A.N. (10/18/22) - Sorry for the delay. My schedule has been pretty busy lately, and it didn't help that I was stuck preparing for midterms.
Chapter 2: Family Gathering
-Part 1-
Hargeon Town, located in the southern part of Fiore, was a townscape with a beautiful marina. Having been recently rebuilt, it neighbored a fine seafront esplanade that afforded a view for visitors to watch the various boats arrive and depart. Beyond the harbor, the vastness of the ocean spread out in a stunning display as sunbeams reflected off the water.
"It's kinda weird." A cheery female voice spoke. "Even though we're in a different country, the sea looks the same as back home. And yet, we were always taught that beyond the ocean only lay the enemy."
"It's the opposite for them." It was another voice that replied. "To think that when the people here look to the west, they probably think of the same thing."
"Despite that, our little brother seems intent on staying here. What do you think is so special about this place that he ignores our summons telling him to come home?"
"Not sure."
Two women rode together on a small boat. The ebb and flow of the water rocked the vessel slightly, creating a pleasant motion as they docked their ship and came to a stop. Sailors came and went between the ships and dock, working while the two women moved past them all. And while none bothered paying them any attention, the dozens of dents and scratches covering the old steel rowboat they left behind did catch the eye of a few sailors as they wondered how it was still afloat despite its condition.
The names of the two were Juliet Sun and Heine Lunasea. Both of them were here on a mission that necessitated them traveling all the way to Ishgar in pursuit of their goal. And while there wasn't any strict time limit set in stone, the two preferred to finish things as quickly as possible so that they may return home immediately once they complete their objective.
"Please tell me we're not finding another boat," Juliet begged. "The last few days are already too much. I'm surprised that we even made it as far as we did on that piece of junk."
"The local militia may have received warnings about us, so it's still not safe to travel openly yet." Heine sighed. "But it looks like this is as far as we can go with sea travel. We'll make the rest of the way to Magnolia on foot, although we'll have to avoid the main roads."
Their arrival to Fiore had not gone unnoticed. Heine sent the other girl a glare as she recalled exactly whose fault it was that caused them to get caught on the Rune Knights radar in the first place. Clumsily damaging the goods on the merchant ship was one thing, but revealing their true strength to the guards only made things worse.
"Well, that's one piece of good news." The blond girl stretched. "Hopefully he'll still be there. I'm not interested in chasing him across the country if he's already gone."
"Don't forget about our other mission. While it would be nice to have Vale cooperate with us, his presence will not be necessary for the upcoming task."
"But it's been so long," Juliet whined. "He hasn't visited in so many years. I wanna see how much he's grown since we last saw him. Don't tell me you're not interested in knowing what he looks like now."
"As a matter of fact, I'm not." Heine smirked. "Since he sometimes communicates by Thought Projection magic, I've already seen what he looks like. While I'm not sold on his new hair color, it seems that he's grown quite well since he left."
"W-What? No fair!"
"Blame yourself for not doing your duty and going through the mission reports he sent us. Had you done so, you would have had dozens of opportunities to talk with him if you wished."
That was a bit of an exaggeration. While Vale did try to report as frequently as possible, the amount of times where he spoke in person were few and far between. Still, Heine wasn't going to let Juliet know that little fact. After all, it was rare that she got the opportunity to rile up the other girl like this, and she was enjoying it much more than she expected.
"Ugh, you're the weird one who actually enjoys doing that. Besides, you never told me that I could talk to him if I did."
"And why would I do that?"
"Meanie! You just want to hog him all to yourself!"
"I do have to put effort into keeping my position as his favorite big sister after all."
"That's not true," Juliet yelled. "You're lying, he obviously likes me more than you."
"Maybe that was the case when we were young, but it's been years since you've talked to him." Heine's smirk grew at seeing the other girl's shocked expression. "Absence might make the heart grow fonder, but it also makes it fickle and I've spent years proving that I still remember our dearest brother. Unlike a certain idiot sister of his."
Juliet's face paled. "Y-You mean he thinks that I haven't talked to him because I was ignoring him?"
"Who knows?" A shrug. "Maybe that's why he stopped communicating with us. He's feeling neglected that one of his dear sisters never bothered to contact him even once during the entire time he was away from home."
Suddenly, Heine was caught off-guard as her feet left the ground. It took her half a second to realize that Juliet had grabbed her and started running, the girl exerting a burst of explosive strength while dragging her along.
"T-This can't be! I have to fix this misunderstanding at once!"
