AN: AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH! I AM SO SORRY THA THIS IS SO LATE! I really am guys, but what with AP Tests and Finals coming up I couldn't focus. Please forgive me! Anyway, here is Chapter seven, a little shorter than I'd like but here it is! Enjoy!
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Chapter 7: Exodus
Erza and Simon raced down the hall, both bearing weapons, both ready for combat. Both surged forward, beginning their Gods for some Guards to appear, or Hellhounds, or any enemy for them to take their fury out of, the fury which covered their grief. Their mourning for Rob, for the man who had loved them like family, was held in abeyance only by one single thought, one desire that drove them forward like steam drives a train.
Save their friends.
After they interrogated a Guard for the information, they had returned to the Tower to find their friends, Link, Erick, and Jellal. They had only managed to derive the location of the "Tank", where Erza had been held and replaced with Jellal. As for Link and Erick, they were not sure where they were or what had become of them. They only knew that they would tear apart this entire tower and all the stone beneath it to find them both. They were family, and that was what family did for each other. They never gave up on each other.
They were running at breakneck speed down the hall, when they turned a corner and promptly skidded to a halt. At last they had found it, the large double doors near the top of the incomplete monolith. Both doors were an exquisite obsidian, set inside a frame of flawless jade. Carvings of ancient battles, long forgotten by man, danced across the stone. Though the doors were imposing enough on their own, there was something off about them. It didn't make sense, but it felt as though there was something rotten behind the door, something evil. Some unknown force tapped into that ancient, reptilian part of the brain, bringing it to the fore. Fight or flight, it was rapidly taken control of their minds; and the flight option was looking better and better.
But quite suddenly, it passed. A cold wind that came from nowhere blew over them, and like that the fear was gone as though plucked away like a hair from soup. Erza shook her head, not sure if what had just happened had actually happened. "Simon?" she asked, gently. "Did you just feel that?" she asked
"Yeah." He said quietly, feeling a bit nervous. "I- I don't know what that was. It didn't feel… right." He finally said. Simon shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He said assertively. "Our friend is through here and we need to help him." He said, a determined look on his face. He may have been running on pure rage and adrenaline, but he was ready for anything.
"Right." Said Erza, hefting both of her swords. "We've been through too much to stop now. I don't care what that was, we need to get to our friends." Proclaimed Erza. Simon nodded grimly and walked towards the great door to push it open, Erza close behind. However, before they reached the black and golden doors, the great doors opened, and a familiar yet alien form strode out.
Link had changed. He was the same, but the golden light from his hair, and the pure golden light in his eyes was a terrifying sight, it gave him a look of some sort of God, an immortal avenging angel. For a moment all either could do was stare at Link, unsure of what to do. They knew not whether to embrace him, run in fear, or bow down in worship.
But when Link smiled and said, "It's good to see you two again," all that flooded away. They rushed forward, dropping their weapons, tears in their eyes, and embraced their friend. Simon and Erza crushed Link in a bone crushing hug, ignoring the electric feeling in the air around him and the smell of ozone, the smell of power. Their friend was here, their family was a little more complete.
"Link! Link you're alive!" cried Erza. Simon said nothing, only hugged his friend tighter. "We thought… we thought…" she couldn't finish, only burst into a fresh wave of tears as she hugged him tighter. And Link, Link who at this moment and for a few hours more possessed the power of Gods, did a very human thing. Overcome with emotion, Link buried his head between his two friends and allowed his tears to flow.
Simon was the first to break the hug, stepping back, the wonder at his friend's transformation overcoming the joy at their reunion. "Wait a minute, what the Hell happened to you Link. What is all… this?!" he exclaimed, gesturing to Link as a whole. Erza seemed to remember Link's new appearance, and took a few tentative steps backward, looking at Link in a frightened way, as a mouse would look at a sleeping cat, unsure whether to run past or away.
Link sighed and smiled sadly. "What you see is a gift my friends, a gift from my Gods to their faithful servant. With it I have secured our flight from here." Said Link. "And it's temporary, I'll have to earn this power back as I grow, you'll have the old me back in no time." Said Link with a half-hearted grin, so unlike his usual sunny smile.
