A/N: Sup guys! wiErD here and I got another chapter for you guys.

Hope ya like it.

Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns the whole franchise. Support the official release.


- A Place to Stay -

Natsu and Zeref were both confused as of right now since they were given a proposal from Reina for a permanent place to stay. Of course, the two agreed in response but they never asked any more questions about this new home of theirs. Zeref only accepted the offer since it would save them a lot of money if there was a home for them to stay permanently.

They could always come around back to Alice if they had the time too. It's not like they're saying goodbye now or anything. They just had found a place for them to finally settle on their own without her help. Plus, the new home that Reina was talking about isn't that far from where Zeref was actually working as they simply walked around town looking for something.

Thankfully, Arthur gave Zeref a day off in order to for him to settle down for a bit after his little scene towards Tellus earlier.

"Where are we going exactly?" It was then Natsu couldn't take it anymore as he felt impatient while lazily walking alongside with his brother and the female knight.

"To an old friend's place... It's not that far now... Come on, you two." Reina replied with a smile as she led her horse right beside her.

"So your friend knows a place where we can stay?" Zeref turned to ask her in curiosity.

"Well, yes... She used to work in the army too but she resigned later on since it doesn't fit her style and decided to move down here instead of living in the Upper City in order to help the people here."

"So she's an accomplice of yours then."

"Sort of..."

On the other hand, Natsu had trouble following through their conversation as he can't understand any of what they're saying. He knew his brother is kinda intelligent and knowledgeable about most things but to hear such a long conversation between him and an adult makes him kinda bit out of it.

It didn't take long for them to reach to their destination as they finally stopped into a medium-sized house with a gate covering it in a distance as the two boys peered behind the knight's back and saw the house itself. It was a stone-built house with fair space for a large group of people to roam around as they saw a garden situated from the back.

But the only thing that caught the boys' attention was the amount of kids and children wandering around the entrance, playing with each other and many more. The two were only surprised since they never encountered any kid at the same of their age.

Well, to Natsu that is.

A sign board is seen atop of the entrance door of the house as a female figure soon appeared from the door seemingly chasing around the kids who were running away from her in glee as they were playing a game. She was a grey-haired middle-woman wearing a worn-out grey dress skirt that reaches down to her feet which was accompanied by a pair of brown boots.

A lot of cheers and shouts came from the children as they ran away in circles in hopes of outrunning the woman.

Moments later, the woman eventually stopped as she noticed Reina on the gate entrance and could only sport a wide smile on her face as she turned her attention towards her.

"Reina! By the gods, it's been a long time since you visited here."

"Hello Elena... Just happened to take care of things here in my assigned division..." The female knight returned with a casual gesture.

"I reckon that they might be causing a lot of trouble for the people... Haven't they got enough? The people here are getting more restless with them being around here." She scoffed in annoyance.

"Don't worry... I managed to convince the captain to settle it down..." She assured.

It was then, Elena had noticed the two other boys beside the knight.

"You've brought guests." She noted.

"Ah, yes... I brought these two here since they don't have a place to stay... I met them trying to defend the people from the division's abuses earlier." The silver-haired woman looked at the two in surprise but soon turned to worry as she saw a slight scratch from Zeref's cheek.

"Those people did that to him?" She asked with her sweet tone suddenly turning into scorn.

"Yeah... I was a little late in intervening the fight. I was glad that I managed to stop them from raising a sword on the other one."

"They tried to kill these two?! Wha...! They should've been charged with a crime already! What kind of person would harm an innocent kid?" She spoke in anger.

"Calm down, Elena... It's not like I'm overlooking this incident... I'm supervising this division and I would report any inconsistencies within this division."

"You better be... You can't let those idiots get away like that..."

"Anyway, I was hoping that you still might have some place for them to stay... These two are homeless." Reina returned back to the topic before holding both hands of the two beside her.

"Where are their parents?"

"They died from a dragon attack a month ago... These two were the only survivors." She revealed in which shocked the woman afterwards.

"I-I see... I'm very sorry to bring up such a painful memory." She apologized.

"It's fine... You don't need to worry about it..." Zeref spoke for the first time in meeting another stranger.

..

..

"In any case, I want you to take care of them from now on... It's better for them to stay here in your orphanage rather some place they don't know of." It was then Reina continued.

"I'll be glad to take them in... Plus, I think they would fit right in here with the others as well."

"That pretty much so..." Reina released a contented sigh. "Well, I have to return back to the Upper City as well... I still have to report to the Order about the division and the movement from the dragons."

