Nearly done with all the boring set-up stuff. Then I can finally get to the fun stuff.

Can't wait.

Oh yes, this chapter does contain spoilers, if you haven't read the manga. If you've yet to catch up, then why are you here? Sincerely, that decision does not make sense. Go read the Tartaros arc at least, that's sort of important for the proceedings.

XxX

Magic Council Main Building - July 27th, X777

He should have kept his big, stupid mouth shut.

Silver forced his lips into a tight smile as another Council worker tripped over their own feet at the sight of him, stepping over the strange frog creature's back upon noticing the copy of Sorcerer Magazine it held. The man leading him, middle aged and stooped, didn't even bother turning around, a fact the Devil Slayer was thankful for as he kept pace with the shuffled footsteps.

It was fortunate that he had so many years of dealing with Fairy Tail's rambunctious nature under his belt, because quite honestly, his latest trip through the government facility had been utterly ridiculous.

He'd already been stopped upon stepping through the doors for a single autograph, which had quickly turned into dozens of magazines being thrust into his face, mobbed in the elevator, and accosted during his trip to the bathroom. The guide he'd initially had during the trip had even gotten into a screaming match with another employee after the woman had offered to escort him the rest of the way.

Makarov had warned him of what he'd gotten into in the early days, when his name was being heard in places other than the Guild Hall, and articles concerning him started appearing in places he didn't even know existed.

He'd been expecting fans, not to be turned into a full blown celebrity akin to the Ten Wizard Saints. Even with nothing but a dead Demon, amongst evidence that was circumstantial at best, the fact of the matter was that apparently, killing a Demon that had been rampaging for decades was kind of a big deal.

Big enough for him to be threatened into a full blown, almost year spanning mission after his presence was demanded in Era itself, the heart of the Magic Council, with the well-being of the entire Fairy Tail Guild hanging upon his decision.

If he refused, they would be shut down. No trial, no legal measures having to be taken. The Magic Council were the law, and they could and would stop any (legal) Guild they wanted from operating, even if all the higher-ups didn't agree with the decision. Fairy Tail had always been their biggest target, what with the ridiculous amount of money that went towards repairing their collateral damage, and Yajima's constant protection of his old friend would mean shit all if they were incensed enough to go through with it.

But above that matter was the fact that they were hopeful. He could see it on their faces as he processed their threat, in their postures as they leant forward to hear his answer. The word left a horrible taste in his mouth as he spat it out, and barely a week later he'd been waving goodbye to his Guildmates and brother, a mercifully quieter than Jason reporter walking alongside him and scribbling furiously at a piece of paper.

Demons were malicious, inorganic and yet still alive. Most of what inhabited Earthland were from Zeref's books, and if he'd learned anything from Tartaros, then their only mission in life was to destroy. Towns, lives, their own creator. It was what they were born to do.

And like it or not, unless his father's reanimated corpse decided to step in, he was the only person on the continent that could reliably do anything about it.

He'd spent over half a year traversing the landscape, usually training whenever he had free time, occasionally listening as his new journalist friend yammered on about whatever as he tied their latest interview to his messenger hawk's leg. He'd dropped in on the Guild whenever he was close enough, usually to report how he was holding up, and to spend time with those he'd grown close to.

And also to abuse the fact that the Council was technically paying for everything he purchased during the mission, seeing as he was doing such a great service to the world in general. The alcohol storage never would manage to weather the storm.

He wasn't sorry.

He'd been contractually obligated to hunt down five Demons, the death toll between them reaching far into the tens of thousands. He'd ended up facing nine, catching himself more than once during a battle, idly wondering why neither he nor Fairy Tail in general had ever been bothered by their rampages.

Maybe someone else had handled them. Maybe they had just disappeared like the dragons. Maybe they'd just been avoided at all costs, and had gradually faded into obscurity, or wasted away into nothingness as their food source dried up.

Either way, his popularity had reached heights he'd never even known existed through the articles that were written, which had eventually led to him stumbling upon (read: creating) a small riot in the lobby of the Council's main building.

It was understandable, in a strange way. The idea of defeating a Demon was merely fantasy, you would be lucky if you even managed to see one in the distance and live to tell the tale. The fact that someone had actively challenged them, and those fights (while slightly embellished and definitely exaggerated) had been recorded for everyone and their mother to read just made that impossibility all the more real.

Still, he was glad to be dragged away from the situation before it could get any more embarrassing, and he only allowed himself to breath properly once he was almost kicked through the door at the end of the corridor he'd found himself in.

