"I'll go on my own this time, and I'll cover your rent." It had been three months of partnering with Marco, and Ace hadn't moved back into the guild. He actually enjoyed living with Marco like a big person. It was nice and much quieter. Less smells of people. Only him and Ace were there, so there were only two scents. It was nice, and he liked the current arrangements.

Marco was sick with a magic illness. It had been treated already, but he was just in need of bed rest. So Ace was going on a job by himself. Marco sighed, but nodded. He said he'd be fine now and just get rest. "Okay. I'll be careful, don't worry," Ace vowed. His older friend smiled tiredly and agreed, saying he was holding that promise. Ace grinned, and got his things.

He walked to the guild, and was surprised to see Laxus sitting at the job board. Ace had his backpack on, and went to look at jobs. Laxus glared at him, and Ace bristled, glaring back at him in confusion in why he was being so rude. Laxus had been extra mean lately. Some family drama had left him more bitter and anger than lately.

"Laxus! Don't take your anger out on guild members!" Mira scolded.

"It's not my fault most of you are all weak," Laxus said with vitriol and hate in his voice. Ace was never close to him, but he'd never been purposely mean like this to him before. It hurt his feelings, and he glared up at him. "Why do we let weaklings in the guild, Old Man!?"

Ace steeled himself and said, "At least others can make friends! Which you can't seem to do." Ace was grabbed by the shirt, and Erza forcibly separated them.

"Stop it, Laxus," she snapped. Ace took the job he was looking at and ditched as soon as possible. He sighed, hands shaking. Laxus was scary. He seemed so angry and mean. Ace didn't like being mean back, but he wasn't going to let him walk all over him. Ace had no magic. But he wasn't weak! He was growing strong in his own way. He would be better.

When he got on the train, he was heading to the next job, the first one he'd done alone in a long time. He looked out the window of his usual train car with a sigh. Hopefully he wouldn't feel too lonely. But he was mostly feeling hurt that his own guild mate called him weak to his face like that.

It really wasn't Ace's fault that he had no magic power. It's not like he did that on purpose, or wanted to be that way. He hated being the only in the guild with no magic, Laxus knew that and was cruel anyways. Ace clenched his hands and sighed. He would move on from that for his job. He'd give this money towards Marco's rent. Ace was only using his stored away money for emergencies.

When the train ride was over, Ace stepped out into the new town. It was deserted. Every person there had gone missing, and Ace was to find them. They all just disappeared. The man employing him had employed many wizards, but none had worked, so he was grasping at straws. The reward was large, and Ace was good at finding things, even when he wasn't necessarily trying.

He walked to the house, and knocked on the door. An old man, a short, hunched over old man, opened the door. He had bushy white hair and a big cane, looking tired. "Hi, I'm here for the job," Ace said, holding up the flyer.

"Alright. Let me show you where things happened." Ace was glad he didn't look at him in shock or disbelief. Ace had a guild mark! He was a wizard, too. "My name is Naguri." Ace gave his own name. They didn't really talk on the way there before they arrived at the town square. Naguri really was the only one left. It was like a ghost town. So sad. Ace felt so sorry for him. Well, he'd do what he could to bring them back.

He said, "They disappeared on May 30th of last year. There was nothing odd happening at all. They were just all gone and that was that. Nobody has been able to find them since." His voice was empty, hopeless. No hope or happiness in sight. Ace said he'd try to find it out. "Good luck. If you stay long, come back to my home and I'll show you hospitality." Ace gave him a smile and nodded.

Naguri walked away, and Ace began to explore the desolate town. It looked like some things hadn't been moved in months. Mugs were stuck to tables. All food was rotted or cleaned away, but there were plates and cutlery on tables. Like everyone just vanished at once. Ace inspected things without touching. Smelling and listening. If nobody found things normally, he'd use his personal abilities.

He smelled rotted things, and entered a closet. He was glad to not find any human bodies, no rotted corpses. Though there was a dead dog there. Its body had started to decompose. Did that mean animals hadn't disappeared while humans had? What happened to them all? He remembered the water issue at the farm on his first job, so he went to the water source.

