"GET OFF ME!!!" Igneel roared as blood dripped from his eye and snout. Acnologia was on top of him, laughing evilly. "And I thought you were the mighty Fire Dragon King, Igneel."

It was the Dragon King's festival, dragons were fighting against each other, to see who is the strongest out of all of them and to see who their King would be. The two left standing were Igneel and Acnologia while the other dragons (who were still alive) watched anxiously.

Igneel does not care to prove himself, he just wants to put an end to Acnologia, the monster that started all of this. "You are not even a real dragon! You have no right to crown yourself as Dragon King!"

"Thanks to your kind I lost my humanity years ago and now I am stuck in this body!" Acnologia said as he pushed down harder on Igneel's chest. Igneel struggled to breath but still glared at him. "You think having the body and the power of a dragon is what makes you into one?! It takes more than that, you must also have the heart of a dragon which you do not! If anything, you have the heart of a cold-blooded demon!"

Acnologia growled. "Maybe, but once I put an end to you, all the dragons will kneel before me, and I will rule this world!"

Igneel manages to kick the so-called dragon off him and get up. Without any hesitation Igneel continued to attack Acnologia, despite how weak and injured he was.

"Igneel!" Atlas Flame shouted from the sky. "Back down! You are in no shape to fight him! We must retreat!"

Igneel scoffed and grinned confidently as he pushed Acnologia into a building. "Retreat?! Never! I will put an end to Acnologia if it's the last thing I do!"

Atlas Flame growled at his friend's stubbornness. "Igneel, don't be a fool, quit trying to be the hero and back down!"

Igneel ignored him and continued to fight Acnologia, but it didn't last too long. Acnologia used his breath attack to send Igneel flying across the arena. Igneel tried to get up but didn't have the strength. Acnologia was about to finish him off but before he could, he started to fade away.

"What the- What is this? What's happening?"

"That's quite enough, Acnologia." A voice said and the dragon turned to see Zeref and one of his demons. All the dragons including Atlas Flame watched in shock. 'That's Zeref? There's so much magic energy coming from him and that demon!'

"I have to get to Igneel!" Atlas Flame said to himself and quickly flew down to retrieve his friend.

Acnologia glared at Zeref while he was still fading. "Why do you interfere, human?! This fight has nothing to do with you!"

Zeref simply smiled. "No, but it will. I'm sorry but I need this dragon, I can't have you kill him."

"Mark my words human, you'll pay dearly for this."

Acnologia promised before he vanished away. "Where did you take him?" Zeref asked the demon. "Somewhere very far and hard to escape from, it will take him at least 1000 years before he is able to escape." She replied.

Zeref smiled at her. "Thank you, you have been very helpful to me but I'm afraid that this is goodbye." He said before killing the demon.

Zeref was about to go to Igneel but before he could, Atlas Flame showed up and carried the Fire Dragon King off as fast as he could. Atlas Flame looked down at his friend and sighed. "Idiot, why don't you ever listen."

…

Few months later,

Igneel slowly woke up from inside a cave on top of the dragon's mountain. He looked to see Grandine, Atlas Flame, Metalicana, Weisslogia, and Skiadrum, looking at him with worry.

With a groan, Igneel slowly sat up and looked at all of them. "What happened? What happened to Acnologia?"

"Zeref showed up and sent him away before he could kill you." Grandine answered and Igneel looked surprised. "Zeref?! Why was he here?!"

Weisslogia sighed. "We don't know but he hasn't caused any trouble after the fight."

Igneel looked around the huge cave but didn't see any other dragons but himself and his friends. "Where are the others?"

All his friends looked down. "Gone, they are loyal to Acnologia now." Skiadrum answered. Igneel's eyes widened. "Including my dragons?"

Atlas Flame nodded, sadly.

Igneel looked down and growled before heading out of the cave. "Igneel? Where are you going?"

"I'm going home Atlas Flame, please don't follow me. I want some time to myself." Igneel said before flying out of the cave, leaving his worried friends behind.

…

In the forest,

Igneel was taking a walk in the forest, he would rather go home to his cave at the volcano but he didn't want to return there, knowing that his subjects wouldn't be there to greet him. He should have been stronger! This never would have happened if he was stronger! Now he's lost everything, his kingdom, his crown, his name, all gone!

