Yes this chapter was released early. But just this once and another one will probably be coming next month, consider it a gift for the new year if you will. Also I haven't mentioned this, but there's something else I've changed in the overall Fairy Tail story. It's nothing massive, well not yet anyway, but I'm sure you'll all figure out what it is in no time.
Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail
Were one to overlook the two bandaged up dragon slayers, they'd never be able to tell that the entire guild had recently been involved in a massive internal conflict. The hall was filled with cheerful conversation and the odd laugh, something which brought a smile to Garion's face. He was sitting at a table near the centre of the hall next to Levy, and was engaging in idle conversation with her and the few other members that were cluttered around the table. Part of the reason the guild was so upbeat and cheerful was because Erza had assured everyone that the master was going to be fine, thanks to Porlyusica.
Speaking of the tree hermit, in addition to helping the master recover she'd also examined Garion to see if he was suffering from any after affects of his absorbing of power from Fairy Law. He'd more or less checked out completely fine, but Porlyusica had still issued a strict command ordering him to not do anything physically straining for the next few days. Naturally Garion hadn't been a fan of the idea, being a young boy bursting with energy most of the time, but he had quickly agreed after Porlyusica had threatened to hit him on the head with her broom if he didn't follow her orders. Whilst he was one of the few people in the world she could actually tolerate, that didn't excuse him from her usual behaviour towards other humans.
"I'm really looking forwards to the parade tonight!" Garion said enthusiastically. Levy turned her head to look at the boy and nodded in affirmation. "Same here." She paused. "Are you nervous?" She asked. Garion paused for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yeah... I just hope the people like what I'm gonna be doing..." His voice had lost some of its previous enthusiasm and his smile had fallen slightly. "Don't worry Garion. You'll do fine, I know you will!" Levy said reassuringly. She wasn't that surprised he was feeling nervous, after all he was only 14 and he'd never been part of the parade before so him being nervous was to be expected.
Garion looked at Levy for a moment before smiling and giving a quick nod. "Thanks Lev!" The blue haired girl smiled at him. "It's a pleasure Garion." She replied. The conversation was about to continue when the noise level in the building inexplicably dropped to almost non-existent in about 5 seconds. Whispers burst out amongst the members of the guild, and when Garion and Levy heard the name of who it was, they both shot to their feet.
"Laxus?" Macao asked. The man in question was walking towards the centre of the hall, bandages covering a fair portion of his body and face.
"What do you want?" Wakaba demanded, his tone harsh.
Garion and Levy moved to the edge of the small group that had formed around the lightning dragon slayer.
"Where's the old man?" Laxus asked in a neutral tone, no hint of anger in his tone. His request sparked off an aggressive reaction from Jet and Droy, and quite soon after many other members joined in both refusing Laxus's request and demanding to know his intentions for wanting to see the master. Levy tried to calm everyone down but her efforts were in vain. However a certain red head was watching and was not at all impressed by the situation.
"Everyone quiet!" She commanded. The building fell silent in an instant, none daring to risk the wrath of Titania. The S-class wizard looked at Laxus. "The master's in the infirmary." The lightning wizard said nothing in reply and started to walk forwards, but as he passed Garion he turned his head slightly and gave the boy a look. Not one of anger, or hatred or even annoyance, just a look. Garion blinked and by the time he realised Laxus had actually looked at him the man had walked past. Curious, Garion started to follow the man as he journeyed across the hall.
Natsu leapt in front of Laxus, giving the man reason to pause. The fire dragon slayer raised his unslung arm and pointed it at Laxus, muttering something incomprehensible to most the whole time. Once he was done Laxus simply walked past him, not a word escaping his lips. As he reached the steps, he simply raised his right hand to where it was visible by all. As he finished ascending to the second floor, Erza clapped her hands together. "Shows over guys. Lets get ready for the fantasia parade!" At once, a chorus of yells went up in response to Erza's statement, majority of them being shouts of joy, a few other being of panic as almost no-one had gotten anything together or ready for the parade.
