Richard Buchanan hummed merrily to himself as he walked down Crocus' streets with his newfound freedom. Newfound freedom that was earned by redeeming for his past crimes, he would remind himself.
Richard's goal still remains the same though: to find and reunite with his younger brother, Wally.
Granted, he was doing research on Wally's whereabouts whenever he had the time or resources to do so while he was a part of Crime Sorcière, but he was limited in both of those, especially the later, due to his infamy as Hoteye of the Oración Seis. However, now that he has been officially and publically pardoned by Queen Hisui, along with the rest of his comrades in Crime Sorcière, Richard's time and resources to find and reunite with his brother have greatly increased.
The man would admit, it did feel a little weird walking through the streets with other people casually; back when he was in Oración Seis, most people would either be dead or have ran away when Richard and the rest walked down the streets of some city or town. Granted, usually those cities or towns would either be mostly abandoned or a generally horrible place. And even when he was in Crime Sorcière, everyone would mostly move at night when most people are sleeping, and even then they would have to be as quiet and unseen as possible; after all, each and every member is (or was, considering recent events) was once an infamous mage to begin with.
Richard did let out a sigh, despite his deepest wish being a world full of compassion and love, he wasn't quite yet used to casually walking through the streets with others. Yet.
The sound of glass breaking and someone yelling was heard. "Help! Those bandits stole the store Jewel!" Someone shouted as fading footsteps were heard. Richard looked to where the sounds were coming from, seeing a man pointing at bandits were running away; sacks of Jewel slung over their shoulders and weapons in their hands. "Somebody stop them!"
Using his Magic, Richard made the ground beneath him melt, the man sinking into the ground. As the bandits continued running, the ground in front of them started to rise, a large man appearing from the ground.
"Who the hell is this punk?!" One of the bandits outburst, raising his spear as he was ready to gut Richard.
"Hang on, I think that's Hoteye from the Oración Seis!" Another one of the bandits said, lowering the other's weapon with his hand. "If we give him enough money, he'll help escape."
However, to the bandit's surprise, Richard shook his head from side to side, making a disapproving face. "My name is Richard, not Hoteye. And money is meaningless to me." Richard said, nonplussing some of the bandits. "I have opened my heart to love and friendship, not to money and greed anymore. I no longer seek money to find my brother, I seek friendship to find my brother. Oh yeah."
"Wait, Hoteye has a brother?" One of the bandits asked in confusion, kinda missing the point.
"Uh, Boss," One of the bandits said to another, the one that thought Richard would help them, "I heard that the Oración Seis, sans Brain, have been officially pardoned by The Queen."
"Oh, I see how it is then." The leader bandit said, his voice and the glare he was giving Richard being completely hateful. "After the mighty Oración Seis escapes from the Magic Council, they decide to run away with their tails between their legs. After that, they decide to become weak and join the light side of magic guilds. I can't believe I used to look up to your mighty guild. Attack him!"
Three bandits ran towards Richard, the tips of their spears pointing towards the former Oración Seis member. Richard pointed a flat palm towards the bandits, the ground beneath them suddenly liquefying before exploding with powerful force, sending the bandits flying. The bandits were sent flying back to their group, groaning in pain and almost defeated, amazed onlookers watching the battle between Richard and the bandits in wonder; murmuring to each other about the new information of Crime Sorcière's pardoning.
The bandit leader growled. "Shoot him!" He ordered. Multiple bandits holding magic staves pointed their staves at Richard, magic energy quickly building as a ball at the end and shooting towards the Earth Magic mage.
Richard simply raised another flat palm to the bandits, the ground in front of him raising like a wave, except it was made of a liquefied ground. The magic balls flying towards Richard were destroyed by the wave. the aforementioned wave continued moving and hit the bandits, sending them flying. All the bandits landed on the ground, looking nearly defeated.
"Boss, we don't stand a chance against him!" One of the bandits yelled to the leader. "He was a member of the Oración Seis, he's too strong for us to beat."
"I concur." The bandit leader said, getting off the ground. "Gentlemen, it's time we made our leave." He said as he casted a spell, his minions and himself disappearing due to an invisibility spell.
"It's impossible to flee from my Heaven's Eye, no matter what you do. Oh yeah." Richard said, pointing his index and middle finger under his eyes, the two globular organs glowing brightly as he activated the Eye Magic. Richard could see the bandits' invisible forms as golden human-shaped blobs, the man immediately activating his Earth Magic to make the ground beneath them explode as they tried to sneak away.
