A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of our role plays turned into a great story adventure! I do ask that you please read my profile. Lots of important information. So much is planned in this story's outline. I can't wait to introduce you to our own characters!
Disclaimer: I obviously don't have any claim to Fairy Tail.
ONLY WARNING: Rated M for violence, language and sexual content. This story contains potential triggers in various chapters!
Chapter 1
~* Hargeon *~
She had thought she would be used to it all by now. The cold stones she was laying on, unable to move mainly because her cheek was pasted to the floor; Don't think about it!.. the acrid stench that came from severely neglected bodies and un-emptied chamber pots, not exactly Fiore's finest. They didn't even clean the cells when a slave died, they removed the body..maybe. The young redhead child's stomach had stopped reacting long ago. Food was so scarce it refused to let go of even the little bit of nourishment it could get. She covered her ears in a poor attempt to drowned out the screams and desperate prayers that always came at night, willing herself to sleep. She missed her twin sister the most when she was allowed to be with her thoughts. Their captors had separated them when they raided their little town. She tried to stay connected to her through the whispers of fellow slaves while they were working in the catacombs of the Tower. That was the only way anyone heard from those they cared about that were also slaves. Whether there was any truth to what she was told, remained to be seen, but there was comfort in it, even if she never knew whether Erza thought of her too. She had to continue to believe Erza missed her sister as her sister missed her.
This was also the time the guards felt it necessary to relieve their loneliness with the slaves never seemed to be a preference, kid or adult, male or female, no one seemed off limits to these reprobates. The young girl was trying desparately to look dead as the guards came in looking for fun, offering up her own requests to the unknown deities; desparate to not even breath. The older woman that was wimpering behind her gasped in terror and cried more. The taller guard had grabbed her and with a low grunt she knew he had quickly penetrated her while his buddy kept watch. Raven cringed at the screams from the woman.
"Oi, man, keep that bitch quiet!" the watching guard hissed in a loud whisper. These acts were actually highly frowned upon, even though many of the guards still did it. The higher ups didn't want to deal with possible pregnancies or other physical complications.
"Shut it, right!" The little redhead could hear the now muffled screams and whimpers from the woman as her rapist moaned his pleasure. "But, mate, can't ye see she has the hots for me? Listen to her scream; it would be my name on her lips iffen she knew it." He cackled as he continued his assault. The sound of skin slapping together and suction sounds that near broke her resolve to remain "dead".
She curled into herself further when she heard the blood curdling scream before she heard the gurgle that signaled the poor woman's throat being slit. A loud surprised gasp from the man behind her. "Fuck!.. Oi, mate! Least you could've waited till I finished!"
"Tch... Like that ever stops you." He was right, the poor girl could still hear the disgusting suction sounds as he still pumped into her. "Fucking hurry up man!"
"Gods, you're such a killjoy. It gets tighter when rigamortis starts to set in." She heard another cackle. "You so bored, go fuck that little redhead, I know you're into the lil ones.. mmmm.. So good!" A final grunt signaled his finish and a zipper as he stood again.
"You truly are a sick fuck!" The watching guard let out his own cackling chuckle. With clenched tight eyes, she hoped they didn't follow through with the taller guard's suggestion. Instead the cell gate closed with a final thud. The cries always got louder after the guards departure and the sound of their laughter getting distant. She knew she wouldn't get any sleep now, not like she slept anyways. At least now she could cry in peace as she mourned the loss of that woman and wished her sister could comfort her...
Raven no longer woke in a violent way to those nightmares. Good thing too, who would want to disturb the small purple haired bundle of snores, he was loud enough! She just continued to lay in the comfy bed and hug the little boy that decided he needed to cuddle up to her at some point in the night. Slowly reality made its way back to her consciousness. A quick glance at the room's clock said it was just after 3am, which meant plenty of time for the crystal dragon slayer to compose herself before it was time to act human. A heavy sigh escaped her lips and she could feel the tears still streaming down her cheeks and soaking the oversize shirt the boy slept in. The size contrast of the boy compared to the bulky water dragon slayer was comical, but the boy was ecstatic when Demitri offered him his shirt for bed. Her mood improved when she saw the moonlight coming in from the open curtains. Always a comforting guardian, the moon, over her.
So much had happened since the Tower. Helping Jellal with their combined dream of finishing the R-System in order to resurrect Lord Zeref. There wasn't anything that Bloodborne wouldn't do for Jellal. None of them thought of him as a god, like the others had, the team members were just grateful for all that he had done for them. Granted they were still helping with the Tower, but they were all convinced that completing it would bring them happiness once Lord Zeref was with them. It felt like the perfect revenge against Erza. Jellal had everyone believe that Erza had betrayed them by escaping on her own. The Slayer wanted her twin sister to pay for leaving her behind!
