I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it, and for getting this story up to 150 reviews! This story would be nothing without all of your support, so thank you all for that.

Morregen: Yeah sorry about that, but keep in mind that Luke got pretty much crippled from the strain of his Dual Element Dragon Force, and I didn't want to risk having him come off as too overpowered at this point in the story. Overpowered to an extent sure, but not to that extent. Still though, thanks for understanding. As for Luke x Cana moments, I do have something in minde, but you'll just have to wait and see.

Guest: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Yeah, the last chapter was more about some downtime after the battle with Grimoire Heart and tying up a few loose ends, at least before the inevitable arrival of Acnologia. Don't expect things to be the same after the time-skip, in canon or in general. As for what I mean by that, you'll just have to wait and see.

Jaemos: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I personally never really thought too much about the sight of Tenrou Island being blown to hell, but yeah it must be terrifying.

Altajir95: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.

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"The year is X791, and this is the port of Hargeon. 7 long years have passed since the fated day in which Luke, Natsu and the others mysteriously disappeared on Tenrou Island."

A young man with purple hair, a yellow scarl tied around his neck, and a Fairy Tail guild mark on his arm stood on the pier, staring out at the vast ocean 'If they were going to come back, they would've a long time ago.'

"Hey kid." this was when a second figure got his attention, this one being a figure with shaggy blond hair, a pair of cat ears atop his head, a scar going down one cheek, a black t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans, with a familiar axe strapped to his back "How long do you plan on staring into space like that? The job we came for has been over for the better part of an hour, we should get going already Romeo." he received no reply from him "You know your dad is gonna start throwing a shit fit if we don't get back soon enough for his liking." he still received no reply, and so he let out a sigh and started out at the vast ocean himself 'Hard to believe it's been 7 years since then. Between trying to make a living on my own and dealing with the rest of these idiots, time sure as hell does fly. My name is Bolt, and contrary to my appearance, I'm an Exceed. It's been 7 years since Luke and the others disappeared during their time on Tenrou Island. During that time I've learned to utilize and master the various forms of Shatterstorm, but seeing how I'm about the size of a coffee pot and I don't have that buff form like Panther Lily does, I learned how to use transformation magic, the form I'm in now giving me the ability to increase my magic power and allowing me to wield Shatterstrom a hell of a lot more effectively. I don't know what possessed your old man to pick me, but for some reason he made me responsible for you, and I'm not dealing with him breathing down my neck again, so you either move it or I'm dragging you back by the scarf. It's your pick."

"...Fine, let's get going."

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"Now we move onto the city of Magnolia, which is still just as bustling as it had once been 7 years ago. Far from the center of the city, there is a certain place that stands quietly on a hillside, where one is bound to find a few familiar faces."

"Dammit!" an older Macao Conbolt with thicker hair slammed his mug down onto the table in front of him "Why the hell hasn't Romeo made it back to the guild yet?! I'm gonna be seriously pissed if Bolt just up and ditched him just so he could go get high somewhere!"

"Take it easy will you?" an older Wakaba with a thick beard and a cigar in his mouth tried to calm him down "I mean it's not like he's a little kid anymore, he's a young man now. And keep in mind, Bolt hasn't gotten into any of his brownie stuff in almost half a decade."

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me master? For crying out loud Wakaba, get it together already!" the two of them got into each other's faces.

"Fourth Master my snow white ass, I swear I've never seen such an undignified and incompetent leader!"

"Well maybe that has something to do with the fact that I got stuck with such a horrible assistant like you!"

Max, having longer and shaggier hair and a stubble on his chin, looking around at the surprisingly empty tavern "So is it just me, or have we lost a lot of members."

"Well to be fair Max, that's to be expected." Warren pointed out, having a new outfit and his hair prominently spiked up "The reputation of our guild and the number of job requests have been going further and further down, just like the ratings of Doctor Who. Plus there's what happened a few years ago, back with…"

"Yeah I know, but having justifiable reasons doesn't exactly make it any easier, and it doesn't change anything about it either. Just think what might have happened to our guild that day if it wasn't for Bolt."

"Say his name and he magically appears." this was when Bolt and Romeo made their way into the building "How is it that you guys look even more depressed and in even bigger drunken stupors than when we left?"

"Because they're a bunch of drunken idiots, plain and simple."

"And if you didn't say it then I totally would've. Truth be told though, you're one of the only few here whose aged gracefully over the last few years, or maybe it's just because of the two old farts over there." he gestured over to Macao and Wakaba, earning voices of protest.

"Well what about Reedus, he's slimmed down hasn't he?"

"Yeah but he was never fat, that was just some spell that the old man put on him for shits and giggles or something. Still though, everyone in the guild has matured."

"Yeah I know, even Kinana has become more ladylike. Where exactly did she come from again?"

"How the hell should I know, probably came from the Shadow Realm or something."

"Ha ha, very funny." Romeo grumbled from his place at a nearby table, not even looking up from the book he was reading.

