{His Story of Dragons}

Getting Wendy and Kinana to settle in the guild was much easier than I hoped it would be. The guild almost cheered at the fact they had a fourth dragon slayer in the guild, which to my knowledge is supposed to be pretty rare in this world. With everyone settling in, seemed much smoother than I thought it would be, even Makarov was enjoying his forced retirement after confiding to me he was glad that Laxus straightened out while he was gone.

Though, Wendy wasn't only one to enter into the guild, Carla, the female version of Happy, joined us, along with the Automaton Exemplar from the makers of Nirvana. If everyone loved Wendy, they were in awe at the fact that there was a walking, ancient tech robot that followed the little girl around like a puppy even. Though, calling it an Exemplar or Guardian was kind of a mouth full and didn't seem to fit the thing now that it's original purpose was long finished. Wendy coined the name, Pla, for the robot because she thought it was a cute as the moldy and rust colored robot. Since Wendy was the owner and master of the robot, her word was final, not that anyone wanted to refute her.

It was nice to finally sit back and relax after all that stress from the Oracion Seis Quest. Yet, as we were relaxing, a very interesting conversation happened to come up.

"Wait a second, your dragon also disappeared the same year and date like Natsu's dragon?" It was hard not to be as shocked as Lucy was when she repeated what we just heard from the little girl.

"It's one of the reasons why I wanted to meet Natsu so much, I thought he might know where Grandeeney went." The little girl looked over to Natsu who seemed silent from the revelation.

Though honestly, I doubted that Natsu knew anything about her. He didn't even know about his foster parent, so there was no way—

"I think I've heard that name before."

Luckily, I stopped the glass of water from entering my mouth. Otherwise, I would have done a spit take.

Wendy and by proxy, Carla, both had their eyes widen. The blue haired girl in particular put her hands together and gasped in delight. "You have?! Where did you see her?! When did you see her?! Is she alright!? What was she—" The little girl calmed down when she realized she was asking question faster than anyone could give answers.

The fire dragon slayer didn't seem to mind and answered her first question. "Hmmm… Kain, where did I hear that name again?"

Okay, so he didn't actually answer her question, and was somehow asking me to answer for him to answer to Wendy. I sometimes question what Igneel actually taught this man-child, if a dragon was even was a good teacher in common sense.

After a sigh escaped my lips, I took a second to think. I really wasn't expecting Natsu to recognize Grandeeney as all he knew were fire dragons—wait. That's plural. Natsu knows more than one Fire Dragon and one of them is accessible.

I turned to my friend. "By any chance did you hear it from Sun Village?"

My hunch was validated before Natsu could even begin to talk, mostly because I watched his eyes light up before his lips could part to form his first word. "Oh yeah! It was definitely from him where I heard that name!"

"Him?" I spotted Lucy put a hand near her mouth. Even she knew who we were referring to.

"Who are you talking about?" Wendy asked with obvious excitement and nervousness.

Natsu was first to answer her again. "We can go meet him!" He then turned his head and looked over to Gajeel who was in a nearby table talking to Kageyama. "In fact—yo, Gajeel! Didn't you say your dragon disappeared the same day my dragon did?!"

"Yeah, what about it?" Gajeel turned to us as he said that.

"I think I know someone who knows where your dragon is!"

I didn't know what I was expecting, but Gajeel looked away and clicked his tongue at the prospect of finding his mysterious foster dragon. "Like I care where Metalicana went."

I flinched from the loud sound that came right next to me. Natsu had stood up and looked like he was about to jump and punch Gajeel right there. "What!? Aren't you interested in your own dragon!?"

"That asshole left me alone without a word; he could be dead for all I care!"

Before Natsu could blow up, I grabbed his shoulder and shook my head. Instead though, I just smiled at him and said, "Sun Village is a two hour flight on Ignis. Since it's morning, Natsu, Wendy, and I are going and will return by the end of the day. You're free to come with us if you want while I prep Ignis' saddle."

I then started to push Natsu towards the back while looking over to Wendy. "Meet us at the back when you're ready too."

"W-Wha- Hey! Kain, what the hell!?"

"Don't take Gajeel's words seriously, Natsu." I spoke after I got him out of the doorway. "He's just hurt from his dragon abandoning him for almost no reason. I have a feeling after he cools down, he'll want to learn about his dragon too."

Some minutes passed later and I found myself helping Wendy. See, she never really got close to Ignis during the Oracion Seis event, and now in calmer times, she was intimidated by the rather large pseudo dragon even though I'm sure she was raised by something much bigger and more powerful.

"Are you sure he's nice?" The little girl held a hand close to her chest as she looked to the wyvern.

