August 25th, x775 Eastbound from the ruins of Sun's Valley

I looked up at the sun, judging its position at just past noon almost instinctively as I massaged my feet. Times like this, I really hated the fact that I only had three pairs of shoes to my name, my running shoes had been ruined during my flight from Sun's Valley, and my sandals I wore to the temple weren't the best for walking long distances in, though they were better than my dress shoes, those things killed my feet in minutes even when I wasn't walking!

I facepalmed when I remembered that I was a wizard and let out a relieved sigh as the pain abated as I used Solar Power to heal them, and I leaned myself against a tree, requipping out one of the massive bags of food Mom had passed me the day before.

"Helio, I need you to be strong okay?"

I shook my head, forcing the images out of my mind, forcing myself to breathe calmly and deeply as I rode the wave of emotion. I reached into the bag and pulled out what I would need to make a sandwich along with the older vegetables we had.

Mom seemed to have packed all the food we had in the house in the time it took for Dad to wake me up. 'At least I won't starve to death on my way to Magnolia,' I thought sadly as I ate my lunch in silence, polishing it off before I slipped my sandals back on and began my trek once again, checking the legend on my map and sighing quietly.

"This trip is gonna take a while." I said to myself, glad at least that I had learned enough Requip magic to not have to walk with it all on my back. I didn't fancy dying of exhaustion anytime soon.

According to my map of Fiore, updated by Dad from his old map from his travels to include a few villages that weren't on it, ours included, Sun's Valley was about 50 miles from Blue Pegasus, with nothing but farmland and woods between here and there according to my map. I sighed and requipped it away once more, and began my walk.

Due to my magic, I could walk longer than most children, and I hoped I'd be able to average 25 miles a day, otherwise I would go insane from loneliness before I could make it to another town. Sun's Valley was in Fiore's northern mountains, nestled in obviously, a valley that long ago served as a pass between them, until plenty of towns popped up around the mountains, making it safer, and with carriages, then magic mobiles becoming commonplace, faster to simply go around it.

I walked in silence for the most part, enjoying the warm summer's day dressed in shorts and a t shirt exploiting the hell out of the fact my magic kept my body immune to sunburn and heatstroke. I was thankful that I would be alone for the next couple of days, as it at least gave me the time to mourn and work through the tangle of emotions that clouded my mind.

I might have had the memories of my twenty three year old self, but I wasn't really him. Sure, I had his knowledge and his experiences, but it was like they were partitioned off from the rest of my mind, so as mature as I might be, I was still an emotionally immature ten year old, with all the experiences that entails.

And an emotionally immature ten year old that just lost all his friends and family?

Yeah, I was an utter mess, gibbering like a baby periodically as I walked, forcing myself to continue my way to Blue Pegasus, a guild I was really very wary of, considering it was basically a host club and their guild master gave me the creeps.

Thankfully, I could lean on my first life's experiences with grief to cope with the overwhelming loss I felt, and it helped for a while, I was still angry that I couldn't have helped more, and I would always miss my friends and family from Sun's Valley, but there was nothing I could do about it now, so over the next two days, I cried my tears and mourned my loss, beginning to feel much less burdened as I walked into the small town that was springing up around Blue Pegasus.

August 28th, x775 Blue Pegasus

My trip ended up taking three days.

My emotions running high, and my late start on the first day made me slower than I really could have been on foot. So for the last three days, I'd been alone in woods, then plains, screaming myself awake at first light, and passing out not long after sunset from exhaustion

I breathed a sigh of relief as I entered the town of, well, Blue Pegasus as the sun began to set. I'd not realized how much I missed the reassuring background noise of other human beings. Small things like conversations, or just the sound of footsteps on dirt and cobblestone that reminded me that even if I didn't particularly want to interact with them, other people were there. It was a noise I'd gotten used to in Sun's Valley, and one that I appreciated the reemergence of.

