Chapter Text
The weeks prior to the S-Class trial flew by. I spent most of that time with Jellal, ironing out the kinks and potential snags that might turn up if anyone objected to my getting a guild mark at age 10. That meant figuring out all the paperwork and actually getting something together that I could feasibly use as a reliable weapon.
“Anything you can prepare in advance will extend your effective stamina and that is something you will be weakest in at your age.”
Jellal lectured, actually sounding like a formal mentor.
“I have my relay runes-”
“Which only rely on kinetic energy. And with the type you are shaping up to be, you will want to be a controller as much if not more so than a brawler. You are more than versatile enough to be one and it is an incredibly useful skill set. But you lose a lot of time when you have to write large, complex spells by hand and you will not always have the liesure to prepare your battlefield ahead of time..”
I folded my arms and thought hard, the wind off the ocean tugged at my hair as I mulled it over.
I had my rune syllabary that I had stored a bunch of runes in, but they were only the premade runes, no actual power.
“So you’re saying I need to learn how to scribe scrolls. So I can have something ready made with me.”
It was a good idea. A handful of scrolls and their effects were not to be underestimated. It could get bulky carrying them all, especially if they all had to be stored carefully.
“I’m thinking of something a little more permanent than a single-use spell. Tell me Fae, what are the most iconic tools and accessories a wizard has?”
I rattled off the first, most stereotypical things that came to hime.
“Pointy hat, magic wand, some kind of extremely intelligent or comically stupid animal, spellbook-” I paused, looking up at him. He was giving me a look over his mask. “A spellbook.”
I repeated, feeling a smile start to cross my face. Unlike a lacrima, a spellbook was stable enough to contain multiple enchantments because each page could, in a sense, hold its own story. The iconic image of a book and stories was connected intrinsically. Especially the kind that was nestled between two covers with sets of pages stitched into a solid binding and bound in ornate material.
I had not only been reading alsmot since I arrived in Fairy Tail, but I had been memorizing. And with my work with Team Shadowgear to identify the curses and spells, I had been exposed to dozens of ways to preserve and hold spells in a stable format until they were ready to be released. I could use everything I had learned up until now to create a magical lynchpin that could hold a lot of my work together. With all of the stories I knew of actually written down somewhere, that would serve as an easy reference to pull the memories to the forefront of my mind to use them more quickly than I could currently manage. The time spent refining the book would allow it to be a better focus for me in the spur of the moment. The more I thought about it, the better an idea it seemed to be.
Plus, I could actually find a way to store other things in it besides spells and curses. Seals. Naruto Fuinjutsu seals! Bigger on the inside technology! ReQuip magic, you are at last within my reach, mwahaha!
“It will have to be an incredibly high quality piece in order to stand up to repeated use. And even then, it will not last you forever, even Cana needs to replace her cards every now and then. But, yes, I feel a spellbook will fit in most securely with the way your magic functions. And I know you are already plotting something. So keep in mind that you only have two weeks of supervision-”
I grabbed Jellal’s hand and started marching for the guild hall where the first of my targets was eating breakfast.
“We are getting to work right now! Come on Lucy knows where to buy the best paper, Levy that super cool magic conductive ink, and the bookstore owner owes me a favor. Chop-chop, let’s go!”
-vVV-
Since I was making a magical tool that was meant to let me easily use my entire collection of runes, I was toying with the idea of altering the shape of my rune syllabary to serve as the spine of the book. But it would make for a really thick book unless I went to some craftsmen to reshape the lacrima item into something a little narrower and more suited to the task. Or unless I invested the time to do it myself. But until then, I had to painstakingly write out a rough draft of what I wanted this book to do in my story. The purpose I wanted it to serve, including detailed references to other spellbooks that I dredged up in my mind's eye. But that was mostly Morgana’s deal since she was capable of pulling up a lot more examples than I was. It left my mind to wander a bit over the approaching events.
The various S-class candidates were working with their partners, upping their teamwork and hashing out strategies. Lucy was needing to do some recalibration of her strategies. Loke had promised Gray long ago that he would be his partner so he wasn't going to be available to her. But since he was opening his own gate for the duration of the trials, Lucy wouldn’t be experiencing an untoward amount of magical drain. And Lucy had to hash out some new strategies to work with Cana, who had surprised me by asking her to be her partner.
“C’mon Fae, these fish ain’t gonna catch themselves!”
That is to say, everyone was working hard on getting their teamwork up, except for Natsu and Happy. But since this duo’s teamwork had no place left to go except down, that was ok. They could bond and work on themselves just as well fishing together as they could actually flying or fighting.
“I gotta finish this first, Natsu!”
“Ok, you work, I fish, we all eat!”
I couldn’t argue with that logic and thus, I waved at Jellal as Natsu kidnapped me away to our fishing spot by the river. Happy grabbed a bemused Kiana, who had been coiled in my jacket on the table, and brought her along with us.
-vVv-
I think we had been out by the river for a few hours when I got up to stretch my legs and wander around a bit.
“I’m gonna go for a walk!”
“Ok, don’t let the shale imps bite! There’s a couple of them forming around here!”
Well duh, this is where I broke them down last time.
Shake imps were creatures of habit if nothing else and typically liked to stay near the same veins of ore. Taking out their primary lacrima source meant they regrow over the course of several months instead of a few hours. They were a fairly routine pest control job for wizards, though even ordinary civilians with sledgehammers were up to the task if they were well organized. Kinana had wandered off in a different direction than I had, but I was confident that the snake-woman was more than capable of handling herself against any imps she might encounter.
I hadn’t gone too far when I heard a yell and saw a bright flash of light. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand and drifted closer, curious.
Who is that?
The other young Dragon Slayer.
Oh, Sting!
I was still a bit annoyed that he had asked for the rockgoblin head as a trophy. It would have been so cool to take back and put on my shelf! But live and let live, I guess. Not like I couldn’t get other cool trinkets.
