The Rise of a Warrior: Fairy Tail

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Luke Drako, S-class wizard of the Fairy Tail guild, the true Lightning Dragon Slayer, student and son of the Lightning dragon Kaminari. This is his story. The story of a Dragon Slayer trying to find his place in the world, and make one hell of a strong team along the way. And with any luck, he just might win the heart of a certain brunette card mage. OC x Cana. Read and review.

27. Edolas I

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it.

Guest: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I wanted to give Laxus some screen time before his return in the Tenrous Island arc, and I feel that God Serena had way too much potential to not make use of him before the final arc. As for Raven Tail, I wanted to try and give them some more screen time too before the Grand Magic Games arc.

Ragnas Bredvolts: Thanks, I'm glad to see you enjoyed this one. I always do enjoy doing these Omake chapters as some light relief from time to time in between some of the major arcs. I tried to take the opportunity to flesh out Raven Tail more than they did in canon, and to show off a bit of what Laxus was doing before his return in the Tenrous Island arc. However, just to clarify, I never said that he was training with God Serena. But yes, using his more flamboyant personality traits just to screw with Luke would be a good amount of fun. But yes, I'm hyping the final battle with Acnologia even before he appears on Tenrous Island, and when the time comes for his encounter with God Serena, I can assure you the mightiest Wizard Saint won't go down without a fight. I'm glad to see you love Avatar: the Last Airbender as much as I do, and making the references were way too much fun. Luke using Elementor's flames to create lightning was actually something inspired by watching Naruto, if you understand my meaning. Overall I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you continue to enjoy this story, and I hope you have a nice day as well my friend.

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A thick fog covered the forest surrounding him.

'Come on… I know you're out here somewhere…' Luke slowly made his way through the forest with Raiden drawn and ready, his head snapping from one direction to another, only to freeze at the sight that awaited him, in the form of a massive hulking beast standing over the blood covered corpse of a young girl with white hair.

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And now back to reality…

Luke's eyes suddenly snapped open as he fell forward practically gasping for air 'So it was… it was just some kind of illusion my mind created? Dammit, this again…'

"I was wondering what you were doing out here."

Luke glanced back to see Bolt float down near him "Oh hey, I thought you were still asleep back at the apartment."

"I was, then I noticed the freak electrical bursts in the East Forest and figured it was either gonna be you or Thor having a stroke. You trying to meditate instead of sleep again?"

"I meditate when I can't sleep, and frankly I haven't had much luck in either of those since I got back into town."

"Hard to imagine why, you've been going with hardcore training nonstop over the past few weeks."

"Being poisoned by Cobra made me realize that I have a lot of work to do if I want to keep up with other wizards from dark guilds, even if they lack raw power they've got gimmicks that can push them ahead in a fight. Plus…"

"The anniversary is coming up isn't it?"

"It's gonna be 2 years tomorrow since that day."

"Yeah. You're dealing with it better than least year though, at least this time you're not gonna disappear for a week again."

"I haven't ruled that out yet."

"Figures, just stay out of my stash of brownies okay?"

"I have no intention of touching them with a 50 foot pole after what happened the last time I tried one of them."

"That works out for the best for both of us. Speaking of munchies, you wanna head over to the guild hall and get something to eat?"

"Might as well, I haven't had a decent meal since before Wendy joined the guild, and that was like a month ago."

"You're pushing yourself too hard, take a day off or something and get a hobby."

"We're in between seasons of My Hero Academia, as long as that's on hiatus so is any hobby I may have."

"...Are you sure that's healthy?"

"How could it not be? Some people just don't get that anime is the core of the world."

"And for those who disagree?"

"They're in the dark guilds."

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A few hours later, in the guild hall…

Luke downed half of a sandwich and glanced over to see Wendy and Carla just relaxing at a nearby table "I've gotta say, the two of you look like you're really at home here in Fairy Tail now."

"Yes, well we actually live in the girls only dorm." Carla pointed out.

"You and pretty much all the other girls in the guild from what I hear, well with the obvious exception of Lucy."

"Why is that exactly?" asked Wendy "I mean it's really nice and cozy."

"From what I hear she didn't find out about that until after she got her apartment, besides I think she got the better end of that deal. Rent at the dorm is about 100,000 Jewel, Lucy's place is only about 70,000. Plus, for the lack of a better term, she's broke." he was met with a nervous chuckle from Wendy "Yeah." this was followed by the sound of bells chiming loudly all throughout the city "Oh you've gotta be kidding me."

"What's that, why all the bells?"

"Bells chiming like that can only mean one thing. It's been almost half a decade since the last time he showed up, but now Gildarts is finally making his way back home."

"GILDARTS IS BACK!" and on that ridiculously loud note, everyone started celebrating in the best way they knew how: by getting so drunk that no one outside of anime would be able to withstand it.

"Yep, that's Fairy Tail's way of celebrating when one of their own comes home."

"So who's Gildarts?" asked Wendy "I don't think I've ever heard of him before."

"Not surprising, he doesn't come around that often but he's ridiculously strong. As a matter of fact, he's the strongest wizard in the entire guild."

"Wait are you serious?" that was enough to get Lucy's attention "I thought you and Erza were the top dogs around here!"

"Erza's the strongest female wizard we have sure, but all modesty aside, I am stronger than her by a decent amount, though I don't even come close to matching Gildarts' power."

"...So this guy is the king of breaking stuff then?"

"It's part of the job requirement that comes with being a member of Fairy Tail. It's good that he's coming back, but I don't get why everyone's gone totally nuts, and when I say that I mean even more nuts than usual."

"You shouldn't be surprised, you saw how everyone reacted when I came back to the guild after being away for a year and a half. Gildarts was gone way longer, by now it would have to be around three years or so."

"You've gotta be kidding me, that's insane! So what has he been doing all this time?"

"He's been off doing something so batshit crazy nobody outside of this guild would even think of trying to do. You see there are regular jobs and S-class quests, and above those are SS-class quests, and above those are jobs called Decade quests."

"Decade quests?"

"Those are jobs that no one has been able to complete in less than 10 years, which is why they're called Decade quests. Gildarts was crazy enough to take on an even higher level job, he took on what's known as a Century quest."

"You've gotta be kidding me, who the hell in their right mind would take on a job that lasts for 100 years?!"

"Nobody, and that's why he took it. But just wait, you haven't seen any major reactions yet until you see the Magnolia Gildarts Shift."

"Magnolia Gildarts Shift, what the heck does that mean?" she was met with the sound of a large rumbling noise "I'm guessing it has to do with what I just heard?"

"Go ahead and take a look outside, you'll see it for yourself plain as day." Luke gestured out the front door, where it was clearly visible that the city of Magnolia had shifted so that there was one clear straight line leading through the city to Fairy Tail, every singe building having been shifted to one of two sides "You see it for yourself?"

"Holy crap you've gotta be kidding me, Magnolia just split in two!"

"That's a precaution they had put in place for Gildarts and his Crash magic, it's a lot easier for everyone to just give him a clear path to go down since he can and usually does destroy pretty much everyone he touches and he's pretty absent minded it's a lot easier if he doesn't have to go around, or in this case through, pretty much every building in the city."

"You mean he just walks right through them?!"

"That's about the sum of it."

"You mean you modified the town just because he's clumsy?!"

"And because he's got the awareness of Natsu dumbed down a few notches."

"He sounds amazing." Carla let out a scoff "Amazingly stupid."

"Sad thing is you're not far off. Anyway cool it with the snark and mocking him behind he's back, I can smell him coming."

Sure enough, at that moment the man of the hour cam in the form of Gildarts Clive as he entered the guild hall and looked around 'Okay, is it just me or do I have no idea where I am.'

On that note, Luke promptly made his way up to Gildarts and gave him a grin "I was wondering when you would finally make your way back here?"

"Uh yeah… Listen sorry to bother you like this, but I'm looking for a guild that used to be around these parts called Fairy Tail."

"Pull your head out of your porn man, you're standing in the guild hall. Take a good long look if you don't recognize me yet."

"...Holy crap, Luke is that you?!"

"Took you long enough to recognize me."

"You sure have grown up a hell of a lot, and is it just me or did you change some stuff around the hall too?"

"You didn't notice anything from outside? Yep you're back alright."

"Gildarts you son of a bitch good to have you back, now come at me like it's-" Natsu promptly charged at him, only to get throwin into a roof almost instantly.

"So yeah, Natsu hasn't changed much since you've been gone, or at all actually. Looks like the same can be said for you, typical old fashioned tough guy act."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Gildarts looked around "I see we've got a couple new faces around here, a lot happened while I was gone hasn't it?"

"That's one way of saying it. We do have some new recruits though. There's Lucy, a Celestial Spirit, a water mage in the form of Juvia, an Iron Dragon Slayer in the form of Gajeel wherever he's brooding right now, and our newest edition as of a few weeks ago is Wendy over there, she's a Sky Dragon Slayer."

"Sounds like I have a lot to catch up on."

"Gildarts, over here." Makarov quickly called him over to the bar.

"Hey master, looks like you're looking well."

"About the same, so how did the job go?"

"Oh that?" Gildarts barked out a laugh "It was no good, I figured it wasn't going to be a problem, but it was way too much for me." this left everyone in stunned silence "Yeah I know, it sounds insane doesn't it? But what I saw out there, I doubt there's a man alive right now who would be able to finish that quest."

