This is around the canon timeframe of Fairy Tail, during the lullaby arc

Sorry this took so long I've had writers block

So I've come up with ideas, Ryu and Shio will not take part in the lullaby arc. Also! Shio will be the only one going to Galuna Island since all Natsu has to do is ask Shio to take him on an S-class mission. There are the ideas for the future.

Chapter 6 : Retracing Father

Ryu and Shio were currently looking around a dark forest in the western part of Fiore. In their hands were something that was akin to a compass. Shio decided to jump around the trees, searching for their objective. Ryu prowled the forest floor.

"Still nothing...this is so boring!" The compass in Shio's hand didn't react at all. Right now the arrow was green. This meant they were in the right direction, but it needed to become red to lead them to the right place.

"Otouto, you should have more patience." Ryu walked around analyzing everything and every movement the arrow on his compass made. He used his katana to cut down a branch that was in his way. He came upon a cave and his compass began to flare red and make a growling noise.

"Swoosh." He watched as his brother appeared next to him with his compass suddenly having the same reaction. They both looked at each other and nodded, but as they were about to walk into the cave, they heard a roar. Materializing in front of them was a Cerebus. Their father's words suddenly came to mind.

"Since the time of the great wars many beasts have been used by gods and devils to protect their portals that lead to the cities. Should you ever look for these portals be prepared to fight before entering. The cities may have been abandoned, but their protectors watch as if they're masters are still there."

"Well! Looks like we're gonna have some fun!" Shio said excitedly as he grabbed his trident from his back. Ryu merely hummed and sliced air with his katana as the Cerebus head had eyes of different color, the one on the right had green eyes, the one on the left blue and the middle had red.

Suddenly the red one opened its mouth and let out a stream of fire toward Shio. Ryu reacted quickly and jumped in front of Shio and began to eat the fire. Once he had finished Shio jumped above him.

"Breath of the Sea Devil!" Shio let out a pressurized stream of water toward the Cerebus. The attack which was aimed at the middle head flowed to the one on the left who ate it. Ryu saw this and frowned.

"It seems it can eat our magic as well." Ryu said.

"Then how are we gonna beat it?" Shio said as he dodged a blast of wind from the green eyed head. Ryu who dodged a blast of water began to think and came up with an idea.

He rushed in and tried to slash the left front leg of the Cerebus. It reacted quickly and moved its foot back, but still got slashed. Ryu watched as the wound began to heal and frowned.

"Otouto." He looked over to Shio who nodded.

"Breath of the Fire Devil!"

"Breath of the Sea Devil!"

Both attacks flew toward the Cerberus who became confused at what it should do first and was too slow to react as it got hit by both attacks. Shio charged in and jumped on the back of the Cerebus and stabbed his trident into the spinal cord of the Cerebus as it roared in pain. The green eyed head turned around and began to charge wind magic, but…

"Fire Devils Axel Kick!" Ryu slammed his leg covered in silver flames into its head completely destroying it. He then did a 180 spin and slammed his leg into the middle head, but it's damage was at a minimum. Ryu fell down and backflipped his body then landed on the ground. The middle head was about to bite him, but Shio reacted quicker.

"Sea Devils Drilling Blast!" A drill made out of water pierced into the back of the middle head making it cry in pain as the other head was focused on Ryu.

"Fire Devils Soaring Slash!" Ryu slashed the air and created multiple arcs of fire which slammed right into the two remaining heads.

"Swoosh." Shio appeared next to Ryu as they both watched the beast. It was still snarling and angry.

"It seems this beast has a hard time deciding what to do next." Ryu said as Shio laughed.

"And they say three heads are better than one!" Ryu sighed inwardly at his brothers foolishness. Back to the problem at hand….

"Devil Art: Chains of Hell." Ryu said as chains muzzled the mouths of the remaining heads. An orb of water then appeared in Shio's hands.

