The wind howled across the open sands, picking some up into swirling eddies of dust. A lone figure pulled it's hooded cloak tighter around it's neck as it carefully picked it's way across the dunes. At the top of one particularly tall dune, the figure paused, looking out across the vista before it, it's gaze eventually was drawn down to the small settlement several miles ahead. Reaching down to it's belt beneath the cloak, the figure pulled forth a canteen and raised it to it's lips to drink.

"Tsk." A gruff voice sounded forth from beneath the hood, turning the canteen upside down, "Lucky the settlement's where that little shit said it'd be... I'm totally out." The hooded man turned to begin making his way down the dune towards the small cluster of ramshackle buildings.

The settlement was small. Little more than a waypoint in the desert, built around the single working water pump that worked tirelessly to dredge up liquid life from whatever had been here before the end of the world. There were a few homes, but the newcomer made his way directly towards the largest building in town, the tavern attached to the Water Pump.

Pushing the door open, the figure made his way to the bar, ignoring the silence and stares that his arrival prompted from the other patrons. "Barkeep, give me some of the good stuff," He said, setting his empty canteen and a handful of Jewels on the bar, "It's been a bitch of a hike from the last settlement to here."

The bartender looked the newcomer up and down, before shrugging, taking the money and filling both a glass and the canteen with fresh, clear water. "You're an uncommon sight 'round here these days stranger." He said conversationally, "Not too many people come through here anymore. Not since the big towns got their pumps connected to the old rivers and irrigation systems."

"Yeah, I don't do too well around big towns these days." The stranger capped off the canteen and replaced it at his hip before taking a grateful gulp from the glass. "Besides, I'm looking for something."

"Oh?" The bartender's eyes flicked up to look out across the rest of the room, "Some kind of treasure hunter are you? Lookin' for old secrets from back before the kingdom fell and the world went to hell?"

A small chuckle escaped the hooded man, "Heh. Guess you could say that." He reached into a pouch at his hip and produced a strange crystal, almost the length of his palm, it was pointed at each end and it's middle seemed to almost form a faceted cone. "I'm lookin' for something like this." He said, holding the crystal up, "But bigger."

The bartender seemed almost hypnotized by the sight of the gem, "How much bigger?"

"A lot. least five feet in length, maybe more. It'd be blue, probably glows in the dark too." The hooded man turned to face the rest of the tavern, "Anyone? I'm willing to pay for the info of course."

"The hell you need some rock that size for eh?" One of the patrons spoke up, he was an ugly man, one could almost liken him to a lizard. "What good's it to a single man all alone out in the wastes eh?"

The hood turned, and the lizard-looking man froze as he felt the eyes beneath it lock onto him. "I don't think that's really any of your fucking business. I'm just looking for it."

A shadow fell over the hooded man, "Well it becomes our business if you're lookin' for it in our territory." A massive, giant of a man towered over the stranger, cracking his knuckles, "So why don't you just save us all some hassle and tell my friend what he want's to know."

The glint of white teeth could be seen from beneath the hood as it's owner grinned up at the massive man, "Ho? Big guy aintcha?" He chuckled again, pushing himself off the bar and grabbing his water. "Look, I'm just asking. If none of you knows anything, then what's the big deal?" As he went to take another drink, a fist larger than his head flashed down, knocking the glass out of his hand to shatter on the floor. The room went deathly silent and still, "Now look what you did..." His voice grew darker, "Wasting water like that... Someone really oughtta teach you some fucking manners lard-ass."

The giant man roared, bringing both his fists down in a hammering blow aimed at the stranger's head. However, the hooded man stepped forward under his reach, there was a flash of green light, and the giant man was sent flying. He crashed heavily into the far wall, denting it at the point of impact.

"Did you see that?" One of the patrons watching the confrontation asked his neighbor. "He just took down Ricky!"

"Never mind that," Said another one, "That flash, he's a mage!"

Instantly the atmosphere within the tavern changed. The patrons all glared daggers at the stranger, a couple of them already had knives pulled. "Shit..." The hooded traveler turned back to the bartender, "Sorry about this. This dust-bowl have a doctor?" At the wide-eyed man's nod, the stranger turned back to the mob of bloodthirsty locals, "Then you'd better call him. Alright assholes, you want my blood? Let's take this outside."

He made his way to the door, almost casually, the crowd all slowly shifting to follow him. As soon as the door closed, the bartender ran to the back door and bolted from the building, hurrying towards the local doctor's home, the sounds of a terrible brawl followed him the whole way.

Three minutes later, the street was silent as the bartender and the doctor hurried towards the site of the battle. What awaited them caused both men to stop dead in stunned shock. The traveler sat almost lounging atop the piled bodies of his attackers, taking a deep drink from a glass of water that he had apparently retrieved from back inside. Seeing the bartender's return, he stepped down to the dusty street, stooping to pick up a fallen knife from the ground and using it to clean his teeth. "Sorry 'bout the mess doc. None of'em are dead, I made sure to pull my punches."

To his credit, the doctor managed to recover his composure remarkably well. "O-of course..." He looked between the stranger and the pile of locals a few times before shaking his head, "It's been a long time since I saw a mage fight," He chuckled tiredly, "I'd almost forgotten how incredible you people could be."

The traveler smiled from beneath his hood. "It's refreshing to meet someone who remember's us fondly. Most people these days just blame us for the state the world's in and call it good. Or they try to kill us, that happens too."

The doctor smiled lightly, making his way towards the pile of unconscious bodies and began pulling it apart and lying the men out on the street. "No... The only one responsible for the state of world has already received his final punishment. We just live in the midst of his final curse."