Luke's gaze hardened at what Gildarts was saying to everyone 'To think that there's a job out there that not even Gildarts could do. But what's out there tough enough to take him down? As far as I know, nobody, and a thought like that is terrifying.'

"I know what you're thinking over there." Erza got his attention "And I hope you're not thinking of taking on that job yourself."

"Erza do you really think I would be so reckless?" he was met with silence "I'm not so stupid as to try that myself, not at my current level. I can't help but wonder though, what's out there that's strong enough to take down someone as strong as Gildarts?"

"Absolutely nothing to our knowledge, which is a scary thought I have to admit. But we don't know for certain what happened, so don't assume that the worst has happened until we can either prove it or receive confirmation. It's not much to go on, but it's better than just blindly assuming that he was defeated."

"No that's exactly what happened." that was when Gildarts made his way up to him "But let's not dwell on that right now, it would be kind of a downer. Anyway Luke, you and Natsu feel free to stop by my place later. I brought something back for the two of you that I think is gonna catch your interest. In the meantime you guys, I'm out of here." and so on that note, he promptly walked towards a wall and used his Crash magic to blow a giant hole in it, and then he walked through it and left.

"...Yeah I was afraid of that. Tell me something Erza, is he actually absent minded like that or does he do it on purpose?"

"To this day I have absolutely no idea." Erza told him flatly.

"Just had to check. I wonder what he has that's so important to me and Natsu."

"I don't know about that, but what I do know is that it pumps me up so bad I'm fired up just thinking about that!" Natsu promptly blew a hole through a wall "Come on Happy, let's blow this joint!" and so he left.

"Yeah that figures, right when you think he's calmed down, the minute the king of breaking stuff shows up he just rests like nothing ever even happened."

"So tell me something Luke, are and Natsu really close to Gildarts or something?" asked Lucy.

"I'm not as close to him as Natsu, Happy and Lisanna are, but he and I are still pretty good friends despite everything."

"But isn't he gone out on quests most of the time?"

"Yeah he is, but he still keeps close to Natsu and the others, and he and I started to grow closer after he was the one that tested me when I became an S class wizard."

"You mean you had to fight him? And you won?!"

"Oh god now, he pounded me into the ground like a metaphorical paste, and actually somewhat literal. He beat me pretty bad back then, but I wouldn't back down no matter how many attacks he hit me with. So then he powered up to his maximum, and instead of attacking me he basically scared me into submission, and then he said something to me I've never forgotten. There isn't anything wrong with feeling fear. He said that it's essential for us to come to know of our own limits and weaknesses, and that we need to know them in order to become a stronger and gentler person."

"Woah… that's deep."

"His title of strongest wizard in the guild isn't just for show." Luke's head suddenly snapped up as he gazed at a cliffside overlooking the city, and his gaze hardened 'This sensation… this scent I'm picking up… don't tell me…'

"Is something wrong?"

"...It's nothing. I just have something I want to check on a little bit later."

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A few hours went by.

By this point, Natsu and Luke were making their way to meet up with Gildarts "Holy crap I can't wait, maybe he brought me back some rare fire from another kingdom or something!"

"More than likely it's some kind of nude magazine, knowing what he's like." Luke pointed out dryly.

"Oh come on, don't be so negative!"

"I'm not being negative, you'll know when I am." they opened the door to Gidarts' house.

"Hey Gildarts, what's up man!"

"What's up guys, good to see you." Gildarts promptly waved at the both of them.

"It's been a good long while since I set foot in here." Natsu glanced around "At least you know how to keep your place clean. So you said you had something for us?"

"Nevermind that for the time being." Gildarts shot a grin in Natsu's direction "So how have things been between you and little Lisanna since I've been gone? Come on, you don't have to be smart with me."

"They're about the equivalent of a 90 year old married couple, they and they only ended up growing closer after Mira was killed." Luke noted grimly, something that filled Gildarts with shock and regret "She died taking a blow that was meant for me, as of tomorrow it's gonna be two years."

"You mean she's… that's why I didn't see her… I'm sorry…"

"I'm not in the mood for reminiscing, if that's all you wanted then I'm going. I have training to do, so if you need me for something important I'll be in the forest." he started walking away, only to be stopped by what Gildarts said next.

"Listen to me you guys, while I was out on the Century Quest I met a dragon." now that got the attention of both of them "Before you ask it's not the ones you guys are looking for, this one was as black as a night without a moon."

"Where was it?" asked Natsu.

"I met him at the sacred Mount Zonia. And for the record, this dragon that I met was the real reason why I failed on that quest at all."

"All that I need to know."

"And what are you going to do?"

"What the hell else, I'm gonna track down this guy and ask him where Igneel is."

"Not a good idea kid, that black one is long gone by now, probably flying somewhere out in the wild blue yonder."

"I don't care, I can track him down if I put my mind to it!"

"Natsu just stop it and look at me for a second." Gildarts removed his cloak, revealing the full extent of his injuries, much to the horror of both Luke and Natsu "That battle, if you could even call it that, was over before I even knew what hit me. Faster than I could blink it ripped off both my arm and my leg, and then it gutted me too. Kaminari and Igneel may be different kinds of dragons, but I'm telling you now that this black one isn't a friend to anybody. I don't think there's a man alive that could defeat it."

"...Gildarts look, we Dragon Slayers aren't just called that for nothing! I don't care what you say or what anybody says, this guy doesn't stand a chance against what I'm capable of!"

"If that's what you believe then I'm not going to try and stand in your way."

"Good!" his anger didn't even seem to die down as he tried to make a beeline out of the building in a rage.

"Too bad for you, I'm another matter." Luke grabbed Natsu by the scarf and stopped him from charging out of the house "If you wanna throw your life away on your own time that's one thing, but leave it alone for this week. It's hard enough for all of us, especially Lisanna, but you already know that don't you?" that caused his anger to fade away almost instantly "If you're dead set on tracking this dragon down then just wait, at least until the end of the week, if for no other reason but for her."

"...Fine, I'll back off, at least for a few days. For her." and so on that note, Natsu was let go and promptly left, albeit much slower this time.

"At least something can get through that thick skull of his."

"He's got more promise than you're giving him credit for." Gildarts shot him a smirk "But in the meantime, you'd better make sure you take care of both him and yourself okay? There may not be a man alive who can beat that thing, but a dragon is a different story entirely. As far as I can see, there's hope for the both of you."

"At the very least, I can stop him from throwing his life away because he's so impulsive and thoughtless."

"You weren't too different the last time I was here."

"I'm not the same kid I used to be."

"I can see that, you've grown a little bit and bulked up somewhat, and aside from the clear anger management problem you're got going on right now, I'd say you're a lot more calm and focused than you used to be."

"I've done a lot of growing up over the past two years." Luke glanced outside at the setting sun as a single tear rolled down his cheek 'I know you're still out there, aren't you? Where are you, and what have you been doing all this time Kaminari… Father?'

"So how about it?" Gildarts pulled up a chair and motioned for him to sit "What do you say you tell me about what you've been up to?"

"...Fuck it, I might as well, but then I've got something else I want to check on."

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Another day came, and the sun was shining over the skies of Magnolia.

Gajeel was dealing with something that had been irking him for some time 'No that's not the one I want, not this one either, this one looks way too much like Garfield!' he finally faceplanted into the ground and let out a groan of frustration 'Salamander and Thunderclap, hell even that little girl too, they have their own magic flying cats, so why the hell don't I?! I'm just as much a Dragon Slayer as they are, so I deserve to have a flying furry friend like they do!' but then, as if his prayers were answered, a light shone down before him, accompanied by the silhouette of a small black cat 'YES!'

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By this point, a certain brunette Dragon Slayer was looking down over the city and speaking into a communication lacrima "Looks like sitting on your ass in that throne room hasn't dulled your senses too much, you were definitely onto something with that spike in magic power you were picking up from Magnolia. The guy's name is Gildarts Clive, and apparently he's the strongest wizard Fairy Tail has got, though I don't know if that includes Makarov. I'm only going on what I'm sensing right now, but it feels like this guy could hold his own against Bluenote, maybe even come out on top against him."

"I didn't expect you to show up again so soon Aftershock, especially not on my home turf of all places."

Noah turned around and found Luke standing before him, sword already drawn and his eyes blazing with electricity "And I didn't expect you to come and seek me out Thunderclap, I always figured that if anyone was gonna kick start the fight between us."

"So you came looking for a fight?"

"I'd like to say yes, but the truth is that I was only sent here to do some recon. The master of my guild detected a huge spike in magic power in this region and he sent me over here to see what was causing it. I take it the big shot that strode into town was the cause of it?"

"That's the one."

"...Alright start talking, what's the matter?"

"What do you mean?"

"I can see it in your eyes and in your stance, you look a hell of a lot more emotionally frayed than you did the last time I saw you. Is it because of that guildmate who died for you that sent you on the protector path and basically turned you into Ichigo for Bleach?"

