Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters.
Author's Note: Thanks to those who left a review! You'll find out the answer here. I hope. Enjoy reading!
Whispers of the Heart
Chapter 3: Strangers
...
"Alright! We're here!"
When the four of them reached the guild entrance, Yuri's smile faltered. His excitement died in a matter of second.
He looked at Lucy and Natsu, back and forth.
"T-This is it?" He didn't want to sound shaky and disappointed, but his voice probably betrayed him.
"Yeah. This is it." Natsu opened the door, not looking at him. At least he didn't get to glimpse at the frightened look on his face.
He was more surprised for what's in store for him inside.
"This…"
This…isn't the Fairy Tail I know.
True. The Fairy Tail building he remembered wasn't the one in front of him. The sign still spoke of the guild, but the overall look and design were all new to him. Just like the streets and the buildings he passed along the way.
The worst of all was he couldn't recognize a single soul.
What is this place?
"Hey guys!" The pinkette shouted while Lucy and Happy only walked inside.
"Hey there, Natsu, Lucy, Happy!" Lisanna waved a greeting at them. "You guys took your sweet time." She winked, then noticed the child trailing behind the newcomers. "Oh? You brought a kid?"
"Ho~? Don't tell me it's yours, Lucy?" Cana's voice was heard from the bar, hugging her barrel of ale, and teased them. "Didn't know you work fast, Natsu."
Natsu only frowned in confusion. Lucy on the other hand immediately reacted, cheeks gradually reddening.
"C-Cana! You're wrong. He just got lost. We were helping him find his parent's house but I guess they moved or something without him knowing."
"Aw, you two are so sweet." Lisanna squealed, which Lucy thought was the former poking fun at her and Natsu.
"We decided to bring him here. He said something about wanting to join Fairy Tail." Happy told them.
"Hm? Is that right?" The brunette woman left the bar and walked towards the kid. "Aren't you a bit too young? Not that I mind." She asked, crouching down.
Yuri hid behind Natsu, unintentionally catching a whiff of alcohol from the woman's breath. His nose wrinkled because of the strong scent.
"Aw, he's a…" Cana hiccupped. "…shy one."
The white-haired girl from earlier then appeared next to him. "What's your name?"
The boy reluctantly answered. "Yuri."
"I'm Lisanna. Nice to meet you, Yuri." She smiled softly at the new kid. Afterwards, she put her hand on the brunette's shoulder. "This drunk woman is Cana."
"Not drunk yet, Lis. I need a refill." Cana retorted, going back to her seat on the bar.
"Coming!" With that, Lisanna went back to her workplace.
"Hey guys! You're back!" Mirajane called out from the edge of the hall. Yuri noticed her clothes were a bit dusty; he could smell it. The smell of old books. She was also white-haired, the same with that Lisanna. The girl walked towards Natsu's group, wearing a worried expression. "Have you seen—", before she finished her sentence, her ocean blue eyes caught Yuri's stare.
"Oh my! What a cute little kid!" Hands on her cheeks, she squealed in delight.
"Um, h-hello."
"Hi to you too." She giggled. He looks really cute, the barmaid thought.
She put her hands on her knees and bended over, smiling sweetly to the boy. "I'm Mirajane. What's your name?"
"…Yuri."
Yuri? Have I heard that name before from someone? Mirajane thought and asked, "Where did you come from?"
Yuri raised a brow at her, confused at her odd question. Are these guys really from Fairy Tail?
Before the boy could speak, Lucy filled in for him. "I found him in the East Forest. He was about to get attacked by a Gorian when I rescued him. Good thing I managed to save him in time."
Mirajane was caught in surprise, her palm pressing on her cheek. "Oh no! That must be scary. What were you doing in the East Forest?"
"I can't remember," answered Yuri. It was true. He tried to think really hard how he ended up in the forest, but nothing came to mind. His last memory was him peacefully resting at the hospital.
"You poor thing," commented the white-haired woman.
"Have you seen gramps, Mira?" asked Natsu.
"He went to Clover Town for the guild meeting," she replied.