I feared having to ask for directions to the guild building, but as soon as I'd entered the town, I saw it. The city had arranged itself around their guild hall, a row on either side of the main street, the guild hall at the very end of it. I entered the building itself with a slight fear of what I would see, my knowledge of this guild making me very apprehensive of what I would find on the other side of the door.

Thankfully, it appeared to be rather tame, a fixation on blues and pinks aside, making me think of an upscale bar more than anything, even if it reeked of perfume, cologne and expensive alcohol. The customers and mages didn't pay much attention to me either, thankfully. Thus making it easy for me to walk over to the bar where the person I needed to talk to, and one of my main reasons for trepidation about this place stood serving people.

"Ohhhhh aren't you just a little cutie pie!" The far too feminine voice of the far too masculine Master Bob said as I approached the bar, face set in a blank stare to avoid offending anyone present. "What can I do for you today?" He honest to God giggled. I shook my head and thankfully my still fresh loss made it much easier to not lose my composure in front of him.

"I need to speak to the Guild Master about a Dark Guild attack on my village." I said quietly. Instantly, Master Bob stopped acting like a literal fairy and bent under the bar, grabbing a mug before filling it with orange juice and setting it in front of me, then grabbed a notepad and pen.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry," he said sympathetically, "I'm Blue Pegasus' Master, Bob. Tell me what you can about it so I can inform the Magic Council, okay? Take all the time you need." I nodded, taking a sip of this really quite good juice.

"The Dark Guild, Grimoire Heart," I stopped for a moment as Master Bob froze before writing it down. "They attacked my village, Sun's Valley, along with the Temple of the Sun, three days ago, destroying both and as far as I know, leaving me as the only survivor." Bob looked at me, his eyes full of pity, and I simply stared into my drink.

"Sun's Valley?" Bob said curiously, "That's fifty miles from here, and you made it here in three days?" He asked incredulously, I shrugged, fifty miles really wasn't that much when you were a physically fit mage that could heal any blisters and aches in just a few minutes, the only thing that made it take that long was that I had to stop for food and I couldn't really see in the dark.

"I'm a mage, it wasn't that big a deal." Bob simply nodded, "I only caught the name of two of the mages, though I'm fairly sure they were the leaders of the whole thing. Kawazu and Yomazu, Kawazu looked like a humanoid chicken and used some kind of egg magic, and Yomazu looked like a humanoid goat. He used a sword and I think some sort of Script Magic that used kanji instead of words." I took a sip of my juice as Bob wrote it down, "I don't know much more about the attack myself, only that a Master Hades ordered it, and that there wasn't supposed to be any survivors."

Master Bob nodded once more and then looked at me seriously, "I know this must be hard on you young man," he paused for a moment, "actually, what was your name? I need it for the report and it's just so rude of me to not have asked earlier!"

I shuddered slightly, "Helio Dart, sir." He nodded, writing it down as well before looking at me once again.

"Now, I know this must be hard on you, Helio. I can't imagine the pain you must have gone through, I'll arrange you a place to stay tonight, and we can talk about your next step tomorrow, if you want?" He said compassionately, I felt a smile cross my face in spite of how creepy the man was, I could tell that this man (?) was a good person at heart.

"I already have a plan," I said quietly, "I want to join a mage's guild and get stronger, so I don't have to run like I did two days ago." I looked up at him and noticed the torn expression on his face, obviously debating whether I could join or not. "I've already decided on a guild as well," he slumped microscopically in relief, "I want to join Fairy Tail." Master Bob's face lit up in pleased surprise as he patted my head like one would a dog.

"Oh, Maky's guild will be perfect for you!" He cooed, "Fairy Tail will be far better at helping you than we could," he sounded somewhat regretful, but he shook it off, "I'll go make the arrangements at the inn, and I can see you off tomorrow morning!" He picked up his notepad and phased through the bar, heading upstairs to call the council and the inn I supposed.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Master Bob." A voice said from behind me, I turned towards it only to be greeted with a man that even I would call handsome. "I'm sorry for you loss." He held out a hand, "My name is Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, I hope that the people behind that despicable act are brought to justice!" My brain froze as he introduced himself.

