Author's Notes: Ouch, only a single review last chapter? That was such a big chapter, too… To that one reviewer, thanks!

Tales of the Fairies

Chapter 7: The History of Fairy Tail

"Oh, Gazille! Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lucy exclaimed happily, upon seeing the golden Zodiac key the Metal mage procured. "How the heck did you manage to find this? I haven't found a single Zodiac key since Gemini and Aries!"

Gazille grinned. "It was in the Raven Tail coffers, just sitting there gathering dust."

Lucy smiled widely and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks again!"

Natsu, on the other side of the room, fumed upon seeing this. A grumpy, bandaged Luxus was at his side. The two were sitting at Mirajane's bar.

"What are you two so grouchy about?" Mirajane asked them teasingly, polishing a glass.

"Nothing," Natsu mumbled, crossing his arms.

"They all still shudder in fear when they see me," Luxus muttered, gesturing forcefully to the other guild members sitting around. Quite a few, like Reedus, flinched. "I thought they all got stronger. Why do they still act all weak?"

Gray plopped down on his other side, ordering a drink. "It's because you try to act like a tough guy all the time."

Mirajane silently threatened to throw one of the glasses at his head, which silenced him effectively. Wearing kindness again, she turned to Luxus. "The scars from the last Fantasia Parade still linger. They haven't forgotten what you did that day. Just be friendly."

They were interrupted from further conversation when Lucy shouted out a magic incantation. "Open!! Key to the Scorpion, Scorpio!" A large figure appeared in a puff of smoke, and when the smoke cleared, a vaguely humanoid scorpion-man appeared, glaring haughtily at Lucy. He placed his large claws on his shelled hips, standing upright but with moving, spindly legs on his stomach, in addition to human legs. He had a long scorpion tail coming from his rear end. He was also entirely red.

"Eww, it's some gross lobster!" Lucy cried, blanching.

"I'll have you know that I am no lobster! I am the Great Scorpio, most fearsome of Stellar Spirits! I could crush the strongest man here in my claws! I could poison the most resilient mage! I could impale the most – "

"Okay, enough, enough!" Lucy interrupted, rolling her eyes. "I'll summon you on Sundays, Mondays, and Fridays, is that alright? Okay! Bye!" And then he vanished, listing his heroic accomplishments as he went. "Sometimes I get the absolute worst Stellar Spirits…" she mumbled, hanging her arms. As she clipped her new Zodiac key to her necklace, she frowned. "Hmm… This necklace is getting really big and cumbersome. It's getting really hard to keep track of all of these keys!"

"Why don't you put them back on your hip, like you used to?" Mirajane suggested helpfully.

"I kept losing them that way," she replied.

"Then you should Ex-Quip them," suggested another person. Lucy spun to the source of the voice.

"That's a great idea, Visca!" she said cheerfully. "Could you teach me?" The magic sniper was so skilled at Ex-Quipping her guns, that she was second only to Erza the Titania herself.

The western mage tipped her hat and gave Lucy a smile. "I think I could."

Natsu watched the two girls as Visca began teaching Lucy about her area of magic, and then spotted Wendy playing with Charle and Happy, who all darted into the guild's main foyer at once.

"Natsu! Mira-chan! Gray!" Happy shouted, bowling into the fire mage.

"Whoa!" Natsu groaned, holding his wounded areas. "Watch it…"

"There's some old woman coming," Wendy informed them.

"And she's scaring everyone away from her," Charle commented wryly, perched on Wendy's shoulder in her cat form.

"Old lady…?" Gray asked, trailing off. His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, no…"

"Stop ogling me and make yourselves useful, you stupid humans!" The old woman's voice announced her arrival as she stepped into the main guild building.

"Ugh, not that crotchety old hag," Natsu moaned. Even Mirajane and Luxus seemed on edge.

"Who're you calling old?" the woman croaked at him. "Where's Makarov? I need to see him." She held a gnarled staff between her equally gnarled hands, ready to brandish it at anyone who so much as looked at her the wrong way.

Wendy cringed. "This lady is scary…"

Erza rushed downstairs, alert and holding a sword forward, Lluvia in a half-liquid form at her side. Upon seeing the old woman, Erza lowered her weapon. "Oh, it's just you." The sword vanished, and to everyone's surprise, Erza bowed. "Welcome to our guild, Polyushko-san."

"I remember her," Visca and Arzak said at once, terrified. Levi nodded along with them.

"I've heard of her," Lucy commented, touching a finger to her lips. "Wasn't she the one who healed Master Makarov after his fight with Phantom Guild?"