Simon's head was spinning, unsure of what Link was talking about. A Divine gift? Gods? Faithful Servant? What was Link going on about? "Link… are you sure you're okay? I mean, the Gods? I know that you're a bit on the religious side, but Divine Intervention?"
Link chuckled. "It doesn't matter if you do not believe your eyes, Simon. It is the truth, and that is either sufficient or it is not." Simon simply stared at him, Link was talking like some sort of minister or prophet out of stories. He had always been a bit dramatic in his storytelling, but this was a bit much. Still, it was hard to disagree with him when his eyes burned with that strange light, that cold and powerful light.
"Do you know where Jellal is?" asked Erza, eager to know where her other friend was. She had one piece of her family back, even if he seemed to have a new and rather frightening skill set, but there was another out there. The kind blue-haired boy who had given her the last name of Scarlet, the boy who had made her feel like she could be brave.
Link visibly stiffened, his jaw clenching. He looked to be fighting off some memory, or attempting not to vomit. The look about him unhinged both Simon and Erza, and they felt fear begin to grow in their hearts, as they feared what Link was remembering.
Timidly, Erza asked again, dreading the answer. "Link… please tell me. Do you know where Jellal is." She asked.
The seconds before Link answered were as painful and as drawn out as a knife, but Link finally bowed his head and answered. "He… he's gone Erza. Jellal is gone."
And like that, everything collapsed.
Erza felt as though Link had ripped open her body and burned her insides with acid, rather than utter those two terrible sentences. She would have preferred that, truly, over Link's horrible utterance. There was no way that Jellal could really be dead. Link had to be mistaken. The universe could not be this cruel! Not so soon after taking Rob from them, they couldn't take Jellal too. Erza shook her head desperately. "Link… you don't… he can't be-"
"He's gone Erza." Said Link stiffly, clenching his hands into fists. "I'm sorry, but he's gone." Erza stared at him, dawning horror in her heart as she could see that Link meant every word he said, Jellal was gone. The pain and grief built up in her, in her stomach, chest, until it finally wrenched free of her mouth in a strangled scream which devolved into broken sobs. She fell forward, caught by Link who held her close. Her tears flowed freely from her one good eye. The last dream was dead, and Erza allowed herself to mourn.
Black fury gripped Simon, a hate so intense it felt like he had swallowed the sun. His vision became red at the edges, and he picked up his hammer. With a primal scream of fury he slammed the hammer against the wall, cracking the stone. Jellal was gone, and for what? So that some sick demon could satisfy his perverted need for vengeance. It made him furious and helpless at the same time, and those feelings fueled his strikes. He hit the wall as hard as he could, harder and harder until the wall was chipped and shattered, and his hammer's head broke off with a splintering snap of wood. He threw away the stump with disgust and allowed himself to sink to the floor with his back against the wall, amongst the stone chips he had broken off.
Then, and only then did Simon allow himself to cry.
It would be some time before they moved, and it fell to Link to shepherd a shell-shocked Erza out of the tower with Simon beside him. They looked for their other friends, the rest of their family with feverish devotion. Link knew they had to find them, their hearts could not take another loss. Simon wanted to raise his head to the heavens and curse every God there was. Curse them for taking Rob and Jellal from them. Curse them for sending them to this accursed place. He wanted to do these things, but he knew he had to find the others, to bring together what was left. It was the only way he could even start to get back together.
The rest of the slaves were celebrating. They were raiding the kitchens for food, real food instead of the slop they got regularly. They ate as much as they could, vomited from the rich food, and then went right back to stuffing themselves. Looking at them, so happy and free, it made Simon furious. How could they be so frivolous in the face of such loss? Did they not know that two gems of Earth had been lost to them today? Simon wanted to hurt them for it, but stayed himself, not giving into to the little voice of hatred in his heart.
The liberated slaves gave them a wide berth, especially Link. They had seen too much evil wrought by magic to trust it. They had seen what the three children were capable of, and it made them nervous.
