~~~X784~~~
Magnolia, a town known for its beautiful sites and it's strong guild: Fairy Tail - a place where anyone is welcome.
But aside from being extremely strong, the guild was also known for how chaotic it could be.
Their guild facing many complaints about property damage, injury of civilian sometimes client and other issues that the third Master of Fairy Tail did not enjoy reading over and over again. After all, everything they were not limited to outside the guild - many of mages caused the same damage inside.
But after their most recent battle with Phantom Guild, the Fairy Tail guild had been updated immensely.
Changes that Team Natsu was surprised to see when they arrived.
They all stared at the new and improved Fairy Tail building in amazement
"This is a surprise," Erza says marvelling at the new building alongside the others.
"They finished it" Natsu exclaims surprised.
"Our new Fairy Tail"
They all stared at the updates on the outside before walking in and seeing the guild practically sparkle.
"How beautiful!" Happy and Lucy beam together clearly very happy to see the changes as the leaned on the railing while the rest stood in the doorway.
"Yes, this is wonderful" Erza agrees while Grey turned to Natsu how had most of his face covered with his scarf.
"What's the matter, Natsu?" He asks the pink haired dragon slayer who looks disappointed.
"It's different to how it was"
"Lu-chan welcome back" Levy greets once she notices the teams return to the guild, to which Lucy responded with the same excitement.
"Levy-chan!"
"Great huh?" She says seeing their faces, not seeming to notice Natsu's upset one.
Levy went through all the changes that happened in the guild: the addition of an indoor pool; a game parlour in the basement and arguably the biggest change - everyone was now allowed onto the second floor.
"But of course you still have to be an S-Class wizard to go on an S-Class mission" Levy explains as Elf-man waves to them from the second floor.
Throughout her explanation, while Lucy marvelled at the additions, Natsu continued to grumble. "It's different"
"You've returned, you bunch of fools" A voice from behind them greets.
The team turn around to see Makarov standing there with his arms crossed behind his back.
"Master"
It was then they noticed a familiar face standing beside him.
"This is our new member, Juvia" Makarov introduces. "Ain't she a cutey?"
"Juvia is glad to be of service," She says with a little curtsy, beaming at the group.
"So you really joined?" Grey laughs, his arms folded in front of him, happy to see the girl who helped them a lot.
"You've helped us a lot at Akane" Erza compliments, which pleased the water mage.
"It's all thanks to you! Juvia will work hard!"
"Glad to have you!" Lucy says only to get a negative reaction.
"Love Rival" Juvia accuses.
"Actually I'm not..." Lucy objects but it doesn't seem to have an effect on Juvia.
"We have one more new member" Makarov reveals before addressing said member.
"Come on, say hi to everyone"
"There's another one?" Happy asks as he floats in the air.
They all turn around, outraged once they see their new 'member'
"Hey, you gotta be kidding me" Grey exclaims before both he and Natsu stand defensively.
"Gajeel!"
"Why is he..?" Grey starts but both him and Natsu are stopped by Juvia who raises a hand to both of them.
"Wait! Juvia recommended him!" Juvia says quickly hoping they would calm down.
"Juvia is one thing, but he's the very person who destroyed the guild!" Erza argues as angry as Natsu and Grey if not more.
"Now, now," Makarov interjected, "They say yesterday's enemies are today's friend, yes?"
"Yeah" Levy agrees, sitting on her knees, hiding by a table. "I-I don't mind at all.."
Jet and Droy look over, as pleased as Natsu seeing Levy scared though the girl doesn't admit it.
"This has got to be a joke" Natsu snarls banging his fist on the table Gajeel sat by. "You expect me to go on jobs with this guy?"
Gajeel turns to him with a dark look on his face.
"Don't worry, I ain't sharing my work!" Gajeel declares with a grin.
"Cold as steel!" Natsu yelps before Gajeel gets up forcing him to move backwards.
"I just want jobs, that's all, I can't believe I ended up here in the most annoying guild of all" Gajeel taunts sticking his face out to Natsu.
"Say that again" Natsu demanded, raising his fists.
"Poor Gajeel-kun was always alone and Juvia couldn't leave him like that, so..." Juvia explains but realises her mistake and quickly adds on "It's not that type of relationship though, really"
"It's the role elders, to guide the youth from the wrong path to the right one" Makarov advises not surprised at their reaction. "Deep down, even he is good..."
"Or so I'd like to believe" Makarov mumbles turning his head away from them.