The bandits fell to the ground, bruised and beaten and groaning in pain. Most of the bandits were either unconscious or unable to get up, even their leader - the strongest of the group of bandits - was only able to lift himself up with his arms, unable to use his lower body.
Richard felt guilty at the sight; this wasn't the way to spread the message of peace and love. "I don't get it." The leader groaned as he looked up at Richard, the tall man standing in front of him. "How are you... so strong?"
"It is because I have opened my heart to love. Oh yeah." Richard answered solemnly, his arms behind his back as he looked down at the bandit leader, his eyes holding guilt. "I thought that the world was without compassion, that true friends never exist. But I opened my eyes and realised that the truth is that I believe the complete opposite; the world is overflowing with the compassion for one another, that you will find true friends in the end. If you continue to believe that friendship, love and compassion are nothing more but a weakness, then you will never understand what true strength is. Even a simple kind deed could make the future much brighter. Oh yeah."
It then started to become evident that Richard got lost in his preaching (again) and was now talking about friendship and love with seemingly no end. This resulted in the still conscious bandits wishing that they were unconscious. Even the onlookers started to walk away in annoyance with their fingers jabbed in their ears. It was after a while that the Rune Knights appeared, although they quickly became confused when the leader crawled towards them and started begging them to take him to jail.
"Please, I don't care if you put me in a dirty, rat-infested cell, just take me away from this man." The bandit leader begged, his subordinates that were still conscious agreeing with him as Richard was seemingly unaware of what was going on. "He's been preaching for-fucking-ever, just take me away from this man."
Richard blinked as he realised that he once again got lost in his preaching, the bandits being taken away by the Rune Knights. Richard was about to go his merry way, however he felt a hand on his back, the man turning around to see one of the Rune Knights. "I presume you are Richard Buchanan, right?" The Rune Knight asked, his voice being completely calm and showing no emotion.
"Verily. Oh yeah." Richard answered.
The Rune Knight made a little nod. "We have been ordered to not only take away these bandits, but we have also been ordered by Jura of the Ten Wizard Saints and the new Magic Council to take you to him."
Richard raised an eyebrow, surprised that Jura would order the Rune Knights to take him to the Magic Council. Although, on the other hand, Richard was looking forward to seeing his friend again after all those years.
Richard was once again humming merrily to himself, although this time he was in a carriage. It was a new experience for him, riding in a carriage to the Magic Council. Granted, that did happen when he was arrested shortly after Nirvana's destruction, although that was an arrest. This time he was requested to ride, and he was riding alongside the Rune Knights. Among that, Richard doubted that Jura requested the Rune Knights to bring him to the Magic Council just to put him back to jail; after all, Jura did protest Richard's arrest.
Although, now that the thought occurred, what was that Jura wanted Richard for?
"So, um... Richard, is it?" One of the Rune Knights said, gaining the large man's attention. "I heard that you used to be obsessed with money, although now you care about love. Is it true?"
"Oh yeah." Richard answered, actual honest-to-God sparkles surrounding his face, the man inexplicably blushing. "I had thought that the only thing in the world that mattered was money and being as rich as possible. But now I know that money doesn't mean much when our friends matter much more; love is irreplaceable, money isn't. Oh yeah."
The Rune Knight just nodded and remained silent. The carriage made a small jerk as it stopped, the window revealing the new Magic Council outside. Richard was escorted into the new Magic Council by the Rune Knights until he was at a wall-less hallway that had its ceiling supported by white pillars. The doors at the end of the hallway opened, revealing a tall, bald man with a long, dark beard. He wore a black kimono, one that he rested his arms in the long sleeves of, and had a happy smile as he saw Richard.
"Ah, it is good to see you again, old friend." Jura said, taking his arms out of the long sleeves of his kimono.
"And it is good to see you again as well, Jura. Oh yeah." Richard said, suddenly jumping at Jura and hugging him. The Wizard Saint was initially taken by surprise from the hug, however he quickly hugged back. As he hugged Richard back, Jura signalled the Rune Knights that they were not needed and could go back to what they were doing before. Richard moved away from Jura, ending the hug, looking a little sheepish for what he did. "Sorry, it has been a long time since I saw you, my friend; I got overcame by my emotions. Oh yeah."