How the fuck was the six foot six textbook fucking Adonis, Ichiya?!

Deciding I'd had quite enough of this guild and its oddities for now, I thanked him for his condolences and asked him to inform Master Bob I was on my way to the inn, citing that I was tired from my long walk and looked forward to a hot meal and a warm bed.

I began greedily breathing the fresh air as I left the guild hall, happy to be done with that… experience, and with a quick inquiry, I was on my way to the town's inn, where I ate a hearty supper and passed out before my head hit the pillow of my warm bed.

I would prefer the nightmares that were sure to haunt my dreams over trying to figure out how the fuck Ichiya could be anything other than an ugly short guy.

The next morning I awoke with the sun as per normal, and was rather generously given breakfast by the owner.

"Master Bob didn't give me details, but a ten year old boy at an inn by himself tells me something bad happened to you, the least I can do is get you fed." She said sweetly, I thanked her profusely and was just on my way towards the edge of town when I was stopped by a shout from behind me.

"Wait!" I turned with an eye raised, being met by a boy who was dressed rather smartly in a suit, dirty blond hair spiked up in an attempt to look messy, but looked obviously styled. He took a few deep breaths as I waited for him to speak before he smoothed out his suit and smiled. "I'm Hibiki Lates, I'm from Blue Pegasus." He introduced himself,holding out his hand, I shook it and nodded to him, "I already know who you are, Master Bob sent me to give you something before you left, he didn't want to worry about you getting lost on the way to Magnolia, so he had me prepare this with my Archive Magic!" He told me, waving a hand that materialized the closest thing to a computer I'd seen since I was reborn into this universe. He quickly brought up whatever he was talking about on his floating screen, a map, much like the one I had in my requip space, which I pulled out to show to him.

"I've already got a map, Hibiki, thank you for the offer though." I said sincerely, he shook his head at me though, making me raise an eyebrow.

"No, this is different, you see with my Archive Magic, I can download the map into your head so you can follow the best path to Magnolia, that's where you're going right?" I nodded confusedly at him, and he smiled even wider. "Perfect! I've got two versions of it here, one that will take you straight to Oshibana so you can take the train, with instructions to Shirotsume so you can spend the night in a town, and another that will take you to Magnolia by foot if you'd rather not ride a train." I blinked in surprise, this boy seemed incredibly eager to please, and to be honest, I didn't really have all that much money on me in the first place, I had enough for a week of food when what I had ran out or spoiled, but probably not enough for a train ticket to Magnolia.

I 'hmm'd in thought, looking at the Archive Map then mine, Magnolia was 150 miles away from here, I could manage that in just under a week if I pushed it, I had to pass through Oshibana no matter what, I could cut my trip down a bit if I bought a ticket to Onibus then walked the twelve or thirteen miles to Magnolia.

Nodding to myself, I looked up at Hibiki with a smile, "Gimme the map to Magnolia, I'll walk to Oshibana then take a train to Onibus if I don't have enough jewel to ride the train that far." Hibiki nodded so fast I was afraid his head might fall off as he tapped a few keys then swung his hand towards me.

Having knowledge downloaded into your brain is… odd. Not wholly unpleasant, but not exactly fun either. It felt kinda like someone poured water on your head, but instead of running down your neck, it all goes through your ears and is soaked up by your brain.

Like I said, it's weird.

"There ya go!" Hibiki said excitedly just as I felt the knowledge become full in my brain, I could almost hear a GPS voice telling me exactly how far it took to go to Shirotsume town, like magical Mapquest. "I better get back to Master Bob, good luck on your journey! Be safe, Helio!" He yelled over his shoulder, already sprinting back to his guild.