"She healed Master again during the whole Fantasia Festival fiasco," Levi added, glancing at Luxus.

"Yes, she is," said Erza. "And she also replaced my bad eye with a fake, magical one. I owe this woman a lot. What can we do for you?"

"I want to see Makarov," Polyushko said, slamming her wooden staff against the ground. "What's that old codger been up to?"

"I'm sorry," Erza said, lowering her eyes. "Master Makarov passed away."

Polyushko's wizened features softened and her staff became lax in her grip, until she nudged Erza's chin with it. "Well, chin up. He is gone, and we must move on. I have a lot of things to tell you, Master Erza."

The Titania's eyes widened. "Oh, no, I'm not a Master. Our guild is led by the Fairy Council composed of our S-Class mages."

"Could' a fooled me." The old healer leaned heavily on her staff. "So, is the other crazy old geezer still around?"

"Who?" Lluvia asked.

"Gildartz, of course!"

"No, we haven't seen nor heard from him in years. We have heard of him though, and he is still alive. What he is doing, we do not know," Erza explained. "Why have you come, Polyushko-san? Certainly not to reminisce of old times."

"No, no," the reclusive old woman assured her. "Though, it is upsetting that Makarov and Gildartz are not here. Gildartz would have loved to hear me say that, the old bat."

"Why did you need them?" Gazille asked her, showing quite a bit of unnerving respect to the old woman.

"Makarov, Gildartz, and I were the ones to create this guild. I even designed the symbol!" Polyushko exclaimed.

"No way!" Macau shouted. "I've been here since I was a kid, and I don't remember you at all."

"We were also the strongest team in our younger days," Polyushko reminisced. "I was S-Class myself!"

"I bet I could beat her in a fight," Natsu grumbled, while Luxus seemed to be in shock.

"Why did you leave the guild?" Erza questioned.

"The three of us had a falling out many years ago," she said somberly. "Come, I would like to speak privately to this so-called Fairy Council of yours."

Mirajane placed the glass she was cleaning on the counter and followed them upstairs wordlessly, Luxus trailing right behind her. Gazille, Lluvia, and Erza climbed the ladder, while Polyushko simply stared at it with annoyance. "Really, a ladder? What has this guild come to?" And without another word, she pounded her staff against the floor three times, and started to magically rise into the air.

"Hey, why is Luxus S-Class again?" Natsu complained.

"We could use all of the S-Class mages we can get," Lucy informed him. "And we know he's worthy of the title, since Master made him one."

"But Luxus has changed," Gray pointed out. "Does he still deserve that position?"

"Erza seems to think so," Lucy commented. "But she's keeping an eye on him nonetheless."

"How do you know all this?" Gray asked her in surprise.

Lucy grinned mischievously. "Just because I'm not up in the Fairy Council doesn't mean I don't know what's going on. Both Erza and Lluvia tell me what happens up there!"

Happy gasped, putting two paws to his mouth. "That's so not fair!" Lucy, Wendy, and Charle laughed together at the boys' bewilderment.


Once they were on the upper level, the various members of the Fairy Council took places all around the room. They all wore serious faces now.

"Tell me who killed Makarov," Polyushko said solemnly.

"Ivan of Raven Tail," Luxus told her immediately. "But we defeated him ourselves."

Polyushko took this with a slow nod, knowing full well who Ivan was in relation to her old friend. "I see."

"What do you want here?" Gazille asked gruffly, leaning against the wall. "You only showed yourself to us in the past when we asked your permission to move into the forest, and when our critically wounded members needed healing."

"I've come to rejoin Fairy Tail," Polyushko stated. There were various exclamations of surprise at this.

"But why?" Mirajane asked.

"Despite my reclusive lifestyle, I am quite learned in the worldly affairs at the moment," Polyushko replied. "The situation has become graver than it ever has been, and I know you need all the help you can get. I may not care for humans, but I have always found the members of Fairy Tail an exceptional bunch." Erza took this compliment in stride, knowing that this was the best kind of praise they'd get from this old woman. "And I do care for the fate of the world."

"Why don't you like humans?" Lluvia asked curiously.

"It is the nature of humans to consume, and consume, and consume, and waste anything that is left. They harm nature with their magic and technology. I have witnessed that the inherent evil of humans always wins out over the will to do good. The death of Makarov is a prime example of this. What kind of man slays his own father?" Polyushko explained. "Those are my less personal reasons."

