With his gun, with his head held high
He told me not to cry
Oh, my daddy said shoot
Oh, my daddy said shoot
With his right hand on his rifle
He swore it on the bible
My daddy said shoot
Oh, my daddy said shoot

-Daddy Lessons; from Beyonce


"In a land far, far away, lies the Kingdom of Fiore. A small, peaceful nation of seventeen million, and a place filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace - for most, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of every day life. For some, however, magic is an art, and they devoted their lives to its practice - these are the wizards. Banded together into magical guilds, they apply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore. But there is a certain guild in a certain town that soars high above the rest. One, from which countless legends have been born. A guild that would no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. Its name is Fairy Tail."

[-]

In the Kingdom of Fiore, there lives a family. A large one, at that. And this family is known for being extremely powerful, both financially and magically. Their financial success came when they started buying out successful businesses. As a result, the family is worth millions, if not billions. Their magical success came generations earlier. The family's ancestors found themselves interested in Forbidden Magic. The main family was known for their use of Blood Magic, while the other, more distant relatives practiced other kinds of Forbidden Magic. While the family as a whole is seen as powerful, feared by almost everyone in Fiore, it's the main family that has the most fear and influence over the the country's citizens. Because of their ownership over many of the businesses across the land, the people of Fiore often have no choice but to support them. And because the family has so much power in regards to magic, the citizens are often too scared to fight back. Countless wizards, whether they're in a guild or not, refuse to get themselves involved if they can help it.

But things for this particular family started changing. In the main family, seventeen years ago, a man and his wife welcomed twins. Two little girls, both radiating powerful energy. The birth of the sisters caused for celebration. It was believed the girls' mother would never be able to have children, so the news of her pregnancy had been an unexpected surprise. Relatives came from all over Fiore to celebrate the birth of the girls. The new parents were given extravagant gifts, many of them rare items from around the world. It was a very good day for that family. But as the years went on, and the sisters started to practice their Blood Magic, there were obvious differences in the two girls. The eldest twin, Raina, was known in her family for her savagery. Raina never held back when it came to her magic, she'd do whatever it took to end up on top, no matter what. The youngest twin, Bella Rose, was known for her hesitation. She took her Blood Magic seriously, but she wasn't as savage as her sister. She wanted to think over strategies, think over ways to reason with her opponents. She didn't have her family's fearsome attitude. Bella Rose was...kind. Raina, as a result, picked on her sister relentlessly. Any form of torture or abuse the eldest twin could think of would be inflicted on Bella Rose. In Raina's eyes, kindness equaled weakness. And there was no room for weakness in their family. And so, by the time the twins reached their seventeenth birthday, their parents announced that, in due time, Raina would inherit the family's fortune. Bella Rose would be left nothing.

In Bella Rose's defense, she could've cared less if her family left her anything. She'd spent most of her life witnessing the horrors her family inflicted onto others. She couldn't stand it. All the money the family had - Bella Rose saw it as tainted. All the magic the family practiced, she saw it as black magic. Her family wasn't part of any legal guild, but many of her family members supported dark guilds. That was even worse. So when she found out her parents left her nothing, that Raina would inherit everything, Bella Rose was happy. To her, that denial of the family fortune was almost liberating. So, not long after, she took it upon herself...

...to leave.

[-]

For Bella Rose, leaving her family was difficult. She loved them with all her heart, but she knew that it was better for her to start over. But it wasn't easy for her to start a new life. Everyone in Fiore knew her, they knew of her family's history. Bella Rose tried to join guilds, to find a healthy foundation to develop new magic, but no one would take her in. In their own words, they "refused to associate with a Salazar". That name...that damned name...it would haunt her for the rest of her life. Almost every legal guild Bella Rose tried to go to turned her away. No independent guild would want her, either. The only type of guild that seemed to be left were the dark ones, but Bella Rose would in no way associate with those criminals. She couldn't stand the thought of being in such violence and darkness again. She wanted to be better than her family. So when Bella Rose's travels got her to a particular town, one that had a pretty strong legal guild, her hopes weren't completely dashed. That guild would be her final chance to better herself. And after months of traveling and dealing with countless rejection, Bella Rose was about to give her hopes one last chance.

"Fairy Tail," she murmured, studying the guildhall curiously. The building was colorful, that much was obvious. The doors were big and red, so were the windows. The walls were white but there were green pillars on either side of the front entrance. "Interesting," she said. Taking a deep breath, Bella Rose shrugged her backpack higher on her shoulders, hoping and praying she looked presentable. She had been standing in front of the guildhall for the better part of five minutes, debating on whether she wanted to go in or not. Part of her desperately wanted to, but another part of her couldn't stand the thought of being rejected again. Standing outside of the building, Bella Rose heard people's whispers, she felt their stares and their hostility and fear. She could only hope Fairy Tail's wizards didn't feel the same way.

Here goes nothing, Bella Rose thought. The moment she took her first step towards the front door, adrenaline pumped heavily through her body. Her heart started beating faster, her breathing became shallow. Bella Rose swallowed thickly and took another step. Just go! Stop being such a scaredy-cat, she thought bitterly. Letting out a shaky breath, Bella Rose forced herself to keep going. When she reached the front doors, she squared her shoulders and made sure her red hair was out of her face. With that, she pushed the doors open and proceeded to step inside. For a brief moment, Bella Rose could hear the sounds of people talking and laughing. It was loud, but the second those front doors opened wide enough, the entire guildhall silenced. Every head turned in her direction, and the whispers started up not long after. A feeling of unease washed over Bella Rose. She tried her hardest not to focus on their whispers, but she couldn't help it. She didn't know how the guild would react to her being in their hall. Would they try and lash out? Would they deny her entry? All kinds of questions were swirling inside her head, and it made her feel even more uneasy.