Smoke came out of Igneel's mouth. "If I ever see that fake dragon again, I'll-

"So, you must be Igneel." A voice suddenly said, surprising Igneel. He turned around to see Zeref smiling at him.

Igneel growled. "And you must be the dark wizard, Zeref." He said in a low threatening tone.

"Oh, you've heard of me?" Zeref said with a chuckle. "Not really surprised, a lot of people seem to know me these days."

"What do you want?!" Igneel demanded. "Whatever it is you can forget it!"

Zeref suddenly looked at the dragon seriously. "...I need a favor…after all you do owe me; I saved your life."

Igneel roared in his face. "I would never help a monster like you! You've killed millions of innocent lives with your dark magic!"

"I am not asking you to kill an innocent…I'm asking you to kill one of my demons for me."

This sparked Igneel's curiosity. Why would Zeref ask Igneel to kill one of his demons, why doesn't he just do it himself? Zeref then went and grabbed something out of a bush. It was a small child with pink spiky hair, wearing a red T-shirt, and yellow pants. He looked no more than 3 years old.

"This is my little brother. He died when he was a baby, but I brought him back to life and made him into a demon strong enough to even kill me but…after a long time of thinking, I realized that I would be putting my brother through torture by doing this." Zeref then looked at Igneel with pleading eyes. "So, I am asking you, great Fire Dragon King…to be an end to E.N.D, the most powerful demon I have ever created? I don't have the heart to do it myself."

Igneel looked almost horrified at this. This is just…wrong. What kind of sick monster would do this to a child, to their own brother?! "Of all the dragons, why me?"

Zeref smiled. "I've researched so much about you Igneel Dragneel. There truly is no other dragon like you, there is no other dragon who has as much courage to rid of evil as you do. E.N.D may be just a child now but once he's older, he will have unbelievable power that he won't be able to control. He will hurt a lot of people whether he wants to or not."

Igneel looked at the child sleeping in Zeref's arms, and he thought for a while. He looked so much like a child but…a heart of a demon lives inside of him, like Acnologia! Igneel growled, no, he won't let there be another Acnologia.

He looked at Zeref and nodded. "I'll do it, but you must promise to stay far away from here and the dragons!"

Zeref smiled and set the child down on the ground. "Goodbye, brother, I'm sorry." Zeref then vanished out of thin air which surprised Igneel a bit.

'Alright, let's get this over with.' Igneel thought to himself but before he could do anything, the boy started to wake up.

He opened his big brown eyes and sat up with a yawn. "What happened? Where am I?" He looked around and noticed Igneel. The two stood still, staring at each other for a while then the boy smiled. "Wow! A dragon! You're awesome!"

Igneel looked at the boy with no emotion on his face but inside he was panicking. 'Just kill him!' Igneel then felt something on his leg and looked down to see the boy touching him. "Hey! Keep your hands to yourself, brat!"

The child's eyes widened. "Whoa! You can talk?!"

Igneel stared at him for a moment then sighed. "I can't do this…" He muttered while walking off. "Hey, wait! What's your name?!" The boy asks, running after him.

The dragon growled at him. "Leave brat before I kill you!" To Igneel's surprise the child didn't seem fazed. "...But I don't have anywhere to go, and I don't remember anything." He said, scratching his head. "Hey, do you know what my name is?"

"E.N.D." Igneel answered, truthfully. "Now leave!"

Igneel tried to walk off again but the child was still following him. "E.N.D, huh? That's a weird name."

"Well, it's your name so stop following me, I have nothing to give you!" Igneel snapped and then flew off, leaving the child alone. "Hey! Come back!"

…

Later,

Igneel landed in front of a cave that was in the forest and went inside it with an exhausted sigh. What a day this has been, hopefully the child will just end up getting itself killed or maybe another dragon will find it and want to kill it.

Igneel was about to sleep when he heard something coming in. It was the child; he was looking around the dark cave unable to see anything and ended up bumping into Igneel. The Fire Dragon King then used his fire dragon roar, hoping to scare the boy away but he only watched in amazement.

"You're really cool!"

Igneel couldn't hold back his amused chuckle, most humans or even dragons would run for the hills when he used his roar. "What are you doing here? I told you to leave."

