Okay, so I know that I have some spare chapters at the end of the story. I plan on those being extra fillers, such as the battle between Glareel and Maemi. Also, I reduced the reward amount. The billions felt like too much.
Also, this is a UA (Universe Alteration), where (SPOILER ALERT) the Tartarus Arc finished but the guild remained together, which means the recent chapters aren't going to be included in the future. c:
Disclaimers: I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters.
Claimers: I own my characters.
The battle had ended with a large flash. Everything around Maemi seemed to stop. Her heart felt heavy, her head ached. She saw Red beside her, who seemed to be just as confused as her. She found herself looking around for Glareel. The large monster was gone. Everything around them was white and light blue. Maemi sensed a large amount of magic around them.
Everything then seemed to fade away. She and Red were standing in a train station, a ticket in Maemi's hands. Her luggage was there too. She felt something in her pocket. She dug out a piece of paper that read: 'Thank you. Here is your well-earned reward…'
"Holy shit," Maemi whispered. Red hopped up onto her shoulder and glanced over.
"What's up, Mae?" The exceed curiously asked, looking at the paper.
"The reward… Holy… It's 400 million Jewels…"
"Jewels?"
"Fiore's main currency… Wait, where?" Maemi looked up and around. The intercom sounded off.
"5 minutes until the departure to Magnolia." Maemi looked at the ticket and began to read aloud.
"'Oppa's Train Station. Ticket bought: September 5th, x791. Train leaving: September 5th, x791. Thank you for choosing Oppa's Train Department, we hope you have safe travels…" Her light blue eyes widened. "x791? What the hell? I feel no different to when I was 19. Red, you feel any older?"
The exceed looked at her own body. "I feel like I'm 6 years old."
"I wanna bet that bastard Glareel did this. Sent us forward about 7 years it seems," Maemi muttered.
"Mae? Why were we transported to a train station?" Red asked, purely confused.
"I'm confused about that as well. But, the pro about this is that we don't need to waste another 7 years travelling back. We can just hop on board and get going to Fairy Tail today!" Maemi cheered aloud. "Let's get on board the train now!" She took a step onto the train, luggage in hand. Her motion sickness activated and she fell to the ground. Red laughed, and activated her Aera, picking the female up and bringing her to their seats. "Red…"
"Yes Mae?"
"I think… I might be sick…" Maemi slumped weakly against the wall, pawing at the window. She wanted it open.
"Just sleep until we get there!" Red cheerfully responded. Maemi lied down, her belly not making it any easier.
"I will. Just wake me up when we're near Magnolia… It's about a 2 hour ride," Maemi responded, drifting off slowly. The sick feeling remained in her belly, bothering her the entire time. It took a while, but she was finally asleep.
"Mae! Wake up! We're really close!" Maemi heard Red's energetic voice in the midst of her dream, which was odd enough as it was. Her light blue eyes opened in energy, sitting up and slamming her face against the window in energy. That's when her motion sickness kicked in. She nearly puked.
The train was beginning to enter Magnolia's station. Maemi was still sitting on the same side as she was last time. The train stopped. She must've been sitting in the same seat as when she left, considering that when she stopped, it was the same place where the guild had been waving goodbye to her.
She had a flashback of that scene. Maemi smiled softly at the thought. Red turned her Aera on, grabbing Maemi by the back. Maemi quickly grabbed onto her luggage, and they flew out of the train. Red floated Maemi onto the ground. The blonde was already looking around, feeling the nostalgia of the station. Though she had never really ridden the train, she had seen some of her friends off here.
"Eh, Mae? Where we gonna go first?" Maemi's thoughts were interrupted by Red's question, and she smiled.
"Well, first, I'd like to drop off my luggage at home. Don't want to lug this around anymore," she simply responded, beginning to walk towards the exit of the station. "After that, we'll make a grand return to Fairy Tail!" Maemi's eyes gleamed with excitement. Red has never seen her companion so excited or happy. Red smiled about this.
"This is your home?" Red asked, looking at the house before her. "It looks like it came from a fairy tale!" Vines had grown around the house, leaving the door untouched and had grown around the windows. Maemi stared at her home.
