Hey hope yall enjoy this im trying get this one out hope you enjoy
The world blurred into streaks of light and wind as Veldanava's spell hurled Varion across the sky. He felt weightless and trapped at the same time, locked inside the cocoon of shimmering brilliance that held him suspended in air. His screams tore at his throat until it felt raw and shredded, but the light did not stop. It carried him relentlessly forward even as the scene behind him replayed in his mind in relentless, brutal detail: Acnologia's claws plunging into Veldanava's chest, the spray of star-forged blood, the collapse of wings once strong enough to wrap the heavens.
"Dad… Dad… DAD!" Varion's voice broke on the last cry, dissolving into incoherent sobs. His fists struck the inside of the barrier so hard his knuckles split, but the divine light only shimmered dully around him. He was powerless within it, a prisoner to the final act of love Veldanava would ever give him.
The mountains rushed below, growing closer and closer until the cocoon blazed brighter, slowing its fall only at the final instant. The impact shook the earth, sending a spray of dirt and shattered rock outward in every direction. Trees groaned under the force. A small cliff cracked near the base, loosening a cascade of stones.
The cocoon flickered violently, then shattered into sparks that scattered like dying stars.
Varion collapsed face-first into the dirt, choking on his own sobs. His lungs burned, his chest heaved, and his vision swam through the blur of tears pouring unchecked down his cheeks. He tried to stand, but his knees buckled under him and he fell again, palms digging helplessly into the ground.
"Dad… Dad… please…" His voice barely sounded human anymore. It was thin, shaking, broken from the inside out.
A deep shadow fell over him.
Igneel had landed so quietly that Varion hadn't heard him approach—a rarity for the Fire Dragon King. The massive dragon's burning mane flickered in low, worried waves instead of its usual roaring blaze. His molten-gold eyes widened the moment he saw the state the boy was in: trembling violently, several injuries visible and blood leaking from his mouth ,scales flickering erratically along his arms, magic swirling uncontrollably around him like a storm on the verge of collapse.
"Varion," Igneel rumbled, his voice unusually gentle for a creature born of fire and battle. He lowered his massive head toward the boy. "What happened?"
But Varion couldn't form words. His attempt dissolved into another choked, hiccupping sob that shook his entire body.
Half-hidden behind Igneel's leg stood Natsu—small, wild pink hair sticking up at awkward angles, his eyes huge with confusion and fear. He had never seen Varion cry. None of them had. To them, Varion was the strongest, the calmest, the one who always knew what to do.
"Varion?" Natsu said softly, stepping forward. "Are you hurt? What happened? Where's—"
Varion made a sound—raw, strangled—that froze the words in Natsu's throat. It wasn't anger or pain.
It was grief.
A grief so deep it cracked the air around him.
Igneel inhaled sharply, understanding striking him with the force of a blow. "Veldanava…" he whispered, his great chest tightening.
Varion's shoulders shook so violently he could barely breathe. He clutched at the dirt, his fingers curling into the earth as if grounding himself would somehow stop the agony tearing through him. "He's gone… Igneel—he's—Acnologia " The rest of the sentence drowned beneath another sob that twisted his body.
Igneel moved with surprising tenderness for someone of his size. He lowered his great wing, curling it around Varion like a protective wall. The heat radiating from his scales was steady and grounding, a living barrier against the cold grief consuming the boy.
Natsu's eyes filled with tears, confusion mixing with fear. He moved closer tentatively, hesitated, then placed a tiny arms around Varion's trembling arm.
Varion's breath hitched. The moment he felt Natsu's touching him, something inside him shattered completely.
He turned and pressed his face into Igneel's wing, sobbing until his voice broke again and again. Each cry was hoarse and desperate, carrying all the pain of a child watching his parent die—because that's what Veldanava had been. Not a god. Not a legend.
His father.
And now he was gone.
Igneel bowed his massive head, letting his chin rest near the boy. "Cry, child," he murmured. "Let it out. You have lost something greater than words can hold."
Natsu stayed by his side, tiny and confused, but determined not to leave him alone.
Igneel stayed beside Varion for a long time, shielding the trembling boy beneath his great wing while Natsu pressed close.
It wasn't long before the others arrived.
