A/N:
If you came from the Chaos story before this one: Welcome back! I hope that you're ready to take a longer, probably better, journey with our girl!
If you're new: Yo, welcome to Chaos! I'm glad that you've decided to join me and others on this journey! I hope it turns out to be good!

This story will be uploaded with one chapter every week, every Saturday, until it ends.. which probably won't be for awhile, to be honest. Maybe I'll move this into a second book, but this won't end for a long time.

Either way, please enjoy the first chapter of Chaos.

It was a warm, dry spring evening in the month of April, the year of x791. The missing members of the Fairy Tail Guild had returned rather recently from seven long years trapped on Tenroujima Island, and trapped in time itself. They had returned in the nick of time, it would seem, as they were thrown into the action of saving the world from falling insane. Something to do with an Infinity clock and a book, they couldn't go into detail because they had promised not to.

However, now they were all getting ready to spend the next three months training for an event by the name of "the Grand Magic Games". They were all splitting into groups, the previously famous Guild, and a certain team by the name of the Raijinshuu were heading into the forest near a city not too far from Magnolia.

They were heading straight into a new chapter of their lives.

It was the first night in camp and they were just setting up for their next three months of training, which consisted of much arguing and loud chatting between the members aside from their leader, Laxus Dreyar, who was merely making a fire the best he could out of wood he had found amongst the trees.

Meanwhile, a small, light gray and white figure dashed through the previously silent forest. It was now full of the sound of the figure's panting and small screams every time a root became a tripping hazard. Those screams were only audible to her, however, and she was only tripping because of her exhaustion and lack of sight due to the cracks in her glasses. She saw a light and she believed that it might be the end to everything she had gone through. Everything could just stop… except it wasn't that, as she figured out when she reached the end of the tree cover, tumbling out of the bushes.

She was merely a small, light gray Exceed with forest green eyes, slowly pushing herself up to meet the now silent group of Mages in front of her. They looked shocked. They looked like people she didn't want to mess with... but she couldn't move. She could only sit there in her white long-sleeved dress that was stained with blood as much as her fur was, tears welling up in her eyes that were perceiving fairly blurry vision due to the loss of her glasses.

Her breath seemed to fade and her vision blurred even further, everything becoming nothing for her as she fell straight onto the ground, all movement ceasing.

Laxus would be lying if he said that he wasn't worried about the Exceed that had shown up a couple of days ago. She had passed out and stayed asleep since, even when Freed had fixed up her injuries and whenever the Raijinshuu would argue. It was an impressive feat, really, as the three knuckleheads were super goddamn loud sometimes.

Like right now, when they were trying to be nice and work together to sew an outfit for the small Exceed... sorry, work together? Oh, no, they were competing to see who could sew the best and had pulled Laxus into it by making him the judge. He didn't really mind since he was so worried and wanted the best for the small cat-like being, but he was also getting a little tired of their somehow constant arguing.

"TA-DA!" Evergreen yelled out, obviously down with her sewing. "Sewing is merely a simple task for a fairy such as me!"

Laxus turned to see what she had sewn only to let out a slight snicker from behind his hand. It was just a pastel pink jumper and a pair of leggings that looked a little short even for the small Exceed.

"Well, I'd say "bravo", but that bravo is not for you. It's for me!" Freed chuckled smugly, holding up what he had sewn. A little pair of blue overalls, with shorts instead of pants... it was cute. He seemed to be working on something else as well, but Laxus didn't bother to question it because he knew Freed would say. "I'm also working on a pair of socks and a pair of cute little boots." Yep, there it was.

"… Oh." Bickslow got out, holding up a tiny black jacket. It was thin, but it was very convenient. "I didn't think it through, honestly."

"… Just put everything together." Laxus advised with a shrug, in which the three of them took a moment to think before clapping their hands in agreement.

Freed was left alone to finish up his work and Evergreen decided to fix the small one's glasses, since she would need them to see properly, and "girl things" that she would need. Of course, that led to clueless men. Things were fine and once the Exceed woke up, they could get to training even if it would have to be in pairs or individually. They just wanted to make sure that she was okay. They wanted to know what had happened and what her name was... and if she wanted to stay with them. It took a long talk, but between Laxus' worrying and Evergreen's complaining about being the only girl, they decided that perhaps Laxus could have an Exceed partner like the other Dragon Slayers. He didn't really care about that, but he agreed due to the strange feeling he got.

He just... felt like this Exceed was in trouble and needed a place to call home. If he could provide a home, who was he to turn her away. It was all up to her, of course.

There was one small breath that was deeper than the rest and then suddenly, the small Exceed had started coughing like she had choked on something or she was about to hack up a lung. She was in pretty bad shape and it nearly scared the living hell out of the four mages, especially when the Exceed shot up into a sitting position and held a paw to her chest. Almost immediately, they had rushed over and being the doctor of the group, Freed instructed her to take as many deep breaths as she could between coughs. Surprisingly, she listened to him and she got through her coughing fit with deep breaths left to spare

However, the moment Freed tried to pat her back; she flinched and moved away even though it caused her pain. She held her paws up to protect her face and her head, curling in on herself as she let out a whimper.

"Pl-Please don't hurt me..!" She managed to get out although they all nearly winced at how sore her throat sounded.

She hadn't had anything to eat or drink for almost a week, after all, which made Laxus think of how to gain her trust. He grabbed a water bottle, opening it, and very slowly held it out to her, in which she took a moment to register that he was holding something for her. She took another moment to lower her paws a bit and lock gazes with him to find out if he was actually trying to help her or not. When she figured out that he was indeed trying to help her, she immediately, yet still cautiously, took the water bottle from him.

Evergreen then realized that she probably couldn't see very well.

