(A/N: So with the relative success of Blood Contract I decided to start this fanfic about my OC guild. To reiterate this is a DIRECT SEQUEL to Blood Contract so go and read the fic or you may feel a little lost. This is a parallel to the Fairy Tail manga and therefore it is Earthland Fairy Tail, but it's another version of Fairy Tail where what happened in Blood Contract occurred. Now that that's been hammered in. Here we go).
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima
Grimaios' Log
Guild Master's log, year X784, 44th entry
It's been a few weeks since our interaction with the Fairy Tail guild and only now am I getting a chance to write things down. I've heard of Fairy Tail's accomplishments and how they're considered one of the greatest guilds of today's day and age. Having met with some of their more prominent members including Natsu "Salamander" Dragneel, Erza "Titania" Scarlet, and several others, and hearing Luciella and Sakina's stories on the subject, I believe it's safe to say that our succession is in good hands.
I still remember when we were the strongest guild in Fiore, perhaps the world, but that was a long time ago.
…
I may as well write it all out, considering it won't leave my brain otherwise. A long time ago, we were the strongest guild in all of Fiore, perhaps the world. Adventurer's Gauntlet was a household name, but it went by a different name: Dragon's Army. Our leader was Ryan Dragmire. He was a dracomancer, the only one his kind. Many would not know what a dracomancer is, but my logs and my memory can attest to how it is different from a dragon slayer.
A dracomancer is a mage who, rather than utilizing a dragon's powers and standing on par with a dragon, instead becomes a dragon both in body and in spirit. Ryan was enamored with dragons as a young lad and when he met one that wanted to teach him Ryan refused. Ryan said that he didn't want to become a dragon slayer because he loved dragons and their kind. He wanted to become a protector and an aide to dragon kind.
The dragon, Yewgmenth, with the permission of Ryan's mother, took Ryan from his home to the dragon's nest, or so it has been said. Apparently the dragons of that time were waiting for a human to desire to be like them, a human they could pass their strength onto who would bridge the gap between dragon and humankind. Ryan gained the ability to transform into a half-dragon hybrid. He had a dragon's natural strength, speed, intelligence, dexterity, durability, capability of flight and heightened senses. He could utilize some portion of every known dragon; at the very least he could use every possible roar. However, though Ryan was accustomed to every possible dragon, he was master of no draconic element.
After his training, Ryan returned home and with his mother's help, began a mage guild. However, Ryan wasn't satisfied with simple open recruitment. He searched high and low for members for his guild, this would include Luciella and myself. Ryan's mother, Sarah, was a powerful mage in her own right, but had left her guild for motherhood, though now, with her contacts, helped find more powerful mages across the world for this guild her son was putting together, thus Dragon's Army was born.
Besides the current members of Adventurer's Gauntlet, Ryan's wife, Violet, as well as Ryan's brother Dromar were also members of the guild. There were many others, but those are the ones I think we miss the most besides Sarah herself.
I was just a boy when I met Ryan for the first time. I was surprised to see Luciella there as well. I've known the woman practically all my life, Thalassa too. We are a guild of 16 now and I still remember how that happened.
Many years ago, we were engaged in battle with a powerful demon calling himself Zeratos. He claimed that he was the current manifestation of Zeref's power, though he seemed to be very different from how Zeref was described in history. With an all red body, wielding a sword and wearing armor, Zeratos fought as demonically as his appearance. If he is connected to Zeref in any way, my guess is that he is the man's pure, undulated wrath, not the man himself.
Our guild met on confrontation with Zeratos and engaged him in battle. Even with Ryan using all of his power and us supporting him, it was not enough. Violet, with her magic, was able to locate a time gate. As Sarah kept Zeratos at bay, Ryan flew near us and told us that he wanted to preserve us and send us forward that he had to remain behind even if Zeratos was taken down with him, but that he did not know if we would survive and that we should go to a time period where we could live peacefully after this apocalypse had passed.
I was the last one to go through, but there were others in line. The time gate was smashed as I passed through it and it is my understanding that Ryan intended to send us farther than we've travelled. We've barely travelled a century into the future and I believe Ryan's intentions were to send us forward at least two.
I am not concerned about the fact that Ryan could no longer exist, because our guild, during that time period, had perfected a formula that can keep mages looking young and healthy for their entire lives. The age that they stopped is reflected by their heart and mind. For example, Ivy, our youngest, still considers herself very much a child and therefore looks no older than nine, and acts as such, but she, like the rest of us are at least 50 years of age and yet despite this long lived existence only Luciella, Thalassa, Jeremy, Soren, and I are considered to be incredibly powerful by today's standards. During our time period though we were considered most formidable and almost untouchable, now there are members of a group known as the 10 Wizard Saints who equal our strength. None of this, of course bothers me.
