I turned in very early the next morning, forgoing a meal in the interests of reaching my bed more quickly. Practice had been long, exhausting and quite frustrating – but I felt like I was getting closer to achieving the result I wanted, which made the entire thing worth it.

I slept almost until afternoon before my stomach dragged me out of bed, through the shower and into the kitchen, whereupon I chopped up several random fruits and dropped them into my porridge to complement my usual fare.

Once the growling in my belly had stopped, I took the time to throw together the things I thought I would need for a week-long mission before leaving my backpack just by my bedroom window, where I could retrieve it quickly if needs be.

Preparations complete, I made my way out of the door, and off to Fairy Tail.

When I arrived, Natsu and Gray were rolling around on the floor as the centrepiece of a large-scale brawl, one which Erza, Levy and Lucy were all sitting out. The former was delicately eating away at a strawberry cake, the latter was wincing every time part of the furniture was crushed or one of the combatants was launched up and away from the melee, and the second was, as could be expected, reading a book – though she took the time to fire disapproving stares over the top of it every now and then.

"Morning, everyone." I greeted them, pulling up a seat by the table. The three Mages returned the greetings before all glancing toward the brawl, then back to me. I shrugged. "I might get a little fight crazy, but I'm not that crazy."

Levy nodded approvingly, while Lucy let out a sigh of relief. Erza didn't seem particularly bothered one way or another, simply returning to her cake.

"So I take it Gray couldn't help but taunt Natsu over yesterday's match?" I asked, contemplating the effort to reward ratio of floating over the battling Mages so I could get a drink from Mirajane.

"Of course." Levy answered, while Lucy let out another sigh and placed her head on the table for a moment, grumbling to herself. "I don't think there's ever been a time when those two could keep their tongues in check around one another...of their own volition."

It didn't take a genius to know why the blunette glanced at Erza when she was finishing her sentence.

I shook my head, before loosing a massive yawn. Odd – I had only woken up a while ago, and even if I hadn't had a proper night's rest I was still used to operating on less sleep...

Then I noticed that everyone else was doing much the same thing, with eyes drooping all around and a general air of grogginess which was only growing stronger with time.

'This guy...would make a fortune as a babysitter...' Was my last coherent thought, before everything went grey and quiet.


When I awoke once again, it took me a few moments to shake off the last of the cobwebs and sit upright – I'd fallen forwards on my arms, at least, so no mark on my forehead.

Glancing to my sides, I could see that Levy had passed out in her book, Lucy had already been resting her head on the table, and Erza...

Had somehow formed a protective bridge over her cake in her sleep? '...Note to self: never touch the cake. It is most definitely not a lie.'

And there was me going off on pop culture references in my own head again. Was my brain using them more to stop me forgetting them in a world where I couldn't be reminded otherwise...?

...That just made it sound like I'd been brainwashed. With memes.

Maybe I should ask about seeing a psychiatrist sometime... Then again, they'd probably run a mile from anyone with the Fairy Tail emblem. Oh well.

Dissatisfied grumbling rose around the room, along with a few curses – probably from people who had fallen asleep in food or drink, or who had fallen from their seats when the spell took hold of them.

Lucy caught the gist of them. "Who's Mystogan..?"

"One of the candidates for 'strongest Mage' in Fairy Tail." The answer came from the stylishly-dressed, playboy-esque Loke where he was standing beside our table near Lucy, staring at the door with an inscrutable look in place.

That only lasted long enough for him to see who he had answered and was standing beside, at which point his expression became terrified and he seemed to almost teleport back a good metre or so.

Gray spoke up from the floor, where everyone who had been taking part in the brawl was pulling themselves upright, the mood having been well and truly lost. "He's got some kind of problem with people seeing him, so he always puts the Guild to sleep before he comes to take a job."

Lucy blinked several times, glancing at the door incredulously. "That sounds so shady..."

Gray shrugged, pulling up another seat at the table. "Yeah, well – that's the way he is. Only the Master knows Mystogan's face."

"Well," a voice drawled its way into the conversation, casual but in no way diminished by the distance it needed to cross – probably because the entire room fell silent when it was first heard. "Not just the Master. I know it as well, after all."

Voices rose around the room once he stopped speaking, but I just looked up at the figure on the balcony, taking him in as best I could – I wouldn't have many chances to see this man, before we ended up on different sides of a battlefield.

Spiky yellow hair was set above a face right out of a fashion magazine, its looks not detracted from by the jagged scar running from above the centre of the right eyebrow down across the eye itself without damaging it, before zig-zagging like a lightning bolt to terminate on the right cheek, its bottom tip level with his mouth – one which now had a lit cigar clenched between its teeth.

Orange eyes looked out over the crowd lazily, as if it weren't really worth their owner's time – the fact that he still had his black, spike-decorated headphones in place just added to the image.

He was tall and muscular – that was obvious even under the large black, fur-lined coat slung over his shoulders. His shirt was cheetah-patterned, with brown diamonds set on dirty-yellow. His trousers were a dark red colour, leading down to polished black shoes.

Laxus Dreyer...the artificial Lightning Dragon Slayer, the grandson of Makarov Dreyer, and the man who turned Fairy Tail on itself so he could destroy the Guild and build it back up from the ground.

And despite that, there were few people who loved Fairy Tail more than he did.

I stared at him, as Gray informed Lucy of Laxus' status as one of the candidates for 'Fairy Tail's Strongest Mage'. I really wasn't sure of what to do about him...on the one hand, his Thunder Palace would place Magnolia itself at risk, and all the people in her. On the other hand, Fairy Tail had emerged stronger from the battle, old wounds healed over and new bonds forged.

Honestly, as Natsu had said at the time, I couldn't see anything wrong with finding out just who was the strongest...

So long as I could interfere with the circumstances a bit. I wasn't letting Evergreen turn my friends to stone – no way in Hell.

I was broken from my reverie when Natsu climbed up from the floor, jumped on a table and immediately challenged his fellow Dragon Slayer (even if Natsu didn't know that) to a fight.