He recognised a few of the Council member immediately, returning Yajima's small nod as he made his way into the room. The overwhelming urge to Ice Devil's Rage Crawford Seam in the oversized beard was just barely disregarded, though the man apparently didn't take notice of Silver's hostile glare as he held out an envelope.

"The world of magic thanks you for your service." Seam gave Silver a large smile as the envelope was snatched out of his hands, the Ice Mage holding back a gag as the scent hit his nose. Devil Slayers did have better senses than a normal person, though they were nowhere near the level of Dragon Slayers, and as such the difference was usually inconsequential.

Now, though, with the confirmation of such a fact…

"You smell like a Demon."

The man's eyes widened, and Silver could clearly make out the panic in them. The other members (apparently he'd interrupted them in the middle of a meeting, whoopsy daisies) were all immediately paying attention, the guards present throughout the room all stepping forth from their posts.

Seam was sweating rather profusely, a second passing before Silver noticed his mistake. Not that he bothered to rectify it, if anything, the evil magic churning the air around him only intensified. The only person who seemed perfectly relaxed was Yajima, and even his eyes were on the pair with the intensity that naturally came with holding power.

"I-I'm afraid I do not follow." The large Chairman bumbled. The act was perfect, not that anything less could be expected from an evil plant that had managed to become Chairman.

Yes, the act was perfect. Too perfect, and Silver couldn't do shit about it. Not whilst he had no evidence. Burying the angered growl threatening to bubble through his lips with a murderous scowl, he turned on his heel, stalking off towards a window and the guard standing in front of it.

It pained him, walking away without the option of throwing even a single punch. This was a man that conspired to strip the continent of magic, to lead the people beneath him directly into the demonic slaughterhouse. And unless he wanted to make a scene that would disgrace his entire Guild and get him jailed with no trial, he couldn't do anything about it.

"Never call on me again." He snarled over his shoulder, the guard actually scrambling to the side as Silver reached the window. Maybe it was slightly juvenile, exiting on that note, but this man had been at least partially responsible for his friends' deaths. It wouldn't surprise him if he was the reason the Demons had never been taken care of before, it wouldn't do well to kill his own allies. "I don't care how much you're paying."

Silver unlatched the window, wincing slightly as the glass cracked under the pressure of his magic. Forcefully reigning his power in, he threw the window open, glancing around briefly for a safe place to land.

"Uh, sir?" The guard he'd made retreat ventured tentatively, taking a small step forth and nothing more. Silver's plan wasn't too difficult to figure out, but the guard was the only one to approach him. "We're on the top floor."

Silver purposefully ignored him, and through the silence of the room, a feminine voice was heard on the other side of the door he'd entered through, quickly followed by a smattering a squeals.

"He's in there! Glacier-sama is in there!"

To the mixed shock, incredulity and understanding of the entire room, the Devil Slayer jumped.

XxX

Gray grunted as the flat of the wooden sword slammed into his side, sending him across the forest clearing. Throwing up a barrier of ice, lest he bowl Cana over and spread dirt all over her cards again, Gray planted his feet back onto safe ground, immediately forsaking that in favour of a heavily scarred tree's branches.

Something small and presumable deadly whistled past his ear, forcing Gray to seek cover in the leaves above him as he clapped a hand over a fist.

The shuriken he held as he relinquished his fist was uneven and blunt, serving for nothing more than a distraction as Gray flicked it around the tree's branch. Settling into his stance and silently calling on his magic once more, Gray felt the flow of frigid energy leave his body, a grin spreading across his face at the sight of three perfectly formed throwing knives situated between his fingers.

Silent magic was tricky. From the limited knowledge his brother had had on the topic, he'd understood that words were most commonly used during spell work to stabilise the flow of magic. Too little, and the spell would collapse in on itself due to the lack of a structure. Too much, and the spell would most likely explode.

With practice, pumping more magic into spells could and would make valid strategies. It all depended on keeping the flow of magic stable, and silent casting was a both a good way to gauge progress, and a useful skill to have access to.

Ice Make was especially difficult to cast silently, and he assumed other element Make magic were the same. Their strength and purpose came entirely from structure, the flow of magic needing to be more or less perfect for the spell to be able to serve any purpose.

Ice Make couldn't explode. He should know, seeing as he'd spent weeks trying. There was just something incredibly attractive about detonating ice cubes, a sentence that had gotten an odd look from Cana when he'd said it out loud last week, during a daydream.

