A.N. Hey everyone. Time for the next chapter. First off, Stat Chart:
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I'm going off the Views increase that people are liking, or at least tolerating, the story. Oh well. Let's continue.
Romeo stood looking out towards the sea. Hoping to catch a glimpse, or even a small sign, of Natsu and the others. He had gone with Bisca and Alzack on a job and the three were returning back to the guild.
Unfortunately the guild had fallen into ruin in the past 7 years. A new guild, Twilight Ogre, had become the top dogs in the area. Inside the Guild Hall everyone was going about their day.
Max mentioned how it looked like they lost a lot of members. Everyone had changed, both physically and mentally. Soon the doors opened and a few Twilight Ogre members entered.
"Pathetic. No matter how many times I come here this place is always quiet."
Things started to get tense as they two groups stood their ground. Soon Twilight Ogre started trashing the place before leaving with the offer of one more month to pay their due.
A few seconds later a small folder of pictures of everyone that went missing spilled out onto the floor. A few members teared up and started crying. Things had gone downhill, but soon the Christina arrived, bringing news.
"Hey Romeo, sorry you had to stay behind." Macao says.
"Nah, even if they're lucky enough to find Tenrou Island. I doubt there's anyone still alive." Romeo responds.
Twilight Ogre came back, and Romeo started standing up to them. The lead member blew out the flame in Romeo's hand before swinging his club at him. From behind someone kicked him into the air.
An ice spell froze another member, an iron beam took out another, a sword cut down another, and a giant fist crushed the last one.
A large dust pile clouded the air, but when it dissipated everyone that went missing stood there. Everyone gathered around and listened to Makarov's story on what happened.
Everyone then caught up on 7 years of drinking, dancing, and singing. The following day everyone took it easy and just caught up. James just sat and drank, watching everyone fondly.
"It's been 7 years," James says to himself, "I'm sure Will must be worried. I should probably pay him a visit."
James left the Guild Hall and headed to his brother's guild. It was a relaxing walk, but he couldn't help but feel sad. He'd been gone for 7 years without any warning. He soon found himself standing inside the Southern Wolves Guild Hall. He started looking around, but couldn't see him.
"Hey, is William Winter gonna show up today?" James asks.
"The hell kind of joke is that?"
"What?"
"Will died 7 plus years ago."
"Wait, what? How?" James asks.
"I think it was from that incident at the resort or something."
James felt a bit of himself die.
"Thanks for the help."
James doesn't even bother walking and just portals back to the guild. Once there he gets a drink and sits in a corner. He doesn't even drink, just nurses the mug. Cana went over to him after escaping her father and noticed something was up.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Cana asks.
"...My brother...I just learned now...7 years later that he's dead..." James says, eyes tearing up.
Cana places a comforting hand on his shoulder.
James just shook his head back and forth.
"He was my brother. I love that bastard and..."
James pushed his drink away and slammed his head onto the table.
All Cana could do was hug James and comfort him. Through it all James didn't shed a single tears and eventually wiped his eyes.
"Thanks. I just needed a moment." James says, giving Cana a kiss on the cheek.
Cana left the Guild Hall for a bit before returning soon after. The next day Lucy brought a sword to James. It was Justitia. James thanked Lucy, while she apologized for not returning the blade before.
Later that day everyone started a dance party of sorts. James and Cana danced together well and soon Team Natsu was off. Things were relatively uneventful for the most part. Natsu told everyone about a strange group called the Butt Jiggle gang. Following that Lucy turned invisible.
James had started enchanting Justitia so it could hold Void Magic. On that topic, James checked his Magic reserve and found it was somewhat depleted. The spells he used took up a lot of Magic Energy, so he had to start restocking his storage eventually. They were up against Acnologia, so of course he lost a lot of magic fighting.
The newspapers talked about attacks on churches. Soon a blonde girl entered the guild and told everyone her name is Michelle and she's a distant relative of Lucy. The two conversed and James just sat with Cana and observed.
Michelle brought a large case and told Lucy about her father. Apparently the case held a memento and it was Michelle's mission to deliver it to Lucy. Lucy opened the case and inside was a strange looking item wrapped in cloth. Lucy left later with Michelle and James was thinking.
There was something on James' mind that was bugging him. He look around and saw Macao and Romeo playing around and that's when it hit him. His son would be 19 by now, a young adult. James pondered whether or not he should go. He may not be welcomed like last time, since it's been much longer.
Time passed once more, and the item that Michelle brought started glowing with rune marks. Later in the day everyone learned that Natsu and Gajeel were going to fight Laxus. James just face palmed at the situation as Macao and the others planned a festival.
James found himself drinking some alcohol while watching Gajeel sing.
"Of course he's singing." James says to himself.