"So… You're going to help us?" Erza questioned. Polyushko nodded, and Mirajane immediately slid forward with her member stamp in hand.

"No need," Polyushko said, stopping the transformation mage, who fell with a despondent sigh. "Back in my day, the Fairy Tail member stamp was a permanent tattoo." And she removed her cape, exposing her old lady shoulders and causing Gazille and Luxus to blanch and turn away, thinking she'd reveal more. "Anyway, one member I definitely remember is Mistgun, who had a fondness for apples. Where is he?"

Erza lowered her eyes. "I do not know. He shows up occasionally, though, unlike Gildartz."

"Hmm… I do not know where Mistgun might be, but Gildartz is incredibly easy to find," Polyushko affirmed. The whole Fairy Council's eyes widened.

"We gave up hope of finding him!" Lluvia exclaimed.

"Nonsense. You just didn't know where to look, or who to look for. Have any of you ever seen him in your lives?" Polyushko posed.

Only Luxus gave a sure answer. "I did. Once. Back when I was a kid."

"I may have, but I barely remember," Erza said unsurely. "I only remember an incredibly tall man with a tattered cape and long, wild hair."

"Well, we need him now. And I will help you find him," the old healer declared. "Assemble for me a team of your most proficient trackers and we will leave at once."


"What?! You want me to go?"

"Yes, Lucy," Erza said tiredly, rubbing her forehead. "I would like you to report everything to me after the mission is complete. You will help Polyushko-san lead the team, since she doesn't know any of our guild members personally like you do."

"Oh, I guess it isn't a big deal, then," Lucy acquiesced. "Besides, I'll finally be able to meet Gildartz and see what all the fuss is about!"

"I don't know why you'd be so excited about that," Polyushko said to her, causing Lucy to raise an eyebrow in confusion, but the old woman didn't elaborate further. "So, Erza, who's this rabble you've gathered for this mission?" she asked, gesturing to the mages in front of her, who looked perturbed about being addressed that way.

"This is Lucy Heartphilia, a Stellar Spirit mage," Erza introduced her. Lucy gave a timid wave. "The woman in the bikini top is Kana Alberona, a practitioner of card magic and an excellent tracker. The boy is Arzak Cornell, a gun mage. The last girl is Miki Chickentiger, and her bird, Pii-chan."

"Pii-chan says hi!" the bird chirped, perched on the girl's artificial horns. Miki clenched her gloved hands and pointed a fist at Polyushko.

"Don't get on my bad side, you old bat," she said rudely. Kana laughed out loud, a drunken blush painting her cheeks. Arzak rolled his eyes.

"Very well," Polyushko answered, slightly bemused.

"Why can't I go? I wanna see Gildartz too!" Natsu said with a grin.

The Stellar Spirit mage grabbed her forehead. "Sorry, Natsu, but it isn't my choice."

"Well, you're co-leading the team, aren't you? Just let me in!"

"Ugh, it isn't that simple!"

Lucy said her goodbyes to Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Erza, while Arzak shared an emotional farewell with Visca, and minutes later, they were on their way to search for Gildartz.

"Arzak," Lucy called to the gunner, gaining his attention and pulling him from his blank stare. Visca had kissed him on the cheek.

"U-uh, what is it, Lucy?" he stammered.

Lucy sighed, but was unafraid of saying what was on her mind, since she was friendly with the gunner. "Why don't you tell Visca how you feel?"

He turned white. "What do you mean?"

Miki laughed loudly. "Haha! He's a lovesick baby!" Pii-chan chirped in agreement on her head, fluttering his tiny wings.

"Oh, being in love…" Kana hiccupped, thinking back to one of her own experiences. No doubt, she thought of Macau.

"It's so obvious, Arzak!" Lucy shouted at her friend. "You're in love with her, and she loves you back! I just know it!" While he was in a stunned silence, Lucy swooned. "Oh, what a romantic story! I've got an idea for my book sequel! I wish I could have a love story like that…"

Polyushko chuckled. "Young love. Oh, I miss those days."

"Whaaaat, were you in love with Gildaaaartz or something?" Kana slurred.

"No!" she snapped. "Gildartz is an idiot."

"And yet you're leading a search for him," Kana pointed out. "Maybe Makarov was more your type!"

"What should I do, Lucy?" Arzak asked. She had an inkling he'd be on his hands and knees in front of her if they weren't walking.