"I want to know your name." The boy said, with a smile. Igneel shook his head. "I am the Fire Dragon King, Igneel Dragneel."

The boy raised a brow. "That's a really long name." Igneel's sweat dropped. "It's mostly a title, the name part is Igneel."

"What's a title?" He asked, curiously. Igneel sighed. "Listen, I have told you my name, now, leave!"

"But where do I go?"

Igneel glared at him. "I don't know, and I don't care, just go anywhere but here!" The boy took a couple steps back. "Can I stay here?"

"No!" Igneel yelled and the boy took a few more steps back. "What about here?" Igneel growled in frustration before wrapping his tail around the boy and throwing him outside the cave. "Whoa!"

"And stay out!" Igneel shouted before trying to go back to sleep. The boy scowled. "What a meanie."

His stomach suddenly growled, and he frowned. "So hungry-yyy." He whined and looked around for any food. He then saw a pond with a bunch of fish and licked his lips before running to it.

…

In the cave,

Igneel woke up at the sound of splashing and frustrated screaming. He sighed and started walking out of the cave. "What is it now?" He looked to see the boy trying to catch fish.

Igneel was furious. Why wouldn't this child just leave him alone! He was tempted to go there and use his roar on the kid, but something was holding back.

The boy kept trying to catch the fish, but he failed every time, he managed to grab one, but it wiggled out of his hands and bit him on the nose. "Ow!" He yelled then growled as the fish fell back in the pond.

"Hey, you stupid fish! Come back here, I wanna eat you!!" The boy screamed and tried to grab the fish again, but it swam away, making the boy yell out angrily even more.

Igneel smiled, amused at the scene. "He has quite the temper, doesn't he?" The boy started punching the water. "Come on! I'm hungry!"

Igneel shook his head and went to him. "You won't be able to catch one like that, you have to have patience." The boy glared at him. "What do you know, mean old man?!"

Igneel glared back at him. "I was just trying to help you out!" The boy stood up and crossed his arms. "I thought you didn't care!"

Igneel growled. "Fine then! Starve!" He began to stomp off but-

"Wait!" He turned back and saw the boy look at him. "...Can you teach me?"

With a bit of hesitation, Igneel nodded, and the boy smiled. Igneel grabbed a long stick with a sharp end and told the boy what to do. The boy stood beside the pond with his spear ready and his eyes focused.

"Remember, remain quiet and still, wait for the perfect moment to attack." Igneel said and the boy did exactly as he said. A fish then swam close to him and stopped to eat some of the plants that were underwater.

The boy saw this as his chance and quickly stabbed the fish. He smiled proudly as he brought the fish out of the water and showed it to Igneel. "Look! I caught it, I caught it!"

Igneel smiled and nodded. "Good job, you learn quickly." His eyes widened when the boy was about to eat the wiggling fish. "Stop! You can't eat fish raw; you'll get sick! Fish is way better when it's cooked."

The boy frowned. "But I don't know how to cook fish!" Igneel rolled his eyes and blew fire at the fish, making it brown. "There, now you can eat it."

The boy immediately ate the fish and smiled with satisfaction. "You're right, it's really good when it's cooked!" Igneel huffed. "Of course, I'm right! The mighty Igneel is never wrong!"

The boy raised a brow. "...You were wrong when you said you didn't care." Igneel scowled at him. "I don't care! I just felt sorry for you for a moment because you looked so pathetic!"

The boy growled. "At least I'm not an ugly lizard!" Igneel felt his veins go on fire and he put his claw on top of the boy. "You dare speak to the mighty Igneel that way?!!"

The boy struggled to get up. "Get off me!!!" He shouted. Igneel smirked. "Not so tough now, are you?" The boy had the nerve to bite Igneel in between his claws.

Igneel backed off in pain with a roar then smoke came out of his nose and mouth in anger. "You brat!"

He then charged at the boy with his mouth open and the boy screamed in fear, thinking that he was about to be eaten but Igneel only grabbed the neck of his red shirt and put him on the top of the tallest tree.

"You're on a time out." He said before walking away. "Time out?! Why?!" The boy yelled. "Because you're annoying and you bit me!"

"You started it!" He yelled while pointing his finger at him. "I did not!" Igneel argued.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"DID TOO!"

"DID NOT!"

