"That's a lot to take in, Ryu." Ace sighed as he looked at the crystal ball in front of him. He was at home, resting after his very painful day training with Natsu, when Ryu had called him from his Communication Lacrima. And he had just spent the last ten minutes hearing the story of what happened when Ryu and Erza arrived at the Hino home.
"I know. I'm honestly still at a loss for words." Ryu said, rubbing the back of his head. "I guess Grandma wanted to look tough, but Dad leaving here definitely broke her heart."
"I can imagine. Is Erza there?"
"She's taking a bath right now. Did you want to talk to her?"
"I just wanted to thank her for being there with you since I'm stuck here in Magnolia." Ace replied, doing his best not to mess with his brother after an emotional day.
"I'll be sure to let her know. I'll talk to you later, Ace."
"Later, Ryu." Ace said as he cut the connection to Ryu and sighed, leaning his head back as he began to think. After a few moments: he felt a pair of hands cover his eyes and smiled as he knew who the culprit was from the smell of her rose-scented shampoo. "Did you enjoy your bath?"
"It would've been better if you joined me." Lucy whispered as she kissed the top of his head. "Who were you talking to?"
"Ryu. He and Erza finally met our Dad's family today." Ace said, making Lucy smile and remove her hands from his eyes.
"How'd it go?" Lucy asked, going over to their bed while she began to brush her hair.
"Well, they luckily ran into our cousin. It was something about his ride breaking down and them helping him. Then he gave them a ride to our grandparents' place where our uncle nearly started a fight with them." Ace said, as the last part made Lucy wince.
"That would've ended so badly."
"Tell me about it. Then he sat down and talked with our grandparents, told them about Dad, and apparently my grandma was so heartbroken about the news: she cried for two hours." Ace finished telling Lucy the story and she pouted, feeling her heart break slightly for his family.
"They hadn't seen Uncle Lyle for how long?"
"Like Ryu's entire life. So we're talking almost 30 years." Lucy winced again, and Ace could only nod in agreement. "So my grandpa told Erza and Ryu to stay as long as they wanted, but that tomorrow he has something important to talk to Ryu about. And that's about it." Ace said, resting his head on the back of his chair as he started to repeat it all to himself again.
"Well, if this starts to fix that broken bridge: maybe we can invite your grandparents to our wedding." Lucy suggested, surprising Ace as he turned his attention back to her. "What?"
"Our wedding?"
"Do you really think we're going to be engaged forever? Eventually, we have to have a wedding." Lucy said, pointing at him with her brush.
"I mean yeah, you're right. I didn't really think about that." Ace admitted, making Lucy stand up and walk over to him. "What?"
"You better not be having cold feet now." Lucy leaned forward, placing her hands on her hips and glared at him.
"Of course not. I meant I didn't really think about inviting Dad's family."
"Well, it has to be fair. I mean they already missed out on Fabi's, I would feel bad if they missed out on ours."
"I guess you're right."
"I'm always right, sweetheart." Lucy smiled, gave him a quick peck on the lips, and walked back to their bathroom. Ace chuckled and shook his head, slightly dreading that he was engaged to such a know-it-all now. He felt a little hungry and stood up to go get a snack from the kitchen, before noticing the green Lacrima sitting on their bookcase. He smiled and picked it up, admiring the green magic crystal in his hand.
"My whole life changed the day I found you." Ace whispered as he tossed the orb back and forth in his hands. But then all of a sudden he noticed the orb begin to glow slightly and held it up to his face. When he did: his eyes widened as a vision of the dragon that had been haunting his dreams suddenly appeared, feeling its gaze as if it was staring right at him.
"Ace?" Lucy called out from the bathroom, snapping him out of his trance.
"Yeah?"
"Don't forget to take it easy with Natsu while I'm on my job with Wendy tomorrow." Lucy said and Ace nodded, placing the Lacrima back on the bookcase.
"You've got it."
Ryu walked out of his room, stretching after having the best sleep he'd had in the past month. He heard voices from the front of the house when he was in bed so he made his way there: finding his uncle and grandfather having what looked to be a very heated discussion by the entrance.
