Fairy Tail Fanfiction

Fairy Tail: X-818 Generation!

An: Hello, boys! I'm baaaaaaacccckkk! Yeah, after finishing Black Ivy; college, my internship, and low energy prevented me from writing too much. But I'm back now! Just don't expect much updating. College and internship still take up a lot of my writing time.

Ah, well! Details! Let's get back to the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.


Chapter 7- Downtime!

"Rules cannot take the place of character." Alan Greenspan

Lucy woke up to the sun hitting her face.

She sat up and yawned into her hand as she stretched her other arm above her head. Last night had possibly been the most hectic night the blonde mage had ever had at Fairy Tail. After the massive town-wide party, Laxus ordered them (them being the recently returned Guild members and their families) to take the week off. The Rookies protested greatly, but a glare from Laxus drove them off.

After returning to the house she shared with Natsu and her kids, Lea found her room (which the boys had kept clean since her supposed death) quickly and was asleep even before her head hit the pillow. Lucy had smiled and shook her head at her daughter's actions. Lucy and Natsu simply walked back to their room and…well, I'll let you use your imagination.

She finished stretching and felt her hand land on Natsu's face. He groaned in response, but did not wake up. She smiled down at him. It was so refreshing to be next to him after her ten year captivity. She missed him so much. Him and Nero. Her two favorite boys.

She heard a commotion in the kitchen. She scowled and put on her robe and went to investigate. Outside of her room, she heard Happy and Horus talking.

"We're out of fish!"

"We want to make them breakfast, not lunch, Dad!"

"But fish is good for them!"

"We're making a traditional breakfast, Dad! End of discussion."

Lucy peaked into the kitchen and saw Happy and Horus flying around leisurely as they gathered ingredients from around the kitchen. She raised an eyebrow. "What are you two doing?" she asked.

The two Exceeds looked up. "Oh, hey, Lucy!" Happy said cheerfully. "Horus and I thought it would be a good idea for us to make the rest of the family breakfast. Ya' know, so you guys could sleep in! Nero's probably gonna be out of it 'til noon, and he's usually the one who cooks."

Lucy smiled at them. "Well, that was nice of you two," she said. "So, Nero's the one who cooks? When'd he learn to cook?"

"When Jerrod did," both Exceeds deadpanned. "Jerrod was being taught how to cook by Mira because Jellal couldn't cook to save his life, and Jerrod would drag whoever was around him to the lessons as well. Most often, he'd drag Nero," Happy continued.

Somehow, Lucy had no problem believing that. "So, Nero's does all the cooking here?"

"Pretty much yeah," Horus said.

"What was Natsu doing?"

"Um…" was all Happy said.

"Never mind, I get it," Lucy sighed. "Well, boys, you two take a break, and I'll cook breakfast."

"You sure, Miss Lucy?" Horus asked uncertain. "I mean, you just got back from wherever you were held captive and-"

"I haven't cooked for my entire family in ten years," Lucy said firmly. "And I'm not wasting my chance to do so."

Horus nodded. He didn't argue with her. But, he wanted her to confront Nero first. He wanted to say something to her about what happened to him last night, but Nero had asked him to keep silent. He said wasn't important enough to mention. This morning, Horus noticed that the burns he received from his flames were gone, and his magic had finally stabilized; but there was…something off with it now.

Horus hoped it would all turn out alright.


At the Fullbuster Household

The Fullbuster family were up and all in the kitchen as Juvia and Gray made breakfast. Dusk and Achilles were sitting by their respective partners.

"Daddy! I want waffles!" Yuki shouted with a grin.

"Ok, ok! Calm down, Yuki," Gray laughed.

Juvia smiled as she cracked some eggs. "Scrambled or sunny side up, Eric?" she asked.

"Sunny side up," Eric said groggily. He was still tired.

"I wonder how everyone else is enjoying their little vacation," Dusk wondered aloud.

"Hating it, like I am," Eric groaned.

"Now Eric," Juvia chastised, "there is nothing wrong with taking a break every now and then."

"Yeah, but going on missions keeps Uncle Laxus off our tails! You remember the last time we had a vacation?" Eric countered.

Juvia and Achilles shivered. They did remember. It was the one and only time Laxus issued a "mass punishment" to the whole Guild. It was a vivid memory.

Gray noticed Juvia's shivering. "Do I even want to know?" he asked.

