Back at the Guild

Yesterday Team Natsu finished all the requests Sora took, the last one they had a team from the Lamia Scale guild at their side and they fought a great amount of Heartless in Hargeon Town. They also find out that there was someone controlling the Heartless and that maybe he was going to attack other towns. Both teams returned to their respective guilds after telling Yajima that the town was safe. Now Lucy was arriving at the guild with a happy expression on her face, she saw her friend Levy talking with Mirajane and went to greet them.

"Good morning, Levy-chan, Mira-san!" she said cheerfully.

"Hello, Lucy," Mirajane said smiling. "Erza told me that your team accomplished all the missions."

"Oh, that's why you are in such a good mood?" asked Levy.

"That's right!" Lucy answered. "Thanks to all the missions we did, now I have enough money to pay the rent for the next months."

"Now that you mention the money," said Mirajane, "I heard that Sora didn't want to take any reward for all the missions he took."

"Is that true?" said a surprised Levy and Lucy nodded. "Wow, why would he do something like that?"

"He said that he didn't want to get paid for something that he's supposed to do," said the Celestial Mage.

"Many people would have taken advantage of that to earn a lot of money," said Mirajane. "Sora is really sweet, isn't he?"

"Talking about Sora, do you know where he is?" asked Lucy. "I wanted to invite him to eat something since he didn't want to take any money for doing the missions."

"One hour ago he left with Gajeel and Lily," said Levy with a slightly annoyed expression. "He convinced Sora to fight with them."

"It has been only one day since we returned and he is already fighting again," said Lucy. "This boy has boundless energy."

"Well, he travels a lot, right?" said Mirajane. "I'm sure he has helped a lot of people in different worlds and is already used to it, although that makes me worry about him, I think it's a lot of work for just one person."

"He told that there were four Keyblade wielders apart from him," said Levy. "I suppose that he's not the only one around the worlds. Besides he is very responsible and mature, especially if you compare him with the people here…"

Levy said that looking at Natsu who were fighting with Gray and other members of the guild.

"Take that!"

"You're going to destroy the guild, idiot!"

"Natsu-san, please stop."

"Real men fight with their fists!"

"Yeah…" said Lucy sweat-dropping. "By the way, when did Sora tell you that there are more people with a Keyblade?"

"I asked him a couple of questions when you returned from Freesia Town," said the bluenette. "You should do the same; he knows some interesting things that don't appear in the book we read."

"I can give it a try when he comes back," said Lucy.

While the three girls talked, someone entered the guild carrying a big box that looked heavy. It was Max Alors, the mage who is in charge of most of the guild's social activities. He walked to a table that was near the girls and put the box on it. That piqued the girls' curiosity and went to see what Max had in that box.

"Hey Max, what do you have there?" asked Lucy.

"Oh, you see," began the Sand Mage, "a lot of people have been asking these days about Sora and in the Souvenir Shop some they asked me if I had something based on him, so I ordered this."

Max opened the boy to reveal what was inside. When the girls looked inside they saw a lot of souvenirs that represented the Keyblade wielder, there were plushies, photos, figurines, necklaces with Sora's silver crown and even replicas of his Keyblade.

Lucy grabbed a plushie, looked at it and laughed. "How cute, it looks just like him."

"It's an exact copy," said Mirajane as she looked at one necklace. "I'm sure there are a lot of people who would want one of these."

"Where did you get these photos?" asked Levy with suspicious eyes. "It's like someone stalked him to take them."

"I don't know, probably it was Jason from Sorcerer Magazine," said Max shrugging. "Oh, that reminds me that he is going to come to the guild today."

"Really?" asked Lucy surprised. "The last time he didn't even look at me…"

"I suppose he prefers to interview the people who are more "wild"," said Levy and Lucy sighed with resignation.

"He must have heard about our newest member and decided to come," said Mirajane and then she noticed that Sora was entering the guild. "Look, there he is."

"I would have never thought that Lily could grow like that," thought Sora, he fought against the black cat and his transformation caught Sora by surprise and he wondered if Happy could do that too. He was going to take a look at the Request Board but then he saw that Max was calling him so he went to where the Sand Mage was to see what he wanted.

"Sora, I'd like you to take a look at this," Max said pointing at the box. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to sell them in the Souvenir Shop."

The Keybearer looked inside the box and he couldn't believe what was there, he was amazed when he saw all the things that were related to him and what caught his attention the most was the Keyblades that were identical to his.