Team Natsu incapacitated each of them and thereby allowing them to escape with Juvia, Grey, Lucy and Happy. Raven insisted on staying - that she was still fit to fight - and ran back to the rest while the rest floated off shore in a bubble of water made by that Rain Woman, Juvia. When Erza, Natsu and Raven defeated Jellal, they were able to learn the truth. Even though there was plenty of joy and gratefulness with the revelation, it couldn't replace the years of pain from torture and abandonment that she endeared.
The group was able to reunite back at Akane Resort and spend some quality time so they could decide what they wanted to do with their new found freedom. Wally, Shô & Millianna chose to explore the world while Bloodborne chose to take Erza, thereby Makarov's, invitation to join Fairy Tail. Except for Rolish, the rebelious gravity mage of their team. He refused to be held down by anyone's leadership. He promised to stay in touch, but after serving Jellal with his crazy schemes, he needed to be independent for now. She remembered how bright the moon looked that night as they gave them a proper send off. Final hugs and tears Rolish levitated off into the moonlight, while the others left in a boat for whatever direction adventure took them.
Being able to happily reunite with her twin sister was something she was still processing, but their relationship was getting better everyday. She remembered seeing the guild's reaction to there being two Erzas now. These guys - so ridiculous she had to laugh after correcting them all with a fist to their smug faces.
It's only been 3 weeks, it already felt like everyone was adjusting well to guild life. Admittedly it was nice that Master Makarov trusted them enough to allow them to take S-Class missions after he saw how well they did with their first mission. They knew what they were capable of, so taking the most difficult and highest paid flyer from the guild's request board was a cake walk. A 2 week mission was done in 5 days and most of that was travel time! Minimal damage and only one death?! Not too shabby, even with 2 dragon slayers on the team!
Even that surprising and wild drunken night a week ago with Sasha and their now mates. Slayers really should NOT mix sexy fun time and drinking while dating, which it was only their second double date - stuff happens and it did, holy shit did it! All four of them waking up the next morning in the same large bed in the hotel, just to discover they were now mated to both Laxus, Gajeel AND each other! Looking in the mirror and each other seeing the triple mate marks they were sporting on their wrists, neck, shoulder and ass. Even the guys had triple mating marks from the gals and each other! Mentally shaking her head, she loves her kin sister, Sasha, but never did she think she would get as connected to her as sharing mates.. For fucks sake! Raven sighed softly. It took a few days to make sense of it all, but in the end negotiations were set in motion with the help from Makarov. All of them were still in the process of figuring possible living arrangements when Bloodborne took this mission. The guild sure got a chuckle when they announced their relationship status changes. In good Fairy Tail tradition, they partied.
Finishing this last mission in Hargeon in less than a day was pure coincidence and luck. Team Bloodborne chose to stay one night in the hotel they had reserved since they expected it to be a day and a half gig, even by their standards. The plan is to catch the first morning train back to Magnolia since they already cleared the mission expenses with the Mayor. Raven smiled remembering how smoothly it all went.
The team arrived in the port town of Hargeon that morning. The walk to the Mayor's office gave the dragon slayers time to recover from their motion sickness and patiently sat on a bench outside when Devolan, their Fire Make Mage, emerged from speaking with Mayor Heathcliff. He was still speaking with Port Authority Captain FitzRoy about the details of what was happening to the ships. The rest of the team joined in for this part as they all walked towards the harbor.
Ships were mysteriously sinking just outside of the Port of Entry. When they were able to get divers out there to investigate the wreckage, it was clear that everything of value had already been removed. All investigations pointed to engine failures that caused explosions and therefore sunk the vessel. With no further clues as to the cause of this enigmatic problem the Port Authority realized they needed help from a magic guild. Raven assured Captain FitzRoy Team Bloodborne would get to the bottom of this.
Captain FitzRoy smiled at the confidence of the Crystal Slayer. He then continued to explain their findings as he pointed towards the Port of Entry. Within the team's view was a modest sized boat heading towards the harbor. Suddenly plumes of black smoke rose from the boats smoke stacks and followed by a loud grinding of metal on metal then a series of explosions. They could tell the boat was in very serious trouble as it started to dip closer to the water at the bow and starboard side.
