A week later in Fairy Tail's backyard pool.
"you lost to Max, Gray?!" said Lucy, Levy, and Lisanna in unison, the three girls swimming in the pool and looks at Gray who is in his boxer and looks down.
"don't say it out loud, will ya?" said Gray in a depressed tone. "I just had one spar and he took me out so easy…..i can't believe that I lost to Max…."
"just how did he beat you?! I mean, you use ice magic and Max use sand magic, the outcome should be a draw or something!" said Lucy, seeing how the element of their magic differentiate their strength.
"can you stop talking about it? I got really ashamed when I was boasting that I was still strong and all" said Gray as he got more depressed thinking of his spar with Max three days ago.
"I guess with us and the other Tenrou Group being sealed away for 7 years, the others must've trained and gotten stronger over time" said Lisanna, thinking of the 7 years time gap of the groups.
"even for us, we still got some hard time in doing some jobs too" added Levy, remembering a job a few days back that ended with them losing some jewels because of bandits using new magic items that they are not familiar with.
"does that mean we all gotten weaker?" said Lucy in a bit depressed tone.
"our strengths are still the same of 7 years back" said Juvia's voice as she appears out of the water beside them. "in a word, we are lagging behind"
"why did you appear from there?" said Lucy with a sweatdrop.
"Gildarts, Laxus, Gramps, and Natsu. they're all strong in the beginning, and we're not strong as we were years back" said Gray while crossing his arms. "this is really frustrating"
"yeah" agreed Lucy before Elfman came flying into the pool and made a large splash.
"Elf-niichan!?" said Lisanna in surprise as Elfman floated up the water with a knocked out face.
"alright!" shouted Nab as everyone turns to see him doing flexes.
"are you saying that Nab took out Elfman? That Nab?" said Levy with a sweatdrop.
"we need to get ourselves stronger" said Gray as the girls nodded.
At the eastern forest; which is the location home for Porlyusica, the Fairy Tail Guild medic.
Porlyusica is currently looking at Haruo who is shirtless and is showing his large scar on his chest that came from Gojin's strike that took his life in the first time.
"I don't know what concoction of a potion that this Continent Lingyue has," said Porlyusica with a sceptic look to the scar before looking to Natsu who brought Haruo to the medic's home to get him daily checked on. "but to revive a deceased person from the afterlife? this is beyond the understanding of humans and anything alike"
"the Jinmenju fruit doesn't grow often, it takes nearly a decade before it is ready to be used" said Natsu while having his arms crossed and Kiara riding on his right shoulder. "and it's a ritual that revived Haruo, not a potion"
Porlyusica sighs before checking back on Haruo as he checked everything on the boy.
"other than the permanent scar, your boy will need some time to rest because his body has been in sleep for 8 days straight." Said Porlyusica as she shines a flashlight into Haruo's eyes. "any human whose body hasn't been moving for more than a week can already suffer freeze up. Your boy is about more than a week, I won't know what will happen if he doesn't rest properly and do body exercise that aren't excessive"
"I understand" said Natsu while Porlyusica checks the inside of Haruo's mouth before finishing.
"he's going to be fine now" said Porlyusica as Natsu went to Haruo and helps him put on his clothes. "better to get him to eat enough nutrients, his body will need all the rest and nutrients, you can give him"
"understood" said Natsu as he helps Haruo down from the bed before several knocks is heard from the door.
"who is it now?" said Porlyusica in a grumbling voice as she went to answer the door and finds Gray, Juvia, Lucy, Wendy, and Charla in front.
The group started to explain on their need to get strong really fast and thought that Porlyusica could make an enhanced potion for them. In reply, Porlyusica reached her right hand to the side and takes out her broom.
"go away! I hate humans!" shouted Porlyusica angry as she started whacking her broom around making Gray and the others run away.
"we're sorry to bother you!" they all exclaimed in unison except for Wendy who looks at Porlyusica who sees her stare, the two locks eyes before the young girl runs off to catch on with the others.
Porlyusica looks at Wendy's retreating figure before she sighs and frowns a bit.
"this is the first time, you two have met, right?" said Natsu while holding Haruo's hand, the two standing behind the guild medic. "she might get the wrong idea"
"I know" said Porlyusica before sighing. "sometimes, it's hard to tell someone that the person they're searching isn't the right person at all"
Meanwhile at Fairy Tail Guild's basement. Makarov and Gildarts are walking down some stairs that are at a bottom floor even bellow the basement itself.
