Chapter 1: Jazrel Fernandes
Third Person's POV
It was a normal day in the town of Margaret within the Kingdom of Fiore. A fifteen years old girl who has scarlet hair and dark green eyes was strolling around to find a gift for her cousin's approaching birthday. She was wearing her guild's signature robe and underneath it is a simple white blouse and black leggings. She was also wearing her running shoes and a belt bag. She just left a guildhall in the city to visit someone and decided to go shopping for the celebrant. The girl's name is Jazrel Fernandes.
"Ah, Jazrel-chan!" the owner of the clothing shop greeted her as she entered. "Are you shopping for clothes again?"
"Good morning," the girl greeted. "And yes, I am shopping for clothes but it's not for me. Do you have anything new?"
"Is it for a gift?" the middle aged woman asked and she nodded. "Who is it for?"
"It's for my uncle's daughter," she responded. "She's turning nine next week and she invited me for her party two towns away."
"Kids sure are growing up too fast," the woman commented. "Anyway, we do have new items that arrived from outside the kingdom. Do you want to look at them?"
"Sure!"
It took an hour for the girl to decide but she ended up getting a white dress and a cute pouch as gifts. She thanked the owner of the shop and left. She then went to a craft shops and bought a gift box and ribbon and left as soon as she was done. She exited the town to the nearby forest where her home was located. She reached the building after ten minutes of walking and went inside.
"Welcome back, Rel-chan!" Richard Buchanan, one of her uncles, greeted her as she entered their guildhall.
She took off her robe and revealed her guild mark that was located in her left shoulder, Crime Sorciere. It has been nineteen years since the former independent guild became legal. However, this guild hall was built when she was three years old. It was the year when her aunt Meredy married Lyon Vastia of Lamia Scale. Neither of them wanted to leave their guilds so the girl's father decided for Crime Sorciere to settle in one place. They decided to build the guildhall in the nearby forest of Margaret Town so it was nearby Lamia Scale. The guild hall building has three floors, two of which are for the guild operations, and the third floor is where the girl, her father, and two of her uncles live.
"I'm home, Uncle," she greeted back. "Where's my dad?"
"Your dad is still in his office, dear," Richard answered. "I do think he is almost done with his work, though. You can go ahead and visit him, or you can go to the kitchen since Macbeth already cooked your lunch."
The population of Crime Sorciere can't be compared to the major guilds of Fiore like Fairy Tail, Sabertooth, or Lamia Scale. Their head count is just exactly thirty even after years of being founded. However, they are a guild of powerful mages so they can be considered up par with others in terms of strength. Her Uncle Richard is the one who usually works behind their bar counter in the first floor of their guildhall. He entertains visitors and receives most of the job requests the guild receives. Her other uncle, Macbeth, is the one who takes care of their household chores on which she helps out, too. She has been living with them as long as she can remember, along with her dad who is the guild master of the guild, Jellal Fernandes.
Considering how she was hungry, she went to the third floor were her lunch is probably waiting and she was right. Macbeth was at their dining table with foods ready.
"I'm home!" she greeted her uncle who had a frown in his face. "What's wrong, Uncle?"
"Did you not tell your dad you were going out?" he asked in annoyance.
"I may have forgotten to do it," the girl sheepishly smiled and responded as she sat down in the table to eat. "But if he knew Uncle Lyon visited, shouldn't he assume that I'll go with him to Lamia Scale for Aunt Meredy?"
Meredy was temporarily residing in Lamia Scale because of her third pregnancy. Crime Sorciere doesn't have a mage who specializes in healing, unlike Lyon's guild Lamia Scale that has Cheria.
"Jellal did not know Lyon visited since he got caught up with work again," Macbeth responded with a sigh. "Anyway, go wash up after you are done and pack some travel clothes."
"What for?" the girl asked in confusion.
"The reason your dad was asking where you are earlier is because he wants you to accompany him on a trip for four days," his uncle answered that made her frowned. "He is all set; you can just go to his office when you are done packing."
"I don't want to go with him," the girl pouted. "The last time we went somewhere was a meeting of the Ten Wizard Saints in ERA. I was terrified to death, Uncle. Do you know how scary their auras are?"
Since the members of Crime Sorciere year X792 were granted amnesty by the Queen of Fiore, Jellal was again recognized as one of the Ten Wizard Saints for he is undeniably one of the most powerful mages in Ishgar. The Ten Wizard Saints members who don't work in the Magic Council are honorary members in governing Ishgar in terms of magic. They are the advisers of the council who conducts a meeting once to thrice a year in ERA. Jazrel went with Jellal the last time and she did not enjoy the experience.
