It had taken him more than a day of non stop travel to reach Mt. Hide-Away; the reclusive mountain where the meeting was to take place. By the time he landed on the barren and rocky land his wings ached and his legs almost gave out on him from lack of use. Most dragons, like many large birds, use thermal winds to fly and then supplement magic to help support their massive wingspans. Because of their use of thermals, Fire dragons are especially adept at the art of flight since they could manipulate heat to create thermal winds regardless of the direction or altitude they were flying; but dragon wings weren't meant to be used for 24-plus hours at a time, so even the King of Fire Dragons felt the slight ache in his wing's muscles.

His snout crinkled on relflex when he landed. The smell he had been detecting for the last several miles was at its strongest now that he wasn't moving at a speed that pushed the scent past his nostrils so fast that he could ignore it. Now, however, he was still as he stood in the clearing at the base of the mountain and the scent permeated most of the area (it was clear to him that the owner had been there for several days already) as well as his nose. The smell of paper and ink, glass and chemicals, and hidden underneath it all was just a hint of death; it all brought so many memories, so many conflicting emotions, just the scent alone had made him uncomfortable.

The Dragon King had decided to ignore the scent for as long as possible, secretly hoping that another of the meetings attendees would arrive. He began stretching his wings to ease his ache of the muscle first, folding them in and out and then rolling them forward to excercise the motions they didn't really get to do while flying. After the ache in his wings began to numb he started working on his legs which had begun to atrophy from his long flight. It felt good to roll his paws and stretch his legs.

It was as his neck popped that Igneel heard the crunching of pebbles as someone approached. Looking up at the small cliff that adorned the side of the of clearing he saw a young male human emerge from a cervice. He stared at the black haired man, who stared back at him with what could only be described as an odd mixture of happiness and remorse. Igneel almost wanted to look away from the man's blood red eyes; he was not afriad of the human, but he had never felt so conflicted about another living being before. His claws curled as he grew anstey and his gut twisted in knots at how uncomfortable he was; as it turned out the sight of his new company unnerved him more than the smell did. And yet despite all this some part of him was happy to see the man that he once considered to be one of his closest friends. Despite his conflicting emotions Igneel managed to maintain composure for in the end Igneel was a King and if a king knew how do one thing it was how to keep calm when nessecary.

Despite Igneel's stoicism the human still seemed to pick up on the Dragon King's unease. His face lost most of what little happiness was present when the dragon moved to sit up straight and with the air of dignity that only a king could possess. It was a far cry from the laid back and casual demeanor that Igneel used to possess when they were together and he could only give a morose smile at the action. The human let a sad sigh before he began speaking, "Great Igneel, it is good to see you once again. I'm glad you were able to make it to this meeting, your input will surely be invaluable."

"It is good to see you as well, Zeref Dragneel." It was short and clearly hard for Igneel to say but it was also the only thing that he could say the human. The awkward staring contest between the two was only made more awkward as the cliff that Zeref stood on made him almost eye level with the Dragon King, it was not often Igneel had to look directly in the eye of a human. After a few moments of silence Igneel spoke, if only to break up the uncomfortable silence, "Do you know when the others will arrive?"

Zeref's already slightly drooping eyelids fell even lower in sadness at the dragon's poorly hidden desire to avoid being alone with him. "They should arrive shortly. Today is the scheduled arrival date, and aside from Metallicana most of the others are fairly punctual." Zeref's lips rose slightly into a small smirk, "I admit however that I am surprised you were the first to arrive, punctuality is not something your known for, and I can only imagine that Natsu didn't make it any easier to leave."

The Dragon King raised his head high in defiance at the human's jab. "Hmph, Don't be ridiculous. I, the Great Igneel, am never late, if I am the last to arrive then it is only because everyone else had to decided to arrive early."

"Well your almost always the last to arrive so showing early must be a group characteristic."

Igneel's facade almost broke as a tick mark appeared on his forehead at the humans snark. "Don't be foolish," he snapped, "they're just showing proper respect! Everyone knows it's rude to keep a king waiting! They show up proposely early so that they don't waste my invaluable time." He stated with finality and (clealry false) bravado.