"never knew that Natsu remodeled the guild this much," said Gildarts, thinking that another basement is thanks to Natsu's remodelling idea as Fairy Tail's master.
"not really, this has been under the guild since the beginning" said Makarov while going the down the stairs with the Crash Mage.
"since the beginning?" said Gildarts as the two continued walking down the stairs before they arrived in an open chamber room where on the floor is the symbol of Fairy Tail. Gildarts looks around then to Makarov and asked. "what is all of this?"
"wait and see" said Makarov as he did several hand gestures and the large gate in the chamber soon opened.
Gildarts looks at the gate as it was sealed with a magic circle, and when he caught a glimpse of what was inside, his eyes widened in pure shock and his jaws dropped.
"this is our Guild's Greatest Secret" said Makarov before glancing at Gildarts who had no words in what he was seeing. "Lumen Histoire"
"j-just why…" muttered Gildarts before looking at Makarov. "just what is this?!"
"this is what Master Mavis wrote of us…" replied Makarov while having a solemn look. "Fairy Tail's true nature"
"I can't believe something like this…" muttered Gildarts as he looks to the inside of the gate. "why are you showing me this?!"
"this is something that only a Guild Master should know and keep secret for years to come" stated Makarov.
"then tell Natsu! Not me! He's the guild master, right?!" exclaimed Gildarts to Makarov.
"no, Natsu isn't ready nor is he willing to learn of such great secret of our guild. He has his duties as Ikaruga's protector, that is why he chose to retire from being master after returning from Lingyue" said Makarov while closing his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them to look at Gildarts. "and so, Gildarts. You shall be the next Guild Master!"
Gildarts looks at Makarov before the inside of the gate, his eyes felt with surprised and uncertain.
At the eastern forest, a few miles from Porlyusica's home. Gray and the others had run off from the guild medic's home as to save their heads from being wacked with a broom.
"aaaahhh. Whose idea was it to go to her house in the first place?" said Lucy with a tired look from all the running.
"wasn't it you?" said Gray in the same state as her. "that old woman is so damn cranky sometimes"
"I've heard about her being angry at people, but that attitude of hers" said Charla with a sigh before she looks at Wendy who she sees is crying. "Wendy? What's wrong!?"
"i-It's nothing….it's just…" said Wendy while tearing up even more.
"it's clearly not nothing! What's wrong?" asked Juvia, feeling a bit worried to see the young dragon slayer's welling up tears.
"her scent, her voice…it's the same" said Wendy while wiping some tears away.
"the same?" said the others in unison.
"Porlyusica-san…everything about her is the same" said Wendy while sniffling. "she smells and sounds just like my mother, Grandeeney"
"eh!?" said everyone in unison before Gray added "are you sure? Your dragon is that old lady?"
"what could that mean?" said Juvia with a confused face.
"they're the same person or something?" added Gray
"but that doesn't make sense, would it?" stated Lucy. "Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy. Their dragons disappeared on the year X777, but Porlyusica-san been here way longer than that, they couldn't be the same person"
"her voice and scent are the same….but her attitude is so different from Grandeeney" said Wendy with a realization look.
"different? How?" asked Juvia.
"if I recall correctly, you said that that Grandeeney is a very kind dragon who likes human, right?" said Charla to Wendy who nodded.
"a kind Dragon…I don't think that applies to Acnologia" said Gray, remembering the black dragon.
"that monster can't be even called a dragon" said a voice as it surprised everyone. They all turn and sees Natsu, Kiara, Haruo, and Porlyusica coming into the scene.
"Natsu?!" said Lucy with a surprised look.
"you scared the hell out of us!" said Gray before looking at Porlyusica. "uh….if it's about the whole strengthening potion, we're really sorry"
"it's fine" said Porlyusica before looking to Wendy. "I'm here for this young girl after all"
"for Wendy?" asked Charla with a confused face as so did Wendy.
"I'm curtained that you thought of me being your Dragon Mother, but I'm not" said Porlyusica to Wendy. "I'm sorry, we may have the same voice and smell, but we're completely different people"
Wendy looks at Porlyusica before looking down with a sad frown.
"I'm certain that you all aware of Edolas, correct?" said Porlyusica to the group
"Edolas?" said Juvia before looking to Gray. "is it the parallel world that you all once travelled to, Gray-sama?"
"yeah." Replied Gray before looking at Porlyusica. "but why you ask that?"
"can't put the pieces together?" said Natsu to Gray. "there's only one way for there to be two individuals who have same voices, appearances, yet different personalities"
"are you saying that?!" exclaimed Charla in shock.