No, what bothers me though is that there is no record of the incident against Zeratos. The council has either covered it up so finely that I do not have the clearance to access it, or they just are going to pretend it never happened and perhaps no written record was ever made.
I have visited the location of where the time gate used to be. It's in shambles now, but I don't believe it was ground into such a fine powder as the disarray suggests. My suspicion is that it was moved, but I do not have the accessibility to know where it was moved to, or if I am even right.
…
That's all in the past now of course. Ryan's return is something we are all hoping for, Soren, his son, especially. We are sixteen in total, though we used to be nineteen until tragedies struck. Poor Sakina, the girl has never been since she lost her home, her mother and sister. And Sachi is still grieving for Seshiro. I will continue, though, to keep track of our members and their capabilities. By our group's standards:
Guildmaster: Me
Wizard Saint Rank: Thalassa Windarr, Luciella M. Vamplasa
Elite Rank: Jeremy Scholar, Soren Delsnai
S-class: Phoenix Hagoil, Narzia Tidales, Sakina Mashima
A-class: Stella Beckmiss, May Stowa, Sachi Lotuser.
B-class: Ivy Tarogas, Susanna Shapikni
C-class: Emily Rox, Laura Nimboso, Trixie Mescearl
Deceased:
Elite Rank: Samifa Mashima
B-class: Seshiro Lotuser
C-class: Sasita Mashima
Members of Unknown Fate:
Above my own power: Sarah Dragmire, Ryan Dragmire, Dromar Dragmire
Elite Rank: Cyrus Konsama
S-class: Violet Dragmire, Mahogany Lotuser, Damien Beckmiss
A-class: Kiku Capricornia
B-class: Sadie Dragmire, Lavirna Konsama
C-class: Amanda Watice, Fiona Watice, Satchel Dight, Larry Dight, Amy Phasp, Cindy Shimmer, Stacy Shooreeken
All of the others died on the battlefield before I left it. If any of our former comrades have survived I would like to confirm that they are or what even happened to them. We still seek and look for good news. Because of the unknown nature surrounding Ryan's faith and status, we encouraged Soren to change his surname to avoid conflict in case the name Dragmire carries with it a certain weight. Until we know that weight, it's best we not draw attention to ourselves.
With Fairy Tail in our debt, I've considered asking for their help. Perhaps one of these days I'll do just that.
Fairy Tail Guild
It was a normal day in the Fairy Tail guild, though a few changes had occurred in the past couple of weeks since their adventure to Edolas. For one, Mystogan was now missing. For two, Lisanna turned out to actually be alive. With what happened with Gant still troubling her subconsciously Lucy wondered if Natsu might forget all about her and choose Lisanna over her, though so far it seemed as if Natsu was just dense. If he and Lisanna were rekindling the old flame, then it was so subtle that not even Mirajane or Elfman could tell.
Right now it was midday and things were loud as usual in the catering hall as everyone sat around swapping stories telling jokes and making a mess. Natsu and Gray in particular were arm-wrestling. Currently there was a tier-elimination going on and the winner of it all would face Elfman since he was physically the strongest. Erza was satisfying her hunger with some delicious strawberry cake, being anti-social for the most part. Mirajane kept her place behind the bar counter, currently serving Levy, Cana, her brother, Freed and Evergreen. Juvia and Lucy and Lisanna were cheering on Gray and Natsu respectively as the two continued to compete to try and overpower the other.
As the noise and merriment continued in the guild hall, the doors to the guild were pushed open and someone entered the guild very skittishly. It was a young woman, around Lucy's age, with long sunset red hair. She was wearing a red dress that had been stitched back together around her midsection and open around her legs. She had cleavage going almost down to her navel. She was wearing a pair of scrunched wristbands that could also be worn in her hair. She had bags clearly visible under her eyes and eye-shadow around the sides of her red eyes. She was wearing shoes with broken heels. Her face and arms were covered in bruises and she appeared to be limping. On her right breast there was a burned X-patterned scar with remnants of a tattoo visible underneath.
Gajeel recognized the girl immediately. "Flare?"
Everyone who heard him shut up immediately and turned in the girl's direction. Gray's arm went slack and Natsu pushed it over, though both nodded to each other that that didn't count.
