu the basics of one element. You should start with lightning, that way he will be faster when the time demands of it. Is that okay with you Elaine?" Igneel said.
"It's not like we have many options, so we will have to go with your plan. I just hope he can be alright without us" Said Elaine with an almost breaking voice as the thought of not seen Natsu anymore.
"He'll be fine. he's our son after all, not to mention that he is strong. let's have faith in him… and as long as he doesn't forget us then we will always be with him" said Igneel with sorrow in his voice.
"Let's have faith" said Elaine in a whisper.
"You said something mom?" asked Natsu.
"No not really Natsu. now let's go find food before your dad and yourself can't handle it anymore" and with that they looked for food for all of them, it didn't take them longs as animal could be easily found in their forest. After finding food they took it back with them to Igneel, once back they ate their food and talked on how the trainings for Natsu would be if he could make the technique correctly which got Natsu scared for a moment since the training sounded hard, and to be fair the training would be to walk through hell, literally. They told Natsu that he would train with Elaine in top of mountains surrounded by many dangerous animals for one month starting tomorrow so that he could learn new magic.
"Alright Natsu. Show us the technique, if you are successful you will start your training tomorrow with your mother in her magic" Igneel said to Natsu as he started to move away from the boy.
"Ok. guess I'll have to do it more powerful than the one I did last night" Natsu said as he started to walk towards where he had been training the last night.
Natsu stood still once he reached his destination and closed his eyes, he concentrated and started to call his magic forward and it soon consumed his whole body in flames. The flames were wild and threatened to burn everything that came across them, with the same ferocity they moved towards Natsu's hands creating a big ball of flames in each of his hands, he then took a stance which had his legs crunched, his left leg positioned one step ahead of himself with his right leg a step and a half behind him, his left hand close to his right hip as if he was going to take a sword from its sheath, his right hand extended behind him as if reaching to grab something on his lower back. He stood there a few moments before he started to flex his muscles, he then opened his eyes and swiped his arms forward as if trying to claw someone in front of him.
The action made the technique activate and a torrents of exploding flames came out of the two balls of flames that Natsu had on his hands, the torrent of flames took the shape of a spiral that kept traveling towards the side of the mountain which Natsu had used to practice, the flames soon reached the rocks and started to explode many times as it kept drilling into the mountain, the technique soon ended but not before leaving a big amount of dust which kept them from seeing the results of the secret art technique. Igneel not wanting to wait too much flapped one of his wigs and made the dust fly away from them, with the dust away they could now see what the result was, on the mountain you could now see a new cave which was about half the size of the other one which they used.
"Well… that… was better than the last" Natsu said while panting slightly.
"Wow. Natsu you did it, I'm really proud of you!" Elaine said as she rubbed Natsu's head with the most care she could.
"So, what do you think dad?" Natsu asked really wanting to know his father's thoughts, ever since reality hit him of been the son of the fire dragon king he had worked hard to be up to the expectations, he would not be weak and he would never let his parents down.
"Really impressive Natsu, many Dragon Slayers before you didn't even learn a secret art and you have learned one at such a young age, I'm proud of you" Igneel then ignited his hand in flames and showed it to Natsu. "Here, eat it so you can recover your magic. Tomorrow you will start your training in the magic of your mother, so for today we must seal your Fire Dragon Slayer magic, I'm telling you now this sealing will leave you completely weak. That's why we'll do it today, so tomorrow you'll be alright. so, are you ready?" Asked Igneel to his son. Natsu only nodded while still eating some of the flames indicating that he has ready.
"Alright, let's start. Oh, and I will also be teaching you how to do magic seals" and with that Igneel started to draw on the ground with his big claws, when he was done he told Natsu to get to the center of the sealing formula, He then put one of his claws on the ground channeling magic to the seal. When the seal was activated by Igneel's power Natsu felt a pull from within him and saw as every part of the seal his father had drawn lighted up in fire, he felt tired and almost dropped to his knees but somehow he stood tall, the flames soon started to fly towards him and for a strange reason felt like welcoming said flames but to his surprise the flames started to move towards his back, he felt something start to crawl his way up his back and turned to see his father with a questioning look.
"This seal is to take away your magic from inside of you and put it else were, what you feel right now is the construction of a new seal been created to store your magic until you are ready to use it once more" Igneel explained.
The sealing continued for a few more seconds and by the end of it Natsu was now standing in the same place only that this time he was feeling as if something was gone. On his back a dragon tattoo could be seen, the dragon was small but his wings were big enough to start from Natsu's shoulder plates and end near his biceps.
"Rest up Natsu, for tomorrow you will walk through hell" Igneel told his son.
"Come here Natsu, let's take you to rest" Said Elaine as she held Natsu with one of her claws, so she could take him inside the cave. The next morning Natsu woke up early and went outside the cave to stretch out.
"I feel the same as when I could use my magic, but I also feel like I am missing something" Natsu muttered to himself.
"Of course, you are missing something. it's your magic" Igneel told Natsu while standing in the entrance to the cave.
