A/N: Welcome back boys and girls! Thank you for reading all of those previous five chapters. It means a lot to us. Anyway, we must first go over the same explanation used in every chapter so far. We acknowledge that Skiadrum is most likely a male. For the purposes of this story, Skiadrum has been made female. If you don't like it, please reconsider. As for the spelling of Grandina, well we chose it for a reason. If you guys think this story is getting too weird, please do tell! Anyway, prepare yourself for some OC dragons and maybe a few more resurrections. We're not exactly sure how much we want to do with that. Oh, and the huge reveal of the identity of the dragon from chapter one will be here! And sorry for the wait, guys. School is stressful and we were both super busy!
Disclaimer: We own nothing!
The lovely new travel companions from last chapter were nearing their journey's end. The dragon and the old woman were both relieved to see Magnolia was only a few hours travel. You see, this journey had taken them much longer than necessary. They had taken quite a few wrong turns along the way. While the woman wasn't terrible with direction, the dragon was. So yeah, he had led them astray a few times. It was a strange thing indeed considering his sense of smell. The only explanation offered to the old woman was that he had been distracted by the stench of pickles. The woman had been baffled by the explanation but let it slide just this once. Because as I did say before, they were a strange pair indeed.
In the shop, a debate was brewing. That Edolas portal was pretty amazing. But should it really remain in their closet?
"Should we keep the portal?" Skiadrum looked to be deep in thought. Was a direct entrance to Edolas really something they should keep in their shop?
"Yeah, I don't see why we wouldn't." Grandina said this as she exited the backroom. In her mind, the portal was doing no harm. Why get rid of something harmless?
"And it could get us more profits. I mean, if Edolas citizens come through and shop here we're making more money." Weisslogia backed up Grandina's claim. I mean, the portal could potential help their business.
"I know, but isn't it a bit odd?" The shadow dragon just wasn't sure. That portal would forever haunt her thoughts.
"We're keeping it." Igneel walked into the room nodding his head as if agreeing with himself. Metalicana nodded slowly as well. He sort of liked having the portal around. It truly had the potential of making their lives more interesting.
"Fine. But if it backfires I'm blaming all of you." Little did Skiadrum know that that portal wouldn't. It would provide more and more business, bringing her so much joy.
The door opened and in walked a group of men. One of them looked around excitedly. "We finally made it!"
"This was only a short walk from the hotel, why are you so excited?" One of the others could not fathom what the reason for excitement would be. The store sold pickles, not anything that really warranted joy.
"No reason." The earlier man responded, finally calming down a decent amount. What was wrong with him today?
"Anyway, Bacchus, this is the place, right?" The second man turned to another companion. This man appeared to be bored by the shop.
"It must be." The man nodded to himself, as if affirming his thoughts. There was no other pickle shop in Magnolia. This had to be it!
"I wonder how Cana even started on this stuff." One of the others looked to be in deep thought. You see, they had only come here after hearing that one Cana Alberona was now binging on pickle juice rather than alcohol. Sharing the same feelings for alcohol as the girl, Bacchus had wanted to see what was so great about this juice of pickles.
"Who knows? But you'll once again have the better tolerance!" The other men all cheered in agreement. Their Bacchus could never be beaten!
"I don't think it's even possible to get drunk or pass out from pickle juice intake." One of the men stopped his celebrating. Was it even possible to judge tolerance for pickle juice?
"It isn't." Igneel randomly appeared to talk to the group. The dragons rarely ever had customers who got in and out without speaking to them.
"And how would you know, stranger?" Okay, if you haven't guessed, the group that had entered the shop was from Quatro Puppy. And as for their names, well I don't care enough to learn the,m
"I work here. If you pass out, then I have no idea what's wrong with you." Igneel answered the question with a smile as he held out a jar of juice.
"Hand it over."
"How about you pay me first?" The fire dragon said this in a strained manner. These customers were rather rude.
"Oh sorry!" The men all scrambled to pay the dragon. As they did so, Bacchus took a sip from the jar. He promptly collapsed on the group in a heap.