"Good morning, Grandpa. Uncle Ryu." Ryu called out, saluting the two who stopped talking when they heard his voice.
"Ah, good morning." Tsukasa said as he smiled at the younger man.
"Hello, nephew." General Ryu said, nodding at the man. He then made his way over to the two, wondering what they were disagreeing about.
"Is Grandma okay?" Ryu asked, wondering what became of Christina after their conversation the day before.
"She's better now, but the news of your father hit her very hard. I still thank you for coming here to tell us." Tsukasa said before his son cleared his throat.
"Father, are you sure this is a good idea?" General Ryu asked, earning a nod from his father.
"I'm sure of it. Now, are you hungry?" Tsukasa turned his attention back to his grandson, placing a hand on his shoulder as he began to lead him back inside the house.
"Yeah, but what were you two talking about?" Ryu asked, pointing at his Uncle behind them. Tsukasa shook his head and patted his shoulder, still keeping the smile on his face.
"Don't worry, we'll talk about it later. But first, is your girlfriend awake?" Ryu stopped walking, freezing in place from his grandfather's question.
"My what?"
"Isn't that beauty that came with you your girlfriend? She seemed to be very protective of you when your Uncle tried to fight you."
"Because I hired her to, and not to mention Asemu asked her to look after me."
"And the way she comforted you when you were upset yesterday? Did you hire her to do that too?" Ryu blushed and shook his head. His grandfather's questions were not something he expected so early in the morning.
"N-No...but she's my friend, Grandpa. Not to mention she just got out of some big relationship and I'm too busy to be in one." Ryu muttered as he rubbed the back of his head. Tsukasa smiled as he knew there was no mistaking it: his grandson had feelings for their guest.
"Alright then. But come, let's have some breakfast then we'll talk about-"
"Ryu." General Ryu called out to his nephew, making the man turn around to look at him.
"Yeah?"
"Do you have any experience with magic?"
"Magic? Yeah, I know some pretty basic fire magic." Ryu replied, only to see his uncle unsheathe the Katana at his waist. His eyes widened as the silver blade caught fire, and continued staring at the large flames now coating it.
"There is magic passed down in the Hino family since we arrived at these lands, it's why we hold such high positions in the Military. Your father made sure he taught you fire magic for this reason: you are going to inherit the ability your father and I were never able to." General Ryu said as he pointed the blade at Ryu. Tsukasa sighed, hoping he could explain it better for his grandson instead of the dramatic way his son went about it. But Ryu could only stare in awe at what his uncle was doing...only to realize what he had just finished telling him.
"I'm going to what?"
"Master, are you busy?" Ace had just arrived to Fairy Tail after Lucy left for her job and quickly made his way to the bar where Makarov sat. He needed an answer to his questions, and the elderly man was most likely the person to have them.
"Not at all, my boy." Makarov replied, smiling at his newest guild member. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Well..." Ace sat down in front of the man and pulled out the green Lacrima from his pocket. "Natsu and I got this from our first-ever job together, and I've been holding onto it as a memento of that day. But since I brought it home: I keep having the same nightmare every few days."
"And what's the dream?"
"I'm with my teammates and all of a sudden: this dragon appears and attacks us. The dragon separates me from my friends and I always hear this voice saying it needs a body...then it eats me and that's when I wake up. I didn't think anything of it until yesterday when I picked this thing up and it began to glow. Then I saw that dragon again and it felt like it was looking right at me." Ace quickly explained his dreams to the guild master who listened intently as he looked at the Lacrima in Ace's hand. "I thought I was going crazy or needed to read fewer books...but then this thing made me see that dragon again and now I'm not sure what's going on."
"I see..." Makarov muttered as he stroked his goatee. He thought for a moment before extending an open hand to Ace. He nodded, understanding what he wanted, and placed the Lacrima in Makarov's hand. He pulled it close and studied it closely before closing his eyes. "Ace?"
"Yes?"