"I understand he looks scary, but he's only like that to our enemies, to everyone else in the guild, he's as approachable as a puppy, and some like to think of him as Fairy Tail's mascot."

"That's my job!" I heard an indignant cry from the usual suspect of Happy. "Why is everyone stealing everything from me!?" I'm assuming by everyone, he means Momon and Ignis. Either way I ignored his lament and focused back on Wendy.

"Trust me, Wendy, he's not going to hurt you. I think you might like him a lot, since many of the kids in Magnolia like him." One time we opened up a petting booth for just Ignis and many of the kids in Magnolia flocked to pet and ride the resident wyvern. Of course we charged them, any extra Jewel going to the guild helps in the long run when damage bills are forced to us and I can't get them out of.

The blue haired girl still looked a little nervous but as she walked closer to Ignis, who was laying down so that the others would have an easier time to get atop of him. As she moved closer, her hesitation seemed to fade and her confidence rose. She was finally able to relax and petted his snot when she walked up to him.

"You're actually really nice, aren't you, Mr. Ignis?" Daww that was cute. But now it should be much easier to get Wendy aboard now.

I turned to my right to see Natsu walking up to me. "Is that everyone?"

"Yeah, just you, me, Wendy, the cats, Ignis, and the Exemplar Automaton."

"You can call him Pla!" Thanks Wendy. I mean the name is kinda close to Lucy's Plue, but she hasn't really brought him out as much as of late. Now, I'm not familiar with Fairy Tail, but I did watch a few episodes of Rave Master as a kid. Considering there is a crossover episode, does that mean this place is the same world? I also know nothing about it besides what the main duo looks like. Bah, I'm getting off topic.

I motioned a nod over to the girl before turning back to Natsu. "Lucy said she isn't coming because she knows how important our source's secrecy is and thinks it's better with less people as possible."

"Why the hell is your source so secretive?"

Natsu and I turned around to see Gajeel walking up to us. As I gave a small smirk, the Iron Dragon Slayer seemed to make eye contact with anything else that wasn't in my direction.

"The reason why it's so secretive is because anyone outside knowing his identity is a threat to people's safety. But look at it this way," I pointed a thumb to the Fire Dragon Slayer beside me. "Even Natsu here has been tight lipped about it, showing that it really is serious business."

"Hey! I can keep secrets!"

I turned to him and gave him a flat look. "… 'Heya, Kain! Distract everyone for me while I go uproot Magnolia's most important Cherry Blossom Tree to bring Lucy on a boat!' … Does any of that ring a bell? Or how about the time when we were supposed to have a surprise return party for Macao's recovery?"

"… I sound nothing like that!" Natsu tried to defend himself.

My attention went to Gajeel who actually seemed impressed. "Well if Salamander is keeping his mouth shut then I guess that means this guy is some big hot shot."

"Well," I turned around and headed back towards Ignis with my goggles on. "You aren't wrong with calling him a hot shot."

I mean, I consider a dragon purely made of flames being as close to a literal hot shot as possible, considering he also does have some say in the politics of Sun Village.

But what was funnier was Gajeel's reaction of seeing the giant flame turn into a fire dragon. I wish I could take a picture of it.

"Ah, Natsu, it is good to see you once more." Atlas Flame's voice echoed around the dome. He looked over to the newcomers and continued his greeting. "And I see you brought some familiar faces."

"Huh? We've met before?" Wendy asked with some amount of confusion.

However, I ended up slapping my forehead. "Right. I forgot that was still a thing."

"Forgot what?" All three dragon slayers, including Natsu—to no one's surprise, asked me that question.

Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I answered them. "Atlas Flame travelled through time. He claims he's met a near future a version of Natsu. I think it means he also saw you two somewhere."

"What!? Time Travel is real!?' Gajeel, a guy raised by a dragon to eat metal, asked with obvious disbelief at something he thought was impossible even though his entire child hood was supposed to be impossible by my standards and even the standards of this world..

"It is as dangerous as it is confusing." The flame dragon spoke as he eased towards all of us. "Now then, I sense that there is more to this than just a pleasant visit. For what reason have you come?"

I watched Wendy steel herself and stepped forward. "Um. Mr. Fire Dragon, do you know where Grandeeney is?"

Atlas seemed to pause after hearing the name. "Grandeeney, now there's a name I haven't heard of in a while, and you do smell similar to her." He then looked over to Gajeel. "And you, you smell like Metalicana."

"You know my dragon too!?" I was surprised that Atlas did indeed know who the other two dragons were, even though they were obviously different elements.

