Disclaimers: I do not own Fairy Tail.

A/N: Finally got an update on this story. Hope you enjoy it.

Please feel free to check out Wild Master, Fiery Hurricane of Love, Right Claw of the Dragon King, and Romeo Rising, whenever you get the chance.

The chapter was beta-ed by Conbolt is Fire.

Please Review, Fav, or Follow if you want.

P.S.: Going to be working on my Ranger series stories now as well as my Warframe fic, for a time now.

Chapter 2

The Choice is Yours

Romeo's eyes snap open and he sits straight up with a shout.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" rings out as it takes a second for him to realize that he was now in his own room, sitting up in his own bed, and a moment after he screamed, his door flies open and he is greeted by the sight of his twin sisters who looked like they have seen better days or slept better nights, quite frankly Romeo thought they looked the same regardless.

"Will you shut up?!" Juliet snaps as she chucks a pillow at him from the doorway, "Some of us got to catch a train in the morning!"

"Seriously! What's it that got you screaming at three in the morning?!" Rosalina yelled as she and her sister stomped into the room.

"I had a nightmare about seeing you two in dresses and acting like proper ladies. The shock of seeing something so unbelievable was enough to send me screaming", Romeo lies and waits for their predictable response. As his dark room suddenly lights up, he smiles.

"What was that you said?" Juliet threatens as tiny flames dance around her fingertips and Rosalina's fist became engulfed in fire.

"You heard me" Romeo declares, "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Don't push your luck with us", Rosalina threaten, "Just because mom and dad said that we can't use magic on you doesn't mean we still can't kick your butt."

"The last dozen or so times you both try to fight me and ended up on the floor say otherwise", Romeo reminded them, "Without your magic, you suck in a fight."

"Why you son of a-", Rosalina growls.

"Is that any way to speak of our dear old mother?", Romeo smiles.

Rosalina growls as both her arms become covered in fire, but before she could do anything, she was stopped by the eldest Conbolt sibling.

"Enough, Rosalina. We got an early train to catch in three hours", Juliet all but ordered, "So we're going back to sleep."

"But he-", Rosalina try to argue.

"Or would you rather stay here in Magnolia with him? Because that is going to happen if mom and dad wake up", Juliet hiss, stopping all argument.

"Fine", Rosalina says, but still throw a glare at her brother, "You got lucky this time."

"I'll be lucky when I'm finally old enough to move out and never see you two again", was Romeo responds as the door closes, once more leaving him alone in a dark room. As he lays back down and looks up at the ceiling, his mind is a jumble of thoughts….

"Last thing I remember I was falling from the sky and before that I was talking to that strange man", Romeo voice aloud, "Did I simply imagine everything?"

The thought plagues his mind for what seemed like forever. It felt so real, so vivid, but yet he was laying in his own bed without a scratch on him.

"Maybe it all was just a dream", as he tosses and turns, "Oh well, least I got a extra pillow out of it."

The Next Morning

"Alright, time to go to Crocus and kick major butt! I'm all fired up!", Natsu roars as he pumps a fist into the sky while Rosalina and Juliet look on with stars in their eyes.

"Idiot. Crocus is a twelve-hour train ride away, think you can survive it?", Gray wonders and as expected, Natsu was in his face a moment later and another argument broke out between the two mages as the rest of Fairy Tail carrying on while waiting to board the train.

"Now are you sure Romeo will be okay while he's left alone at your house?", Master Makarov asks Macao and Enno as they sat down at one of the station's benches, "Surely, we could cough up enough money for him to come as well. I'm pretty sure I have some save up somewhere."

"Thank you for the offer, Master Makarov", Enno spoke.

"But Romeo has already missed too many days of school and if he misses any more, he'll be held back a grade", Macao explained.

"But with Millgana going as well, who will watch him?", Makarov wondered.

"We have other friends in town who will check up on him every day and we have given his teachers our hotel number to call us in case something happens at school", Enno assure him.

