Morning sunlight shone brightly across the land. The forest trees waved their branches happily in the light breeze, leaves dancing joyfully. Birds chirped their morning songs as they fluttered above a bustling little town almost hidden by the trees if not for the train station. Sunlight glared off of new windows and the shimmering ripples of the canal. The cobblestone pathways glinted softly, their surfaces recently smoothed by an onslaught of rain. Even the lampposts and their light lacrima were reconstructed and refilled with magic.
The townspeople were just as happy as the nature around them, cheerfully greeting one another as they passed by neighbors or set up shop. Everyone was basking in the afterglow of rebirth that seemed to blanket their town.
Finally, after several months of hammering and cementing wood and brick, the war-struck town of Magnolia was finally whole again. The people were happy to be home to a wizard's guild. If not for them and their magic, the construction would've taken a few months longer.
~oOo~
A bird flapped casually, slowing down to land in its nest. Its hatchlings chirped hungrily as it lowered its worm-filled beak to each one. It tweeted in response to them, happy it was able to provide another meal.
Their chirping reached the sensitive ears of a woman in her shared apartment. Her frizzy, aqua curls were wild and untamed from a night of constant turning. Caramel ears twitched a couple of times, hearing the light sounds of the morning outside her window. The woman frowned in her sleep as she slowly woke. Amethyst eyes slowly fluttered open as she shifted to sit up. Her white sheets slowly fell into her lap, revealing the plain purple tank top she'd worn to bed. Clawed fingers laced together and moved far above the woman's head to stretch her arms. With a loud yawn, she tossed her covers aside and flung her caramel legs over the side, quickly rising to her feet.
She trudged to the bathroom in the hallway, passing a picture of her and two other girls hanging in a black frame. On the far right, the woman was smiling brightly. She was wearing a sleeveless black top and a forest green cropped jacket. Her arm was wrapped around a smiling blonde with a high ponytail tied up with a red bow on her right side. The woman was wearing a plain blue crop top and holding up the badge hanging around her neck. Finally, on the far right, was a woman with soft pink hair in a low braid over her shoulder. She was wearing a light green tank top and had a small smile on her face. Her arm was reaching out toward the camera and was cut off on the right side of the image.
To think, the woman spat out toothpaste and rinsed her mouth, that picture was over a year ago now. She let the water clean her toothbrush and reached for a washcloth to wash her face. Returning to her room, the woman grabbed her rose patterned brush from the nightstand drawer and started brushing her hair.
Her thoughts trailed back to the picture hanging in the hallway and she smiled. She and her sister had moved with the blonde to their nation's capital of Crocus. Magnolia didn't have anything left for them and the two women knew it was time for a change in scenery. Seeing as all their other friends were already going their separate ways, the sisters decided to go with Lucy.
That picture was from the day she'd finally been hired by Sorcerer Weekly as an amateur reporter and writer. The three of them celebrated together and spent the night in Lucy's apartment. It was more of going over what leads they had on the others and drinking a bit of wine in congratulations.
The bluenette sighed and set her brush down. She knew their presence helped Lucy through the sudden change, but it wasn't until a certain dragonslayer and exceed appeared that she really brightened up again.
"Those three are really their own little family," she chuckled to herself.
Walking over her dresser, she looked through her outfits. For today, she decided on the same top from the picture with a dark blue skirt and a matching, silver-rimmed vest. Her black fingerless gloves matched the calf-high boots she pulled from her shoe rack. One last glance in the full-length mirror by her door and she walked out with a smile.
"Now to cook breakfast!" It was the only way her sister would wake up peacefully. Anything else and the poor bluenette would get smacked with her sister's clock.
Quickly pulling out a pot and pan, the woman got to work making eggs and grits. She hummed away in the kitchen, smiling as she finished off the egg and put bacon on. While that and the grits cooked, the small dining table was set and tea was brewed. Finally returning to the stove, the mage stirred the grits one last time and distributed the bacon.
"Rose, c' mon!" Amethyst eyes glanced at the clock above the side window reading six twenty-three. They would be able to get to the guild pretty early today. "It's time for breakfast!"
As if summoned, a woman with long, rose pink hair frizzy from sleep and tired vermillion eyes trudged in. A pale hand reached up to lazily cover her yawn as she settled into one of the places at the table. She took a sip of the tea and cringed, reaching for the spoon and sugar in the middle of the table. Two scoops, a stir, and another sip. Rose smiled contently.
