Author's Notes: Just a heads up, there is no OC tag, since the protagonist of this story is, obviously, well, August…with a different fate, as the summary says. Not really filled with sugars and rainbows, but with a different end. That's all.

Fairy Frontier:

Romancing Saga

Prologue:

"Minuet"

The sounds of raindrop hitting the ground and the wind shaking the trees echoed in the hidden underground room of Fairy Tail's HQ. Along with it, was the shocked voice and mutterings of the Guild's 3rd Master, who can do nothing at the moment but have a slacked jaw at the sight that greeted him when he entered the hidden room after being finally appointed as the new Guild Master of Fairy Tail.

In the middle of the room stood a tall pillar of a magically powered crystal, known as Lacrima. Frozen in time within that crystal, is a young woman with long, wavy blond hair, and with her is an infant, seemingly floating in front of the young woman, frozen in time inside the pillar of lacrima as well. At the latter, Makarov's eyes nearly jumped out their sockets.

"Who…who would do such things to an innocent infant?!" Makarov thought in horror as he eyed what can possibly be mother and child.

"You should know what this is, Makarov, as I had revealed the story of this thing to you three days before the Guild Master Ceremony. This…is Fairy Heart. This is our guild's greatest weapon, our ace in the hole should the moment to need it will come. From this day onward, included in your duty as Guild Master of Fairy Tail, is to perform the monthly checking of the Fairy Heart's condition from time to time, and see if there are any changes. But most of all, you must protect it with all your life, and never let it fall to the hands of Fairy Tail's enemies. Do you understand that?" The voice of an old man echoed from the other, darker end of the room. Makarov quickly switched his line of sight towards the direction of the voice, his expression now back to normal, albeit his eyes still dripped with slight disgust.

For while he was informed that it was, indeed, Fairy Tail's first Guild Master that is sealed inside that pillar of lacrima, as his predecessor, the second Guild Master of Fairy Tail, Precht Gaebolg, had explained three nights before, none of those explanations involved an infant sealed within what would be Fairy Tail's greatest weapon.

"Master Precht…what…what is the meaning of this? Is that infant in the lacrima supposed to be a part of Fairy Tail's trump card as well?" Makarov asked, barely able to mask the disgust in his voice. He could only hope that his suspicions are wrong. To use an innocent child like a weapon…Makarov swore that to be one of the very few things he'll never do in his lifetime. Having had children himself only strengthened his resolve on the matter of not weaponizing children to begin with.

"Oh, that little one. Do not raise that eyebrow, boy, as that infant is not a weapon. He is…nothing more than a child born under the wrong circumstances and time. Let's just say, the stars practically didn't go his way at the moment of his…birth. Basically, disastrous luck personified. Do not worry, however, as he shall be released automatically from that pillar of lacrima, but only after a set of time has passed, from what I have learned. Which, in turn, involves the second part of your duty, boy." Precht, still hiding in the shadows, continues to speak, his tone starting to resemble a professor giving a lecture, "That infant, as you can feel the powerful magic energy from it, is no ordinary child. While he indeed has very tempting potential to develop, that in turn also serves as a great threat to both the guild and Magnolia's people. Which is why, the moment he is "born", I want you to use an Eight-Lock Grand Magic Seal on him. That way, he'll-" Before Precht could finish however, Makarov quickly cuts in.

"Wait, a Grand Seal? On him? Won't that cripple his very ability to use even the weakest magic, Second Master?! Doing that would mean he'll live the rest of his life as a normal human who can barely use any magic, due to having a paltry source of magic to draw from within his body, with his future as a mage repressed! And besides…seeing who that person behind him is, doesn't that mean-"

"Yes, your hypothesis is correct and wrong, boy. That infant in the lacrima…is indeed the First Master's child. And, as for the Eight-Lock Grand Seal's effects, it will lock down an entire 80% of his magic reserves, as well as block access to his unique magic ability. That, however, won't mean he can't learn to use or specialize other magic types and spells like any other mage can, as long as it does not involve his own original, unique magic." Precht cuts-off Makarov this time around. The latter had another expression of shock, before looking back at the pillar of lacrima. Wait, the First Master had a kid?! With who?! How is it even possible inside that pillar if lacrima?! Makarov's mind felt like it really needed to twist of its hinges. However, before any of those could happen, Precht's voice brought back the 3rd Guild Master back to reality.

"Do not concern yourself about the identity of the other half that made that infant. Focus more on what method will you use when the time comes for you to apply the Grand Seals, and of course…you will need to take care of that kid as well. Or just place it in a basket and chuck it down the river, just like the other hundreds of orphans." Precht's voice remained monotone, making Makarov scratch his head out of wanting to figure out if the 2nd Guild Master was actually joking or not. Hopefully joking, Makarov thought.

"Is there really no other option than applying the Grand Magic Seals, Guild Master? And did you just say I'm about to raise another kid?!" Makarov asked. A small laugh can be heard from the darkness where Precht was, clearly amused.

"No, there is no other options. And yes, if someone in Fairy Tail is going to raise him…Only the current Guild Master can. And as such, I leave this matter to you from now on, boy. I shall wait for you upstairs with the others, for I cannot afford to miss your celebratory party before I'll head out on my journey." Precht declares as his voice eventually faded. Meanwhile, Makarov was still slack jawed at the fact that his predecessor basically left him with a child support debt.

"Oh well…It's not like I don't want him around here to begin with." Makarov muttered as he looked back at the pillar of lacrima containing the First Guild Master, Mavis Vermillion, and her still Nameless child. Ah, that's it, Makarov thought. Before the eventual release of the child as Precht had predicted, Makarov thought he should at least do his own part in the preparations.