Zeref chuckled slightly, knowing fully well that the dragon would never admit that he was somewhat flawed at punctuality. The two settled back into silence, Zeref a little happier now that Igneel actually showed some emotion to him and Igneel a little irritated at Zeref's insinuation (although he was more comfortable being near the human than he was before, even if it was only a little).

The silence the two settled in wasn't exactly comfortable, but then tension wasn't physically unbearable like it was before. Igneel had begun to stare out over the rocky terrain that made out Mt. Hide-Away. The forest off in the distance caught his attention and reminded him of home, although his gaze would drift every now and then resulting in subtle glances towards Zeref. He was unable to tell what Zeref was thinking as the red eyed man stared up at the blue sky. As much as he didn't want to, being alone with this human in silence caused Igneel to recall the past, no their past as well as Natsu's.


Zeref Dragneel was one of Igneel's oldest living human friends as well as Natsu's biological brother. The two had met one day approximately 15years ago, back before the Dragon Civil War had even begun, and had been close friends.

One day Igneel had landed near a small village to rest after a long journey and the teenage raven haired boy had stumbled upon the clearing he was sleeping in by chance. The red eyed human had been fascinated by Igneel, having only seen dragons from afar before. Later Zeref would admit that he was nervous, but wasn't afraid of the dragon as he reasoned that if the dragon had intended harm he would have just attacked. The two had struck up a conservation, which quickly developed into a friendship.

Igneel, having lived for many years and having traveled far and wide, told Zeref stories of the world at large; tales of heroes and gods and great warriors. Igneel loved humans, he always had; their courage and imagination had endeared him to the smaller beings and as such he had conversed with many and heard many tales that stuck with him. Zeref loved hearing all of Igneel's stories, regardless of whether they were historical or fictional, the young mage always paid attention and asked questions. Having come from such a small village and a not particularly wealthy household Zeref had never really traveled, so to hear of the grander world caused the youth to be amazed.

Zeref, meanwhile, had begun to teach Igneel of magic theory and advancement in human technologies. He had always paid rapt attention to Zeref's lectures as they always fascinated him. Dragons never really expanded or studied magic like humans did and they never developed any technology; why would they bother, even the weakest dragon could fight off a wyvern, so studying how magic worked, how to improve it or building machines didn't really make sense to dragons. But humans were different; they weren't massive creatures, they didn't have armor hard scales or massive reserves of magic. Learning new skills and building tools was what allowed them to survive in a harsh world and eventually they began to thrive. Humans were never satisfied, they aspired to be better than they were, to reach for the stars and to see into the unknown. To many those qualities were what the problem was with humans, but they were what Igneel loved most about humans, so much so that he tried to be more like them in that regard, motivating him to travel the world and explore and learn new things.

His actions had made him somewhat of an outcast amongst other dragons, as dragons tended not to be nomadic. Most dragons weren't social, they claimed territories that they protected with their lives, gorging on local wildlife and then sleeping for several years at a time. The only time dragons really came together were for mating or settling desputes.

Igneel believed however that his nomadic tendencies were what led to him becoming the King of Fire Dragons, for in his travels Igneel encountered many beings that he fought against. Humans, dragons, demons, and even the occasional god. Igneel had fought them all, sometimes losing, sometimes winning, but always gaining strength and experience.

While no dragon was weak there was a fair range in skill and strength that depended on the individual, with the weakest of dragons being about the same strength of a wyvern and the most powerful being as strong as a primal god, but the latter was much rarer than the former . Igneel was by far one of the most powerful dragons of the age; he was respected for his strength by all dragons of Ishgar, not just those of the Fire clan. Many had even claimed that he could be Ishgar' Absolute Dragon King, the king that ruled above all the dragons of Ishgar, even the King's of the clans.

