Master

"I own absolutely none of the fictional characters or objects that are mentioned, referenced or othervise used in this story!"

A ruin. More precisely it was the ruin of his guild, of Phantom Lord, reputed the strongest guild in the Kingdom of Fiore. What a reputation to have lost!

When they had started the guild war, they had thought their victory assured. Glory, jewels and power was what they would have gotten, had they won. But they were now reaping as they had sown and there was very little produce in defeat.

Gajeel knew this as he trudged through the ruins, towards a very specific part of the wreckage of his guild's old headquarters. it was a special part, it still had a roof. Ducking under the low broken arcway Gajeel peered into the shadows of what had once been a decent sized storage room. Squenting to determine whether or not he was home, Gajeel inched under the crumbling debris and into the cool shadows.

In the darkness his other senses were forced to take over and Gajeel closed his eyes to better focus. The sound of dripping water, the smell of cracked stone and timber, the feel of sparsely cleaned rubble on the floor and the taste of dust all filled his head as he searched for one shred of proof that the crumbled buildings inhabitant was present. finally the sound of sloshing ale in a tankard being drained. A burp was the only sign that it had been enjoyd. A sign that also spoke of how good the drinkers mood was. Poor.

Gajeel followed the sound to a door which opened to reveal a scarcely lit room, a few candles and an openended beerkeg (near empty, no doubt) keeping the single occupant with some semblance of company. Sitting at a table nursing his tankard, before dipping it deep into the keg, returning it less than half full dripping a few worthless drops of alcohol on the table and the man's frayed sleeve. Looking at him now, sitting bent over a table, wearing his ruined uniform, his hair in grey tatters, it was hard to believe that he had once been The master of the strongest guild in the country, Jose Porla.

Looking up at the sound of the creaking door, the man's features briefly lit up and looked for a moment, lively.

"Gajeel-san, how are you, why have you come here?"

taking a deep breath, Gajeel bowed deeply on the floor, knowing the news he had for his master would not be taken lightly.

"Master, I met someone today, Master Makarov wanted to speak with me" Gajeel didn't need to see to know that Master Jose had become agitated, stiff as a board. had Gajeel been able to see him, he would have likened Jose's current pose as similar to that of an alert and very angry Doberman Pincher.

"And... What, Did, He WANT?!" there was a certain sneer to the voice as the words were being spoken, an edge that could cut stone and scar iron. little wonder since Jose could thank Makarov for his current condition.

"He... offered me a place in his guild" what happened next was not what Gajeel had expected, nothing happened. When curiosity finally got the better of him, Gajeel dared to look up and stare into a stupefied Master Jose, mouth open and some beer (that had by sheer miracle had avoided going down his throat) dripping out. Slowly, ever so slowly his head started to tilt right, before settling into a 45 degree angle with a drop of coldsweat crawling down his forehead. Finally his left eye started to twitch rapidly.

When this had been going on for a few minutes Jose shook his head violentlyt from side to side and the proceeding to make a few gestures of bewilderment where Jose was unable to speak and Gajeel was unable to respond, before the former master finally snapped out of it.

"Why?" Gajeel told him, Jose was silent during the whole explanation, only looking unblinking into the eyes of his old Ace Mage. About all the talk of tomorrow of not falling into darkness and, not least of all, that Juvia had joined Fairy Tail recently. At the short tale's end Jose only had one question nagging him:

"And, what was your answer Gajeel-san?"

"I haven't answered yet, I asked for a time to think it over, got a day" Gajeel looked uneasy, sweatíng a little even "What should I do Master?"

Jose leaned back in his seat, trying to take it all in, what was Makarov thinking? What was his game? He was bound to have something up his sleeve, he wouldn't just accept Gajeel into his guild without having some plot or ploy. Still, what could Gajeel get from becomming a member of Fairy Tail, he had already been rejected from several guilds (in advance even!) and then what could Juvia gain from being a part of a guild they had previously wrecked?

Closing his eyes, Jose tried to mull it over, attempting to consider all aspects of the situation, thinking outside the box and all other possible ways in order to not make a bad decision... again.

Finally, after several hours of talking to himself, wiping his sweaty dirty face, restless pacing around the room, sending Gajeel for one of the last intact barrels of beer (the boy couldn't be held up forever waiting for advice after all) and knocking his head into the wall several times to come up with an answer, Jose smiled, he got it!

Hearing his old master calling for him gGajeel went back inside the building and was greeted with a satisfied and smug looking Master Jose sitting at his table, with 2 filled mugs of beer. The other significant change was the lightning, there were much more of it due to a number of glowing light lacrima illumninating the room and driving the darkness and shadows away, it almost looked lively! Like it had only a few weeks before.

