Chapter 2: A Cold Day

=2 Years Later=

The people of Brago watched in horror as the massive demon Deliora trampled their city, the ice wizard that had come to help battling futilely to drive it away.

Down in the city Ur ordered Gray and Lyon to get away while she dealt with the demon. Suddenly a voice cut off their protests, "Actually Madame Ur, I would appreciate it if you would take your daughter and your students and get to safety. I'll patch your leg up after I kill Deliora." Ur, Gray and Lyon whirled and saw a man in a long dark coat with stark white hair standing next to a little girl with short dark hair. Ur stared in shock, "Ultear?" Ultear smiled, "Mommy?" "HEADS UP!" Gray and Lyon yelled in unison as Deliora turned to unleash a magic bolt at them.

It was too late to run though. The bolt was already on its way. The young man raised a hand with a stern expression and the blast washed against an invisible barrier. "Go. All of you. This is about to get nasty." He shifted and threw a full body punch in Deliora's direction, "SLAM!" Everything between Deliora and the invisible barrier was suddenly shoved at the demon as though a giant hand had just swept an entire chunk of the city aside in the blink of an eye. As Deliora went skidding backwards, the young man took off his coat, "Ultear, would you hold my coat and get them out of here?" Ultear took the coat and pulled Ur away as fast as she could. Gray and Lyon quickly followed as the wizard leapt skyward, hovering midair and calling, "Over here ya sack o' shit!" before zooming off regardless of gravity.

Deliora roared and launched another laser at him, keeping his fire up and following the airborne wizard until its own magical blast bounced back off an invisible barrier and hit the massive demon full on. Deliora roared in outrage and threw a tremendously fast punch at the wizard, trying to swat him from the sky as it staggered. The wizard effortlessly dodged the massive claw and spun midair, a hurricane whirling to life along his flight path behind him. Before anyone could fathom the purpose of the whirling airborne tunnel of wind and water, the wizard twisted midair, "MAELSTROM SCYTHE!" and swung the raging torrent at the demon.

Before it could connect, Deliora disappeared. Those paying the sharpest of attention saw Deliora jump. Everyone saw Deliora land as lava splashed twenty feet high and suddenly solidified. The wizard laughed as he landed and all the snow in the city suddenly liquefied, "Let's see you dodge this!" The water all suddenly rose into the sky and then, "DEEP SEA GUILLOTINE!" The water slammed down on top of Deliora with such force that much of the rubble around the demon was instantly washed away.

A second later, Deliora collapsed in several directions at once. The water had sliced the demon into multiple pieces like an apple. Before Deliora's corpse could even hit the ground, it dissolved into dust. The wizard suddenly inhaled and all the water in the city that he had just used to slay Deliora disappeared down his gullet like he was the drain in a bathtub. The wizard hit a knee and slammed his palm against the ground, "ARC OF TIME!"

Before their eyes the people of Brago saw their city rebuilt seemingly of its own accord. The wizard straightened up and took a half step back to steady himself, "Man I need a drink…" He looked around, "Now where did they go…" He disappeared and reappeared in front of Ur, Ultear, Gray and Lyon with a smile, "See Ultear? I told you I'd win." All four stared at him like he was from another planet. He grinned, "Now here's the real kick in the head."

He jumped slightly and suddenly shrank. There was a flash of blue light as his clothes changed to fit him and the coat Ultear was holding shrank as well, and suddenly what had been a man looking like he was in his twenties was a boy not yet into his teens. Oby laughed and scratched the back of his head, "Nobody takes me seriously when I look my age, so I grow up a bit for tougher jobs! Still fun to be a kid though!" The four ice wizards said nothing, they just continued to stare until Oby asked, "Hey Ultear, can I have my coat back? It's kinda cold."

Ultear remembered she was holding it and handed it back to him. "Who are you?" Ur asked. Oby's smile widened slightly, "I'm Oberon Williamson, a wizard from Fairy Tail." He spun and pulled his coat back on. "You should come visit us some time!" he said over his shoulder as he started walking off, "If anyone asks, I'll be back in about two hours, maybe three. This was a detour on my way to my next job, it should be a cakewalk, but I'm going to want a drink when I get back. Water will be fine, and you all can take the credit for oh wait forgot about your leg."