What held him back from taking the position was his hatred of dragon politics. Fighting between clans was common and needed settling often so that entire wars weren't waged. What didn't help was that dragon clans didn't fight for territory like humans did; those issues could be resolved relatively easily. No, dragon clans fought over pride, and issues of pride could never really be settled. And so in the end Igneel took his position as King of the Fire Clan and no further. He likes to think that he was a pretty good king; in-fighting and disputes with other clans were an all time low while he was in charge, but his fondness for humans had caused some arguements between him and others, eventually causing him to leave the Parliament and letting his father take over the political aspects, any nessecary communication between the two was done through a proxy.

Unfortunately for both Igneel and Zeref, the dragon king had to move on after a few days of hanging around, but he had promised to return to meet his newest friend again. And he kept his promise, for about 5 weeks later Igneel returned to Zeref's village to meet his friend. He and Zeref repeated this several times over the course of a year; Igneel showing every few weeks and hanging out with Zeref for a few days before leaving.

Throughout the year Igneel had become more and more welcomed not just by Zeref but also by his fellow villagers. The presence of the dragon king had been unnerving to many at first, but quickly his very being brought relief to the people. Tensions between humans and dragons had been very tense in recent years and incidents between the two races seemed to be happening more and more. Every year there seemed to be reports of some villagers burning dragons land or even foolishly attacking them and some violent dragons that attacked and destroyed human settlements. As such the repeated visits of a dragon such as Igneel became comforting for the townspeople, after all no other dragon would dare attack a village that the Fire Dragon King considered as part of his territory.

After the first year of Zeref and Igneel's friendship, Zeref had decided to introduce Igneel to his little brother, Natsu Dragneel. The young boy had been completely amazed by the dragon and the dragon became endeared to the boys joyful and energetic personality quite quickly. After their initial meeting Natsu had basically insisted on going with Zeref everytime he went to meet Igneel, which didn't bother either one as Zeref loved to see his brother happy and Igneel ended up enjoying Natsu's company as much as he did Zerefs.

It was during this time when the three had met often that Zeref's genius had been recognized by his fellow humans and had been given an opportunity to attend the country's most prestigious magic school. While Zeref's parents and even Natsu and Igneel had encouraged the young mage to take the opportunity he had been very hesitant to enroll. Zeref, whose genius and introverted personality often ostracized him from other young people of the village, spent most of his time alone; at least until Natsu was born.

Once his younger brother was born Zeref had spent most of his time helping in the care and welfare of Natsu. The black haired mage had become extremely close to his brother, so much so that Zeref could easily say that Natsu was the most important person in his life. Natsu as he grew older had also become extremely close to his older brother as there really wasn't any other children for him to be friends with. As a result the two brothers had become incredibly close even despite the age gap between them.

When the academy's invitation had arrived Zeref was hesitant to accept because it would mean leaving Natsu all alone. Natsu was a very sociable boy, but the lack of childern to become friends with and two parents that both worked jobs during the day meant that without his brother Natsu would truly be alone most of the time; and the thought of Natsu being all alone distressed Zeref greatly. Natsu, despite his age, also understood that if Zeref left then he would be alone, because even though his parents loved him very much and did as much as they could for him, he also understood that they had to work and that limited the time they could spend with him. But even so, when the invitation arrived Natsu had encouraged his brother to accept, because he knew that Zeref would enjoy studying at the Academy and that it was better for his brother in the long run. Between Natsu and Igneel both actively encourageing him to accept the invitation Zeref agreed to head to the capital to see the academy first hand.

Unfortunately Zeref's visit to the academy would be a long one. The journey to and from the capital took almost a month each way and he would be staying in the dormitories for a few weeks in order to fully experience the campus. This would leave Natsu alone and without his brother for almost 3months. During this time Igneel had promised to visit the 4year old when he could so that he wouldn't be lonely, but Igneel would be incapable of staying around for the entire 3months.

Three days before Zeref left for the captial Igneel was saying goodbye to the brothers. He had wished Zeref luck at the academy and promised Natsu that he would return in just a few weeks to keep him company. Natsu, despite his young age, put on a brave face for both Zeref (who Natsu wouldn't see for three months) and Igneel (who he wouldn't see for five weeks), proclaiming that he 'would be just fine without either of them, that he would be better than alright!' With a bravado only a 4year old could claim Natsu promised Zeref and Igneel that: "When you'se come back Onii-chan I'll be an even betterer reader than you! And I'll be stronger than you Igneel!"