"Probably not," both Fullbuster children said quickly.

"It's not important, really," Yuki said.

"Best not to mention it," Dusk agreed.

"It will only give you nightmares. Believe me, I still have them," Achilles shuddered.

Gray tilted his head. Juvia simply shook her head. "I'll tell you later, dear. Let's not remember such tragedy as That Day," she said.

Gray raised an eyebrow, but he decided to stay silent. He went back to cooking breakfast. "So, how have you two made names for yourselves in my absence?"


Fernandez household

Jerrod yawned as he walked out of his room. He walked into the living room and noticed absently that no one was there or in the kitchen on his right. He didn't give it much thought. He was usually the one who woke up first.

He briefly considered going to the Guild, but remembered he was on vacation. He shrugged and walked into the kitchen located to the right of the living room. Making breakfast for his reunited family sounded more appealing, anyway. He began searching the cabinets and the fridge. He sighed. 'Guess I'll have to hit the market real quick,' he thought. 'We're out of everything. I really need to remember to stock up in bulk. Dragon Slayers just eat too much for their own good.'

"No food, again?" Azera asked, coming up float by Jerrod's head. He just woke up a few moments ago and figured might as well get some grub.

Jerrod shook his head. "We'll have to hit the market," he said. "Maybe even stop at the cake store and buy Mother her strawberry cake. She'll love that, I know."

"Aside from your mother's apparent strawberry cake addiction, what are we gonna do now? With your mother back and you now have a young sister, I can only assume our food bill is going to shoot up."

"Yeah, it is. Guess the guys'll just have to come over here less."

"Good luck with that one."

A shuffling alerted him to someone walking into the room. He turned and saw Azul standing behind him, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Azul? I thought you'd still be sleeping," Jerrod said.

Azul looked up to Jerrod and smiled. "Hey Jerrod! I woke up a few minutes ago and was pretty hungry. I guess you were hungry too?" she asked.

Jerrod chuckled. "Something like that. I thought I'd fix us all breakfast, but it seems were short on ingredients." He looked at Azul and asked, "Would you like to go with me to town? It shouldn't take too long to get what I need. And, you know, you and I can have a little brother/sister time." He really had to thank Nero. If Jerrod never paid attention to how Nero acted with Lea when they were younger, he would've been lost in this situation.

Azul's eyes brightened up. "Yeah!"


Strauss household

Maya opened her window and stared down at the street below. She was about to jump out when a voice caught her attention.

"If you are thinking of going to the Guild," Freed said from the doorway, making her jump away from the window, "I wouldn't recommend it. Laxus made it clear last night none of you are allowed to take missions."

Maya scowled. "I wasn't heading to the Guild," she lied. "I was heading to Luna's."

Freed raised an eyebrow, not believing her. "Then why not come down the stairs and use the door?"

"Didn't want to disturb anyone."

"Everyone's already awake."

"Didn't know that. I just woke up a moment ago."

"Nice try." Freed walked over to her window and closed it. "Come along, Maya. Breakfast is almost ready." He walked out of her room, leaving the door opened.

Maya thought about bolting out the window, but she decided it wasn't worth the scolding. She sighed. She walked back to her bed and said, "Come on, Nindo, let's go get breakf…" She broke off when she saw her Exceed partner sleeping still. She sighed again and headed downstairs.


At the Redfox household

Ginny was making breakfast. She hummed as she continued to scramble eggs and flip bacon in the pans before her. Cooking was therapeutic for her. It was a way calming down after a long hard day. And, given yesterday, she really needed a cool down.

She was so busy cooking, she never noticed her mother walking up behind her. "Well," Levy commented, making the younger bluenette jump in fright, "it seems I wasn't the only one who had the idea to come cook."

"Mama!" Ginny exclaimed as she ran to hug her. Ginny couldn't help it. She was still so happy to have her mother back!

Levy returned the hug, laughing. "Good morning, sweetie! Are you the only one up?" she asked.

"Uh-huh! Luna or Gavin usually wake up before me, but I think they drank too much last night!" Ginny told her.

Levy scowled. Oh great. She had to scold her kids now. Maybe Gajeel, too.

"Daddy woke up sometimes and cooked, but most of the time he was out cold from all the missions he'd take," Ginny continued, unaware of Levy's thoughts. "And since you got back, I thought I'd make us breakfast! It was my turn to cook this week anyways."