I shrugged at his eagerness to help then get away from me, and turned back towards the road, walking out of town and leaving the sound of humanity behind, Shirotsume was my next destination, exactly 43 miles away, and I'd be there in exactly-

This was going to get annoying.

August 30th, x775 Shirotsume

I walked slowly into Shirotsume, the map in my head was still annoying me, constantly pinging the fact I needed to turn around to continue on my way to Oshibana, and it was driving me absolutely insane!

'If this goddamn map doesn't shut the fuck up I'm gonna walk back to Blue Pegasus just to kill Hibiki.'

Suddenly the annoying pressure stopped, simply leaving the directions in my head to be followed at my own will, I felt my eye twitch. "ALL I HAD TO DO WAS THREATEN HIM TO MAKE YOU SHUT UP?!" The people who'd heard me looked at me funny, some warily, before continuing on their way, and I had to choke back a growl. The next time I saw Hibiki Lates, I was going to punch him into the fucking stratosphere.

I forced a polite smile on my face as I continued my way into town, stopping over just long enough to sell the pelt and antlers I'd collected from the deer I'd killed so I could have some meat to keep me from getting weak on my way to Magnolia. He even threw in a bag of magical ice to ensure it didn't go bad inside my requip space, which was nice of him. That would explain why all the meat from home was spoiled, which had forced me to hunt the deer in the first place. I couldn't exactly live healthily off of carrots, celery and rice.

I was feeling much less angry as I left Shirotsume, not paying any mind to the people who edged away from me, they must've heard my perfectly reasonable reaction to learning how to shut up the magical GPS in my head.

I might have to hunt down a whole herd of deer to afford a trip to Magnolia, because at this rate, I might actually go insane.

Oshibana is exactly 49.992 mi-

Godfuckingdammit

August 31st, x775 approximately 25 miles from Shirotsume

The roads so far had been empty of people walking, the occasional carriage or magic mobile would come rattling by every now and then, but all and all, my journey had been a quiet one so far. I'd honestly expected trouble at some poin-

"Well well boys, look what we got here."

Fuck you Murphy. Fuck. You.

"Looks like a little kid who don't know how much trouble he's in." A high reedy voice said walking out of the trees. A group of six bandits, all non-mages I assumed from the lack of magic energy coming from themselves or their weapons, walked out of the treeline, and I cursed myself for my inattention.

"Think we can ransom him off to his parents, boss?" A tall bandit asked, he looked like the stereotypical dumb mook I vaguely remembered from movies I watched in my first life. "He'll probably get us a pretty penny." His laugh was deep and slow, as if he had to consciously think about how to perform the action.

A shorter one came forward, wearing a ratty old tunic that had a frying pan of all things strapped to his shoulder along with some other assorted scrap metal on a bandolier. "I reckon we could use him as a slave if they don't car-" He was cut off by my fist burying itself in his face.

"Talking isn't a free action." I said as I let my magic charge in my hands, jumping at the tall dumb one. "Flare Punch!" He stumbled back, and I kicked him in the back of the knee, knocking him out with a Flare Punch to the temple. I jumped out of the way of a staff with a knife taped to it, stomping where the two weapons met and breaking the knife's blade as it buried itself in the dirt. I took advantage of his shocked disbelief to punch him in the stomach, burning a hole in his shirt and probably giving him first degree burns and he fell down cradling his middle, muttering expletives.

The next one actually had a real sword at least, he looked like he was in his early twenties, covered in dirt I couldn't tell if his hair was brown or if his hygiene was just that bad. I moved slightly as he stabbed at me, giving me an opening to punch his elbow, making him lose the sword before I punched him in the stomach, then kicked him in the head to knock him out.

The last two actually bothered to double team me, but they got in each other's way more than anything, one of them using a rusty old rapier, and the other one holding a war axe. I dodged their strikes and made them get tangled up in one another before I knocked them both out by knocking their heads together to send them to the ground then kicking them in the head.