"Sea Devils Water Prison!" He sent the orb of water towards the Cerberus which expanded as it made contact. Then the Cerberus was entrapped in a prison of water. Ryu jumped up and extended his legs backward as Shio slammed his trident into his feet propelling his brother forward.

"Fire Devils Blazing Impact." Ryu became cloaked in silver fire which then formed a Devils head. Ryu sheathed his blade as he slammed into the Cerberus and appeared behind it right after.

"Sea Devils Piercing Geyser!" Shio spun his trident and slammed the end of it into the ground as a geyser rose from the ground and pierced right through the Cerberus. The Cerberus began to shine and change shape into a door. A voice began to resonate as the winds picked up.

The first are we

The last we shall be

Do not fear the shrouded path

For the truth lies in darkness

A trail manifests

What was, is, and forever shall be

The strongest of this plane of existence

Beings that transcends time itself

Only the worthy shall survive

The DEVILS (i feel like we can glorify this line more/ like make it fancy)

Drips drops the sound of blood

A black door with decorations of skulls and what seemed to be people finally appeared. Ryu walked up to the door and attempted to open it, but the door would not open. He took a step back as Shio tried as well, but to no avail.

"..." Ryu was in deep thought. Maybe the voice we heard was reciting a riddle?Drip drop the sound of blood. Ryu unsheathed his katana as Shio was still trying to open the door.

"Otouto, move over." Shio shrugged and took a step back. He watched as Ryu cut the palm of his left hand and rested it on the door knob. Once again they heard the voice speak.

So it must be…..

The door opened as a bright illuminating light sucked both Ryu and Shio in.

(Inside the portal)

A door in the middle of a city opened as two figures flew out. Ryu and Shio barrel rolled and stood up quickly. Ryu analysed their surrounding while Shio looked around in awe. It was a city with huge towers and statues. The sky was also crimson and the sun blue.

"Woah, you know Nii-san, this one is so much cooler than the last one." Shio said. Last time they went to one was around the time their father was alive. That was only merely a village, it had not been quite as spectacular like this one.

Ryu hummed in response as he walked towards a stone tablet written in devil language. He had learned the language when he was young along with Shio. Although Shio did struggle a little bit, and so he left this stuff to Ryu.

"The royal line." Ryu murmured. Shio walked over to the tablet as Ryu knelt down and began to read the names. He stopped at their fathers name, but became shocked as two names appeared under his.

Keron Akuma

Ryu Akuma & Shio Akuma

"Woah….." Shio said in awe.

"It documented us as soon as we stepped onto this city." Ryu said as he stood up and scanned the city again. "Let's go over there." Ryu turned his head toward a large castle.

They began to follow the road, but only Ryu noticed the silent walking in the background. As they threaded along the road they noticed many flowers.

"..." Ryu signaled his brother who nodded. Somebody was following them, but there should not be anyone left in this city.

Suddenly a gust of powerful compacted air blasted towards the two. Ryu and Shio quickly jumped out of the way and armed themselves with their weapons.

"Begone!" They heard a voice say.

(Earlier in the city)

A twelve year old girl with long white hair that ended in golden tips was walking alongside a little demon creature. She also had teal eyes and a white dress that was dirty, she had no shoes and she had a small white feather hand fan. This was the cheerful Hikari Kaze student of the Sky Devil Kazema Kaze.

Fending of the Dragon of apocalypse, Acnologia, Her Master Kazema had sealed her away inside the city. She had been here for at least a couple years. She wasn't lonely at least, because her little friend that she had since she was little was here to accompany her. His name was Kibo.

Kibo was about the same size as Happy and had the same body as a stick figure being all green. At the end of his arms and legs were three small claws and he had a arrow shaped tail. He had a long nose and two demonic looking wings.

"Fuck, when are we gonna get some good fruits Hikari-chan?" Kibo said. The only reason they were alive was the fact that Hikari was able to breathe life into the plants and flowers that had once inhabited this place making it lush.

"Hmmm, in a couple of days I think." Hikari said as she put her finger on her chin in thought. They were currently walking towards the main part of the city.