The festival went into the next day and James woke up on top of a tree for some reason. Laxus arrived for the fight, and the three opponents stood around each other.
Natsu and Laxus stare each other down, and both activated their magic, making both fire and lightning surround their bodies. Natsu charged forwards to strike first, but was quickly knocked out. James couldn't help the laugh that escaped his mouth as he and everyone else noticed that Gajeel had disappeared.
Happy started poking at Natsu, and Makarov showed up. Makarov and Laxus stared at each other before Laxus turned to leave.
Later on James found himself drinking again, when someone tapped his shoulder.
"Yeah? What do you-" James says before stopping.
"Excuse me sir, I'm looking for a someone. He disappeared for 7 years and has some questions to answer." Jhivaro says.
"Son, it's you. You've grown."
"Of course, it's been 7 years. We all thought you'd died when we heard Acnologia destroyed the island. Why haven't you come to visit yet?"
"I needed to get my head clear a bit. We missed out on 7 years of our lives. 7 Years I wasn't there for you and your mother." James says, a pensive look on his face.
"That's right, you weren't there. It's nothing to be very worried about though. Mother taught me how to fight over the past 7 years. Plus I can now do a full takeover."
"Wow, you'll need to show me sometime. Why don't we head back to the Guild Hall and catch up there."
"Sure. Oh, sorry I couldn't help Fairy Tail during it's financial stumbling block. Training and all that."
The two headed to the guild and saw everyone on the ground with 3 other people.
"Looks like some trouble." James says, walking forwards.
Jhivaro nods and follows his father.
They both stopped with funny looks on their face when everyone started calling themselves Lucy. James just shook his head back and forth.
"Of course it's Lucy who's the target." James says, charging forwards after Natsu gets pinned to the ground after attacking.
Jhivaro follows suit and launches multiple water orbs at Sugar Boy. James summoned a Dark Minion that started fighting Hughes. Hughes used Elfman to take down the minion and Jhivaro's spells were being blocked.
Soon there was a giant explosion and the three were gone. James and Jhivaro took the moment to talk for a brief moment.
"Father. The reason I came here was to bring you back home." Jhivaro says.
"What? Why? With what just happened it looks like I'm needed here." James responds.
"They can handle themselves. They survived Acnologia so something like this should be fine. We need you back, my mother needs you back, you need to be with your family."
James took a moment to think. He could go back to the West and see Dimaria again and let fairy tail handle the situation, or stay and help Fairy tail. What James really had to ask himself was did he really want to go on another adventure or did he want to rest. The thoughts of Acnologia were still somewhat fresh in his mind.
"Ok son, I'll inform the others and then we'll be off." James says.
Jhivaro smiles and nods.
James told Mira to inform Makarov that he would be going away on family business for some time and that he didn't know when he'd be back. After that he summoned a portal and both James and Jhivaro stepped through. They found themselves back at the cliff that they often visited.
"By the way, things have changed a bit. I'm sure you'll understand when you see." Jhivaro says.
"Ok..."
The two walked through the castle with soldiers muttering amongst themselves while looking at James.
"Pah, I'm gonna go to the library. If you need anything come by." James says.
"Alright. I'll find you later."
Luckily the library was empty, so James decided to do some research on the clock hand. Hours passed and Jhivaro entered the library.
"Hey son, have you heard of a group called the Legion Platoon?" James asks, a pile of books flung about around him.
"No. Who are they?"
"A group of elite warriors. Looks like Fairy Tail is in for a tough fight."
James tosses the book to the side and rubs his eyes.
"So, now that I'm back, what now?" James asks.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm here to be a father to you, but it's been 7 years. Where are we going to start?"
"Well, how about some training? I can show you what I've learned." Jhivaro suggests.
"Alright. Let's head over to the training grounds."
The two went to an empty training room where James stood and watched his son practice on his own Void Minions. Jhivaro's Water Spheres had advanced to the point where they turned into spinning shurikens. They cut down the Void Minions with ease and James offered some small tips.
"Since you can turn your water spheres into bladed projectiles now, what you need to improve is the number you can make."
Jhivaro nods and tries to summon more spheres. They continued practicing until it got dark, then James found himself standing in front of Dimaria's Room. He knocked on the door and heard a voice tell him to come in.
James opened the door and saw Dimaria laying in her bed looking at him.
"Hey." James says.
"Hello to you too."
Dimaria sat herself up and moved the blanket to reveal her body. James took the hint and removed his clothes before joining her in bed. Jhivaro would be glad for insulated walls and furniture that didn't squeak.
A.N. Yeah, I did a coin flip to see if James would be participating in the current Arc. Apparently the result is no. So, that's it for this chapter. James is gonna be spending more time with his family, but rest assured he will be present for the GMG Arc.