Word count: 3, 096

Date started: June 4, 2015

Date published: June 21, 2015

Date finished: June 20, 2015

Chapter 5: Mama

A chorus of calls sounded around the room as a blonde woman fell down, all of it variants of said woman's name. Another woman, nearly an exact replica of her, was able to hold her before she hit the cold stone floor.

"Lucy!" Laxus immediately took the Celestial Spirit mage from the dragon-turned-human. "I don't know who you are or even where I am, but don't touch my sister."

The red dragon, the one who talked earlier, exploded into a column of fire, and in his place was a man with ruffled, shoulder length hair the same color as the dragon's scales before. He looked convincingly human except for them white triangle burning against the pitch black iris of his eyes.

The man stalked to the dragon woman, who sat frozen from shock, and held her for a while just like Laxus did with Lucy. Afterwards, he turned his eyes to Laxus and glared at him, "Listen here, kid. I don't know who the hell you are either but you're in our territory. The woman you just assaulted is the queen of our kind. Unless you want to be eaten as our afternoon snack, better shut up."

The Lightning dragonslayer glared back with equal anger, "Assaulted? I took back my sister, I didn't even touch her!"

The other man kept silent, admitting defeat. The human in front of him got a point and clearly was protective of his so-called sister. He was... He was... Oh crap, he looks familiar.

Indeed they are, Igneel. Indeed, they are.

"Weisslogia?" "Skiadrum?" The twin dragonslayers of our group asked in disbelief as they stared into mirrors of their parents, a white, Angel-like dragon and a jet black one that had glowing violet eyes.

The two dragons, who conveniently sat next to each other, shared a glance and turned their heads towards the youngest mages of the group. The white dragon's eyes soften, and gently called out to one of them, "Sting..."

The other followed suit and called for the other, "Rogue..."

The white dragonslayer looked ready to collapse and cry but his feet held strong. With a shaky voice, he told them, "You're supposed to be dead."

A brown dragon, sitting to the far left of the tiny half-circle of dragons, gave a hearty roar that's much like a laugh. "Well, surprise, motherfucker! They're alive!"

"Umi!" Another dragon, a blue-green one this time, slapped a paw (Do the dragons have paws, one questions) on the brown dragon's head. "Don't curse and you're ruining the moment.

Rufus stood awkwardly to the side along with Vittoria and Gang. What the hell is happening?, he thinks to himself. He assessed the events happening in front of him. First of all Lucy fainted after being hug/tackled by the dark purple dragon. He assumed that the two know each other and that Lucy fainted because she was shocked of meeting the dragon woman again. The memory mage looked at said woman who looked like she's in a trance. Rufus guessed that she was Lucy's mother from the resemblance and the last word Lucy muttered before she fell unconscious, "Mom." The way the woman affectionately held the blonde mage before she was taken was a hint too, something about it looked motherly or at least to him it did.

Next matters, the fiery haired man holding the dragon woman stared at Laxus like he saw a ghost. It seemed to Rufus that he knows the dragonslayer. Said dragonslayer still glared back, holding his sister figure who remained oblivious to world.

Third and final bullet in Rufus's imaginary list of problems, Sting and Rogue appeared to have found their dragon 'parents'. He heard from the brighter half of the twins that they're supposed to be dead, killed by their own sons. But somehow, they stood in front of them clearly alive and well. His assessment ended up causing more questions than answers.

And so, a hand reached for the sky like a student, Rufus asked, "Excuse me, but can someone please tell me what's happening?"

All of them were ushered into a small human-size, square dining room. Everything but the hardwood floor was white. In the center of the room was a rectangular table with eight seats. And above it was a simple glass chandelier. There was only one window which was behind on the chairs. It had its white curtains pulled back revealing the empty, yellow-hued sky. A cabinet of plates and china stood to one the side as well as extra chair but what caught all their eyes was the large painting that hung on the wall parallel to the door.

It was a family portrait of the purple dragon as human. She wore a white gown decorated with gold details and her blonde locks were gathered up in a bun. She smiled as she sat in a white throne. From the back of the throne, a younger replica of her hugged her from behind. The younger woman had the fun kind of beauty unlike the other's elegance. A hand was placed on the woman's shoulder. This time it belonged to a male, who stood to the right of the throne. He had spiky blonde hair and gleeful blue eyes, but what stands out the most was the eerie glow he had around his body and the white reptilian scales on the sides of his face. To the right of the throne was another man. He too had scales on his face but this time they were red. He had dark eyes but it clearly had a green hue. Like everyone in the picture, he had blonde hair, only difference was his hair was long and brushed his shoulders. Last person in the picture was a buff man standing next off to the side, his arms crossed. He looked annoyed at first but you could see in his amber eyes that he was happy being with the four other people.

Rufus, Sting, and Laxus stared at the portrait, eyes widening. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Laxus even dropped Lucy, who was slowly waking up, just in time for Rogue to catch her. But back to the other boys and the portrait, the three mages stuttered unsuccessfully. They couldn't tear away their gazes from the painting. Why? They were looking at their faces. Sure there were some minor differences, but the resemblance was there. And it was unmistakable.