Link spotted them first, Sho, Milliana, and Erick. Sho and Milliana were struggling forward with barely conscious Erick between them. When Link pointed this out to them, life returned to Erza's eyes, and Simon felt hope rise in his heart. The two groups of three saw each other from across the quarry, and they ran at each other as best they could. And when they met in the middle, they embraced, cried, laughed, and hugged each other in the sheer joy of being together once more. Tears fell, tears of grief and joy mixed as two, unable to tell the difference between them. They wept for Rob, Jellal, and Wally when they were told of his fate. They wept for each other's pain and each other's grief. They wept because their hearts were so full of emotion already that they could not bear to hold any more. But as much as any of that, they wept because they were all they had left.
They were a family. A small and broken one true, but a family none the less. They had found each other all on their own. It was small, and it was broken, but it was still good, it was still loving. As long as they had each other they could survive, they could win, they could be happy. It would take time to repair the scars upon their hearts, but it could be done, they could heal, they could live. As long as they had each other.
The waves gently broke upon the stones, quiet and calm, a sharp contrast to the chaos about the island. But down here, it was soft and soothing. The mangled remains of had once been Sherrick lay twisted on the rocks, his final scream frozen upon his lips. A few feet away lay Wally. Wally, who had sacrificed himself to save Erick from the rampaging dying doctor. Wally, who had broken his fall by landing on top of Sherrick, but breaking and arm and both his legs anyway. Wally, who had managed to drag himself a ways across the rocks before passing out from the pain and the blood-loss. Wally, who even now barely clung to life.
Jellal stared down at his friend, a neutral expression on his face. He knew that before he had embraced the glory of Demise he had felt kinship to this boy, that he had considered him a brother. But now he felt nothing, nothing but a feeling of utter disdain for the child on the rocks. And yet, Jellal could not help but admire Wally. His sheer force of will had allowed him to live this long, and graced him with the comfort of some vain attempt to return to his friends. But to Jellal now, it was like a dog managing to shake hands, for that was all Jellal saw him as now, a simple animal that was beneath his notice.
And yet even the stupidest and most foolish of animals could be of use.
A wonderful, deliciously evil idea came to Jellal then, one that made him smile and made Demise applaud from the Dark Realm in pleasyre of his student's devious thinking. Jellal knew that Link would be back one day, stronger and more fortified than he had been today. Why not give him a greeting of some sort, a wonderful little homecoming from two friends as it were. Wally had potential after all. Something that would unhinge Link and make him sloppy, prone to mistakes.
Jellal waved his hand and dark energy enveloped Wally, lifting the boy away from the jagged rocks and up to the rock cliff where Jellal stood. He brought Wally to face him, meeting his listless eyes with his own malevolent eyes. "Poor little Wally, beaten and broken on the bluffs how sad," snickered Jellal. "But don't worry, Demise and I will repair you, make you strong, and loyal as well." He brought Wally forward, till their noses were nearly touching, and he gave an unholy grin. "And together, we will tear apart that pompous ignoramus of an idiot the Gods chose as a Hero."
Link stood as still as a statue in the boat him and his friends had borrowed (with no intention of returning) from the harbor at the Tower. The others had all fallen asleep, clutching each other in their sleep as though they were life preservers against the tide of despair that threatened to consume them. They were out, they were free, and no more would they be punished and humiliated by the men of Ever-Eye. They should be happy, dancing and singing with joy. And yet all he and the others could feel was a dull pain. They had lost so many. Robb, who had died as courageously as he had lived, and Wally who had been the truest friend of all.
And Jellal had been lost to a fate worse than death. But Link was the only one who knew that. And if the Gods were good, it would forever remain that way.
Link balled his hands into fists, feeling a black emotion in his heart that felt suspiciously like hate. 'Damn you Jellal. How could you do this to us?' thought Link angrily. Jellal had betrayed him, their friends, and everything Link now stood for as the newest Hero. How could he have been so thoughtless and selfish? How could he not care for the suffering he had caused to the ones he had loved? To these questions Link had no answer. He could only assume that Demise had offered something that they did not have for him.
