Laxus Dreyar wrapped his arms around her firm shoulders. They sagged a bit under the warm weight of his arms, but she didn't protest. It had already been seven years since Fairy Tail had been disbanded. At first, the man had wanted to create his own guild, but other than Freed, the others had had plans of their own. Evergreen had showed a rare moment of softness and had gone to find Elfman Strauss. And his other companion had left him as well, seeing no point in going on. A new propaganda had started to spread. The Age of Magic is over. Mages were not the majority of people in Fiore, and although they were numerous, they were still outnumbered by the regular humans, men and women. The age of magic is over. Finding quests was harder and harder. There was a man at fault. Grieson Hans. A man who was slowly rising in influence. People listened to him, more often than not. Magic, after being glorified, was now considered a disgrace, a crime, banned by no law. Only a few guilds hadn't disbanded. And amongst them was Sabbath Tale, a guild whose recent leader was young. Her father had recently been reported dead after going to Juenia, a town east of Magnolia, to resolve a conflict between one of his former dragon slayers and his newest. None of them had been seen again.

Laxus Dreyar wrapped his arms around her shoulders and looked straight ahead, resting his chin on her head. Narabeth, less formerly, Nara, stood up.
"You don't have news, do you?"
"None." Laxus said gruffly. He had none. She sighed and pressed her cheek to his arms.
"I know." He had nothing to reply.
"This is pissing me off." Frustration was just stagnating in him.
"What else can we do? Standing around does shit."
"I know." She sighed. "Next week I have organised a meeting with all the last guild masters. Even a dark guild has accepted to come." Laxus let out a loud sigh.
"Tch." She was passive aggressive. Always willing to talk. She hadn't acted much lately, and although she was doing her best to keep mages like himself from acting rashly, she hadn't done anything memorable.
"You know we cannot attack upfront."
"I... Why?" He knew why, but didn't understand fully. "Mages have the power to rule Fiore. And we have in the past."
"Think why."
"I know. Because it will give their fear and hate of us a reason. And any acts of violence would justify violence on their part. I know all of that. But then what? A bit of fear induced panic to remind them of our power wouldn't do them any wrong." Her shoulders sagged under his arms again.
"It would do us wrong. I will do my best, Laxus. I promise you. I won't sit here and do nothing. But I need more time. Because I don't think their actions are Pacific."
"They have only used words for now." Laxus said. Words that mean nothing to him. They were just a proof of how meek humans were. Easily influenced.
"I wouldn't be so sure. Be sure to be at the guild meeting. I need you." She turned to look at him and he moved his arms away. He was a little surprised. He shouldn't be so sure? Hans had used physical violence?
"I am going to check on the youngsters." She gave him a small smile and walked away towards the upper chambers of the guild.

The youngsters were the kids Sabbath Tale had taken in after their guilds were disbanded or their orphanages had thrown them out because of their powers. It was becoming a dangerous world for them. Sabbath Tale was one of the three guilds that had offered to take them in, because of the size of the guild. Other guilds were nomadic or too small, but Sabbath Tale was quite important now. Nara gave a yawn. None of them had slept much lately. It was impossible, they had too much work. He wasn't worried for her though. She was much tougher than some of the others in this guild. Following her, hands in his pockets, he looked up at the moon through the pillars as they went through the main hall. A few other guild members were scurrying around, filling out quest papers to make sure the other members would have something to do later on. They ascended the steps to the chambers were all the children were sleeping. The guild was quite gloomy at this hour. Without a sound, she opened the first door and peeked in. Not a child awake. Seven kids were in their beds, sleeping deeply. With a minuscule smile, she closed the door and he rolled his eyes. The next room was just about as lively. She peeked in again and gave a nod. The last room wasn't as quiet. Opening slowly, both of their eyes set on two of the kids, sobbing loudly while another sat in a corner with an upset pout.
"They make too much noise." The grump growled. Him saying that woke up two of the other kids.
"Shut up, Maxen." A young girl said, chucking a pillow at him. Nara made a face. One of the things she and Laxus had in common was a lack of skills with kids.
"You take care of the grump. I'll do the others." Unsure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, he walked towards Maxen and sat next to him. What now?

