Chapter 14 - A Royal Welcome
Written by Demod20 and LastationLover5000
It was quite the tale told to the attentive members of Fairy Tail. The mages hadn't expected to be regaled of such detail and drama to take place, especially one revolving around a man formerly one of the most wanted man in the world of magic. Having been incarcerated the last time they spoke, Wendy had only just begun to learn about this Jellal wasn't hers; the one that had raised her. They were very alike as - during his apparent amnesiac state - was out to protect those he cared for, and helped them destroy Nirvana, stopping the Oracion Seis dark mage guild utterly.
But now, it turns out he wasn't in fact guilty of the crimes they took him away for. It was quite the shock, seeing as how certain the Council was of his crime. How could such a cunning traitor, after all, be completely exempt from such heinous actions and a carefully laid out series of actions woven into a maniacal plan to resurrect the Black Wizard, Zeref, himself?
"...so you see, Ultear had complete control of Jellal's motives for years. He had been innocent, and unaware of his own motives for all of that time," Meredy continued to explain, regaling the audience of Fairy Tail with the occasional raise of a gloved hand and the gesture of the other. "He may be an emotionally damaged bag of self pity, but he's far from responsible for his actions."
"I see," Macao frowned, a pensive expression resting on his lightly bearded face. As he examined Jellal he could see a dimness in the man's eyes. It was something he hadn't seen since looking at Gray when he first arrived at the Guild; an emptiness that was filled with melancholy, a feeling that there was very little to live for beyond a vague given goal.
Much like joining Fairy Tail.
"I've seen quite a few kids like this, but this man..." Wakaba spoke in a low tone, his voice a rare sense of seriousness as he kept his arms crossed over his chest, the smoke out of his pipe a muffled vapor instead of a casual chimney like it normally was. "He's lost both a childhood and most of his young adult life, being manipulated like this. I don't even think the old man would want to turn him away."
"If I am a bother, I'll make do on my own," Jellal reaffirmed, as he had from the beginning. Cold eyes looked up with a hollow expression as his lips quivered with the words he forced himself to say. "I know I don't deserve to be here, simply because I ask. If this is too much to take in so quickly, I can just-"
"NO!" Meredy shouts, a comically large hand of ethereal light formed in the air above his head and slapped his blue tressed crown; bowling over from the a crackle of pain and phantom force, his face striking the ground with a loud thud!
"You are not backing out of this! Remember the promise you made, or has a little trek across the countryside made you forget everything again?!" Meredy screamed angrily, her pixie features stretching exaggeratedly with a fiery rosy aura. "Ultear's stuck in prison for your sad self! So stop trying to back out now, and own up to it!"
"Well aren't you the picture of delightful?"
"Don't turn this on me, bowlcut!" The pink-haired teen jabbed a temperamental throbbing finger at the dryly speaking Max. "I've had it up to here with his gloomy attitude! Trying to keep him together is bad enough as it is, and I'm the one who has to tell the story properly, so you can shut it!"
"...why do people hate my hair?" Max mumbled with bewilderment, eyes going cross as he threaded his fingers along his neatly trimmed bangs.
"So, if you don't mind me asking," Wendy piped up, bringing Meredy's angry disposition back to a more neutral one at seeing the blue-haired girl's softer words directed to her. Lowering her hand, the cobalt tressed dragon slayer tilted her head to the side, blinking curiously as she inquired, "How do you know all of these details, exactly? Obviously you didn't see this Ultear after she parted ways. Were you hiding in some way?"
"Don't be obscene," The golden-feathered head turned, her gloved hands placed on her hips as she addressed the Sky Maiden directly. "I don't skulk around like some thief..."
"ACHOO!" Robyn, Bobbie and Eris sneezed in unison, making Macao look over with concern.