A name. That's all he can give the boy for now, as the mother certainly isn't in a state to do that, nor will she do so anytime soon. Now…what should he use as an inspiration? Makarov thought deeply, wanting the give the technically unborn boy a name that would make Mavis Vermillion proud…and not break out from the lacrima pillar and choke-slam Makarov to death when she first hears her son's name. Moreover, Makarov must make sure he can make up a last name that isn't "Vermillion", for the sake of the boy's safety when he finally leaves the pillar of lacrima.

Makarov walked around the room, still thinking rather hard, despite the darkness and lack of proper lighting covering the whole room. In a few seconds, Makarov felt something bumped unto his left foot. Looking down, he sees that he bumped onto a thick book, entitled The Mahabharata, along with many other books about different mythologies scattered onto the floor. Now that he thought about it, Precht has been spending his break times reading these books…and making Makarov read them too, right after.

"Ah, Mahabharata, one of the longest stories I've known since childhood. A story of heroes, wars, and adventures. Wait, I think I got it!" Makarov popped a small smile as he looked at the infant encased in crystal, "I shall name you after the Mahabharata's Hero of Generosity! When you decide to finally come out to this world, I shall name you…Karna! And as for your last name…I believe I'll just take it from the month you will be born in. Hmm…I'll just have to revise it a bit so that it won't at least sound like it was literally ripped off the calendar! Hah!" Makarov declared with a jolly voice as he approaches the boy encased in crystal, whom he now named as Karna. A proud smile is brightly showing itself on Makarov's face as he took a look at the child.

"Karna…Fairy Tail awaits for you. When you'll finally come out and greet the world…we shall welcome you with open arms, as the new member of our family. I'll wait till then, so don't rush it, alright? Later, boy. Got a party to jump in!" Makarov happily declares, before leaving out of the hidden underground room to attend to the party upstairs…

The pillar of lacrima stood quietly as Makarov's footsteps eventually faded…

The year is now X767. It is currently the first day of the month of August. The Fairy Tail Guild building is currently quiet, with the early morning winds making a light, barely audible sound. Makarov could only sigh in satisfaction as he takes in the cold morning air and the current peace. Descending onto the stairs leading to the hidden underground room of the Guild Building, Makarov could only hope that there's at least even a small change to occur on his monthly checks of the pillar of lacrima.

While he does know that it might take a while, the sight of an infant encased in crystal like it was a preserved corpse still unnerves Makarov, no matter how much time had passed since his first monthly check. In a few seconds, the Guild Master of Fairy Tail finally reaches the door of the hidden room.

Makarov sighs, before opening the door. However, the moment the winds from outside slid into the smallest crack of the opened doorway, Makarov felt a powerful, large surge of magic pass through him like a thick gust of wind. His heart beat increasing in its pace, Makarov swiftly goes inside the room and closes the door. When he finally turns his attention to the pillar of lacrima in the middle of the room, Makarov's eyes nearly jumped off their sockets.

The infant in the crystal was gone. Only the First Master was left encased. A ball of light is currently floating in the air right in front of the lacrima pillar. Trusting his instincts, Makarov slowly approaches the ball of light…only for it to suddenly land on the ground, and fading away into thin air.

In its place is left a wailing infant.

The child's cry quickly shakes off Makarov from the surprise. In response, the Guild Master quickly removes his coat, and uses it as a substitute cloth for the infant. Makarov could only make a big, happy smile at the child as it kept crying, showing that it has quite the powerful pair of lungs, and has no possible defects.

"Welcome to the world…and welcome to Fairy Tail, Karna! Quite the feisty one, isn't he, First Master?" Makarov says to the encased Mavis, out of admiration, "I shall take care of him from now on, First Master. He shall live a good life here, with his family in Fairy Tail! That much I can assure you, First Master. Please, continue to watch over him." Makarov says once again to the encased Mavis, this time wearing a serious expression. Giving a silent nod to the encased First Guild Master, Makarov turns his attention to the door of the hidden room.

Makarov's mind quickly bolted back up in alarm, as he remembered that he must take the child to a nearby clinic and have it checked up properly by an actual doctor. The Guild Master of Fairy Tail moves as fast as he can without hurting the child as much as possible, determined to reach the clinic before anything might happen to the infant he's carrying in his arms, like a disease striking in, or worse.

The Guild Master eventually reaches the main floor of the Guild Building, which was still empty, much to Makarov's delight. No one can delay him with questions of heavy suspicions this way. Wasting no more time looking around, Makarov once again charges forward outside to the streets, and runs to the district where the clinic is located.

As he ran, Fairy Tail's Guild Master could only hope he can make it in time…

15 years later, in the year X782, 15th day of December…

"Projection Magia: Nine Lives! Earthes Magia: Earthen Pillar!"

A scream and the sound of an explosion being fired echoed throughout the entirety of the Medusiana Marshes, deep in the heart of Caelum Island. An explosion of light occurred, before dissipating into thin air, leaving a human Mage carrying a gigantic, crimson bladed great-sword with his right hand. The ground beneath him is then pushed upward, becoming a tall pillar nearly 50 feet tall, giving the mage a good view of the entire marsh from above.

The mage has soft, blond hair that's spiky at the tips. A large cowlick hair is present on top of his hair as well. The boy's eyes are a bright green, and his skin is a reflection of ivory. His upper clothing has been completely devastated from his enemy's attacks, leaving him with nothing but his gauntlets, his black pants, and his high cut combat boots. Sparks of golden light danced around him and the weapon he's carrying.

"Magic Limiter, Off." The young mage whispers, then hearing the sound of a door being unlocked in his head, after which the sparks of light around him increased in intensity as he gains a large surge of magical power, now draining his store of extra magic completely and giving him but one shot for one final attack.

This fight had lasted for an entire week. The damn thing just won't stop moving and get killed. Not to mention that, it went from having one head to eventually, nine of them. Damn his F-Ranked luck, the young mage thought. Well, that's the nigh-legendary hydras for you. Even the legendary Heracles of Pergrande didn't win within a few minutes either.

Well, to his credit, that legendary demi-god hero slew an ancient hydra in one day, killing it by striking and cutting down all hundred heads at once. With sheer skill and brass balls.