"Did Natsu ever explain to you Dragon Slayer magic?"
"Yeah? It was taught to him by his father Igneel, Wendy was taught by Grandeeney, and Gajeel by Metalicana."
"There's also another way of gaining Dragon Slayer magic. Didn't you ever wonder how Laxus became a Dragon Slayer?"
"Laxus is a Dragon Slayer?" Ace asked, making Makarov sigh and facepalm.
"Sorry, I thought they would've told you. Anyways, Laxus is what's known as a Second-Generation Dragon Slayer." Makarov said as he went back to his point.
"Second-Generation?"
"Yes, that was the name they gave Dragon Slayers who had a Lacrima with a dragon's magic inside their body." Makarov explained as he held up the Lacrima to Ace. "Those kinds of Lacrima are special. They're created from the heart of a dragon, which makes them extremely rare and valuable. Laxus had his Lacrima placed inside of his body by his father when he was a boy. Do you understand why I'm saying this?"
"I think I do?" Ace rubbed the back of his head as he tried to understand Makarov's point.
"My boy, I believe you stumbled on a Dragon Lacrima. And I believe this one is resonating with you." Makarov said as he handed the Lacrima back to Ace. He looked at the orb in his hands in surprise, he didn't imagine this treasure would've been so important.
"Resonating with me...?"
"Magic works in mysterious ways, but my theory is: those dreams you've been having are the dragon's heart resonating with you. That's why it's reaching out to you in your sleep." Makarov said as both of them saw the Lacrima begin to flash the dim green light again. Ace gulped as he saw the dragon once more, this time the sight of it was even clearer than it was the night before. He placed the Lacrima down on the counter and sighed, running his hands through his hair as he tried to process this information. "Whatever the reason may be, if this Lacrima is the cause of your dreams: ignoring it might end up being a costly mistake in the long run."
"So what do I do then? Do I put it away? Do I get rid of it? What should I do, Master?" Ace asked, and Makarov simply placed his hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
"Well, what do you want to do? You have a chance not many people have the opportunity to nowadays: to willingly gain the magic power of a dragon or not." Ace thought for a moment and looked at the Lacrima in front of him. "You have to have the Lacrima placed within your body to gain its powers, so it won't be as easy as holding it and you gain its magic."
"I don't even know what kind of dragon it is, what if it's not a match with me?"
"You sure you don't? I think your dreams have your answer." Makarov's suggestion made Ace remember his dream one more time, and he remembered the dragon was the one who was creating the tornados that would attack them.
"Wind I think?"
"I think we have a book in our library with the types of dragons thanks to the Queen. Give that a look when you have a chance." Makarov suggested and Ace nodded, picking up the Lacrima. "But listen to me very carefully, my boy. There are no shortcuts to power at all, just because you place this source of magic within your body: it won't put you at the level of your comrades like Natsu or Gajeel. You must still dedicate yourself to training and learning to control these new abilities you will gain, otherwise, you'll just be placing a powerful source of magic in your body with no way of properly using it. Are you willing to put yourself through the harsh training your friends did to control their magic the way they do?"
"Master, I let Natsu throw me off trees for an entire day yesterday. I'm more than willing to put myself through whatever I have to." Ace chuckled before seeing the serious expression on Makarov's face.
"This isn't a game. You must be absolutely certain, otherwise, it will be very difficult to turn back." Makarov said, crossing his arms and Ace sighed as he began to think once more.
"I know...but I'm learning magic for a reason. It's not just to go on some jobs with my friends, I have a reason that I'm very serious about." Ace said as he placed the Lacrima back down. He stared at it, now beginning to envision Lucy instead of the dragon. Makarov realized what he meant and nodded, proudly patting the young man's head.
"Then do what you must, but don't do this for greed or as a shortcut for strength. You must stay true to your resolve and reason, that is my advice as your guild master." Makarov said as he picked up the Lacrima and extended it to Ace. "I will talk to Porlyusica for you, but that will be the most I can do. From here on out: it's up to you."
"Thank you, Master."
