Well, since I'm pretty much done with exams I thought this would be a good time to get started on this. I've been looking forward to it. Thanks to everyone who read, favorited and reviewed the prequel, you helped me keep going. I hope you'll stick around for this one too.
Seven years have passed since the clash between Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart. Tenrou Island was never found again after that. Likewise, Acnologia seemed to have just vanished.
The kidnapped members of Fairy Tail had yet to return, leaving many to assume that they were killed. But their friends and family still held faith that they would return.
Things were rough on the rest of Fairy Tail as they were struggling to have ends meet for the guild, with some members deserting them. They had lost their HQ and were left to have the guild building as a smaller, more far off one.
Macao had taken over as guild master in Makarov's absence, doing his best to keep the guild going.
The man leaned in his seat ''Romeo's been gone for a while...''
''Ah, relax.'' Wakaba started. ''You know he just likes being alone sometimes. He's probably taking another walk.''
''I know but that doesn't mean I have to like it...'' He trailed off, his expression darkening. His son had idolised their missing members and learning what happened to them had been a shock to them all. Romeo was greatly saddened by the state of things, he hadn't smiled in seven years. Macao just didn't know what to do to help him feel better.
Jet sighed ''It all makes no sense...how is it that we've never been able to find them?''
His eyes fell on Reedus' sketchpad, which had a few papers sticking out. One had a picture of Happy, another of Natsu and a third of Makarov. They all felt terrible, they hadn't been able to do a thing for their friends back then and that had yet to change. While he still believed they would return, he had to wonder how long it will take?
Alzack and Bisca were on their way to the guild building, having run into Romeo along the way.
It was around then that they found Michael, who seemed to have also been the same way.
''What're you doing?'' Romeo inquired.
The young man was starting at something in the air. ''Hey, anybody know what that is?''
The three followed his line of sight, seeing that he was watching an airship heading to the Fairy Tail HQ.
Alzack squinted ''I think that's Christina...'' Michael gave him a curious look and he went on. ''...it's Blue Pegasus' airship. I wonder what's up.''
''Let's find out.'' Bisca said.
It turned out that the trimens had come to tell them that something had shifted around the area where Tenrou Island was. Their sensors had displayed ethernano activity for the first time in years, so there might be something that they hadn't seen before.
Taking it as a sign, the Fairy Tail members wanted to go and find out what was going on. As they prepared to leave, Warren took a moment to think.
''Say, you think we should tell Henry and Elena?''
Laki made to respond but Romeo beat her to the punch ''There's no need, don't get carried away. This doesn't have to mean anything, you'll all just be disappointed.''
''Don't say that,'' Laki chided.
''Yeah, we need to have faith.'' Macao added.
Romeo frowned, he didn't see how or why for one reason. ''We haven't heard a thing from them in seven years.''
The two exchanged a look, seemingly resigned to the fact that they couldn't change his mind.
Thankfully, Michael moved things along ''Hey guys, can I come?''
Even without his magic, Warren had a good idea just what -or rather who- was on his mind at the moment. ''Definitely.''
As they almost reached the island's location, Jet and Droy started to cheer at the thought of seeing Levy again.
Max gave them a look ''Guys...we still don't know what this means, don't push it. We might not find a thing...'' The two deflated at this.
''Come on, we don't need...'' Alzack started.
''Hey!'' Warren cut in, pointing at something in the water. ''What's that?''
''?''
This brought their attention to a peculiar sight. A girl with long, flowing blond hair and jade eyes standing on the water.
The girl smiled when her eyes fell on the group before raising her arms. The sea waves began to grow much stronger as it shook as something seemed to appear then.
''Is that...?'' Michael started.
''Yeah...'' Max's jaw dropped. ''...Tenrou Island.''
''Er, can someone clue me in here?'' Michael was confused. They had gone on to the island quickly but the rest of the group seemed to be following something he couldn't see. ''What exactly did Jet rush off after?''
''Well, there was this girl...wait, you can't see her?'' Droy blinked.
