Chaos and His Flames

Returning

"We've heard a lot about you Yuuji-San!" Wendy gave the man a smile.

"You have? I don't think there's much to say about me." Yuuji replied, obviously embarrassed.

"So why are you here?" Mest asked as he wrapped up Wendy's swollen foot.

"Just... For business I guess." Yuuji answered, staring at Reina now.

"He's here to take me back home. Am I right Yuuji?" The man nodded sheepishly and Reina sighed.

"What's wrong Rei? You're going to go back at one point right?" Reina nodded.

"Then it might as well be when your people need you," Mest concluded.

"I'm just worried about all of you. I've become very attached." Reina said as she smiled at Mest and Wendy.

"Actually, the council has agreed that you can take this group with you. They just have to obey our laws to stay there." Yuuji jumped in.

"Let's see what Natsu and Lucy say about that." Reina turned towards the direction where the couple had left only to see them headed towards the group.

"The answer is yes," Lucy said smiling with a grumpy Natsu beside her.

"What's wrong with him?" Mest asked as he pointed to Natsu.

"I was just making fun of him for getting mad over Loke's magic trick," Lucy replied laughing.

Natsu 'hmphed' but stayed behind Lucy, eyeing Yuuji cautiously.

"Let's go then," Yuuji said as he clapped his hands together.

The group stood at attention, waiting for Yuuji to do some weird type of magic.

Yuuji stretched his hand outwards and whispered something and pushed his an invisible door. It revealed a black void with a white light at the end of the path.

"Let's go. The path is very narrow so we will have to walk in a single file." The group nodded in understanding and lined up behind Yuuji to walk into the portal.

"I'll be last. I know how to close the portal." Reina stated.

"Let's go in then," Yuuji said as he entered the black void.

Natsu followed with Lucy behind him. Wendy and Mest walked in after the two and the two exceeds flying above the group. Reina took a quick look around to make sure nobody saw them before walking in and closing the portal.

Before they knew it, they had reached the light and stepped onto a stretch of grass that went on for miles. There were strange rock placements all over the grass forming shapeshift gates.

"What is this place?" Lucy asked as she looked around.

"We're standing in front of the entrance to the dragon kingdom," Yuuji replied.

"But there isn't anything for miles." Wendy objected with Happy nodding along fervently.

"All we have to do is go through the gates in dragon form," Reina replied.

"What about us then?" Wendy pointed out.

"You all will ride on our back. As long as you are with us the gate will not reject you." Yuuji answered.

"Let's go then," Mest said.

Yuuji and Reina shifted into their dragon forms. Reina had pitch-black scales and icy blue eyes while Yuuji had red, almost orange, scales that paired with yellow eyes.

Mest and Natsu hopped onto Yuuji while Lucy and Wendy stayed with Reina. Happy and Carla clung onto Lucy and Wendy's arms as Reina started moving.

The group approached a gate and walked through with the girls leading the way.

They were met with shouts of surprise and chaos. Once the boys had fully entered the commotion had already settled down and many people were welcoming Reina back.

"If you could excuse us, we have to get to the palace immediately," Yuuji announced.

The crowd immediately quieted down and parted for the group.

"Where's the palace?" Lucy whispered to Reina, now in her human form.

"Just farther up ahead," Reina answered, pointing to a building.

It turned out that the palace wasn't that far and the group reached the gates quite quickly.

The guards opened up the gates with no hesitation, seeing that Yuuji and Reina led the way.

"Thank goodness you're here. Please come this way." A woman's voice said.

A blonde woman around her 30's walked up to the group followed by two men. The woman closely resembled Yuuji's features.

"The guests can come with us. We're in a hurry." The woman ushered the group up a set of stairs and into a room.

Lucy, Mest, Natsu, the two exceeds, and Wendy stayed outside of the room since they had decided that they didn't want to intrude on anything.

An elderly woman lay in a bed, many people by her side. Heads turned to the door as they heard Reina enter with her entourage.

"My child. You have returned." The old woman rasped.

"Your majesty." Reina bowed at the doorway before rushing over to the bedside.

"I'm afraid I will be leaving this world and joining your mother." The queen said, holding Reina's hand.

"Please don't leave me. I don't want to be alone." Reina sobbed as she gripped onto the queen's hand.

"Reina my child, you have grown so much and you have so many good people by your side. You will be a good queen to the people." The woman wiped away Reina's tears and smiled.

"Reina is going to be your successor, your majesty?" A man that was standing by her bed asked.

"Yes. I have made my decision. It is my dying wish to have Reina as the queen." This caused Reina to cry even harder.

"Grandma please don't leave me." The dying queen stroked her hair warmly.

"I'm not leaving you. I'll always be here. Just not physically." Reina sank to the floor, hugging her grandmother.

The room was filled with the sound of Reina crying as their queen lay in her bed on the verge of death. The rest stayed stone-faced.

"I'm glad. This was a life well spent. Thank you all for these wonderful years." And with that said the queen took her final breath.

For a moment the room was filled with silence other than the sound of Reina crying.

Then someone finally broke.

And then another.

Until everyone seemed to have cried their heart out.

From a distance, a bell sounded, announcing their beloved queen's death.

For miles on end, you could hear the cry of a million dragons mourning the loss of their queen.