Hey guys! Sorry if it's been a while, but I'm not dead yet!

So here's a new chapter for you! Enjoy!

Chapter 190

The Past Doesn't Define You

It didn't take too long before Natsu's party explained what had happened. They did manage to get a day's worth of training in, but something happened. One of Lucy's Celestial Spirits, the maid, Virgo, had told them about an emergency crisis in the Celestial Spirit World and asked them for help. Natsu and others came along to help, but as it turned out, it was a lie. In truth, it was a ruse made by the Celestial Spirits to give them an excuse to come to their world wanting to celebrate their safe return after the seven-year sleep. They had a wonderful time partying, but they were in for a nasty surprise when they got back. You see, they were in the Celestial World for no more than a day, while in the real world, three months had flown by since time flowed differently. When the rest of us learned about this, it was pretty shocking, but at the same time, it was a bit funny.

After learning the story, we headed back to the beach. Natsu was the first to go under the Second Origin, eager to start. But as the process began, his energetic enthusiasm soon changed. His entire body was covered in strange red markings from head to toe and was now writhing and screaming in agony. So naturally, everyone couldn't help staring in unnerved silence as they watched.

"Oh, man. Poor Natsu," Lisanna spoke worriedly. "He looks like he's hurting."

"I hope whatever hell we signed up for is worth it," said Gray.

"No kidding," agreed Lucy. "This isn't very persuasive advertising for it."

"I know it's painful, but you have to stay strong, Natsu," said Ultear. "Your power isn't easy to draw out, so you still have a long way to go."

Natsu couldn't answer as he continued to scream and groan.

"But, is he going to be OK?" I asked Ultear. "I mean, I've seen Natsu get hurt plenty of times, but I've never seen him like this before."

"Yeah, just how much pain is he even in?" wondered Gray.

Meldy then cheekily grinned while holding up her hand, as a strange pink rune in the shape of a ring appeared on her wrist. "Want Sensory Link with him and see?"

Gray then jumped back. "What are you, crazy?! Of course not!"

"You never know, Gray. If you do that, maybe it'll prepare you for when you go through the process," chirped Mira. "And it might increase your pain tolerance, too."

"Mira, I love your sense of optimism, but some of us would like to get stronger without the pain?" Lucy squeaked wryly.

Levy and Wendy were clinging together in fear.

"You mean to say that we have to go through that, too?" Levy asked worriedly.

"I think I'm going to cry!" Wendy squealed, her eyes overflowing with tears.

"But you already are," Carla pointed out flatly.

Then, I noticed Jet and Droy, who were silently tiptoeing away. "Hey, where are you two going?" I asked.

Jet and Droy then jumped as they nervously laughed.

"Well, uh, we just realized that we don't need the extra strength, after all," stammered Droy.

"So, uh, we'll catch you later," added Jet.

"You cowards!" Elfman barked indignantly. "A real man would never run away from pain! Don't you guys want to get stronger?!"

"Oh, give us a break!" Jet snapped indignantly. "Unlike you, we know when to quit while we're ahead!"

"Yeah! If you want to go through that, then be our guest!" Droy also snapped.

"Suit yourselves! I ain't afraid!" scoffed Elfman proudly. "Compared to the training I went through, this should be a piece of cake!"

"I like your confidence," smiled Ultear. "If you like, you can be the next to go if you want."

"Hell yeah! Bring it on!" said Elfman eagerly.

"Be careful, Elfman," warned Mira. "Training or not, this might be a little bit hard for even you to handle."

"Don't you worry about me, Big Sis! I'll be fine!" Elfman grinned while giving Mira a thumbs up. "I can take any kind of pain because I'm a real man!"

"Yeah, we'll see how far that kind of talk gets you, big guy," said Cana.

A few minutes later, Ultear started the process on Elfman, and as expected, despite his big talk, he was writhing in the ground too, screaming and howling in pain along with Natsu.

"Can't say I didn't try to warn him," sighed Mira.

"Hang in there, Big Bro Elf!" Lisanna spoke worriedly. "Stay strong!"