I climbed some trees and approached him cautiously, after manufacturing some sunglasses, just in case. After observing him for a bit, I concluded that Sting appeared to be trying to punch down trees. Pretty successfully to be honest, there were two old, dried up trees stuck in the ground that he was working on, knuckles slamming into charred circles on the trunks as he kept working at it, yelling every now and then with effort.
That has to be terrible on his arms though at this age.
“Hey.” He whirled, fists coming up defensively and looking around furtively. I laughed, waving and drawing his attention. “Up here.”
“When did you get here?”
He demanded, shoulders relaxing slightly, but not by much.
“About 43 seconds ago. I’d say you’ve been here for...oh...at least three hours.” I slid down from the tree, examining the dents in the wood, then his knuckles with a light touch. “You’ve gotten a lot better about how you throw your punches.”
They were barely even reddened compared to the bloodied flesh he had had before when he had been whaling on the semi sentient creatures.
“...Thanks.” He shifted, looking at me awkwardly and reclaiming his hand, rubbing it nervously where I had touched it. “You here with your teacher again?”
The reminder made me flinch ever so slightly. Something I knew he could see. He did the same confused head tilt that I’d noticed Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel doing when they saw something that they didn’t understand.
“Ah...no.”
I felt him look me over, noting the distinctive lack of a visible mark or any kind of signal that I was associated with any official organization. Which was the easiest way out of an apprenticeship.
“You’re not already a guild wizard, are you?”
“I can go places by myself without being a member of a guild.” I defended with a small huff, offended at the notion that I needed minding. He’s here alone too. I kicked butt against the shale imps last time. And I’d like to see this guy successfully booby trap an entire palace! “You’re not marked by anyone yet either, and you’re out here on your own.”
“I’m not on my own, you’re here.”
That comeback made me laugh in surprise.
“So there is some sass in there behind your surliness! Well, touche, Sting. Nicely said.”
He seemed pleased at the compliment, if slightly confused at my flip from defensive to amused. As I looked around, I saw that several other old trees trees were likewise marked with the signs of burning hot fists splintering the wood.
How long has he been coming here?
Almost a year.
So this had been his spot before we had actually met.
“Do you always practice around here?”
“No, I got some other places I like to work out at.” He said, rubbing a bit of sap off his fist. “But this place gets the best sun the longest.”
“Makes sense. Kinda surprised I haven’t seen you more often if that’s the case. I’m almost always not too far away.”
I traced one divot in the tree imprinted with the mark of his fist.
“How much stronger did you get?”
He asked hesitantly, stepping slightly to place himself firmly in a ray of sunlight. My eyes sparkled.
“A lot! I’m getting my guild mark in about a month!”
“For Fairy Tail?”
“Duh!” I may or may not have been exuding some light of my own at the happy reminder. “I mean, what other guild would I want to join?”
“They’re not the only cool guild.”
He was trying hard to not look petulant or annoyed, and also to not rain on my parade.
“No, but it is the only one for me! I mean, where else would someone with a name like ‘Fae’ belong?”
I conveniently did not mention that I had chosen my own name. But the point still stood. Where else would I want to go other than Fairy tail at this point? Maybe in the future that would change and I’d join a different guild. But for now? There was no question.
“If you’re a good wizard, you could go anywhere and they’d take you.”
“Actually not even then. Dark guilds and all might have an issue with a really good guy wanting to join up and they wouldn’t stay good for very long afterward.”
The underbrush rustled and made Sting tense up and shift slightly as though ready to lunge to put himself between me and the sound.
Kinana?
Yes.
“Relax, it’s one of my friends.”
Her large purple head poked out under the bushes and she rose up slightly to examine Sting critically who likewise examined her.
:Another young wyrm? My friend, are you collecting them?:
This made Sting go red with indignance.
“She is not- I’m not hers or part of any collection, I barely know her!”
“What he said, Ki. I just happen to know several of them.” I ran my hand over her head fondly. “Kinana, meet Sting, Sting, Kinana, a recent addition to Fairy Tail. I think you two will get along. You both really like sunbathing.”
The transformed girl dipped her head politely to the boy, shrinking and coiling around me casually.
“What are you?” Sting asked, his curiosity overwhelming his caution and stepping a little closer once he was satisfied that he couldn’t get snapped at. “Are you a wizard? I’ve never met a talking snake before.”
But he has met an Exceed.
...Alright, it has officially passed being a coincidence, it’s totally a pattern that Dragon Slayers must have pets or companions. If Laxus answers my letter and it turns out that he’s gotten himself some kind of animal, it’s becoming a concrete fact.
Kinana hissed her pleasure at Sting’s warm, sunlight enhanced aura brushing over her, emitting from his hand.
:I am a transformed two-leg. I was not a wizard before I was changed, but my friend believes I may be one once I am restored to my proper form:
“Cool.” He tapped the guild mark on Kinana’s throat. “I didn’t know they let non-humans join guilds...”
“Anyone can join a guild so long as they are capable of speech, and have either completely mastered one spell, or gained intermediate proficiency in three. Kinana’s got enough control over her shape and size that it’s considered mastery in Transformation Magic.”
I explained proudly, having reviewed the requirements many times in my efforts to persuade Makarov to allow me to join. They were somewhat of a low bar, but all in all, that wasn’t a bad thing. The best way to gain more magic was through experience and unless you were a licensed wizard, you couldn’t exactly get much of that.
“Oh...The Sabertooth scout says you need at least five spells that you’re good at.”
Sabertooth?
A guild based in the mountains. Their new master has very high standards.
Huh. I’d never really heard much about them before. Their jobs must have kept them relatively close to home.
“Guilds can modify their entry requirements as long as they at least meet the national standard. Is what it says on paper, but to be honest, even that can get waived under special circ*mstances.” Sting grunted articulately as I waved a hand around one or his old marks on the trees. It was as though the focused light of a magnifying glass had become a physical punch and impacted the tree, leaving that round scorched circle. So I indulged my curiosity. “So what kind of light do you emit? A variant of sunlight or something else?”