I rolled my eyes at their idiocy, requipping out some rope to bind their hands together. How the hell did these guys exist for any length of time if they were that incompetent? Was I just too used to sparring with the monks that actually had skill, or were these guys just terrible?

"-Client said that the bandits were usually along this stretch of- Oh hey, they've already been taken out." A voice said as I was musing over the bandits' lack of even basic competence while I tied their hands together, I looked up at them, cautious of what the three people across from me could possibly want.

One of the men was a wearing a blue long sleeved shirt and white pants, he had black eyes, his hair was purple and there was stubble growing on his chin.

The second man had the most ridiculous looking pompadour I'd ever seen, he was wearing a tan leather coat, orange shirt and a pair of black jeans, he also wore shades and had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

The last one was slightly shorter than I was, her hair in a high ponytail, and she was wearing an orange checkered sundress, her eyes were violet, looking between me and the bandits curiously as she absently played with a small deck of cards.

"Uh, hi?" I said awkwardly, waving at them with a lost expression. The purple haired guy finally spoke, thankfully breaking me from the awkwardness.

"Did you take these guys down yourself?" He asked me, his eyes had a glint of appreciation in them, I just shrugged.

"It wasn't that hard honestly, they were kinda stupid." He looked down at them and his eyes darkened as he looked them over.

"These aren't the bandits we were sent after." He said flatly, looking them over, "They look like they just decided to play bandit and chose near an actual successful bandit hideout to do it."

"Yep, and we're glad you took them out for us kid, saved us a whole lot of trouble." A sinister voice said from the trees, causing the four of us to look towards it while I inwardly groaned at my complete lack of situational awareness..

This group of bandits certainly looked like they were bandits, and not the stupid kind either, the lead one, who I assumed was the leader, wore a set of leather armor that looked like it might have been tougher than what the guy I'd fought outside the temple had been wearing. His black hair was in a high ponytail and his blue eyes had a glint of cruelty in them as he looked over the four of us, lingering longer over the girl than any of us, twirling a sword that I could feel magic coming from in waves.

The two flanking him however were dressed in brown robes, their hoods hiding their features and their hands held in what I recognized as a ready position for casting ranged spells, I could feel magic power rolling from them like ripples in a lake, they weren't incredibly powerful, but they were definitely mages.

The final two behind them were twins and had heavier armor on that looked like some sort of steel plating, claymores held in their hands like I would hold a butter knife, they were taller than either of the two men with us, a whole chest, shoulders, and head taller, but didn't have a lick of magical power in them. Their brown eyes held the same cruelty that their leader's did, the two of them cracking their necks in anticipation.

"So, if you'd so kindly hand over the kids, your valuables, and the idiots who tried to use our reputation to make some quick cash, we'll let you two leave here alive." I felt magic power begin to roll off the two men with us as their faces hardened and they activated their magic, purple flames rolling around the purple haired guy's hands, and smoke forming in a cloud around the other guy's as the girl with them pulled three cards from her deck and put the rest in her bag.

I felt a jolt of realization as I suddenly knew who the three mages I'd run into were, before I smiled hungrily and let my hands light up as I prepared a spell.

I must have Main Character Syndrome to have run into Macao, Wakaba and Cana, but I sure as hell wasn't complaining.

Their leader looked at us in disdain as his sword suddenly caught fire, "We were being so generous too."

"Flare!" The balls of pure sunlight left both of my hands, flying towards their leader, who stepped out of the way and let them harmlessly impact the twins' armor. I growled in annoyance before forcing the emotion down and focusing on the fight.

"Purple Wave," called out Macao, the flames going towards them in a horizontal wave, that their leader cut through with his sword and let the two mages behind him take on the nose, knocking them both into the twins who were now pushing them behind them as they charged Macao and Wakaba respectively. "Crap, you kids be careful, okay?" He said hurriedly before having to lean backwards lest he lose his torso.

