September 1st, Magnolia
'You have arrived at your destination.'
"Finally! Screw you magical map!" I shouted exuberantly as we stepped off the train, the other three wizards giving me odd looks along with the rest of the platform. I smiled sheepishly at them, rubbing the back of my head. "Eh, heh heh, I got a map magically downloaded into my head by a Blue Pegasus mage, it's been bugging me since I left that town." I explained, the three nodded as we made our way into town.
The trip to Magnolia was surprisingly fun, Cana was a great conversation partner after I finally managed to talk her and the others out of splitting their reward with me. She told me rather excitedly about Fairy Tail and its members. She seemed to take particular joy in telling stories about Macao and Wakaba, especially embarrassing ones that made them shout in indignation when we both ended up cracking up laughing at them. I smiled as we left the train station, Macao and Wakaba sulking slightly as Cana finished telling another embarrassing tale about them before they perked up as a few women waved happily at them while others glared menacingly. One in particular though looked like she couldn't decide which one she wanted to castrate with a trowel first. I winced at the heat of her glare as her grip crushed the trowel's wooden handle.
"What did you two do to her?" I asked curiously, my eyebrows raised in morbid curiosity. Macao and Wakaba smiled smugly as they fist bumped one another.
"What didn't we do to her is more like it!" They said with a laugh, Cana looked confused and I simply narrowed my eyes at them.
"I know exactly what you mean by that." Wakaba laughed harder as Macao blanched.
"What do they mean, Helio?" Cana asked curiously, I suddenly froze myself.
Nope. I was not giving a nine year old Cana Alberona the Talk.
"You'll learn when you're older, Cana. Come on, show me how to get to the guild!" I said in an attempt to change the subject, luckily it worked on her if not on our older companions who were laughing at my awkwardness.
The Fairy Tail guild hall was a thing of beauty to me, and I couldn't help but stare at it in pure awe, then again it could be that little tavern from the timeskip and I would still be awed by it, because it was Fairy Tail. It wasn't the building that enticed me, it was the people.
"It ain't much, but it's home." Macao said contently from behind us, Wakaba making a noise in agreement as I suddenly stared at the doors apprehensively. Cana gave me an encouraging look and lightly pushed my shoulder, I took a fortifying breath and nodded to myself.
Fairy Tail would make me stronger, and I would make it stronger in return, I had to get stronger so I could defend my new friends, and maybe one day, my new family.
This was the place I had been working towards since I learned which world I was in. This was the culmination of everything I had been through so far, every injury, tragedy, and happy memory had led me to this moment. I just had to walk through those doors.
I wouldn't be forced to run away again.
I put my hands against the doors and pushed them open, being treated to my first sight of the Fairy Tail guild.
It was rather sedate actually, I guess it wasn't always rowdy until more of the kids of our generation cough Natsu cough got here. There were people gathered in their own little groups at tables, talking and drinking, some of them leaned over to other tables to interject and some were crowding around the job board.
And there sitting on the bar in a red robe and silly hat was the man I was looking for.
Makarov Dreyar, the Third Master of Fairy Tail.
"Well what are you waiting for?" Macao said, lightly pushing my shoulder towards the bar, "the Master is on the bar, he'll let you in, don't worry." He looked down to Cana who'd been watching me with an amused look on her face, "Cana, why don't you take him over there?" Cana nodded and grabbed my hand and began dragging me towards the bar.
"You don't need to yank my arm off Cana!" I said as she pulled me through the crowd, I saw someone who I vaguely recognized as Reedus I think, and before I knew it, I was standing in front of Master Makarov. Cana pushed me in front of her and nodded encouragingly as Master Makarov looked down at me with a curious glint in his eye.
"Hello there child, what brings you to Fairy Tail today?" I gulped slightly, he may have been like two feet tall, but Master Makarov had a presence. I had to take a fortifying breath before I could even think clearly.
"I would like to join Fairy Tail sir." I said quietly, he looked at me seriously for a few more moments before he broke out in a full grin and the presence evaporated away allowing me to take a deep breath.
"Well, I can take care of that!" He said happily, stretching his arm behind the bar to grab a box that held a magic stamper. "I'm Makarov Dreyar, the Master of Fairy Tail, what's your name kid?"