She felt a negative presence around the sealed entrance. It was the power of two very strong devil mages that had been exerting the force for a while.

So It must be….

She watched as two people entered the city. She couldn't tell if they were here to harm this place or for her. She decided that she would have to take them out, since she was pretty strong herself after all.

(Present time)

"Oi! What's the big idea!?" Shio yelled.

The two shifted back into defense as Hikari dived and readied for the next attack.

For while Ryu and Shio were only dodging Hikari's desperate, but powerful waves of attacks. Ryu analysed her magic while Shio instinctively studied her attack patterns, so they wouldn't be caught in a attack.

As they started to slowly draw into Hikari's pattern of attack, she charged up for one last blow.

"Breath of the Sky Devil!"

"Sky Devil?" Ryu and Shio Armed their weapons with magic and deflected the attack with an equally powerful attack

"Unison Raid: Surging Flame!"

The attack dispersed the array of magic everywhere. Hikari jumped back in awe, as one of her stronger attacks were deflected easily.

"Nii-san She's a devil too." Shio said abruptly

Hikari again raised up her guard, ready for another onslaught of attacks.

"Wait." Interrupted Ryu. "We are also devil slayers."

"Really?!" The voice this time sounded desperate. It also sounded like a little girl. Ryu spoke next.

"Please lower your arms, we mean you no harm." They both watched as an extremely young girl stepped into view with a little green demon standing in front of her protectively. A thought raced across their minds. What is she doing here?

"Grrrr." The little green demon growled at them. Shio widened his eyes.

"Nii-san it's a Sky Demon." These little demons were devoted servants of devils of their respective elements. There weren't many of them left though.

"Who are you?" Ryu asked the girl. He noticed her holding a hand fan.

"H-Hikari Kaze, student of the Sky Devil and Royal Advisor Kazema Kaze." She stuttered an mumbled as best as she could; after all, she hasn't had any outside contact for a couple of years. Ryu almost widened his eyes. Shio nearly dropped his weapon onto the ground.

(Flashback)

"It is times like this. That I wish I could share a drink with my old friends." Keron laid on his back, looking off into the sunset said in nostalgia and remorse. Ryu and Shio listened closely, as the old man rarely talked about his past.

"Back when the Devil Kingdom was strong, I had a Royal Advisor who was also one of my closest friends. His name was Kazema Kaze, the Sky Devil. He was declared the one of the smartest beings of the four kingdoms in my time." (Devil,God,Dragon and Human)

"What happened to him?" Ryu asked as Keron smiled sadly.

"Heh, we split up eventually, to keep the legacy of the devils alive. That was some hundred years ago….I'm not even sure if he is still alive. If he was, he would be like an uncle to you two."

(Flashback End/Present Time)

"Kazema-sama always said it was common courtesy to give your name." Hikari said as Ryu and Shio blinked.

The two snapped back from a nostalgic memory.

"I am Ryu."

"Shio- desu!"

Hikari gave the two a weird look, like she didn't recieve enough information.

"Sons of Keron, Bloodline of the Lineage of Akuma"

Hikari and her demon Kibo nearly fell over when they heard this. She quickly got on her knees and bowed down. Her demon mimicked her position.

"Forgive me for my rudeness! Ryu-sama, Shio-sama!" She yelled as Shio looked confused and sweatdropped.

"There is no need for that Hikari-chan!" Shio said as he put his trident on his back. He walked over to her and helped her up.

"You guys are so nice!" Hikari didn't think that the two princes Kazema told her about would be so nice and humble. "Then again your dad and Kazema-sama were good friends."

"Hikari-san." Ryu said as they both turned towards him. "Where is Kazema-san?

Hikari's mood instantly changed from that question. Ryu and Shio could tell that something bad had happened. "Well….it was about two years ago."