Then the worried look slowly etched back on her face.
"Did something happen?" Lucy noticed the small frown on Mira's face. Her usual cheery mood was off too.
"Well, you see…I'm looking for Laxus."
Yuri's eyes widened as he tried to make sense of what he just heard.
D-Did I hear that right?
They were looking for…Laxus?
"Laxus is back?" Natsu instantly reacted. "Alright! That bastard owes me a fight! Where is he?"
Mirajane didn't answer.
"Laxus? What happened to him?" asked Lucy.
"He…suddenly disappeared."
Yuri unclutched his hand from the hem of Lucy's skirt. He took a step back.
These people…
Who are these people?
The boy quickly and quietly withdrew from the small crowd while Mirajane was explaining what transpired in the library earlier, distracting the two other mages with her story.
"I was with him this morning. He was helping me out in the library. Then I fell from the ladder and Laxus managed to catch me in time. But the bookshelf fell on us both."
"Did you got hurt, Mira-san?" asked the celestial mage, surprised.
The barmaid shook her head then smiled sadly. "But Laxus was."
"Laxus got injured from a falling bookshelf?" Natsu exclaimed and soon laughed mockingly. "Man, how did I miss that?!"
Lucy smacked the pinkette on the back of his head before he could attract any attention from the rest. "I can't believe it either, but how did Laxus got hurt from that?"
"He got in between the bookshelf and I."
"Can he just use his magic and destroy the—ow! What was that for?" Natsu complained to Lucy.
"You idiot. If he used his lightning, then the library will be blown to pieces."
"That's what he said too." Mirajane added, "And he also got this wound from his S-class mission."
Not far away from them, the rain woman named Juvia heard it all. She hurriedly ran towards the group and cut off Mirajane's story-telling with her hands clasping the barmaid's, eyes twinkling.
"How…How romantic!" The blue-haired squealed. Her frivolous imagination went wild as she fancied thoughts of Mira and Laxus… all alone in the library, getting too close for comfort. And underneath a bookshelf, their bodies pressing against each other, and…
Juvia's face suddenly glowed red. Her imagination was getting overboard.
"D-Did Mira-san and Laxus-san…k-kiss?" The water mage trailed off, the last word was almost a whisper. Lucy, Natsu and Happy managed to hear her though.
"Ehhh?!" Lucy exclaimed, her eyes so round and cheeks flushed at the thought. "M-Mira-san?"
The barmaid blinked at them, then paused for a second, trying hard to suppress a blush as she remembered how close their faces were at that time. "W-Well, we didn't—"
Natsu butted in before she could explain herself. "You…" He pointed his finger at the white-haired mage. "You're going out with Laxus? You'd find his weakness for me, right Mira?"
"Really, Natsu?" Lucy stared at him, dumbstruck at her teammate's...priority.
Mirajane waved them off, "We weren't—"
"W-Weakness?" Juvia began to weave stories in her mind once more, blush spreading across her face. Before she could say what was on her mind, which was probably now a Gray-related one, Lucy questioned Mira, "So, did something really happened between the two of you?"
"Nothing like that." Mira sighed, inwardly thanking Lucy for letting her clarify the misunderstanding.
"Eh? It isn't true?" Juvia caught up, finally, prodding the Take-over mage to continue her story. "What happened then?"
Mira cleared her throat before she spoke, "When I was still on the ladder, I found this strange book. It doesn't have any title or author at the cover, but it has Laxus' initials on the first page. I fell when I was about to ask him if it was his." The demon mage bit her lip, deciding not to mention the details on Laxus' injury. She continued, "While cleaning up, I found the book again and gave it to him. Then a white light surrounded us. I woke up on the floor and Laxus…he just vanished without a trace. The book was also gone."
"He went missing?" Natsu exclaimed.
"That sounds bad!" Juvia added.
"I've been looking for him ever since. I'm beginning to worry what could have happened."
"I certainly agree." Lucy commented. Turning her head to Natsu, she asked, "Don't you think it's like one of those books?" She was referring to the 'Memory Days' book, the one who brought them back to the Fairy Tail of the past.