“Why do you care?”
“Just curious. It’d be kinda cool to be able to just produce light. You’re basically like a living star!”
He didn’t seem to like that comparison, judging by how he was shuffling his feet and looking anywhere but me.
“Well...I don’t really know how to explain it. I just...do it.”
I wasn’t too upset with the lack of information. There was gonna be plenty of time to figure it out!
“That’s fair. Are you working on a laser punch of some kind?”
That seemed to perk him up a little and the tension bled out of his stance. His tone became markedly more energetic.
“Yeah...if I concentrate enough White Magic in my hands, it makes them hit harder. But it’s hard to keep the charge up without it exploding and losing my rhythm...”
“Do you want a practice buddy? I’ve got a few minutes.” I offered, pulling out my Naruto headband with a grin.
“I’m gonna be joining another guild.”
Sting said slowly, as if I were very dense to be offering him help.
“So?”
This made his face clear and a small smile played on his lips as he lifted his hands.
“Alright. Let's see what you’ve got!”
I activated my various defenses with touches to the appropriate items before tying on my headband and falling into a stance, grinning.
“Oh you’re so gonna get it, punk. Let’s get this thing of yours working!”
-vVv-
Because I had experience observing Natsu, and because the martial prowess of the Naruto headband was helping me out, I was able to recognize Sting’s patterns almost right away. It was very apparent that he was using Natsu’s fighting style as inspiration for his own. The footwork and punches were slightly modified since Sting was still a lot younger and had less reach and overall muscle, but they were still noticeably similar and thus, moving into the safe zones was easy.
He admires him and patterns his style after his deliberately.
And adapts it as needed to account for his magic emitting white, semi holy energy instead of fire.
It gave him a lot more versatility. For one, Sting could probably branch out into a couple different runes or seals, which Natsu’s magic was pretty unsuited to. And Holy Magic had the additional benefit of being easy to render harmless, meaning it was a solid starting point if you wanted to learn any enchantment or support magic. But for now...it was pretty easy to avoid Sting. He was approaching this as a close range brawl. There was space in his style for longer range attacks that I would be hard pressed to avoid, but he either couldn’t pull them together fast enough to catch me. And it was pretty easy to disrupt his concentration whenever he tried.
But what I was really after was the fact that, just like Natsu, Sting was very relaxed when he was fighting. He was grinning outright when he managed to come at me from a tricky angle, using a quick burst of light from his palm to later his trajectory in an unexpected way.
“Gotcha!”
“Close but no! Substitution!” There was a jerk in my navel and I was suddenly on the opposite side of our makeshift training ground and Sting’s blow splintered the log I had summoned into mulch. “You got logged!”
I cheered, whipping out a small line of wire, finely shaved to not catch the light, as a trip wire across the clearing.
"You can teleport?!"
Sting was recovering from his surprise, his fists charging up as he found his footing for another charge- I yanked my makeshift trap and he stumbled, his concentration wavered and the attack he had been charging flickered out.
He is focusing his attacks on his entire hand.
Oh, that’s not good. Magically or physically?
Yes.
“Hey, Sting? Pause for a sec.” My voice made him pause and he looked at me, on the verge of continuing in spite of my words. “Hold your hand out and charge up your basic attack.”
I said, walking closer, Kinana having risen to a tree nearby to chaperone and babysit our little match. Sting did so, as I placed my hand on his arm, I could almost sense his power traversing down his arm into his hand.
There’s the problem.
“You can’t fight the exact same way Natsu does.” I informed him. “You’re both Dragon Slayers, but his element is too different from yours. Fire gets stronger the more room it has to burn. But light diffuses in an open space. It gets weaker if it’s not given boundaries.” I circled his hand with my finger, then tapped between his first two knuckles. “Try focusing all the power you put into this, in this spot right there.”
He did so, or tried. I stood and waited patiently as he worked at it. Pale white light flickering off of his skin as he fought it until it radiated subtly from his whole hand to just his fingers, sweat beading on his forehead.
“I can’t- Get it any-!”
Left.
I side stepped as Sting lost control of his magic and a beam of white hot energy shot out about five feet from his hand. I smelt ozone and heard the air hum. One of the trees he’d been using as a training dummy now had a deep hole burned into it where there had only been a charged dent before. Smoke was trailing from his reddened knuckles and he was breathing like he’s been running.
That sounded an awful lot like a lightsaber...maybe that’s the way to make one! A faceted lacrima with Light Magic as the core instead of merging Lightning and Fire to create plasma!
My breakthrough idea, and proportionate excitement aside, I had other matters to focus on right now.
“That was so cool! Did you know you could do that?”
I asked, looking at Sting with excitement. He was looking shocked, but it was swiftly giving way to excitement. But my question caught him off guard and he flushed.
“Of-Of course I did! I’m a Dragon Slayer!”
He had no idea. Gonna mess with him just a little.
“Really? What do you call it then?”
I was leaning into his personal space, keeping my eyes fixed on his and fluttering my lashes a little like I saw Mira when she was toying with the produce deliverymen. He sputtered for about ten seconds, leaning away from me for every inch I leaned closer before he half shouted.
“Holy Lance!” Then he realized he had shouted and lowered his voice. “It’s...called Holy Lance.”
He said, trying desperately to regain some measure of dignity. I laughed, straightening and respecting his personal bubble again.
“Cool story, bro~.”
Natsu is looking for you.
I looked back towards the river, though i couldn’t see any sign of the Fire Dragon Slayer. I’d best go back to him before he came looking for me. It had been about half an hour since I’d wandered off. Kinana was still watching us and was moving languidly along her tree branch.
“I gotta run. But it was nice to see you again!”
I ran to the tree where Kinana was, letting her drop down onto my shoulders before turning to run back to my friends.
“H-Hey!”
He seems to be developing a habit of calling after me as I’m about to leave. I half turned to look back at the blond boy. “Yeah?”