"...I used my one-of-a-kind Magic, Maguilty Sense," She continued her debrief, raising up her own wrist to show a brief mark of rosy light that encircled her flesh and glowed brightly like a brand. "I can attach my own senses to anyone I have a strong connection to. And from there, I can share their senses, including their speech and hearing; so I could make out the details as Ultear negotiated with the Council, and when she had her final farewell with Jellal."
"Why didn't you just attach your senses to Jellal as well?"
"Because he was imprisoned in a Council cell until just recently," Doranbolt answered on Meredy's behalf, to the Exceed that floated up next to Wendy's shoulder. The scarred man looked over at Jellal and gave him a once-over. "A mage of his caliber, was likely placed in a prison that has runes that seal magical power. Only someone of the Rune Knights' higher class is allowed to break the seal, so until then, no magic can be felt or used by him or on him till the barrier is brought down."
"Exactly," Meredy nodded, her eyes squinting at the man. "You one of them...the Rune Knights, that is?"
"Former, actually," The man formerly known as 'Mest' replied with a nervous smile on his face. "Wendy needs me, far more than I desire to keep my old job. Like it or not, I'm a Fairy Tail Mage; unless that in of itself is a problem."
"As if," She huffed with a sigh, closing her eyes as she turned her head so her golden-feathered headpiece clinked audibly with her neck's movement. "I just don't want you harassing me or mopey here cause of past grievances. We want to start off with a clean slate. Is that enough?"
"I'm not the Guild Master, so its not up to me," The teleporter replied with a disarming gesture of his hand, waving it over to Macao - whom had a pondering expression this whole time - who looked his way with a raised brow. "I'm merely a rookie in this guild. He has more authority than I do."
"Technically-"
"Shut it, Wakaba!" The blue-haired man hissed with a sharp turn, quickly clearing his throat as he addressed the girl and Jellal properly; the latter standing upright, dusting himself off despite the painful impact of the shorter girl's strike. When their eyes met his, Macao pocketed his hands and walked up to them, talking as sagely as he could manage. "Listen, I'm not going to pretend to understand what you went through, nor are you expected to be fully trusted by anyone here. However, I have a good read for people. Have been for years, and I've seen young'uns and older folk come from all sorts of backgrounds, shady to tragic."
Stopping in front of Jellal, his blue-trim white coated body standing a mere meter apart from the dark cloaked former Councilor, a thin line crossing his lips as he spoke to him with a guttural voice, "Do you swear to protect the secrets of this guild, shield your fellow mages and treat this hall as if it was your own home?"
"I do," The man intoned without wavering. "I've already made up my mind since I left. Unless you say that I'm not needed-"
"Its not a matter of need, dammit!" Macao shouted, his hand reaching out to grasp the italic-tattooed man by the collar, shocking him out of his despondent stupor to look wide-eyed at the Guild Master's darkened visage that encroached into his space. "You have to put the guild above your own self interest. This isn't a place where you can act selfishly. If you're only saying this out of obligation, then you're only doing this because of guilt; I won't accept someone with such a weak will, I'll never abide by it!"
There was a loud, pregnant pause as the man was broken out of his rigid shell.
It hadn't occurred to him how listless he had been behaving since his newfound freedom. Even with the clarity afforded to explain away the horrors that he enacted against his own will, to go to the place where she wasn't any longer tore at him inside. His hope that she'd live on a better life than he did. Without her here, he felt that he had failed in some way...but...
"Do not die, Jellal! All of our hopes are tied together! Live, and find out what happens next!"
"Erza...you..."
Jellal closed his eyes, feeling a distinct stinging in his eyes as his heart throbbed in his chest.
"I am one who knows the light that shines within Jellal!"
"Ngh...!" He grimaced, his face construed past the mask of melancholic stoicism and let tears rush down his face. As Macao relinquished his grip, Jellal raggedly breathed out as he felt himself heave with emotion.
"Live on! Endure the guilt, for my sake and yours!"
"It hurts so much," He admits, his watery eyes opening as he cups his mouth, his body hunched over in front of everyone. "The bond that tied me here has been severed. She's dead, and I live! Why her and not me?! It's not fair!"
