Lucy laid in bed, staring at her ceiling as sunlight slowly started streaming through her window. She hasn't been able to sleep as well as she used to, not without the comfort of the Dragons around.
Without Natsu around.
She sighed, pushing herself out of bed and getting started on her morning routine.
She missed having to step around the slumbering Dragons. Now their nests were all empty. She hated the quiet.
"I'm going for a walk outside," Lucy said, pulling on her jacket, then going over to her mother and pressing a kiss to the older woman's temple. "I'll be back before dinner, alright?"
"Alright dear. If you see your father, tell him I said hello!" Layla said. Lucy nodded, "I will," before heading out.
She pulled her jacket tighter around her as the cool, crisp air chilled her. She missed going out with Natsu and having his warmth nearby.
She watched a couple of the younger Dragons talking. One of them was Amris, and Lucy couldn't help the bothered sigh that escaped her. She never did like the Water.
She walked to the Guildhall, quietly making her way inside, before sitting at the bar.
"Hey, Lucy! It's been a while!" Mirajane said, as she pushed a glass over. Just water, so Lucy grabbed it, "Hey, Mira."
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"It still feels like it was just yesterday that they were here.." she admitted. "Most people are telling me that it's been seven years, and that I need to get over it, but-"
Mirajane gently grabbed Lucy's hand, "Grief doesn't have a timer on it, Lucy. Once you feel it for the first time, it takes hold. It never truly goes away.. and you will feel this for several more years to come. But you're not alone in how you feel. You have the rest of us here to help you.."
"Thank you, Mira," Lucy smiled.
Mirajane smiled back, softly.
"Hey, there's the woman of the hour," Gray said as he sat next to Lucy. "We've been worried about you."
"Don't be. I've just-"
"Been at home, I know," he said. "But you haven't been the same ever since the Dragons left."
"It's just.. hard to believe they're gone, you know?"
"Yeah, I know.. Juvia has been the same way over Gajeel."
"Makarov was upset over losing Laxus, too. So were the others. Freed was probably the most heartbroken over it," Mirajane added.
"Yeah.. This feels unfair.." Lucy sighed, "They didn't want to go.."
"Except for Natsu. He gets told he's a Prince and all of a sudden, he wants to-"
"Gray!" Mirajane hissed.
"Oh.. right.. Sorry.." he rubbed his neck.
"He said he would try to come back," Lucy said. "He couldn't promise anything, but.. I just hope they are okay.."
"I wouldn't worry about them," Erza spoke up. Her Dragon form had grown too big to fit inside the Guildhall comfortably, so she was currently human. The same went for Jellal. "Besides, Wendy comes to visit every now and then."
"Yeah, and the others are tough Dragons. I'm sure they're doing just fine," he added.
"I hope so.."
xXxOxXx
Gajeel yawned, slowly blinking until the light streaming into the den became a bit more bearable. He sat up, then took a moment to stretch, trying to ease the stiffness in his muscles.
He walked out, taking a moment to strike another den's doorway with his tail, "Oi, Nash! It's morning!"
"At least I have one brother who's disciplined," Strongjaw commented, sharpening her claws on a stone. "You ready? This won't be an easy job."
"It's just moving a bunch of ore up to the surface for the traders, how hard could it be?" Gajeel asked. Especially after the growth spurt he put on over the past seven years. All the tunnel carving and ore carrying helped him build a hefty bit of muscle as well.
He watched as Nash stalked out of the den.
"Alright, let's head out," Strongjaw said, "I want to get an early start so we have time for breakfast first."
"Yeah, gotta have that peace and quiet before today turns into all work and no play, ya know?" Nash grinned, then sauntered out of the cave system. Gajeel followed him, squinting until his eyes grew used to the sunlight outside.
"If we're lucky, there'll be some leftover iron for us," Strongjaw said. Gajeel snorted, "If not, then Nash gets the leftover bones and scraps for making us late."
"Hey now-" Nash started.
"Don't even bother, Nash. You do this every morning," Gajeel cut him off. Nash snorted at him.