She slowly urged both Zeref and Natsu right into Elena's place as she slowly patted each of their heads gingerly before turning her attention back to the silver-haired woman.

"There has been a lot of dragon sightings now is it?" Elena asked.

"Yeah... And they all seemed to be on the same element."

"Then that would mean-

"That's right... ... There's a dragon king nearby..."

"I see... Well then, may the gods watch over you, Reina..."

"You too, Elena... I promise to visit here again if I have the time." And with that, Reina bade her farewell on the three and simply sprinted away towards her destination as the three watched her disappear into a corner.

Turning her attention towards the two new orphans, Elena smiled warmly at the two as she slowly went ahead from them and opened the door to her house.

"Well then, I guess we should head inside as well... but first, let's get you two a good and warm bath."

..

..


A few hours later...

After being taken into a warm bath and given with a spare amount of clothes, the two eventually finished their tasks and went towards the living room where Elena was. She was currently dusting the room to keep it from catching any cobwebs and other dusts that might leave the room entirely untouched for a long time.

A couple of sounds resounded from the outside as children ran around the garden outside to spend their time there along with the others.

"We're done..." Natsu spoke as they revealed themselves to the silver-haired woman.

"Oh, I never expected you two to be finished that early... Most of the kids would enjoy their time in the bath, you know... I guess the clothes are fitted enough for you."

"Thanks for the clothes... ... We only got little what we have before we're transferred here in the kingdom."

"I see... I hope the place fits to your liking." She smiled.

"Are you kidding me? This place is enormous! It's like a palace or something!" Natsu blurted out in glee but not long before Zeref lightly nudged him at the side to show some respect.

..

..

"It's alright... Most of the kids that arrive here are happy since they had a home to return to. Just like you two, most of them were also refugees outside the kingdom." Elena frowned a little bit as her thoughts went back to the time where she was still trying to establish her own orphanage for the homeless children. It was that time when people are all panicking in the Lower City, unable to do anything since they were both living on poor conditions and had limited resources to survive.

Children at that time were the most powerless, especially the abandoned ones. It was the main reason why Elena wanted to quit the army and try to create a home for those kids in order for her to rekindle their hope and the warmth that they'd lost from their real parents that have passed away.

She wanted to be the parent for them all, seeing that she wanted a future where no child would ever have to suffer once again. The alone is what makes her to keep on living for the sake of them.

"So are we suppose to sleep here?" Zeref then turned to ask.

"Well unfortunately, some of the kids who were sheltered here before you two have taken the spot but it's nothing to be worried about... There's a building right next to this house which housed all of the recent kids like you two. There are still some spare bunk beds inside for the two of you so feel free to use it as you wish."

"Cool!" Natsu cheered.

"Alright then, I suppose I should introduce myself properly to you two... I'm Elena Hearthspire. It's nice to meet you, Zeref, Natsu."

"Same here." Natsu nonchalantly replied which soon resorted him a bonk on the head by Zeref due to his attitude.

"Well, I guess we should introduce you to the others as well... I'm sure everyone will be eager to meet you two." She smiled as she went ahead of them in which only made the two brothers to look at each other for a moment before following her in suit as they made their way to the other building where most of the kids are currently residing.

..

..

With the height of the day still pointing at noon, kids roam around in their spare time, playing each other as the three slowly made their appearance on the entrance. Natsu and Zeref were somehow surprised to see the amount of beds situated inside. Elena must've been searching for lost children for quite a long time now, seeing the amount of kids present inside.

Soon afterwards, Elena made a slow but loud clap to catch the attention of the kids inside as all eyes soon darted over to the silver-haired woman in curiosity.

"Everyone! I know this is a bit sudden but I'd like you all to introduce our new members..." She paused as she urged the two boys in front of her. "They are Zeref and Natsu. Starting today, they would be living here together with you and I hope all of you would be make friends with them, alright?"

There was a simultaneous reply of "Yes." as the other children nodded in response to the silver-haired woman.

After a few moments, Elena soon led the two to their respective bunk beds just located in the near corner as the kids simply watched them in curiosity. Natsu eventually settled right first to his own bed and sat on the side, finally feeling the soft cushion of the bed all by himself.

With Zeref still standing beside Elena, he turned to bow towards her as a sign of gratitude.

"Thank you for letting us stay."

"It's no problem at all, Zeref... I'm just glad to be of help. Oh, and by the way, I'd like you to come with me for a bit... There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

Hearing the need of his presence, Zeref took a moment to think about it as he looked momentarily at the playful pinkette on the bed before looking back at the silver-haired girl.