A sonic crack split the sky as a silver-white streak descended into the valley, Weisslogia landing in an explosion of wind that sent pebbles skittering across the ground. The White Dragon King's luminous scales rippled with alarm. Grandeeney arrived next, her wings shimmering with urgent healing magic as she touched down softly. Metalicana's landing shook the earth, his massive metallic talons digging deep trenches into the dirt. Skiadrum flickered into existence last, emerging from a mass of swirling darkness like a living shadow.
Each dragon's eyes immediately locked onto Igneel — and the trembling, broken child beneath his wing.
"What happened?" Weisslogia demanded, voice sharp with fear. "We felt Veldanava's magic flare — and then vanish."
Grandeeney's breath caught when she saw Varion's condition. She took a hesitant step forward, her motherly instincts urging her to comfort him, and heal him.
Metalicana's voice rumbled deeply, the closest thing he had to gentleness. "Igneel… tell us."
Igneel didn't answer immediately. He slowly lifted his head, embers drifting from his nostrils as the full weight of the truth settled across his massive frame. The fire around him dimmed, flickering with a rare, painful restraint. When he finally spoke, the sound was low, raw, and ancient.
"He's gone."
A stunned stillness fell over the dragons, the air itself seeming to freeze around them.
Grandeeney bowed her head, wings trembling. "No… Veldanava's magic doesn't simply vanish. That kind of presence cannot just—"
"It can," Igneel interrupted softly. "When a god dies."
The words hit the valley like a falling star.
Weisslogia recoiled, talons scraping the dirt. "Impossible. He cannot die to Acnologia. Not him."
"He was weakened," Igneel said, each word heavy like molten lead. "More than any of us knew. And Acnologia found him."
Skiadrum's eyes narrowed, his voice a cold whisper. "And the boy? Varion?"
Igneel lowered his head again, letting Varion lean into the thick warmth of his scales. "He watched it happen."
The shadows around Skiadrum shuddered violently. Grandeeney made a soft, distressed sound, Metalicana looked away, jaw clenched tightly enough to crack stone.
Weisslogia's voice broke. "Veldanava was our balance… our anchor. Without him—"
Igneel growled, low and dangerous, silencing the despair. "We are not falling apart. Not here. Not now. The children need us."
His eyes drifted down to Varion, whose entire body still trembled in silent, exhausted sobs. The boy had curled into himself, face pressed against Igneel's massive shoulder, fingers gripping his scales as though afraid the dragon might disappear too.
The sight hit all of them harder than any blow Acnologia could deliver.
Skiadrum's voice was the next to break the silence. "We must return to the valley. The others will sense the shift. They will panic."
"No," Igneel said, his voice firm. "We go back together. And we protect these children with everything we have left."
Weisslogia exhaled slowly, acknowledging the painful truth. "Veldanava would have wanted that."
Grandeeney brushed her wing gently across Varion's back. "We will take them home. All of them. And he will not face this loss alone."
Igneel shifted his great body, lowering himself so that Varion could climb onto his back. Varion didn't move at first — he seemed too numb, too broken — until Igneel nudged him with his snout.
"Come, little one," the fire dragon murmured. "Let me carry you."
Varion's voice came out hoarse, barely audible. "He's really gone… forever isn't he."
Igneel closed his eyes briefly, then opened them with quiet resolve. "Yes. And we will mourn him together."
Varion curled against Igneel's scales, too exhausted to do anything but cling to the dragon who felt, at that moment, like the only solid thing left in the world.
By the time Igneel and the others returned to the valley, the sun had already dipped low behind the distant mountains. The sky held a bruised orange glow, the color of fading warmth and closing days. The children—Sting, Rogue, Wendy, and Gajeel —had gathered instinctively in the clearing, sensing the abrupt shift in their dragons' emotions through the bond they all shared. Their small faces were filled with confusion, anxiety, and an unease they could not yet put into words.
When Igneel landed first, his wings folding tightly against his sides, the children rushed forward… but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Varion.
Varion slid from Igneel's back with a stumble, catching himself on shaking arms that almost buckled beneath his weight. His Dragonoid scales were cracked along his forearms and chest where Acnologia had struck him away, small trails of dried blood marking each fracture. His clothes were torn. His hair was matted with dust and streaks of silver-blue starlight—the residue of the spell Veldanava had used to save him. His eyes… those eyes were the worst of all. They were red-rimmed and hollow, swollen from crying until no voice was left. He looked distant, shattered, like he hadn't fully returned from the place he'd been thrown.
