The next thing I remember after blacking out was waking up in snowy field, once again. But this time, what I was able to make out in the gray, bleak blizzard was no shadow at all, but a light... the light was the blue flame of a tail; a legendary flame...
A blue flame...
Blue...
"...! Dad...!"
The next thing I knew, I was awake with my arm outstretched, as if reaching for the stars.
I then realized that I had no idea where I was.
"So you've finally woken, have you? If you're healed up, hurry and leave," came a not-so-pleasant sounding old lady voice.
"... wait, what? I'm kinda confused."
"What I'm saying is, you're healthy now, so there's the door! Be on your way! Good day!" All this she managed to get out as she basically shoved me out the door, onto the ground, and slammed the door on me. As I stood up to leave, the door opened one more time, and my shirt I had been wearing was hurled out the door straight into my face.
"Uh... can you at least tell me how to get back to Fairy Tail...?" I called politely. There was silence for a good thirty seconds, and then came the curt response of "Follow the path," from the other side of the door. And that was exactly what I did.
xxxx
When I returned to the guild (which was still in ruins, by the way) I was surprised to see no one there, so I decided to go home for the day. It was just as well too, as I had some things I needed to think about. I needed a break from all the hectic action, just some time to think and breathe.
The second I entered my house, I slid on a pair of shorts and fell on my bed. It was a heavenly feeling, laying down on what seemed like a cloud after smashing into so many floors of opposite feeling. As I lay quietly upon the patterned comforter, a much unwanted lazy feeling invaded my senses, yet I didn't have the strength to fight it and allowed it consume my being.
It didn't occur to me what day it was, as I could've been sleeping for days. And when I checked the time and date on my phone, it was... three days after the attack on the guild! I could already tell that it was about late afternoon from walking back to my house, but I imagined it would be the very next day, not three days after the attack.
It would be what it was, and I had to leave it at that. It's not like I could rewind time. And to be quite honest, I wouldn't have want to if I knew what waited three days ago.
According to Gray when everyone returned the following day, they had been interrogated by soldiers from the Council. It wasn't very pleasant, according to him (though I hadn't for a moment imagined it would be) and they didn't let up or let anyone go until all the information they needed was sufficient.
Lucy wasn't fairing especially well, as she had the face as if she had committed a crime and was on her way to the gallows, full of remorse. Though she didn't speak, Natsu had filled me in on everything that had been going on. Apparently she was part of a super rich family or something and had run away from home. Her father had started the war and wanted her to return home. It wasn't very fair, but it wasn't her decision to return home anymore. The threat of her father hiring another guild to harm us again was too great, so in that sense, I was all for her returning home if it meant that the members of our guild would have harm brought to them any longer. As sad as it was, it was for the best, and for the good of everyone else.
... though, this didn't mean the end of Fairy Tail's Lucy.
It turns out that Lucy really did return home a few days after everyone returned, but when Natsu and the others brought me along with them to go try to convince Lucy, we found her standing out in front of a tombstone. Apparently she'd made up with good ol' dad, threatening him to stay away from Fairy Tail. As he should. The amount of relief was overwhelming in power, and tears were shed, needless to say (except mine, though I tried to fight it sometimes). This only meant that Lucy was here at Fairy Tail, and here to stay.
Meanwhile at the guild, I joined in with everyone to rebuild the guild. It appeared that it was going to be much larger than before. It turns out that Mira drew up the designs to the new guild, but I had to smack Gray in the head when he caused Mira to burst out in tears by calling her an idiot for drawing something so "terrible". Granted, he didn't know, but... er, I... uh, blame it on reflex. It wasn't actually a bad drawing, and I'm not just throwing words around. I realized that I actually knocked Gray unconscious, because I smacked him with my metal hand. Well, didn't really matter to me as I tried to repair the damage by encouraging Mira's drawing.
Construction of the new guild was going rather quickly, and the new guild began to take shape after a few weeks. I don't want to boast and say that I did the most work, because everyone did their part. In that sense, I did my part as well. And lemme tell you, lifting one, giant wooden beam by itself on my shoulder wasn't easy as it was, but then carrying three became a problem. Five? Forget about it. At least Natsu could lift it over his head, but he couldn't carry it successfully. I could barely lift it. To make up for this, I continued to do curls at home, even going to the point where I benched freaking trees in the forest. To this I added two, then started using heavier stuff. Being built out of metal, it wouldn't be so easy to break or crack one of my bones, but the heavier I lifted, the more pressure and strain was on my body. My muscles definitely got a workout every time, but soon I had to take a break to heal. At one point I tried lifting an enormous boulder, but being the dim-witted idiot I was, I was standing downhill when trying to lift it and of course it was too heavy and rolled downhill. I wasn't flattened or completely obliterated, but I could tell that I had broken my metal arm, as I couldn't move it, and it dangled at my side like a fish on a line. Well, I never said I was indestructible. The boulder ended up smashing into and felling a bunch of trees in the forest below, and I took that as a sign to take a rest. The very next day, however, I had regained feeling in my arm and was actually able to move it. Granted it was still painful to move, an indication that it hadn't fully healed, but I was honestly amazed at how quickly it could heal. The Steel Arts work in curious ways, huh?