(Flashback)

"So where are we going Kazema-sama?" A younger Hikari asked while skipping around with Kibo in a forest. Kazema had the appearance of a man in his late 30's. He had green eyes and snow white hair that was kept long. He wore an elegant white robe with green designs, and held a small hand fan which he constantly fanned himself off with. He had an old man's handsome face, and two protruding green lines from his eyes.

"We are going to visit my home." He said with a peacefully snickering grin.

"Wow! Where is it?"

"It's in another dimension. We are going to collect some things needed, in order to further your training."

"Is your home pretty?"

"Once, during the time where Devils and Gods ruled it. I still remember the smell of meat being cooked in the markets and the tea they served. I remember how everything was so beautiful." He then turned to her with a smile.

"But, nothing in this world last forever. The beautiful thing about life, is that all things must come to an end, and that Hikari-chan, is the beauty of life." Hikari blushed as she looked at Kazema. He was her inspiration, guide, and her mentor.

"Ne, Kazema-sama what was your friends like?" Hikari asked as Kazema closed his eyes and let his memories past through his head.

"Keron was not just my king, but my kin, my friend. He had the power to make a person believe that such ambitions could become true. He was a leader of men and a great king; most of all a great friend. His ambition was peace for Devils, Gods, Dragons, and Humans alike. It was wishful thinking."

"Then we have Krana, his little sister. She fought alongside her brother with undying devotion. She was also the love of my life."

"What?! Really? What happened to her?" Hikari said as Kazema smiled sadly.

"Let me finish first Hikari-chan." Kazema said as Hikari covered her mouth. "She was beautful and loving, but most of all she was clumsy and loved to make jokes. She was also quite the heartbreaker. We fell in love as weird as it was, but then one day she died." He said as Hikari gasped.

"Zeref had killed her in his first appearance. She died in my arms with a smile on her face."

"Kazema-sama…." Hikari walked up to him and gave him a hug. He smiled down at her.

"I'm fine Hikari-chan, remember what I said? All beautiful things must come to an end and that is the beauty of life."

"Who were your other friends?"

"Well there was Hellbraun and Raiju-" Kazema was cut off as he fell to one knee and coughed out blood.

"Kazema-sama!"

"It's not-"

An ominous aura fell down on the two. A loud thunderous voice was heard from afar.

"I CAN SMELL YOU, DEVIL!" Kazema widened his eyes. He knew this voice. He quickly scooped up Hikari as Kibo sprouted wings and flew as they ran towards the cave as a Cerebus appeared. He took out his hand and touched the Cerberus on one of its noses and it nodded, then turned into a door. Only Devils can enter this door. Even the most powerful spell would not scratch it.

As he opened the door and was about to jump in alongside Hikari. Suddenly a black whip wrapped itself around his right hand. He looked behind him and saw multiple demonic creatures sprouting from the ground. These weren't the demons that helped devils they were the ones that were allied with Zeref.

"BOOM!" A huge black dragon smashed into the ground behind the demons. Kazema knew who this was, the black dragon of the apocalypse Acnologia. The Door could only be opened every 5 hours and would only stay open for 10 minutes. He gave his fan to Hikari, as a keepsake. He knew he wouldn't be able to take on Acnologia in his weakened state. He pushed her and Kibo into the door as hastely as he could and closed it.

"Even the strongest attack you have will not open this door." Kazema said as he flicked his right hand, destroying ten demons with a blast of wind.

"Devil! I will kill you!"

(Flashback)

"And..that's what happened." Hikari said as she began to tear up. Kibo landed on her head and began to console her. Shio, felt sad for the girl she had been alone this whole time, well not alone because of Kibo, but still!

"Wait….we had an aunt?…" Shio was shocked at this revelation. Ryu was as well, but he quickly returned to his regular look. Shio deterred away from the thoughts. Right now they needed to help this girl who had been alone.

"Ne, why don't you come with us to Fairy Tail?" Shio said with a grin.

"Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah! It's where everyone is family and we all care for each other."

"That….sounds nice, but I don't know how to get out of this place." Shio and Ryu suddenly sweatdropped and came to a realization. How do they get out?