"Hate to say he had it coming, but he had it coming," Cana spoke while shaking her head.

I couldn't help but feel bad for Elfman, too, but at the same time, I couldn't help but agree with Cana.

"Anyway, would anyone happen to know where Erza went?" wondered Carla.

"Last I checked, she and Jellal went somewhere to be alone for a bit," replied Happy.

Immediately, Juvia grabbed Gray by the arm. "In that case, how about you and I go be alone, too, my beloved Gray?" she gushed.

"Hey, what the heck are you thinking?" scowled Gray. "Because I ain't on the same page as you."

But despite his complaints, Juvia dragged Gray away.

Tu Chi then came up. "Well now, it would appear that Natsu and Elfman didn't waste any time, did they?" she mused. She then looked towards the rest of us. "Aren't the rest of you going to undergo the treatment as well?"

"Well, uh, I'm still having second thoughts about this," Lucy spoke uneasily. "I don't know about you, but I'm not too keen about going through excruciating pain."

"Neither are we!" Wendy and Levy agreed.

"Hey, Granny. Don't you know painkiller magic or something?" Cana asked Tu Chi. "I mean, I'm down with the perks of this Second Origin stuff, but I'm not really into pain either."

"I'm afraid I do not," replied Tu Chi. "Besides, pain is like a stern teacher. It will be harsh and unrelenting, but it will soon leave once it has finished teaching you."

"So, basically what you're saying is no pain, no gain?" surmised Cana. "Why am I not surprised you would say that?"

"I'm surprised you understood that," I said with a hint of surprise. "It even took me a while to understand Master's quotes."

"Well, considering that our Master speaks in the same way, it's not that difficult to understand," said Cana. "Although, it does get a little annoying sometimes."

Ultear then turned towards me. "In any case, since there's still time, may I speak with you for a moment, Willy? In private?" she asked. "There's something I wish to discuss with you."

"Um, sure thing," I replied.

Ultear and I walked away from the group until we were far enough out, then Tu Chi turned towards the sunset.

"It's quite a lovely sight, isn't it?" she commented. "It's little moments like this that make you appreciate the finer things in life."

"I guess so," I said as I looked towards it too. "So, what's up?"

A moment of silence passed. Then, Ultear spoke up.

"Tell me. You still intend to participate in the games, is that correct, Willy?"

"Of course, I am," I replied. "I mean, that was the reason I trained over the past three months. Unless there's a reason why I shouldn't."

"Well, there isn't a reason per se," replied Ultear. "But there is a concern that I would like to raise."

I then looked towards her. "What kind of concern?" I asked.

"As I'm sure you're well aware, over the seven years, a lot of things have changed, yet some managed to remain unchanged," said Ultear. "One of such is the bounty that got placed on you."

I then remembered my wanted poster and the incident with Don Ghira. "Did something happen regarding that?" I wondered.

Ultear then took a flier from her person and handed it to me. "Take a look and see for yourself," she said.

I took the flier and gave it a skim, noticing a picture of me on it, making me realize that it was my wanted poster.

"You got to be kidding me," I couldn't help but groan. "These posters are still going around even after all these years? What a pain."

"Yes, but that's not the problem," said Ultear. "Take a closer look."

She then pointed to a particular part of the flier, which read its worth. And when I did, I had to do a double-take, and I blinked while my eyes widened a bit in surprise. The last time I saw it, it read over one million jewels. There were two additional zeroes this time, making it one hundred thousand total.

"What the heck is this?!" I couldn't help but exclaim. "How the heck did my bounty increase?!"

"Thanks to us, the number of dark guilds has severely dropped. However, some are still lurking in the shadows," Ultear spoke out. "During a raid, we found this in their possession. And considering the increase in the reward, it would seem that you've become quite a prize. If you still intend to compete, I won't try to stop you. However, I want you to take care. There might be some dark guilds eager to compete in the games and catch themselves, shall we say, a quick buck."

I stared at the poster for a quick minute before handing it back to her. "Well, if I were me, I would probably try to keep the whole thing to myself not to let anyone else worry," I said. "But, thankfully, I'm a lot wiser than that now." I then glanced back towards the sunset. "I still intend to compete in the games, but don't worry. I'm going to be a lot more cautious this time. I'll make sure to let Master Makarov know. I'm sure he can come up with something."