Something that felt suspiciously like a stone bounced off his forehead, taking a generous chunk out of the tree as it rebounded across the branch he was sitting on. In retaliation, Gray flicked the knives into the clearing below, evacuating his tree with the distraction they would provide.

"You should focus, Gray." His opponent called, her voice somewhat tight. Risking a glance through the foliage providing his cover, Gray frowned, watching as Erza pulled one of his knives out of her leg.

The wound didn't look very deep, a fact Gray acknowledged before pulling his head back behind cover. Erza wouldn't quit the training match over that, the girl was infuriatingly stubborn.

She'd once punched Silver in the eye whilst unconscious, after Gray had landed an admittedly lucky hit with a pebble. He'd had to spend the time silently making the golf club that had launched said pebble, though, so he fully counted that as a win that had been fought for and earned fairly.

They didn't spar nearly as regularly as they did when Erza had first joined the Guild, not since she'd been getting better at using her words. There had been moments, like when Gray had learned that her eye was fake and expressed desire for a fake eye of his own, but that situation had solved itself out easily enough.

Sure, Cana had had to drag him out of the Guild by the ear, and Erza had attacked him with a shovel when they'd found her crying by the riverside, but he'd managed to apologise before blacking out, and that was all that really mattered. Erza hadn't taken long to forgive him, which was thankful, seeing as she'd taken to joining his and Silver's training fairly regularly. People had laughed at the massive bruise the shovel had left on his face at first, until Erza had done the same to Macao over a comment he would never be repeating whilst in the presence of his brother.

Then everyone had started laughing at the older mage, all the while making a noticeably effort to not piss Erza off.

It had been a bit of a rough start, but they'd been surviving since Silver had been called away for close to a year of Demon hunting, possibly even thriving. Cana had been content with her gradual improvement in ability, and Erza had enough potential for the dragons to see it from wherever they'd disappeared to.

Really, all she lacked was experience. He'd been using magic for years, and yet victories that should have easily gone to him after their mock battles had to be fought tooth and nail for. Even then, he didn't always win.

Gray punched the trunk of his tree with one hand, covering his knuckles with the other. A single silent command later had ice creeping to the ground below, the flow of the magic so even it honestly surprised him. He didn't use the spell often, so maybe it was just a fluke.

Erza didn't seem to notice as the grass beneath her feet froze over, a fatal mistake in many a circumstance. A second passed before Gray held a bow in hand, his shot lined up and his opponent none the wiser.

His breath came out a fine mist as he let the arrow fly, immediately abandoning the bow and leaping two trees over.

Erza heard the arrow as it whistled through the air, her dodge proving to be useless when her feet gained no traction. For a moment, she could do nothing but flounder on the ice, only pausing in her attempts to dodge when it became apparent that she hadn't been hit.

Gray poked his head out of the leaves once all noise stopped, his face paling at the sight.

A single playing card hung above Erza's head, a physical impossibility if one were to ignore the magic that had surrounded it. The arrow's tip, and only the arrow's tip, had managed to penetrate the laminated surface, the lack of width not seeming to interfere with the card's apparently deceiving density in the slightest.

"You two need to be under constant supervision." Cana rubbed her eyes with a thumb and forefinger as she released her magic, allowing the card and arrow to fall to the ground harmlessly. Grabbing the hip flask that had been dumped unceremoniously on the ground beside her, Cana threw her head back, gasping sharply once she came up for air. "Gray wins via fatal blow, again."

Gray dropped from his branch, almost stumbling once he hit the ground. He kept forgetting that people shouldn't leap out of tall trees with nothing to catch them, damn action mangas and their lying philosophies. "Cana, that can't be healthy."

"Neither can shooting arrows at people's heads, but some people insist upon doing it." Cana threw her flask back onto the grass, stepping over the rapidly melting ice and hauling Erza back to her feet with ease.

Erza winced as she placed weight on her injured leg, Cana heaving a long suffering sigh at the sight. "Must there always be stab wounds?"

Erza looked genuinely confused, even as Gray slung her arm around his neck to help her walk. "Why wouldn't there be stab wounds?"

Cana opened her mouth, only to close it after a few seconds. The distinct lack of any reaction from Gray wasn't exactly reassuring.

Before anything that could be shepherded to her mouth occurred within her mind, the ground beneath their feet shook gently, a warbled and slightly panicked voice echoing through the trees and into their ears.

"Gildarts Shift will activate shortly! I repeat, Gildarts Shift will activate shortly! All citizens, please make your way to your designated areas!"