"You have no choice, sweetie," Macbeth responded. "Besides, you are not going to ERA or to a meeting with those scary old men. You are going to Magnolia."
"Magnolia?" the girl wondered. "Why are we going there?"
"Ask your father personally," Macbeth sighed and got up. "Anyway, just leave the dishes in the sink and I'll wash it later. I have to get the clothes I hanged earlier. You two have a safe trip."
"Thank you, Uncle," the girl responded and the older mage left.
The girl hurriedly finished her meal and fixed the dining table. She left the dishes in the sink as she was instructed and went for a shower. She chose to wear a normal black sleeveless turtle neck blouse and white skirt that reaches three inches above her knees. She paired it with knee-cut black combat boots, along with a pair of black fingerless gloves. She put her scarlet hair in two pigtails and used her snowflake hair pin that her Uncle Lyon made her to fix her bangs. She then applied lip balm and face powder. After that, she got her backpack and filled in with comfortable clothes as well as some essentials she needs. She got a fresh Crime Sorciere robe in her closet and left her room. She went to the second floor and entered her father's office and saw her dad finishing up with the papers in his desk.
"Dad!" she greeted as she went to hug him.
"Where have you been, Flower?" her father softly asked as he returned her hugs.
"I went to visit Aunt Meredy and went shopping for Angelie's gift after I left Lamia Scale," she responded. "Anyway, Uncle Macbeth told me about the trip, shall we go?"
Jellal arranged the papers in his desk as his daughter let go of him from her embrace. He stood up and took his coat and they went to the first floor.
"Richard, you and Macbeth are in charge of the guild," he told the guy behind the bar counter. "Don't let anyone go on an S-class mission for now. And also, kindly tell Sawyer and Erik to call me when they are back."
"Of course, have a safe trip, you two!"
The father and daughter pair left the guild building and went straight to Margaret town where the train station was located. They bought tickets to Magnolia and boarded the train.
"What kind of business do you have in Magnolia, Dad?" Jazrel asked.
"We're going visit Fairy Tail," Jellal smiled at his daughter. "You were saying you wanted to go there, right?"
Jazrel's eyes gleamed but then she looked at his father suspiciously and asked, "You are going to visit the member of the Ten Wizard Saints, aren't you?"
Jellal chuckled and shook his head, "My business is with his grandson, the current guild master."
"I knew that you weren't going there to hang out," Jazrel pouted. "Is it something serious?"
"Hmm?" Jellal turned to his daughter because of her question.
"You never go there for some reason and you usually ask Uncle Erik to relay your message since his wife is a Fairy Tail member," Jazrel pointed out. "Is it something big that you did not wait for Uncle Erik?"
He smiled and ruffled her hair, "It's not something a little girl like you should be worrying about."
She slapped his hand away and pouted, "I'm not a little girl."
The ride was uneventful. It didn't take them long to reach their destination. Fairy Tail stood at the center of Magnolia so they immediately went there. As they open the door, a flying table was on its way to hit them but Jellal used his magic to deflect it.
"This is why I don't like visiting this guild," Jellal whispered but Jazrel managed to hear him that caused her to sweat drop. "This is the greeting I receive whenever I came in to this building."
"Are you sure that this is Fairy Tail, dad?" Jazrel asked him and he nodded. "Being the strongest guild in Fiore, I didn't expect it to be so rowdy."
The girl looked around the guildhall where a brawl was happening. Though with that said, she can actually tell that the ones fighting were having fun.
"It's how they bond," her father explained. "Or at least that was I was told."
Jazrel just stared at her father weirdly because she couldn't understand the logic behind it. How is fighting a way of bonding?
"Jellal-san?" the pair looked at a female blue-haired mage. "What a surprise, I haven't seen you in forever."
"How have you been doing, Juvia?" Jellal responded. "It's really been a while."
"I've been doing well, thank you for asking. I hope you did, too," Juvia then turned her attention to the girl who was with Jellal. "Hello there, we haven't met personally but I heard so much about you from Lyon-sama. I'm Juvia Fullbuster. It's nice to finally meet you in the flesh, Jazrel."
"It's nice to meet you, too, Juvia-san," Jazrel greeted back.
"So, what brings you here, Jellal-san?" Juvia asked Jellal. "You usually let Erik-san handle your businesses with Fairy Tail."
