The guild hall has been rebuilt.

I had gotten this notice about four days ago. In fact, this was what had woken me after I went to sleep to recover from my experiences in the tower.

I had captured Simon's hand and was handily towing him towards the brand new guild. Erza had made mention of her friend potentially needing a place to stay and, predictably, Makarov hadn't hesitated even for a moment before offering the guild's services.

"C'mon Simon! We gotta meet everyone!" I didn't even pause to gape up at the new, expanded building. I ran through the cafe, waving at whoever called after me.

I sensed a telepathic presence and idly gave Simon my attention. His voice sounded incredulous as he voiced his most pressing concern:

"How are you doing this!? I'm four times your size!"

"I'm on a mission! Don't question me!" Everyone knows sheer grit makes up for any minor illusion of power difference! It was the rule Natsu lived by as a kid, and firmly believed in to this day despite being one of the stronger wizards among us.

"Heeeey! Master!" The small, elderly man looked around and a wide smile spread over his face.

"Ah, Fae-chan, so good to see you again! I take it everyone else made it back safely too?"

"Uh-huh!" I tugged Simon forward. "Master, this is Simon! He's one of Erza's friends from when she was little. He got injured years and years ago. When can Porlyusica see him and fix his face?"

"Now now child, slow down and let the poor man breathe. I have to talk things over with him a little before Porlyusica will see him. Now off you trot and say hello to everyone else. They're looking forward to seeing you again." Simon would be alright, despite some of the strange looks he was getting. I recognized the hint for what it was:

Friend or not, he did spend the past decade or so cooperating with the most dangerous criminal in Fiore. The Rune Knights hadn't been too happy with letting Simon go, even with all the evidence in favor of his innocence. Jellal was nowhere to be found, and they had no one to blame for the coup of the century that had been going on right under their noses. The Magic Council had been played, and while there were several easy going wizards on it, none of them liked looking the fool. And that was exactly what Jellal had made them look like.

Simon would be OK though. Fairy Tail might be considered dangerous and unbalanced by some, but there were still more in our favor than against us,and we had gotten Simon out and free from his past.

"Mira!" The white haired Transformation mage welcomed me with a tight hug as I sprang over the bar to greet her.

"Fae, I'm so glad you're home! It's just not the same without you around."

"It was fun! Well, the fighting part wasn't, but the rest of it was OK! You didn't have any trouble keeping up with the bartending and so on did you? We've got a lot more tables to work over now."

This new guild hall was about three times the size of our old one. And judging by the people walking about on the second story, some rules had undergone a change or three as well.

"It was hard, but there's always someone ready to help out." Mirajane took my hand and led to to another row of tables. And right at the front was-

"My table!" Still covered with doodled runes and the occasional drop of spilled ink. My table sat at the front, old, weathered and familiar. Somehow, seeing it made me ridiculously happy.

"We left everything right where you put it." Mira explained as I looked on the underside to verify all of my materials were still there. "Though the master did want to talk to you about the prank curses on it for the unwary to come across. Warren was speaking in rhyme for three days." I giggled. Yay! It worked!

"How else am I supposed to get people to leave my stuff alone?" I paused for a second, thinking if I had left anything worse than that on there...Nope, don't think so.

"He wasn't too mad, was he?"

"Warren? Maybe a little at first, but he laughed it off. He actually really got into it for open mic night. I think you'll have people asking for that spell when that rolls around again."

I frowned.

Well if that spells' no longer a deterrent, I guess I could dig out that body-swap curse that Team Natsu got slammed with... On second thought, that's a terrible idea. Gray in Lucy's body was not, I repeat, not a good combination. Not that Loke and Natsu switching was ideal either... Honestly, I'd say that Erza and Happy was the least harmful of the bunch if it wouldn't make Erza mad. She had not been impressed with Happy fooling around with her magic and body. When it was her prerogative and when she could get something out of it, she had little issue with showing that she was a woman. It was something she was very proud of. But when someone else infringed on that right, then she got nasty.