"I thought you said that wasn't possible!" One of the angry guild members shouted at the worker.
"It shouldn't be!" Igneel was in shock. This honestly should not be possible no matter the circumstances.
"So wait, you're the king in Edolas?" Grandina was talking with Mystogan. Their conversation had begun with a talk about Wendy. Now it was on personal matters.
"Woah."
"I know. Just don't tell Lahar. He'll mo- Wait on second thought, tell Lahar. Tell him now!" Jellal piped up from his spot to the side of the room. He paused after suggesting they don't tell Lahar. Realization that this was an amazing opportunity struck.
"I'll text him!" Igneel pulled out what looked to be a phone.
"Since when do we have cell phones?" Cue Grandina questioning the phenomenon. It was strange indeed and did warrant this suspicion.
"They aren't cell phones. They're miniature communication lacrimas!" Skiadrum was there to set everything straight. She tried her hardest to keep up to date with the new technology.
"What's the difference?" Metalicana couldn't see anything that set the two apart. Cell phones, miniature communication lacrimas, they were all the same to him.
"I can see more and more of that wall crumbling apart." Weisslogia sighed sadly upon coming to this conclusion. That wall was falling apart and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"Huh?" Igneel looked quite confused. He had zoned out and was unaware of what had led up to Weisslogia's comment.
"Nothing. Just text him."
Lahar looked down at his phone. Yes, a phone. He wasn't sure how he had ended up with it but went along with the situation anyway. "JELLAL IS THE KING IN EDOLAS! GOODBYE DORANBABE, I'M MOVING!"
"Lahar, wait." The other man tried to stop his companion from doing anything rash.
"NOPE! I'M OUT OF HERE!" The other continued pulling random bags out of thin air. He soon had a whole armada of suitcases.
"Where did you get that suitcase?" Doranbolt was completely baffled at this point. Nothing made sense anymore.
"DORANBOLT LET ME HAVE MY MOMENT OF JOY!" And with that said, the man made his way to the shop, waved a quick goodbye to Jellal, and traveled to Edolas. He would be happy there.
"Is that Erza coming in here?" Wes was straining himself to see out the window.
"I don't think so- Wait, I'd recognize that scarlet hair anywhere. Scatter!" Jellal approached, thinking that Erza would never journey to the shop. It didn't sell armor or cake, so what was the point? He had been shocked to see that oh so familiar hair.
Upon hearing his counter part's exclamation. Mystogan had lunged for the doorknob to the closet. He was out of the building and hopping into that portal in a matter of seconds. Earthland Jellal had jumped into the back room, locking the door behind him.
"And they still don't believe us when we tell them they get awkward around Erza!" Wes let the comment slip. The others could only nod their heads. Those poor oblivious versions of Jellal...
"Eh, let them live in their little river of denial." Metalicana was feeling rather generous today, it seemed.
"Fine. But they'll have to come to terms with their behavior eventually." Grandina conceded. The boys would have to face reality eventually. She could spare them for the time being.
The bell chimed as the door was opened. The Fairy Tail mages entered. Erza gazed at the shelves mesmerized. "So it really is just pickles then?"
"Actually ma'am, we have a special stash under the front desk where we keep potato seeds." Wes, ever the salesman, approached the duo. He knew mentioning the stash gave them the best chance for business. "Oh, and we recently added strawberry cake to the stash. Someone claimed that it would offer more business prospects."
"Strawberry cake!" The woman's eyes lit up. Cake was a beautiful thing. Strawberry cake was even greater.
"Erza, calm down." Gray was scared. There was no way someone could be that happy.
"No, Gray! Thank you for taking me to this marvelous store!"
Back in the Fairy Tail guild hall, Gray and Erza had finally returned. The latter was dragging a wagon full of cakes behind her. Of course their outing together did not sit well with everyone…
"Gray-sama took Erza with him and not Juvia!" The water mage burst into tears. She was always rather sensitive about Gray and his 'outings'. Why couldn't he just take her everywhere?