"I need to talk to Laxus," Jellal responded. "Is he in?"
"Master is out," Juvia responded with a sad smile. "He went on a surveying mission with Natsu-san and Erza-san yesterday. I am not sure where the exact place is but they said they will probably take five days at max."
"Who's in charge of the guild right now, then?" Jellal asked the woman.
"That would be Cana-san, of course," Juvia responded. "Come inside, she's in the second floor at the guild master's office."
"Okay."
The three of them went inside and Jellal couldn't help but comment, "Your guild hasn't change much for the last sixteen years. It's still rowdy. Jazrel was questioning the logic behind your so-called bonding earlier. I see that many still hasn't mature yet."
"Well, being childish is being a Fairy Tail member," Juvia chirped. "The only ones who get it are the actual members, though. Nobody is complaining and it's more fun this way. It makes us forget that being a guild member is a job."
"Who is in right now?" Jellal asked.
"It's just Lisanna-san and me, except for Cana-san and Kinana who is in the nursery. Wendy is at home," Juvia answered. "All of the usual people are out except for us."
Jazrel's POV
We went inside the rowdy guild and I saw how messy it really was. We approached the bar counter where a white short haired woman was located.
"Lisanna-san, Jellal-san came to visit with his daughter," Juvia-san told the female there.
"Hello, Jellal-san! I haven't seen you in forever!" the short white haired female greeted my dad and then turned to me. "This must be Jazrel. She's grown up too fast. Hello, sweetie, I'm Lisanna. Welcome to Fairy Tail!"
"Thank you for having me," I politely bowed to her.
"You don't need to be formal with us," Lisanna-san told me. "What brings you both here?"
"I was hoping to talk to Laxus or at least the one in charge," Dad answered.
"That would be Cana," Lisanna-san responded. "Juvia, take them to Master's office."
I looked at my dad when I heard that. He sighed and shook his head.
"Can Jazrel stay here with you?" Dad asked Lisanna-san. "She hates it when I take her to a business meeting."
"No problem!" Lisanna-san responded. "You two go ahead. She's alone in the office doing the papers."
I saw Juvia-san and Dad went up the stairs as Lisanna-san offered me to sit in one of the chairs in front of the bar.
"Would you like a drink?" Lisanna-san offered.
I hesitated but she only smiled at me.
"You don't need to hold back," she advised me. "You can be shameless here, this is Fairy Tail. I'm not saying that we are not qualified to be called the Strongest Guild in Fiore, but if you ask me, we are more fitting to be the Most Shameless Guild in Ishgar and nobody will argue to me about it. You don't need to be shy in here. How about I make you the signature Fairy Tail milkshake? I'm sure you'll like it!"
"Yes, please," I just agreed shortly.
"What flavor would you like it to be?" she asked me. "Our bestselling flavors are vanilla and strawberry, but we also have others."
"I'll try strawberry, please," she nodded at me and turned around.
I saw her preparing the drink so I turned to look around the guild. They are still fighting, but it was weird that the brawl didn't reach where she was.
"Lisanna-san, is it okay for them to brawl inside the guild hall?" I asked her.
"Yeah, that's a normal occurrence here," she explained. "But they won't reach here. This area is protected with runes. The last time that they damaged the bar, my sister beat them all into pulp so they kinda learned from experience."
"Is your sister scary?" I turned to look at her again.
"Well, no, as long as you don't tick her off," she smiled at me as she approaches me with the drink in her hand. "You might have heard her name before. Do you know Mirajane of Fairy Tail?"
"Mirajane, did you mean the one they call the Female Demon?" I asked as she handed me my drink.
"That's her, all right," Lisanna-san responded. "My sister is a Take Over Mage who uses Satan Souls. She's usually the barmaid but she's on break because she just gave birth to her youngest child."
I nodded in acknowledgement and took a sip of the drink.
"This is great!" I exclaimed. "I can't believe I lived fifteen years without tasting this!"
"To be honest, this drink is one of the major reasons female mages of Fairy Tail can't bear to leave the guild," Lisanna-san winked at me. "And most of our friends from other guilds always come by to taste it."
"Can I come often for this, too?" I asked that made her giggled.
"Of course, you can! You are always welcome here," she responded.
"Momma Li!" a girl with short white hair came in so suddenly that I was shocked a little.
"Emerald, what's wrong?" Lisanna-san turned to the girl.