That mostly settled me, seeing the teen staring up defiantly at the older Mage. Natsu could handle Laxus – with a little help, of course, but he could handle him.

I'd put my trust in my teammate on this front.

One of the other Mages tried to talk Natsu down by reminding him that he'd already lost to Erza just the previous day, and a smug expression suffused Laxus' face. "He's right you know." He commented around his cigar. "If you can't even beat Erza, you've not got a hope of beating me."

From the table where I sat, an ominous sensation began emanating outwards from the redhead in question, who stood up slowly and glared right at Laxus, not giving an inch. "And what do you mean by that, Laxus?"

Not far from her, the Mage who I remembered seeing at yesterday's fight – Max, I thought his name might be – hissed at her to keep calm, though it seemed to have very little effect on the staring contest as Laxus threw his arms wide atop the balcony, which had the effect of spreading his coat out as well.

'He's like a lizard puffing out his neck to look bigger. Or maybe he thinks he's Batman?'

Those mental images immediately broke me out of whatever tension I might have been feeling, and I had to hide my smirk behind my hand even as the Lightning Dragon Slayer proclaimed his position as the strongest Mage in Fairy Tail, getting Natsu worked up even more.

"Get down here and fight, you bastard!"

The malicious look on Laxus' face only grew wider. "Why don't you come up here?"

Natsu took off like a shot across the Guild floor, moving straight for the stairs up to the second level at a speed I would be pushed to match – and found himself unable to go any further, as Makarov's hand and arm grew to many times their normal size and slammed him into the floor like a hammer on a particularly obstinate nail.

From where he had been sitting on the bar all morning, Makarov's quiet voice easily carried over to everyone listening. "Natsu, you know you can't go up to second floor...yet."

I heard the implication there – that Makarov firmly believed in Natsu's ability to attain that privilege at some point in the future – but the Dragon Slayer himself was either too inexperienced with subtext or currently too worked up to listen, since he was glaring daggers at Laxus from where he was trapped beneath the massive fist, the other Mage leaning over the balcony with a mocking look on his face. "Hah – you got scolded!"

Really, his behaviour was rather childish – but it worked on Natsu, so that might be calculated on Laxus' part. One way or another, the Look Makarov shot him from the one eye he deigned to open was unmistakably a warning. "You'd better stop too, Laxus."

The Dragon Slayer grunted, but pulled back from the balcony, turning once more to the main room to deliver his final words. "I'll never give up my position as Fairy Tail's strongest!" He declared, holding up one hand as if clutching something invisible. "Not to Erza, not to Mystogan, not even to that geezer!"

He turned his back, walking back to wherever it was that he spent his spare time, his voice still reaching the Guild proper.

"I am...the strongest!"


Conversation was a bit quiet after that, and I chose to go through one drink with the others before heading out for the day.

Lucy should learn about S-Class Mages today, then head back home in the evening to discover Natsu and Happy had taken the Galuna Island job from the requests board. That left me until...probably somewhere between six and seven in the evening to keep up my practice.

It was back to the beach to me, touching down amidst the boulders I had first started using – of which there were noticeably fewer now.

Cracking my fingers, I moved to one particularly large rock, summoning my magical power as my Magic Circle lit up. The sound of grinding rock filled the air as I worked, but I was too much focussed on my work to pay attention to it.

I would grow stronger. I would grow stronger, and I would keep moving forward with Fairy Tail, until I could understand.

But for now, I needed to get this technique working properly, so I buckled down and settled in for the long haul.


I touched down outside my home hours later, fatigued but still conscious, covered in rock dust, sand and water. Six times out of ten today – much better than yesterday. But still, not enough. Nowhere near enough.

I took a long shower after tossing my clothes into my hamper, then started mashing up potatoes after beginning the process of cooking a steak.

It wasn't exactly a fancy meal, but I could eat it, and that was what mattered.

When I had finished cramming my stomach full of sustenance, I decided to go and loiter outside to see if I could catch Lucy on her way home. To that end, I perched on the side of the canal outside our apartments, looking up into the sky and examining the stars as they appeared.

I wasn't exactly an astronomer – I knew mostly how things worked up there, but I didn't know where everything was – but I could at least spot some of the big names. The Plough, Orion, Ursa Major...I might be wrong, but I was fairly sure that the constellations here were almost exactly the same as back on Earth.

Really, I was fairly sure that Earthland must be some kind of parallel reality to my own. I didn't know if such a thing was proven with Magic to exist, but even if it was, I had to consider whether I would really want to go home.

My relationship with my family was...strained, when I last saw them. Family was important to both of my parents, and my choice to basically ignore them in favour of Heather hadn't been well-received. I didn't know if the damage done to our relationship was repairable – but even if it was, I didn't know if I had enough motivation to put in the effort needed to fix it.

As for my brother...well, I might have been nominally the older brother, but I was also basically a shut-in socially. Max was always far more outgoing, much more with the times. By the time we were both teenagers, he had overtaken me, so to speak.

It wasn't like we were strangers in the same house or anything, but we didn't have the usual brotherly relationship, so I figured he'd be fine with me fully out of the picture now.

My thoughts of home persisted, and I just sat staring at the night sky, idly wondering what was happening under stars so very similar to these ones. Was I missed? Was anyone looking for me? Had my absence from the world really changed anything?

...Probably not. That was the big difference between Earth and Earthland – back 'home', I was an above-average student with few social skills who would, at best, have gone on to design and create a semi-popular video game. Maybe.

Here? Here, I was a Mage. A Fairy Tail Mage with a rare ability, a part of Team Natsu – the strongest team in this generation of Fairy Tail Mages, no matter what Laxus might say.

Here I had power, the ability to change things, perhaps even for the better. And that, if nothing else, was reason enough for me to stay and do my best.

"Declan? What are you doing out here?"

I pulled myself out of my thoughts at the sound of my teammate's voice, turning sideways to find that Lucy was balanced on the wall of the canal where I was sitting, bag in one hand and a curious expression on her face.