"Calm down, it's not like that." The ice mage quickly tried to stop her crying. He did not want to deal with Makarov if the tears continued to fall.
"Did Juvia do something to displease her love?" The floor of the hall had begun to flood. A puddle of tears had turned into a pond.
"GRAY! YOU FIX THIS NOW!" Makarov shouted from his place on the second floor. Sure, he was usually nice, but this flooding issue they had...
"I'M TRYING!" Gray was in distress. He didn't want an angry guild master after him but Juvia sure wasn't stopping anytime soon. His reassurances had fallen on deaf ears. There was no way to convince the girl the situation hadn't been what she thought.
"WELL TRY HARDER! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY FINES WE HAD TO PAY LAST TIME THIS HAPPENED AND SHE FLOODED THE TOWN!?" Makarov continued yelling as water continued rising.
"YOU WON'T LET ME FORGET!" This was true. Last time Juvia had cried, Makarov had gripped about it for weeks to the ice mage. The master had decided everything went back to Gray. And so, the damage to Gray's sanity was done.
"Juvia, don't worry. He was obviously checking to make sure it was safe for you to enter. That's why he brought Erza with him, he doesn't have to worry about her!" Romeo Conbolt, bless his soul, had come to the rescue. The decrease in flow of tears could be seen by all.
"Is this true, Gray-sama?" Juvia looked so hopeful, like a puppy almost. Poor girl was almost obsessed...
"Uh, yeah, we'll go with that." Gray let out a breath of air as the tears stopped and the girl smiled brightly. All was well.
"GRAY YOU BETTER BE THANKING ROMEO FOR THAT!" Makarov put in his two cents. He would be back to his loving guild master self as soon as the hall was drained of water. Floods turned him into quite a violent person.
"I WILL, CALM DOWN!" Gray reassured the man that he knew what was proper etiquette. As soon as the sentence left his mouth, the guild doors swung open and in came Lyon Vastia.
"GRAY, WHY ARE YOU YELLING!? DID SOMEONE THREATEN YOU!?" Lyon shouted. Yeah, it was not necessary. But the ice mage seemed to think it was what had to be done. Afterall, Gray had been shouting moments ago.
"Lyon, what are you doing here?" Gray was shocked to find his, well what were they?, in the guild hall. There was literally no reason for the man to be there.
"I uh, I was in town on a job." The ice mage seemed to struggle at finding a response. While everyone else knew what this meant, Gray did not notice the moment Lyon hesitated.
"No, why are you at our guild?" Gray took in Lyon's response before realizing it was not the explanation he wanted. Why was the other man in the guild hall?
"I obviously came to tell you that I was not in town for the explicit purpose of visiting you to make sure you were okay." Lyon let this out in a rush. He looked nervous, hoping desperately that Gray would accept this answer.
"Because that makes perfect sense." The younger of the two seemed to think this was the best explanation possible for the situation. The others looked unsure. Even Natsu seemed to think the excuse was utter bologna.
"It does. Guys, he would never come to town just to see me and make sure I was okay."
"And I would never buy a house in Magnolia because the hotel prices were racking up due to the fact that I came to visit Gray every weekend I didn't have a job." The silver haired man hurriedly let out this explanation. Did Lyon not realize how obvious he was making himself?
"See, it makes perfect sense!" Natsu chimed in with Gray nodding furiously in agreement. Lyon nodded as well. Although he clearly wasn't as into it as the others.
"You deserve those medals. All three of you." The scarlet haired beauty of Fairy Tail could only stare at the boys sadly. Those medals were not for a good thing...
"What medals?" Natsu turned to look at Erza. And what had be been doing before looking at her? Why admiring his gold medal of course!
The bell to the shop rung as a customer entered. This was not a new customer. Oh no, it was one who graced the shop owners with his presence almost every single day. Gildarts had returned from a week long job and was in desperate need of replenishing his potato seed stash.
"Ah, Gildarts. We have you usual right here. So how was that job?" Metalicana smiled at his friend, happy to see he wasn't injured or anything. Afterall, some jobs were extremely dangerous.