"You're right."
Amidst his weeping, Jellal found his gasps and hiccups pause for a few seconds. Turning slowly to look towards the source of the voice and he found it to be the one who had mistook his identity upon his emergence from death. Wendy Marvell walked forward, her stocking legs treading forward slowly as her hazel eyes shined brightly up at him. But, amidst that gleam came an inherent sadness; one that shared the pain that he understood all too well.
"It's not fair that they're gone, and we're left behind," Wendy admits, smiling up sadly at the grieving man. "But, they wouldn't want us to be sad with them being gone. They'd want us to laugh, and carry on with their spirit burning within our chest. It won't be easy but, I know they'd want us to keep carrying on," She said, holding her arms out with a hint of moisture in her brown orbs; all while the imagined outlines of Natsu, Erza, Gray and many others stood beside and behind her with a majestic shine of united emotion, reinforcing her words as she spoke past the crackle in her throat. "I am not alone, as I am swallowed up by their love, forever till the end of days!"
"Wendy..." The blue haired man sighed, a hint of a smile breaching past his saddened expression despite it all. "I can see...why someone like you, who lost so much...can show someone so pathetic like me...what I still have..."
Straightening his stance, he reached out and placed a hand on Wendy's head, rubbing it gently. While it was a surprise to the emotionally resonating slayer, she smiled past her own tears - her cheeks blushing at the sign of affection - happy that her words had been met with some form of positivity.
"Master," Jellal finally spoke, his words clear and without hesitation as his gaze met the man in charge of the guild. "I will put my life on the line to protect this guild; and I shall live as if they are my own family."
"Heh, that's the spirit!" Macao grinned toothily, raising up a hand that formed a ball of blue flame. It in turn formed a spiral that formed its own hand that gave a thumb's up to him, the master himself winking to the troubled mage. "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Jellal."
"Hey!"
"And you too, Meredy," He added sheepishly at the sharp cry from the feisty pixie girl.
As soon as the go-ahead was given from the master, a sense of relief washed the whole of the group. Approaching them with gusto, the aforementioned younger of the pair recoiled at their friendliness, while Jellal just took it in a calmer manner.
"You got moxie, kid!" Mickey commented with a cheeky grin, raising a cat-glove up and forming a fist. "I like it when a girl has spunk. Do you fancy yourself fisticuffs or you strictly a blasty-gal?"
"I was one of the Seven Kin-" Meredy began to reply, then forcing herself to cough before closing her eyes and turning her face indignantly to the devil-horned blonde wearing a tiger-print shirt. "Yes, I can hold my own quite well."
"Fantastic! Wanna go a few rounds?"
"Mickey, don't challenge the rookie before she's even gotten a guild mark!" Warren reprimanded with a raised hand.
"Why not? I want to see what she's made of!"
"If she's able to send Jellal to the floor with a single move, I'm pretty sure she's tough as is," Max pointed out with a gesture at the blue-haired man. "Try to keep your teeth and take my advice to leave the kid alone."
"I'm not a kid-!"
"You're practically as tall as Wendy. You're a child."
A loud slap! was heard as Max's body sailed through the air, face-first imprinting into the wall before falling to the ground with a thud.
"You kinda earned that one," Charle sighed, shaking her head with lament.
"Wow, you really are strong!" Mickey laughed aloud, watching the pink-haired girl dispel the ethereal hand that she used to send the Sandstorm mage flying. "I'll wait for the master to get your brand."
"You say brand, but...is it painful?"
"No, it kind of tickles," Laki confessed with a smile. "We're not that kind of guild after all."
"I-I knew that!" Meredy stammered. "I just wanted to be sure, that's all!"
"Aww, aren't you just the cutest!" Bisca cooed, her hands reaching out and pinching the shorter girl's cheeks, stretching them out much to her chagrin. "For someone who has such confidence, you really don't know much about mages, do you? You're so innocent!"