I spared her a smile, rising from my seat as I looked upward once more. "I was stargazing, I guess." Not really a lie – I was staring at the stars, even if they weren't really what I was seeing. "I don't think I'm very good at it, though – since you have the keys to several of those constellations' spirits, I'd bet you're better at it than I am."

Like she usually did when complimented, Lucy smiled widely and went just a little red. "Oh, I'm not that good really~" She waved her hand a bit, although the slightly proud expression she was wearing told me her thought process was probably running a different way.

I shook my head a bit before glancing at Lucy's apartment, seeing a light on in one of the windows, and huffing a breath that caught my teammate's attention. "I think you've got another visitor." I told her dryly, drawing her attention to the windows of her apartment, which prompted her to let out a burst of frustrated breath. "Do you mind if I come in too? It's probably Natsu with something we need to know."

Lucy raised one eyebrow at me, and I shrugged. "Well, there's a pattern here, isn't there?"

She paused, then remembered what I'd pointed out the day before and heaved another sigh before nodding. "I guess...come in, then."

We crossed the road to enter her apartment, and as I had predicted we came across Natsu and Happy exercising in Lucy's living room.

While she laid into them about not doing this in their own home, I waited out the rant until the partners finally got around to why they were here. "I've made a decision."

Though he was in the middle of a push-up, the sudden switch of Natsu's voice from the mix of playful amusement and oblivious laughter that usually characterised the Dragon Slayer's tone to determined was enough to catch both Lucy and I's attention, as he looked up and Happy produced a piece of paper with a rustle.

"Lucy, Declan, we're going to do an S-Class job!"

When Happy presented the page detailing the Galuna Island job, Lucy's expression promptly changed to one of shocked horror, while I myself shivered – just seeing this, I was forced to think about having Erza as an enemy.

I held out my hand to Happy, and the cat placed the poster in my hand so I could look it over. As I was doing so, Lucy yelled at the feline for stealing it from the second-floor request board, before Natsu took over in trying to persuade her to follow them along.

"I know this is our first S-class job," he was saying. "So, I made sure to take the cheapest one – and look. That's still seven million Jewels."

Seven million Jewels – the equivalent of something like seventy-thousand pounds, by my reckoning. Perhaps not a truly impressive amount by Earth's standards – but considering Earthland's considerably lower-priced economy, it was the kind of windfall that the average civilian could only ever dream of receiving.

Lucy paused for a moment, but shook her head vehemently, protesting that none of us were qualified for S-class jobs.

"Well yeah..." Natsu agreed, putting his scarf and waistcoat back on. "But if we manage it...won't Gramps approve of us?"

Lucy let out a long sigh, collapsing into her desk chair and supporting her face with one arm, resting her elbow on the desk. "You're so reckless...can't you at least follow the rules of your own Guild?"

As Natsu complained that if he did that he'd never have got a job from the second floor, I rolled up the poster again and tapped it into my palm, thinking.

We had to take the job – that was a given. More, we had to have Gray along with us; he needed the closure that this job could give him, just as much as Lyon needed it. But, at the same time, letting this play out as it did before didn't sit right with me. Call me Chaotic Good, but following a set timeline just wasn't my thing.

So, what could I do to shake things up a bit...

'Oh...oh, that might just work...'

I coughed to get the others' attention just as Natsu and Happy were preparing to leave through the window, holding up the poster. "Actually, I think doing this job might actually be a good thing."

Lucy stared at me, her gaze becoming horrified again, as a massive grin started spreading across Natsu's features. I continued my explanation. "Lucy, one of the rewards for this job is a Zodiac Key – you're trying to collect those, aren't you?"

The blonde nodded, suddenly seeing this job in a whole different light, as I levelled the poster at Natsu like a sword. "Now Natsu – you know that they'll send someone after us quickly, right? We're gonna be in some serious trouble when we get back – are you ready for that?"

The Dragon Slayer met my eyes, suppressing a flippant response for a firm nod. "Yeah. I talked you guys into this team, right? That means it's my responsibility."

I grinned at the answer, nodding. "Alright. In that case, we all get packed tonight and leave for Hargeon in the morning. Since only Laxus, Mirajane and the Master go upstairs at all, they shouldn't notice it's missing until after we've left. So get a good night's sleep, and we'll meet early at the south gate."

Both my teammates nodded, and I headed to the window like Natsu and Happy, turning to offer another genial nod to Lucy. "See you in the morning, Lucy."

Then I jumped off the sill, falling out of sight – only to rise up in to the air out of the Celestial Spirit Mage's view, and immediately turn toward Fairy Tail.

Time to mix things up.


The Guild was still open when I got there, though there were very few people around.

Mirajane smiled at me when I entered, but grew more serious when she caught sight of the expression on my face as I approached. "Mirajane, do you know where the Master is?" I asked, and the bartender nodded.

"Yes – he's in the upstairs lounge at the moment. Do you want me to call him down?"

I nodded, then paused before adding, "Actually, do you think you could get a message to Erza to come down here too? I know it's late, but this is going to involve her too."

Mirajane gave me a searching look for a long moment, before nodding. "I'll give her a call."

"Thanks, Mirajane."

The bartender disappeared upstairs for a little while, coming down with Makarov in his usual jester's outfit, before going out the back – presumably to go and contact Erza.

"So, Declan." The old man greeted me, taking his usual seat on the bar with his staff in one hand. "What do you need me for?"

I took a deep breath, hoping that this wasn't going to backfire spectacularly, before reaching inside my coat to produce the rolled-up Galuna Island job poster and unfurling it, letting Makarov read it.

He stared at it for a long moment, as if he had temporarily forgotten how to breath, before looking from the paper to me, expression becoming much more serious. "How did you get this?"

Shuddering slightly at the hard look in the Guild Master's eyes, I placed the paper on the bar. "From Happy – he just took it off the request board."

Makarov kept looking me in the eyes, probably looking for any sign that I was lying, before closing his eyes and letting out a long sigh. I thought it sounded rather like 'Laxus'.

