October 2(?), x775

Gray and I came to in a panic as we tried our best to move and were met by bindings. We thrashed uselessly for a few moments before a familiar grating voice met our ears.

"Ah, I see you are awake my dearies, just in time to watch me work too!" Her laugh was just as unpleasant as her voice, and made me thrash harder in an instinctive attempt to plug my ears. "No use fighting it, just watch ol' Grammy work!" She laughed again.

The scene she had set was bleak and we had front row seats. In addition to being tied up in a dimly lit room, there was an altar ahead of us that Cana was strapped on top of. She was struggling as hard as she could, but from what I could tell, those straps were tight. She could barely wiggle her fingers and toes, let alone free herself from them.

The hag kept monologuing, something about rituals, black magic and forcefully stolen youth, but I was a bit preoccupied with trying to get free to pay too much attention to be honest. It wasn't until she started to maniacally laugh that I remembered something simple yet vitally important.

She didn't know I had Requip.

She knew we had some kind of magic, she just didn't expect us to be able to use it the way she'd tied us up. The ropes she used were made of some kind of magic resistant material, the kind I remembered seeing for sale in the magic store, meant for tying up magic creatures to prevent them from escaping. If I remembered correctly, it was meant to resist magic affecting it directly. So Gray and I both were out of luck when it came to breaking them with our magic.

There was a major downside though.

They had to be cut somehow, and were in no way resistant to regular old blades.

I began running a mental checklist of all the items in my requip space that might help, and it didn't take me long to think of one, which was probably a very good thing because Grammy was chanting really quickly.

I quickly requipped a paring knife and with what little room I had available, began sawing back and forth in tiny strokes, trying my best to avoid cutting myself as I worked the ropes loose. Gray was yelling himself hoarse at the woman, still struggling vainly against his bonds.

Her chanting was getting louder and louder by the time I'd freed my wrists and was rubbing the feeling back into them, and I wasted no time in requipping my hunting knife to cut my feet free and quickly did the same to Gray.

Cana was beginning to scream as a magic circle flared to life beneath the altar, glowing in black unlight.

"Why didn't you warn me you were gonna do that?!" He asked coarsely, his throat sounded raw from all the yelling he'd been doing. "I was trying to freeze them!"

"Magic resistant rope, Cana would be dead long before you froze them." I said tersely, "Now less talking, more fighting." Grammy's chanting had reached a fever pitch, and Cana's thrashing was getting more and more panicked as the ritual continued. Luckily for her, her friends were free and could end this quickly.

"Ice Make: Lance!"

"Flare!"

Our attacks flew true, and slammed directly into Grammy, but she barely stumbled before rounding on us with a spell already lighting her hands.

"Oh you've made Grammy mad now, children! I've gotta spank the both of ya!" Her voice had somehow gotten more grating after all the chanting, but it didn't seem to slow her down any. "Darkness Make: Starless Night!" The already dim room plummeted into pitch black, and Gray and I were left looking around blindly for a moment as I backed up and prepared my counter.

"Darkness Make: Club!" Pain flashed across my senses as her spell clipped me in the ribs, knocking me to the ground with the impact. The club made a second impact, and this time I felt something pop in my chest as I went down. "Grammy can see you just fine, but you can't see me!" She cackled. "Grammy's gonna teach y'all to behave yourselves!" "Darkness Make: Fist!" I heard Gray scream, but there was nothing I could do about it, not without bunching us up and making ourselves an easier target. The pain in my chest was a new feeling, and made it hard to even think, let alone fight in the dark like this! Thankfully, Gray was putting up one hell of a fight, the room's already cool temperature had fallen even further as he shouted out spell after spell, desperately trying to defend himself.

Which left me just enough breathing room to shed a little light on the situation.

"Sunny Day!" Unimaginatively named, this spell was a lifesaver in situations like this. A ball of pure sunlight shot forth towards the ceiling and lit the room like a summer afternoon, exposing Grammy, who had been inches from slicing Gray open with what looked like a knife made of pure darkness.

Everyone in the room was forced to cover their eyes except for me, and I took advantage of the moment to fire a Flare into Grammy's side before sprinting to the altar and requipping Cana's bag.

"Thanks." Cana mumbled as I got the last strap open. She was shaking, but she was still quick to pull a deck of cards from her bag and leap into the fray. Grammy had recovered from my light show very quickly considering she'd been wailing like a banshee when I did it, and was now back to holding her own against Gray.