"This is impressive," said Sora. "If I didn't know that this is a copy, I would have thought that it's a real one."

"It's made with a very hard material so it can last a long time," said Max with pride as Sora tested one of the Keyblades, he swung it and touched it to see how hard the material was, however when he summoned his Keyblade and used to touch the replica, the souvenir broke instantly.

"It can be as tough as you want," Levy said, "but if you compare it with a real one…"

"Sorry Max…" Sora apologized but Max didn't mind at all.

"Don't worry, I have more in the shop," he said. "So, it's okay if I sell them?"

"Sure, I don't mind at all," replied the spiky boy. Max thanked him and took the box out of the guild. After the Sand Mage left, Lucy approached Sora to talk to him.

"Hey Sora," she began, "since you don't want to accept the missions' reward, I wanted to invite you to a meal. I'm sure you're hungry after fighting Gajeel again."

"Thank you, Lucy, but-" Sora was about to say no to her offer, but then his stomach growled and the three girls giggled, much to his embarrassment.

"Looks like I'll have to prepare something for our Keyblade wielder," Mirajane said smiling at the boy and then she left.

Meanwhile Erza was informing Makarov about all the missions they did and now she was telling him about the one in Hargeon Town.

"It seems that there is someone who is traveling around Fiore and attacking the towns with the Heartless," she said. "We thought that maybe Sora knew him, but without knowing how his face is it's difficult to identify that person."

"I see…" Makarov said. He was worried since there was a possibility that Xehanort could be behind this. "Well, we can't do much until we find out who he is, but I'm sure that with Sora's help we will be able to stop him."

"Master, is there something bothering you?" asked Erza who noticed that her master was uneasy.

"No, it's nothing, don't worry," he said. "Anyway, you should be careful while you investigate, especially Sora since the Magic Council is keeping an eye on him."

"Why is that?" asked Erza with concern.

"They know about the Keyblade and also that not all the people who wielded it were good people," said Makarov. "He arrived after the Heartless appear, but even so they consider him a potential suspect. I know that he's not guilty of the Heartless attack, but the Magic Council won't take the risk. I'll talk with him about it later."

"If they arrest him, Fiore will have serious problems," Erza said while she looked at Sora who was talking with Lucy, Levy and Wendy. It seems that Lucy was asking him something and the other two wanted to ask him some things too.

"Is there any female Keyblade wielder?" asked Lucy. She thought that it would be great that there was a girl who could wield that sword too.

"Well, my friend Kairi can use one. Erza reminds me of her." said Sora which surprised the girls.

"They look alike?" asked a curious Lucy.

"Their appearances are very similar," replied Sora with a smile on his face, "and the two know how to stop a fight."

"Is there another apart from Kairi?" Levy asked.

"I think there is another one, but I am not completely sure. I just remember that she has blue hair and is older than me, but nothing else."

"Just two?" said Levy and Sora nodded. "Well, it's better than nothing."

"Oh, there's a thing I'd like to know, Sora-san," said Wendy and the boy looked at her. "How many types of magic can you use?"

"I want to know that too," Lucy said. "If I'm not mistaken I saw you using Fire and Thunder Magic."

"Let's see…" said Sora trying to remember all the types of magic he can use. "I can use Blizzard spells that would be like Gray's magic…also Cure and Aero like you Wendy."

"Really?" said the girl. "That's amazing!"

"Although my healing spells aren't as powerful as yours, they are useful to heal superficial wounds," said Sora and then he continued. "Gravity, Stop, Magnet, Reflect…"

"Stop Magic?" asked Levy interested. "Could you show it us?"

"Sure," said the boy and he started to look around and saw that some members of the guild were still fighting. He looked at Natsu that was about to use one of his attacks and summoned his Keyblade. Before the Dragon Slayer could attack, Sora used Stopga on him and Natsu froze in the air and the girls were astonished.

"Incredible!" said Levy. "You know, that would be very useful here."

"How long does it last?" Lucy asked.

"Not much," replied Sora and after a minute Natsu could move again and he was confused since he didn't know what happened, but he brushed it aside and continued fighting. Later, someone entered the guild. It was a young man with blond hair and wearing a pink t-shirt, blue jeans, brown shoes and black sunglasses.

"Cool! Fairy Tail is as wild as ever!" he exclaimed and Sora noticed him and asked the girls if they knew him.

"He's Jason," said Levy, "the reporter of Sorcerer Magazine. He is very…eccentric."