"...Two years ago today, that's how long it's been since died for me. I can't stop thinking about what happened that day, that Elfman had to try and absorb that monster because we, or really because I, couldn't defeat it, and that Mira had to sacrifice herself to save me. I wasn't able to protect either of them, and even now I feel like I'm such a worthless failure. It doesn't matter how I try to rationalize it, to justify it, it always comes down to the fact that I just wasn't good enough to get the job done!" his magic energy surged with his frustration, as if to illustrate his point.

"Eesh, you really are out of it. Forget it man, even if we were to fight now your heart and your mind wouldn't be in it. When we go at it, I'm gonna want you to be at your absolute best, and right now you're not. Forget about that for now, let's just take it easy while I'm in town."

"What, you wanna shoot a game of pool?"

"I was thinking about grabbing lunch around here, I heard about a place where I can grab a decent sandwich."

"You mean the place on 7th street, yeah and they've got the best fries on this side of the kingdom too."

"Good enough for me, one thing to know about Dragon Slayers is that they no matter how bad they might be feeling, a good meal always helps them to get their head together, at least a little bit. Anyway after that we'll go train, I'm gonna see if I can get through that outer shell of yours you've go going on."

"And do I have any say in this?"

"How about a deal: You agree to go along with this, and in exchange I'll pay for lunch. How does that sound?"

"...Fine why not, I don't get a free meal that often. Do I get seconds though?"

"Whatever, at least being in a dark guild means good money."

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Meanwhile, outside the guild hall…

Having essentially had enough of their bullshit, Carla had pretty much blown Happy off and stormed out of the guild hall, ignoring Wendy calling after her 'Happy… I despise that name, the irony of it makes me sick. They're all such ignorant fools, every single one of them.' she looked up and her scowl deepened at the sight of Bolt waiting for her further ahead "Whatever you have to say, I'm not interested in hearing it."

"Too bad, because I've got a lot to say." Bolt told her flatly "I don't know what stick you have lodged underneath your tail, but you don't have the right to take it out on Happy, even if he is a pain in the ass."

"Says the one who strangles him on a daily basis."

"It's how people in Fairy Tail show their live, but you're just being an absolute (bleep) for no good reason. I know a lot more than you think I do, so don't bother trying to dodge the subject either."

"...So you know?"

"Bits and pieces of it, but yeah."

"Then you already know that you won't be able to protect Luke, and the Tomcat won't be able to protect Natsu. However, at the very least I am going to protect Wendy. I must protect her, for she is the only thing that matters to me."

"Keep thinking that Miss Prissy, I only understand bits and pieces of what's to come, but I'm still going to give everything I have to make sure that Luke comes out of this okay. He's got enough problems as it is."

"You may think that you can, but the fact is that unless you understand everything about yourself, you'll never be able to protect him." and with that, she walked away.

"I think we'll see about that soon enough." Bolt glanced over to see Gajeel stumble out of a nearby alleyway with scracthmarks all over his face "Eesh, what the hell happened to you?"

"None of your fucking business cat." Gajeel let out a snarl.

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About an hour passed, and the rain began pouring down.

Luke followed Noah deep into the East Forest "Alright, why did you have me followe you out here?"

"Because I paid for lunch. Mountain Dragon Terra Golem!" Noah slowly turned to face him, and with a surge of magic power he promtptly covered himself in rock and debris until he looked like a massive hulking figure "I can smell it on you… your fear… your guilt… your failure… you are not worthy…"

"Worthy of what?"

"Does it matter?"

"...No, I guess it doesn't. Lightning Dragon Talon!" Luke blitzed forward and aimed a lightning enhanced kick at Noah's skull.

Noah promptly backhanded him away without batting an eye, sending him crashing through several trees as a result "Our difference in strength is very close. What will decide our eventual battle is the difference in conviction. Your fear, your guilt and all of your failures will keep you from victory."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Luke charged at Noah and promptly started slashing at him with Raiden, only for the blade to get knocked out of his hand.

"I know you better than you allow yourself to believe. You see it don't you? The images of those you love dying?"

Luke tried to let out a roar, only to receive a fist to the stomach that caused him to cough up blood and sent him flying 'Natsu…'

"Come on Luke, don't let me down! Show us that fire in your belly!"

Luke was dealt a brutal smash attack to the head Elfman…'

"Come on Luke, don't let us down like this! Be a real man!'

He was backhanded across the forest and sent tumbling backwards in a heap 'Bolt…'

"Dammit Luke they're coming for us! Don't just sit there, do something!"

Luke tried to pull himself back to his feet, only to find Noah's hulking form stomping down on his back 'Cana…'

"Please Luke, you have to save us… We're all counting on you…'

"I'm sorry everyone… I'm trying… I've been fighting, training and repeating… over and over again… for so long…" Luke pulled himself back to his feet and summoned Raide back into his hand, his magic power surging with his rage "I did the best that I could! I did… the best… that I could!" with a sudden surge from the blade of Raiden he shattered one of Noah's gigantic rock arms "STOP TORMENTING ME! I DID THE BEST THAT I COULD! THERE WASN'T ANYTHING ELSE THAT I COULD'VE DONE!" with one final surge of rage infused magic energy, Luke slashed Noah across the chest and face multiple times, shattering the rock armor covering his body and sending him tumbling backwards "Now what the fuck do you have to say to that?"

"Well for starters, I saw your angry side and I think it disturbs me about as much as a normal person would be disturbed by that guy in The Shining. And second of all…" Noah spat out some blood and cracked his neck "If there wasn't anymore that you could've done, then why do you keep punishing yourself? Why have you been punishing yourself like this for the past two years?"

Luke said nothing, he just helped Noah to his feet and gave him a small smile as they started walking back towards the city.

"So tell me something Thunderclap, what did you take from this?"

"Well…" Luke breathed a deep and heavy sigh "I guess I've been obsessed with the possibility of my own failure… I hardened my heart like it was made of metaphorical steel… I was wrapped up in my own guilt, but I guess it evolved to the point where it just became self pity… I became addicted to trying to make myself perfect… I kept thinking I wasn't good enough… I kept trying to force myself to be better… My guilt turned into self pity and rage and-" he was cut off by a smack upside the head "What the hell was that for?"

"Too many words, dial it the hell down and give me only the important stuff."

"I… I guess I've been my own worst enemy."

"Okay now you see? That's better, save the long winded speeches for Naruto. That's really the only place where the Talk no Jutsu works. Besides, you dwell too much on what happened you'll end up causing it to happen again, even if you try to repeat it. Fuck, I just became a character straight out of Naruto didn't I?"

"It happens to the best of us."

"Well since I'm on that train now, I might as well keep going. Tell me something, this guildmate of yours that sacrificed herself for you, did you believe in her?"

"Of course I did."

"Did you respect her?"

"Yeah."

"Then quit feeling sorry for yourself and blaming yourself over it. Let her keep the dignity of her choice, because if she went through with it then she must have thought you were damn well worth sacrificing her life for, and I doubt she would've done what she did if she didn't know you were going to be here after she was gone. Now you listen to me, your guild still needs people to stand up above the rest of them and protect them with everything they've got, so what are you going to do?"

"...Don't settle for where you are when you know how far you're able to go, and just how far you have to go.

Let me offer you a piece of advice while I can. You ever hear how your eyes flash before your eyes when your body and mind both think you're about to die? It doesn't, not in the same sense. You don't see everything. You only see the things that are actually important to you. It's how I realized that Meldy is the one thing that actually keeps me with my guild."

"She's the one for you huh?"

"Yeah she is. Okay things are getting too mushy, you wanna go fight for real?"

"Another day."

"Moral is still too low huh?"

"That and take a look over there." Luke turned and his gaze hardened "And with you comes an air of mystery, which I suppose gives you your name, doesn't it Mystogan?"

Sure enough, Mystogan appeared from the thick of the trees and stopped before them "You've grown stronger Luke, not in body or mind, but in spirit, and that is equally important."

"Yeah, believe it or not Aftershock has been helping me work through some issues. But let's talk about you for now. Your scent, your voice… I always thought they seemed familiar, yet not at the same time."

"So you noticed. I knew it was only a matter of time before you confronted me over this. Such a thing cannot be put off for any longer." Mystogan pulled his mask off, revealing his true face to both of them.

"You look exactly like Jellal, your face is identical down to a T." Noah commented "But your scent is different, so you can't be him."

"Correct, I am not the man that was arrested during the Nirvana incident."

"I go by the name of Mystogan, but the fact is that my true name is Jellal. Unfortunately I do not have as much time as I would've desired. Both of you must gather as many people as you can and leave this city."

"What are you talking about?" asked Luke.

"I failed in my own personal mission. The Anima has grown to be much too large, and now it's become impossible for me to contain on my own. It's only a matter of time before the entire city of Magnolia ceases to exist. I have to go, please just do as I say, both of you." and then he promptly vanished in a flash.

"...What do we do?"

"Why the hell are you asking me? He's in your guild." Noah pointed out.

"I barely even knew anything about the guy before today, frankly I'm as lost right now as you are."

"I highly doubt that. So what do you think we should do?"

"If he's serious about this, we need to head back to the city right away and go from there. It's not much of a game plan, but it's all I have to go on."

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Meanwhile, in Magnolia…

"Carla! Carla where are you?" by this point, Wendy was roaming the streets in the pouring rain searching for Carla, only to see her coming towards her in the distance "There you are, I've been looking all over for you!"

