They're gone.
They're gone. They're not there anymore. They're like Mystogan.
That was all I could think, sleeping or awake.
There wouldn't be any more sleepovers at Lucy's place. No curse breaking with Freed and Levy, team Shadowgear and the Thunder Legion acting as my window into functional teamwork, as opposed to the chaotic amalgam that Team Natsu somehow made work. Sniping at Gajeel and taking advantage of his reluctance to hit me back since I was a kid. Wearing a silly hat to get Master Makarov to explain something. Warning Gray about Juvia's latest attempt at wooing him. Keeping the guild hall running with Mira and now Lisanna, who I had just gotten back. The over the top, ridiculous antics Loke dragged me into, calling me that stupid pet name as loudly as he could. Getting my body systematically shredded by training with Erza. Spontaneous fishing trips with Natsu and Happy.
Gone. Not any more. Never again.
I remained dimly aware of people sitting in my room, people holding vigil with me. Bisca, Alzack, Mest, Max, Kagura. Kinana was a constant presence, slithering around my bed or over my covers. Kagura came and went and slid her hand into mine gently. Her way of updating me since Morgana, outside of her own grief, was still reading information.
And she was in fact grieving. Fairy Tail was my home and life. But it had been her haven and rescue. The place where she could rest and be at peace, and the people who had gained her trust and confidence, or many of them.
Simon has filed formal accusations of negligence against the Rune Knights.
This made me twitch. Stir for the first time since I saw the dragon bearing down-
The numb terror of helplessness. The avalanche rushing down the mountain towards me. The thunder of wings tearing the air apart. The last smile I had seen on Natsu's face as he turned to face the beast with challenge outlining his entire body.
Wendy has recovered from Acnologia's presence.
Cool hands settled on my head and something soothing ran over the ragged edges in my head. It was not healing, but it was comfort.
She is reminding you that they are still here for you. Morgana was silent for a second...then she added in an undertone. As am I.
Kinana's soft hiss sounded.
:I have learned how to read, my friend. Our friend in captivity has written you a letter. He has heard of the Den's loss.:
There are still people here. The thought was strengthening and bracing. It made my heart beat a little more strongly and stopped me from focusing on the gaps in my spirit where my family should be.
I could not stay stagnant. I could not stop moving even though all I wanted to do was collapse and scream "It's not fair!"
I got kidnapped and held hostage. Freed turned away from the guild and broke my trust. I got kidnapped again and almost enslaved. Mystogan was left in Edolas. And now...
Now they were dead-
No.
This made my eyes fly open and stare at the ceiling even as Wendy's magic worked through me. I was aware of amber light twisting itself into words around me.
Explain.
They are gone. But they are not dead. First Master has made sure of that.
Details.
She cast Fairy Sphere to unite their power, will and magic into a protective shell around Tenrou.
And if there was anything in the world strong enough to disregard the power of a beast like Acnologia, it was the bond we shared with one another. Love, friendship and family could defy any power. Any deity.
"Fae? Can you hear us?"
Wendy's voice broke through my reverie and made me take a breath with the intent to speak.
"I hear you." I rasped through a dry throat. Kagura brought a glass to my lips before I tried to speak some more. I sat up slowly and got out of bed.
"Fae, should you?"
"I'm not hurt. Just coming out of shock." I used Kinana for support, she had made herself available.
They're still alive.
Yes.
Can we get them?
Not for some time. It will be some years before the excess magical energy is depleted enough to release them.
But the bottom line was that they were alive.
"They're not dead." The absence from my story was not the absence of death. It was like Lisanna, and Mystogan. They were simply out of my story for the foreseeable future.
"There is no trace of the island." Kagura wasn't trying to rain on my parade. she was simply stating a fact. "They found the Niaid's wreckage where the island had been along with trace energies from Grimoire Heart and Ultear.
"Fairy Sphere." I ground out. "When cast with sufficient power, it can cut a small area out of Time. That's how it protects things within it so perfectly. It uses Time, one of the ultimate Laws that cannot ever be broken, using the concept to build its defenses. We wouldn't be able to find them until the spell's duration runs out and it snaps back into harmony with our time stream."
"How long?" Wendy's hand was clutching mine with fervent hope and worry dueling in her gaze. The space next to her that would normally have held Carla was conspicuously empty.
Carla knew Mest could only take two passengers. She stayed so Wendy could escape.
