A/N: Hi, all. Hope you're staying safe during COVID. Reposting this chapter with LOTS of edits-if you've read it before, you should read it again.
This story has been rattling around in my head for a couple months now, which is kind of crazy to think about. I also have a very piecemeal writing style so. . . no promises on an update schedule. That being said, I do have 40k words written for this story, so buckle up for a longer ride. I'm fully expecting this to reach 100k+ words. As always, R&R-I love feedback!
"What do you think are the chances of either of them showing up at all?" Mirajane dried a glass and placed it back in the cupboard behind the bar.
"I don't know," replied Makarov, his eyebrows knit together and he absent-mindedly swung his legs back and forth off the edge of the bar. "That's why I sent for both of them. Hopefully one will show up."
"Well, it's getting close to crunch time. The announcement of S-Class exam participants is tomorrow. We'll need to have structures set for one, both, and—worst case scenario—neither." Mira leaned against the cupboards and crossed her arms. Losing Mystogan to the whole Edolas debacle had put a crunch on their available S-Class wizards available to help officiate the exam. And with Laxus gone. . . their options were growing thin.
"I honestly don't know who has a better chance of actually showing up for the announcement tomorrow," Makarov pinched the bridge of his nose, "If it's Gildarts, we only have to worry about literally the entire island. If Talia turns up. . ."
Mira cut him off—"it will be good for the guild as a whole. She's a powerful mage. And an important part of our nakama."
"And a wild card," Makarov added. Talia may have taken a leave of absence for the past year, but that was no reason to believe that she had stagnated in her magical studies. Hardship notwithstanding, if any mage was to grow through her situation, it was her. "I have missed her."
Mira gave a sad smile. The two girls had been practically sisters as children and teens in the Guild. Talia always there to soothe the ills Mira caused in her tempestuous teenage anger. Not that Talia didn't cause her own havoc; it was just more fun when they had each other's backs.
"I think she'll come," Mira said, finally, "it's time. It's been long enough. It's time for Talia to come home."
The city had changed since Talia left. The bakery on Primrose Avenue was now a bookstore, the coffee shop she used to love had expanded into a full bistro—a tweak there, shift here, renovations and expansions dotted her walk through the city. But most things remained unchanged: the pavers under her feet were still smooth and hypnotic, always leading forward. The old lampposts were still of their twisted iron, and, if you looked closely, you could still see the shift grooves for when Gildarts came home. Lord, that man was so chaotic.
Talia rolled her eyes at one of many haphazard memories. If only that much power had come to someone with an ounce of forethought. But it would be good to see him again. He was as kind as he was ridiculous, which left him impressive in both regards. Truth be told, it would be good to see the whole guild again. Talia lifted her face to the warmth of the sunlight and took in the familiar aura of the city.
She was, honestly, a little apprehensive. It had been a year of no contact with the guild. She had asked for space and time and they had given her both in spades. One year. A lot can change in a year, and yet still nothing at all. She recognized shadows of faces as she passed. Not enough to know their names, but their busied lives going about their business just as they always had.
Two blocks to go, now. One more forward, and one more left. Talia took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She hoped she hadn't changed too much, or at least a good bit for the better. She had left the guild scared and broken, and she didn't want to be that anymore. Just one step forward, then another. Step, step, step.
She could feel the ruckus from the guild hall reverberate through the cobblestones, even this far out. "Well," she thought, "at least things haven't changed in that regard. Don't know what I'd do if I came back to a quiet Fairy Tail." She smiled to herself. No, it was time for her to come home. It was time to move on.
She took another breath and closed the last few strides to the door—
Three
Two
One—
She quietly pushed open the right door—clearly a new addition a few times over since she had been there—and stepped through.
The whole guild was gathered, which was no surprise. Everyone was turned away from her, toward the stage where Master Makarov, Erza, Gildarts, and Mirajane were standing, ready to announce the S-Class Exam participants. Nobody noticed her open the door and quietly slide in. Nobody, that is, except Mira, who caught her eye immediately from the stage. A huge smile spread across Mira's angelic face, and Talia could tell it took all of her effort not to immediately bounce over and encase the taller mage in a long-overdue hug. But she had a job to do, and it wouldn't take long.