"Oh. hey dad what was that that you did last night?" asked Natsu to his dad remembering what happened last night.
"you mean what I did to you?" answered Igneel with his own question.
"yeah. you wrote something in the ground then I felt my magic coming outside of my body, then it started like to come back but at the same time it wasn't. so, what did you do?" Natsu asked again.
"That my son, was sealing magic. it is a lost magic which I intend to teach you later" said Igneel to his son.
"Alright I'm going to learn more magic!" said Natsu excited for the moment.
"you should actually be scared senseless. you are starting your mother's training today" Igneel said with a grin.
"Ah. I almost forgot about that" Natsu was now starting to sweat a little.
"Ha-ha. don't worry Natsu, you only have to walk through hell" Igneel said lowering his head to see the scared face of the boy.
"not helping dad, not helping. you know, whatever, I'll make it, I'm going to master mom's magic. You'll see. So, you said this new magic is a lost one, but what exactly can I do with it?" asked Natsu brushing off the bad thoughts.
"Hmmm. well to put it simple it is the art of sealing or unsealing. there are many different seals, for example the one that I used last night was a somewhat complicated one, that one was designed to extract your magic from your soul and then place a seal on it, so you wouldn't be able to use it again by sealing it in this tattoo on your back that looks like a dragon which also stops you from been able to use it if it is there. for you to use this magic you need to study what the seals look like and of course do experiments to create new ones. the more you learn the more you will be able to create more seals. There are sealing, unsealing, restriction, summoning, controlling, and many other kinds of seals that I will teach you later. For now, it looks like you'll have to walk through hell for some time" explained Igneel as Elaine was now walking out of the cave.
"Well you guys are up early. Whys that?" asked elaine after seen that Igneel and Natsu were already out.
"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that Natsu here wants to start with his tortu- I mean training" said Igneel.
"That so. Well it's better that we start right now, right Natsu?" asked Elaine to Natsu who just nodded.
"Ha-ha. Alright you two should get going. while you are training Natsu, I'll be making some notes for you to study with, and elaine, if you feel like teaching something else to Natsu then do so" said Igneel as he started to walk back to the cave.
"Actually, I was already thinking of something. think you can help me with it?" asked elaine to Igneel who had stopped to hear her.
"And with what is that elaine?" asked Igneel with interest.
"I would like you to make two swords that can grow stronger alongside Natsu" said elaine straight out of the bat with what she wanted while giving Igneel a few of her scales and claws that she had lost.
"Swords that will grow alongside Natsu... Elaine you intend to give Natsu one last gift. A parting gift eh? Hmmm. there will be no comparison to this swords" said Igneel as he takes the scales and claws walking once again to the cave.
"Alright Natsu. ready to start the training?" asked elaine to Natsu who looked towards Igneel.
"Yeah. I'm ready, I'll be stronger in no time" Natsu said with a confident smirk on his face.
One and a half month later
and with that the training started for Natsu. Elaine had taken him to some mountains where there was always lightning. and just like that, Natsu slowly and painfully gained his new magic. Natsu had asked elaine on what kind of style would he use with his new magic many times and he only got the answer once he could control the lightning like he did with his fire.
"Natsu. there will be no new style. the way I fight is the same as your dad, there for there is no need to teach you a new style with my magic, but I will teach you something else from my magic, I will teach you how to use a sword, I will teach you how to use two swords actually or at least the poses, you will have to learn how to use them yourself for I myself am not one to use them" elaine told Natsu who was now thinking how he would look with two swords on him, he was jumping around playing as if he already had the swords on his hands, but he stopped and looked to his mother dead in the eye.
"I'm going to make you both proud. I promise that no matter what power I may get, I will never let it get to my head" Natsu said as he had a serious look on his face which was weird, Natsu did not use that face unless he really was serious about something, and because of this elaine was surprised for Natsu rarely showed this side of him.
"this seriousness wasn't in you long ago Natsu. did watching those humans kill each other really changed you this much?... well, I guess it's good that you can be serious, this way you'll be able to mature faster. I just wish I could take away that attitude that you got from your father!" elaine thought to herself as she watched Natsu start channeling lightning through his body and forming a lightning ball in front of him. According to Natsu it was supposed to be a laser, but to no bail it didn't work. So, she decided to give him a hand.
"Don't you think is too big to be a laser Natsu?" asked elaine as she watched the big lightning ball in front of Natsu which was the same size as him, but at the time he tried to talk the ball exploded on his face.
"Aaaaaaggg. Stupid ball won't work!" said Natsu as he stood up from the blast which had also torn apart his shirt.
"Your control of magic is really good, but you are using too much magic in that attack and that's why you can't control it just with your mind, if you had something to contain it would be easier but that won't work in a battle. Why don't you just try it with less magic and see what happens?" said elaine in hopes of been able to help in his new technique.
"Ah. that's it, mom you are a genius. Something to contain the magic eh? I guess I'll try it out. Here I go! Haaaaaa!" with that Natsu created the big lightning ball in front of him again, and when the ball was about to explode elaine closed her eyes, but the blast never came so she opened her eyes and what she was seeing impressed her to some point. What she was looking at was a Natsu which had his hands together in front of him which were surrounded by a brilliant light.