"Well, Miss Scarlet, looks like your team is getting the opportunity to do just that. I sincerely hope we don't have any casualties this time..." His voice trailing off, Capt. FitzRoy worried his lower lip, allowing his normal aged stoic appearance to fall showing how concerned he was.
The Capt's communication lacrima sounded. When he activated it the team could hear a man's voice on the other side mention that the distressed boat's Captain had told them they were abandoning ship, which was full of refugees from the Alverez Empire. He assured the Port Captain that the boat's captain would be last to ensure all passangers made it into the life boats safely. He responded by relaying that he had the mage team that responded from Fairy Tail with him and they plan to act as soon as all the life boats were a safe distance, then closed communication.
Raven gave an acknowedging nod to the Captain. "Rolish would have been handy for this mission." Raven whispered softly under her breath, just loud enough for their other Dragon Slayer to hear her, and caught herself before she chuckled too loudly.
Demitri eyed their team leader from the side and smirked back at her, then returned his full attention to what was happening with the boat. By a stroke of luck all life boats were deployed before the boat was over half way under water.
"Everyone is off the boat." Raven nodded to Demitri her confirmation as she came up with the same conclusion he did. The Water Dragon Slayer narrowed his eyes to focus more. Certain factors from Captain FitzRoy's report started to click. Without looking away from the refugee boat, "Law of Salvage goes into affect outside of Port of Entry before or after the ship sinks fully?"
The deep voice of the light blue haired Slayer startled the Captain from his thoughts as he was watching the disaster through his looking glass. "As soon as the vessel is completely submerged." The Capt then pointed a curious eye at the mage. "Why do you ask?"
"Just a hunch." Demitri didn't offer anything further, not even a change in expression or body language. Still not looking away from the boat. "Devolan and Sasha, we are going to need help for the safety of the life boats as the refugees come to shore.
"I know that look. Be ready, Captain." Raven always kept an eye on the younger slayer. He was intelligent, his mind always working and rarely spoke his mind. As team leader, she was an expert at anticipateing her teams moves. As well as her exceed, Karasu, who was already in the air. She knew part of it was because of how cool the exceed felt wearing the new black dragon costume that Raven got her as a birthday - "Yay, now we're free to do what we want" - gift. Ever since she saw that movie "How to Train Your Dragon" on the Lacrima-vision, Karasu never took off! "Let's go, Kara!" The exceed twirled in the air with a back flip and swooped down in a black blurr and grabbed her slayer in one quick move; they flew over the port town en route to the sinking boat.
Demitri finally looked towards his brother and kin sister. "Our sister is getting better at this." He smirked and poked Devolan in the chest before he turned toward the port at a dead run.
"Excuse us, Sir." Devolan and Sasha bowed to Captain FitzRoy and following behind their brother.
The Port Captain just stood there in awe as he watched the team spring into action. He didn't recall hearing them speak of a plan. Very little was said come to think of it... Are they telepathic? Guess I'll follow and make sure all is ready. He called to the Port Authority Command Center to update them on the mage team and to prepare the survivor supplies... again. Cancelling the communication already seeing the Survivor Units go into action and working with the two members that were instructed to assist on shore. Hopefully this is the last time they need to do this for a long while.
Demitri was passed all the boats that were docked and jumped off the edge of the pier; changing to his water form as he dove into the ocean. All that could be seen of the Water Dragon Slayer was the thick trail of fine bubbles left as he torpedoed towards the refugee boat that was now completely under the waves.
The Crystal Dragon Slayer flew over the the sinking boat trying to look beyond the escaping air bubbles once the last of the boat went under. What she saw was the approaching bubble trail that could only be Demitri, but it seemed to end short of the wreckage location. Raven felt the turbulance from her exceed growing nervous from all the under water activity. She motioned Karasu to head to the northern side of the cliffs that heralded the Port of Entry and they managed to land smoother than she had hoped. She could hear Demitri's spell command for his 'Water Dragon: Slicer Wing Attack'. Within seconds an explosion large enough, erupting above the surface further out from the shipwreck, that she could feel the sea spray from it.
When the mist cleared she couldn't believe her eyes. A submarine?! The ocean swelled up to tsunami heights before releasing it's pressured energy towards the shore. A steady supply of waves that threatened the boats in the port harbor continued to push. Thankfully all the life boats were now empty because a waterspout came out of no where launching bodies to the shore where Devolan and Sasha were currently standing.
"Sasha, your imprisonment cards! NOW!" Demitri shouted once he was back on the docks running towards them.