"Oh Wendy, honestly child…" Carla let out a sigh "You're going to catch a cold going out into this mess without even having an umbrella."

"The same could be said for you too. Tell me something Carla, why are you always being so mean to Happy, Bolt and the others after all they've done for us? Could you at least try to be a little bit nicer to everyone?"

"I don't see the need for such a thing, as long as I can stay with you the others are just a means to an end."

"Geez, you know I don't understand you sometimes." then they noticed someone coming towards them from within the storm.

"Who's this?"

"I'm… not sure."

As it turns out, that figure was Mystogan, and he stopped before the two of them "Hello Wendy, it's been a long time."

"That voice… I've heard it before."

"I never considered the chances of you joining this guild of all of them, but then again I always had a feeling that we would meet again someday." Mystogan removed his mask, revealing his face identical to Jellal's, much to their shock.

"Jellal it's you, it's really you!"

"It is, to you at least."

"But that's impossible!" Carla was quick to protest "You can't be the same person, I saw you get taken into custody myself!"

"You're right, the man arrested in the incident involving Nirvana was not me."

"Then how do you explain the uncanny resemblence to him? Who are you really?"

"My name is Mystogan of Fairy Tail, when we first met 7 years ago I didn't know anything about the ways of this world. Wendy, I told you that my name was Jellal."

"This world? But that means…?" tears started streaming down Wendy's face "So then… you really are my Jellal."

"I am."

"I was afraid that you had forgotten all about me… I can't believe that you're really here… after all this time… I missed you so much… I wish I didn't listen to you and just kept following you back then!"

"I'm sorry Wendy, I wish that I had been able to let you follow me. Leaving you behind that day was a painful decision, but a necessary one. Unfortunately, we don't have enough time for a tearful reunion. I need you to do what I say Wendy, you have to leave Magnolia and get as far away from here as you can, and quickly." Mystogan suddenly fell to one knee, his exhaustion beginning to catch up to him.

"Jellal!"

"I was unable to complete my mission… the Anima… it's grown much too large… it's amassed too much power… I cannot contain it on my own… it's only a matter of time… before Magnolia ceases to exist…"

"Wh-What? But the city can't just vanish, there has to be something we can do! There has to be a way we can help!"

"I'm sorry Wendy, but the destruction of the city is inevitable. You need to evacuate the city right now."

"What about everyone in the guild? Please tell me, what's going to happen to them?"

Mystogan could only stay silent.

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Meanwhile in the Fairy Tail guild hall…

Cana looked up from the mug of booze in her hand and glanced out the window at the storm raging outside "Damn, looks like we're gonna be stuck in here for awhile."

"Yes, so it would seem." Juvia looked rather worried "I hope you don't think I caused this to happen."

"We know the difference between a normal downpour and one of yours. Besides, you're not the one who's annoying everybody." Gray jerked a thumb over at where Gajeel was loudly snoring the day away "I think I just figured out a way to pass the time, so does anyone have a marker on them?"

"I've got one." Natsu handed him a marker "You think I haven't done the same thing to Erza in the past?"

"Is that why you have that scar on your-?"

"Yep."

"...Damn."

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Wendy looked down at the kneeling form of Mystogan, and her gaze hardened slightly "Please, I won't move until you tell me!"

"It's only a matter of time." Mystogan let out a sigh "We don't have long until all of them eventually perish."

"I… I have to go back to the guild hall, someone has to warn them!"

"We don't have enough time for that, you need to get to somewhere safe right away!"

"Absolutely not, I would never abandon my friends! Carla and I finally have a home again, and if it's going to vanish then I woud rather go with it!" and so she promptly ran off towards the guild hall, leaving Mystogan alone with Carla.

"And what about you, I don't suppose you would be able to convince her?"

"I honestly don't know." and so Carla promptly ran off after Wendy.

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Meanwhile, back at the guild hall…

Gray finished his doodling on Gajeel's face "Huh, looks like you were right, he could've used some eyebrows after all."

"Oh wait give me that, I've got a better idea." Natsu snatched the marker from him and promptly drew a moustache on Gajeel's face, along with some cat whiskers "How do you like that? Looks like I have a future in art, it's like I'm Pistachio and the Mona Lisa."

"...Okay first of all, pistachio is a type of ice cream. Second of all, it's Picasso, and third of all, the Mona Lisa was done by Leonadro Da Vinci."

"You mean the Ninja Turtle?"

"No you brain dead son of a- Okay quick question, did Igneel ever drop you on your head when you were a baby?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Psychic powers."

"Shoo-bee-doo-ba!" that was when Gajeel suddenly bolted upright and promptyly used his Iron Dragon Club to slam both Natsu and Gray into the ground "Alright now start talking, which one of you dipshits had enough balls to draw on my face?! I have no problems with using my Iron Dragon Sword to cut a certain part of your body clean off!"

"HEY!" Elfman quicky interrupted Gajeels angry ranting as he rounded on Jet and Droy "You know what I see when I look at the two of you?! I see a couple of lapdogs just begging to get their paws on a bone, and you two call yourselves men?!" he was silenced by an iron club to the head, courtesy of Gajeel.

"On behalf of everyone from here to Bosco, you're welcome. Now seriously, which one of you two idiots had enough balls to draw on my face."

"It was him!" Natsu and Gray pointed at each other "And besides, neither of us would've done it if it wasn't for the fact that you were snoring like a pig on crack!"

"Give me a minute assclowns, you're gonna wish I stayed asleep!" and so the three of them started beating the crap out of each other in typical Fairy Tail fashion.

Juvia just looked on in awe with hearts in her eyes "What a view, my beloved Gray is like a knight of old fighting for his one true love!"

"You mean like Gilthunder from Seven Deadly Sins?" Cana asked as she downed yet another mug of booze "Well whatever, as far as I'm concerned rainy days are best spent cuddling with your boyfriend."

"Good to know mocha." that was when Bolt flew into the window "But I doubt anyone will disagree when I say that Luke isn't gonna be too happy to see you cheating on him with a giant barrel full of booze." this caused Cana's face to turn a deep shade of red.

"Luke and I are not dating!"

"So you claim."

"I have no reservations about frying with with lightning magic."

"I don't care, I've had like half a dozen of my brownies today."

"...Of course you have."

"In all seriousness Cana, can you just make sure that you leave enough to drink for the other customers?" Lisanna promptly strapped on a coat.

"Hold on, you mean you're actually going out into that typhoon?"

"Yeah, I'm just paying a visit to the church."

Elfman on the other hand, he was busy tearing into Jet and Droy HARD "You two think you have what it takes to protect Levy when the time comes?! You both need to man up in the worst possible way!"

"Hey come on big brother, we really should get going before the storm gets any worse."

"Yeah I know, just give me a minute to finish up with these sissies. They screwed up their most recent job and need to get taught a lesson, these morons got themselves knocked out cold in the middle of a fight and Levy had to finish the job by herself."

"I don't know big brother, I think you're being too hard on them. I think Jet and Droy have both gotten a lot stronger recently."

"You do?"

"Yeah, in their own way."

"...Okay yeah that makes sense."

"Yeah, just let me grab an umbrella. Hey Natsu, you coming?"

"Hold on a second." Natsu elbowed Gray in the crotch and threw him into Gajeel, and then he blitzed over to Lisanna's side "Okay I'm ready, let's go." and so they left.

Lucy watched them depart and blinked a few times "Well that's weird, I mean why would Natsu, Lisanna and Elfman go out to visit a church in this weather?"

"It's not too hard to figure out." Cana told her quietly "Today is the anniversary of Mira dying, it was two years ago today."

"Mira, yeah Lisanna told me about her before."

"She was Lisanna and Elfman's older sister, she and Elfman went with Luke on a job two years ago, and it didn't go well. She didn't make it back, and Luke has blamed himself for what happened ever since. It's why he left the guild for a year and half, and he didn't come back until you joined the guild."

"Wow… I had no idea."

"It's been eating away at him for awhile too." Bolt pointed out "Don't expect to see him around too much for the next few days, he'll probably train himself until he passes out."

"Wow… so was Natsu close to her?"

"Not really, but he and Lisanna are basically the equivalent of a married couple in their early 90's." Cana told her dryly "They're basically a real life Cory and Topanga, but in all seriousness he's been a lot more protective of her after what happened. It's kind of an unspoken rule that nobody screws with him when this time of year rolls around either, he made it a point he doesn't want to upset Lisanna."

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Meanwhile, with one of my three favorite ships…

Gray glanced over at Juvia and started a very misleading conversation in regards to a sticky roll in her hand "Alright I think it's time you and I had a talk, it's time for you to learn how to grip it right."

Juvia froze as her face went red "You mean-?"

"Quit screwing around and just eat the thing."

"That's what I've been trying to do my beloved, but I've never done this before."

"Come on, it's not that hard. This is how you eat one of these things, first you open your mouth as wide as you can and then bite down on the thing." he demonstrated this, and she promptly followed his lead.

"Am I doing it right my love?"

"See it's just like that, you can get the job done using your bare hands."

"Also darling, could you please keep your clothes on at the table?"

'Do the two of them even hear themselves?' Erza just watched with an amused smile, and then she turned to see Alzack and Bisca just being romantic tsunderes 'Now if only we can find a way for them to actually do something about their feelings for each other. So it looks to me like the two of you are as close as ever."