Garion spun around to look at Levy who didn't even need him to talk for her to know what he was going to ask. "I'll help you get ready for the parade don't worry!" Levy said with a smile. "Yeah! And we'll help too!" Jet and Droy interjected before Garion could reply. "Well I'll help more!" Jet snapped. "No I will!" Droy retorted. "No I will!" Jet opposed. "No I will!" Droy countered.
"Why don't we all agree you're both going to help equally?" Erza chipped in calmly, but her menacing aura was clearly present. Jet and Droy fell into line instantly. "Y-Yes Ma'am!" Titania smiled. "Good. Now get to work!"
"Yes Ma'am!"
The two men sprinted off. Erza turned her head to look at Garion, a small smile on her face. "Since it's your first year I assume you'll be needing assistance with the preparations?" she asked.
Garion nodded. "Yes please!"
"Right then, lets get to work!"
"Aye sir!"
*That evening, the streets of Magnolia*
The Fantasia parade was in full swing. Essentially the entire population of Magnolia plus a large number of travellers cluttered the edge's of the streets where the parade was passing through. The floats ranged from massive sea like creatures to massive rabbits to large platforms and even one or two small moving castles. Fireworks and magic filled the sky's, the air around the floats decorated with hearts, stars and other varying shapes. Cheers were constant coming from the spectators, large numbers of which were wearing costumes based on the guild, from Happy hats to Plum outfits. Every member of the guild was doing something that was earning "oohs" and "aahs' from the crowd.
Aside from Elfman, who's imposing form in his beast soul and his terrifying roar made many spectators who were at the front of the crowd suddenly find themselves with brown trousers.
The parade continued, Gray and Juvia directly behind Elfman and Mira. Erza was after them. Following behind her was Garion who was doing an impressive display by forming his light into little angelic figures who flew into the air and exploded like fireworks, raining particles of white light down onto the spectators. Several of his little angel figures formed a line in front of him and when he nodded they flew into the air one by one and exploded, forming the words "Fairy Tail" in the sky. He repeated this with his darkness magic, earning a few gasps of amazement as he did so. The boy had the largest smile on his face he could possibly manage.
Natsu followed Garion, and following him was a display with Reedus and several other members. Follow them was the float the master was on, who was putting on a rather goody yet enjoyable display. Laxus was standing towards the back of the crowd, having come forwards from the shadows where he'd been previously. He watched Makarov begin his display before he looked down at his hand, old memories coming to the surface. He extended his thumb and forefinger, just the way he'd shown his grandfather he'd do it all those years ago. A content smile was on his face as he looked up at his grandfather once more.
Turning his body around, Laxus began walking towards an alleyway with his eyes closed in content. He only managed a few steps before he stopped, opened his eyes and slowly turned to look at the parade. His eyes widened in shock when he saw Makarov doing the very signal Laxus had taught him all those years ago, arm raised in the air, forefinger and thumb extended with the back of the hand facing forwards. As one, the rest of the Fairy Tail wizards followed suite, everyone raising their arms in respect to Laxus. Tears stung at the corners of the lightning wizards eyes, and mere moments later they rolled down his cheeks. "Grandpa..." He muttered.
"I may not be able to see you... there may be hundreds of miles between us... but I'll always be looking your way. I'll be watching over you forever, I promise."
Laxus turned and started walking away, tears still rolling down his face. "I know. Thank you Grandpa..."
A week has passed since the harvest festival. Life in the guild has more or less returned to normal, most members having gotten over what had happened during the battle of Fairy Tail. Word of Laxus's expulsion had spread through the guild during that time and there had been varying reactions to it. Garion had sort of understood why Laxus had been kicked out but he also felt that if he had been truly sorry about what he did then there was no reason to kick him out.
He walked into the hall, making his way over to the bar. He had just gotten back from a job involving some bandits raiding a small town to the north east. It hadn't been difficult, none of them had been mages so he'd been able to finish the job and get back to Magnolia within the space of 4 hours. He was back to his usual bubbly, cheerful and energetic self, having done about a dozen jobs since he'd been cleared for them again by Porlyusica. He'd taken a bit of a break from his relentless job doing after buying his house, but he'd been growing extremely restless over the last few days so as soon as he was able, he'd rushed off to do a whole bunch of jobs.