"Years." I said, shoulders slumping briefly before I pulled myself straight again. "I...my head is still ringing. My magic isn't working perfectly so I don't know an exact time. But they are not gone forever." I met the gaze of the girls that I knew would be my lifelines and best friends in the coming years.
"They will be back one day."
Kagura's hand loosened on her bokken and her shoulders went slack as she straightened into a diffident, casual posture.
"Then we will wait for them. And make sure Fairy Tail is here to welcome them home."
-vVv-
I think Kagura didn't really know who to hover near. Myself or Wendy. Both of us had lost an integral part of our personal support systems, and she was worrying silently and fussing over us without expressing a word. She generally stuck with Wendy though. Kinana had settled around my shoulders and was not budging.
We were all feeling the repercussions. Everyone in the country knew that Fairy Tail had lost the top twenty members. So, we needed a spokesman, a guild master in the interim. The city magic representative was here with another Rune Knight, not Lahir. Simon, Macao and Mest were talking to him. I was mentally seeing some fringe members that had already withdrawn their names from our registry. Fleeing a ship they felt was about to sink.
This is going to be a rough transition. Many of the usual job requests we would receive had been cancelled. The major monster hunting and combat oriented jobs. That was what Fairy Tail had always been known for, the big names we had boasted had taken them on. Our little stunt with Dusk Gnoll was impressive, and had drawn some new attention to us as promising to keep up our fighting reputation, but it would still go downhill. With Levy and Freed leaving it wouldn't take that long for the curse breaking and ward building jobs to do the same.
We can't keep doing the same thing we did while they were here. It grated to see any changes period, but when they came back the jobs would resurge as well. Right now, we had things we needed to accomplish. I had something I needed to do.
Rogue got in a fight. That made me sit up and pay attention.
Is he ok?
He's coming here now.
Rogue ran through the open door, casting about in alarm and confusion. He zeroed in on me sitting at my table and approached in a hurry, worry creasing his young face along with a handful of bruises.
"Rogue." I automatically touched his hurts to catalogue and rank them in terms of severity. He didn't have anything that bad but- "Are those burns?"
"Gajeel isn't back yet?" I shook my head, feeling a weight press down on my shoulders.
"He isn't coming back for a while...None of them are." The boy sat down beside me, looking around warily, still wired from his fight the details of which I could just barely not see-.
"They've already started to talk about moving into Magnolia." 'They' being other guilds. He had been keeping his ear to the ground. The walls might not have ears, but the shadows around Rogue certainly did.
"They can try." I wasn't gonna stand for it. Neither would Kagura and especially not Wendy. In the absence of her other wing mates, she was the dominant dragon of the territory. Female dragons were never as aggressive as males, but dragons were the definition of territorial.
"I agree." This made me look at him strangely. Was he going to move in? He was more than welcome if he wanted to join.
"Is that how you got these?" He shook his head, looking as much like an embarrassed pre-teen boy as he could.
"I met another dragon slayer. We...disagreed."
It was Sting. Sting said Fairy Tai's loss was going to be an opportunity for strong wizards to move up in the world. Since that meant we would be among those who would be victimized, Rogue took exception to the remarks.
That stung, pun intended, a lot more than I thought. Yeah, I figured Sting would be gunning to make a name for himself, but I didn't think he would jump all over this and tear Fairy Tail down while we were still recovering.
I muttered some cooling charms onto a few hand towels that I summoned and let Rogue arrange them however he wished while I applied some burn cream before Wendy noticed our friend was hurt. I had no idea if she had Mama Dragon tendencies, but for Sting's sake, it might be better if we didn't find out with him as the target. Not that I would be much better. This place was my home, I literally helped thee guy pioneer a new move and he turned around and did this? I'd be mature and recognize he was being a perfectly normal, ambitious kid once I stopped being ticked.
"Thanks for sticking up for us."
He blushed faintly.
"You're mine."
What he means: Fairy Tail is his childhood safe place, or where he goes when he needs to feel safe, protected and loved.
I impulsively hugged the dark haired boy. I held no illusions that he was not entirely at ease in Fairy Tail. But he had stuck it out and visited frequently, with and without Frosch. Because we were his friends and he was actually lonely.
He was awkward as hell about accepting and tried to squirm, but he didn't pull away before I did.
"Thank you Rogue." He nodded, shifting on the bench.
