Keeping Secrets

Despair

Well, it was still the sixth where I'm at when I went to upload this... apologies, took a lot longer to get a moment away than I thought. Hope you enjoy!

KEEPING SECRETS, CHAPTER 3- DESPAIR

Igneel soared after the bird lady through the sky as Natsu sat on his back, enjoying the wind whipping around him and through his hair. No matter how many times he had ridden on Igneel's back, he never got tired of flying.

Eventually, Natsu made out a speck in the sky and it continued to get larger. His eyes lit up and he smiled and realized it was Zeref's big floating house. As they landed, Natsu couldn't help but call out as Zeref himself walked toward him. He slid off Igneel's back and as much as he wanted to run and give his sad-looking big brother a hug, he remembered what Igneel said about his curse and stopped a healthy distance away, yelling and waving at Zeref. Zeref returned the wave. "Hey Natsu. Wow," Zeref wiped tears away from his eyes, black mist swirling about again. "You've grown so much. You might be taller than me soon."

Natsu hadn't even noticed that Zeref didn't seem as big anymore. He smiled. "Igneel's been teaching me so much! Watch!" He lit a massive flame in his hand.

Zeref's eyes widened along with his smile. "That's amazing Natsu. It took me almost a decade to be able to make flames that big. You've done it in just a few years."

"And those are, by the way, flames of his own magic energy. Not dragon flames, just to put any fears out of your mind, old friend." Igneel approached Zeref, smiling.

"I trust my brother hasn't put you through too much, Igneel?"

"Heavens no! It's been quite nice going on adventures together. It's almost like..." Igneel looked down at Natsu. Natsu didn't understand why his eyes became wet. "He's another son to me." Igneel finally got out, voice heavy with emotion.

Zeref's smile got wider, but before he could say anything he was interrupted. "Wow, I never realized the great fire dragon king was such a softie."

Natsu looked up and saw another massive dragon landing on Zeref's house's flying cube. This one was gray and almost appeared as if he was wearing armor. His head was a lot smaller than Igneel's too. "Hmpf. If it isn't Metalicana. Can't say I'm thrilled seeing you again, but it makes sense, given the circumstances." Igneel said, annoyed.

"Come now, Iggy, don't be like that. These are desperate times us of like mind need to stick together." Several more dragons had landed on Zeref's flying house. The first one that spoke was so white it looked like he was glowing. His eyes were a pure golden color, and his white hair stood straight up, while a long, thin beard trailed under his snout.

"I don't disagree, friend, but you can hardly blame Igneel for his attitude toward Metalicana. He's not the most pleasant fellow to be around." This other dragon Natsu had barely noticed showing up. If the white dragon was so white he was almost glowing, this dragon was so dark he appeared as a shadow. Natsu might have mistaken him for one if he didn't see his pure red eyes. He had hair and a beard similar to the white one, but ... was that actually hair or just shadows?

"Bah, insulting me right to my face as a greeting. And they say I'm rude." Metalicana grumbled at the two new dragons that had arrived.

"Well, not even a minute all in the same place and we have a gathering of murmurers. Why am I not surprised?" said one more dragon who approached. "You all bicker like a bunch of old serpents, I swear." This last dragon didn't fit Natsu's mental image of a dragon, her features appearing more bird-like, even her talons and scales resembling feathers.