He reached the bar where Mira was in the middle of cleaning a glass. "Jobs done." He said to the barmaid. The demoness gave him a sweet smile and placed the glass she had just finished cleaning into the cupboard before closing it. "Well done. Any more jobs that you're planning to take on today?" She asked, picking up another glass to clean. Garion shook his head. "I'm going to do some shopping quickly just to get some food and other things I need, but I'm going to stay in the guild for a bit to relax. I'll take a whole bunch again tomorrow."
Mira nodded in approval. "Make sure you get soap, shampoo and some toothpaste." She said, her voice taking on the same tone she used when reminding Elfman of similar things. "I will Mira. I need to get some anyway, I'm starting to run low." He said. The barmaid smiled at him and finished drying off the glass in her hand. She placed it back in its relevant cupboard and ran a critical eye over the bar, assessing its cleanliness. She gave a satisfied nod when she determined it was up to standard. "See you later Mira." Garion said. Mira smiled back. "See you later."
He turned around and began walking towards the centre of the guild. He was looking around the guild idly, not really having an idea for where he wanted to go, he just wanted to take a walk through the guild. He looked towards the stage and then tilted his head upwards to look at the second floor. With a frown, he realised he had yet to actually go up there since the rules about the second floor were changed. Same as everyone else in the guild, Garion wanted to become an S-class wizard. In fact, he held onto the quiet hope of being chosen for the trials at the end of the year. His main reason for wanting to obtain the title was that he'd get to go on more exciting and wondrous adventures once he became S-class. It wasn't for the massive hike in reward money. In fact when Garion had first started doing wizarding jobs, more often than not he'd finish the quest, tell the contractor it was done and leave before he received his reward. The reason for this was because he'd used to sprint off to get back to the guild as quickly as he could so he could take another job. He'd simply done jobs for the sake of doing jobs and being able to adventure. Helping those in need had also been a large part of it. He'd eventually stopped running off the moment the job was done so he could get the reward, but after a while he'd found himself with more money than he really needed.
And that was what lead to the idea of him buying his own house. That and he'd been living with Levy for the past 3 years. Whilst only female members of the guild were allowed to live in Fairy hills, an exception had been made for Garion. In exchange however he had to pay the full rent each month. It was about 4 months ago he'd made his decision to buy his own house. After that, he'd worked non-stop to get the money he needed.
"The cards have told me you're to have a fateful encounter today." A semi-drunk voice slurred from behind Garion. He turned his head and upon seeing Cana and Lucy turned his body as well. He tilted his head as he looked at the card in the brunette's hand. "A fateful encounter..." Lucy mumbled from where she was sitting next to Cana. "Wait are you telling fortunes Cana?" Garion asked excitedly. The renowned drinker turned to look at the boy. "Yeah I am... if you want I can tell yours."
"Please please please please could you Cana? Please?" Garion practically begged. Cana and Lucy couldn't help but chuckle and giggle respectively at Garion's excitement. "Sure thing kid, just keep your shirt on." Cana said. Garion's head bobbed up and down as he nodded. Cana reached into her back pocket for her cards and when she felt her fingers come into contact with the magical cards she gripped the whole deck and pulled it out before holding it out to Garion. "Shuffle them a bit before taking a few out." She instructed. Garion did as he was told and started to rather haphazardly shuffle the magical cards, nearly dropping the whole deck twice.
"All-right Garion that's enough." Cana said, partly because she was sure he'd shuffled it enough and partly because she was worried he'd drop the deck if he kept going for much longer. "Now draw 3 cards." He nodded and did as instructed, drawing three cards and placing them face down on the table. "All right, lets see what the cards say." Cana said. She was interested to see what the cards would say, since she'd never had the chance to tell Garion's fortune before. Garion was looking at the cards expectantly, waiting to see what they said.
