And now, today's actual prompt! This time, Orga delves into his memories.

Honestly, when I saw this prompt, I knew right away Orga was the only one who could fit this (besides Sting, of course). He's 23 to Rufus, Sting, and Rogue's 19, so I imagine he joined Sabertooth sooner rather than later. Hopefully it works! Enjoy!

Also, sorry this is so late. Went out for a walk, didn't exactly realize the time.

I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, Hiro Mashima does.

Being the oldest member of Sabertooth's Strongest Five, Orga prided himself as the big brother figure in his group of friends. While nowhere near as intelligent as Rufus, he understood a few things more than his contemporaries about life, about love, and about being a man.

However, Orga had one other distinction among Sabertooth that he shared with Minerva. He was one of the few remaining members from the regime before Jiemma's, so he was there for his rise to power. In those days, Jiemma had born a carefully cultivated persona of a grumpy old man who begrudgingly cared for the younger generations. It was this mask that inspired their previous Master to select Jiemma as his replacement when he retired. However, no sooner than when the old Master was out of his did Jiemma show his true colors - a tyrant of fearsome power, one no one bearing Sabertooth's mark dared to defy.

Soon enough, Orga adapted to Sabertooth's new "might makes right" policy, which turned out to have worked better than it had any right to. With Fairy Tail's core members having disappeared, Sabertooth went unchallenged as the strongest guild in the country. This newfound fame caused the Sabertooth members to abandon any thought that Jiemma's way was wrong - what did their Master's cruelty matter so long as they were uncontested champions?

For seven years, even Orga bowed to Jiemma's way of doing things, secure in the knowledge their guild was the strongest, not caring to ask questions. But then, everything changed when the White Dragon attacked. Sting's retaliation for Lector's would-be death (had Minerva not intervened), plus discovering the true power of Fairy Tail - and in Orga's case, the power of a Wizard Saint - caused everyone to take stock of how wrong they'd been under Jiemma.

The first steps to setting Sabertooth on the right path manifested themselves in various ways. Where Rufus never bothered to remember the lower members, he spent a day memorizing the names, faces, and magic of literally everyone in the guild. Sting had shed the arrogant personality he had adopted to appear strong for Jiemma in favor of what seemed to be a happier one, complete with all the impulsiveness of his idol, Natsu Dragneel (Orga still couldn't figure out whether that was Sting's true nature or if he was overcompensating). And Yukino, once dismissed as weak for losing one fight, was welcomed back by all of Sabertooth. The difference in her demeanor was worlds apart from when she first joined.

Though that's not to say everyone adapted to the post-Jiemma Sabertooth right away. Minerva had disappeared after their loss, surfacing after the fact as, according to Erza, a member of a dark guild known as Succubus Eye. Orga wasn't surprised to learn this, but he was shocked (and not in a way relating to his magic) to find he wasn't disappointed by this. He supposed that was because he knew his lady's past better than anyone.

When he first joined Sabertooth at age 14, there were barely any children among their ranks, though because he had mastered Lightning God Slayer magic, he had been welcomed straightaway. The only member of his generation at the time was 11-year-old Minerva, the daughter of their Ace member, Jiemma Orlando. He thought she was pretty, as boys his age generally think of girls. He tried to be friendly with her, but she vehemently refused every attempt at such, even going so far as to call him weak for wanting to be her friend.

A couple months on, Orga had been looking to train out in the forest, where he had room to use his magic freely. However, before he could unleash even his Bellow, he thought he had heard Jiemma yelling. Thinking the Ace had been hurt, he followed the sound to see if there was anything he could do to help.

What he found instead was Jiemma blasting at his daughter, berating her weakness. As the old man walked away after forcing Minerva to strip, Orga waited until he was sure he was gone before attempting to see if she was okay, only to be restrained by her Territory and begged not to say anything.

From then on until Jiemma took over, whenever he and Minerva returned from their training, Orga would flash a sad smile at Minerva. It was the best he could do to comfort her in the face of her father's popularity within the guild, but more importantly, her own safety would be compromised if he said anything.

After Jiemma became Guild Master, three years removed from when Orga joined, the training trips he would take Minerva on became less and less frequent until they stopped entirely. Satisfied that Minerva's tears had stopped, he focused all his attention on becoming strong and not staining the invincible reputation Jiemma had built for Sabertooth.

So to Orga, it stood to reason that Minerva would latch onto a dark guild. Power had literally defined Minerva her whole life, and now that her guild was no longer the strongest, she was desperate to feel that she was stronger than any legal mage.

But something had changed her when the Twin Dragons rescued her from Tartarus's base. Erza had explained it to Sting (who had later explained it to the rest of them), as her (finally) realizing that strength was hardly a defining feature of a guild so long as those who formed it loved and supported each other.

Apparently, it worked. Minerva had become kinder and more willing to associate with guild members, though she still retained a sharp edge when dealing with their loudness and the general silliness that had become common to their guild hall. However, she was especially gentle with Sting when he wasn't being stupid (which wasn't that often, really).

In all seriousness, the looks she gave her new Master were a far cry from the sad looks Orga had seen in their childhood, or the smirks and pointed glares that had become her trademark in recent years. They were happiness, as if whatever scars her father had inflicted were healed just by looking at him.

And that was the only thing keeping Orga from regretting his inaction back then.

...Wow. These last two chapters were really serious. Kinda rethinking that Humor genre label. Hopefully the next prompt is a little more lighthearted, but we'll see. Until then, good night from Nightlingbolt!