"I'm Helio Dart sir, it's nice to meet you." I said happily, he nodded and held up the stamper.
"Where do you want your guild mark then?"
"J-just like that?" I asked in a daze, I'd expected some form of questioning at least! I had put Lucy's easy entry down to Natsu bringing her and Juvia had the support of team Natsu plus the Master being a pervert, there's no way it was this easy in reality! It couldn't be!
"Just like that Helio, just like that." Makarov said happily, "We get wizards from all walks of life here, what type of person would I be if I turned them away on an arbitrary interview, hmm?" He asked rhetorically, I stared at him in stunned fascination before doing my best to stop looking like a fool. "Now, I'll ask again, where do you want your guild mark, Helio?"
I paused in thought, I needed it somewhere visible but also easily concealable if I had to go incognito. I thought for a moment longer before rolling up my shirt sleeve, baring my left shoulder to him. He nodded, "Alright then, just think about what color you want it in, and the magic will take care of the rest." I nodded, thinking of how I wanted my mark, I vaguely remembered someone having a two tone mark so I concentrated on that as the stamper was pressed to my shoulder. "There ya go Helio! Welcome to Fairy Tail!" I smiled widely, looking down at my new guild mark, the mark was orange with a black outline, it was amazing.
It was mine.
"Thank you Master Makarov!" I said excitedly, he simply waved it off.
"It is no problem, child. We here at Fairy Tail always welcome new members to our family." He said wisely, before reaching for his mug and chugging down the contents of it, thoroughly ruining the image. "Now go on, go meet your new family Helio!" I nodded excitedly at him, turning towards a similarly excited Cana, and a smiling Macao and Wakaba. I bared my newly marked shoulder to them, smiling widely.
"It looks good on you, Helio." Macao said, his arms crossed, nodding at my new mark.
"Welcome to the guild, Helio, you'll love it here!" Wakaba said around his cigarette, puffing out a smoke ring before giving a two fingered salute and disappearing into the crowd with Macao right behind him.
"Come on, I've got to introduce you to everyone!" Cana said suddenly, dragging me around the guild, telling me the names of other wizards and then running off before I could remember most of them, I only really caught Enno, Reedus, Wan, and a couple of others before I found myself at a table with Cana and a kid who was currently pulling his shirt off.
He was a little shorter than I was, probably a year or so younger than me if I had to guess, with black hair and a cold indifference to what was going on around him. I recognized him almost instantly, but Cana's introduction only confirmed my suspicion.
"And this is Gray, he's the only other one our age in the guild." Gray suddenly started taking his pants off, "He also strips without noticing." She said, pinching her nose. Gray suddenly looked down, noticing his pants were halfway off.
"Dangit! Why does this keep happening to me?!" He yelled, pulling his pants back up and grabbing his shirt off the floor. He turned to me with an annoyed stare as he pulled his shirt over his head, "Yeah I'm Gray, what do you want?" I smiled, extending a hand towards him, he reluctantly took it.
"I'm Helio Dart, I just joined, it's nice to meet you Gray!" I said happily, if I was any older I guarantee I'd be falling over in exhaustion the way I was being dragged around, but right now I just felt like an endless font of it, and meeting Gray Fullbuster only made it worse.
"Whatever," Gray said, crossing his arms over his bare tor-
"Where did your clothes go?!" I asked incredulously, somehow in the time it took for me to introduce myself, he'd lost his shirt and pants. I had thought it was an overexaggerated character trait, not an actual thing! Beside me, Cana sighed in exasperation.
"He does this all the time." She said, her tone laced with fond annoyance. She looked under the table, before popping up with his shirt. "Here, try to keep it on this time." Cana's tone projected just how little hope she had of that happening. She turned back to me, smiling once again.
"Welcome to our crazy family Helio, it's nice to have someone else our age here." She said sincerely, I smiled widely in response.
"I'm glad to be here, Cana!" I plopped down at the table next to us, Gray already back to ignoring the two of us as frost began wafting through his clasped hands, a look of intense concentration on his face. I froze for a moment as I realized something I should have thought of beforehand.
I had no place to stay, and I had nowhere near enough money to rent a room, if I could even find somewhere that would take business from an unaccompanied minor. I sighed and leaned forward into the table, banging my head against it a few times for my stupidity.