"So?" He asked, looking up again. "Why are you bringing this to me? I'm sure you must have a reason."

I nodded, glancing at the back door again before my gaze returned to Makarov. "Natsu really wants us to do this job," I began, seeing the twitch in Makarov's eyebrow. "You know him better than I do, so you'd understand his reasons better, but I think he really wants to prove that he's strong enough for this."

The old man let out another sigh, grumbling under his breath and pressing one hand to his own forehead. "So of course, he's asked his team to come with him."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Lucy could really use the Zodiac Key they're offering as payment, and personally...I think this'll be good for us. As individuals and as a team."

There was nothing quite like shared effort to forge closer bonds – or so every book on leadership I'd ever read had told me.

Makarov grunted, motioning me to continue. "Still, I don't want to risk us getting expelled from the Guild, or getting injured because we bit off more than we can chew. So, I figured there was only really one way for us to go on this job without getting in trouble for it."

The old man's eyes glinted, and as if on cue, the back door opened to admit Erza and Mirajane. I turned to look at them, Makarov doing likewise, the gleam in his eye getting stronger. He turned back to me, raising one eyebrow, and I nodded at the unasked question.

Makarov stared at me for a few moments longer, searching my eyes for...well, I wasn't sure what, but something. I guess he found it too, since he started to chuckle. Then, that chuckle became full-blown laughter, and he slapped his knee several times as he rocked back and forth a bit, two bemused female Mages watching from behind him until he calmed down.

Letting out a cleansing sigh, he picked up the poster from the wood, drawing Mirajane and Erza's abruptly widened eyes, and eyed it for a few moments. Then, he looked over his shoulder to Erza. "Say, Erza – what do you say to taking a few of the other kids with you on a trip, eh?"


Makarov's POV

Makarov watched as the Ross kid left via the front door, kicking off into the air as he passed the entryway, while Erza left via the same entrance she'd used coming in.

Normally, Erza was a stickler for the rules – it was why he rarely had to step in when his kids got rowdy; she kept them in line entirely on her own. Well, so long as no-one touched her cake...

Still, after being assured that this was being done with his blessing, she had acquiesced to the request. She was like a dutiful granddaughter – even if her manner of showing it could be a bit skewed on occasion.

Contrary to what Ross probably believed, Makarov already knew about what he'd been doing before arriving in Magnolia with Natsu. More than one Fairy Tail Mage had passed through Hargeon in the last six months, bringing back stories about the handyman turned deputy guardsman who kept the town safe.

Having someone standing up for others using their Magic was always good for Makarov's heart, and so he'd had no reservations about allowing the young man entrance into the Guild. He was already repaying the kindness, too – between the amount the Guild had been paid for uncovering Duke Everlue's insidious actions, as well as the payment the Council had (grudgingly) handed over for their handling of the Lullaby/Eisenwald situation (that was the best thing about Dark Guilds – almost all their members had bounties) and the rather impressive leash on the collateral damage, Fairy Tail was actually doing rather well for itself at the moment.

Natsu certainly knew how to pick 'em.

The kid had balls, too – not even two weeks into his membership and he walked straight up to the Guild Master to ask about taking an S-class job. With his team, admittedly – had he asked about doing it solo Makarov would have pounded the kid into the floor to try and beat some of the stupid out of him.

This would be good for them, though – the kid was right about that. Natsu was someone who knew what he wanted in life – he wanted to find his father, and he wanted to make Igneel proud of him by growing stronger, which necessitated picking a fight with anyone and everyone he could find that could give him a challenge.

It would be adorable, if it weren't for the harassment complaints and all the property damage.

Still, being allowed to go on an S-class job should hopefully give him better insight into just what being an S-class Mage meant, while at the same time satisfying some of his lust for adventure.

Of course, that was the reasoning behind Erza tailing them, rather than going alongside them. If she was with them from the start, Natsu might feel like he was being coddled or pick a fight with her, which could lead to a disaster on an S-class job. No, it was far better to have Erza keep a largely discreet eye on them, and step in when it became necessary.

He took a swig from the flagon in his hand, recalling idly his own times with his team, and the thrill of adventure he'd felt on his own first S-class job.

He smiled behind his moustache. It was always so heartening to see his kids growing up...

But still, those three weren't the only ones who could grow from this. Perhaps it would be a good idea to do as the kid had suggested, and send out a sacrificial lamb to pursue them... Yes, that sounded like a good idea.

Besides, Lucy and Declan had proven adept enough at playing the diplomatic role. They'd make sure those two didn't just level the island.

Rather, they'd better – or Makarov would take the damage out of their wallets.


Declan's POV

I went to sleep early after getting back home from Fairy Tail, the better to wake up early the next morning. Once I had done so, I moved swiftly through my morning ritual before grabbing my backpack and stepping out the door into the sunrise.

Lucy wasn't out yet, so I wandered around the side of her apartment and started tapping on the window until she eventually lurched from her bedroom, hair a mess, clothes rumpled, eyes half-lidded with sleep and irritation...

And utterly stunning.

It took some real self control to keep myself from falling off the side of the building in distraction – so, I gestured quickly to her front door, spun one finger in place to hopefully signal she needed to move quickly, then dropped away so I could let my blush rise and then settle in its own time.

Really – there must be something in the water around here (or maybe it was the Ethernano in the air) that created looks like that. How did any teenage male anywhere get anything done without walking into buildings?!

Pushing that thought out of my mind, I waited quietly in front of her building for about fifteen minutes before Lucy emerged, a satchel over her shoulder and a roller bag in her hand.

I raised one eyebrow, then tapped both items – instantly reducing their weight to nil. With that done, I gestured to the roller bag, which Lucy handed over after a moment's consideration.

Once I had it in my hand, I simply slotted it across my lower back as if I were sheathing a weapon, making sure it was settled in place before letting go, keeping a hold on it with nothing but my magic.

It stuck easily, and I nodded to myself – making sure to keep it attached would be a good focus exercise.