“J-Just...Thanks for sparring with me...For a bit...And helping me with...that.” He shook his still smoking fist. “No one’s done that for me since my dragon- And...well...yeah. Thanks.”
If there was a way to my heart, it was that.
“No problem.” Fudge it, do not cry! Just keep walking-! “Trying to figure stuff out without a teacher is...really hard.” -And I kept talking. Just perfect.
“Your teacher’s dead too?”
Sting demonstrated his age with the tactless remark. But he also wasn’t speaking with malice, but sympathy. I flinched, fist clenching by my side. Morgana hadn’t been bringing it up, but if I moved exactly 24 paces to the west, I’d be by one of the trees that Mystogan had taken me to for our ingredient gathering job. It was like since Edolas, all my memories of him were heightened to the point where I would get split second flashbacks of his presence and a dull bittersweet ache to accompany it. I had been focusing on Sting to block that out and try and make a new friend. But now that my mind was on it-
Still too soon. ‘Gana..?
Not my area and it would be unhealthy to suppress the emotional response. That would be how she would see it...
“Not exactly...I really gotta go.” Can’t say he was gone, because Jellal was here. Can’t get into it with him ‘cause he doesn’t know and won't ever know. Otherwise Jellal gets caught and thrown in prison again. And that would make Erza sad, and Natsu upset because he doesn’t like it when she cries. Actually, he hates it when anyone cries and he always knows when someone is. That stupid nose of his...
Natsu sniffed as I approached where he was sitting by the river. He turned towards me, hands flashing dry from where he was washing them in th river after cleaning the fish he caught.
“Fae, who made you cry?”
Am I crying? Dang it... I wiped the tears away, just one or two that squeezed out and wrapped him in a hug.
“I just miss Mystogan...” I whispered into his vest. He plopped onto the ground and tugged me half into his lap, raising his body temperature slightly to compensate for the brisk chill in the air. I hadn't noticed it before.
“OK. Happy can get the fish onto the fire.”
What he is not saying: ‘I can sit and comfort you for a while’
“Thank you, Natsu...”
-vVv-
The S-Class trial group had been gone for five days when I got tired of saying no to people who wanted to know what the latest news was about their journey. The ship we used to get to Tenrou, piloted by compass lacrima and Master or another S-Class member, was named The Undine. And it was all but a guarantee that having that many of our best, and by that I meant most eccentric, packed together in close quarters would make something explode sooner or later.
“Jet, Droy, I already told you: Master asked that I not look.”
I could probably pass the first part of the S-Class trials blind folded. Or at least all the parts that required knowing something. Given a map of Tenrou, just from initial, accidental info gathering touches, I could probably point right to where First Master’s grave was on the island, and that was finding that spot was something he incorporated into every S-Class trial. The rest of it varied.
“But- but Fae, who knows what that brute could be doing to our sweet Levy!”
“He didn’t even give her the chance to pick one of us!”
Yeah, they were still salty over the fact that Gajeel had apparently taken a shine to Levy, though it had not quite been expressed just yet. And that Levy had been nabbed by him in order for an excuse to go get involved in a massive fight with the guild’s strongest members.
“She actually did in the weeks following the announcement. Have the chance I mean.” During which time he had mostly refused to strategize and plan and had just worked out and practiced magic on his own, irritating Levy to no end.
But she didn’t say no.
Shut up, GaLe. I thought at the giggling pink voice. I had to focus on the fact that now the remaining members of Shadowgear were in depressed slumps with my magic helpfully drawing emo-lines and casting a dark aura of depression around them.
“Unbelievable... We’re her best friends. We’ve been through everything together..."
"And now Gajeel comes along and sweeps her off her feet.”
“If it makes you feel better she doesn’t like him that much yet.”
Lucy had hosted a girl’s night before they left. Several things had been aired since Juvia was enormously protective of her one Phantom Lord friend and wanted to set him up with someone. Levy hadn’t said anything, but had been obviously uncomfortable. Lisanna had spotted it and called her out on it. (Once again demonstrating anyone who touched Animal Magic had no filter) Nothing had been admitted, but Juvia and Lucy were now locked in a duel. The stakes: The right to captain the GaLe ship.
Since I knew about it before either of them, or even Levy herself, does that make me the captain? I considered this as I consolingly leaned over to pat the heartbroken duo on the back.
I believe since you are aware of, and therefore the leader of all the ships, that would make you the admiral.
Make it grand admiral. It sounds cooler.
Morgana didn’t respond to that, but she did sigh in a very put upon way. One of the major benefits to her naming herself and shaping her own identity was the ability it gave me to exasperate her.
-vVv-
The Elfgreen ship has been added to the fleet.
I made an enormous spit take, coughing and trying not to die. The update had come at the worst possible time! I'd been extremely thirsty and taken a huge swig of water after running around the city running some tests on my Naruto Headband.
“Fae, you ok?” Wendy leaned forward, laying a hand on my back and letting a flicker of healing energy move through me. “What happened?”
“What has been seen-cannot be unseen!” I never wanted to know what Elfman and Evergreen’s baby would look like? Please tell me that’s crack?
Morgana didn’t answer and I groaned, face falling onto my arms.
“My gosh, whhhhy...”
My alter ego was doing as Makarov had requested and was no stirring in response to the various inputs that were coming from my magic about events in the S-Class trial. She had just informed me about when they had made landfall and that they had safely navigated a winter storm. Minor things like that. Just letting me know all was well.
“Got a flash of something that breaks your head just a little bit.”
“...Kagura, is she being literal? I can’t tell.”
Wendy asked, squinting at me worriedly. Kagura looked at me, then tugged my head to the side and began to inspect it.
“Hey!”
The taller girl ignored me, running her fingers through my hair until she was satisfied.
“No. It was not literal.”
“This time.”
This surprisingly sassy comment from Wendy made me look at her, almost wounded.
“Wendy!”
“I’m serious, Fae. You have got to watch what you say.”