Oby spun and walked back over, "If you'll sit down and melt that ice I'll do some first aid." Ur smiled and sat, "Thank you, I appreciate what are you doing?" Oby flexed his fingers which had started to glow blue, "I'm a Sky God Slayer. I have healing magic. I can't grow you a new leg, but I can stop the bleeding and purge any infection." Ur stared, "But that's Lost Magic! How do you know something like that?!" Oby frowned, "What's more important? Saving what's left of your leg or talking about my past?" Ur looked away, "Good enough." She hissed as the icy prosthetic leg she had made for herself dissolved. Oby quickly laid his glowing hands to the now blood spurting stump and the wound quickly sealed shut. Ur squirmed a little uncomfortably as Oby ran his hands up and all over her leg, getting dangerously close to some inappropriate spots as he did. Once he was done though, her leg had stopped bleeding and the burns were all gone.

"It'll still hurt," Oby declared as he stood, "There's nothing I can do about that other than recommend not putting a lot of weight on it and doing whatever makes it most comfortable, but it's a lot better than it was and I rerouted all the severed blood vessels so that they'll still function as part of your circulatory system. Might cut down on the phantom limb pain, might not. I don't know, I've never dealt with missing limbs." Ur pulled her leg up and ran her hands over it, then she jumped slightly as Oby started working on her other leg, "What are you doing?" Oby looked at her, "Isn't it obvious? I've started healing you now I'm going to finish. Now hold still." He proceeded to run his hands over nearly every inch of her, only narrowly avoiding some places that would have gotten him slapped. He still ran his magic over them, and Ur had a sneaking suspicion from the oddly hand shaped pressure of his magic that he could still feel everything his magic touched. She let it slide though as she could tell whatever else he was doing, he was healing her at a truly remarkable rate.

He finished with her head and when he was done he patted her on top of the head with a smile, "You should be fine now. If you come to visit us in Magnolia we've got a healer who puts my magic to shame. She can probably do some things for you I can't. You're going to feel like crap for a few days probably, there's no changing the fact that you've taken a beating this evening and you're still going to feel all that fatigue, but there shouldn't be much actual pain." Ur thanked him with a slight smile. Oby smiled, "Thank me by giving Ultear lots of hugs, she really missed you." Ur smiled and pulled Ultear into a hug, "I'll certainly do that. I missed her too."

Oby turned to Gray and Lyon, "Let's see…" he reached out and laid his hands on their heads. A moment later their whole bodies were healed. Oby gave them a thumbs up, "All fixed!" Ur frowned, "Wait a minute, why did you…" "Well I really should be getting on!" Oby declared loudly with a grin, "Macao and Wakaba are probably wondering what happened to me! So I'll be back soon! Byebye!" He jumped fifty feet into the air, yelled, "MACH TEN!" and took off so fast it looked like he just disappeared. Ur grinned wryly at the spot where he had been, "Little pervert."

==Three Minutes Later==

Oby slowed to a stop and landed as the thunderous sonic boom rolled over the area. He strolled up to the imposing headquarters of the Dark Guild known as Death's Head Caucus and casually examined the rope next to the massive door labeled "Pull for service". Oby yanked the rope and what sounded like a mass of church bells rang somewhere inside.

A massive shirtless man with his entire body covered in tattoos that resembled a skeleton, no hair and a head painted like a skull answered, "Who is it?" "Message from the village," Oby replied, "I was instructed to deliver it to the master of this guild, one Benote Skelon I believe?" The massive man's eyebrows rose, "Master! It's for you!" "Send em in!" A gravelly voice yelled. The immense man ushered Oby in.