"It wasn't here when I left, so it must've grown while I was gone," Maemi speculated, grabbing the handle to the front door. She slowly opened the door and was suddenly tackled down, a loud voice yelling out.
"Whoever's that, go away! This is Mae's house!" Maemi simply saw a flash of pink hair.
"Mae, be careful! A monster jumped out of your house!" Red squeaked, grabbing a stick and clumsily swinging it about to fight the 'monster'.
"Eh? Mae? You're back!" All of a sudden, the 'monster' was squeezing the air out of her through hugging. "That was really quick!" Maemi tried to recap on what just happened within the past minute or so. She then noticed a white, scale-like scarf.
"Natsu?" Maemi asked.
"You actually know my name!" Natsu released and cheered. Maemi rolled her eyes. Something else emerged from her home, a blue exceed.
"Natsu, what's going on out here?" The exceed seemingly whined and looked about. The blue exceed pointed at Maemi. "Who's she?"
"Happy, this is Mae!" Natsu answered the exceed. Red was surprised to see another exceed and climbed up Maemi's back and onto her shoulder.
"You know the monster, Mae?" Red inquired.
"You got an exceed too, Mae? What's her name?" Natsu then quickly asked, picking Red up like he's known her for years. Maemi laughed gently, and Red was flailing her arms and legs around.
"He's too excited!" Red squealed, continuing to flail her tiny legs and arms. Both Natsu and Maemi burst into laughing. Natsu then put Red back down onto the ground.
"Her name's Red," Maemi chuckled as Red pouted. "How've you been doing, Natsu?"
"I've been doing AWESOME!" Natsu responded, grinning. "Aren't ya supposed to be gone another 6 years? You must be like 26 now!"
"Actually… I'm still only 19. The bastard I was fighting knew Time Magic so Red and I supposed he paused us for 7 years. Not to mention, we were at Oppa's Train Station when we were unpaused," then Maemi sighed. "It's a bit confusing. We were unpaused today." Natsu looked as if he was about to say something, but someone else called out.
"Oi, Natsu!" A male called out from a distance. "We're supposed to be going on a request soon, and here you are… Who's she?" He had dark blue-grey hair, and dark eyes. Maemi smiled as she instantly recognized him. But she was otherwise surprised that two weren't bickering.
"You've already forgotten me, Gray?" She asked and leaned against the house's wall. She couldn't blame him though. She has admittedly changed a lot since 7 or 14 years ago. Her hair length, her body, her voice, less chubbiness in her cheeks, or maturity, and she got a bit of a tan. Only a slight tan though.
Gray still seemed confused on who she was. A lot must've happened lately if she was forgotten that easily. She decided to let him figure it out by himself. All of a sudden, Natsu punched Gray in the cheek, probably annoyed that it was taking him that long.
"It's Mae, Stripper! She's barely changed! How long does it take to recognize her?!" Natsu yelled at the other.
"Barely changed?! She's really changed!" Gray responded, punching Natsu in return. Maemi burst into laughing, and then stepped between them, pushing them away from each other.
"Guys, no need to fight," she said with a chuckle.
After catching up with the two mages and putting her luggage in her home, and after introducing Red to Gray, they began to walk towards the guild.
"So, you were frozen in time for 7 years?" Gray asked as they walked.
"Yeah. Like I told Natsu, I just got unpaused today. Only a few hours ago," Maemi responded, putting her hands into her pockets. Red sat on her head, deciding the not intrude in the conversation, as she was too excited to get to Fairy Tail.
"Yeah, she's only 19!" Natsu added to confirm that she was frozen in time.
"That's odd. A while back ago, we disappeared for 7 years. We know why and such, but it's still a bit confusing…" Gray muttered, looking at the ground. Happy then interrupted.
"Aye! It was caused by the First Master! We were fighting a big, evil-looking dragon! We were gonna die, but the First Master saved us!" Happy explained, still leaving Maemi confused. She just accepted it though. At this point, nothing seemed to be impossible either way.
"The First Master?" Red echoed. "Mae, what's that supposed to mean?"