A feat the mage believes would be extremely difficult for the S-Ranked members of his Guild. Screw that, they'd have a hard time soloing this thing he's facing, too. The young mage grumbled about how he has to face a hydra while the other mages before him had different, easier tests. Hell, even the other one who's also taking the S-Class exams on another island has it easier!

"Someone up there really hates me. Why a hydra, not a wyrm or something?! How come that Mystogan guy gets to obliterate an entire orc island and saving their pretty captive chicks for HIS S-Class test while I face this unfair bullshit?! Why is my luck so full of crap?! Is this why I haven't encountered a blonde-haired busty elf girl to ask for dates?!" The mage complained to himself. This fight clearly shows a meager 1% chance of victory out of 100%...

And as one who aspires to be an S-Class Mage, he must grasp that 1%...and make it a reality.

In response, a monstrous roar outright explodes from an entire kilometer away from the mage. Ah, that means the freak of nature had sensed his magical energy. Good, makes it easy to hunt down this way. Unlike last time, the young mage had readied all possible options. Two of them, in fact.

Seize victory and live, or just die.

Fast, earth shaking steps echoed from the depths of the ground, becoming louder each time, signifying the monster's imminent arrival. For the mage, now would be the best time to review his plan.

Strike down all nine heads at once with an Anti-Dragon Property Weapon, and victory is in reach.

While it does sound easy, execution requires a ton of luck and only 10 seconds given to execute at the critical moment the hydra arrives and attacks. Even with the magically created weak imitation of Nine Lives, the unnamed weapon used by Heracles of Pergrande to cut down another hydra thousands of years ago, the large magic used to project it will come to waste should the hydra not do an attack that the young mage had calculated and predicted. Even with the skills and experience he gains from the imitated sword, it won't be enough to compensate should his plan fail.

In the end, it's all about lady luck pushing her bosom on the young mage, or lady luck deciding to smash the young mage's family jewels with a steel mace before grinding that organ with a heel.

In a few seconds, the gigantic nine headed monstrosity, rising from one part of the forest as an 100 feet tall behemoth, is in sight.

Ten seconds left before it attacks.

The hydra, on all fours, bolts towards the young mage's direction, roaring all the way with all of its nine heads, its roar savagely shaking the whole marsh. The young mage remained calm and unshakable.

Five seconds left.

The young mage locks his eyes on the approaching monster. All nine heads have completely locked onto him as well.

Three seconds left.

Locking on all nine heads. All of which had set themselves in a posture of attacking simultaneously, as dictated by all nine heads rising stiff all at once as it ran. Things are looking good.

Two seconds left.

"Set…Nine Lives: Nine-Fold Deaths!"

Empowered by his release of magic energy from earlier, the young mage roars out the name of his newly-learned Sword Arte and leaps with the speed and force of a meteorite. This technique, derived and revised from the same one the hero Heracles used, is nothing more than a pale imitation. But, a weak imitation it might be, it still has the basic properties of the original, being a powerful set of nine sword swings that are executed and landed at the same time on nine different directions, with each blow causing a single death. Against enemies with multiple lives or self-resurrections that do not exceed the number of nine times, this is an instant kill technique, as the Sword Arte will kill the target multiple times based on the number of hits landed.

Which means that getting struck by all nine strikes will kill the target nine times over, whether by the young mage's imitation or by Heracles' original skill, which was deadlier as it consisted of a hundred strikes than just nine. By the mage's own words, however, "There is no rule in this world that says a fake cannot surpass the original!"

He does not need a hundred strikes. Nine is enough. For that is all that he is capable of.

With this in mind, the young mage goes on to grasp the 1% chance of victory.

All of hydra's nine heads strike all at once at the golden shooting star right in front of it. The moment the nine heads closed in on the mage, he swung his sword.

In a split second, all of the hydra's heads were severed, as if 8 additional invisible blades had cut down all the others, causing nine different fountains of poisonous blood to sprout like geysers, before the decapitated body falls down forward. The force of the attack allowed the young mage to bulldoze straight towards the back of the decapitated hydra, where he then proceeds to quickly stab the monster's back and used his weapon as a brake and an anchor.

A few seconds of silence ensued. The young mage's fast beating heart had calmed down. He then takes a look at the severed heads, and notices that they are not regenerating like in the previous six days.

A big smile is painted on his face as he realizes his victory. Within a few moments, the young mage started laughing like a madman suddenly cured of his madness and is half-way celebrating it. His laugh continued for half a minute, before he ran out of breath.

The moment he takes a resting breath, all the reinforcements done by his consumed magic energy left his body, causing him to weaken and feel his consciousness slipping, much to his ire. His imitated sword breaks down into pieces as well, and disperses into thin air…causing him to slip off from the hydra's back, and slide all the way to the edges and falling down from the body. Even with his fading consciousness, the young mage could see that he won't have a fatal landing…

…thanks to the figure of the Fairy Tail Guild Master waiting for him from below. The old mage had used his magic, known as Giant, to increase his size nearly twenty times over, with his hands that are now twice as big poised to catch the falling younger mage. Within a few seconds, the young mage is now in Makarov's gigantic hands.

"You've done well, boy! Now, time to rest up and-Oh…" Makarov cut himself off as he notices that the mage in his hands is now unconscious. Looks like an entire week straight of fighting that nine-headed monstrosity was worth it for the young one, Makarov thought as he decreases in body size, and slinging the young mage over his shoulder.

The young mage has passed his exams, and as Guild Master, Makarov must make sure the candidate makes it alive to the ceremony and the party after it. The Guild Master then smiles at the thought of getting more alcohol at the aforementioned party, and heads for Fairy Tail's camp near Medusiana Swamps…

In front of Makarov is a messenger, carrying a bag full of letters.