Makarov lets out a breath, "He used to be such a nice boy before Tenrou, I can't help but wondered what happen to him."

"Puberty, maybe?", Macao shrugs.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the station, Wendy is on the lookout for a certain someone to show up…

"I hope he makes it here. He seemed like a really nice person", she tells herself while trying to fight the weird feeling that had been swelling up in her chest since yesterday morning. Suddenly a voice rings out behind her...

"Wendy, what are you doing?", Carla asks as she glides over to her charge, "You been standing over here looking around ever since we got here."

"I'm waiting for someone, Carla", the girl answers as she turns her head to her.

"Who? Everyone we know in Magnolia is already here", Carla points out.

"Someone I met yesterday while walking around", Wendy explains as she returns to her task, "I was hoping he would come see us off."

"He?", Carla's ears perk up, "What do you mean "He"?"

Wendy could now feel Carla's heated glare, burning holes into her back, "J-Just a friend", she stutters out.

Carla moves around Wendy until she is hovering right in front of her, her eyes locked with the girl's, "What have I told you about hanging out with people I haven't met, especially boys?"

"He was nice enough to me yesterday and technically you already have met him", Wendy answers.

"Boys are only nice to you because they want something", Carla lectures, "And besides, if I have already met them before, then you should have no problem telling me their name."

"She was talking about me and quite frankly, you should probably stay out of her business", a voice from behind says and Carla turns around and comes face-to-face with Romeo, "Just saying."

"And who are you?", Carla asks with an annoyed tone.

"Romeo, you made it! I thought you said you wouldn't come!", Wendy rejoices as she moves past Carla and toward the boy. Inadvertently, she clasps her hands behind her back and began rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, a slight blush on her face. A blush that did not go unnoticed by Carla

"Oh, so that what this is", Carla thought as Romeo spoke to Wendy.

"Don't look too deep into it, I was thinking about just sleeping in but since I was already up thanks to my family making a ton of noise this morning as they were leaving, I figure I might as well come", Romeo explains as he noticed Carla giving him the stink-eye.

"Aren't you Macao and Enno's son, Juliet and Rosalina's brother?", Carla asks.

"Oh, so you do remember me", Romeo answers in mock surprise.

"I recall seeing you in passing, and I've heard your name once or twice in the guild hall", Carla admits, "Though that doesn't explain why you're here."

"Weren't you listening? She asks me to show", Romeo says as he points at Wendy.

"You didn't come here to see your family off?", Carla asks and was surprised to receive a laugh in return.

"Oh man, that's rich! You're funny!", Romeo chuckles as he spots his mom and dad coming over to them, "Of course."

"Romeo, what are you doing here? You should be at school right now!", Macao screamed, but this didn't faze Romeo in the slightest because he has gotten used to it.

"Well...dad, if you pay a little more attention to my education and less to drinking and my sisters, you would know that school doesn't start for two hours", Romeo replied.

"Don't you get smart with me-", Macao began to say before…

"Romeo, my lad!", Makarov shouts as he appears in front of the boy, "It has been too long since I've seen you! Come, come, we must catch up with one another!", he has as he grabs Romeo by the hand and leads him away, "Wendy, you must come along as well! I rarely get to talk to the younger generation nowadays!"

Romeo throws a confused look over his shoulder at Wendy who merely shrugs as she starts to follow them. As Makarov led Romeo away from the station (and his father) the boy looks toward the other Fairy Tail mages and easily notices the looks that were being thrown his way. Thankfully, he couldn't hear some of the whispers being said.

"What's Romeo doing here?", Max asks, "I thought he wasn't going to Crocus."

"I think he's here to see us off", Nab answers.

"Seriously? I can count on one hand how many times Romeo has come to the guild hall over the past few years and I would still have fingers left over", Droy adds in.

"Maybe he's here to see off Wendy", Bisca states, "The girl seemed pretty excited to see him."