"The First Master of Fairy Tail, I believe," Maemi answered. "Mavis Vermillion. Wouldn't she be dead by now? The First founded the guild in x686, along with a few others if my history is right. It's x791 now. It could be possible the First is still alive, since 118 is pretty old, but there are really old people… Did you see the First?" Natsu, Gray, and Happy looked absolutely lost. Maemi heard Red giggle.
"You need to simplify it, Mae," Red giggled still.
"Okay…" She chuckled. "Did you see the First Master of Fairy Tail?" A simple question to start off with.
"Yeah, we saw her! A couple of times actually!" Natsu responded, his regular grin returning. "At the Grand Magic Games!" Maemi made a mental note to catch up with everything. Since when was there a Grand Magic Game? What even was that?
"Did she look young or old?" Maemi asked the second question.
"The First was pretty young. She barely looked 15," Gray now answered. "We know she's dead, though. Why with the questions?"
"Just trying to piece some things together. A ghost, spirit, or soul shouldn't be able to use magic technically, but I wouldn't. I didn't read much about other worldly spirits…" She answered, sighing. "Good thing the First kept you guys alive, though. Otherwise, I'd be utterly confused on what's going on…" Maemi paused. "What is going on, anyways?"
"Lately or entirely since when you left?" Gray inquired.
"Both," she responded.
"Everyone will have to fill you in. You'd be pretty confused since we got a lot of new members lately."
"Well, alright." Maemi had no clue that a lot meant tons of new members.
Maemi was astonished. "When did the Guild building get this big?!" She exclaimed, staring at the huge building before her. The orange banner with the white Fairy Tail symbol remained as a centerpiece it seemed. The Guild's doors were wide open, and when Maemi peeked inside, she saw a few familiar faces and many unknown faces. A new guild building, new members, her guildmates being frozen for 7 years… So much must've happened while she was gone.
"Wanna go inside, Mae? Everyone will be excited to see you again!" Natsu asked Maemi, who stared at the guild still. It still held the same nostalgia. She could sense the feeling of family and camaraderie from standing in front of it still, as she always had. Red was awestruck.
Red had heard stories at local taverns, stores, anywhere about the great Guild in Fiore. Finding out her best friend was from the guild of her dreams was a literal dream come true. But standing before the guild, to join, was something she never imagined. The exceed's eyes sparkled and gleamed. "Well, let's go inside," Red heard Maemi say. The exceed grabbed onto some stray hair on Maemi's head to get a grip, but didn't pull too hard.
"I think I'll make a large announcement as I enter. It'll make it easier rather than strolling about to everyone," Maemi remarked, a smirk growing. They were about to enter the guild. Red's heart was beating quickly and in excitement. Gray, Natsu, and Happy all entered the guild before Maemi, as Maemi stopped right at the edge of the guild's entrance. Red glanced down at Maemi, and she could now realize that her friend was nervous. Despite being a loyal member of the guild, she was nervous about returning. Red then lied down on her stomach on her friend's head, hugging the top of her head in comfort.
Maemi's confidence grew again, and she took a deep breath in and exhaled. Her two arms raised high above her head, her hands balled up in fists as if in victory. "Attention all you crazy weirdoes of this guild, Maemi Dyslin has returned from her dangerous adventure. Glareel has been conquered and I have returned!" Maemi made it sound like she was a knight in shining armor, returning from a horrific battle. The guild had grown silent as she announced. The unknown faces to her looked at her in confusion.
"Mae!" One voice broke the small silence barrier, and Maemi saw a girl with blue, messy hair run towards her. Maemi outstretched her arms in front of herself, preparing for hug.
"Hey Levy, how are ya?" The smaller blue-haired girl had then hugged her tightly, and Maemi hugged Levy right back. Natsu and Gray approached, and acted as if they hadn't seen her earlier, just for the idea of being welcomed back to the guild. They then hugged the two that were hugging on opposite sides. The giant hug disbanded.
"You're back! So quickly too!" Levy seemed to squeal in joy. A couple of familiar faces began to approach the group. One was swaying about from the left to right, a bottle of beer in her hand. Maemi stared at the woman, who she easily identified only by looks. The woman's dark brown hair was stood out. Her new attitude was surprising, and the woman flung her left arm over Maemi's shoulders to stand up properly.