"Ah wait, I went off topic there. To answer your question, I do not know where Grandeeney is. The same can be said for Metalicana and Igneel. But knowing them all, they should be somewhere alive."

I spotted Wendy deflate in a way Natsu did after finding out Atlas didn't know where Igneel was. Just like Natsu, she must have gotten her hopes up that by meeting one dragon, they would know where the others would be. Still, it was amazing that Atlas knew of two different elemental dragons.

"Perhaps we're asking the wrong questions." Carla's voice was heard by everyone before all attention went to her. "Didn't you all notice that the other dragons went missing on the same date? Perhaps that means something to dragons, and one of them is right in front of us!"

"Date?" Atlas Flame tilted his head.

Natsu's eyes widened. "Now why didn't I think of that before!? Hey, Atlas, does the date, July 7, X777, mean anything to you!?"

The dragon of flame stilled. His reaction made us all look at him with anticipation. After a few long seconds, he answered, "To me that date passed like any other day. Except that night, something in the air felt strange."

"Strange how?" Natsu asked with obvious interest.

"I remained here that day, but at night, I felt something in the air, a strong sense of nostalgia came over me. … Hmm… now do you bring it up it almost felt like I felt it long before, I just can't seem to explain why though."

"Aww come on, something obviously happened!" Natsu shouted.

"True, but it was so small for me and I remained here that day, so it was easy for me to forget it until now. However, I am more focused on who all three dragons are than when they disappeared."

That caught all of our attention. "Why are you more focused on the 'who' part of the dragons?"

Atlas Flame seemed to look more serious than before. "Igneel, the King of Fire Dragons; Metalicana, the Frontier War Chief of the Earthen Dragonics; and Grandeeney, the Exotic Crossbreed of the Gale Drago. All three of these dragons were known to be major supporters of Co-Existence. In plainer words, they were all on the same side during the civil war of dragons, not just allies, they were all part of the highest circle of leaders along with several other dragons."

The information he had revealed made us all speechless, he was basically saying…

"They all knew each other?" Atlas' reaction was simply to nod at my statement.

"For the newcomers, I can explain more later, but I was always neutral in the dragon war. However, being so close to Igneel allowed me privy to knowledge that not even some of his followers knew." Atlas looked up to the sky, as if remembering that time. "I've always heard rumors, and sometimes, Igneel let a few curious things slip around me—one of them being about a new spell that both Humans and Dragons made."

This was starting to sound deeper than I ever hoped to understand. There was some kind of conspiracy?

"Perhaps," Atlas continued on. "They planned something that might have to do with disappearing in that same day."

The second time we visited Atlas, and he once more revealed some game changing information. The dragons that left the human slayers, they were planning something? But what? And why?

"D-Does this mean," Wendy spoke out first and seemed to look down to the ground. "They didn't care about us?"

That caught all of us by surprise. I realized that Wendy had already been abandoned by her previous Guild of Cait Shelter. Even if they did love her, she was also an unwitting pawn for them, did Grandeeney do the same thing to her?

"You will never meet people who care for others more than the dragons I mentioned. I can tell by Natsu's stories with Igneel, there was no way Grandeeney or even Metalicana wanted to leave any of you, but mysterious circumstances forced their hand. Grandeeney, I am certain, would never do something like that to you if she had the choice."

"Master Roubaul said the same thing..." Oh you poor girl. I found myself kneeling and putting a hand on her shoulder. Really?! Who the hell does that to a little girl, twice!?

I was surprised when Gajeel walked up. "Hey, fire dragon! What you said caught my attention! Metalicana was War Chief of the Earth dragons!? He's an Iron dragon!"

I saw Gajeel glance over to Wendy before me. I saw what he was doing, slowly changing the subject from that dark thought. I appreciated it. I'm really glad he came after all.

"Ah yes," Atlas Flame began with a much lighter tone. "The dragon who I liked to call, Igneel 2.0."

Atlas was quick to turn into story mode, telling us of a lighter tale about all three dragons in one time when Igneel tried to recruit him.

We learned a lot of things, like Gajeel apparently descending from Earth Dragons, which means he might be able to use earth based magic. That sure caught him by surprise as the rest of us-but then Natsu had to go in and make a comment about him eating dirt. Yeah, that didn't go well after that.

Another thing like learning about Hybrid elemental dragons, those that are born of two different elemental dragons. One would think that being born of two elements, a dragon would be even stronger. However, it seems like it's like reverse inbreeding. The elements never mix well together and the hybrids born of two different elements are sickly, weak to the point of not being able to use even either element magic, and die almost a quarter life span of a dragon. This explained why many dragons didn't just do it like rabbits with other elements to create some kind of dragon with over 16 elements, it was impossible for them to do so biologically. Grandeeney is a special case because her mother was born of two different dragons, her grandmother being a wind dragon and her grandfather being a soul dragon. Before her mother died, she was able to give birth to Grandeeney, who was three thirds wind dragon and one fourth soul. Thing was though, she seemed to have access to powers far beyond that of a normal wind dragon.