Alzack and Bisca both jumped at the sound of Erza's voice "What are you talking about, that's totally crazy!"

"Sure it is, but let me offer you a word of advice. Treasure the moments you have with each other as if they won't return, do that and you'll never have any regrets."

"Hey Erza, would you come over hear for a moment?" Makarov called her over.

"You summoned me master?"

"I did, I wanted to talk to you about that Century quest that Gildarts had taken on. It's all I've been thinking about for days. I'm considering giving that quest to someone else, do you have any objections to that?"

"I have none master, it needs to be done."

"Good, I talked to Luke yesterday and he agreed as well."

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By this point, Lucy was slumping against the bar out of sheer boredom "I swear, it's so boring around here."

"I know how you feel." Levy barely glanced up from her book "It's hard to feel motivated when the weather has you stuck inside."

"I just wish something interesting would happen today."

"Be careful what you wish for blondie." Bolt downed another brownie, earning a few odd looks as a result "What?"

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'I have to hurry, I have to warn eveyone!' by this point, Wendy was running through the streets as fast as she could, only to trip and fall flat on her face, and she looked up to see a massive vortex forming in the skies above 'Is that the Anima that Jellal was talking about? I have to tell the others!' she continued running towards the guild hall, only for white lightning to flash within the vortex as buildings began disappearing "Everybody get out! Something bad is happening, you have to leave right now before it's too late!" she was only a few feet away from the guild hall when it too suddenly vanished in a white light, and within only a matter of moments the entire city of Magnolia, leaving only a barren wasteland where the city one stood. Wendy opened her eyes and looked around in horror "No… the guild hall… it's gone… and the city… all of the people… What happened… Where did it go…? I don't understand, how could a city vanish like that out of nowhere? Is anybody out there?! Answer me!" she received no reply, and she promptly fell to her knees as tears started streaming down her face "No, it can't be… they're all gone… I'm all alone… Why am I the only one who gets left behind? Is there some law in the world that says I can't have a home or a family? Why does it always have to be like this?"

"Eesh, and I thought Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender sounded emo as fuck."

Wendy whipped around and found Noah making his way through what used to be the city, and she quickly rose to her feet "Who… Who are you?"

"Take it easy kid, I'm on your side, at least for now. And before you ask, no I'm not the one who did this. Right now I'm just trying to pick up the scent of anyone else."

"So… you're here to help?"

"For the time being at least." Noah reached down into the dirt and grabbed hold of something, and when he pulled it back up it was revealed he was holding Natsu by the hair "Welcome back to the land of the living Salamander."

"Why do I feel like I just swallowed a trout?" Natsu spat out some sand and looked around "And am I dreaming right now?"

"If this were a dream then I'd be doing this I can't even mention around the kid, and you wouldn't even be here." he set Natsu down on the ground and faced him and Wendy "Okay's let's just sum up, none of us have even the slightest clue as to what the actual fuck is going on right now."

"All I know is that a giant hole opened in the sky, and the guild hall, the town and everyone in it got sucked into it!" Wendy tried to stop her tears, to no avail "I haven't seen anyone, I'm afraid we may be the only ones who made it out alive!" she was met with Noah handing her a rag to wipe away her tears "Thank you."

"Be realistic here kid, even if about 99% of the people in this city got sucked in, I can confirm that there are at least two others who made it out of this. Think for a second, what do the three of us have in common?"

"I don't… wait, you mean you're…?"

"I'm a Dragon Slayer like you guys, raised and trained by the Mountan dragon Jishin. The fact is that we're all Dragon Slayers, and we all made it out of that, so that means any other Dragon Slayers in the city at the time got out too, as in Thunderclap and Black Steel."

"You mean Luke and Gajeel?"

"Those would be the ones, so at least we know that whatever the hell an Anima is has no effect on Dragon Slayers."

"The snarky newcomer speaks the truth."

Wendy whipped around to see Carla floating towards them "Carla you're safe, I was so worried and I thought I'd lost you!"

"Yes, well as a matter of fact, we're lucky you're a Dragon Slayer or else you would've suffered the same fate as the others. Not that I care either way, the fact that you're alive is the only thing that actually matters to me."

"Alright you little son of a- That's it!" Natsu promptly rounded on her in a rage "I'm not putting up with any more of your crappy attitude, you're saying the fact that the others just got sucked into the Shadow Realm isn't even important to you?!" and then another gear started working in his head "Wait a second, you mean that batshit crazy story you guys told me was true?!" he received two simultaneous nods "Well in that case… HELLO!? Can anyone hear me?! Have you been sucked into the Shadow Realm!"

"...Wow." Noah looked down at Wendy "Putting up with him all the time, one can only wonder how Thunderclap hasn't gone Joker levels of insane."

"You shouldn't be wasting your breath, there's no one left who can hear any of you." Carla told them flatly "The others have all been taken by the Anima, and therefore none of them exist any longer."

"Anima huh?" Noah shared a glance with Wendy "Didn't Mystogan mention something about that?"

"That giant hole in the sky happens to be the gateway to Edolas, the world on the other side of that gateway."

"Edolas huh?"

"Dammit you stupid cat!" Natsu promptly rounded on Carla "Would you quit talking bullshit already, I can't understand a word you're spewing out, now tell me where the fuck they went before I send you to the Shadow Realm!"

"Bam." Noah dealt Natsu a smash attack to the head that sent him crashing to the ground with a loud thud and tuned back to Carla "So start talking, how the hell do you know so much about this Edolas place? And why didn't you get sucked in like the rest of them?"

"Alright who's the wise guy!" that was when Bolt flew onto the scene and threw Happy onto the ground "Did the rest of Magnolia get sucked into the shadow realm or did I have too many brownies again?"

"My guess is both, and do you have anymore?" Noah was promptly handed a brownie, which he promptly swallowed hole "Oh yeah, that's the good shit."

"...You and I are gonna get along just fine, also didn't you and Luke beat the crap out of each other on Galuna Island?"

"And in the Tower of Heaven."

"And to answer your question, the reason I am so informed about the world of Edolas is because I come from there." Carla told them flatly, earning shocked looks from Natsu, Wendy and Happy, as well as a raised eyebrown from both Bolt and Noah "As are the two that the rest of you refer to as Happy and Bolt."

Wendy was the first one to find her voice "Carla…"

"I'm sorry child but it's true, myself and the two Tomcats are to blame for this atrocity falling upon this city."

"...So does that mean that the cats with wings are basically aliens?" Noah received looks from everyone present "What? They're from another dimension, as far as I'm concerned that classifies them as aliens."

"I suppose that is one way of looking at it, seeing how Edolas is a parallel world that exists independently from the one that we know, and unfortunately a world that has begun to lose its magic power."

"What sounds more interesting to me is the fact that they actually have magic."

"They do, at least for the time being. Unlike the world we're in now, magic happens to be a finite resource in Edolas, which means that without any limites on its use, the day will eventually come in which magic disappears from Edolas forever. In an attempt to diminish their reserves of magic power, which were rapidly diminishing, the king of Edolas developed a spell that would enable him to absorb the magic power of another world, the world we currently reside in. It is a very powerful spell indeed, one that is known as Anima, and that is what opened the hole in the sky above us."

"And when did they start actually going through with it?"

"It was 6 years ago when they began setting up Anima portals all across the barrier between the two worlds, but the experiment did not go as they had planned. It would seem that someone had made it their goal to close them one by one throughout this world. My suspicions had been raised when Wendy told me what had happened to Jellal, but if he's actually Mystogan then the story actually makes a great deal more sense. I'm sure that he must have been the one closing each Anima portal. However this Anima portal was simply too large, there wasn't anybody strong enough to close it, and thus the guild and everything surrounding it was absorbed."

"But why would they go after Fairy Tail like that?" asked Natsu.

"It's as I told you, to provide more magic power to those in Edolas."

"You mean they pretty much stole it." Noah pointed out.

"For the lack of a better term, yes."

"So they chose Fairy Tail because they're the definition of OP in this world, because they had a metric fuckton of magic power."

"That's correct."

"That's the definition of a dick move if I've ever heard one, well except for pretty much every action taken by my own guild."

"No arguments here." Natsu looked up at the portal and started to do his thing "Hey listen up you Shadow Realm rejects, you'd better give us back all of our friends right now!" he was answered by lightning flashing overhead "Is that a yes or no?"

"It's their way of telling you to shut the fuck up."

"Vulgar language aside, for once I agree with this heathen." Carla noted dryly.

Bolt and Happy shared a look "So be real with us for a second, you mean that the fact that we're here is what's causing all of this?"

"It is, at least indirectly."

"What do you mean?" asked Happy.

"We were entrusted by the king to complete another mission entirely, something that was completely independent from the one involving using the Anima to absorb magic."

"But that doesn't make sense!" Wendy protested "How can that be true when you were born in this world and hatched out of an egg? I was the one that found you!"

"Indeed that is true, although to be perfectly honest I myself have never set foot in Edolas, seeing how I was born in this world and I've spent my entire life here. It's exactly as you said child, but we were imprinted with this knowledge, and the details of Edolas and our mission are part of what makes up our very being. The three of us were born to carry out this mission for the sake of our kingdom, which raises another question." she promptly rounded on Bolt and Happy "So why do neither of you know the first thing about it?"