"You don't think?", Alzack wonder…

"When's the last time anyone of us have pay attention to Romeo or Wendy's personal life? And Mira did mention yesterday that she found them together when she went out looking for the kid", Jet chimes in.

"I didn't know anything about this and Wendy hasn't said a thing about it.", Lucy confirms, "And she, Levy, and I went out on a job yesterday."

"Though she was quieter than usual and she looked like she was deep in thought about something; And like Bisca said, she looked really happy to see him just now", Levy spoke up.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Levy?", Lucy asks.

"It couldn't be", Levy answered as she covered her mouth.

"But I think it is", Lucy carry on as Erza appeared next to her.

"Are you saying that our dear friend, Wendy, has had her maiden's heart stolen by Romeo?", the Requip Knight asks.

"I believe it's love at first sight!", Mira squealed, "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew something was going on between those two when I found them, but I couldn't say anything because I had to be all serious to make sure Romeo went to school! Ah, why did he have to skip so many days? I would have gladly paid for his ticket and room if only to work my love magic on those two!"

"You'll have your chance, big sis", Lisanna comfort her, "We can get them together when we get back."

Mira hangs her head in defeat, "I guess we can wait a few days."

"At least she won't have to worry about her love rival making a move while she's gone", Juvia states, causing everyone to snap their necks in her direction.

"What?!"

"Wendy's love rival, Wakaba's daughter, Lindsay", Juvia explain as though she was commenting the weather, "Juvia-chan has seen the way she watches Romeo whenever they're near one another. It quite obvious the girl has her heart set on him."

….

….

"Well, if it's coming from Juvia, then it might just be true", Kinana says after a moment of silence.

"The boy has two girls vying for his heart and from the looks of it, he doesn't even notice it", Bickslow says as he points over to where Romeo was currently sitting with Master Makarov and Wendy, the boy utterly failing to notice the blush that was starting to radiate across the girl's face from being in such a close proximity to him.

"How have things been, Romeo?", Makarov smiles, "Why, the last time I got to sit down and talk to you, you were my size!"

"I'm going to assume that's a joke seeing how you can grow to the size of a mountain and shrink to the size of a baby", Romeo smiles, "But anyway, I been okay."

"That's wonderful to hear", Makarov laughs, "Now it seems that Wendy was waiting for you to show up; I didn't realize that you two were friends."

"We just met yesterday while I was skipping school", Romeo admitted, not ashamed one bit.

"While I happy that you two are getting along, you really should attend all your classes, Romeo. This is your future we're talking about here", Makarov lecture the boy.

"A future that can't get here soon enough", Romeo mumbles but both Makarov and Wendy still hear it.

"I have been told by both your parents and sisters that you plan on leaving Magnolia once you graduated", Makarov informed Romeo who nodded.

"You heard right, I'm leaving Magnolia, in fact, I'm leaving Ishgar and traveling to the far east where I've heard there are countries there where magic is not an essential way of life as is here", Romeo explains, "I figure I could see what they have to offer me there."

"I see", Makarov said, "And there's no changing your mind on this? Graduation is still a long way away."

"Too long if you ask me", Romeo complained.

Makarov was going to turn his attention to Wendy, who in his eyes suddenly looked a little downtrodden. He was going to inquire what was wrong with her when suddenly the train horn sounded and the conductor yelled out, "All Aboard! This train final destination is the capital city of Crocus!"

"It seems it's time for us to board", Master Makarov said as he got up, "Come along now, Wendy! You as well, Romeo, to say your goodbyes!"

"I only came because Wendy asks me too. Didn't really come for anyone else", Romeo is quick to point out as the trio departed to the station, the young Conbolt boy never noticing the glowing cheeks on the Sky Dragon-Slayer's face at the mention of the fact that she was the only reason he was here. She gave small thanks to the gods that Romeo couldn't hear her frantically beating heart and even greater thanks to them for letting him make the better choice of even coming this morning.

Just as the trio was getting back to the train station, Romeo suddenly feels a hand place on each of his shoulders and he is jerked out to the side. He turns to face his attackers and is none to surprise to see it that they were his sisters.