''We're not really sure what's going but it looks like there's someone responsible for bringing the island back.'' Warren offered. ''No idea why you can't see her though but she went off into the forest.''
''I'll take your word for it.'' Michael saw no reason not to do so. Hey, the way he saw it, one needed an open mind to work with magic. There were plenty of strange and mysterious things out there.
''Guys!'' Jet's voice came from a distance. ''Get over here!''
They ran over to the speed mage, finding him staring at something with a dumbfounded expression.
Why? He had found Natsu. The teen appeared somehow half buried into the ground and he seemed to be asleep.
Alzack tried to wake him, receiving a few grumbles after almost a minute before he opened his eyes.
''Ahh, what's going on?'' He grunted, pushing himself up.
''NATSU!'' Most of the group hugged him then.
Natsu yelped, blinking twice as he took them all in. ''Whoa, you guys grew up! Droy, you're fat! What happened?''
Eventually, they were able to find the rest of the missing fairies, much to their joy. As Warren hugged Makarov while Bisca and Michael did the same to Rebecca and Hope, Jet and Droy found their teammate.
''Levy, you made it!''
''We're so glad you're okay!''
''Hi, you guys.'' She smiled warmly, starting when they both leapt in for a hug, crying out how much they missed her.
''Ah! Hey, I'm glad to see you too but can you please let up? It's hard to breathe!''
Levy blinked a moment later when she was taken out of their hold. Her teammates looked back ''What's your problem?''
''Yeah, you ruined our moment!''
''Are you two deaf?'' Another voice responded.
Levy blinked ''Oh, thanks Gajeel.''
''No problem, Shrimp. Someone should to make sure they don't squish a little thing like you.''
''Hey!'' She pouted and he grinned back.
Max was trying to figure things out ''So...what happened? Were you guys sleeping this whole time?''
''That's what we want to know.'' Lily stated. ''You all seem so different...''
''Yeah, how'd you find us anyway?'' Lucy added.
''Well there was this girl...'' Max was distracted as he saw her again nearby. ''...there! That's her!''The girl merely smiled warmly at them.
''Hey, who are you?'' Droy demanded.
The answer was something that blew them out of the water. ''I am Fairy Tail's founder guildmaster, Mavis Vermilion.''
''What?!''
''Are you for real?!''
''...So you bailed us out again.'' Cana remarked with a smile.
''Yeah...'' Makarov trailed off. ''...to think the First herself would interfere to save us.''
''I'm just an ethereal body. You're the ones who made it possible. All I did was turn everyone's faith and use your power to create a shield to create one of the guild's grand spells, Fairy Sphere.'' She explained. ''It worked very well but I'm afraid it took seven years for the spell to wear off.''
Levy's eyes widened ''Seven years?'' No wonder everyone seemed so different!
While just as shocked, Makarov recovered after a few moments. He knew there was something else to say here ''Thank you, First. You saved us.''
''I'm the one who wanted to thank you.'' Mavis returned. ''You've done an excellent job as Master. The guild has grown wonderfully.'' She was surrounded by light before her body seemed to begin fading, leaving with one last remark. ''I couldn't be more proud.''
Everyone was in a jubilant mood at the thought of returning with the recent revelations. A few were already planning the celebration which would start after they get back to the guild.
Michael decided to clarify a few thing ''So the guild's founder lived on here as a ghost and she got enough magic to save you guys?''
''Essentially yes.'' Carla returned. ''I don't know why you couldn't see her so I imagine this might be a bit hard to believe.''
''There's no reason I shouldn't believe it.'' He stated. ''For all we know, maybe it's just Fairy Tail members who can see her or something? Either way, we saw that sphere and you're all safe. I think that just gives this whole situation credence.''
''True...''
''This'll be great!''
''Yeah, wait till everyone hears about what happened!''
''So, seven years huh? What the hell did we miss?'' Gajeel wondered.
''Plenty, but that's fine. You can catch up.'' Alzack offered.
''Looks like some changes are more obvious than others, huh?'' Happy remarked, glancing at the search group.
Droy's eye twitched when the exceed looked his way ''Lay off! It just happened okay?''