Cana reached forwards and flipped the first card over. On it was a large golden heart with pure white feathers around it. "Not very surprising." Cana observed. "What's it mean?" Lucy asked. "The heart of gold. Only those with pure hearts draw this card from the deck. I kinda expected it of little Garion over here." She looked at the boy who was frowning at the card. He looked up at Cana. "What's that mean?" He asked, referring to what Cana had said. "It just means you're a really good person Garion, don't worry about it." She gave the boy a reassuring smile and with a nod he simply accepted what she'd said.
"Moving on..." Cana turned the next card over. This one showed a man kneeling down to help what appeared to be a beggar to his feet. "Always willing to help others. Suites Garion perfectly." The card wizard stated, glancing over at the boy. He was just looking at the card with his head tilted slightly. "I don't see how that's special. Shouldn't everyone always try to help everyone else?" He asked. "Yeah they should Garion... yes they should..." Cana trailed off. "Last card!" She declared, reaching forwards to grab the edge of the final card with her fingers. With a flick of her wrist, she turned the card over...
... And blinked in surprise when she saw what it was.
The card showed a man and a women holding hands with their foreheads pressed together. Even Lucy was a little confused by the last card. "Um... what's that mean?" Garion asked, breaking the silence. Cana turned her head to look at the boy, mouth slightly agape. No way... did I... did I call it? She thought. She turned her gaze back to the card and blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Lucy frowned at the card but then her face lit up in realisation. "No way..." She mumbled
Garion had a confused expression on his face, his brain trying to figure out what the card on the table meant. Cana let out a large sigh several moments later. "It's romance Garion. It means you're going to meet a girl at some point and most likely end up falling in love with her." She said, her tone suggesting she didn't quite believe her own words. Garion blinked. Then he blinked again. And again.
Then it hit him.
"D-did you s-say l-l-love!?" Garion asked incredulously. "B-But I thought... l-l-love was s-something that only h-happened w-when you were grown up!". Lucy and Cana exchanged amused looks before giggling. "No silly, its not like that. The card doesn't that you're going to walk out into the street and suddenly bump into whoever you're destined to fall in love with. You might meet her in a year, or ten, or even more. The card doesn't say when so relax, you'll probably be a grown up when you meet her." The brunette reached out and ruffled Garion's hair a little. She then raised an eyebrow. "What? Don't you like the idea?" She asked.
Garion's expression clearly showed he didn't have the faintest idea of what to say in response to that. Cana chuckled and patted him on the head. "Relax Garion I'm just having a go at you." She said. The card wizard withdrew her hand from the top of Garion's head and gathered up the cards that were on the table before returning them to her deck. "So happy with your fortune?" She asked. Garion nodded. "Thanks Cana." He said with a smile. "Pleasure Garion. Don't worry too much about the last card, like I said it'll probably only happen when you're older." The blond haired boy nodded. "Got it Cana. I've got to go, see you guys later." The young wizard said before he turned and ran out the guild hall.
Cana turned to Lucy. "So do you want the rest of your fortune told as well?" She asked. Lucy shook her head. "No thanks. Maybe later." She politely said. Cana raised an eyebrow. "You sure? Afraid you'll get the romance card?" she teased. Lucy's cheeks gained a tinge of pink and she rounded on Cana. "No I'm not. Besides I'm not even interested in anyone right now." She said. Cana's eyebrow went higher. "You sure?" She asked. Lucy was about to retort when 2 images appeared in her mind.
A flash of pink. A toothy grin.
Her blush intensified and she shook her head. "Yes I'm sure, absolutely sure! No one I'm interested in whatsoever. I am definitely sure" she stated firmly. We're just friends, come on Lucy you're brain's just being stupid. No way that'll ever happen.
...
...
...
...right?
The girl looked up at the shelf stacked with bottles and various other articles related to personal hygiene, more specifically the bottle of shampoo on the top shelf. She turned and lowered her head to look to her right, brown eyes scanning to see if anyone was there. When she couldn't see anyone in the isle she turned her head to look to her left down the isle. Unfortunately there was no-one there either and she turned and tilted her head to return her gaze to the bottle on the shelf. I wish Carla had come... she'd be able to get that bottle without any trouble... The girl thought. And with no-one nearby to help, I guess I'll have to try and get it.
