Gajeel's school of Magic

by LaurenRoover

Gajeel takes on a job that involves teaching magic to kids at a magic school in a far off land. Magic is very unknown and most of all not taken seriously, but is Gajeel able to change that? Will the students be able to cope with professor Redfox? And will he be able to cope with a bunch of teenagers? Updated every Wednesday!

58. Chapter 58: The Final Flashback

Heya!

So I wanted to experiment some more with different perspectives. Just let me know if it's annoying. Also; this is the final flashback chapter, so from now on the story stays in the present! Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 58: The Final Flashback

Flashback to the events surrounding "The Squid"

Caroline

He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead.

He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead.

Kuchiha

The blonde girl, Caroline, was by far the worst off. After it became clear there was nothing left of Ibisan Almond, all she did was stare into blank space. The other girls guided her from one place to another, as if she was blind altogether, which might as well have been the case.

There were three graves, but there was only one body to bury: that of Lily Solominta. Ravin and Gajeel dug three holes and filled one of them. I made sure the other students stayed in what was left of the school.

Most of the building had collapsed after the final explosion. Two kids, Jacob Malicious and Kai Shoe, went missing during the fighting. According to Gajeel, they had already left the continent. Searching them would have to be done at a later time. After the funerals.

The service we held for the fallen students was short. Ary, the youngest of the bunch, was the only one who managed to say a few words.

'Needless to say, they were gone to soon. What has occured here was most unfair. We were lied to, beaten up and most of all crushed. But we've only lost if we give up our spirit.'

Gajeel left in silence. I noticed too late. Some kids decided to go back to their parents, but most of them didn't have anywhere to go. And the kids who passed away did have relatives, who had yet to learn of what had happened.

Ravin offered to help those who wanted to get to Fiore. I took it upon myself to speak to authorities and anyone nosing around, trying to find out what happened here. There were a few townspeople who heard the explosion, and even a police car drove by. I managed to convince them a demolition squad had been at work here.

There was a bunch of paperwork to be done. I climbed around the ruins and ashes of Kubo's former office, gathering as much readable things as possible, and set up a new office in the only building that was left standing; the shed of the gardener.

The truth was that I felt guilty. I used to work for Kubo. I had my suspicions of what he was up to and I did nothing to stop it. Three kids were dead and that might as well be my fault. I couldn't even begin to understand what Gajeel must've felt like. I think I would leave too, if I could.

But there was something about the ruins that kept me there. I made it my duty to rebuild the school. I wanted to. Because despite the losses, I'd seen what these kids were capable of. They were freaks, but powerful freaks. And with the right tools and guidance, they could be so much more. I wanted to create a place where they could blossom. Their only goal would be to become better, not magical motor oil for some machine of an insane person.

This school had to be a safe space. I had no idea how I would achieve this. There were no funds, Kubo pretty much paid for the school out of some inheritance. I had no idea where to start, but I knew I had to do it.

Levy

It was for the better that Natsu was out on a job. Gajeel emerged out of nowhere with the intent of punching anything and anyone that annoyed him slightly. He looked beat up, exhausted, and for some reason, very sad.

He put some money on the counter, grabbed a barrel of wine and jugged it down like it was water. Some heads in the guild hall turned to look at him. The master wasn't around, but everyone remembered him asking to accept Gajeel as much as we can, despite his past doings.

And the job teaching at a magic school on some far off land seemed to do him good. Lucy told me about the training camp at Lux Island, where she just happened to stumble upon Gajeel and the kids. It turned out the "kids" weren't all that much younger than us, but still very inexperienced with magic. Lucy told me they had talent and wit, for as far as she could tell, but it sounded more like something Erza would say.

Jet and Droy were not around, for once, so I decided to approach Gajeel myself. Last time we spoke was through a lacrima, and the time before was rather awkward as well, but I just took a deep breath and sat down at his table.

He sat leaning against a wall, the barrel next to him, making it hard to see his face, so I scooted around some more. He seemed to deliberately hide behind it.

'What happened?' I asked eventually. He grunted something. 'What?'

'Nothing,' he repeated.

'Doesn't look like it.'

'Beat it, small one.'

I stood up and could almost see his eyes. 'I'm asking because you're one of us now. If something happened, the guild has to know.'

It stayed silent for a while. Other guild members pretended to mind their own business, but I could tell they were worried as well. Gajeel sighed and lifted the barrel off the table. 'Alright, whatever. I screwed up, that's what happened.'