"I know that look, Fae. Stop plotting about that, and get back to something less harmful, like flying!" Ha!

"Oh, right, Mira, I know how to do that now! Watch!" I made my preferred set of agility wings appear and zipped around the guild hall for a bit. It didn't take long for the laughter to start.

"Now we really do have a little fairy in our guild!"

"Best mascot ever!"

"I'm not a mascot Nab!" I snapped, flicking him on the nose before flitting up to inspect the upper story.

"Hi Elfman!"

"Fae! You can fly?!"

"Really? I hadn't noticed!"

"Fae, please refrain from flying when inside the guild hall." I pouted at Makarov and pulled out the Puppy Dog eyes.

I had long since figure out that if I focused on looking as cute and sad as I could, and then made sparkles appear around me, and my eyes look about twice as big as normal, people had a very hard time saying no to me.

"But master, I'll be really careful..."

He twitched noticeably, tried to look away, failed and twitched again. Almost...

"Pleeeaaase...?" He shook himself.

"Take it outside, if you must use it, child. I'm as glad as the rest of us that you've finally achieved your goal, but the risk is too great of you running into a wall in here. That's my final word on the matter!"

I put on my best kicked puppy face and snickered a little when many of the mages below gave Makarov a dirty look. Darn, Cute Charm still needs some work. I dropped all pretense of being upset as my next impulse came and I followed it!

"Ok, Master." I dismissed my wings as I climbed onto the railing and started to walk towards the stairs.

"Fae-! Oh never mind." I gave the exasperated, but amused Master a cheeky grin and a peace sign before I slid on the polished railing down to the first floor.

"You'll be the death of me, girl..."

"Sorry master, the alcohol has got too much of a head start. I'll never catch up!"

"Cheeky brat!"

-vVv-

I went around exploring my new playground for a bit, including the game room downstairs. When I came back up, Juvia was being presented as Fairy Tail's newest member. What caught my gaze was the scowling dark haired, piercing riddled man who was doing his best to glare everyone into submission.

'Black Steel' Gajeel. Iron Dragon Slayer, double agent to Raven Tail at Makarov's behest.

I paused after reading that...

I think I just did an oopsie into another one of those things that the master would rather I not know about...Oh well. Not like I could just forget it now. But still. I looked at the intimidating fellow and didn't feel that threatened by him. Maybe he was like Laxus in that he didn't believe in going after kids or something.

Still, best to get a personal feel for the guy.

"Who're you?" I asked, trotting up to him with absolutely no fear. He glared at me through legit red eyes. Cool...

"Who's asking, brat?" He was talking in a tone that was begging for someone to punch him so he'd have an excuse to fight. I just gave him a sunny smile.

"Faerun D. Celeste, but everyone calls me Fae."

"Little shrimpy to be a wizard, ain'tcha?" he asked, leering down at me.

He doesn't know what to make of you.

"Lots of people think the same thing about the Master." I replied blandly, knowing Gajeel knew fully well just how 'shrimpy' our guild master was in reality.

"He can back it up."

"You're assuming that I can't." This got him to assume a flat, somewhat disbelieving expression.

"Kid, I could eat you."

"I wouldn't. I'm told kids have too many little bones to make it worthwhile." We held out in an intense staring contest for a little while. One I absolutely refused to lose.

Gajeel was a Dragon Slayer like Natsu, the only difference was that he was a little older and more inclined to go with his darker instincts. No Dragon Slayer could respect someone who didn't at least stand up for themselves, and I didn't like backing down from a challenge anyways.

Gajeel wavered first.

"Tch. You're a mouthy one, brat." I reached up and tugged on one of his pierced earlobes, just a little tweak.

"Only people I know get to call me brat and you still haven't told me your name."

