AN: AND WE'RE IN BUSINESS. Ok so I have up to chapter 9 planned out. I'm going to write and write until I can't anymore to hopefully finish this before inspiration leaves me. Don't forget to Review if you have an idea you want thrown in here before the end. Time's running out! Mavis's backstory is ½ Fairy Tail Zero ½ Fan theory so…yes
Chapter 4
"When I was young I lived on this very Island. I was basically an indentured servant for the main guild here. Back then there weren't many rules about guild relations and so wars between guilds were frequent and devastating. It was just a regular day until a rival guild attacked. I grabbed the guild master's daughter and together we ran together into the forest and we survived the attack. The Island became deserted for a while until a group showed up on the island searching for something. Among them was Yuri Dreyar your ancestor. The three of us among others began preparations for a more perfect system.
"We envisioned a guild that had morals, was family, took care of evil and was all around good. It was around this time that I was exploring the island when I met him. At first I was afraid of him. Zeref was a frightening man, especially then. He seemed afraid of me when we met, and I was confused by that. We began talking and I realized he had a curse placed on him. The more he cared for life the more he killed. He was unintentionally murdering the animals and the trees and he was afraid for me to be near him since he knew one day he could kill me.
"But I stayed. I gave him projections to bring him joy and he eventually grew to have some modicum of control of the curse. Until they came. More people came to Tenrou in search of something precious and undiscovered and instead they found the beginnings of a guild. They fought us and we tried to resist peacefully but to no avail. Zeref came to our defense and though he was only trying to attack the other side he caught me in the blast as well. I died that day. My spirit stayed with the island and I continued to watch over all who I cared for. Somehow only those who bore the guild mark could see me. Zeref was so distraught with what he'd done he had removed his own guild mark from him which left me invisible to him.
"Throughout the years on this island alone we found a way to communicate. He cannot see nor hear me, but he knows when I am near and he knows how I feel. For a while it was just us and we communicated frequently as best we could. And then Grimoire Heart showed up and tried to take him. He was at his most vulnerable then. He was still so moved by my death that the curse was worse than ever, however Grimoire reminded him why he hated some humans. His disregard for their lives ended his curse but brought forth something far worse. His dark soul. They wanted to awaken Zeref and they succeeded, just not how they had hoped. He called Acnologia to destroy the place that had so ruined him and here we are."
Mavis remained staring into the sea her eyes darting around as if seeing a scene play out through her mind. Laxus and Makarov were silent taking it all in. A lot of things were explained by the story, but still more question arose begging to be answered. For the moment they chose to hold off on their questioning as they knew Mavis was not in the mood for it now. Laxus, being younger and knowing how to distract women more easily decided to change the subject.
"So how do you think we turned out as a guild? You proud of it?" Mavis smiled to herself.
"Yes, very. I had never dreamed that it could be this successful. Fairy Tail is truly an inspiration to the world and I am proud to have been a part of it, if only for a moment. I'm also grateful for this body I can conjure forth. It allows me to watch over my guild for as long as it shall go on."
"How long do you think this 'dream' will go on?" Makarov asked. He was still unsure of the logistics of their situation. He understood that they were suspended in time but how did that time compare to their dream time. Mavis shrugged.
"It will be some time still. I don't have the energy to raise the island, and besides it's not safe yet. I want to give it a while so that I know for certain Zeref is not waiting." They nodded in agreement. They were silent again until another thought flit across Laxus's mind.
"Hey Mavis you said the others are dreaming too right?" She nodded. "And we dream because of who we are connected to physically?" She paused then answered, "It would seem that way yes." He thought for a moment.
"Could we go into the other's dreams do you think?" They all stopped and thought.
"I think so. I'd have to move your bodies but that's easily enough done. The real question is whose dream?" Makarov spoke this time, "I'd like to check on Cana. She just told Gildarts that he's her father and I'm worried what dreams she could've come up with." Mavis nodded.
"She's connected to Gildarts and Erza so it'll be easy for you to check in on all of them. What about you Laxus?" He stood and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Probably the Thunder God Tribe-assuming that their together. I've got some things to talk with them about." Mavis smiled and clapped her hands.
"Perfect! I'll go move your bodies now! I'm excited to see what happens." With that she pranced off and the two Dreyars were left alone. Moments later they exclaimed as they felt the earth shake beneath them and then all was black.
. . . . .
The air by the sea tasted better than any other in the world to Wendy Marvell. Their platoon had just relocated near the beach from the mountainous region. After their great defeat there they decided they would move to a more tactically appealing local. There was an easy escape route and plenty of fish to feed the troops. Wendy had regained her magic and had fully healed all who she could and had tearfully buried who she could not. As she predicted Mest could no longer see out of his left eye and so was taken off the fighting lines. His magic, teleportation, proved useful for Wendy as he could bring her the wounded patients faster and without moving them too much. In their new local they had found several locals who knew healing magic or medical training and so they had more healers ready to serve.
All around Wendy was very glad for the change. She had been overworked and overwhelmed alone in the mountains. Carla and Happy were glad to be near a fishing spot and they were secretly happy that Wendy now had a friend in Mest. She had been so secluded before, so separated from everyone but Jellal who hardly had time for anyone anyways.
In their time of "peace" Wendy spent her days teaching the other healers and Mest the basics of warfare medicine. She taught them the emergency diagnosis, how to properly sanitize if there was time and what to do if there wasn't and how to close a wound and bind a bone. About once a week a solider would injure himself while performing a duty and Wendy would use him as a training dummy. It was one of those days and she was in the middle of teaching how to keep a concussed patient awake when Mest asked her, "Where did you learn all this from?"
Her face paled and she nervously replied, "I've just always known." She continued with her lesson and then righted the patient before sending everyone off to enjoy their day. Predictably Mest followed her when she ventured off to the beach.