"I suppose I don't mind... I've got a lot of time to spare so it's fine."

"Well then, I guess that's settled..." Both of them nodded briefly to each other as Zeref soon turned his attention back to Natsu who finally stopped his play time on their new beds.

"There's something I have to discuss with Elena-san... Don't do anything troublesome, alright?"

"Sure..." Natsu grinned widely as the black-haired big brother smiled back and nodded in response before going back to Elena who soon made her way outside and back to her house together with Zeref, leaving Natsu behind with the rest of the kids.

It was till then, the noisy atmosphere began to continue.

..

..


Meanwhile, back at Zeref...

The two eventually settled inside the living room as Zeref sat into one of the chairs, waiting for Elena who simply went off elsewhere to get something before discussing about a certain matter. He took a moment to look around at the place as it was filled with old antiques and furniture that still stood for such a long time.

The continuing noise of the children outside resounded through the silent room until Elena came back with several papers in hand as she laid it down on the table right across Zeref before sitting on a nearby chair on the opposite end.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I heard from Reina of what happened earlier between you and those men."

"Ah about that... It's nothing great, really. All I did was cause trouble." He apologized sheepishly.

"No, not at all. In fact, I was surprised that a kid would actually stand up to those guys... Knights of the Order are not all that kind towards people here in the Lower City." She mused.

"So what does it have to do with me?" He asked in confusion.

"Judging from your age, I think you're finally capable of having an education. When children grew past their age, they were sent to an academy in order to learn magic and the outside world as well. I think it would be beneficial for you to attend there and learn a lot of things." She offered in which shocked Zeref greatly.

"R-Really? I can go to an academy?!"

"Of course... There are others who are attending at Mildian Academy right now... It would only take a few words for me to get you in." However, the name of the academy further surprised the black-haired boy.

"Mildian Academy? Isn't that the most prestigious academy in the Upper City?" He stammered in surprise.

"Yes... ... All the children that have gone past their age have attended there with my help since I used to be affiliated in the Order back in a day." She explained.

"That's- too much... I don't think I can accept that kind of offer. Just providing us with a place to stay permanently is enough for us." He tried to turn down her offer to the academy but Elena could only smile warmly towards him.

"I'm not forcing you to accept it though but I recommend that you should give it with a lot of thought for now before you can decide." She reasoned.

"But what about my work at the factory?"

"I'll be supervising you from now on... But if you want to still continue working, it would be fine but it would consume you a lot of time while you're studying."

..

..

There was a brief pause between them until Zeref released a sigh.

"So... those are my choices on how I would go on with my life, huh?"

"Take your time thinking it through... I'll be waiting your answer in the next two days or so... Just remember that whatever path you choose, I would be there to support you, alright?"

And in just like that, Elena stood up from her seat and eventually handed him a small envelope which contained the slip of entering Mildian Academy. Zeref took a deep thought while looking at the envelope itself, thinking about the choices that he wanted to choose to determine his future.

Well, there's still a lot of time to think about it and consulting Natsu with this matter might be a great idea for him to get his final decision.

..

..


Back to the orphanage...

With all the kids wandering around, Natsu silently sat beside his bunk bed since he doesn't have anything to do to make friends and that the presence of many children somehow makes him uncomfortable.

It's probably because he never encountered kids around his age that often and that he always rely on his big brother for any problem he had under him. Glancing to different parts of the place, Natsu saw that there's a wide majority of boys than girls and the groups and peers were mostly on with the same genders.

He could tell from their faces that there were some who were intimidating while others were timid and meek towards other people. Natsu couldn't see himself in both sides.

With Zeref still not returning yet, he already lost his patience thus, causing him to wander off from his place and eventually settled elsewhere from the orphanage. Seeing a lot of kids running past by him, playing around kinda makes him envious. Sure, he's still a kid but the trauma that he experienced back at their village, changed the most of him.

He learned not to cry and sometimes he tried to act out independently when matters have started to get serious.

You could say that he kindly matured a bit but not under good circumstances.

It was then he finally found himself near the door. He was about to go out and meet with his brother until a certain group of boys caught his attention from the corner of his eyes.

They were three of them and they all looked kinda the ones running show in the orphanage when it comes to dominance. They were seemingly trying to bully a little girl who seemed to be cornered by the three of them as they were all bullying her in the process.

"Hey you, little midget... ... Why are you so damn clumsy?" One boy from the group teased the little girl. He had an unusually long black spiky hair that is slicked at the back. He wears a small sleeveless black tunic with matching black pants. His face is consisted that of a smug grin that could easily piss Natsu off.