"You got it!"The bubbly card holder mage jumped and did a little dance and twirl while she activated her trident pendant and tossed out multiple blank cards as the trident grew to the size of a broad sword. In one continued motion she waved it across each card, then raised the trident to the sky. "Imprisonment!", she yelled as she lowered the trident towards the pile of bodies and flailing limbs in diver gear. There was a bright glow that appeared around each one that got brighter as the mass shrunk, then nothing was left as if they were never there. An image of a person was now on each card face after one final wave of the trident over the cards. It shrank to its resting pendant size and automatically attached to the necklace it was from before. "Devi, how was that?", she giggled with her arms stretched above her head, jumping with excitement.
Patting Sasha on the head as she picked up all the cards, Devolan quickly shielded their eyes from a bright beam that appeared out of nowhere.
Demitri watched the flash of shadows of the people and buildings as he reached his teammates. Turning to try and find the source he looked up from the surfaced submarine, that was now literally red hot as the bright beam of light disappeared, to the movement that caught his eye. On the south cliff of the Port of Entry stood a child, a boy. His arms coming back down from a raised stance. What the actual fuck? Was that massive magic energy he just felt from... that little boy? He saw Raven land by him and decided to leave it to their leader to figure out and caught up to the rest of his teammates as they headed to the Mayor Heathcliff's office.
Raven landed with Karasu on the south cliff and knelt before the boy with a friendly smile on her face. He showed no signs of fear in those yellow eyes as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Come with me?" She received a simple nod and smile from the orange haired boy. "What's your name, Hun?"
"Father says I shouldn't tell strangers anything, but..." Those yellow eyes with red flecks seemed to stare directly into her soul. His gentle smile grew bigger as if he had come to a decision. "I feel like I know you fellow mage. I am known as Ruhak. Ruhak Adrian La Fontaine, as my father named me. I am 8 years, as of March." The tanned skin boy stood his full height proudly.
Suppressing a chuckle so he knew she took him seriously as his posture demanded. "Nice to meet you, Ruhak. I am known as Raven Sky Scarlet and this is Karasu." The Slayer gave the little cosplaying exceed a quick pat on her head. "Fellow mage, indeed. So that bright column of light was all you eh?" She saw a definitive nod that caused his hair to fall in front of his face. "Impressive. Ready to walk with me?" She offered a hand to him as she stood up.
"Yay! He's coming with us!" Karasu glided around their heads in excitement.
Ruhak giggled and held onto the red haired lady's hand with what he hoped was a firm and strong grip. "She's cute!"
They walked down the cliff path he must have used to get up there and continued to talk, as she lead him towards her team in front of the Mayor's office. Raven acknowledged each of her team members with a look and nod to each one. She smiled. "Good work everyone, as usual."
It was then she saw Captain FitzRoy with them."Sir, after we are done with the mission report, would you mind terribly if we discussed another issue?" Her eyes pointed down and Raven's arms wrapped protectively around the boy she had with her.
The Captain managed a nod before he was interrupted. "My quick thinking saved the day again!" Demitri always saved the smugness till he deemed the mission successful. He nudged his brother, Devolan, in his arm with an elbow and chuckled. It was like he was a different person. The calm collected facade from earlier was replaced by a new pompous demeanor. He was quite satisfied with himself. Running his fingers through his light blue shoulder length hair. Praise from his fellow slayer a moment ago did everything to beef up his ego. Pride flashed in his crystal blue eyes.
Devolan just ignored him, but smiled. Sometimes his kid brother was worthy of the praise and this time was no exception. They all knew he always thought before he acted, but he was always so gung ho about it. A dragon slayer trait maybe? At the very least the destruction was away from the port. "Someone quick, deflate his brain before it swells too b_"
His joke was caught off by a bell clang that came from the direction of the submarine that was no longer causing the surrounding waters to boil. Everyone had to pick their jaws off the ground when they saw that the vessel had cracked in half and sinking again.
"I can't even create that kind of heat that would cause that much damage." Devolan commented under his breath with wide eyes.
The boy had the decency to blush as he hid his face behind the red haired mage's arms that was holding him. He had seen them dealing with the bad guys that caused the boat they came on to sink. He wanted to help.
Raven ruffled his hair offering reassurance. "So is that the kid that was on the hill?" Devolan asked. When she nodded, he knelt down to the boy's level and offered his hand. "You got skills kid." He smiled and waited in hopes the boy would take his compliment. A smaller hand held the extended hand and gave it a strong shake.
Demitri and Sasha nodded in agreement and offered words of encouragement. "That was some massive power you got there, boyo." Demitri still couldn't believe that came from him.