Wendy was the first to move. She ran to him with a gasp, her hands hovering over his arms but not daring to touch. "Varion… Varion, you're hurt… what happened? Why—why do you look like this?"
Sting came next, his earlier pride completely gone as he stared up at Varion with wide, frightened eyes. "Varion? Hey… talk to us. Please."
Rogue shifted closer, nearly silent, but his small hand reached toward Varion's sleeve with gentle hesitation. "Are you… okay?"
Gajeel, who always tried to act tough, froze entirely. His face tightened, jaw clenched, breath shaky. He had never seen Varion look weak. It shook him in a way he didn't understand.
Natsu didn't even look at the others — he ran straight to Varion's side and grabbed his hand. "Tell them what you told me," Natsu said softly, voice trembling. "Or… or let me do it. You don't have to talk."
Varion couldn't answer. His throat felt locked, raw and useless. He tried to speak, tried to force out a word… but the moment he saw all of them — his family — staring at him with concern instead of fear, the tears broke again.
He collapsed to his knees.
The children reacted instantly. Wendy pressed both hands to his chest and face, trying to soothe his trembling magic. Sting and Rogue dropped beside him, gripping his shoulders for support. Gajeel stood protectively behind them, fists clenched. Natsu wrapped his arms around Varion's back and buried his face against his shoulder.
For a moment, the valley was silent except for the quiet sobs of a boy who had lost his father.
Then Anna arrived.
She sprinted into the clearing, her breath uneven and her coat thrown halfway off one shoulder. She had felt the quake in the world when Veldanava died, felt the sudden void like a string plucked from her soul due to her connection with her celestial spirits, and she ran the entire distance to the valley on instinct alone. When she burst into view and saw Varion on his knees, surrounded by the other children and shaking violently in their arms, she stopped so suddenly she nearly fell forward.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
"Oh… no. Varion… no."
Igneel stepped back, giving her room. Grandeeney placed a gentle claw on Wendy's shoulder, guiding her to move so Anna could kneel in front of him. Sting and Rogue scooted back just enough to let her through. Natsu held Varion tighter, unwilling to let go but letting Anna take the space she needed.
Anna lowered herself slowly, carefully, as if approaching a wounded animal who might bolt if frightened. "Varion," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Sweetheart… look at me."
He lifted his head.
The moment their eyes met, something inside Anna seemed to crack. She cupped his face gently, her thumbs brushing dirt and dried tears from his cheeks. His scales flickered weakly beneath her touch, responding to her presence even in his shattered state.
"Oh, Varion…" she breathed, pulling him into her arms.
Varion collapsed into her embrace with a broken sound, burying his face in her chest as if trying to hide from reality itself. His body trembled so violently she had to wrap both arms fully around him to keep him steady. She rocked him gently, whispering soft reassurances he couldn't absorb, couldn't process, but desperately needed to hear.
"You're safe. I've got you. I'm here… I'm right here."
The other children gathered around them, leaning into Varion, touching him, creating a small circle of warmth and presence. Not one of them asked what happened. They didn't need the words. They could feel the truth in how tightly he clung to Anna, how violently he shook, how hollow his aura felt.
His father was gone.
His god was gone.
His world had been torn apart.
Anna held him until his sobs quieted into stuttering breaths, until his exhaustion outweighed his agony. And when Varion's body finally slumped against her, half-conscious from shock and grief, she looked up at the dragons with eyes shining with tears.
"Take him home," she whispered. "Let him rest. Let him grieve. And… do not leave him alone tonight."
Every dragon bowed their heads in agreement.
They would never leave him alone again.
Night fell heavily over the valley, the sky muted beneath a blanket of cloud that smothered the stars. The dragons rested in a protective circle around the cavern they had chosen for the night—an instinctive formation meant to shield the children from any threat. Their massive bodies radiated warmth and vigilance, their breaths soft but uneasy. Veldanava's absence lingered like a wound that refused to close.