Cana's eyes immediately lit up, her head turning to face Magnolia so quickly that it was genuinely surprising she didn't hurt herself.

"Gildarts is here…?" Within the blink of an eye, she was gone, splashing freezing water over her friends' feet as she took off towards the Guild.

The clearing was quiet for a short while, nothing but the mechanical grinding of a morphing city and the desperate screams of numerous animals begging to get laid to listen to.

After a few moments, standing around got boring, and so the journey back to Magnolia began.

Erza turned her utterly confused gaze on the boy holding her up, insisting on putting weight on her injured leg, no matter how high Gray's disapprovingly raised eyebrow got. "Who's Gildarts?"

A fair question, seeing as the man seemed insistent upon getting drunk in places that wasn't Magnolia.

"He's Fairy Tail's ace and Cana's father. Wait, shit! Uh, I mean…" Gray trailed off as the town finally came into view, every possible backtrack decided hopeless and every excuse dying in his throat. "…You didn't hear that from me, alright?"

Erza remained silent, not that it mattered. They were only a quarter of the way to the Guild before Gray finally caved under the inquisitive gaze she'd locked on him. It was undeniably adorable, an aspect he would never expect to associate with Erza, and she knew damn well that it worked against him like a charm.

It was unfair, damn it. Why did it always have to be the eyes?

"Silver let it slip a while ago, but he told me to keep it a secret." Gray explained, stifling a growl when her expression didn't change.

He shouldn't have to spill his guts with a simple look, it was degrading! He'd almost prefer being that damn bear's chew toy again!

"He said that she wants to tell him herself, but she doesn't feel like she should have to saddle him those responsibilities, or something. He wasn't very clear with that, so I'm not sure he knew exactly." Gray's eyes slid down to the side before he added, "he never told me how he found out," for good measure.

Oh thank God, those eyes were finally off him.

XxX

Unbeknownst to Gray, Silver had been spending the last few minutes cursing his little brother and everyone who'd ever met him, as he pulled his utterly tired and travel worn body over yet another damn hill.

He could have been at the Guild by now. Come to think of it, he could have finished his mission after less than a month, if he still had access to his rightfully earned flying car.

It wasn't a subject that came to mind very often, though the situations a flying car would help out in outnumbered the situations it would hinder by a long shot. No, his latest thought process were what had unearthed his grief over his greatest loss in this timeline.

He'd been back to the crash site once, over the course of his Demon hunting mission. The ground had been spotless, suspiciously so. No crater in the ground from their rough landing, no demolished trees or marks in general.

Someone had cleaned the scene of everything they could find, and destroyed any evidence they couldn't hide away. Of course, there had been the chance that every piece of his beautiful car had been erased, along with the damage to the landscape, but Silver happened to be in possession of the only thing that could negate that notion.

It had been too easy, ditching his journalist tag along (Silver didn't even bother deliberating with himself, the journalist may have worked for Sorcerer Magazine, but there was no way the Magic Council hadn't paid the man to keep an eye on him. He couldn't blame them, not really; as far as he knew, he was the only Devil Slayer on the continent, possibly in the world) to sneak into the Magic Council headquarters, the third time they'd both passed it. It was mostly for fun, but there was always the chance that he would discover evidence of the Chairman's treachery, or he would just find something worth stealing.

So what if he was supposed to be a functional adult and the notion of thieving brought him unbridled, childish glee? If the Tower of Heaven was an example of why he wouldn't even trust the Magic Council to water his plants, the mere fact that a majority of them approved of Face effectively stripped away his faith in humanity.

Seriously, who wakes up in the morning and thinks, "maybe we should build something that erases magic from the world, even though the world runs on magic and a hefty chunk of its populace wouldn't be able to survive without it," and still has a job afterwards? Better yet, who listens to that and thinks, "I am in a position of power and I am going to implement that idea."

The guy who works for Tartaros, that's who. Wow, the clues all made so much sense… when he already knew exactly what the outcome would be and who to blame.

Ah, whatever. He wasn't a detective, he just made ice sculptures to hit people with. Though he'd recently found out he was an adapt thief, if he did say so himself.

The security around all the interesting places in the building had been laughable. They were immensely lucky he wasn't a criminal, no matter how compelling the occasional voice in his head tried to be. Gramps had suggested the possibility of it being the nature of his magic, but Silver disagreed with that idea. His magic was kickass, the attempts at possessing were…pitiful.

It did tell him once that he was now technically a criminal, so it didn't lie all the time. Makarov probably wouldn't be very entertained with that knowledge, so he had decided to keep it to himself.