''Happy, don't be rude.'' Erza chided.
''That's just overreacting, it's nothing he hasn't heard before.'' Max remarked.
''Seven years...I wonder what we should do...'' Wendy was pensive.
''Whatever we can.'' Hope offered. ''I'm not going to say try not to think about because I doubt any of us can help that now. But there's no point dwelling on that lost time. Let's try make the most of what we have now. You heard the guys, we're in for a celebration. We're going to have some fun.''
The girl smiled and nodded. This was all new to them so it would be hard to get past the lost years but that was about right to her. ''Well...'' She blinked as he suddenly stopped. ''...Hope-san?''
The boy seemed distracted as he held up the pendant, which Wendy could see was glowing brightly. What was going on?
If anyone had looked closer then, they would have seen the Corona Crest appear on his hand. Before he could react, the artifact emitted a bright light that almost blinded those who happened to be nearby.
Lisanna rubbed her eye ''...What was that?''
''It was so sudden...'' Mira's eyes widened when she looked back at Hope as she could see what it had done. Similarly, the rest had quickly caught on.
'What in the world...?' A bewildered Endymion blinked.
Natsu wound up voicing the issue ''Whoa! Hope, why do you look like you did before?''
The boy looked puzzled ''What're you talking about?''
''In short...'' Gray formed an ice mirror and held it up for him to see.
It was then that he understood their surprise. For now, his hair was colored a vivid shade of caramel while his eyes were hetero-chromatic, one silver and the other purple.
Lily couldn't help but think on how Hope looked exactly like his edolas counterpart now ''...What's going on?''
''Got me! What the heck was that?'' Jet cocked his head.
Laxus glanced at Natsu ''Hey, you said something about Chibi looking like this before?''
''Well yeah, that's what he looked like when we first met.'' The dragon slayer offered. ''Michael knows what I'm talking about, right?''
The mimic mage nodded but he was clearly just as thrown off by this ''Yeah...hey, Hope, you all right?''
Makarov also noticed the boy's mystfified expression then ''Do you feel any different?''
Hope nodded ''Somewhat...it feels like I got back something I lost...''
'Strange, something seems different about your magical core too.' Endymion informed, eyes narrowing in thought. 'Though it might have something to do with that crest...'
This brought attention to the Corona Crest that was glowing on Hope's hand. Gajeel raised an eye, he wondered if this was what Hope meant by something he had lost. ''So you really had thing years ago, Bird boy?''
''Yeah...it feels that way...''
''But why would this happen now?'' Bickslow wondered.
''It might be because of that crest's nature.'' Lucy offered. ''We still don't know much about it. It just seems connected to Hope's past.''
''Hmm...could be.'' Freed remarked. ''I think it might be that Hope's appearance because of something Demon Fang did. If I recall correctly, causing Hope and Endymion's fusion caused a reaction that destroyed a good part of their base. I wouldn't be surprised if the change was the result of an unfinished experiment or something.''
''That makes sense.'' Victor agreed. ''The pendant was made by one of the best templars, with the way things stand, it could have just reversed the effect. It just barely started working the way it used to after all...''
''Hey, it just means Hope's rid of another lousy side effect from those bastards, all the more reason to celebrate!'' Max exclaimed.
''That sounds good to me. How about it, Hope?'' Bisca asked with a smile.
He smiled back ''That sounds great.''
Unfortunately, things weren't going nearly as well back at Fairy Tail.
While they had been waiting for news, members of the guild Twilight Ogre had crashed in. The group's leader, a man named Thibault had come demanding money Macao had borrowed from their guild's master. But while Macao reminded them that their payment was over, Twilgiht Ogre's guild master seemed to have changed his mind and he wanted interest.
Thibault mocked the present members, wanting them to give up on Fairy Tail. This was the last straw for Romeo, who decided to deal with the man himself to defend the guild. Thibault had been able to stop his attack and made to retaliate but just then...the guild's door was kicked open and Thibault was blasted with a fiery wave, the other ogres were hit with an ice blast, a water wave, a few sword strikes and a blast of lightning.
