Acnologia wasn't quite sure what drove him out of the guild, it might have been Natsu and Gray fighting, it may have been Sting and Gajeel trying to piss off Laxus... and succeeding, it may have been Macao's and Wakaba's sexist remarks, heck, it could have been that Makarov was drinking too much. Whatever the reason, Acnologia dumped his dragon hatchlings with Serena, grabbed a job request and left the town as fast as he could.

It was a sunny day, a soft wind blew, and Acnologia was by himself in the forest. He inhaled deeply, soaking in the silence and the peace. Despite how much he cared for the guild, a small part of him missed the peace of being alone. It felt... right, no matter what anyone said, Acnologia would always remember what he had been, in isolation, Acnologia felt at peace... both with himself and the world.

The job was easy enough; he beat up a few bandits, got a reward and decided to take a long way home. This meant walking through a mountain pass and staying the night in a small town... Acnologia decided to avoid the latter.

Instead, the king of the dragons slept in a tree overlooking the town. He looked up at the stars, his heart hurt a bit as he recognized many constellations that Anna had taught him. Slowly, Acnologia's eyelids began to fall and he fell asleep.

"And that one is Hydra," Anna smiled tracing the stars with her finger.

"How do you remember all that?" Acnologia asked.

They were lying in an open field, the grass swayed gently in the breeze, a few miles away a dragon roared, it wasn't a challenge but a song to the night, Acnologia ignored it.

"I've always loved astronomy, and after I became a celestial wizard, my dream solidified," Anna said.

"Oh," Acnologia shrugged.

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"What are your dreams?"

"Oh... well, I guess I want to settle down, live a calm life."

"What, done with living already, what about the joys of a dangerous life?"

Acnologia chuckled, "I've had WAY too much danger as it is."

Anna giggled, I suppose you have, oh mighty lord of the dragons," she said the last part teasingly.

"You know I hate that nickname," Acnologia smiled.

"And you KNOW I will tease you about it for the rest of your life," she teased.

"I might live a long time," Acnologia smiled.

"And I will be with you every step of the way," Anna smiled. She grabbed his hand in reassurance, slowly Acnologia leaned over, and gave her a kiss, and she kissed him back.

Nothing else mattered, there was Acnologia, in the field under the moon with the love of his life, and he had never felt so happy.

Acnologia awoke to a commotion down in the town. He had mixed emotions, he hated that they had woken him up, but at the same time, the dream, or more correctly the memory, had been very painful and he didn't want to relive it again.

The commotion in the town was growing louder, with a sigh Acnologia began to walk to the town. A mob had gathered around a house, they were throwing stones and yelling things like, 'demon child' and 'worker of the devil'.

'That's not normal,' a part of him sighed.

'Walk. Away.'

Then a small white-haired girl put her head into the window that a stone had gone through a few seconds ago.

"STOP IT! SHE WAS ONLY TRYING TO HELP! STOP IT!" she cried.

Acnologia could smell takeover magic at work; he leaned over to a mob member.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"There's a girl in there who works for the devil!" they cried.

"Oh... what gives you that idea?" he asked monotonously.

"A demon appeared a few days ago and a girl absorbed it!" they cried.

Acnologia felt a growl rise in his throat, these people were attacking a kid, who didn't even know that she had magic, it wasn't right.

He walked towards the house and opened the door; he was met with a small boy.

"Don't you touch her, she didn't do anything wrong!" he cried.

"I know," Acnologia nodded. He looked into the house, there were no adults, but there was an older girl, most likely the eldest, covered with a black cloak hunkering in the corner. He walked over to her and knelt down, he held his hand out.

"Let me see it," he ordered.

The older girl shook her head.

"It's going to be okay, I just want to see it," he said, he wasn't even going to bother smiling.

She reluctantly gave him her hand, it wasn't anything too new, typical demon takeover, her arm was simply replaced with a demon's. Acnologia shook his head, "One thing is for sure, you aren't a monster."

The siblings looked to each other quizzically.

"You have a rare form of magic called takeover, yours seems to specialize in demon takeover, it's truly a remarkable magic."

"Will it go away?" she asked.

"Yes, in time," Acnologia said, a stone flew through the window; Acnologia caught it before it hit him. "You can't stay here, these people won't understand," Acnologia warned.

"Nobody will!" the older girl said in desperation.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that I know a particular guild that will totally understand your problems," sighed Acnologia, "they tend to attract problem children."

Another rock came through the window; Acnologia's eyebrow began to twitch.

"OH FOR MAVIS'S SAKE! CAN YOU ALL CEASE THE PURGING OF SAID DEMONS FROM YOUR TOWN FOR THREE SECONDS!" he yelled.

The yelling outside ceased for a little while.

"Come with me, and I'll take you somewhere safe," he said.

The three siblings followed him outside.

"THERE SHE IS!" one man yelled. Acnologia grabbed him.

"If any of you touch them, I will show you the wrath of a dragon," he growled.

"You are a defender of the devil!" the man shouted.

Acnologia shook his head in exasperation, people these days. They seemed to get less respectful as the centuries flew by. Slowly he led the children out of the town and through the mountains.

"So, what happened to your parents?" Acnologia asked the children after they had set up camp.

"They're dead," the eldest one said.

Acnologia nodded, he was not going to get any more information.

"So... what's this guild like?" the youngest asked curiously.

"Well, it is called Fairy Tail, its master is this old guy named Makarov, he'll want you to refer to him as gramps; he is like the grandfather of the guild. Then there's Ur, she's strong, motherly, and will listen to your problems... I guess she's the chill aunt. Then there's Macao and Wakaba, stay away from them. Ur also has two boys named Gray and Lyon, not biological sons, but they might as well be. Word of warning, Gray strips. Call them what you will, cousins, brothers, weird strangers whatever. Gildarts is... he's a special one... he has a daughter named Cana, she... acts way too old for her age. Then I have seven... adolescents that I am charged with watching."

"So you have seven kids?" the boy asked.

"Yes," Acnologia sighed, "There's Laxus, he had a tough shell, but he'll open up to those he trusts, he's like a... I guess... he's like a rock covered in bubble wrap when you get to know him, rather than just a rock. Erik has a tough outside, but he's a real cloud of fluff inside, Natsu is a freakin pyro manic, fights with Gray a lot and is a real hothead. Gajeel is chill, little harsh at times, but chill. Sting and Rogue are quite the twins; Sting has a very outgoing personality while Rogue is a bit more reserved. Wendy is sweet and will help you out with anything.

"They sound great," the youngest girl smiled.

"So, what are your names?" asked Acnologia.

"That's Mira, by big sister, and this is my big brother Elfman, and I'm Lisanna!" The youngest girl smiled cheerfully.

Acnologia nodded. They talked through the night until the three Strauss siblings, as it turned out their last name was, went to sleep.