With that, Lucy and I set off at a decent pace for the southern gate, where we found our teammate waiting for us, his customary backpack in place and Happy on his shoulder, waving cheerfully to us when we came into view.

I returned the gesture, then looked out of the gate as I drew level with the two – staring in the direction of Hargeon.

First, give Gray his closure and cure the people of Galuna Island's confusion, at the same time freeing Lyon and his companions from the grip of vengeance.

Then, get back in time to keep Gajeel off Shadow Gear.

I took a deep breath – this mission was going to be more of a timed exercise than anything else, from my perspective at least.

I always hated those levels in games too...

Still, Lucy and Natsu were oblivious to my inner thoughts – they had their own considerations, their own expressions as they stared out of the gate, all of us lined up in the road for about a minute.

Then, with a release of breath, we started down the path.


We had been walking until about noon before we called a halt for lunch and a rest, and at this point I was twitching to just lift my teammates and fly us to Hargeon. Natsu was like a kid on a sugar high with the prospect of doing this mission, and had rarely stopped talking for the entire journey so far. It was almost like having a child asking 'are we there yet' in the seat directly behind you – but worse, because if I didn't know better I'd say Natsu didn't even need to breathe.

He was stuffing his face at the moment, which allowed a cessation of speech even if not of noise, and when I looked over at Lucy I couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh. Really, I wasn't entirely sure how she could manage to remain cheerful in the face of the verbal onslaught. It was irritating me more than I'd thought was possible these days (proof that, for all I might smile and laugh around my teammates, they were also more capable of getting under my skin than just about anyone else), but I supposed she was just made of sterner stuff than I was.

That actually made a lot of sense, thinking about it – she had a real strength of character, even if that character was occasionally rather shallow.

Still, this was about as good a time as any for me to broach the subject I'd been thinking about for a while. "Hey, Natsu?"

The Dragon Slayer glanced at me, then finished chewing his current mouthful and swallowed it down, turning fully to look at me. "What is it, Declan?"

I paused for a moment, before nodding toward Happy. "It's just...I've been wondering – how come you can't ride a cart or train, yet Happy carrying you doesn't even make you slightly unwell?"

Natsu gave me an odd look. "That's because Happy isn't transportation – he's my Nakama. I wouldn't get sick when one of my Nakama helps me out."

"Huh." I was acting as if I hadn't heard that before, when really I'd been thinking about if for a while now – still, I was unlikely to get a better time to try and test this than while we were on the road, so... "Then, should I try and give you a lift? Since I'm part of the Guild now..."

In all honesty, I didn't really expect him to say yes. We'd known each other for a grand total of less than two weeks, nowhere near enough time to develop a proper entrust-your-life friendship (Not counting Heather, because there would never be another Heather).

Instead, the Dragon Slayer's eyes lit up, and he nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah, I'd forgotten – we haven't had a chance to practice combination attacks yet!"

I blinked several times as Natsu stuffed the rest of his food into the black hole he called a stomach, before turning to me and reaching out with his arms, almost like a child wanting to be lifted. "Alright, let's do this!"

I stared for a few moments, before shaking off my confusion and stepping forward, placing one hand on Natsu's shoulder for a moment as my magical power flowed from within me to surround the Dragon Slayer.

Natsu's own magical power rose in response, meeting mine mid-way and going through...well, the equivalent of two martial artists circling one another, trying to get a feel for each other before the clash. It wasn't like in the car on the way to Oshibana - probably because he was distracted by his terminal Dragon Slayer's Motion Sickness at that time. This was a whole other level of difficulty, even without Natsu making a conscious effort to fight me off.

I considered pulling back, but Natsu frowned in concentration, and the confrontational feeling died away remarkably quickly, leaving my magical power free to spill across the Dragon Slayer's skin like water.

Blinking a few times at the sudden change, I shook my head before pushing off the ground with both feet, sending us both floating into the air slowly. I focussed half on making sure Natsu didn't go twisting all over the place and make piloting an even bigger hassle than it was already, and half on his features, looking for a grimace or a green tinge.

Nothing.

Even when we passed the treetops and I tilted us horizontal to start circling around the clearing, Natsu seemed fine, opening his eyes when he felt the wind in his hair and grinning like a maniac once he saw we were properly airborne, while from below Happy cheered and laughed.

I was stunned enough by the ease with which that had happened that I lowered us both down to the ground before I lost control, staring at my teammate as I almost fell onto the log which had been my seat.

Natsu raised one eyebrow at my somewhat incredulous expression, while Lucy frowned a bit. "Is something wrong Declan?"

I kept looking at him from a moment, before wetting my lips and speaking. "You...really consider me your Nakama?" Natsu nodded, apparently confused. "After the short time we've known each other, you trust me that much?"

The Dragon Slayer focussed on me, his entire attention concentrated through laser-sharp eyes. "I do. You're Fairy Tail – that means you're family. And I always trust my family."

I stared back at the other teen for several long moments, before dropping eye contact to stare at my own hands. 'There's something...something I should be able to see, something I should be feeling. I know it's there – but what is it...?'

I looked back a few moments later, bottling up my mounting confusion and a sense of something close to anguish as I stood again, brushing myself off. "Right. Well, we can keep going on foot – but I guess I had better get used to flying with you, Natsu."

The Dragon Slayer nodded, then glanced slyly to where our other human teammate had been sitting and observing. "Sure – but don't you two need to work on it as well? Maybe I should give you some alone tim-"

His sentence was cut off when I conked my fist down on his head, its augmented weight enough to get even Natsu to notice as he cradled his skull for a moment and I rubbed out my hand, glancing idly at him. "Hm? Were you saying something, Natsu?"

"Nope..." He groaned, rubbing his scalp as he stood up properly again. "Not at all."

"Good!" Moving back to where I had been sitting, I picked up my backpack before sliding Lucy's trundle-bag across my lower back again, suckering it there with gravitational attraction. "Now then, let's get back on the road, shall we?"