The fire dragon slayer didn't look convinced at her speculation though. "Or maybe he just ditched you. You guys know he can transform into lightning—"
Natsu suddenly froze.
"What's wrong?"
The pinkette whipped his head on several directions, then took a deep sniff of the air inside the guild.
"He's here. Laxus is here."
Mira gasped.
"A-Are you sure? I've searched for him here and outside the guild for hours now."
"Positive. His scent is faint though. He's nearby." Natsu couldn't pinpoint where exactly though, frustrating the hell out of him. Like a dog trained to trail someone's scent, he got down on the floor and walked on four legs towards outside. The three mages sweat dropped at the sight, while the other members who noticed him just laughed lightly without knowing why he's doing that.
Juvia then excused herself to check the request board while Lucy and Mira continued to talk about where the lightning mage could possibly be at the moment.
A few more minutes passed when Lucy suddenly remembered. "Huh? Where did Yuri go?"
...
When Yuri walked away from the group earlier, his palms were pressed hard on his ears. His surroundings, the things he heard, the people, and the guild itself. Everything has changed dramatically. Everything was all new to him. It felt like a different world now.
It scared him.
He didn't know where to go from that point. His special senses got duller the more he stayed inside the building. Given that, he couldn't locate that one person he was looking for in his current state. So he decided to make a mad dash towards the second floor, where he knew his office was, before his sense of balance left him also.
Although it was too late.
"Oi, watch where you're going!" A bystander cried out when Yuri bumped into him.
"S-Sorry." The boy sputtered out weakly, backing away from the man's evil glare. Unfortunately for him, his foot got caught in a stray leg of another random person seating on the edge of his seat, making the boy yelp and stumble backwards and—
"GAAH!" shouted a black-haired half-naked guy in surprise. This earned the attention and sudden gasps of all the guild members, minus Mira and Lucy who were still talking to each other.
Juvia, however, recognized that voice in a second and went to her beloved in an instant. She was shocked at the sight before her. "G-G-Gray-sama's –!" Before she could finish, her nose gushed out blood before passing out on the ground.
"WHO THE HELL PULLED OFF MY PANTS?!" roared the Ice mage. He was buck naked at that point, not at all uncomfortable by his state of undress, but bothered enough that he got stripped out of his clothes out of the blue.
"Was it you?!" Gray grabbed a random person on the collar and threatened him with an icy glare.
"I-I'm not! I swear!"
"It was the little brat!" Someone commented. "I saw him got tripped."
Yuri, who wasn't far away from the ruckus he accidentally caused, tried to hide underneath an empty table. Without much luck though, the back of his shirt got caught by Gray. The older mage lifted him up and menacingly asked, "Was it you, you little punk?"
The boy, as much as he wanted to speak the truth and say sorry, didn't bother to answer. He was feeling really sick at the moment.
He wished he could pass out right now. Or maybe the black-haired man could get a clue and let him go.
"You new here, kid? Huh?"
The naked guy got nothing in reply. Just a hazy expression.
"Oi, say something."
"Let him go, Gray." Yuri side glanced at the new person. White hair, stitched scar over his right eye, very muscular guy. "Picking on a little kid is unmanly!" It was Elfman.
Gray released the kid and continued to argue with him about how he wasn't bullying anyone. That gave Yuri the chance to escape but without a few accidents here and there, mainly bumping on other people and other people's stuff from underneath their tables. Surprisingly, he was fast enough to crawl out of the troubles he caused, as long as he was just crawling and not standing up and running.
It was a matter of time before hell got loose.
"Who the fuck knocked down my dinner?!"
"Did ya just step on my foot, ya bastard?!"
"Was it you, huh? Was it?!"
"The hell woke me up from my nap?!"
People didn't know who to blame for all of these, so they just decided to throw punches at the next person they saw.