Link hated lying to his friends, hated it like crazy, but what else was he supposed to do? Tell them that their friend had sold his soul to the God of Evil and was currently plotting their demise even now? No, it was kinder to lie. 'They must never know' thought Link. They could never know the truth about Jellal. Link would find Jellal when he was stronger and deal with him then. But for now he had to put his faith in the Gods. It was time to head to Fairy Tail and pray that the Gods had not deceived him about his uncle Gildarts being alive.
Link could feel his powers slipping away as the sun set. He frowned at this, he would have to wake the others and get their held in rowing. He had been using the One Power to move the boat towards Fairy Tail, which he felt to be in a general Southern direction.
Link sighed and sat down, facing the setting sun. They had won, but at what cost? They were free, something that Link had been prepared to die for, but he hadn't been ready for others to pay the price for his own freedom, particularly the boy he had considered a brother. 'I lost both my parents my sister and my grandmother going into that place, but I lost two brothers and a mentor leaving.' Thought Link bitterly. He felt tears come to his eyes as he pushed back against the tidal wave of grief. 'How many more must I lose to the Gods' war?'
"Link?" asked the small voice of Erza. Link looked up in surprise to see Erza standing in front of him. She must have woken up from her light slumber and extracted herself from the pile of her friends. Her scarlet hair blew lightly in the salty sea breeze.
"E-Erza? What are you doing-" he began but Erza cut him off.
"You were crying." She said simply. It wasn't a question it was a statement of fact. He hadn't been the only one, apparently, because her one good eye was still red from all the crying she had been doing. Link swallowed past the lump in his throat and nodded, it was all he could do. His voice would have betrayed him if he had tried to speak. Erza nodded sadly and sat down next to him, leaning in against him.
They said nothing for a long while, only remained with each other while watching the sun go down in the West. Finally, Erza spoke. "I'm scared Link." She said.
Link nodded. "I know, I am too." He admitted, as much to himself as to Erza.
There was silence again and Erza hugged Link close to her. "Don't go anywhere." She said beseechingly to her friend, holding him as though he would vanish from her arms.
Link hugged her, putting his chin on top of her head. "I'm right here." They remained like that for some time, drifting into sleep in each other's arms. With each other they didn't feel scared, the world not quite so big. And though they would face many challenges in days to come, they would not face the alone. In the dark times to come, and many of them there would be, they would stand beside each other. They would never be alone, not really. They had each other.
He was back here, in this strange place of everlasting whiteness. The misty world that seemed to be comprised of the inside of a fortune teller's crystal ball. He stood on an invisible ground amongst the intangible mists, not sure why he was here. The Powers that were gifted to him were gone, here he was not but a mere mortal. Without those powers he felt pathetically mortal. He glared about, searching for whatever messenger was here for him today.
"Thou hath done well Hero." Said the voice he knew now as the voice of the Shade of the Hero. Link whirled to face him, and was surprised. Instead of a skeleton adorned by a suit of armor the Shade took the form of a wolf, an enormous wolf with a single red eye, the other having been cut out, and who's fur glowed with ethereal light. "You did more than we thought you would, and now you are on your way to your destiny. Well done." Said the Shade.
"Well done?" echoed Link. He felt fury rising in his chest, the same fury he had felt when he and Ghirahim clashed, the same anger he had felt when he had faced Jellal, the same fury that had been with him whenever he had been beaten or watched one of his friends beaten by the Guards on the island. This anger was well-known and familiar and he welcomed warmly. "Well done!?" he exclaimed furiously. "Wally and Rob are dead! Jellal is lost to us! And for all the power the Gods gave, for all their foul bribe was worth, IT COULDN'T SAVE THEM!"
His words did not seem to ruffle the golden beast, and that only succeeded in angering Link further. "You helped me well enough! You granted me power! Why not help them!? Why not use your power to pull Wally away from that cliff, or give Rob a little more energy to live!? Or, here's a thought, KEEP DEMISE AWAY FROM JELLAL!?"
Link paused to catch his breath, and the Shade took the opportunity to speak. "It is true, the Gods could have saved your friends, they have that power, but they did not." Spoke the Shade simply, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"So they are not helpless, merely cruel?" spat Link at the Shade.