"Oh! Um..." She dug through her jacket pockets for a moment before holding out the glasses to the small Exceed. "Good sight is important."

The Exceed paused for a moment before carefully taking her glasses, making sure not to make any physical contact. They weren't surprised that she had downed an entire bottle of water or that she was scared of being touched, not very much anyways.

Laxus grabbed the pair of clothes the Raijinshuu had sewn for the small Exceed and carefully put them down in front of her, in which she pulled her knees up to her chest and put her paws on top of them. She still looked very unsure about the strangers—oh, that was it.

"… My name is Laxus. I'm a Fairy Tail Mage and this is my team, the Raijinshuu, consisting of Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen." Laxus introduced in a soft voice so she wouldn't get more scared. "It's okay to be scared, but we're just trying to help you."

A moment paused with Laxus and the small Exceed staring at each other before she looked down at her paws, still needing a little more convincing.

"… Y-… You're not... gonna take me back..?" She asked softly, her tone laced in confusion and disbelief.

"Back where?" Laxus questioned, although that made her freeze up a bit before she shrugged her little shoulders in a "well, that answers my question" kind of way. Laxus motioned to Freed and the others and they got up to go do their own things, leaving Laxus to talk to the small Exceed. "Can you stand?" The Exceed gave a small nod. ".. Are you going to run?"

"… No… I wouldn't make it very far..." The Exceed mumbled in reply, in which Laxus gave her a small nod of understanding.

"You should get changed. You can use the closest tent and then you can come over to sit by the fire with us." Laxus told her, in which she paused again before nodding, cautiously grabbing the pile of clothing before standing up with a bit of a stumble. She limped a bit, but she managed to make it to the closest tent and that was good enough for Laxus, so he stood up and made his way over to the fire.

They waited there for a moment, taking interest in the dinner that Freed was making before little footsteps caught their attention, the small Exceed sitting on the ground between Laxus and Evergreen with her head halfway down. The outfit looked cute on her and fit perfectly, the leggings having meant to be made in a cropped way, and it gave everyone a good sense of relief. Freed started pouring the soupy dinner into different bowls for everyone before turning to Seph with his kindest smile.

"Would you like some?" He asked, in which she immediately nodded without even thinking first.

He gladly made her a bowl and handed it to her with the smallest spoon they had. She paused for a moment, holding the spoon and staring at the substance, before cautiously lifting a spoonful into her mouth. She chewed on a boiled carrot for a moment before swallowing, the sweet taste finally settling on her tongue and making her face light up. She immediately scooped another spoonful into her mouth and it made Freed swell with pride. She then paused before suddenly talking.

"H-How long have I been asleep..?" She asked softly before spitting out more questions. "Where are we? Wh-Why are you being so nice to me? H-How am I even still alive—"

"Whoa, slow down, one question at a time." Evergreen sighed, in which the Exceed lowered her head with what seemed to be shame.

"You've been asleep for about a week." Laxus replied, which brought the Exceed's head back up. "We're in a forest by a city not too far from the one our Guild is in... or near, at least. We're being nice because you seem to have had it rough and we want to make sure you're okay, and Freed patched you up almost immediately after you collapsed."

Everyone paused and the Exceed seemed to be trying to register everything Laxus had told her, giving a very tiny nod. Things were silent for a couple of minutes before Laxus started speaking again, deciding to ask the questions this time.

"What's your name?" He asked, which made her freeze up a bit. It was only for a moment, though.

"… Seph… Y-You can call me Seph…" She replied softly, her cheeks going a light pink as if she had been waiting to say that. She looked a little tense, like she wasn't supposed to say it, but they didn't care how she said it. It was her name, not theirs.

"Where did you come from?" Laxus continued, in which Seph curled in on herself and shook her head a little bit, not ready to talk about it. They all respected that, so Laxus moved on. "How old are you, do you know?"

"I-I, um… I think th-that I'm thirteen..." Seph replied, her voice still soft and almost shaking. Laxus almost wanted to leave things there, but he wanted to know a little more.

"You're an Exceed, right? Have you ever met another Exceed before?" Laxus asked, but that seemed to be the worst question he could ask because Seph tensed up an awful lot and even shook a bit. She still managed to nod her head, though, which they appreciated, but Laxus felt bad for bringing back obvious bad memories. "Bad" seemed to be an understatement.

"… Y-You… said that you c-came from a Guild called F-Fairy Tail?" Seph asked, trying to calm herself down from how tense she had gotten. They all nodded, in which she continued. "… Wh-What kind of G-Guild is it…?"

"Oh, it's a legal Guild. We're not like any other Guild, though, we're kind of like... one, big, unrelated family with a lot of idiots running around." Laxus explained, in which Freed let out a cough despite Evergreen and Bickslow starting to snicker. Seph seemed very relieved to hear that. "Why, bad run-ins with Dark Guilds?"

".. Like you wouldn't even believe..." Seph mumbled softly, which made the four of them frown before Freed noticed that Seph's bowl was empty.

"Would you like seconds?" He asked to change the subject, in which her face lit up almost instantly. Freed's cooking could cheer anyone up.

"C-Can I..?" She asked, her tone laced with disbelief. Had she been fed at all where she came from? Freed nodded and held out a hand for her bowl, which she passed over quickly and politely.

Laxus couldn't sleep right and he didn't know why at first, but he soon figured it out. It was because Seph had been clinging to him and he hadn't been aware. The small Exceed didn't like physical contact, after all, so he was confused as to why she was clinging to him like a lifeline.

Until she let out a whimper, clinging to him even more, making him understand it right then and there. She was having a nightmare and he was the closest thing for her to grab onto. He let out a soft sigh and protectively draped an arm over her, leaning his head back into his pillow again.

This time, he was able to fall asleep.