"Hey!" Heine shouted. "Let me go you idiot, I can run by myself. Stop pulling me!"
"Wah~ It's not true! I have to regain my position as the bestest sister!"
"Stop this! You're getting dust in my mout—ack! Pweh! Blegh!"
"Don't worry, Vale! Big Sis is coming to pick you up!"
The trail of dust that exploded while they ran caused a commotion as passing merchants and travelers blinked in surprise. For the next few days, rumors would continue to spread of a screeching banshee traveling at the speed of wind as dust trailed behind it. Unexpectedly, these rumors would be later dismissed by the Rune Knights as irrelevant to their investigation as they continue their search for the two Alvarez operatives.
-Part 2-
Several days have passed since their latest mission. Despite Fairy Tail's regained reputation, it was still lacking compared to its peak. As a result, the number of jobs that came their way on slow days was minuscule at best. So to pass the time, the members of the guild had to find other ways to entertain themselves.
"Hey, Romeo."
"Yeah?"
"Remind me something."
"What is it?"
"Why exactly are we doing this again?"
This being the fact that everyone was currently gathered on the training grounds while making a lot of noise. It was basically just a large area set up for any members of Fairy Tail to let loose and practice their magic without causing much damage to their surroundings. Had there been any bleachers surrounding them, the place would have made for a good amphitheater.
Standing in the center were Vale, Romeo, and Zera. The three children were surrounded by the rest of Fairy Tail as several of them began exchanging cash while they made bets on who was going to win. Macao had an undisguised smirk on his face as he stared down Makarov, who returned a suspicious look but still passed him a fat wad of bills.
"Also, should I feel flattered that your dad thinks we stand a chance against Natsu and the others?"
To be fair, almost every member of Fairy Tail has already heard about the events that occurred during the spar between Natsu and Max. While the latter didn't manage to earn himself a victory, it was a lot closer than anybody had expected. The fact that Max of all people almost managed to beat Natsu came as a shock to them, and Macao saw this as an opportunity.
"Alright, keep those bets coming!" Before him was a table with two piles forming into small mountains. "Left is for the newbies while right is for the seniors. Hurry up before the match starts!"
The flood of voices overlapping with each other rose in volume as everyone was caught up in the mood.
"Ten thousand Jewels on the brats winning!"
"Fifteen thousand on Natsu overwhelming them!"
"Five thousand Jewels for the kids!"
A cheerful voice could be heard above the others. "Fifty-thousand Jewels for Natsu to go overboard and win the match."
"First Master! You're getting involved as well? Hold on, do you even have anything to pay forward?"
"Hey, Makarov. Spot me some cash!"
"Hmph, you better pay me back after this."
Romeo gave in and groaned into his hands. "It finally happened. Dad snapped and lost his mind due to all the stress."
"Don't give up yet." Zera patted him on the back. "Think about it. All three of us are objectively stronger than Max under the right circumstances, and it's not like we're fighting Erza or Laxus."
The three of them took a moment to stare at their opponents standing across the field from them.
Natsu had a wide grin on his face as he stretched while Gray started to remove his shirt for some reason. Wendy was the only one who looked unconfident on their side, but a moment passed before she made a guts pose as a determined expression covered her face.
They accepted the excuse that Macao presented them with easily enough, that this was all for the sake of having them compare notes to see what the current power level of wizards was like. The two older boys didn't even seem bothered by the fact that their opponents were (supposedly) all the same age as Wendy. In fact, Natsu was probably the most excited out of everyone since he knew that both Romeo and Zera were fire wizards like he was.
"Natsu might think he has an advantage over us," Zera began. "But we've dealt with fire eaters before. Don't forget all those lessons we got from Totomaru and Zancrow." The latter was less of a lesson and more of a practical demonstration. "Not too sure about Gray, but fire and ice are elemental opposites, so hopefully it'll be fine. Honestly, I think the biggest threat will be going up against Wendy."
"Wendy?" Romeo gave her a look of disbelief. "Not that I think she's weak, but you really think she's gonna be worse than both Natsu and Gray?"
"She's right," Vale interjected. "Wendy's not only an Enchanter like me, but she's also capable of healing and fighting without protection. Any enchantments that we use won't give us much of an edge if the opponent also has their own support spells."
It wasn't often that Vale encountered situations where his magic was limited. Going up against another Enchanter was going to be interesting, especially since the only times he did so in the past were usually when he sparred with his mother while she held back. Enchanters were pretty rare among the wizard community, so Vale wanted to see how his magic fared in comparison to Wendy's.