"Ahhh! Gesh offsh meh!" The young adult barely mouthed out while her face was mushed by the affectionate gunslinger.
"Go easy on her, Bisca-" Alzack tried to urge her.
"I want one just like her, though!" She spoke aloud, causing the prior to blush madly at the insinuation; especially at the glowing eyes she saw his significant other possess. "Just like her, but with a hat like mine!"
"B-B-B-Bisca-!"
"Whoa there, love birds," Wakaba chuckled aloud, hunched over with a casual gait as he gently pried Bisca away from Meredy. "Why not give the newcomer a little space, hm?"
"Oh...I'm sorry, I just got a little excited, haha!" The green-haired immigrant replied with a nervous scratch to her face while Alzack tried to turn his face away bashfully.
Meredy attempted to slink away, muttering, "Clingy weirdo," before she bumped into the bottom half of a bodaciously soft chest. Blinking she looked up, seeing a woman looking down at her with sparkling eyes from a mostly emotionless face that was dressed in a bunny-suit; complete with its own bunny-ear head piece atop her soft yellow locks.
"The heck are you-MMPH?!" She'd barely get out before having her chest smothered in the barely concealed mammaries, her pink crown pressed behind by a soft hand while another wrapped around her upper body.
"So cute," Bobbie uttered, petting the girl's head with a soft pink blush working its way across her face. "Can I keep you?"
"Nmmmmmph!" She muffled out in protest, slapping at her bosom with repeated jiggles of impact.
"Dearest, can you relinquish the poor thing?" Eris proffered, airily floating next to the woman as she tapped at the bluish hue that was working its way over the barely visible cheeks of Meredy. "I don't think she can breathe."
"Oh," The Requip mage sighed, sadly releasing Meredy with a slick unfastening sound of her small face against her elastically covered mounds.
"GAH!" Meredy inhaled deeply, her face pale but slowly regaining color. Looking to Bisca, then Bobbie and the others she blinked with bewilderment at everyone present. "The...the heck is wrong with all of you people?!"
"Have you never had affection given to you before, little bird?" Eris inquired with a tilt of her head.
"I'm not a bird!" She exclaimed, then paused, as if taking stock of what the reactions were to her joining. Her face fell, as she kicked her feet oddly and looked about, holding one of her arms as she confessed. "Apart from Ultear, the only time I remember kindness was with my family. But, they died a long time ago and...I haven't had anyone show me kindness for awhile..."
"I understand," The elf replied, bringing the young adult's gaze to her own. The soft rosy eyes showed a sadness within, despite the smile she maintained across her soft fey-like face. "Loneliness begets a sense of isolation from compassion. It is hard to quantify how long it takes to renew familiarity with the customs of affection; even simple greetings of earnest can come as suspicious when you've been without love for so long. Before my blue bird, I too struggled with this sense of camaraderie shown to me by others."
"Does...it ever get easier?" Meredy asked, almost pleadingly though doing her best to hide it.
"With time, it does," She proffered with a much brighter grin. "But depend on your new family in the meantime. They'll stick by your side, even if you're not comfortable with them."
"Family..."
The word was an old almost forgotten one to the girl.
As she contemplated this, Jellal himself was engaged by the other mages one by one with a few words exchanged. While he himself wasn't as open to engage in prolonged dialogue, he did his best to be approachable as they came up to him.
"Did the Council give you any grievance upon being let go?" Doranbolt asked, a look of curiosity masking his own concern for the former employers may had mistreated him.
"I actually gave them a hard time," Jellal confessed, recounting the part of the story that Meredy didn't include for Ultear not being present at the time. "The Rune Knight Head Captain...Lahar, I think his name was...he didn't take no for an answer, even when I felt something in my gut that something terrible happened was confirmed about everyone in Fairy Tail. But, he was quite acquiescing, offering me provisions and clothing, even transportation if I desired it."
"Well, he should have," The teleporter huffed with a turn of his eyes. "Damn Lahar can be rigid, but dependable. He would've made the trip easier for you."