Then soon came the flying mugs and chairs. Broken splinters of wood now decorated the hall. People were shouting and punching and kicking each other. It was an all-out brawl. Not all of them participated though. Juvia was down for the count. Cana was just sloshing more ale from the barrel into her mouth. Lucy and Mirajane were expertly avoiding the flying debris while looking for Yuri in all this mess. And speak of the devil…
The boy was now hiding under a table at the middle of the warzone. He could have picked a better location, really, like the farthermost edge of the guild hall. But all of the things he heard before took a heavy toll on his movement. His uneasiness turned into feeling nauseous now.
His hands were still covering his ears. He didn't want to hear any of this madness. It was when his emotions got the best of him that he could only hear white noise, which made his heightened hearing filter all the voices and some other sounds.
He desperately hoped no one would notice him there. Because if someone did, and that someone recognized him at all, he…he would never live it down.
His hopes were easily crushed though.
"What are you doing here, hiding?" It was the barmaid. The barmaid with the longer white hair, Mirajane.
The boy, in his surprise, unconsciously stood up and knocked the top of his head on the wood. "Ow!"
"Oh my, are you okay?" Her hand tried to touch his head but he harshly swatted it away.
"Don't…touch me." Yuri retorted, his voice shaky. He truly didn't want to be rude at that time, but with his head spinning and his hearing still impaired, he couldn't keep his attitude in check.
Mirajane stared at the boy, unsure if the bump on his head was the only reason he snapped out on her. A moment ago, she thought he was just a mild-mannered kid. A cute one, even. But seeing his face now, it looked pale and sick. His dark blue eyes were hazy and unfocused. Little fingers were running through his head, massaging it.
"Are you okay? Do you need some help?" Mirajane crouched down and gave him a worried look.
"N-No." Yuri's heart was racing. The stress was taking its toll on his whole body. Something was coiling inside him and he could tell that it's bad news. "You…can't help me." He breathed heavily.
"Why not? You look like you need to lay down," said the white-haired mage, her motherly instinct kicking in.
If it was any other situation aside from this, Yuri would've listened. But he knew so well what was coming next. His magic was returning, flaring up inside to be precise.
And that only spelled disaster for him and for everything surrounding him.
"Go…away," he breathed out, almost begging her.
"What do you mean?" Mirajane asked, her concern doubling. She stared at the now panting boy, his hands clutching his chest. His eyes were shut tightly in pain.
"Yuri?" When she got no reply, she slowly moved her hand to touch him.
But before she did, he shouted harshly at her. "I said don't touch me!"
Mirajane flinched at the boy's words. Something was definitely wrong with the kid in front of her.
"Go away…from me…while—"
"Mirajane?" Someone cut him off, calling the barmaid's name.
"Who are you talking to, Mira-chan?"
Yuri's eyes widened. Those voices. He knew those voices.
The two newcomers crouched down next to Mirajane in curiosity.
The boy managed to steal a glance at them even with his blurry vision and panicky state. He stiffened at the sight before him.
Uncle Macao…and Uncle Wakaba?
He wasn't wrong, was he?
The voices, their scent, although just a little bit off. It was truly them. Except…
Why do they look so old?
"Huh? A kid?" Wakaba peered closer at Yuri. Yuri only stared back at him. He wanted so badly to ask why his uncle (although not blood-related uncle) couldn't recognize him at that very second.
"Hm?" The older guy gazed thoughtfully, making Yuri more uncomfortable. This guy in front of him wasn't the same man he thought he knew. Even the Macao-looking guy. If they really were the same people, why couldn't they recognize him?
"A new recruit?"
"Yes." Mirajane answered for Yuri. "Lucy found him and brought him here with Natsu and Happy."
"Well, you picked the wrong time to visit, kid." Macao interjected, referring to the brawl happening. "You shouldn't hang around here any longer. Or else—"
Or else the table he was hiding from got lifted by a random guild member and thrown to the other side of the guild. That left the blonde boy with no protection.
"Come, it isn't safe here." The Macao look-alike offered his hand to him. Wakaba stepped beside him and continued. "This old coot's right. There's no tellin' when you'll get hit by a flying—", the smoking mage was cut off when the two of them got hurled by the same table Yuri was hiding under earlier, and crashed onto another group of mages brawling on the other side of the hall.