"Watch it kid!" He snarled. He swatted my hand away, not too roughly though, and picked my up by the back of my shirt, glaring at me. Really is a pity he can't learn petrification magic, he'd be a natural. I think he was expecting me to kick or struggle, but I just hung there like a strange doll, still staring at him.

I knew he wasn't gonna hurt me, he was just throwing something down to see how I'd react. A test of sorts. And I had a thing about not failing tests when they were presented... I blame Freed.

We stayed like this for another moment, I was aware of many people looking at Gajeel very closely. But I got the impression that he wasn't even noticing them. He really didn't care right now. He was just trying to make me back down.

You got no ground to stand on, buddy. I thought, keeping my face set in as close to a neutral deadpan as I could. You aren't gonna hurt me, and I'm not gonna give in until I get your name, So long as you've got that mark, you're part of my family whether you like it or not.

I sensed the instant Gajeel decided to tolerate me. Of course, being who he was, he didn't set me down, he just dropped me. I bounced, unable to fight back my smile because I had won.

"You've got guts for all that you're a pipsqueak." Gajeel's hand extended with a toothy grin. "Name's Gajeel, kid."

I shook his hand, very aware of how loosely he was holding it to not use his massive strength to hurt me.

"Nice to meet you!"

-vVv-

Levy stared at Fae in avid shock as she got the intimidating, angry looking Dragon Slayer to crack a smile. It was the first time she had seen anything other than a frown, scowl or glare on his face.

She had been a little worried about the master bringing in Gajeel. He was a former enemy, the person who had destroyed their old guild hall and beaten her, Jet and Droy severely. Levy was honestly scared of the guy. He didn't look as if he ever smiled.

But Fae, little, fearless Fae, had just walked up to him as if none of that mattered.

Well, she's never met him and he didn't do anything to her, so I guess it's really not out of character...

It had still been a very tense moment when Gajeel and hefted the girl off her feet and into the air. Gajeel's fearsome and well earned reputation aside, every mage in the hall had been ready to pounce on the man in an instant the moment Fae showed any sign of discomfort.

But the girl just kept right on staring at the big guy until he cracked. He conceded their silent contest to her and shook her hand. The first genuine greeting short of a grunt and a scowl that anyone had gotten.

Leave it to Fae, I guess. Levy was privately very glad that Fae had handled that so well. Had she gotten scared, everyone would probably have tried to intervene to protect her and that would have gotten ugly fast.

But with that, the mood was defused and everyone was returning to their drinks and conversations. It was just Fae doing her usual thing. Not even Laxus could resist her.

Actually, because she did that, it'll probably go along way to smoothing over the bad blood anyone might still have against him.

If Gajeel could be that gentle with Fae, comparatively speaking, then Levy felt she couldn't do anything less than give the guy a chance herself.

After all, she was the first one to just treat him normally. Maybe the rest of us would have gotten something similar from him if we hadn't treated him like a stranger and enemy.

"Levy! I got this new idea while we were away! Come on, I need your help!" Fae's pale blue eyes glittered with happiness as she dragged the Solid Script Mage up to her table where she had already turned the formerly clean slate into a mess of papers and notes.

Business as usual for you, huh Fae?

-vVv-

Gajeel's Welcoming Brawl was what really broke the ice. It was hard to still be standoffish to a guy when he apparently liked dressing in white suits and playing the guitar and singing. Some people liked it, others didn't. Gajeel didn't give a damn either way as to what they thought, and he defended his hobby with his fists. Though not as harshly as he might have.

From under my reinforced table, I saw him pull a lot of punches when he fought. Something I was pretty sure he wouldn't have done only a few weeks ago.

He must really have had it rough after Phantom Lord went under.

I reached for some extra information and...