"And you've basically become Mr Personality, what do you think Natsu will say when he finds out you've got about as much personality as Jiren?"

"Will you cut the bullshit?! Just face the reality, Natsu isn't coming back, neither is Luke or any of them!" Romeo's outburst left almost everyone frozen in place and in deafening silence at the mention of those from the Tenrou Team, and he almost immediately stormed out of the guild hall afterwards.

"...Heads up guys, we've got unwanted company coming our way."

Sure enough, the doors to the tavern swung open to reveal an arrogant looking punch with a mace on his back, backed by several others of his kind "How pathetic, no matter what time I come here the place is always quiet and filled with a punch of pathetic wimps. I guess no one around wants to bring the business to your crappy guild anymore. Looks to me like your guild lost any of its mojo that it ever had."

'Great, this shit again. What do you want Thibault, I thought I made it clear you're not welcome in this place again."

"Hey come on now, you really should show a little bit of respect whenever you talk to your superiors. Keep in mind that Twilight Ogre is the baddest guild in Magnolia, you should bow down and kiss our boots."

"The day that happens is the day Teen Titans Go actually becomes watchable. The exceptions being the Night Begins to Shine specials."

"Shut your trap you wannabe, you used to be the strongest guild in Fiore, but those days came to an end years ago, and now you're nothing but a bunch of worthless wizards out of work. Just look at this dump you call a guild hall, have you seen the palace that we've got right in the center of town? One look at our guild hall, and I think it's pretty obvious who'd be able to do more for the city of Magnolia, and it sure as hell isn't Fairy Tail."

"Oh yeah you've got a fancy palace for a guild hall, but then again I suppose you guys have to compensate for something, if you have enough brain cells to understand what that means. It takes a lot more than a fancy guild hall to be a decent guild, spirit has to count for something."

"Good for you assclowns, but you can't make a living off of spirit."

"The axe on my back, which is powered by my own spirit and could easily slice through your skull, would beg to differ. Now unless you guys have some actual business to deal with, piss the fuck off."

"Hold it smartass, we came to collect the payment for this month."

"Oh for fuck's sake Macao, you haven't paid them yet?"

"Hey, I thought I told you to call me master!" Macao barked at him.

"And I told you I don't care."

"If you guys paid your loan on time then we wouldn't have to come here." Thibault told him.

"Forget it, the reason we don't have your money is because we haven't been getting any decent jobs lately, and that's because you guys keep stealing our jobs. You'll get the money in full next month, so just piss off until then and go piss all over someone else's guild hall."

"Why don't you watch your mouth you little shit, let's not forget that you and your pathetic friends would've lost this piece of shit you call a guild hall if we haven't swooped in and saved it for you. If anything, you should be down on your knees thanking us for taking care of your loan for you guys so you won't be living on the streets like the worthless pieces of crap you are."

"I knew that you guys were gonna try and screw us over with your interest rate, so I was against asking for help from you guys in the first place."

"You wanna say that a little bit louder."

"Oh yeah I forgot, you've got the attention span of a packrat. Look, give us another month and you're gonna get paid in full, and that's all there is to it." he easily blocked an attempted kick from Thibault and morphed Shatterstorm into a small dagger, holding it to Thibault's throat, his voice low "But if you pull any dirty stunts in that time, you lay a hand on this guild or anyone in it, I will find you and every single person in your guild, hunt you down like dogs and then carve you up like a bunch of goddamn turkeys. Do I make myself clear?"

"...Yeah whatever, go ahead and act tough now, it's just an excuse for how weak your guild has become." Thibault backed off, using his hypocrisy in an attempt to cover up just how much of a coward he truly was "Just don't forget, you've got one more month but that's it." and so he and his guys left, still trying to act tough.

"Good riddance to pieces of trash like them." Bolt morphed Shatterstorm back into its axe form and place it on his back "Well that's one less migraine for the next few weeks."

"You were still too hostile towards them." Macao pointed out "What's to stop them from having it in for us."

"Me threatening to carve them up like turkeys, were you not listening?" then he glanced over and noticed one of Reedus' sketchbooks fall over, revealing drawings of Natsu, Makarov and everyone from Team Tenrou that had disappeared 7 years before, which caused everyone else to start tearing up, though he only let out a sigh as he looked down at the sketches, and then he looked up at a number of pictures being held up at the back of the guild hall 'Along with all of them, we've lost a number of others, and not all of them actually left the guild. I know, it's hard to believe it's been 7 years since then."

"I can't believe it's really been that long." Max let out a sigh "Those were a hell of a lot better times back then. The Fairy Tail guild just isn't the same without all of those guys."

"Yeah I know. When we found out Tenrou Island had been destroyed, we started searching for any sign, any small indication that they had survived, but not even a single sign of them ever turned up. If the Magic Council is telling us the truth, though I personally have doubts in that regard, then the fact is that they all got wiped out by this Acnologia."