It was just like Natsu before. Wendy and Gajeel couldn't find where their dragons were, but Atlas was more than happy to reveal stories of who they were before they raised them all.

As they Atlas kept talking, I looked over towards the three dragon slayers. It was weird, I could almost see all three dragons in their kids.

{A (grand) mother's love}

Kain descended in front of the guild after transforming out of his armor. Yajima had made a call for him due to a sudden cancellation from his new waiters and asked the young man to fill in.

After ensuring the lunch rush was done, Kain sped off to Magnolia and was hoping no one would pay too much mind for him being late.

As he reached the door, a heavenly smell hit his nose. Despite helping out with Yajima, he didn't have his own lunch until now.

The young man opened the main doors and—

… He blinked.

Kain did not exactly know what to make what he was seeing. The displaced young man noticed that many tables were put together, almost like a grand feast.

Indeed, there were many mouthwatering looking food spread across the combined table with many of Fairy Tail's members sitting down and enjoying the meal.

But here was the thing, Kain was wondering why nearly everyone was wearing Victorian styled clothes.

While at a loss for words and even thought, the young lawyer's attention was soon caught on the far left side of the table.

Laxus Dreyar, known to be one of the strongest, most serious people of Fairy Tail and it's Fourth Master, was wearing this massive pink wool sweater with a cat face in the front. The look on his face screamed that he was fine, but he wouldn't mind it if they all suddenly died horribly at that moment. Makarov, the third master and Laxus' grandfather looked almost sick and was also wearing clothes that looked semi-casual with a collared shirt and khaki pants while sitting on the seat nearby him.

The lawyer soon found out the reason for such a bizarre sight in the form of Ms. Dreyar, Makarov's wife and Laxus' grandmother coming in with another prepared plate of food and putting it in front of Laxus.

"Gram, Gram, please. I already ate." Laxus was a proud man, so seeing him near the point of breaking down and crying was a new one for the lawyer.

"Nonsense! My little Lala needs his protein—look at you, almost thin as a twig, you are!" Illana Dreyar was an amazing woman if she could perceive one of the most muscular and largest man in the guild like a starving, malnourished child. Then again, many mothers always saw their children starving. It appears Grandmothers never let go of that trait.

Laxus looked—leered over to Makarov. It was a signal to get her to stop. Makarov could only look away from his grandson's silent plea for help. It seemed like the men of the Dreyar family, despite having been born with amazing magical power, were powerless against the women of their family.

"Makarov, what kind of guild are you running? You have enough alcohol to put bars to shame, but no sign of proper meals with the right nutrients or a kitchen!?" The black haired woman with strands of gray highlights complained before rushing back into a door that seemed to appear out of nowhere and walked right into it. As she slammed the door behind her, the nice looking door seemed to vanish into thin air.

"Oh, I'm not familiar with Mrs. Dreyar's magic. How does that work?" Kain spoke out as he walked towards the two men.

As he made his presence known, everyone in the guild turned their attention towards Kain.

Then came the cries, no the pleas of help heading towards the lawyer.

At such a sight, Kain had only one noble reaction left.

"Yeah, no. Master Laxus, I'm taking one of my paid vacation days."

"Come back here, you bastard—" Laxus could only eat red dust as something sprinted fast out of the guild.

Now, while everyone else was suffering, a little girl with blue hair was giggling at the second floor of the guild.

"Your hair is very lovely, Wendy dear." Illana spoke as she finished what she was doing and handed the girl a mirror.

Wendy, while in a lovely victorian styled dress, cooed in awe as she saw her hair in a french braid. "I didn't know my hair could do this!"

"Now then," Illana then turned to her right to see Cana looking shocked towards her. "I hope you don't mind if I teach this girl how to do the same to your hair, do you?"

"N-Not at all!" The brown haired drink spoke out nervously.

"Oh don't be shy, I promise you I think you'll enjoy it!" The older woman quickly dismissed as she sat Cana down on the chair and went quickly to teaching Wendy how to braid long hair.

A little ways from the three, three more women watched the show.

"Aww, Wendy looks so pretty now!" Lucy, also wearing some of the clothes Illana gave out spoke out with a smile. "But why is Cana so stiff?"

"That might be because..." Mirajane trailed off and seemed to have a sad smile towards Illana. "Well, I can feel what she feels."