"Ace? You here?" Natsu and Happy entered the guild's library, looking around for their raven-haired teammate. When they arrived looking for him, Makarov had told them that he had gone to the library to find a specific book.
"Yeah." They looked to their right and saw Ace with a large red book in his hands. They walked over and saw that Ace was using his magic to flip through the pages quickly.
"What are you reading?" Happy asked as he perched himself on Ace's head.
"An old guide for fighting dragons, apparently they made this when humans and dragons were butting heads centuries ago." Ace replied as he kept his eyes on the pages. He made it to the section for Wind Dragons and stopped using his magic so he could flip the pages by hand.
"Why are you reading that? It might sound harsh but there really aren't dragons anymore like there used to be."
"Because of this." Ace reached into his pocket and took out the Dragon Lacrima, holding it up to Natsu. "I brought it to Master Makarov and he thinks it's a Dragon Lacrima, so I'm going to see what kind of dragon it was made from." Ace explained as he went back to flipping through the pages.
"And how are you going to know what you're looking for?"
"Simple. I saw it in my dream." Natsu and Happy looked at each other confused before Ace stopped flipping through the pages, staring intently at the one he stopped on. "Found you."
"What is it?" Natsu and Happy asked as Ace put the book down so they could see. It was an extremely crude drawing, then again the book had to be 500 years old, but one thing was for sure: this was the dragon that had been appearing to Ace in his dreams. The slender body, the grey colors, the yellow eyes, the two pairs of wings, that was it for sure.
"The Storm Dragon. I have the Storm Dragon's magic in this Lacrima." Ace said as he looked at the Lacrima and smiled.
"So you have a Storm Dragon's Lacrima, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to ask Porlyusica to place it in my body." Ace replied as he stood up and put the book back in the bookcase he grabbed it from. Natsu stared at him in surprise, blinking only once or twice before shaking his head.
"Why?"
"Master thinks this thing is calling out for me. The dragon keeps showing up in my dreams and now I see it whenever I hold it. I don't know if that's really what's happening, but if he's right: I don't think I'll be able to get away from it." Ace walked over to Natsu and bumped his chest with his fist, giving his friend a reassuring smile. "I'm not doing this to disrespect you or the others, especially all of you who have been helping me improve my magic. But this thing chose me for something, and it won't leave me alone until I do something about it."
"You sure about this? Lucy might not be too happy about it."
"Let her get upset. Because I want this power to be able to protect her too." Ace said as he looked down at the Lacrima one more time. "Lucy is my fiancée...I want to be able to protect her too, instead of her having to protect me. For whatever future we have in store for us: I want to be able to protect her, I don't want to stand on the sidelines and leave it all up to her."
"I get you, man. And we'll keep this a secret between us. But I'm going to still teach you how to control your magic. You won't know a lot from the start, but you're going to go from having little magic to having a crazy amount inside of you. So I'm going to help you keep it under control otherwise you'll blow everything away." Natsu said as he bumped Ace's chest with his fist as well.
"A what...?" Ryu and Erza asked as they sat across from Tsukasa and General Ryu, hearing what the elderly Hino had asked from him.
"It's a special kind of magic that helped protect our nation for several generations. Lyle and I weren't able to inherit it because Lyle didn't have the kind of magic power it requires, and our grandfather didn't believe I would be a good match for it either." General Ryu explained, ignoring the glare his father was sending his way.
"And what makes you think I am?" Ryu asked, wondering why their entire trip turned out the way it did. "What about Kagaya? Why can't he inherit it?"
"Kagaya is a good boy, but like your father: he wasn't born with vast amounts of magic power. That's why he's become more of a student than a warrior." General Ryu sighed, hoping his son wasn't home to hear their conversation. "But I can tell you have the amount of magic this kind of ability requires."
"I don't think I really have that much magic." Ryu muttered, but this time Erza chimed in as she remembered their three-week journey across the larger island.