Natsu's promise had made Zeref laugh with brothely love, and Zeref told the boy that he believed he could accomplish anything if he wanted to. Igneel hadn't been as supportive and his laugh hadn't been as kind, telling the boy, "If I came back 1000years from now the only thing you'd be better at than me is whining." The dragon's joke hadn't been well received by Natsu, who called Igneel a stupid head is response. Zeref had decided to step in at that point to end the insueing argument before it even began as he didn't want the trio's final meeting for a while to end with an argument. With that Igneel said goodbye to the Dragneel brothers, wishing Zeref a final bit of luck, and promising to see Natsu in a few weeks. Three days later Zeref would leave to begin his long journey to the capital after a tearful goodbye with his brother.


Even now Igneel looks back at that goodbye with nostalgia, it was the last time the three of them were truly together after all. Igneel had kept his promise to visit Natsu while Zeref was away and two had a joyous time even without the elder brother being present, although his absence was felt by both. A smile is still brought to Igneel's face as he remembers how Natsu reacted to seeing Igneel after those five weeks; the boy was bawling his eyes out and practically rubbing snot all of Igneel's scales, to this day the dragon has no idea what the boy even said it was so mumbled.

On the last day of his visit Natsu had a hard time saying goodbye, even harder than the last time he left. Apparently the loneliness was harder on Natsu than any of them had expected and the boy was not looking forward to another month without friends. Natsu had latched onto Igneel's foot and refused to let go for hours; it wasn't until Natsu's mother had showed up looking for him for dinner and had spoken to him that he had reluctantly let go. His mother, Aki he remembered was her name, was kind and gentle and had offered Igneel several apologies on Natsu's behalf, but Igneel would hear nothing of apologies, he understood that it was hard on Natsu and said that he wished he didn't have to go either.

Igneel, having begun to miss his friends as he journeys, had made a promise to Natsu at that moment. He promised Natsu that after this last trip, which he had to make for a Parliment meeting as his father's wasn't able to intend instead, he would begin to make more frequent trips and to stay longer. He still fondly remembered what Natsu did once he finally stopped crying. The pink haired boy had reached arm up as high as it would go, with his fingers clenched towards his palm, except for his pinky finger, which stuck out from the fist. Still sniffling and with eyes watering Natsu found his voice "You pinky promise you'll do all that stuff?"

Igneel had no idea what the boy was doing, but his mother had explained (while giggling like a mad woman) that it was a 'super serious promise'. Igneel in response had extended one of his own digits and, while he couldn't wrap it around Natsu's, he touched the end of his claw to Natsu's extended finger. Aki had bursted out laughing and Igneel couldn't find it in himself to be upset, he was sure they looked pretty ridiculous; a tiny pinked haired human making a pinky promise with a giant red dragon.


What Igneel found when he arrived a few weeks later was something that he couldn't have been prepared for. It was something he had seen before, too many times for his liking, and he had never gotten used to it.

The sight of smoke and flames covering houses, ash filling the sky, the sound of clacking wood and stone as homes collapsed, and worst of all, the smell of burning and rotting flesh.

The village was completely destroyed, the corpses of townspeople littered the streets. Igneel, for what was actually the first time, wandered through the streets of the town, careful to not step on any of the bodies. His massive frame had accidentally knocked down a few of the now ruined buildings, but he didn't see a point of dwelling on it, it looked as though there wouldn't be any one to occupy them anyway. It took a few minutes before he overcame the shock of the situation and sprinted toward where he knew the Dragneel home was, praying that Natsu would be ok, that he was fine, that he was playing in the woods, that Zeref had not yet returned from the capital.

His prayers would go unanswered. The small home located towards the edge of the village that Zeref and Natsu had pointed out during one of their flights was burning, the roof had caved in, and he could detect the smell of burning flesh emanating from inside. He could only stare at the sight before him as his body refused to move; his fangs grinding against one another as his jaw clenched tighter than ever before and tears pooled in his eyes. His heart felt like it had been torn half at the sight.

