AN: Thank you Goku275, NinjaFang1331, cg037, AliceCullen3, and scoolharis. Enjoy!
Gray walked through the forest, the nervous feeling in his stomach growing the closer he got to the meeting point. While most of the Tenrou Group was off training to make up for the seven lost years (with an agreement to meet up by the time of the Grand Magic Games, at the latest), he was here…
"Gray's undressed body!" exclaimed Juvia, drooling.
"Damnit! Not again!"
…along with Juvia, ostensibly for combat and moral support. Normally, he would have rejected her offer outright, but he'd take any company he could get given who he was meeting with.
After putting his clothes back on, Gray and Juvia continued forward into a clearing where two former Dark Mages waited for them. Members of the Independent Guild, Crime Sorcière.
"It's good to see you again, Gray," greeted Ultear. This caused Juvia to perceive her as a love rival and glare at the woman for a moment before noticing Meredy.
"Juvia!" cried the now-fully grown woman, hugging her friend. "I'm so glad you're back!"
"I'm happy to see you too," replied the water mage, who then returned to glaring at Ultear. "I feel no happiness about seeing a love rival, though."
The woman in question chuckled at Juvia, before responding to her question. "No offense, but my feelings toward Gray aren't romantic. As a disciple of my mother, I only see him as a little brother. I wish you the best of luck, though."
"Don't encourage her!" shouted Gray as his comrade's feelings toward Ultear did a complete one-eighty. She simply continued to laugh, enjoying her role as the teasing older sister. "Besides, we're not here to talk about my love life—" Gray regretted his choice of words as soon as they left his mouth and Juvia squealed "—we're here because Natsu told me about my father!"
The mood plummeted instantly. Everyone's expressions grew serious, the time for pleasantries decidedly over.
"Very well," acquiesced Ultear. "As your friend told you, Silver was one of Tartaros's Nine Demon Gates. After Millianna defeated him with some assistance from us, he told us exactly how he ended up there and asked us to pass something very important on to you. It all started when…"
A tale was told, about a man who was forced to fight for demons. A man who created a magic to fight against demons. A man who rebelled against the demons and helped their enemies to defeat them, saving the country. And, at the end of this tale, that man's magic was transferred to his son.
"Iron Dragon's Club!" shouted Gajeel, swinging his elongated, metal arms toward Natsu. The Dragon grabbed the club, then delivered a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist to the dragon slayer's face, sending him flying.
"Ugh," groaned Gajeel, both frustrated and in pain. "It pisses me off that you can just swat me like a fly now, Salamander."
"Does that mean you're giving up?" taunted Natsu.
"Like hell I am!" yelled the dragon slayer. He got up and charged at the dragon, beginning another futile exchange.
When the Tenrou Group divided up to train, Natsu had, to everyone's surprise, taken Gajeel far away for 'dragon slayer training.' Less surprising was that this training consisted mainly of sparring. Gajeel, always hungry for a good battle, had agreed to Natsu's methods rather quickly. Two weeks had passed since they began.
Incidentally, Wendy had been left with Lucy, Erza, and Team Shadow Gear so that she would have time to learn the Dragon Slayer's Secret Arts that Grandeeney had passed onto her through Porlyusica. On the other hand, Sting and Rogue had taken on a somewhat lengthy S-Class Job before finding out about the training session. But, once the two S-Class Mages finished their Job, they would grab Wendy and join Natsu and Gajeel.
"…And it seems like they're here," thought Natsu, as he smelled his comrades. His brow furrowed. "Two of them, anyway."
After overwhelming his opponent's Iron Dragon's Roar with a Fire Dragon's Roar, Natsu turned toward the approaching dragon slayers.
"Sting, Rogue!" shouted Natsu, waving and grinning. "It's good to see you!"
The two reciprocated Natsu's gesture, greeting him and Gajeel. Then, they explained why their group was one dragon slayer short.
"Unfortunately, Wendy won't be able to make it," said Sting. "Apparently, the Celestial Spirits took her, Lucy, Erza, and Levy to the Celestial Spirit World for a 'Welcome Back' party. We found out about it through Yukino, along with the fact that time moves much slower in that world. It'll be a few weeks before we see them again."