He stuck his finger in it, and smelled the reservoir, but nothing seemed odd. Nothing smelled off. And Naguri was clearly using the water supply. He wasn't going to risk drinking it, of course. The next option was food supply. It had been a long time, so the crops that provided food that one day was probably long gone. Evidence was scarce this late in the game.

After getting back into town, he found a broom, and started to sweep up the ground and see if anything strange was on the cobblestone below. It was a nice and little town. Too quiet, now that it was empty. But he found nothing odd or out of the ordinary. When he went in another house to get his things he'd set down, he saw a bed was made perfectly. It gave him an idea.

What if all the people were dead and ghosts? Ace was more about finding answers than bringing people back. Naguri needed closure, if he was never going to see his friends and family again, Ace wanted to at least get him some answers. Ace opted to stay in one of the houses. Marco told him a spooky story about a haunted house. Maybe it could work like that here!

He set up camp in a child's bedroom. It felt wrong to do this morally, but he had to try something. Naguri was surprised when he said he'd be sleeping in one of the houses, but didn't protest. Ace had food, too, Naguri didn't need to spare him any. The old man didn't press, even if he looked like he wanted to treat Ace.

When bedtime came, Ace took out a lacrima from his bag, and put it in the table. He brought it on a whim. It was useless since he had no magic to give it to store. For some reason, he'd just packed it this time. He laid on the bed, which was very comfortable, and went to sleep, keeping his senses wide open.

It was late into the night that the lacrima started glowing, waking Ace up. He opened his eyes and sat up immediately. He was silent before asking if someone was there. This felt spooky, and he had chills up his spine. Maybe he was talking to a ghost? Or there were ghosts in the room. He heard no speaking, but the lacrima was glowing, the light ebbing and flowing.

Ace walked to it and grabbed both sides. For anyone else, it would absorb magic from them, but since he had none, it wasn't absorbing anything. "Who are you?"

"Get outta my bed! Mommy, someone is in my bed!" a young voice called. He could hear the sounds of footsteps, the sounds of other people in the room. The sounds of footsteps came, but they were coming from the lacrima, not the accrual room.

"There's nobody here, sweetie."

"Someone is in my bed! Get them out!"

Ace got off the bed immediately, and made it just as it was before he slept in it. The voice made a "humph!" sound and he heard the sounds of something heavy being on the bed, making that puff sound on the blankets. The mother didn't notice Ace there at all. Well, now he had a lead! He was still holding the lacrima, and asked if they could hear him.

Neither answered. He took the lacrima out of the room, and walked through the house and town. It was pitch black outside but for moon and starlight, which was more than enough for his eyes. No lights were on in any of the houses or buildings, since nobody was around. As he walked, he heard the sounds of living people, thriving and talking. Music was outside, he could even hear the sounds of the fountain running, which was dry and empty.

It was like there was another world parallel to this one, and Ace could hear it over the night. He called out for someone, but nobody heard him. Walking all over the town, listening, it seemed like everyone thought it was normal. Or had gotten used to this situation, since it had been over ten months since Naguri said everyone disappeared.

When morning came, the lacrima silenced, and Ace slept during the day so he could investigate during the night once again. He gave no update to Naguri in case it didn't work out or something went wrong, and he wouldn't have his hopes crushed after being raised, even if by a little. So he slept during the day, but awoke again at night with the lacrima, this time in a different house. But nobody in this one realized he was there, even though Ace could hear people through the lacrima when he was holding it.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" he asked loudly. There was a silence in the room suddenly, and Ace worried he'd lost the connection. "Hello? My name is Ace, is anyone there?" He heard feet come closer, and then it got louder and someone asked if anyone was there with them. "Yes, my name is Ace. I'm looking for the missing residents of Gray Terminal."

"Missing?" someone asked. "Ace, where are you coming from? Who are you? Why are you in my home?" the man asked, his voice deep and gruff. Ace explained that he was on a job to investigate the disappearance of a city's residents from a man named Naguri. "He's the one that left us! Where is he?! Did you find him?!"

Ace was all sorts of confused now. Was Naguri the missing one? Was he even from this city? Ace asked the man to stay with him so he could bring him to speak to he old man. "Yes, please!" Ace hurried to the house at the edge of the city limits, and knocked on the door. It was opened, and Ace told the man on the lacrima that he was now with Naguri. "Naguri! It's Galler! Where did you go?!"