The other two were surprisingly not that intimidating but their groupings together with the spiky-haired kid makes to be the dangerous group in the orphanage. One is a blonde-haired kid with a mister-goody face while the other is a somewhat weird kid since his face was neither changed as if he harbored no any emotions at all, although his lack of hair seemed to add up to his fierce look.

A couple of kids who weren't involved in the scene could only stay away from the three, ignoring the little girl alone which somehow makes Natsu kinda angry at some point.

There just too many of them who are not willing to help the little girl since they feared of getting beat up by these dudes.

"I-I'm sorry... It won't happen again." The little girl shrieked in fear of the three.

"You better be... Damn, I always hate people who are slow-pokes..."

"Hey, aren't you a bit to hard on her already, Gajeel?" The blond-haired kid spoke.

"What are you talking about, Sting? It's been days and she could never even lift up a single cup on her own." The spiky-named, Gajeel scoffed in annoyance.

"Well, she's the newcomer and you always crush those sods on the first day..."

"She's been here three days ago." The bald and emotionless kid reminded them.

"You don't have to remind us about that, Ryos." Sting retorted.

..

..

"Hey!" Just as they were about to continue to bully the kid, a voice cut through them as they all darted their eyes on the pinkette, standing defiantly in front of them as if he has some business with them.

"What do you want, kiddo?" Gajeel asked.

"Stop bullying her! Idiots." Natsu retorted.

"Oi, oi, oi... This is my first time seeing someone's answering back to you, Gajeel." Sting remarked.

"Isn't that the newcomer from earlier?" Ryos noted. But as he said that, Gajeel went on for a devious smirk.

"Well, well... To think that I get to meet the newcomer... What's wrong with that hair colour? Did you dip your head onto some pink paint or something?" He mocked as a couple of laughs went around the onlooking kids.

It was then Natsu finally stood up in front of the little girl in between the three with a dead serious expression.

"Stop being cocky, Spikey... I hate kids trying to bully the others for no reason..."

"Well it seems like you need to be taught a lesson..." Gajeel soon began to crack his knuckles as if raised his fists to fight in which Natsu did the same. A couple of kids soon noticed the impending fight going on and began to form from all sides, surrounding the two kids as Sting and Ryos backed away to the crowd to watch also.

"You're gonna regret messin' with me, Pinky..."

"Who said I'm regretting this? I'm tougher than you think..." Natsu smirked.

All seemed to end into a big fight as Gajeel made the first move and tried to connect his right fist towards the pinkette's face. Natsu quickly leaned his body back to avoid the swing then soon charged in below and connected his own fist towards Gajeel's stomach, sending him back as he lightly made a spasm from that sucker punch.

"Oh, Gajeel is being pushed down?!"

"This kid's pretty good!"

A couple of cheers went over to the crowd as Natsu balled up his fists before looking towards the staggering spike-haired kid with a taunt.

"Is that all, Spikey?"

"Don't get so full of yourself... I'm just getting started." Gajeel smirked before raising his fists up again.

"I'm all fired up!"

It was for a brief moment until both fighters lunged towards each other with their fists cocked up and ready to nail each other's face down.

SMACK*

The sounds of their fists connecting to their faces reverberated through the hall as the kids in the crowd, roared even more louder than it was before, seeing the fight was starting to get more intense between Natsu and Gajeel.

Both sides never wasted time catching their breaths as they continued to fight each other. Gajeel successfully kicked the pinkette's right to the side, causing him to stagger away and land on the ground, clutching his side in the process. However, Natsu fully ignored the pain and stood up instantly which surprised Gajeel as he was immediately tackled right in to the ground with Natsu holding him down.

The pinkette sent multiple punches right into his face but Gajeel mustered enough strength to use his feet to throw him away from him as they both stood up with their faces battered and clothes slightly tattered from their fight.

"You're not bad at all... Where did you learn how to fight, huh?" Gajeel remarked.

"By myself... I learned to protect myself... You're not also bad yourself, Spikey..."

"Heh... You look interesting... I guess we should end this, huh?"

"Not planning to take this long anyway."

Preparing themselves for the final blow, both kids tried to make for the final punch until a booming voice resounded from the door as all eyes darted over to Elena and Zeref who just came inside, only to find that a fight was ensuing between Natsu and Gajeel.

"What's going on here?! Gajeel, Natsu? Why are you fighting?" Elena shouted. All the kids except for Gajeel and Natsu and the little girl scattered away as the two made their way towards the duo.