No one wanted to hire Gajeel to do any work without a guild backing him and, more importantly, keeping him in line. I also saw him sitting in the ruins of the Jupiter Giant that had been fished out of the ocean and dumped in a junkyard somewhere. Apparently, Gajeel hadn't lost a fight until Natsu beat his face in, so he was pretty depressed and even grumpier than usual at the time. Master had come then and pulled him out of his funk by offering him a job, and what's more, a home. It meant living by some rules, but it was better than starving alone because no one would give him anything. I wasn't that surprised that people wanted to know that there would be someone strong enough to keep him in check. That had once been Jose.

Our guild's old rival had a reputation for madness too, just not on the same scale as Fairy Tail. Which was really quite sad considering we had just over 100 members while they had had more than 700, and we still were ranked consistently higher in all aspects.

Losing to Fairy Tail must have been an enormous blow to his pride. For someone who thrived on combat as much as Gajeel, that would have almost destroyed him. If Juvia and master Makarov hadn't sought him out, Gajeel would probably have stayed in that scrapyard and been bitter about his defeat instead of getting up and moving on.

Hardship could do some strange things to a guy. It certainly looked like it had made Gajeel remember he had a heart inside that armor of his. And while his heart certainly wasn't made of gold, it was still there. He wasn't fully committed to the idea of what being a member of Fairy Tail meant just yet...but he'd get there. It might take a little while, but Gajeel would settle into his place with us here eventually.

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

-vVv-

Simon took the mark on the left side of his collarbone in dark red. I noted, with some stifled giggles, that it was the exact same color as Erza's hair. He wouldn't be taking jobs for a while, even after Porlyusica fixed him up. It was going to take a while for him to get used to having functioning depth perception and being able to talk normally again. I was told by Erza that it took a little effort to figure out not not having an eye, and then going back to two again was even worse. It would probably take about a month before Simon was in any condition to take jobs as a full member.

Over the next few days, Levy helped me work out how to have some of my simpler enhancements ready to pull out at the drop of a hat. She suggested that I get a bracelet or an armband to write the stuff on so I could activate it whenever I needed. Apparently, it was a fairly standard tool for beginning rune wizards.

"Since you've pretty much got your basics down, the next step will be to get really good and fast at writing and activating them." She said, offering me a sleeve of sorts that was meant to go over my index finger, secured with a band around my wrist. I touched it and read it's purpose.

This tool held several focusing and safety runes. They were mostly meant to amplify weaker magic. It basically let me push my magic through it and it would refine it for more effective use. Like squeezing icing through a metal tip.

"She's progressing well, but the Thunder Legion is taking some jobs that will make it so we won't be in town for a few months. I'm counting on you, Levy Mcgarden, don't give this to her unless she's gotten to the point where she needs it to keep getting better!" Freed's voice, somehow conveying worry, trust, pride and his usual slightly aloof attitude as he spoke to Levy, was familiar and made me smile.

Miss you. I thought fondly. Come back soon, Freed-sensei. Aloud, I asked a clarifying question even as I took the strange accessory and put it on.

"So this is supposed to help me figure out how to focus my magic on my own?" The blue haired bookworm smiled.

"Yup! I used something like this when I was just starting out too. I eventually learned how to control my output manually and here I am!" I slipped it on and focused a little, starting to trace a line in the air.

A faint amber streak following my finger, and unlike a light pen, this was made of my own magic. Though without any real intent behind what I was doing, the line soon faded.

"Do I have to write everything out, or...?"

"Just stuff you're not as familiar with. Magic is all about intent. And Runes take it a step further with what each different word can mean to you. Concepts and meanings that are especially strong or relevant will always come easier. Thing is, the stuff that is harder to grasp is usually the gritty stuff that can really pull you or your team out of the fire. So no slacking off!" Levy shook a playfully scolding finger under my nose. "Freed gave this to me to pass on to you in case he couldn't make it back by the time you were ready. Don't go discrediting me to him by messing around, you hear?" I gave her as innocent a look as I possibly could.

"Levy, would I ever...?"