Gray would send an ice lance at her, and Grammy would make a barrier. She retaliated with an arrow made of darkness, and Gray would dodge out of the way. This fight would be one of attrition if allowed to continue in this vein, and neither Cana nor I were about to allow that.

Cana drew a few cards, throwing them like shuriken at Grammy, and they sliced across her side, making her howl in anger as she made a spherical barrier that completely obscured her from view.

Gray slammed his hands together, an icy mist emanating as he created an ice geyser underneath the barrier, driving it upwards, towards my ball of light, and we could just make out her silhouette preparing some spell. I grinned as an idea came to me.

What better way to destroy darkness, than with overwhelming light?

"Guys, cover your eyes! Solar Beam!" The light from Sunny Day was pulled into my spell, amplifying it and making the brightness go from "sunny afternoon" to "midday on the sun". The beam shot forth from my hands and washed over her barrier of darkness, erasing it like an errant scribble. I put my hands on my knees as I caught my breath and winced as my injured ribs protested. That spell took a lot out of me, and Sunny Day wasn't exactly free either. Gray seemed to be in the same boat as me; we hadn't exactly been in prime resting conditions since our fight with the Gorian, and it was catching up to the both of us.

Thankfully this fight was no longer a two on one and Cana hadn't cast a spell all day. She'd taken advantage of my attack to pull a series of tarot cards and the spell was already on the way as our opponent was preoccupied with her shield's evaporation.

"Summoned Lightning!" She cried, lightning flying forth in a flash that lit the dimming room for just long enough to see Grammy looking horrified before it made contact and with a flash of light and a deafening clap of thunder we were greeted with the smell of ozone and barbecue.

I straightened up and filled my hand with a small amount of Sun Magic. It was inefficient, and was mostly used for showing off; but it made a passable flashlight, allowing me to find Grammy, medium rare and twitching in a heap against the wall. Her hands were twitching slightly, mouth moving silently, but her eyes were narrowed and focused on the three of us. I could almost see the spell she was forming before Gray knocked her out with an icy hammer. With her down for the count, I let the magic dissipate and instead requipped a much more efficient, but infinitely more breakable, lacrima lantern and stared at my two friends.

"So… what do we do now?"

Turns out the answer to that was "tie Grammy up even tighter than she tied us and find the exit."

The room we were in was making an ominous rumbling, and after knocking down a locked iron door, we were dragging her up the stairs and pushing open an old cellar door as quickly as we could with three exhausted children dragging an unconscious geriatric psychopath.

The door's opening let the sun's rays blind two-thirds of our little party as we stepped into the fresh morning air and were welcomed by the sound of nature. Finally able to see the sun again, I could tell that it was roughly seven thirty AM, presumably -hopefully- the next day.

The cellar we'd been trapped in was connected to a rotten old cottage, mostly reclaimed by nature, and hopefully still in the East Forest. I turned to Gray and Cana, who were taking a break to readjust to the light, and smiled at them. The expression was contagious, and before long the clearing was echoing with raucous and almost hysterical laughter.

The laughter hurt like a bitch, but I pushed that aside at the feeling of elation I had just from being alive.

Now we just had one problem.

"Anyone have any idea where on Earth Land we are?" Gray and Cana's last giggles and chuckles died out almost immediately, and we were left staring awkwardly at one another. Just as we were considering actually letting Grammy wake up so we could get her to tell her where we were, a voice rose from just out of view.

"What are you children doing here?" An aged voice called. I spun around, already preparing a spell despite my exhaustion. I saw Gray shaking slightly and Cana looking slightly terrified, but didn't put much thought into their reactions before the figure stepped out of the trees, aged red eyes glaring like hot coals from behind pink bangs.

"Porlyusica!" Cana sounded an odd combination of both excited and afraid at the woman's presence, and just like that my stance collapsed. Even with the sun's energizing effects, I had trouble keeping my eyes open as the adrenaline finally left my system and I felt the full brunt of my injuries.

Porlyusica's look was incredibly severe, and in my exhausted state, I really was not looking forward to her interrogation, especially as this was my first time meeting her.

So, I did the smart thing in this situation.

I hid behind Cana and Gray and kicked Grammy in the face to ensure she stayed down for the count.

I wasn't wrong about how our meeting with Porlyusica would go at all, really. She'd looked us over, gave Grammy a look that would have curdled milk and proceeded to lead us all practically by the ear to her tree home.

Her bedside manner was just as legendarily bad as I had feared as well.