"This is…Fairy Tail." The young woman let out two short, nervous laughs. She began interlocking her fingers together and twisting them. A smile crept upon her face, but because of the raised position of her eyebrows she looked disturbed.
Gajeel sidestepped towards the bar from the arm-wrestling table while keeping an eye on the red head. "Mira, get Makarov. Tell him I need to speak with him in private as soon as possible."
"Gajeel…you know her too?"
"Too? How do you know Flare Corona?"
"That's her full name then? She was one of Gant's victims."
"I guess that's what I get for not paying attention to detail. Then again I was in pretty awful shape after my battle with that Sasami chick."
"I heard from the council that Flare escaped in the middle of the night. Why is she here? Shouldn't she be with her guild?"
"If you go get Makarov you can sit in on the discussion if you're that concerned, but the discussion doesn't leave the room, got it?"
Mirajane nodded and went to go get the guildmaster.
Gajeel walked up to Flare. Flare was nervous when he didn't look happy to see her. "I don't know what you're doing here, but why don't we talk where we won't be disturbed."
"Flare…came to see Mistress Mirajane," Flare tilted her head to the side and noticed Mirajane leaving, "Where is she going?"
"To get the guildmaster. You shouldn't be here Flare. You're not a part of this guild. What happened to you anyway? Where did you get those bruises?"
"What's with Gajeel and our mystery woman you think?" Jet asked.
"Former lover perhaps?" Droy proposed. Neither one could see the slight unsettled feeling this was having on Levy.
"Gajeel," Makarov entered the catering hall alongside Mirajane.
Gajeel turned to look at him and took a step to the side to reveal Flare. "She's from you know where," Gajeel said so as not to blow his cover in front of both Flare and the rest of the guild.
"I see, perhaps we should all have a talk behind closed doors upstairs."
Inside Makarov's private quarters, Mirajane, Gajeel, Flare and the guildmaster himself were all chit-chatting.
Gajeel stood by the door while Mirajane stood behind the chair Flare was sitting in who was glancing towards her hair as she fiddled with a lock of it showing the same interest in it as a small child.
"Did Ivan send you?" Makarov asked.
Flare's smile grew wider. "Ivan hurt Flare," she laughed a little.
Is that where all those bruises came from?
"What are you doing here?" Makarov asked.
Flare looked up from her seat up to Mirajane. "Flare wanted to see Mistress Mirajane," Flare sat up straighter and placed a hand on Mirajane's stomach, nuzzling her head against the white-haired mage like a pet animal.
"Flare, I told you last time, I'm not your new mistress." Flare didn't appear to be listening.
"The poor thing," Makarov pitied.
"What should we do with her?" Gajeel asked. "If Ivan even knows that she's here…"
"Flare," Makarov stated. "Does your guildmaster know you're here?"
"Flare has no guildmaster. Flare is independent." She smiled at Mirajane as Flare felt the young woman's hand with her hair. "Flare is free."
"Does Ivan Dreyar know you are here?"
Flare laughed nervously again. "Ivan doesn't care about Flare anymore. Flare is a failure to Ivan. Mistress Mirajane was nice to Flare. Flare wanted to be with her."
"But I—" Mirajane was about to protest again, but Makarov gave a look as if to say "let it go".
"Can you be sure this isn't a ruse? Flare is one of the crafty ones."
Gajeel soon found two large locks of hair smashed into either side of the wall as Flare gripped the arm of her chair and was growling. "Flare is deeply disturbed and wants to start over! She isn't playing games!"
Gajeel was convinced and the shocked expression on his face revealed further details. Flare hardly ever lost her temper unless someone cut or ruined her hair, as Gajeel learned the hard way once. Her reaction was uncharacteristic of how Gajeel had known her, though considering what Gant was up to and Flare calling Mirajane "mistress" Gajeel was starting to put the pieces together of what had happened to the redhead. Given Flare's already disturbed psyche, her actions right now were understandable, and rather unpredictable.
Flare turned back around and retracted her hair. "Flare quit Raven Tail. Raven Tail kicked Flare out," She explained to Makarov with a tone and expression of desperation. "Flare just wants a chance to start over. Flare will be a good girl, she promises. Flare won't ever betray Mistress Mirajane or any of her friends." She paused and added with a squeaked tone. "Please?"
Makarov didn't know how to answer. On one hand he couldn't be certain that this wasn't a clever ruse by Ivan to use Flare to worm her way into the guild. On the other hand, if Gajeel was acting as Makarov intended, Ivan shouldn't suspect or have reason to utilize a spy of his own and Flare really seemed uninterested in Gajeel and more interested in Mirajane. It was a little disturbing in its own right, but Makarov could see the tortured soul within Flare Corona. The problem was what to do.