"I was practicing my magic and I accidentally turned Nii-chan and the others to stone figures again and I don't know how to undo it," the girl explained with her head down. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, dear. Where are they?" Lisanna-san asked.
"At the pool side," the girl responded and then she turned to me. "Who are you?"
"Emerald, don't just ask people like that. It's quite rude. Instead of asking that question, you should've greeted her first and introduced yourself and then you can ask her name but not in that matter," Lisanna-san softly scolded her and turned to me. "I apologize for my niece's behavior."
"I don't mind, Lisanna-san," I smiled at them and then turned to the girl who was looking at me with her dark brown eyes. "My name is Jazrel Fernandes. May I know yours?"
The girl smiled at me and responded, "I'm Emerald Strauss."
Dealing with kids younger than me is easy since I am the oldest child of all mages in our guild and even in Lamia Scale. I am always the big sister, and never the younger one so I learned to be considerate.
"So, then, let's go see the others," Lisanna-san stated. "Do you want to come with us, Jazrel?"
I nodded and they lead me to the backyard of the guild building where a pool was located. I saw four stone figurines of kids by one side of the pool.
"So this is why you weren't in that rowdy guild hall," Lisanna-san stated with a sigh. "Cancellation magic: Negation!"
I stared in awe as I saw a gray magic circle in the ground where the figurines where and it started nullifying the magic that caused them to stones.
"Nii-chan!" Emerald went to hug one of the boys there who also has white hair and brown eyes. "I'm really sorry! I didn't mean it."
"That's Emman, her older twin brother," Lisanna-san filled me in and called for them. "This is Jazrel Fernandes, a visitor for today. Do you think you can introduce yourselves to her?"
"I'm Emman Strauss!" the twins are probably the oldest kids present.
"I'm Marky Justine," the kid with green hair and blue eyes introduced himself. "And this is my younger brother, Fabian."
"Hello," Fabian greeted.
Fabian looked at least three years younger than Marky but they have identical faces. The only difference is their hair since Fabian is white haired.
"I'm Grayson Fullbuster!" the last boy introduced who have black hair and blue eyes.
I greeted them and they started talking to me about random stuffs. The twins Emman and Emerald are eight years old. Fabian is also turning eight this year, while Marky just turned eleven. Lastly, Grayson is a twin and just had their tenth birthday a month ago.
After the issue of stone figures past, Lisanna-san and I went back inside. The kids are swimming and Lisanna-san seemed to be confident to leave them on their own. As we enter the guild building again, I saw Dad on the stairs with Juvia-san and another woman with brown hair.
"Jazrel!" Dad called out to me so I went to them. "I would like you to meet Cana Dreyar. She is the wife of the current guild master of Fairy Tail, Laxus Dreyar. Cana, this is my daughter, Jazrel Fernandes."
We greeted each other and the woman hugged me in the process. Why are they acting so familiar with me?
"Are we going now, Dad?" I asked him but he shook his head. "Then, what do we do now? Can you at least tell me something about this?"
"There are some matters that I need to investigate and I came here to borrow one dragon slayer since your Uncle Erik is still out," Dad started explaining. "Unfortunately for me, the only dragon slayer around for today is Wendy but she can't go with me because she's nearing her due date. Natsu and Laxus went out yesterday, and Gajeel is at Sabertooth along with the dragon slayers' children for training. We already contacted him and they said that they will be here late afternoon. I'm going to go conduct an investigation with Gajeel for at least three days. In my absence, I want you to stay here until I return."
"What?" I looked at him in disbelief. "Why? If you are going away, I could have just stayed at home. You didn't need to bring me here."
"Richard and Macbeth's hands are full. It might not seem like that to you, but the guild actually has many matters they have to handle in my absence. I brought you here in Fairy Tail because not only that it's the strongest guild, I trust the fairies. Where else is safer than here?" Dad explained.
"You'll be staying in our house, Jazrel," Juvia-san added.
"But I don't like to intrude," I shyly declined but Juvia-san smiled at me.
"You are not intruding, you're always welcome," Juvia-san argued. "There's no need to feel shy. My son Grayson and I are the only ones around tonight. My husband and our girls won't be home until tomorrow but I'm sure they don't mind having a visitor. After all, you're Meredy's favorite Fernandes."
"There are only two of us," I pointed out that made them giggle except for Dad. "Well, it's not the first time I stayed over somewhere so I guess it is fine. But you are giving me allowance, right, Dad?"
"Of course, Flower," Dad told me.