"Galler?!" Naguri asked with a choked up voice.

"Where are you? You disappeared!"

"I'm in the city, in my usual house! You're all the ones that left!"

Ace said that maybe there were parallel worlds! But how would they get back together? Naguri took the lacrima in his hands, and Ace sat it glow. "Do you have magic, Naguri?" He said it only came on the night that everyone left. "Maybe something will happen if you use magic on the lacrima. Maybe your magic made you disappear," Ace insisted.

Naguri told Ace the money was in the cabinet, in case this worked. The old man seemed to have hope. At least he knew now that his friends and family weren't dead and gone. They were out of reach somewhere. Ace had no idea where. It was amazing! He really hoped they could reunite. Naguri seemed to have trouble bringing magic out, but when he did, the ball glowed, and he started to fade like a ghost. Ace was scared this was all wrong, that it wasn't supposed to be this way. What if his idea got someone killed?!

"Naguri!" Ace called in worry before he was completely gone. The lacrima ball went dead for a moment before he could faintly hear the cheering of them being reunited. Naguri had a booming laugh on the other side. Ace could hear them all shouting thank yous to Ace before the ball went dead for good.

Tears dripped down Ace's cheeks. He did it. He wished things could have been this way with Sabo. That he got lost and would come back. But they buried him, his body. Ace wiped his face, and took the lacrima to the forest nearby, and buried it so it couldn't be broken or destroyed. There was magic all around them, so the lacrima would not be devoid of it completely while in the earth.

He went back to the house, and collected the money. He packed it up, and took one last look at the empty city, wondering just who was the one that went missing, if it left a completely desolate town. Now it really was a ghost town. Not a single person was left. Ace rubbed his eyes, and smiled, hoping things were going well on the other side.

Hiking his backpack up further, now less heavy with the lacrima ball gone, he headed back to the train station to go home. It was a very fulfilling trip, and he was glad he got to do it alone. On the train, he sighed happily and slept, leaning against the window as the scenery rolled by as he headed home.

When he got back to Magnolia, he walked back to the guild to say he'd solved it. Check off that the job had been completed. The room was a disaster. Natsu had probably come back from his job. He went past the mess and to the counter. Mira worked as the barmaid now, despite being an S-class wizard and all.

"How'd it go?"

"Well, everyone kind of died by the end," Ace said bluntly with zero context. Makarov spit his drink out and demanded to know what happened. "Hehe, that came out wrong." He explained the situation, and all of the little things that fixed it up. "It was like a haunted city! And I turned Naguri into a ghost, too."

Some had gathered around to listen to the outlandish tale, but Ace wasn't a liar and had the money to prove it. "Man, that's crazy!" Warren said in shock. Ace nodded. It was kind of sad, too, though. But he was happy they all ended up happy. "You got a big reward, too."

"I'm just happy they're reunited. It was so sad. Naguri seemed so, so sad and lonely. But now nobody lives in that city. They're all gone somewhere else," Ace said quietly. "I hope things are okay and they weren't all actually dead."

"Well, now they're all together. And that seems to have been what Naguri truly wanted. Poor man, losing everyone like that." They all nodded. "Well, time for a celebration for Ace's return!"

"What about my return, old man?!"

"Natsu, you destroyed our furniture again! Why would I throw a party!?" Makarov shouted back. Ace laughed, but said he had to get back and check on Marco. See if he was still sick. "Don't worry, he checked in yesterday as fine. I'm sure he'd like to come to a party, too. Go get him and we can have a celebration for such a good job."

Ace beamed and nodded. He saw Laxus walk in, and stuck his tongue out at him. Proves him right, Ace finished his mission with zero magic needed! They didn't all need to be super fancy magic users.

-x-

"Harvest Festival time!" Makarov announced once everyone was gathered. Ace had forgotten! He wasn't there last year, Marco was sick, so Ace didn't go and spent the day with him. That's what a good best friend would do. Even though Marco hadn't agreed with that, Ace did it anyways. He wasn't gonna leave his friend all alone during the festival. It was only one year, after all.

The one thing that Ace didn't enjoy about the annual festival is that he couldn't do anything during the parade. He had no interesting skill or magic to show off on the parade, so he never took part during it. He just watched from the sides as the floats moved. Though he did have fun helping build them!