"Nice place you got here," Oby declared as the eyes of everyone in the building followed him. It was in fact far from a nice place, everything was designed to look like bones or was made from real bones. Now that he saw the inside of it, Oby realized the entire building was shaped like an upside down skull. The large castle like façade out front was the teeth, the massive terraced pit of a room he was walking down into was the brain cavity, and those two tunnels down on the left and right were the eyes. He had just come in through the nose. The ceiling was fairly high and there were chandeliers overhead graced with bits of carnage in varying states of decay and candles burning in the noses and eyes of impaled skulls, a disturbing number of which still had skin and hair on them. The big man leading him in laughed, "You got a gruesome sense o' style kid. Maybe you'll be one of us one day!" "Perhaps," Oby replied politely.

It wasn't the biggest building he'd ever been in, but it was certainly one of the most gruesome Oby thought. He paused as he saw two people suspended in chains over a large cauldron of boiling oil in the center of the massive pit that was the central room, but he didn't pause long and kept walking. The big man led him through a crowd of people, most with skeletal tattoos and shaved heads. Nothing like a dark guild with a theme, Oby thought, so easy to pick out their members.

A moment later Oby was standing before a fairly old man with saggy skin and lots of his actual bones showing even through the tattoos all over his body. The Master of Death's Head Caucus, Benote Skelon, better known as Bones the Eviscerater, leaned forward, "Who are you?" Oby smiled, "My name is Oberon Williamson, the village sent me up with a little message for you." "Who do those miserable groveling wretches think they are sending a kid to bother me?!" Bones snarled, "Do they think I'll spare your life just because you're a child?!"

Oby smiled and pulled a pair of clawed metal gauntlets from under his coat, "No, actually they say in a great many words," He pulled his gauntlets on with a smile, "F*** you. They hired me and those two you've got dangling over the tar there to take out the trash." Macao opened his blacked eyes, "Oby…run…" "Speaking of…" Oby declared as the members of Death's Head Caucus stared at his audacity. Macao and Wakaba disappeared and reappeared in front of Oby on the ground, fully unchained, healed and on their unsteady feet as Oby finished, "I think it's about time we got started with that. Macao, Wakaba, you take care of Bones, I'll deal with the rest of em."

As Bones roared for the members of Death's Head Caucus to kill them, Macao and Wakaba looked over their shoulders at Oby as he turned to face the dark wizards charging down the stairs into the lowermost layer of the pit, "you sure kid?" Macao asked. "There's an awful lot of em!" Wakaba added. Oby seemed to teleport up the stairs and suddenly ever member of Death's Head Caucus between point A and point B went flying, covered in massive wounds as the sound of Oby's gauntlets slamming them away rang out across the room like a gunshot. Oby only paused for an instant to call, "Yeah, I'm sure." Macao and Wakaba swapped a glance, "He's sure."

They turned to face Bones as the dark wizard rose from his throne like chair, "Your friend may have gotten you out of the tar, but you're out the frying pan and into the fire now that you have to fight me." Macao and Wakaba slid into fighting stances, Macao igniting in purple flames with a grin, "Maybe you haven't heard, but fire's my specialty!" Wakaba casually lit a cigarette off Macao's shoulder and grinned, "You caught us by surprise earlier, but you won't beat us head on!" Macao's face twitched slightly in irritation at Wakaba's using him for a lighter.

Bones grinned, the light of the fire and his skull tattoo lending his sunken eyes a truly evil glint, "Is that so? BONE MAGIC!" A magic seal erupted under him as he crossed his arms and bone spikes erupted all over his body. He uncrossed his arms quickly and sent a volley of sharp bone spikes at the Fairy Tail wizards. Macao and Wakaba disappeared in a puff of smoke as the bone shards flew through them and Bones took a step back in surprise, "WHAT?!"

"Smoke Fake!" Wakaba called from the terrace behind him with a grin. Bones had just an instant to worry before Macao roared, "PURPLE INFERNO!" and flooded the pit with violet flames. Bones leapt upwards out of the flames and suddenly stopped and fell, seemingly midair as he landed on something extremely hot and sticky. Macao grinned, "Purple Trap! Let him have it!" "Smoke Crush!" Wakaba called as he cut loose his spell. A barrage of pink smoke fists rained down on Bones as he struggled to free himself from Macao's sticky semisolid flames.