Inside the cavern, Anna sat near Varion as he slept, her hand resting lightly on his hair. Even unconscious, his breathing was shallow, uneven, punctuated by small tremors. Wendy had healed his body fully—mended bones, sealed scales, soothed bruising—but no magic on earth could mend the devastation in his heart.
He slept for hours without waking, exhaustion dragging him into a heavy, dreamless darkness. Eventually, even Anna succumbed to fatigue, her head resting near his shoulder as the flickering firelight dimmed.
But Varion stirred long before dawn.
His eyes opened to the quiet crackle of embers across the cave and the silhouettes of dragons sleeping like mountains at the mouth of the cavern. The others lay sprawled nearby—Natsu curled up with Wendy, Sting and Rogue pressed shoulder to shoulder, Gajeel sitting stubbornly upright even in his sleep. Anna's soft breathing brushed against Varion's arm.
For a moment, Varion stared ahead blankly.
Then memory hit him.
The sound of tearing flesh.
The crash of claws meeting divine bone.
Veldanava's final roar.
The light inside him dying.
His breath stilled.
His chest tightened until he felt physically ill, but no tears came. His eyes were dry—burned empty from the earlier storm. Where grief had choked him before, now something else seeped into the hollow space it left behind. Something quiet. Heavy. Terribly still.
Rage.
But not the chaotic kind that blinds and consumes.
This was different.
This rage settled into him like a second heart—slow, steady, pulsing with a cold focus that made his skin prickle. It wasn't explosive. It didn't scream for violence. It did not twist his emotions into something wild.
It sharpened them.
Every breath felt heavier, more deliberate. Every heartbeat echoed with clarity. His Dragonoid scales glowed faintly, pulsing not with fear or grief, but with a restrained heat that gathered inward instead of spilling outward. A star collapsing into itself.
Varion rose slowly, slipping from Anna's gentle hold without waking her. He moved silently across the cavern until he reached the entrance, where cool night air brushed against his face. He stared into the darkness beyond the valley, toward the distant mountains where his father's life had been stolen.
A faint light shimmered across his scales in a delicate ripple—like starlight caught in ripples of deep water. The air shifted around him, pressing inward, pulled toward the quiet fury burning inside him. Not wild. Not dangerous to those around him.
Directed.
Focused.
Purposeful.
He felt Igneel before he heard him—a deep warmth behind him, a soft rumble like distant thunder. The fire dragon opened one glowing eye, watching the boy stand on the edge of the world with the posture of someone far older than fourteen.
Igneel did not move closer. Instead, he spoke in a low, unreadable tone.
"What do you feel, little one?"
Varion didn't look back. His voice emerged steady, hollow, and frighteningly calm. "I feel… clear."
Igneel's eye widened slightly.
Varion's fingers curled slowly into fists. "Everything hurts. But it's not… chaos. It's not confusion. It's a fire inside me that doesn't burn wild. It burns straight. It burns toward him."
"Him," Igneel repeated softly.
"Acnologia."
The name left Varion's lips like a vow.
Igneel shifted, his massive body lifting ever so slightly. He expected shouting, lashing, a desperate plea to fight here and now.
Instead, Varion just stared into the darkness, voice quiet but sharper than steel.
"I will kill him."
The words carried no rage in their tone—only certainty.
"That is a heavy promise," Igneel said, the fire in his chest dimming to something somber. "One that has shattered many greater than you."
"I don't care," Varion replied. "He took everything."
He finally looked back—just a glance, green eyes glowing faintly in the dark—and the sight made even Igneel's ancient flame flicker.
Igneel lowered his head slowly. "If you walk this path… it may consume you."
"Not if I walk it with purpose."
Igneel exhaled deeply, smoke drifting from his nostrils. "Then promise me this: you will temper your rage. You will not allow it to twist you into something you are not. You are Veldanava's son. You must carry his light, not just his wrath."
Varion closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, they gleamed with a quiet, terrifying resolve.
"I am his son," he murmured. "And that is why I cannot let Acnologia walk this world unchallenged."
The air hummed around him, drawn inward by the calm fury gathering in his core.
"And I promise I will not lose myself to revenge. I will still stay who I am just with another goal ."
Igneel watched him in silence as Varion turned back toward the valley, returning to the sleeping circle of children and settling beside them with eerie composure. Anna shifted beside him unconsciously, her hand resting near his shoulder.