Erza was strangely silent, but she too was looking at Illana strangely.

Lucy wondered what the two female S-class mages were talking about until a boisterous laughter caught her attention. The blonde, former heiress looked back and saw Wendy laughing as Illana sand a song to help Wendy tie hair in a braid. And for a second, she didn't see the old woman and Wendy, she saw a young blonde girl and her mother.

"Oh." Lucy spoke out before giving a sad smile. "She is motherly isn't she?"

A mother. Sadly, many in the guild of the younger generation lacked something like that, especially a kind and caring one.

"And there you go, I'm so proud! It's beautiful isn't it!?" Illana spoke as they finished braiding Cana's hair. "And you my dear, look wonderful."

"Huh," Cana was handed the mirror. "Not bad."

It was at that moment that Illana turned over to the others. "Come on, don't be shy. Trust me this is a lot of fun when doing it with people you know!"

The older three girls were polite enough to to walk over towards the other three. Wendy was then led to braid Mira's hair while Cana tried her hand with Lucy. That left Illana with Erza—but the old woman wanted to do a little something extra first and opened up a door to lead the surprised S-class mage.

Erza didn't know what to expect when she walked through the door, but the first thing that popped into her head was farm home.

The living room she went into felt far too much like a grand paretn's farm house out in the boonies, not that it was a bad thing. The furniture and decorations were old, but seemed filled with experience. The fire place was filled with pictures that even though looked lower quality than they do now, still looked as new as they were taken. Behind an open arch, there was indeed a kitchen.

"I never explained what my magic was, did I?" Illana motioned her hand as from the center of the room a wooden chair appeared in front of a table mirror.

"I call it, my Soul Room." The old woman continued as she motioned Erza to sit down and more . "I believe master Precht told me that it was a branch evolution of Reequip magic—in that I can actually enter my own hammer space and manipulate anything inside it. I've used it a few times with Team Ace as I can… well shift my hammer space with everyone in it, but only a few feet. Sometimes we used it to phase through walls and have the guys sneak in while Porcy and I waited for them to give the all clear."

Erza was rather interested to know about Mrs. Dreyar's magic, especially since it was similar to how Reequip magic worked. "Wait, so does that mean, you can make anything here and bring it out back home?"

"No, no," The old woman began as she held Erza's hair. "Whatever I make here, stays here, but I can bring things into my personal pocket dimension and make them work differently. Like say, those ovens in my kitchen: it's an old model, but here I can fit and cook an entire feast worth of food in ten minutes. I can also command needles I bring from outside to create clothes with in a similar amount of time. In short, I can bring materials in here to make them faster and easier than outside, but things I imagine and create here, stay here and vanish if brought out."

Erza was impressed at that. This Soul Room magic was very helpful despite not having much combat purpose—then again, being able to retreat into a mobile safe zone would be actually pretty advantageous.

But the S-class mage was also nervous. This was because, she never really did… girly things with anyone before. And now here she was having her hair done by an older woman. What should she do? Talk back with her, make boy talk? Wait, she was already married—make married talk? Wait, she knew even less about that!

"Relax, dear," It was weird how Illana read her mind—was she secretly a telepath? "I'm not a telepath, dear." Erza was starting to doubt that sincerely. "I've always noticed this guild can bring some of the most amazing fighters and mages, but have near zero social skills with regular people."

The S-class mage sighed. "I wished they all behaved better."

"They all could stand to be a little more behaved. But at the same time, where else can they unwind and be themselves if not here?" Illana began to gather all of Erza's hair. "You have such lovely hair."

"Thank you, I brush it..."

Your hair is really pretty.

"Everyday..." Erza trailed off.

How about, Erza Scarlet! After your hair!

Erza couldn't help but think back to that moment, and what it all led up after it.

"It's alright dear," Illana's voice was as gentle as a summer wind. "You don't need to pretend for my sake. Why do you think I brought you here all alone?"

"W-What?"

"Makky always has this stubbornness in taking everything, even the bad things all to himself. He may be one of the most powerful mages in the land, but I also know he's a man who's haunted by his mistakes." Illana began softly as she started to twirl the hair of Erza. "I've seen him do it so many times that I can see it in others as well. And well, the guild does have a nasty habit even up to now with gossip and rumors, such as one with you and an old friend in the last mission."

Erza stilled at that last sentence. However, she felt Illana's alm land on her shoulder with such softness, she almost thought it was a pillow for a second.

"I won't claim to know what's going on, I won't tell you what to do, but I know when someone's hurting." Illana soon finished braiding and even placing flowers in the hair. She then leaned in and gave a hug that was one of the warmest hugs Erza felt in a while. "I may be a stranger to you, but if you ever need help, come to me, and I promise whatever worries you have will stay here in this room and never leave it."

