"Really?"
Natsu's eyes lit up. Gajeel and Wendy leaned in at the same time, barely containing their excitement.
Rowan nodded. "Yes. Hold hands. Then grab onto me. I'll pull a fragment of your consciousness and your dragons' consciousness into my mindspace. You'll be able to talk to them there. But only if none of you resist."
The three of them linked hands and reached for Rowan's paw.
Rowan closed his eyes.
Three invisible currents of psychic force slipped into their bodies, gently drawing out both their spirits and the dormant presences hidden deep inside them.
None of the dragons resisted.
The world folded inward.
Rowan opened his eyes inside a vast, starlit void.
In front of him stood Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy.
Behind them towered three colossal figures.
A crimson dragon wreathed in flame.
A silver-blue dragon with wings like clouds.
A steel-black dragon whose scales rang faintly like bells.
"Igneel. Grandeeney. Metalicana," Rowan said quietly.
Natsu turned.
His breath caught.
"I… Igneel?"
The fire dragon lowered his massive head.
His voice shook the entire space.
"My son."
The reunion shattered whatever restraint Natsu still had. He ran forward, hands pressed against burning scales, sobbing openly. Wendy and Gajeel weren't much better.
No one rushed them.
When the storm of emotion finally settled, Rowan stepped forward.
"There's something I need to understand. What really happened four hundred years ago?"
Igneel closed his eyes.
"I wanted to wait longer. Until they were stronger. But the plan has already changed. So I'll tell you."
The truth spilled out.
Acnologia's war.
The near-extinction of dragonkind.
Zeref Dragneel.
END.
Natsu.
Rowan listened without interrupting, his expression tightening with every revelation.
When it was over, he exhaled slowly.
"So Natsu is… Zeref's greatest demon creation."
He glanced at Natsu.
"That explains a lot."
Natsu just stared at his hands.
Zeref. END. Demon.
None of it felt real.
Igneel continued.
Zeref and a celestial mage named Anna had created a desperate plan.
Train gifted children in Dragon Slayer magic.
Send them into the future through the Eclipse Gate.
Let them grow up in a richer magical era.
Then have them return to kill Acnologia together.
The White Dragon and Shadow Dragon had already died, sealing themselves into Sting and Rogue as Dragon Crystals.
Igneel, Metalicana, and Grandeeney had chosen another path.
They hid their souls inside their children to suppress the Dragon Seed, prevent full dragonification, and stay invisible to Acnologia.
But that also meant they could never manifest again.
If they did, they would fade away for good.
"That's everything," Igneel said.
Half an hour later, Rowan released the psychic link and repeated everything aloud.
Silence swallowed the room.
"My dad…"
Natsu's voice cracked. "He's been inside me this whole time?"
Rowan nodded. "Same for Gajeel and Wendy. The dragons stayed hidden to protect you."
Natsu's fists trembled.
All those years of searching.
All those questions.
Rowan went on. "My suggestion is this. First, we find Anna. Then we find Zeref. If he's still alive, my tracking magic can locate him. The entire plan came from those two. They'll know more about killing Acnologia than anyone else."
Privately, Rowan had other reasons.
Anna was the strongest celestial mage of her era. Far better suited to opening the Eclipse Gate than Lucy.
And Zeref…
Zeref was a walking library of forbidden magic.
A genius inventor of spells.
The creator of living demons.
If Rowan could exchange ideas with him, his own magic would skyrocket.
Zeref couldn't kill Acnologia because Acnologia devoured magic.
But in raw magical theory?
Zeref ran circles around him.
"…Zeref?"
Mavis's voice was suddenly very soft.
Everyone turned.
"You shouldn't go looking for him," she said. "He isn't the same man he was four hundred years ago."
Rowan raised an eyebrow.
Makarov stiffened.
"Mavis… you know Zeref?"
She looked down.
"He was my teacher. My lover. And the one who killed me."
The room froze.
Every single person stared at her.
Rowan included.
Mavis lifted her head slowly, eyes filled with complicated pain.
Then she began to speak.
She told them everything.
Tenrou Island.
Her parents.
Being orphaned at six.
Growing up alone.
Meeting Precht, Yuri, and Warrod.
Finding Zeref in the forest.
Learning magic from him.
Founding Fairy Tail.
Creating Fairy Law.
And the curse that stopped her body from ever aging.
When she finished, the silence felt heavy enough to break bones.