The people of Magnolia had been astonished when they woke up one morning and saw a gigantic structure that could only be described as a tree house high above the trees in the forest. It was truly magnificent and could only have been constructed through magic. The Fairy Tail banner hung proudly from the structure and nostalgia welled in the hearts of the citizens. It had been so long since Fairy Tail had been the pride of their town.
They had heard of a new member in Fairy Tail. However, unlike the previous powerhouses of Fairy Tail he kept a low profile. Thus, he was not featured in many magazines and gossiped about. However, when they heard that Fairy Tail had fulfilled their debt, they could no longer ignore this stranger. It was said that he single-handedly paid back the fortune owed by Fairy Tail. More so, it appeared that he had scared Twilight Ogre into submission. No longer did they flaunt their strength around town. Instead, they stayed mum and went about doing jobs every now and then. Several members had reportedly left in fear of Fairy Tail's retribution.
The townspeople wondered if Fairy Tail would give the Grand Magic Games another shot. Despite their recent success, the general public across the kingdom would likely still look down on Fairy Tail.
Madara still felt bored. Despite the renovation of Fairy Tail, the guild still felt like it was missing something. Fortunately, he didn't feel the need to burn it to the ground and start anew like he did with the Leaf Village. They guild members still seemed to be attached to their missing members. Despite the high likelihood that they were dead, the guild still believed that they would come back. Madara doubted, but he didn't completely disregard the possibility. Apparently, the energy readings around the missing island and details behind the attack were unusual. He had read the reports from the members of Blue Pegasus and it seemed like there was an unknown variable involved in the situation. He was more interested in the Dragon Acnologia however. The beast reminded him of a Tailed Beast. He wanted it as a pet. Unfortunately, since the dragon likely lacked a chakra network genjutsu wouldn't be very helpful.
He was interested in chasing down Acnologia. Although he had first thought the Tailed Beasts to be stupid creatures, he eventually learned of their sapience. It was likely that Acnologia was somewhat intelligent. It would have caused far more destruction if it were a mere animal. Unfortunately, his power was nowhere near what it once was. He doubted he could capture the beast without sustaining critical injuries. Thus, he studied the most readily available source of power to him, natural energy. Although he had been able to control the Sage chakra he absorbed from Hashirama, that chakra was readily molded before he got it. He didn't know how to actually mold the Sage chakra himself, though he had certain theories. He had heard rumors that failure to mold the chakra properly would have severe consequences. Without some form of instructor, Madara would be putting himself at risk. However, Hashirama learned the technique on his own and if Hashirama could do it then Madara would be able to as well.
Studying the energy content of his surroundings, he not only understood the flow of natural energy but also the flow of ethernano. They seemed almost one and the same, yet completely distinct energies at the same time. He theorized that since he was in a different universe the properties of the universe were different as well. Thus, natural energy wouldn't be the same as it was in the Elemental Nations. Further analysis of his data showed that natural energy was most abundant in inanimate objects, while it tended to avoid living creatures. Animals and even plants are constantly moving relative to the planet they are on. Thus, natural energy may be attracted to a still state. Madara doubted he could achieve the complete stillness that something like a rock could achieve. However, if he were closer to that state perhaps he could pull in more Natural energy.
His experiments lead to daily meditation sessions. While he was completing jobs, he would use every opportunity to practice tuning into natural energy. Progress was slow and he occasionally sprouted branches from his body. He would get lost in his sessions and would find birds resting peacefully on his new limbs.
Madara jumped from tree to tree as he chased the remaining members of the Dark Guild he was contracted to hunt down. They were real scum, running operations from smuggling illegal drugs to human trafficking. The majority of them were weak, but their master had a little fight in him. He used some form of acid magic, which could counter several of his ninjutsu. It also served as excellent armor to keep Madara from slaughtering him with his fists.