She placed the bags she was holding on the ground and took a step forwards, her long dark blue hair swaying slightly. Standing on the tips of her toes, she tried to reach for the bottle, her arm stretched out as much as it could be. The tips of her fingers brushed against the side of the bottle and she tried stretching further so she could get a grip on the it and be able to remove it from the shelf. Unfortunately her efforts only ended up pushing the bottle further out of her reach, prompting her to pull her arm back and return it to her side as well as fall back on the balls of her feet. She slumped her shoulders. I need to get that shampoo, its the only one Carla likes. I wish someone was here who could help...
"Do you need help getting that bottle?" A voice asked from directly behind her. Wendy Marvell screamed in fright, nearly jumping out of her skin. She spun around to face whoever it was that had just spoken, her breathing faster than normal and her right hand clutching her chest. She came face to face with a boy who was just a little under half a head taller than her with messy sandy blond hair and light blue eyes filled with energy. His expression was confused, his head was tilted to the side slightly and he was leaning away from her. Realising she'd just screamed inside a shop and right in front of someone else, a wave of embarrassment washed over Wendy and her cheeks changed to a brilliant shade of red.
"I-I'm so sorry! I-I just... I wasn't expecting someone to be standing behind me..." She stammered. The boy blinked before he realised Wendy had spoke. He stopped leaning away from her and smiled. "It's alright. I'm sorry for scaring you like that..." He said sheepishly, raising his right hand to scratch the back of his head. The boy removed his hand from the back of his head and Wendy lowered her hand from her chest to her side.
"So you need help getting that bottle?" the boy asked. Wendy nodded. "Y-Yes. C-Could you please get it down for me?" She asked. The boy smiled and nodded. Wendy's eyes widened when 2 white wings formed on his back. He... He's got wings like Carla! But then she noticed the difference. There was a symbol in light blue in the middle of them. In a single smooth motion the boy leapt into the air and snatched the bottle off the shelf and landed back on the ground, holding the bottle out to Wendy. "Here you go." He said with a smile. "T-Thank you! Thank you very much!" Wendy said gratefully, taking the bottle from his hand and placing it in one of her bags."It's my pleasure." The boy replied. He then looked at Wendy and tilted his head slightly.
"You have nice hair." He blurted out. Wendy blinked and felt a bit of heat in her cheeks as they turned red again. "T-Tha-ank y-you..." She stuttered, eyes darting around. The blond haired boy blinked again and his cheeks also gained a tinge of red. "W-well... it's just... blue's my favourite colour... and your hair is blue... and it looks nice! So I... uh... I like... it..." he stammered. He scratched the back of his head again and Wendy stopped looking at everywhere but him.
"S-so w-what's your name?" Wendy asked somewhat hesitantly. The boy looked at her and suddenly seemed to perk up. "Garion Angelous! What's yours?" he asked with a smile. "W-Wendy. Wendy Marvell." She answered, managing a small smile. "Nice to meet you Wendy!" Garion exclaimed cheerfully, his smile widening. Wendy felt her smile get a bit wider. "Nice to meet you too Garion!" She said as cheerfully as she could. Garion's smile seemed to get wider and he picked up a bag that was on the floor next to him. "Do you need help carrying your stuff?" He asked. Wendy shook her head. "No, but thanks for asking." She answered politely. The sky maiden leaned down and scooped her shopping up in her arms. She stood up and turned her head to look at Garion. "Thanks again for helping me." She said. Garion smiled. "It was a pleasure." He said. "Are you done shopping? I am and was about to go pay until I saw you needed help."