Man, this is a really fucking hard table, surprising considering how one gets broken like a toothpick basically every time we see the guild.
"What's his problem?" I heard Gray ask annoyedly, clearly he didn't like that my realization had interrupted whatever it was he was doing.
"Helio?" Cana's voice grabbed me from my self inflicted pain. "Why are you banging your head against the table?"
"I suck at planning." I said into the wood, not raising my head from its position. "I made a plan to get here and join the guild, but past that, nothing." I lightly banged my head against the table for good measure.
"Considering how you ended up here, I think you can be forgiven…" Cana said slowly, I sighed.
"How'd he end up here?" Gray asked, curiosity shining through.
"I don't wanna talk about it right now, okay?" I said flatly, the last few days had helped me a little, but time to think about it and grieve or not, it had only been a week since my entire life had been uprooted. I think I was owed just a little bit of privacy. Gray crossed his arms and looked away, a scowl on his face.
"Yeah, whatever."
Cana seemed to be the most mature of the two, as she simply laid a hand on my shoulder and gave me a sad nod. I gave her a small smile and went back to staring into space, hoping to figure out my living situation.
"I know a place you can stay, Helio." Cana spoke up a few minutes later, breaking me from my thoughts. I gave her a curious look and cocked my head to the side.
"You do?" Cana nodded happily.
"Yeah, come on, I'll show you!" And once again we were off, Cana leading the way out of the guildhall and me being dragged by the arm struggling to keep up. From what I could just barely make out over the tops of the buildings, we were headed in the same general direction as the cathedral.
"Cana, where are we going?!" I asked incredulously as it began to feel like my arm was being pulled out of its socket.
"The church nearby runs an orphanage, it's where Gray and I sleep, we're going to go ask if you can stay there too!" I slowed for a second and had to speed back up as my arm was almost torn off by an overeager nine year old.
"Thanks Cana, I didn't really have much of a plan, to be honest." I said earnestly, Cana just gave me a smile as we turned a corner.
"It's no problem Helio, it'll be nice to have someone else to talk too, Macao and Wakaba are nice, but they're old, and Gray's…"
"Gray?" I offered, Cana giggled and nodded.
"Exactly!" I smiled, Cana was a regular ray of sunshine, it seemed. As she was about to speak again though, we finally reached the church she was talking about. It was a simple, stone built affair, something that would be expected of a church. "Come on, Father Brock's in here!"
I suddenly felt a bunch of nerves, but shook them off. I knew my thoughts of being booted out because I was a wizard or previously belonged to a group of sun worshippers had to be exaggerated; for one thing, wizards and religion both still existed, and Cana and Gray lived here, so they couldn't be all bad.
"Father Brock! Father Brock!" Cana called out excitedly, running towards a backroom behind the pulpit. I ran after her, thankful for Master Flare's hellish training allowing me to keep this sort of pace for so long. I don't think I've walked since we left Fairy Tail.
"Calm down, child, I'm coming, I'm coming." An elderly voice called as the door opened, he was dressed in a very colorful bishop's attire, he looked down at us with a patient smile, "Cana, who's your friend here?" Cana smiled and pushed me forwards as I smiled nervously, it was one thing to be the lonely orphan that was simply passing through, or to be the new kid and have no one know of your past, but asking for aid from the local church for a place to stay had my heart beating out of my chest.
"This is Helio Dart! He's the newest member of Fairy Tail, Father Brock!" Cana's tone dipped low, "He's alone, like me and Gray, can he stay here?" Cana asked in a surprisingly meek tone. On instinct, I was already placing an arm on her shoulder, understanding passing between us.
Gildarts is definitely learning about Cana when I meet him.
Seriously, sad Cana hurts my heart.
Father Brock gently pat Cana's head while looking me over, as if judging me.
He might not have a drop of magic in him, but Father Brock almost rivals Master Makarov's stare. It felt as though I was being put under a microscope and judged for every minor sin I'd ever committed.
Then the smile returned, and the kindly old man was back. "Of course he can Cana, show him where the boys sleep, we always have empty beds for those in need." Father Brock looked over at me as he spoke, "You will always be welcome here, Helio, it would go against all morals to let a child sleep on the streets." I smiled at him, my sight going misty.