"So many different organizations donated their time and effort to help us search, but in the 7 years since then we haven't found a single clue, a scrap or anything."

"It's not surprising though, the levels of Ethernano we recorded around Tenrou Island that day were beyond anything I'd ever seen before, and frankly the levels were so high that there are doubts that any living thing would be able to survive it."

"I can't help but wonder though, is the roar of Acnologia really powerful enough to do such wicked damage?"

"According to that book I found in Levy's library, it's pretty possible. That thing was supposedly powerful enough to destroy an entire nation single handedly. Supposedly, there's no chance in hell that anyone would be able to face that monster and live to talk about it."

"Why did it have to go and kill all our friends?"

"Why did they have to make Teen Titans Go or make the Walking Dead take such a nosedive in quality? The world is a fucked up and unfair place. Either way, things aren't the same without them around. It's been taking a nosedive for years, and all we could was look around and watch it happen. And while that happened, a new guild ended up taking over Magnolia in the form of Twilight Ogre."

"Well maybe it's time for us to call it quits."

"And do what? Face it you idiot, without the guild we've got nothing. Come on Macao, you know I'm right about this."

"I'm sorry…" by this point, Macao was kneeling on the ground with tears streaming down his face endlessly "It's just that, I don't think I can keep this up for too much longer."

"Forget about, given the circumstances I think you're doing alright… master."

"But poor Romeo… I haven't seen him smile once since the guild disappeared." he finally broke down.

"Yeah I know. I know you're out there somewhere Luke, and yet I can't help but wonder… What would you say if you saw the guild you almost killed yourself trying to protect, in such a pathetic state?' Bolt's thoughts were promptly cut short by the ground around them starting to shake violently "And just like that we've got company again."

"Don't tell me it's Twilight Ogre again."

"This is almost as annoying. I recognize that scent and that magic power." Bolt made his way out of the tavern building and let out a sigh "Why the hell am I not surprised?"

"Yes, I am here in person." a figure lowered himself to the ground, with long orange hair in twin pony tails, a scar across his nose, orange hair tied like rabbit ears and an overall dramatic flare to him "The highest ranked of all of the Ten Wizard Saints, the master of eight different forms of Dragon Slayer magic, the most powerful mage on the entirety of the continent of Ishgar, these are the qualities that describe myself!"

'Yeah there he goes, as much of a drama queen as ever. Still though, you can't deny his prowess as a Wizard Saint, and that's what makes him such a great training partner.'

"And I have arrived to lend to you my assistance!" he did a pose "I apologize for making you wait for so long, but God Serena of the Eight Dragons is here and at your service!"

"Well you've improved on downgrading your dramatic flare, now why are you here? We've got enough problems as it is."

"Yes I am aware, I detected the foul stench of Twilight Ogre even before I had reached the limits of this city. Anyway I believe we should skip the pleasantries and get straight down to business already."

"So you actually have business other than bragging about yourself, that's a first."

"Yes yes, mock my dramatic flare as you wish. I was in the area and the Blue Pegasus guild asked me to deliver a message to you and your guild. For some weeks now, they've been flying their new ship around Fiore to scour the levels of Ethernano in certain areas, and if the Archive data analysis of their member Hibiki is correct, then all of their hard work has at last come to pay off for them and for you."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"If Ichiya can be trusted, which is debatable on a few levels, then that means that Tenrou Island still exists."

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About halfa day went by, and a team had been dispatched to head for where Tenrou Island was supposed to be located, in order to investigate the lead God Serena had given out.

Bisca, now with longer hair braided back and in a considerably more revealing outfit, glanced out a pair of binoculars, but then let out a sigh "I don't know about this guys, are you sure that we're actually looking in the right area?"

"Well to be honest…" Alzack gave a shrug, now sporting a shorter haircut "It does seem kind of odd that we haven't seen a thing since we've been out here."

"This is where God Serena told us we should be heading to, and kind of a freak or not he is still the top ranked Wizard Saint." Warren pointed out "He said that there was something up with the levels of Ethernano around here."

"So what is Ethernano anyway?" asked Max.

"The hell if I know, I think it's some kind of magic particles or something."

"Fair enough, so have you been having any luck with your telepathy?"

"Nope, I'm not picking a single damn thing out here."

"Just great." note the sarcasm.

With that little exchange done with, Bisca glanced over at Alzack "You know hun, I do feel kind of bad about leaving Bolt and Romeo behind back at the guild. Maybe we should've brought the two of them along after all."

"No it's better this way you guys, seeing how there's no guarantee that any of them are actually still alive. And don't forget that Bolt chose to stay behind in case Twilight Ogre tried to wreck the place again."

"I know, but…"

"Look it's the grim truth, we shouldn't get everyone else's hopes up in case. And besides, even if they are still alive, then they're lucky ones. They wouldn't have any idea about…"

"I know, they'd be devastated to find out, Levy especially."

"Yeah. Still though, it's been almost a full 7 years since we last heard from them, so we have to consider the worst case scenario even if we do find them."