At least I only brought up ‘Noodle Incident’ and not the Flying Spaghetti Monster in that restaurant. Though that would make for an interesting prank spell. Or an improvised summon... I wrote the idea down in a notebook I was compiling for my ‘less common’ spell book. So far, I had broken it down that I would need a few different ones. One for standard combat, on for travel and rescue, and one for miscellaneous situations that were too bizarre to ever have happen. And at the same time, all too likely given the life I lived in Fairy Tail.
“I am plenty careful. I’ve got the storage runes catching my stray magic.”
In the absence of most of my other minders, Wendy and Kagura seemed to have stepped into the big sister roles. Kagura was the eldest and the tallest, already towering over both of us. And I was also the shortest and smallest of the bunch. Even smaller than Wendy. Which grated. A lot little.
On the upshot, Wendy had gotten a lot better about straight up close fighting in the time Erza had had with Kagura before leaving for the trial! And she was pretty much up to short distance gliding! Even Kagura could approximate flight with her Gravity Magic!
“What did you see to make you do that?”
Kagura asked, gesturing at the mess that I Vanished with a flick and a muttered spell.
“Something between Elfman and Evergreen. I’m not sure if it’s one sided at the moment or something more serious.” I looked up to see Wendy fidgeting a little.
She knows something.
“Wendy...”
“Nope.” She said, abruptly looking away and blushing. “You’re not getting it out of me.”
“You realize I can literally just touch you and-”
Wendy was making tracks for the door far faster than I anticipated her being able to.
“I guess we’re doing tag-training again, Kagura.”
“Excellent. Moving targets are always more challenging.”
“Um...Targets? As in plural?”
She smiled.
I jumped out a window.
“Anti Velocity.”
Kagura had learned basic Gravity Magic in a terrifyingly short amount of time. Her current favorite was increasing the pull of gravity in a short range around her, multiplying the difficulty of physical movement. She usually caught herself in the same zone though. And as I started to move, already feeling my limbs start to burn, I had to think she was doing it on purpose.
Oh she has got all the luck with magic naturally suited to physical conditioning. I thought sourly, Morgana noting that Kagura did not seem to be even remotely slowed by her own handicap.My friends are going to do me in someday.
-vVv-
I heard him coming long before I saw him. I was standing on the platform, watching the countdown until the train arrived.
Laxus was coming back to Magnolia. It had only been a few months since the harvest festival and his excommunication. But apparently Laxus wised up a bit faster than Makarov had feared that he would. He didn’t anticipate being able to be a member again. But Fairy Tail was everything Laxus knew, even more so than me. His family. The only one he knew. And everyone ought to be with their family during the winter holidays.
I had written to him just so that he would have some friendly contact outside of the Thunder Legion. And since his closest friends were at the S-Class trials... That really left only me to welcome him back. And everyone deserved to have someone to welcome them home.
I shuffled in the chilly air, wrapped up as warmly as Carla could manage when I left my room this morning. The cold didn’t really bother me, but holding still did make me fidget. I chalked it up to the low stress, high anticipation situation I was in.
He is on this train, right? I checked as it pulled into the station. I was far from alone on the platform. It was winter, people were coming in for the holidays.
Actually the platform was pretty densely packed. I might have to employ some drastic measures to get seen. Kinana was with Kagura and Wendy, acting as a security net for them in their fledgling flight attempts. I wouldn’t have the benefit of using her as a step stool to see over the crowd. Plus using magic like this casually was bad form when you weren’t a full wizard...
Oh the dilemma. I ducked and wove through the crowd, but the confusing mess of story fragments I got from the people that bumped into me was too hard to keep in order to find which exit of the train Laxus was going to be coming out of.
“Laxus?”
I called over the din of people laughing, crying, singing and otherwise celebrating their reunions with their loved ones. There was a large supporting pillar in the station that I could use as a height to get a better look at what was going on.
"Laxus!”
I scrambled up a bench, then higher still to cling to the top of a sign hanging from the pillar.
He still probably wears that super tacky long coat. And he’s freaking huge! How hard can he be to see? Apparently pretty darn hard. Cause I was not having any luck. Morgana, you said he was on this train.
He is.
I had the distinct feeling she was withholding information from me. The crowd had started to clear and a few of the station workers were looking like they were going to be coming closer to tell me to get down. I called one more time.
“Laxus!”
Behind you.
-vVv-
He hadn’t been expecting there to be anyone there to greet him at the station. Gramps would have taken all the most promising candidates to replace him as an S-class wizard to the island, they would have partnered up with their friends or other powerful wizards. And no one would have wanted to greet him anyway. That was why he was coming back, to try and mend the bridges he had destroyed.
“Laxus...!”
“Kid?”
No way... It was faint. Barely audible through the glass of the train and over the crowd’s noise. But he would know that voice anywhere.
‘I don’t hate you.’
“No freaking way...”
He rose, tracking the fastest route to the exit. He had been waiting for everyone to disembark. He hadn’t had anyone waiting for him on the platform after all, and he took up a lot of room being the size that he was. No need to make others wait to be reunited with their family. He peered through whatever window he could outside. Her hair would be distinctive enough that he could spot her anywhere. Yet he was having a hard time catching a glimpse of her. He heard Fae’s voice call his name once more. Unless someone with Illusion had decided to amp up their audio spells to play a prank on him, that was actually her.
He made it off the train, bag hanging from his shoulder and scanning down the length of the platform. He didn’t see her bright, aqua colored hair. But he did see a kid of about the right size hanging from a pillar to see over the crowd.
Typical.
Her hair was mostly hidden under a hat. No wonder he hadn’t been able to spot it. He made his way closer, skirting around the chattering, enthusiastic tourists or returning family members.
“Laxus!”
That was definitely her. He was about to call to her when her head whipped around and bright blue eyes stared at him. For the longest moment, he worried she might look at him like she had when she stood by his bedside after fulfilling her duties checking his injuries. The wounded, hurt look of a child betrayed by someone they trusted. The same way he had looked at his grandfather after he found out his father had been excommunicated.