"Fae, that look only works on the guys." I giggled and pointed behind her to where her fanboys usually waited.

"I know."

Jet and Droy grabbed me in enthusiastic hugs.

"Fae's so cute when she's learning from Levy!"

"You're gonna be an amazing wizard, Fae-chan! Just you wait! We'll always have room for you on Shadowgear!" I counted myself and the pair of wizards lucky that Natsu wasn't here to object to the implication that I would automatically be joining Shadowgear because of my skill set. He had already picked out the first monster hunting job he wanted to take me on. Natsu was even more excited for me to grow up than I was!

"I'm glad, you guys, but I really want to start working with Natsu and the others like him. Just to get a feel for what combat jobs are like."

"So you're gonna go after Freed and become a front-line support?" A pathetically crying Jet and Droy made it hard to carry on a regular conversation with the very rational Levy. I squirmed slightly to keep meeting her eyes while I was mauled about.

"Definitely don't wanna keep doing intel jobs. It's good for my research skills-ow, Jet!- but I don't learn much about improv or real time problem solving."

"But-but Fae! All they know how to do is blow stuff up!"

"And it's a valid solution! Guys let go- Oh for- Relashio!" I managed to twist my wrist enough to move my new tool and write the script in the air. The spell would normally just have made them loosen their grips enough to let me slide free. This time, it threw them out and back, making them let me go entirely. And it didn't do it gently either. The pair crashed into the tables on either side of our little group with audible thuds and appeared to be knocked out.

"Oh crap! I'm sorry, Jet! Are you ok, Droy?" Wakaba laughed just behind me, having only just managed to sidestep Droy as he flew past. He checked them with a few practiced motions.

"Eh, they're fine, Fae. Just goes to show they shouldn't manhandle you like that anymore. You're a big girl, you can make up your own mind about things." The Smoke Mage chuckled, lighting up a freshly filled pipe as he continued on his way.

Levy checked her teammates and would-be suitor's eyes and giggled.

"Like he said, they're fine. Just knocked a little sillier than normal."

"But I didn't mean to make it that strong..." I looked at the fingertip which the rune had come from warily. This could be a problem... It being Fairy Tail, physical violence was almost a love language among us, but I didn't really want to hurt anyone..

"That'll happen a lot at first." Levy assured me. "It's like when you condense anything pressurized down to a smaller point: It'll have a much stronger kick!"

-vVv-

I had never realized just how much having a focus item could change how my spells worked. My next oopsie was using a 'Scourgify' to clean the bartop and ending up sanding part of it smooth! This put me out in my tiny little 'practice range' to get a feel for how my new toy changed how my spells worked. It only took me a few days to figure out how this changed my output before I had it down.

(Not that that was all bad. If I was stressed, I could still turn mugs into nasty projectile weapons with overpowered Banishing Charms. And I had a perfect excuse to claim it was an accident!)

With that out of the way, I set to making a few more lasting combat enchantments to carry around with me constantly. And maybe being kidnapped had made me a teeny, tiny bit paranoid but... Well, no one was stopping me, at least! Though that might only be because Freed and Mystogan weren't here...

I only had a few that I was confident enough to work with, and some that I point blank refused to be without. I had my flight and super-jump runes, as well as my safety charms against falling, and a focusing agent for my Harry Potter spells. The bracelet Levy had recommended had eventually evolved into a solid leather bracer studded with tiny shards of lacrima. Smaller bracelets just couldn't hold up the the enchantments. Or at least, the enchantments when applied with my rather inexperienced hand. So on the one hand I had flight, freerunning with little regard for gravity and general scorn for falling damage, and on the other, the magical focus from Levy.

The best way of getting the bracer to hold onto the runes though would probably be by carving it right into the magical crystal...Which in and of itself was a tedious and potentially dangerous job. And expensive to boot since I needed unworked lacrima...