"I don't desire an easy solution," The blue-haired man admitted, bringing a look of surprise to the former Rune Knight. "If I wanted easy, I wouldn't have agreed to take care of Meredy, after all."
"She does seem...energetic," Doranbolt intoned, his eyes wavering over to the girl as she nimbly dodged with bulging eyes as Bobbie went in for another smothering hug. "A member of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. We didn't have a file on her probably because of her age and lack of any real crimes yet to be committed. It is likely Ultear left her out of the discussion so that the Council wouldn't be inclined on imprisoning her as well."
"That seems to be a likely scenario," The ex-Councilor nodded with agreement.
"Ummm..." Wendy began to mutter out, bringing Jellal's attention back to the Sky Maiden. Twiddling her fingers, she looked up at him, and began speak her mind. "I found my Jellal...not long after we parted ways. But, even so, I was happy that some part of him was in you even if your memories weren't all there. Which makes me wonder, have all of them returned yet?"
"They have," Jellal soberly answered. "I recounted them all, one by one, until they filled me with more agony than any torture my jailors inflicted on my body. It is something I will live with for the rest of my life, knowing what I did to my friends and the rest of those imprisoned in the Tower of Heaven."
"Then you'll just have to help more people than you've hurt," The cobalt haired slayer spoke with determination. "That's the only solution!"
"That's the plan," He agreed with a smile.
"Soooooo~" A sing-song tune came from his side, bringing Jellal blinking owlishly over at something soft worm around and press against his flank. There he saw a beautiful pair of blue eyes, fluttering lashes causing them to twinkle, as a head of long teal colored hair spilled from a crown over his sleeve and over exposed shoulders. The robed person pushed his bicep and tricep into a slightly curved but definitively flat chest, while soft hands kneaded into his muscle while a stocking covered leg nudged against his pants' thigh. "I got blue hair...you got blue hair...I like to think myself a tragic figure who's been misunderstood...we go hand in hand, yes?"
"I...don't follow," Jellal replied with confusion.
Robyn placed his head against shoulder, purring as he trailed a hand across his cloak covered chest. "Why don't we wallow in our mutual angst in a room somewhere, and recover through mutual passion, hm?"
Blinking with bewilderment, he turned to look at Wendy and Doranbolt with an expression that portrayed his perplexity.
"Don't look at me," Doranbolt raised his hands disarmingly, while Wendy just looked just as bothered as Jellal is. "All I know is that is a guy, not a girl."
"Does that matter? We're both beautiful people-"
Jellal instantly evaporated from place, leaving Robyn holding an imagined dotted-line. Realizing the folly, he flailed his arms for purchase before he fell clumsily onto the floor with a painful, "Ow!"
"I'm not into that, sorry," The man spoke as he slipped past the other mages and walked towards Macao and Wakaba. By the time the cyan haired stumbled up, he'd look wistfully as he walked away to the bar of the hall, getting the preparations to fill himself and Meredy as mages.
"Okay, what the Hell was that?" Max inquired, having gotten up from his painful heap.
"I'm going to make him mine," Robyn intoned with a thirstiness in his voice only furthered intensified by the star-like shine in his eyes. "He's perfect!"
"Ehhhhh?" Wendy blanched with sudden realization.
"This makes...too much sense," Doranbolt sighed with a visible cringe.
Wendy knew this was likely to be trouble, but not in the worst possible way.
With Jellal and Meredy joining, they now had five formidable members joining their guild. Fresh from victory and even convincing the now recuperating journalist, Jason, that they were just on the road for redeeming their wounded family and they were far from done. The path ahead was full of uncertainty, but also a distinct beacon of hope. No matter how hard the challenges ahead, she yearned to meet them head on, knowing she wasn't alone.
In Fairy Tail, she wasn't going to be alone, ever again.