Before they got the chance to plan their approach, the crowd parted as someone came walking through with a strut. Vale's eyes bulged as he realized that it was Erza carrying a large sign while wearing a scandalous bunny outfit that had the men in the spectator crowd whistling with delight. Even though Erza seemed to take it in stride, Vale was dying on the inside as he realized exactly how painful it was to have a sexy half-sister that didn't care about modesty.
"Alright, I want this to be a fair match for everyone." Erza stood in the middle while both teams prepared themselves. "Going up against Team Hot Icy Air—" A few snickers came from the crowd. "—will be Team Paid Fairly Teen Labor Force."
Credit had to be given to Erza for managing to say that with a completely straight face.
"This will be a three-on-three battle. Ring-out counts if you leave the field for more than ten seconds, and defeat is counted the same way. No crippling injuries and no dirty shots. As for Zera, getting any advice from your mentor during the match will also be considered cheating. I'll pass responsibility onto the First to keep an eye out for any attempts at doing so."
"Don't worry!" Mavis happily waved while her hand grabbed onto seemingly nothing. "I have him right in my grasp, he won't be able to do anything unless I allow him to."
"Good." Erza nodded. "Natsu, you're banned from using your new lightning mode in this match. Otherwise, everyone can use whatever magic they want to win."
Left unsaid was that there was one magic that Zera wouldn't be using. Although, death was probably classified as a crippling injury anyway, so the rules technically covered that part as well.
"On your marks…"
Romeo's body engulfed itself in flames while Zera's hair turned yellow as she activated Zancrow mode. Vale knew that they wouldn't be holding back since they understood how strong their opponents were. With that thought in mind, he allowed the restrictions on his body to weaken as his magic output suddenly spiked. His past of self-experimentation would excuse the increase in power, so he allowed himself to grow familiar with the newfound magic coursing through his body.
"Get set…"
Wendy raised her arms in preparation while frigid air started to appear around Gray's body. "I'm all fired up!" Natsu yelled as flames appeared on his fists. "Don't think we'll go easy on you guys."
Erza raised her hand. "Begin!"
The first to act was the two Enchanters of their respective teams, already activating their spells right after Erza's declaration.
"Enchant Type," Vale began. "Boost Attack and Speed Attributes!"
"Arms!" Wendy yelled at the same time. "Vernier!"
Every fighter's body glowed as multiple enchantments affected them at once. Natsu and Gray dashed forward while both Romeo and Zera sent out multiple bursts of flames headed their way. A wall of ice sprouted from the ground to block them, and Gray used that opportunity to create a curved lift that allowed him to slide across its surface.
Meanwhile, Natsu simply leaped through the air to avoid the attacks. Both of them descended upon their group, causing Romeo and Zera to scramble out of the way while Vale extended his weapon.
"Enchant Type - Infuse Control Element!"
A metal cord unwound from its reel as the wire shot forward to wrap around the two wizards. Both boys let out surprised yells as their bodies were suddenly captured, their bodies floating in the air and leaving them helpless.
"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!"
Cursing to himself, Vale was forced to let them loose while he dodged Wendy's attack. But while he did so, Romeo and Zera took that chance to gang up on her while she was distracted. Sadly, that meant that Vale was left to fend for himself as both Natsu and Gray charged at him.
He ducked right as Natsu's fist flew past him, then yelped as his feet were swept underneath him by Gray from behind. He hurriedly pressed his hands to the ground to stabilize himself before using them to launch himself feet first into Natsu's chest. The other boy bent but didn't collapse as Vale fell to the ground. With one foot planted, he whirled around with his other leg in a sweeping strike, to which Natsu blocked using an arm.
Natsu sent a kick his way.
Vale backpedaled out of reach right before he could get hit.
Gray sent a punch forward.
His forearm blocked on time, but he was still sent flying backward due to the weight difference.
"Erm, guys!" Vale ducked under another blow. "A little help over here please?"
"Hell Flame Dragon's Burning Trail!"
A streak of flames surrounded the area as Romeo shot past Vale. The young dragon slayer cried out as his foot slammed into Natsu's chest, causing the two to stumble together and leaving Vale facing only Gray.
"Ice Make - Prison!"
"Ack!" Vale's face slammed into several bars made out of ice. "Enchant Type - Infuse Partition Element!"
