A/N: I do apologize for not updating for… 5 years? Wild ride. In the last few days, I received a few emails of people following the story , something I had written years ago and forgotten about. In retrospect, the concept is one that I did enjoy. As such, I took the challenge of rewriting this story properly, and do this concept justice.

A Life of Crime

It was raining outside. Blood was dripping out of a young man's hand. He had just taken the oath of Omertà, and was thus bound to silence and loyalty to the family. The lights turned on and applause could be heard from the members inside.

"Welcome to the Family my boy." - Said an older gentleman as he approached to hug the young man. "Never forget that from now on, you are one of us, my son.".

It was custom, apparently. The oldest member of the Family, otherwise known as the "Father", could take men under his wing as his "Children", to create a group of loyal lackeys under him.

The young man proceeded to greet every single member of the family. Despite all of them being "Children", they were still older, more experienced, and had their share of authority bestowed on them by the Father. As he bowed for every greeting, all he could think about were the circumstances that had led to him joining the Family.

Magnolia was a large port city. Mostly lawless. The government in Crocus had taken measures to fight poverty and crime, but mostly unsuccessful. There were no good schools in the city, and due to the rising housing prices in other towns, it meant that Magnolia had become a defacto ghetto. Opportunities were scarce. Especially away from the big city center. The government had invested heavily in protecting the city's center, to the point that the outskirts and areas near the port were gang-infested areas. Even if you were in trouble, your best shot was to call for help within the family that controlled the area where you lived. The center of the city was separated from the outskirts by 3 bridges. One of them was police controlled. The other two were supervised by the largest families of their respective areas. The largest bridge in the city, Earth's Bridge, also known as the bridge of narcotics, was controlled by the largest family in town, Fairy Tail.

This young man had just joined this family. Just a few days prior, he had been sitting in his cousin's alley, smoking his joint. In that hellhole with no opportunities, it was their only distraction from daily life. He had been out of a job for a while. And he had been lucky. He had been able to get a job in a local pub controlled by a smaller family in the area. The term "pub" is used loosely. It was more like an undercover brothel. The women would sit at the counter and happily chat with the male population that would walk in, knowing that above the pub, there were many available rooms for… "service".

It was how you got by.

The young man raised his head after his final greeting. He immediately went into another room to change clothes. After all, a fairy tail member could not show himself in public wearing jeans and t-shirts. He had to change into one of the Family's tailored suits. Family policy. After all, the gangsters were respected figures. Their jobs would range from managing the prostitutes, to collecting protection money, or even investigating and patrolling the area. It was a new life for this young man.

He was to be accompanied by an older gentleman, whose name he did not know. After changing his clothing and shaving his facial hair, the young man was to equip himself with a knife and go for his first area patrol. Guns were rare, for the most part. To obtain one, you had to either receive illegal weapon shipments, or steal them from police and or military officers. The Military had been busy fighting a war with a neighboring country to the east. Isvan. This meant that for some young men, a possible option towards an honest life was to join the military.

Unfortunately.. The war had been going on for a long time. The casualty rate was fairly high. And although the benefit package for honorably discharged or deceased soldiers was decent, this would only be received after a debilitating injury. All before being eternally forgotten by the country they served. This was the biggest reason why the military had not intervened in Magnolia. The young men were not interested in fighting their own co-patriots. After all, they had enough of the bloodshed.

The young man took a simple pocket knife and stored it before following the older gentleman. They started a tour of the area. Walking towards Earth's Bridge, the largest bridge moving towards the city center. It was in their interest to protect it and tax the people that used this bridge. It was not only easy money for the Family, but also a way to fund raid operations on other families. One could not forget that peace was not an option.

As they kept walking, the young man started to make a mental image of the area. It was nothing like the area he grew up in. It actually had a few decent looking houses and stores in the area. All road shipments for local commerce were protected by the Fairy Tail Family, as they took a cut out of the business for protection of the store and shipments.

It was not necessarily a very workable arrangement. After all, the people were still forced to pay taxes to the government in crocus. While the Families held the power in magnolia, hurting a government worker was generally off-limits, as if the government decided to start large country-wide conscription in order to end the gangster life around the country, the Families would have to surrender, and probably face execution, as the top leaders of every Family had high bounties on their heads, not only from the government, but from rival families as well.

This created a culture of hitmen. They would only get paid after bringing back three fingers (The index finger, ring finger and pinky finger), and as such, many failed and died within the first couple of jobs. Outsourcing death had been a great option for the Families, as they could feign innocence not only to the government, but also to each other.

The hitmen culture led to a culture of fear. After all, it was impossible to interrogate a dead person, as such, when a hitman was murdered, he was usually hung at the entrance of the Family's territory, naked, and the body left to decompose. It was the gangster way of sending a message.

"Hey! Stop wandering around. We are doing collection work. See that liquor shop? They owe Father money. I'll let you do your first collection work. I'm here in case shit goes wrong." - The old gentleman called the young man to attention.

The young man opened the door and removed his fedora, as he was greeted by the store owner.

"Welcome, sir. How may I help you?" - The store clerk spoke, sofly, in the young man's eyes, this man was exoding fear from every cell of his body.

"You owe the Father his monthly payment. Where is it?" - Said the young man, shoving his two hands on the counter, scaring the clerk, who took two steps back.

"Business has been terrible, people are moving towards hard drugs! I don't have money to pay you!" - The store clerk pleaded.

The older gentleman pulled out of his phone, and decided to make a phone call.

"Hello? Brother, we have a client in need of… a 'loan'. His business has been tight." - Said the gentleman.

Silence ensued, as the older gentleman kept nodding his head to the phone.
"Understood." - Said the older gentleman before ending the call and storing the phone in his pocket. - "Well, you're in luck. This month, the Family takes care of you. We better not have to show up here next month, or I won't be the one coming here."

The clerk's face became blue. "Understood sir. We will make ends meet next month, I promise!".

The older gentleman chuckled, before leaving the establishment, and signaling the rookie to follow him. The young man, without a word, followed his superior.

"This is what happens to idiots. Stay on the Father's good side, and you will never have problems in your life. The Father takes care of us. But if you ever forget your end of the deal… the Father might have an objection." - warned the older gentleman.

The young man nodded, and took mental notes. After all, fighting one of the largest Families in Magnolia was unthinkable for him.

The rain was finally stopping. Before entering the next business, the older gentleman stopped by the door and took a cigarette box out of his pocket, retrieved two cigarettes, and stored the box again.

He handed one to the young man, as the young man took a lighter out of his pocket to light his superior's cigarette, before lighting his own.

"Good work back there, very professional. What's your name, newbie?" - said the older gentleman, before taking the cigarette to his mouth.

"Makarov.. Makarov Dreyar".

"I see.. Tell me your story.. Makarov Dreyar. We all have one."