We camped for the night in the forest off the side of the road, taking turns to keep watch until sunrise. Lucy took first, followed by me, and then Natsu was the one who stayed on guard until sunrise. He certainly didn't show it when we set off after a morning meal of bread, cheese and dried meat (for the humans, anyway - Happy, as always, produced a fish from some kind of hammer-space); he was just as energetic as ever.

Still, after last night's demonstration, his babbling...didn't seem quite as grating.

We made good time for the second day in a row, reaching Hargeon at mid-day. When we passed over one of the hills surrounding it, providing a bird's-eye view of the town, I paused for a moment to take it in.

It had only been two weeks since I was here, waiting for my cue to step out into the big wide world. It shouldn't have been enough time for a major shift - but already, I knew that while I still felt a certain possessiveness surrounding Hargeon, it had...faded.

This wasn't where I had to be, right now - I could feel it in my bones, if that made any sense at all.

"Oi, Declan, is something wrong?"

Natsu's call had me blinking away my focus, and I jogged to catch up with my teammates, shaking my head as I went. "No - nothing at all."


I returned quite a few nods and other greetings as we headed through town for the port, addressing the people I knew by name and those I didn't with nods and smiles. It would seem that I was still remembered - though, for Hargeon to have let me pass from their minds after only two weeks was probably an improbable hope in any case.

Lucy was pointing a few things out to Natsu as we went - she'd probably seen more of the town than she might have originally, what with me recommending she tour the sights.

I occasionally added a few details to something she said, if I had them to give - I had lived here for six months, but I wasn't really a Hargeon native, so some of the local cultural nuances still went over my head.

We finally came to where the various ships had pulled in to load or unload their cargo or their crew, and I swept my eye over the various individuals by habit.

'About five Mages, all of them devoted to the weather in some respect. Several magical items, though the majority seem to be cargo. No one breaching the 'several weeks at sea' level of shadiness.'

Finished with my quick hazard-spotting, I considered the ships, looking for one in particular - a long rowing boat, manned by a single individual in a cloak and head-wrapping...

I couldn't spot them immediately, so I turned back to Natsu and Lucy. "Right - we've got a couple of options here. One," I raised a finger, "we go around talking to the various captains trying to find someone who'll take us to Galuna. Or two," a second finger raised, "we go have a talk with the Harbour Master and he can tell us who might be willing without needing to ask everyone."

Lucy nodded at the second option, but Natsu was shaking his head. "No boats! We'll swim - or heck, you can fly us, right Declan?"

I rubbed the back of my head for a few moments, stalling for an excuse while at the same time wondering if I actually could get us there. 'With the right heading I'd have no trouble finding the place - it would just be a matter of keeping everyone balanced and hoping my magical power lasted the journey...'

Still, that was something to test later. "I might be able to fly us there, but if I can't manage it, we'll all end up stranded with no way of getting back to dry land." I informed him. "Besides, you could probably swim there and back - I certainly pity anything that tries to eat you - but I'm not as strong as you are, and Lucy's water spirit is..."

I paused to think of a word, but Lucy just let out a long sigh, shooting a slightly forlorn but mostly annoyed look at her keys - one in particular, I imagined. "Yeah...I don't want to think about what Aquarius would do if I asked her to take me somewhere..." She muttered, then shuddered - presumably, she had thought about it.

"So yeah," I continued, "it'll have to be a boat. On the plus side however, I should be able to do more or less what I did to the...four-wheeled magical vehicle...with it as well. That'll cut down on the time we spend on it."

Natsu still didn't look particularly happy, and instead started stretching. "Well then, I'll just swim alongside the boat!"

As Lucy turned to the Dragon Slayer and started trying to talk him out of that course of action, I headed off down the port, aiming to reach one building in particular. It was stone, like most of Hargeon's buildings, and the silver-painted anchor sign hanging over the door served as the only adornment to indicate its contents.

I pushed inside, looking around the somewhat smoggy interior, trying to pierce the gloom. "Oi, Archie! You around here?"

There was no response for a few moments, then stomping footsteps started making their way across the wooden floors and I made my ever-so-slightly tentative way to the counter, which was currently home to several empty bottles and a number of shells.

The stairs leading upward behind the counter creaked ominously under a ponderous weight, but Archie didn't pay the complaints any attention - if his stairs were gonna break, they'd have done so years before, back in his prime.

His snowy-white beard, standing out beside his leathery skin even in the dim interior of the office, was still cropped short as it had been the last time I'd seen him. He was bigger than me - way bigger. Like, 'if he was cut in half, then cut in half again, he'd still make two of me' big. Hargeon legend stated that Archie - whose last name had been consigned to the mists of time, since when anyone in Hargeon said 'Archie' everyone knew who they meant - had once stopped two halves of a ship from breaking apart in a hurricane by grabbing onto one half with each arm, and had in fact held the whole thing together through main strength until it returned to port.

I wasn't sure what to make of that, but since I'd seen the man wield a ship's mast like a jousting lance, I wasn't going to start making accusations.

"Well well well, if 't ain't th' Anchor 'imself!" The septuagenarian boomed, his dark-blue jacket - made with enough material for most people's tents - creasing as he folded his arms behind the counter, looking down with his beady eyes. "Ah'd 'eard ye'd left fer clearer waters, lad - what's got ya comin' back so soon?"

Most people found it difficult to interpret Archie- even in Hargeon. Me? I was Scottish - listening to Archie's accent was almost like being back home.

"I've got a job out on an island - my team and I need a vessel to get us there, and I figured I'd rather ask a friendly face than go trawling through that lot."

Archie let out a huff, unfolding his arms as he reached under the counter. "Right, o' course ye din't come in 'ere fer a chat wi' an old man. Young uns these days, I swear..." Finally rising from his crouch (which still kept him at my chest level, easily), he brought a battered old ledger with him, peeling it open on the counter and squinting down at the illegible scrawl on the pages.

Or, illegible for me, at least - for the former captain, it apparently made perfect sense. "So lad, which o' the isles'll ye be visitin' fer this job o' yers?"

"Galuna Island."