The Shade shook his head. "The Gods would never demean the choices they made by interfering, even on your own behalf." Said the Shade.
"What are you talking about?" demanded Link bitterly.
The Shade padded forward, looking Link in the eyes. "Child, the Gods created this world, they shaped it and molded it, bringing life to it and bestowing the spirit of law to the land, but they have never ruled it. Every course history has taken, every life lost and taken, everything has come about because of the choices of mortals. If it were otherwise, would man truly be free? No, they would no more than puppets. And the Gods love you more than that." Said the Shade.
Link glared at the Shade, but his anger was cracking. "If choices are so important, then why did they interfere on my part?" This time it was less of a demand, and more a true question. The Shade took this as a good sign. His anger was abating, if only a little
"The Gods did not interfere." Said the Shade. Link looked at him with a positively bamboozled expression that made the Shade chuckle. "Oh yes child, the Gods did not send me, I have never even met the Gods. You sent me to yourself."
Link was silent for a full minute before screaming "WHAT?!"
The Shade nodded. "Yes child, I am merely an extension of your consciousness. I did not awake your power, you did that yourself. You won't be able to do anything like that for a while, but with time you will. I am the part of you that you need. The one who knows the truths the rest of you cannot accept without someone telling you. I am the part of you who remembers the past lives, the part who can teach you the ways of heroes."
Link gaped at the Shade, which apparently was part of him. "So, everything that happened was because of my choices. I unlocked my power on my own? The Gods had nothing to do with it?" The thought was mind boggling. He was capable of that on his own?
The Shade nodded. "You are capable of more than you know child. The Gods can offer you advice through me, but they can do little on your behalf otherwise. They would never demean your choices as a free being. That, in their mind, is the worst sin of all."
Link simply looked at the Shade, the manifestation of the Hero within him. He had just told him a truth that would destroy religions and empires all across the world. That the Gods did not interfere, that they sat back and let mortals take charge of their own destinies. Fate was a lie, there was only choice. He had been entrusted with this knowledge to do with as he pleased, and it gave him a sense of wonder. Everything that had happened the Gods had no hand in. Not the suffering or the happiness of the world, the Gods had no role in it. Some might find the knowledge disturbing, but for Link it was an incredible moment of clarity. His world was his for the making, it was his for the choosing. His fate was his own, his choices were his.
He was a free man.
"This is much, I know child." Said the Shade, "All I ask is that you reflect on what I have said. Our time draws short though, soon you will arrive at Fairy Tail, and there you will find either Salvation or Damnation. Only you can decide where your path will go." The Golden Wolf pressed his ghostly nose to Link's forehead, and he felt the warmth from the contact seep through his body. The wolf equivalent of a father's kiss. "Till next we meet, Hero of the Gods."
Link awoke with a jerk to greet the sun, already high in the sky. He blinked blearily as he attempted to wake his brain with a yawn. Erza was still sleeping peacefully against him, and he couldn't bear to wake her up so he remained as still as he could. He smiled at the redheaded girl against him, silently noting that she was actually quite beautiful when she slept. The boy looked up to see if his friends were okay, and noted that most of them were awake, save Erick who seemed to be delirious, clutching the now conscious Cubelios to him and murmuring some nonsense. Simon was staring off into space while Sho and Milliana talked in hushed tones.
"Are you guys okay?" asked Link quietly, attempting not to wake Erza. "Have I missed anything?" he asked of his friends.
Simon flinched out of his stupor and turned to Link. "Yeah, we're okay." He said in an exhausted voice. It was clear he hadn't gotten much sleep last night. "Link, you don't have your… powers anymore do you?" asked the black-haired boy of his blonde friend.
Link shook his head. "No, they went away when the moon rose. And I won't be doing anything spectacular like that for a while, a few years at least." Said Link with a ghost of a smile. "I guess the Gods called in their loans." Said the boy in a half-hearted joke.