The red-haired man earlier broke the silence as he sat the dragon queen on the head of the table. He snapped his fingers and said, "Hey! Sit down and stop gaping like morons!"

That did the trick. The dragons known as Weisslogia and Skiadrum, both in their human forms, ushered their step-children unto their seats. The brown dragon earlier, who turned too into brunet man, forced Rufus to sit. Soon, everyone was situated into their place even Lucy who was awake yet still dazed but there was still a pregnant silence.

Weisslogia, who now took form of a tanned, platinum-haired woman, spoke first, "My queen," she addressed the woman at the head of the table. "With all due respect, I believe that you should tell them..."

Laxus, eyes narrowed. "Tell us what?"

The dragon queen inhaled nervously and began, "I'm Layla, queen of the dragons, and you four are my children."

"That's bullshit!" Rufus suddenly exclaimed angrily as he shot up his seat. "I had to live as guinea pig for half of my life because I thought that maybe my parents died and I was kidnapped... I was bullied by the other children for having scales on my face! And now you come around and say that you're my mother?! Where were you when I needed you?! Were where you when I was left to rot into an illegal laboratory?!"

Tears pricked Layla's eyes as she defended herself, "No, please believe me! Your real name is Caelum! You went missing when a madman took you from the hospital's nursery room. I tried to find you but Jude gave up and believed you were dead. I was put on house arrest but I didn't stop. I had all the other dragons search for you. But they were never successful. I only found out you were alive when I heard news that you managed to escape. I wanted to go to you but I was already here and the subjects need me. Please, believe me!"

The longhaired man was still mad and was about to snap and lash out on her but Igneel pushed him back down and sneered, "You will listen and you will respect her. Got it?" Rufus didn't reply but swallowed nervously. The red-haired man can definitely be intimidating when he wants to.

"How about me? I was left with an abusive man who had to inject me with lacrima." Laxus too was angry but he restrained himself from shouting.

"My step-brother did that to ensure you'll live. He gave you my lacrima so that the dragon in you won't eat you from inside until your old enough."

"You could have taken me away from him," Laxus whispered, but he knew she heard him.

"But you were happy with him and with my father. I couldn't take the risk and take you with me where you could be miserable,"

"Liar."

Silence, once again, reigned in the room. The only sound heard was the sobs coming from Layla.

"I believe you," Sting, who was quiet through the whole ordeal, said.

"What?" Layla asked, dumbfounded.

"I believe you," Sting, then gulped, "mama."

Layla broke down crying and stood up to embrace him, while everyone stared at them like, 'what the fuck?'

"I knew you had your reasons for not having us and I know that the pain you are feeling is unbelievable, after two of your sons flat out rejected you," Sting added as he somewhat glared at Laxus and Rufus.

Lucy snapped out of her stupor and hugged her mother and 'new' brother. But then, she approached Laxus and Rufus. "Nii-san, I know it was hard for you but please, do it for me. Mama loves you and when I was younger she would always pulled out a picture of you and cry. She was right, you were happy with Master Makarov but that didn't mean she was happy too. Please do this for me?" Lucy frowned when the lightning dragonslayer turned his head but suddenly hugged her and stood to speak to Layla. One more left, Lucy tried to convince the other blonde. "Rufus-san, you grew up without a family but now we're here, we'd love you and take care of you. We'll never hurt you. Please join us."

Rogue joined them, and said, "You should go with her. Think about all those time you bitched about wanting siblings or about how that lonely woman was the queen of a race but was deprived of her children and family. Look at the effort put into this just to bring you all together. Even Minerva joined in; clearly wanting to reunite you with your family, because she would never blindly gives us a mission without a reason. Stop being a dick and go to your mother."

"That's the longest, dirtiest sentence I've heard from you, Rogue. I'm impressed… Alright fine," Rufus rolled her eyes. "I'll try to get along and if she's really my mother, that would explain why I used to have scales."

"Oh stop being a sourpuss and get over here," Sting suddenly sauntered to them and dragged Rufus and Lucy into a group hug with Layla and Laxus, who already began to warm up to the idea of having a mother.

Rufus thought to himself that maybe this wasn't bad after all. Rogue was right and he appreciates the effort but he firmly believes that it would take years for him to warm up. Luckily, Layla was willing to wait and was content with just the thought of having her children with her.

The family was given privacy as the dragons, Rogue and exceeds left the room. There was still one question left hanging. Rogue called the black haired man with him, "Skiadrum?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you alive?"

"So let me get this straight. Are we half-dragons?" Rufus asked out of the blue, before placing a piece of vegetable in his mouth.

They were back in the dining room for dinner after a brief tour of the house "wing" of the castle-sphere. All of them, excluding the clan leaders who have left in favor of resting in their own suites in the castle, sat around the white table, eating the feast prepared by the staff.