"Did too, did too, did too!" The boy kept yelling. Igneel went to him and growled in his face. "Did not, did not, did NOT!!"

"Did-" The boy was cut off when Igneel roared in his face, almost making him fall off the tree. With the glare the dragon was giving him, the boy did not dare say anything else. Instead, he sat down on the branch with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

Igneel smiled, knowing that he had won and laid down on the ground next to the tree. He then frowned when he thought about what had just happened and covered his eyes with his claw. "What am I doing?! I shouldn't be hanging around with this brat?! I should be killing him!"

"Hey, Igneel!" The boy called him, and he groaned. "What?"

"When can I come down? I'm bored." He asked. "When I say so, now leave me be!" The boy pouted but after a few minutes he heard Igneel start to snore loudly. He smiled mischievously and began to climb down.

…

Half hour later,

Igneel woke up with a yawn and opened his eyes to see the boy in front of him, covered in berry juice. He was snickering to himself and Igneel grew suspicious. "What's so funny?"

The boy laughed. "Your face!"

Igneel looked confused and went over to the pond to look at his reflection. His eyes widened, he had a purple mustache drawn on his snout and purple eye lashes on his eyes. There are even more scribbles of things on his back. He looked at the boy who continued to laugh and covered him in his shadow. The boy immediately stopped laughing and looked up to see the rage on Igneel's face.

"NOW YOU HAVE ANGERED ME!!"

With a gulp, the boy started to run with Igneel chasing after him. "Come back here and fight me!" The boy chuckled. "You'll have to catch me first, lizard King!" He taunted.

Igneel then moved faster and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt before throwing him in the pond. The boy squirted water out his mouth and laughed. "That was awesome, Papa!"

Igneel paused and his temper went down, right after that word came out of the kid's mouth. 'What did he just call me?'

Igneel suddenly felt a warm feeling in his chest, a feeling he thought he would never feel again, ever since- He shook his head. No, he will not go back to old memories. Igneel then looked at the boy who seemed angry about something. He followed the boy's eyes and saw two birds trying to attack a turtle.

The boy growled and ran to them. "Hey, you jerks! Leave him alone!" The boy began to fight the birds, he got cut by their claws, but he didn't care. "Get out of here, get lost!"

The birds then left, and the boy looked at the turtle who was hiding in his shell. He knelt down and patted it's back. "It's ok, turtle, you can come out now." He spoke gently and the turtle slowly poked his head out.

The boy smiled and chuckled a bit. "Don't worry, those meanies won't bother you anymore!"

Igneel watched the whole scene with amazement. Zeref had told him the boy was dangerous, that he would one day turn evil, but Igneel could not see how that could be possible, but the child is still too young to tell. Even so, the boy had somehow made it into Igneel's heart and because of that, Igneel wasn't sure if he could kill him now, if he could let anyone kill him. There's something about this boy, he reminded him so much of himself.

For the first time in his life, the proud Igneel admitted to himself that he had been wrong. This boy had no heart of a demon. He was created as a demon, has the body of a human, but…he has the heart of a dragon. Not just any dragon though, a fire dragon!

Maybe Zeref was wrong, maybe the boy can control his powers, and maybe, just maybe this boy is their future. The future when humans and dragons can finally live in peace and put an end to Acnologia.

Igneel had made up his mind, there is no going back now. "Boy, come here." The boy immediately went to him with a smile and Igneel bent down to look at him. "Remember when I told you your name was E.N.D?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I still think it's a weird name."

"Well…I'm going to give you a new name." The boy looked surprised. "Really?!" Igneel nodded. He refused to let this boy be known as one of Zeref's demons, this boy was more than that… no, he was better than that.

Igneel knew exactly what to name him. He had vowed if he ever had a son, like this boy, he would name him, Natsu. After the summer sun that burns the whole Earth with its flames. It suited this boy perfectly. Igneel smiled. "For now, on, you shall be known as Natsu Dragneel, my son."

The boy's face lit up and he hugged the dragon's snout. "I love it! Thanks, Papa!" Igneel's eyes widened but he slowly smiled. "You are welcome, son."

Igneel may have lost everything, his kingdom, his crown, his name but he gained something much better than any of those things. He had gained a son, who will one day burn the entire world away with his flames.