Dinner had already started and the large dining hall was full of the Fairy Tail mages' laughter and voices. Igneel sat at one end of the dining table while Weisslogia, Kai, Skaidrum and Ava sat on either side of him - two extra seats reserved for the two guests that Lucy had gone to get with Nashi, Natsu and Happy. The fairies all took random seats along the long table and saved two seats next to Lucy's end for Nashi and Natsu, Happy to be expected to just stand on the table to eat.
They all had spent time training hard on the floating islands they had teleported to, some of them just staying on the flat plain of grass while others teleported themselves to islands that matched their element. All the elder dragons and the dragon apprentices knew of the fairies' arrival and welcomed them to use their lands as training spaces, much to the pleasure of both sides. To the Fairy Tail members, it was an amazing experience. To the elder dragons, it felt like they were back to the past before the dreadful war.
Since the majority of the members stayed on the flat plain of grass, Gray and Juvia decided to go to Kai's water island and practiced there. Wendy, Erza, Carla and the Strauss siblings went back to Ava's island and the Thunder Legion transported themselves to the island of just mountain terrain. They all had trained so hard that they lost track of time, it was thanks to the dragon apprentices that helped out at the castle that everyone went back to their rooms to freshen up.
However, the commotion did not stop the two new guests from surprising the unsuspecting fairies. None of them, except the dragons in the room, did not realize the door had opened up until a large metal looking pillar had collided with Gajeel's jaw, sending the iron dragon slayer across the room while the others dodged his flying body. In their surprise, Wendy soon felt someone embrace her from behind as a strand of pink hair appeared next to her and someone's arms clad in white encased her small body.
"It's been too long... my child." A familiar voice said, bringing tears to Wendy's eyes.
Gajeel on the other hand groaned at the unexpected attack, rubbing his hand over the part where his jaw was hit. His eyes completely showing how pissed he was for having his meal time being interrupted. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT-"
"It seems like you've finally found a good crowd... though that evil glare remains the same." A voice said.
"Is that honestly how you greet your child after seven years, Metalicana?" The woman behind Wendy said as she retracted her hug. The sky dragon slayer's eyes widening as she turned around to look at the person who stood before her.
"It's... It's you...!" Wendy exclaimed in happiness and relief. "Grandeeney!"
The sky dragon looked down to smile at her daughter and Wendy could feel her tears flow. Gradeeney seemed to be the same height as Lucy and had the appearance of a middle aged woman. Her blue eyes popped in contrast to her pale skin and her wavy pastel pink hair that rested passed her thighs. She wore a very simple silk white dress that had a turtleneck collar, long bell sleeves and fell all they way to her feet, just barely touching the ground. A silver belt that hung loose on her waist.
Metalicana stood around the same height and age range as Igneel. His black eyes were angled and small, giving him a slightly intimidating look and his dark ash grey hair was short and spiky, much like Laxus' hairstyle when he was younger. On one of his eyebrows was a simple two stud piercing and an iron ring on his right pinky finger. He wore no shirt under the long silver metallic military jacket, showcasing his well kept body, white cargo pants and black boots.
Natsu, Lucy, Nashi and Happy stood at the entryway with innocent smiles on their faces as Metalicana cracked his knuckles and Gajeel stood up, trying to hold back the smirk that was forming on his face now that he reunited with his dragon parent. None of the fairies had seen the iron dragon slayer act like that and they definitely thought it was a refreshing scenery, much like when Natsu introduced Igneel to them. Wendy, on the other hand, got up from her seat and gave Grandeeney a hug as she cried.
"That's playing dirty, old man." Gajeel said, allowing his smirk to show through.
"Heh... you've definitely grown well since you didn't complain." Metalicana replied. "I thought her majesty was bluffing when she told me how strong you, Wendy and Natsu have become."
"Metalicana this is not the space nor is it the time to test your son's strengths." Grandeeney said in a very stern tone.
