Dragon's child

•One•

It was late morning and the town of Magnolia was already bustling. The market was full of people shopping and the cafes were full with those getting a late breakfast or an early lunch. Two cloaked figures carefully moved through the back alleyways, avoiding the crowds. When they arrived in front of a very familiar building, the two figures hesitated briefly before the taller one pushed open the door. The Fairy Tail guild was strangely deserted; a handful of guild members were standing around a table in the center of the room, murmuring anxiously to each other.

"Excuse me." The shorter figure said. The guild members looked up. "May I speak to Master Makarov?"

"Oh? Who are you?" Lucy asked.

"Your Majesty!" Warren cried. "What are you doing here?"

"Huh?!"

The shorter figure pulled back her hood to reveal herself to be Princess Hisui. Likewise, the taller figure pulled back his hood and revealed himself as Arcadeous, the Knight's leader. "I need to speak to Makarov, please." Hisui said.

"Master is out right now, unfortunately. What's wrong?" Mira said.

The Princess hesitated for a moment before speaking. "My Knights were investigating a slew of child disappearances around the Agorian forest when we discovered a dark guild that may be behind it. Given their large numbers, the Council might not be strong enough for this, so we want to ask for your assistance."

"You want us to go bust some heads in? You came at a bad time for that. Flame Brain and Gajeel aren't here." Gray scoffed.

"That's....not entirely our reasoning for this. A villager we talked to claimed that they had seen shadowy figures kidnapping their children, but when they tried to intervene, they were attacked. By a dragon slayer."

"Natsu and Gajeel would never do that!!" Lucy cried.

"I know that. I didn't mean to insinuate that they would. It's just, the man described it as 'dragon magic that wasn't dragon magic'. That's really why we're here. I had hoped that your dragon slayers might be able to help."

The Fairies glanced at one another. "That does sound important..."

"But it's Master's decision...."

"What bad timing...."

Hisui gave a slight curtsy. "I'll just come back later. When will Master Makarov return?"

"Actually, most of the guild is out looking for Asuka. She vanished early this morning."

"Alzack and Bisca are so worried."

"Laxus has caught a scent!" Warren called suddenly.

"Really?! That's great!" Lucy cheered.

"I'm sorry, who is...?"

"Asuka is a little girl whose parents are our guild mates." Mira explained.

"No, wait.... Yeah, he lost it." Warren sighed.

"Huh? Can't Sparky use his nose right?" Gray commented.

"They're coming back now."

"What? Why?"

"He said that he'd find more clues here, whatever that means."

Around 15 minutes later, most of Fairy Tail had reconvened in their guildhall.

"Well Laxus?" Makarov questioned.

"The scent was faint and led to the edge of a busy street right before vanishing. We checked all alleyways near that point but it didn't reappear."