Two thugs let loose with a barrage of bullets from the back of two motorcycles. The bullets shredded the tree as Madara fell back under cover and slipped beneath the Earth. Spears of Earth jutted out of the ground, spearing the motorcycles and tossing the mages about. As Madara unearthed himself, a wave of acid flooded the area. He deflected the acid with a wave of water. The two attacks collided, causing an explosion. Two of the dark mages met their end in the blast. Madara used his Susano'o to survive the explosion, but immediately collapsed to his knee afterwards with his Susano'o crumbling. My body still isn't accustomed to forming the Susano'o again. For some reason, the Susano'o triggered his entire nervous system, just as it had when he had first learned how to manifest the phantasmal skeleton using his Mangekyou Sharingan. However, it showed little sign of improving.
The leader of the mages used Madara's moment of weakness to attack him from his blind spot; Madara met the mage's charge with his armor. It seemed like the mage was running out of energy, as he hadn't used his acid-make magic. Where's his lackey? Just as Madara recalled the existence of one other survivor, he was speared through the shoulder with a bayonet. In a fit of rage, Madara grabbed the mage by the face and tossed him into his leader. Then he took the mage's bayonet and pinned the both of them to a tree.
"You pathetic little ant. You're lucky I need you alive. Now tell me, where did you take them?" When Madara had returned to the guild after completing a job, he had noticed it was empty. Macao had left a letter, stating that Romeo was missing and they were all out looking for him. Madara had begun investigating himself, and found out that Romeo had been taken by a Dark Guild interested in his exceptional abilities as a mage. Certain countries were known for using mages as slaves, and it seemed like Romeo was headed to join their ranks. Madara had attacked the guild as soon as he found it, despite being tired from his previous mission.
"Why would I tell you? You're either going to kill us afterwards or hand us over to the Rune Knights," said the leader of the Dark Guild.
Madara held his palm to the mage's head. "You don't need to tell me anything. You just have to think about it." He created a bridge between their souls, using the connection to read the mage's mind. It seemed like Romeo had already been transferred onto a ship called the Syberian. Madara cut off the mages' legs, healing their wounds and cremating the dismembered limbs. He didn't want them escaping while he went to retrieve Romeo. He didn't have time to call the Rune Knights at the moment. Instead, he used a wind jutsu to destroy a large portion of the forest, hopefully catching the attention of the townspeople. They would call the Rune Knights to investigate the disturbance. They had likely already noticed the previous explosion, but Madara wanted to be thorough. Nevertheless, he would come back just to make sure.
He uses the summoning technique to summon a beast with wings. It looks like a reptilian creature. Madara had found it in his travels and enslaved it using his chakra receivers.
Hopping on the creatures back, he flies high, looking for the ship carrying Romeo. Eventually, he recognizes the Syberian from the dark mage's memory and dispels the beast. He lands in the water silently, manipulating the water to soften his fall. He comes up under the ship and climbs up the side. Using a technique to make him invisible, he slips onto the ship without being seen.
"Hey Billy, it's time to feed the cargo." The captain spoke to one of his crew. Madara tailed Billy as the man walked below deck, where several people were heavily constrained. It was clear that they were too chained up to even feed themselves. On top of physical chains, there were magical constraints. Checking if there was anyone else nearby and confirming that it was just Billy and the "cargo," he sealed the door behind him and incapacitated Billy. Picking up the food Billy had brought, he noticed that it was heavily laced with drugs. Madara would have to take over the ship to bring all of the captives back to shore. Using his sensory abilities, he determined the position of every member on the ship. Then he sprouted several branches and choked the crew members. They lost consciousness.
Eventually, the captives had become lucid and noticed that they were free. On top of the ship, they met Madara and Romeo vouched for his trustworthiness. They worked together to steer the ship back to Fiore.
However, on their way back, they witnessed an island rise from the depths of the ocean. They had just been lying about on the ship, treating each others' minor injuries when large waves had begun rocking the ship. Madara had used a water release technique to stabilize the ship. However, large waves threatened to flood the vessel.
"Push the waves away with large attacks!" said one of the young magi. The former captives contributed their abilities to counter the waves. Eventually, the waves subsided and the group could see an island where there hadn't been one before. Surrounding it was a magic barrier with Fairy Tail's emblem on the top. The island called to Madara and Romeo. The rest of the group also wanted to go to the island to look for any injured people.
The appearance of a girl standing on water and beckoning towards them only reinforced their decision.