Shocked, everyone turned to the door to find the Tenrou group making their way through.
''We're back!'' Natsu called out cheerfully.
''Sorry for the wait, you guys!'' Happy beamed.
The present fairies all smiled widely while the Twlight Ogre members ran off.
''You made it!''
''Wow, you're all here!''
''You all look so young!''
''What happened?''
''Ah, well...'' Rebecca said sheepishly and some began to explain.
Makarov took a moment to look around ''Man, this place is small!''
Erza noticed Romeo staring at them in shock and smiled ''Oh, look who it is.''
Natsu followed her line of sight and grinned ''Hey, Romeo! You sure grew up!''
The boy smiled at long last, not paying the tears in his eyes any mind as he spoke ''Natsu-nii, everyone, welcome back.''
Soon, the reunion kicked off and a big party was thrown to welcome the returning fairies. Needless to say, they were just as shocked to learn of what happened in Tenrou but no less grateful for it. For their comrades were home at last...
Elena and her family were particularly happy to meet up with Gray and the two sides immediately began catching up. Gray was surprised to learn that Drake was learning to become a mercenary like Henry and that increased upon learning that Ravi was a mage.
''Since when were you...?'' He blurted.
Ravi grinned ''We found out a while ago. I'm still studying up on magic though. Oh, your friend offered to teach me.''
Gray blinked ''Who?''
''Lyon from Lamia Scale! He said he'd be willing to teach me Ice Make magic.''
Something about that irritated him. ''Fat chance, if anyone's going to be doing that, it'll be me.'' Gray's eyes narrowed as he noticed Drake's growing amusement. ''What're you smirking about?''
''Oh, nothing. He told us you might take it that way. You guys are closer than I though.''
''Oh, please! He's annoying!''
Natsu perked up ''You can use fire magic too?''
''I learned Rainbow Fire magic!'' Romeo informed. ''I can make blue fire that's real cold or purple flames like Dad's, a smelly yellow one too.''
''Hey, that sounds a lot like...'' Gajeel cocked his head ''...where'd you learn that, kid?''
Romeo lowered his voice as he answered ''Don't tell Dad but I go to Totomaru-sensei's magic classes.''
''Now it makes sense.'' Gajeel grinned. ''So that's what he's been doing...''
Erza's eyes widened ''You got married?''
''Yup!'' Bisca smiled brightly. ''We have a little girl too, her name's Asuka.''
''W-wow...''
''She's adorable, I think you'll like her.'' Elena remarked.
''Yeah, we told her a lot about you guys. We'll bring her over later.'' Bisca added.
Wendy and Carla were looking at Reedus' more recent sketches, both stopping at one that looked like a grown up Wendy.
''Oh, I was trying to imagine what you'd look like as an adult.'' Reedus explained once he saw it had their attention.
''Hmm, I can see it actually...'' Carla hummed. ''...what do-Wendy?'' She blinked, seeing the girl sulk. ''What is it?''
''I'm supposed to be grown up...but I haven't really grown...'' She heard her mumble.
''What're you...'' Carla looked back at the painting. It was then that she noticed the girl looking rather closely at the artwork, at a particular area. This made her remember that spectacle when she tried to heal everyone on Tenrou. Suddenly she knew what this was about. ''...are you still sulking about that? Give it a rest.''
''But...''
''You're being ridiculous.''
''You don't understand, Carla.'' Wendy pouted. This painting just made her feel worse.
She rolled her eyes, deciding to move things along. ''So...what exactly are they doing?''
'They' being Cana and Gildarts. The former was trying to push the latter away as he was holding her and giddily talking to the people nearby.
''You know what, I'm a dad! Cana's my daughter!''
''Would you just let go already?!'' The girl retorted, fed up.
''As lively as ever.'' A new voice remarked, bringing attention to some newly arrived visitors.
It was a group of some Lamia Scale members, Lyon, Sherry and Jura along with their friends Toby and Yuka. There were also Ichiya and the trimens.
Laki smiled ''Hey, come to join the party?''
