Chapter 7: To Era!

Hello everybody! It's so good to see you again. Today I'll have a spacial treat for you guys at the end. Be sure not to miss it.

I don't own any of the characters except for my OCs.

Please enjoy today's chapter.

"Hurry up, Vic! We're leaving!" Called out Igneel to Fairy Tail's newest member.

It had been two days since the Magic Council arrested Helios, and its been gloomy ever since. Some members questioned as to why was he arrested if everyone in the guild had done it at least once. Others considered it as a wake up call and vowed to not destroy anything unnecessary again. Like that'll ever happen. All that was known is that Helios is going to pay everyone's charges, and that Nova and company are going to Era to defend him... or break him out. The team was composed by Nova, Igneel, Ur and Vic.

Everybody was waiting for Vic to pay his train ticket so that they could go. "Remind me why are you lot going?" Asked Nova with annoyance in her face.

"Cause Ur clearly loves him, am I right?" Teased Igneel wrapping his arm around Ur's shoulders.

"Which do you prefer, being frozen to death or drowned to death?" She snapped without taking off her glowering face. Igneel responded by nonchalantly removing his arm despite being clearly scared by her comment.

"Well, I'm his Best Friend so it's a given." He commented as to why he's accompanying Nova.

"What about you newbie?" Asked Nova towards Vic.

"Ms. Lisanna gave me a place to live in their house. It's the least I could do." He answered. Nova smiled, but when she turned to the train, her expression darkened. Ur saw the change in her expression and sighed. She turned to Vic but noticed his clothes.

"Why are you wearing Helios' clothes?" She asked with a bit of a hiss in her tone.

"Its the only thing that fits me. Besides, I haven't gone shopping to buy new clothes." Vic answered. Ur kept staring at him, and Vic slowly got unnerved.

"Anyways, you two go on ahead. I'll take care of our little problem." She said plainly ignoring his answer. Vic couldn't make out what had happened, but before he could even respond, Igneel grabbed him by the shoulders and the two boys walked towards the train.

"Don't worry about her. She's like that with everybody, even with her family." He clarified Vic's doubt. "Well, except for Helios. She's usually sweet around him." Both were at the entrance when they stopped to wait for their lady friends.

"Why only Helios?" Vic asked. Igneel looked at him dumbfounded.

"Dude, I said it earlier." Vic still had a confused face. "That she's totally in love with him." He further clarified as Vic finally understood why.

"Oh, right... Love." He said with a confused look earning him a smile from Igneel. "What?" He asked noticing his smile.

"Heh. Then you've got a lot to learn about love." He said while wrapping his arm around Vic's shoulders and looked to the sky. "Stick with me, and you'll be able to land your soul mate on your first try." He stated.

"Tell that to your previous date." Said Ur as she dragged Nova, who had a look of desperation. Igneel irked at her sharp comment failing to impress Vic, who only chuckled at Ur's stab.

"Well at least I'm not hung up on one guy." He shot back.

"What was that?" Responded Ur threateningly as cold aura surrounded her. Meanwhile, Nova was shaking for the sheer coldness that Ur was emanating.

Igneel immediately retracted his comment by cowering behind Vic. Ur stopped emanating and continued to drag Nova into the train. While Igneel cowered behind him, Vic only laughed at how easily his newly made friends argued. The four entered the train's cabin and sat at their corresponding seats. Vic could only watch as Nova was panicking, and Igneel and Ur were calm. "Uh, what's wrong with Nova?" He finally asked.

"Just wait for it." Answered Ur maintaining her gaze on the window. The train started to move, and Nova's face changed from panic to one that looked like she was very sick. Like if she had eaten bad food. "All Dragon Slayers have motion sickness. Pretty pathetic if you ask me." Said Ur.

"You do know Helios is a Dragon Slayer too, right?" Commented Vic. Though maintaining a serious face, Ur blushed in embarrassment at Vic's comment. Vic smiled at his new friends. Nova, one of the most powerful wizards in Fairy Tail, squirmed around while holding her stomach and muttering something about the train being a ride to hell, Ur remained with her bad morning attitude, and Igneel just smiled at Vic, who smiled back. These were odd friends, but they were Vic's odd friends.