"We can worry about such a thing later." Ryu kept walking onwards towards the castle. He then stopped and looked at Hikari as she cringed under his gaze. "Do you know where the library is?"

She nodded, and turned her head toward a particular distance.

(A little later)

They stood in front of the library and saw that there were two stone statues holding spears. Ryu took a step forward analysing the area in case there were any traps. Ryu looked over at Hikari.

"Are there any traps in this place?"

"I-I'm not sure. I mean I have come here before to read the books so I can learn more so I guess not, but there are stone guards guarding the deeper part of the library." She said as Shio rose an eyebrow.

"Stone guards? I wonder what is back there" Shio was now interested.

"It's the forbidden arts." Hikari said.

(Library: Section 1)

A huge library it was indeed. It had thousands of books and multiple sections on Fire, Iron, Sea, Lightning, and Sky techniques and many more. Ryu walked along the sections of high level fire magic with his usual stoic gaze. He stopped and reached for a book.

"I wonder, if it would be alright for us to take the forbidden arts." Shio said as he scratched his head in wonder.

"It is no longer of importance whether we take them or leave them here. Remember what father said to us?" Ryu said walking ahead of the two of them.

"Yeah, yeah. Secrets kept, our weapons wasted."

Hikari was watching the silly interaction between siblings and found them rather different. Shio was funny, and childish, but Ryu was hard spoken and had a demanding presence. Kibo, her sky demon was resting on top of her head on alert.

"You can relax Kibo-kun." Hikari said to her sky demon.

"Hmmm, I'm making sure these guys don't pull anything funny." He said as she sighed.

"Ne, Shio-sama are you any good at healing? Kazema-sama did say that the Sea and Sky Devils were partners in the intelligence and healing department." She said as Shio grinned at her.

"I'm not to shabby myself, but I'm not the greatest though since I focus on my fighting skills more." Shio stopped talking as they came unto a row of hundreds of books. Ryu looked back at Shio and nodded as Ryu disappears in a sonic boom. "Wellllllll then, looks like its you and me Hikari-chan! Nii-san probably wants to check out the fire area so lets go check out the sea department!"

Hikari laughed she found it funny how childish Shio was. She was really growing to like his warm and cheerful presence. She also liked the feeling of safety around Ryu as well.

"Here comes the boring part." Shio said in defeat. At least the sections were divided so he could see the offensive spells.

(Ryu)

Ryu surveyed the archives of Fire Devil magic and found a couple of techniques he would like to learn. He was still curious about the forbidden arts, but that would have to wait until he and his brother found what they needed.

As he walked through the ancient halls of the library he came upon a section that interested him "History". He walked over to a book on a stand and read the title. Struggle of the four Kingdoms. Words of his father came to him as the title triggered a memory.

(10 year old Ryu and Shio)

"My sons, you are the royal bloodline and thus you should know the history of this world. For knowledge is power." Keron said. His older son Ryu nodded fully paying attention, but his younger son gaze was distracted, watching a butterfly fly by.

"1500 of years before the birth of you two, there was a war between Devils and Gods. Their chaos destroyed the land and even themselves. The other two who were in mutual respect were the dragons and the humans. They kept themselves out of the war and protected each other."

(Back to Ryu)

Ryu picked up the book and decided to take it along with him. He heard a sonic boom as he was walking towards the forbidden arts and looked back to see his brother carrying Hikari bridal style. Her little demon Kibo was in her arms.

"Yo! Nii-san, I've found some interesting techniques." Shio said with a grin as he put down Hikari. Ryu nodded his head as they followed him unto a dark tunnel. The dark tunnel had multiple pictures with unlit torches, Ryu snapped his fingers as all the torches ignited. His eyes followed the row of pictures and immediately recognized his father, but also saw a couple under his.

"HellBraun, the Devil General."

"Krana, the Devil Princess."

"Raiju, the Devil Enforcer."