"I'm from Edolas" stated Porlyusica. "if in more specific term, I am the Edolas Grandeeney"
"from Edolas!?" said Gray in surprise.
"on our world is a Dragon, but on another is a human?" said Juvia as Porlyusica nodded.
"I got stranded to earthland decades ago, that is when I met with Makarov who helped me" stated Porlyusica before looking to Wendy. "I'm sorry that I'm not your Dragon mother, but I've talked to her before"
"eh?" said Wendy before Porlyusica takes out a stack of paper from under her cloak.
"not directly, but I hear her voice by magic" stated Porlyusica. "you said you wanted to get stronger, right? Then take these. They're magic spells that I wrote down for you as I was told by the Sky Dragon. The two air magics 'Milky Way' and 'Piercing Sky Drill'. These are the two secret Dragon Slaying Technique that your mother left for you"
"Grandeeney…for me…?" said Wendy while holding the stack of paper.
"those two magic spells are of extreme high level, if you overdo it, you'll destroy your body" said Porlyusica while turning around before glancing at Natsu who nodded while patting Haruo's head, the young boy looking confused on the whole story. Porlyusica started walking away before she stopped when Wendy called out to her.
"thank you so much, Porlyusica-san!" exclaimed Wendy before she bowed and then lifted her head to smile. "Grandeeney!"
Porlyusica didn't say a word but smiled while she went back the direction to her home.
Back at the guild, Natsu and the others have just arrived back to see a big commotion.
"what's going on?" said Gray in seeing the crowd by the stage. They all went nearby while Natsu went to the bar where Ikaruga is at with Haruka and Ikki.
Makarov stood on the stage as he coughed a few times to get the crowd's attention.
"I'm sure you all are wondering on the whole statement that I called upon" said Makarov while crossing his arms. "I am here to state that Natsu has stepped down from being the 4th Guild Master of Fairy Tail"
"Natsu did?" "but why?" "he must still be feeling bad for the whole Lingyue attack thing" "but it's fine now, right?" the crowd chattered a bit while some took quick glances of Natsu by the bar.
"my point is that Fairy Tail will need a new Guild Master" said Makarov as his statement got everyone's attention.
"a new guild master? I haven't got used to calling Natsu; Master and anything yet" said Cana with an uncertain look.
"c-could it be…my t-time?" said Macao nearby while looking nervous.
"no way in hell that you going to be Master" said Wakaba with a few head shakes to his friend's imagination.
"the 5th Fairy Tail Guild Master is!" said Makarov before waving his right hand to the side. "Gildarts Clive!", he stated loudly but on the stage with him was no one, but himself. "eh?"
"Makarov-san" Lisanna called out to Makarov as she went near the old man and gave him a letter.
Makarov opened the letter as it is from Gildarts who states that he doesn't want to be the Guild Master and that surprised him to the core.
"WHAT!?" screamed Makarov in total shock while the others laugh, knowing how Gildarts is.
"but who will be the Guild master?!" exclaimed Makarov as he continued to read the letter and sees that while still nominated as the 5th guild master, Gildarts elected the old man to be guild master. "me again?!"
"everything is like 7 years back, huh?" said Alzack with a sigh.
"seems so" added Bisca while carrying Asuka in her arms.
"Cana, there's a letter for you too" said Lisanna while going to Cana and hand her another letter.
Cana reads the letter before she finds a Call Gildarts Magic card that Gildarts wanted her to have and be used to call him if there's trouble, but that card was soon ripped into two by her.
"stupid old man" said Cana, but with a smile.
Makarov sighs before he reads more of the letter as it had a personal message to everyone in the guild.
"Fairy Tail is my Home, I will be back. Until the day I'm home, I hope that Fairy Tail would be the no.1 guild once more, but it's not my duty to do it nor is it Natsu's. it's your last job as Master, Master"
Makarov crossed his arms before several tick marks appeared on his forehead
"my last job?! You little! Fine! I'll never retire again!" exclaimed Makarov all angry. "I won't let anyone be Master! I'll be the Guild Master for life then!"
"looks like things are getting better and all" said Mira with a grin in seeing Makarov sulk on being the master again.
"you sure you want to step down? You can spend more time with the twins and Ikki if you're the Master" said Laxus to Natsu who is lifting Ikki and plays with him by the bar with Ikaruga and the twins.
"being Master gave me as much time as I needed" said Natsu in reply as the man rubs his nose with Ikki, eliciting a giggling laugh from his young son. "and I had enough of paperwork"
"just like so!" said Bickslow with a laugh, knowing how much paperwork a guild master has to do.