"Why, dear Juliet, dear Rosalina, whatever do you need of me?", he questioned in a mocking courteous voice.

"Cut the crap, we need to talk", Julia growled as she led Romeo away while Rosalina explained to Master Makarov and Wendy that the sisters had a personal matter to tell their brother about.

A moment later the three Conbolt siblings were having an oh-so-familiar stare off.

"Why are you really here?", Rosalina asks, catching Romeo a tad off-guard.

"Pardon?", was Romeo's response as Juliet repeated the question.

"Why-are-you-really-here?"

"Wendy asked me yesterday to come see Fairy Tail off", Romeo answers honestly.

"And you decided to do it, just like that?", Rosalina inquired.

"Is there a problem with that; or are you simply mad that I came because Wendy asks me to?", Romeo asked.

Juliet and Rosalina stare at Romeo for a time, before shaking their heads simultaneously.

"Whatever", Juliet mumbles as she turns to leave, Rosalina following soon behind her.

"Well…that was awkward", Romeo said a few moments later as he made his way to the train.

Moments later, Romeo is standing alone on top of the platform watching the train departs and he spies Wendy feverishly waving at him as the locomotive got smaller and smaller while Romeo mildly waves back.

"Gods, she's energetic. Oh well, best start heading to school now", Romeo grumbles as he turns around to leave…

Only to immediately notice that something was wrong...very wrong.

As he observes the area around him he notices that the swinging train station sign, set in motion by the force of the locomotion departing the station, had stopped mid-swing at an angle which seemed impossible. He caught sight of the ticket master at his station, stop while in the process of closing his booth and it looked like he wasn't finishing the job anytime soon. He saw a pair of birds that were flying through the station that were now as still as statues in the air.

Everything was frozen in place and when Romeo turns to see the train that just left, it too was as still as a painting, its smokestack reminding Romeo of a picture he once saw as a younger child.

"What's going on?", Romeo asks himself and is surprised when he hears a voice answer back to him.

"Wonders of wonders, this is the second time you have kept calm in an extreme scenario. First, there was the falling through the sky and now this", and Romeo reels around and once again comes face-to-face with the man he saw yesterday, same black and white suit and all, "Either you are completely unfazed by the reality of it or your mind simply hasn't fully comprehended the situation you're in."

….

…..

…

Silence passes between the two before…

"You know, this is usually the part when you're supposed to demand answers, go on a rant, perhaps attack me, or even run away", the man states, "I mean, do something here."

Romeo blinks rapidly at the man for a moment before speaking, "And what would that accomplish? I have nothing within arm's reach of me that I could use as a weapon. Unlike the rest of my family, I can't do magic, and the magic you possess seems to be able to freeze everything in place. What could I possibly have at my disposal that could make you do anything?"

Now it was the man in black and white turn to stare amazingly at the boy for a few scant seconds before speaking to the air around him, "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Giving me the one kid who's no fun at all, huh?"

"Who are you talking to?", Romeo asks as he lifts an eyebrow in confusion while scanning the surrounding for anyone else who wasn't frozen in time.

"That's not important", the man waves him off, "What is important is that I need you on that train that is bound for...Crocus, was it? Anyway, I need you to be there when this little magic games of yours goes down."

"You know, for a guy who seems to possess a pretty powerful magic, you sure aren't very smart now, are you?", Romeo asks as he throws a thumb over his shoulder, "Even if you release your spell, there's nothing that could get me on that train, especially when I'm not supposed to be on it in the first place.

The man snaps in fingers, as though he had finally remembered something, "Oh, that's right. I was supposed to fix that. I knew I had to do something else yesterday", as the man slaps his hands together and withdrew them. Appearing in the space between his palms was a light blue sphere of some sorts that seem to dance with an array of flashes and lights as Romeo sees a maze of solid streams of white crisscross the interior of it with every passing second, a multitude of lights pulses within it going off. As the boy stares in amazement, he hears the man speak whilst the sphere hung in mid-air.