Jose motioned for him to sit, doing so, Gajeel looked suspiciously at the other man, his old master whom he had fought for countless times and even started a guild war for. What was he up to? Had he found some way to get back at Fairy Tail for their guilds destruction? He asked him

"Vengeance sure would be great wouldn't it, but I got something even better in mind"

Gajeel was honestly confused now, something better than vengeance, they had unfinished buisness with Fairy Tail and they had to protect the guilds reputation, even if the had been disbanded by the council.

"As you know Gajeel-san, we lost the war" nodding his consent Gajeel motioned for Jose to continue "And have thusly been disbanded by the council and are now ridiculed by every guild within and without the country, we might not be us anymore in the eyes of the council but every single member of this guild suffers the stigma and the burden of loss in the eyes of others, you and I in particular, since we started the conflict" rising up, Jose started to pace the room, hands behind his back occasionally looking back at Gajeel to speak to him.

"We must redeem ourselves in order to protect what have been and in time, perhaps even revive ourselves in the future, even thought that's a slim hope" Jose stopped at a banner the still hung on the wall, dark blue on purple it depicted the mark of Phantom Lord, frayed and stained as it was it still managed to cause a stir in the hearts of those who looked upon it.

"It's ironic that it is to be Makarov that offer you, and thus us, the greatest opportunity to do just that" placing a hand on the banner Jose stroked it softly not turning his head to speak next

"He may not call it salvation, but why would we want that? Why would you? Redemption is so much better, vengeance is a sweet dish but redemption is sooo much more filling and better in the long run, who could affect the honor and name of you or the guild if you have proven yourself? Especially to Fairy Tail"

Turning towards Gajeel with his hand gripping the banner tightly, Jose looked at once both tired and yet more energetic than he had since the disbandment of Phantom Lord. looking straight at Gajeel his words embedded themselves deep into Gajeel's bones

"I know that I can't command you to Join Fairy Tail because of my theories, I can't ask you to do that and subject yourself to whatever Makarov and his comrades have got in store for you, as for Juvia, she's a big girl, she can take care of herself, it shouldn't be done for her sake either, you should only take Makarovs offer if you please!"

Jose shook as he spoke, his eyes closed as he ended his idealised speech (he had said it because he knew it was the right thing to do, not because he felt like it), turning his head and relasing his grip on the banner, Jose turned to the side and for the briefest moment, balled his fists and awaited Gajeel's response, if he would ever give one. In truth he loathed Fairy Tail, loathed them with a passion that, if converted to energy, could supply the Super Mage Giant Phantom MK II to full capabillity for a week, but he knew deep down that it was the best way to regain their lost honor and also that the right thing to do was not asking that Gajeel subject himself to the inevitable humiliation and attacks that the Fairies undoubtle would perform at some point after him joining their guild.

Looking at the former Wizard Saint, Gajeel was silent for a moment contemplating what he had heard and looking inward to find out what it was he wanted? It wasn't a hard decision really

Gajeel shook his head, smiled and chuckled a little GI HI!

"You are always too lenient Master, of course it's not my decision whether I want to join Fairy Tail or not! I was the astrongest man in Phantom Lord! Ace! it's my duty to maintain the guild's name"

Gajeel leaned back in his chair and spread his arms while laughing smugly

"We lost, so we're trash! But only to the victor. If The Fairies remain the strongest then we won't loose as much face, I'll join them and make them even stronger! I'll hand them victories they would never have dared dream of! I'll make sure they remain big, that their victories are never forgotten. If Makarov got some ulterior motive then let him bring it! if it's vengeance let's see how much stomach he got! if it's a job then that just mean his children aren't tought enough! Let him bring his worst! Gihihihahaha!"

Jose looked a moment surprised at his comrade, then it turned to pride and solemn happyness that he had ever had such a stalwart and loyal mage in the guild. Walking over to the table he fetched up his mug while Gajeel raised his before the smacked them togeher and rose them high in the air in salute of the old banner on the wall.

"Let Him bring his worst indeed Gajeel-san hahaha! To the future!"

"To the future!"

Thought this one up a few weeks ago, around the time Gajeel met up with Rogue in the final heat of Dai Mato Enbu. I wondered what Jose would have thought about Gajeel joined Fairy Tail and while some would say this is a very light hearted version of Jose this is what I'd think he would be like given the circumstances and hopefully have develloped an insight into the workings of the mind as I think befits a mage of his caliber.

I also know that the logic is far from bullet proof, but this is the guild that just took the chance and struck at their rivals without thinking of the consequences and just look where that got them, their logic is bound to be a bit twisted and confusing at times. Hopefully I'll make another chapter at some point focussing on more core members of Phantom Lord, specifically the take I have on Jose feels somewhat interesting, why should Fairy Tail have a monopoly on the feeling on comrades and loyalty anyway?