''Yeah, we couldn't stay away after we got the word.'' Eve returned.
Natsu cocked his head ''What're you all here for?''
''Don't be rude, they're here to see everyone.'' Marco chided. ''They helped us look for you guys for a long time.''
''That's right,'' Sherry nodded to him. ''So show a little respect.''
''Word of advice, you guys, don't expect any manners from that moron.'' Gray offered.
''What was that you stupid snow-cone?!''
''You're one to call others stupid!''
''Hey, come on, don't fight now.'' Gildarts grinned. ''We're all having fun here! Everyone, join the party!''
''You're engaged?'' Lucy smiled. ''That's great!''
''Isn't it?'' Sherry seemed pleased as she began reminiscing. ''The day Ren proposed was one of the best in my life...I'm always so grateful we met...''
''Aww...'' The two were distracted by a cry before seeing Ichiya being thrown into a wall. It didn't take them long to spot Erza glaring at his figure. Knowing the two, it was easy to figure out what happened. ''...not again. Didn't he learn from last time?''
''I wonder if he'll ever learn...''
Toby laughed as he beat Jet in an arm-wrestling competition ''I told you I'd win! Anyone up to try next?!''
''Sure!'' Elfman stepped up. ''Why don't we see what you can do again a man like me?''
''Oi, I'm a man too! I'll beat you!''
Lyon paused in his tracks as a certain person caught his eye. ''This feeling...is it love from first sight?''
''Eh?'' Juvia was bewildered as he approached her.
''My lady, would you kindly tell me your name?''
''? It's Juvia...''
''A lovely name! I'm Lyon Vastia, would you please join me for a drink?''
''What do you know, Juvia's got herself a fan.'' Happy and Cana shared amused looks as they watched the interaction continue.
''He's not the only fast worker around here.'' Cana added, glancing at Hibiki and Eve, who were flirting with Laki and Kinana.
Elena raised an eye as she noted Gray watching the water and ice wizards curiously ''Why don't you go and join them?''
''You told them everything?'' Lisanna clarified, startled.
''Yeah...'' Michael rubbed the back of his head. ''...Drake and Ravi punched me and Miss Elena really let us have it. She can be real scary when she wants to be...not that I didn't have it coming.''
A thought was forming in Freed's mind ''So when you say everything...''
''I mean it, I went back home a while back and cleared things up.'' He admitted. ''Dad was...well, dumbfounded, so were a majority of the people now that I think about it. It's probably like Mom said, everyone lost their heads and...well, you know...'' He glanced at Hope. ''...I didn't get to tell him just yet but I'd rather leave this out now.''
''Fair enough.''
''So, I was wondering...'' Michael glanced at Laxus, who was talking to Mira at the bar. ''...why were those guys all so surprised that Laxus helped out?''
''No one saw it coming, that's why...'' Warren muttered.
''Yeah, I mean...if you told me Laxus did all this stuff before I would've laughed you out of here...'' Max added.
''Oi, be nice.'' Alzack chided. ''It's really good of him.''
''Of course it is! They're all just jealous that they could never amount to half of Laxus' prowess. He is a true man among men!'' Evergreen declared.
''True enough, Ever.'' Bickslow chimed in.
''Yes, it's a marvelous day that our leader returned at last.'' Freed added.
Michael raised an eye and looked at Lisanna for help. That really didn't answer anything for him. The girl laughed awkwardly ''Let's just say...Laxus didn't really get along with everyone at first. They just can't get over how he seems to have changed.''
''Ah...''
Natsu looked surprised ''Jura's one of the highest ranked wizard saints now?!''
''That's right,'' Yuka replied.
''Oh, congratulations.'' Hope smiled.
''Thank you.'' The man smiled back. ''Yuka is exaggerating, I've only worked to the best of my ability. Though since we're talking about change, Hope-dono, just what happened to you?''
''Ah...'' The boy looked a bit sheepish, knowing this was about his appearance. ''...this kind of just happened on our way...''