Raven's eyes met Demitri's knowing glance. She nodded before looking back at the boy.
"Ya... That's what forced Father and Mother to take us away from home..." He took the Fire Make mage's hand, but his smile faltered.
Before anyone could ask what he meant Mayor Heathcliff came out. It was still early afternoon by the time they were invited in. He was carefully eyeing the boy with the group, but shrugged it off for the moment..
Everyone, including Captain FitzRoy, were sitting in the Mayor's office to give him the final report. Oddly enough their problem turned out to be a dark guild turned pirate in a submarine, of all things. Among them was a rather talented explosion wizard that would cause the engines to fail and explode. With the shipwrecks far enough out to sea, they were able to be the first on site to claim Law of Salvage before the Port Authority could be any wiser.
Sasha handed the stack of Imprisoned Cards to the Port Captain. "They are okay, for now, in those cards. You can even hand them to the Rune Knights in that condition. They will know what to do from there." She couldn't help bouncing in her seat as she smiled at her work. "Just don't say 'Unlock' while holding the cards in your hand, unless you intend to release them." A slender hand with thumb and forefinger extended towards Captain FitzRoy. Her signature crescent moon eyed smile caused the Captain and Mayer to chuckle.
With the bad guys handed over and reward in hand, the mission business handled, Raven looked towards the Port Captain. She felt it time to bring up the boy that was sitting beside her. He was so quiet most forgot he was there.
The Port Captain followed her que. "Please, Ms. Scarlet, you have the floor."
Raven smiled at the Port Captain and the Mayor. After referring back to the part of the day when the submarine's hull cracked in half and introduced the mage that did it. The Slayer proceeded to relay the information she received from the walk she had with Ruhak. He was one of the refugees from that boat along with his parents, but they had yet to locate them. She asked for assistance from the Port Authority to attempt to locate the boy's parents among the refugee survivors.
Mayor Heathcliff, his eyes softening now that he realized the boy's origins, and Captain FitzRoy felt it was the least they could do as an added thanks for the swift dealings of the pirate mages. "Thank you for your efficiency. I will be sure to relay my thanks and praises to your Master." The Mayor made a mental note to request this team from now on. The older man stood to motion that the meeting was concluded.
Captain FitzRoy extended his arm towards the door. "Shall we? Now is a good time to head to the Port Authority Command Center. We should have a full listing of all the survivors by now." He could see the excitement in the boy's face at the prospect of finding his parents.
Once they arrived, the team and the Alverez Captain poured over the boat roster to find his parents names. Mr & Mrs Edwin R. La Fontaine with son, Ruhak A. La Fontaine, age 8. Cross referencing their names to those in the survivor list; they weren't there. Even though the boy was trying to keep up a good front, the team could tell he was fighting the good fight with his emotions.
The Port Captain assured them they would continue to search for his parents' whereabouts. There was a high chance some of the boats had drifted south in the current. Calls were made to the next port towns. No one by those names were registered among the names of survivors as of yet.
Team Bloodborne were awarded temporary custody of the boy until the time his parents were found. Ruhak was then registered as a ward of the Fairy Tail guild under Team Bloodborne with his new home town being registered as Magnolia. A fine young mage as him needed the guidance of strong mages. Besides, it was clear little Ruhak had attached himself to Raven and Demitri.
"Come on, Ruhak. Let's enjoy the rest of the evening. We'll leave for your new home in the morning." It was close to sunset when they finally left the command center to head towards their hotel. Raven noticed Ruhak's hair was now green, instead of orange, but was also showing streaks of purple in it the further the sun disappeared below the cliffs. So intriguing. Is that just my eyes playing with me? The boy smiled and grappled onto her waist. Not used to this type of attention, by any means, the Dragon Slayer attempted to walk without prying him off of her. "Who's hungry?!" The answer came in a loud cheer from all.
All in all, another successful mission. No lives taken, but one life gained to their little group.
They managed to avoid too much damage to the port town, though the court house didn't fair so well after the bow of one of the docked boats speared it and created a large hole in the center. This suited Demitri just fine. The perfect revenge for the ticket fines he kept getting for jaywalking.
The sky started to change at this point; about time to wake the team to prepare to leave. Raven could just make out the change in the scruffy hair in front of her with streaks of orange appearing in the green with the faintest remnants of purple still in his hair. How interesting how his hair color changed depending on the time of day or night. She surmised it was orange during the day, purple at night and green at dusk and dawn or when all light from the sun and moon are blocked. Yes, very intriguing. I'll have to do some experiments with this theory. Her tears well and gone now, she felt safe enough to face her family. Time to get up. Unable to resist any longer, the Slayer put her hands in his multi colored hair and gave it a strong enough ruffling to wake him. "Go wake up the crowd while I snag first dibs on the shower." She whispered to the quiet boy now that he was no longer snoring up a storm.