Erza didn't know what to say, but the kidness of her words, the warmth of her hug, and the pain she was repressing from her last interaction with Jellal all broke out like a dam in that moment.

In that soul room, the proud, strong, and amazing Erza Scarlet, cried like a little girl. Luckily for her, there was this old, plain woman—she didn't really matter much in anything like powers or fights, but she knew when kids were trying too hard to be adults.

{Hallow Night}

It was a busy morning in Fairy Tail. Everyone was preparing for the upcoming Halloween Open Guild Night. It was a time of spooky houses and scary parties.

Fairy Tail offered to open up for Magnolia due to help relief the damages caused by the civil war and Phantom lord War.

However, while preparing all of this, Fairy Tail noticed a lack of someone among their group.

"Hey, where's Kain?" Natsu looked around. It was actually very easy to spot Kain in the guild. He stood out like a sore thumb because of how normal he looked out of every over the top people that hung out in Fairy Tail.

"Yeah, he should have been here by now, he's in charge of organizing where everything is going to be in the next few days and ordering the candies." Lucy also tried looking around to find the young lawyer.

With that idea, everyone soon noticed there was no sign of the normal looking brunette anywhere. It was weird since he was one of the early risers of the guild.

Laxus walked out of the guild master Office and heard the commotion. "Kain called in sick today. So he said he's not going to make it."

Well that was rather anticlimactic—

"But I don't believe him. He was off yesterday, to the point where it almost looked like he was in the same daze after he killed Kero Pierre."

Out of every one of Fairy Tail's past adversaries, that one name made the entire guild of powerful, boisterous mages stunned into silence and fear.

They had fought evil and dark mages before, but Kero Pierre—there was something just horribly wrong with him.

"Now that you mention it," Everyone looked over to Elfman after he opened his mouth. "Last night, I was offering him an invitation to some Halloween dinner, but he suddenly seemed surprised to learn he was handling the Halloween stuff."

That was curious. However, it also brought a lot of worry that the lawyer of the guild seemed changed after a simple few words.

Natsu stood from his seat. "Happy! Come on, let's go get Kain!"

He didn't even wait before bolting out the door. Thing was though, he wasn't the only one worried for their friend. Natsu looked behind him and found many people coming along, besides the rest of Team Valiant, Team Shadow Gear, Elfman, Cana, Macao, and most of Fairy Tail's big core were running after him to see what was bothering Kain.

But here's the thing: Kain now lived in Hargeon. There was also too many people for Ignis to carry, so that left the only way to get to Hargeon quickly was…

The Train.

Erhm!

After that, many of the core guild members were racing towards Kain's apartment.

"Come on guys, it's just a little past here!" Natsu, who was now feeling a little better, or fighting through his horrible sickness for the sake of a friend, ran ahead and pointed towards the corner. "Turn right here and we'll see Kain's apartment!"

As the dragon slayer did so, he then stopped all momentum forward and skidded to a stop. He then turned and motioned everyone else to stop as well.

"Natsu, what's wrong?" Warren Rocko asked as they saw Natsu change from his previous action.

Happy flew ahead and peeked from around the corner. "Ah! There's Kain!"

Many pushed through and were able to peek past the corner, in a way that more than ten people could subtly peek past a corner.

So they sucked at being sneaky a lot.

Even though they were the opposite of subtle, Kain didn't seem to notice, not that he was looking at their direction as he left the main doors and started walking away from his apartment while carrying—

"Is that a bouquet of flowers!?" Juvia suddenly clamped her hands above her mouth as her face heated up, her mind jumping too fast at what that could mean.

Many more were shocked at this revelation, many were confused at this revelation. Some even jumped to the conclusion he was meeting a special someone and skipped on guild work.

"That bastard! Is he skipping out in the guild to meet with a hot date!?" "Kain wouldn't do that—would he?" "Dammit, how the heck did Kain score before I did!? He's plainer than me!" "Oi, and here we all came out for that damn bastard."

Either way, things had changed dramatically. With renewed vigor, everyone stalked the young lawyer.

Granted, many people noticed the group of people with colorful appearances 'attempting' to sneak after the Lawyer. (Only Kageyama would be considered their best at it.) Yet, the object of their hunt did not and bought a ticket to a train—

Yes, another train ride, much to the ire and horror of two accomplished dragon slayers.

But they all followed after him anyway, making sure to go a cart away from the young man from another world.

However, even though they were following Kain… something came up.