Helios walked helplessly through the Magic Council's hallways. He passed by many different statues of old Council members like Yajima or Org. Even some Rune Knights had statues. Speaking of Rune Knights, they were transporting him to his cell and had not once talked to him. Helios liked that he wasn't much of a talker, but something nagged him. He wanted to know if his hearing was in public or not. While it didn't matter to any other individual, it did to Helios. He didn't like crowds, much less when it's around him. So he wanted to ask them, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Nobody looked at him. Not even the people inside the building. It's as if they weren't permitted to even look at him. Except for one person. This person had long black hair in a ponytail, but Helios could feel his eyes following him. Helios could only wonder why was he the only one that looked at him. Nonetheless, Helios kept following the Rune Knights to his jail cell.

"Who's the kid?" Asked the man keeping his eyes on him.

"From what I hear, he's from a member of Fairy Tail." Responded one of his colleagues near him. The man was surprised at his comment.

"About time they face justice. Do you know reckless they are." Said another.

"Yeah, but he's a kid. At least get someone like Erza or Gildarts." Argued the colleague.

"No. The Council needs someone relatively unknown." Said another man as the three men turned. "If they were to arrest Erza or Gildarts, people will know." He added.

"Hey, Henry." Said the black-haired man turning back his gaze towards the Rune Knights. "Need something?" He asked

"Councilman Q requests your presence, Lieutenant Oliver." Ordered Henry. Oliver sighed. He knew what it was about.

"Can't keep him waiting." He quipped as he pocketed his hands and headed towards the Council.

Nova continued to groan in pain, and Ur was getting annoyed by her constant groaning. Vic and Igneel, on the other hand, were getting to know each other better. "So, what kind of magic do you use, Vic?" Asked Igneel.

"I use Requip and Light Magic." He answered.

"Cool. I'm a Celestial Spirit Wizard." Igneel smirked.

"Really? What kind of keys do you use?" Asked the brunette.

"Got a few Gold Zodiac Keys and a few other Keys." Said Igneel showing off his keys proudly.

"If you two boyfriends are done stroking each other, I'd like some peace and quiet." Said Ur while keeping her gaze on the window.

"Geez your rude. At least be friendly about it." Responded Vic looking at her.

"Friendly isn't in her vocabulary, bud." Said Igneel. "She's like colder than the Ice Queen. Like an Ice Empress. No wonder she likes Helios. He makes her all warm inside." He shot at Ur.

"Says the Golden Idiot that can't even go on more than one date with a girl." She shot back. Igneel irked at her comment.

"Says the girl that hasn't even gone on a date with the only guy she's liked." He shot back. Their insults eventually turned into an argument. Albeit, it was only throwing insults at one another. Vic, in response to all of this, snorted, and Ur noticed it.

"What's with the goofy grin?" Asked Ur stopping the insult fight.

"It's just that you two are like Night and Day." Vic answered. "Night and Day." Vic suddenly remembered something from the fight. Something that surprised him. When Helios got to his fighting stance his entire demeanor changed at the blink of an eye. One moment he was sweating nervously, the next, he had a cocky grin. Igneel and Ur continued to bicker with each other, until Vic interrupted. "Hey guys?" he called out. "I've been meaning to ask. When Helios and Nova were about to fight, did Helios' entire personality change?" He asked. The two looked at each other and then at Vic.

"Should we tell him?" Asked Ur.

"He is going to live with him, so..." Igneel answered. He looked as if he was preparing to confess something big. Little did Vic know, it was. "Look, I know your new to Fairy Tail, but what we're going to tell you, must stay absolutely as a secret, ok?" Started Igneel with a serious tone.

"If you tell one soul, I'll freeze you and drown you at the same time." Ur threatened. Unlike the previous times she had threatened, Vic knew that this one threat was true. "Ok, here goes… Years ago, when we were kids, Helios wasn't a skilled fighter. Hell, he wasn't even decent at least." She started to explain. "He also didn't have the best self-esteem, either."

"Many of us tried to help him, but his progress was very slow at best." Continued Igneel. "So, one day, we hatched a plan." In that moment, Vic could see the regret in their eyes. "The plan was having a member of our guild, by the name of Mest, manipulate his memory and, in turn, his personality to make him confident and skilled." He further explained.