"Fairy Tail is back to the way it was" said Evergreen with a smile as Freed nodded in agreement.
"but man, Gildarts asked us to be no.1 again? It's kinda a hard deal, don't you think?" said Warren as Max nodded.
"being at the number four is good enough, right?" stated Max as Warren nodded in agreement.
"I believe that Gildarts' wish is something we can fulfil" said Erza with a smile. "We were once number one guild in all of Fiore, we can do it again"
"if you guys were still here 7 years ago, I think it'd be possible and anything" said Warren while crossing his arms.
"things changed in that time" added Max.
"how come?" asked Gray, hearing the conversation.
"Sabertooth" said Max in reply. "they're the current number one guild, and I tell ya that they're really strong"
"even Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus fought for number one place, but they couldn't get through Sabertooth" added Warren. "it's true that they weren't big and all 7 years back, but that changed when they got five strong and unique mages on their side"
"just 5 people?" said Gray as Max and Warren nodded.
"and we got 4th rank because of them?" asked Erza but Max and Warren shake their head.
"we got 4th rank thanks to Natsu" said Max as they group took glance of Natsu who lifted Ikki high up and then down to his lap. "him being strong and famous got more than enough support for that place"
"it's going to be a long road for us to get number 1 again, huh?" said Gray while scratching his chin.
"not true!" said Romeo all the sudden as the group turns to look at the young man. "there's another way to reach number one in just one go!"
"there is?" said Gray and the nearby group in unison.
"hey, Romeo! I thought I told you that participating there isn't something that we want to do anymore!" said Macao to his son.
"what? Not participating in what?" Asked Makarov, hearing the conversation.
"it's nothing! It's just something stupid that Romeo thought of before in the past" said Macao in reply.
"it's not stupid! It's the fastest way for us to be the number one guild again!" exclaimed Romeo.
"I thought I told you that we shouldn't be going there anymore!" stated Romeo to his son once more.
"but why not?! We got the Tenrou guys again, and Mas-I mean Natsu-nii to join this time!" retorted Romeo in reply. "with them, Fairy Tail will be number one again!"
"that's true and all, but they had 7 years of blank time. They're not strong like they used to be" said Warren with an unsure face.
"just what is this short way to number one?" asked Juvia, looking a bit curious just like the Tenrou group.
"while you guys were gone. At Crocus, Fiore's capital; they hold an annual festival to decide who is the number one guild in all of Fiore!" said Romeo as this got the Tenrou group more curious. "all the guilds in Fiore get together to compete, it's called the GMG, or the Grand Magic Games!"
"the Grand Magic Games?" said Lucy with an even more curious face.
"that sounds fun!" stated Wendy with a smile.
"sounds like a great festival!" added Gray with a smirk.
"so if we can win this festival." Stated Erza with a small smile. "Fairy Tail will be the number one guild once more!"
"Hmm I don't know about this." said Makarov while thinking. "there's still that huge gap of power…and not most of us are still used to this new era of changes"
"The master's right." Said Macao with a head nod
"The winner also gets 30 million jewels." Stated Romeo as this changed Makarov's mood instantly.
"Looks like we're going to enter!" exclaimed Makarov with money signs in his eyes.
"Wait, Master hold on!" Macao said trying to calm the old man down.
"We can't win with Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus entering." Droy said worried.
"Forget them!" Warren interjected. "Sabertooth will be there as well."
"We'll just have to take them all down one by one." Said Makarov while shadow boxing.
"just when is this GMG going to start?" asked Lucy to Romeo who holds up three fingers of his right hand.
"in three months!" said Romeo.
"that's enough time for us to get into fighting shape!" stated Gray with a grin. "we will get stronger and beat the other guilds, then Fairy Tail will be number one again!"
The Tenrou group nodded as with so much time, they can prepare for the best.
"looks like Gildarts' wish is going be coming true very soon" said Cana with an excited grin.
Everyone cheered as they are going to the Grand Magic Games and win it.
"everyone is very excited for the games" said Ikaruga, seeing the scene while having a smile.
"let's go to the games again, Mama!" said Haruka to her mother.
"yeah! Last year was so fun!" added Haruo with an excited face.
"yes yes" said Ikaruga in reply before turning towards her husband. "how about you, Natsu-han? Will you join the games this time?"
Natsu glances at the group before to Ikki, the young boy babbling while playing with his father's right hand's fingers. He looks at his child before petting his head.
"perhaps" replied Natsu with a small sighing smile.
That's a wrap!
Bye bye