3 days had passed since the Grand Magic Tournament had come to an end. The King of Fiore had organised a banquet for all the wizards involved in the games as well as those that assisted with the Dragon incursion.
All the wizards were dressed to impress, it's not every day that the King opens his doors to the royal ballroom. But not everyone was happy with this arrangement...
"The King's really gone the extra mile..." A nobleman said while sipping his brandy perched above the room in his balcony booth.
"Really... Inviting all these ruffians into his own castle..." the lady sitting beside him scoffed, acting as if she was going to be infected with 'poor' by proximity to the wizards enjoying themselves below.
A shadowy outline of a man appearing behind the two responded abruptly "These 'ruffians' deserve more than your condescending opinion. Be thankful, they protected this city where as your money could not."
The woman who was startled by the interruption was lost for words "Tch" was all she could muster before raising her nose to the crowd as she took a sip from her wine glass.
The Shadowy figure having said his piece left the 2 unsuspecting nobles, and continued to walk along the adjoining hallway of the second floor. "I'm nervous? I should be... They probably hate me for what I did." he muttered to himself as he started to slowly paced.
As he continued to fret with himself eventually something caught his eye. It was Natsu hiding behind a curtain near the second floor podium; he seemed to be giggling to himself for no apparent reason.
As the man stopped and stared at Natsu wondering what he could possibly be up to a voice rang in his ears from behind his position.
"Citrine is that you?" The familiar voice asked.
"Princess Hisui..." Citrine said regaining his composure as he turned to face her.
The Princess wearing a magnificent dress adorned with roses looked over Citrine noticing that he seemed quite uncomfortable. "What's the matter?" the princess asked before adding "your outfit is very fitting, you would easily pass for a noble".
"Oh, I'm just not really used to wearing this kind of... fashion" Citrine responded with a small insincere laugh trying to divert attention from the subject.
"Your gown is magnificent your majesty, you look very beautiful" Citrine said this but with a hint of jealousy which puzzled the Princess.
"I'm sorry would you excuse me, I need a drink" Citrine said in a fluster.
Citrine quickly ran off downstairs leaving the Princess who was quite perplexed at what had just transpired.
"Please try and show some restraint... You are a ghost, after all." Wendy said to an open spot on the floor confusing Chelia who had been enjoying her desert nearby.
(Ghost?) Citrine thought to himself before it clicked (that's right the little spirit I met that night... Mavis I think it was. Wendy can see her?)
Citrine was doing the best job he could to not draw attention to himself as he weaved through the crowd of wizards, his eyes changing to purple to track Mavis. To his surprise this wasn't too difficult as she was currently haunting Chelia for her desert.
Citrine noticed Mavis' fixation on the desert and figured he would try to use one to lure her away to talk.
Citrine took a seat near the edge of the room closest to Mavis before catching her attention with a tiny pulse of his Magical Essence.
Mavis floated down and took a seat next to him, immediately noticing the desert before staring at him with puppy dog eyes behind a thick wall of envy.
"Would you like some Mavis?" Citrine said as he placed his hand out gesturing for Mavis to take it. Mavis took his hand remembering that it helped them to communicate and soon she quickly came into focus for Citrine to see and hear.
"As much as I would love to, I'm unable to eat in this form" Mavis said with a heavy heart as she grumbled "It does look good..."
"I can help you with that if you like? Think of this as my treat" Citrine said as his eyes turned blue feeding a trickle of life force into Mavis through his hand. "It should last about 30 minutes, this is my gift to you" Citrine added with a wide smile before letting go of Mavis' hand.
Mavis had never even considered this as an option. Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be but it's not every day that a Dragon is available.
She timidly reached her hand out for a nearby desert fork and found that she could interact with it, something that she hadn't been able to do for more than a Century. Suddenly Mavis stabbed the jelly like desert in the centre lifting the whole thing before inexplicably fitting it all in her mouth with a single bite, only the golden forks handle was protruding from her lips.
Citrine's eyes widened in shock unable to fathom how she could've done that considering Mavis' small stature.
Mavis' lips munched away at the entire desert in her mouth with very little care for table etiquette.
"Mavis what are you doing?" Exclaimed Mirajane who appeared out of nowhere behind the First Master. However before Mavis could answer Mirajane almost jumped out of her skin as she noticed Citrine was sitting nearby.
"Wait! You're that... from the other night!" Mirajane muttered before confusion set in.
"Wait can you see her?" Mirajane asked Citrine as she tried to process the situation.
"Who is this adorable young lady? I have no memories of this beauty" A man asked joining the conversation.
"Rufus?" Mirajane said now even more confused as she turning to Mavis and Citrine exclaiming "What is going on?!"
"I'm Mavis, hehe, nice to meet you!" Mavis responded with a beaming smile at Rufus.
After Mavis said this she ran off suddenly like a flash towards the desert table. Rufus let out a small chuckle and walked off continuing his rounds as he mingled with others.
"She must really love this" Citrine said with a smile as he watched Mavis stack multiple deserts onto a waiter's silver serving plate she had stolen from somewhere. Eventually Citrine couldn't help but laugh as the sight changed with Wendy joining the fray, confused as to how Mavis was able to move things.
Mavis came running back with the silver tray over her head slamming it down on the table triumphantly next to Citrine as she returned to her original seat and prepared to dig into her plunder.
Wendy having following her back to the table took a seat next to Mavis as she rubbed her hands together before realising Citrine smiling across the table. "CITRINE?!" She exclaimed.