I then looked across to Ultear, who stared at me with a blank expression.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked, feeling puzzled.

"Nothing in particular. It's just - you truly aren't what I was expecting you to be," replied Ultear. "I've heard many rumors about you, and Tu Chi has even mentioned some things, but now I realize those were nothing short of rumors."

"Yeah, I seem to be getting that a lot lately," I chuckled. "But, I am curious. What has Master Tu Chi told you about me?"

"Well, she told me that you were impulsive, stubborn, and a bit short-tempered," Ultear replied.

A flash of irritation shot through me as I bit back the urge to snap.

"But, she also told me that you're quite a wizard and a hard worker," continued Ultear. "Even though you've experienced heavy trauma in your life, you still strive to protect those you care about despite your past. Not to mention, you seem calmer and collected than I expected, given what you just found out."

"Let's just say that I had time to reflect upon my... stubbornness and had to learn from my mistakes the hard way," I told her as I scratched my cheek in embarrassment. "And thanks to everyone being there for me and saving my butt a few times, I decided to trust and rely on them more. I know if I'm in trouble, they'll be there to help me out, good or bad. So yeah, I'm not worried."

"I see," Ultear quietly spoke as she stared back out to the sea. "Willy, mind if I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead," I replied.

Ultear took a few steps forward, stopping a few feet away as she resumed speaking.

"You should know that you remind me of myself in a strange way. We both have had people we've treasured taken from us and became lab rats for Brain's experiments."

"Hold on. You were experimented by Brain too?!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Indeed I was," Ultear solemnly replied. "You see, I also suffered from the same condition as you. I had too much magic power condensed inside me as a girl and was brought to him to get treated. However, it was all a ruse to experiment on me for his purposes. He also lied to my mother, saying that I had died because my magic power was too strong. Because of that, I became an unfortunate victim of history, swallowed by my hatred from the lies which unfortunately led to me hurting and even killing countless people." She looked at her hand, staring at the palm. "Even now, I feel as though my hands are red with blood no matter how many good deeds I do, which leads me to my question."

Ultear then paused before looking back at me.

"Do you believe that there's salvation for someone like me, given my past and misdeeds?"

I stood there staring as I thought about her question. It seemed she had doubts about herself because of what she had done and gone through, similar to me. Finally, after taking a moment to think about it, I gave her my response.

"To be honest, I don't know what you've done or gone through given what you just told me," I told her. "But I can understand when it comes to worrying about being forgiven despite your past. I've had to worry about mine constantly, mostly because I was afraid the people I care about would turn on me and would think of me as a traitor like how the rumors made me out to be. It wasn't any better when people kept talking about me, believing me to be a monster unfit to be trusted. So I was always keeping my friends at an arm's distance."

I took a few steps forward until I walked past Ultear stopping just a few inches from the shore as the water washed up upon it.

"However, something became clear after what happened with the Infinity Clock. Something that I should have realized a long time ago," I continued. "No matter how much the past shapes you, it doesn't make you who you are today, and you shouldn't need to punish yourself for something that happened in that time, and who you were in the past shouldn't be who you have to be anymore if you want to change. So, to answer your question, I think everyone has a chance to be forgiven if they're willing to let go of the past and want to change."

Ultear turned to face me, staring in silence as the sunset slowly set beyond the ocean and the sky turned dark. Then, she let out a light chuckle.

"You speak with a wisdom beyond your years," she said. "You're everything Jellal said you'd be, which is pretty refreshing. Thank you for answering my question."

"No problem. Sorry if I rambled a bit too much," I said. Then, I remembered something. "Hey, Ultear, there's something I want to ask you too. I need a favor from you, and I think it's something that only you can do."

"What is it?" wondered Ultear.

I then explained my favor to her while ensuring no one else was around listening.

Ultear the blinked. "Well, of course, I can, but are you sure you want me to?" she asked.