As I'd rather expected, Archie blanched at that, looking up sharply from the book. "Galuna? Ye're absolutely sure about that?"

"Ay- yes," I replied, suppressing my natural reply - it was a habit of mine. With my accent trapped between Scots and English, I picked up some parts of both - but most people claimed that 'aye' sounded wrong coming from me, so I tried to avoid it. "That's the place."

He stared at me for several long moments – a heavy, assessing gaze, that anyone over the age of about sixty-five seems to spontaneously develop like they've unlocked a secret of the universe. I met it and stood tall; I was ready for this.

...Okay, so maybe I wasn't necessarily ready for this. But we were ready for this, and I knew that for a fact.

Archie kept up the stare for a second longer then grunted, turning his eyes back to his ledger and scanning it for several moments before tapping one entry with a finger that had more girth than the average wrist. "'Ere we go."

He looked up again, tapping the entry again. "There'll be one feller comin' in n' out o' the harbour 'round midday – e's bin comin' round regular fer the past few years, 'e 'eads out that way. 'E'll be yer best shot at a lift ta Galuna."

I blinked a couple of times, then recalled that the Moon-Drip spell had been in operation for quite a long time – years, in fact. Honestly, just how long had this job been available? Had it only just been posted, or were all the S-Class Mages too busy with other things?

Well, there was the option that they were all complete douchebags like Laxus was at the moment, but I preferred to think otherwise. 'Ascribe not to malice that which can be blamed on incompetence' and all that.

"Thanks, Archie. I'll see if I can't find something interesting for your collection."

The old Harbour Master chuckled, which sounded more like a bear growling than anything else, as I peered through the shadows of the building at the display which ran all along one wall.

Anything which might have come from the ocean was, in some way, represented in Archie's collection – the display christened 'Hargeon's True Harbour Wall'. Shells, sands, various types of rock, dried examples of various kinds of sea life, types of driftwood, sub-sea vegetation...

So far as I knew, nothing new had been added to it in quite some time. Still, I held out some hope – some kind of curio would surely come to mind while I was there?

I'd figure it out. Probably.

"Heh, ye do that lad. Now go on, git – ah've got a date wi' a bottle o' Jack's finest."

I waved over my shoulder as I left the store, the sound of Archie's footsteps – easily mistaken for falling trees in another scenario – echoing behind me as he returned to his apartment over the office.

When I got back to my teammates, Natsu was still running through stretches, while Lucy looked like she was starting to wonder if a Zodiac Key was really worth all this.

Happy...seemed completely unbothered. Ah well, it was true to his nature at least.

"I'm back!" I called as I approached, waving one arm in greeting. The others noticed me, with Happy offering his usual salute while Lucy smiled, both of them returning the gesture. Natsu...just kept stretching, though I was fairly sure he nodded to acknowledge me. I wasn't entirely sure really – after all, just how many types of stretch were there? Had he repeated himself yet?

Choosing to leave Natsu's exercise schedule as a mystery (for down that path lay bowl-cuts and green spandex) at the moment, I took a seat beside them both on a low stone wall, our backs toward the harbour. As I did so, I closed my eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath and casting the net of my senses outward, checking for anything familiar.

There were the magical signatures I'd read from the ships' Mages and their cargo, Natsu, Lucy and Happy...and approaching us along the promenade between our wall and the drop off into the water, was the signature I'd been expecting.

Hiding my grin, I stretched my own arms for a moment (did Dragon Slayers spread stretches like other people spread yawns?) then crossed them in my lap. "Well, it turns out there is a boat heading to Galuna." I told them both, which brightened Lucy's expression and increased the speed at which Natsu performed his stretches. "He comes around regularly, and he's due..." I glanced up at the sky, judging the position of the sun. "About this time, actually."

"You lot are looking for passage to Galuna Island?"

The new voice came from behind us, where a single boat was pulled up at one of the wooden jetties. I scanned the newcomer quickly – most of his body was concealed by a white cape/shroud, with a similarly coloured headpiece wrapping around his scalp. The only thing distinct about him at all where his bulging, bug-like eyes – any more and they'd be out on stalks!

And if I strained my senses – the equivalent of shutting out all the background noise and focussing on a single instrument in an orchestra – I could feel something radiating from him. It didn't feel like magical power at all, but it was something I could pick up on...and it reminded me ever-so-slightly of Lullaby.

Demon then. Bobo – the man we needed to see.

"We are." I confirmed, even as Natsu went to vehemently deny it.

Bobo shook his head. "I don't know what you kids think you'll find out there...but that place is cursed. No sailor will even go near it."

Lucy let out a low groan, while Natsu re-affirmed his decision to swim to Galuna, sharks or no sharks and regardless of whether or not his Magic would be functional in a massive body of water.

I didn't know whether to applaud his bravery or berate his foolishness – Lucy couldn't seem to decide either, simply she deflated with a sigh. I patted her on the shoulder, and she opened her mouth – probably to ask what we were going to do now – when another voice chimed in. A familiar one, this time.

"Found you."

Lucy shrieked and jumped about a foot in the air, Natsu spontaneously combat-rolled forward, Happy shot into the sky, and I...I twisted to look over my shoulder, offering my fellow Mage a nod. "Yo, Gray. Good travelling?"

The Ice Mage gave me a suspicious look, probably wondering why I was so calm, but grunted in response anyway. "Yeah – catching up wasn't a problem." He turned on Natsu now, who had come up in a fight-ready position, and smirked at the Dragon Slayer. "The Master sent me to bring you guys back to the Guild."

Natsu blanched, mild anxiety and shock flickering across his features. "You mean Gramps found out already?!"

"Yup!" Gray declared, leaning in closer to the Dragon Slayer while remaining crouched on the wall a bit behind and to the side of me. "If you come back quick and quiet, you might not even get expelled from the Guild."

Natsu growled and stalked toward Gray, who glared and met him halfway as they started one of their forehead-to-forehead insult contests of pure stubbornness. Meanwhile, Lucy's expression flickered momentarily to one of mixed horror, shock and terror at the prospect of being expelled from the Guild – and I knew that for her, there were very few things, even now, that could be more distressing.