One Month Later
Time stopped for no one. This held true for the lowest merchant to the strongest Wizard Saint. In Fairy Tail, this was a facet of life that couldn't be ignored. The tragedy on Tenrō Island still hung over the Guild, and none of them ever thought it would be forgotten; however, everyone was finally beginning to move past their grief. Wendy, who had made such brave steps forward when she formed a team with Max, Charle, and Doranbolt — a team that the entire guild, either behind Wendy or to her face, were beginning to refer to as 'Team Wendy' — was the shining example of moving forward without forgetting the sacrifice of their friends.
Max Alors was heading towards the door, heading out to the guild's personal mailbox and get the new requests. In this simple sweep of motion, the man's thoughts began to turn towards his guild, and his comrades.
Max had been a party to seeing just how his Guild had grown in the simple month since the Tenrō Island incident, and the incident in Crocus in which 'Team Wendy' had been hailed as heroes of the nation. He was even considered one of the heroes, which he found hard to imagine for someone like himself. Yet it was fact. Team Wendy had been born through that debacle, and shortly after, Jellal Fernandes and a young girl named Meredy had joined Fairy Tail.
In the interim, Team Wendy had undergone several missions, and Max had to admit that not only was Wendy becoming a capable mage, but their overall teamwork as a single unit was improving. Everyone, however, was moving forward in their own way. Walking through the lower floor, Max could see the Fourth Master's son pouring over multiple books on magical theory — Ignis Magicum, Flare's Handbook, Flamebound, Touch of Illumination, among others — and chuckled to himself when he realised all of them were based on or had to do with Fire Magic.
He still looks up to Natsu, Max grinned.
Charle sat on a table in a corner of the bar, her small frame poured over satchels of what appeared to be glinting jewels. No, on closer inspection, Max realised they were a various assortment of rings. He remembered, a little under a week ago, Charle had gotten permission to look through Loke's old things, and for reasons known only to her, these rings had caught her eye. I think those were Loke's back when he was staying in the Human World, banished from the Celestial Realm...I suppose he tried to make do with Human Holder Magic to lessen the strain his Celestial Spirit powers had on him? Max mused, unable to fathom what Charle could want with Loke's old possessions.
At the centre of the bar, Max saw Reedus — who had begun to shrink slightly, was he losing weight? — painting multiple members of the Guild at once, capturing their daily lives for posterity. Their star maiden herself, Wendy, was in a conversation with Laki, which Max had to agree was the oddest new friendship being formed since the Tenrō Incident, yet the two had become oddly close. Looking closer, he saw Laki showing off her Wood-Make magic to Wendy, creating several small sculptures made of wood that even Max could tell was ludicrously high quality. Wendy was absolutely enamoured with the skill, and asked Laki to make something grander.
Three of their newest recruits, Team Robyn, were, as usual, maintaining a wide-berth from the rest of the Guild. Robyn was the more sociable of the lot, yet this usually meant he spent his time drinking and hitting on any man within reach if they hit his criteria. Jellal had long since memorised Robyn's drinking schedule and learned to avoid the bar at these times. Eris was chastising her leader, the look of a concerned mother on her face as Robyn knocked back tankard after tankard of ale, but Robyn brushed her off.
"I ain't drinkin' too much!" Robyn slurred, his face flushed. "Besides, I only 'over-drink' when I'm feelin' sad!"
"Ah, your life must be full of hardship then," Bobbie replied sardonically. As always, Bobbie tried to stand out more than anyone else in the Guild, and she continued to succeed. Her current outfit was not from the country of Fiore, that much was obvious. A golden ring lying at the sternum looped a crisscrossed style of a bra top, velvet red that hooped over her shoulders and met at a similar ring that crisscrossed at the center of her back. A transparent dancer's shirt of amethyst silk lied comfortably over the smooth toned biceps and triceps, ending with golden rings for short sleeve cuffs. Below Bobbie's navel was a band of jewels, complementing a yellow trimmed red dancer's skirt that showed off her soft, thick legs while the fabric itself just covered her pelvic region and her barely concealed hindquarters. With golden bands wrapped around her wrists and ankles, the last striking piece of Bobbie's current outfit was a deep purple head piece; with a soft light amethyst silk draping in tandem with her luscious blonde locks, her cool blue eyes added by the hat's golden third-eye sewn into the cloth itself.