"Fairy Tail can't be mine. Not after Salamander and Gajeel." He said, eyes downcast. "But...you are my friends. I'll be there when you need me." A little smile with a hint of mischief showed on his face. "And when you don't."
"We'll hold you to that." I promised with a smile that I managed to give sincerely. I rubbed my ear thoughtfully, considering the possibilities. Rogue wanted a place to be his. Someplace like Fairy Tail where he could grow and become stronger. And the sort of jobs he would benefit the most from were going to be leaving our halls so...
Well...He did mention that guild...And I was just petty enough to set things up again.
"I've met the kid you fought before, Sting." Rogue gave me a flat look.
"How many of us have you met by now?" I hummed.
"You, Wendy, the three on the island, one in prison and Sting. I think that's all of them. Move your head." I shifted him into the proper position to get at his burns.
"Prison?"
"It's a long story and I don't feel like telling it now."
"First time." The comment made me flick his cheek in chastisement.
"Anyway! I've met Sting before and he mentioned there was a guild he was looking at. Sabertooth. He was still a little bit away from being up to making their standards, but if we work on it, you could beat him to them." There was a considering look on the Shadow Slayer's face as he digested this...then he gave me a look.
"Any weaknesses?" I snorted.
"What? Not holding to an honorable duelist code?"
"That's how idiots fight." Behold the pragmatism of a Shadow Dragon, ladies and gentlemen.
Their encounter ended with them being evenly matched and agreeing to disagree violently again some other time. Chiefly because Rogue wanted to come and check on you and Wendy.
"Fight him indoors. Natural and magical light give him the best boost. Blind him if you can, he won't be used to fighting like that given how his magic works. If you can make him lose focus of his power, it will diffuse and be a lot less potent. If you have anything reflective, or maybe even a prism, that could probably throw off his magic even more. On a personal level, I know trash talk isn't up your alley, but you might consider busting it out for him, he's got a temper and the beginnings of an ego. He's mostly got only short range attacks at any decent strength, but he'll probably have at least one long range down in...2 weeks, 5 days and 3 hours...give or take. Depends on whether he gets visualization down properly." Rogue now looked slightly incredulous at the steady outpouring of information.
"How often have you met him?"
"Twice." I said with a pleasant smile. "I fought alongside him once and sparred against him the other time. It's more than enough data for me to extrapolate how fast he'll improve without outside help." He didn't say question me anymore, but he did give me a little bit of a smirk.
"Sabertooth, huh...I'll look into it."
Petty, passive aggressive, second hand revenge against Sting for bad mouthing Fairy Tail: Locked and Loaded. The Light Slayer would no doubt be in for a nasty shock when Rogue next encountered him. They would probably be a bit like the older Slayers they had emulated, and knock some rough edges off on each other before they settled into any kind of agreement. Fire tempered and strengthened Iron. But Light and Shadow contrasted and complimented as much as they opposed one another. Once they fought for a bit, they would probably settle into a more or less peaceful existence.
But I was still gonna give Sting hell for dissing Fairy Tail. At least for the next three or four times I saw him...
You're lying to yourself again.
Ok, I'm gonna knock him around until he thinks to apologize.
Better.
I was almost down applying burn cream to all of Rogue's injuries and Wendy had just noticed the odd smell of the medicine in my hands, her head started to turn with a tense aura surrounding her. Thankfully, Simon stepping into the center of the room and raising his voice slightly drew her attention. So Rogue might make it out of the guild hall without being given the Cinnamon Roll Scolding.
"Everyone." One word and everyone in the hall fell silent and gave him their attention. "In the temporary absence of Master Makarov-" This made the Rune Knight and the City Representative look somewhat pitying.
They believe the story that everyone is dead. Hot, fierce pride rose in my chest.
They believe incorrectly.
"-we need an acting guild master." Simon, and everyone else who made up the the core of the guild, had taken the lifeline of hope that Morgana and my magic had thrown me. And they were not about to let go. Thus, no funeral arrangements were made, no bereavement pleas for jobs to be withheld for a short time to let everyone grieve. No one on Tenrou was spoken of in past tense.
"Macao has been recommended as a potential fill in for the position. What do you all think?" This quiet query made thoughts flash through everyone.