"Eat up, boys. We're going to have a long day today!" Strongjaw said, grabbing a portion of iron and splitting it amongst the three of them.
Eating metal was something Gajeel never thought he'd have to get used to, but he could admit that it wasn't all that bad. His teeth chewed through it with such ease that he didn't know he was capable of, and it tasted quite good too.
"Eat quickly," Strongjaw said. Nash snorted at her, "Stop getting on our wings about this."
"We have a very important job to do, and I'm not about to fall behind because my brother's a slacker!"
"We don't have to be there right now!"
"Less yapping, more eating," Strongjaw said.
Gajeel snorted to himself. His siblings were a pair of idiots, but he loved them and their dynamic. "I'm gonna head down early, I'll see you down there."
Before either of them could respond, he was already halfway towards a tunnel, and darting into it once he got to the opening. At first, the closed-in stone walls unnerved him, but now it felt like a second home to him.
He entered the iron mines, immediately spotting Metalicana, and sighed. He was hoping to get some quiet before having to deal with his father, but no such luck.
"Hey, brat," Metalicana greeted. Gajeel just grunted in response as he got to work clawing at the wall and dislodging chunks of ore.
"Not even looking at me?" Metalicana demanded. "I'm your father, dragonet. Look at me when I-"
"I'm not your 'dragonet' anymore. Stop talking to me as if I'm a stupid hatchling," Gajeel growled, not turning to look at him. For the longest time, Gajeel kept trying to leave. He used to ask his father the first couple of years, but the older Iron always refused and gave some excuse. In later years, he just physically stopped Gajeel from sneaking out.
He didn't know why Metalicana bothered anymore. Nowadays, Gajeel was up to the larger Dragon's shoulder. Hell, he even started noticing the slow deepening of his own voice, meaning it wouldn't be long until he could be loud and authoritative, so Gajeel wasn't going to waste his own time any longer. If Metalicana tried to stop him now, Gajeel could easily fight him this time.
"Whatever.." Metalicana huffed, before lifting the bag he was filling onto his back. "Traders are coming today. Make sure you have a promising haul for them."
"Mhm," Gajeel hummed, acknowledging the statement. "I don't disappoint."
xXxOxXx
Erik stalked through the brush, eyes on the large Rock Dragon that was taking up the clearing. The large bastard had been harassing the Poisons for the past several days and Erik had grown sick of it. If there was one thing the Poisons didn't seem to do, it was fight. This thing had been pushing them all around despite being horrendously outnumbered.
Erik was about to show him that he was also outclassed.
Keep him distracted. Keep him still. Do not let him escape.
Those were their orders. Seems simple enough.
He watched as the Rock chewed through one of the trees with dull teeth, completely oblivious to the Dragons stalking around him that only Erik's ears could pick up. He watched the larger Dragon lift his head, and paused. The closer they got, the higher the chance the thing would spot them.
Erik made eye contact with his brother in the shadows, then flicked his tail.
Pythos launched out of hiding, landing on the Rock's back. The larger Dragon immediately launched up, letting out a bellow. Erik and Aspis circled around him, their smaller size allowing them to stalk around and avoid his thrashing.
"I can't get through these scales!" Pythos said.
"Then don't!" Erik said, before blasting the Rock's face with his breath weapon, causing the other to rear and topple backwards. Pythos jumped off, and the triplets continued stalking around him, hissing and snarling.
The Rock tried to stand, but Aspis leapt onto his head and shoulders, using her weight to force him back down. He swiped one of his large, blocky talons, but she leapt out of the way before it could connect.
The Rock got to his talons, then let out a deep, intimidating bellow.
"Come on, tough guy! Where's all that bravado from earlier?!" Pythos taunted.
He gnashed his large, dull jaws–nothing that'd tear flesh but it sure would crush the Poisons' far more brittle bones–attempting to catch one of them in his jaws. Unfortunately for him, they were still too fast for him.
He eventually flared his wings, likely not wanting to deal with harassment anymore
Cubellios landed on the Rock's back, using her tail to wrap around his neck and torso while her upper half was perched on his back. Normally, such a method could prevent the victim from breathing, but due to this Dragon's scales, she couldn't do that. However, the method still worked to prevent him from escaping.