Talia shrugged off her backpack and leaned against the back wall of the guild hall.
"The participants in this year's S-Class Exams will be—" boomed the Master's voice—god she didn't realize how much she had missed it—"Natsu Dragneel. Gray Fullbuster. Juvia Lockser. Elfman Strauss. Cana Alberone. Freed Justine. Levy McGarden. And Mest Gryder." Makarov gazed proudly at the array of different reactions before him. "Your trial begins in one week. Choose your partners wisely, and train carefully. You'll need all your strength when we ship off for Tenrou."
Makarov and Mira were quickly forgotten by the cheering and bewildered newly-appointed exam participants. The guild erupted into a party, and drinks began to flow.
Talia smiled and quietly made her way over to the bar, not wanting to disrupt the merriment. But she couldn't escape Mira's eye. The demoness took a bee-line for her and quickly all-but tackled the redheaded mage.
"Talia!" she squeaked, 'You came!" her eyes shone with happiness, and Talia held back tears of her own. She had missed her friend dearly.
"Of course I came!" Talia replied happily, hugging and spinning her friend, Mira's skirt flowing with the motion. "I had to come home eventually. No use wallowing. And the exams are my favorite!" she placed Mira back on her own two feet. "I'm glad to see Natsu and Gray finally made the cut. And Elfman! He must be so excited! I don't know how you possibly kept the news from him."
Mira beamed up at her. Their height difference was not insignificant; a good five inches separated the two, something that Talia rarely let slip in Mira's memory. "It was no small task," the petite woman replied and put on her best conspiratorial face, "I utilized all of my dark magic for it." Talia threw her head back and laughed. As powerful and terrifying as Mira could be, she knew that holding back such information from her baby brother must've been torturous.
"Well, why don't we celebrate with a drink? We've got a whole year to catch up on, and I can't wait to get back into mischief with you," Talia smiled broadly, and for the first time in a long while, her heart was warm and full of light.
"Wait—" Talia shook her head in an attempt to clear away some of the alcohol-fog, "you mean there are more Happys? Like, full-fledged kittens with wings and fish obsessions?"
"No, no, no," said the blonde she now knew as Lucy, the Celestial Mage, "There's a whole species of Happys: they're called Exceed and there was a whole evil plan to steal all the magic in our world and pull it into theirs and blah blah blah, we saved the world and now there's more flying cats!"
Talia wasn't sure whether to believe her or take another drink. She decided to take the former and asked Mira for another whiskey, just in case. A glass appeared before her, ice cubes and golden liquid included. She grabbed it and turned around, facing the guild. There were a few new people, including the bubbly blonde next to her. Little Wendy, with her ca—Exceed, Carla. Juvia, the new S-Class qualifier and apparent adoring shadow of Gray. Gray and Natsu's dynamic hadn't seemed to have changed, and Erza's ever-watchful eye continued to attempt (and fail) to keep them out of trouble. And Lisanna! While she was never close to the youngest of the Strauss siblings, it was good to have her back.
Looking around the lively room, she was comforted by all the familiar faces. Well, most of them. Then there was a familiar face that very much did not fit her Guild memory. Or, at least, not this one.
"Gajeel?" she whispered and pushed herself off the bar. In the back of her mind, she knew it was rude to interrupt Lucy's one-sided conversation, but she was too startled by his presence to stop herself. He perked at his name, interrupting his apparent argument with a small black cat. He turned toward Talia and his face showed the same surprise, but his was tinged with worry. She closed the distance between them.
"Oh my god, you're here? When did that happen? What—what happened to Phantom Lord?" the questions spilled out before she could stop them, but the hug she gave probably startled him more. He stiffened, but returned the hug and cleared his throat.
"Hey, Talia. Um. Six months ago? Ish? I'm not entirely sure, it's been a pretty packed few months at the very least." He held her at arm's length and looked her over, half expecting to find injuries. She had new scars, but nothing fresh. No bruises peeking out from under her leather jacket like he was used to seeing.