"If that's your decision Master" Erza declares, agreeing with his decision as there wasn't a real way to argue against it. "But I think it would be best to watch him carefully now"
"As you wish" Makarov accepts, sweat dropping slightly before his posture changes and he stands straighter.
"But you'll be happy to know" This catches all their attention except for Natsu who remains glaring at Gajeel. "Hikari will be returning soon"
That had been enough to change the mood as Natsu turns to Makarov a smile on his face
"Really?" Grey asks causing Juvia to be curious.
"When?" Natsu questions sounding excited while Gajeel crossed his arms with a 'tch'.
"She was supposed to arrive before you guys, but there was a small side mission that caught her attention" Master explains, happy they weren't as angry as before.
"Knowing her she's probably saving another village," Erza says with a smile on her face surprising Lucy.
"You say that as if it's something small" Lucy exclaims knowing how difficult it would be to save an entire village.
"For Hikari, it is" Natsu chirps happily.
"She's super strong and is always helping everyone."
"She's like an older sister to all of us," Grey states causing Juvia to sigh in relief at the thought of another Love Rival had scared her.
"She must be amazing," Lucy marvels, curious about this new character.
"She's more than that, Hikari's the best," Erza praises surprising Lucy as she wasn't normally the one to give out compliments.
"I can't wait to fight her again, she's probably gotten even stronger since the last time," Natsu said his fists lighting up in flames due to his excitement.
"No doubt about that"
~~~X766~~~
A 27-year-old Gildarts stands at the request board.
He had been going on missions for a while now and was looking forward to an exciting one but as his eyes glance around the board - he didn't see one that was interesting enough.
Until his eyes fell on a request that was hidden in the corner, the paper it was written on was slightly ripped but it was still legible.
"Finally found a request?" An 18-year-old Macao asks, his arms crossed as he smirks at the older man.
"Yeah, it shouldn't take that long" Gildarts claims showing Macao, and consequently Wakaba who stood next to him, the poster
'Please Help, Demon Destroying Village'
"Looks difficult," Wakaba comments puffing away at a cigarette.
"You want some help?" Macao offers but Gildarts shakes his head no.
"I think I've got this one" He assures them before walking over to Makarov who sat by the bar drinking. It was common for Gildarts to go on missions by himself, he preferred it that way.
"Master I'm taking this mission" He announces displaying the request.
"Ah, sure," Makarov said taking a quick glance at the request before going back to his drink.
With that, Gildarts made his way to his home to start preparing before leaving Magnolia to the village of Teiana. He arrived in the village 3 days later, most of his time spent travelling on foot as trains didn't seem to go out in that direction.
When he arrived, everyone knew he was there. That was the case with small villages, word spread around quickly. Meaning he didn't have to look very far for his client as they ended up coming to him. It was an old man, who relied on a cane to get by. His back was hunched and on his shoulder was a long cloak. His eyes were closed and there was a scar covering the right one.
"You must be that Fairy Tail wizard," He states, Gildarts simply nods in response.
"Prove it" The old man orders.
Gildarts raises an eyebrow before complying with the order. He drops his bag before lifting his shirt so that his guild sign can be seen before letting go of the shirt and lifting the bag up again.
"We've been waiting for quite some time now"
"Well, I'm here now" Gildarts replies knowing from previous experience not to argue with the client.
He looks around to see the villagers inching closer to listen into the conversation but seem very hesitant on actually coming near him.
"Then you can get started straight away, the demons in the forest to the west. It uses dark magic, and do not be fooled by its appearance" The old man advises him.
It was easy to tell that he wanted the mage gone fast.
"Alright then" Gildarts muttered before going in the direction the old man had mentioned.
He walks quite a distance, slowly getting annoyed at the fact there was nothing showing up.
While at the village Gildarts had noticed it didn't look like they had been attacked by a demon recently. There was no wreckage or construction going on. There was definitely something that the villagers weren't telling him, but he had faith in his ability to deal with it.
He was deep in the forest, light barely passing through the leaves before hitting the ground, a light breeze moving the leaves
Gildarts stops.
He quickly jumps back, what looks to be a dragon made of darkness standing in his previous place.
"Leave" It orders, the voice sounding deep.
"Sorry but you're the one who has to leave" Gildarts replies, folding his arms in front of him.
"You'll get hurt" It speaks again causing Gildarts to raise his eyebrow.
"Try me" He offers, standing defensively.
The dragon opens his mouth, sending a tornado of darkness towards Gildarts who easily dodges it by jumping to the side. It then raises an arm slashing it downwards and shards of dark pieces go flying towards him. Gildarts runs in between the shards, raising a leg kicking the dragon in the head or so he had aimed to do but instead his leg goes through the dragon. Gildarts recovers by jumping back. He stands straight eyes narrowing before blinking in realisation.