"Okay, let's see here", as he put both his hands into globe-like objects, "Where to begin? Oh, here we go!"

The man pulls one of his hand out and twirls it around, doing so seem to produce an oozing green slim out of thin air which he threw into the sphere and it disappears in a heartbeat, "A little common cold to add to the fold."

Next, the stranger snaps his fingers and a small pouch materializes in thin air, landing in his hand with a familiar jiggle that Romeo knew was the sound of coins and it too gets toss into the sphere, "A little extra money lying around the house."

"What are you doing?", was all Romeo could say as he watched the spectacle.

"I need you in Crocus a little early, so let's fix that check-in time, shall we?", the man tells himself as he pulls what seems like a book out of the sphere and after a wave of his hand, places it back in, "I feel there's something I'm forgetting, but I can't remember what."

He taps his chin as he tries to recall something, "That's right, I need a place for myself along with a near-full compartment", as he now starts moves his fingers in a manner that resembled a puppeteer putting on a show. A moment later, he pulls his hands out of the sphere.

"That should cover everything! And here...", he says as he places his hands on both sides of the sphere, "We...", as he brings them together, the globe of energy disappearing while doing so, "Go!" as he finally snaps his fingers and Romeo's vision is engulfed by a bright light.

"Romeo! Romeo!", is suddenly ringing in both his ears and the boy's eyes snap open and he finds himself still standing on the train platform, Juliet and Rosalina yelling into his ears.

"Get your stuff and get on the train, move it!", Rosalina yells as she grabs her own bag and passes under the door, leaving behind a bewildered Romeo who stares downward and sees a bag of his own. It was then he noticed that it was the dead of night, with a full moon out and everything.

"What?", Romeo wonders.

"Get on the train, idiot", Juliet says, "It's too late at night for your shenanigans."

"Why am I getting on the train again?", Romeo asks, only to have Juliet throws him a baffled stare.

"Has your brain not caught up with the rest of your body or are you just being stupid again? Master Makarov got a call a few hours ago from the hotel in Crocus stating that we have to check in by noon or else lose our rooms, so we have to leave on an earlier train. And in case you also forgot, Crocus is a half a day train ride away", Juliet explains as she stifles a yawn, "Now shut up and get on the train, mom and dad are waiting for us."

Romeo turns his head from side to side, taking in all of his surroundings. He sees the rest of the Fairy Tail guild struggling to get on the train, their eyelids heavy with sleep as they stumbled onto the locomotive. Even mighty Erza, who even Romeo knows is one of the strongest mages around, is barely awaken as she merely slaps both Gray and Natsu in the head for starting another argument instead of her usual act of drawing a sword on them.

Romeo feels a tug on his shirt from behind and turns to be greeted by a groggily Wendy who despite the current mood of everyone, including Carla, had a slight smile on her face.

"It's great that you get to come to the games with us, Romeo", she tells him, though deep down she was also grateful for no moon being out tonight or else the boy might have spotted the slight blush on her cheeks.

"Yeah, about that", Romeo begins as he continues glances around, "How again did my parents change their minds about me going?"

Wendy's face contorts into confusion for a moment before she answers, "Well, your mom and dad did change their minds at literally the last minute, which was understandable given the circumstances."

"What circumstances?", Romeo asks and sees Carla pop up next to him.

"Do you live under a rock or something?", she started out, "Your school has been closed since yesterday ever since almost all the staff and students came down with the flu, along with a good portion of the town."

"Including our friends who were supposed to keep an eye on you", Macao finishes as he gets off the train looking for his son, "Your mom and I thought about it for a minute but decided that there was no way we're going to let you stay by yourself for almost a week without no supervision whatsoever."

"Wow, loving the trust there, dad", Romeo says, ignoring the glare Macao threw at him, "And where exactly did you round up the extra jewels to pay for my ticket and such."