He kept his eyes at the table before him. I sat down again. 'How bad was it?'

He hesitated, and when he spoke his voice was barely hearable. 'Kids got hurt. Three of them…' He made a gesture pretending to chop off his own head.

I felt cold and wondered whether I'd made a mistake coming over here. Makarov had confidence adding Gajeel to the guild would be a good thing, but now he murdered kids….

'For the record,' he added, 'I didn't do it. It was my fault, so I might as well have done it myself.'

'Oh,' I said, and tried not to sound too relieved, 'I'm sorry, Gajeel. That's...awful.'

He sat back, his face towards the ceiling. 'Yeah, well. That's it for my career as a legal mage, I guess. I'm not sure what the consequences are for murder while on the job.'

I stared at him while I thought of that myself. I actually didn't know. Accidents happened, but the laws and restrictions surrounding mage request were kind of gray. Assassination requests and kidnappings and such were forbidden, of course.

'From what I remember,' I started, thinking out loud, 'that whenever accidents occur during the job, it's up to the person who posted the request to take legal action if necessary, or the people involved. When Nat- I mean, other guild mages cause property damage, the master only gets fined if someone steps to the Council.'

I hoped it would ease some of his hurt, even only a little. I couldn't imagine having to take care of a group of kids and to have three of them dying while they're in your care. Gajeel didn't seem relieved at all. 'Well, that's just great. But I've decided to quit anyway.'

I stood up, so quick it even surprised me. 'You can't!'

Finally, Gajeel dared to look me in the eyes. I don't know how, but I could tell he had been crying. Despite the way he walked around, talked and looked, he was just a young guy. I could only see it for a second, but from then on I knew he was there. And I never looked at him the same again.

'Why not?' he blurted, and it sounded desperate. 'Why should I keep on pretending to…'

His voice died and I realized there were people looking at us. Of concern, of course, but still not great. I walked around the table, grabbed Gajeel's hand and pulled. There was no way I had the strength to drag him forcefully, but he let me guide him.

I lead him away from the main hall, into the library. It was still a little under construction, but most books had found a shelf. We sat down at some reading table and Gajeel explained in a few sentences what had happened.

Three kids. Dead. And the Headmaster was to blame.

I opened my mouth to say once again how sorry I felt for Gajeel, but I changed my mind at the last second. That was not what he wanted to hear. I had to give him a reason not to give up. I'm not sure why I felt so determined. This man still had some atoning to do. Maybe that's part of it.

I searched across a bunch of shelves while Gajeel sat moping at the reading table. I didn't tell him to stay, he just did.

'Here,' I said, as I pulled a few pieces of parchment from a shelf. I rolled them out at the table and pointed. 'This is him, right?'

Gajeel barely pretended to look. 'Yup. That's him.'

I looked at the family tree. Apparently, Doki Kubo was a distant relative of someone who used to be a member of Fairy Tail. Which is why he sent his request to our guild. 'There must be a way to find him. Would you say he's in Fiore right now?'

Gajeel shrugged. Hope still hadn't returned and it was getting on my nerves.

'Look,' I said, raising my voice a little, 'I want to help you get back at this person. For your students, too. I'm not letting you give up like this. You're a dragon slayer, damnit!'

I'm not one to swear. And Gajeel knew that too. He looked at me, and slightly grinned. Still not the grin where he showed his sharp teeth and made his face look all demon-like, but it was a start.

'Fine,' he said, 'what do you have in mind?'

Kai

The world was on fire and all I could do was just hope it would rain. Just for a little while.

I was running, I don't know from what or where to. There were hills of ash with burning coals at the top. The sky was dark, the clouds red. There were no stars.

I kept running, even though my legs hurt. At one point there were trees, black and fragile like the shell of a chicken egg. If I hesitated too long, they'd fall down on me.

There were shadows, crawling between the fallen trunks. Some of them cried. One scratched my ankle as I passed by. But I couldn't stop. I didn't look back.

Tilly

The silence on deck was frightening. This wasn't a ship like Rider's, instead we sailed with a woman who was more hair than human; her name was Red. She stood at the steering wheel and looked like the lump of hair you pull from a shower drain. The soft ocean breeze barely got through. When she spoke, her voice sounded muffled.

In the morning, we would reach Fiore. Samdy, Sasha, Greg, Floyd, Ary and me would try to build our new lives there. The night before I couldn't get any sleep, so I went up to the deck. Red waved at me with one hand barely sticking out of the ball of hair that she was, and I waved back. Then I leaned over the rail of the ship, staring at the moon touching the water.

