A few days later, the royal family was having an extravagant lunch. They had an assortment of chicken, lamb, and beef. Queen Mavis was normally against eating this much food, but, since this was a special occasion, she let it slide. What was the special occasion, I hear you ask. Well, it was Mavis' birthday today.

Now, Queen Mavis thought she was too old to celebrate birthdays. So did King Zeref. But, the four princes decided it was time they did something for their beautiful mother. It was Jellal's idea at first. He decided to bake a cake for her majesty. Unfortunately, the smell of the cake lured Natsu into the kitchen which was unattended at that time. So, Natsu ate the cake before it could be given to Mavis.

When Jellal entered the kitchen, he saw that his cake was all gone. He wondered what animal had eaten it until it finally came to him. Natsu. That little...! Jellal ran to their chamber where Natsu was playing with a small kitten who scampered away as soon as Jellal slammed the door shut.

"Jellal!" Natsu cried. "You scared Happy away!"

"Natsu..." Jellal's voice was threatening. "You ate my cake!"

Natsu realized that the cake he ate belonged to Jellal. Now, he was scared. Everyone knew that Jellal was a monster when angered. It was futile to lie as Jellal already knew that truth. There was only one thing to do now.

"MAMA!" Natsu yelled. "JELLAL IS KILLING ME!"

Jellal stared at Natsu in disbelief. He hadn't even started scolding the youngster and he already told on him? Natsu was going to get it now.

"What is going on here?" Mavis had arrived before anything could be done.

"Mother, he ate my cake," Jellal stated.

"Natsu. You know not to eat other's things- wait, where did you get the cake from?" Mavis turned to Jellal.

"I...uh...I didn't bake it for you!" Jellal said hurriedly. He facepalmed, realizing what he had done.

Mavis blinked, processing the information. Why did he bake a cake for her? It wasn't a special occasion, was it? No, it wasn't anyone's birthday... except hers. Oh. Now, Mavis knew why he had baked a cake. It was for her! No wonder he tried to lie.

"Oh, that's so sweet of you, Jellal!" Mavis said. "But, you know I don't celebrate birthdays."

"That's not true, Mom," Gajeel said coming into the room. "You celebrate my birthday. And Jellal's and Natsu and Gray's."

"Yes, but that's different!" Mavis sighed. There was no point explaining it to boys. Especially now, when both Natsu and Gray had started singing 'Happy Birthday Mommy!'

And so, the maids and butlers were requested to make a huge lunch for their beloved Queen's birthday. As you can expect, Natsu and Gray were the people who enjoyed the lunch more than Mavis. But, she didn't mind. As they say, your child's happiness is yours. That's how Mavis felt too. But, their happiness was short-lived.

An attendant walked into the dining room. "King Zeref, Queen Mavis," he greeted, bowing down to his knees. "There is an important message."

"Ajeel, we are having a family moment. Royal affairs can wait." Zeref said firmly.

"It's really important, your majesty."

Zeref sighed. "This better be worth my wife's birthday!" With that, Zeref walked out of the dining room. Mavis watched him walk out, worry etched in her eyes. Something was wrong, she could feel it in her bones. And she was right, something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Acnologia of Ishgar has commenced war on us."

And that simple sentence changed the kids' lives forever.

The war had been going on for three months. Soldiers from Fiore were dying like flies. The once prosperous Fiore had now turned into a place where no one wanted to reside. Even though Queen Mavis and King Zeref were as kind as before, the people of Fiore were too scared to live there as they may be forced to join the royal army.

King Acnologia of Ishgar had a bigger army. No one knew how he managed to make it bigger than Fiore's army. It was as if they popped out of the air. Ishgar is a very small country, north of Fiore. It is not large enough to have an army of more than ten thousand soldiers. Or at least, that is what it looked like before. Now, the other kingdoms were more scared about Ishgar than they were happy that Fiore was dying. They realized that if Fiore got conquered, it would be them next.

Another two weeks passed. It was sure now that Acnologia would be able to conquer them. Fiore will lose. And it happened too, on Gray and Natsu's birthday.

There wasn't much of a celebration on that day. Both Natsu and Gray knew something was wrong everywhere, so they did not complain when they got limited food and small presents. Jellal and Gajeel were old enough to understand that the kingdom was at war.

When they were sitting in the dining room for dinner, terrible news came by. There was nothing much on the table: rice, chicken, water, and wine. The royal advisor was the one who had to say the news to the king and queen. His name was August and he was a nice, kind man, older than the king and queen. He was stronger than most of the men in the castle so everyone respected him. August loved the children and always had a smile on his face. But today, it was a frown that occupied his face.

"Your Majesty," greeted August. King Zeref looked up at August, his tired eyes filled with fear.

"What is it?"

"I... could I have a personal word with you, Your Majesty?"

Zeref looked at Mavis. Turning to August, Mavis said: "No, you can not. Whatever you have to say, you will say it in front of us."

August's eyes looked pained. He did not want to let the children hear the terrible news. But, he could not speak against the queen.

"Acnologia has defeated the army protecting Crocus," he said looking downwards. "It is just a matter of minutes till they reach here."

Both Mavis and Zeref were scared of that news. This meant that Acnologia would soon conquer the whole of Fiore. He would rule their kingdom from now on and Zeref and Mavis would become Acnologia's slaves. But what about their children? Acnologia would surely kill them! He did not want them to conquer the throne when they grew up.

Putting aside feelings, King Zeref gave orders to every soldier in the palace. He made sure that Acnologia's entrance could be delayed for as long as possible. After the soldiers were gone, he called August to come to meet him personally.

"August," Zeref smiled when August entered the room. August saw that Queen Mavis was also present. August bowed respectfully to both the king and queen, wondering why on earth he was brought here.

"I need you to do something. It will be my last order. But, it will be a hard one. And you must fulfill it!"

'Goodness!' Thought August. 'What on earth could it be?'

"We want you to take Jellal, Gajeel, Gray, and Natsu away from here. They must not be killed by Acnologia. They must live. Live to take back this kingdom one day!"

August looked at the king and queen like they were crazy. But, he knew they were not. Mavis was crying into Zeref's shoulder. Zeref wanted to cry too, but he had to be strong for Mavis. August could not do this. Doing this is like killing the king and queen himself! He was going to refuse but then he saw that the couple needed him to help them. Reluctantly, he agreed.

So, August left the castle with four kids. Jellal, who was seven knew that he would not see their parents for a long time. Gajeel knew too, but he remained hopeful. Natsu and Gray were too young to understand what was going on.

Soon Acnologia took over the castle. He killed Zeref who had opposed him and put Mavis in prison. He knew that they had kids and tried to find them. Fortunately, August and the children had traveled very far by the time Acnologia began his search. That is how Jellal, Gajeel, Gray, and Natsu began to live in the woods, preparing for the day they would take back their castle and free their mother.