Taking Flare in would be good for her, but would it be the smart thing for Makarov? After all, she was highly disturbed from the looks of things and Makarov had enough problems paying debts due to damage from Erza, Natsu and Gray. There was also the fact that Flare was coming out of a Dark Guild. Gajeel and Juvia, though formerly Fairy Tail's enemies, were both from Phantom Lord: an official guild. Flare's reputation would make it hard for her to just start over cold turkey.
Still, Flare seemed eager and the sweet child-like innocence in her hope was more than Makarov could take. That and Gajeel pretty much sold it with: "You hadn't forgiven me when you recruited me. You gave me a chance and look how I turned out. Flare can do the same."
Flare continued the desperation attempt by spreading her fingers out across her breast. "Gajeel knows Flare. Gajeel knows Flare can be a good girl. Please give Flare a chance." Flare looked like she might have a mental breakdown if she was rejected. It was understandable, of course. Besides Mirajane, there was no one else in the world Flare could feel she could rely on.
Makarov sighed, hoping he wasn't going to regret this decision. "Very well."
Flare beamed. She picked up Makarov and gave him a hug putting the old man absent mindedly right between her chest. "Thank you Mister Makarov. Flare will be a good girl. She won't let your kindness be wasted."
"Yes! Kindness," Makarov said and laughed with a wide smile and flushed cheeks.
Flare was officially initiated into the guild and Makarov introduced her to the others. Her guild emblem, representing Fairy Tail was now on her left breast. "Everyone, this is Flare Corona a former dark guild member looking to turn over a new leaf. She's been through a really rough ordeal recently. I have given her my approval to be in this guild. Please treat her with the respect and kindness we show all our guild members."
Flare pressed her fingertips together and tilted her head as she looked at the guild. "Flare will play nice, she promises not to cause trouble."
A few of the men were drawn in by Flare's sweet voice and her open dress. A few of the women, including Cana and Levy, were less than amused.
"Well all right then, let's party in celebration of our new member!" Natsu declared.
The word 'party' was a word everyone in the guild understood.
During the celebration, Flare seemed to stick close to Mirajane, skittish and afraid to approach the others.
"Flare you should mingle with the guild. These are your friends and comrades now, you should get to know them."
"Flare is fine though as long as she has Mistress Mirajane."
"I'm not always going to be able to hold your hand Flare," Mirajane was speaking metaphorically, though at the moment she was, in actuality, holding Flare's hand.
"Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!" the cheering was from several guild members watching Cana down an entire keg of alcohol without taking a break for air. Her current record was ¾ the keg.
Macao sat down at the bar. "Hit me up," he told Mirajane.
"Coming right up Macao," Mirajane said.
"Flare's got it!" Flare said and before Mirajane could even move she had her locks of hair reaching for the closest open bottle of sake and a dish simultaneously. She poured a little bit and served Macao as he took it.
"Quite the little assistant you have there," Macao laughed as he took a sip.
"Flare does everything she can for Mistress Mirajane," Flare said with a happy expression.
Macao nearly spit out his sake. "Mistress?" He looked at Mirajane.
"It's a long story," Mirajane flapped her hand up and down.
Macao laughed. "Of course it is. Our Mira-chan isn't the type for one night stands."
"Don't even joke about that. That's not funny!"
Macao noticed how quickly Mirajane seemed to dismiss the sexual harassment "Whoa, that's extremely uncharacteristic of you Mira-chan."
"What you're saying isn't funny regarding how Flare and I met."
"Ah, my apologies," Macao finished his dish and went back to the party.
Mirajane sighed. "Flare would you mind going off on your own a bit?"
"Did Flare do something bad? If Mistress Mirajane is upset with Flare, Flare will do whatever she can to fix it."
"No, it's nothing you did. I just need a bit of time to myself for a moment, okay Flare?"
"Flare understands," Flare got up from her seat and strode to an empty area at one of the tables. She sat alone, playing with her hair in a very child-like fashion.
Cana eventually gave out, not reaching more than half the keg, but by this point she was rather tipsy as she clumsily staggered around the guild. Natsu and Gray finished their Arm-wrestling match in Natsu's favor and Natsu and Gajeel went at each other after Gajeel won out over Freed.
Natsu, of course, was taken down by Elfman, quite easily. Since magic was illegal for the tournament, Natsu simply did not have the physical muscle mass to contend with Elfman's solidly strong arm.