"My, my." Mirajane sweat dropped, thanking herself she took a step back just in time or else she'll also be joining Macao and Wakaba dead on the floor. The demon mage watched the whole rumble unfold, growing out of hand and decided that the hall wasn't safe any longer for the new kid.
Before she could speak though, someone called out.
"Watch out!"
It was as fast as a second. A wine bottle hit Yuri's head, glass shattering from the impact.
Mirajane gasped and hurriedly crouched down again next to him. "Oh no! It looks bad." Blood oozed from the side of the child's head, dripping down along his jawline and blotching the floor. His face was obviously in pain.
The take-over mage frowned deep as she felt her aura bubbling with anger. The poor boy just got here in Fairy Tail for the first time and this happened? She felt incredibly ashamed for her guild mates' behavior.
The whole bunch didn't stop their shenanigans, oblivious to the storm about to brew inside their hall. Chairs, tables, Gray's underpants, broken mugs and bottles kept being tossed back and forth.
Mirajane wanted so badly to stop the pointless riot already but she knew better to attend to the wounded boy first. She grabbed his body in an attempt to carry him to the infirmary but rapidly jerked her arms back to her. She froze on the spot as she felt her skin got grounded a second ago.
W-What was that just now?
Somehow the feeling was strangely familiar to her.
Did I just imagine it? Or—
"Mira-nee! Above!" Lisanna yelled at her from the bar, finger pointing to the ceiling. Breaking from her thoughts, Mira saw Elfman in his beast arm mode running to her like a mad man and screaming the same thing. Her eyes darted upward and gasped. The chain holding the gigantic chandelier above her and Yuri had gotten snapped by a random object, making the large piece of glass fall downwards to them. It didn't help that some broken tables and other debris was about to hit them too.
The rest of the guild stopped what they were doing. Lucy was about to summon a celestial spirit. Cana was holding her card, magic seal appearing in front of her. Gray was in his Ice-Make stance while Juvia was still down on the floor. The take-over mage nodded to her friends, knowing they would take down the other objects.
Purple tiles immediately surrounded Mira's body, prepping it into demon form to blow the falling chandelier away. She couldn't care less now if she'd make a hole out of the ceiling.
But before anyone could release their attack, a sudden surge of magic power engulfed the whole guild. Everyone was pushed back by force, putting their arms in front of their eyes from the flashing light. A bright yellow magic circle formed on the ground, almost covering the half the guild. In a blink of an eye, bolts of lightning shoot out from the circle, crushing everything suspended midair into bits and pieces. It didn't stop there though as the lightning erratically bounced around, piercing everything it touched. The ceiling, walls, posts, the request board…and even some guild members who didn't manage to take cover in time got electrocuted.
All these wreckage in just half a minute.
Eventually, the light gradually subsided. Everyone slowly moved out of their own make-shift shields.
Juvia, whose head was cradled on Gray's lap, finally woke up and spoke. "Eh? Gray-sama?" She didn't blush or squeal at that moment when the half-naked man didn't bother to reply back. Her eyes followed his and asked, shocked as the others, "W-What just happened?"
"I have no idea." Gray gulped. "But I can tell gramps' not gonna like this."
The guild hall was full of holes. Scorch marks caused by lightning marred the floor and walls. Splinters of wood and glass shards were all over the place. The bar and the separate rooms (infirmary and library) were the only part of the guild unharmed. Perhaps the Master's office too, if it wasn't hit at the last second. The rest of the members silently prayed they could fix all this damage before their Master comes back from his monthly meeting in Clover Town.
"Is everyone alright?" asked Laki, the wood mage.
Most of the people responded but a small minority were sprawled on the floor, slightly charred by the attack.
"Are you okay, Nee-chan, Lisanna?" Elfman asked his sisters, pushing the boulder away that was once part of the wall behind them.
"We're okay," said Mirajane, releasing Lisanna from her protective hug.
"W-What the hell was that?"