"When we told our parents, they refused, but we were kids. We just ignored them." Ur looked at Nova, who was paying attention to the conversation. "We asked Mest to do the spell. Though at first, he had refused, Mest eventually gave up and did the spell. He called it Night and Day." Vic was visibly surprised.

"We thought it was good, but as Helios got older, he became more violent, more impulsive and more bloodthirsty." Said Igneel. "He was still his usual self, but it was as if he was a ticking time bomb that would eventually blow up." He continued. "The worst part is that Helios is unaware of his increase in violent behavior, and we're worried that if we were to take away the spell, he would…" Igneel's hand clutched hard on his pants' fibre not willing to finish that sentence.

"We're telling you this because your going to live with him, and I, no, we want you to keep an eye out for him." Ur explained. "So, if there's anything, anything that seemed the slightest bit weird, tell us immediately." She ordered.

Vic was taken aback by their surprise confession. Even though he's new, Ur and Igneel trusted him for such an important task. "Who else knows about it?" He asked.

"Basically, every one of our age. Except for Robin. We haven't approached her yet." Said Igneel.

Vic looked down and then at his new friends. "I'll do it." He said with a determined face. Ur and Igneel's faces softened with happiness. They were glad that the new guy is going to help them. Suddenly the train's intercom announced that they were arriving at Era, and Nova groaned in happiness, but still with pain.

Helios lied on his cell's bed, sleepless, waiting for his trial to start. The only thing he thought was all the possibilities. Death's Row, slap on the wrist, life in prison, probation, no probation and many more. He was also sweating profusely that he felt all sticky and stinky. Luckily for him he was alone in the cell. No psychotic or sociopathic killers. No anything. He had his attention towards the ceiling, but then he felt a cold breeze near him. He looked around to find where it came from and saw the cell's window. He hadn't noticed it until now. He got off the bed to look through it and saw the stars clearly. It was a beautiful night in Era. He smiled, but it soon turned into a frown. He wondered how Fairy Tail's doing.

"Hey kid!" Yelled a voice. Helios flinched and turned to where it had come from. He saw an old man calling out to him. "Your new, right? What you in for?" He asked.

"Uuuhhh... who are you?" Helios asked back avoiding the fact that a possible killer was talking to him.

"Nothing important..." The two stared at each other. "So? Tell me." He demanded.

"Well... uh... extreme property damage." Helios saw the surprise in his eyes.

"Really? Is that it?" He asked once more.

"Yeah..." Helios said uncomfortably. The man huffed and left the very little light that everybody had. Leaving Helios to himself again.

"Ignore the guy." Said the prisoner next to him. "What's your name, son?" he asked.

Helios hesitated to answer, but something about him felt comforting. "Helios. Helios Strauss." He answered comfortably.

"Why that name?" he further questioned.

"Uh… well, my mom once told me that I was like the Sun to her so… yeah." He answered. It was odd that he was having a normal conversation with a criminal of all people, but of the few times he heard his voice, he still felt comfortable. Why?

"Then your mother must truly be sad since you're here." He replied. "Anyways, you should get some shut eye. I hear that tomorrow's going to a rough day for you.

"Yeah." Helios muttered to himself. Despite all his heavy thinking, Helios was clear on what his plea would be.

The next morning, Nova and the others made their way to the Magic Council's building to be in Helios' trial and defend him. Though everybody had a serious face, Nova had an evil grin on her face. Ur noticed it and sighed. "I can deal with Igneel, but never with Nova's sheer stupidity." She thought. "So what's the plan, Nova?" She didn't answer. "Nova, answer me." She demanded. Nova was still quiet. "It's unlike her to not talk." She thought to herself again. The four teenagers entered the building and Ur went to the front desk. "Good morning. If I may ask, where's the trial of Helios Strauss being held?" She asked the lady in the front desk. The lady grumbled and told her the directions. Ur turned to the others and signaled them to follow her. The four followed the lady's direction to the t, and found themselves in front of a giant door. Ur was about to open the door, until Nova stopped her. Ur paused and looked at her blonde friend.