I'm still not sure which one is the more eccentric, Max cast an eye to both Bobbie and Robyn, the exhibitionist, and the drunkard, and resisted the urge to bury his face into his hands. Lunacy was Fairy Tail's bread and butter, yet Team Robyn were certainly their own brand of madness. If the lovely Eris wasn't there to keep them in check, he was almost certain the Council might have re-arrested the lot of them. The two Mages he was most curious about, Max realised as he made his way towards the front door of the Guild, were Jellal and Meredy.
After Jellal had joined the Guild, he'd taken on a slew of missions, some with Meredy, and some without her, to the point that he was more exhausted than anything else. Even Robyn hadn't had the heart to make a pass at him during that time. Wendy had guessed that he was taking these jobs as a means to keep his mind off of everything, even to punish himself; Meredy agreed with her, and realising he might not heed her own warnings, reached out to Macao. With the authority Macao had as the Fourth Master, he ordered Jellal to pace himself. The man had, almost unwillingly, heeded the order, slowing his intake on missions, yet missions were still being done at a rapid rate.
Max found himself more confused when mulling over the contradiction.
Jellal was currently out on another mission, his first in three days, with Meredy in tow. Even if Max wanted to ask him, he'd have no time to do it now. Max stepped briskly outside, following the winding paved path towards the Fairy Tail Guild's personal mailbox. Opening it with a click, he removed multiple envelopes, looking over the multiple pieces of mail that his Guild was now receiving. He passed over several bills — it seems even without those lost to Tenrō Island, his guildmates still managed to cause their own brand of destruction — and his eyes fell on a letter that stood out from the rest. It was brightly coloured, richly embroidered, and addressed...to him?
Max blinked rapidly. Certainly, he'd misread it. But no, there it was, plain as day.
Max Alors
Fairy Tail Guild
Magnolia Town, Fiore
He didn't know anyone who would send a letter that almost looked as if it had been sent from the Royal Family. Sure, he was considered a hero in Fiore, but he wasn't so important that he'd receive a letter like this. The sandy-haired man's hands trembled as he placed the other items back into the box, and opened his own letter with equally trembling digits.
Max Alors,
You have humbly been extended an invitation by the Queen Regnant of the Holy Kingdom of Desierto. In light of your deeds concerning the recent state of events in Fiore, and the untimely death of the late Prince Consort, the Queen has selected you as a potential candidate for marriage; an ceremony most important to the people of Desierto, where the Queen takes a husband and chooses a new Prince.
Therefore, an invitation has been extended towards yourself as a potential Candidate, and to your Guild itself, whom the Queen is most interested in meeting.
If these terms are found agreeable, merely send this letter back, signed with your signature.
Duly, the Vizier of the Holy Empire of Desierto.
Even Max could tell the penmanship was beautiful, and it was mirrored the writing on the face of the envelope. Yet the skill of the writer — who clearly did this sort of thing for a living — was the least interesting factor in all of this. He, Max Alors, was being invited to Desierto as a potential candidate for the Queen Regnant herself? He read, and re-read the letter multiple times, refusing to believe it was addressed to him, and yet there it was plain as day.
He might actually need to sit down.
The Sandstorm mage stumbled back into the Guild, moving almost absentmindedly. various letter and papers clutched in his hands. He handed the Guild requests and documents from the Council to Kinana, who worked as the barmaid and handled these sort of daily Guild tasks in the absence of Mirajane, who the job usually fell to, before taking a seat on the nearest wooden tool, his own personal letter still in head. Max had taken to re-reading it the entire way back up the path, and still wasn't completely sure it had been meant for him and not Doranbolt or someone else.
