When all the guild members arrived back to the guild hall, Kai was already waiting for them. Nashi had desperately wanted to pack with Natsu but all her clothes, that weren't in Natsu's house, were technically all in Lucy's apartment and so she had to part with her father just for a little bit. Lucy, on the other hand, was actually excited to go on this little trip because it meant she could finally hit that old man in the head for sticking stories about Natsu into Nashi's head.
Of course, while everyone brought either a suitcase, backpack or duffel bag, Erza went ahead and packed at least a month's worth on her large wagon. Once Lucy and Nashi arrived, the child immediately jumped out of the blonde's arms and ran to Natsu could carry her. While Lucy was excited to bash a certain old man, Nashi was excited to show Natsu where she had actually been training and the fact that he can finally see her grandfather. Natsu and Happy guessed that she believed he already knew who it was.
"Ah you and Nashi have finally arrived, majesty." Kai said as he leaned on the repaired wall of the guild.
"If you don't put a sock in it, I will have Aquarius have her way with you." Lucy threatened, making the dark haired man shut his mouth.
Once that was settled, Makarov stepped up with his hands behind his back and a serious look on his face. "Before we go Lucy, it's not that I don't trust you or the others who seem excited to go to this place again, but I must ask... Where exactly are you taking us without so much as transportation?"
Lucy blinked twice before looking at Kai who shrugged. She turned back to Makarov and just chuckled, making him raise an eyebrow as she extended her right arm to her side. "Of course you would ask me something like that Master and you have every reason to." She said as a golden glow surrounded her body. "But we don't need a vehicle for this."
The celestial mage's eyes turned gold and a golden version of a black hole formed and began to expand, revealing massive floating islands of different terrains on the other side. From the many islands the fairies could see, there was an island that was just flat with a grass layer, one that was covered in forestry and one with a tall enough rock to allow for a large waterfall to somehow overflow the island's bowl that a makeshift waterfall was created off the island.
"Impossible...!" Levy exclaimed as she marvelled at the scenery before her. "What is that place!?"
Lucy chuckled, half expecting them to all be flabbergasted at the sight and gestured for her nakama to follow her and Kai. "You won't find out if you keep staring from out here." She said as she and Kai took a step into the portal. "Come on!"
The non core members immediately ran into the portal excitedly, already having done this before. Nashi also wanted to jump inside, but when she looked at her father's shocked expression and saw how paralyzed he was, she pouted and began to tug on his scarf so that he could snap out of it. "Papa!" She cried, annoyed. "Grandpa's waiting!"
"Huh?"
"I can't keep this portal open forever, you guys!" Lucy called, making the others snap out of their thoughts. "I told you time is different here and I'm only able to synchronize them for a short period! If you don't jump in now, you'll all be left behind!"
At her words, Natsu decided that it was now or never and ran into the portal. When the others saw him do that, they all followed in suite with Mira being the last person to go through. The celestial mage sighed in content as she finally closed the portal and breathed in the air of the realm around them. The sky was clear with a couple of clouds, the sun shined down on each and every island while the wind blew a gentle breeze. Everything about the atmosphere was refreshing.
Once Lucy finished taking in her breath, she pointed behind the Tenrou Team with a smirk. When they turned around, their jaws hit the grass beneath their feet as they were faced with a castle as large in size like the Tenrou tree on Tenrou Island. The front gates were already wide open and Kai stepped in front of the large group and bowed at a 90 degree angle, which made the blonde girl just roll her eyes at how formal he suddenly decided to be. But she decided to let him be just this once.
"Welcome Fairy Tail mages to our humble castle." Kai said as he retracted his bow. "For those who have been here before, your rooms remain the same. For everyone else, you shall follow me."
The non core members began to make their way to their rooms, telling Lucy that they'll meet her and the others in the main hall like last time. She nodded and made her way to walk alongside Natsu and Nashi. The pink haired slayer was so busy marvelling at all the things in the castle as Kai dropped each member to their respective rooms, some sharing a room with one another, that he didn't even notice that he, Happy, Nashi and Lucy already arrived to their room.