He nodded before he launched himself at Demitri. She heard a grunt from Ruhak's target before he voiced his promise to get his revenge with her for sending her assassin after him; the boy was all giggles as the Water Slayer countered with tickles. She chuckled as she felt the hot water wash away the demons of the night.
"Train rides are the suck!" Demitri said and belched the last of the nausea away, as he steadied himself after stepping away from Magnolia's Train Station, his hand still covering his mouth.
Waving his hand in front of his nose, Devalon nudged his brother's shoulder over his guild mark. "It's no picnic for the rest of us that have to share a train compartment with two Dragon Slayers." Managing to duck the sneak attack from Raven as he chuckled at his own wit.
Raven was more focused on their new charge than landing a hit on the Fire Make mage anyways. "You should be happy you didn't have to pay for your transportation. I'll happily tolerate a train ride versus walking with you two. Things get weird when ya'll get bored."
"You wound me, dear sister." The Water Slayer feigned insult.
"Demi, don't play that pouty face with me. It may work on your lady friends, but I'm immune." The redhead deadpanned.
"Are you sure you're a girl?" Demitri winked.
Ruhak giggled, if it were anyone else he might've felt the need to avenge Raven's honor, but he thought Demitri was the coolest.
"Devolan, I thought you explained the birds and bees to your younger brother. I'm disappointed in you. I guess that means the responsibility of explaining it to Ruhak, when he's older, falls to me." Raven sighed in mock defeat.
"Don't drag me into this!" Devolan quickened his pace to stay far enough ahead of the group as they walked to Fairy Tail's Guild Hall.
"Dev, wait for me!" Sasha knew how the Slayers could get when the conversation turned into an epeen slinging match, even though only one of them had one, regardless of how much Demitri questioned Raven's gender.
That just left little Ruhak between the Slayers as the barbs and insults flew. He stifled as much of his giggles as he could. They were funny though, made him miss his parents less.
After a few minutes, Raven grew bored, knocked Demitri on his ass and laughed aloud. "Hey Ruhak, that big building in front of us is your new guild." She then placed her hands behind him as Devolan and Sasha opened the large wood doors to the hall. "Welcome to Fairy Tail."
Of course a chair had to go flying past their heads at that moment. The orange haired boy's eyes went wide as saucers. A quick flick of his raised hand incinerated the wooden missle out of sheer instinct. "We're going in there?" He felt Raven's hands press harder, pushing him forward.
"Yep! We need to find Master." Devolan nodded at the Crystal Slayer's proposal. He then looked at Sasha.
"On it!" Was all they heard before the team lost sight of their bouncy Card mage. They all waited at the top of stairs on the second floor doing their best to shield the kid from more flying furniture and mages.
Demitri promptly dropped Natsu after acting as barricade because someone, most likely Gray, decided to throw the crazy pinkette at the group. Damn flaming idiot didn't even pay him no mind, let alone apologize for his intrusion; just went back into the fray. The Water Slayer just shook his head. I'll get him back later. Him and Gray. He chuckled to himself.
Within minutes a short white haired man appeared near Raven and Ruhak. "Well, hello there my children. Is this the young man you mentioned last night?" With his normal lack of respecting boundaries, he got close to the boy and looked up, even the kid was taller than him! He was tall for an 8 year old. Maybe they grew them that way in Alvarez, he chuckled. Green hair, wasn't it orange when they entered the hall?
"Yes Master." Answering the voiced and unvoiced question at the same time. Seeing his confusion and the color change yet again to Ruhak's hair. Secretly smiling to herself. I'm right so far. "You're eyes aren't playing tricks on you yet, Old Man. His hair actually changes according to the light of the sun and moon and lack thereof. His eyes do the same thing. It's a bit of a mind fuck till you get used to it."
"I knew it!" Devolan and Demitri said in unison as they both facepalmed.
"Hello there young one. I am Makarov Dreyar, Master of this guild, and you must be Ruhak La Fontaine, correct?"
Still uncertain what to think about this guild or of its Master, but it did make him feel better about his age being taller than him though. He decided to continue opening up to these people that were going to be a part of his life for who knows how long. Ruhak raised his hand to grab the Master's proffered hand. "The pleasure is mine, Sir." He felt Raven's hand gentle pat on his head, as she seems to like to do. Reminded him of his mother, so he unconsciously leaned into her touch and smiled.