"It was easy, just like usual. Although I was able to find out what had Cana acting so weird. Why didn't you just tell me she was addicted to pickle juice?" The crash mage looked betrayed. How could his new found friend not tell him this!?
"I wasn't aware that you didn't know. I assumed what you were referring to was some boy." The iron dragon was protective. He hadn't known he was hiding anything from the angry man before him.
"Ah. Wait, maybe the pickle juice isn't it! I need to go!" Gildarts calmed down. He then turned determined as he ran out the shop door. His potato seeds were clutched tightly in his hands as he fled the scene. There was no way on earth that Gildarts would ever forget his seeds. They were his life. He loved them more than Cana.
"Igneel. why the hell were you on the ceiling!?" As soon as the other man had exited, the fire dragon had fallen off the ceiling. It appeared as though he had been up there the whole time Gildarts was in the store. Seriously, what was wrong with Igneel. Metalicana wanted to know.
"I may or may not have been jealous. But you know what, I don't need to be jelly anymore! Cause there's a jelly right there and another one over there!" Igneel blushed slightly upon being questioned. He hadn't planned on falling, that was for sure. But alas, it had happened and now he had to deal with the judgemental stares as consequence.
"Okay. But which one of you is which? You're wearing the same pants so I can't tell." Metalicana looked at both Jellas. They were on opposite sides of the room and Igneel had pointed them out moments ago.
"Well excuse me if I wanted to try on Mystogan's clothes again!" This one was clearly Jellal. Why else would he make the claim he just had?
"Oh. That one has a bandana, the other one doesn't." Igneel pointed to the man who had not spoken. He was adorning the famous green bandana. This would make telling Jellal and Mystogan apart so much easier.
"Is it really that hard to tell us apart?" Both men seemed offended at the confusion. They truly believed that there was no way anyone could confuse them. They acted way too different, didn't they?
"Yup." Metalicana and Igneel nodded in unison. There was no denying it. Those Jellals acted like the same person. No matter how hard they denied it, it was fact.
Back in the Fairy Tail guild hall, Gildarts returned, clearly flustered. He had been searching for Cana for quite some time, but to no avail. That girl didn't seem to be anywhere in Magnolia. The crash mage had even managed to discover the supposedly nonexistent Weekend House belonging to Lyon. Yeah, Cana was nowhere to be found. Maybe she truly was with a boy!
"Hey Gildarts! I wasn't expecting to see you in the guild hall today." Macao called out goodnaturedly from his table. Wakaba waved as well. It wasn't everyday one was able to find Gildarts in the guild hall. He was usually out on missions.
"I just got back from a job. I need to find Cana." The man sat down, knowing that Wakaba and Macao were prepared to have a conversation with him. And who was he to deny the two such an honor?
"Sorry dude, she's off on a job with Loke. He took a vacation just so they could go relive the days of their friendship." Wakaba revealed. There was no reason to deny the desperate father this information.
"What are you talking about?" The crash mage looked concerned. What days of friendship was he talking about? As far as Gildarts knew, the boy was a celestial spirit. How ever could they have been friends?
"Cana and Loke used to be a team before he became a celestial spirit again, duh." Wakaba explained the situation. Everyone in the guild knew about this except Gildarts, it seemed.
"So why are you looking for her anyway?" Macao was quick to change the topic. No need to allow Gildarts time to question them about that friendship.
"She's my daughter." Gildarts stared at the man, clearly confused. Why did he need a reason to look for his baby girl?
"Well you're sort of a suckish dad so…" Wakaba trailed off realizing the danger he put himself in. Gildarts probably wouldn't take well to the comment.
"Hush, Wakaba. You're one to talk. Anyway, you haven't exactly been the best father, you know." Macao tried to say this kindly. He didn't want to offend Gildarts in any way. But come on, who would just up and run two days after finding out they were a dad? He hadn't even done anything for his kid beforehand.
"I mean, after the island you could have at least made a National Cana Day before running off on some mission again." Wakaba chimed in with this little comment. It was sort of a jab at Macao. You see, Mr. Conbolt had actually gone on to petition the king for a Nation Romeo Day after his son had been born.