While the ship crossed through the surface, small splatters sounded. The night was rather hot and the temperature would keep rising because it was summer in Fiore. I had no idea how we were to get there without Jake on board to call forth a portal, but I guessed that Ravin dude knew what he was doing.

I couldn't sleep because each time I closed my eyes, I saw Sasha's disbelief at the fact that I didn't want to fight anymore. Me, Rose and Martin decided to step out when we were needed most. I still think there was nothing I could've done if I had gone, but I can't say that for sure. Just the fact that I was too scared to do anything is enough. Sasha, Samdy and Ibisan were the last ones, along with Gajeel, to face the Squid Machine. And all I did was watch.

I squeezed my arm. What the hell was I doing on this ship? If I couldn't even help my classmates, my friends, with my magic, then what did I expect to do in the magical kingdom? I should've stayed behind, like Martin and Rose. At least they could make themselves useful by not using their magic in a land without magic.

I was a coward.

'Excuse me?' a voice sounded. I looked up and saw Floyd standing next to Red. 'Have you seen Tilly? I thought I saw her go up here.'

I realized I'd gone invisible while being angry at myself. It happened every now and then.

'Here,' I said, reappearing.

'Oh,' said Floyd, 'cool.'

He came down and I wasn't sure why. I went back to staring at the sea and feeling guilty, and he just kind of stood next to me, also staring. I couldn't tell what he was thinking about. The last few days had been a rollercoaster, there was enough to be sad and angry about.

'Do you know what you want to do yet?' Floyd asked after a while. I kept my eyes on the water.

'Nope. You?'

He shrugged. 'We're thinking of joining a guild, maybe. I personally thought it would be better to stick together, you know...all of us. But Kai and Jake were gone before anyone noticed, so that was off the table.'

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Go back to a normal school? Get bullied again? No thanks. I did realize one thing: I didn't want to be alone.

'So,' I said, turning away from the water, 'would it be OK if I tagged along with you guys?'

Floyd didn't notice it made me anxious just to ask that question. 'Sure. We don't mind, for as far as I can speak on behalf of my brother.'

I nodded. 'Cool. Thanks.'

'Sure.'

Lily

It was noon already when I woke up. It took me a minute or so to realize this was my house, my bedroom, my bed. All in my favourite colour: pink.

I got up, poured myself a cup of tea and realized I didn't have any breakfast stuff in the house. So I went out, to the market. I wore my blue dress with white sleeves and collar. On the way to the market, people nodded at me, wishing me a good day. I nodded back, of course. But not everyone was nice to me. Some raised their eyebrows, gave me looks as if I smelled weird.

Laurence had a stand on the market, with his father. I made sure my hair was in place and my dress wasn't crippling, before I passed.

'Good day,' I told them. Laurence's father returned the greeting, but not before he raised an eyebrow. I got worried. There was something off about me, apparently.

Laurence didn't notice. He even walked around the stand to take my hand and plant a kiss on it. Normally, the lips wouldn't touch the skin, but he didn't care. He pushed his lips so hard on my skin it made me giggle. And my cheeks turned red.

'Do you have any plans this afternoon, Miss Melody?' asked Laurence. Unknown to him, his father rolled his eyes. I hesitated for a while and wondered what it could be.

Was it because I was unmarried?

Rose

She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. She's dead.

'Sweetie?'

I blinked. The face of my father appeared in front of me. He muted the TV and pointed with the remote at the plate in my lap.

'You've barely touched your food.'

I looked at it. It was getting cold. 'Right. Sorry.'

He stared at me. My mom entered the room, already carrying dessert. She stopped and glanced at the plate as well. 'Are you not hungry?'

I felt like leaving the room and crying into my pillow, but I'd just gotten back. We didn't make any promises of secrecy of what happened at the school, but I didn't feel like I could tell them properly either. They just wouldn't understand.

'I'm just tired,' I said.

My mom put the desserts, chocolate ice cream with strawberries, on the table in front of the TV and sat down next to me. 'I'm sorry they closed down your school. But we'll find another, a proper one. Don't worry.'

She pulled me against her and I let my head rest on her shoulder. I felt I didn't want to go to another school. Merlin's School of Magic was where I belonged, in the same class as my childhood friend. But both were gone.

'Oh, honey,' my mom said, and I realized there were tears streaming down my face. 'It will be alright. I promise.'

I nodded. But nothing would be the same ever again.