"Kazema, the Devil Tactician."

"Kazema-sama…." Hikari put her hand on the portrait. "I'm gonna take this with me. I usually come here just to see his picture."

"How did you discover it?" Shio asked.

"One night me and Kibo decided to light a small torch and look around. We then came upon these rows of pictures." She took the portrait off and cradled it against her heart. "I need to avenge Kazema-sama."

"Death and revenge." Hikari looked up surprised that Ryu was the one speaking. "Death will bring pain and hatred to everyone. The truth is the more precious someone is to us, the more we come to believe that they won't die. Sometimes we convince ourselves theres no way they could die. Thus people may try to find meaning in revenge, but all that is left is hatred and pain. All of the senseless death in this world, it unleashes a cycle of violence and hatred that never ends."

"Nii-San, Have you still not forgiven yourself?" A voice ran through Ryu's head.

Ryu walked onwards as memories flowed through his head. The scent of flowers once again came to him and the feeling of a tender hand touching his face made him soon enter a different world for a second. He looked around him and everything was a pure white. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Hey! How have you been?" He felt a hand touch the side of his right arm from behind. The cheerful voice of one of the person that haunted his dreams every night. He turned around and saw Aer smiling.

"Nii-san." Ryu broke from his stupor as his brother called out to him.

"What is it?"

"Why did you stop walking?"Ryu blinked and shook his head and continued onward. Shio and Hikari looked at each other and shrugged. When the group made it to the end of the tunnel a bright light awaited them. When it had died down they saw the forbidden chamber and the door in all of its glory. Standing at the side of the door were two stone guards with their swords making an X formation in front of it.

"Woah.." Shio said as Ryu took the first step forward, a ripple of magic resonated from his step. Everyone stared at the floor and then they heard a click of two blades screeching against each other.

"What, the…" Shio said as a voice boomed throughout the library. One of the stone guards stepped forward and raised his sword. Devilish binding magic began to emanate from his body as he took a defensive stance.

"Who dares step into the hall of the forbidden arts without authority." He didn't yell, but his voice was indeed loud. Ryu and Shio looked at each other in confusion and then looked at Hikari.

"It's a system where he reacts to an intruder, and since Ryu is the only one who has actually stepped into the room only one comes forward and it also depends on the magic of said intruder." She said. "Also they are all actually souls of devil warriors from the past."

"That's horrible!" Shio said as Hikari nodded.

"It was actually considered an honor. After a certain amount of time they are released and they rest in peace, but no one has been here to do such a thing."

"Even in death, we serve our kingdom." Ryu said recalling what he read in a book.

Ryu, decided to bring up his other foot so that his entire body was standing on the floor of the chamber and when he did multiple summoning circles appeared.

"Young prince, you have not been given permission to enter yet." One of the ten stone guards said. Ryu widened his eyes, so they did know. Shio decided to walk into the chamber as well, but signaled Hikari to stay where she was.

"How do you know?" Ryu said. "That I am a prince?"

"The bloodline of the Akuma family and their magic will always be recognized by us. It's what we were created to do."

"You do know that the age of the Devils and the Gods are over? Keron the Devil King, who is our father is no longer alive and we've come to collect what's left of the Devil Kingdom." As soon as those words left Ryu's mouth the stone guards all kneeled before the twins.

"That means that we can finally rest in peace. Young prince come here." The stone guard said as Ryu walked forward and stopped in front of him. The knight handed him a stone tablet which he began to read out loud.

"I - living descendant of the royal bloodline - hereby allow all of the souls binded to the stone guards here to finally rest in peace. For you are no longer needed to protect our kingdom." They watched as lights of different colors(Elements) flew out of each stone guard. When this happened they would each one by one crumble.

"My eternal contract has now be fulfilled, thank you my humble lineage" Hikari felt extremely sad that these people had to be here for so long. She could see it in the look of Shio and Ryu. They wanted to release the others in the other cities.

"Let us continue forward." Ryu said as the others nodded.