Jason started to interview all the mages he saw in the guild, he took pictures of Erza who was wearing a dress which surprised Sora; he wondered when she changed her clothes. He went to interview Natsu but instead of an answer, Jason got a fist in his face, although it looks like he didn't mind at all. Then he went to interview, Gray and Juvia and suddenly Gajeel, who just returned with Lily, started to sing which Sora thought it was funny but a bit weird. After taking pictures of Gajeel's performance, Jason saw Wendy and ran and started to ask her questions while Carla watched him carefully.

"See what I meant?" said Levy.

"Yeah," Sora said smiling and Jason heard him and then it seemed that he was about to explode and the Keybearer started to get nervous.

"Could it be!?" exclaimed an excited Jason. "The mighty Keyblade wielder Sora, Fiore's hero, is here in front of me!"

"How gleeful," Sora thought.

"Say, Keybearer Sora, what would you say that is the best quality of Fairy Tail?" asked Jason and Sora thought about it for a moment and then answer.

"The best quality of Fairy Tail is that it's a joyful and warm place, like a big family," he said and Jason wrote it in his notebook.

"Cool answer!" he said. "Now, what is your future dream?"

"I would like to create a Keyblade wielders guild in the future," said Sora. "But that will be after defeating Xehanort."

"That's so cool! More awesome guilds!" said the overjoyed reporter.

"I didn't know that, but now that you said it, it suits you," said Lucy.

"You would be a great Guild Master, Sora-san," Wendy praised and Sora laughed embarrassed.

"Do you think?" he said.

"I see that you've already made some friends, Sora," said Jason. "Tell me, with whom do you have the best relationship?"

"I get along with everyone," the boy answered, "although there're still some members that I don't know."

"If you get along with Gajeel, you will get along with everyone here, believe me," said Levy.

"Despite being a legend, you're very friendly! That's so cool!" Jason said. "So, do you any love interest?"

"Okay, that's crossing the line," Sora said, but he was blushing so his attempt to avoid the topic failed and Jason wrote it in his notebook while Lucy and Levy looked at him with mischievous eyes and approached him to sat near him.

"Do you like a girl, Sora-san?" asked Wendy with sparkles on her eyes. "Who is she?"

"I…uh…" Sora didn't know what to answer and got more nervous.

"My, my, I've never seen you like this," teased Lucy. "Say, who is the lucky girl?"

"Is the Keybearer called Kairi, right?" said Levy and Sora blushed more.

"Could we change…" said a flustered Sora but the reporter interrupted him.

"Key-love, cool!" said Jason and Sora gave up since it looked like they weren't going to listen.

"Ah, young love," said Macao.

"I still remember when I fell in love for the first time," Wakaba added.

"He llllikes her," Happy said.

"Where did you all come out!?" said Sora.

Later the reporter left after interviewing other members and taking pictures of the female mages, especially of Mirajane since she was often a model for the magazine. After being interviewed, Makarov walked to where Sora was, the boy was still being teased by some female mages and Happy but the master "rescued" him.

"Sora, I'd like to talk to you," he said before walking to the bar of the guild. The Keybearer got up and followed the old master. Lucy wondered what could the master want from him, but she wasn't going to spy on them so she stayed with Levy.

"What is it, Master?" asked Sora.

"I just wanted to warn you," Makarov said. "There's something called Magic Council that is the main ruling body of this world. The Council possesses almost utmost control over this world, acting as a leading government of sort, also it rules all of the legal guilds scattered throughout Earth Land, overseeing them and keeping them in check."

"Did I do something wrong?" asked Sora who felt concerned since he didn't want to cause trouble to Fairy Tail.

"No, but I'm sure that the Council is watching over you," said the master. "I know that you arrived after the Heartless appeared, but for them you're someone suspicious since it's been a long time since a Keyblade wielder comes here."

"I understand, not all of us are on the good side," Sora said. "I'll be more careful from now on."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Makarov and he noticed that the spiky boy still wanted to talk about something. "Is there something wrong?"

"I suppose that you already know about what happened in Hargeon Town, right?" asked the Keybearer.

"Erza told me about it," he replied. "Why?"

"Listen, I was in another place before coming here that had the same problem with the Heartless," Sora explained, "at first it was normal, I just had to eliminate all the Heartless, but after one week things started to get more serious. I fought against one of Xehanort's allies and him."

"Master Xehanort?" asked Makarov with a serious expression.

"Not exactly," said Sora. "It was his young-self."

