AN: Thanks to Goku275, Kriim-Sauce786, NinjaFang1331, AliceCullen3, Wadeparker, QueerEpilectic, Skyalpha, and nakesnake.
Kriim-Sauce786, you should be happy to know that I do not intend to include any more GMGs from the time skip aside from (possibly) some passing mentions. Fairy Tail would not just use all of ex-Team Sabertooth each year, resulting in some wins and some losses. The title of Strongest Guild in Fiore gets passed between several guilds, including Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale, and Blue Pegasus.
While writing this chapter, I noticed that I already had Ultear and Millianna agree to the Second Origin unlocking back when Natsu and Happy underwent the procedure. Since I don't feel like rewriting the story, let's just say that between the agony those two experienced and Millianna visibly showing fear at said agony, Millianna forgot about the agreement and Ultear assumed that the cat girl changed her mind.
Anyways, enjoy!
EDIT: as Kriim-Sauce786 pointed out, I mistakenly referred to "Meredy" as "Merudy" this chapter. I have gone through the chapter and corrected this.
"Imagine yourself growing bigger, stronger. See yourself as a great warrior. Then, let your Magic Power flow through your body and turn that image into reality."
"Grrrrrr," gritted Happy, struggling to do as Nadi instructed. When he arrived in the Exceed Village, Happy quickly learned the harsh reality that nobody there was particularly skilled at fighting. Due to the lie about Chagotte's powers, there was never much of a need for the guards to be that strong, with Panther Lily being an outlier.
It was at that point that Nadi came to Happy with a piece of good news. During the search for the 100 Exceed sent to Earthland, Nadi met one with the ability to undergo a Battle Mode Shift like Lily. That Exceed taught this method to Nadi, though he was unable to maintain it for more than a minute at a time.
"Gah!" exclaimed Happy in frustration. "It's no use! No matter how many times I try, I just can't do it!"
Several weeks had passed since Happy began training, yet he could not perform the Battle Mode Shift even once. Day after day, the blue Exceed tried unsuccessfully. The constant failure was starting to get to him, something that Nadi noticed.
"We should stop here for today," decided Nadi. "Getting angry won't help you. You should take some time to clear your head."
Happy sighed, frustrated with his lack of progress. However, he listened to his teacher and left for Lucky and Marl's farm. The couple had been very kind (mainly Marl. Lucky kept yelling at him suddenly and forcing him to do farm work), letting Happy stay in a spare bedroom in their house.
Happy had no clue why they chose to build a spare bedroom when the Exceed village was nearby and contained housing for visitors, but he was thankful for it. He was also a little confused by their decision to put a framed picture of the three of them in that room, though he refrained from asking about it.
"I'm back," announced Happy as he entered the farmhouse and saw the married couple. He spoke in a lackluster tone, something Marl and Lucky picked up on immediately.
"What's wrong, dear?" asked Marl, concerned.
"Training isn't going well," admitted Happy with a sigh. "I keep doing what Nadi says, imagining myself as some huge warrior like Lily when I use my magic, but I keep failing."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually," encouraged Marl.
"I don't know," replied Happy doubtfully. "Maybe I'm not cut out for it."
"Kaaah!" yelled Lucky at Happy. "Of course you're failing! You're not Lily!"
Happy's mood became even worse with those words. He dropped his head, his eyes starting to tear up.
"You're Happy!" continued Lucky. "You're already great, so stop trying to be somebody else and just be yourself!"
Happy snapped his head up, Lucky's words striking a chord in him. The older Exceed was right! During training, Happy had always been using Lily's form as a template for his transformation. He had been trying to be exactly like Lily, but that was impossible.
Happy had his own skills, his own style. Sure, he could emulate Lily's style in some ways, take inspiration from it, but Happy ultimately had to forge his own path rather than follow Lily's.
"You're right!" exclaimed Happy, his personality suddenly matching his name. "I've got to be me! Thanks Mom and Dad!"
Marl and Lucky froze at Happy's words, as did the blue Exceed himself.
"Oops. I guess I've gotten so used to them taking care of me that I've started to think of them as my parents."
