Hey, Follower here! Just wanted to post this story because I was pretty content on the outcome. R&R if you want, but no pressure.
So...let's get to it, I guess.
AVANTI!
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Makarov was not in a good mood.
Number 3 on his long list of worries, which came with being the Guild Master of the (in)famous Fairy Tail, was the fact that he had to attend the Guild Master's Gathering every month, even if there was nothing to talk about.
He sighed.
He was too damn old to be taking day-long trips to day-long gatherings that always addressed the same things to then take a day-long travel back to Magnolia only to be caught in the crossfire of the customary year-round Fairy Tail brawls.
"Maybe this time this will be interesting?", he said to himself, hoping to create a little interest in the occasion.
He sighed again.
"Hey, Macky!", yelled a feminine voice.
"Huh? Oh, hello Madeline", he greeted the woman who was jogging in his direction.
Madeline had sparkling and striking blue eyes, her left one being halfway covered by one of her white locks. She was about 30, Makarov estimated, and really beautiful. If not because of her unusual magic, she probably would have a lot of stalkers, inside this gathering and out.
"Oh, come on, I've told you to call me Maddy already", she pouted.
"Yes, but your wife made sure to let me know that if I called you that, than I'd be retiring from living faster than I can say Fiore", he trembled. Madeline's wife really was someone else.
Madeline laughed at that.
"That does sound like her. I swear, she needs to understand that I take my wedding vows seriously".
"She does, but you more than anyone know what jealousy can do to us", he said grinning.
"Hey, that jerk was openly flirting with her, I needed to teach him some manners about messing with married women!".
"He was her cousin and was only asking about your sick aunt Abigail"
"Shut it, shorty".
Makarov laughed. It was nice to have friends at things like this. Most of this Guild Masters were too egotistical and couldn't finish a sentence without complimenting themselves. Madeline was the exact opposite. If she bragged, it was about her luck to have such a great family at her guild and home.
"So, how's stuff at the Fairy HQ?"
"Same as last time, a little better at the not-breaking-furniture department since Erza's 'pep talk'. Still struggling with the bills, though".
"Well, that's to be expected. You little Tinkerbells were always destruction prone".
That was Makarov's second biggest trouble right now, the destruction that his Guild caused. It was ridiculous how they would save the world, gain an enormous compensation from the Council and all that went away in two months time.
Forget Fairy Law, bankruptcy was the guilds signature magic.
"Yeah, those idiots got even more destructive after her".
"Speaking of which, any news?".
At this, the older Dreyar shook his head. After Tartaros, the Guild had been disbanded due to war rumours of a neighbouring kingdom, Alvarez. Makarov wasn't going to let his children be included in a war if he could prevent it. The threat proved empty when it was discovered that another kingdom, Fortuna, was staging this so both Fiore and Alvarez would wage war against each other and, when both are weakest, Fortuna would take both of them over.
Makarov and Madeline, originally from Alvarez, were the ones that found out about that and rushed this information to both their Kings. Fortuna got badly taxed and had a lot of firepower confiscated and then destroyed because of the war they almost started.
Both of them, knowing such a thing might happen again, proposed an alliance between the two kingdoms, making the case that the more allies they had, the greater a chance of winning any future conflicts.
So the peace talks began and they have been going good ever since. In an attempt to make both nations even closer, it was determined an international Council of Magic, which would someday, hopefully, act as a global. Also a new format of the Grand Magic Games was established, which would happen every year on one of the countries and then change the next edition.
Enjoying the newfound peace, Makarov revived the Guild and started to look for his children.
In a year, roughly half was found.
After two, there was only one of them missing.
Lucy Heartfilia.
No one knew where she was, since she was searching for Aquarius' key at the time and didn't stay more than a week at the same town, but thanks to her initial mail, they were certain she was alive and well.
Then, on the second year, one of her letters said that she would go radio silence for a while, but would try and talk to them as soon as possible.
Fairy Tail was chaos that day.
Rumours of her started to spread like wildfire and soon everyone was fed with loads of different stories. None were true, but all were about her, and that was enough to make it at least 'hearable'.
Team Natsu immediately tried to order a rescue mission, but Mira reminded them that there was no way to know where she was, since she didn't even hint the places she were and the letter was sent right before she left a city. Counting the time until the letter was sent to Fiore and finally reaching the Guild, she would probably be long gone.
That didn't stop them from looking everywhere, though. They never took two jobs in the same town, opting to try and cover a bigger area. It was a nice idea, but they all knew that the chances were very slim of actually finding her.