The Guild Master appears to finish writing a letter that confirmed S-Class Candidate Number Two, Karna Augustus, had passed his test, before giving it to the messenger. The latter then bows respectfully before bolting off Makarov's tent, to deliver the letter to Fairy Tail's main HQ. Makarov made a proud sigh, to think one of his children had managed to get this far, even with the Eight-Lock Grand Magic Seals debilitating him heavily…

A few minutes passed…right before a series of steps took Makarov's attention from sorting out the documents on his table.

A young woman stood at the entrance of the tent. She has long, mid-back length brown hair, a pair of large brown eyes, and a tan skin. She wears a light blue bikini top with a camouflage pattern, a pair of capri pants, with two bands hanging from each leg, and a light belt covered in heart motifs loosely tied around the waist On her feet is worn a pair of high heeled sandals. A pair of metal bracelets is adorning her biceps, and she also has three simple bracelets on her right wrist. She currently has a look of genuine concern on her face.

Makarov quickly recognized the guild member as Cana Alberona, the same girl who asked to adopt Karna in order to become his "official" older sister nine years ago. Makarov, at the time, seeing how attached Karna was to Cana after meeting her when she joined Fairy Tail, and how doting Cana was to the boy when she discovered that Karna literally did not know his parents, gave an okay to the "adoption", as Makarov thought that an older sister's presence might help the boy emotionally as he grew up. Since then, the two kids had lived together as close as actual blood-related brother and sister.

"Third Master, I'm sorry for intruding. But,I…I saw you carrying him to the medic's tent a little earlier. I…went there and checked up on him. He's…really cold and pale, has really thick eyebugs, he's nearly completely drained of magic, and has a lot of poison flowing within him, too! Does that mean he-"

"Yes. Believe it or not, he passed!" Makarov cuts off Cana, his voice now jolly and happy like his usual self around the guild, "Also, I made sure to bring a medic specializing in poisons. Don't worry about your little brother, Cana. He's in good hands. As of today, Karna Augustus is now officially an S-Ranked Mage!"

Cana made a sigh of relief. She was about to ask if her adopted little brother failed the test, seeing his…half-way dying state. No, it felt a little wrong to call his current state living. But the assurance of safety and survival still managed to calm down Cana's heart. Not to mention her joy that her cocky brat of a little brother actually pulled it off and became an S-Class Mage. Looks like all that bragging from him from last week really did have some truth to it.

But, that also means she has lost the bet with her adoptive brother, and which means she's really gonna need to buy ingredients for that Sizzling Blue Marlin he asked for as his prize out of the bet.

"Looks like you'll have to spend your drinking expenses this week for that blue marlin, eh? Those fishes are expensive!" Makarov comments with an amused smile, to which Cana responds with her own relieved one.

"Two weeks' worth of expensive drinks, Third Master. I know. But, all in all, I'm simply glad he's okay, passed or not. Speaking of drinks…he's already at the legal drinking age, isn't he?" Cana says with an expectant look, causing Makarov to start paling a little. No, not for Cana's brother, but for the expenses on his side.

"Oh no. As Guild Master, I'm begging you, do try not to turn him into a clone of yours. I'm starting to fear for the stock of beer at the guild!" Makarov retorts in feigned fear, causing Cana to chuckle in a way that actually makes Makarov's hair stand on end this time around.

"Ohohoho. We've been siblings for 9 years already, so I don't know IF it's even possible to not turn him into a mini-me! I CAN try, but, just TRY, Third Master. Fufufu." Cana comments back, causing Makarov to start praying to any gods he knows and wishes for the safety of Fairy Tail's finances…

Karna opened his eyes.

A sharp, stinging pain corroded his entire body, that even something as simple as breathing like he had hundreds of needles inside his chest. Damn hydras and their poisoned breath and blood, he thought. If it wasn't for his continuous application of magical reinforcement and strengthening of his lungs and constant manual magical control of his blood vessels, he would have died from just breathing within a 5 km radius from the multi-headed monstrosity.

Gotta love the healing of the medics though, Karna thought as he felt the intensity of the poison was a lot weaker and getting thinner by the minute, compared to the seven days of endless struggling and paranoia, where the poison remained thick in the air and threatened to kill him the moment he loses manual control of his blood vessels. The young mage really wished he could give a long, tight hug to those cute, busty nurses and give a friendly handshake to that old doctor, but, even with the poison's hold weakened and still decreasing, the pain around his body was a little too much to bear at the moment. Even the touch of the supposedly soft bed sheets were feeling like a thousand electrified needles.

"Well, geez, how am I supposed to-ARGH, my effing throat!" Karna complained in pain of his throat. Each syllable of his words felt like a hot stake driven through his larynx. So, not even talking is allowed too?! Damn hydra. Why couldn't his exams be a bit easier, Karna mentally asked.

"0/10 not gonna try again. Nor am I gonna help out in any of the future S-Class Exams. Screw that crap. It's going to be a frigging pain in the ass. Literally."

Karna couldn't even sigh from the pain. If anything, the only option would be to try and sleep the pain off. He couldn't do anything at the moment, anyway.

Admittedly, though, it is really boring.

"That voice…you're awake, Karna?" Cana's voice echoed from outside the tent, causing Karna's eyes to lit up. It got better when his big sister did enter the medic's tent, carrying a bottle that contained water in one hand...and surprisingly, a tray of food in the other, much to Karna's surprise.

"I'm not hallucinating, am I?" Karna sounded genuinely concerned, "Big Sis and alcohol separated? What malarkey is this?!"

Cana, however, appears genuinely unamused, "Of course not! When my idiot of a little brother jumps into a fight with a Phantasmal Beast, didn't use his best ability in it, and tried winning with just his Projection Magia and Elemental Magias, and comes out of it literally dying, why wouldn't I worry this much?! Do you know how it felt watching you struggle and hurt yourself, and not ask for help in seven days straight, despite the fight obviously screaming that you should just run away?!" Cana says with a reprimanding tone, her eyes locking unto Karna's surprised own. For the latter, while indeed expecting this lecture, did not expect it to happen so soon. True, in the length of the entire seven days of struggling, he continuously sensed and saw from afar how Cana would plead to Makarov to stop the fight ever since she saw the hydra on the second day of the fight.