"Heya there," the woman hiccuped. "Mae. How've ya been?" She swayed a bit still.
"Cana, you've changed quite a lot since I last saw you," Maemi laughed gently, and had come to the conclusion that the woman was intoxicated. Maemi began to blush violently when the woman jokingly poked her right breast.
"So've you!" Cana hiccuped again, and then fell face first to the ground, besides having Maemi's shoulders for support. Awkwardly, Maemi crossed her arms over her chest, but chuckled at the woman. She was completely hungover. She glanced at Levy.
"Is she normally like this?"
"Sometimes, yeah," Levy laughed awkwardly. The second person to approach was an armor-clad woman, her long scarlet hair flowing down. Maemi smiled.
"Nice to see you again, Erza," Maemi extended her hand to the other. She had remembered their promise for when she returned. Erza grabbed her hand, and shook it. Maemi felt the cold steel against her hand, but it barely bothered her.
"The same goes for you, Mae," Erza smiled to Maemi. The shake seemed to last for only a moment.
"So, where's the Master?" Maemi asked, releasing herself from the strong grip of Erza. "I need to report something."
"That old man's over sitting on the bar!" Cana responded, still lying on her stomach. Maemi picked Red up off of her own head and placed her on the ground.
"Red, I need you to stay here and get acquainted for now. There's something I need to speak about with the Master. After that, I'll see about getting you signed up here," Maemi's tone had grown serious. She gave her small companion a smile. The exceed nodded quietly, and looked at her friend's older friends. Maemi began to make her way towards the bar, which was easily noticeable.
As she walked, she saw many unfamiliar faces staring at her. Some of the older members gave her a smile, the ones that remained at least. She stopped as she saw the small, bald midget of an old man. She crossed her arms, and smiled. "Master, I need to speak with you about something…" The old man turned his head around to see her and nodded. There was a serious feeling about this.
Despite the older members seeming more cheerful now, the newer members approached some to ask: "Who's she?" The Master and Maemi exited out the entrance, to most likely walk around the town and to talk.
"So, considering that you returned, you defeated Glareel," The Master began. Maemi nodded solemnly.
"That's what I'm hoping. There was a bright flash which seemed to enclose Red, my exceed, and I. The monster was nowhere to be seen in the space we were in. When everything came back through, when we were no longer encased in the flash, we were standing in Oppa's Train Station, ticket and everything. Additionally, it seemed we skipped the past 7 years. We believe the monster had sent us through time, or froze us in time. I understand how that works, since Glareel had the ability to use Time Magic, but how we ended up in the train station… I have no clue on how that happened," Maemi responded. The Master was quiet for a moment.
"You said there was a bright flash. What color was the surrounding area?" He asked.
"White. There was a bit of light blue every once in awhile."
"Did Glareel attack you before you were surrounded by the flash?"
"Yes, I think. He attacked us, but it seemed like some new attack we hadn't seen before."
"The light blue makes sense then. When it comes down to bright flashes of colors or light, light blue can symbolize time travel. But white…" The Master paused.
"What about white?"
"It can symbolize many things. The most linked up the color white means Unidentified. But whatever it was, it moved you. And bought you a ticket to return home." Maemi sighed. This would confuse her for the rest of her life.
"Anyways, besides that, something happened a month into my adventure after I left…" Maemi began.
FLASHBACK
Maemi had been gone for a month now. She missed everyone. The 12 year old marched on, determined to get there as quickly as possible. If she trudged her feet through the dirt, she'd get there by the 20 years were up, probably!
It was beginning to turn to dusk as her long walk to a monster continued. She had walked constantly for the past few days. Her feet ached, she had a brewing headache from the dead silence. Maemi located a tree to relax, and crashed down under it. It's heavy foliage of leaves provided her some protection from anything above her, including extra rays of the sun. She had dropped her luggage down carefully, though.
She lied down against the soft grass beneath her. A breeze picked up, and the tree rustled its leaves to the wind's harmony. Her necklace felt cold against her collarbone, and she picked it up by the centerpiece, looking at the back. She raised the centerpiece up a bit. "Why is this such a long journey already?" She whispered. She stared at the sky as it began to darken.