"Tell her how you feel, by sending flowers or chocolates to her or something," Lucy said dreamily. "Let her know you're interested, without – "

"Just go right out and say it!" Miki yelled boisterously, interrupting Lucy. "That's how I go about things! Don't go about doing prissy things like that. Girls like a real, strong, sure man!" she said roughly, clenching a fist.

"I'm sure you've attracted so many men with that attitude," Lucy said wryly, slightly peeved by the girl. She honestly didn't have that many interactions with Miki, though she knew how Miki acted. Witnessing it firsthand, she was kind of annoyed.

Miki was about to retort angrily when they stepped to the outskirts of the forest around Magnolia Town, and Polyushko stopped. "Okay, can any of you follow where Gildartz would be?" the old woman asked.

"I thought you knew where he was," Lucy said, her shoulders sagging.

"He could be in any number of places," she replied. Kanna, with a barrel of ale under her arm, pulled a single red card from her deck. She let it go, and it floated in front of her, if a little crookedly. Lucy guessed it was because she wasn't sober.

"Uh… That's the King! No, the Jack. No, that's the Queen of Hearts! Wait, wrong deck. These are the Lovers." Kana said after several tries. "Sorry, it's a little blurry."

"So, what does that mean?" Arzak asked.

"Gildartz is surrounded by many women!" Kana exclaimed. "And he has a lustful attraction to each of them. Also, the Hermit symbolizes that he's really alone on the inside, despite all the people he's with."

"Are you sure that's not Arzak's current fortune?" Miki said, with a catlike grin at the gunner. Currently, he was the only male in their travel party. What little color in his face drained at her statement, and he glared.

"Uh, maybe."

"And didn't you pull that card randomly from the deck?" Lucy asked in exasperation. She had never seen Kana's magic cards in action before.

"I had already assumed that," Polyushko said distastefully, referring to the fortune. "Okay, can you give me any more detailed information?"

Kana drew another card with a dramatic flourish, though her eyes were blank and slightly bloodshot. "The lightning-struck Tower. Tragedy will come to him soon. Paired with the Death. Not a good sign. On the most optimistic side, it means deep change will come to him soon. But it is an ill omen."

"That doesn't reveal anything of his location!" Lucy shouted. "And you're crazy! We don't want his fortune!"

"These are magic cards, silly, of course they will," Kana said drunkenly. She drew another. "The Fool! He looks stupid, but there's more to him than meets the eye."

"Well, this is pointless," Polyushko mumbled. "What about you two?" she asked Arzak and Miki.

"Wait!" Kana interrupted in her drunken stupor. "There are more. The Magician in the Reversed position. It means he has taken action, but it might come back to bite him. And he isn't very focused on what he's doing."

"I can only track things based on footprints and the like. You know, the non-magical way," Arzak said with a shrug, answering Polyushko and ignoring Kana. "So we'd need to be much closer for that to work."

"Pii-chan?" Miki asked her bird, her eyes rolling up to look at the top of her head. "You know what to do!"

"Got it, Miki!" the tiny, magical bird replied, flapping his miniature wings and fluttering away.

"The Moon!" Kana declared. "Oh, wait, I'm thinking about Mistgun. This is his. He's an illusion, or he is in one? And he's displeased, or afraid, or doubtful. I don't remember…"

"Okay, Kana, that's enough!" Lucy silenced her.

This would be a long trip…


Several hours later, they were still walking because Polyushko refused to take the train, referring it as a "death trap that mucked up nature." So they were forced to walk, and it got extremely boring and irritating, especially with Miki. More than once, Lucy and Arzak had to separate the hotheaded girl from a drunken Kanna. Fortunately, the card mage sobered up eventually.

Walking ahead to Polyushko's side, Lucy questioned the old, experienced mage. "So... What was Fairy Tail like back in your day? How did you meet Makarov and Gildartz?"

"The three of us came from another mage guild, but Makarov had dreams in his head ever since he was a child. He ended up convincing the two of us to make a new guild with him, so we did. It was as simple as that. We were a small guild for a very long time."

"Why'd you end up leaving?" Lucy asked curiously.

Polyushko sighed. "It is a long and complicated story. The three of us wanted the guild to go into three different directions."

"What do you mean?"

"Gildartz had a few run-ins with the law - stupid, harmless things - and the Magic Council of the time detested us and restricted the fledgling guild as much as they could. Makarov often bent the restrictions placed upon us and sometimes outright broke their rules. At one point, we feared attack by the Magic Council," the old woman said solemnly. "Some feared that we would become a Dark Guild."

"What? Fairy Tail a Dark Guild?" Lucy asked incredulously.