Her pleadings got…intense when she discovered from the medics and other guild members about the hydra's air poisoning attribute. The moments when she saw the hydra's head increase in number made things worse. Her discovering that Karna was basically fighting alone one of the Legendary Phantasmal Beast species certainly did not help. At all.

But, even after he saw all that, Karna insisted on finishing his exam alone to Makarov. He had come this far. He only had one chance. For the young mage, he must grab this opportunity and prove himself to the Guild.

Right now, apologizing and explaining things could at least simmer the heat…a bit.

"…I'm sorry for worrying you, Sis." Karna says in an apologetic tone, "I know how scared you were these last seven days. I'm really sorry about that. But…you also know that I can't back down from this one chance. All that training, jobs, skills, magic, and knowledge I've learned to this point…I wanted to prove how I've grown. I want to prove that…I can protect you, and everyone else, too." Karna says, before closing his eyes. At times like this, his sister would still scold him. Which is justified, concerning his own reckless and arrogant acceptance of the entry to the S-Class Exams when Makarov did the declarations an entire month ago.

"I know." Cana replied.

That shocked Karna. He didn't see that coming. The gentle, understanding look on his sister's face did not help. Her suddenly hugging him gently only made the fluffy, embarrassing feelings in his chest intensify. The pain of the poison lessened by a lot, too.

"I simply wanted to tell you how worried I was, and for you to at least apologize. True, I got a little too angry when you accepted Makarov's words and jumped into this suicidal exam, but…in the end, you were alright. You were okay. You're alive. That…is much more worth than the exam itself, whether you passed or not. So, stop worrying about it, alright? I'm really happy you're still in one piece and breathing, you big idiot." Cana says in a comforting, gentle tone, before letting go of Karna. However, even with her intentions fulfilled, she was still curious about one thing…

"Say, little bro, why didn't you activate Vasavi Shakti during the fight? Wouldn't that make things a little easier? You needed to cut down all nine heads simultaneously, after all." Cana asked. Karna looked at her in the eye, and took a short breath.

"Well, for one, the magic consumption for summoning and using a True Divine Miracle is a hundred times larger than the fake ones made from my Projection Magia and from using my Elemental Magias, not to mention Vasavi Shakti in particular nearly completely depletes my magic storage with just one use. Second, the fight was about endurances, opportunities, and critical blows. I had to stay alive for a long time and devise an optimal plan and opening to kill that thing in one finishing strike, needing to search and prepare the most effective openings, weapon and skills. If anything, wasting magic on multiple powerful blows is tantamount to suicide. There's also the fact that I've had to make sure I only cut its head enough times till there was nine of them and make sure I can lure it into attacking me with all its heads at the same time, which requires luck, something I obviously barely have, not to mention that killing it by explosions will just activate the hydra's regeneration ability. Putting it shortly, I don't wanna fight those things again. Ah, I just wanna be a spoony bard and sing in random, nameless pubs! All this stress is going to make me a wrinkly old man in my forties!" Karna complained, causing Cana to start laughing in amusement.

Her little brother's tirades, despite how ridiculous they sound, is a good source entertainment. Especially when Cana is quite tipsy. She'd often come out sober laughing from the ridiculousness of her little brother's complaints on the sudden misfortunes on his jobs or on daily life. It was as if he was a walking personification of bad luck. Although, there were also times they made Cana actually worry and start going around buying good luck charms to give to Karna.

Then she finds out they had no effect the next day, as evidenced by Karna whining about stepping on a hundred dog craps, getting dropped on with bird shit at any place with no rooftop, someone crashing and spilling something on him 5 times in a row within a 10 minute interval, accidentally walking in on a girl bathing in the forest rivers and getting slapped and reported for it, his lunch getting burnt by Natsu, frozen by Gray or stolen by a random cat, and his wallet magically disappearing after a trip to the bathroom. It was as of the world itself was working to the bone to screw Karna's daily life so hard.

"Say…did I pass the exams, Sis?" Karna asked, looking Cana in the eye. Cana makes a sigh, and looks Karna in the eye.

"Yes. In fact, the ceremony is about to take place one week from now on. Don't worry, I know where to buy the best blue marlins in the market! So, for now, eat these fruits I've brought, alright?" Cana says with a proud smile on her face, before giving a head pat to Karna, "Congratulations, my little brother. You've done well. As your big sis, I'm really, really proud of you right now!" Cana then proceeds to ruffle Karna's hair playfully, much to the latter's embarrassment. Despite his outside reactions, Cana knew however that her little brother still enjoys these head pats to this day, and she herself enjoyed doing it ever since they were young. Besides, his red embarrassed face is really cute…and hilarious.

"What in the-cut that out, already! I'm fifteen now, damn it!" Karna tried to struggle with a red face, only for Cana to use her free hand to hug him and not let go, causing another long moment of embarrassment to the fresh S-Class Mage…

A week has passed since then…

"Congratulations, Karna!" The members of Fairy Tail greeted alongside Makarov, the entire guild wearing happy smiles and pairing it up with happy cheers. Currently, inside the guild building, is a celebration in honor for two of the members having reached S-Class. Namely, Mystogan, and Karna. The former, however, did not show up, causing the party goers to focus their greetings on the latter instead. The party begins, with everyone now either having their attention on devouring the food and drinks on the tables, or congratulating Karna. The fresh S-Class mage made sure to thank everyone as they greeted him.

"You bastard! You said you were just going to Caelum for blonde haired she-elves, not for the S-Class Exam! Where's your elf girlfriend you promised to show us? And where's the green haired elf girl you promised to introduce me to?!" A loud voice boomed from the crowd. Karna looks for the source, only for him to quickly roll out of the way as a punch attempted to land on his way. Karna quickly looked up, and sees the culprit for the surprise assault.