"That;s a marvelous idea!" Gildarts' eyes began to sparkle. Clearly he thought this plan was incapable of failure.
"Woah, and how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Macao was taken aback. Gildarts looked as though he knew exactly how to make this holiday a reality. It was sort of terrifying.
"Fairy Tail has nowhere near enough power to do that." Wakaba once again attempted to rain of Gildarts' parade. What was up with this sudden urge to destroy the crash mage's good spirits?
"But we could. All we have to do is dispose of the king and put Makarov on the throne. They're both short old men. No one will know the difference." Now this sounded like a bit of a joke. But judging by the serious facial expression Gildarts was displaying, he was actually considering taking this course of action.
"But what about the princess? Hisui won't be easy to replace." Macao attempted to dissuade the man. Why on earth did Gildarts seem to think this was a good idea anyway?
"We just put Freed in a dress, duh." Wakaba supplied this solution. He was just egging Gildarts on now. Was there any way to stop the crash mage now?
"And what about Arcadios? He's sure to know." Gildarts actually looked sad. By asking this question it was clear that he was now questioning his plans. Good.
"Pft. He'll just be happy the princess isn't rejecting his flirting like she does. I mean, Freed wouldn't mind a little flirting coming from the guy." Wakaba scoffed at Gildarts' worries. This plan would work. It was perfect, there was no way it could go wrong.
"What exactly are you implying about me!?" Freed had heard the tail end of this conversation. And he was angry. It sounded like they were painting him out to be someone different than he was. Freed would not stand for this.
"Nothing. Now go back to creeping on Laxus." The man tried to divert Freed's attention. They would never be able to finish discussing possible treason if the darn Christmas tree kept listening in.
"Hey, you do you and I'll do me!" Freed was outraged. How dare they call him a creeper! His version of um.. stalking was too sophisticated for such a term!
"And you want to do Laxus." Another guild member let this slip out. It was clear they hadn't meant for anyone to hear. Too bad Freed's glare was on them faster than they could formulate another coherent thought. "Okay, okay. Whatever you say." The guild member went back to whatever they had been doing beforehand. Freed continued to glare menacingly.
"Maybe we should put Bisca in the dress. She has green hair too. And less of an attitude." Macao observed Freed's behavior and came to the conclusion that they would never be able to get Freed to cooperate. Bisca was more of a team player. Maybe she was a better option. And now Macao was getting way too involved in this ridiculous plan…
"Yeah, but Alzack would be a terrible Arcadios. Sure, they have similar coloring but it would never work." Gildarts said this. And it was true. Alzack would never be able to pull off a convincing Arcadios act.
"What do you mean?" Wakaba didn't understand why Al wouldn't be able to play the role. Macao, however, did.
"Al looks more like a supermodel than a pervy middle aged man." The blue haired man explained to his friend. Gildarts nodded along.
"True." Wakaba had to admit that they were right about that. Alzack would never be able to act like the guard. It was now so clear. But with this declaration came an intense glare from a different building in Magnolia. Yes, Grandina had heard this utterance and decided that Wakaba must be destroyed if he ever said the sacred word again.
Now in the pickle shop, the door opened and in walked two figures. They weren't just two random customers either. Oh no, these were our strange little companions from the start of the chapter. They had finally reached their destination.
"Welcome! We're pleased to see we have new custom-" Metalicana's jaw dropped. There, was one of his greatest enemies.
"Acnologia!" Igneel shouted this fiercely. Fire left his mouth with the utterance. Sure, the identification of their customer was unneeded, but it was still appreciated.
"Shoot! What is wrong with me!? Why do I have these powers? I can remove clothing! How is that supposed to help me now?! Can't I like throw jade or something? I am the Jade Dragon! Wait, no! I'm green, that's why..." Zirconios had entered the shop nearly an hour ago. Of course he was still there at this point as well. Currently, he was in distress seeing as he had no way to protect himself.