Bolt slowly floated forward "I can't speak for Happy back there, but I only remember a few bits and pieces about it. I could see faint flashes in my dreams, things about Edolas and a mission and a few other things, but it's been a long time since I thought about it. Luke found me alone in the forest a few years ago, took me in to his home and to Fairy Tail, and that's why I made a choice when I became part of Fairy Tail. I didn't understand it anyway, so I just decided to forget about it and keep living life, and it worked, at least until you showed up."

"...I see. Anyway that's what I meant by indirectly, the Anima that is responsible for this had originated from our homeland, so we're partially to blame for that reason."

"So then what exactly is that mission you're on?" asked Noah.

"I'm sorry, but that's something I can't tell you."

"The hell you can't." Noah grabbed her by the tail "There's literally a gigantic fucking hole in the sky, you're giving us some answers. Tell me something, does it have to do with the rest of us by chance? We didn't get sucked in because we're Dragon Slayers, and you knew that we wouldn't get absorbed, so what's your little mission?"

"Get off me you ruffian, I said I can't tell you and that's final!"

"You're in no place to start acting like a (bleep), especially considering you hid all of this even from the kid over there." he let out growl and released his grip on her tail "Fine, you get a reprieve for now, but I've got both eyes on you for now."

"So what do we do now?" asked Wendy.

"Knowing what Thunderclap is like, he'll most likely do one of two things. The first being that he'll try to track down any survivors, which will lead to him finding Black Steel."

"What's the second thing?"

"He'll try and head to Edolas himself to rescue the rest of his guildmates, so that's what we're going to do."

"Have you lost your mind?!" Carla promptly rounded on him "Do you even have the slightest clue as to what's going on here?"

"No but that usually doesn't stop me, and besides now I feel like I'm living up something out of an anime, and that's fucking awesome."

"It's official, you're out of your mind."

"No arguments here." Natsu shot him a smrik "As far as I'm concerned, if all of our friends are up there in Edolas then we don't have a choice but to go there and help them out."

"And he's not the only one."

"So are our friends really up there?" asked Wendy.

"I would assume so, but even if we find them in Edolas I'm not entirely sure we'll be able to save them. And what's more, if we can in fact reach Edolas I can't guarantee we'll be able to return here."

"...Oh."

"Yes."

"Well that doesn't bother me too much." Noah gave a shrug "Most of the people in my guild are a bunch of sadistic fuckers, except for two, and other than that the only thing that would keep me here would be looking for Jishin."

"Yeah, I feel the same." Natsu gave a grin "Aside from looking for Igneel, I wouldn't have anything keeping me here if I didn't have my friends."

"Any objections?"

"No, I feel exactly the same." Wendy told them.

"No I get that, I mean from the little (bleep) down there."

"...Ignoring that." Carla let out a sigh "I may have only recently stumbled into being a member of Fairy Tail myself, but the fact is that I am indeed as much of a part of the guild as the rest of you are, and like I said I'm indirectly responsible for what happened today, so I'm not completely against taking you there. But if I am to do this, then I will need to lay down a few very firm ground rules. First of all, by returning to Edolas I will be abandoning the mission I was given, one handed down by the kingdom itself. I will be a traitor, and I cannot rsk being spotted by anyone who will know my identity, so we will all need to be in disguise."

"Are you sure that you want to do this Carla?" asked Wendy.

"I am sure, I've made up my mind." Carla promptly rounded on Bolt and Happy as well "And the two of you be sure to listen up as well, another rule is that you are absolutely not to pry into the details of our mission as well."

Bolt and Happy shared a look "Fine/ Aye."

"And Heathen that goes for you as well."

"Meh." Noah gave a shrug "I've been called worse."

"Thirdly, aside from the information I had been given at birth, I know nothing about the overall layout of Edolas, so I cannot be the navigator."

"Fair enough."

"And the most important detail, if I or the other tomcats should do anything that constitutes a betrayal towards you, then you must kill us without hesitation."

"You I'm fine with killing and hanging on my wall like a goddamn trophy, but the blue one is too stupid and naive to do something like that, and I actually like the yellow one that's got the brownies." Noah was met with a few odd looks.

"...Fine, I suppose that works for now." Carla promptly summoned her wings "Let's get moving then, tomcat hold onto Natsu and the heathen tomcat will be holding onto the heathen Dragon Slayer."

"You like using that word a lot don't you?"

"It's appropriate for people like you."

"Whatever, so we're gonna fly there?"

"We have wings for that exact reason, so that when the day comes we can return to our home world of Edolas."

"Huh. Sounds a lot like plot convenience to me."

"Whatever it is this sounds awesome." Natsu gave Happy a thumbs up "Alright little buddy, it sounds like you're gonna get to show me where you came from."

"...Aye sir!" Happy promptly saluted him and grabbed onto him.

"The bond between man and cat, sounds weird as fuck." Noah looked down at Bolt "So you gonna do this yourself?"

"Might as well." Bolt promptly latched onto Noah "Alright, let's do this."

"Works for me." Noah looked out into the distance and his gaze softened 'I promise I'll make it back to you as soon as I can, so just hang on until then Meldy.'

"Both of you ready, and be sure not to hold back on your magic power." Carla told them as they started flying upwards at full speed "We're going be entering Edolas through what remains of the Anima portal, so when I give the signal I'm going need the two of you to give it everything you've got!"

"Got it."

"Okay. Ready… 1… 2… 3… NOW!" and so they all promptly punched it towards the Anima, a massive flash of light engulfing them and pretty much blinding all of them.

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A few minutes passed, and the light subsided, as did the chaotic storms that came from the Anima.

"Okay, bracing myself like that time I walked in on Meldy in the shower…" Noah's eyes then snapped open, and he looked around at the green colored skies and floating islands "Huh, so this is Edolas then?"

"Yep, this is where I'm from…" Bolt looked around, his expression unreadable "And now I know why I didn't care before now. Look at this place, I mean the sky is green, the islands are floating like they're something out of One Piece, and it's boring as fuck."

"What the hell are you talking about? This looks awesome, and besides we're in another fucking dimension. I'm living this up as much as I can.

"Yeah I know, but the floating island thing has been done for, along with the parallel world thing, in that Justice League cartoon."

"The DC universe is definitely ahead of Marvel in terms of animation, but in regards to live action they're pretty much a shit show."

"Forget the awesome cartoons for a second!" Natsu looked around in awe "So this is it huh little buddy, what do you think of your homeland?"

"I don't really know what to think…" Happy muttered.

"Tell me about it, just look at the purple trees down there." Noah pointed down at the purple forest lying beneath them "Now it feels like we're on Planet Namek."

"What about the river in the sky?" Bolt pointed to the river floating in front of them "If that isn't the kind of BS you'd see in One Piece then I don't know what is."

"A dude made of rubber."

"Enough with the anime references you imbeciles!" Carla shut them up "All of you get ahold of yourselves, keep in mind that we're not here for the sake of sight seeing, so be sure to keep your wits about it."

"...Well it sounds like it's somebodies time of the month."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." but that was when she, Happy and Bolt suddenly lost their wings.

"Well then… FUCK!" and so the six of them fell towards the ground, landing in what looked like a big ball shaped tree "Well that was a hell of a lot of fun, anyone gonna take a guess as to why that happened or do I have to fill in the blanks?"

"It's not that complicated, I told you before that magic is a limited resource in this world, which goes for all of us."

"And because this world lacks the infinite supply of Ethernano in the atmosphere, that means we can't recharge our own magic power, not to mention that means the three of us probably can't use our own Dragon Slayer magic either."

"Which means none of you can fight, and we'll be completely defenseless."

"Not necessarily, what Thunderclap and I have in common is that while we do dabble in magic, it's mainly used to enhance physical combat. We're not solely dependent on it. Think of it like this, even if Thunderclap can't use any of his lightning magic, he's still a highly skilled swordsman and hand to hand combatant. But we'll put that aside for now, for the time being we'll just have to keep going on foot." so Noah then proceeded to pull Natsu out of the ball tree by the leg and threw him to the ground "We came here with a mission in mind so we might as well keep going for it."

"But if we don't know our way around then how will we find the others?" asked Happy.

"We may not know our way around but we've still got the noses of three Dragon Slayers among us, it's not much to go on but it's better than nothing." Noah took a whiff around, but then his frown deepened "Well so much for that plan, I should've figured that all of the foreign scents here would make it hard to distinguished from the ones that I probably would recognize."

"Yeah you're right." Wendy promptly tried to taste some of the air "It's weird, but the air in here is nothing like anything I've ever tasted before."

"I wonder if the same is going to go for the Earth here. Well I guess there's only one way to find out." Noah promptly picked up a nearby rock and chomped down on it "Hm. Not bad, kind of tastes like chicken."

"...Your name is Noah right? Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Well… why are you helping us? I mean you're not even a member of the same guild as us, and yet you willingly jumped into another world with us for them."

"...Look kid, I'm not gonna pretend that my reasons are totally altruistic. Truth be told the only reason I even came was to snap Thunderclap out of his self pitying funk for the point when we finally go at it all out. I want to fight him when he's at his best, I mean it's not like just anyone has the prowess to defeat a Wizard Saint. But with that being said, if people are suffering or in danger and I can do something about it, then I'm not just gonna stand by or sit around on my ass and do nothing."