Cana strode towards the take-over siblings and stood beside Elfman, answering him. "Lightning magic."
Suddenly Mirajane gasped. Yuri! "Where's—"
"Over there." Cana cut her off, her usual slurry chirpy tone gone. She now wore an expression only reserved for anyone she considers suspicious or an enemy of the guild.
At the center of the wrecked hall was the blonde boy, on his knees, panting. The magic circle was gone by now, but he could still feel the static dancing around his body. He lifted his head up slowly, carefully and saw that the damage has been done. People were also staring at him, shock and wariness plastered on their faces. They took defensive stances as he met their eyes.
The ones he met and bumped into earlier were no different. Lisanna, Elfman, Juvia, Mirajane as well as Lucy wore confused looks, too stunned to move from their spots. It was Gray who barked at him, breaking the silence in the room.
"Who do you think you are, attacking us and destroying the guild hall like that?" His voice was menacing.
Yuri's throat dried up. He couldn't manage to speak properly. "I- I…" I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I swear, was what he wanted to say, but his own voice failed to help him out of this situation. He now understood why he had to stay away from the guild for the longest time. Tears began to well up on his eyes, his shoulders shaking from fear. His palm pressed against his already bloodied eye as he looked down in shame.
He caused trouble again. He broke his rule again. Going to the guild turned out to be a bad idea. He didn't deserve to be in this place. He should've listened to him.
Electricity started to jump from his skin once more. This time he felt he was now in control. He cautiously stood up, legs wobbling. He braced himself to leave the place through lightning.
However the onlookers mistook it for another attack.
Before the kid could move a muscle, Cana immediately pulled out a card and hurled a quicker lightning strike towards the blonde boy in an attempt to stop him from leaving. Yuri was caught off guard, only managing to raise his hand against the lightning before it consumed his whole body.
"Cana, why did you do that? He's already hurt!" Mirajane protested quickly, aghast that her fellow mage just attacked the boy without letting him explain his side first.
"He attacked us first." The brunette reasoned out, not giving a glance at Mira. "Even if he's just a kid, we can't be too sure."
"I agree with her." Gray chimed in.
"Gray-sama!" Juvia frowned at his love interest, her fists clenched. "Even so—"
"Cana has a point."
"But you should've at least tied him up instead of striking him!" Lucy stepped in and argued.
"Tying him up isn't enough with that display just now." Cana replied. "Relax, it won't kill him. I'll just let him taste his own medicine 'til he gets knocked down. Then we can question him later." She pushed more magic onto the card between her fingers, prolonging the lightning.
"Still, you're going overboard!" Lisanna exclaimed, taking her sister's side. Mira watched the whole scene in horror. The boy wasn't even screaming in pain! He must have been unconscious by now, she grimly thought.
With that, she couldn't take it anymore. She was about to snatch the card away from the brunette when Elfman gripped her shoulder hard, stopping her.
"Let go, Elfman!" Mira glared at her brother. Elfman didn't look at her. His wide eyes only focused on the boy, he told her, "Look at him."
Cana and the rest were stumped. The card mage finally halted her lightning before Mira could, thinking it was already enough to knock down the kid cold on the floor. Or at the very least, paralyze him temporarily.
However Yuri was still standing, his arm raised the same a few seconds ago. Not even a scratch or burn on his skin too, only thin white smoke caused by the strike surrounded him as well as static electricity.
W-Why did they attack me?
He dropped down his arm, looking at everyone with a mixture of shock, confusion and betrayed look on his face.
Cana narrowed her eyes dangerously at the boy. How did this brat survive that? Tch. This kid's not normal.
"Who are you?! And what are you after?!"
Yuri froze. He didn't know what to say to that. Moreover, he wasn't allowed to drop his name. Especially now when his worst thoughts were confirmed with that question.
Everyone in this hall considered him a complete stranger. And they were the same to him too.
Strangers. All of them.
He broke his father's rule by coming here and now he wasn't about to break another one.
"Answer us! Or else we'll have to take you down for real." Cana barked.
