A New Path

*cough*

"This again? Where am i now?" Gildarts awoke now after a few hours of sleep.

"You are inside the castle, Gildarts. You fell asleep thanks to exhaustion so i carried you inside." Dragon was sitting beside the bed on a chair and reading a book. He looked up at Gildarts.

"Dad? So it wasn't a dream." he looked down on his own hands and gave himself a quick pinch to check the state of reality.

"You are not dreaming. You are on Paradise island and sleeping inside my castle on top of the highest mountain." Dragon laughed when seeing Gildarts display of disbelief.

"Right. Still can't believe i made it here. Did you know i was coming?" Gildarts looked up at his dad, and was met with a smile so his face grew red and he looked down again.

"Yes! Your mom told me." Dragon said casually. And Gildarts looked up in utter shock.

"You met mom? When?!" He said, and properly sat up in bed and gave Dragon a longing gaze. He was missing his mom very much.

"A while back. When you are ready, we will go and bring her here. She misses you too." Dragon could see it on Gildarts face. The fact that he misses Sylvia greatly.

"Okay! ahm, dad, where have Atlas gone? Is he back on the island?" Gildarts asked with a slightly depressed look. Friends weren't easy to come by. And Gildarts had not given up on making Atlas his friend.

"The tiger? Hes right there!" Dragon pointed to one of the corners of the room. And there in the corner slept a giant tiger peacefully.

"He looks so Peaceful. Not at all like the tiger that attacked me before." Gildarts said and watched the c.h.e.s.t of Atlas rise and fall in a peaceful rhythmic movement.

"Well, i had a little talk with that kitten. So now he is very aware of his wrongdoings. And after that i handed him over to Nabe. You could say that she isn't the biggest fan of Atlas." Dragon said with a calm tone but his silver colored eyes shone with a scary light.

"oh, what did you guys do to him?" Gildarts didn't understand the underlying message in Dragon's explanation.

"Nothing much. You don't need to worry about it." Dragon smiled innocently and started reading again. Gildarts gave him a questionable look and tilted his head.

"So what do you want to do now that you are here?" Dragon said while still reading. Talking and reading at the same time was child's play for Dragon.

"Well, i do want to continue exploring. But i realize i am too weak to go to the really dangerous places."

"Well, i have quite a few things to talk to you about. So how about you just listen to me talk for now?" Dragon said and closed the book and turned his gaze on Gildarts.

"Okay?" Gildarts said in confusion.

"Gildarts. Did you know that there are more then one world in existence?" Dragon said and saw the utter confusion on Gildarts face.

"What does that mean?"

" We live in what is called the multiverse. You know this world that you and i live in now. Ishgar and Paradise Island. They both belong to this world. Do you understand so far?" Dragon saw Gildarts nodding with some slight hesitation.

"Well, i am someone that can travel between all the worlds in the multiverse. 12 years ago i was forced to leave this one. And i was finally able to return just a little while ago." Dragon stopped talking and waited for Gildarts to digest the information properly.

"wow... Can i travel to other worlds too?" Gildarts said while trying to not show his excitement too much.

"You took this better then your mom did." Dragon said giggled at his son.

"MOM KNOWS?" Feeling depressed that he wasn't the first to know, Gildarts hung his head.

"I told her 12 years ago. But i went into detail about it now when i returned." He laughed at Gildarts hilarious display of emotion.

"Well, i don't really understand what this all means. I think i will need to experience it to know what it means." Gildarts said while watching his fathers smile turn wider and brighter.

"That's my son. What an intelligent boy!" Dragon laughed and it woke Atlas up from his slumber. He looked around and saw Dragon and Gildarts talking and he stayed still and listened in on their conversation.

"ye, whatever!" Gildarts who grew red from embarrassment said while fake coughing into his hand to regain a hold off his emotions.

"I was planning to taking you to the world where i have been staying all this time. You have a brother over there waiting to meet you." Dragon said and Gildarts lost him mind for a second and stared at Dragon in disbelief.

"I...I have a brother? What's his name, dad?" Gildarts said after a few seconds of silence.

"His name is Naruto. Actually, you belong to one strange little family. Let me explain." Dragon said and fixed his posture on the chair.

"I have an adopted son, which is Naruto. I have an adopted granddaughter that's named Robin. I have another son as well, Bradely and then it's Bradely son, my grandson, Byakuya. That's our whole strange family." Dragon watched as Gildarts shut down in a similar manner to a computer would.

"Am i a big brother or the little one?" Gildarts didn't know what else to ask. This was strange beyond belief and he needed time to digest it all.

'Crap! How do i explain this? Bradely is the oldest one, but Gildarts was born first. Bradely is a summon, but he is still my son. How do i explain this?!?' Dragon closed his eyes for a second and then answered.

"You are both. You have a big brother and a little one. You are actually in the middle." Dragon said and decided to go on age.

Bradely was the eldest so to everyone else he would now and forever always be the first born and then Gildarts and Naruto after.

'What an annoying concept time is. Since i care for them all, i don't care who was born first. And i certainly don't believe anyone of them cares for who was born first. This is not a situation where they all battle for the throne anyways.' (code geass reference, Sorry, had to say it)

"Does mom know? Do they Know i exist?" Gildarts looked up at his dad but his eyes were empty like the void. He was trying his best to digest the fact that he had an entire family he did not know about.

"No, she doesn't. And i would be very happy if you didn't say anything about it until i tell her." Dragon smiled with some hidden pleading inside his eyes.

"Okay! By the way, dad?"

"Yes, Gildarts? What is it?" Dragon looked curiously at his son's empty and void like expression.

"I'm hungry!" Gildarts said while staring at his fathers face like.

"hahaha, Let's go eat something!" Dragon said while laughing. He didn't need food so he tends to forget that other people do.

"I have been practicing my cooking for you and your mom. Let me show you how good i have gotten at making pancakes." Dragon walked away while laughing.

'I can't believe that the legendary mage rumored to be stronger then Zeref is making me pancakes." Gildarts smiled and wiped away a tear from his face and jumped up and followed Dragon.

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End