Simon snorted. "Yeah, well, I guess whatever Gods are out there have taken some pity on us." Said the larger boy with a small smile. "Look over there." He said pointing behind Link. The blonde boy turned around and his eyes flew wide open at what he saw. He sat there and processed the sight for a few seconds before he accepted what he was seeing.
He gently nudged Erza awake who blinked blearily at him. "Link? What's going on?" she asked sleepily as she looked up at her friend. Link's face broke into a sunny smile that melted Erza's heart with its genuine beauty.
"Look Erza, we made it." He said, pointing out over the boat. Erza turned to look, and her mouth fell open in surprise at the sight before her. "The Gods have found favor with us after all." Said Link in a voice that sounded like a drowning man surfacing from the water. There, little more than a few miles in the distance, was the shore of the ocean. And beyond the beach, standing proudly against the blue sky was a mighty Hall, reminiscent of an old Viking's Hall. And emblazoned over the topmost window, glowing with its defiant light as though it were challenging the world to go against it, was the proud symbol of Fairy Tail.
At that moment there was Link felt something. A barest brushing against his consciousness. It was warm and familiar, comforting and soft. It felt like the warm presence of his grandmother, wrapping him in a chestnut-smelling hug. 'You are never alone my little Hero.' He heard in his mind. His eyes filled with tears as he stared forward into the future, at the Guildhall before them. 'Thank you Grandmother.' He thought to himself.
It had been a quiet day, and that could only mean trouble. Things were quiet and Makarov Dreyar did not trust it one bit. In the many years he had been the Third Guildmaster of Fairy Tail he had not gone one day where something hadn't exploded, been smashed to bits (like his hopes and dreams for example!), a humongous brawl started, or something destroyed which his Guild would ultimately have to pay for. Whenever things were quiet like this it meant something horrible was going to happen, it never failed. There was no such thing as a "slow day" in the Fairy Tail Guild.
Gildarts, who was actually there for once, sat down beside him at the bar and took a swig of his mead. "What's wrong master? You look like you're ready to pee yourself. While I would find that absolutely hilarious, it wouldn't look good if Fairy Tail's Guildmaster was to look incontinent in front of his guild." Smirked the Ace of Fairy Tail.
Makarov glared at perhaps the only Fairy Tail wizard who could rival him in power. "Something really bad is going to happen really soon." He said in a voice that reeked of certainty. "Really soon." He said to emphasize his point, staring imploringly at Gildarts.
Gildarts rolled his eyes. "Come on Makarov, lighten up a little! Fairy Tail is a little chaotic, but we aren't that nuts. Have a drink, it will take your mind off of things."
Makarov looked incredulous. "Look out there!" he cried, gesturing wildly at the Guildhall. "Tell me what you see."
Gildarts shrugged and looked out at the Hall. "Well, Macao and Ceecee are flirting (man she's cute, hehehe), Wakaba's hair still hasn't come back into style, Jerod is reading, Billy-Bob is arguing with Bob-Billy, and that weird little Cana girl is hiding as usual." Said Gildarts. "Does that answer your question?" asked Gildarts stupidly.
Makarov gave a brief bark of laughter. "No you dolt, nothing is wrong!" he cried. "And that is precisely what is wrong! Fairy Tail is never this peaceful, NEVER! This can only mean something of unbelievable horror, something of such undeniable evil and terror is about to transpire that it can only mean THE END OF THE WORLD ITSELF!" thundered Makarov. This however brought the attention of many of the Guild who stared at the Guildmaster who now looked slightly abashed by his outburst. "Um, uh, carry on." He said sheepishly. The rest of the Guild just rolled their eyes at the same time (somehow), and returned to whatever they were doing before the Guildmaster had his miniature mental breakdown.
Gildarts looked at Makarov like he was some sort of Alien life form. "Okay, I'm going to ignore that that ever happened and ask, where's Laxus?" asked Gildarts, inquiring after the frequently ill grandson of the Guildmaster and Ivan Dreyar's son.
Makarov instantly became downcast and sighed. "He's in my office right now, avoiding everyone. Mariane, Mariane took a turn for the worst yesterday. The Doctors say that she's not going to make it." He shook his head and Gildarts was silent. "Laxus took the news pretty hard, and his father isn't even around to help him out." Said Makarov in a sad tone. "How can my son not even be there for his dying wife and his grieving son?" he asked aloud.