Makarov saw the interaction before he turned towards his office and the team followed him in for their usual mission debriefing. He had to hand it to them, they were the most efficient team he had in the guild, which said a lot considering that compliment was usually reserved for the Raijinshu. Devolan and Raven were usually the only ones to talk during the mission report, but this time it was Demitri. Apparently he played a bigger role than he normally did and Devolan felt it right that he gave the report.
Top it off that he had already received word from Mayor Heathcliff how pleased he was with the job they did. He wasn't even upset by the damage done to their Court House. That little amount of damage with two Dragon Slayers? He wasn't going to be picky, that was for certain. Especially when the Mayor of a town as important as Hargeon says he will only accept Bloodborne to do large jobs for his town.
"Good work, my children! Sounds like our newest member was lucky you were there when you were." Whenever they mention there were no casualties during a mission that just lightened his heart. He knew from their bad past with Jellal and the Tower, there was no way he could expect them to fully adopt the principle that 'Fairies don't kill,' but at least they keep to their promise that it's avoided as much as possible within their capacity. Raven had made it clear that if killing someone helped keep the mission smooth and all her team mates safe, then that is what they would do, otherwise they would all exercise great care to be as compassionate as they could for the lives they interacted with.
"Thank you Master Makarov." Demitri proudly bowed and accepted the compliment as was his prerogative for handling the report for the team. He felt more than saw Raven's nod and took his que to sit back down.
Raven stood, taking her place in front of her team. She proceeded to update Makarov on the parts of the day that involved Ruhak and to ensure that he was informed correctly about the boys family and what they were able to do and not do for the boy. The Port Authorities had all the relevant information they needed, including the guild's address and that they would contact the Master directly with any new updates to this case.
The Crystal Slayer wasn't sure if she should try to get the boy to open up about some of the parts of his life that he had only hinted at before. Maybe she'll discuss her thoughts with him privately.
"He seems to have quite a bit of knowledge about his own magic which he calls Astro Balance Magic. Based on the Sun and Moon Light. By day he's a fire type that pulls the energy from the Sun, hence why he was able to produce the amount of heat he did with that Solar Beam spell he used on the submarine. By night he's a arcane type and more as support magic."
Ruhak nodded the whole time as she spoke. "I am considered a mage prodigy where I'm from. Under Alvarez Law, all mage prodigies belong to the Empire. My parents refused to allow that to be my future, so we fled before I was registered."
Raven was honestly shocked to see how open he was just now and so very proud of the boy that she was already calling her kin. "Master, I know you were made aware of the legalities for us taking on our young ward, but I would like to formaly request he be allowed to join the guild."
"Please come forward, my child." Makarov nodded in agreement and gestured to the boy as he stood from his chair and walked to the front of his desk. Meeting him at Raven's side. "My dear Raven, even if that wasn't already a pre-requirenment for him to be in our custody, I would gladly accept such a fine young man into our ranks." It was then they all noticed that Master was holding onto the Guild's stamp device. Looking directly at the boy. "Where and what color?"
Ruhak simply stared at the little man, then up to Raven with a mildly confused look on his face.
The Crystal Slayer smiled back at him and lift the hem of her tube tank top to show him her sky blue guild mark that rested on the lower right side of her abdomen. "He means where do you want your guild mark and what color. Can be anywhere and any color you choose."
The boy thought about it and after a few silent minutes and putting his right hand over the right side of his face and covering his eye to show demonstrate. "I would like it over my right eye in a lilac purple please Sir."
Glances were exchanged by the team as Master Makarov did as he wished. "There you go, my Child. Now please no more Sir, makes me feel older than I am." He chuckled deep in his chest.
"Yes, now I can call you Master." He ran over to the mirror that was on the side wall in the office to check out the new "ink" he was sporting. "Thank you Master!"
"Then it's official. You, my boy, will be registered with the Magic Council as being a member of the Fairy Tail guild and a member of Team Bloodborne. Even though you are legally our ward to look after, you are still your own man. With that said, I expect you to live your life to the fullest while under our care. Learn to work with your new team and remember everyone in Fairy Tail considers each other nakama. We are all family and will support each other to continue to grow to be better people and great mages. That is our promise to you as well."
Makarov stopped to smile and give a hard stare to the others in the room. "Do your best to teach this young man the Fairy Tail way please. I realize you are all still very new to the guild as well, but I have the utmost confidence that you will have little trouble with my request. Now... Run along you brats!" His smile widened as he laughed aloud.