He stepped back awkwardly and scratched his unruly hair: "Phantom Lord was disbanded after we, uh, attacked Fairy Tail."
"You WHAT—" he was clearly expecting this reaction, as he haphazardly tried to calm her down while looking mildly guilty to everyone around him.
"I know, I know. It was a job. Heartfilia over there was assigned as a ransom target and it got. . . messy to say the least. But it's fine and the guild disbanded—"
"Wait, so that means that Juvia over there is Juvia? Umbrella-wielding, drip-drip-drop, doom-and-gloom, Juvia?" Gajeel nodded. "Saints preserve us—Mira!" Talia yelled and turned back toward the bar where Mira was clearly highly entertained by her confusion. Talia drained her drink in one go—"I'm gonna need one more of these, but then cut me off. This all is going to give me more of a headache than the alcohol." Mira smiled, nodded, and turned back toward the bar.
"So," Gajeel started, hesitantly, "where have you been? I mean since—"
"Since he died?" Talia's voice softened and her eyes turned down to the glass in her hand. She twisted her wrist and swished the ice cubes back and forth, "I've been travelling. Training. I needed space. Master only called me back for the Exams. Not sure when I would've come back otherwise." Lucy came over and handed Talia her new drink before walking toward Cana at the far end of the bar. Talia took it with a smile.
She turned the glass, watching the ice cubes push and pull at the liquid. She felt, more than heard, Gajeel's hum.
"Well," he said simply, looking around, "I get why you liked this guild so much. I always thought it was goofy, the way you used to talk about it. But I can see it now." He smiled slightly, and looked back at her. "It's good to have you home." She met his eyes, but hers were cloudy with tears she wouldn't let fall.
"It's good to be home."
Makarov watched his children contentedly. He was proud of them—they'd grown so much and become so strong. They deserved this celebration. He took another sip of his beer as his eyes edged back to Talia. He had not forgotten her and Gajeel's friendship; indeed, it was one of the reasons he accepted the dragon slayer so quickly into his family. It was good to see them catch up a bit.
She seemed well. Her smiles were warm and her laughter abundant. She had matured in her absence—her cheekbones caught the light a little more than he remembered, and it reminded him of the few times he had met her mother. Cara had been a kind woman, but entirely out of her depth once Talia's power began to evolve; which is what brought them to Fairy Tail—Cara was a singer contracted to a local playhouse, and Talia would stay at the guild hall while her mother was in rehearsal or performing.
Cara had been a wizard herself, if Makarov remembered correctly. She had a low level of magic power, but it was music magic, and it made her performances ethereal. She had passed as much of her magical knowledge onto Talia as she could, but by eight the girl had already far surpassed her mother. He wondered how much her magic had grown in this past year. He would undoubtedly find out soon enough.
It was getting late, but the party rumbled on. Fairy Tail was getting drunker by the hour and, thereby, ever more raucous. While the sounds of celebration had been sorely missed, a party of this caliber was a lot for Talia after her day of travel. The dozens of voices kept bouncing off the walls and getting stuck in between her ears—and it didn't make the alcohol any easier to bear. She shook her head to try to clear the clutter, but it didn't do much.
After she had caught up more with Gajeel, she almost ran the gambit of old friends excited to see her—Erza, Levy, Elfman, Lisanna (that was one she wasn't expecting!), Grey, Natsu, Happy. It was lovely to see how they had all grown in the past year. But there were three she hadn't had a chance to see yet, and she was intent to do so before she finished turning into a pumpkin for the night. She excused herself from the background conversation of Levy and her cohorts. Mira was her first aim—she was very overdue for a glass of water.
The walk back to the bar was short, but felt so strange. Being back in this guild hall, around all these people. . . but he was missing. It was painful, but she couldn't negate the feeling of relief. She habitually checked the upper window panes and deepest shadows, but found them empty of his face. It was an old, rusty habit, but just as ingrained as the day she left. Always wary of where she was, who she spoke to, if she smiled too much. But now those shadows and windows were empty, and an unsettling feeling of freedom set over her. The shackles were gone, but her wrists still ached.