"Cana!" Mirajane put a vice grip on her shoulder. "Stop it! You're scaring him."
"Let me talk to him," suggested Lucy. The white-haired mage nodded.
"Yuri?" Lucy slowly approached him but the boy took a step back. "What's—"
"D-Don't go near me!" He shot back at her, voice raspy. His heart was thumping loudly against his chest. He was so scared right now. He would have never thought he'd be scared inside Fairy Tail of all places! But then again, this wasn't the Fairy Tail he once knew.
He needed to get out of here.
His eyes frantically searched for the nearest hole, planning to escape.
The card mage saw through him and turned towards her black-haired friend. "Gray, keep him distracted. I'll sneak up behind and seal him inside my card."
The ice mage nodded.
Yuri gathered his magic, yellow aura slowly radiating around him. In the middle of it though, he suddenly lost his balance and slumped down the floor.
Crap! Not again! His dizziness struck him once more as well as the throbbing pain on his wounded temple. He figured absorbing the lightning just now was too much on his already strained body.
Seizing the opportunity to freeze him on that spot, Gray rushed towards the boy. With a giant leap, he put his fist on his palm midair. "Ice-Make—"
"GRAAAAAAY!"
"NATSU?" Lucy exclaimed, surprised as she saw the dragon slayer slipped through one of the holes on the ceiling.
"Wha—UOOGH!" Gray looked up and got cut off as he collided with a falling Natsu. They both slammed down through the wooden floor down to the basement.
Everyone dropped their jaws at that moment. They were all thinking why the hell did Natsu fall from the sky, and how Master's gonna be pissed at them big time. Thanked the heavens that he wasn't here, yet silently wished he could come back to stop this craziness. Almost everyone circled on the edge of the newly-formed hole and peered down to see where Natsu and Gray were.
"Natsu you bastard! Why'd you do that for?" Gray yelled at the fire dragon slayer, now seething. He was lying on his stomach on the stone-cold floor with Natsu on his back. Before the ice mage could grab and beat his rival to a pulp, Happy dove downwards in an alarming speed and quickly lifted his partner out of the basement.
Black eyes scanned the guild hall from midair. On the corner of his eyes, he saw Cana threw her attack cards at Yuri's back.
"Happy!" exclaimed Natsu.
"Aye sir!" The Exceed swiftly flew above the two and dropped the fire dragon slayer in between the boy and the card mage. Fire engulfed his fist as he punched Cana's attack before it reached Yuri.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
The sound of fiery explosion boomed ten times more than the lightning strikes earlier. Yet again, a gigantic hole was formed at the center of the hall. Everyone's hopes of just patching up the guild here and there was gone at this point.
Cana managed to jump back in time, avoiding the same fate as Gray's by a hairline. "Natsu!" She glared at the younger mage and shouted, "Why'd you get in between us, huh? That kid's dangerous!"
The pinkette got up from below and landed on the main floor. He dusted his pants and shrugged. "Doesn't look like to me. More importantly…" He gave a quick glance at everyone then crossed his arms and sulked loudly, "WHY DIDN'T YOU GUYS TELL ME YOU'RE HAVIN' A PARTY WITHOUT ME?"
The rest of the members gawked at him, jaws hitting the floor. Lucy face-palmed herself.
"And besides, Yuri is harmless." He added.
"Harmless?!" Gray interjected. "You weren't here earlier! He made those holes on the walls and the ceiling!"
"Ha?" The pinkette shot him an incredulous look. "But we always do that here."
"It's alright if it's us, you dumbass. He's not a member so he doesn't have the free pass."
Natsu burst out laughing. Happy joined in next to him, snickering.
"What's so damn funny, Flame Brain?"
"'Cause you ain't got a clue, Ice Princess. Yuri's—"
Out of the blue, the guild door crashed onto the two bickering mages and the Exceed, slamming the three across the other end of the hall.
The said door dropped and revealed Natsu, Gray and Happy embedded on the wall before they plopped down to the floor. Dead.
Everyone froze, cold sweat running down their heads. There could only be one person who could do that.