Gildarts shook his head. "I'm good at magic Makarov, not people. I can tell you the ins and the outs of Ivan's magic, but I can't tell you why he's such a douche." Said Gildarts with a shrug. "Ask Mariane, she married the guy after all." Said Gildarts as he took another swig of his beer. "Oh, yeah, right." Said the Ace of Fairy Tail guiltily. "Can Porlyrusica do anything? She's great with healing and stuff." He said, changing the subject from his own stupidity.
Makarov shook his head. "She's tried, and I'm fairly certain that's why Mariane has lasted as long as she has, but not even Porly can cure a brain tumor, not without destroying the brain along with it." He said sadly. "Poor Laxus." Said Makarov, looking old for the first time.
Gildarts nodded in agreement. "Poor Laxus." He said, taking another sip of his beer, sending a silent prayer to the Goddesses that Mariane would recover. She was one hell of a woman, she didn't deserve to die like this. And then there was Ivan, Makarov's wayward son. Sure the guy was cute and loveable as a kid, but he had grown up to be the biggest asshole in Fairy Tail. And he had had nothing but good influences growing up! Not responsible or relatively intelligent influences, but good people all the same. The way Gildarts saw it he had no excuse for being such a prick. The only explanation he could think of was that Ivan had made a conscious choice to be an asshole, because Gildarts couldn't find an outward cause of it.
What happened next would be talked about in Fairy Tail for many years afterward. Makarov had predicted that something very bad would happen that day, and some might agree that what happened would be the herald of many bad things to come. But more people, many of them members of Fairy Tail, would say differently. For despite the fact that much darkness was encroaching in the coming years, and that day's events were arguably the beginning of Fairy Tail's involvement of it, but it would also be the beginning of powerful bonds, everlasting friendships, and blossoming and limitless love that would endure for untold generations to come.
At that moment the back door of the Hall banged open with a loud crash that caused everyone present to cringe in surprise at the noise. Makarov gritted his teeth in aggravation and jumped from the bar stool and marched to the hallway, intent on giving a rant to whatever idiot had broken the door, for the FIFTH damn time this week! He was dimly aware of Gildarts following him, probably hoping to get a good look at the coming show of Guildmaster's temper.
The sight that they saw however was not what they had anticipated. Instead of some idiot Guild member, they saw a far more depressing sight. Five weary and bedraggled children and one snake, wearing nothing but old sack cloths and looks in their eyes that held such terrible knowledge that no child should ever hold in their eyes. Their skin was adorned with countless scars of every shape and size, scars that spoke of awful pain and suffering that no person, let alone children should ever have to go through. Beneath their threadbare clothes were skeletal frames, the poor scraps were nothing but skin and bone. They looked like the bilge rats Makarov had seen in his time on that Farnasian Slave Galley (really long and really weird story).
Makarov couldn't believe the sight before him, the poor kids looked like they had been through Hell and back! He felt hate and anger build up for whoever had caused these children such awful injuries and treated them so poorly to get them to this point of malnourishment.
The blonde boy at the head of the group stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Um, hello there. I am Link Atreides, she is Erza Scarlet," he said pointing to the red-haired girl with one eye, "He is Simon," he said pointing at the larger black-haired boy, "they are Milliana and Sho, respectively," said Link pointing at the little boy and girl huddled together, "and the boy with the snake is Erick, and the snake is Cubellios." He turned to Makarov and Gildarts and recognition flared in his eyes as he looked at the Ace of Fairy Tail. "And you are Gildarts Clive," he said pointing at Gildarts. "And you are my uncle."
AN: There you go! Next chapter is the fallout from the arrival of the kids at Fairy Tail as well as some twists. I hope you don't hate me for the cliffhanger but it is currently three o'clock in the morning and I can't think of a better way to end it! YAAAAAYYYYYY!
Anyway, stay tuned for more! Next chapter coming soon! READ AND REVIEW!