A/N: I was always wondering as I read the Edolas Arc, "What about the Raijinshuu? Were they some of the ones killed in the guild massacre that the king performed?" That thought broke my heart, so I pushed aside the thought. Then I saw the cover with Edo-Shadow Gear and it hit me: Shadow Gear in Edolas is the strongest three-man team, just like the Raijinshuu is in Earthland. So I thought about it and I came up with this.
. . . . . . . .
"Which way, which way, which way?" the woman muttered as she walked through the city. Her long, wavy/curly brown hair hung loose over her shoulders and she wore a modest cream turtleneck and a long, ankle-length brown skirt. Her deep, warm brown eyes shimmered brightly with excitement as she looked over the map.
"Evergreen-chan will definitely find the way!" a voice came from behind.
"I was about to say that!" followed up another voice.
"Can you two ever stop fighting?" finished a third.
An affectionate smile spread over her face as she turned, her brown hair flying. Behind her were three men; the first to have spoken was a man, her senior by a year, with grass green hair pulled sharply back, wearing jeans, boots, and a leather jacket. Butting heads with him was a man easily a head taller with shaggy blue-ish hair atop a somewhat gaunt face, who wore jeans and a purple sweater that showed off his lean frame. Walking behind the three companions was a man with blonde hair in a droopy but spiky style, slacks, a button-up shirt, and a black vest.
"I most certainly will find the way, boys!" the young woman, barely twenty, chirped. "Just follow me!"
"Yes ma'am!" two of them said, while the blonde man huffed, smiled, and indeed followed them.
"Evergreen-chan?" said the one with blue hair. He'd caught up with her and was leaning down over her shoulder to observe the map. "Why are we joining a guild again?"
"Why not, now that they're not illegal, Bickslow?" Evergreen stopped, looked at the surrounding shops, frowned, then continued. Her flats clicked on the cobblestone.
"What's the point, though, without magic?" asked the green-haired one.
She stopped in the middle of the bustling street, put her hand on her curvaceous hips, and turned to face the three men. "The point is, Fried, that guilds still give people a job, do good and helpful things, and we'll have a home. That is the point." She turned on her heel and continued on. "Now, I'm told that this guild has a very distinct look…"
"Did you say guild?" Evergreen turned. Laxus bumped into her and they both stumbled. He caught her shoulders and she blushed prettily and looked over at the source of the voice. "I did," was her response. There stood a plump old woman holding a basket filled with fruits and vegetables. She smiled. "The guild around here is called Fairy Tail, and they've done a whole lot of work for the royal city after the attack of the Great Demon Lord Dragneel, bless their souls."
A sunny and happy smile flashed across the brunettes face. Her companions grinned at her happy expression. Evergreen was ever the cheerful soul, but the prospect of joining a guild had made her even happier as of late. "Yes! Yes, that is the one I am looking for! Would it bother you if I asked for directions, ma'am?"
The old woman smiled and laughed. "Not at all, young miss. What you'll do is go towards the edge of town and take a right. They've put their guild down there, and you'll know it when you see it." She waved and began to walk off.
Evergreen waved energetically. "Thank you ma'am! Have a wonderful day!" She folded up her map, stuffed it in her dark green traveling bag, and grabbed Fried and Bickslow's hands (here they blushed and smiled like idiots), and smiled at Laxus. "Come on! Let's go to Fairy Tail!"
. . . . . . . .
"Well," Laxus said, taking his place in front of the group. They all leaned out from behind him and looked at the building. "It certainly looks interesting."
"Oh!" Evergreen had her hands clasped in front of her chest. "I've been wanting to join this guild since before they were even banned! I'm so excited!"
Evergreen, an orphan since a young age, had been traveling by herself for years, hoping for the restoration of guilds. Along the way, years before, she'd met her three companions, and they'd traveled around together, hoping for the day when they could join a guild and find a permanent home. As you can imagine, the fact that that day was upon them excited them greatly, even if magic didn't exist in Edolas any more.
"Let's stop standing here and head in, then." And with that, Laxus pushed open the doors to Fairy Tail.
. . . . . . . .
The guild was as loud and rambunctious as usual, except now the energy was genuine. No longer were they exiles to hide in the shadows and fear execution, but they were a guild who could legally live. Everything was as it normally was; Gray clung onto an exasperated Juvia, Wendy sat at the bar looking bored, and Cana sat a table and read while Macao and Wakaba attempted to get her engaged in drinking.
Elfman and Mirajane sat behind the bar, quite as usual. Mira rubbed a glass squeaky clean while her little brother kept her company, occasionally getting things for her from the highest shelves, or grab her out of the way and hold her protectively when a person crashed into the side of the bar and sent things flying. He seemed to be holding onto her a lot more since Lisanna had left a month and a half before. It had been heartbreaking for both to see her tears as she glowed and was forced up into the portal sucking her up, hear her screaming their names as she left.
"Elfman," came his sisters soft voice. He looked down at her, his straight hair falling into his eyes. "Maybe we could go home early today." Mirajane set down the glass and rubbed at her eyes with her gloved hands. "I'm afraid I don't feel well today. Headache."