"Finally, we've arrived to your suite, milady." Kai said as he bowed again. For some reason, Natsu growled in a really low tone at the sound of Kai calling Lucy 'milady'. He didn't like him calling her that and assumed that it was because he didn't see Lucy as some rich princess but as his best friend in the guild next to Happy.
"Huh? But what about Natsu and Happy's room?" Lucy asked.
"Papa and Happy are obviously sleeping with us, Mama!" Nashi said, her innocence practically blinding Lucy. "Our bed is bigger and softer here than back in Magnolia anyway."
"A bigger bed!?" Happy cried as he zoomed into the room like there was no tomorrow.
"I believe that answers that question, don't you think Luce?" Natsu asked, also excited to sleep in a bigger and comfier bed than the one in Lucy's current apartment. Which is crazy to think since Natsu knew that just sitting Lucy's bed in her apartment was like heaven.
Lucy just rolled her eyes as she left her's and Nashi's bags next to the door inside the room. "Oh right." Kai spoke up before Lucy could unpack hers and Nashi's things. "I'm pretty sure the council would like to see you before anything else."
When she heard that, the blonde nodded and turned to Natsu and Happy. "The council?" The duo asked before looking at her with frightened looks. "You don't mean the magic council, do you!?"
"Why are you saying that like you're already guilty of something!?" Lucy shouted, causing Nashi and Kai to laugh. "And for the record, it's a different council so I'll meet you guys in the main hall."
"Aye sir!" Nashi and Happy cheered.
"Nashi, make sure Natsu and Happy don't do anything bad okay? You want Grandpa to meet them, right?"
"It's Papa, Mama." Nashi reminded, but Lucy just pretended not to hear. "But okay! I'll take them to the main hall with Auntie Erza, Uncle Gray, Auntie Wendy and Carla!"
Lucy smiled and began to make her way down the corridor with Kai. Natsu watched them until they were out of sight, only to be startled when Nashi took him by the hand and Happy by the tail so that they could get the rest of Team Natsu. The pink haired dragon slayer watched his daughter hum a random tune as she walked and couldn't help but smile while watching her. He then picked her up from behind and made her sit atop his shoulders, Happy resting on her head, so she could lead the way.
"So Nashi, what's the deal with this place?" Gray asked after the trio gathered the rest of Team Natsu and began to make their way to the main hall. "I mean, why is this place so big?"
Nashi and Happy were still perched on Natsu's shoulders and the peach haired girl just rested her chin on her father's head while wrapping her arms around the crown of his head. "It's because Grandpa and everyone else are also really big!" She replied.
"Everyone else?" Erza asked.
Nashi nodded and then made Natsu go down stairs which led them to the main hall. When they reached the hall, everyone else from the guild had also just arrived and were talking with the others about how incredible the castle was. From how their rooms were somehow decorated to their liking to the architecture and the views of outside from the windows. Thinking back on the islands, it reminded Team Natsu, Gajeel and Pantherlily about the floating islands from Edolas before all their magic was brought to Earthland.
"This place is beautiful!" Levy exclaimed. "Don't you guys agree!?"
The main hall was completely empty save for everybody that was inside. Natsu took in the room and realized that the stairs he had walked down went down from a side profile before turning to face front, similar to that Cinderella story's ballroom from Lucy's room in Magnolia. On the other side of the room was a drawn curtain and on the other two walls were large windows that let in a ton light. Hanging from the ceiling were golden chandeliers with blown out candles.
Natsu didn't see Lucy or Kai yet which meant that she was probably still talking with that council she mentioned earlier. The dragon slayer then carefully held Nashi by the torso and brought her back down to the ground, Happy jumping off her head and landing on Natsu's shoulder. Once her feet were perfectly on the ground, Asuka ran up to her and the two girls chuckled in excitement. After all, Asuka was with Nashi the last time she visited her grandfather.