Levy shook her head of her musings, and smiled at her daughter. "Well, it was nice of you to cook for all of us. Mind if I join you?"

Ginny brightened. "Are you kidding?! I don't mind! Not at all!" she proclaimed loudly.

Levy laughed at her daughter enthusiastic statement. "Okay then!" the Redfox matriarch responded rolling her sleeves up. "Let's get cracking!"

Before she could, however, a grumbling reached her ears. It sounded someone else was up. "Hate fucking mornings. Wish they'd all die along with damn transportation and the like…"

Ginny giggled. "Looks like Luna's up!"

"And once I figure out how to get to it, I'll have Nero go eat the sun…" Luna grew quiet as she turned the corner into the kitchen and saw Ginny and her mother. She blinked before smiling sheepishly. "Oh, hey Mom! Ginny! Nice morning huh?" she said, scratching the back of her head.

Levy stared at her oldest daughter. "Funny," Levy said slyly, "you were just complaining about how you hated mornings."

"Um…"

"What up, bitches!" came a loud, boisterous yell from atop the stairs. Soon, Gavin and his Exceed Vincent came down the stairs grinning widely. For some reason, he was a morning person, despite everyone in his family not being one. "Breakfast ready yet?!"

He came up short when he saw his mother standing in the kitchen with a look of disappointment and irritation on her face. He paled. "O-oh. Hey…Mom…"

"Hello Gavin," she said calmly, freaking the Iron Dragon Slayer out. "I think you and I need to have a talk. NOW."


Back at the Dragneel household

/

***Blood…

Blood was everywhere. It pooled under the benches, spattered across the walls, and stained the tables red. Even the air seemed tainted red.

Nero had to blink several times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it!

But the proof was lying in front of him.

Fairy Tail…the strongest Guild in all of Fiore…lied dead before him!

His stomach did flips at the sight. Bile rose in his throat. His hands trembled. He swallowed the bile and walked further into the Guild.

Suddenly, he heard a deep chuckle. He whirled around to locate the sound, but he saw nothing. He turned around again when he noticed the chuckling was coming from his throat. It confused him because he wasn't consciously doing it.

That's when he noticed his hands weren't hands. They were claws. Eyes widening, he ran across the Guild, jumping over bodies while slipping on the blood and slamming into the floor. Finally, he made it to his destination: the med wing.

He ran up to the mirror there and gasped. The creature (it certainly wasn't his reflection) before him had bloody red hair, spiked up in all directions. Its skin seemed to be covered in dark red scales, and his hands were claws. It was covered in blood.

Its eyes were golden slits. It scared him because those eyes were malicious…evil. Its face was stretched in a dark grin, showing off its sharpened teeth. It was chuckling louder.

It thrust its clawed hand forward and grabbed Nero by the neck! He struggled to escape, but the grip was like steel. He couldn't break the hold. The creature laughed a dark, sickeningly malevolent laugh that Nero felt his blood freeze solid. It raised its other hand ominously, the clawed appendage beginning to burn with black and crimson fire.

Laughing louder, the flaming claw raced towards Nero's face…***

/

Nero gasped loudly. He bolted up from the bed and grabbed his chest in a vain attempt to calm his frantically beating heart. Sweat rolled down his face as he tried to calm his breathing.

"A…dream?" he wondered. He sighed deeply. "More like a nightmare." He shook his head and kicked the sheets off of him. There was no way he could go back to sleep now. That nightmare did an effective job in waking him up. He looked over at his clock. Seven o' five. He yawned.

Might as well make something for breakfast then head to the Guild, he decided.

Upon exiting his room, he heard giggling. He raised an eyebrow. That was when heard the voices.

"Natsu! Stop it! I'm trying to cook here!"

"Don't wanna!"

Nero heard more giggling. "Stop it, you!"

He shook his head and walked into the kitchen. His father was currently kissing his mom's neck while he held her from behind. His mom was trying, and somewhat succeeding, in cooking breakfast. Her giggling got louder as his dad lowered his head to her shoulders, his hands roaming…

Nero decided to nip the scene in the bud. "Ahem…" he coughed, gaining the attention of the elder Dragneels. "Should I just go back to bed and let you two finish…whatever…" he motioned towards them "this is leading too."

The two flew away from each other, blushing a deep red. Nero thought of his parents acting like kids with their hands in the cookie jar was hilarious! He couldn't help but laugh at them.