Igneel was 800years old, only halfway through his life as dragon and yet an inconceivable age for any human. He had lost friends before, of course he had, one didn't live that long without doing so. Mortal friends that passed on naturally, friends that succumbed to disease, and several that had fallen in battle, but this was different. Those friends before had lived their lives, they were adults and warriors, they had experienced the world; Natsu had not. He was a child, not even 5years old. He hadn't even experienced anything yet, and now he never could.

The clatter of wood falling on the ground broke him out of his shock. He heard the sound that filled him with hope before he saw what caused it. The faint sound of footsteps that his enhanced hearing picked out amongst the collapsing structures filled his ears and drowned out all other sound. He had enough wit about himself to know not to try to help as any attempt from his massive body would only cause the flimsy structure to completely collapse. So he was forced to wait, his eyes fixed on the door to the home and his breath caught in his throat to see who would emerge; the smell of the village and its people burning had prevented even him from picking up the scent of the occupant.

And then suddenly a figure emerged from the smoke and Igneel's heart dropped, for out stepped Zeref, covered in soot and an expression on his face that simultaneously displayed no emotion and yet expressed nothing but heart break. While Igneel was happy to see his friend, he was horrified by what was being carried in the elder Dragneel brothers arms. The form still and breathless, the parts of the epidermis not covered in burns were layered in soot, the edges of the sakura hair was burnt.

Igneel could do nothing but let loose a roar of anguish and pain in mourning of Natsu Dragneel.


Even to this day the thought brings tears to his eyes. Natsu's death shook him more than any other before, so much so that he had gone directly to the Parliament and argued for them to begin to end the tensions between dragons and humans. He pleaded for an end to hostilities, making the argument that it would benefit dragons as much as it did humans, but almost half of the Parliament disliked humans or out right hated them. They laughed at him; questioned why the loss of village mattered at all. The part of the Parliament that were fond of humans and believed in coexistence were sympathetic to his pleas but were unsure of what actions could be taken, and even if they knew what to do they lacked a majority vote. The few members that had yet to develop a strong opinion on humans had mixed opinions, some being sympathetic and some not understanding the fuss. In the end the Parliament argued about the issue for less than a day before moving on to a new topic.

Furious about how cavalier the Parliament was about the issue Igneel had raged and challenged others to a fight for their vote. The Parliament was not happy about Igneel's actions and his outburst and had decided to punish him. Since many of the Parliament respected him and were sympathetic to him they grant him a slap on the wrist and exiled him for 20years. Enraged by the Parliament Igneel had left and reclused himself in the mountains. He had decided to abandon the Parliament and all the unless politics and left the seat to his father. He stayed in the mountains and lived out his exile. For the most part he was left alone by other dragons, with the exceptions of a few friends that visited him time to time that informed him of any current events.

It was about 4years after Natsu's death that he was visited by someone that he wasn't sure he would ever see again. Zeref had appeared in his territory one summer day. It had been a surprise for Igneel to see the sole survivor of the Dragneel family; the two had a falling out right before Igneel secluded himself. Igneel had visited his friend who in the wake of his village's destruction, decided to attend the Magical Academy, to let him know of what had happened with the Parliament and his exile, only to find that Zeref had kept Natsu's body and persevered it with the intention of reviving his younger brother. The two had argued for hours on end about possibility and risks and morality of doing such a thing, but Zeref had refused to listen to Igneel's warnings and had dismissed the dragon in his rage and told him not to return. So for Zeref to appear had surprised him. What had surprised him even more was Zeref's request. The young mage had asked that the Dragon King kill him.

Listening to his tale Igneel could only be horrified by the events of his friend's past several years. Apparently Zeref had continued his research into resurrection at the Magical Academy for a little more than a year, when one day he was confronted by a god of life and death, Ankhseram. For his actions Ankhseram cursed Zeref to immortality and solitude. After the encounter Zeref had understandably panicked, accidentally activating the curse; which was so effective that the entire academy perished from it.