"It just so happens we found an extra bag of jewels lying around the house, so we're using that to pay for you", Macao answers and now it was Romeo who was happy that it was dark outside or else his father would have caught him glaring menacingly at him.

"Make it sounds like you didn't have any money to spare to pay for me in the first place", Romeo thinks but before he has time to dwell on it, he sees the strange man from before walk past him and the small group that had gathered and he swore he saw a slight grin on the man's face.

"There he is again. Wait a minute, the words he said from before. About a common cold, extra money lying around the house, earlier check-in time; all that came to fruition", Romeo thought as he watches him give his ticket to the conductor and strolls on in, "And a ticket for himself. How did he do all this? Am I somehow still dreaming?"

Before Romeo could dwell any further into his thoughts about this his attention is drawn to the Sky Dragon-Slayer next to him who is starting to wobble a little.

"You okay there?"

"Oh", Wendy tries to reply before she has to cover up a yawn, "I'm fine...I got back from a job earlier today with Levy and Lucy and didn't get much sleep before coming here."

"Then we should probably get on the train then", Romeo suggests as he grabs his bag and moves toward the doorway, Wendy, Carla, and Macao following behind him.

As Romeo stows his luggage in the overhead compartment, he notices that the section of the train that the guild was using was almost filled to capacity, with barely a single sit open. Even his family was crowded in their own little seating aisle alongside Wakaba and Master Makarov whilst everyone else sat elsewhere. He only saw two seats open and that were at opposite ends of the train car. One was by Wendy who was sharing with Alzack, Bisca, and Asuka, as the two parents prepared a temporarily sleeping area for the little girl, while the other was by some miraculous coincidence was right across from the man in black and white himself. Surprisingly enough, he was the only one in his seating arrangement yet no one has bothered to go sit in it.

"And a near-full compartment. Is this guy a Wizard Saint or something? No, Master Makarov would have recognized him if he did, so who is he?", Romeo thought he narrows his eyes at the man, he merely nods back at him with a smile on his lips. Romeo's focus on him was so intense that he didn't even notice Wendy calling out to him and the girl had to resort to tugging on his sleeves to get his attention, snapping the boy out of his trance.

"You going to sit down? The train about to leave", she states as she once again stifles a yawn. Romeo glances at the man in black and white once more as he sits down next to Wendy, a thousand thoughts going through his head.

"Should I tell the others? Could they even do anything if I did? I clearly remember being at the train station this morning, so why does no one else? Is this all just one powerful illusion?", he ponders before he started to feel his eyelids get heavy, "Wait a minute, why am I tired? I was wide awake a few moments…ago...", as the cousin of death embrace him.

"Well, now that I think about it, living in a world full of magic and not being able to cast any yourself would more than likely steel your mind against the strange and unknown.", a voice rings out, disrupting Romeo's sleep as his eyes flutter awake and he finds himself surrounded by endless white, and the man in black and white was standing no more than a few feet from him, "You're just gotten used to it, I guess."

"Where am I?", was Romeo first question as he surveys his environment.

"It's theorized that a person can have between three to five dreams a night, sometimes maybe even more", the man started to explain, "Where we are right now is the space between dreams, right where one dream ends and the other has yet to begin. I figure we might as well have a conversation here seeing how you choose not to talk to me on the train, which we are still on by the way and don't worry, everyone is soundly sleeping."

"Huh, wonder why I didn't want to talk to you? Let's see, a stranger shows up out of nowhere, sends me falling through the sky, stops time around me, make me go on a trip, which by the way as long as I'm being honest here, didn't want to go on in the first place because I was looking forward to having the house to myself for a couple of days, basically warps reality around him", Romeo softly rants off, "Or for all I know, this could all be just one giant illusion spell cast by Mira or whoever and I'm still lying in the meadow watching the clouds go by."