Arriving on the island, the group quickly got off and followed the girl who seemed to be leading them somewhere. Romeo seemed especially eager. Madara felt a prickling sensation around his guild tattoo. Rolling up his sleeve, he could see that it was glowing slightly. It was as if someone was probing it. Was the girl doing this? He followed the group as they explored the island.
Extending his senses, he noticed that the island was saturated with magical energy. Although it was not his focus at the moment, he knew this place would be perfect for mastering his Sage mode. In his search, he found several human signs of life. Their life forces were weak at the moment, as if they were waking up from a long slumber.
They approached a pink-haired man buried in sand. Romeo had begun to outright cry at this point as he helped the man pick himself up.
"Natsu! I can't believe you're here. I was worried we'd lost you forever," he cried. Romeo hugged the aforementioned Natsu so hard that his face turned blue.
"Ro...Romeo. Let me...go...you're choking me." Natsu eventually succeeded in prying Romeo off of his body. However, he finally managed to get a good look at Romeo and exclaimed, "What the hell! You look so tall now Romeo!"
"What? I got older Natsu. How come you still look the same?" Romeo asked, his sniffling subsiding.
"Older? I don't think you can grow that much in a couple of days, Romeo. Have you been taking growth enhancement drugs?" Natsu asked as his face took on a stern appearance. "Can you get me some? I want to grow big and strong like Igneel!"
Romeo promptly laughed while tears flowed from his eyes once more. "No, no, I haven't been taking drugs Natsu. Do you really not know? It's been 7 years since you came to Tenrou island."
"S-seven years? It can't be. Last thing I remember is that bigass dragon attacking us and then we held hands and stuff and.. and what happened after that?" At this point, Natsu was quickly looking more and more troubled.
"All will be explained after we wake up the rest of your guild mates," the blonde girl intervened. She had a gentle smile on her face, happy to see the fire dragon slayer so alive and healthy. "Follow me, the others are elsewhere."
This time she left at a faster pace. Natsu, Romeo and the rest quickly followed after her, eager to see the rest of the guild on the island. They came across Lucy, Cana, Happy, Erza and the rest.
After they had finally gathered the group as a whole, Mavis began to speak. "I'm sure you are all a bit confused as to what has happened. My name is Mavis Vermillon and I am Fairy Tail's first master."
At this point, the guild was extremely shocked. The former captives from the ship had long since returned to the ship, wanting the give the guild a little privacy. Of course, Romeo remained with the rest of his guild. Madara kept his distance, though he stayed close enough to hear Mavis's explanation.
As Mavis explained the third great Fairy Magic, Madara thought of the power of bonds. The magic Mavis had used was powerful and apparently she had used it as a ghost. In the war, the blonde brat had also strengthened the bond between the shinobi of the five nations. He had spread his chakra to protect all of them and their effectiveness as a unit had increased greatly. Madara had trouble understanding this. He could understand the strength gained from protecting one's loved ones. He had fought till he had been on the verge of death to protect his clan several times from childhood. However, he had been at his strongest after he had lost his brothers and left his clan. When he had forsaken the world he had eclipsed all of them. Yet in the end, he had still lost. What have I been doing with my life?
He felt more tired now than he had ever felt before. No longer comfortable trespassing on the guild's reunion, he left to go back to the ship. He trusted that Romeo would bring the members there so that they could go home. Hell, for all I know they still have their own ship that they used to travel to the island.
However, before he could get far he was intercepted by the ghost of the first master. She stared at him for a few seconds before breaking out into a soft smile. Madara simply stared back, not having anything to say.
"You're a new member of Fairy Tail, aren't you?" she asked. "There's no reason to be shy. You're part of the family now."
"It's less shyness and more respect for their reunion. I don't really know these mages, but I'll get to know them better later." Madara decided to clarify his decision.
She sighed, but accepted his answer and moved on. Giving her farewell, she disappeared and the Fairy Tail members began to talk about how they would get back.
"We don't have our ship anymore. How exactly did you get here," Makarov asked Romeo.
Romeo scratched the back of his neck while looking uncomfortable. "About that, I was actually captured by a group of dark mages and they stowed me on a ship along with a bunch of other captured mages. Madara saved us though. Oh! I forgot to tell you; he's our newest member. We didn't actually get any other new members while you guys were gone. Many of the previous ones left. Madara joined a few months ago."