"Wanna go and head over our house right now?" Juvia-san offered. "We'll drop off your things and come back. We won't take long."
"I'll stay here to wait for Gajeel," Dad told me.
Juvia-san led me out of the guild and we went into the direction of the nearby hills of Magnolia. We went up to a hill through a large staircase. I was astonished on what I saw a village-like community at top of the hills. There are houses that are two-story or three-story scattered all over the place and there are even three large buildings in the middle side of the place.
"Welcome to Fairy Hills," Juvia-san introduced me to the place. "This mini-village is where most of us fairies own a place. The original Fairy Hills is just one building and it was a dormitory for female members, but Laxus-san started to develop this place after he was placed as the Guild Master. This hill is exclusively own by Fairy Tail. Members who want to build houses go through Master Laxus to buy a piece of the land, like my husband did years ago. But not all members want to build a house. So for them, the Fairy Tail's Flats stood at the center of this place. They can own a unit there depending on their status: if they have a family, then it will be in the Building A; if the person is a single woman, then it will be in the building B; and if the person is a single man, then the Building C. The only requirement for someone to reside in here is one of the two: one should be a Fairy Tail member or one should be married to a Fairy Tail member."
"Wow, so even big guilds have businesses?" I wondered and Juvia-san nodded. "I didn't expect guilds like Fairy Tail to be business-minded."
"It's not that we're business-minded, we just want a diversity of work. Fairy Tail is indeed one of the biggest guilds by number, but that doesn't mean that all members are strong mages just because we are also the Strongest Guild in Fiore. We have members who are not good with magic or combat, and it turns out one of their talents is handling businesses so we decided to establish different kind of businesses. We are not the only guild who has these kinds of businesses on the side," she responded to my question. "Sabertooth have hotels scattered all over Fiore, and even Lamia Scale has a shipping business."
We continued talking about guild businesses when we reached a three-story blue house. There's a mail box in front of the doorstep that says "Fullbuster Residence".
"Welcome to our humble abode," she greeted me as she motioned me to go inside.
I was welcomed by a fully-furnished living room with a lot of ice sculptures. The temperature of the house seems to be a lot lower inside that it reminds me of Aunt Meredy's house because of Uncle Lyon's magic.
"It's cold in here," I commented.
"Oh, I'm sure you don't mind," Juvia-san smiled at me. "You are Lyon-sama's favorite student, an ice-molding magician like my husband and girls."
"Your husband and girls are ice wizards?" I blinked at her and she nodded.
Come to think of it, I think I might have heard Juvia-san's last name somewhere. Then it hit me.
"Does the name Gray Fullbuster ring the bell?" she asked me. "He is Lyon-sama's junior from their mentor."
"I knew your last name sounded familiar," I mumbled. "But you are right, Juvia-san. I do like the cold."
"That's the exact reason why Jellal-san asked me to take you in," Juvia-san stated. "You can stay with Lisanna-san or Cana-san, too, but their houses might be too hot for you."
I sweat dropped at what she said. It's true, though. The last time I went to stay over Aunt Sorano's house in Azalea Town, it was too hot that I ended up frosting the guest room I was in.
Juvia-san led me to the second floor where the guest room was as she toured me around. Their first floor has a living room, comfort room, kitchen, and dining area. The second floor has a mini entertainment room, two guest rooms, and the master bedroom. The third floor has four rooms, one for each of their children. All of the bedrooms have a comfort room inside for convenience and a veranda. After settling my things, Juvia-san and I decided to go back in the guild.
When we were about to enter the guild, I could hear the guild hall being louder than when we left for a bit so I turned to Juvia-san and gave her a questioning look.
"The dragons are back," Juvia-san smiled at me.
True to her words, it seems are there are kids who aren't here earlier. I could sense that they are like Uncle Erik in some way. So, they are the famous kids of dragon slayers?
"Jazrel-neechan!" I turned to the one who called me and I saw a maroon haired boy who I haven't seen in weeks. "You're really here!"
"Kelvin!" I called out his name and he started running towards me and I welcomed him in a hug. "I see that you have been doing well. It's been three weeks since I last saw you."
"I was on a camp for dragon slayers," he giggled. "I can't believe you're on our guild. I thought Master Jellal was kidding to me about you being here earlier."
"You know her, Kelvin?" a voice asked behind me so we both turned around.
It was another female teenager who is about at the same age as me. Her hair color is like my father's and she got brown eyes.
"Hi, I believe this is the first we met," she politely smiled at me. "I'm Ella Scarlet."