The iron dragon rolled his eyes and shrugged reluctantly while sighing. "Of course you stop me, but if he attacks me while we eat, I'm not holding back."
"HOLD ON! You're just gonna concede like that!?" Gajeel complained while his father nodded and pointed behind him so Gajeel could see the growing death glare on Lucy's face.
"If you wanna face our all powerful Empress, be our guest. I'm only here because of her and I'd like to live longer, son." With that being said, both Metalicana and Grandeeney went to their designated seats next to the dragons while Gajeel decided to save his energy for when he and his dragon parent could fight it out like old times.
"Mama, stop being so scary." Nashi said as the group of four took their seats.
Lucy just laughed innocently while the dragons, Natsu and Happy knew that was her sinister laugh. "Oh Nashi, I wasn't being scary. I was just warning them not to break anything or they will hear from Master Takeo and Master Akira."
"Oh please don't bring Takeo and Akira here, milady!" Kai begged, his hands hugging his body as he shivered in fear. "Milady Isla will surely have my head if I'm around them again!"
"You mentioned Takeo before when we met Skiadrum and Weisslogia." Wendy recalled. "Who is he? And this Akira and Isla too? Are they also dragons of the younger generations like Kai?"
"Uh... sort of?" Lucy asked to herself while answering Wendy's question and earning raised eyebrows from her nakama. "Takeo is what you would call a blade dragon. He is very good with a sword and his scales can become sharper than any blade in existence. Akira is a celestial dragon and she was the one that helped me and my spirits train. Both of them are dragon successors."
"A blade dragon!? Sounds like the guy can cut through anything!" Natsu said in excitement but then settling himself down and raised an eyebrow. "But what the heck is a dragon successor?"
"Much like the dragon apprentices that roam the castle walls, dragon successors are dragons that will take over the current king or queen of their associated element once they pass." Grandeeney explained. "They are exceptionally strong and powerful, thus it only makes sense that they be called successor."
"Does that mean Kai is a dragon successor too?" Happy asked.
At that question, the water dragon cross his arms and mutter under his breath as Lucy and the other dragons sigh at his childish remarks. The fairies on the other hand knew that the man was a carefree one, much like a mix of Natsu and Guildarts, but this was the first time he sulked in a serious and annoyed tone. Even the non core members who had known Kai for a long time, didn't know about dragon successors. But if they had to guess, he probably did something bad.
"Kai is... a special case." Weisslogia said. "He was named a successor for a very long time but his master Isla, the water dragon queen, had revoked his succession for unknown reasons so he remains here in the castle as a member of our council."
Natsu looked at the dark haired boy with sympathy. When Makarov cancelled the S-Class trials, Natsu felt like all his hard work was for nothing, even though he understand the old man's reasonings. "That's kind of harsh, isn't it?"
Kai didn't reply until he stretched his arms out of nowhere and began to stuff his face, startling everyone else at his behaviour. "It ain't a big deal since Milady Isla hasn't chosen a new successor, so I'll just keep doing what I can until she says so!"
Everyone in the room just laughed at the water dragon's enthusiasm and continued on with their meal. Mainly talking and listening to Wendy and Gajeel talk to their dragon parents and asking the iron and sky dragon where they had been or what they were doing back on their own islands. Unknown to them, though, was the shared scheming glances that Nashi and Happy were making as they were finishing their plates without no one knowing.
"Mama, me and happy are going to back to the room now." Nashi said as Happy flew beside her.
Everyone had already long since finished dinner, Mira and Kinana deciding to help out in the kitchen and clean while everyone else talked about other things. Lucy was telling Natsu about the other islands and how her training went and he obviously challenged her for a spar the next day, which she agreed and invited Gajeel, Metalicana and Igneel to come with since both dragons wanted to show their sons how Lucy's training had gone when she learned under them.