"N-Nero! When did you wake up?!" Lucy asked, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Just a few minutes ago. I was walking out of my room to rustle up some grub before heading to the Guild," Nero explained.

Natsu frowned for a moment before it clicked. "Oh yeah, you weren't there when Laxus said it," he remembered.

"Said what?" Nero asked.

"You've all been given a vacation from the Guild and Laxus made it perfectly clear none of you were to come to the Guild for a week, sweetie," Lucy said to him.

Instead of the reaction she expected, Nero's eyes widened. "A vacation?! A freakin' vacation?! Is Uncle Laxus fucking serious?! He KNOWS what happened last time! Why, in the bloody red Hell, did he think it was a good idea to force us into another vacation?!" he shouted loudly as his hands grabbed the sides of his head.

Lucy was shocked at his reaction. She turned to Natsu to ask what her son meant, and she saw him pale slightly. She was growing concerned. "Natsu," she drawled out slowly, "what is our son talking about?"

Natsu gulped. "Last time the Rookies had a vacation…Magnolia kinda went up in flames," he said at last.

Lucy's eyes widened. "They set fire to the city?!" she cried.

"No, no, nothing like that!" Natsu assured. "It was a lot of events that led up to that."

Lucy then turned to glare at Nero. "Did you have anything to do with it?" she asked in a hard tone.

Nero's eyes widened. He waved his hands in front of him and said quickly, "NO! No way! I was at your old apartment most of the time! I only tried to minimize the damage and help the civilians!"

Lucy seemed to calm down after that. She nodded and went back to the stove. She flipped the eggs and asked, "What happened after that?"

"Laxus issued the first 'mass punishment' for the whole Guild," Natsu explained.

Lucy nearly dropped the skillet in her hand. "The whole Guild?"

"Everyone had a hand in it one way or the other."

Lucy shook her head, wondering just what kind of crazy had happened in her absence.

"Hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry," came a tired voice behind Nero.

Nero grinned widely. He turned and threw his arms in the air proclaiming loudly, "Dragonbite!"

"Don't call me Dragonbite!" Lea shouted, her tiredness forgotten.

"Now, now, calm down," Lucy told them. "No need to get in a fight this early in the morning."

"Besides, we gotta celebrate being back together!" Natsu proclaimed.

"Yeah!" Lea said loudly, forgetting her argument with Nero. "We need to celebrate!"

Nero chuckled at his sister's antics. He looked around and asked, "Hey guys? Where's Horus? He wasn't in my room when I woke up."

"They went to see Carla," Natsu told him.

"Ah. Okay."

"Breakfast's almost ready!" Lucy said. "Natsu, would you and Lea set the table while Nero helps me with the food?"


At the Fernandez household

Erza awoke to the smell of cooking. She blinked. She rolled over enough to see Jellal was lying beside her. 'Jerrod,' her mind supplied. Content, she sat up and yawned. She stretched a bit, and looked over at Jellal. She smiled.

"Hey, Jellal, time to wake up," she whispered softly.

"Wondering when you'd wake up," Jellal said as he opened one eye. He stared at her and grinned.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "How long have you been awake?" she asked.

"Not long. Just waiting on you to wake up. It appears our children took it upon themselves to cook breakfast for all of us. I even heard something about getting you some more strawberry cake."

Erza brightened up at the mention of her favorite treat. During her time in Orgo's dimensional rift, she was deprived of it. Orgo had apparently learned of her obsession with it and made the dimension have no strawberry cake! It was a tragedy!

"Well, I think you have caught my interests, Mr. Fernandez," she said teasingly. "Shall we make our way to the kitchen then?"

Jellal smirked. "I believe we shall, Mrs. Fernandez."

/

"This is good, Jerrod!" Azul praised. Jerrod had just made her an omelet.

"Thank you, Azul, but it's not my recipe, unfortunately," Jerrod said mournfully. "Nero was the one to make this recipe."

"Lea's big brother?"

"Yeah him. He's a surprisingly good cook."

"Better than you?"

"Not by a long shot!"

The siblings shared a laugh as Jellal and Erza walked into the kitchen. Azera saw them first. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Fernandez, good morning," he greeted. He was standing at the sink washing dishes in his battle form.

"Good morning, Azera," Erza greeted back.

"Breakfast looks good, you three," Jellal commented as he looked at the spread they had set out: pancakes, sausage and biscuits, omelets…the works.