There was an angry hissing snarl that preceded and large talon slamming down onto the Rock's head. Claws hooked into the cracks and crevices of his scales, preventing him from shaking it off. Cobra's other talon slammed down onto his shoulder, and the large Poison forced the Rock to the ground.
Cubellios escaped before she could be crushed under the Rock's weight, and she–along with the triplets–watched as Cobra effectively pinned the other Dragon to the ground. He forced the Rock onto his back, exposing a surprisingly unguarded belly, before planting one of his hind talons on it. The fore talons were on the Rock's face and throat respectively.
"So you're the thing that's been harassing my Dragons?" he demanded. "Stealing from us, attacking us, and acting as if we'd just let you get away with it?"
"You're Poisons! You're not supposed to be aggressive Dragons!" the Rock snarled. Cobra angrily pressed harder against his face, pushing him into the ground. Erik wasn't sure how much it did, but it still looked unpleasant.
"You think that's an excuse to bully my subjects?!" Cobra demanded, causing his victim to flinch.
"My Dragons may have become complacent, but it. Lasts. No. Longer," he hissed angrily. "Give me one good reason why I should let you leave with your life."
The Rock just growled defiantly, but was unable to meet the Prince's gaze.
Cobra lowered his head until his mouth was by the other's ear, "Leave and do not return. If I catch wind that even so much as one of your scales is in my rainforest, I will hunt you down and kill you myself."
He then dragged his claws down the Rock's neck, leaving several gashes that will likely scar. The Rock thrashed in pain, before promptly taking off once he was free to do so.
"You did good," he looked at the younger Poisons.
"Sir, may I ask.. Why did you claw him like that?" Erik asked, stepping forward. Cobra hummed, "A reminder of what I could have done," he said. "Dragons do it all the time. It's a reminder to stay in line next time."
"I see.."
"Let's get back to the others. Hopefully chasing off a Rock Dragon will finally convince our Queendom that we can hold our own."
xXxOxXx
"Let's go down to the mountain range."
Wendy looked at her sister, "But we aren't supposed to go down there. Because of the Lightnings.."
"It's been seven years since the missing dragonets have been returned. Surely they'd have calmed down by now," Windrider said. "Besides, we won't be down for too long. I just need some herbs to bring to mother."
"Alright.. I'll keep a look out for you," Wendy said, following Windrider to the edge of the island. The two of them leapt over the edge and dove down past the cloud cover.
Wendy opened her wings, gliding towards one of the floating boulders and perching on it as she watched Windrider land on the ground below. She wasn't too far up, but she was comfortably high enough to see Dragons coming from the fog.
Windrider looked through the underbrush.
"What are you looking for that we couldn't find in the gardens?" Wendy asked.
"Herbs that can't be grown in the higher altitudes," the older Sky responded, biting into the base of one and yanking it from the ground. "I come down here every now and then for this. It's risky, but we need the herbs for our medicines."
"I see," Wendy nodded, alternating between watching her sister and watching the fog.
"Alright, that should be plenty. Want to have a fly around the mountains before we go back?" Windrider asked.
"I'm not sure.." Wendy admitted.
"We can visit the old Queendom," Windrider said. "I doubt many Lightnings will be there, since there's nothing for them to take."
Wendy would be lying if she said she wasn't intrigued by the idea of seeing the old place, since she had never seen it before. "Alright, maybe for a few minutes," she stood, then took off.
Windrider landed on a cliffside outside of a large wall, then gasped quietly.
"What's wrong?" Wendy asked, landing next to her and following her gaze. Inside the walls was a rundown city, with Dragons crawling along the walls and flying overhead.
"Lightnings.. Why are they..?" Windrider sighed quietly. "So much for that.. Let's go.. home.." She spread her wings, flying away from the old city.
"I'm so sorry about that," Wendy said. "I don't know much about the old Queendom, but I assume it was home for you.."
"Home is where your heart is," Windrider said, "And my heart is in the Castle of Sky. That's where my loved ones are."
