Part 9

What woke him wasn't a gentle tap to the shoulder like it would be if Evergreen woke him up. It wasn't the rough shaking Laxus would do because he got worried when Freed didn't wake up before him. And it wasn't that annoying poke to the face that would wake him if it was Bickslow. And neither was it the small whispers from the five "babies" that would wake him. They liked trying to see how loud they needed to be to wake him. No. None of that was it that woke him up this day. Not it was loud shouting. Freed sat up and found that he, Bickslow and Evergreen were stuck in some bushes. They managed to get out just to be tackled in big hugs from Jet, Droy, Max, Warren, Alzack and Bisca. But their friends looked strange. Freed noticed it at once. They looked older. Then he heard the voice of that young girl. She explained to them what had happened, well she lied. She didn't mention his secret. Now Freed knew who she was, she was Mavis Vermillion. Fairy Tail's first Master. He nodded to her when their eyes met.

"When the dragon attacked", Mavis explained with a gentle voice. "I was able to convert the bonds of trust and friendship between your guild mates into pure magic power. Their bonds were so strong that Fairy Sphere was activated. One of the three grand Fairy Spells. It is an absolute defense spell, capable of protecting the guild from all manner of evil. Those inside the impenetrable sphere were in a suspended state. It's been seven long years but the spell has finally been lifted."

Freed's body went rigid and he froze completely. To him it was as if he could hear someone shattering glass with those words. Seven years!? This couldn't be possible! He remembered Mavis telling him she didn't know how long the spell would last. He had thought she meant hours, days or maybe weeks. But years? No he hadn't expected that and he felt a rush of panic. Seven years? It was too long to stay asleep! 693 years ago he wouldn't have thought that but now… Now he felt as if the world was crashing in around him. He closed his eyes and took a shaky breath.

He suddenly felt a hand gripping his tightly. He turned his head to the side and noticed that Evergreen was looking quite pale and that she was shaking. Another hand landed on his shoulder and he looked up at Bickslow. He noticed the taller man's lips were just a thin line, his jaw tense and his skin quite pale. Were they reacting to the seven year bombshell as badly as he was? All around him everyone looked a little unnerved. Freed met Mavis' eyes again, just before she disappeared. She winked at him. He had to smile. Then he decided to focus on his friends. He squeezed Evergreen's hand.

"We'll figure this out", he told her. "Don't you worry. Seven years is a long time but it isn't forever. I assure you that you haven't been forgotten princess."

She smiled a tiny smile. Freed kissed her cheek in a big brother way. Noticing Elfman bristle at that. He then looked up at Bickslow. The taller man wsd grinning like normal now and color was returning to his face.

"Do you think our house is still standing?" Bickslow asked. Freed chuckled.

"It barley stood before we left so why should it now?" he asked.

"True… oh well we can always crash at Laxus' place."

"The hell you can!" Laxus said. "I have nothing against Freed crashing there but you are still banned for life!"

"Hey it was just one glass window!"

"And a few walls… and the stairs… and the roof and a couple of doors and should I get started on the fence?" Freed asked only to be rewarded by a hard elbow to the ribs. He chuckled and looked around. Everyone was talking to each other or their now older friends. Freed walked up to the Master who was looking at the sky.

"Master?" he asked.

"What is it?" Makarov asked in return.

"Is everything alright?"

"No… I have a feeling of urgency… like we are desperately needed."

"Well then", Freed said and smiled. "Why don't I get us back then?"

Makarov smiled at him.

"Thank you my boy, bring us back home to the guild hall."

"Wait!" Jet interrupted and stood in front of them. "We don't have the guild hall anymore…"

"No worries", Freed said and picked up a twig. "I know where we can go."

"Wait go", Natsu asked. "What's going on?"

"Aw hell not again!" Bickslow said when he saw the wicked gleam in Freed's eyes.

"Just grab your things and hold on to me or at least stand really close", he ordered. "And try not to bother me."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked as the whole guild gathered around them.

"If we want to survive be as quiet as you can."

"WHAT!?" many voices screamed but Freed just grinned and moved his twig. Before anyone could react the whole area around them turned purple and seemed to fall away piece by piece. Erza gasped when she all of a sudden felt lighter than air. She stared at Freed. Everything around them was purple except for him.

"Here we go", Freed said.

"Here we what?" Happy asked. There were quite a few gasps all around when they felt as if they were moving faster than lightning. The world rushed around them in a strange dark purple light. Happy who was used to high speeds from some of his flying was actually enjoying it a lot. He looked around. The others didn't seem to enjoy it as much. Well Jet did but he was used to high speeds. He seemed to think this was great. Maybe they finally got a view into how he was seeing the world around them.

Happy looked at Freed to see if this was hard for him at all. But the green haired mage looked calm. Happy looked around and there was suddenly a small flash in front of his eyes. It was there just for a second but he had seen it. A huge building or maybe it was a mountain. It was there for just a second so he didn't remember any details. But it had a strange effect on Freed. His smile vanished and he looked less focused. That flash came again. But this time Happy got a one second look of a tall figure all clouded in shadow. Happy wasn't able to make out any details. There was a third flash and this time Freed was the one that flashed. There was a strange shadow all around him. It was there for just a second and then it was gone.

Happy looked around. No one else seemed to have noticed. No wait. Jet looked strange. He looked scared. He was staring at Freed with huge, terrified eyes. His whole body was shaking. What had Jet seen that scared him so badly? Happy was about to ask when all of a sudden there was a huge flash and they were all standing in front of Kardia Cathedral. They were back in Magnolia. They were home.

TBC

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