"Yeah." then Bisca noticed something odd "That's kind of strange."

"What's the matter?" asked Alzack.

"The breeze just stopped."

"Now that you mention it, it is strangely quiet right about now. There's no birds, what the hell is going on here?"

"Hey guys check it out, over there!" Max pointed out to where he saw something in the waters in front of the ship "Is that a person?"

"There's no way, but she's floating on the water. Yeah that's definitely a person, there's no doubt about that. Is she standing on the water? Okay, so am I the only person who has no idea what the hell is going on?"

"The hell if I know." this was followed by the figure on the water raising her hands, engulfing the surrounding waters in a brilliant golden light, as a massive figure was lifted out from beneath the ocean, revealing a massive golden sphere with the Fairy Tail symbol on it "You've gotta be kidding me…"

"So what then, is that it?"

"Yeah I think it is, I think that's… I think that's Tenrou Island, but just coming out of nowhere like that…" this was followed by the golden sphere surrounding the island dissipating to reveal the island itself, and the mysterious girl floating towards the island "That girl is heading for the island's shore, we'd better follow her. And for the record Bisca, if you were the only one before who didn't have any idea what the hell was going on, you sure as hell aren't now."

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After a little bit of sailing…

"Hey hold on, wait up will you?!" once they reached the shores of Tenrou Island, Max and the others quickly chased after the girl onto the island's grounds "So does anyone have any idea as to who the hell that girl is?"

"If we did then we probably wouldn't be chasing after her like this." Warren pointed out, his tone increasingly dry "All we know is that she helped us track down Tenrou Island."

"You think she might be taking us to the others?"

"Only one way to find out, but either way we can't lose her!"

"I know!" so the four of them continued running, only to quickly find something off "This is kind of weird, how did she get that far ahead of us?"

"The hell if I know- Wait guys stop!" they screeched to a halt within the forest.

"What's the matter, why did you stop us? Did you see something?"

"Yeah I did, take a look down there you guys." Warren directed them down into a nearby gorge, where they found a certain figure sprawled out on the ground and covered in dirt "So… it's really him… Luke…"

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About half a day later, back at Fairy Tail…

"Hey Romeo listen." Macao shot a worried glance over at Romeo "I hope you're not too upset about having to stay behind."

"What's the point of it anyway?" Romeo didn't even look at him "Even if the others are lucky enough to find Tenrou Island, there isn't a chance in hell of any of them being still alive."

"Hey come on boy, there's no need for you to be such a downer. You have to have just a little bit of faith."

"I'm pretty sure his faith went away when you got that moustache." Bolt told him dryly "And frankly, I'm pretty sure he lost faith around the time a year passed." he was met with only silence from everyone, and so he let out a sigh 'I want to hope as much as the next guy that they'll come back to us, but we've had close calls and yet nothing came out of it before. There's nothing wrong with hoping for the best, but there are times when we have to be realistic and accept that not everything works out for the best. I believed that the others would've survived after what happened a few years ago, and that the others would come back from Tenrou Island bruised yet alive, but some things just aren't meant to be. But it's life, some things work out for the best, and some things don't. Right now, for as long as they're gone, the only thing we can do is keep them alive in our hearts.' he was ripped from his thoughts by the door swinging open.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." this was when Thibault and the rest of his thugs waltzed their way into the building looking as smug as ever "This shit hole looks even more deserted than it did yesterday, seems to me like this isn't so much a guild as it is some pathetic brothel or something."

"What do you assholes want? I told you that you'd get your money next month."

"Yeah I mentioned that to our master, he said no way in hell that would work for us, and that we're gonna have a problem between our two guilds if you slackers don't cough up the money you owe us. You'd better pay up, because our master always gets what he wants."

"...You know what?" Bolt glanced back at Macao and Wakaba, then at Romeo and gave him a simple nod, then turned to Thibault as he drew Shatterstorm off his back "For your guild, fuck your master and fuck all of you. You guys aren't getting any money from us today or any other day."

"I suggest you drop that cocky attitude you little shit."

"That goes both ways, but the main difference is that I can back up my talk." and to prove that point, Bolt blitzed forward and slammed his fist into Thibault's gut, topping him over in a pathetic heap, and he held Shatterstrom to Thibault's gut "I understand exactly how your kind think, you think you can just waltz in and do whatever the fuck you want just because there's no one around to stop you. But there's one thing that you didn't take into account: I'm here, I'm more than capable and willing to put you in your place, and I don't take shit from your kind of scum. Macao and the others might be afraid of standing up to you, Romeo might be too young and inexperienced, but I'm different from them. Now I'm going to say this once and only once, so you'd better be prepared to listen. Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna leave this guild, you're gonna crawl back to whatever hole you slithered out of, and you're gonna leave us the hell alone for good, because if you don't then I promise you, all of you going to regret it for the rest of your very. Short. Lives. Do I make myself clear?"