"Natsu! I told you to keep away form trouble... What have you gotten yourself into?" Zeref scolded as he proceed to take a look on the pinkette's slightly bruised face while Elena turned on to Gajeel at the same time.

"Gajeel? What's the meaning of this? I told you before to be nice to the newcomers..." Before Gajeel could even speak, Natsu turned to answer her question.

"He was bullying a little girl so I tried to stop her but he challenged me..." Natsu spoke.

"Oi! Shut it, Pinky!"

"Is this true?" Elena asked. Natsu simply pointed over to the little girl near them who was still processing of what just happened.

"Gajeel... I want you and Natsu in my room, alright... You too, dear..." She looked over to the little girl. "We'll discuss this matter seriously, okay?"

And with that Elena went back to the house leaving Zeref to take care of the situation. He helped Natsu get back on his own feet before helping the little girl and led her away from the scene.

Natsu dusted off his clothes for a moment and tried to follow Zeref afterwards until Gajeel called him.

"What's your name?" Gajeel asked.

"Huh?"

"Are you deaf? I'm asking for your name, idiot!" He hissed.

"The hell are you mad about... Why would I share my name to a prick like you?"

"Why you-" As he was about to go for another bout with him, Natsu cut him off.

"It's Natsu..."

..

..

"Natsu... I'll remember that..."

"You better be... You?"

"Gajeel... Better not make me mad the next time we see each other."

"I could say the same to you..." Despite their cold replies to each other, both boys grinned at each other. Something tells them that they're gonna be rivals from now on. On the other hand, Sting and Ryos were surprised to see that Gajeel had actually acknowledge someone for the first time.

"Hey, Ryos... Did just Gajeel ask that kid's name?"

"Yes, he did..." Came the monotone reply.

"Well, that's surprising... I wonder who that kid is..."

And in just like that, the course of the day inside the orphanage continued.

..

..


On the Upper City... Near the Order's headquarters.

"Are you sure about this?" Reina asked as she stared onto to the large map place onto the large table together with some of the knights. Apparently they were having a meeting right now about a certain threat that involves the common sightings of the dragons near the borders.

"There's no doubt about it... With the same elemental dragon coming out on those places, there's no denying that a dragon king is nearby." One of the knights reported.

"Have you found it yet?"

"Unfortunately, no... Our scouts tried hunting on the forest several miles away from the kingdom but they were met with obstacles along the way.

"Well, that's to be expected... It's a dragon king. A ruler of one of the dragonkind. It's more powerful and dangerous than any normal dragon we encountered right now. But to think that it would somehow surface here near the Central Kingdom... I wonder what its motives are." She pondered in thought.

"What are we gonna do?"

"For now, keep a sharp eye onto the skies, I'll have to send word for Acno to deal with the situation. He's the strongest dragonslayer among us and if that dragon didn't make its attack on the Kingdom, we'll have no reason to attack as well. Plus, we need to consult with our other dragons about the identity of that dragon king."

"Vicelogia sent word about the dragon's identity. He somehow knew it and was supposed to be his former comrade before the war could start." One of the knights handed a paper to Reina.

"The White Dragon? He knows this dragon."

"Yes, and he claims that he's one of the dragons that no human would dare to face..."

Reina only nodded in response as she slowly opened the paper presented to her. It was written in draconian language but Reina was taught to be a dragonslayer so she has enough sufficient knowledge about the culture and history of the dragons.

Her eyes narrowed as the name of the unknown dragon was finally revealed to her.

"Igneel."


A/N: And stop! There you go. That's the end of chapter 3. Hope ya like it!

So a lot of things were thrown right in the bat. Gajeel, Sting and Ryos made their first cameo appearance in this story and also Vicelogia and Igneel too. Wendy will have her own appearance on the next chapter so don't worry. And also, I suppose there's also one person from the past who was revealed right here, right?

I'm too lazy to think up a name for him and it's best for him to stick to his canon name in order to avoid confusion. Next chapter would feature Zeref's first days in his academy and a possible time-skip in the later chapters.

I still need some time to flesh out some character roles before we could even play Natsu's part in meeting Igneel. Oh, and by the way, don't mistook Igneel to be ruthless to humans. Something big will be revealed onto this part as well when the two meet for the first time. Let's just say the people mistook him to be part of the dragon oppressors or some sort of like that but anyways, I'll reveal his true nature in the future.

See ya guys on the next chapter and thank for your continuing support for this story!

- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out... ... ...