She reached the bar and leaned against the wood. It wasn't as worn as she remembered—likely another new addition. Or, wait, no, Gajeel told her this: Phantom Lord leveled the old hall. Everything was new. Right. New, but still Fairy Tail, so still familiar. She ran the palm of her hand along the rounded ridge of the bar-it lacked the smoothness of the old one, but undoubtedly that would come in a few more years of use and love. The contrast of Mira's white hair behind the bar jolted her out of her thoughts. Talia gave a smile and requested her water. Mira nodded, and Talia could see that the long night was starting to drain her as well.
"I probably won't stay too much longer—I'm pretty tired from travelling all day. Are you still in the same apartment?" Mira nodded and slid the sweating glass of water across the bar.
"Key's in the same place. Hanging on a nail under the bottom row of siding by the light."
"You're the best. I owe you." Talia downed half the glass of water. She looked around the hall, but her tiredness was getting to her and the lights were low. "Any chance you know where the Thunder Legion is hiding? I haven't seen them for a bit, but I've been a bit smothered." Mira nodded, but there was a look in her eyes that Talia couldn't quite place. Sadness? Concern? Talia's eyebrows knitted together, but she didn't voice her question.
"Over in the back corner; it's a little quieter over there." She gestured to the corner beyond the opposite side of the bar—entirely out of sight from where Talia had been most of the night.
"Thanks, love. See you soon." She and her water made their way over to the Thunder Legion.
Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen were torn. They had Freed's S-Class ticket to celebrate, and it was unlikely that the rest of the Thunder Legion would be far from the action—they were just too strong to be passed up as partners. But they saw who had walked through the door before the announcement, and It surfaced many things they didn't want to think about.
So they didn't, mostly.
They spent most of the night drinking and chatting with each other, plotting potential strategies against the other trial participants. Evergreen kept reverting to how nicely everyone would look as statues, while Bickslow was more interested in using his seith eyes for pranks between team members. Freed postulated what kinds of enchantments would work best against whom. All three were in silent agreement of what not to discuss, and to focus on the future for as long as possible. Don't dwell on the past or questions left unanswered. Unfortunately, that was rather difficult as Talia approached the booth. She was their friend, their teammate, and their glaring reminder of Laxus's absence.
Bickslow, ever the extrovert, was the one to call to her first—"Talia! How ya been, stranger?"
She smiled and closed the last few steps of distance, pulling over a chair and sitting backwards—legs straddled and arms resting on the wooden back. "Hey guys. I've missed you."
Talia could feel the distance between herself and the Thunder Legion—it wasn't just the table between them; there was a palpable gap. She wasn't sure exactly how to bridge it. It felt like such a long time since she had gone on jobs with them, but it couldn't have been more than a year—oh.
"So what kind of chaos have you been cooking up without me?" she asked mischievously. Bickslow's smile grew even wider as he descended into the more explosive moments of their past few jobs. Evergreen interjected frequently and with increasing pointedness as the stories went on. Before long, they were consumed in their bickering of the tale's details, and had mostly forgotten about the other two at their table. Talia discreetly leaned toward Freed.
"Anything interesting come up in your studies lately?" Freed was constantly researching and experimenting with new structures, syntax, and styles in his runes. They had spent many hours together in libraries across the country—him ensconced in rune research, her searching through tomes of old and lost magics.
His eyes softened and met hers for the first time of the evening. He had missed his research partner. "I have. I've been experimenting with complex-compounded verses in a more archaic vernacular. It changes the enchantment slightly, but I think it might be a promising route to explore." She nodded.
"Do you think an early-modern dialect will have a different effect than a middle-age one? And how back is too far? If solid script magic can differ in stylings, then maybe so too can runes?"
Freed smiled truly. As much as he loved his Thunder Legion, they never took an interest in his magic the way that Talia did. He didn't realize how much he had missed their brainstorming and hypothesizing. "Potentially. I'll need to conduct more experiments to see how the details change. I'd appreciate your help in such, if you're willing."
"Of course!" She replied.
"Have you had any luck in your search? Any more information regarding the Old One?" She gave a small smile and nodded.