"You know what?" Thibault pulled himself back to his feet and brandished the gigantic club strapped to his back and snapped his fingers "Alright boys, teach this little shit a lesson for laying a hand on someone from Twilight Ogre!" this prompted the rest of this thugs to charge in with their weapons readied for a fight.

"That's it assholes, come right to me. Thunderous Tempest!" in a flash, Bolt promptly morphed Shatterstorm into a dual-bladed spear and fired a bolt of lightning from one blade, followed by a stream of water from the other blade that absorbed the electricity into its current, instantly electrocuting all of the Twilight Ogre thugs and leaving them in heaps "And now to take out the trash. Storm Force!" he morphed Shatterstorm into a trident and unleashed a massive blast of wind, sending them hurtling clear out of the guild hall "Now get out of my sight, and don't come around here again."

"Looks to me like you've been busy since we've been gone." a new voice caused Bolt and everyone else to freeze in their tracks.

'That voice…' Bolt looked ahead and his eyes widened, a single tear streaming down his face, but he quickly wiped it away and gave a confident smirk "Well it's about fucking time you guys made your way back… Luke."

Sure enough, in the entrance of the building stood Luke, Cana and every single other member of Team Tenrou, as well as those from the search party "Yeah I know. Anyway sorry we're back so late, but better late than never right?"

"That's one way of putting it, though the way I would put it is, it's about fucking time you guys decided to show your faces. Seriously though, you even look the same as you did when you left for the island. First I want to know how the fuck you look the same, and then why the fuck it took you so long to get back."

"Well those kind of go hand in hand actually. You see…"

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(About half a day ago, back on Tenrou Island…)

"Luke, dammit man get up!" by now, Max and Warren were trying to wake Luke up after finding him lying unconscious "Come on man this is ridiculous, you've gotta get up already!"

"Alright alright, I'm up…" Luke pulled himself up onto his knees and spat out a hell of a lot of dirt and sand "Okay I'm just gonna say it, worst nap ever."

"LUKE!" all of them immediately glomped onto him and tacked him back to the ground in a comical fashion.

"Okay okay, take it easy guys. All of you just calm down and someone tell me what the hell is going on, and why you guys look so different for that matter."

"You haven't changed a bit in all this time!"

"The same can't be said for you guys, though I do like the new look Max has going for him, the same with the rest of you." this was followed by the sound of groaning from nearby "What about the others, where are they?"

"You were the first one we found, so…"

The groaning got louder as Cana stumbled towards them, clearly groggy "Oh god, that was the worst nap I've had in god knows how long."

"Cana!"

"Okay hold on a second guys, let me shake off the potential concussion." Luke let out a sigh and rubbed both of his temples "The last thing I remember is Acnologia launching his breath attack down at the island, but the next thing I know I'm coughing up a few pounds of dirt and other things I don't want to think about, and you guys are glomping me. Never mind that though, where are all of the others?"

"You don't have to worry, they're all over here." another voice got everyone's attention in the form of the mysterious young girl with long blonde hair.

"Okay, now that the threat of imminent annihilation has passed, I can finally process the fact that I saw you watching us on a hillside during the fight with Acnologia, and I finally get the chance to ask who you are exactly."

"You don't have to worry Luke Drako, I can assure you that I have no intention of harming any of you or anyone in the Fairy Tail guild. My name is Mavis Vermillion, and I am the First Master of Fairy Tail."

"...One more time?"

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About an hour later…

It was only after Mavis led Luke, Cana and the others to find Natsu and everyone else from Fairy Tail on the island that she elaborated further "You see, when Acnologia launched his breath attack at all of you, I was able to convert the emotional bonds of trust and friendship that was shared between you and all of your guild mates into pure magic power. Their bonds proved to be so stronge that the Fairy Sphere was activated as a result, one of the three grand fairy spells of our guild. It is an absolute defense spell that is capable of protecting the guild from all manner of evil being used against it. Those that were inside the impenetrable sphere when it was activated were left in a state of suspended animation, but after all this time the Fairy Sphere spell has finally been lifted."

"My word…" Makarov could only smile at what Mavis had been telling them "To think that all of us would be saved by the First Master of Fairy Tail herself."

"No no Makarov, you misunderstand. I am nothing more than the corporial, I used what little energy I had left to convert the emotional connections between all of you into the magic power necessary. It was your unwavering conviction and the love you shared for one another, they were what brought forth this miracle. You should be proud of the guild you've built Makarov, they truly are wonderful."

(Flashback end)

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"And that's about the sum of it." Luke finished explaining what had happened to Bolt and everyone else in the guild hall "Max and the others said that a lot had changed in Fairy Tail since we've been gone, and looking around I can see that's an understatement. Anything else that we should know about?"

"...You know what, that sort of thing can wait until another time." Bolt gave a smirk as he went over to a fridge behind the counter and pulled out a massive tray of brownies "The way I see it, tonight is for celebrations. After all, it's not every day half of your guild comes back after being gone for seven years."