The culprit is a tall, slim young man with black hair kept in an unusual, distinctive hairstyle, with a tuft of hair on top of his head jutting upwards and then curving frontwards, being reminiscent of a plant's stem. His hair extends in a rounded form on his forehead, and was cut on both sides of hiss head in a spiraling motif. His outfit consisted of a simple white shirt, green checkered pants, and dark shoes with lighter soles.

"Whoa, Droy, no need to get hostile! The elves migrated…thousands of years ago! The priestesses just recently told me about that, so I'm really sorry!" Karna quickly recognized the man as Droy, a member of Team Shadow Gear, and one of his first friends in the guild. However, before Karna could do any retorts, he gets forced to quickly make a quick step to the right as he dodged a roundhouse kick from his left.

The second assaulter appears to be a slim, young man of average height with orange hair, kept jutting backwards at the sides of his head. He has a sharp face, a prominent, flat and defined nose pointing downwards, and distinctive teeth, with a protruding, sharp, triangular-shaped upper molar complemented by a chipped portion on the lower row, something which allows him to close his teeth completely despite such a peculiar physical irregularity. The man donned an open, light-brown coat with yellowish fur trimmings on its edges and sleeves, which reached down below his elbows. Below it was a high-collared purple shirt, with its collar mostly left open, which was sometimes seen left hanging over the checkered belt below it, with a rectangular buckle, and others tucked inside the baggy dark pants covering his legs, in turn tucked inside dark boots.

"Don't let up in beating this liar, Droy! He promised me a date with one of Caleum's local priestesses in exchange for lending him my limited edition copy of Madoka Magia for two months, too! And he didn't bring any priestesses!" The orange haired man, whom Karna recognized as Jet, ranted as he pointed at Karna.

"Well, now, I tried my best to fulfill that promise! But…you see, while the priestesses were really happy with your intentions, Jet, they sadly could not go over here in Magnolia…due to their aching joints and back." Karna explained. Jet's eyebrows quickly raised at the words "aching joints" and "back", before his eyes shrunk at the realization.

"Wait…are you telling me that the Temple of Indra in Caleum only has old hags?! There's no young girls in there?! I thought you said-"

"I did say I'd bring you dates with a priestess…" Karna cuts off Jet, while wearing a big, victorious smirk on his face, "…But I never did say I'd bring you dates with YOUNG priestesses, didn't I? And besides, you never specified about it when we made the deal! So of course, as you and I declared on our little contract, I just did as you asked, down to the letter, and voila, I asked for any single priestesses in the temple! Too bad, they just all so happened to already have grand kids on the knees. Tsk, tsk!" Saying that, Karna quickly takes out a bundle of boxes from behind him, and places them right beside the shell shocked Jet, who is currently imagining the image of dating multiple grandmothers at once. Meanwhile, as this occurred, the laughs of the entire guild echoed around the place as they continued with the celebratory party.

"And now, with the return of your Madoka Magia Limited Edition Movie Lacrima, our contract is fulfilled!" Karna happily declares, his smirk not diminishing one bit. Meanwhile, losing out on another contract with Karna for the umpteenth time, Jet stares at the wall bricks as his dreams and hopes of dating an innocent, sheltered young priestess went down the drain. The Team Shadow Gear member swore that he won't be getting in another deal with Karna ever again…for the umpteenth time as well.

"Hey, Karna! Over here!" The voice of a girl calls out, causing Karna to look for the source. From beside the long table with a long box atop of it is a young, petite teenage girl of a slender build who stands at a rather below-average height for her age. Her shoulder-length blue hair, which has eyebrow-length bangs, is normally tied up with a colorful bandana around her head. She wears a sleeveless, orange colored dress.

"Ah, Levy. Need something?" Karna says, having calmed down a little now from his little victory, heads for Levy's location. The S-Class Mage takes a quick glance at the long, rectangular box before returning his attention back to his blue haired friend.

"Well, I'm here for one thing, of course! Droy, the box, now!" Levy outright declares, with Droy giving an affirmative nod, and proceeds to lift the box on the table. Revealed to be beneath the box is a cake, with icing shaped like letters designed on top of it. The words say "Congratulations!"

"Congrats on passing, Karna! And in honor of that…Me, Cana, Jet, and Droy over there teamed up and baked this masterpiece!" Levy says aloud, causing Droy to give a small nod to Karna, while Jet decided to hide his face and looked away, despite having a proud, happy smirk on his face.

"Is that so?" Karna says, before looking at the trio who helped make the cake. A grateful smile is brightly visible on the former's face, "Sugar is literally my lifeblood these days, you know? Thanks, everyone!" Karna says, before being gestured to by Levy to start eating the cake, pointing to the plate, dining knife and fork set right beside the large dessert. Giving a thankful, wordless nod to Levy, Karna heads for where the utensils were placed.

"Hey, S-Class prick! Eat this! Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Another loud voice interrupts Karna's happy moment, and senses a surge of fire magic from somewhere within the room. In response, the fresh S-Class Mage quickly chants a spell as he sees the flaming attacker a few walks away from him, hands already in flames and is charging in at high speeds. Karna quickly recognized the attacker as Natsu Dragneel, Fairy Tail's most hard-hitting fire mage…and the biggest culprit in collateral damages on the job. Remembering that little trivia, Karna's mind quickly remembers the vulnerable cake behind him, and activates his magic in alarm.

Ever since Karna paid him back hard for a beat down he received from the Fire Dragon Slayer a few years ago, Natsu kept on challenging him repeatedly, wanting to even out "the score". At the same time, Karna had lost count of all the dinners or lunch on his table that got burnt or blasted off by an attack from Natsu. Seriously, why does it always have to be at the time when he was eating, Karna questioned himself.