Azul beamed at her parents. "Uh-huh! Jerrod and Azera made it and I helped!" she said proudly.

Erza smiled down at her daughter. "That is great Azul!" she told her.

They sat down at the bar and began eating. Erza decided to start a new conversation. "So, do you think Natsu or Lucy told Nero about the vacation Laxus gave y'all?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm sure someone told him," Jerrod said dismissively with a wave of his hand. "The problem is him, Auron, and I keeping the others in line."

"Why is that?"

"You remember us Rookie's reaction to Uncle Laxus's announcement?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"…We have a very interesting conversation ahead of us, Mother."


At the Strauss household

The Strauss and Justine family was sitting around their dining table for breakfast. Elfman, Evergreen, and Auron sat on the left side with Zed sitting on Auron's head eating. Mira, Lisanna, and Lisanna's fiancé, Tanner Malcom, sat at the right.

Freed walked down the stairs and entered the kitchen. Mira turned and smiled at him. "Hello dear," she greeted. "Is Maya up?"

"Yes, but I found her trying to leave for the Guild. She even tried to lie to me," Freed said tiredly. She sat down next to Mira and said, "I don't understand why she's so tense around me. Why is she actively avoiding me?" It really hurt him. Back before he was imprisoned by Screaming Ghost, Maya was his little girl. She never left his side other for when he went on missions. She never missed a chance to tell him how much she loved him. So that begged the question: What went wrong?

Auron sighed exasperatedly. "I may know the reason, Uncle Freed," he said glumly. "I think she…"

Maya walked in at that moment. She smiled at them, but Auron could tell it was forced slightly forced. "Hey, everyone…" She looked dismissively at Tanner. "And Ass hat."

"Maya!" Mira shouted standing to face her daughter. "What have I told you about insulting your aunt's fiancé?!" she demanded.

Maya shrugged indifferently. "Not to insult the Ass hat," she said frivolously.

"Maya, I believe you should apologize to Mr. Malcom," Freed said sternly. He met the man last night. He was a good man from what he'd seen.

Maya looked at her father while masking her irritation. She huffed. "Whatever," she mumbled. To Tanner: "I'm sorry I called you an Ass hat." She didn't sound very sorry.

"Don't worry about it, Maya, dear," he said nicely, giving her a warm smile. She scowled at him. "I'm the 'new guy' in the family. I'm sure everyone will give flank for wanting to marry such a beautiful woman as Lisanna from everyone in the Guild." Lisanna blushed at the comment; Maya's scowl deepened. "Natsu's already read me the 'break her heart, and I'll dismember you slowly and torturously' act."

Lisanna snapped up at that. "He did, did he?" she asked with a hard tone. 'I'm going to have to have a nice long CHAT with Natsu after this,' she thought darkly.

On a completely unrelated note, Natsu at that time felt an intense cold seize his heart, and began to sweat nervously.

Elfman laughed. "I guess I'll have to thank Natsu the next time I see 'em! 'Course, his speech will have nothing on the MANLY speech I'll be giving Tanner later."

"ELF!" Lisanna shouted indignity.

"Aunt Lisanna, I'm afraid you have you have no say in the matter. Half the members have already tore into him, myself included," Auron said with a smirk.

Lisanna turned furious. "Auron Strauss! What did you say to him?!" she screamed at him.

"Nothing too bad," Auron admitted. "Just that should he hurt you in any way, I was having Zed send him into a pocket dimension filled with cannibal gorillas armed with shotguns and drinking sake." Auron suddenly noticed Maya grabbing two plates of food and stealthily walk out of the room He shrugged. She must've been carrying food up to Nindo.

"I can do that," Zed pitched in helpfully, taking a bite of his sausage and biscuit. "It's a simple matter of opening the portal then altering the physiology of the dimension-"

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" Lisanna shouted loudly. Auron and Zed turned towards her and paled. Oh crap.

"Now calm down, Lisanna," Evergreen placated. "I'm sure the boys meant nothing by it." She turned a glare at her son and his Exceed. "You don't mean anything by it did you?"

They both gulped. "No ma'am!"

Elfman chuckled softly. 'This is payback for laughing at me Auron,' he thought.

Discretely, Auron glared at his father. 'Oh, it's so on, old man.'


An: Again I'm sorry it took so long. Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! This little filler arc will be completed next chapter or the one after that. 'Till next time!