Citrine went stiff and quickly looked around to see if anyone noticed Wendy's outburst, however they seemed to have missed it as another commotion was brewing. He placed his finger over his lips, signifying to Wendy and those present that he was hiding and trying to be quiet, however it didn't seem to matter as the room quickly erupted into a brawl between the guilds in attendance due to a quarrel over Yukino.
Citrine couldn't help but laugh at the commotion seeing that no one had a hint of malice in this conflict but yet all were exuding passion, Mavis also found the sight rather amusing taking a break between deserts to join in with the laughter.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" the familiar voice of Arcadios Shouted while banging the sheath of his sword on the railing like a judge's gavel before shouting "HIS MAJESTY HAS ARRIVED!"
"For your bravery in the Grand Magic Tournament, and for saving this country from mortal danger." he paused a second before continuing "His majesty has come here in person, Let that sink into your very hearts."
The wizards all calmed down heeding Arcadios' words, being inside the palace was a once in a life time opportunity so they quickly fell into line.
The curtains slowly opened to reveal a shadowy figure that proudly stood above the wizards peering down, and then suddenly he lunged forward revealing himself for all to see...
"WHAT'S UP BITCHES!? LET'S CRANK THIS UP A NOTCH! "KAKAKAKAAKKAKAKAKA!"
The crowd of wizards froze in shock losing their colour, they recognised the figure to be that of Natsu Dragneel clad in the Royal Garments and Crown that he had clearly stolen.
"I'M THE KING! HELL YEAH!" Natsu continued to exclaim as the real king hopped furiously behind him lunging for his stolen crown.
The guild leader of FairyTail Makarov seemed to fall apart losing years off his life as he felt a metaphorical wind carry his soul away from the shock. While the remaining FairyTail wizards quickly got over their astonishment, they really couldn't remain surprised, as this was Natsu to a T.
The silence of the crowd was broken however by an incontrollable laugh coming from Citrine at the back of the room drawing the attention of onlookers.
Citrine was in tears at the sight and couldn't hold it back any longer; he had missed human interaction and seeing Natsu's display had broken any walls he had been maintaining in his demeanour for the night.
The baffled crowd of wizards most of who had never seen the man before all turned their attention to him; even Natsu had gotten off his pedestal and stared at the man. However those that had met him on the night of the Dragon incursion were all stunned.
"I'm sorry" Citrine said as he tried to control himself "I would never in my lifetime... Ever imagined to see this sight..." He lost control for a second laughing some more before recomposing himself.
"I guess in the end I can't be overly surprised that it would be Igneel's son." Citrine said with some fondness in his words.
Natsu froze momentarily, before he jumped over the railing so fast that it left the royal garb and crown almost floating in midair on the second floor.
"You know Igneel?" Natsu asked somehow arriving at the table Citrine occupied so quickly that no one had realised he even moved.
Citrine gave a slow nod before saying "Yes I know him"
Natsu couldn't help but sniff the air inquisitively recognising the scent of a Dragon. However he didn't seem too surprised by this instead he asked "Do you know where he is? Can you take me to him?" Natsu pleaded with excitement as if his long search had come to an end.
"Unfortunately no... I haven't seen or had contact with him in a very long time" Citrine felt sorry to have to break the news crushing Natsu's dreams.
"Who are you?" Natsu asked having already concluded that he had to be a Dragon but still confused as to why he was looking at a human.
"I'm known as Citrine" He responded calmly, Natsu smiled before quickly saying "Nice to meet you Citrine".
Lucy approached the table having listened intently to the conversation, she felt a little sorry for Natsu not getting the answer he wanted but she was curious about the man before her.
Lucy didn't actually meet Citrine during the Dragon Incursion; she had only briefly been in his presence at the gate moments before it was destroyed, so she still had lingering questions.
"Hello my name is Lucy" Lucy smiled placing her hand forward to greet Citrine; however Citrine seemed to panic and took a small step backwards in fear.
"Huh, did I do something wrong?" Lucy said in confusion.
Those that had met Citrine were shocked by this reaction as well; they knew Citrine's power so they didn't know what to say instead they continued to stare in silence.
Mavis placed a hand on Citrine's shoulder; she could see the turmoil in Citrine's heart as he tried to decide on the best course of action. "It's OK." she said reassuringly as she gestured Citrine to move forward with a small nod.
Citrine looked down as he tried to search for the right words but he was drawing a blank.
"I'm... Sorry..." He said as a tear ran down his face.
"Wh... What? What are you sorry about?" Lucy said in a puzzled manner not understanding the situation hoping to calm Citrine.
"My name is Citrine..." Citrine slowly said with his head still facing downwards.
"However..." Citrine slowly looked up towards Lucy as he did this his eyes turned brown as he made eye contact. The crowd of shocked wizards behind her all looked on curiously.
"However..." Citrine repeated before continuing again "However... some of you may know my other name..." Citrine paused and took one more look at Mavis. Mavis flashed a reassuring smile as she gestured her back towards Lucy.
Without warning, a white light began to enveloped Citrine's body and like heatwaves from a mirage losing focus, the man seemed to fade away, but a figure remained... This one was clearly different as it was that of a Woman, shocking some onlookers, the suit she was wearing seamlessly changed into a golden gown of a noble.
The Woman looked back at the shocked crowd; Lucy had placed her hands over her mouth at this point with her eyes forming tears. A few people were still in absolute shock that a man became a woman in front of their eyes, but those that recognised the figure could only gasp.
"My name is..." Citrine paused a second before continuing "... Layla... Layla Heartfilia"
Lucy through her cupped hands over her mouth, with tears now freely flowing over them whimpered a single shaky word... "Momma?"
