Natsu laid in his nest, with his head resting on a windowsill with his eyes closed as he let the heat from the outside wind run along his face.
He heard a couple of hushed voices outside of his room, and tilted his head just enough to get a glimpse of another Dragon out of the corner of his eye, who slowly ducked her head out of view. Curiously, he walked over, poking his head out and immediately spotting two Dragons bickering.
"We were told to leave the Prince alone!" a black one with orange-gold markings said.
His adversary, which Natsu could only assume was a twin since she looked exactly like him aside from her colors being an inversion to his–although the strange markings along her body left him lost–huffed, "They said we couldn't meet with him until he got settled in. It's been a month, so surely it's fine now, right?"
The flames down his back flickered, "Just because you're the Champion, does not mean-"
Natsu cleared his throat.
The two of them immediately turned to look at him, wide-eyed as the flames flickering down their backs faded into nothing, revealing rather smooth spines that Natsu wasn't expecting. He was so used to seeing Dragons with spiked or webbed spines, but theirs were unadorned with anything except the flames that had already flickered out.
"Y-your Majesty," the male Dragon cleared his throat, regaining his composure before bowing, "We're sorry for the disturbance.."
His sister–he hoped they were related, at least, otherwise the assumptions would be awkward to explain later–stared at Natsu, eyes wide with wonder.
"What were you guys arguing about?"
"My sister here wanted to meet with you, but we've already been told to not bother you," the brother said, "We can leave if you want us to," he tried to subtly grab his sister's wrist.
Natsu tilted his head. These two were an inch or two shorter than he was, which meant that they were around the same age as he was–which was a relief since he'd been dealing with older Dragons like his parents and brother and Uncle Atlas, as well as guards and servants–and he was glad to have Dragons closer to his age around.
"It doesn't bother me," Natsu said, "In fact, I'm actually kind of.. well… bored stupid, so I'd love to have company."
The sister bounced in excitement, "Oh! I've wanted to meet you ever since I saw you during the announcement! King Igneel looked so happy! You are a very lucky Dragon!"
"Yeah, lucky.." he nodded awkwardly. Fortunately, it was not lost on her, "Oh.. did.. Did I say something..?"
"No, sorry," Natsu said, "Everything has just been.. kind of a lot.." he went back into the room, "But enough about me. I want to get to know you guys."
"Oh, how rude! We didn't even tell you our names!" she exclaimed, "I'm Emri, and this is my brother, Emberious."
Emberious bowed his head when he was acknowledged.
"I'm Natsu," he grinned, "How'd you guys get into the castle? I've only seen Dragons my age outside."
"Well.." Emri looked awkward, "I'm the Fire Champion, so, I get privileges that most others don't. I'm allowed to come by the palace, since Igneel helps train me. He's the King so he's the strongest Dragon, and I'm the Champion, so I need his help to train me. One day, I'll become stronger than he is!"
"Are Champions really stronger than Royals?" Natsu asked incredulously. Emri nodded, "Yeah! Although, because of the unfair advantage, we're never allowed to instigate a Royal Challenge."
"The raw power she wields right now rivals Igneel's, she just doesn't quite know how to properly wield it yet," Emberious added.
"Can there be more Champions?" Natsu asked, settling down in his nest to get comfortable.
Emri shook her head, "Nope, but it'd be cool, right?"
Emberious sighed, sitting down, "There can only be one Champion, but unlike other unique roles, there always has to be a Champion."
"What would happen if she.. Er.." Natsu trailed off, unsure if he wanted to finish the question.
"My powers would go to my next of kin," Emri explained.
"Which would be me, as her twin," Emberious stated. "I won't lie, I've always wished I could've been the one to be the Champion, but.." he sighed, "I don't want that power if it means I lose my sister."
Natsu wished Ignia held the same morality Emberious does. He couldn't help the mental image that his brother would do anything for power like that if he had the chance to get it.
"Is that why you're covered in those markings?" Natsu asked, deciding to change the subject slightly. She had flame-like marks on most of her body, which were the most prominent around her eyes, but rib-like marks on her sides and rings around her arms and legs.
Emri nodded, "All Champions have these glowing marks!"