I had to reminded myself every now and then that the focus was a training tool and not a permanent fixture. The idea was to be able to have enough control of my magic that I could get it down to at least this level of control au natural.

-vVv-

About two weeks after our return from the Tower of Heaven, I was working in the morning with Mirajane when Gajeel stalked in, heading for the request board. Jet and Droy stopped him along the way and asked something. There was aggression in their posture and I had a bad feeling... No words, nothing specific, just a really bad, ugly feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The conversation was brief, and the two male members of Shadowgear left soon. Gajeel watched them through narrowed eyes for a bit before he left as well.

I just couldn't resist the chance to be nosy.

My curiosity is going to get me killed someday...but that day is not today. Let's go.

"Mira, can you watch things for a bit? I'll be back soon."

"Sure, Fae. Go ahead." She was balancing the weekly budget to account for the upcoming Fantasia Parade. This week was when the floats were being designed, so she had a lot more cash to work with than usual.

I went outside the guild hall and started following Gajeel, taking care to avoid being upwind. I had learned to never bet against Natsu's nose, and until I got proof otherwise, I was going to assume Gajeel had the same abilities.

Thing is, when Gajeel was going somewhere, he didn't waste any time. So I realized fairly quickly I wouldn't be able to keep up with him if I kept at it like this.

I could fly after him...but that's kinda conspicuous. Same with the free running.

I reached into the past, focusing on Gajeel's recent history...

"Meet us in South Gate Park, we got some business to talk over."

That was Jet's voice.

Jet's voice in Gajeel's past, ergo that must be where they were meeting him.

I let my wings come out and take to the sky, carefully heading in along an alternate path to reach the park. I settled in a lofty branch just as Team Shadowgear arrived. I whispered softly and whipped up some leaves as cover.

Master and Erza would both heartily disapprove of my using my magic to eavesdrop on the private business of my guildmates. But I couldn't shake this weird feeling...

"Guys, this isn't going to do any good." Levy was protesting, somewhat on the back foot in the face of how driven her partners looked. Usually, they were so wrapped up in trying to impress her that they caved at a word from her. Since she generally had the most common sense of the trio, this wasn't a bad thing at all. It was still more than a little weird that they weren't listening now.

"Levy, just because you're too nice to try and get in some payback doesn't mean we're willing to let this go." Payback. Against Gajeel? I had heard that when he had been with Phantom Lord that he had attacked and beaten them rather badly. It had been what had driven the Master to declare all out war. But that was in the past, they were all recovered! Bringing it back now wouldn't do anything except create more bad blood!

I watched from my perch as Gajeel arrived. From the first moment that Jet attacked, I knew something was wrong.

Gajeel wasn't too badly hurt, he...he just wasn't fighting back.

That didn't fit with the guy who could pick a fight with Natsu and brawl him to a standstill. It didn't fit with Gajeel at all. He was just standing there and letting the undeniably weaker pair whale on him.

Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated.

It was wrong on all levels. Jet and Droy were good people. Sure they were a little low in IQ and had next to no common sense. After all, they had both been wooing Levy for years and they still didn't realize she wasn't interested. But this...this irrational, blind fury wasn't like them. They were brave. They were better than this.

Gajeel had made mistakes, he'd be the first to say so. But it wasn't their place to try and punish him for that.

I bit my lip and tried not to cry as I watched people I considered family change into something I didn't know...

And that was all before Laxus showed up.

-vVv-

Gajeel knew that if he did anything in answer to the beating the two weaklings were dishing out, he'd only make the whole problem worse. So he didn't do anything. He just took it and let them bleed out that anger they felt towards him. He deserved it and this was the only way anything would ever get better. He had been a cruel asshole to all three of them the last time they had met.

Just hurry up and get it over with. He grumbled internally. They might rough him up a bit, but there was iron in his soul as surely as there was in his skin. It would take a lot more than these two to really hurt him. But he had a job to go do, and he didn't want him humoring their need to express some rage to make him late.