Macao had been a long standing member for many years. His experience in using his magic made him one of the few people that could still do monster hunting jobs, especially if he partnered with Wakaba. He had relatively little power compared to some, but what he had he was dang good at using. This was the man who had been able to handle more than a dozen vulcans by himself in sub zero temperatures. The man himself grimaced at Simon's words, so he was very obviously not supportive of the idea. But some considering mutters were had around the room. Macao finally raised his hand to get everyone's attention.
"Personally, it'd be an honor to be our stand in guild master. But I've got my son to think about, and he is my priority. I'd rather not take more on my plate than what will be coming for all of us. There's gonna be a lot of slack to pick up and we're undermanned." Mest interjected now.
"And because of that, we are right back where we started; we need a guild master. Sooner rather than later." You have been assimilated. You are now one of us. Yeah, Doranbolt was pretty much 100% Fairy Tail. I felt a little bad about ruining Mest's carefully crafted, heartless ruthless Rune Knight persona, but at the same time...
Nah. We got you.
"You do it, Simon!" Laki called, face flushing as she nervously adjusted her glasses as most of the guild looked at her. "You were close to Erza, Mystogan and Master. You're the only one who could have been recommended for S-class who didn't go to the island."
This got still more murmurs of support. Even the Rune Knight seemed to think this was a good idea.
"That is a fair estimate. I have no objections." He did not look at Mest for any cues about whether or not this was a good or bad thing. But only just. The Rune Knights probably want to know if Simon will cause any trouble for them if he's made a Guild master. Mest was looking straight ahead and not giving away anything. They really should know better.
Simon had not gotten angry, or...more accurately, he had not raised his voice to the Rune Knights when he confronted them about the bitter reality that there had been a threat on Tenrou and when Fairy Tail had needed help, they did nothing. And any claim of aid they could make was via Mest's actions was negated by the fact that he was still technically undercover. So, yeah.
They think once he stops grieving, he'll be reasonable.
Oh those poor fools.
"Does anyone else have any objections to Laki's suggestion?" Macao kept his voice bland, but there was a light of hope in his eyes that he wouldn't get saddled with the responsibilities. Romeo was watching from beside Wakaba with wide eyes, likely confused as to why Macao wasn't saying yes and being oddly pleased that he was the reason for Macaos refusal of the position.
Silence was his only answer. Mest stepped up then.
"Everyone who will support and accept Simon as guild master, say aye." The chorus was not as thunderous as it would have been. We were 20+ voices short after all. But it was considerable nonetheless.
"Any opposed?" Some older hats looked like they wanted to say something, Simon had not even been with us for a six months after all, but they kept silent.
"Recorded as majority vote." Mest noted dryly, clearly not missing their moods. "Simon Mikazuchi, Fairy Tail's 4th Master." The cheers were half hearted given the circumstances. But there was a new light here. A new hope and purpose.
Reedus was working on his easel, a painting that I read was of the Tenrou Group. He had been preparing it for the celebration when they got back. But it would now serve as our memorial.
There were already plenty of people who wanted to talk to Simon and he had only been Guildmaster for all of five minutes. But he came over to me and Rogue soon enough. I had finished doctoring Rogue's injuries and conjuring bandages for those burns that I could risk covering. Kinana greeted him with a soft hiss as she lay wound around both our shoulders, positioned to keep an eye on Wendy, Kagura and Romeo. All the hatchlings under her eye.
"Fae. I know you were waiting for Natsu to give you your guild mark. What do you want to do?" I lifted my head, feeling my heart beat a little faster as I began to speak.
"Natsu promised he would give me my mark. And he will." And before he could move on, I kept talking. "But I still want to be able to take jobs. So, I'm making a formal request of you, Simon, as guild master." He paused, dark eyes looking at me steadily and waiting for the other shoe to drop. There was a little spark of resigned amusement in his eyes. The 'ah, this is what you were plotting' expression some of my friends got when I was unveiling some scheme.
"What is it, Fae?"
"I would like to join the guild as a probationary member." This made Mest start to laugh uncontrollably. He laughed until he cried, half supporting himself on the edge of my table as I looked expectantly to Simon, waiting for his answer. He seemed to age ten years in two seconds.
"You're really springing an obscure loophole of some kind on me in my first hour?"
"Not a loophole. Every guild has standards of probationary membership. According to Fairy Tail's charter, as recorded in City Hall, a wizard may take a probationary token of membership and be considered a member of the guild in the eyes of the law. It expires after six months, after which the probationary wizard would typically know if he is a good fit and would either take a mark or move on to another guild to try again."