Polyushko gave a small smile. "Makarov and Gildartz had a bit of a rebellious streak in them."

Lucy crinkled her brow, a little bit of sadness in her eyes. "So why did you end up leaving?"

"We had a little bit of a falling out," Polyushko said after a few moments, hesitant to speak further. Lucy picked up on this.

"Nevermind! I won't pester you about it!" she vowed, holding up one hand. "So, you were S-Class? Tell me about your magic! Isn't healing considered a Lost Magic? How do you do it?" she eagerly questioned. Polyushko laughed, thankful of the change of subject.

"I use Nature Magic," the woman said. "Life energy is contained in the trees, the grass, animals, the air - it's everywhere. I am able to contain that power and use it as my magic."

"Wow, that's so cool," Lucy beamed.

"But it isn't considered Lost Magic. The only Lost kind of healing is the one your friend the Sky Sorceress uses," Polyushko said.

"Wendy?"

"Yes," she answered with a nod. "I believe you know Ichiya Wanderlei Kotobuki?"

Lucy blanched. "Yes, I remember that perv."

"He uses his perfume magic to heal, so healing alone isn't a Lost art. There are many types of healers. I can only speed along the natural healing process and restore magical exhaustion. Ichiya's magic lets him heal physical exhaustion and minor wounds. Your friend Wendy is the only true healer alive."

Lucy hummed. "I didn't know that. So how do you know that weirdo Ichiya anyway?"

"I had the misfortune of teaching him," Polyushko admitted, to which Lucy laughed. "I am disappointed to learn that he hasn't changed a bit."

"Pii-chan's back!" Miki called out loudly, pointing to the sky. A tiny, fluttering bird soared back to its owner, landing in her arms. "So did you find out anything?"

"Yes, yes, I did!" the little bird chirped triumphantly. "He's in the town of Arcana, not too far from here!"

"Arcana Town? That's such a seedy place," Kanna commented. "How does your bird know he's there, anyway? He's never even seen Gildartz before!"

"Pii-chan happens to be a magical bird!" the little bird argued. Miki glared at the card mage.

"Arcana..." Arzak mused. "A lot of Dark Guilds are said to be there."

Lucy looked disgusted. "It's also known for the women and the clubs."

"He's there," Polyushko said with absolute sureness. "Let's go. Miki, lead the way."


"I don't like the feel of this place," Lucy said, clearly uncomfortable, watching all the people leer at her from dark alleyways.

"DON'T YOU STARE AT ME, YOU STUPID LECH!" Miki roared at the people, pouncing into the alleys and beating them up with her fists. Nobody looked at them the same way again.

"Now I know why she's called the Demon Princess," Lucy mumbled.

"This isn't a safe place to be at night," Kanna told them - she alone seemed most at ease here, as if openly inviting anyone to take a look at her scantily clad body. "Let's find the old geezer and get out of here."

"Pii-chan said he was at a club," Arzak said. "Ah, here we go - Puff the Magic Dragon. That's a strange name."

Polyushko rolled her eyes as they went inside, being immediately greeted by loud music - courtesy of a mage band playing in the corner - and a huge amount of people.

"I should have dressed better!" Lucy cried, upon seeing all the dancing people.

"How are we supposed to find him?" Kanna shouted over the din, before being whisked away by a grinning man. She danced with him for a moment, before kicking him as hard as she could, sending him flying into another crowd of people. Without another word, she appeared back at her team's side.

Polyushko, looking painfully out of place, became suddenly still as she glared with all her might at a corner of the room. Lucy followed her gaze and spotted an old man with a tattered brown cape, slicked back silver hair which spiked up, and heavy boots perched up on the table in front of him. There were no less than six incredibly loose looking women around him. All seven were holding drinks in their hands. Upon seeing Polyushko, his eyes widened in fear and he dropped his drink.

"Gildartz!" the old woman shouted. The old man got up and ran out a back door of the club. The mages of Fairy Tail were about to follow when the man that tried to dance with Kanna and several others barred their path.

"You ain't going anywhere, ladies," the man in the lead said, cracking his knuckles. Lucy unfurled her whip and grinned, suddenly eager to hit something.

"Bring it on!" Miki yelled boisterously.


Author's Notes: Heh, a bit of a cliffhanger. This chapter reveals several different plot points, all of which will be elaborated on further in the next chapter. Hope you all liked it! And since only one person reviewed last chapter, is it too much to ask for a little more...? I don't beg for reviews often :/

So yeah. Tell me what you think! :)