There was a sickening sound of bones shattering and Bones cried out in pain before going disturbingly quiet. Wakaba let up a second later and as Macao allowed the flames to dissipate he looked at his friend, "I think you might've overdone it Wakab-AHHH!" He cried out in shock and pain as a huge bone spike appeared in his shoulder. Before Wakaba could move three more spikes slammed into him and sent him toppling to the ground. Bones leapt up out of the pit and towered over them completely unscathed, "You two thought you could beat me? ME?! I AM BONES THE EVISCERATER! MASTER OF DEATH'S HEAD CAUCUS!"

He suddenly went flying as a small form with glowing white fists sheathed in a dark blue aura appeared between him and Macao and Wakaba, "And we're Fairy Tail!" Cana yelled as she sprang after him, her Crash magic flaring as Oby's empowering spell lent her the ability to fly. Oby casually started pulling spikes out of Macao and Wakaba as Cana proceeded to use Bones the Eviscerater for a hacky sack punching bag. "What's Cana doing here?!" Macao asked in horror as Oby worked on Wakaba. "Oh she's been following us since we left," Oby told him nonchalantly, "She wanted to come along but you guys wouldn't let her remember? She's not the kind of girl that'll take no for an answer! Don't worry, she was busy busting out the prisoners down that tunnel over there while you two kept them busy out here with your Christmas ham imitations."

Macao finally managed to climb back to his feet, "We've gotta help her!" Oby laughed, "Did you forget who her daddy is? No solid target can withstand the Clive family Crash magic, and nothing's going to be able to touch her while my empowerment spell's on her. Let her take care of this guys, it'll do her confidence good, and imagine how proud Gildarts will be! Besides, I can-" his image flickered for a second and Bones, who had been about to get the upper hand, found himself suddenly wrapped in magic chains and slammed into the ground so hard his bone armor shattered. "Intervene whenever I need to," Oby finished. "Obyyy!" Cana whined as Bones slumped over unconscious, "You said you'd let me beat him!"

Oby smiled over his shoulder at her as she floated down, "Oh? I seem to recall saying I'd let you fight him, I don't recall saying I wouldn't help if you needed it." Cana crossed her arms and huffed, "Stupid jerk." Oby smiled, "If helping my friend makes me a stupid jerk, then I'll gladly be the stupidest of jerks to keep you safe." Cana smiled slightly, and Oby continued patching up Wakaba, but Wakaba and Macao couldn't help but notice that he was smiling too.

Then they both started in horror as time seemed to slow down. Bones seemed ten feet tall as he lunged over the edge of the terrace with murder in his eyes and a huge bone javelin aimed right at Cana. Then Cana spun and slugged him with her Crash magic so hard he flew backwards a good twenty meters and left a crater in the stone staircase down from the door. "And it looks to me like that was the final blow," Oby added as Bones twitched feebly, "So you did beat him." Cana smiled brightly, "Yeah, guess I did." Macao and Wakaba stared in shock. "Hey Macao?" "Yeah?" "Kids are scary." "Yep."

Oby grinned and Cana blushed like that was the best compliment in the world, "Awww, thank you!"

==Afternoon, Three Days Later==

"Hey guys we're back!" Macao called as he, Wakaba, Oby and Cana strolled in. "And we brought friends!" Oby added. "So this is a guild," Ur said with a smile, "It seems like a nice place. Awfully hot though." "I feel fine," Gray declared only for everyone to point out that his clothes were once again missing. Oby flickered for a second and handed Gray his clothes with a laugh, "Come on guys, let's go meet- oh hi Master!" Makarov looked the ice wizards up and down and then looked at Oby, "You're not going to bring new recruits in after every mission are you?" Oby shook his head, "Nah, only when there's cute girls involved." Ultear blushed, "Aw!" Gray and Lyon shot him identical dirty looks as Cana snorted irritably and muttered, "Jerk." Oby just chuckled as Makarov stroked his chin, "Fair enough."