“I guess it must run in the family, doesn’t it my boy?”
Laxus put the memories of his latest encounter with Ivankov from his mind. That definitely wasn’t something he wanted to dump on Fae. She wasn’t looking at him like that anyway. She looked more like when she had said goodbye. She was smiling at him, jumping down from her perch to run towards him. He lost sight of her for all of five seconds and then she was impacting him in the chest like a charging bull. A very small bull, but the kid had some force behind her now!
He wanted to push her off of him, he never was much of a person for contact anyway, but looking down at smiling eyes and the genuine happiness radiating off of her, he didn’t have the heart to do so.
“Hey kid. I’m back.”
“Welcome.” She said, beaming up at him all the brighter before stepping back. “The others would be here, but Freed got recommended for S-Class, and he took Bickslow with him.”
No surprise there, the Soul Wizard could practically read minds casually, fighting alongside someone he knew? No question he would be one hell of a support partner.
“And Evergreen?”
The kid actually pulled a face at his question about his other remaining friend.
“She grabbed Elfman.”
“She got recommended too?”
”Nope.”
Ah...no more needed to be said then.
“About time, I thought she’d never get it out there.”
“Wait, you knew?!”
“Ever wasn’t close to any of the girls in the guild, so she got her girl-talk out on us.” Laxus said, resettling his bag and starting to walk out of the station, Fae skipping to keep up with the length of his stride. “The guy she complained the most about was Elfman, so I figured there had to be something going on. The guy can be annoying, but not as much as she would say it.”
“‘Medusa’ is a frigging tsundere. So much about her just got explained...”
And just like that, it was as though he had never been gone. Fae was walking him back into town, they were chatting not like a twenty some year old spoke to a ten year old, but as equals.
Kid’s too smart to really be considered a child.
The only difference now was Fae was there to see him instead of Freed. And Laxus wasn’t heading straight for the guild hall. And he did want to know how much things had changed in the last few months. If they had at all.
“We got a couple new members.” Fae reported, eyes glowing in such a way that said she was semi reading his mind for whatever BS her magic was. “We got another Dragon Slayer from Cait Shelter, her name is Wendy. And there’s another two Exceed, plus a flying fiery serpent.”
“The hell are Exceed?”
She looked thoughtful breath hissing in between her teeth.
“Oh right, you missed that too...”
‘That too.’ It’s been two months, what all has been going on?!
“That reminds me.”
He smacked her head gently with his closed fist, soliciting a yelp of pain and a scowl as her hands were laid protectively over where he'd bopped her.
“What was that for, jerk?!”
“Getting yourself kidnapped again.”
By the time he had heard anything about it through the rumor mill, everything had already been settled and done with. But it had not been a pleasant thing to realize that Fae, young as she was, had been made a target. And the people who had rescued her were people he would not have been able to coerce or terrifying into following him as guild master. And realizing how easily he could see his father stooping to that same level was what sold it for Laxus. He was no longer Fairy Tail on paper, but he was still a Fairy in his heart. In a way his father wasn’t anymore, if he ever had been. There was no place for him in his Father’s guild anymore than in his grandfather’s.
“It's not like I did it on purpose!”
"Then get good so we don't have to chase you across the country to save you again."
Her pout was too cute and so much like when she had first arrived at the guild and sassed him, a tiny little girl with barely any hair to her name, giving lip to him. A huge scarred giant whose aura normally read a harsh, crude version of ‘go away’. He snagged her around the neck and ground his knuckles into her head, chuckling when she squirmed away.
“You’re mean Laxus! No one else gives me noogies for stuff I had no control over. Besides, everyone survived, and I got my magic circle put together!”
This subject made her eyes light up with a different kind of happiness and Laxus knew without having to ask why. He’d had the same look when his grandfather told him he was going to be receiving his guild mark. That brought a sweet kind of pain.
“Oh yeah. And how’d that happen?”
This was going to become a story. And it was one he would enjoy hearing. It was as close to home as he would get right now. He wouldn't go back to the guild hall, but he would find a place somewhere in town to stay for the holidays until the old man came home and they could talk.
-vVv-
Whatever else I had been doing stopped the moment I got the news.
The one part of my updates that I had not figured out how to turn off were ships. I saw situations and circ*mstances surrounding the event that was considered a ship update. I had noted Levy getting annoyed with Gajeel and decking him with her bag. (Though how that was considered a ship thing, I decided to not think about too much.)
The next thing I heard about that was.
Gajeel took a blow for Levy while fighting Kawazu and Yomazu of Grimoire Heart! He protected her! So cute-
What!?
Those weren’t names I was familiar with. And no one should be on the island who wasn’t a member of Fairy Tail. And I knew all the members of Fairy Tail. So why were there these strangers on our land fighting our guild members? I could ignore the fact and keep my word. But Grimoire Heart...that rang like something I had read once before and been told to forget.
Sorry master. I’m gonna look. Strip all the update filters, I need to know everything. Morgana, what is happening?
The final member of the Balam Alliance, Grimoire Heart, is searching for the Black Wizard Zeref.
Grimoire Heart.
Dark Guild.
A big league Dark Guild. Was attacking my family again.
“Fae, what is wrong?” Kagura’s low, urgent voice made me come out of my trance with a jolt.
“A Dark Guild is on Tenrou Island.” I whispered. “How’d they even find it? Why would they look for him there? He’s dead-”
No he is not.
Four words that shattered my world view, upped my blood pressure and kicked my terror through the roof. Zeref was alive. The Black Wizard was alive.
Kagura was shaking me now, trying to pull me back to my body.
“Fae, wake up! What did you see?”
But it was all too far away. It was all too much. I saw Zeref-
Why is he crying?
I saw my guild mates and friends, fighting for their lives against dark wizards.
They’re...they’re ok, right?