"Hey, guys," Max Alaros asked out loud. "Where exactly is Kain going?"

Nab looked over to Warren. "Can't you read his mind so we know where he's dropping off?"

The telepathic mage shook his head. "Even though he's a mage, Kain has a rather strong mind. He'll know if I try and I don't want to startle him."

"Hey," Happy's voice was heard, but he wasn't shouting, he almost seemed quiet and looking out the window. "Have we been here before?"

That caught everyone's attention as they all looked around each other. "Happy, no one else seems to recognize this place." Erza began.

"Hey, Natsu, oh right." Happy started before stopping himself as Natsu was in the process of suffering being back on a train.

However, they all did eventually spot Kain leave the train station. It's just, no one seemed to recognize where they had gotten off.

Everyone stalked after the young man as he started walking down a beaten path.

After a while, Natsu started to gain strength once more and as he looked around the forrest looking area, he blinked. "Hey, this place..."

The others asked him if he knew the place that Kain was going, but both Natsu and Happy still couldn't quite recall why this place seemed so familiar to them.

Luckily for them, their answer came soon as Kain walked down a hill, and everyone could see a small farming village with many corps as far as the eye could see.

"Ah!" Natsu finally recalled seeing the sight before them. "This is the quest I took before going straight to Hargeon because it was on the way there and I was low on money!"

Everyone was surprised to hear that this is where Natsu and Kain first teamed up to fight against a Bubak. But why was Kain all the way here?

Even from where they were, they all spotted Kain heading down towards the center of the town. The town elder from before met with Kain and from up there, the dragon slayers all heard and saw Kain hand the flowers to him. The flowers were for all those the bubak took before Natsu and he came to save them.

When the dragon slayers spoke about this, everyone started to feel a complex set of feelings. The ones who thought Kain was meeting a hot date felt especially bad for thinking a bit more shallow than anything else.

However, what was still surprising was that after handing him the flowers, Kain was heard by the slayers in that he denied a spot of dinner and said he was going somewhere else nearby. The rest of Fairy Tail was surprised to hear that Kain still was actually visiting somewhere else!

They all started to hide when Kain walked back the path…

All the way…

To the river.

The river that Natsu and Happy first saved and picked up Kain from.

They all watched as Kain moved closer to the river and then just sat near the edge of it's base.

"… Guys, you all really suck at hiding, you know that?!" Kain shouted out from his spot, making everyone flinch.

Kain turned around and watched everyone walk over towards him.

"Why are you all here?" The brunette asked before he received an answer as to why they were poorly chasing after him. "I see. Well sorry, but I just wasn't feeling all that well this morning, so I asked for a sick day and I thought about visiting this place. But now you know why I'm here, what about all of you? I could have sworn that you guys were supposed to help out with decorating the guild."

Considering that it was all kinda normal, everyone felt a bit ashamed for blowing it all out of proportion. Eventually, many decided to head back to the guild. Kain just said that he would stay here and fly back himself when he's good and ready.

And so everyone left Kain alone to relax near the river.

…

…

"Yes, Natsu?" Kain turned around as only Natsu was left behind while everyone else went ahead back.

"You're lying."

"… What?"

Natsu went up to his friend and sat down. "You are sick, just not physically. Kain, you came back to the same exact spot I fished you out of the river. The same place I found you, why?"

Kain's face was almost unreadable. However, he sighed and looked back to his murky reflection.

Then he began to speak.

Last night, I had a nightmare. Somehow, someway, I found my way home. I was running, I was exhausted, but I couldn't wait to see my family once more.

"Dad!? I'm home!"

As I slammed the door opened and shouted that I was home, I was only met with silence.

And the pool of fresh blood that spread across the floor.

I was horrified and I ran up the pool of blood. I ran and ran up the second floor, and with every second, it felt like eternity was screaming at me.

I saw the blood coming out of my room and I slammed the door wide open.

And then… I was back in the guild.

God—oh god. I saw everyone—everyone I loved in both here and my home world. They were all dead, gutted and brutalized with pieces of their corpses everywhere with this frozen look of horror on their heads.

But that wasn't the worst part.

The worst part was him in the center of the guild, standing over both you and my father, who was half sunk in the pool of blood.

That monster with my face.

"Ķăīʼn, ḿẏ ḇḗḹṏṿḙḋ, ẁḛḽḉṓṃḝ ḢṒṂḚ!"

"I woke up screaming and no longer able to sleep. I really did felt sick to my stomach after that, but because I couldn't sleep, I ended up alone with my thoughts—and that was when the real nightmare began."