"What are you doing here?" Ignoring the spasming dragon, Skiadrum approached the group. She still stood a good distance away though.
The dragons were a sight to see at this point. Each was absolutely seething. Igneel was engulfed in flames. Metalicana's whole body had been covered in iron scale and his arm had morphed into a weapon. Grandina was soaring as what seemed like a miniature tornado materialized near her side. As for Skiadrum and Weisslogia, well the two were unseeable, both for different reasons of course.
"I'm just here for pickles. I'm not really in the mood to kill any of you anyway." The man's voice was sore. It sounded as though he had not spoken in years. And to be honest, he probably hadn't. The dragon slayer had holed himself up in that stupid cave for quite some time…
"Are you sure that's all you're here for?" Weisslogia's voice was dangerous. He wasn't sure what to do in the situation. Ever fiber of his being was telling him to kill. But the potential profits…
"He's sure. We're literally just here for pickles." It was in that moment that everyone finally noticed the old woman who had accompanied the dragon. They had completely forgotten about her existence.
"Well um, I guess you two can shop then." Igneel said this hesitantly. He did not rid himself of the flaming aura. But he did untense somewhat.
"Thank you. Now do you have anything special here?" The old woman started a conversation with the fire dragon. As she did this Acnologia began scanning shelves.
"Well, we do have a new prototype. It's called the pickle of youth. Would you like to try it?" Igneel allowed his flames to dissipate. This woman didn't seem to be a threat. So why not ask her to sample one of their new products?
"Sure. I have nothing to worry about if it doesn't work so…" Just as he was about to hand her the specimen, the backroom door swung open. Out popped a wild Jellal followed by Erik.
"Don't do it without us! You know we've wanted to see if that thing really worked!" Jellal shouted this enthusiastically. Erik nodded in agreement.
"Watch away." And then the woman ate the sample. Suddenly she was engulfed in fog. When it finally receded, there stood a beautiful young woman. One with dark hair and an icy aura.
"Ultear!?" Jellal was in shock. The friend he had thought gone forever stood in the middle of the shop. This was like a dream come true.
"Jellal. Good to see you. I'm assuming this worked then? And that guy next to you is a new recruit?" The woman was so casual about the situation. It was strange.
"Yeah, we have quite a few newbies. And thank god you're here! Being a single father is harder than you'd think! Last time a guy tried to flirt with Meredy I almost killed him! I mean, he was in a dark guild we were destroying later that day. But I didn't know that at the time!" The bluenette jumped to hug the woman as he let out this confession. Erik snorted, remembering the particular instance Jellal was referencing. That had been a fun day…
"Uh, Acnologia, are you planning on staying around long? Cause if you are, you'll need to come up with a less recognizable name. Maybe something a little more modern?" Igneel began speaking to the new customer. Ultear listened carefully before responding.
"His name shall be Noel Gia. If he's sticking around that is." The woman wasn't sure what her companion would do. But it was best to prepare for either scenario.
"I am not sure if I would be welcome to stay." The man was not too sure what to do. He was sort of a slaughterer of dragons and slayers alike. There wasn't really a place in society for someone like him.
"My guild specializes in reforming criminals." With that said Ultear turned on her heel and walked to the backroom. Jellal led the way. After a moment of thought, Acnologia followed. Erik sighed and began to turn as well.
"I think he wants to get with her." Igneel was of course implying that Acnologia had a thing for Ultear. It was a ridiculous notion, wasn't it?
"Oh, he does. If the thoughts keep leading there, I am leaving. I need earplugs or something…" Erik then entered the back room, grumbling all the way. He now had two new guild members to hear the thoughts of. Oh joy.
"Well that wasn't strange at all, now was it?" The other dragons could only sigh at their friend's stupidity.
A/N: So? Please don't kill us for the weird Acnologia and Ultear thing. This is a crack fic for a reason! If y'all are too disturbed we'll try to stop. Anyway, we're worried about this chapter so please provide feedback! But remember, every view puts a smile on our face! If anyone wants to help come up with names for new dragon OCs, please try your hand!