"Yeah," Wendy gently nuzzled her.
"Hey! Wait just a minute!"
A lightning bolt stopped them in their tracks, and a Lightning–not large by any sense of the word, but larger than the two of them–dropped down in front of them.
"Look at what we have here, a pair of spying Skies!" he snarled.
"Spies? No, we were just-"
"Picking another fight? Your old Queendom belongs to King Elexion now! Keep your sorry claws off!"
"I say we zap them! Make the lesson stick!" another hissed. "Give them a few burn scars to take home!"
Windrider flared her wings, getting ready to summon magic. At least, until lightning struck all around them, forcing the others back.
"What did I tell you about bullying the Skies?" a familiar voice demanded. It was so much deeper than normal, but Wendy recognized it anywhere.
"Laxus?" Wendy asked, smiling happily.
xXxOxXx
Laxus hovered over the others.
'Years in this squad and my teammates are still idiots..'
Ilumina hovered beside him, still in all her armored glory. She snarled, electricity crackling through the armor, "All of you are to back off this instant!" she ordered. "The General told us to deal with the old city!"
"We are dealing with it! These Skies are trying to take it back!"
"And it is their right to do so," Laxus stated. "Need I remind you that it was theirs before?"
"It became ours when King Elexion fought them over your theft!"
"And now I'm back. We can stop with the hatchling fighting now. Let's head back home before Tormenta starts bitching us out for taking too long. I'll explain why we couldn't take it back."
"Why wait until just now to start working on it?" Wendy asked.
"Had to wait until we were sure you were gone, but it looks like we were wrong."
Windrider growled.
"Let's just go back home, okay?" Wendy gently nudged her.
"The rest of you, come with me," Laxus ordered.
"Tormenta is going to hate us for coming back without results!"
"We can just tell him the Skies took it back."
"And make ourselves look like fools for losing to them?! We don't lose! Ever! Not to the Skies!"
"Will you lot shut up?!" Laxus demanded.
"Sheesh, you really are the General's nephew.."
Fortunately, for both Laxus's patience and the mouthy Lightning's hide, the rest of the flight home was in relative silence.
He flew over the walls of the Kingdom, then dove down towards the training grounds. It almost didn't fit the entire group due to how much they've grown over the past years.
Tormenta flew overhead, before landing in front of the group, "Why are you back so soon?"
"There were Skies near the old place," Laxus said. "I even said as much that they'd be there. I'm not going to be the idiot who starts a fight over a useless piece of land anyway. We have all that we need here."
"Our orders were to take the land, regardless of your personal beliefs. Go back-"
"And risk getting my Dragons injured?"
"Do you want to explain to your grandfather why you failed at following such a simple task?"
"I will happily explain to him that I thought his orders were bullshit," Laxus said. "I'm not going to risk injury and waste time and energy on some land that you guys had no right to take to begin with."
"They took you from us!" Tormenta snapped. "We had every right-"
"And I keep telling you that it wasn't the Skies that did it! Right now, the current argument is that it was a Sage Dragon that did it." Laxus raised his head. He was almost as tall as Tormenta now, which meant the older General wouldn't be able to look down upon him for much longer, "Besides, everyone lost the reason for their wars when the seven of us were returned."
"It wasn't the Skies that returned you, but rather a Fire Dragon."
"The Fires found us in Magnolia. The Skies couldn't have found their missing dragonet, nor me."
Tormenta growled, "We're getting off topic. Go to your grandfather's palace and explain to him why you couldn't follow his orders. I'm going to take the others back and finish what you couldn't."
He walked over to the others, then let out a deep, rumbling bellow, "Into the air! Now!"
Ilumina placed a talon on Laxus's shoulder, then did as she was ordered.
Laxus took off towards the palace. He much preferred Elexion's company anyway. The old King was far more reasonable than his irate son.
"Your Majesty?" he called once he was inside.
"Ah, Laxus," Elexion crawled down along the walls from somewhere above, coming to stand in front of the smaller Lightning. "What has Tormenta sent you here for this time?"