However, while Happy thought that he had made the situation awkward, in truth Marl and Lucky had frozen because they were struggling to contain their feelings of love and joy. They knew that their son had called them "Mom" and "Dad" by accident rather than having figured out their relationship, so they forced themselves to keep hiding that they were Happy's parents.
"I'm… going to use the bathroom," lied Happy, breaking the silence. He ran away as quickly as possible, unknowingly allowing his parents to release their true emotions.
Nadi sat on the ground, waiting for his student to arrive. He hoped that the blue Exceed wasn't still too upset over his failures yesterday.
"I'm here!" announced Happy, well, happily.
"Huh, you seem awfully chipper," noted Nadi. "Did something good happen to you after practice yesterday?"
"I had a breakthrough!" declared Happy. "I'm Happy!"
"Um… yes, you are Happy," responded Nadi confused. "But what does that have to do with figuring out how to perform a Battle Mode Shift?"
"I'm not going to," replied Happy cheerfully. "Lily's Battle Mode Shift is big and bulky, giving him more strength, but that doesn't suit my needs. Speed is my specialty, so I'm going to change into a form that's smaller and quicker."
"Ah," went Nadi, understanding Happy's explanation. "Well then, go ahead."
Happy nodded, then prepared to use his magic. He spread his legs apart, bend his knees, curled his hands into fists, and brought those fists next to his hips.
"Aaaaaah!" roared Happy as he sent Magic Power coursing through his body while imagining a certain image. "Transform!"
The blue Exceed disappeared into a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Nadi saw a young, blue haired boy with cat ears and a cat tail. The boy was wearing a larger version of the same clothes that Happy had been using since arriving in the Exceed Village, an outfit given to him by his parents (because Lucky and Marl were obviously Happy's parents).
"It worked!" exclaimed Happy.
"Congratulations," said Nadi. "Though, I must ask why you chose to turn yourself into a child rather than someone older."
"Well, I am a child," stated Happy bluntly. His less than a decade of life made him a child by human standards, much less Exceed standards. "Plus, being a smaller target means that it will be easier to dodge attacks."
"True," conceded Nadi. "However, acquiring your new form is not the same as mastering it. Your true training begins now."
"Aye, sir," replied Happy, a look of determination on his face.
"You can come out!" announced Millianna. It was midday, and she was in the forest next to Magnolia, nearby the Dragneel house. "Natsu told me that he smelled you around here yesterday!"
"I'm starting to get a bit jealous of his nose," commented Meredy as she stepped out from behind a tree. "It would really make tracking down Dark Guilds easier."
"I feel that we have been managing quite well without an enhanced sense of smell," stated Ultear. "Especially with Crime Sorcière's newest member."
"Mya?" went Millianna, curious. "Who did you recruit?"
"Me," answered a voice that instantly put Millianna on edge. She gave the speaker an intense stare as he walked into view.
"Jellal," spoke Millianna coldly. "I shouldn't be surprised. You do have a lot to repent for."
"That's true," agreed Jellal, wincing at his former friend's words. "I remembered everything while incarcerated, and I certainly committed many atrocities."
A tense mood settled over the group.
"Anyway," interjected Meredy, hoping to break the awkward atmosphere. "It's been a few months, so Ultear should be able to safely power you up."
"Alright," responded Millianna, still staring at Jellal coldly. Finally, she turned toward Ultear. "I'm ready. I know it will be incredibly painful, but I can take it if it means being able to protect my daughter."
Millianna was not ready. She was quickly reduced to writhing on the ground and screaming. However, the cat girl made it through the process, becoming far stronger than before. While recovering from the experience, she and Meredy began talking.
"…Natsu is off at a meeting between local guild masters, while Blaze is at the guild hall getting babysat by Minerva," said Millianna, explaining where her family was.
"Is it really a good idea to have Minerva watch over Blaze after she used her as a hostage?" asked Meredy, concerned for the adorable child's safety.
"It's fine," reassured Millianna. "Minerva has become very attached to Blaze, viewing her as a little sister. If anything, I'd be worried about her attacking anybody who gets too close to Blaze, mya!"
"Seriously? I know Blaze is super cute, but how did that happen?"
"Minerva didn't get much love growing up. The unconditional love a baby like Blaze gives practically overloaded her heart, like giving a dozen cats to a lonely person."