But the big blond guy with the attitude even worse than his had been? Yeah, he could actually lay down the hurt. It was killing his instincts and pride to not fight back against this guy though. He didn't owe him any licks, just the other two. Well, three, but the little slip of a Script Mage looked like she was about to faint as she watched with horrified eyes.

But it wasn't those eyes that Gajeel was watching.

It was the pair of ethernano blue eyes that were peering out of the tree they were under.

The cheeky little fairy. A kid in every sense of the word except her attitude.

Faerun was weird, but she was also not about to be sorry for being who she was. He could respect that. She'd probably be interesting to fight once she got old enough that he wouldn't feel bad about hitting a kid.

He had noticed her watching him from the first instant that he arrived at the park. He had smelled her hiding out in the tree.

He wasn't a nice guy. But given the gossip he had overheard about just how things had gone down for the kid with that whole R-system crap...She didn't deserve to see her friends like this.

To survive hell only to find that it had followed her home.

But she wasn't crying. The the blue Script Mage was, even as she yelled at the blond asshole to stop.

Damn idiot! He felt the electric focus of the air change.

Gajeel's whole body tensed as he felt the air hum and crackle with power and he knew where the attack was being aimed.

Because it would have been the same place he'd have aimed it only a few weeks back.

He just had to get close enough to draw the lighting into him instead of letting it go on it's previous course. Absorbing electricity always hurt like hell, even when he turned his arm into an iron pillar to dull the nerves. He let the rest of the power ground out into the ground under his feet.

He met the blondie's eyes in an unwavering glare.

You got a problem with me, bastard, then you settle it with me. Leave other people out of it, got it?

Laxus Dreyar sneered and turned to stalk away, clearly dismissing him and the three wizards who had been stunned into silence behind him. The dismissal got more of a reaction than the attack, his instincts demanded that he fight the challenger.

But...running only on instinct had gotten his ass kicked last time. He knew he needed to turn over a new leaf and use his head a little more. So he didn't chase after Dreyer.

"If you're done." He ground out, grappling with everything Metalicana had beaten into him to stay where he was. To not go after the arrogant, dangerous Lightning Wizard and do something he'd regret. He needed this job and to be in this guild. Going after people like he had before wasn't gonna fly. He was still too low on their food chain for that. "-I have work to do..."

He only made it out of the park before he stopped and leaned against a wall for a moment to pull himself together and force his limbs to stop twitching from taking that bolt for the girl.

Barely noticeable footsteps came from the direction of the park and he turned to throw a glare at whoever was coming on to see it was Fae, an expression of very unchildlike neutrality on her face.

He could smell that this girl wasn't normal. The damned fire eater was probably too used to her to notice it, but she smelled different somehow. He couldn't say how and it certainly didn't feel like a bad thing. Just...different.

She didn't say anything, and neither did he. Somehow, he got the feeling he didn't have to. There was fear in her smell, a tiny amount of it. But if she hadn't been afraid of him when they met, she certainly wouldn't be now.

No, it would be Dreyar that she was afraid of. Despite the fact that he knew she knew him and liked him even.

So, watching that little charade go down had been enough to put him above the lightning bastard in her estimation?

Weird kid. Gajeel started walking towards the blacksmiths he had picked up a job for for the day. She followed him.

-vVv-

"This place has gotten pathetic! When I take over Fairy Tail, there are gonna be some changes!" Laxus' voice still echoed in my head as I searched for some scraps of information in the past.

I knew Laxus had some kind of secret, but he had asked me to leave it alone. Now, though, seeing Laxus attack Levy just for asking him to stop hurting Gajeel had made me a lot less certain about whether or not I could trust him. There was something going on.

And from the way my magic kept on looping my thought process back to those rune traps I had seen Freed putting up last month, they had something to do with it.

Which meant Freed was in on whatever Laxus was planning.

