Fairy Tail: The Dragon King And Queen

I've Missed You

What an amazing scarlet sunrise. Acnologia stared at the sky from the mouth of his cave. He had been preparing for his trip the whole night. It gave him something to do, even though it wasn't the most enjoyable thing in the world. He had to go to the Black Wizard's empire today. It was certainly going to be annoying, especially because he hated negotiations.

He would have a meeting with the Black Wizard, his Spriggan Twelve, the Emperors of Isghar and some representatives from Fairy Tail to discuss an alliance.

Acnologia hated politics. But he supposed that it would be nice to have some comrades that he could talk to now and then. Especially if one of them was her . He shook himself out of his thoughts, noticing that the sun was rather high in the sky by this time of day. It was time to leave.

Checking one last time to make sure everything was in order, the Dragon King leaped off of the ledge where his cave rested on a once snow covered mountain and flew, the wind blowing past him in freezing gusts that hardly seemed to touch the great being as he shot through the air, commanding the attention of every human below as he headed towards his destination.

57 times today, that's better than yesterday. Irene had been running through the insane obstacle course that Wahl had set up all night and, to be quite honest, it was exhausting, even for someone with her endurance. Her chest heaved as she fought to regain her breath, which she did rather quickly. She always did some kind of over-the-top physical training during the night because she had nothing else to do, so, as a result, she was in very good shape. She walked down the cold empty halls until she reached her room.

She sat on her bed minutes later, having nothing else to do, she allowed herself to drift into thoughts about people she would see later that day. Erza, her beloved daughter, would arrive with her friends and the blue-haired boy named Jellal, whom Erza was always quite happy to see. They might not admit it, but Erza and Jellal were definitely very much in love.

And, she had to admit, it was adorable to see Zeref and Mavis' shy glances and fond whispers. Though she did think His Majesty a fool for trying to conceal their relationship amidst skilled mages like herself and the rest of the Twelve. Honestly, Irene was quite offended. Rising to her feet to check her appearance one last time in the mirror, she snapped her fingers, transporting herself to the dining hall. As soon as she materialized in the doorway, she heard Zeref ask Neinhart to find her.

"Your Majesty, I'm right here. Did you need to ask me something?" Irene asked him, dipping her head towards him, just enough to show respect, but still not the required bow. Zeref nodded back at her before answering.

"Irene. Good, you're here. I need to talk to you about something. And, Neinhart, you are dismissed." he waved his hand at the Historia mage. Neinhart left, and Irene raised an eyebrow at the Emperor, prompting him to speak. "I asked Acnologia who he wanted to be the person to help him find his way around and keep him company during his visit and I told him to just list three qualities that the person needs to have..." he trailed off.

"And what did he say?" she asked, looking completely disinterested as she inspected her fingernails.

"He said someone strong, and who wasn't scared of him, and who had an attitude. I asked him why he wanted the person to have an attitude and he replied by saying that he liked it when someone occasionally had the courage to argue or make fun of him." Zeref replied, nervously tapping his foot on the floor.

"Stop dodging the question and tell me what you mean." Irene said flatly, rolling her eyes as she shifted her weight to her other foot. Zeref cringed.

"I think you're the one who matches the description best so.. would you mind giving him company during his visit?" the Black Wizard asked, knowing that if it sounded like a command, Irene would not obey. He waited for an answer.

"I suppose there's no harm in it." she agreed, shrugging. "Besides, he might be able to help me come up with ideas for those fifty magical weapons requests I got this season because someone was too lazy and too idiotic to do them himself and had the brilliant idea of pawning them all off on me saying he couldn't think of anything." she hissed. Zeref feigned coughing, he knew that he could have given some to Wahl but the Mecha specialized more in just the structure and aiming of the weapon and not actual magic, so he had given all of them to her.

"I..was busy." he lied. Irene just shook her head at him, disappointed that he couldn't at least come up with a better excuse.

A good three hours later, the guests arrived. Zeref greeted them at the door and walked them all in, talking to Mavis all the while. Irene walked with her daughter, catching up about various things. And Erza asked her if they could spar later, no magic. Irene agreed, wanting to see how good her daughter was with a sword. "You better not hold back Erza. If you do, you will live to regret it." she smirked. Erza laughed.

"I know. Why do you think I want to spar with you? You seemed quite good with your weapon." Erza was interrupted when Acnologia rested his hand on her mother's shoulder.

"Irene-sama. Hello." he greeted stiffly, unaccustomed to even this much conversation or contact with another person. Anyone else might have been intimidated but Irene hardly reacted at all. She studied him, searching for any signs that he was hiding something from her. Satisfied, she spoke.

"Hello." she replied, her face betraying no emotion. She didn't know if she could trust him again. She raised an eyebrow, looking at his hand. Acnologia noticed her slight discomfort and immediately let go. He stood awkwardly, waiting for her to speak. Her beautiful brown eyes took in his severed arm.

"If you want me to help you regain your arm, it's doable." She offered, examining his stump in more detail. "I can help you right after the dinner, if you want."

"You can do that?" he tried but failed to keep the wonder out of his voice, and immediately slapped a hand over his mouth, embarrassed. Irene smirked, amused by the awkward behavior. He huffed and glared at her. "What?" he hissed, trying to appear threatening. Again, she didn't react to his menacing  aura.

"Are you trying to scare me? It won't work. I'm not scared of you, oh Dragon King." She mocked, glaring right back at him. He cringed away from her glare, barely hiding how much it hurt.

"Well, oh great Dragon Queen, I'll take you up on your offer. Thank you, 'Your Majesty'." he lashed back. She rolled her eyes and smirked again, and he knew she had heard him.

"Excuse me, you two." Irene turned on her heel and entered the castle. "I have some important work to finish before dinner." And she was gone.

"That woman....she's never once been afraid of me."

Irene-sama....I've missed you.

Irene's heels clicked as she walked down the hallway. The light from the candle's flames cast long shadows on the walls. Just as her figure was swallowed up by the darkness, she thought; Acnologia-sama....I've missed you.