"This year, there will be a competition between who makes the best float! Choose your teams, Fairy Tail! And the girls must take part as well! Even those recovering from the S-Class Trial!" Erza was still recovering from becoming S-Class just the week before. Ace hoped he could someday be an S-Class one without having any magic power making him a technical wizard.

But he was very happy for Erza, being the youngest to get that place in the guild. Laxus and Mira were both older when they got their own in that mystery trial. Ace wished he could see what they were, but afterwards, those who took part weren't allowed to talk about it to others. After all, it could possibly be spoilers to a future version. Each year it was different.

Ace chose a team with the members that were the least destructive. So him, Marco, Warren, Max and Laki. They were all non-destructive. Ace was glad he didn't break things, even on accident. But then again, he tried to not take jobs that involved a lot of physical activity or things that could possible turn physically dangerous.

"What should our float be?" Ace asked, holding the pen to draw their blueprints. "Laki has wood powers, she could make our base!" he suggested.

"And I can use my sand to shape it down nicely," Max offered. "Too bad we didn't recruit Reedus, he's now already taken."

"Hah, the arts and crafts team," Marco chuckled. "We could be unoriginal and make a dragon."

"Or a pumpkin," Ace suggested. "A dragon is really unoriginal, it's been done before." Warren asked how a pumpkin was more interesting than that. "We could make it like a jackolantern, and have fireworks inside of it!" Ace replied. "And we can make the face of it something interesting, too. We can do anything with Laki and Max."

Ace got to drawing their agreed float. He was no Reedus, but his hand was sure of where it was going, and as the other groups continued to argue or brainstorm, the five of them were busy designing and then got to calculating the expenses of their float's materials. They had more than enough room to work in the back of the guild.

Faster than everyone else, they got up from their table to go and ask Makarov for a budget. Ace wasn't going to spend his money on it or everyone would think it was unfair, even if it wasn't. Ace still had that monthly allowance that was just getting bigger and bigger since he used the money he got on jobs for rent and food.

They were given a budget that was higher than Ace thought. The group locked their blueprints in Laki's trunk, and then went out to buy the supplies. The tools and paints needed. Not to mention all of the supplies for the interior of the hollow pumpkin float. Magic tools that cost more than everything else. But they were saving on a ton of wood with Laki's magic.

By the time their supplies were gathered, the other groups had gotten into fights or off topic. "We chose a great team, huh?" Max said lightly. Ace and Marco nodded. Warren said they could also talk and plan easily with his powers. Ace didn't really have anything to offer to the table, but everyone didn't expect him to.

They set plans up and designated their stash of bought supplies. They didn't start building that day, but the next morning. Others were building, too, and cursing the fact they hadn't included Laki as she formed the bases of the figure with wood while Max sanded it down into the correct dimensions and shapes, making it a smooth finish.

There was a lot of sawdust, so the four were wearing eye goggles to keep them out. Once everything was finished being sanded down, they coated the wood with magic finish so no damage could be done to it. No easy small damages. Around them, other floats were being created, but with more effort and less ease.

Laki was very happy she could be so useful, and the group was having fun as they painted the pumpkin with glowing paint and then added magic dusting to it that would turn it into a reflecting surface, looking in some places like it was made of glass. Small holes were all over it so that the lights could come out of places other than the big face.

The face wasn't actually a face, but the carving of many flying birds. The birds would be bright lights. It would be so cool! The top was hollow so the fireworks could shoot out from somewhere safer. There was a flat part in the front for them to stand on, standing before the big pumpkin. It was so fun to make, and the other teams were having a blast, too. Like a huge arts and crafts project.

It was a big deal, so nobody was cutting corners in effort. Natsu's team was a castle, Erza was not using her magic to work on it, looking tired still from the S-Class tria. But Ace was happy for her, she was amazing! Fifteen and already an S-Class wizard. His guild was awesome, full of so many fun and interesting people.

He was glad he wandered away from whoever cursed him into a human body and ended up at Fairy Tail's doors.