''Interesting.'' Jura mused when they finished explaining things. ''It would be understandable for time magic to cause such a thing but it's impressive.''
''I'll say.'' Yuka agreed, taking a look at the pendant. ''So this is one of the Altair's works huh? Talk about big things in small packages.''
''It's clear even now how much we missed.'' Erza remarked. ''If you don't mind me asking, would you brief us in?''
''I was wondering too, just what happened to the guild anyway?'' Makarov added.
''Ah, that...'' Macao exhaled. ''...it was complete chaos at first. We were looking all over for you guys and we had help from Lamia, Pegasus and even the Council later.''
''The council?'' Lily raised an eye.
''Yeah, we were surprised too at first.'' Wakaba started. ''There were a bunch led by that Doranbalt guy, seems he left just a little before the trouble that got you lot stuck there went down. They were helped by some of the old council too. Apparently they came because they wanted to find a way to repay Hope for his work with them.''
''It took them long enough.'' Rebecca said flatly.
''I know, right? We gave them a piece of our minds.'' Macao informed, a bit annoyed as he recalled how some tried to weasel out of it by using Fairy Tail's old issues with the council as an excuse. ''Oh and apparently what Victor and Erza learned from Scorpion Blade was the truth. The council started looking into Hope's background a while after he kept working with them. They found out all about Demon Fang and that disaster in Crocus too. And they did learn Hope's birth name but they were having trouble as to where to go from there. I think it's mostly because they were torn on the issue but it sounds like they didn't have much luck finding out more about Hope's family.''
'Wait, Macao, what do you mean they were torn on the issue?' Endymion inquired.
''Ah, right. Some of them wanted to tell Hope the truth about their search, some were pretty much neutral. The problem was with the rest who wanted to keep it quiet until they found a good time...a good time for them that is.''
Victor's eyes narrowed a bit ''You mean a good time so they can use this-use Hope for their own good, considering the weight of the Sherwind name in Aetheria.''
''Oui, I think that's when everyone got really angry.'' Reedus thought back. ''If it wasn't for Marco and Bisca stepping in, we might have had a real fight in our hands then.''
''Yeah, on a brighter note though, things seemed real bad for a while but we actually some really good help to keep the guild going.'' Wakaba offered. ''Marco, Henry and Elena totally came through, we weren't for them going through so much but they wouldn't hear a word against it. That's not even mentioning the help we happened to get thanks to Hope and Endymion.'' The boy gave him a quizzical look and he explained. ''The council's not the only one who wanted to pay back some debts. Plenty of the people who know you're part of the guild found out what happened, they figured helping us out was the best way they could do for the White Paladin.''
''How kind of them.'' Erza smiled as they looked at Hope, who seemed touched at the news.
He nodded, smiling back ''I never thought they would...but I'm really glad. I'd like to thank them...''
All in all, Fairy Tail was in for a turnaround after seven years. And this celebration would be the herald to a new beginning...
And I'll stop here.
So I just wanted to get the return and celebration down here but what comes afterwards is for later. I hope this was all right.
I've had the idea for Hope's new (or rather older look) for a while but I couldn't decide when to use it at first, this seemed like the best timing. To clarify a few things, the reason behind change is just as mentioned above, one of Demon Fang's experiments. It was taken to be a failed idea and left at that but then they decided to test their experiment and caused Endymion's fusion with Hope. The force and power from that almost totaled half their base and Endymion took off, this lead to them being found by Igneel.
Michael did go back to Crocus and explain everything he learned in the Mystic Blessing arc about what happened with Hope. His Dad is actually a knight in Mercurius, working right under Arcadios. The word spread out by now. Saying they were shocked was an understatement, you'll see more about what this caused in the Grand Magic Games arc.
The change was possible because of the pendant and the Corona Crest. They're both active now and in a way, they can be considered connections to Hope's past. Hope had it years ago and it's deeply connected to his magical core. As I mentioned in the prequel, the Corona Crest was dormant thanks to what Demon Fang did and like the pendant, it's back to the way it was supposed to be. This also means unlocking a new power for Hope. You'll learn just what that is soon.