"Damnit!" cursed Natsu, annoyed. "I can't believe I'm missing such a cool-sounding party!"
"Is that really the part you are focusing on?" asked Rogue. He turned his attention to Gajeel, offering a smile. "I cannot wait to train alongside you, Gajeel. I looked up to you back when you were in Phantom Lord and I was your disciple. Now, I look forward to beating you."
"Awfully cocky of you to assume you're stronger than me," replied the Iron Dragon Slayer, giving a shark-toothed smirk. "Especially with how weak you must've been back then, given that I don't remember you."
"I… had a shaved head and went by Ryos back then," explained Rogue, a bit embarrassed. "I did not like my name's meaning seven years ago."
"Ah, right!" went Gajeel, remembering Rogue. He smirked at the Shadow Dragon Slayer, cracking a knuckle. "You really feared me back then, and it looks like I'll have to remind you why."
"It looks like I'm fighting you, Master," Sting said to Natsu, the two grinning at one another.
The real training had just begun.
"A month and a half!?" exclaimed Lucy, Erza, Wendy, and Levy, causing all of the Celestial Spirits present to wince. They had just been informed by Libra and Pisces that, although less than a day had passed in the Celestial Spirit World, about one and a half months had passed on Earthland.
"I'm sorry that I forgot to mention that," apologized Virgo, bowing. "Please punish me as much as you want."
The four girls ignored the masochistic maid, too busy lamenting the lost time. Each voiced their own concern.
"We have missed out on roughly half of our training before the Grand Magic Games!" exclaimed Erza.
"I'm going to be behind on my rent again, assuming I'm not outright evicted!" complained Lucy.
"So much for 'dragon slayer training,'" sighed Wendy.
"Why do we keep experiencing time skips," moaned Levy.
The Celestial Spirit, seeing how depressed their guests were, convened a distance from the humans to have a private conversation.
"I feel soooo bad!" shouted Taurus, crying. "How do we make it up to them?"
"What about a gift?" suggested Loke. "A good present always cheered up one of my girlfriends whenever they were angry or sad."
"We… we could give books to Levy and Celestial Spirit clothing to Erza," offered Aries, clutching the hem of her dress. "I… I'm not sure about Lucy or Wendy, though. I'm sorry."
"…" Crux remained silent, causing some of them to wonder if he was asleep.
"They're idiots for getting so upset when they don't even have any boyfriends to miss!" yelled Aquarius angrily, before calming down slightly. "…But, among all the memories of Celestial Spirits stored in Star Memory, I bet we have some of Sky Dragons fighting. They would probably help Wendy learn those spells her mother left her."
"Awesome idea, Aquarius," complimented Scorpio. To everyone's exasperation, the two started acting lovey-dovey and completely forgot about the conversation.
"Star Dress!" exclaimed Crux suddenly, startling the others. He turned to the Celestial Spirit King. "You could teach Lucy Star Dress, Your Highness."
"What's Star Dress, piri-piri?" asked Gemi and Mini.
"Star Dress is an Ancient Spell, forgotten by humans over the centuries," answered the Celestial Spirit King. "It allows a Celestial Mage to use the power of a Celestial Spirit, though only one with a Gold Key whom they have contracted. The spell was created by Celestial Mages who desired to fight alongside their partners."
"I remember it now," said Cancer. "Star Dress doesn't just give the Celestial Mage power; it also changes their clothes in a cool outfit based on the Celestial Spirit whose magic they're using!"
"Power and a magic wardrobe," spoke Sagittarius. "That sounds like a perfect spell for Lucy!"
"Very well then," responded the Celestial Spirit King. "I shall teach Star Dress to Lucy Heartfilia before she leaves our world."
"Doing all of these things for the four of them will take some time, though," pointed out Capricorn. "We should talk to them about it first, so that they don't end up getting upset over losing even more time."
"Agreed!" replied the other Celestial Spirits. Their conversation finished, they moved over to the four still-depressed girls to share the news.