"Oh? Where's Lucy?" Lisanna asked, realizing that the blonde hadn't come with the group.
"Nashi said that she went with Kai to talk with her grandfather and everyone else." Erza informed.
"There are more people here!?" Pantherlily asked. "And didn't Nashi and Asuka meet her grandfather two weeks back? Does that mean they came here!?"
Bisca nodded as Alzack held her hand. "Yeah, the old guy loves those two so Lucy brought them with her when she went on her little business trip here."
"If he is not the one who drops them off to the guild, Kai is the one who drops them off at the bottom of the hillside." Alzack added.
At the mention of the dark haired man, Natsu's expression turned sour and he crossed his arms. Wendy was the first to notice and she went over to the dragon slayer and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Natsu, you okay?" She asked with a concerned look. "Is something about this place bothering you?"
"Oh! Not really, Wendy."
"You certainly don't seem like nothing is bothering you." Carla retorted as Happy looked to the pink haired mage with a worried expression. "You clearly don't like something about this place."
Natsu just slumped his shoulders while scratching the back of his head, refusing to make eye contact with the bluenette and the two exceeds. "It's just... for some reason, that Kai guy really annoys me and I don't know why." He mumbled. "Especially when he calls Luce milady... it ticks me off."
But of course, there are more than just two dragon slayers in the room and so Laxus and Gajeel appeared by Natsu's side while draping their arms over the pink haired boy, Wendy and the two exceeds startled by their sudden appearance. When Natsu took a look at their faces, he instantly became creeped out. Both Gajeel and Laxus had cheshire cat grins that went from ear to ear, the two clearly ready to either pick a fight or tease the crap out of his poor soul.
"What the-!?" He said startled. "The hell are the two of you smiling all creepy like that!?"
"Is the Salamander really jealous because of some dude?" Gajeel asked, making Natsu go quiet. "Never thought you'd be this protective over Bunny Girl."
"What're you going on about!?"
"You know Natsu, I've noticed you've been awfully close with Lucy lately." Laxus said with a low chuckle. "I mean sure the kid thinks you're her father and we all heard how she forces both of you to sleep on the same bed... but be honest, you actually like sleeping in the same bed as Lucy, don't you?"
If Natsu had any form of food or drink in his mouth, he would have spat it out at that very moment. But he didn't so he ended up choking on his own saliva. He never thought of Lucy like that, as far as he's concerned, and all he saw her as was his best friend and partner next to Happy. And with Nashi, he just couldn't bring up the fact that there was no way he could be her father. He just didn't like the idea of the girl being sad at any point in time.
When the group noticed that he hesitated in answer, Happy giggled while looking at Natsu with a scheming grin. "You like her~"
"Will you guys shut up!?" Natsu shouted, causing the everyone else to watch him light his fists on fire. "If you guys want to pick a fight so badly, come at me with all you got! I can take you!"
"There will be no such violence in our castle's main hall, human."
The non core members didn't seem relatively surprised at the booming voice coming from the the main hall's entrance, but when the Tenrou Team turned around, they stared in shock as Lucy stood at the top of the stairs and next to her body was a head completely covered in white scales with antlers protruding from the crown of its head and a beard hanging from its jaw. The fairies could make out feathery, angel-esque wings folded at its sides and the large claws at it's feet.
"No way..." The Tenrou Team said breathlessly.
Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel just stared at the creature before them, not believing their eyes. How they were unable to hear, smell or even sense its presence was beyond them, but there was no denying just what kind of creature looked down on them. Flashbacks of a certain chaos creature that had attacked them during the S-Class trials came into mind and everyone couldn't help but stare in disbelief at Lucy who remained completely calm.
"A dragon!?" The three dragon raised slayers thought. "Why is there an actual dragon here!?"