"Come on, you can do it faster and better," Acnologia sighed as he sat cross-legged in the grass.

"Faster! I just destroyed that rock in three seconds!" Serena objected pointing to the hole in the ground where the boulder had once stood.

"If that rock had been an enemy, those three seconds could have cost you your life," Acnologia said keeping his eyes closed. He was meditating as best he could despite his new apprentice's loud-mouthedness.

"If that rock was an enemy, I wouldn't have been limited to one type of magic!" Serena retorted crossing his arms.

"You don't know that," Acnologia growled.

"... How fast do you want me to do it?" Serena asked.

"Do it in under a second and I'll be content for the moment," Acnologia responded.

He heard Serena huff but the sound of concentrated breathing told Acnologia that he was indeed preparing to commence his training.

"GALE DRAGON-"Serena began.

"Stop," Acnologia called opening his eyes.

Serena's aura died away and he turned to his master annoyed, "What now!"

"You're too tense," Acnologia said looking the rebellious dragon slayer in the eyes, "If you want to do anything efficiently you have to relax."

Serena rolled his eyes and turned to the new boulder, his aura built up again and the wind picked up.

"Hold on," Acnologia sighed getting to his feet. Serena looked back angrily, Acnologia got to his feet and walked up next to the child. "Stand with your feet shoulder's width apart," he instructed. Serena brought his feet closer together.

"But I'll be off-balance when I roar," Serena huffed.

"Bend your knees you rebellious drake," Acnologia growled getting into a similar stance. Serena did so. "Bring your arms to your side," Serena copied his example, "and find your balance."

Finally, Serena seemed to be steady... and impatient.

"Can I try now!" he gritted.

"Be patient or I swear you will feel what a real dragon's roar is," Acnologia growled. Serena shut up.

"You need to be in sync with the world around you," Acnologia said, he lifted his head and smelled the air, "Feel the air, the ground, connect with the forces around you."

"The forces of what?" Serena asked... he wasn't angry anymore, only curious.

"Life, Death, Peace, and Chaos... the force of balance is everything especially to a dragon slayer," Acnologia breathed closing his eyes and feeling the magic in the air.

"Why?"

"A dragon slayer is the human embodiment of a dragon. Dragons are the representations of the world, hence they are so powerful. Dragons are ancient and powerful because they are so close to the world and forces in it. If you want to gain even a sliver of what a true dragon can accomplish you must connect with those forces, especially if you ever want to master that final magic we talked about."

Serena's eyes sparked with awe, "Alright," he nodded and he stood in position. His breathing slowed just as Acnologia had instructed. Magic energy built up around the two.

"Just the first one," Acnologia said slowly. Serena nodded.

"Gale Dragon..." the force built up around Serena, "Roar!" he yelled opening his mouth and unleashing a cyclone of wind onto a rock shattering it into thousands of pieces. Acnologia watched a hint of pride in his gaze. Serena turned and smiled. His hair was wild from the wind but his eyes were bright.

"How was that?" he asked putting his hands on his hips.

"Stronger," Acnologia nodded, "but you need to be way faster if you ever want to use it in battle."

Serena's eyes brightened at the thought of battle, "I'll practice," the boy smiled. Acnologia nodded and walked away. He sat down in the grass and began to meditate again. Instead of clearing his mind, Acnologia thought of how this whole shenanigan had started.

Serena had come out of the operation unstable and "dangerous" nearly blasting the place away with three types of magic at once. Acnologia was essentially forced into the job of "babysitting", but he enjoyed teaching Serena, not that he'd admit it, even to himself.

The first thing Acnologia had done was to remove Serena from Council's gaze. No wonder he had been messed up in the previous life with the council poking and prodding him as they did. Acnologia had taken the boy to a remote part of Fiore, it lay in a large secluded mountain range. Large blue mountains surrounded them and the bright blue sky stretched above them. The grass was fresh and lush but there was no need to worry about the typical monster. It was a haven, especially for a new dragon slayer.

The second thing Acnologia did was teach Serena about his senses that had tripled in power after the operation. That had been an interesting time full of mistaken identities and wild goose chases. Serena had once mistaken the smell of a duck for a deer... that had been a fun day.

The third thing Acnologia was doing was teaching Serena about his magics by teaching him one magic at a time. He had decided to start with the Gale Dragon Magic because it was the simplest and safest one to use at first. Serena, of course, experimented with his others, despite Acnologia's objections.

"Yo, Acno," Serena said prodding him. Acnologia snapped back into reality.

"What?" he growled not opening his eyes.

"I smell people."

Acnologia inhaled the wind and nodded when he smelled the familiar reek of the council, "well done," he nodded.

"Who is it?"

"The council," Acnologia sighed.

Serena straightened and looked at the direction of the smell.

"What's wrong with you?" Acnologia growled.

"Will they try and take me away?" Serena asked trying to remain calm.

"I'd like to see them try," Acnologia scoffed.

"But they might," Serena argued.

"What's so wrong with that?"

"... I want to stay with you," the kid answered.

Acnologia opened one eye, "Kid... do you have attachment issues?"

"No!"

"Sure sounds like it."

"Do you have to judge me all the time!"

"Yes."

"I just... don't want to go home," Serena scowled crossing his arms and looking to where the councilmen had come in view. There were twelve of them all dressed in white.

"... Do you have home issues?" Acnologia asked closing his eyes again.

There was no answer. Acnologia nodded and continued to meditate.

"I don't like my parents..." Serena scowled at last, "They're condescending and hypocritical."

"Those are some big words for a nine-year-old," Acnologia supposed.

"I'M THIRTEEN YOU JERK!"

"Be careful of what you say," Acnologia sighed.

"... If they say that my parents want me to be under their "care", I'm going to roar at someone," Serena hissed.

"I've got a better plan." Acnologia yawned stretching out.

"What?"

"I used to know a girl, little older then you, and there was one thing that she loved about my dragon form," Acnologia said standing up.

"Are you gonna eat them!" Serena gawked.

"No," Acnologia growled as if Mavis would ever approve of him eating people. He transformed and stretched his wings. He lay down and lay a wing down so it acted as a ramp, Serena's face was priceless.

"You're gonna let me ride you!" Serena screamed.

"Get on before I change my mind you brat," Acnologia growled. Serena scaled his wings quickly and sat on his back gripping onto his large black scales. The councilmen had begun running towards the two. Acnologia could hear them yell 'Stop' and 'Wait'  but if Acnologia pretended that he couldn't hear them, then he didn't hear them.

"Let's get out of here," Serena muttered.

"Don't worry kid, you'll have mastered seven of your eight elements before they see you again" Acnologia growled raising his wings and taking to the sky. As he flew Serena put both his hands in the air and screamed at the top of his dragon lungs with joy. The councilmen could only look helplessly as the black dragon grew further and further away.

For the next three years, Acnologia worked on training the young dragon slayer. They moved place to place living as the old dragons and dragon slayers did, away from humanity. Serena grew stronger with time and eventually grew braver, especially when it came to the council.

At the end of those three years, Serena had nearly mastered seven of his elements and was working on his eighth. At this time the Council finally tracked them down and forced them to return. Serena went happily swearing to stay in contact with his master and Acnologia watched with pride as his now sixteen-year-old apprentice walked into the council building head high and heart full. Nothing would beat that child.

"And now," Acnologia sighed to himself, "let's see how Fairy Tail's doing."