The expression flicked a switch in my head, and in a habit I hadn't had use for in over six months, I reached out one arm to place around her shoulders and pulled her into a side-hug for a few moments, patting her upper arm before letting her go again. Her attention immediately switched over to me, and I offered her my most reassuring expression – admittedly I never actually got the hang of reassuring, though, so I probably just looked...normal. Or stupid – but those two are interchangeable, in my experience.

"It'll be fine, Lucy – Master Makarov's renowned as a fair Guild Master, and Fairy Tail's a fairly forgiving place. It has to be, what with the whole toss-out-the-rules-and-do-what-you-want philosophy we've got going on. Even if we were dragged away from this job – which I don't see happening with all of us here – I very much doubt we'd get kicked out." I patted her shoulder again, this time offering a squeeze as a solid reminder that I was here with her. "So stop frowning, okay? It'd be a shame to ruin that face of yours with wrinkles."

It was at that moment that the logical part of my brain caught up with the runaway instinct that had hijacked it, and I froze. A second or two passed before I promptly retrieved my hand from Lucy's shoulder. Quickly deciding that I needed a moment to think about where the hell that had come from, I stood up quickly, turning away toward Natsu and Gray - though admittedly, the decision had something to do with the atomic blush I could feel burning in my face.

Paying proper attention, I could see that the two Mages were summoning magical power in preparation to start flinging spells about the place.

My eyebrow twitched – like Hell they were gonna wreck anything in my town!

I stalked forward, drew back both my fists, there was a momentary flare of purple-black light-

Then I brought my fists down in opposing diagonals, forming an X-shape from my shoulders to my hips and, by sheer coincidence, causing my fists to pass through the spaces currently occupied by Gray and Natsu's heads.

The crashing thump they made when they hit the ground was most certainly not my way of dumping the mixed panic and slight shock my incongruous show of emotion had sparked – no matter how much better I might have felt when they were down.

I shook out my fists idly, wondering just what the Hell Fairy Tail skulls must be made out of for the strike to hurt so much yet be so effective, while behind me Bobo said something to Lucy. I didn't dare turn to look at her quite yet, so instead I glared down at the two Mages in front of me, tapping my foot with my arms folded – actually, I might have been pulling from Erza for this little performance. "And just what are you two doing?"

Natsu grumbled something that might have been construed as an attempt to speak, and I took that as cue enough. "No casting spells in civilian areas!" I declared, glaring at them even though they couldn't see me with their faces in the ever-so-slightly fractured stone of the pier. "We're just starting to fix Fairy Tail's reputation for wrecking wherever they end up – don't go undoing my hard work!"

'...Hm. I think that I might, just perhaps, have sympathised a little too much with Nami. Maybe boats bring out the worst in me...?' Putting that thought aside for the moment, I instead stood a fair bit straight when Lucy's voice sounded from behind me.

"Declan – this guy here says he'll take us to Galuna Island!"

"Good to hear!" I called back, still not facing her as I reached down to pick up both Mages by the scruffs of their necks, settling them over my shoulders before turning to see Lucy already standing in Bobo's row-boat, Happy at the prow and the skipper himself at the stern.

I coughed a bit, feeling my cheeks begin to redden again as I brought the two Mages onboard, the combined weight of three people failing to so much as tilt the boat overly much.

Bobo stared as I tossed two quite heavily muscled, decently tall teens into the middle of the ship, where they collapsed in twin boneless heaps without the anticipated capsizing of the vessel. He looked over at me, questions writ large on his face, and a little smirk pulled at my lips as I gestured towards Lucy (it was more difficult to cast the lightening without contact, but I could manage it, and I'd had more than enough contact with her for the day), then reached for Bobo with one finger extended.

He made as if to take a step back, and I halted my progress – deciding that he might well prefer an explanation before I started casting spells on him. "My Magic can reduce objects' weight," I explained. "Basically, at the moment Lucy, Natsu, Gray, myself and all our luggage weigh just the stay-on-the-ground side of nothing. I can do it for you, too; I've found that transport is so much easier when you remove even a middling weight."

Bobo stared at me for a few moments longer, then nodded slowly. "Sure – give it a try."

I raised my hand again, extending it slowly before prodding him on the forehead, my magical power crashing through my body like water and rushing out of my digit to seek purchase on the man/demon's skin.

I'd expected some kind of resistance – in particular, from his arm, or the strange energy he was letting off. But, strangely enough, there wasn't any interference. 'Actually, now that I'm thinking about it and not exhausted half to death, I didn't have the usual resistance issue with Lullaby either...'

That raised some questions I'd need to get answered at some point in the future, but for now it was enough for me to keep Bobo heavy enough to not blow away in a stray wind, but light enough that even if he were to walk on the very edge of the boat, he probably wouldn't tilt it enough to fall in.

Hesitantly, the man placed his oar in the water, then pushed us off – and immediately, the boat was off, barely sinking in the water as it moved forward with an ease that, likely, the Galuna Island native had never experienced before.

He shook his head in mild wonderment, then turned to continue doing his job.

Unfortunately, that left me at the tender mercies of Lucy Heartfilia and Happy the Cat. Happy, at least, was occupied with acting as our journey's impromptu figurehead, and was laughing to himself as the sea spray passed through the air around me.

So, it was me, Lucy and two unconscious Mages who probably wouldn't wake up for a few hours yet, considering I'd hit them pretty damn hard, and one punch from Natsu had put Gray down until late afternoon in the manga.

Seriously, did these two have glass craniums?

...Actually, that could make so much sense, especially growing up with Erza.

My ability to keep a train of thought going brought my attention to the fact that it was quiet – apart from the sounds of the ocean and Happy's laughter, it was silent on the boat.

I risked a glance at Lucy – and immediately saw that almost her entire attention was focussed on me, her expression almost leonine in its predatory glint.

Oh, this was going to be a wonderful several hours.