No one actually said that out loud, though. Last time someone even mentioned this search being pointless, Wendy ended up having to pull an all nighter healing Max's body from all the pummeling.
This year will actually mark as Lucy's fifth year away, and many were beginning to give up on finding the bubbly blonde.
A saddened frown took Makarov's face at thinking that her child could be dead. He knew in his heart that it couldn't be true, but since when has the heart and brain worked in harmony when you're in turmoil?
"No, but we got our eyes and ears opened. Who knows when we will find something?".
"Amen to that, Macky. I wish all the luck to you".
"Thanks, Madeline. Now how about we go see if there's anything interesting this time?".
"Sure, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Remember last year?".
"Yeah, that Quattro Puppy guy lost his sock and whined until Sting put him to sleep".
"We're living the dream, at least".
"Which dream?".
"Of being considered by our peers as the icon and embodiment of our guild values".
"...nah, they are just too lazy to try and run for the job".
"That actually makes more sense than all my previous phrase. Kudos".
Makarov grinned again. There was never a dull time with her around.
Madeline and Makarov only met at the last GMG, when both guilds fought but Madeline's eventually came out on top, but the bonds between the two guilds now seems to be ancient, given how good terms they are.
Whenever one needed assistance, the other would promptly be there. Same could be said if the need was just for a vacation.
Although the vacation was really the only time basically all members got together.
"All right, if you would all please gather round so we can start discussing, the faster we do this, the earlier you can all go home".
And so started the Gathering, which bored Makarov to an almost comatose state. The subjects were the the same as last time, trying to include more guilds into the No Aggression Pact, a plan to make sure nothing ever happened between guilds that could prove harmful, plans for strengthening the bonds already formed, trying to reduce the criminal activity even more and so on.
After about four hours of this, the speaker of the night, a newly christened Guild Master from Crocus's Wyverns Talon guild, moved on to the last order of business: introducing newcomers to the veteran Guild Masters. All of them were using hoods to make the entrance more impacting, not that it usually worked, but at least it tried to infuse a little energy to the boring event.
"All right, first off we have Jenna, from Dollhouse Guild".
"Next, Theo from the Fireflies Guild".
"Carly, from the Two Dice merchant guild"
Gradually, them all removed their hoods and went to chat with the veterans, hoping to get some tips or just have a good time.
"And finally we have...no wait, is this right?", the young GM said to the hooded person on stage, who only nodded.
"What is it, Christopher?", asked Madeline.
"Well, apparently this is your lucky day, Makarov. The last Guild Master is...Lucy Heartfilia from King's Sword Guild".
And at that moment, the last hooded person revealed her face, and Makarov's eyes watered.
There she was, as beautiful as ever. Her blonde hair, a little bigger now, shone like an angels and her warm chocolat eyes erased any doubt Makarov had of her being a double or some sick prank. His lost child finally was home.
"Lucy?".
"Hey there, Master. Sorry about the silence, but I just got things cleared a week ago and then, well, this happened", she answered while smiling.
The Celestial Spirit Mage barely had time to blink before the elder threw himself at her.
One would have thought this as cute.
Yeah, other than the fact that he only did that in an attempt to touch her boobs, cute might be correct.
She caught that and just stopped him midair.
'Really? Five years and still like this? Well, if he didn't change that in the last 60 years or so, the chances of having changed now were very slim to begin with', she thought.
"Where did you go? What happened? Are you okay? ", he rapid fired, still in Lucy's grasp. Luckily, Maddy intervened.
"Oh, hey there! You're the mage that ended the war along with Master, right?", Lucy asked.
"Yes, but Fairy Godfather there did most of the work. Macky, how about we go over there and ask her calmly, huh?".
He just nodded, still shocked and happy from finally reuniting with a part of his family.
"Okay, so, to answer your questions: I went pretty much everywhere, in Fiore, Alvarez, Fortuna and a few other places. At Fortuna, I stumbled upon a revolution to try and take over the now peaceful kingdom and transform it into a militaristic one again. So I, along with some friends I did there, fought against this so the peace could continue".
"WHAT? Are you okay?", the older Dreyar all but yelled. Madeline looked astonished as well. Her first impression of the blond was that she probably wouldn't even be an A-level mage, and her position was because of the smarts Makarov boasted that she had.
"Yeah, I got some new scars here and there but in the end it all worked out", she shrugged.
"Scars?".
"Well yes, you don't fight a war without gaining a few scratches, silly".
"Let me see".
"What?".
"Your scars. Show me".