"You can come out now" He calls out but nothing seems to move.
"Stop being a coward and come out or fight me properly" He shouts and the black dragon seems to flinch.
"Could you just leave?" It asks with a childish tone.
"We don't have to fight, just come out. That's all I ask" Gildarts suggests instead.
"You promise you won't hurt me?" The dragon-shaped darkness asks making Gildarts confused.
"Yeah sure, promise," He says quickly and the dragon disappears and Gildarts could see a small child-like figure hiding behind a tree.
"Why don't you come out?" Gildarts says crouching down with a sigh.
The little figure comes out, revealing a girl with unruly light blue hair that only reached to her shoulders. The little girl wore a long white dress with a small black jacket and was barefoot. Her face was dirty and her arms were covered in small cuts.
"What's your name?" He asked softly and the child tilted her head.
"A name? Something people call you" Gildarts explained after scratching his head slightly, he wondered what he had gotten himself into.
"The villagers call me Oni," She says although quiet, it was loud enough for him to hear.
Gildart's wasn't sure how to respond. The so-called demon he was told to take care of was what looked like to be a 5-year-old girl.
"Why don't we give you a different name?" He suggests not wanting to call the girl Oni while the girl tilts her head not sure what was wrong with the name but nodded to him regardless.
"Ayame" The little girl shook her head no, disliking the name.
"Cana" Again a shake of the head.
"Rin" Silence then... shake.
"For a kid who didn't even know what a name was you sure do have a preference" Gildarts mumbles under his breath. The girl could clearly hear him but chooses not to comment as she didn't really understand what he meant.
"Hikari?" She tilts her head to the side. Gildarts straightened hoping this would be the one
"What does it mean?"
"Hikari means light," He says, happy that it didn't take longer than he thought it would.
"I like it" The newly named Hikari decides and Gildarts nods.
"So, Hikari, what are you doing here? Where are your parents?" He asks hoping to find the kid a place to go and leave the village soon.
"I'm here because I've always been here and I don't know what parents are" She answers causing Gildarts to sigh. The girl was probably abandoned here by her parents which angered Gildarts.
Who would leave an innocent girl all alone?
"What was that magic you were doing? Shadow magic? Who taught it to you?" His direction of questions changes knowing she wouldn't be able to explain the reason for her situation very well.
"Shadows are created when an opaque object blocks light, that's not what I'm doing. I'm removing the light to create whatever I want to create." The girl explains creating a ball of darkness in her hand, her explanation sounds of shadows sounds as if it had been read out from a book. "I think"
"It can't actually hurt you either," She said, the ball turning into a shard that was previously thrown at Gildarts. The shard floated down through her hand and out of it showing that instead of piercing the skin, it fazed through it
"I learnt it myself," She says surprising the older mage.
"Seriously?" He asks and she simply nods.
"You're what five and you learned how to do magic yourself?" Gildarts asks and Hikari looks up to him before nodding again.
This caused Gildarts to wonder.
"That's probably why the villagers don't like you, they don't seem to be fond of magic or mages" He mutters to himself considering the fact that the villagers wanted him gone as quickly as possible.
"What's going to happen now?" Hikari questions with a tilt of her head.
Gildarts remains quiet for a moment before grinning at the young girl who straightens her head.
"How about you become a Fairy Tail mage?" He suggests looking at her expectedly.
"What's that?" The questions cause Gildarts to fall dramatically before getting back up.
"Fairy Tail is the guild I'm from, if you come with me then you'll be apart of the guild. We're like a family" He explains and she tilts her head.
"Are you going to leave me there?" He could see the hesitation in Hikari's eyes.
"I'd have to leave for missions but I always come back, Fairy Tail is my home," Gildarts says and Hikari looks down before meeting him in the eyes.
"Can I have a home too?" She wonders.
"Of course, let's just get you out of here," He says offering her a hand. Hikari glances from him to his hand. Considering for a moment that if she were to stay that the villagers would get someone else to deal with her and they might not be as nice. But that didn't stop her from looking back to the leaves she had hidden in earlier.
It might not have been the most amazing place, it was her home and it had a familiar aura to it.
Hikari turned back to Gildarts, more confident as she placed her hand in his.
"Let's go!" She exclaimed, a smile on her face as she tilts her head slightly to the right. A habit that seemed very common to her but one that only made her cuter.