A week and a half after the reconstruction of the guild was in full motion, a temporary bar was set up, as with the request board, which I was super hyped for. It'd been a while since my last request, and I was beginning to grow anxious with all the shenanigans that'd been happening. Although, that day sprouted a bit of problems...
Makarov was away at the Council on a trial that day, and Mira had just announced that the request board had opened up again. More invigorated than ever, I ran right to the request board right away and looked for a request immediately. As usual, I wanted to get a high paying request, preferably a monster slaying quest, just the usual thing. Though some people had beaten me to the board, I was still able to find what I was looking for. It seemed to be a monster hunting request to slay a large group of beasts invading the grounds of a prosperous mansion. If it was a large group of monsters, then it wasn't going to be easy, especially if they were all spread out around the mansion and began ganging up on me, but I needed a good request to challenge me. Request paper in hand, began to head out, but then a sharp pain stabbed at my muscles, causing a great ache. I figured it'd be best to sit down and take a rest. Lucy also sat at the bar, talking to Mira.
"Ugh... thinking about it makes my butt hurt again..." groaned Lucy.
"What does?" Lucy jumped.
"Vincent! You startled me... don't just butt into conversations like that!"
"Oh, right. Heh, sorry," I muttered sheepishly. "What happened though?"
"I dropped my keys, and I hate to think of how my Celestial Spirits would react...! Though I have to thank Loki for getting them back for me. He wasn't around, though I wanted to ask him in person."
"Loki...? Oh, you mean that handsome playboy? Yeah, although I'm not into dudes, he does have the looks... It's not a surprise that someone as good-looking as him would make all the girls scream."
"Yeah... er, I mean, yeah, he is a handsome dude, don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm not into- er, I mean, it's not like I'm into him or anything."
"Woah, you had me going there for a sec. I was about to say-"
"Lucy's in LOOOOOOOVE!~" teased Happy from out of nowhere, startling both Lucy and I, and effectively finishing my thought.
"Rather loud, I'd say. Well, that's Fairy Tail, I guess," I muttered.
"I'd appreciate if you didn't eavesdrop, thank you very much!" cried Lucy.
"Lucy's in love? Why didn't ya tell us?" said Natsu out of nowhere as well.
"I'm not! Can't a girl around here simply recognize that a guy is handsome?" protested Lucy.
Mira and I only laughed at the whole thing. However, our laughter died out quickly thanks to a certain someone. From behind us, a barrel flew out of nowhere and hit me in the back of the head. I didn't care who threw it, except for who I swore better not have thrown it. Then came a familiar, sadistic voice.
"Just like Mr. punk ass over there. People like him would be out of this guild in a heartbeat if I were the guild master."
All I had to do was hear the voice and grow angry. First a barrel, which didn't hurt, but was nevertheless humiliating, then called a name, followed by a threat. Instantly, I stopped all that I was doing at the moment and slowly raised my head in greatly suppressed anger.
"Oh, looky here! Looks like I tripped a nerve didn't I? Oh, there he is, Fairy Tail's anger issues! What, you gonna cry because I hit you in the back of the head? If I were this guild's master, I'd make you deal with it," came Laxus's cruel words.
"Vincent. Calm down. Don't do anything dumb. He isn't worth it," muttered Mirajane to me.
"No, even better, you wouldn't even be here, because you're weak," continued Laxus. "Only the strongest are allowed in Fairy Tail. It's a place for adults, not kids like you."
I violently rose up, kicking over the stool in the process, and whipped around to face Laxus. He wouldn't get away with this. He would pay for humiliating me.
"Oh, looks like I struck a vital nerve! I'm so... not sorry! What? You got something to say? C'mere and say it!" I continued to march towards Laxus as he continued to taunt me. However, Erza stepped in the way.
"Vincent. Don't. Stay away from him," urged Erza as she stuck out her hand to stop me.
"Oh, and let's not forget the damsel in distress who started the whole thing, over there. It's your fault that this whole guild lies in ruins, isn't it?"
"Laxus! That's enough!" shouted Mira.