There was a shadow hanging over Laxus that I wasn't entirely sure originated from him. It had covered the entire Thunder Legion; all of them were just being standoffish and distant with everyone else. Like they had been trying to keep people away on purpose.

It was supposed to be over... I thought a little mournfully. It was supposed to be home, like it always is...

I had to talk to Master about this. He had said to come to me with any unusual premonitions.

But...I haven't had one yet. This is just a hunch.

I rubbed my temples, trying to force those thoughts into order. Failing that, I'd rather they just shut up and let me work.

Eventually, once I started humming to drown out the rest of the world, I managed to get into it.

This half trance was a state in which part of my conscious and unconscious were working together, while the other half was observing to see what was happening. I think I had gotten this to work in such a way after I got frustrated and wanted to get a better idea of how I used my magic without thinking in order to make it easier to use deliberately.

My current project would have some clout to it once I got it working properly.

I was trying to recreate Gandalf's powers, scaled back to fit my age, of course, but the intent was still there.

Given the success of a quick knockoff spell based on Gandalf to get some banging fireworks, I was going a little further. It was partly as a tribute to Natsu since a lot of Gandalf's powers revolved around various forms of pyromancy. But I picked him mostly because Gandalf's magic was pretty similar to mine, in a way. It revolved around having and using a vast amount of knowledge. And it looked like I was going to be getting a whole lot of that just because of the most basic functions of my magic. But being able to connect everything that I had was something that I still needed a little help with, I was just a kid after all.

In addition to this, Gandalf was capable of using 'Words of Command' which, again, sounded a lot like the magic I already did. I said something with the intent, and the world obeyed. The connections ought to be enough to get an interesting reaction at the very least. Hopefully a beard won't be necessary... Just the hat had been enough of a connection to use my Link spell, so...

"Taking up woodworking, Fae?" I hummed absently in response to the question, running a hand covered with the runes 'smooth', 'sandpaper' and 'preparation' over the length of a simple staff that would about be sized for me. Plus a little extra since I was going to be growing as well in the future.

The first two because splinters were a pain, literally, and the last because I wanted this to be as perfect a vessel for my magic as I could make it. I'd even gone out and hunted up a branch to keep anyone else's personal brand of Ethernano from touching it and potentially interfering with my spells.

"Fae?" A voice was trying to break through my focus, but only part of my brain caught onto this. I wanted to finish prepping this staff before I let myself get distracted. "Fae, your eyes-!"

"She's been doing that a lot lately. Some kind of meditation technique to let her stay focused. She'll come out when she's ready."

That was...that was Mirajane, of course. She was explaining to whoever was there my newest habit.

Almost got it perfect...

Since Gandalf was exponentially more powerful after his resurrection, I was going with the way his original staff had looked. All wooden and weathered. It ought to take much less power that way. Also, I didn't want to give away any spoilers for the next book. But just because I was using a worn-looking staff didn't mean that I was gonna take any chances! Splinters, blisters, nicks, scratches, gouges, I didn't want any part of that!

Someone shook my shoulder gently.

"Faerun..." The voice was soft and a little teasing. "I believe you owe me a hug."

Who is that?

Soft and teasing. Well the teasing could come from just about anyone. But not many people did 'soft' in this guild. Not like that.

I ran my fingertips along the length of the staff, checking for any flaws.

The runes will be curved slightly due to the surface not being perfectly flat. Application will have to be done with immense care.

But I was satisfied with the extent of my labors so I started to come out of my little trance. The amber withdrew from my eyes and I finally looked up to see who was trying to talk to me.

"Freed-sensei!" I promptly glomped him, much to the amusement of the onlookers.

"What trouble have you been getting yourself into now? You didn't seem to hear me at all."

"I totally heard you, I just didn't want to stop until I was finished!" He laughed, shaking his head in exasperation as he clasped my hand in his and pulled me towards the door of the guild hall.

"With what precisely? Tell me everything."