"It is quite alright. I too am overwhelmed to see you again." Jura replied calmly. "Although I have asked you to be brought here because of another reason than seeing you again."
"Oh really?" Richard questioned, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "Then what reason have you requested for the Rune Knights to bring me here?"
Jura continued to smile. "A promise that I made to keep." Jura replied, turning around to the door that he came from. Jura opened the door, revealing a man who was starting to transition from his mid-twenties to his late twenties. The man was of an average tone and size; at first glance looking almost completely normal, if it wasn't for the fact that his body consists of geometrical shapes, particularly that of blocks.
He wore a royal blue suit with a white, collared shirt and a red necktie. He also has black, oval-shaped sunglasses, a boater hat and a white scarf that hanged loosely around his neck. Richard had at first been confused on why Jura had brought him to the Magic Council to introduce him to this mysterious man, however he began to recognise who he was looking at.
Richard's voice was caught up in his throat, tears escaping his eyes as he recognised the man as his younger brother. Wally was much like Richard; staring at his brother in open-mouthed surprise, tears escaping his eyes as he was on the verge of crying.
The two brothers ran to each other, embracing one another as they both wept. "Wally, look at how much you grown!" Richard said as he cupped his brother's face in his hands (at least as best as he could), tears still pouring from his eyes. "You've grown so big and so blocky... I couldn't be any more proud of you. Oh yeah."
"And you... you look just like Dad, Bro." Wally said, looking up at his older brother with tear-filled eyes. "You look... so dandy!"
"When you disappeared in the tower, I became desperate to find you." Richard said, sniffling as he tried to stop the tears, but to no avail. "I thought if I had loads of money, more money than I can imagine, then I'd be able to find you. I wish I knew from the start that I didn't need money. Tell me, where did you disappear to?"
"I didn't disappear to anywhere, Bro." Wally said, crying into his older brother's chest. "You disappeared at the tower one day and you couldn't be found. After Jellal took over the tower, I was told that if I did what he said, I could go to Heaven and see you again. I thought you were dead for all these years... I'm sorry that I didn't search for you, Bro."
"It's alright, Wally, it's all alright." Richard said, patting Wally on the back.
The two Buchanan brothers continued to hug and cry into each other, Jura watching in admiration; though the man did feel a little awkward that he was watching the reunion. "Jura, I can't possibly thank you enough for this." Richard said, looking towards the Wizard Saint, rubbing away the tears from his eyes with his sleeve. "How were you able to find my brother?"
"It's okay, Richard, I did this purely because you are a good man with a good heart. You have no need to thank me." Jura responded, keeping a calm and cool demeanour. "I had little free time, as being a part of the Magic Council meant most of my time was spent around the politics of the magical world. Luckily for when I did have free time, the Magic Council had many resources that I could use. Although ultimately in the end I had Miss Erza to thank for coming in contact with your brother."
"Well then, I cannot thank you or Erza enough. Oh yeah." Richard said earnestly.
"Hey, Bro." Wally said, gaining his older brother's attention. "Shô and I are travelling the world, looking for adventures and discovering all sorts of things about magic. Do you want to join us?"
Richard's eyes shined as he looked at his younger brother, sparkles surrounding his face. "I'd love to travel the world with you. Oh, I wonder how much Shô has grown throughout the years. Oh yeah."
Jura smiled at the reunited brothers, closing his eyes as he continued to smile and having his arms rest in the sleeves of his kimono. "They're already like two peas in a pod, it's like they haven't even been separated for all those many years. This is the true love of brothers." Jura thought contently as the two brothers left. "Oh yeah."
Author's Note: What's this, a Fairy Tail fanfic without a pairing? Absurd!
Lol, just joking, there's nothing wrong with fanfics having pairings (hell, I'd be considered a hypocrite if I actually meant that there were too many fics with a pairing). Anyways, this was a simple fic of Richard and Wally Buchanan being reunited, nothing else really.
When I found out that Richard's main goal was to find his brother again, I was hoping that we would see them reunite. Sadly, however, we never really got even a hint of that happening. Oh well *shrug*.
You can just call this the Buchanan brothers reunion that we never got (though I doubt that many fans were interested in seeing that anyways). Oh yeah.
(Note: I'm not criticising Hiro Mashima, this was just something I had hoped to see.)