I saw death expand out from Zeref like a miasma. Everything living dropped dead, the grass withered, trees lost their vitality.
He’s still crying. He’s really sad. He looks hopeless. He...he doesn’t want to kill anything.
“Fae, talk to me.” Simon’s voice echoed in my head, causing a small itch on the inside of my skull as his spell slid gently into my mind. “What are you seeing?”
The impossible.
I thought numbly as I watched what I had been taught and told was the incarnation of malice and darkness weep for a Tenrou deer that had fallen prey to the magic that radiated from him.
Not magic. Curse.
Morgana’s voice was faint. This was an ancient secret, something so old that she could only barely get that smallest piece of information.
The Black Wizard can mourn, Simon. And he’s on Tenrou Island with our guild mates.
-vVv-
Simon acted swiftly.
The news about Zeref, the entire reason he had been enslaved for so many years, being real and alive would hit anyone hard. But he took it with only the slightest tremor and focused instead on the more pertinent threat. Grimoire Heart making a move on Tenrou Island. And among them was Ultear, another infiltrator of the Magic Council. He didn’t want them going anywhere near our territory, but them being there, plus Zeref on top of it...that was more than he wanted our guild to have to face. They needed backup, and they needed it now.
He was calling the Rune Knights...I was calling my own reinforcements in. The Rune Knights couldn’t find Tenrou without a guide. Something to home in on. And there was one person who could be reached who knew where it was and had been there before. But Mest also had to agree to help as a Rune Knight rather than as a guildmate. I hadn't been able to find the correct phrase to break his own Memory Magic to get our friend back.
The most I could do was go get Laxus, who I knew would be willing to help and would believe me. He would have a better chance to persuading Mest to get reinforcements to Tenrou before it was too late.
“Kinana, let's go.”
The snake slid off the table, growing larger with a heavy thump as she hit the floor, her head swayed as she regarded me.
:What are we doing my friend?:
“Talking to Laxus.”
-vVv-
Mest had not expected to get handed an opportunity like this. Lahir called him on a lacrima, informing him that Simon Mikazuchi was reporting Grimoire Heart activity on their guild’s private island. And so was Ultear. But what he was stunned to hear was-
“You don’t believe them?”
“Doranbolt, what are the odds that the same guild will get predominantly involved in combat with two members of the Balam Alliance within a month?”
That was a good point, but at least on the off chance-
“If they’re right and we do nothing, how does that make us look?”
“Terrible, frankly. But to overcommit without proper intelligence would land us in the same boat the Mystogan-Jellal mixup last month. And you know how that worked out.”
That is to say, not favorably. Erza had been vocal in her fury at having one of her guild mates be suspected. And it turned out that there were eyewitnesses that put Mystogan in a different place at the same time as Jellal while he had been posing as Seigrain. Given Fairy Tail's popularity and the iconic status of Titania, her rage was still splashed all over the news. The normally cooperative mage had taken up a decidedly cool stance with the Rune Knights.
“But Captain-”
“We’re not getting involved, Mest. That’s final. You’re withdrawn from your assignment. Return to base by sundown for a final report on whatever you’ve gathered. You were supposed to be back as soon as you knew whether you could proceed to Phase 2. You can’t, so we need you back.”
“Lahir, you cannot pull me out now.”
Running just when things were getting rough for the guild felt...wrong. Every inner part of him was protesting not the reassignment or the lack of success in his mission. But the leaving of Fairy Tail. The strange pseudo memories that were becoming more and more his. The camaraderie and laughter in the guild hall, the stories and experiences, though not his, were lifting his spirits in some strange, satisfying, unexplainable way.
It was just an undercover mission...but walking into Fairy Tail now felt more and more like coming home.
“I can and I will. Don’t make me give you an order.”
And Lahir would if he thought that was what was necessary. Mest had no hopes of arguing with him and changing his mind, now. But luckily, he heard someone coming so he could delay and buy a little more time.
“We’re not done with this and neither am I. Don’t contact me for a while. I’ll be in touch.”
Simon loomed in the doorway, tan skin ashen with stress.
“Mest. I’m told you have teleportation magic.”
“Yes. What can I do to help?” Simon gestured behind him and stepped aside to permit a tall, blond, scarred man entrance.
“It takes days to reach Tenrou Island with good wind.” Laxus Dreyar said grimly, reaching out a hand. “Use your magic and my memory. Get us both there, Mest. The Rune Knights ain’t coming to help.”
From his other side, blue eyes peered into the room. Fae. Because of course the girl was somehow in on this. Her eyes seemed to glow faintly at him and he was struck yet again with the feeling that she was reading all his secrets like an open book. Doranbolt wanted to ask how they even knew that Grimoire Heart was on the island. Securing information like that would surely get Lahir to see that this assignment had more yet to offer in terms of knowledge. But he was too focused on more important matters right now.
-vVv-
I saw Laxus and Mest jump to Tenrou. There had been some debate about pulling Wendy along as well but Laxus nixed the idea.
“We wait until every threat on the island is neutralized before we bring in any of the kids.” Pantherlily spoke up then.
“If you need warriors, then take me too. I’ll be useful in any kind of fight.” Laxus eyed the battle scarred cat before nodding.
“You got three minutes.”
Pantherlily merely drew a sheathed sword from under the table and slung it onto his back. I read at a glance that it was sized to shift with his own mass. Gajeel had gotten it for him after one of their first jobs to make sparring more fun. Laxus and Simon exchanged looks then. Their last encounter had been a rocky one with Simon blatantly calling Laxus out about his hypocrisy. The Lightning Dragon Slayer grunted and broke eye contact first.
“It’s your house now.” Simon looked like he wanted to protest that, but he looked at the blue haired girl beside me.
“Wendy, Fae, you two stand by with Porlyusica. Get ready to receive patients or be teleported yourself if someone is in bad enough shape.”
“Right.”
“Kagura-”
“I will go with them.” She said firmly. “My magic can make the journey easier for the injured.”