They had become fast friends but neither had ever spoken about anything more personal than simple likes and dislikes. Still it had been hard for either of them to open up to one another at all and Wendy knew that Mest wanted to know more about her past. In truth she wanted to know more about his but she wasn't sure if she was ready to bring it all up again.
However her reluctance faded away when they sat near one another and he casually draped his arm around her shoulder. It wasn't a romantic gesture for which she was glad; she was definitely in no place to think about love when they were in this war, but rather a comforting one. He could sense that she needed someone to hold her though perhaps he didn't realize it was because she would never feel her own mother holding her ever again. Happy and Carla settled on both of their laps and silence held for a few moments.
Finally Wendy broke the tension, "I learned how to heal people from my mother. She was a famous healer in our province. She knew how to heal the body but even more amazing she knew how to heal the soul."
"She sounds amazing." Mest answered squeezing her shoulder. She smiled.
"She was." Carla burrowed deeper towards Wendy's stomach. She knew what happened next. Happy had joined their group shortly thereafter but Carla had been there from the start.
"It was when the war first began. Our Province wasn't involved at first; it was so far away you know? But then it got closer and closer and suddenly fathers and brothers were leaving and … And then one night they attacked our village. I'd never thought that it would become so real for me. The war was always kind of a story, something I knew would go down in history but I thought it would end way sooner. I still remember," She paused and tilted her head back to stop the tears that threatened, "The smoke."
"They had set fire to our fields hoping to drive us out. When that didn't work they set fire to our homes. My mother took me and a few of the village children to a barn on the edge of town and said that we should stay there and that she'd be back with as many others as she could. Some of the kids were hurt so I went about healing them the best I could, my magic was pretty weak then. By the time she came back my magic was almost all gone and I knew I could only help the lightly injured then. So she kept leaving and bringing back more and more survivors until…"
She paused her story. Mest rubbed her shoulder comfortingly hoping to ease the pain of the memories. "The last time she wasn't the one who opened the door. It was another villager and he had my mother in his arms and she was…hurt. Very badly hurt and no one else knew healing magic besides her and I and I tried. I trie-"her voice cracked and the tears spilled slow and hot down her cheeks. Mest pulled her against his chest and rubbed her back as she cried out her pain.
"I couldn't do it Mest." She whispered. "I didn't have enough energy and she died in my…after that we left and they told me I could go with the other children but I wanted to help as much as I could. If I couldn't save her I would save everyone else right?" She laughed bitterly through her tears and he stayed silent as he held her through the worst.
As if knowing it was the worst possible timing the alarm went off signaling an attack. Her heart skipped in her chest and panic overcame her for the first time in years. She felt raw and exposed and unprepared for what she knew she was about to see and Mest could tell she was freezing. So he grabbed her arm and hoisted her up and led her to the infirmary. Nurses were bustling about getting ready for the future onslaught. Mest simply pulled Wendy into a hug and whispered calmly, "You are amazing. You saved my life. You've saved countless others and you're going to save a whole bunch more now." Her heart calmed and she felt the familiar lose strung adrenaline coursing. She sighed and squeezed him one last time before pulling away.
His bright blue eyes looked down at her with pure confidence and awe and in that moment Wendy knew it was going to be ok. Not great, but ok.
"Thank you Mest." He grinned and patted her head. Someone yelled for him to go retrieve and with a final wave he departed Wendy. Despite how hard it was for her to remember, she was glad she had finally found someone who she could tell who built her up instead of propped her up. Finally she'd met someone who didn't try to convey condolences that meant nothing, she'd found someone who'd understood and had helped her get back on path as quickly and as painlessly as possible. She had finally found someone worth caring about.
. . . . .
"Dad what's wrong?" Romeo stood in the doorway of the apartment he and his father lived in. They were both dressed in their finest attire and had only minutes before they were supposed to be at the wedding but Macao was not moving and he was not talking.
"Come here Romeo." Romeo did not like the tone of voice he was hearing. That was the way his voice had sounded when he told him that he and his mother were getting divorced. That was the voice that told him Natsu-nee was dead. This was the bad voice. He sat beside his father on the low bench and waited.
"The guild is running out of money," He whispered. Romeo's eyes widened. After all they'd been through all that they'd had left was the guild! "What are we going to do dad?" He asked tears beginning to sting. They couldn't lose the guild now. Not after they'd lost everything else. Macao shrugged.
"I haven't told anyone else. I don't want to ruin the wedding. I think when they return from their honeymoon I'll have to announce it. I don't know anywhere else the guild can move to." Romeo felt anger well inside him. It wasn't fair. He simply nodded to his father and moved off the bench. They were going to be late to the wedding if they didn't hurry.
The guild gathered outside of the cute rustic barn that Al and Bisca had chosen for their ceremony. It was a ways out of town but it was perfect with the field surrounded by the forest and the old wooden building. It was perfect for Al and Bisca especially since neither had to pay for it. Bisca's family owned this plot of land and after the wedding it would be passed down to her and Al for their family.
Macao appraised the area with a keen eye, an idea forming in his mind even as they rose to watch Bisca march down the "aisle". The whole guild was there, save for one member who was currently at the council seeking help.
Mest Gryder still did not consider himself a full member of Fairy Tail even after a year. He still saw the tragedy at Tenrou as his fault and therefore stayed with Fairy Tail purely out of desire to help them. What little money he didn't need for rent or food was given to the guild as a monthly payment and whatever needed fixing around the building was taken care of by him.
So despite his best feelings towards Al and Bisca he did not feel he deserved to attend their most special of days. So instead he set out to visit his old friend Lahaar in hopes of acquiring some new information on Zeref.