Elfman took a pint of beer to his victory as Flare continued to watch the entire guild from afar. Wendy noticed this during all of the chaos and decided to make an attempt to befriend the redhead. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Flare is fine," Flare said.
Wendy sat down next to Flare, leaning forward with her elbows on the table and her head in between her arms. She turned her head to look at Flare. "It was hard for me too to get comfortable with the guild, but everyone in the guild is really nice. If you approach them, they'll accept you."
Flare just looked to the side with a nervous smile and raised eyebrows before she opened her mouth and continued playing with her hair.
"She certainly isn't normal," Carla said, standing on the table.
"Carla that's not nice," Wendy scolded.
"What's your name?" Flare asked Wendy.
"Oh, I'm Wendy," Wendy sat up and smiled at Flare and gave her her hand, "Nice to meet you, Flare."
Flare, socially awkward individual that she was, used her hair to shake Wendy's hand as she continued to play with her hair. Wendy was a little creeped out and her resulting whine was priceless. "Ehhhh!"
Flare laughed a little and not nervously for once. "You're so cute," she said in her normal tone, "Flare remembers when she was that small. It's nice to meet you Wendy. Dy. Wen-dy. Weeendy."
"Wendy, are you sure you should be hanging around someone like this?"
"What's the matter kitty-cat?" Flare asked, turning up the creep-o-meter in her smile and expression. "Flare won't hurt Wendy-chan. She's too cute." Flare curled a lock of her hair around Wendy's body. "So pure, so innocent, oh the ways you could become just like Flare."
"I…need an adult," Wendy whined.
"I am an adult," Flare chuckled.
"Wendy!" Carla was alarmed.
Flare retracted her hair and smiled provocatively. "Flare is kidding."
Wendy whined again. "Ehhhhhh?"
"That wasn't funny," she began to flail her little fists at Flare. "You really scared me."
"Flare is sorry, but that little whine of yours was just so cute Flare wanted to hear it again," Flare laughed.
Cana half-drunk, who had witnessed the whole thing and was giggling to herself, grabbed Flare's arm, dragged her towards the main group and looped her arm around Flare's shoulders and neck.
"H-hey guys!" Cana hiccupped, red in the face as she held her arm in the air. "F-Flare just took a jab at Wendy!" the card mage cried out as she pointed her index finger over Flare's head towards Flare's scalp, "E-Everyone, get out whatever redhead and gothic jokes you have!" Cana declared as she swung her arm across her body.
What Cana meant was that Flare's playful teasing of Wendy meant that the other guild members could do the same to her. It was Fairy Tail's special way of saying: "Welcome to the family."
Flare looked at everyone's smiling faces towards her. Her eyes filled with tears. "Usu," Her shoulders began to shake and tears began to fall.
"H-hey are you okay?" Levy asked.
"Yeah, Cana was just telling you that you're one of us now," Bixlow stated.
"Flare is fine," Flare sniffed, "And Flare knows," she wiped her eye with the back of her hand. "Flare isn't crying because she's sad. Flare is…happy. Flare's…never had real friends," she silently hiccupped as she rubbed a finger under her eye, "Or a loving family before."
"Well that's about to change!" Erza declared taking Flare to her side and smacking Flare's head into her armor protected bosom. "You're one of us now, Flare. Welcome to Fairy Tail."
Although she was sore from the impact, as a masochist, Erza's normally failed attempt at being nice actually did more good than harm. As Flare ignored the throbbing soreness, as she stood up straight, her lips turned upwards and her eyebrows lowered. A genuine, cheerful smile crossed her face. "Yes." She grabbed a drink from the table and held it up. "Flare will party hard!"
"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Natsu cheered and the merriment continued for several more hours.
And that was how Flare Corona, former member of Raven Tail, joined Fairy Tail.
End of Chapter 1
(A/N: And this is what I mean about this series being a parallel to canon. I'm going to have a few more chapters with goings on in Adventurer's Gauntlet and Fairy Tail, including when Doranbolt infiltrates Fairy Tail under the guise of Mest. I may actually have to redo the Tenrou Island arc myself, somewhat, because of Flare's involvement, though much of the time spent with it will be in favor of Adventurer's Gauntlet since much will remain the same. I also will be covering the seven years Fairy Tail goes missing as Adventurer's Gauntlet encounters Sabertooth, learns of the rise of Raven Tail and continues to search for Ryan's true fate. If anyone has any questions just leave a comment below. See you guys later!)