-x-

Ace beamed at their beautiful pumpkin float two days later. Painted to perfection, with the wheels connected to the base just fine. They took it around on a spin around the guild. They had to pull it, all of them pulling it since they didn't have the mechanism attached to it yet to make it roll on its own. It was a good work out, though, and it was balanced just fine.

"That's no fair! You guys cheated!" Natsu accused, the thirteen year old shouting angrily as he stood on the burnt float. The fifth burnt one. Of course they weren't the one to reply, it was Gray insulting him on his self control with his fire. "At least I'm wearing clothes, you pervert!" Natsu shot back at him.

"The hell you say?!" And they got into a fight. Max kept them away from their float with his sand powers, making sure they fought somewhere else. Ace sighed, and hoped they could make their floats turn out alright. The rest of their teams were working hard. Besides Ace's group, Gray probably had the best float. It was made of ice, of course, but was coated with the thing that kept the wood in pristine condition. So his float of ice didn't melt.

Ace was standing on the float with a smile when the world doubled. Everything blurred, and Ace stumbled to the side, and he hit the ground hard, with a loud grunt. Marco ran over, but the Master was there first, larger now and holding Ace in his hands. "Ug… Master. H-happen again!" he grunted. He was taken inside immediately, and to the basement, grabbing the magic medicine on the way.

Neither ever wanted anyone else to see him that way. Gildarts saw it and even he was horrified by the leftovers after his painful transformation. That had been years ago, and since then Ace's medicine had treated him just fine. He started to scream in the basement, and the medicine didn't help. The pain kept coming.

He had his eyes closed, knowing what was going to happen. He wasn't scared and confused and lost this time. Ace knew what would happen to him, how it would feel. People were supposed to forget pain after awhile, but he never forgot the pain he'd been in when it was revealed what he was.

He was breathing hard and fast, unable to pace his breath between screams. He heard the disgusting and disturbing sound of skin tearing apart. He felt the blood drip down, felt his hair fall down his face and his nails shoot out of his nailbeds. His teeth loosened and dropped out, new, sharper ones coming instead.

His senses weren't affected, so that was a tiny blessing. He was conscious and sobbed at the pain, and didn't want to look down at the remains fo the parts of his human body he'd discarded. He was the size of his float right now, and laying on the cold basement ground. He was in pain, it ached and burned, but the worst of it was over.

He waited for his body to turn back, but even after the medicine, which healed any wounds in dragon form, he stayed this way. He didn't turn back into a human. He could hear people worrying in the building, all wondering if he was okay and when they'd come out. Master was sitting beside him, rubbing his head softly.

"You're very strong, Ace. You're not crying," the old man said quietly. "Even though it hurts and your scared, you're facing it full on. You'll become a very strong person, with or without magic power." Ace was silent, and didn't even know if he could talk in dragon form. He didn't have the energy to try. He just had his eyes closed, waiting to go back to normal. It did happen, he wasn't trapped like that too long.

He was finally asleep when it did happen, and he wasn't returned to normal bloody and raw like the last time. He was just naked, his clothes destroyed long ago. Makarov got a blanket from Ace's fort, which was just there for nostalgia, since he didn't go in it anymore. He wrapped him in it, and put him in a bath with magic healing powder in it.

When Ace woke up, he felt great. A little tired, but not in pain or fear. Now he knew that it was not a one time thing. Perhaps it would have happened many times if not for the medicine made from Makarov's good friend who specialized in magic medicine.

Marco had brought over some clothes, since the apartment's bedroom was his main room with all of his things. So Ace had clothes to dress in, and when he came out, everyone was quiet, sitting at the tables. It felt very unnatural. He walked out, and everyone looked up and smiled in relief.

"Sorry for worrying everyone," he said in shame. "We were all having so much fun, too."

"The fun will come back easily. We're just glad you're okay. How do you feel?" Erza asked with a smile. Ace said he felt fine. He slept and had a bath.

He admitted, "It… it hurts really bad when it happens. My teeth and-"

"Ace, why don't you not go into detail?" the Master asked softly. Ace nodded, rethinking explained the agonizing process. He didn't want them to worry even more. Hearing it hurt was bad enough. He would be very worried if someone he loved went through this as well. He wasn't going to try and make it worse.

They tried to get back into the fun and prepare for the festival, but it just wasn't catching on like it was before.