"I do," I answered with a nod. "And let's keep it between us, OK? I want to keep it under wraps for now."

Ultear then smiled. "Very well. Consider it done," she said.

I smiled back at her. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

NO POV

Not long after, the sounds of screams filled the air, all coming from a storage hut. Along with Natsu and Elfman, the others were also going under the Second Origin treatment; Lucy, Juvia, Gray, Levy, Wendy, Lisanna, Cana, Willy, and even Mira. The only one who stood outside, seemingly unaffected by, was Erza as she stood outside with Jellal, Meldy, Ultear, and Tu Chi.

"It would seem that your magic has incapacitated the others," commented Erza.

"How are you not being affected by it?!" Ultear asked incredulously.

"I wish we could help you any further, but I'm afraid we have to keep moving due to the nature of our guild," said Jellal. "This is goodbye for now."

"Make sure you get a hold of us by carrier pigeon if you find anything," added Meldy. "In the meantime, do your best at the games!"

"And we'll be cheering you on in spirit as well," Ulltear also spoke.

"We will," smiled Erza. "And good luck."

"But isn't there some way we can watch the games ourselves, Ultear? I would love to watch!" pleaded Meldy. "I would love to watch!"

"Perhaps you can use disguises," suggested Tu Chi. "At least that way, you can search around and enjoy yourselves a little."

"I apologize, Ma'am, but please forget about it," Jellal denied as he put his hood up walking away. "Until we meet again, Erza. Tu Chi."

"Buh-bye!" called out Meldy as she followed suit. "Take care!"

"And make sure to give the others our regards," said Ultear as she too followed. "As for Gray and Willy, make sure you two look after them for me."

Erza and Tu Chi watched as Crime Sorcière walked away, disappearing into the night. As soon as they were gone, Tu Chi looked across to Erza and noticed that she wore a sad smile on her face.

"Is something the matter, Ms. Scarlet?" she asked. "You look rather glum."

"It's nothing you need to be concerned about, Ma'am," Erza spoke respectively. "I was just thinking, is all."

"About Jellal, perhaps?" Tu Chi asked.

Immediately, Erza jumped and whipped her head towards the woman, her cheeks slightly going pink. "Wh-What would give you that impression?"

Tu Chi chuckled. "Oh, my child. I may be past my prime, but I know well enough to see that it was obvious given your reaction," she said. "Tell me, did something happen between you two?"

Before Erza could respond, Happy happened to appear.

"Hey, Miss Tu Chi! Check this out! My drawing should help explain it!"

Erza and Tu Chi looked to see that the little blue exceed had drawn a picture in the sand, snickering while holding back his laughter. It was a heart with a zig-zag line running down the middle. As soon as she saw it, Erza brought up her leg and punted Happy as hard as she could, sending him flying into the air, vanishing into the sky. Tu Chi stared at Erza as she looked back, her face flushing in shame. Then, Tu Chi chuckled.

"So that's the reason why," she hummed.

"N-No! It's not what you think!" denied Erza. "That's not it at all!"

"Calm down, I didn't say anything," said Tu Chi. "Besides, I can pretty much get an idea of what's troubling you. And I believe there's no reason for you to worry." She then looked up towards the sky. "When it comes to a man like Jellal, you're always on his mind. I can always tell these things. Just be a bit more patient with him, and I'm sure he'll reciprocate your feelings."

Tu Chi then walked away, leaving Erza speechless, unable to speak.

After that sleepless and painful night we had, we all left Akane Beach and made it back to the tavern in Magnolia, our three-month reprieve finally over. Needless to say, after we finally arrived, everyone felt exhausted, collapsing to the ground except Erza, who seemed perfectly fine.

"We made it back..." Natsu groaned. "Home sweet home."

"I thought we would never get back," I huffed while catching my breath. "It seemed like we were out training for years."

"Come on, you guys! Stay on your feet like a bunch of real men!" panted Elfman. "There isn't time to be lying around all day!"

"Oh, give us a break already!" snapped Cana tiredly. "Besides, you're just as tired as the rest of us, so quit acting tough!"