Reduce the pull gravity had on something and you suddenly got tiny little kids like us who could heft Gajeel around with ease.
“Ok, get moving. I’ll hold down the fort here and get the idiot Rune Knights to actually earn their pay.” Simon’s eyes flashed with dark purple magic.
Oh boy, Simon’s about to go on the warpath.
-vVv-
Wendy and Kagura did most of the preparation and standing by. I cross legged on the ground and tried to keep track of everything that went on on the island. We didn’t want to let anyone know that Zeref was on the island as well as Grimoire heart. That had a strong chance of triggering another Etherion Blast aimed at Tenrou. And while that would certainly outrage everyone who knew, the Rune Knights were very good about controlling information.
Not when I get through with them if they pull a stunt like that. I thought grimly. I had learned my lesson in Edolas. If you wanted something to happen, you had to get people involved. A lot of people. And the potential drawbacks of advertising the injury of our guilds strongest members did not outweigh the personal satisfaction and side benefits of sticking it to the Rune Knights by publicizing their itchy trigger fingers and disregard for collateral with their super weapon.
I saw the victories, one after another as Mira, Lucy, Natsu, Erza and Gray all won their battles against Grimoire Heart members. I gaped in shock upon seeing Ultear utilize Ice Make Magic. The exact same kind of style as Gray and Lyon used only...pink. (Yeah, I was clueless as to why it was pink.) I watched as everyone ganged up against Hades, Fairy Tail’s former 2nd Master, I read with a shock and a lurch in my stomach.
Mest popped back to grab Wendy and start the treatment of the members on the island. Porliyusica sent me along on the next trip. Accompanied by Carla because she insisted on being there.
“You are so lucky you can still breathe.” I informed Natsu, scowling at him as I wrapped his external wounds up once Wendy cleared up the after effects of Natsu deliberately emptying himself of all his own magic power.
He laughed, coughed and half choked on his own saliva as it tried to moisten his parched throat.
“But I won...!”
“Yeah yeah, you’re a big strong tough guy.” I crooned, ruffling his hair and deliberately letting some flop into his eyes while he couldn’t even muster the strength to move.
“Hey!”
“Whoops! Gotta move on to the next patient!” And keep Erza’s ‘nursing’ from killing anyone before Wendy and I can get to them.
I was taking a short break with Wendy, guzzling water and thinking about all the ways I could tick off Makarov that I was here without being an actual member of the guild. He was doubtless gonna yell at Laxus sooner rather than later, and if he wanted to get all bent out of shape about non-guild members being here...
Cana is about to tell Gildarts he’s her dad.
“Let’s go! There is an oncoming crowning moment of awww that cannot be missed coupled with a comedic loss of faith!”
“What are you talking about?” Wendy groaned wearily, but let me pull her along all the same.
“Where are you two going?” Mest called after us. I waved him on.
“We are observing a cute moment, now either stay quiet and follow or stay here!”
He chose the former option and was hovering close by, curiously as we observed. It took a muttered spell to be able to hear everything. But Gildarts did make himself out as...um...promiscuous in front of his daughter, followed by a sweet, sincere first time meeting/reunion of father and child.
My eyes were just a little misty at seeing that.
We were all coming back together, laughing and joking about the new family relationship and the party that would have to be thrown upon our return home.
“I think we’re just about ready for the first wave to go home.” Mest reported after eating something and resting for a little bit. “I’ve got enough juice in me for a trip now, maybe two passengers.”
“Alright, Wendy, child, who among us is so injured that they need to go home right away?” Makarov asked the resident medic. She was just opening her mouth to reply when it hit.
Dark, cold, unfeeling, uncompassionate. Wendy and her healing and light magic outright spasmed and coughed at the horrible feeling that entered the air. Everyone felt it, but I think Wendy and I had it the worst. Wendy because she could taste it. It was making her cough flecks of blood onto the sand as she retched. Me because I felt centuries of pain, loneliness, and sorrow coupled with guilt, longing and such despair as I had never felt before, nor would ever feel again.
Zeref.
His Curse. Morgana groaned, under the oppressive weight of that history. That had caused so much pain and suffering. Ultear and Meredy are the only surviving members of Grimoire Heart. Zeref has killed all the others.
He felt sad before...now he just feels nothing. What kind of Curse is that?
Then that feeling was washed away by bloodlust. I think I was screaming alongside eons of voices that had fallen prey to what was coming at us now. Hands clapped over my ears, trying to drown it out. It wasn’t like in the Tower of Heaven when I had time to prepare. Or like the old blood fields surrounding Nirvana. This was coming on too fast, too sudden, too much, too much, too much...!
And that was all before I heard the wingbeats. The thunder claps of something slicing through the air.
I looked up and saw a tiny speck of black diving out of the blue sky. Natsu turned his face skyward, roaring a challenge that Gajeel and even Wendy beside me echoed.
The answering bellow tore my physical ears apart all over again.
Acnologia has come.
And for once...Morgana sounded afraid.
I didn’t hear much of anything else, my ears were still ringing from the roar and my mind was too flooded by the horrible echoes of death that were in both Acnologia and Zeref’s controlled use of his curse. But I did see Makarov gesture at myself and Wendy as the rest of the wizards stood together.
I felt unfamiliar arms wind around me. I felt Wendy struggling beside me. I saw Carla trembling, standing bravely beside Happy and Pantherlily, looking back at us with tears in her eyes. I saw Freed, looking over his shoulder at me, dry eyed, unblinking but shaking with emotion. Natsu was coughing around his challenge to the oncoming threat, unable to get the sound past his throat. But he looked at me from directly across the circle...and held up his hand in the unmistakable sign of our guild.
I may not be able to see you. There may be hundreds of miles between us.
Darkness enfolded me as Mest teleported himself, myself and Wendy away from the island. I felt his tears wetting my hair.
But I’ll always be looking your way.
Then...my family, the people who made up my world, vanished.
I’ll be watching over you forever.
I promise.