"Oh. I see. Well thank for for that anyway."

"Forget it, anyway I don't suppose either you or Salamander over there know where the hell we're going?"

"I don't have a damn clue." Natsu gave a shrug "We've gotta walk somewhere right, so we might as well walk in that direction."

"Why am I not surprised you'd say something like that? Seriosuly, 10 minutes in and I'm already sick of listening to your crap?"

"You get used to it." Bolt told him flatly "And what's even more disturbing is that he's got a point."

"Tell me about it. Am I the only one sort of unnerved by the fact that we haven't run into a single person yet, or is this some kind of forest based planet?"

"I doubt that." Carla told him "But regardless of this fact, we're still going to need disguises for ourselves."

"How the hell are we supposed to do that? It's not like any of us can use Requip, and even if we could, we wouldn't be able to as long as we're in this world."

"...Hold it!" Natsu blurted out and gave them a smirk "I've got an idea."

"It's a miracle."

About 20 minutes later…

"Did I say miracle? I mean to say it's a fucking nightmare." Noah looked around at the so called idea that Natsu had, in the form of disguises made from the surrounding plants covering the six of them "And now I understand why Thunderclap always looks like he's questioning every decision ever made. What the hell are we supposed to be anyway?"

"Hey what's the big deal about it anyway?" Natsu gave a shrug "We look like a bunch of things that don't look like us. Chill out man, no one is going to recognize us."

"How the hell would they, we've never even been here before, so there's no way in hell they'd be able to recognize us." Noah would soon be proven wrong, but we'll get to that later.

"Fashion sense aside, I do feel a bit more at ease now." Carla noted.

"Well at least someone is enjoying this."

"I'm not." Happy muttered "I feel so hot and itchy in this getup, and I think I'm allergic to whatever it's made of."

"Grow a pair cat, you're partnered with a Dragon Slayer." the group kept walking for a short distance until they came to the edge of the island they were on "Huh, looks like the flying river you'd probably see in One Piece. Considering all of the crazy shit we deal with, I'm surprised I haven't seen anything like that before."

"It just reminds me of how hungry I am."

"Will you quit whining?"

"I bet there's all kinds of tasty fish swimming around in that flying river."

"Oh for the love of- Oh thank god, a distraction in the form of a local." Noah gestured to a guy sitting on the edge of the island fishing "If I had to guess then I would say that he's one of the locals in this world."

"He's got the right idea though, we should be fishing right now, right Natsu?" he received no reply, mainly because Natsu was gone "Hey where did he go?"

"...Oh shit."

"Yo." as it turns out, Natsu was in the process of scaring the local into crapping himself "Let me ask you a few questions." he was met with only screams of terror.

"Yeah that figures, why the hell am I not surprised?"

"I'm looking for a bunch of wizards from this guild called Fairy Tail, you have any idea where I can find them?"

"Please don't hurt me, get the hell away from me!" and so the local promptly ran away screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Wait hold on a second!" and yet Natsu was left alone "Eesh, what the hell was the problem with that guy? I just wanted a little help."

"The problem is that you've got the IQ of a retarded squirrel." Noah told him dryly "You walked up to someone dressed like something you'd probably see out of a horror movie and started talking about fairy tails, how in the fuck would they not be scared? I mean have you not seen how normal people react to the Z fighters in Dragon Ball?"

"...Oh yeah."

"So you see the problem?"

"Yeah I got it, but how the hell are we supposed to find anybody?"

"By using our brains, something you're clearly bad at."

"Will you two shut up!" Carla rounded on both of them "If that man reports us to the authorities then we're through!"

"Then I say we ditch the costumes, I hated these things anyway."

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About 10 minutes later…

It didn't take long for the group to ditch the costumes, and Carla continued leading them through the purple colored jungle of Edolas "And now we're in even more of a hurry than we were in the first place."

"At least not we're not dressed like a pack of stoners." Noah commented, and then he turned to face Bolt "Yes I know the irony of what I just said."

"I just wish the guy hadn't run off with his fishing rod." Happy muttered.

"Yeah well, you can thank the Salamander for that."

That was when Wendy noticed something "Hey, did anyone else hear a weird noise just a second ago?"

"That depends, was it another normal person who Salamander scared the shit out of?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Then no. Seriously though, does he not have a brain in there or something? How in the name of does Thunderclap deal with him?"

"My guess is he just learned to tune it out." Bolt told him dryly "It took years of practice for him to do it though."

"My guess is I'm gonna last a matter of hours before I turn into that guy from the Shining and go all "Here's NOAH!" on his ass." they looked down to see an ugly looking fish poking its head out of the river and staring up at them "Okay is it just me, or is that fish the sort of thing you would probably see out of-"

"One Piece?"

"I was going to say Toriko."

"Don't Toriko and One Piece take place in the same universe?"

"Who fucking cares, just hang back while I grab us some food." but then the fish fully emerged, revealing it to be a hulking fish beast towering over them like a mountain "Okay yeah, maybe you're right. Let's face it, this thing could appear in either one of those."

"Who fucking cares where it came from, at least we won't gro hungry!" Natsu gave a grin "I've got a major fire in my belly now!"

"In case you forgot Salamander, we're on a schedule here."

"Who gives a shit, all I need is about 5 seconds! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu charged up at the fish beast and planted a fist in its head, only for no fire to come out "Uh…" and then he got slapped into the water "Why the hell is my fire put out?"

"Do you have something in your brain that makes you not listen to people? We can't use our Dragon Slayer magic in this world like we can back in ours."

"Then there's only one thing left to do."

"Run and scream like a pack of idiots?"

"Unless you've got a better idea."

"I do have one, it's called using my brain, something you clearly have no practice in. Just watch and learn." Noah pulled out what looked like a tanto blade, and in a matter of seconds he blitzed through the gigantic fish creature, slicing it to pieces "Magic or no magic, if you've got enough physical prowess then you can compensate for it."

"That's really great Noah, but I'm afraid that running around screaming and cutting down a giant fish monster is going to attract a lot of unwanted attention." Wendy pointed out.

"Blame Salamander for that, he's the one who wanted to pick a fight with what I assume is what the Hulk would look like if he was the son of Aquaman."

"That theory would ruin so many dimensions." Bolt pointed.

"Your point being?"

"Just stating a fact."

"Here's a fact, the lot of you and your foolishness are to blame for all of this!" Carla promptly rounded on the lot of them "I think it's safe to say that those of us who are sane have had more than our fill of foolishness for today. This would be much easier if you didn't cause so much of a ruckus everywhere you went!"

"Hey don't blame me, blame the Salamander."

"Hey!" Natsu rounded on him "Why the hell should you be blaming me?"

"Aside from the obvious fact that it's your fault, your history pretty much speaks for itself. You think you can do anything by yourself, even when reality slaps you in the face time and again it doesn't get through your thick skull. Whenever something hard shows up and you can't deal with it, you just try and hit it even harder. Most of the people in Fairy Tail have that problem, but at least they know how to use their heads, something that you clearly lack. Thunderclap is the one who usually has to clean up your messes or hit you hard enough so that you don't end up fucking everything up. Besides, you keep repeating the same mistakes time and time again, and at least with others in your guild they learn from their mistakes like Titania or the Stripper with Ice Make magic. You always charge in head first, brains never. No wonder Thunderclap was on the verge of snapping earlier today, I would say it's because his guilt and self pity were eating him alive, but I wouldn't be surprise if a good chunk of his stress comes from you." receiving no audible reply, Noah let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair "Fine, now that I've got that out of my system, let's focus on the situation at hand."

"The situation at hand is that we no longer have our disguises, so if people from the kingdom discover us roaming around then there's no telling what they'll do." Carla pointed out "And if we get taken into custody then you can forget about saving the others. We'll have our work cut out trying to save our own skin."

"Which means that we have to think this situation through." Noah shot a glare at Natsu, only to see him brooding near the river "Well at least that's some reaction, that's better than we've gotten up till now."

"Hey listen Noah, could you take it easy on him?" asked Wendy "I mean Natsu is a nice guy, he didn't mean to do anything wrong."

"I'm being realistic here, unless he learns to use his head, he's gonna get himself or someone else killed one of these days. Either that or I'm gonna snap from having to listen to the crap he says and does." Noah breathed a sigh "Let's keep going, god only knows how much ground we need to cover."

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About 20 minutes passed, and the group continued moving… wherever the hell it was they were going.

Bolt looked up from his place on Noah's shoulder "You know it's times like this I just stop to think, life can get pretty insane sometimes."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Noah pointed out "And for the record, considering we're travelling around like a bunch of hobos in another dimension, I'd say that we're way past insane right about now."

"Uh oh." that was when Wendy and Carla noticed another problem.

"What's the matter?"

"We've been spotted." Wendy pointed up at a few locals that spotted them "So what do you think we should do now?"

"Keep Salamander quiet for starters, and if anyone does speak make sure it's not him."

"Enough with the Natsu bashing, leave that to the fanfictions. I've got this." Bolt promptly leapt atop of Noah's head and spoke to the locals "Hey listen, we're not from around here and we have pretty much no idea where we're going, either of you mind-"

"Please don't hurt us!" the locals promptly bowed to him in terror "We're so sorry, we swear it's not our fault! We beg of you might Exceeds, please forgive us and allow us to leave with our lives!"