"Failure to actually do anything with the old Sky land that you wanted us to do something about. There were some Skies in the area. I didn't want to risk injury to my Dragons, nor do I think it's wise to take what wasn't ours to take."
Elexion sighed heavily, "I did not want the land because I believe in revenge. I wanted it because I do not want good land going to waste. If the Skies wanted it back, their Queen would've done something about it by now."
"I think she is. I saw her Dragons there."
"The Skies like to visit that old place from time to time. The Queen herself has long since lost interest in it, I'm sure."
"Which means, even if the Queen does not want it, her Dragons still do."
"They don't have the authority to take it back," Elexion stated. "I understand where you are coming from, but a handful of Dragons wanting to visit the old place for nostalgic purposes just isn't a good enough reason to just give it back."
"Why don't we offer it? Tell them that we have no use for it, and since the fighting is over, they can have their old homes back."
"Trying to put the Lightnings and the Skies in the same place is just going to ask for more trouble. Your father was killed by a Sky, and their Dragons were attacked by a Lightning. Even with your claims that it was a framing, the tensions would be too high to peacefully negotiate."
"We could use it as a sign of peace."
"You're asking us to give back what was taken as a sign of war as an offering for peace."
Laxus sighed.
"Your heart is in the right place, but when it comes to ruling a Kingdom, morality cannot be the only thing I focus on. Especially when rationality disagrees with it," Elexion said. "Where is your uncle?"
"He took the others back out there. Hopefully, if the Skies are still around, he won't do anything drastic.."
"Hopefully. You can go patrol around the Kingdom for now. We can lie to him and call it a punishment so he doesn't try anything," Elexion said.
"Thanks."
xXxOxXx
Sting glided down to the Kingdom, phasing through the invisible barrier. It wasn't anything like what he had back in Magnolia, but it was similar and he liked having something familiar.
He glided down into the midst of the Kingdom, then adjusted the bags around his shoulders, before jogging along through the Kingdom.
"You're back early," was the first thing he heard when he looked inside the den. Weisslogia stood over him.
"Yeah. I couldn't find much outside of a human town. They were pretty friendly, at least," he gestured to the bags, "Gave me some things to bring home."
"That's good to hear. It's nice when Dragons and humans can get along."
"Yep! Makes me miss Magnolia.."
"Unfortunately, while we'd love to see you return, Skiadrum expressed concerns over what would happen if you all did go back," Weisslogia said. "He worries it could throw the Kingdoms back into disarray, especially with the fact that so much paranoia had been spread before."
"Everybody would likely assume the worst, wouldn't they?" Sting asked quietly.
"I'm afraid that it is a real possibility."
Sting sighed, "It's so upsetting. Will it always be like this? I mean, seven years have come and gone. Surely everyone can get over it by now."
"Grief does not go away so easily. We all lost something the day the seven of you were taken."
"Right.. I'm sorry.."
"Don't be. You are allowed to be upset over the situation, as it has cost you a home you've known for longer than you've been here. You are grieving too."
"Yeah.. I never thought of it that way."
"We all have reasons to grieve. Whether it's losing someone or something." Weisslogia sighed, "But nevermind that. Your friend said he wanted to see you when you got back."
"Oh right! Where is he now?"
"He should be in the underground section with the rest of your friends."
"Alright, I'll head down there now. Thanks!"
Weisslogia dipped his head as Sting ran out.
He went for one of the stairways leading underground, before darting inside. He understood why the Shadows liked it; it was dark and cold enough for them, especially on warmer days, but Sting himself had such a difficult time seeing down here.
"Rogue? Rogue!"
"Sting! You're finally back!" Rogue appeared behind him, followed by Umbris and Albumis. "How'd it go?"
"It went well! I got gifts!" Sting dug out several souvenirs from his bags. One item was a bottle with the cork tied onto the neck, which he handed to Albumis, "It glows when you shake it."
She promptly did so, gasping in delight, "Wow! That's so cool! Oh, humans are the best with their potion making!"
"They gave me all of these fancy potions," Sting said. "Most of them just glow, but I think this one's more.. explosive," Sting said, holding up a bottle of red, sparkly liquid. He was going to leave that deep within a box somewhere that nobody could find it.