"Thank you Father." Father Brock smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"I am simply doing unto others as I would have done unto me, Helio." His smile gained a slight smirk, "All I ask is that you return here by ten every night as that is when I lock the gate. If you were to attend Sunday services every now and again, you wouldn't be remiss either." I nodded at him.
"I'll try my best Father." I might not be a religious man, but I could attend a sermon every now and again as thanks for taking me in.
Crap, I'd need to add dress slacks and shirt to the list of stuff I'll need to save up for, won't I?
"Come on, I'll show you to the boys room." Cana said, her tone still somewhat subdued from earlier. I smiled at her in thanks, placing an arm around her shoulders and giving her a hug in thanks. She gave a half smile in return, and I simply hugged her again.
The rooms were communal, much like one would expect from a small orphanage, and the boys were mostly alright. They had an odd sort of almost hero worship once they saw my guild mark, and I was more than happy for Cana to drag me out under the pretense of showing me the rest of Magnolia.
"Are they always…" I tried to fish for a word that wasn't rude, but Cana spoke before I could.
"Creepy?" I nodded, pointing at her, Cana smiled, "They'll get better, just give them a few days, or hang around Gray." She snickered, "They dropped their hero worship of him real quick once he started stripping." I laughed along with her.
Cana showed me the way back to the guild at a much slower pace this time, pointing out stores and restaurants along the way, and talking about the jobs she'd been on as we entered the Guild.
"You can only go on out of town missions solo if you're ten or older, but they have to be day jobs and the Master has to personally approve of it, otherwise you have to take an older member with you." Cana explained, "And so far Macao and Wakaba are the only two wizards with enough time on their hands to take me on one."
"Are you calling us lazy?!" Macao and Wakaba's voices echoed over the din of the guild hall, Cana giggled at them.
"Anyways, because of that I'm mainly stuck doing small jobs around town, like telling fortunes, walking dogs, or picking magical plants in the forest. It's pretty boring honestly, but the pay is good enough." I nodded along with her.
"It sucks, but it makes sense, I guess. Master Makarov doesn't want us to go get in over our heads before we're mature enough or powerful enough to work on our own." I shrugged, "It'll be nice to have some backup until I'm capable of standing on my own." I knew I could be powerful, heck, for my age I was powerful, but powerful for a ten year old is a lot different from powerful for an adult, or even a teenager. "Magic power growth is slow at our age, unless you were born with it." Or a dragon slayer, I would assume, if only because they seemed to break the rules of magic just by existing. Cana nodded along, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Maybe… still sucks though." I snorted.
"You're not wrong, Cana, you're not wrong." I sighed lightly and looked over at the board next to the bar, "Although I am curious about what's on the board that I could take." I began walking that way, Cana following behind me.
"Just remember what I said about the rules." Cana said, I nodded absentmindedly.
"Dog walking, plant picking, babysitting?" I looked over at Cana with an incredulous expression, "What's with these jobs? I get that some plants require a wizard's touch,but really?" A giggle from the bar broke me from surprise.
"Yeah, people will hire a guild to do just about anything, if you want the exciting stuff you have to show up early or be an S-Class Mage like Gildarts." A purple haired woman said, dancing on the bar. She smiled, "Maybe you'll get there someday kid, name's Enno." She then went back to dancing, I smiled at her. I noticed Cana looking sullen for a moment out of the corner of my eye, I looked at her, but she quickly smiled again.
That whole Gildarts thing must really be messing with her, huh?
I looked back at the board, before noticing the time, and decided I'd worry more about that tomorrow. Today I had joined the Fairy Tail guild, and I wanted to milk that elation for as much as it was worth.
I suddenly yawned, feeling the near endless energy seep out of me.
Guess I wouldn't be doing that for much longer either.
Still, today was a big day, a culmination of the dream I'd had since I realized just where I'd been reborn in, and I couldn't wait to experience more.
—
A/N: 3.5k words of the culmination of Helio's biggest dream so far, next up is his first job and possibly derailing of canon while we're at it.
EDIT 01/17/2022: Minor grammatical errors corrected and slight changes to the wording of some things to make it sound better.