"You only want to be a member for six months?"
"There is no upper limit on how many times a wizard may have probationary status."
Simon sighed.
"Ah, there it is. My first round of paperwork. This is gonna take forever..."
"Well if it makes it any better..." I reached under the table and pulled out the appropriate files. "It's not that much of an upgrade from guild ward to a probie. It really only needs your signature by this point. I've had these for awhile." Simon looked from the papers in my hands to me, then he grabbed one of my pens and started sorting through the stack.
"This was your alternate plan in case Makarov didn't let you take a mark, huh?"
"One of them." Mest was still dying of laughter. Did he get hit by a Tickling Hex? It can't be normal that he's laughing this hard for so long.
He is unenchanted, merely breaking a little inside because while everything else has changed, you have not. It is comforting for him to see.
Some onlookers had about the same aura, smiling through tears and bitterness. I pretended not to notice them and kept a lid on my own grief.
My decision to keep going was not an easy one. The chasm inside my chest where everyone should be living was cool, dead and motionless. Like my heart had stopped beating in a way. And them not being here hurt so much...
I miss them already. I miss Master making me wearing dumb hats, and Mira putting me in stupid girly coustumes. I miss Erza chewing me out for not having a whetstone. And Freed freaking out over something he thinks is too dangerous. I miss Natsu's hugs...And I miss Mystogan.
I forced my tears back to look over Simon's reaction to the papers he held. Specifically the long, long list of things he was liable for as long as I was a probationary member rather than a full one... I typically could alter how the world was, or how I saw it. But the dark, depressed aura hanging over Simon was all his own magic and not mine.
"Being Guildmaster means it will be my job to wrangle you and Kagura when you drag Wendy into some shenanigan." He groaned, reading the clause that mentioned the age restrictions and quest censoring. He pulled that paper out and placed it face down on the table.
He knows better than to try and restrict you.
"And certain other victims as well." The boy didn't quite manage to hide his smirk.
"Bold of you to assume that those two will be the only instigators."
I knew there was a prankster somewhere in there!
Simon groaned, Mest gasped for breath as he howled with mirth. Kinana slapped her tail on his back in some concern for his health.
And it...it got better.
-vVv-
We made plans. It was all we could do right now. Make plans and settle in for the oncoming storm that would be hitting our home soon.
I rushed through the final preparations of my Two Towers rewrite and sent it in for review and publishing. The guild would need to rely on some supplementary sources of revenue until some others of us built up our reputations enough to win back some of the high risk, high profit monster hunting jobs. Kagura was already working at perfecting her Gravity Magic, and was basically built to be a tank of a wizard. Wendy was throwing herself into studying with Porlyusica and was talking with her about opening a clinic to expand her influence from just guild centric to offering her services to other guilds to build cooperation and support. Rogue was not joining Fairy Tail of a lack of interest in being near us, but a desire for more independence and being his own man instead of Gajeel's second coming. His goal to join Sabertooth and position himself as a rival to Sting would connect that guild to us by our friendship. And Rogue would have no issues showing he was friends with us. I saw that plain as day.
And me? My job would be to keep writing and keep the entertainment revenues high. And to cover the jobs involving runes, wards and curses that the Thunder Legion and Team Shadowgear had once handled. Or to give it my best effort. Jet and Droy had experience, but Levy had been the expert. I'd probably do some local work with them and the Fury Squad before striking out alone.
And...I was also going to be working on other projects.
The metal headband that contained Naruto's story rested in my hands. This item had saved my life in Edolas and enabled me to fight on a level far beyond my own skills would have allowed. This idea was one I could take and make my own. There were dozens upon dozens of potential stories that invoked skills that could save my life and let me protect my family that remained.
I had no more teachers...but I had this, and everything I had learned from them.
Freed helped me organize my magic into script. Mystogan had helped me learn about magic items and their limits. (So far, the sky was not even touching on the upper crust of what magic items could do.) Jellal had introduced me to ritual magic, and helped me pioneer a new brand of suppression runes. Runes that would be ideal for securing live prisoners.
I have to make myself into someone that can survive situations where taking prisoners is an option. That meant, I needed to take a level in badass. Several in fact.
Kinana nosed about the boxes in my room as I sat down in a safe, secure place...and pulled the scroll from the Nirvit elder out from under my bed.