The cage exploded into countless fragments, but Vale didn't make a move to attack yet. Gray seemed content to wait for him as he got into a stance.
"So," Gray began. "Enchantments, huh? You seem to use them differently from Wendy."
"Gotta work with what you got. She has more options than me, but my magic is pretty versatile."
"Yeah, I can relate. Molding magic thrives on versatility after all."
Gray attacked, but Vale managed to dodge before it could hit. Filling his legs with magic power, he used a momentary enchantment to launch off the ground. The crowd was cheering below him, and a strange urge to show off came to Vale as he called out to his team.
"Romeo, Zera!" Vale shouted. "Get ready for Plan S!"
"Got it," Zera replied. She sent a wave of fire in Wendy's direction to distract her. "I'll start charging my magic. Romeo, you start us off."
"Wait, which one was Plan S again?" Romeo stumbled as Natsu pushed forward. "Is that the one where you guys shoot me out of a giant slingshot?"
"What, no! The 'S' stands for statue."
"Oh!" His eyes widened. "Alright, I get it now."
Without warning, Romeo threw his hands down as he let loose a torrent of purple flames that soon covered the battlefield. Natsu was unbothered and Gray created a platform to stand on, but Wendy was surprised by the change in landscape. Taking the opportunity, Zera acted while Wendy was distracted. Opening her mouth, she ate as much of the flames as she could before she quickly spat it out. The mass of black and purple flames was practically solid at that point, more of a lump of materialized magic power now.
"They're doing a Unison Raid," Gray realized. "Natsu, deal with the flames."
"I can't," Natsu yelled back. "It's not normal fire anymore!"
"Enchant Type - Wireframe." The metal cord in his hand flew around as a construct formed in the sky, mixing with the lump until a figure was made. "Statue of the Heavens - Palladium!"
A giant burning woman fell from the sky as it made its way toward their opponents. In terms of size, it was almost the same height as the second guild building. Taking inspiration from the "carving that fell from heaven", it was less of an enchantment and showed clearer relations to stellar magic instead.
Vale developed this technique after studying how to improve his Enchantment magic beyond what was normally capable without high enchantments. By borrowing outside power, he was able to amplify its power in tandem with Romeo and Zera's flames.
And yet, Vale realized that it wasn't going to be enough.
"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art!" Only at that moment did Natsu finally get serious. "Crimson Lotus - Exploding Flame Blade!"
Torrents of flames erupted in a circular fashion as the Palladium was ripped apart once the two attacks met. The collision caused a wave of heat and force to explode in the air, forcing people backward and sending Vale flying through the air until he came crashing to the ground.
Dumbfounded, he felt a foot settle on top of his chest and looked up to see a grinning Natsu.
"Pretty sure this is our victory."
From the corner of his eye, he noticed how exhausted Romeo and Zera were as they struggled to remain standing. Nearby, he heard Macao letting out a mournful wail as the members of Fairy Tail collected their winnings. As the crowd continued to make noise, all Vale could do was groan as his body went limp.
"You do realize that you just melted my weapon, right?"
"Huh." Natsu blinked. "Oops, that's my bad. I'll pay you back later, I promise. Just let me take on a few jobs first so that I can gather some funds."
"Natsu!" Happy came flying over with a wide grin. "We won't have to worry about fishing for at least a week! H-Hey, what's with that look on your face?"
With tears running down his face, Natsu took the bag of earnings Happy was carrying and passed it over to Vale. Accepting it, Vale comforted himself with the thought that he would at least be able to commission a new weapon after this.
-Part 3-
Wendy stood next to Vale while her hands glowed briefly.
"Heal."
He felt a twinge of jealousy at the effortless ease with which Wendy could heal those injured in the spar. Healing magic was always something Vale wished he had, and being friends with Sherria didn't help that feeling of envy. While his magic was useful for many things, true healing magic was beyond him.
"Thanks," he said to Wendy. "Will you be fine? You can't use healing magic on yourself, right?"
"Oh, don't worry." She waved her hand. "Zera made it so that her flames wouldn't burn me, and a night's rest can take care of everything else."
Vale took her word for it. Having lost track of the match halfway through, Vale didn't see much action from Wendy while Natsu and Gray kept him busy. She didn't look injured, and Vale didn't know much about her yet to determine whether she was lying or not.