"...Am I that high right now?"

"Considering how many of those things you've had, I wouldn't be surprised." Noah then stepped forward towards the locals "Hey listen up, we've just got a few things to ask you so-"

"Please don't hurt us great Exceeds!" and so the locals promptly ran away in terror.

"Anybody know what the fuck an Exceed is?" he received no reply "I figured as much."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After that unusual encounter, Noah and the others continued onwards "Okay, so am I the only ones who think they were afraid of the cats?"

"Yeah well at least you're not gonna blame me for that one." Natsu grumbled.

"Oh bite me Salamander, I only blame you for fuck ups when you're the one that actually fucks something up."

"So be real, do I really look that scary?" asked Bolt.

"Well to ignorant people the red eyes can be kind of disturbing if people seem them without the context, otherwise you'd probably look like something out of Yu Yu Hakusho." Noah then stepped on a piece of ground that seemed to squish underneath his foot "Oh crap, why do I feel like this is gonna be bad?"

"Because it most likely will be, knowing our luck."

"Yeah that figures." this was when they started bouncing all throughout the area on various trees that were made of the same substance until they landed through the roof of what looked like a building carved out of a pumpkin "Ow."

"I don't wanna fall anymore." Wendy whimpered slightly.

"Yeah well the rest of us aren't too fond of it either." Noah looked around the inside of the pumpkin building "What is this place, some kind of Edolas equivalent of a warehous?"

"Perhaps, and although we may very well be well beyond the point of us taking preventive measures by now, we might as well take a look and see if there are any clothes in here we can use to disguise ourselves."

"Might as well."

"Um…" Wendy started blushing heavily "Would you guys mind not looking this way for a minute or two?"

"Yeah yeah I gotcha, oh wait hold that though." Noah suddenly covered Wendy with a really big tarp "Go ahead."

"Thank you. I think."

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About 5 minutes later…

"Well you can't beat the classics." Noah had covered himself in a black cloak and wore it over his usual outfit "Like they say, you shouldn't fix what isn't broken."

"Perhaps." Carla looked at her own outfit in a mirror "I suppose that this will have to do for the time being."

"Any particular reason you dressed up like a harem girl?"

"I went with what I thought was suitable, nothing more."

"Whatever lets you sleep at night."

"Would you can it for a second." Natsu glanced out the window of the pumpkin building, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head "Holy sweet mother of fuck!"

"What, you see something out there?"

"Not just any something, I'm looking at Fairy Tail!" Natsu bolted out of the building towards the one that had the Fairy Tail guild sign "It's in disguise like we are but I'd recognize the sign for that guild anywhere!"

"For fuck's sake you idiot, what the hell did I yell at you about earlier?" without wasting any time, Noah hoisted Wendy and the cats over his shoulders and promptly ran after Natsu until they came to the building sporting the Fairy Tail guild mark, and they entered the building in question, where they saw almost everyone from the guild supposedly alive and well.

"They're okay!"

"Okay that was way easier than we should've been, and why do I get this feeling that something is different about them? And more importantly why do I think that, I don't even know who 90% of these people are."

"Who gives a crap about that, they're all here!"

Wendy blinked, then just gave a shrug "Yeah, I guess he's right."

"No he's not child." Carla told her flatly "There is something very wrong here, just take a look around and see." she motioned for them to hide under a table.

"Well I see a request board in the corner." Noah pointed out "I don't see anything wrong with that, so what the hell is the problem here?"

"I wouldn't expect you to know since you yourself acknowledge that you've never actually seen most of the people from Fairy Tail before, but the others should know very well exactly what I'm talking about."

The first example of this was that Juvia was wearing a considerably revealing outfit "Well I'm off now, I just took on a pretty major job so I really should be going."

"Juvia my beloved, please wait!" that was when Gray reached out to her, wearing multiple layers of heavy clothing, something that freaked out Natsu to a great extent "If you're gonna go out then please take me with you, I mean if you would."

"Oh please, you can be such a wet blanket, and take some of those clothes off of you for a change would you? Give me a shout when you decide to try out your summer wardrobe and then we'll talk."

"Come on, I just get really cold."

Noah blinked "Okay, I don't know these people but I know enough from Lyon to know that that is so wrong on so many levels."

"You don't have a fucking clue." Bolt hissed at him "Gray isn't supposed to be wearing so many clothes he's stuffed up like a teddy bear, we're lucky he even wears pants!"

"And what about the water mage not being into him."

"The exact opposite in the funniest way possible."

Another example was Jet and Droy, the two of them actually looking tough, tearing into a scrawny looking Elfman with a bowl cut "I'm sick and tired of you giving us these crappy excuses Elfman, how the hell do you keep screwing up so many jobs?"

"Aw that's cute, they think they've people." Bolt was met with a few odd looks "What?"

Max and Warren observed this and let out a sigh "Seriously though, Jet and Droy may be our strongest members, but that doesn't mean they have to pick on the weaker ones. Elfman just isn't that capable. You'd think they'd learn to just lay off the guy."

"...Okay what?"

"I've got a job to do, I've gotta meet my quota by the end of the day!" Nab suddenly snatched a job off the request board and bolted out of the guild hall.

"...And again I say, what?"

"I'm guessing that's bad?" Noah guessed.

"He always dawdles around the request board and always looks around but never actually does anything."

"You mean like relatives?"

"Respect." they fist bumped.

Macao and Wakaba on the other hand, they seemed about the same, only somewhat more stylish and proper "Well miss Cana, would you care to join us in sharing an adult beverage? It could never hurt to tip one back and relax a little bit."

"Okay, nothing too bad there I guess."

Cana on the other hand, hers was probably the most unsettling, seeing how she was actually dressed ladylike, but what she said made it even more unnerving "Oh don't be so silly you two, I've never had a drop of alcohol in my life, so why start now?" this made a few jaws fall to the ground.

"...Okay, if Luke was here then he would probably have a heart attack."

Alzack on the other hand, he had Bisca sitting in his lap and believe it or not, he wasn't acting like a lovestruck idiot "Hey there my hot biscuit."

"Well…"

"Alley-cat, my little gun slinger." Bisca was grinding against him on his lap.

"...Okay those two actually make sense on a certain level."

Natsu was pretty much sweating buckets "Okay it's official, there is something very wrong here right now."

"Is this what the Shadow Realm is like?" asked Noah.

"How the hell should I know, I've never watched Yu Gi Oh."

"Wait what the hell are you talking about, you've been making Shadow Realm references all fucking day!"

"That's all I know about it, it's like you watch a little bit of Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho, and you know enough about demons to get by."

"That's just wrong on so many levels you little-"

"Uh, hey guys?" Bolt pointed in front of them "I think we've got another problem to deal with right now, aside from Natsu's stupidity and lack of understanding of anime."

"And what's that?"

As it turns out, it was Lucy, dressed in a gothic biker outfit, looming over them and looking rather menacing "And just what the hell do you guys think you're doing, what's the big idea with you guys sneaking around our guild like this?"

"...Oh, so that's what you mean. Yeah it's official, I think we're pretty much fucked. You guys have any objections to that?" Noah was met with no reply "Had to make sure. But what the hell is going on here?'

A/N:

And with this chapter, not only do we see the debut of Gildarts in all of his glory, not only do we get to see the beginning of the Edolas arc (for those that remember my top 10 Fairy Tail arcs list, this was #8), but we also get to see the return of one of my two favorite OC's to write, Noah the Mountain Dragon Slayer, who's aligned with a certain dark guild that will be fully introduced in the next arc. I know there are some people that aren't very fond of this arc, and while I agree that it doesn't have that much importance to the overall story, I still enjoyed it more than I did the Oracion Seis arc. But with that being said, I'm going to be making a few changes here and there to make it stand out from canon. Also, I do not apologize for the various anime references that I make throughout this chapter, or any previous or future ones.

I know Luke hasn't gotten the main spotlight in an overall arc since the Tower of Heaven, but he'll be getting a sizeable step in his chatarer arc, along with Bolt, for obvious reasons. Keep in mind that a major reason for Luke being so determined to get stronger and protect the guild was because of the guilt he felt for a certain member dying to protect him, and the reason for his attitude and his distance from the others is that it's approaching the anniversary of her death. As for where Luke is right now, you'll be seeing him again within the next chapter or two, along with someone else.

Also, I mentioned early on in this chapter that when Luke took the trial to become an S class wizard, Gildarts was the one who acted as his examiner. This is going to come into play in the Tenrous Island arc, so just hang tight until then. I promise you, when that fight comes, it will be well worth the wait.

One significant change from canon is that I'm including Noah, the Mountain Dragon Slayer from a certain dark guild, in this arc because I wanted to give him some more screen time, at least before he and Luke finally went at it. It always helps to give the bad guy some character development, not that Noah was ever really made out to be a bad guy. He's going to be doing what Natsu and Wendy are doing for the time being, only he's with Bolt in Luke's place. Plus I get to show off a lot more of Noah's personality now that he's taken charge of Natsu, Wendy and the three Exceeds, and how despite his snark, he does take it a lot more seriously than Natsu does, and he calls him out for that.