As she continued to walk forward, Bella Rose chose to take a brief look at her surroundings. Fairy Tail did have a fair amount of wizards. They seemed relatively strong, too. Or maybe that was her nerves telling her that. In all honesty, the seventeen year old never heard of the guild before. So whether or not they were truly strong, she had no idea. A lot of the wizards, however, did have dark looks on their faces. They were whispering to each other, glancing hateful looks in Bella Rose's direction. That made her blood run cold. If they were throwing those kinds of looks at her, then they must know who she is. She prayed Fairy Tail would be unlike the other guilds she went to, but it seemed as though she'd been wrong.

When Bella Rose looked ahead of her, she saw a bar. Sitting on the counter was a small, old man. He had his eyes closed and his legs crossed. He wore a blue and orange hat on his head, with white hair sticking out underneath. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he seemed unconcerned with the sudden silence that fell upon the guildhall. But the closer Bella Rose got to the bar, the louder the whispers seemed to become. She started having a hard time focusing, and doubts were starting to plant themselves in her head.

What the hell is a Salazar doing here? Is this a joke?

Her family must've sent her down here. That's gotta be the reason.

Salazars don't belong here. They're a bunch of selfish murderers.

As if a Salazar could ever be part of a guild...

"That's enough." Bella Rose froze where she stood. The old man's voice rang throughout the guildhall. Just enough authority rang out from those words to make everyone else stop, as well. A heavy pause filled the room, with all eyes looking between Bella Rose and the old man. His eyes, however, never opened. It was like he couldn't be bothered to really see what was going on in front of him. For Bella Rose, she stood less than a foot away from where the old man sat, her eyes wide and her body trembling. She didn't know what to do. The doubts started to grow faster than she could handle. Swallowing thickly, Bella Rose took a deep breath, letting it out shakily. Before she even had the chance to say anything, the old man started talking again. "So," he grumbled, opening one eye, "you're a Salazar."

"Y-Yes, sir," Bella Rose rasped. "I didn't come here to start any trouble, I promise you."

Who does she think she's fooling?

She's a Salazar; they're always looking for trouble.

If she's from the main family, she probably uses Blood Magic.

She'll try and kill us all, then.

"Tell me, what's a Salazar doing in Fairy Tail?" he asked. There wasn't a trace of hostility in his words, just curiosity and a bit of caution. That threw Bella Rose off. No one had ever talked to her in that way before. It made her wonder what exactly he had in mind.

"I...I left my family," she stuttered, "to start a new life for myself. I wanted to join a guild, to better my magic."

She's lying. She'll ambush us and take everything we own.

Salazars are loaded, why would she even want to leave?

The old man opened both eyes. He studied Bella Rose closely. It was obvious she did look a bit shaken, unsure on how to proceed, but she seemed to be telling the truth. When he jumped off the bar, he walked over to Bella Rose with a look of determination on his face.

"Salazars are a very odd group of wizards," he exclaimed. "While many hardly view them as such, I think they do fall under that category." Bella Rose's brows furrowed. "Though, I'd prefer to call them dark wizards," the old man went on. "Their preference for evil, Forbidden Magic doesn't go unnoticed by the Magic Council. Nor by the Ten Wizards Saints."

"I don't understand where you're going with this," Bella Rose muttered.

"What I'm saying is this - I've heard quite a lot of stories about your parents, Victor and Mito. I've also heard of your sister, Raina. But I've never heard a single story about you, Bella Rose."

"I'm not as brutal as the rest of my family."

"But deep down you still have that Salazar savagery."

Bella Rose felt her blood run cold. He wasn't entirely wrong. It didn't matter if she wasn't as violent or brutish as the rest of her family, there was still a bit of darkness in her. Bella Rose tried her hardest to keep it under control, to not give in, but it was hard. Every day, it was a struggle to keep control. Bella Rose wanted nothing more than to show the rest of the world that even a family as horrible as the Salazars wasn't entirely bad.

"However," the old man continued, "I'm willing to give you a chance."

"What?" Bella Rose looked down at him, confusion and uncertainty rushing through her. "Give me a chance?"

"Yes." The old man shrugged his shoulders before crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm the master of this guild. I'll allow you one opportunity to prove yourself. Fairy Tail could use some powerful wizards, and you want to develop your magic."*

Another heavy pause fell over the guildhall. Disbelief and shock filled the air. Fairy Tail's guild master was allowing a Salazar a chance?


(A/N):

First off, I'm sorry for the wait on this chapter. I know it's not the best, but I honestly did try to make it at least tolerable. I'm very new to Fairy Tail, so any constructive criticism from you guys would be great! Tell me if I get the characters wrong. I'd hate to find out later on that I got something or someone wrong and had to rewrite God knows how many chapters as a result. So any kind of words of improvement from you guys would be appreciated.

On that note, I own nothing in Fairy Tail. All I own are my OCs, my subplots, and an extreme exhaustion from studying. If you guys have OCs or subplots you'd like added to the story, PM me or leave a review. I'll add them in as soon as possible.

Leave a random fact in the review section if you feel like it.

With that, I bid you guys farewell.

Farrah Czajkowski