Trudging through the remains of the training ground, he winced as he gingerly picked up what could only be the cooled metal slag that used to be his weapon. The object itself had been a reward from a mission he had taken last year and was pretty useful whenever he wanted to fight without relying heavily on his teammates or magic. It was strong enough to endure the intense heat of both Romeo and Zera's magic, and yet Natsu was somehow able to bypass the enchantments on it and melt the weapon anyway.
He didn't blame Natsu. There was something about beating the shit out of each other that drew people closer. But while he held no negative feelings, losing a weapon meant that it would be inconvenient for him until he replaced it.
"Man, we lost without putting up much of a fight."
"Well yeah." Vale turned around and faced Romeo. "But you had fun at least, right?"
"I guess." He smiled. "Zera and I are definitely going to go over which parts of the fight we need to work on. Seeing the difference between Natsu-nii and us really shows how far we have to go."
"To be fair, they're over twice as old as we are if you exclude Wendy."
"If you mean chronologically."
"Either way, they're still older than us. Time will close the distance between our power levels eventually."
"Well said." For some reason, Mavis walked toward them with a smile. Vale froze as she neared. "While the members who remained on Tenrou Island during the past seven years might be out of practice, that does not discount the fact that they are the brightest of their generation. But you two are both a part of the new generation of Fairy Tail members. Look up to your seniors as role models if you wish. Learn from them, but understand that you have your own potential to look forward to."
"Thank you, First Master."
"Y-Yeah…"
Romeo frowned. "Really? You're still afraid of the First?"
"I can't help it," Vale whined. His eyes pointedly looked anywhere but in the direction Mavis was in. "She's literally a ghost, how else am I supposed to keep calm? You know that I can't stand being around spirits. No offense, First."
"None taken."
"Ugh." Romeo threw his hands up. "I'll check on Zera and see how she's doing."
After saying that, Romeo left the two of them alone while he walked away. That was supposed to be his chance to go, but Vale could feel Mavis staring at him and realized that they weren't done talking yet.
"You did well in the fight, Vale. I'm surprised at what you were able to do during your Unison Raid. Was that enchantment based on alchemy? I thought it seemed similar to Silver Claiming for a moment."
"Erm, no. The Palladium spell is loosely related to the asteroid Pallas, not the metal."
"Oh!" Her eyes widened. "You used astronomical concepts to power your spell. I heard that High Enchanters could mimic the properties of True Heavenly Body magic, but I didn't think you were on that level already."
"It's not that hard. My mom can cast the spell Sema with barely any effort. I watched her use it enough times to figure out the trick on how to borrow power from the stars."
"Your mother must be an accomplished Enchantress."
"You… don't know?"
"Know what?"
Vale gave her a skeptical look. It was always a mystery to him how much Mavis knew about Zeref, but she had to at least be aware that the Alvarez Empire was founded by him. She might not know that Zeref was currently ruling at the moment, but surely there was no way she wouldn't be suspicious of someone who came from his country, right? Especially since the fact that his mother was one of their generals was an open secret as far as the Council was concerned. Makarov still technically had his title as a Wizard Saint, so there was no reason for the information not to reach his ears yet.
Still, her reaction seemed genuine enough. Either she was a better actress than he thought, or Mavis truly felt that there was nothing suspicious about him.
"Never mind, it's nothing."
"Hm, if you say so." Mavis blinked. "Oh, that reminds me. I overheard from Natsu that your weapon got destroyed during the spar. I wanted to let you know that there might be someone who can help you get a better one. That's actually why I asked if you knew anything about alchemy earlier."
"Oh?"
"Have you ever heard of Musica?"
"Isn't that the name of a famous blacksmith that's known for making powerful weapons endowed with magical properties?"
Vale heard of him, of course. If there were famous brands that any weapon specialist would know about, the one at the top of most of their lists would be Musica.
"Yup," Mavis nodded. "Of course, most of his works are known for having exceptional quality and have a matching price tag that's comparable to the awards you get from S-Class jobs. I can't guarantee that you can get one of his weapons, but there is someone who can make weapons of similar quality."
"Really?"
"To be honest, I don't know much about the person myself. But one of our guild's members keeps in contact with them to commission new magic weapons whenever they need to. If you're interested in getting a new weapon as soon as possible, I can help point you in the right direction."
"That would be great." Vale sighed with relief. "Thank you for doing this, First Master."
"Oh, don't worry about it." For some reason, she had a knowing look on her face. "But I do feel like I should warn you first. Though Romeo might have confronted you on the issue, he's not the only one to have noticed."
"Huh?"