"Oh, I assure you, this isn't anything close to magic", the man said as he started walking upward as though he was going up a flight of stairs, "Your Ten Wizard Saints ain't got nothing on me, neither does that Zeref guy ya'll seem to make a big deal out of here for some reason. Oh no, he's the most powerful dark mage ever; yeah, so was that no-nose Voldemort guy and he got defeated by a kid who hadn't even graduated from his magic school yet."

But Romeo wasn't paying attention to the man's rant as he could do nothing more than watch in amazement as he now began to walk on what could only be an invisible surface, only now he was standing upside down in mid-air, looking down onto the boy.

"You see Romeo, I-"

"I never told you my name", the boy interrupts after snapping out of his trance, "So how do you know who I am?"

The man is quiet for a moment before a smile appears on his face, "Do you want the real answer or the made-up, bullcrap one?"

Romeo only stares up at him in silence.

"Alright then, I could simply say I just asked around town or checked public records, but in reality, the truth is I already know everything about you", he began.

"I find that hard to believe. I don't have a public magic profile and information in school records are kept to a minimum, trust me, I've seen my a few times already", Romeo countered.

"Romeo Conbolt, age 14, born in X777, to Macao Conbolt and Enno Conbolt formerly Sutnaal. Middle brother to Juliet Conbolt and Rosalina Conbolt", the man continued.

"Anyone who has lived in Magnolia long enough knows that", Romeo says, unimpressed.

"Has been absent a good number of days from school, yet somehow manages an above average grade-level. Spends at least two weeks a month in detention, mostly due to said truancy as well as fighting in school. Teachers have noted that despite your lack of attention in class, you seem to retain knowledge pretty well, you just lack focus and drive."

"Oookay", Romeo says, his expression now mirroring one who was starting to get uncomfortable, "T-that was some good detective work there, but still doesn't prove you know everything about me. If you're trying to impress me, tell me something that only I know."

"Your parents dotted on your sisters at an early age once they display their gifts in magic. You knew what the feeling of hate and resentment was long before any other normal kid did. Deep down, you direct these feelings not just at your parents and sisters, but to almost everyone who can wield magic", the man said as he started to rotate in mid-air and bring himself to an upright position just before he began to float slowly down toward Romeo, "There are only a couple mages who you hold in a non-negative light. One is Master Makarov, who treated you no different than your sisters, sometimes better. The second is the next-door girl, Lindsay Mine, who you feel is a rebellious kin of yours seeing how she joined a different guild despite what her parents wanted. And last, but certainly, not least is a new addition, Wendy Marvell, the Sky-Dragon Slayer, who you feel is an "alright person", and deep down wouldn't mind getting to know better."

Romeo was completely floored by the man's statement and found himself unable to move.

"But how about we dig a little deeper, shall we? Into those thought and memories that even you don't want to admit to yourself sometimes", the stranger says as he reaches ground level and was now standing over the young Conbolt teenager, "Let's go back to X784 where a grieving Enno, Juliet, and Rosalina are waiting at the guild hall, hoping that the chivalrous trio of Natsu Dragneel, Happy the Exceed, and Lucy Heartfilia, will be successful in finding Macao Conbolt, who was running a little late coming back from job that was supposed to only take three days to complete, but he had been missing for a week."

Movement returns to Romeo as his hands clench up into fists, "Don't you dare", he growls.

"And glory to the gods, they succeeded in rescuing your father and the whole family rejoices! You know, everyone who actually cared that he was missing. But not you, oh no, you really couldn't care less. Even to this day, in fact, when you glared at him at the train station not even an hour ago, you once again wished that he died on that mountain all those years ago. Because despite all the animosity you have toward your mother and sisters, it pales in comparison to the hatred you have for your father", the man finishes, is voice never raising nor lowering but standing completely neutral.

And Romeo's glare did nothing to stop the man from getting in one last word...

"I personally have only seen this level of hatred toward a family member in one other person. If it was entirely up to me, I wouldn't even be here right now and you be back in Magnolia, but orders are orders. But now you have reached the first fork in the road on your journey."

"What journey?" Romeo seethes, "Who the hell are you?"