"Smoke Crush!" Wakaba yelled, the smoke around his cigarette solidifying into a fist that punched his opponent in his unprotected face, giving him time to make some distance between the two of them as three tendrils of smoke solidified and wrapped around one of his opponent's ankles, yanking him off balance and giving him the chance to smack him in the back of the head with another Smoke Crush that sent him into the dirt.

Unfortunately, this only served to annoy the man as he stood up and swung his claymore at Wakaba, cutting his cigarette off right in front of his lips and also relieving him of a few inches of his pompadour.

"Earth Fist." The hooded man that seemed to have chosen me as an opponent said blankly, a magic circle appearing in front of him before it formed into a hand as large as I was, rocketing towards me. I 'eeped' and dove out of the way, my hands lighting up as I caught myself in a roll.

"Flare!" The balls of sunlight this time were faster than before, my adrenaline fueling my magic power as much as my body, slamming into my opponent with the force of a gunshot and burning the clothing around its impact, He staggered for a moment and patted out the flames, giving me time to close the distance on him. My hands were already lighting up for a Flare Punch, before I heard him mutter something and suddenly I was caught in a hand made of earth that was slowly compressing me.

"Don't bother struggling child, my Earth Fist is unbreakable by one as young as you." His voice held a tone of mocking that I endeavored to make him regret. "Just relax, it'll all be over soon." I growled, my body glowing intensely as I collected the sunlight around me, focusing it all into my hand, pressed palm first against the fist.

"Solar Beam" I said faintly, the beam of collected light burning through the dirt and rock binding me and slamming into my opponent, also sending him through a tree and laying him out against a second one. His hand fell apart when he lost his concentration, so I fell to the ground gasping for breath, a short application of Solar Power, and I was ready to go again, if a little winded.

Macao and Wakaba had finished the twins and were now double teaming the leader, who had a harried expression on his face as he sliced through Wakaba's smoke only to be hit by Macao's fire. His hair had fallen out of its ponytail, and he looked as if he was on the verge of going insane.

Cana however, was still fighting her opponent, cards flashing towards him as she barely dodged a wave of water. "Summoned Lightning!" She called out, the bolts flying towards him only to dissipate against the water attacking her, which then sent her backwards.

"Foolish girl," He said arrogantly, "I use pure water specifically to defeat lightning mages far better than what your silly little cards can accomplish." Cana stood, pulling more cards silently as she panted slightly, "I've had my fun, but it looks as though my leader needs help, so now you must die."

"Flare Punch!" I slammed into his side, not so much burning as melting his robes as I impacted him, sending him tumbling down the road with second degree burns on his side. He howled in agony, standing shakily, only to be finished by Cana.

"Prayer's Fountain!" The attack slammed into the unbalanced mage and put him down for the count. I looked at Cana with a grin as she panted slightly, she grinned back through her exhaustion as we turned to see Macao rip the sword from the leader's hands with his magic, Wakaba knocking him out with a fist shaped smoke cloud.

"Thank you," Cana said quietly, holding her right arm shyly. I smiled at her and shrugged.

"No problem, I'm sure you would've done the same." She smiled back at me and nodded. "Helio Dart by the way." I introduced myself, hand out in greeting, she took it as she introduced herself.

"Cana Alberona." She looked at me curiously, "What type of magic was that? I've never seen it before."

"You wouldn't have, I use a Lost Magic, Sun Magic." I said proudly, "You use Card Magic, right?" I asked despite knowing the answer. Cana nodded, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Yep! I still have a lot to learn though, so Macao and Wakaba," She pointed at both of them respectively, "have been taking me on jobs with them so I can practice." I nodded as I requipped out another length of rope, tying the mage's hands together before dragging him with me to Macao and Wakaba, who were pulling what I assumed were magic nullifying cuffs out of their pockets and placing them on the other mage.