She wondered what her friends were doing so far. Did they forget her already? Her own mind answered the question; they wouldn't forget her. Chances are, they were rooting for her, wanting her to get back as soon as possible.
Maemi sat up, and opened her luggage. She had bought supplies that would last her another two months, hopefully. She took out a pack of trail mix, and munched down on each little piece of it. She took out a water bottle as well, and took a couple of drinks here and there while snacking.
Well, the snack qualified as dinner.
She put the bottle away, and stuffed the plastic bag that the trail mix was in into her luggage's external pocket. She pulled the luggage up into a standing position, and lied back down onto the ground. She was exhausted. Curling up into a fetal position, she began to fall asleep.
She heard an unusual noise in the night. Her light blue eyes flew open. Despite saying she had terrible hearing, she honestly didn't. They were sharp. They could hear a pin drop to the floor even if there was a crowd talking. Her breathing felt tight and panicked.
"Who's there?" She asked, beginning to stand up, getting into an attacking stance. Her light blue eyes seemed to shimmer against the moon. There was more movement, and it seemed to approach. Whatever it was, it was pretty brave for moving. She approached the area of movement, her eyes scanning the darkness. "Show yourself!" She yelled out aloud. She heard movement again.
Except, the movement wasn't in front of her. It seemed to be in a different direction now. She moved to the new area. She put some of her energy into looking around.
Something then grabbed her by her hands, and pulled her hands behind her, making her unable to use them. This surprised Maemi, and caused her to flail around for a moment. She wriggled around. "Lemme go!" She twisted about, and then jumped off the ground, trying to flip backwards.
Instead, she flopped down onto her attacker and landed on her back. Her grip was released, and she got to a good distance away. The moon was bright enough to see who it was. The attack was dressed in some armor, but had the robes of a wizard. He conjured up a staff. It began to glow, as the man muttered: "Mor!" A magic circle, the color yellow, appeared beneath him. The staff's crystal began to glow the same color. A second magic circle appeared vertically in front of the staff's crystal. The runes were some sort of different language. "Yol: Ziik!"
A large, black symbol emerged from the circle, and hit Maemi in the stomach. She winced for a moment, as she hadn't been fast enough to dodge, but the symbol did no damage to her. "What the hell?" She echoed. She wasn't hurt. Was it just to distract her? The man then began to simply walk away. "What the actual shit?!" She screeched. This dude probably decided to bother her. Her own magic circle appeared beneath her. She inhaled slowly and then exhaled.
"Silver Dragon's Light Beam!" She put her two wrists together, and fired a single, silver-colored beam at the man, knocking him back a couple of miles away.
END OF FLASHBACK
"What about all of that?" The Master asked, as they were nearing the end of their stroll around the city. Maemi sighed.
"It left this," she said as she pulled her shirt up enough to see her bellybutton, with the same black symbol around her bellybutton. "Any clue on what it may mean?" She lowered her shirt back down. The Master shook his head.
"I wish I knew. You'll have to do some research… Levy should have some books on it, she almost always does," he responded. They had returned to the guild. "Who all knows you've returned?"
"All the older members. Except for Gildarts and Shocky," she answered.
"Still going to call Laxus by his old nickname?" The Master looked surprised.
"I don't see why I can't," she grinned. "All of the newer members seem to know my presence now, but don't know me. I don't know them either," she returned to the topic.
"I think you'll like them. They're a pretty nice bunch," the Master responded. They both entered the guild, and Red ran up to the Master. Maemi paused for a moment, and then remembered.
"Oh yeah, Master, Red wishes to join," Maemi added. Red stared up in absolute awe, and seemed as if she had sparkles in her eyes. The Master chuckled and looked down at the exceed.
"Just tell me what I need to do to join! I'll do it!" Red was under the impression that there was some sort of trial to join the guild.
"Just follow me, Red," the old man laughed, making his way to the bar. Natsu ran up to her, Happy tailing behind. A girl with blonde hair was being dragged along, since Natsu had grabbed her wrist and was dragging her there.