"You could turn it into a necklace! Look at it!" Albumis happily exclaimed. "I need to find a string to put it on!"
Umbris eyed the purple one she had–which was one of the rare moments she had her face uncovered–then said, "Thank you, Sting."
Sting grinned, "Always aiming to please!"
xXxOxXx
Natsu flew alongside Emri and Emberious. The twins had just finished a training session, and Natsu had been allowed to join in.
"What better way to get stronger as a Prince than by training with the Champions?" he had asked. He did not miss the look in Emberious's eyes at being referred to as a Champion, either. The other Fire wasn't often acknowledged for the work he put in, so Natsu gave him every little bit of acknowledgement he could.
"Ughhh…" Emri stretched her legs as they flew, "That was so demanding!"
"Atlas did say he would stop going easy on us after we became adults," Emberios said.
"Bold of you to assume he went easy on us before. He was just trying harder this time," Emri twisted and turned her neck, trying to loosen up her muscles.
"Hey, I thought it was fun," Natsu said. Emri snorted, "Yeah, but you like to fight. I like being a Champion, but it comes with so much fighting involved and I don't know how to handle it."
"You get used to it after a while! Who knows, maybe it'll become fun eventually?" Natsu said.
Emri rolled her eyes, "Royals.. always wanting to fight," she teased lightly.
"Hey, Zeref doesn't fight!"
"You've never seen him in a fight, have you? He's terrifying," Emberious uncharacteristically shuddered.
Given the weird reaction from the other Fire, Natsu was almost inclined to believe him, but at the same time, he really couldn't see happy, pacifistic Zeref as a scary fighter. "I'll believe it when I see it."
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Emberious said.
"Well, this is my stop," Natsu turned, gliding down and landing on one of the palace balconies. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Natsu!" Emri called, then followed her brother to their home.
Ntaus let out a heavy sigh and stretched. He loved spending time with the others, but now he needed some downtime.
"Welcome home, brother!" Zeref said, walking over and nuzzling him.
"Hey. Is Ignia home?" Natsu asked.
"I haven't seen him at all today," Zeref admitted. Natsu nodded, "Thank goodness, it means I don't have to put up with him right now.."
"Hey now, I know our brother can be a bit.. much," Zeref said, "But I'm sure he means well."
"I'll believe it when I see it. What are you up to?"
"I was going to visit mother before bed," he said, "Wish to join me?"
"Yes," Natsu followed him.
"You're getting really close with the Champion and her brother," Zeref said, making small talk as the two walked. "I was honestly worried when you came here all those years ago. I thought it would be such a shock that you wouldn't fit in.."
"And I surprised you?" Natsu smirked.
"Pleasantly surprised!" Zeref nodded, then dipped his head to a guard walking by, "I'm almost jealous of all the time with you they're taking away from me," he jokingly nudged Natsu's wing with his own.
"Well, sometime next week, we can make plans to spend the day together. What do you say?" Natsu offered.
"We can go down to the butcher! He has all the best food!" Zeref grinned.
"Oh yeah, I love it!" Natsu nodded.
The two of them fell into a comfortable silence after that as they walked. Until Zeref said, "Maybe we can invite Ignia eventually. I'm sure if we all sat down together and had an actual family talk-"
"You know he'd say no," Natsu said. Zeref rubbed his neck awkwardly.
"Enough about him. Who's that Dragon you're getting close to?" Natsu asked.
Zeref tensed slightly, "Oh.. you uh.. You noticed her?"
"Ooh, do I sense a special someone?" Natsu teased. Zeref lightly pushed him.
"Alright," Zeref lightly knocked on the door, "Mother? Hm.."
"She's likely already asleep," Natsu said.
"Not at this hour.." Zeref slowly pushed his way inside, only to gasp, "MOTHER!"
Natsu pushed past him, and felt his scales grow cold.
Standing over Firesoul's nest was Irene, who glared back at the two Princes with glowing blue eyes as she held the Fire Queen's ripped-off head in her jaws.