"I see. I must thank this man then for saving one of our own. Where is he though? I'd like to meet him." Makarov seemed interested in this new member.
"Uh, I think he went back to the ship. He likes to keep to himself. Let's go back. There's more than enough space for you to ride with us!" Romeo seemed eager to go back. "The rest of the guild will be so happy to see you guys."
As the group went back to the ship, Makarov wondered about the changes in the world. Seven years was a long time. Romeo mentioned that many members left the guild. From what he said, it seemed like the guild hadn't fared well in their absence. It made sense since their most powerful mages were trapped. As they reached the shore of the island they saw a ship with the name Siberian written on the side. It was a moderately big vessel. There were many mages aboard. The majority of them were quite young. The dark mages must have picked young mages so that they would be easier to train and control. Among them was an older man.
"Hey Madara, they're gonna need to hitch a ride on our ship," said Romeo. It seemed the man Makarov was eyeing was the Madara Romeo had spoken of.
"I was expecting that. Get on, the ship is big enough to hold all of us."
The Fairy Tail members got aboard the ship, which seemed ready to sail.
"There's just one issue. I've never really sailed before and I didn't really memorize the direction I came from when searching for this ship," said Madara. "We were just sailing randomly before this island popped up."
"It's fine, I know how to get us back to Fiore, assuming all of you are planning to go there?" Receiving nods of affirmation from the mages on board, Makarov helped them set sail for home. Once they were set, he went to have a chat with Madara.
"I heard that you are our newest member. It's a pleasure to meet you. The name's Makarov Dreyer, Fairy Tail's third master."
"Yes, I've heard quite a lot about you. You were, or should I say are, a wizard saint," said Madara.
Makarov chuckled, "I don't know if I was declared officially dead or not by the council, but they might have replaced me with another mage already." Makarov seemed truly unsure as to his position regarding his Wizard Saint title. "It's not really important though. I wanted to thank you for saving Romeo. From what I heard, he would have suffered a terrible fate had you not found him. For that, you have my most sincere gratitude."
"It was not a big deal. I would hardly let them just take him." Madara nonchalantly brushed off Makarov's thanks.
"Hmm, I like you. You give off some shady vibes, but it seems like your heart's in the right place." Makarov seemed to have concluded his judgement of Makarov. "So I heard you were an S-class mage, approved by Macao. Normally, I would test you to see if you are fit for the position, but it seems like you've already proven yourself out in the field."
"The S-class jobs haven't been particularly difficult so far. The guild might have to gain more of a public presence to get some better jobs." Madara pondered the current state of his career as a 'mage.'
"Ha! I don't think you'll have to worry about that anymore. These kids are crazy. They'll catch the public's eye in no time," Makarov stated, both amused and apprehensive of the future.
"I'll take your word for it," said Madara. Truthfully, they were a bit strange from what he could see, but so was everyone else in this world.
Madara and Makarov ended their conversation, splitting up to do their own thing as they sailed back home.
Eventually, the group arrived at Fiore, meeting a group of Rune Knights and submitting a report of their experience to the Magic Council. The returning Fairy Tail members had to confirm their existence as they were listed as missing persons that were possibly dead.
Upon returning to the guild, Makarov was the first one to comment, "The guild sure has changed a lot in the time we were gone."
"Romeo! I'm so glad you're okay." Macao embraced his son. He had gotten a message shortly before the members had arrived that Romeo had been recovered. He was worried sick. However, not only did he get his son back, but also the missing members of Fairy Tail. Today was surely a miracle.
"You all look so young! What happened?" Laki was crying tears of happiness as she embraced the group.
"A lot of things happened; we were attacked by a dark guild, a dragon, and were frozen in time for 7 years. We're all back for good now though." Makarov gave a short summary of what happened to the guild.
The Tenrou Island members settled into this new guild hall, drinking and feasting into the night. Fairy Tail was whole again.
For the first time, Madara felt like the guild was alive. What was missing had been recovered, and everyone would surely grow stronger for it. He allowed himself to join the festivities. It's not like he would get drunk anyway, as Hashirama's cells would purge the alcohol from his system.