"Ice Magia: Diamond Photon Ray!" Karna chants, summoning a gigantic, blue-colored glyph above the area in the direction where the flaming attacker is heading towards. The moment Natsu jumped into mid-air and got within range, the glyph fired a blue colored beam of light…which the attacker saw, having no way to dodge mid-motion.

"Hey, that's cheating! Oh, god damn it-"

The beam of light hits the attacker, before exploding and dissipating into pieces. Left in its place is a large, hexagonal shaped pillar of ice that shone and reflected light like a diamond would. Within it is Natsu with flaming hands, frozen inside along with his flames. Karna made a sigh of irritation as he looked at the recently frozen victim. Meanwhile, the ones who witnessed the event made another hearty laugh at another normal event in the guild, especially a winged blue cat who floated right in front of the ice pillar. Karna recognized the creature as Happy, Natsu's constant companion. Apparently, a flying cat. Something that is very uncommon even in a magic laden world, Karna thought. In fact, he still has no idea on what specie of animal Happy is supposed to be, even up till now.

Because, last time he checked, there was no historical records of cats evolving from a winged ancestor. Nor did cats ever had the ability to speak human tongue.

"And the score is now 52 – 1! Karna wins again!" Happy declares, before giving thumbs up at Karna, who then reciprocates with the same gesture.

"Phew, now I can-"

A loud explosion and multiple surges of magic cuts Karna off. To his horror, the fighting spirit of nearly everyone in the guild got ignited, thanks to the quick squabble between him and Natsu. Within a few seconds, each Fairy Tail Mage started brawling with the nearest living being they can find, causing a barrage of fists and magic to start blasting all over the place. The entire guild building became a haven of chaos. Karna began to sweat bullets and had a slight heart attack when he saw a lance of ice barely struck the top of the cake and struck Natsu's prison of ice.

"You know what? Screw this! I'm taking my cake and my sizzling blue marlin home!" Karna thought.

Without wasting a second, Karna bolts off to the plate Levy had pointed earlier, takes the knife, cuts a large portion of the cake, puts it on a plate, casts a barrier spell on it, and runs to the exit of the guild building amidst the chaos, only for the way to be blocked by a set of ice lances that fell from above. Karna quickly traces the magic signature, and finds the culprit of the blockade, standing a few meters behind him, wearing nothing but a…no, rather, he is wearing nothing at all other than the black hair on his head and the necklace on his neck. From his magic signature and subconscious perverted tendencies, he is no doubt Gray Fullbuster, Fairy Tail's Ice Magic equivalent of Natsu.

And by that, they're both annoying, fight-happy idiots, Karna thought.

"Ah…what the hell, Gray?! Can't you see this lovely dessert in my hands is in danger?!" Karna shouts, only for the young man named Gray to reply with a snicker.

"Where do you think you're going, Solomon?" Gray calls out Karna by his title, a proof of Karna's mastery of Multiple Magic Types and as well as the 8 Elemental Magics. Gray kept his arms crossed as he spoke, "I was about to settle the score with Natsu, and yet, you really just had to-"

"Go back to the Red Light District, you icy stripper. At least put on some boxers when you're not on the job for a lap dance!" Karna quickly quips, causing the Ice Mage to look down on his lower area…and go pale from the shock caused by the late revelation. Gray swore, he was wearing pants 10 seconds ago! How in the world did it even-

"Aero Magia: Panta Rhei!" Karna quickly chanted as Gray was distracted. A gigantic, glowing green glyph is summoned right in front of Karna, facing Gray's direction. The Ice Mage notices the heavy surge of magic, and turns his attention to the glyph in alarm. However, it was too late, as the green glyph fired a large, wide powerful beam of wind, blasting away Gray and the many other unfortunate mages that got caught in the attack, sending them all the way to the wall in the opposite end of the guild building with a single blast, plastering them there like they were an abstract work of art.

Meanwhile, Karna wastes no time and kicks the ice lances that blocked the exit. With the blockade gone, the S-Class Mage bolts out of the Fairy Tail guild building, and runs all the way to the direction of Magnolia's residential district, where his and Cana's home can be found…

"Not even my celebratory party is safe from the rumbles…that's Fairy Tail for ya!"

The door of Alberona household makes a slight creaking as Karna went in and closed it, cake still on his hand. The smell of something being cooked, a sizzling dish in particular, invades Karna's nostrils. The mage had a smile on his face as his promised blue marlin hasn't reached the chaotic Fairy Tail building at all, and is completely safe in his home, and is still half-way being cooked, judging from the sizzling sounds coming from the kitchen.

Making a fully relieved sigh, Karna heads for the dining room, and calls out, "Sis, I'm home!"

"Ah. You're done with the party, Karna? That was fast. Did you at least take a piece of the cake that team Shadow Gear made for you?" Cana's voice echoed from the kitchen, with it being quite audible due to the area being separated by only a thin wall and a door away from the dining room. Meanwhile, Karna just proceeds to place the plate with cake on the table, before taking a seat, clearly tired from the ruckus earlier, and from having to cast two Arcane Tier Spells and nearly eviscerating his already paltry magic reserves.

"Yep. I got to take a large portion of the cake before everyone ramped up the party to a hardcore rumble. That said, I bolted off from there before they obliterated my cake. Oh, and I took enough for the two of us to eat it together." Karna bluntly stated, earning him a small giggle from his sister, who already expected the situation to happen, considering her guild's antics. Meanwhile, Karna began to rest his eyes, and eventually rested his head on the dining table. As his consciousness started to slip, the mage grumbled about doing something about his seriously lethal paltry magic reserves…

"Oh, crap! I'm out of onions! Karna, mind buying ten of those from the nearby store for me?" Cana's voiced echoed again, causing Karna to slip back into reality.