Yet his name was still there, no matter how many times he tried to view the latter in a different lighting, check the ink for traces of Magic — magical ink which responded to different volumes of magical power to adjust its words and meaning were methods of secretive communication — his name, written in that fine script, remained emblazoned on the envelope. Wendy was the first one to notice something was off in the way Max moved. Perhaps she'd even noticed a difference in his scent, or maybe it was the strange scent of the envelope. Regardless, she tore herself away from Laki — who had crafted multiple sculptures that looked draconic with her Wood-Make — to peek across Max's table.
"Max? Are you alright?" The familiarity, the ease of which Wendy now addressed Max, came from their month-long partnership on the same team, if not their harrowing adventure in the Capital City, Crocus. But Wendy slid into Max's own personal bubble with the sort of ease a good friend would, which was all fine and well. Gone was her meekness and shyness, at least around her immediate team members. "You don't look like you're doing well."
"I..."
Words failed Max. The talkative, boisterous, centre-of-attention Max was at a loss for words for the first time in anyone's memory. He didn't seem as if he knew how to phrase it, and so Max handed Wendy the delicately decorated envelop, which she took in small thin hands. Her eyes ran over the words quickly, confusion etching itself onto her face with every word she read. The Dragon Slayer looked up from the letter to Max, who was grinning weakly now.
"Is something wrong with Max?" Doranbolt had seemingly teleported towards the two of them — would he use his magic to skip walking a few feet? — interested in the development. The normal babble throughout the Guild Hall had died down; it normally wasn't anything strange to see members of Team Wendy gathering, but either everyone instinctively knew something was different, or more likely, Team Robyn and their leader with his Dragon Slayer's hearing knew something was up, and pointed it out to the Guild at large.
Though the expression on Bobbie's face might imply she was the culprit instead.
Wendy handed the letter to Doranbolt, who took it with a look of confusion.
"Read it aloud," Max suggested helpfully.
Max Alors," Doranbolt began to read the contents of the letter aloud to the Guild at large, repeating the same message that Max had read to himself. "You have humbly been extended an invitation by the Queen Regnant of the Holy Kingdom of Desierto. In light of your deeds concerning the recent state of events in Fiore, and the untimely death of the late Prince Consort, the Queen has selected you as a potential candidate for marriage; an ceremony most important to the people of Desierto, where the Queen takes a husband and chooses a new Prince. Therefore, an invitation has been extended towards yourself as a potential Candidate, and to your Guild itself, whom the Queen is most interested in meeting. If these terms are found agreeable, merely send this letter back, signed with your signature. Duly, the Vizier of the Holy Empire of Desierto." It was read in nearly a single breath, Doranbolt betraying no further emotion, if he was feeling anything new from the development at all.
Silence.
Complete, utter stillness followed the reading of this letter. For nearly a full minute, no one reacted. Until, at the same time, nearly everyone had the same reaction.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"
A/N:
Demod20: This was a chapter to help cap off the previous one. Jellal's story is told, and he's very much distraught from recent events. He's not completely over it, but he's finally given the push he needs to start getting better. Meredy herself has never had actual friendly interactions, and to be in a place that welcomes her as 'family' is a concept almost foreign to her since her parents have died. It's just a nice bag of wholesome that helps embrace these two as members of Fairy Tail, and feelz are abound. I approved of my co-author's use of taking a month timeskip, and give us an estimate of what the Cast has been up to, helping show signs of self improvement and backing up their word given to people like Jason.
LastationLover5000:This was a really good chapter to do. After explaining exactly how Jellal would up here, getting him to join was still the matter at hand. My co-author is damn good at emotional moments — moreso than I am, as I'm still trying to process exactly what human emotions are half the time — and he killed it. I'm looking forward to Jellal and Meredy as members of the Fairy Tail Guild so much. My section was simpler, but it served as set-up very well, and I had quite a bit of fun using the month-long timeskip to establish what the cast has been doing. We'll see you all soon!