"If I may," Emberious cut in, "I wanted to ask about your necklace there. I've never seen any jewelry like it before."
"Oh, it's my lacrima," Natsu said, then continued when the twins looked confused, "Back home- er.. in Magnolia, we have this barrier around the city that Dragons can't pass through. The Dragons living in the city need lacrima jewelry like mine to get through it. They can also turn us human."
"Really?" Emri gasped, "That sounds so cool!"
"So you grew up in a human city?" Emberious asked, "What was it like?"
"Not much different from here, to be honest," Natsu admitted, "Just a lot less hot with a lot less smoke."
"Living with humans and different types of Dragons must be fun!" Emri giggled.
"Yeah," Natsu nodded. Dragons who now probably hated him, and he still couldn't help but feel guilty over that. He shook his head. No point in dwelling on the past. He wasn't even sure if he'd see them again, and they likely already forgot about him by now.
"What about you, Emberious? Do you have any special powers of your own?" he asked, taking his mind off of it.
"No, but… It is possible that I wield stronger magic, thanks to my relation to Emri. A Champion has never been born with a twin before."
"We were so astonished when they said that! We get to make history?" Emri gasped excitedly, "Igneel likes to train us so he can study it."
"It doesn't help that Champions are still a foreign concept to us as a whole," Emberious explained, "A lot of the stuff that was explained to us may or may not even be true.."
"The way it was explained to me is to think of it like a pond full of water. No matter how many Dragons drink from it or how much evaporates out of it, it'll never lose water. It will always stay full. That's how they described my magic container. I have limitless magic."
"Which is one of the things I doubt is true. Everything has to be finite, right?" Emberious asked.
"It is possible that I just have more magic than what is considered normal, or that it just runs out slower," Emri nodded, playing with her tail.
"I think it's the first one. Champions are able to use powerful, severely magic-consuming attacks that would leave most grown Dragons exhausted after just one use," Emberious commented.
"I don't know enough about this stuff to have an opinion, honestly," Natsu stated, scratching his neck.
"Oh well, we didn't come here to talk about Champion stuff anyway, we came here to meet you!" Emri leaned closer to Natsu ever so slightly. "Have you seen the Kingdom yet? We can show you around, if you want us to!"
"That'd be pretty cool, yeah," Natsu said, then hopped up and walked over to the balcony. The twins followed him as he leapt off, then started gliding along the warm currents.
"We'll show you to all our favorite spots!" Emri said excitedly, leading Natsu over the Kingdom, before landing on a charred clearing. "This is my favorite place to train! Just feel this heat!"
"The hotter a place is, the easier our spells are to cast, and the stronger the outcome is," Emberious explained.
"Atlas prefers us going to a colder area, like somewhere just outside the Kingdom. It adds an extra layer of challenge, but this is supposed to be a day to ourselves, so I want to have fun and do what I like without it being a chore, you know?"
"Yeah. And I want to see this, honestly," Natsu said. The heat was taking a moment to get used to–something he really didn't want to admit to, considering the heat was supposed to be good for Fires like him–so he sat off to the side, deciding to watch the twins without getting involved.
But man, he'd love a good sparring right now.
Emri launched up into the air with flame flickering down her back and tail. As she built up magic, Natsu could swear he felt the heat from where he was on the ground, despite her being several yards up in the air away from him, before shooting a large, fiery blast from her mouth down at a boulder on the ground.
Natsu had to shield his face with his wing, but when the heat died down, he noticed that the boulder was gone, broken apart into several smaller pieces, some of which were raining down from the air. What was left of the ground underneath was just a smoking crater.
Natsu felt his jaw drop and his wings lower slowly. Sure, he could melt a rock with enough heat and time put into it, but she outfight destroyed the thing with a single, split-second attack.
"Whoa.. remind me to stay on your good side," Natsu commented. Emri giggled, "It's so cool, right?"
"What little of it I could see, at least, yeah," Natsu chuckled.
"The adults keep telling me that when I get older and stronger, that I'll have a very special purpose to fulfill!"
"What kind of purpose?" he asked.
She shrugged, before landing next to him, "I don't know. They just say it'll be something really special, and as long as I listen to my heart, I'll fulfill it easily!"
She then turned to her brother, "Your turn, Emberious!"
