Lo and Behold! You must surely be dreaming. Still, I'll let you dream this miraculous dream for now. I'm not so evil as to not even let you dream.
Just kidding.
So, I know I've been a while, and my writing may be a smidge different from what I had begun with - that includes the plot, because i lost the original draft. I think? - but please, enjoy and tell me what you think!
(Also, I've learnt to handle roasts. So if you want to roast me, go ahead. Just, if you can, try to PM me rather than review. But, of course, it's a free world.)
3 Years later
Fairy Tail. The so-called greatest guild in Fiore.
For three long, long years, Fairy Tail had been sad. Over the course of these three years, it's resident most cheerful dragon-slayer had been degenerating into a pit of despair, along with everyone else on Team Natsu.
You see, they found themselves lacking. They found the team lacking. They had injuries that took too long to heal, puzzles that took too much time to solve, and problems that they could not resolve.
They found themselves ironically dependant on their missing teammates.
They found themselves alone.
Especially the beloved Salamander.
He would rise every day, bags under his eyes from never-ending nightmares, movements sluggish and heart heavy – hope all but lost. His happy-go-lucky personality was a thig of memories now.
Most of the guild had given up. No one could be gone this long, they reasoned. Not without being…
They didn't dare continue. Natsu was not a nice enemy to have.
The only one's still looking were Levy's team and Natsu's own, with Jellal and his group keeping out an eye.
One such morning – no leads and gloomy guild hall, since team Natsu weren't out on a mission – Erza came to sit by the table occupied by her friends. "Jellal's coming today. With news." Her eyes were cloudy and worried.
Jellal and Erza were going out now, after much groaning on the part of their mutual friends. Three years ago, he and Meredy had joined Fairy Tail – Very eagerly, in fact – and just a year ago, on a particularly sad day, Jellal had taken Erza out to cheer her up. No one really knew what happened. Suffice to say, Erza was blushing when she came back.
"Something wrong?" Gray asked, shirt off. Again.
Erza gave him a half-hearted glare. "I… don't know the specifics. But we have a meeting with Master in half an hour. It's bad news."
Natsu snorted derisively. "Everything's bad news these days."
Erza shook her head. "This is worse."
…
"You mean, in just three years, Ram gained a following of a thousand people?!" Gray burst out, a mixture of fury and disbelief.
Jellal shook his head. "Two thousand," He corrected. "And the news just hit the underground network." He frowned. "How does that even…?"
Master's eyes were grim as he mused over this new piece of information. "Any other news?"
Jellal grimaced. "Meredy's still asking around, but… His guild has already attacked one of Lamia Scale's partner guilds, the Algion White, and we believe that it may be gearing up to defeat Lamia Scale, as well as the bigger guilds. It's heading for Fairy Tail," He concluded. "And there is no wa to tell how powerful he really is."
Erza closed her eyes. "We're going to defeat him," She declared. "We should call up all allies."
Makarov nodded in agreement. "I'll contact the council. Erza, inform Laxus and Gildarts, and call back every member of Fairy Tail, if possible. Natsu, Gray, contact the other guilds and get their agreement. Jellal, keep looking for more information, if possible, and keep us in the loop. And…" He hesitated, glancing at the fire dragon slayer from the corner of his eye. "Any new developments?"
Jellal shook his head silently.
Makarov sighed tiredly. "Very well. Meeting adjourned."