"True enough. Everybody crank the tunes, we're celebrating tonight!" this was met with various cheers from everyone present, as well as tears of joy from most of those who hadn't been part of the Tenrou Team.

'Let them enjoy themselves tonight, the cold hard truth of reality is gonna hit them like a pack of bulldozers tomorrow. We're gonna have a lot of work to do to get things even close to being back to how they used to be. Lucky us we've got each other to help us see this through.'

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It took about a half hour to set everything up, but when it was finished, the celebration was officially underway, with everyone catching up on everything that had happened.

For example, Natsu and Happy were catching up with Romeo "I see you're rocking fire magic of your own too these days, looks like the world better watch out because it's sure as hell gonna end up hot as hell up in here."

"It's not just traditional fire either, I can make cold flames too." Romeo summoned some blue flames in his hand, and then some purple flames.

"So what's that one supposed to be?"

"This one is a purple flame that has the ability to stick to anything it's cast on." he summoned a yellow flame "And I've got this funky yellow one that smells like the bathroom after Bolt does his thing in there."

"Oh god that reeks!" Natsu was promptly struck by a burst of electricity, courtesy of Shatterstorm in its axe form.

"Yeah, I've been getting a lot of those, but it makes for good training."

"Well from the looks of things, if you ask me then I'd say that you've already outclassed your old man by this point." Gajeel told him.

"Yeah, my teacher figured you'd say that. Don't tell my dad about this, but I've secretly been taking magic lessons from Master Totomaru."

"Get the fuck out of here, I didn't know that he was teaching now."

"Yeah, apparently he had to serve some time for his role in the whole thing with Phantom Lord, but after he got out he took up a career teaching magic."

"Damn that sure takes me back." Natsu commented "I still need to taste the rest of those colored flames he's got going for him. Holy fuck this is sweet, incoming fire buffet so you'd better make way for yours truly!"

"Yeah I hate to break it to you Natsu, but I don't think he's too keen on seeing you. He doesn't exactly like talking about you."

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Meanwhile, on another end of the tavern…

Bolt let out a low whistle at what he was hearing from Luke "So you actually took on the master of Grimoire Heart one on one, you used Dual Element Dragon Force despite knowing that your body would probably give out at some point as a consequence, and after you blew Hades to the ground your body basically exploded like a whoopee cushion filled with blood because you overexerted yourself?"

"Well yeah, that's about the sum of it." Luke gave a shrug "One thing is for sure though, I'm still kind of surprised my body held out for as long as it did. I guess I was lucky, my theory is that the extreme circumstances of the war with Grimoire Heart pushed me to it, but now I don't think my body will be able to repeat that at my current level."

"Which means that if you and I were to come to blows, chances are you'd probably end up in a metric fuckton of trouble."

"Considering what I saw you do to those guys from Twilight Ogre earlier, I wouldn't be too surprised by that. I'm kind of tempted though."

"Yeah, but not tonight okay?"

"I know, but still…"

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At the same time, Makarov was sitting at the bar in a discussion with Macao and Wakaba "I have to admit Macao, I certainly didn't expect that you would be willing to step up and wear the big shoes."

"Neither did I, and truth be told they didn't quite fit me that well." Macao gave a shrug "Why don't we just say that I was keeping them warm for you. Now that you're back, I've finally got the opportunity to enjoy a stiff drink."

"Oh come on now, and here I was thinking about letting you keep the position."

"Are you serious about this? Actually now that I think about it, maybe I can drink and be the master too."

"Well I don't know if that would be the best decision you've ever made, but I think it's kind of funny." he let out a snicker.

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Unfortunately, even without some certain grim news that will come up later on, not all was well for the returning wizards.

"You're married?!" Erza's jaw pretty much dropped at what Alzack and Bisca had been telling her "As in the two of you… C-Congratulations! When did this all happen?"

"It was about a year after you guys up and disappeared." Bisca told her "I sure wish that all of you guys could've been there, the poor thing nearly passed out when I proposed to him, it was just adorable. Plus apparently Bolt and a bunch of others had a bet going about which of us would pop the question, and guess who won." he turned to the cat using transformation magic sitting at the bar.

"You mean you- NO!" she started shaking Max like a rag doll "How could you have gotten married without me there?!"

"Looks to me like you're blowing a fuse over this, not that I blame you. Like I said, I was pretty bummed that you couldn't be there with the rest of us." she was ignored as Erza continued with comically blowing a fuse.

"That's wonderful, so do you guys have any children?" asked Lisanna.

"Actually we do, we have a daughter. Her name is Asuke, though appearance wise I think she looks a lot more like Alzack than me."

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Erza wasn't the only one to be left almost completely unsatisfied at the moment.

Wendy was less than thrilled when she saw a certain picture she was holding "Hey Reedus, is this what I think it is?"

"Oui my dear, I tried to imagine what you would look like if you were 7 years older, and that drawing was the end result." Reedus told her.