In the aftermath of the incedent Zeref transferred Natsu's body to a secure location before spending 2years trying to break the curse. Unfortunately his curse activated whenever his emotions became too strong. And the death magic that affected him caused many to perish as a result. Many had attempted to kill for the accidental killings, but they had all failed, for his body would just heal from any damage, and then in the panic and rage and shock of someone attempting to kill him his curse would then activate and many would die.

Guilt has eaten away at the elder Dragneel at the many innocent people who died as a result of his curse. Realizing that the curse would prevent him from being with Natsu even if he could revive him Zeref had become depressed and attempted to commit suicide. For an entire year the mage had tried die, he impaled himself on all sorts of weapons in all sorts of places in his body, he jumped from cliffs, drowned himself, suffocated himself, he even tried to kill himself in flames like how his family perished; but nothing worked.

After finally concluding that nothing could kill him Zeref had secluded himself into a deep forest and avoided contact with humans so that he wouldn't have any more deaths on his conscience. And that was why Zeref had come to him all those years ago. Igneel was powerful, powerful enough that maybe his flames could overwhelm the God's curse on him. The fire dragon was his last best chance to free himself from his suffering. But Igneel had refused the request, he couldn't do it, he couldn't kill his friend. But eventually Igneel conceded to Zeref's various requests and attempted to end his friends suffering. It had been hard for him to do (he had never turned his flames upon a human before, especially a friend) and Zeref's screams of agony still echoed in his mind. But Zeref had suffered greatly and without having a way to break a powerful god's curse he only suffer more, so Igneel bore throught the heartache and watched knowing the at least he released his friend from a horrible existence. He had failed.

Igneel's flames were powerful and Zeref had remained a pile of ashes for several days (the longest that he had ever been 'dead'), but Ankhseram was a powerful god and his curse was strong for the sin that Zeref had performed was heinous. After several days Zeref had awoken in another part of the forest, alive and well, Igneel had never been so relieved and yet distressed. The two would part shortly after and not meet again for almost 10years, during which time the Dragon civil war would take place and Zeref would create his Etherious demons, becoming the most hated man in all of Ishgar.

And then just a few months ago Zeref came to him, after almost 10years of no communication, and whats more he brought Natsu with him, unconscious but definitely alive. It was the same little boy that he had known more than a decade ago, from his pink hair to his tan skin to his smell. He had cried that day at seeing the boy.

Natsu, who was kept unconscious by Zeref's sleep magic, was ignorant of the conversation between the dragon and human about how the boy was revived and the subsequent argument about the morality of doing so. In the end Zeref had asked Igneel to raise the boy and teach him magic, fully confident that where Igneel and many others had failed Natsu would succeed.

Even now, as Igneel sat next to Zeref, he couldn't help but feel grateful to the dark mage. The last several months with Natsu had been some of the most joyous of his life. Even though Natsu had no memories of anything before he awoke in the forest with Igneel (Zeref had erased the memories of his past so that he wouldn't have to feel the pain and heartache of knowing that not only had his parents died, but he did as well) Natsu was still the exact same boy that Igneel had become so endeared to.

In the distance Igneel could see figure emerge from the clouds. The white feathers that adorned their body only confirmed what his nose had told him. Grandeeny's arrival would only be the first, as Zeref had stated earlier the other dragons were fairly punctual.

"It looks like we'll begin shortly." Igneel had actually jumped slightly at Zeref's comment, the two sitting in silence for almost an hour.

"Yes, soon we'll hear about this plan of yours."

Igneel was grateful as Grandeeny approached the clearing. His complicated history with Zeref had made him very uncomfortable when alone with his old friend. He had been friends with this man, he had seen this man lose everything and then desend into dark arts to get it back, anger a god and become the most infamous dark mage on the continent, he had killed this man and is now raising his brother as his own son. His feelings towards Zeref was about as complicated as their history and he didn't know what to feel.

He did know however that he couldn't wait for this meeting to get started. The sooned it started the sooner he could return to Natsu and Ziggy.