"Yeah..." The traveler's figure seemed to slump as thought the air had been knocked out of him. "Yeah, he did get his..." His voice sounded pained as he spoke.

"I was there you know," That caused the traveler's head to snap up. "I saw that final battle between Fairy Tail, Acnologia, and Zeref. Never seen anything like it before... Hell, probably won't see anything like it ever again." He turned to the stranger with a smile and a small wink, "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

The stranger bowed slightly, "Thanks." He said, "By the way doc, maybe you can help me..." Once again he produced the hand sized crystal, "I'm looking for something like this, only much bigger."

Pausing in his work, the doctor took the crystal in his hand and looked it over. "Hmm... maybe. A man I patched up a few weeks back was talking about some big treasure find that they made in Stillswell. It's about five, maybe six day's journey west and south of here." He handed the crystal back and went back to work. "May be nothing, may be something completely different. But it's the best that I can come up with."

The traveler nodded, stowing the crystal once more. "Thanks old man. It helps a lot."

"Hey, I ain't that old yet you little punk."

"Right." The two shared a chuckle, before the traveler turned to make his way back into the bar, "You've still helped out in a big way." He said over his shoulder before closing the door behind him. Once inside, he looked around finding himself alone inside with the bartender who scowled at him slightly. "Sorry about beating the shit out of your clientele, but now you know why I don't do too well with big towns."

The bartender snorted, cleaning out a glass and setting it on the bar, "So what do you need now? And it'd better be damn good to make up for my lost profit from that lot."

"Six or seven days worth of water and food?" The traveler walked up to the bar and set several more Jewels down, "And a map of the area between here and Stillswell if you can."

The bartender looked at him for a few moments as though trying to decide if the man was worth it. Finally, he sighed and pulled out several canteens and a sack. Motioning for the stranger to wait, he walked into the back and filled the sack with provisions for the journey. "I admit, I'm surprised you're such a respectful man." He said as he returned, taking out a small map from behind the bar and folding it up. "I expected a mage to be a lot more... rebellious. Or maybe bitter at the whole world for being blamed for the state of it."

"Yeah... well... it's been a long five years. I've been around, seen a lot. And I'm not really a hundred percent sure that people shouldn't blame me." That caught the bartender's attention, however the traveler just set an extra handful of Jewels on the bar, grabbed the sack, loaded the canteens into it and made his way out of the building without another word.

The bartender hurried outside in time to see the stranger sharing a final word of thanks with the doctor before turning and making his way out of town. Watching the figure dwindling in the distance, he walked over to the doctor, who was busily working on several of the local thugs. "Who was that man doctor? Did you know him?"

"Hmm?" The doctor looked up from his work, "Well, I saw him a few times back before the world went to shit. Never actually met him, but I read about him in the newspapers. Him and his guild." There was an odd nostalgic smile on his face as he spoke. "But that was a long time ago, he looks like he'd rather not be reminded of any of that anymore. Besides, I promised him I wouldn't say too much."

Outside of town, the traveler slowly climbed one of the tall sand dunes. Pausing at the top, he turned and looked back down at the small nameless settlement, "Heh... dammit." He said, reaching up to wipe away the tears that had begun to well beneath his eyes, "Nearly went the whole day without remembering you all... Natsu... Grey... Erza... Everyone..."

Turning back to the vast expanse of desert, he reached down, pulling out one of the daggers he'd taken from the mob back in the settlement. As he walked down the far side of the dune, he casually snapped it in half with his teeth, crunching up the metal blade in his mouth before swallowing with a disgusted sigh. "Shit the metal these days tastes horrible. You would probably laugh at me for saying that Natsu, but it's true. And I'd bet you that the fire tastes just as shitty. And little Wendy... You'd think that the air tasted bad too, wouldn't you? Grey, you'd hate it here. Too much sun for your stupid stripper attitude, you'd burn to a fucking crisp within a day. And there's probably not enough moisture in the air to make any of your precious ice anyway... FUCK!"

He suddenly let loose a howl of pain and sorrow, along with a heavy burst of magical power, causing a massive cloud of dust and sand to explode around him. Within the cloud, he clenched his fist tightly before slamming it as hard as he could into his own cheek. "I can't keep thinking about all of you!" He screamed into the empty air around him, seeing mirage-like images of his long gone friends in the swirling sand. "I CAN'T! It's too painful..." He collapsed to his knees clawing at his arms, tears falling freely from his eyes. "Why First?... Why me? WHY DID YOU SAVE ME AND NOT THEM?!" His pained shriek echoed across the empty expanse, offering no answer.

"No... of course you won't tell me why..." He slowly rose back to his feet, wiping away his tears. "You're dead. Just like the others... And all you left me for a clue is this..." Pulling out the small crystal, he looked at it with disgust. "You left me basically a miniaturized version of your old stasis crystal. And that's it. Dammit Mavis... Erza would have known what to do with this thing better than I do..."

Finally, after several minutes, he stowed the crystal back in it's pouch and began walking once more. "Oh well... I finally have a fucking lead. Maybe." He pulled up his canteen, taking a small sip to replenish the lost water. "If Stillswell doesn't pan out... I think I'm gonna head to the biggest town that I can find, and put that hatred of mages most people have these days to good use. Then I can be with everyone again... Then I can be with her..."

As he walked, the winds swirled around him, almost as though they were ushering him onward. And the sands of the ruins of Fiore continued their eternal mockery of the beautiful lands that they had once been.

Part one of a little side project that popped into my head a little while ago. Not entirely sure how far this one will go yet, but however far, it will certainly be an interesting ride.