"You do actually. You drove across the entire island, coast to coast, and using up that much magic power didn't seem to affect you in the slightest." Erza said as even she had to admit: driving a Magic Mobile for more than a few hours would leave her exhausted. But Ryu would drive all day and he would shrug it off like nothing happened.
"If that's true then you really were born for this. Ryu, can you at least hear us out?" Tsukasa pleaded, and Ryu only sighed as he knew this wasn't going to end well.
"It's not that I'm against the idea, but I still have a company to go back to. I've already been gone for a month, I don't really want to be gone for longer."
"I understand, but at least let us explain things a bit more to you."
"But-" Ryu was stopped by Erza placing a hand on his shoulder. "What is it?"
"You've done nothing but complain about that job and how miserable you are. Not to mention: Ace seems to be happy now that he joined us at the guild."
"Yeah, but that's Ace. I'm a little too old to be doing this kind of stuff."
"Old? My boy, until you've reached my age: you're never too old for anything." Tsukasa couldn't help but laugh at his grandson's rebuttal.
"Ryu." The four looked up, seeing Christina standing in the doorway with her gaze fixed on him. "Your father sent you here for a reason, if this was why he sent you: at least consider it." Hearing his grandmother's plea, Ryu sighed and looked down as he began to think about his options.
"...okay. At least explain it all to me first so I can make my decision." Ryu said, looking up and giving his relatives a serious look.
"Perfect. But this will be more than just training your magic, I will also teach you swordsmanship because it goes hand in hand with it. That's the Hino style and what you will inherit." General Ryu said, but Ryu shook his head at him.
"I said I'll hear you out first, but I never said I agreed to it yet."
"Alright then." Tsukasa said as he took a deep breath and prepared to tell Ryu everything he wanted to know.
Natsu and Happy stood outside of Porlyusica's home, pacing back and forth as they waited for Ace's procedure to finish. After a long scolding and even longer lecture about the reckless decision he was making, Porlyusica agreed to place the Lacrima inside Ace's body. That was about an hour ago and now they were just waiting for any news about his condition.
"You two are still here?" The two turned around and saw Porlyusica standing in her doorway.
"Is Ace okay?" Happy asked as he hurried over to her.
"He's just fine. All I did was open him up a bit and carefully place the Lacrima in his body, otherwise, the introduction of the Ethernano from the Lacrima could've harmed his body if I just threw it in there."
"So he's going to be alright?" Natsu asked and the older woman nodded in response.
"He's going to be okay. He just has to take it easy while his body adjusts to the new source of magic inside of it." Porlyusica said as the two looked inside, seeing Ace asleep on a bed.
"And does this make him a Dragon Slayer now?" Happy asked, addressing the elephant in the room.
"Only time will tell. For now: he'll just have another source of magic to draw from with a whole new level of power to it, so he will be different than he was before. But he won't be a Dragon Slayer as soon as he wakes up, like all wizards: he will still have to learn before he can tap into that dragon's power." Porlyusica explained Ace's condition to the two, only for the man in question to wake up and slowly sit in the bed. "Lie back down, you should be resting."
"I'm fine." Ace groaned as he looked down, seeing the bandages wrapped around his chest. "Did everything work out?"
"Yes, it was simple enough. Right now the Ethernano from the Lacrima should be beginning to make its way through your body." Porlyusica explained as she grabbed a small cup filled with a bright green liquid and handed it to him. He nodded and drank it, before wincing from the bitterness of the drink.
"What is this?"
"It's to ease the pain and help the wound seal quicker." Porlyusica explained, and Ace shrugged and quickly downed the drink. "How are you feeling?"
"I don't feel any different. Am I supposed to feel different?" Ace asked as he reached for his shirt.
"Maybe not right away, but sooner or later you will feel the dragon's magic making changes to your body." Porlyusica said as the man stood up and slowly put his shirt back on. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"So do I. Plus I have a pair of good teachers." Ace said, nodding at Natsu who smiled and nodded.
"Of course. But let's just get you home so you can rest." Natsu said as he walked over to Ace and began to help him out of Porlyusica's home. "Now let's come up with a lie before Lucy kills both of us."