"But he's right, though! This isn't the time to be lounging around all day," said a voice. "So, get up already!"

Everyone looked up and found the other members of Fairy Tail standing in front of us, having returned from their training as well.

"Come on, Macao! We just got back, and you're already slagging us!" groaned Lucy. "If you've gone through what we have, you'd be as tired as we are!"

"You think you're training's been tough over the past three months? We've had it rough too, but it was all worth it," Vijeeter smiled proudly. "Not wanting to brag, but thanks to mine, I've hit my milestone and can now eat fermented soybeans."

"And I've managed to overcome my fear of heights!" Warren spoke with pride.

"Um, that's pretty cool and all, but I don't see how those things are helpful," pointed out Happy.

"My honey-gun and I have raised our sharpshooting skills to the limit," Bisca spoke as she brandished her gun.

"And I was able to finish a thirty-volume horror series!" Nab spoke with a grin. "Pretty impressive, huh?"

Everyone couldn't help but stare blankly at Nab.

"Are you kidding me?! So all you got done was reading?!" Macao spoke with a bewildered scowl. "What kind of training is that?!"

"You could have at least read something about dieting!" Wakaba added.

"My Sand Strom is more powerful than it was before!" said Max. "I bet I could even beat Natsu if we fought a second time!"

Natsu immediately shot to his feet, glaring. "Oh yeah?! I'd like to see you try!" he growled.

"Now, now. Save that energy for when we get to the games, Natsu," soothed Tu Chi. "Your body still hasn't fully recovered yet."

Then, Makarov walked up, looking very pleased. "Good work, everyone," he congratulated. "It seems that you've all worked very hard to prepare for the games. But now, I would like everyone to come inside with me."

So everyone went inside to the tavern and assembled at the front of the bar.

"Now, listen up, you kids!" Makarov boomed. "As I'm sure you're aware, those who compete in the games will come in teams of five. So I will now announce the five who'll be representing Fairy Tail."

He paused impressively as everyone in the room waited with bated breath. Then, finally, Makarov called out the names of the first three.

"Natsu! Gray! Erza!"

"All right!" grinned Natsu.

"It's an honor, Master," Gray spoke humbly.

"I'll make sure not to let you down," said Erza.

"I shouldn't be surprised," chuckled Mira. "Those three were shoo-ins for the team."

"But I can't think of any other members to be on it," I agreed with a smile. "But I do wonder who'll take the other two spots."

"We're going to need a real man to represent our guild!" Elfman spoke. "And being picked would be just as manly!"

"And the remaining spots go to..." Makarov continued. "Lucy and Wendy!"

Both girls in question let out a scream in surprise in response, while everyone else looked over at the two just as shocked. Max, Warren, Nab, and Vjeeter, already appeared to have given up.

"Seriously? Those two?" Max groaned.

Elfman had now burst into tears and was crying comically. "How humiliating!" he sobbed.

"But Master, I'm not a fighter like everyone else!" squeaked Wendy in protest. "Can't you pick Laxus, Gajeel, or Willy instead?!"

"When it comes to Laxus or Gajeel, I don't have that option because neither of them has returned yet," replied Makarov. "As much as I would like to have chosen those two to give us a fighting chance, my hands are tied."

"We can hear what you're saying, you know!" Natsu and Gray snapped.

Makarov then looked across to me. "As for Willy, I don't think that he wouldn't make good chemistry with your group," he went on. "Besides, he's short a guild mark if you recall correctly."

I then looked at my left forearm, seeing that it was bare, and remembered. "Oh yeah. I erased it a while back," I thought. "I almost forgot about that."

"And besides, Master Makarov didn't choose us for our strengths," said Erza. "He chose us because of our combined strength as a team."

"Well, when you put it like that, you're right," smiled Lucy.

I then went over to Wendy. "And you shouldn't sell yourself short, Wendy," I told her. "You're more of a fighter than you think. I've seen what you can do. You could stand to have a bit more faith in yourself."

Wendy looked up at me as she smiled with new confidence. "Yeah! You're right!" she said. "I just need to do my best!"

"Atta, girl, Wendy!" smiled Lisanna. "You got this as well as the rest of the team!"