"You still have a good amount of time before you reach Crocus and now you have a decision to make. If you wish to learn who I am and why I'm here, as soon as you awaken, come sit across from me and I will explain everything. If you choose to simply wish that I had never shown up and brought to light these dark emotions, simply stay seated where you are and once the train pulls in to Crocus, you will never see me again. In fact, I'll go one step further, just because I'm a nice guy. I'll make it to where our first meeting never even happened. The choice is yours", as the man claps his hands and once again Romeo's visions is engulfed, only this time by darkness.

Romeo jolts awake, sweat pouring from his brow and he was breathing heavily as he quickly scans everything around him. He finds that the man was right about everyone being asleep, even the people who weren't a part of the guild were knock out in the train compartment.

He feels pressure on his left shoulder and when he turns his attention toward the source of it, he was surprised to see that Wendy was resting her head on top of it. Romeo found his nostrils simply overwhelm with the scent of her hair, which smelled of lavender, and he found him getting a little hot under the collar at the close proximity she was to him. Her soft breathing was starting to sound like a lullaby and he once again was starting to fall asleep before he caught himself.

"Focus, Romeo", he tells himself as his eyes fall upon the near-empty compartment seat at the end of the train cart. He wasn't surprised when he sees the man in black and white still sitting there, wide awake, smiling at him. As if beckoning him to make a move, he opens his hand out in Romeo's direction and Romeo recalls the last words the man said…

"The choice is yours."

Romeo gently eases Wendy off of his shoulder, careful not to wake the girl, as he gets up and softy places her head on the armrest. For a moment, he finds himself watching her sleep before snapping out of it. He looks down the aisle and sees the man now reading a book with a bored expression on his face and when Romeo finally takes a seat in front of him, the novel vanishes into thin air.

"She's a nice girl, isn't she?", he says as he briefly turns his glance toward Wendy down the aisle, "Reminds me of my wife. Well, given who my wife is, I guess that could-",

"Who are you and what do you want?", Romeo asks, this time with a little more force behind his voice.

"Straight to the questions, huh? Annoying in a way, but I like the initiative and the fact that you're focused on a goal. Those are great qualities to have", the man starts rambling off, before stopping himself, "But I digress. First off, my name. It's actually not that simple for you see I am known by many titles and names. I'm considered the alpha, the first one, the Father of Humanity, and in the Hinduism religion, for example, I am called Manu."

"What is Hinduism?", Romeo briefly wonders before seeing the man reach out with a hand and placing two fingers on the boy's forehead.

Romeo's mind is bombarded with a stream of images and he could only make out the bare minimum due to the speed at which the images were appearing. A lush garden, a paradise if you will. A man, the same man sitting across from him, naked as the day he was born, sitting alone amongst a throng of different animals. Next, there appears a woman whose only cover was her long locks of hair and she provides companionship to the man. There's a tree in the middle of the garden with bountiful apples growing on it. Romeo sees a snake, tempting the woman into picking one of the apples and taking a bite out of it.

"What the-?", Romeo lets out as now he sees the man taking a bite out of the apple as well. Fast forward through a blur of images and he sees the man and woman leaving the garden into the desolate unknown, regrettably looking back at it and watching in anguish as it fades from their sight, lost forever in the torments of time.

The man pulls his fingers back and Romeo finds himself gripping the armrest in an effort to steady himself as he tries to calm down.

"What was that?", Romeo says, more to himself while at the same time asking the man across from him.

"That, my dear boy, was the origins of humanity and the beginning of its downfall. What you witness was the first ever sin committed by a human. Like I said before, I go by many names, but for you...", as the man finally takes off his hat and places it to the side, "You can simply call me Adam."

A/N: Please Review, Fav, or Follow if you want and check out Wild Master, Fiery Hurricane of Love, Right Claw of the Dragon King, and Romeo Rising, whenever you get the chance.

Off I go to my Ranger series stories now as well as my Warframe fic.