It took him a moment to realize exactly what she meant, but it was too late. Mavis waved her arm as she shouted, "Excuse me, Erza! Would you mind coming here please?"
She knew. There was no mistaking the look in her eyes as Mavis grinned when Erza neared. Mavis gestured in his direction and spoke. "Vale here is interested in getting his weapon replaced. I hear that you know someone who can help in that regard."
"Understood." Erza nodded as her outfit changed to her usual armor. "I just finished lecturing Natsu about his recklessness. If young Vale needs an introduction, I can help."
"Great!"
Erza turned to him and smiled. "So you're one of the new members that joined while we've been gone. I've heard a lot about you from the other members of the guild. It would be nice to have an opportunity to get to know one another."
"Y-Yeah, I'd like that too…"
"But if you're looking for someone to make you a new weapon…" Erza mulled it over. "I believe it would be best if I have a few others join us on this trip."
"Trip?" Vale asked. "Do you plan on taking us somewhere out of town?"
"I am. It's not that far of a journey from here, but the path there is a bit difficult to navigate without help. Luckily for us, there are several individuals in our guild who can act as guides."
"Is it someone I know?"
"No." She moved to a nearby group and stopped in front of them. "Excuse me, may I have a moment of your time?"
"Hah?" Gajeel turned in their direction and raised a brow. "What do you need?"
"I would like to borrow the services of Pantherlily for a few days."
"Sure, whatever." He waved a hand. "The cat can take care of himself. Just don't keep him busy for too long. I'm planning on taking him with me on a training excursion soon."
"Very well." She glanced down. "Is that fine with you, Pantherlily?"
"It is." The Exceed nodded. His gaze turned to Vale and a surprised look crossed his face. "So you must be the Earthland version of Vale. It's nice to meet you."
"Hm?" Vale blinked. "Do you know my counterpart or something?"
"Yes. He was my friend and a fellow Royal Army Captain when we worked for the humans on Edolas. His role was to maintain our equipment and improve our weapons with enchanting."
"Oh, right. I heard from Zera that he was an Exceed in your world."
"That's correct." Pantherlily tilted his head. "It's strange that you're a human here though. I assume that might be due to the fact that Exceeds are not native to this world as far as I'm aware."
"Pardon my interruption," Erza said. "But I asked to bring you along so that you would help guide us to the location of the Exceed Village. Vale is in need of a new weapon, and I believe that it would be best to hire the services of the other Vale."
"Wait, we're going to meet the Edo-version of me?!"
"That's right," she confirmed. "His skills in crafting are suited to creating powerful magic items. My own counterpart was able to equal me despite not having the capability of using magic simply due to the strength of her weapon. And according to Pantherlily, his Vale was the one who made it."
"The Ten Commandments was one of Vale's greatest masterpieces," Pantherlily clarified. "Its creation required several valuable materials as well as months of time and effort. My Bustermarm was somewhat simpler in design, but it was still a high-quality weapon that aided me during my time on Edolas."
"Either way, he should be able to help." Erza turned to face Vale once more. "We can ask Happy and Carla if they would be interested in joining us, but I plan on seeing if Edo-Vale would be interested in the job. If we take the rest of the week to visit and come back, that should be enough time to find a suitable replacement for your weapon."
"I'm fine with being gone that long," Vale replied. "When do we start?"
"Tomorrow would be best."
"I'll see if Happy and Carla are free," Pantherlily said. "Until then, I'll spend my time with Gajeel."
"Understood."
The three of them split up, and Vale was left to his thoughts. Tomorrow, they would set off for the Exceed Village where his counterpart lived. Although he only heard a few things about him, Vale was curious to know exactly how similar the two of them would be. Especially if it turned out that Edo-Vale was also someone who remembered their previous life as well.
Hopefully, the two of them would be able to compare notes.
A bit of a short chapter, but things are starting to pick up. Still, I managed to introduce the fact that Erza isn't the only sister that Vale has. Poor guy has no idea that he's in trouble for ignoring his family for so long, even if it's entirely his fault for ghosting them in the first place.
When I think of Fairy Tail members getting along, the first thing that comes to mind is obviously fighting. This chapter was mainly to help me dip my toes into writing combat scenes again, since Fairy Tail tends to shout out a lot of attack names whenever they fight. In terms of power level, Vale and the others are near the upper echelons due to their Lost Magic or larger magic reserves. However, they're still nowhere near strong enough to go up against a serious Natsu yet. In the end, this was all for some casual enjoyment of kicking the shit out of each other.