Wendy nodded. The two set off down the isle with Garion walking on Wendy's right. That was when he noticed her guild mark. "You're in a guild?" He asked. Wendy nodded. "Yeah. I'm part of Cait Shelter. It's a nice guild, I really like it there." She turned her head to look at Garion. "Are you in a guild?" she asked. Garion nodded, a grin forming on his face. "I'm part of Fairy Tail. It's a really cool guild, there's lots of cool wizards in it and everyone's nice." he said. Wendy smiled. "It sounds like a nice place." She said. Garion nodded. "Yeah. Maybe you could come visit sometime?" He asked.
Wendy blinked. "W-What do you mean?" She asked slightly confused. "I mean visit Fairy Tail. We're friends aren't we? I'd love to show you what it's like. You can show me your guild too!" He said. Wendy looked at him for a moment before smiling. "Y-Yeah sure! That sounds like a great idea!" She exclaimed cheerfully, her mood further improving upon having made a new friend. The two smiled at each other. They reached the counter to pay and Garion let Wendy go first. Once they were both done they left the shop and stopped outside the entrance.
"It's been nice meeting you Wendy!" Garion said with a grin. Wendy managed to grin back. "It's been nice meeting you too Garion." She said. "I hope I get to see you again soon." the dual element wizard said cheerfully. The sky maiden nodded. "Me too!" She said. Something was different about Garion. Wendy had probably never made a friend that fast in her life up until that point, nor had she met anyone who she just felt so relaxed when talking to, except Carla. But she was happy. "See you later Wendy!" Garion said, but he didn't turn to walk off. "See you later Garion. Goodbye!" Wendy said. Garion smiled and nodded before turning and walking off down the street. Wendy smiled, turned around and started walking towards the train station. I hope I don't miss the train...
She was nice. Garion thought as he closed the front door of his house. He walked to the bathroom and removed the soap, shampoo and toothpaste from his bag. The bathroom was a modest sized one with the standard white tiles, a toilet to the right of the door, a massive bath tub directly across from the doorway and a shower on the left next to the basin. Once he was done he moved to the kitchen and emptied the bags out into the cupboards and fridge. The kitchen was about the same size as the bathroom, with a white counter, oven and fridge on the right with a washing up sink directly across from the door. On the left was another glass door which lead out into the garden. After that he walked back out into the main entrance hall and just stopped in the middle of the room. He turned his head to look at the hallway to the left of the staircase and took off towards it.
He reached the end of the hallway and opened the wooden door. The next room was a spacious room with large glass windows looking out into the garden. The floor was normal wood but fairly well polished. The only object present was a Piano in the middle of the room. It was a fairly old Piano, its oaken colour faded and the keys showed clear signs of extensive usage. Yet despite its age it's surface still had a faint gleam to it and still felt smooth to the touch. Garion sat down on the small stool in front of the instrument, raising his hands and letting them rest on the white ivory keys. He looked across the keys from left to right before returning his gaze to his hands.
He played a single note, the sound reverberating through the room. He played another, a lower note this time. And another, a much higher note. He played another note, this one in between the two previous notes in pitch. And another. He kept on playing notes, seemingly at random. After a while he stopped, his eyes never leaving his hands. He then started to play a slow piece of music, one of joy and sadness. It was no where near perfect, he played a lot of wrong notes but kept going, the sound echoing through the empty room.
The song ended and Garion rested his hands on his legs. "I need to get better." He sighed. The boy stood up and ran his hand across the top of the piano, a smile coming to his face. "I really enjoy this..." He said. "I'm glad Levy suggested it to me." He removed his hand from the top of the piano and closed the lid of the Piano. Garion had always greatly enjoyed music for some reason and a few years ago he'd started trying to play Piano. He was terrible at first but recently whenever he wasn't out adventuring he'd be working on his musical skills. He still spent a majority of his time on quests though.
He walked across the room to the door and out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.
And that's chapter 4! Thank you very much for reading and please leave me a review telling me what you thought and if I made any mistakes please point them out! I hope you enjoyed the introduction of Garion and Wendy to one another as well as the chapter in general. I wanted to say more here, but I can't really think of anything. By describing my problem, I have just managed to solve it.
Once more, I am a genius.
Once more thanks for reading, please drop a review and I will see all you awesome people again next year!
Happy new year all!