A plate of eggs, bacon, and grits was placed in front of her and she thanked her sister. Rose waited for the bluenette to sit down before starting to eat. It was relatively silent, the two mages simply enjoying their food and company. When both plates were clean, they focused on their tea.
"Hey, Nerida?"
Amethyst eyes glanced up from her teacup. "What is it?"
Rose just stared at her tea for a moment. Nerida frowned at the disquiet in her sister's scent. But before she could ask, there was a surge of energy outside.
It only lasted a minute before it disappeared. This was not the first time it'd happened. In fact, for the last several months, there were similar surges of power. They'd only grown more frequent over time. The last one was only the day before. To all in Fairy Tail, that power felt vaguely familiar but none had placed.
Until now.
"That's what I was going to mention." Nerida looked at her sister questioningly. "These… surges are dimensional rips."
"What do you…" Another surge and the bluenette remembered where she'd felt it before. There was a hint of something else she couldn't put her finger on, but it felt a lot like- "The Eclipse Gate."
The sisters shared a determined look. Agreeing to head to the guild as soon as possible, Nerida cleaned the kitchen while her sister got dressed.
~oOo~
"I'm glad you shared this information with me. This is very concerning," Makarov sighed. He had hoped that he and his children would finally be able to relax after the war. The eighth master sighed and held a hand to his head before glancing up at the two mages. "I will call a guild meeting and see what the others say. Maybe we can come up with a theory and figure this out."
Nerida frowned. "Has the Magic Council not said anything about it, Master?"
"Unfortunately, no." He picked up a couple documents and skimmed through them. "I've sent several letters about these energy surges with little reply. I even had Levy send them her input on the situation and request someone look into it. They haven't found anything in the archives yet and the royal family is growing a bit restless."
The bluenette nodded solemnly. After the Eclipse Gate incident, and then the Celestial Spirit world almost collapsing a few months later, she figured Hisui was worried this could be related as well. She silently hoped it wasn't. The last thing their new queen needed was another incident related to Eclipse.
"Alright." Rose sighed and turned toward the door. "Rida and I will wait in the lobby then."
~oOo~
The guild members whispered amongst themselves as they waited in the main lobby. An anxious tension hung heavily in the air. Everyone was worried about the energy surge they felt early that morning. While it hadn't felt malicious, it wasn't positive either.
Team Natsu and several others were the most worried. With every surge that occurred, the energy had felt more and more like the Eclipse Gate. Lucy and the dragonslayers could tell it was more than that, too. There were hints of magic similar to the Anima - the magic device that took them to Edolas.
"Hey guys," Rose greeted as she and her sister approached them. The two women looked just as worried as everyone else. No doubt the surge unsettled them.
Team Natsu greeted them in return. Erza, straight to the point, asked, "Do you guys know what this is about?"
Nerida nodded, amethyst eyes glazed in memory of the incident possibly related. "Rose and I told Master that the energy surges felt a lot like the Eclipse gate, although…" she trailed off in thought. "It feels like there's more to it."
"Edolas." Her gaze snapped to Natsu. He had a serious look on his face - something she still found foreign on the carfree fire mage. "It's just like Edolas."
The sisters looked at him wide-eyed. So, whatever the energy was, there was another world beyond it. That made the energy surges that much worse.
"Alright brats, listen up! I-" He was cut off by another surge of energy.
This time, instead of dissipating after a minute, it converged above the city. Fairy Tail rushed outside and watched in horrified awe as a large, swirling hole grew in the sky. It grew and grew and grew, not stopping until it covered the entire town. Then the ground started shaking as the hole descended on Magnolia.
Suddenly, everything in the guild was black before the wizards knew no more.
~oOo~
The townspeople screamed in fear at the giant hole above. Anyone and everyone who could try tried to run. Some made it out of the town before it was swallowed but most of them were stuck or just weren't fast enough. And this time, Fairy Tail couldn't help them.
Because their guild hall had disappeared first - with everyone in it.
Author's Note: Hey everyone! Another idea I've been playing with for a while. As I'm sure you noticed, there are a couple OCs here. Nerida is mine but Rose belongs to a friend of mine - who has granted me permission to use her.
First things first; I do not own Fairy Tail or Magi. For anyone who hasn't read the Fairy Tail manga, there will be SPOILERS as I'm sure the final season isn't over just yet. As for Magi, I'll be relying on the anime until I catch up in the manga...So, anything I miss manga-wise is because animators are lazy and cut things out.
Anyway, please read and review!