"Mae, this is Lucy! She's one of the newbies since after you left!" Natsu said as he stopped, and pushed Lucy in front of Maemi. Maemi smiled at Lucy.
"Nice to meet you Lucy, I'm Maemi," she greeted, holding her hand out to the blonde. Lucy smiled awkwardly, and grabbed her hand and shook it.
"Pleasure to meet you, Maemi… Natsu's been talking about you the entire time since you left to talk with the Master-!" Lucy was interrupted as Natsu began to push Maemi about now. "Natsu, we were in the middle of talking!" The blonde yelled.
"I've gotta get her to know everyone!" Natsu answered, running to a smaller girl, with blue hair tied up into pigtails. A white exceed is near her and is speaking with her. "Wendy! Carla! Meet Maemi!" Natsu stops Maemi in front of the two. "Okay, next up!" Wendy gave a simple smile and wave to Maemi, since Maemi got pushed away. "Gajeel!" They stopped in front of a man with long black hair and multiple piercings. "Meet Maemi! Okay, next up!"
"Natsu, slow down I'll get to know everyone naturally!" Maemi screeched will the rosy-haired dragon slayer pushed her onwards. They reached the bar, where Red had just received her mark. Three silver-haired people were there; one working behind the bar, and the two others speaking with the one working behind the bar. They turned their attention to Natsu and Maemi. "This is Maemi! And that's Mirajane," he pointed at the woman with long silver hair behind the bar. "That's Elfman," he pointed at the man with spiky silver hair. "And that's Lisanna!" He pointed at the girl with short silver hair. Lisanna and Mirajane waved to Maemi and Maemi finally managed to wave back, but got pushed forwards.
"Next up is Juvia!" He runs to a column, where a woman with blue hair is seemingly stalking someone. "Juvia, this is Maemi!" Maemi was getting a little annoyed by Natsu, but was now just letting it happen.
"Juvia is pleased to meet Maemi." Juvia spoke in third person. Maemi found it a bit odd, but oh well, Fairy Tail was an odd place already. Maemi simply waved since she got pushed again. In the sky, a black exceed flew in the air, going to Gajeel. "That's Pantherlily!" The exceed glanced down. "Pantherlily, this is Maemi!" He called up and kept going. He eventually stopped. He was looking around.
"What's wrong Natsu?" Maemi asked, slightly relieved to have stopped. She had to eventually properly speak to everyone now.
"There are supposed to be three other people…" Natsu muttered, climbing up onto a table to search.
"Natsu!" Erza's voice echoed a bit. Was it against the rules to stand on the tables now? "Where's Maemi?" The woman asked, standing on the second floor. Maemi had heard anyone was allowed up there now.
"Right here, why?" Natsu responded, pointing at Maemi. Erza quickly made her way down.
"We have a bit of a promise," Erza answered Natsu, as she made her way over. Maemi began to smirk in remembrance. The entire guild was paying attention now. Erza stood in front of Maemi, about 7 feet between them.
"That's right," Maemi answered, still smirking.
"Maemi, I formally challenge you to a duel!" Erza announced.
"Consider your challenge accepted!" Maemi laughed, her smirk remaining. "Winner gets… I'd say 10,000 Jewels for winning."
"10,000? That's barely enough!" Natsu screeched. Erza had began to smile and nodded.
"I accept these terms."
"I'll see you on the battlefield then, Scarlet!" Maemi seemed to vow. The entire guild stared at the two. They all knew Erza's powers, but could only wonder what Maemi's powers were. Levy and Cana looked surprised, and then smiled.
"What you smiling about, mouse?" Gajeel was standing next to Levy, glancing down at her.
"This battle is going to be interesting…" Levy answered, and bit her lower lip. "It might be the biggest and most surprising duel of Fairy Tail's entire lifespan!"
YAY! I finished the chapter! I procrastinated sooo long on this. Anyways, I'm going to be posting the new revised chapters every two days. So, since this came out on Sunday, the next chapter will be posted this Tuesday. Make sure to check sometime after 6:00 P.M. PST!
R&R
~Strawberrycheezecake~