Obviously that got both Natsu and Gajeel excited since they wanted to see Lucy's dragon slaying magic in action and because they never got a real chance to see her go full out when it came to battling, her battle with Natsu only being just a fraction of her magic power. So they didn't really pay attention to Nashi when she said that she and Happy were going back to Lucy's suite. The blonde empress, on the other hand, looked at her daughter with a skeptical look.
"But we always go to the roof after dinner." Lucy said. "You tired already?"
"Yeah, me and Nashi wanted to have more bonding time so we'll be in the room if you need us!" Happy said as he and Nashi ran out the dining hall, leaving Lucy dumbfounded.
"Um... okay?"
It wasn't until much later into the night that everybody decided to head off to bed. The dragons didn't have to worry about flying all the way back to their respective islands since they could just stay at a vacant room within the castle and rest in their human forms. The castle was designed for human and dragon needs anyway. Natsu let out one more burp, since he ate a lot of food much to the chef's happiness, making Lucy laugh at him.
"Well Luce?" Natsu finally spoke up while patting his belly for a job well done. "You ready to go?"
Lucy stood up after him and scratched her cheek in what Natsu assumed was to be slight embarrassment. "Actually... I have something to do before going to bed so go on ahead without me, Natsu." She said as she immediately turned around, not allowing the dragon slayer to reply, and waved as she ran down the hall. "I won't be long so check on Nashi and Happy for me!"
"Uh... okay?"
Lisanna saw their awkward interaction and walked up to Natsu, poking his shoulder and met with his perplexed expression. "Is it just me or did she seem weird to you too?"
"I dunno." Natsu said with a surrendered look. "Luce has always been a weirdo but... I get the feeling that she is avoiding me for some reason. Ever since we got here actually."
"Don't bother with her majesty's behaviour just now, Natsu." Metalicana said as he and the other dragons approached the two mages. "She doesn't tell everyone about this but after dinner both her majesty and Nashi would go onto the castle's roofs to stargaze, a habit and ritual that they developed during their stays here. We've only seen them briefly when leaving the castle late at night."
"So?"
"While you and Gajeel were becoming excited with your spar tomorrow, Nashi had cancelled her participation and left with Happy. So her majesty is probably just surprised since they have always done it whenever they were here." Grandeeney explained. "They always talk about things we do not know up there because no one dares to disturb them. That's why the both of them are so close."
"Wow... seeing how she's a doting mother when it comes to Nashi, I would be disappointed too." Lisanna agreed.
"How the heck did you know all that?" Natsu asked.
"Of course our sense of hearing is much more stronger compared to you dragon slayers, son." Igneel said while crossing his arms, a smirk forming on his face as he had an idea on what Nashi and Happy were doing. "If you're curious, she usually stays on the roof above her room since it has most the clearest view considering there are floating islands everywhere."
"Eh... I'll go after checking on Nashi and Happy."
With that being said, Natsu dashed away while Lisanna followed her siblings and the smirk on Igneel's face caused the other dragons to to look at him with questioning looks. Grandeeney literally just told Natsu that no one disturbs Lucy's stargazing time and knew better than to tell anyone else to actually go check on her. It was like that spot was her most sacred place. When the fire dragon king noticed the others looking at him, his smirk left his face and he returned their expressions with the same one - just on his face.
"Mind explaining what that was about?" Skiadrum asked.
"No one has ever bothered her majesty when she's stargazing, whether she's with Nashi or not." Weisslogia reminded.
"Normally, you're the guy that tries to eat whoever tries to bother milady... so what gives?" Kai added.
"This better not be another one of your stupid schemes, Igneel." Ava warned. "You know how her majesty gets."
"You fools clearly don't realize what's going on. That's my son need I remind you." Igneel said as a matter-of-factly, chuckling at how oblivious everyone was about the connection between Natsu and Lucy. He began to make his way to his usual room while yawning, the dragons looking to each other in confusion. "I'll fill you in when you make the connection."