The little voice in his head that wasn't even there most of the time hadn't been of much use in that situation, which was largely irrelevant. Getting in was easy, finding the dismantled pieces of the massive car he'd so clearly called dibs on had been a nice surprise, whilst also being child's play, and mailing every bag filled with them to Fairy Tail so they would be safe until he could reassemble them had almost sent him into a laughing fit.

He managed to hold out an entire six hours before breaking out into helpless giggles, waking both himself and his companion in the process. That had all been months ago, in a time where he'd been concerned about the cost of such an undertaking.

Now… not so much.

It had taken him a while, but after finally quelling the anger of seeing Crawford Seam in something other than a smoking crater in the ground, he'd remembered about and subsequently opened the envelope he'd been handed.

He'd lost his shirt in those next few seconds, and he didn't even care.

He hadn't wanted to deal with the Council, even though Yajima was always friendly and enjoyable to speak with. The Council hadn't wanted a Fairy Tail Mage tainting their halls; they were politicians, reputations meant more to them than actual actions. So, with identical goals in mind, everyone had gotten what they wanted.

Namely, Silver had barely spent ten minutes in the building, which after their threats against his Guild, was about two hours too long. He'd spent close to an hour in there when most of the workers had already gone home, but nobody who wouldn't laugh and buy him a beer for that achievement really had to know.

So he was most certainly not expecting what he'd found in that envelope.

He'd had to clamp his hand over his mouth to muffle the rising, "HOLY FUCK!" He'd been expecting to get paid, that's how jobs usually worked, but… this was almost too much.

He wasn't sure he could earn this much in a century. It took the prize for winning the Grand Magic Games and blew its nose with it. He could probably buy every Guild, legal or otherwise, and paint them all any colour he wanted. Whilst using them all for Summer homes during his early retirement.

The note that accompanied his payment told him that yes, it was a Hell of a lot more than they'd been expecting to pay him, but more than three quarters of the money had been donations made by the general public.

A few people, those whom had heard of Silver's mission through friends or loved ones that worked for the Council, had started making inquisitions. The scattered voices had soon turned into something a little more permanent when the first article, with a blow by blow account of how he'd dealt with a relatively weak Demon and protected a village in the process included, was published.

Apparently, this was just what the Magic Council had held onto for him. The rest been sent to his Guild, which had received a generally unneeded spike in popularity. He actually hoped the haul would be lighter there; it felt wrong in a way, taking money that had once belonged to people whose lives had been directly affected by a Demon, but there wasn't really a way he could return it.

"Lemme go, damn it! I gotta find Igneel!"

The ridiculously loud voice snapped Silver out of his thoughts almost violently, forcing his attention to what was in front of him.

His lips twitched upwards at the sight.

Even though Fairy Tail considered themselves a family, there were few people Silver would call a friend, no matter the timeline. There was Cana, and Erza, and now Laxus. Eventually, Lucy would be there too.

But none of them could match up to the bond of love and hatred he'd shared with Natsu.

It would probably never stop being painful, gaining back all the people he'd give his life away for and knowing he'd likely never connect with them on as deep a level as he once had. He wasn't even supposed to be here, after all.

But that wouldn't stop him from fully enjoying everything that came his way, be fortune or misfortune.

And that would always be his reasoning as to why he giggled, stealing the noise from the mouth of every nearby schoolgirl, at the sight of Natsu planted firmly on his bottom, his arms crossed over his chest and his trademark scarf if Gildarts' grip, kicking up a small cloud of dust as he was dragged across the ground.

"Kid, we've been through this. Your dragon disappeared, same as every other dragon. If he wanted you with him, you'd be with him."

Natsu had definitely heard Silver's enjoyment at his predicament, if the sour glare he levelled at the Devil Slayer was anything to go by. Going against a lifetime's worth of reactions and ignoring the urge to join into their argument, Silver jogged until he was walking alongside Gildarts, matching the Ace's pace easily.

"Never pegged you as the type to get custody." Silver commented idly, sighing in satisfaction as he stretched his hands above his head and cracked his back. He hadn't seen Gildarts since first joining the Guild, and his memory of Natsu's arrival was fuzzy at best. Probably a result of continuous refusal to accept that the Dragon Slayer would probably be first pick for best man at his wedding, and vice versa.

"Nice to see you again too, Glacier." Silver groaned at the nickname; it had lost its allure fast. Everywhere he went, he was Glacier-sama, regardless of whether the speaker was loading their sentences full of innuendo or had stars in their eyes.