"I'm not sure that would apply to anyone other than you," thought Meredy.
"Speaking of sketchy new members," continued Millianna. "Are you sure about Jellal? I know that he isn't evil right now, but he wasn't when we were slaves either. What if interacting with Dark Guilds sets him off again?"
"I can assure you that we have taken measures against brainwashing magic," confidently declared Ultear, who had been listening to the conversation. "Nobody will be able to repeat my manipulation of Jellal."
"Your manipulation?" echoed Millianna, her voice instantly filled with confusion and hostility.
"Hm?" went Ultear, also confused. "Did I not mention that I controlled Jellal like a puppet, making him perform the Tower of Heaven scheme?"
With this confession, something snapped in Millianna.
"You monster!" snarled the cat girl, leaping at the ex-councilor. She knocked Ultear to the ground, then began punching her repeatedly.
"Me, Wally, and Shô spent years in the Tower when we could have been free because of you! Er-chan was wracked with guilt and misery because of you! Simon died because of you!"
At that moment, Millianna was yanked off of Ultear by Meredy and Jellal.
"Please stop hurting her!" begged a panicking Meredy, tears streaming down her face.
"She knows what she did was wrong," said Jellal more calmly. "Part of why she helped found Crime Sorcière is to earn forgiveness for her misdeeds."
"Oh yeah!?" responded Millianna, struggling to break loose and resume her assault. "Well, I'll never forgive her for what she's done. Never!"
Millianna continued to fight for several minutes, though she was unable to escape Meredy and Jellal's grip. Fortunately (for Crime Sorcière), she was too worn out from having her dormant power awakened to use any magic.
Ultimately, after becoming too tired to continue resisting, Millianna calmed down. Her newfound… or rather, newly redirected from Jellal… hostility towards Ultear did not fade, but she accepted the idea of not attacking the ex-councilor. Admittedly, part of this may have been Jellal mentioning the fact that Ultear would be frequently risking her life by hunting down Dark Mages, who would be able to inflict much more harm than Millianna.
Their business concluded, Crime Sorcière left. Millianna said goodbye to Meredy and Jellal, who she now knew was also a victim. Things were still… difficult… between the two former slaves, but the distance between them was no longer insurmountable.
Omake
"Dinner is served," stated Marl cheerfully, placing plates of fish in front of herself, her husband, and her son. She enjoyed having dinner as a family, even if Happy didn't realize that he was a part of said family.
"Fish!" exclaimed Happy and Lucky in unison, the latter adding a "Kaaah!" after it. "The best meal in existence!"
However, while Lucky dug into his meal, Happy froze a moment before touching his plate.
"Wait a second…" mumbled Happy, a thought striking him like a bolt of lightning. Then, he quietly uttered a single word.
"Dad?"
Lucky stopped eating immediately, halfway through biting into his fish. He put the fish down, swallowing what was already in his mouth, and turned toward Happy.
"Son," stated Lucky, confirming Happy's suspicion.
"Daaaaad!" cried Happy, tearfully jumping up from his seat and rushing over to his father.
"Sooooon!" cried Lucky, imitating his boy's actions.
The two met each other halfway, hugging and crying tears of joy. Marl joined in after a few seconds, eliciting cries of "Mom" from her son.
Happy finally knew who his parents were, and he was overjoyed. The key to his discovery: a love of fish so strong that it had to be genetic.
AN: The omake takes place after Happy begins using a humanoid transformation. Speaking of which, from this point onward, Happy is dressing like he did at his parents' house in Chapter 177 of the manga. He needed clothes, and a kid in nothing but shorts (like Lily) just seems weird.
In response to a comment by Skyalpha, I have been struggling to decide between making Happy's transformation like Panther Lily's or like Carla's since I began working on this fic. Honestly, I was leaning a bit more towards Lily's (Carla uses her form partially to improve her precognition, which Happy does not have) before reading that comment and deciding to heck with it. Even if I don't mind the idea of Happy in a battle form, I prefer the idea of a humanoid form, so I'm going with it. I have a plan other than wind magic for Happy, though, which relates to the idea of Happy "taking inspiration from Lily's style."
My questionable foreshadowing aside, I hope you all liked the chapter. Bye!