It was a rather quick morning for Helios. He got up and was immediately sent towards his trial. He didn't even stop to eat breakfast or get cleaned. There Helios stood in front of the Magic Council. "Today, May 7, X812, the trial of Helios will be held." The man looked at Helios. "Helios Strauss of Fairy Tail, how do you-" he was interrupted by the doors slamming open revealing four teens. Two of which had a startled look, one had an annoyed face and the last had a grin on her face.

"Why'd you do that, Nova?" Groaned Ur.

"You always gotta assert your presence. Always." She stated plainly.

"Question, does Ur hate you more than Nova?" Vic asked to Igneel.

"No. Ur hates Nova more." Answered Igneel. The four then sat down at the empty seats. Meanwhile, Helios was blushing at what had happened. To tell the truth, this was one of the possibilities he had thought of.

"Who are you?" Demanded a councilman.

"Oh. Don't mind us. We're just here to support our totally innocent friend." Nova quipped. "Just pretend that we're not here." She said as the others groaned at the awkward situation they were in.

"As I was saying. Helios Strauss of Fairy Tail, how do you plead?" Stated the leader of the Council. Helios regained composure and looked at him dead in the eye.

"I plea guilty." Helios stated.

Well that's a nice cliffhanger, don't you think. Anyways here's the surprise. YOU! YES, YOU! YOU GET TO PARTICIPATE IN THE STORY! *GASP* but how you might ask. Well here are the rules. At the end of every arc, you can PM (Private Message) (BTW PM only) ideas for filler stories and side stories. It'll be open for one week tops. If you miss it by one day, I'll consider it, but don't try to send me one like two weeks after the end of an arc. That and so that my email doesn't get clogged up with requests from you guys. I'll go crazy eventually. Now if you are too late even for the eighth day, please wait until the next arc ends and then you can send it. In the meantime, please refine it or change some things that you might feel uncomfortable with. You might be asking yourself what kind of ideas do you want us, the readers, send you. Excellent question, my imaginary reader that'll always read my chapters, and obey the rules. You, the reader, get to send me an idea, and I'll write it out for a filler chapter for the story or an entire side story, but please specify in what category you want it to be. As you may know, filler stories are a hit and miss, and if you let me do one alone (without your ideas and help), then it'll be a definite miss, trust me. Now here are the rules for the stories:

For filler:

Make it fun. The filler plot cannot affect the overall plot. (Unless if I use it to my advantage to give some character development) Please specify the important plot points you want to emphasize. Like for example, X and Y go shopping and meet up with an old friend. The three then hangout, and so on and so forth. Keep it grounded, unless if it's a weird psychedelic dream, if so go crazy. No shipping chapters. If your idea is to ship two of my characters, please don't. I already have the ideas for the pairings, and if you don't like the pairing I chose/created then its not your cup of tea. Besides, you decided to read my story for the story itself, right? Right? Please tell me I'm right. Give them titles. (That's pretty self explanatory)

For non-canon stories:

Think of it like a movie, like "The Phoenix Priestess" or "Dragon Cry". A one and done side-story arc that doesn't affect the main story's plot. Please clarify at what points is it in between. For example, it's set between Arc G and Arc H. (These aren't real arc names.) Please specify the important plot points you want to emphasize. (See the one in filler) Your OCs for the side stories needed. No Mary Sues or Gary Stus. In other words, present a weakness that can be exploited by the characters in the side story. (In both Heroes and Villains.) Characters introduced into the non-canon story's plot cannot be used in the main story.

The ideas that I do end up using will obviously be credited to the readers who pitched it. The credit will also go to those who's pitch was similar to the one that was utilized. It's important to know that I might not do all of them. However, there are two important details. First, if you did pitch me something and I didn't use it, I give you my sincerest apologies and my thanks for taking your time and inventing something; it's really appreciated. And second, even if I don't use your idea when you send it to me, please know that I might use it later so there's hope for everyone.

Please follow these rules. If in the end you readers don't follow the rules, I'll stop. This will be treated as a privilege. So in other words, disobey and I'll never do it again even for other stories.

Also, one last thing. Please review because then I'll feel more motivated to write the chapters for you guys, okay?

Thank you for reading today's chapter and rules. I hope you have a good day or night. :)