The other Dragon sighed and launched himself up into the air, instead of building up magic, he continued going higher, then dove towards the ground, with magic rippling off his wings like embers–likely magic to make him go faster–then lifted slightly, flying a few feet above the ground as he shot flames at it, kicking up ash and dirt and scorching the ground.
Natsu couldn't help but notice that the heat from his flames were actually hotter than the heat from Emri's large explosion. Of course, it could just be that Emri didn't go all out, but he still felt weird about it.
"The heat from his attack was stronger," he noted aloud. Emberious landed, fluttering his wings until the embers all faded away. "That's because I have discipline. Emri is stronger than me in raw power, but I actually train properly," he then sat and started preening one of his wings.
Emri giggled quietly, "Yeah.. but in my defense, training does get boring after a while, especially since we aren't allowed to live like normal dragonets… Our lives are training, learning, training, more learning, more training, and so on and so forth.." she sighed. "Champions are big, important Dragons, so I need to be prepared for that when I'm older, and all we get for breaks is a day off if we're lucky."
"That sounds.. awful.." Natsu admitted. "Maybe I could say something!" he offered.
"That'd be nice, but Atlas and the others aren't likely to listen to you," Emberious said. Natsu could see the exhaustion in his eyes, as if the idea alone was sapping his energy.
"I'm a Royal! He has to listen to me!"
"No, he has to listen to your father, and your father agrees with him!" Emberious argued. "You're still.. just a Prince.. Unfortunately, that title doesn't mean much outside of you being the King's son. You have respect, but nobody has to listen to orders you give them."
Natsu growled, "So what? I'm just a nobody with some cute title? I was told being a Prince is supposed to be important!"
"It is, in a sense," Emberious said, "You're important, you just don't have the authority to give orders to Dragons like your father does."
"Ughhh.." Natsu groaned, falling onto his stomach.
"You could ask your dad about it and see what he says," Emri offered.
"Just don't get your hopes up," Emberious added. "And don't feel guilty if he says no. We're used to it by now."
"But enough about us!" Emri stepped in, "Today is supposed to be fun! We get to goof off and hang out with the Missing Prince!"
"I hope this doesn't sound rude but… Why did you get stolen?" Emberious asked. Natsu shrugged halfheartedly, "I don't know.." he sighed, running a talon down his face, "Dad thinks it was Irene's doing, but.. it doesn't add up to me.."
"Our mom told us that the Fires attacked the Sages because of the egg theft. I mean, it has to have been them, right?" Emri asked, "We wouldn't just instigate an attack like that without the proper evidence.. right?"
"Maybe it wasn't Irene herself.. But a Sage Champion?" Emberious asked. "In order to frame so many Dragons, using so much magic.. they'd have to be powerful enough to do it."
"But why not change their element to steal from the Fires? Why leave a calling card?" Natsu asked.
"It was a trap enchantment, right? The thief likely grew arrogant and thought there'd be no survivors once the trap was triggered. Unfortunately for them, Queen Firesoul survived the murder attempt. Or it was meant to be a mockery, like they didn't think the Fires would try to fight them."
"How? Surely they'd know that they aren't strong enough to withstand an attack if it literally chased Irene out of her home."
"Arrogant Dragons don't think like that."
"Could it have been a Dragon trying to frame the Sages?" Emri asked.
"Sages are the only Dragons who can replicate other elements," Emberious said. "However, they can't replicate every element. Elements that are closer to death, corrosion, destruction, and so on are out of their range, like Poison."
"Then how could a Sage have framed the Poisons for the theft of an Iron egg?" Natsu asked.
"That's why I think it's a Champion. They could mimic it far more easily than a normal Sage could."
"But why would a Champion do something like this?" Emri asked. Emberious sat, crossing his arms, "That's what I want to know. You don't instigate wars between Kingdoms without a very good reason."
"What will happen if we never find out?" Natsu asked.
"Nothing much, most likely. The missing dragonets have all been returned, so peace will follow. Tensions will still be high for a while, but they have no more reason to fight."
"Try not to worry about it too much," Emri nudged Natsu with her wing. "The day is still young, so why don't we continue showing you around?"
"Yeah. That sounds good."