Gildarts looks at the little girl, the smile she wore mimicking the one he had given to her was crooked yet shined just as bright.
They began walking in the direction of the village as Gildarts took one last glace of the location he had discovered the little girl.
A dark figure much taller than when Hikari was standing there, appeared by the trees. But the moment Gildarts blinked - it was gone.
~~~ Three Days Later ~~~
They arrived at Fairy Tail, Gildarts stops letting Hikari take in the building. The door was open and the noise could easily be heard from where they were standing.
"Ready?" He asks looking down at her and she nods walking slightly closer to him.
"I'm back" Gildarts announces to the guild. There were various cheers welcoming him back to which he responds to with a smile. Hikari looks around in wonder at all the people who seemed pleased with his return.
Macarov appears in front of him greeting him with a smile."Gildarts, you're back earlier than expected," Gildarts simply nods to this.
"The mission went a lot better than expected, we even got a new guild member, if you'll allow it," Gildarts says looking down to the girl clutching onto his leg for dear life.
"Oh, who's this?" He asks but the girl hid her face into Gildart's leg.
"This is Hikari" Gildarts introduces as he pulls her off of his leg and places her in front of him instead.
"It's nice to meet you Hikari-chan," Makarov says leaning downwards slightly to the child with a smile on his face.
"Y-you too" She replies with a small bow of the head before slowly inching backwards so she was standing next to Gildarts.
"Do you want to join our guild?" Makarov asks knowing that Gildarts wouldn't have invited the child for no reason.
"Yes please" She mumbles fidgeting with her hands. It was a lot easier for her to speak to Gildarts because she was sure he wouldn't hurt her. Hikari wasn't sure how to react to these new people.
"Why do you want to join?" He asks and Hikari froze before she felt Gildarts push her forward slightly and Hikari glances up at him and he smiles encouragingly before she turns back to look at the floor in front of her
"I don't want to be alone anymore" She mutters holding onto her hands tightly.
"Then you're in the right place," Makarov says placing a hand on the child's head. She looks up at him slightly shocked before smiling at him.
"T-Thank you," Hikari said before glancing back down.
"Enno, come here" Makarov calls out to the purple haired girl who made her way over to them.
"Welcome back Gildarts," She greets and in return, he simply nods at her.
"Could you take Hikari to get her guild mark, she's a little shy" The Master requests before they turn to the little girl that was hiding behind Gildarts.
"Of course, would you like to go Hikari-chan?" Enno offers and Hikari looks up to Gildarts who ruffles her hair.
"You gotta stop looking to me kid, it's your own choice," He says and Hikari turns to Enno, a few seconds later she nods to her, following Enno to get her guild mark.
Gildarts watches the little girl walk away.
"So, what's the story?" Makarov questions as they make their way to the bar.
"Hikari was the demon that they wanted me to take care of. She was hiding in the forest probably living there as well" He answers grabbing an offered drink.
"Is that because of her magic?" The Master asks as ever since Hikari had arrived he had sensed a strange magic coming from the girl.
"It must've been, the people weren't exactly pleased with me being there," He says recalling how people were so hesitant to come near him.
"Hm, well it's good you brought her here," Makarov declared taking a sip of his drink.
"So are you ready for fatherhood?" The question surprises Gildarts into nearly choking on his own drink.
"Fatherhood? Come on Master you know most of the time I'm not even here" Gildarts coughed out.
"Tell it to the kid, she looks to you before doing anything," Makarov remarks after observing her behaviour. "It's more than just hero worship"
"I wouldn't be able to be her father, the kid deserves more than the guy who can't stay in one place for more than a month," Gildarts reasons, memories of a failed relationship coming to mind before he cleared his mind.
"You can say that but she'll look to you for everything," Makarov states taking another sip.
"Gildarts" A voice calls out and he turns to see Hikari rushing over to him.
"That was quick," He says ruffling her hair once she gets to him.
"Mm Enno-san is really nice," She says nodding her head.
"So where is it?" He asks and Hikari takes off her jacket and turns around to show him the black Fairy Tail mark on her left shoulder blade.
"Looks good," He compliments" As she puts her jacket on properly and gives him a small smile.
"Welcome to home, kid."
~~~X784~~~
A lone figure wearing a long black cloak which was slightly ripped at the bottom, stands at the top of a small hill, allowing them to see all of Magnolia. Including the new building of Fairy Tail, it's symbol standing proudly.
A smile appears on their face before taking off the hood. Her long blue hair flowing onto her back, free to move in the wind. Purple eyes gaze with a gleam.
"It's good to be home"