"Far more than I had anticipated or even imagined." She took a sip from the glass of water in her hand. "I've spent so much time in the past year meditating and speaking with her. I think I just had to improve my meditation skills—I don't think she ever meant to be as cryptic as she was; I just couldn't hold my focus for long enough for her to finish a proper thought." They both chuckled.
Freed was fascinated by Talia's "Old One"—a presence only reached in her deepest state of meditation. She had always frustrated Talia with her disjointed communication. The pieces that could be untangled from her appearances were always enormously helpful in Talia's training and understanding of her magic, so the infrequent appearances were frustrating beyond measure.
"Can we make some time to catch up this week? I'm exhausted from today's excitement. Maybe we could train together? Though, I don't want to interrupt your preparation for the exams." Talia yawned, covering her mouth with her empty hand. "Wait, am I even allowed to train with you this week?"
"No idea," Freed replied, "Master hasn't exactly been forthcoming about details this year." Talia nodded and yawned again. Freed smiled. "Go. Sleep. You look like you need it."
He was right. Between the purple rings solidly formed under her eyes and the red puffiness within them, she looked rough. Talia took his advice and said her goodbyes for the night.
Talia bunked with Mira in her Fairy Hills apartment. Being administrators, they had to be on Tenrou earlier than the rest, and it was easier to deal with all the details if they were together. That, and after a year with no real jobs. . . Talia didn't exactly have many jewels saved up for a hotel room.
Mira had returned home not long after Talia had fumbled her way in with the spare key. Luckily, Mira had lived there so long and Talia had been over so often that there was no need for formalities.
"So the Old Man actually showed." Talia stated, surprised. Mira nodded.
"He arrived this morning, a good while before you did. You should've seen Natsu. He tried to challenge Gildarts as soon as he stepped into the guild hall, not that that's surprising." She smiled, "Natsu followed him out like a puppy. Pretty sure they spent a good part of the afternoon catching up."
Mira handed her a pile of blankets and pillows, which Talia gladly took. She had already changed into a borrowed pair of fuzzy blue pajama pants and black tank top, and she started to make up the couch for the night. She hadn't missed Mira's concerned look when she came out of the bathroom after changing earlier. The tank top meant her scars were far more visible.
Four white lines extended from under her left ear down to the center of her throat, with one line mirrored on the opposite side of her neck. They weren't immediately noticeable on her pale skin, but the contrast of the black tank top and her alcohol-induced flush made them stand out all the more. She had more—little lines and spots in easily-concealed places all over her body, but the ones on her neck were especially hard to hide. And she didn't want to hide from Mira.
"So," she said, tucking the sheets into the couch cushions, "Since both me and Gildarts showed up, what's the plan?"
"We'll just add an extra intense combat and serenity route," Mira shrugged, "Pretty straightforward."
Talia finished making up the couch and promptly plopped down onto it. One side of her mouth tweaked up into a cocky, lopsided grin.
"How much are you looking forward to letting loose a bit?"
Mira smiled, "It will be good to stretch my wings. Not sure how I'll react if Elfman comes my way, though. It'll be hard to not go a bit easy on him."
Talia hummed in agreement, leaning back lengthwise on the couch, arms stretched out behind her head. She gave an irritated groan and huffed, hands covering her eyes.
"This means I'm actually going to have to train this week," she whined. "I hate cardio."
Mira's laugh reminded her of the brightest of wind chimes. Full of light and warmth and glee—ironic, given her magic. Of course, they were both a bit ironically tied to their magic.
"I'll help you work back up. Though, we'll have to go out of the city a bit. The training grounds out back probably don't give a big enough buffer in case we actually get competitive."
They would get competitive. They always did.
"I imagine we'll have a bit of an audience, especially from the newbies." She couldn't recall if Juvia had ever seen her use her magic; she could remember snippets of magic she had used in front of Gajeel, but she had spent more time with him. A ghost of a memory flittered across her field of vision; she pinched her eyes shut and shook her head to get rid of it.
"You, me, Erza, Gildarts. . ." she paused a moment and her brows furrowed before turning her face back to Mira, "Where's Laxus?"