"Is it ever, though? No, I won't let up. Not until my Fairy Tail stands as a guild that will never be looked down upon by any other guild. Oh, but don't worry, Mira. I won't kick you from the guild, after all, I still need a mate who can run the guild with me, right?" At this, everyone gasped, knowing my relationship with Mira.
The absolute fuck did he just utter? I thought.
"Erza, move out of the way, please."
"Vincent, stop playing the tough role! Just let it go!"
"I'm not playing any role. Please move aside, kindly, so I can kill Laxus."
"You will not kill any-"
"Yeah? TRY ME!" I yelled. It hadn't occurred to me that I just raised my voice at Erza Scarlet, because I was too angry to care about anything.
"Oh, you'll kill who? Care to say it again, little punk ass?"
I was still sore, but too angry to care. Instantly, I evolved right into my Giga Evolution, towering over Laxus and everyone else.
"Vincent! Stop this right now! Otherwise I will have to use force!" Erza shouted, Requipping into a large armor set. Seeing nothing good coming about this, and also considering that all of our hard work would be torn down instantly by my rash actions, I decided against anger and suppressed it, Devolving back into my normal form. As I did, I shot a menacing glance at Laxus, who had a big, nasty grin on his face.
"That's what I thought, punk ass. Thinking you're so tough when you're not. You're nothing but a copy of gramps, basically, after seeing that. In fact, you're just another copy in general, among infinite and alternate universes of overpowered heroes with perfect attributes, love to break it to ya, you're just another copy! And that's all you'll ever be."
"And who made you the omnipresent ruler of the universe?"
"Nobody made me. I just am. And you're not. That's all that matters. I'm a part of Fairy Tail. You are not. You don't belong here. You never did. You-"
"LAXUS!" yelled Natsu from out of nowhere. Talk about bad timing! "I'm gonna kill you for insulting him!" Natsu threw a punch at Laxus, but he turned into lightning and teleported behind him.
"I want a proper fight!" shouted Natsu.
"Haha, that's funny. How can you fight me if you can't even hit me? I'm out, losers. Have fun hitting nothing." With that, Laxus turned into lightning and flew away.
"That dick... why is he like... well, rather, it's not a question of why, because I could care less, but more importantly, how to get him back..." I angrily muttered.
"Vincent. You needn't worry about him. He only wants what's best for our guild," said Erza.
"Hmph! As if. Like hell he wants the best for our guild. He only wants power. As clearly evidenced, he doesn't care about the guild. Sure he wants the name of Fairy Tail to be feared, but when you get down to it, Fairy Tail isn't just some name or building," I said, looking around at everyone. "Fairy Tail is a people, us."
"Yeah! Man! That's a man, realizing the importance of the people!" yelled Elfman.
"Well... yeah." A large cheer had gone up in the crowd of people, lifting my spirits a bit. I had nothing else to say, so I decided to head out.
"Yo! Vinny!" called Natsu.
"What's up?"
"We were going out to complete a quest, Erza, Lucy, me, Happy, and Gray! We made a team!"
"I thought the team was already a thing."
"Exactly what I said!" added Mira.
"Fairy Tail's strongest team is official now, but it wouldn't be complete without one of the strongest in Fairy Tail!"
"Who, Loki? Elfman?"
"Vinny, take a wild guess. It's you! You're one of Fairy Tail's strongest!"
I knew I was gaining strength, but it couldn't have been that quickly. There was no way. Maybe Laxus was right, in that I was just another one of those heroes. "What do you mean?"
"Remember when I fought you? Yeah, that time when I totally creamed you!"
"Oh god. Don't remind me..."
"But despite that, you were actually really good! And to top it off, you still had the strength to stand!"
"I think you may be mistaken-"
"I'm not. You really have guts, man. You have guts of steel. And ever since that fight, you've gotten totally stronger!"
"Really? Have I? But there was that fight with Sol and Jose, and I pretty much lost both, and I nearly died to a bunch other lowly guild members... that means that I'm not strong enough! Don't you get it?"
"Shut up!" yelled Natsu, shocking me. "That's because you were going against the Loser 4 and Josh or whatever. Forget the others you fought. Sunny and Josie are at Ezra's and Makarov's level, and that can be understood. I also heard you took on Gajeel, but don't worry, I finished him off for you. He also told me to tell you... uh, what was it? Oh yeah, he told me to tell you that he had nothing to do with your father."
"Of all the people I would've suspected, one of the highest on my list wasn't... ah, never mind. I judged before I knew anything. And Jose..."
"It's alright, Vincent. Makarov already took care of him, and Jose received justice," said Erza. "Unfortunately, so did the master..."
"So whaddya say, Vin? Wanna be a part of Fairy Tail's strongest team?"
