Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, but I do own one killer dance mix tape.

By the way, here's the pronunciation list:

Yorui Anserlief: YO-roo-EE AN-sir-Leaf

Rhodis Flaresettee Row-Diss Flah-ruh-set-ee

Bold+Uppercase=enunciated part, like the Buh and Fly in butterfly

PS: This takes place in a world where anything that happened after the Fantasia Parade in the series DIDN'T happen. Characters like Wendy don't exist. Sorry.

Why did it have to be this way? Yo wished that he could go back in time, back to when people were happy and heroes were legal. Back to the Golden Age, before the regime took control. More than anything, he wanted to get Rhodis out. She was too kind for this world. If only she'd been born fifty years ago, things would have been different. She could have been happy, raising a family without worries about whether they'd survive. He wouldn't have to be taking the risk that he was.

Things will change. I don't care what it takes.

I'll keep her safe.

Rhodis skipped ahead, never minding all the dreary, trudging people around her. The sun was shining for once, and the sky was a soft blue. Stopping for a moment to let Yo catch up, she noticed that he seemed to be avoiding eye contact. She frowned, knowing that when he wouldn't look at her, something was definitely wrong.

"Yo, what's up?" She tilted her head to get a better view of his eyes, but he turned to avoid her yet again. He towered over her, not because he was so tall, but because she was a tiny 5'1. He was average height, 6'0. She leapt up, grabbing the sides of his head and pulling him down as she descended.

"Yorui Anserlief, you look me in the eye!" She saw him wince as she used his full name, then grudgingly glared at her. She smiled. She had him now.

"What's wrong? You know you can tell me, right? I don't care what…" She paused, a thought popping into her head spontaneously. Because of her peculiar magical abilities, the thoughts of others sometimes popped into her head- literally, popped like someone had burst a balloon. They were never more than flashes, but the flash she had seen was more than enough.

"You didn't." Yo looked down at his feet, which was difficult due to her hands being anchored on his ears. That was all the verification she needed.

"No! I thought we agreed, Yo! It's too dangerous, and I don't want to lose you. Please," she pled, "you're all I have. Losing you… I'd rather die."

"Then you understand how I feel!" Yo snapped desperately.

"If I don't do this, they might take you away. Either that, or you might die on a mission for some dangerous type of killer plant. We're already hiding your power" he lowered his voice," so what's one more? Besides, you are more important than anything, Rhodis. Even my life. If I could give you the tiniest chance at freedom, I'd-"

"Don't even say it, Yo." She turned to him with huge, wet eyes. He faltered, then sighed.

"Whatever. We'll talk later. Look, we're at the museum already."

He was right. The tall, grand building rose proudly out of the street, though it obviously needed some repair work done. Even so, it was much nicer than almost any houses in the area. Huge stone columns guarded the door. The windows, which had once held stained glass, now held plain, shatterproof ones. Pieces of mortar and stone littered the sidewalk. Nonetheless, it was an impressive sight.

They hurried in, though there was no rush. They both had the morning off, thankfully. Knowing what they were doing, they headed straight to the back storage area. The president had replaced all the old exhibits with propaganda, but the displays were still kept in the storage areas for some reason. Anyone who actually wanted to see real artifacts went there directly.

Standing right near the door was an old man, with stark white hair, a hunched back, and multiple piercings. His bright red eyes tracked them as they entered, and blinked slowly in greeting as they neared him.

"Greetings, Gajeel. We've come to talk some more about what it was like before, back when guilds were still around." Yo wrapped his arm around Rhodis as he spoke, and she beamed at him with love.

Gajeel grunted. "You two reming me of Bisca and Alzack. The reason I say that is because they happen to be visiting, though I wish the love-dodos would leave already. They're making me sick." He scowled towards one of the storage alcove, where an elderly couple sat gazing at each other.

"I'm not sure whether or not to take that as a compliment. I will anyway. So thanks." She smiled at him in her most charming way, and he blushed a little, showing that his heart, at least, wasn't made of metal.

"So what do you want to know?" Gajeel didn't look interested, but Rhodis knew him well enough to know that he was dying to answer questions.

"Well… What was your guild like? Fairy Tail, I mean. I know that they were strong, but tell us more about the members."