Porlyusica ranted at us for our recklessness, about Makarov for his carelessness, and after we managed to explain ourselves between her rants about us and how she hated people, she ranted at Grammy, despite the fact she was unconscious.

I think she just likes ranting at people.

At least it was somewhat educational if you could catch what she was saying in between the vitriol towards her fellow man. She went on and on about proper harvesting techniques for Moon's Tear, how the only reason she'd do it this way was some kind of sacrifice and we should have known better than to trust her. I felt a little insulted, but Porlyusica wasn't the type to let anyone get a word in edgewise when she didn't feel like it.

It was made even more difficult by having medicines shoved down our throats whenever we tried to defend ourselves.

Finally, at long last, she seemed to run out of words. She gave one last huff and glared at Grammy so hard I thought she would catch fire. Without saying anything, she pulled a jar of liquid from her shelf and poured a small cupful down Grammy's throat. She turned around from putting it back and glared at us. "Well? What are you still doing here?! Get out!" We might have been Fairy Tail wizards, but there was no time wasted in beating a very hasty retreat, leaving Grammy behind.

"Is she always that scary?" I asked Cana as we trudged down the path, the day now nearing noon. She looked slightly traumatized, whether by the experience of the last day or Porlyusica alone, I couldn't tell you.

Cana didn't speak, she just shakily nodded.

Gray didn't look much better, and I probably looked like death warmed over, even after we'd rested at Porlyusica's. Thankfully, even though she lived in seclusion in the East Forest, the walk from her home to Magnolia was only a couple of hours in our injured states. All three of us were relieved to slump our way into the guild and practically threw ourselves onto the nearest table.

"There you three are!" Macao called as he came over to our table, Wakaba behind him.. "We thought you'd just gone home after you finished the job, but when none of you showed up at the guild today we started to worry." His face betrayed just how worried he really was and Wakaba didn't look much better. "What the heck happened to you three?" We each looked at each other, and a nonverbal game of Nose Goes ensued between us.

I lost.

With an exhausted and exaggerated sigh, I dragged myself to my feet and grabbed Macao and Wakaba by their sleeves so I could drag them with me.

Thankfully, Master was sitting at the bar, so the walk was thankfully short, and with a very thankful nod at Enno -who handed me a hot chocolate-, I began stumbling through our tale, from the moment we headed out yesterday afternoon.

Master Makarov was usually a very lively and happy old man, he made jokes and told stories that had some of the older members trying to cover our ears as he told them, but when he gets angry, that changes immensely.

I knew, intellectually, that Master Makarov was strong. That despite his diminutive appearance, the man was one of the Ten Wizard Saints. I think this was the first time I had ever actually felt even an iota of the power inside him though.

His face stayed calm, his eyes were closed, but for just a few moments as I told them how Grammy was going to sacrifice Cana and do God knows what to us, that control slipped loose and I felt it.

The room quietened down, his staff creaked ominously, and just existing felt like a chore, like the atmosphere had lost all air and the gravity had tripled. I stopped speaking for a moment as the feeling spread, but as soon as I felt it, it vanished.

The room went from cold and oppressive to light and carefree, a warm feeling spread through my gut, and it felt like I was being hugged from all directions. The Master had opened his eyes and had a soft expression on his face, using his magic to extend his arm as he placed it on my shoulder.

"Please, my child, continue." He said in a soft voice, radiating care and worry.

So I did. I picked up the thread and told the rest of the story in a much steadier tone, Master's magic making me feel much more at ease than before. He didn't say another word for the rest of my report, simply nodding along, but the warmth stayed there all the same.

When I finally finished both the story and my hot chocolate (and holy crap does Enno make the best hot chocolate!), Macao and Wakaba were both looking upset and Master was giving me a stare of caring and relief.

"I am glad that all of you returned safely, my child. I'll inform the Council they need to be more stringent with their screening in the future. This never should have happened in the first place!" For just a moment, a look of absolute fury crossed his face, but he covered it up so quickly I only barely had time to register it before it was gone and he was smiling once more. He patted me on the head and ushered me back to Cana and Gray with a tray of hot chocolates and a plateful of cookies.

I returned back to the table almost in a daze, handing out the hot chocolates and placing the cookies down on auto pilot as my brain whirled despite the exhaustion that was seeping into my very bones. I sat there long after Cana and Gray had passed out, their noses stuck in their empty cups and crumbs still on their faces, thinking the past day over furiously.