In the end, all four ladies agreed to spend a little longer in the Celestial Spirit World. Erza selected a number of outfits with Virgo and Cancer's assistance. Lucy learned Star Dress from the Celestial Spirit King, with help from Loke and Capricorn. Aquarius and Scorpio took Wendy to Star Memory so she could watch recordings of Sky Dragons (although the two of them stayed after the dragon slayer left, looking at good memories from their romance). Levy picked out a bunch of books, aided by Aries and Sagittarius.
By the time they returned to Earthland, another fifteen days had passed.
"Only a month left," sighed Lucy as she and the others (including Jet and Droy) trudged through a forest.
Shortly after returning from the Celestial Spirit World, their group received a message asking them to come to a certain location within the forest. As they approached the meeting spot, the six of them saw five cloaked figures.
"Thank you for coming, Fairy Tail," spoke one of the figures. He and the others then unveiled their faces, revealing themselves to be Jellal, Ultear, Meredy, Gray, and Juvia.
"Jellal!" exclaimed Erza, shocked. "I heard from the others that you regained your memories and escaped prison, but what are you doing here? And why are Gray and Juvia with you three?"
"It's a long story," responded Gray. He then explained about Silver and how Natsu had directed him to Crime Sorcière. By the end of Gray's tale, his guildmates were gaping at him. "…And since then, Ultear and the others have been helping Juvia and I train."
"And I thought we had a crazy two months," said Levy dryly. "Also, Gray, your clothes."
"Oh, come on!"
"Anyway," started Lucy, choosing to ignore Gray's state of undress. "I don't suppose we could join in on the training. We just spent the last two months in the Celestial Spirit World… except it wasn't even a full day there."
"Wow, that's unfortunate," replied Meredy sympathetically. "How about it, Ultear? You could unlock their Second Origins."
Gray and Juvia flinched at the girl's words, which concerned the others.
"Alright," agreed Ultear, who then turned to the female Fairies. She explained what a Second Origin was and how she unlocked it through her Arc of Time. "…I must warn you, though, it's an extraordinarily painful process."
"If Natsu, Millianna, Gray, Juvia, and even Happy have all taken this pain, then so can we!" declared Erza, to which the other girls nodded. Jet and Droy chose to bow out, leaving in the direction they originally came from. Nobody blamed the two of them for this.
The girls spent the next several hours in agony as their Magic Power rose greatly. Meanwhile, Juvia attempted to drag Gray off into the wilderness. When he resisted, Ultear 'helped' by using Ice-Make to create frozen vines of flowers which wrapped around the two, forming a beautiful room with no exits.
Incidentally, rumors would spread in the near future about a murderous ghost haunting the forest. It would target young women and girls alike (and possibly one man), inflicting gruesome torture upon them. The victims would scream for hours during the night, then there would be silence.
Omake
"Imagine yourself growing," instructed Panther Lily. "From a helpless little kid into a powerful guardian. And as you're doing this, think about your motivation. Why is it that you want this strength?"
"To protect Blaze and Iggy."
"To assist Wendy."
"To fight alongside Sting."
"To have fun with Rogue."
As these thoughts flowed through their minds, Happy, Carla, Lector, and Frosch all underwent a Battle Mode Shift for a few seconds.
"Good," praised Lily. "At this rate, it shouldn't take more than a month or two before all of you can use Battle Mode Shift at will and maintain the transformation during a fight. Then, Happy will teach us all his human transformation."
"Aye, sir," replied the Exceeds simultaneously.
Between the events of Tenrou Island and the actions of Tartaros, all of them felt a burning desire to become stronger for their partners. It was for this reason that, while the others were undergoing 'dragon slayer training,' Happy and Lily had organized 'Exceed training' after their duel.
Incidentally, said duel ended in the older and more experienced Lily's victory, which was why they were starting with Battle Mode Shift.
AN: Everybody is training for the Grand Magic Games. The arc will begin next chapter and differ greatly from canon, though mainly in the later stages. I suppose there are already some changes, what with characters learning certain magic earlier and have more time to train. Also, all of the Exceed are learning both transformations.
Also, based on the Earthland-CS World time difference of 90 days to 1 day, Yukino's spirits slept about 8 hours (1 month) between being unsummoned and informing the girls. Then, the girls spent 4 hours (15 days) in the world after finding out about the differing flow of time.
Goodbye!