"That sounds fun," I smiled at her, tying the twins' hands together, before looking at them and deciding on hogtying them instead so they had a harder time breaking out. "I guess you're part of a guild then?" I hated asking questions like this, since I obviously knew the answer, but Cana nodded excitedly, and I didn't really care that much anymore.

She was so fucking adorable.

"Yep!" She said happily, "I'm part of Fairy Tail!" She went to pull up her dress and froze for a moment before laughing nervously, "I guess I shouldn't have my guild mark on my stomach if I'm going to be wearing a dress…"

"Thanks for the help kid," Macao said as he came over, a carefree smile on his face, "Name's Macao Conbolt, member of the Fairy Tail Guild. Nice to meet ya." He thrust out a hand which I gladly took, shaking it firmly.

"Helio Dart, sir. It's an honor to meet Fairy Tail wizards!" I said excitedly, I couldn't help my excitement, a few days ago I might have been subdued about it, but my inner fanboy would not be held back now.

"Careful there kid," Wakaba said teasingly, "Don't wanna get old Macao's head anymore inflated than it already is with all this "It's an honor" talk." He laughed, "I'm Wakaba Mine, good work dealing with that mage, and thanks for helping lil' Cana out like you did." Cana's face lit up in a blush and I rubbed the back of my head nervously.

"It was no problem, anyone else would have done the same." Macao smiled at me as Wakaba turned away to pull out a communications lacrima, probably calling the Rune Knights then. "I was actually headed towards Magnolia." I said excitedly, Macao raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you looking to join up?" He asked, I couldn't help but nod like a bobblehead, I probably could have helped the excited jumping, but I really didn't care at that point. "Well, why don't you come back with us? I'm sure Cana would like having a friend that doesn't strip all the time." If I didn't already know about Gray Fullbuster, I probably would have been shocked, but it would appear he was already a member of Fairy Tail at this point, good to know.

"...Um, okay then." I said instead, the habit was probably exaggerated by the anime and manga anyways, so I'm sure it wasn't that bad. "When can we leave?" I asked him, feeling my body shake slightly in excitement. Macao laughed at my expression, ruffling my hair.

"As soon as the Rune Knights take these guys off our hands," he looked at both groups of bandits, "They'll probably have to split them up since most of these guys don't use magic." Macao shrugged, "Eh, it's not our problem, hey Wakaba! When are the Knights gonna get here?"

"They said an hour or so!"

Macao nodded, "There's your answer then kid, why don't you and Cana get to know each other better, we'll keep an eye on these guys." I was suddenly grabbed by the hand and yanked a little ways away by an excited little girl.

'Well, this trip suddenly got a lot shorter, and I'm definitely not complaining,' I thought happily to myself as Cana and I started talking about ourselves, and Cana regaled me with tales of her guildmates. 'This is gonna be awesome! I can't wait to get to Fairy Tail!'

Magnolia is approximately 72.9 mile-

Goddamnit Hibiki!

A/N: And there's Chapter 4 done! I really couldn't think of a way to extend this chapter further at first, I was stuck as he was leaving Blue Pegasus before I wrote the bit about Hibiki, and the idea to have Archive Maps be fucking annoying. I was originally going to have a short arc of Helio walking to Magnolia and meeting a few more canon characters, ultimately ending up with him meeting Macao, Wakaba and Cana between Onibus and Magnolia, but my ideas ran dry, so I had him meet them before he got to Oshibana.

I really like the idea of the Archive Maps being super fucking annoying, and young Hibiki being way too eager to please and trying too hard to be suave. I also like the idea that Ichiya used to be handsome, then sometime before canon, ended up with a face and body only a mother could love.

I will say I got the idea of Ichiya originally being a six foot six Adonis from the-real-narnia's excellent Self Insert story, Ripples. If you haven't read that, do so immediately, it is well worth the time.

See ya in Chapter 5: Magnolia Town!

EDIT 01/17/2022: Did a bit of cleaning up on this chapter and removed an attack Helio shouldn't know yet. Sorry if you thought this was a new chapter, guys!