Maxen's arms stayed crossed and he kept pouting.
"Hey, kid."
"What."
"I won't tell you to cheer up. But don't be a butt face all your life. Makes you look stupid." Narabeth covered her mouth, her eyes telling him to take his own advice. He gave her a pissed frown.
"Fine. Be a butt face. People still end up loving you. But just don't be a drag." He had no better advice to give and placed his hand on the kid's head and shoved it down with a gruff ruffle. Maxen let out a giggle and covered his mouth. He was still a child. One that had tried to grow up too fast. A bit like himself.
"Now go to bed. We all need sleep." Maxen tried to keep on pouting but gave up and climbed back up to his bed. Laxus walked back over to where Nara had calmed the two crying kids, but was now stuck with them asleep and clinging on to her. He bit his lower lip slightly to fight the urge to smile. Face still as pouty as Maxen's, he delicately pulled the little girl off Narabeth and placed her on her bed, pulling the cover up over her shoulders. She had snot coming from her nose and he turned away with a look of disgust. He helped Narabeth up as she was still holding the boy and walked out of the chambers while she put him to bed.

Walking out of the room after him, she tied her small amount of black hair into a small ponytail. They left the upper floor and jogged down the stairs in synchronisation.
"We need sleep." She told him with a rather gruff pat on the back. "I am going to wash and then, to bed. You should do the same." Laxus would never get used to a girl like her giving him such recommendations. It had annoyed him at first, but now, all he did was flinch. He liked this guild, to an extent. They were at least standing against the Man. She left in as they passed the door to the showers whilst he had already washed that morning and didn't feel like wasting the water, or making an effort at the moment. He went back to the main hall where people where all sleeping at random places. Even Nara just slept rolled up in a fleece blanket in the corner. He didn't like it much. It was uncomfortable, and he did deserve something better after the work he did outside of the guild. But the few guild chambers had been given to the children, and he wasn't in much of a position to complain. Nobody was. He shrugged his coat off and took a blanket out of the big trunk in the corner. Wrapping it over his broad shoulders, he gave a yawn. He had started being constantly tired lately. With a sigh and frown, he may day down on the floor and adjusted the blanket over his body. The man closed his eyes, hoping to get a bit of sleep.

Not fifteen minutes later, he heard small footsteps crossing in the room. Narabeth was on her way to bed. She didn't move, seeing no point in it and she went to get her blanket. He heard a short chuckle and she threw a blanket over his lower half, as the first one wasn't big enough to cover all of him. Then she crouched by him and kissed him on the cheek. "Sweet dreams, Thunder head." She whispered, patting his head. His face became sulking, and he crossed his arms. She was annoying like that. Despite being almost ten off years younger than he was, she treated him like an oversized little brother. He almost wanted to say it was unfair, but that sounded so childish, it was painful. He ignored her and she left out another breath that sounded like a chuckle and walked away to go curl up in her own corner.

Things had changed drastically in the past 7 years in Fiore. Magic was becoming a curse, and Mages were becoming hated. Guilds were losing and disbanding. Everything was falling apart. Sabbath Tale was still strong, so was Blue Pegasus and a few others, but since the old man had disbanded Fairy Tail, a lot of hope had been lost. Laxus still had one ambition other than destroy the man, and his influence on the people: Find the former members and rebuild Fairy Tail. Tomorrow morning, he would request that Narabeth sends word to find all of the members; especially the stronger ones, and let them join Sabbath Tale temporarily. No matter what happened, a revolution would be starting soon. He could feel it. It excited him. He wanted to lead it. He wouldn't let the weak take over the strong out of fear of their power. It was stupity that lead them. The Man, Grieson Hans, was smart, but did he know what was coming for him? The mage doubted it.

A/N: Thank you for reading the first chapter of Fire Trial. I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks a lot. Heart and comment. I would enjoy a full review and so on and so forth. Lot s of love, my hearties!

- Heartsmith