"Alright. Got it. Gimme a few minutes, Sis." Karna replied, before yawning, stretching, and standing up, then heading for the main door of the Alberona residence. If he remembered correctly, old Laura's shop is still open at this time of the evening…

"Brrr…the sun has just set, and Magnolia is this cold! It's December, alright! I really hate wasting magic, but…Pyrix Magia: Robe of the Fire Rat!" Karna casted the spell. Having forgotten to wear his jacket against the cold air of the season, the mage mentally palmed his face as he gets forced to waste more magic for warmth. A glyph of flames appeared in front of him, around the size of a plate. It quickly disintegrates into orange colored energy that engulfed Karna's body, wrapping him in comfortable warmth for the rest of his errand in the streets of Magnolia.

"Ahh…that's the stuff. Now, for that onion…" Karna stretches himself to oust the remaining cold in his body, before heading for the commercial area-

"Kyaaah!" The voice of a girl screaming followed by someone dunking into the water got Karna up in alarm. Following the source of the voice, he finds a hooded figure trembling in the shallow waters of the Magnolian river, seemingly having accidentally slipped from the edge of the road beside the river. While indeed not in the danger of drowning, hypothermia is going to be the enemy of the seemingly unmoving hooded girl if she doesn't move and warm herself up quickly. Karna rushes to the edge of the road beside the river, and quickly offers a hand.

"Miss, are you hurt anywhere? Here, please grab my hand. The bricks are a bit slippery from all the moss, so we'll need to pull you up from there." Karna explained, causing the hooded girl to seemingly gasp and stare at him for a minute, before nodding and grabbing his hand tightly with her left hand. As Karna pulls her up, the mage noticed a few tears falling from the girl's face, and that her hands are trembling as well. And from what Karna could see from outside the hood, the girl has long, blond hair, as they reached the area right above the chests.

"…Thank you." The hooded girl says, her tone suggesting that she's somewhat fighting sobs between words.

"…Uh, are you really alright? What happened for you to have fallen in there? Did you slip on the edge?" Karna asked, causing the hooded girl to nod frantically, and point to the river with her left hand.

"My…wedding ring. I was planning to wash my hands onto the river, so I removed it for a bit. When I stood back up, I accidentally kicked it into the river, and I dove in to look for it. I couldn't let it go, you see, as it is my late husband's memento for me…" The hooded girl says, her left hand still trembling as it pointed. Meanwhile, Karna makes a relieved sigh about the girl's situation, seeing that she was unhurt. But, as for that ring…oh well, Cana's onions can wait, right?

"I see. Then, leave it to me! But, first, here: A warming spell for you. It'll keep you warm just right for this season's weather and even dry your clothes! Oh, and mind telling me if your ring has some special designs that I can recognize it by?" Karna declares with a smile, before casting his spell, "Pyrix Magia: Robe of the Fire Rat!"

A glyph of fire floated right in front of the hooded girl, before disintegrating into orange colored energy and wrapping the girl with it, warming her up and drying the lower parts of her coat that got wet.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. As for my ring…it's a gold wedding ring, with an engraved H and an engraved A on the opposing sides in the inner ring area. That's my wedding ring." The girl says, her voice still on the verge of crying.

"I see. Then, the ring fell near where you stood in the water, right?" Karna asked, causing the hooded girl to nod affirmatively.

"Alright, then. Wait here." Karna says, before fully turning his attention to the river. He raises his own left hand, showing his Fairy Tail Guild Mark, as his left palm glowed with a green colored light. The hooded girl fought another urge to cry as she saw the guild mark.

"Aero Magia: Sylph Barrier!"

Karna casted, summoning a green glyph of wind facing the river from the side. The glyph then explodes and turns into a ray of green light that slams the targeted area of the river like a sword, before parting it open and leaving a barrier of wind that stopped the flow of the water, leaving the dry ground ready for searching. Karna quickly discovers the gold ring glittering from where he stood, and he swiftly jumps in to run and grab the ring. He quickly searches it for the engravings the hooded girl mentioned, and indeed found the letters "H" and "A" engraved on the inner ring side. Sighing with relief, Karna swiftly runs and climbs back to the riverside road, and deactivates his Sylph Barrier Magia Spell. The walls of wind that block the water disappeared, and allowed the river the flow freely once more.

"Phew! Thank goodness, that went fast! Here's your ring-huh?! Where did she go?" Karna exclaimed, as he did not see the hooded girl anywhere. Not on the nearby bridge, not on the seats on the riverside road, not anywhere at all. Seeing this, Karna sighs, and looks at the wedding ring in his hands. He would really love to look for that hooded lady, but, he still has his onions to buy and food to eat back home.

"Oh well. Just gonna keep this ring till I meet that lady again. She should at least recognize my face if she wants her husband's memento back. Meanwhile, gonna go get that onion!" Karna tells himself as he jogged towards the shopping district, increasing his speed steadily as to not piss off Cana back home for being late.

The mage jogged on and on, unaware of the hooded girl that watched him from atop one of the buildings. She makes a determined look, and heads down, having her own destinations and agendas to fulfill.

11 years…

She has 11 years to undo it.

To undo that mistake…and save everyone from their fate.

Especially the one she loved the most, who suffered the most, unable to rest in peace for the rest of eternity, having been the result of giving away his soul in exchange for power to save everyone else other than himself…

She will put a stop to it with all she has, the hooded girl swore with all her heart and soul…

Author's Notes:

Karna's last name, Augustus, is a homage to his original name as August, of course.

Karna's full title is "Solomon, the King of Magic", as an indicator of his masteries of multiple magic types and element magics in a time span faster than normal mages could, even to those having a sole specialization in the aforementioned magic type/element.

Karna has two main weaknesses: His seriously paltry magic reserves, which forces him to micromanage magic usage in all his fights, and his lethally crap luck, as it completely screws over majority of his primary battle analysis and plans, which forces him to anticipate failure as the biggest possible results of his plans and causes him to make a lot of "Plan B's" when making strategies. He never experienced a fight where he could go easy and not anticipate failure. Blame Makarov's naming sense for this one.