"Sure. Whatever you want to do." He lapsed back into silence again, and it remained that way until the doors creaked open. Many ignored it, but most whipped their heads towards the door.
A man was pushing open the door, grunting at its weight, and two men flanked a young woman, both with their arms out in front of her. Elfman and Mira strained to see better; they caught better glimpses of the men, but not of the young lady who was burying her face into the jacket of the one with green hair. He looked to be in pure bliss at her action.
"C'mon, Ever." The blonde man grabbed the two others and pushed them away from her, then grabbed her by the shoulders. "No one is gonna bite, I hope."
"Eh?" There was the thumping of boots as Lucy Ashley marched up to them. "Who're you supposed to be?"
The brunette looked at Lucy with wonder and a flash of apprehension before putting on a sunny smile, not unlike the one Mira wore a lot, and bowed down. Lucy wore a bewildered expression and sniffed.
"You must be Lucy Ashley-sama," said the brunette, who, now seeing her from a bit closer, Elfman could tell was quite pretty, and other men in the guild must've thought so because they were flocking over to her as well. "I've heard a lot about you this past month! My companions and I were wondering if you were accepting people into your guild."
Lucy, the surrogate leader of the guild until a permanent master was found, crossed her arms over her barely covered chest. "Depends."
The young woman, still smiling, said, "Depends upon what?"
"If I like you." With that she jammed her face up close to hers and narrowed her eyes. The woman smiled, a bit more unsurely, and sighed with relief as the blonde's gaze fell to her three male companions. "Who're they? You're boyfriends?"
"My companions; my family." She still smiled. It was uncanny how long she could hold that smile. "We've always wanted to join a guild and decided to take advantage of the changed circumstances. We don't really have a place to go or work."
The green-haired man scowled at her as she got in his face. "Problem?"
Lucy glared at them all again, then took a deep breath and let it out. "No, no problem. We haven't even had anyone come to join our guild in a long long time, so this is refreshing." She held out her hands to them and gave a grin. "Welcome to Fairy Tail."
The blonde man squeezed the brunettes shoulders as she covered her mouth with her hands and giggled. "Really? We can really join?"
"Giggle like an idiot again and I'll kick you out."
"I'm so sorry!" She took her hands away from her mouth and held it out to Lucy. "My name is Evergreen, Lucy-san. It's very nice to meet you!"
Lucy eyed her hand before taking it and giving it a firm shake. "We've got a lot of perverts in this guild. Pretty lady such as yourself should attract a whole lotta attention."
The brunette, Evergreen, blushed and rested her cheek in a hand. "I'm really not, but thank you for the warning." She looked back at the blonde, then the other two still by the doorway, and jerked her head in. "Won't you three come be polite and say hello?"
"Yes, Ever-chan." Bickslow entered first, and Fried followed a bit more slowly, and they held out their hands for Lucy to shake while they introduced themselves. Laxus politely did the same.
"Well." Lucy climbed up on a table. "HEY!" she shouted. "I KNOW IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE'VE HAD A WELCOME, BUT EVERYONE BE NICE TO OUR NEW GUILDMATES."
There was a surge of people in line to meet the newcomers. Mira looked up at Elfman and put on her normal sunny smile. "Well, I shouldn't let a nasty headache keep me from saying hello, now should I? Come on, Elfman; we ought to take our minds off of things."
By the time they'd reached the crowd in the midst of the guild hall, some had drifted off, while others were being pushed away. Two of the newcomers, Fried and Bickslow, if memory served, were scowling at men who got too close to their smaller female companion. She seemed embarrassed by their actions and gently tried to push them away from her.
"Excuse me," Mirajane said, slightly pushing through the crowd. "My brother and I would like to meet them. Could you let us through?" After a few slight pushes, which Elfman helped with, they broke through the crowd. Mirajane stumbled on someone's foot and fell over. Elfman reached out to catch her-
-but then there was a pair of arms that she fell into, thin and slender.
"Goodness, there's a lot of people," said the person the arms belonged to. "Are you all right?" It was Evergreen, her knees slightly bent to be able to reach the falling woman and her arms under Mira's. She smiled at her and helped her regain her balance.
"Yes, I am. Thank you for helping." Mirajane adjusted her gloves before taking the other woman's hands in her own, then looked over her shoulder at her male companions. "My name is Mirajane. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance!" She returned her gaze to Evergreen. "This is my little brother Elfman behind me. He's a bit more shy, so I'm sorry about that."
"I-I'm not that shy!" he stuttered. He looked over at the men, who gave him nods, then at the brunette holding his sister's hands. She looked at him with a straight but gentle face and he was able to look at her clearly for the first time. Elfman was struck by how beautiful she was; Lucy had not been lying.
Evergreen held his gaze for just a moment longer then smiled. "Elfman, huh? That's a very nice name!" Mira let go of her hands and she took a step forward to hold one out to him. "I hope we'll see a lot of each other!"
Elfman hesitated for just a moment, seeing the glares Fried and Bickslow were shooting them (he was starting to get the idea that they may very well be jealous), then took her much smaller hand in his own and shook it.
"M-me too."