The immense bloody history lay covered before me in my minds eye. Looking at the fall of that country would be horrifying.
Nothing can be worse than Acnologia. The glimpse of that dragon's past that I had felt by being in proximity. That had been pointless death and terror. But this had a purpose. there was a glorious beginning and a powerful golden age before the Nirvit's sad end. There was something I could learn...
They were craftsmen, they used magic in every part of their day. It was an instinctual thing for them. And theories were already out there about the benefits that came from making magical items when the raw materials were also made by you. Like the legends of a wizard who had begun his life as a blacksmith and gone on to make any number of legendary swords, armor and jewelry. Or the stone mason who had built Kardia Cathedral and had built it to last.
"Kinana, I'm going to be doing aimed intense study. If Wendy comes in, let her know that I'm alright." The transformed woman wound her way closer.
:If you begin to writhe or weep, I will disturb you.: she promised. I hemmed and jawed a bit.
"Well...writhe, yes, crying...I can't guarantee it won't happen. I'm going to be reading some pretty sad stuff." She gave a soft huff of breath in my ear that spoke volumes to her irritation.
:Very well, fairy child. But I will keep watch and will rouse you from your sleep.: she jerked, head tilting. :Sleep? That is not the correct word...:
"Probably a linguistic barrier thing." I soothed her, running a hand down her neck. "Give it a few months for your identities to finish merging and then we'll take a crack at getting your human form back."
She coiled onto my bed and I turned to the scroll in my hands...
It was sealed with a carefully transcribed spell. If I was reading it correctly, breaking the seal would let a lot of super condensed Archived knowledge out into the air. And I would need to catch it at whatever rate it emerged and assimilate it quickly.
Ready Morgana?
Let us begin.
-vVv-
My initial study session was less an actual learning experience and more so absorbing the immense knowledge of the Nirvit people and their history. I ended up passed out with a bloody nose and a very distressed snake moving around me, cursing the reckless fool hardiness of hatchlings with necks and fangs too short for the prey they hunted. (It made more sense in Parseltongue.)
But the sheer mass of the knowledge was not the issue. It was one small series of facts tucked into the origin of the creation of Nirvana that had floored me.
About Zeref.
The Nirvit's had been among the few people world wide who had been openly accepting of magic. Including the inverse of magic, which was of course Curses. Zeref was cursed.
The Curse of Contradictions. The penalty inflicted on those who meddle in Laws beyond the prescribed control of mortals.
The irreversible Laws. The Law of Time and the Law of Death were the two primary ones that affected mortals. Meddling with one almost always got you a penalty from the other or both. The lost magic, Arc of Time, was lost because the odds of someone being born with enough magical capacity to use it without bringing a curse was astronomically small. Celestial Law was on another level entirely, but it operated the same way. There were some things that straight up could not happen.
This curse Zeref was what I had sensed. That caused things to die around him. How he had been cursed was still concealed by layers of secrets, pain and heartache. But this curse, that was only controllable when he didn't care who he hurt with it, was something the Nirvits decided to try and defy.
Nirvana, the transforming of Darkness into Light, had been made to try and break Zeref free from his curse.
And it had almost worked. Nirvana had taken in so much death energy that Zeref had gone from killing everything around him without stopping to him being able to control it and actually be around some beings for short periods of time. Then of course, Nirvana had gone mad and Zeref's own reputation had surged when he started on the Second Age of demon creation, the lesser, small one. Some of which Mira had devoured and unified to create her base Satan Soul form.
The surge of grief and sadness at remembering Mira unsettled me from my zone for a moment before I refocused on the new knowledge in my head.
From which I could 100% divine the means to create a spellbook...and so much more.
They're out of my story for the time being...but the story goes on, and on.
-vVv-
I stood on the beach and looked out over the water. It was cold, the wind and spray nipped at my cheeks and arms. My hand was clasped tightly around the guild symbol that I had to wear openly. A palm sized, round edged flat token with our mark emblazoned on it's center. It was made of clear glass, made by Warren and Macao in collaboration, and cocooned in protective spells to keep it from shattering in my work. What the symbol was made of didn't matter as long as it was openly worn and easily recognizable. Simon had finalized the paperwork to induct me as a probationary member, and I would need to renew that status every six months in order to remain as a viable guild member.
Is it wrong that I want to talk to them and they've only been gone gone for a week?