Lucy was officially drunk. She and Cana staggered back to her apartment in one piece, somehow. Cana collapsed onto the couch almost immediately. Lucy went into the kitchen and filled glasses of water for both of them. She walked back into the living room and handed Cana one.
"So," hiccup, "What's the strategy?" Lucy sat down heavily on the floor across from Cana.
Cana's brows knitted together in thought, but her eyes couldn't quite focus. "Depends on who we get." She took a few gulps of water. "The exam changes each year. Last year one of the rounds was one potential S-Class plus an S-Class versus two S-Class." She shook her head as if to rid herself of the memory. "That ended horribly. It was a free-for-all and I was immediately knocked out by Mira getting over-excited about going against Erza."
"Yeesh. Yeah, no thanks," Lucy winced, draining the last of her water. "But what about Talia? Was she part of last year's exams? She's been in Fairy Tail a while, right?"
Cana nodded. "She's been here almost as long as Mira. They were inseparable as kids. And hilarious against Erza. She never got their sarcasm, so they'd just talk circles around her." Cana smiled at the memory of Erza spewing off on a soliloquy about battle tactics while Talia and Mira cackled behind her. "But her magic. . ." Cana sobered, "She's not going to be easy to beat."
"She uses sound magic. People call her The Banshee. She can control sound waves in the air and use them for all sorts of things—I've never gone up against her, but I've seen her train or mess around with people. She can throw off the equilibrium in your ears and make you basically unable to walk. Or ever been hit with the full force of a sonic boom? She'll throw those at you, easy."
Cana leaned back against the couch and stared up at the ceiling. "She used to train with Laxus. See, one of the quirks of her magic is that she can't directly create the sounds she uses. So she'd feed off the thunder from his lightning. They were brilliant." The flush in her cheeks grew stronger and a kinky smile lit up her face. "Always wondered if they'd get together."
"Were they a thing?" Lucy asked. She knew Laxus had many admirers, and the rumors of his conquests were numerous, but as far as she'd found he'd never had a serious relationship.
"Only in my backwards little mind. Mira tried to get them together, but as teenagers they were both too headstrong and stubborn," Cana stood and reached for Lucy's glass. Lucy gladly gave it, and Cana turned to refill them in the kitchen.
"By the time the two might've worked, Talia was engaged." Lucy heard the sink sputter on and each glass fill in turn. "She found some dirtbag from Phantom Lord." The malice was clear in her voice. Nobody in Fairy Tail approved, and it was common knowledge. "He was a pain in the ass, and not in the fun way." Cana's tone was harsh, despite the raunchy quip, and she walked back over to Lucy and her place on the couch. "He always liked to say he specialized in 'interrogation magic'."
"You mean. . . torture," Lucy said. She tried to keep her voice even, but a hint of fear slipped through. Cana nodded.
"Don't know what she saw in him, but she seemed happy. Broke all of our hearts to watch her fall for him, but we couldn't go against her when she seemed so in love." Cana handed Lucy her glass and returned to the couch.
"You said engaged—did she break it off, then?" Lucy asked. She couldn't remember if she'd seen a ring on Talia's hand or not, but she was leaning toward not.
"No." Cana said simply. "Bastard must've pissed off some even darker guild." Anger laced her voice and she gripped the glass so hard, Lucy was worried it would shatter in her hand. "Somebody ambushed them in the middle of the night—killed Dimitri and leveled the house. We still have no idea who did it." Tears welled in her eyes. "It took us hours to find her in the rubble. She was in shock and bleeding horribly. Thought Laxus was going to lose his mind looking for her."
"Laxus dug through the rubble like a madman, even after everyone else had stopped. He kept insisting he could hear her heartbeat. Turns out he was right—chock one up to Dragon Slayer hearing." She raised her glass in salute. "A week later, when most of her injuries were healed, she was gone. 'Leave of absence'. That was a couple weeks before last year's Exams."
Cana took a large drink from her glass, but gave it an irritated look—as expecting vodka and getting water is apt to do. She swallowed quickly.
"Now. What to do if we face Natsu. Or Grey. Or, heaven forbid, my Old Man."