We'd been lucky.

I'd put that thought aside, when we were all high on life at our escape. Then later, when we'd been exhausted and escaping Porlyusica, it had been easy to not think about, but telling the whole story, beginning to end, made the uncomfortable truth abundantly clear.

If Grammy had been a bit more clever, or if I'd not known Requip, then this could very well have been our last day on Earth Land. I'd almost gotten us all killed in my attempt to get Cana and Gray alone so we could discuss Gildarts with her properly.

I had known from day one that I was going to change things. From the moment I'd known it was an option, I knew I would be a Fairy Tail wizard, because there was nothing else I would rather be. Retelling our adventure had forced me to acknowledge the very real consequences changing things might bring.

I knew this world wasn't sunshine and rainbows, that people suffered and died, Sun's Valley had made that abundantly clear (My heart ached at the thought of my old home and family). I knew I wasn't invincible, that if I didn't keep moving forward, getting stronger and stronger that I would die long before x784, let alone x791 or 92…

But I hadn't spared even a single thought to the possibility of getting my friends killed as well.

For Cana and Gray in the original timeline, this day didn't happen. They didn't have a tearful conversation about Gildarts, they didn't take a job to harvest the Moon's Tear, and they didn't nearly die. This was just another day, Cana had trouble sleeping, Gray trained, and life went on.

I had changed that and it had almost killed all three of us.

I wasn't blaming myself for Grammy's decisions, that would be foolish. It wasn't my fault that she was an evil old hag that wanted to kill a kid for her youth, but I had led us into that situation.

So next time a job went sideways, I needed to be ready.

I couldn't rely on them all being stupid enough to allow the use of Requip magic, so I needed to avoid capture in the first place.

I needed to beat them before that was an option.

I needed to be stronger.

That night, even through the haze of my own exhaustion, that need blazed bright within me.

Tomorrow, I would plan, and take my first step towards ensuring I didn't need to rely on luck ever again.

If I wanted to see all my changes come to fruition, I would have to.

October 11, x775

For the next week, that same fire burned within me. I would awaken before dawn to do my usual exercises and meditate in the dawn's rays, but after that I would train until near noon and go to the guild for food followed by more training.

I had convinced Cana to join in, but the problem with Cana training any harder than she usually does is that her cards have to be replaced and that costs money. So our sessions had to be capped off with a job or two so she could afford to continue training. I'd also gotten Cana to begin experimenting with new types of cards. Hopefully she could come up with new combos she'd not thought of before.

Gray was more of a solo act at the moment when it came to training, but he'd been up for a few spars here and there, and he was pretty damn good already. The three of us had had a few free-for-alls behind the guild hall, and the score was annoyingly even. Cana had squeaked a couple points lead, but I was sure that would even out over the next few fights.

Unfortunately, my training was feeling like it was hitting a bit of a plateau.

The book of magic that Master Flare had given me was great, but it was really all about using it to worship the sun, mixed in with some instruction on how to cast, how to better channel solar energy, and a lot of religious pageantry. There was barely any actual magic in it, and that was what I needed right about now.

Sun Magic had been made with the intent of using it as a religious tool, a spiritual way of life. What little attacks there were looked as if they had been added later. I needed to learn advanced magical theory if I wanted to develop it further.

Cana and Gray weren't much help with their specializations, so I was left with much fewer options, either pester Master about it, or one of the other adults.

Although… This could be the opening I needed to properly meet a member of the guild I'd been looking for a chance to talk to.

"Hi! I don't believe we've met!"

The teen jerked his head and quickly reached up to catch his magic headphones before they fell off his head. He met my eyes and scowled at me without much heat, but he certainly didn't look happy either.

"What do you want?" He might have sounded properly rough and intimidating, if his voice hadn't cracked. His face burnt red for a moment before his scowl returned.

I sat down across from him with a smile.

"Nice to meet you too Laxus, I'm Helio Dart, and I could really use your help."

A/N: Good to see y'all again! This arc was meant to focus mainly on Cana and Gildarts, but then my characters took my muse hostage and threatened its life if I didn't include a proper Laxus introduction.

Also training. Because it's a Fairy Tail fic, there must be training. It's like a requirement or something.

I would also like to thank FFN user obliviousss for brainstorming ideas for later in the story with me over the last few days. Keep an eye out for his first story!

See y'all next time!

EDIT 01/17/2022: Fixed a couple errors, sorry if you thought this was an update!