Standing on the entrance was a startled Mest holding the grip on Makarov's wheelchair. A dangerous aura was threatening to explode from the latter's body. His face could only be described by one thing.
Furious.
"You…" The old man's body grew and grew.
"M-Master, take it easy." Mest tried to convince him at the same time cautiously stepping back, "Your wheelchair might…"
Too late. The wheelchair broke.
"YOU SHITTY BRATS! WHAT IN THE GODS NAME HAVE YOU CAUSED THIS TIME? HAVE YOU ALL GONE INSANE? THIS IS ON A DIFFERENT LEVEL, YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING SHIT-FOR-BRAINS!"
People blanched at the outburst. Some who weren't used to Makarov's wrath cowered in fear and hid behind the bar. Mest quickly excused himself that he'll get another wheelchair from the hospital just to get away from the seething old geezer.
"M-Master, please get a hold of yourself." Mira carefully treaded towards the titan. Looking all over the place, she knew it'll be difficult to pacify the angry man this time. She nervously laughed. "We don't want you to have a heart attack, do we?"
"YOU'LL ALL BE THE DEATH OF ME, I SWEAR I'M GONNA—WHO STARTED THIS?!" He demanded, voice booming on everyone's ears.
All pointed their fingers at the blond boy. His back was facing the old man's view.
Hm? It's not Natsu this time? Makarov was astounded. Sensing the boy's about to escape, he swiftly extended his arm and grabbed his whole body in his gigantic hand. His prey squirmed in protest, managing to free both his arms and tried to push himself out. Makarov hardened his grip on his body.
"What? This new runt has wrecked my guild hall single-handedly?!" The titan mage turned to his brats. They all nodded.
Makarov's arm slowly retracted to him and peered at the boy whose fingers were covering his face. "Show your face!" He roared, his patience running thin. He normally welcome new recruits in his guild with a smile. However, knowing that the newcomer was already a troublemaker at his first day…and at this level too?
He decided this kid needed serious spanking later.
"Do I have to pry open your fingers too, hmm?" Makarov threatened, blowing out a hot white steam from his nose. Just to frighten the boy a little so he'd have no other choice but to listen to him. That trick worked with his guild brats before.
Or maybe he shouldn't have done that when he saw the boy's shoulders shaking like a leaf. Shortly he heard the soft sniffles.
His face was stricken in panic as soon as he heard the sniffles.
"Ahh…uhh…"
Makarov darted his eyes down at his members, silently pleading for their help but got none. They were all looking at him disapprovingly. Even Mirajane was frowning at him. He felt judged on the spot.
In a flash, Makarov's anger died down as he tried to coo the whimpering boy trapped in his hand. The blond was wiping off the tears threatening to fall from his eyes when Makarov managed to catch a glimpse of blood on the boy's temple down to his jawline. Concern overriding his panic, his other giant hand gently pulled the kid's arms away from his face.
Nothing could ever surprise him more in his whole life.
He blinked hard. Even bit his cheek to check if he's dreaming. His mouth opened and closed, speechless at his disbelief.
The whole crowd, who were watching the scene from the start, stared at the boy and their Master back and forth. Everyone noticed the sudden change in Makarov's face. His expression couldn't be read. That got them all curious.
"Master? Is there something wrong?"
"…"
"Master?"
The old man didn't pay any mind to them though. His eyes peered closer to the boy who was desperately trying to control his crying.
His soft hiccups were the only sound heard inside the hall.
"G-"
Makarov's breath hitched on his next word.
"Gramps."
...
Author's Note: So Yuri…is it obvious now who he is at this point? And about the action part, was it confusing? Also, I hope the pacing is just right… or is it not? *gasps!* Well, the chapters are a bit (?) long, but I really can't help it. Do you guys like / have any problems with long chapters?
Anyway, thanks for reading! Oh and kindly check out my other Miraxus story too. It's called Demon in the Spark. Chapter 1 is up. (And no, it doesn't suck. Well, it does if you don't ship Miraxus. So yeah.)
-AwkwardToffee