"But… my chest…"

"Is something the matter?"

"My chest… This isn't fair… Why does reality keep crushing my dreams like this?"

"I don't understand, is there something wrong with the picture? I liked it enough."

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Meanwhile, with the three Exceeds…

Carla stared down at a drawing of herself, Happy and Lily, her expression considerably deadpanned as a result "Oh my, this is horrifying?"

"Why am I wearing a loin cloth in this?" Lily was asking the real questions.

"You know we were gone for a really long time." Happy pointed out "I wonder if any of the other Exceeds ever got worried about us."

"I doubt that is the case. Exceeds have a far different sense of time than humans do, so I find it highly unlikely that any of them ever even noticed our absence."

"Well, that doesn't really comfort me."

"Perhaps not, but it's still a fact."

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Makarov glanced over at Kinana while she was working at the tavern's bar "I have to say Kinana, it would seem that the past seven years have treated you quite well."

"That's so sweet of you, thank you master." Kinana gave a meek smile.

"So tell me, have any of your memories come back yet?"

"No, nothing so far I'm afraid and I can't help but wonder why. Although there have been times when I can hear someone calling to me, asking me to let them hear my voice, and there are times when I feel as if I know them. They seem so familiar and gentle, and I think I know who it was too. I met him awhile ago, though he said that he wasn't, but I can just tell it was him."

"Well shit." Bolt glanced over at Luke from where they were sitting at the bar, his voice incredibly low "Okay short version, she was actually a chick turned into a snake but she got turned back, and I'll give you one guess which poisonous jackass from a certain dark guild she shacked up with."

"Wait what?" Luke's jaw almost dropped at what he was hearing "You're kidding."

"Nope, we had a whole thing with the Oracion Seis about a year ago too, they were trying to build some sort of Infinity Clock thing or something, I didn't really pay attention to their rantings back then, but we stopped them before they even started and apparently Kinana said there was something familiar about Cobra. Oh yeah, and I swear she had slits in her eyes like a snake and that same kind of poision that Cobra's snake used."

"Well… that's a plot twist that nobody saw coming."

"Oh you don't have a fucking clue." then the sound of the doors to the tavern being flung open got their attention "Heads up assclowns, we've got company."

"This is wonderful." a deep yet familiar voice noted "It would seem that the rumors are true after all."

"False alarm until the dog guy starts losing his shit, they're friendlies." this was met with various greetings from the group in question.

"Helloy my lovelies, I'm glad to see your deaths were exaggerated." that one came from a certain young woman with pink hair, constantly talking about love.

"Woof." that one came from a certain dog guy.

"With all of you having returned, the balance in your guild has been restored, along with a great sense of peace for the rest of the guilds in Fiore." a young man with calm eyes and a gentle spirit, focused on maintaining the balance around him in whatever way he could.

"It would seem that all of you appear to be in great health." a tall figure with a long beard, but he was bald.

"The sentiment is a little bit redundant when they haven't aged in the last 7 years." a figure with long, pointed eyebrows that were so thick, they could rival Might Guy from Naruto.

"Typical, you haven't even been back 2 days and yet you've already trashed the place." and that one came from a certain Ice-Make mage with white hair and a prosthetic arm.

"Yep, that seals the deal." Bolt rolled his eyes at the sight "Hey Gray guess what, your senpai and the rest of his boys from Galuna Island, along with Xian and Jura, showed up to either make or break the party."

"I figured that much, but what exactly are they doing here?" asked Gray.

"These guys and the freaks from Blue Pegasus helped to search for the rest of you for longer than any of the others, and just a heads up the Magic Council were the first ones to give up on the search, not that it should surprise anyone."

"Is that right? Well man if that is the case, then I guess I owe you one."

"Believe me, I would love to take you up on that." Lyon gave a smirk "But the fact is that I've got 7 years on you now, and I'm not the kind of guy who likes to take advantage of innocent children."

"Oh yeah, go ahead and rub it in why don't you."

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It didn't take very long for the rest of Lamia Scale to integrate themselves into the party with the rest of Fairy Tail.

Xian was telling Luke and a few others about some important information "To put it simply, while your absence over the past 7 years did disrupt the harmony throughout the kingdom, not all of the repercussions that resulted were negative, as in that time Lamia Scale has excelled and climbed through the ranks, and now we are considered to be the second strongest guild in all of the kingdom. Of course I mean no disrespect when I tell you these facts."

"I figured as much." Luke gave a shrug "So Lamia Scale is the second best, does that mean that I should expect to hear about Blue Pegasus being at the top then?" this was met with a great amount of barking from Toby, in which no one could really understand what the hell he was saying.

"Please ignore Toby, he means well but-"

"He's got the intelligence and attention span of a packrat." Bolt cut him off dryly "And that's not just the cat vs dog thing talking either."

"Well…"

"Hesitation, and therefore I rest my case."

"As well as the case of the cats vs dogs thing." Luke noted dryly.