I felt a slight twinge of guilt, as if all the clichés in all of the universes parallel to this one were summed up by my action. "I accept your offer, but please take into consideration that sometimes I will quest solo."
"That's alright, cuz I know that you like to do monster hunting requests only."
"Not only that, but I've built up a streak since I began, and I don't wanna break it. Please excuse me for that. If you guys are going on a request now, please also excuse me for not joining you. I have a lot of training to do."
"You are excused," said Erza. "We will pick up monster hunting quests more frequently if you'd like."
"What...? You'll do that for me? Really?"
"Yeah, man!" insisted Natsu. "We'll even give you half of the reward when it's over!"
"That's overly generous of you, but I don't think that's how it works..."
"Ah, I knew that, but I was just testing you. Eh, sorta."
"I wonder if you really were...? Well anyway, thanks for including me in your team. Now, please excuse me, as I have training to do."
xxxx
"Augh!" I groaned as I flew back and slammed into a tree, blood leaking from my mouth. "Urg... I should be smarter about my... Magic Energy... use...!" I threw a Mega Flame Ball at a group of monsters that began advancing on me. From behind me, a towering goblin-type creature raised its fist, but I blocked with my arms and cloaked myself on flames with Fire Shield and followed it up with a Titanium Fist, blasting the goblin creature away just in time for me to dodge another monster behind me with many large horns that swung a large tree branch at me.
"Hope you demon-spawns like barbecue, because that's what you'll all become in a few seconds." Extending my arms straight out to my sides, I formed two Fire Wheels around my forearms and released it, which miraculously dodged the trees, hitting a ton of monsters and dissipating normally. Although the request required me to not fell any trees whether intentional or not, (otherwise it would be taken out of my pay) a clearing had been created, big enough for me to use Magma Core.
"You guys ever wonder what happens to all the garbage in the world? Oh yeah, of course you don't! You're all dumb fucking monsters! Well I'll show you what happens to garbage." Unleashing the attack around hopefully the last group of monsters, I sat back to hear their tortured roars and cries as they were all slowly incinerated to death. As I began to head to the mansion to claim my award, I felt something smack me in the back, hard, sending me flying into the clearing. When I turned around, I realized that this towering monster was the leader of them all. It was a colossal beast, menacing and potent, a real challenge to be taken down.
I grinned and rushed forward.
xxxx
Brusied, bloodied and battered, I made my way back to my house in Magnolia and cleaned up before I headed back to the guild. With more Magic Energy and 20,000 Jewel in my pocket (was originally 50,000, but deducted due to felled trees), I began to head back to Fairy Tail, but then a brisk, evening autumn breeze chilled my skin, reminding me of the fact that I no longer had a coat. I had to get a new one.
Although, when I visited a clothing store nearby, I was unable to find anything that I hadn't previously worn, and also fitted my taste, or anything I was looking for. But the question was, what was I looking for? I decided to walk to the guild with only a zip-up hoodie that I found in my Dimension Space. It was still cold, but the jacket was better than nothing.
Out of habit, I was half expecting the guild to be there when I returned, but construction was still in progress. No one was really there, it seemed, until I heard a voice cry out loud, "I will never quit being Master!" This was Makarov's voice, obviously, but he was probably getting drunk. I couldn't see him, but I could see Mira.
"What the hell was that...?" I questioned.
"Oh! Vincent, you scared me. What was that? That was Master, because he's upset."
"Upset at wh-" Mira finished my sentence by showing me a stack of documents.
"What's this? Oh... something about Makarov... the Council... uh huh... wait, WHAT?! So, I can only assume the ones responsible are Natsu and the team, and they demolished half a city?! What were they thinking? Thousands must've died! And they're so careless... so... RRGH! Idiots! I'm an idiot too! What was I thinking, joining their team? If they get into even more trouble and I'm with them, then I'll be to blame as well, even if I didn't do anything! God! Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy- er, actually, I don't think Lucy would do anything like this, but the rest of them! Idiots! How could they do such a thing?! They..." And so I continued rambling like an idiot, even while taking up another request, and returned home. As I lay on my bed that night, I reflected upon all that had happened in the crazy year and a half that I'd been at Fairy Tail. Yes, it had been a year and a half already; I just describe things rather concisely.
Although I knew I had gotten myself into a lotta shit, I didn't regret anything. I didn't regret joining Fairy Tail, or setting out to avenge Dad, or even killing anyone who stood in my way. Er, actually, now that I think about it, I do kind of regret it... wait, no I don't. They still deserved what they got.
As I fell asleep feeling slightly warmer than usual, I pondered not on what I had gotten myself into, but what would be in store for me going forward.