"Sorry Master, but that's not happening. Let's just say I'm not gonna wear a swimsuit anytime soon", Lucy said with finality. Her body, her rules.
"Fine. But I want to know these friends of yours, seems like you all have one hell of a story to tell".
"You don't know the half of it. We went through some tough stuff. If you want to meet them than just visit our guild, they are the only other members".
"Wait, how many mages does your guild have?", Makarov enquired. Must be a lot to face a revolution as violent as the one in Fortuna and come out alive.
"Five. And an Exceed".
Makarov just stared at Lucy, his mouth opened and his left eye twitching.
"Wait, so you and another four mages...", started Madeline.
"And an Exceed".
"...and an Exceed commanded the fight against the rebels?".
"Pretty much, yeah".
"Wow, you must be hella strong then, huh?", Madeline praised.
Lucy blushed embarrassed.
"I get by, but I'm not Erza level".
To this the older GM laughed.
"Well darling, who is?", the white haired GM answered. Erza was a force of nature, and some refused to even acknowledge her as human.
"Good point, Madeline".
"Just call me Maddy".
"Then you must call me by only Lucy".
"Deal".
At this the two powerful mages looked to see Makarov frowning.
"What is it Macky?".
"Well, if you're a Guild Master,that means you quit Fairy Tail, doesn't it?", he said downcast.
"You wish", and then she proceeded to take of her right glove, which still had that same nostalgic pink mark, although it was faded in some parts.
"But then how are you affiliated with another Guild?", asked Maddy.
"I met with Warrod when I went to register the guild. Originally I wasn't gonna be the Guild Master or even a member because of my affiliation with our guild, but he said that, because of my actions in Fortuna, I deserved to be a special case. So now I have a double affiliation, and can take jobs from both guilds, but my duties as a GM have made me stay there ever since I reached Fiore, so I couldn't visit before".
"Well my child, I'm just glad you are okay. How about you go to Fairy Tail tomorrow just to say hi to everyone and then we can schedule something so both guilds meet each other? We can also take a look at your tatoo, it looks like it's disappearing bit by bit".
"Thank you, Master. And sure, I told everyone that if I ran into you, I wanted to pass by the Guild anyways, so they won't worry. Actually, knowing how unsure they are, they might, so if you excuse me, I'm gonna make a small call to them".
"Sure, go ahead".
And then Lucy went to call her guild using a portable Communication Lacrima, leaving the Fiore and Alvarez natives to themselves.
"Hey Macky?".
"Yes?".
"This turned out to be a great Gathering, huh?".
"Yeah, it did. Could've been shorter, though".
"The day this thing runs below three hours is the day the apocalypse is upon us".
"No argument there".
"But seriously, can you imagine how happy everyone will be that she's fine?".
"I'm already predicting Happy tackling her and Erza, well, tackling her as well".
"Don't forget Natsu. His tackle will be one to remember". Makarov will have to remember Lucy to put some fire resisting clothing then.
"I'm more worried about Gray's stripped tackle, really. I don't know how we've dodged sexual harassment so much with him, but I don't want to risk more infractions".
"Oh? Becoming a straight shooter?".
"No, just tired of paying so many unnecessary bills. I mean, how the hell do we manage to be fined for every thing possible?".
"Dunno, but it's really fun to me. Please continue".
He stuck his tongue out at this.
"Master?", the blonde called, making herself known again.
"Yes?".
"I'm sorry, but something has come up. Can we have this reunion some other time?".
"Of course, but is everything okay?".
"Yeah, my stupid friends just went even stupider. One of them sold the damn guild building for a limited Teddy Bear collection and another one has occupied it in protest to it's selling and is trying to transform it into an independent nation. Oh, and the exceed is threatening to leave the guild and soon to be the tiniest kingdom if he is not the mascot and writer of our national anthem".
"Wow".
"Yes, apparently I just had to handpick the biggest morons of Fortuna to my guild. Genius move if I do say so myself".
"I swear, you fairies never stop being entertaining".
"I'm glad you're enjoying my pain, Maddy. At least someone is laughing".
"I'm sorry dear, it's just that, well, there's never a dull day for you guys, is there?".
Both fairies looked at each other and grinned.
"Nah."
And so the Gathering ended, with every Master going back to their respective guilds. In three of them, a smile was present, courtesy of the surprise reunion.
This would get fun real soon, and Maddy was not going to miss this for the world.
"Congratulations, Macky, your lost daughter is back. Now let's see how the old constellation feel about the new stars on the block".
No, she just couldn't wait.