"Alright, team! The Grand Magic Games presents us the perfect opportunity to reclaim our guild's honor!" Erza spoke out while pumping her fist. "Today, Sabertooth is known as Fiore's number one guild, so let's defeat them and reclaim that title!"

"YEAH!" we all screamed with a resounding yell.

"Oh, yeah! Now I've got a fire in my belly!" roared Natsu.

After that, everyone headed home to get ready for the games. Mira, Elfman, Lisanna, Lucy, and I, were leaving the tavern about to head home.

Elfman was still sobbing a fit. "It's not fair! The master should have picked a real man like me!"

"Come on, Big Bro Elf. Cheer up," soothed Lisanna. "I'm a bit disappointed, too, but let's do our best to cheer them on."

"Besides, Master made his decision, and we should respect him for that," I told him. "Make sure you and the others do your best to win, Lucy. We're counting on you."

"Well, I'll try my best," said Lucy. "I'll try not to hold anyone back."

"I'm surprised you're being so supportive, Willy," said Mira. "I would have thought that you'd be just as disappointed."

"Well, yeah. It's not that big a deal to me," I said. "While it would be nice to compete and show off the results of our training, I think it's for the best that I don't."

"What makes you say that Willy?" asked Lucy.

I then frowned as I looked to the ground. "Come on, Lucy. You know why. I haven't exactly made a good impression with Fairy Tail lately," I spoke with low confidence in my voice. "Not to mention our reputation isn't exactly in the best of shape, especially when it comes to mine. So if I got picked, I'd probably make everything worse."

"That's not true at all, Willy. No one would ever think that way," said Mira. "Besides, we've all forgiven you for what happened."

"Yeah, but tell that to the people outside of our guild," I pointed out as I stopped walking. "No matter what you guys think or have forgiven me for, people still talk about me like I'm the plague. It's been that way ever since the Magic Council released me back with Nirvana, and I've already started to learn to accept it," I then remembered my past and unpleasant interactions with the people of Magnolia. "But sometimes I wish that people could see the real me rather than what they've heard."

At that moment, a pair of hands squished my cheeks and turned my head up, and found a stern Mira staring at me.

"Now, you listen here, Willy. You shouldn't worry or care about what people think about you," she said firmly. "The only two things that should matter to you are what you and your friends think of you, and don't let anyone else tell you differently."

I felt my cheeks heat up a bit but didn't say anything as she let go.

"She's right, you know," agreed Lisanna. "I'm sure there's are some people that think highly of you."

"Plus, you wouldn't be dragging us down," said Lucy. "Even though we're already infamous with all the destruction we cause as a guild."

"Yeah, besides, once we win the games, everyone's going to know that we're a manly guild!" said Elfman, having cheered up a bit. He turned to Lucy. "So make sure you guys win, Lucy! We'll be cheering you on!"

Lucy responded with a smile, and even I couldn't help but smile a bit.

Then, Makarov called out towards us. "Hey, Mira. Do you mind sticking around for a moment? There's something I wish to discuss with you."

"Sure thing, Master," replied Mira. She turned to the rest of us. "I'll catch up with you guys later. And if I don't see you, I'll see you at Crocus."

Mira then started back towards the guild.

"We're going to head home and get ready, too," said Lisanna. "We'll meet you at Crocus, guys."

"All right. See you then," I said.

Lisanna and Elfman then took their leave. I then looked at Lucy.

"So, shall we head back to the apartment to get ready ourselves?" I asked her.

"You go on ahead, Willy," said Lucy. "I think I'll hang around here for a bit before heading home."

"Suit yourself, Lucy," I replied as I spread my water wings. "And by the way, congrats on being chosen. I'm sure you'll be great."

"Thanks for the bode of confidence, Willy," Lucy smiled. "I'll try not to let you down."

I then took to the air with a mighty flap and flew towards Magnolia, feeling a bit excited and eager about what would await me at Crocus.

If you liked what you read, feel free to leave a review if you're new!

As always, thank you for reading, and I'll see you next chapter!

Dragomaster, signing off!