"Ah yes, I talked with Yen Sid when you were out," Makarov told Sora. "He explained me about the events of the last years."

"It's unlikely that he appears again," said Sora, "but if he does, I don't think we can keep hiding his existence to the others."

"Don't worry boy," Makarov said. "If it's necessary, I'll let you tell them about him, but if they want to take part in that battle, I will be the one to tell them that they can't."

"All right, thanks Master," Sora said.

"By the way, I heard that you wanted to create a guild with Keyblade wielders as members," said Makarov. "When did you get that idea?"

"Oh, it was when I joined Fairy Tail," said Sora looking at the mages. "I hope I can do it soon, although I don't want to leave this guild either."

"Well, there are people who are members of different kind of guilds," said the old man. "As long as you don't join another Mages Guild, you'll be still a Fairy Tail member and, of course, when you create it, your members could lend us a hand once in a while."

"Sure," said the boy relieved and then he got up. "I should take a look at the board."

"You should take a break," Makarov said. "Besides, there aren't missions for you yet, although you can always travel around Fiore if you don't want to wait for requests, but if I were you I'd rest. You've been sleeping in Natsu and Happy's house, right?"

"Yes, it's a bit small for two people," Sora said feeling a bit bad for occupying their house. "Why do you ask?"

"I thought that you could feel bad for occupying their house," said the master which scared Sora and he wondered if his master could read minds, "so I talked with the owner of Fairy Hills, the dormitory of the guild, and, after telling him who you are, he gladly accepted to give you a room for free while you're here. It's close to the guild so you won't have to walk much."

"Wow, thanks for the favor," said Sora.

"Oh, you're going to stay on Fairy Hills, Sora?" asked Mirajane who heard their conversation. "I hope to see you there then."

"You also sleep in Fairy Hills, Mirajane?" Sora asked and she nodded and giggled which confused the boy.

"Is there something that you're not telling me, Master?" asked Sora who was starting to suspect.

"It's a female dormitory," said Makarov and Sora looked at him dumfounded.

"Wait a moment!" he exclaimed. "I can't stay there, it's not right!"

"Come on, don't be like that, I already told Natsu that you'll be sleeping there," he said, "and besides it's the only place that has free rooms right now and I know that you won't try anything since you already have a girlfriend."

"Oh, I didn't know that," said the white-haired woman. "I'd really like to meet her someday."

"Here we go again…" thought Sora. "I guess I have no option…I'll stay there, but just for sleep, nothing more."

"Well, if you're willing to," said Makarov with a perverted face, "you could spy on the girls for me and…"

"Master, if you use Sora for that I'll get angry," said Mirajane with a stern expression and putting her hands on her hips.

Sora sweat-dropped, he liked his new master, but he was a bit weird sometimes. Now he was wondering what would happen if his friends find out that he's going to sleep in a female dormitory. He knew that Riku would annoy him continuously, Tidus and Wakka probably would go crazy or something like that and he didn't even want to think about how would react Selphie or Kairi. He stopped thinking about that and suddenly someone patted his back, he didn't know why but his body felt like if someone punched it with an iron gauntlet.

"Hey, you're Natsu's new friend, Sora, right?" asked the person who almost breaks Sora's back. The boy turned to see that it was the man who usually talked with the Fire Dragon Slayer, the tall and muscular man with reddish-orange hair.

"Ye-yes," said Sora. "My back still hurts a bit and he patted it lightly, how strong is this guy?"

"I'm Gildarts, nice to meet you," said the man grinning. "Natsu told me good things about you."

"A pleasure, Gildarts," said Sora smiling.

"He's the strongest mage in Fairy Tail," said Mirajane.

"No kidding," thought Sora and then he noticed that the mage looked at him as if he were studying him.

"So this is a Keyblade wielder, huh?" he said as he walked around Sora. "It's the first time I see one in all my life."

"Gildarts," began Makarov, "where have you been these last two days? I haven't seen you until now."

"Oh, well I was visiting a small town that is a bit far from here and I saved a group of ladies from those little dark monsters and stayed there to celebrate it," said Gildarts with a goofy face.

Sora let out a small laugh; he thought that despite being the strongest mage in Fairy Tail, Gildarts had an easygoing and laid-back personality, but he wouldn't want to anger him since with that strength he was sure that Gildarts could obliterate his opponents if he wanted to. The Keyblade wielder sighed and began to think what he could do tomorrow."Maybe I should take the train in the morning to see where it takes me," he said.