Natsu watched as Kain seemed to shiver and gripped his fist tightly together. "Natsu, I've been here in Earthland for almost half a year! Do you know what people in my world think when a person's been missing that long? They can't help but think of the worse! I can't help but imagine my mom, waiting by near her phone, hoping to god or whatever religion listening that I'm still alive somewhere and that it won't be a call from the corner's office finding my body in some ditch; I keep seeing my father, drinking himself away because we had our stupid arguments! Is he blaming himself for letting me vanish? And then there are my half siblings! God—good god! I promised them that I would be the one to chaperone them this Halloween, so they wouldn't be hanging out with their parents because they were in that age where they thought their parents weren't cool. I can't stop thinking about my friends, all of them, while bastards, are some of the most loyal people I've ever met next to you guys."

As Kain kept shouting this, he started to grip his hands tighter and tears started streaming down his face.

"You know what's the fucking worst part!? I made a fucking stupid bet with my best friend. We were drunk, and one thing lead to another, we made a stupid bet: whoever dies first, the other has to wear a dress to their funeral. We made that bet in drunk stupor but we remembered it. I can't help but fucking imagine Jerry in the most stupid neon dress imaginable, then breaking down crying in the corner of the church—god fucking dammit!"

Kain screamed and cursed out more than he ever had since the time he arrived in Earthland. He screamed and hated that he was stuck here, while those he loved was suffering back at home.

Through tears, snot and a red face, Kain looked to the fellow dragon slayer, a person who could beat impossible odds thrown against them. "Natsu, I miss my home."

Sadly, this wasn't a problem he could beat up. This wasn't something that had some kind of speech to inspire.

It was just someone who was dealt a bad hand and that was it, just unreasonable suffering.

Kain could help but cry after admitting that. After everything, his thoughts were of his loved ones back at home, and how they must be worried of him.

Natsu hated it. He hated this feeling—like so long ago when a little boy was crying out to Igneel to stop hiding from him. He never wanted anyone else to feel it.

Yet here it was in front of him, happening to one of his best friends and him feeling just as powerless to stop it.

The memory of Natsu looking up from tear stained eyes, to the shadow of Makarov opening a hand towards him came up. And all he could do was hug Kain in his lowest point.

He silently swore that he would help Kain get home… and if he failed, he would wear a dress for the rest of his life.

{Author Notes}

So another short chapter, just a little focus on world building and character development.

I've always noted something off with most Original Characters stories. Besides the usual power fantasy and such, one thing I've always seemed to noticed was that none of them really seem to talk about sad things. They talk about tragic and dark stuff, but to me, I have never actually felt bad about it, it's always felt more like spectacle to me. I've usually felt more sad from children's cartoons when they have their feelings hurt, because sometimes the really sad things are the ones people understand and have been through.

Look, no one is ever going to stop liking these power fantasy fics, I don't hate them and can see what point they have in entertainment. But at the same time, it's always felt so shallow to me. All I ever seem to read is someone always doing better, someone always winning, and well, over time that's not really appealing to me because the fact of the matter is, I will never be that type of person. I'm flawed, weak, stupid, and pitiful.

But maybe, it's okay to be so amazingly flawed. I'm not some overpowered harem protagonist, even though a small part of me wants to be, but I know I'm just a guy who wants to do his best.

And it's why, I think it's important for Kain to cry because he misses his home. He's human, not just some guy adventuring with power.

But enough ranting! Time for something fun! Some spoilers for The Fairy tail Sequel, apparently there's another group of doppelgangers of Fairy Tail. I mean, sure why not? Let's find out what Kain thinks, since this is in no way cannon.

{Non Cannon: Thank you Sponge Bob.}

Kain: So let me get this straight. points at friends. You guys are Fairy Tail from Earthland.

Fairy Tail: Yep. Other members agree.

Kain: Points to Edolas Group. Then you people are from Edolas, a different dimension and world all together.

Edolas Fairy Tail: Also agree.

Kain: motions to a new third group. And then! There's Fairy Nail!? Another another alternate version of Fairy Tail where their all celebrities!? Just from a different Continent!?

Fairy Nail: silent nodding

Kain: Bursts into confused rage. What kind of madhouse am I in!? They're Fairy Tail! They're Fairy Tail Edolas!? They're Fairy Nail!? I'm a Fairy Tail OC!? Are there any more Fairy Tail(s) I should know about!?

Fairy Tail Eden's Zero: Friendship!

Kain: … I'm outta here.

{Author Notes}

Spongebob, I just want to say thank you for letting me express something in memes that no amount of words could ever hope to capture. Also, next up is an original Arc! I do find those a lot of fun to write. I hope you do too. Anyway, see ya guys soon, and thanks for reading and supporting this story!