Ur raised an eyebrow, "Who said we're joining? We only came because Oby said you had somebody who could help with my leg." Makarov blinked, "Your leg?" Ur knelt and pulled up her pants leg to reveal the icy prosthetic and Makarov started, "Oh, of course! We'll go see Porlyusica right away. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were injured." Ur smiled slightly, "I'm not injured any more. Oby was able to seal my leg up pretty good, but I'd still like to see about a prosthetic that doesn't melt constantly in warm weather." Makarov nodded with a smile as he led her off towards the East Forest, "Of course, of course. I do hope you'll stay afterwards and enjoy a meal or two with us. I'd feel terrible sending you home after you just got here."

Ur smiled, "Well, maybe one night." Then she looked over her shoulder with a bright smile, "Behave you three, I'll be back soon!"

==Three Hours Later==

Ultear sat with Gray and Lyon as they waited for Ur to come out of surgery. Oby had brought them along when Makarov called him to assist Porlyusica in attaching Ur's new prosthetic. That had been an hour ago. Ultear shifted uneasily. She had so recently been on the verge of giving up on ever seeing her mother again because of these two, it felt so strange that she was to be their friend now.

"So, we, haven't really gotten to talk yet," Gray started. "Oby told us how he met you," Lyon said quietly. Ultear's heart skipped a beat, he had told them that he had met her on the verge of running away because of them?! "He said you were about to run away and never see Master Ur again because of us," Gray said as he looked towards the curtains that comprised the "operating room". "That you were afraid Master had been trying to replace you by taking us on," Lyon added as he looked away.

Ultear flinched and then Lyon went on, "I'll admit, for a while I thought that too when I found out about you. Then she took on Gray and I asked her, 'Why did you take him on? You don't need that punk, you've already got me to replace your daughter'." He snorted and rubbed the back of his head as Gray and Ultear stared at him, "I don't think I've ever seen Master Ur that angry. I know I've never gotten slapped that hard. She told me that was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard, that nothing could ever replace her daughter." He shot a glance at Ultear out the corner of his eye with a slight smile, "Now that I've met you, I see what she meant."

Ultear blinked and was immediately a vivid pink. Gray's head whipped around, "Oh sure! Go right ahead and use what we agreed would be an attempt to help her settle back in as an excuse to hit on her! Have some decency ya pervert!" "Says the guy in his underwear!" Lyon snapped back. Gray leapt up, "AH! When did that happen?!" "Keep your clothes on man!" Lyon barked as Ultear realized his own shirt was suddenly gone. "Why the hell did you take your shirt off?!" Gray exclaimed.

"So I can make muscly poses to impress Ultear," Lyon declared as he struck a pose with a grin. A moment later clothes went flying everywhere as they started wrestling and in less than a minute they were both in nothing but their underwear as Ultear suddenly asked, "Oh boys, can you help me find my top?" They both froze, looked at her, realized she was indeed topless, and had identical massive nosebleeds as Ultear laughed so hard she almost cried.

"WILL YOU KIDS SHUT UP?!" Porlyusica exclaimed as she erupted out from behind the curtains, "WE'RE TRYING TO DO SURGERY IN HERE! AND FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE PUT YOUR CLOTHES BACK ON!" Things were quiet after that, but the ice was broken, and by the time Ur woke up the next morning, they were all three crashed out in the living room in a happy dogpile with Ultear on top as Oby snored in a nearby chair.

Ur smiled, "Is everyone at Fairy Tail like this?" she asked Makarov and Porlyusica quietly. Porlyusica nodded, "It's a wonderful place. I don't like humans, but Fairy Tail wizards, for all their rambunctious reckless noisy nonsense are still the best people I know." Makarov smiled, "Aw…" Porlyusica cast a sideways glare at him, "Don't get a swelled head ya old coot."

Makarov's head was suddenly the size of a beach ball, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Porlyusica snorted as Ur laughed and thought, Maybe this'll be a good place for the four of us after all…