"Well, I'll try to be unbiased, so I won't throw in stuff about who's an idiot and who's not. I'll just look at facts, got it? Anyways, I've got to start off with Natsu was a Dragon Slayer, fire version, but he was raised by the dragon Igneel," he looked at them, as if daring them to interrupt, but they were too interested to even dare, "just like I was raised by Metalicana. Natsu was a beast- but he had this one stupid weakness. Anytime he was in any sort of vehicle- boat, car, train, anything- he would get motion sickness like you wouldn't believe. He could basically turn his body parts into dragon parts, or get them to act the same, I guess. He could breathe fire, throw fire, and he loved to eat fire. What a moron. Oh, right, unbiased.

"Next is his partner, Happy. Happy was a flying blue cat, with these little white wings that just popped out whenever he wanted. He could carry people, and he wouldn't feel a thing. He was annoying, though. Little furball was always ticking Lucy off.

"Speaking of Lucy, she was the mature one in Natsu's group. She could summon Celestial Spirits, which is next to impossible these days. She had almost all of the Zodiac keys at one point. She came from this big, rich family, the Heartfilias. She didn't act like it, though. She could be a real pennypincher.

"Erza was like a demon when she was angry. She was beautiful, but freakishly powerful. Once she started at something, she wouldn't stop. Ever. She was mature most of the time, but sometimes she was worse than Natsu.

"Gray was an Ice Mage. He had this stupid habit of stripping naked. He wouldn't even notice that he'd done it. He was constantly fighting with Natsu, unless Erza was around. Then she'd beat the crap out of both of them. Good times.

"Well, that's all for today. I'm tired, so leave me alone." He skulked back to his corner, where he pronptly fell asleep n his stool. Rhodis sighed, then skipped over to where Alzack and Bisca were sitting on an old model of a dragon. They barely even looked up when she came over.

"Hey Bisca, Alzack. Is it just me, or is Gajeel moodier than usual?"

That got their attention. Bisca looked up with sad eyes, and Alzack scowled slightly at nothing, tilting his head up.

"I'm not surprised," she whispered," seeing as this is the anniversary of the day Levi died."

Rhodis tilted her head. "Levi?"

Bisca nodded. "Gajeel's wife- more like girlfriend, though, because she died just before they read their vows."

Rhodis gasped. "That's awful!"

Alzack sighed. "Yeah, it was. We were there when it happened. It was during one of the first attacks by the regime. They burst in and started shooting, for no reason. Most of us got away, but Levi…" Alzack closed his eyes.

"Why would they do it?" Rhodis was surprised to hear Yo's voice from right behind her.

Bisca scowled weakly. "It was part of their 'anti-guild' movement. They were holding the wedding at headquarters, so when the soldiers showed up, no one knew what to do. Even though most escaped, Levi, Juvia and Droy didn't make it. They were up at the altar, Juvia as a bridesmaid, Droy as Levi's support, and to give her away. Gajeel got shot, but he was lucky enough not to get shot in the head. I doubt he felt lucky at the time, though. He still can't forgive himself for letting Levi get killed. We lost so many soon after, though. So many…" She took a deep breath. She seemed to be venting her frustrations, and Rhodis was just happy to listen, even if the story was so sad.

"Jet was next. Without Droy and Levi, he went totally psycho, and charged a tank barehanded. In the next raid, we lost Macao, Freed, Mirajane, Elfman, and Wakaba. They went down fighting, but we still couldn't win. In a last stand, we attacked the president's military base directly. We didn't stand a chance. They decimated us, and the few who survived took off with their tails between their tails. Natsu's team… They were awe-inspiring. They took out a battalion each, and took hit after hit. The regime tried to capture them, but they'd rather die than be prisoners. A huge ball of pure energy exploded out of them, and wiped out most of the forces. The remaining forces were still too much for us, though. We were defeated. Horribly defeated. We let the world down." She started sobbing, burying her face in Alzack's dusty poncho.

She looked up, her face contorted and glistening with tears.

"We're so, so sorry. We did this to the world. To you. If only we'd tried harder-"

She collapsed in tears. Rhodis felt shocked. How could someone as strong as Bisca, as strong as Team Natsu, be defeated? It didn't make sense.

But, in this world, what did?