A small part of his mind would constantly tell him that he had effectively garnered a fan base through the act of mass murder, a fact that both intrigued and horrified him.

"Don't ignore me!" Natsu demanded from behind them, going more or less completely ignored.

Silver spared a brief glance over his shoulder, pulsing magic into his palm. The ice cube was misshapen and void of any real effort, but it would get the job done.

"Adults are talking." Silver flicked the ice cube at Natsu's forehead, drawing a small cry of pain as it bounced off his eyebrow and into his hand. "There, melt that."

Natsu stared dubiously at the ice in his hand for a moment, before the palm around it burst into flames. The fire got progressively larger and hotter as Natsu got angrier and angrier with his supposedly impervious ice cube, only five seconds passing before Silver was coating his hand and arm in unmelting Devil ice, accepting the Dragon Slayer's temporary leash from Gildarts' slightly blackened hand.

The Guild had barely come into view when Natsu started melting the ground beneath them.

XxX

Some people may have called it creepy, the way Silver's eyes never left the youngest group in the Guild. Of course, none of those people had ever joined Fairy Tail, and if they had then they were probably shunned, and for good reason.

"Gray."

It had taken barely any time at all, which translated approximately to an eternity in children time, for the flames disappearing down Natsu's throat to get boring. The empty plate he'd been using was subsequently hurled at Gray's head when the ice user actually pointed it out, and someone was probably saved from an unfortunate concussion when Cana reached up and snatched it out of the air.

"Gray."

Maybe if he were an outsider looking in, he'd consider the eleven year old alcoholic being the most calm mediator for arguments slightly concerning. Hell, he still did, but all it did was remind him that he'd need to talk Cana into telling Gildarts her secret soon, or just let it slip in casual conversation and hope for the best.

There was just so much to consider, and during the party being thrown for both his and Gildarts' safe returns from long mission wasn't the best environment for it.

"Oh, for the love of… Silver!"

The Devil Slayer raised an eyebrow as his name was screamed into his ear, turning to face its origin. Laxus swayed slightly on his seat, a half filled tankard in one hand and one headphone resting against his neck.

God damn, his music was loud.

"Yeah?"

"You fucking deaf or something?" The unmistakable sound of flames clashing against an ice shield rose from in front of him, Silver snagging a slightly smoking bottle from the air before it could knock him off his stool.

"My name isn't Gray." He pointed out, draining what was left in the bottle. He never really was one for alcohol, and as for the prospect of telling a Guild full of people that he was from the future whilst in a drunken stupor… but what the Hell, it was a party for him, wasn't it?

Laxus closed an eye, the other only making it halfway as he studied the man before him. Or at least tried to, his gaze kept falling to the side before he would catch and reposition it.

Silver had had a dog that kept doing that once. It had to be put down.

"Yes it… argh, screw it." Without warning, Laxus launched his tankard into the crowd, nodding in satisfaction after it knocked someone Silver didn't recognise off a bench. "You're gonna be an S-Class Mage, well done."

"...Huh?"

Laxus stood up, almost tripping over his coat on the way. Silver couldn't tell what even managed to keep him on his feet, his stool or the bar or the timely interference of some deity.

"I'm entering the S-Class Trial, and you're gonna be my partner for 'em, I don't know why you haven't done it yet." Laxus took a single, shaky step, before abruptly spinning around to point an accusatory finger at Silver's nose.

"Just don't tell Silver, it's gonna be a surprise from me and Gramps."

Well, he had never bothered with the S-Class Trial, because the rank didn't really hold any of the appeal that it once had. Really, so what if he got to take the better, more exciting missions?

It wasn't really like he needed the money, not anymore, and being away from the Guild and everyone he cared about for extended periods of time sucked.

But if Gramps wanted him to take the title so badly…

By the time he was paying attention again, Laxus had stumbled to the other side of the Guild, leaving Silver with nothing but the explosions and screams in the background for company.

XxX

I know I'll get this question, so I'l answer it now.

No, Erza did not win that spar, and she loses more often than she wins. In canon, maybe Gray never would be able to beat Erza, but this isn't canon. This is an AU, where Gray has years more experience and a teacher who both knows a lotta crap and isn't afraid of teaching it. They'll both get better over time.

Hey, look, Natsu's here. Now we just need the Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna.

Can anyone tell me when the Thunder God Tribe joined Fairy Tail? I can't find anything that tells me.

Also, Silver's first taste of fame. It's awful, take it back and tell the chef to open his eyes this time.

Later.

X