That was their que to leave. Everyone filed out and waited on the second floor for Raven who was still in the office. "Thank you, Master. You have offered us so much. We will continue to strive to make you proud."
A soft chuckle left the Master's lips as he met her by his office door. "Of that, I have zero doubt. I trust you will come find me if and when you need counsel?" Raven nodded. "Good, now let's go introduce our new member to the rest of my brats. This calls for a true Fairy Tail Welcome and celebration."
As she followed Master out of the office, Raven caught the soft purring call from her hulking blonde mate that was barely loud enough for her and the other slayers to hear. He was sitting with his team at their usual table. She could hear Gajeel's purring chuckle from the corner of the guild hall he liked to call his own. Their teams haven't interacted much, but she intended to fix that with her living arrangements she has planned. She looked lovingly at both her mates and a wicked smirk on her lips.
Laxus didn't have much time to think about what that look could mean before his thoughts were interrupted by his grandfather's booming voice.
With that, the Master summoned the grace many never believed he had and jumped onto the balcony rail. "Listen up you crazy nuts I call my children!" The loud bellowing voice left no room for rebuke. "We have among us a new member of our fine family. I want everyone to meet Ruhak La Fontaine. I hope you offering him a warm welcome as I know you are all capable of. Let's show him how we celebrate!"
There were loud cheers as everyone came to the boy at random times to greet him, introduce themselves and offer him all the wonderful tasty food, treats and alcohol free drinks he would accept. He was feeling better about being at the guild. Everyone seemed really nice and accepting of each other. He could get used to this. When his parents are located, he just knew they would find this guild interesting. Raven had said because his parents were also mages, they could join the guild. He was excited about that.
Raven informed him that they would stick around for the evening, then they would take him to his new home at the Bloodborne compound. The team chose to continue to live together as they have always done. It was already in the works to figure out how they were going to add Sasha's and her new mates to the household. Adding the boy was not much more of a stretch.
The guild was a buzz of excitement as the guild had a reason, like the members really needed one, to party it up and enjoy themselves. Meanwhile the Raijinshu were at their table in the back corner of the second floor. Not as rare an occurrence as it used to be, now that Laxus was mated in the most intriguing way.
Freed acted like he didn't pay attention with his nose in a book, but he was always aware and right then, he actually wished he didn't have that particular habit. He had heard Master talking to Bloodborne before they went into his office. He knew he heard Master correctly when he said the name of the boy, but he was telling himself that he was just imagining things. Not very convincing since he was not prone to notions of insanity. Instead he opted to bide his time and wait to get confirmation before he freaked out.
Laxus was very aware of what was happening with his best friend. The green haired mage wasn't doing as good a job as he normally did at keeping his otherwise flawless stoic facade in place. Whatever the fuck caused the crack in Freed's otherwise perfect Vulcan demeanor was indeed worth ferreting out of him.
The Lightning Slayer nudged Freed with his foot being careful not to blemish those shiny white boots of his and took a gulp of his beer. When the Rune Mage looked over the pages of his book to make eye contact with Laxus, all the Slayer did was lift his brows at him in silent question. He knew it had something to do with the new comer to the guild that was currently in with Gramps. When Freed answered him with a questioning look of his own, Laxus then shifted his eyes towards the office door. When all he got was a huff before the green head buried further into his book so all he saw were his signature lightning cowlicks, the blonde Slayer about lost it. Nudging his boot again, not caring if he scoffed them this time and without waiting for those deep cyan eyes to emerge again. "Spill!"
Those eyes in question didn't re-emerge immediately. "First tell me what the boy's name is. With that Slayer hearing of yours, I know you heard."
With a sigh, the blonde Slayer rolled his eyes. "Ruhak La Fontaine."
"No..." All the air in Freed's lungs left him and he went pale as he closed the book he was no longer reading, not even bothering to put a place mark in it.
Laxus caught the book before it landed on the floor or his foot and placed it on the table. Making eye contact with with blue green eyes, he simply nodded - Laxus knew. He'd been best of friends with this green haired man for four years now. The team didn't keep secrets from each other. Sure the blonde Slayer probably knew more about Freed than the rest of their team did, but that just meant he knew the significance of that name to Freed.
YaY! So glad you took the time to read this! Already working on the next chapter as well as some one shots and the start to another chapter story called 'How to Date a Book Worm'. If you took the time to read my profile, thank you. Thanks in advance if you choose to write a review and/or favorite this story. Hope to keep you intrigued with this story. [HUGZ]