"What did you do Natsu?" asked elaine as she looked at Natsu who was grinning. And in that moment Natsu decided to extend his arms out and from them a laser was shot towards the side of the mountain leaving a path of melted rocks.
"Wow, it actually worked. Thanks for the tip mom" Natsu said to his mom while he was laying on the ground since he had just used up all of his magic power.
"So, you used your own hands to concentrate your magic in one spot, not bad Natsu. I guess you should rest up, you learned really fast this past month and a half. Talking about time… your dad is going to be mad that we aren't back, we were supposed to be back half a month ago, well at last you got the lightning element down" said elaine as she took Natsu with her to a cave near them.
"So, are we going back tomorrow?" asked Natsu who was laying down beside his mother.
"Yes. tomorrow we will go back so that you can start your training with your dad too" elaine answered as she lowered her head to sleep.
"Oh. ok, good night mom" Natsu said to his mother.
"Good night Natsu" said elaine as she was ready to sleep.
The next day elaine and Natsu were ready to return to Igneel, and when they got there what they saw there surprised them both, Igneel was nowhere to be seen but his scent was still on the air which meant that they have just missed him, so they waited for him to return, and when he did he had some black kind of crystals with him.
"So, you two have finally decided to come back eh. It was about time, well either way I guess it's time we move out, but since I'm tired right now we will go out tomorrow, so we can continue with your training Natsu." Igneel said to his mate and son.
"So, does that mean that we aren't doing anything today?" asked a curious Natsu.
"Yeah that's right Natsu. So, you can do anything today, just don't do anything crazy" answers Igneel and Natsu.
"Ok. because I need your help with a name for my new technique" said Natsu to his father.
"The techniques are basically the same, so it shouldn't be that hard to name Natsu, or did you just lost the last thing you had as a brain?" said Igneel trying to make Natsu angry.
"That's it you overgrown fire breathing gecko. I'm going to show you how much stronger I got thanks to my mom" Natsu said as he took a stance a few feet away from his father as he started to concentrate his lighting in a ball once again.
"Ha. Please, it would take more than just a little lightning to -Aaaaaaggg. That hurts!" said Igneel while rubbing his nose since Natsu's new attack had hit that part of the dragon.
"Serves you right damn overgrown gecko!" said Natsu has he stuck his tongue out to Igneel.
"That's it you brat come here I'm going to use you to fix my aim since I haven't been in my best in a long time" said Igneel as he walked towards Natsu, but before he could reach Natsu started to run away towards his mom, so she could protect him from his evil father.
"Mom, dad wants to use me to practice his aim!" said Natsu to his mother, while faking that he was crying.
"Natsu! Are you seriously trying to get me killed you idiot" Igneel thought as he came to a stop in front of his mate and son?
"Hmmm. ooh dear~ want to explain what you meant by what you told Natsu?" asked elaine in a dangerous tone while standing up. At this point Igneel was sweating and walking back for he did not want to get on his mate's bad side.
"Well. you see Elaine, me and Natsu where just… just… aaaahhhh" Igneel ended up screaming like he never did in any battle before, for this was a scream of real pain.
"Sorry dad" said Natsu as he watched his father begging for forgiveness.
The next morning Natsu and Igneel were by each other's side while watching the sun coming up. They both just sat there not saying anything until Igneel decided to talk
"Dragon's slayer lightning laser" Igneel said out of nowhere.
"What's that?" asked a confused Natsu.
"The name or your new technique. You asked for my help yesterday remember? Natsu, that technique was not created by your mother nor by me, so it is more fitting to have it named after its creator: you" answered Igneel to his son
"I see. Alright, it's a cool name so I'll keep it" said Natsu with a grin.
"Looks like your mom is up, let's go get your stuff so we can go to your next training place" Igneel said to Natsu as they started to walk back to the cave. After they all got everything that was in the cave they were ready to leave.
"So. where are we going?" asked Natsu to his parents
"Well Natsu, we will be going to somewhere where your dad can train you in the art of sealing" answered elaine.
"You don't really have an idea on where are we going do you mom?" asked Natsu as he looked at his mother.
"Not even a clue son" she said as she lowered her head.
"We are going to volcano that once was my home. There I will teach you how to make seals Natsu, your mom will teach you how to use lava and swords. We will be staying there for about two years. That way you will have more than enough time to learn the right way" answered Igneel.
"Do we really have to go away from here?" asked a sad looking Natsu.
"Don't worry Natsu. we'll come back when we are done with your training" answered Igneel to his son
"... ok" with nothing else to say Natsu went to the cave and graved everything that was his.
"ready?" asked Elaine to her son.
"ready" is all that Natsu answered. with that elaine bend down so that Natsu could get on her. Natsu now on top of his mother's head took a last look to his home. both dragons now extending their wings prepared to fly to their new home.
To Be Continued