The four blonde mages looked at each other then turned to their supposed mother, who in turn not-so-helpfully answered. "Technically, I'm half-human and half-dragon, making you four a quarter dragon but Gold-type dragons are always pure thus that rule of the thumb is ignored."

"I don't understand it, mommy!" Sting, who warmed up quickly to Layla and was acting more childish than usual much to everyone's chagrin, said with his mouth still partially full.

"Don't talk while eating, Candor-dear," Layla chastised her youngest son. "But anyway, it simply means we're all fully dragons because Gold-types' blood is always dominant. As long as one parent has it, the offspring will have the same"

"Wait, what's a Gold-type?" Lucy wondered aloud.

"You'll learn soon enough in your classes, my lovelies," Layla replied.

"Classes? What classes?"

"The ones you will take about the history of Riyu, and how to control your full power and," the queen paused mid-sentence, when she saw that her children were staring at her incredulously. "Oh my! Daddy never told you anything, didn't he?" The blonde queen gasped out, disbelieving.

"No, all he told us is to meet," Laxus answered, pointing at the ex-Sabertooth members, "these three idiots and their cats."

"Laxus, pointing at people is rude," Layla scolded her eldest as Sting and Rufus snickered behind their hands. "Anyway, Candor, Caelum, Rogue, what's your side of the story?"

"First of all, I would really like to be called Rufus as I am not used to my real name. Second, all Lady Minerva said to us is to meet them and that it was an S-class mission worth a lot and it would require temporary removal from the guild. She gave Sting details about the mansion, though."

"So more or less, you all thought this was a mission you can gain greatly from?" Everyone nodded. Layla face-palmed and shook her with a laugh, "Should've known daddy will just send you here anyway even when I told him specifically to brief you. Ah, he even sent you 6 years early but he knowing him, he probably has his reasons."

"So?" Sting asked, prolonging the 'o'.

"So it's up to me to tell you, my dearest children, that the reasons you are here are because Riyu is now a safe place and you can now begin to learn to unlock your dragon potential and how to rule this place when I die," Layla replied nonchalantly.

"What?"

"When I die, mysteriously disappear, or be unfit to rule a whole realm of dragons, I would need a successor. The successor must be a Gold-type to prevent any clans overthrowing another. You, my four little yellow heads, are the only ones left besides me."

"Again, what?"

The blond queen sighed, "Before Laxus was born, Riyu was in chaos. Clans battled for dominance and were always at war with each other. Nora, my older sister, wanted to change that. So when she got crowned, she began serving as mediator between wars unlike our mother who just made sure that the dragon race won't end up endangered again. A few years after Candor was born, Igneel and the rest of the clan leaders during that time approached me and told me that I have to ascend the throne, meaning something must've happened to Nora. I was worried sick and wanted to search for her but of course, duty calls. One of the clan leaders told me I could bring you all but with all the warfare happening, it wasn't safe. So I called all the dragons back to the home realm and entrusted all my children to people I trust. Laxus was with daddy. Lucy was with Jude. I had my good fairy friends continue searching for Cael— Sorry, I mean Rufus. Candor had some council members secretly watching over him until he was able to join a decent guild. I took all the necessary cautions before I left. I made sure that you'll find me.

"I continued Nora's efforts and in time, we managed. Dragons that came home from Earthland, brought with them all sorts of influence, including life values. They were able to make amends and began working together to improve the realm. So now, here we are. Riyu is now safe and people from other realms can even visit. That includes you four. I was, in fact, planning to search for you in a month but you're all here now so we can let you all adjust a bit then we'll start training."

Rufus calmly pushed himself away from the table. He wiped his mouth with a napkin before laying it back on it place. The memory mage stood up and bowed respectfully. He apologized, "I'm sorry but this is just too much to process. If you excuse me I will be taking a walk."

Lucy looked at him with concern as he left through the double doors. She faced her mother and assured her, "I'll go talk to him, mama." Just like Rufus, she stood and left wordlessly.

Soon, Laxus followed suit and excused himself to go rest in his new bedroom. All that's left in the rrom were Layla, the twins, and the exceeds. The dragon queen sighed as she half-heartedly poked at her food, "I don't suppose you lot would be leaving as well?"

Sting pouted, "Nu-uh. I'm staying. Unlike Rufus (I guess I should call him big brother now, huh, Rogue?) I really want to get to know you, mama. I want to know what it's like to have a real family."

Rogue nodded. "Sting is my brother, Layla-san. Wherever he goes, I'll follow. Same thing for Frosch and Lector."

"Besides, anyone related to Sting-sama is awesome. I like awesome people, right Fro?" the red exceed said as he hopped unto his owners lap.

"Fro thinks so too~"

"Tell you what," Layla smiled warmly as tears pricked her eyes, "call me 'mama' too and I'll make some cookies."

I'm so sorry this is late, I've been very busy because school just started. I couldn't find the time to finish the chapter. I'm so sorry. I'll try my best to stick with the schedule but I'm an athlete as well as an honor student. Even if I get time to write, I often get too sleepy to even write a paragraph.

Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to review, favorite, or follow. It means a lot to me :)

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