I didn't think so. It was normal to miss people you loved if they were gone, even if they weren't dead. It was normal to...pretend they were still there.
My hand tightened, the familiar sigil pressing tightly into my palm. And standing out there on the beach in the twilight, I let my tears fall as I watched the light fade from the winter sky. I didn't collapse and sob, I made myself stay upright and just cried.
I cried for the years that would pass until I saw my friends again.
I cried for the time that I would lose with my family.
I cried for the small, irrational fear that whispered in my heart that my magic was wrong and I would never see them again.
"It's not fair." I told the symbol in my hands, as if it could convey the message to my missing friends. My throat tightened and I tried not to choke on the words. "I only had you for three years. That's not long enough. I still need you all. Why did it have to be like this? Why did he have to come right then?" If Acnologia hadn't showed up, everyone would still be here. I wouldn't be orphaned again.
I felt Morgana stir in my mind and reach out tentatively to the magic we had anchored in our bracers. The protective Patronus charm that used happy memories as a buffer against outside misery. Only she twisted some of the runes until-
A surprisingly solid looking hand seemed to rest on my shoulder. I looked up to see a copy of Mystogan smiling down at me. I couldn't feel his hand though. But just seeing him brought everything rushing back.
"Grow up and be amazing for the rest of your life. I'll miss you for the rest of mine. I love you, Fae."
Another flare through the lacrima from Morgana. Another hand on my shoulder.. Freed looked down at me now.
"Fae, you were more than I ever could have hoped for."
I looked back and saw still more faces. More friends.
Loke. Still wearing that funny, formal suit that he donned when Lucy called on him as a Celestial Spirit as well as a friend.
"You're safe now."
Erza. Hair glowing like a crimson beacon of defiance against the grey sand and sky.
"Everything must change."
Gray, missing his shirt, but that was to be expected. And you'd never have thought an Ice Wizard could have such a warm look in his eyes.
"Little short for a full on name."
Lucy. Bright, beautiful, so new and uncertain in her identity as one of our guild, yet fitting in as though she had been born to be part of us.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world, kid." Another soft pulse of my magic and I looked forward to see Natsu standing before me, his hand was resting on my head, ruffling my hair gently. Nothing was actually happening, but I remembered the familiar feeling so potently that...If I closed my eyes, it was almost like he was there, with the smell of fire smoke and the perpetual warm aura he gave off.
"You'll be ok now, I promise."
Surrounded by those memories...I opened my eyes and faced the empty horizon with more courage than I felt and more determination than I could muster by myself.
The illusionary copies of my friends were gone. But I summoned them back by letting my mind drift deliberately through all the experiences we had together. Lingering on the details of each one until they all stood arrayed behind me in such a lifelike appearance that they could almost have been there. Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Gray, Happy, Mystogan, Gajeel, Levy, Pantherlily, Carla, Freed, Laxus, Bickslow, Evergreen, Elfman, Mirajane, Lisanna, Juvia, Cana, Gildarts, Jellal and Makarov.
I will not forget. I told myself, letting my guild symbol rest loosely from the sash I had tied it onto. Not a single detail about them. I'll remember everything until our stories cross paths once again. I then turned and looked out at the horizon that had taken my friends and not yet given them back.
"You might not recognize me when you do come back." I whispered. "I'm not waiting to grow up anymore. I can't wait for you to be there for those milestones. But I will still be here. Fairy Tail will still be here. I promise..."
I am so lucky to have all of you in my life.
Rest well everyone. Be safe with First Master Mavis watching over you.
I'll see you soon.
This story is far from over.
A/N
Let's be honest, I could leave you on to a far worse cliffhanger than this.
Write the Future is officially finished. Fae's story will continue in her sequel: Scribe of the Sidhe.
VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Scribe of the Sidhe will not be my focus for a while. Like probably a year or more. I will be returning my attention to my other unfinished project, Songs in the Light. I've left that one alone for...maybe a little longer than I should have. My plot bunnies are starting to come after me wielding Masamune and demanding answers for why I left that story on a cliff for almost 2 years... I fear for my sanity.
But! Don't worry too much, the highlights of Fae and our other intrepid Fairy's adventures will be shown over the 7 year timeskip. Fluff, feels, angst, shorts and omakes, both canon and crack, will be posted periodically in Fae's short story collection: Fairy Drabbles.