"Come on now, putting Toby's wild rants aside, one thing we can agree on unanimously is that we are all quite pleased to have you back." Jura assured him.

"And trust me, we're glad to be back." then Luke glanced over and noticed something else, and his expression dulled considerably "Oh you've gotta be kidding me."

As it turns out, Lyon had set his sights on Juvia, and then this happened "I can honestly say that I've never believed in true love until now."

"You've gotta be freaking kidding me."

"Oh no, how could this have happened?!" and then Juvia promptly started letting her unhealthy imagination spiral right out of control "Before I knew what happened, this love triangle has turned into a… a love maze!"

"And there she goes with her healthy imagination."

"That shit is anything but healthy." Bolt let out a snort.

"Yeah I know, that's part of the joke."

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Meanwhile, with a certain father-daughter duo…

"Anyway…" Gildarts shot a deadly serious look at Max and Warren, with Cana by his side, only to immediately switch to being a comical jackass "Guess what lucky just found out that he's a daddy!"

"Hey back it up, you're being too touchy feely!" Cana was promptly ignored and hoisted right up into Gildarts' arms.

"Just come here and give Papa some kisses!"

"Stop it, you're embarrassing me, now get the hell off of me!"

Warren and Max just watched the whole exchange between them, and they were both less than impressed with the scene "Do those two really think they're fooling anyone with that stupid act of theirs?"

"Just do all of us a favor and go along with it, I think it's awkward enough as it is." Max told him dryly."

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Meanwhile, back with the newly revealed married couple…

"Here she is!" Alzack held up a picture in his hands "This is it, my precious baby girl Asuka in all of her glory."

"I have to say that she does take after the two of you." Lily noted "She even kind of reminds me of Wendy in a way, as in she's tiny and adorable."

"Stop picking on me!" and that proved to be enough to send Wendy running away crying, much to the confusion of Lily.

"Wait I don't get it, what did I say?"

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During all of the chaos going on throughout the party, Luke just glanced around at everything happening, and he couldn't help but smile at the sight of it 'I guess I shouldn't be surprised, the excitement never stops in a guild like this. For me and everyone that was on Tenrou Island, only about a week had gone by, as grueling of a week as it might have been. But still, for Bolt and the rest of our friends that stayed behind during all of that, a long and lonely stretch of suffering has come to an end. When I think about what they must have gone through in all of that time, I can't help but feel a strange sense of guilt for all of the pain they've had to endure. 7 years, that's a long time to have to wait. It feels like something out of a book or a movie, I never thought that I would go through that sort of thing first hand, but then again that comes with the job, so I guess I really shouldn't be surprised. To think that so much has happened since I came back to Fairy Tail after leaving to train for a year and a half, but last night is one I doubt I'm ever going to forget. Everyone is pouring all of their being into one night of drinking, dancing, singing and overall partying that makes up for the past 7 years. I have to admit, it sure as hell feels good to be home agian. Still though, I can't get rid of this uneasy feeling in the pit of my gut, this feeling that something isn't right.'

"Hey." Bolt nudged him on the arm and held up a mug of booze to him "Look I know what you're thinking, but for your sake and for that of everyone else, you should leave it alone, at least for tonight."

"...Alright, I get your point."

"Good. Oh and by the way, I got us a new apartment a few years back, and this one is miles ahead of the old one."

"Now I'm starting to get concerned."

"Ha fucking ha."

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After the party ended, as long as that took knowing what Fairy Tail is like, things seemed to quiet back down, if only a little bit.

Bolt led Luke into a nice looking building and up multiple flights of stairs "See you don't have to be concerned about every shady action I take."

"That depends on how many of your actions are considered shady." Luke told him dryly "We're in the upper ring of the city, you got us a high rise apartment?"

"After I learned to use transformation magic I took on a few jobs for the Magic Council, as much as they might be a pack of arrogant assholes they do know how to pay well." Bolt opened the door and revealed their home to him, a very well furnished and high up apartment "So here it is, the place has two bedrooms and a pull out couch, complete kitchen and two bathrooms, and a pretty nice den furnished by yours truly."

"And how much did you say you pay per month?"

"100,000 Jewel per person per month, but now that you're here that's gonna be double since there's two people. I already paid for your first and last month's rent by dipping into your savings account."

"Wait a second, how the hell did you get the password?"

"Dude, it's ThunderDragon. Not bad, but nowhere near good enough. Anyway go ahead and go get unpacked, take the spare room or the pullout couch, and then I'll show you this great new pizza joint."

"What about that sandwich place?"

"Failed a health inspection and shut down about two years ago."

"Fuck."

"Yeah I know, but things change. Just look at that Teen Titans episode. It was basically a gigantic metaphor for how we can't change things."

"Yeah I know. Anyway you go ahead and head to the place, I'll unpack my stuff and then I'll track your scent and catch up with you."

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About 20 minutes later…

Soon enough, Bolt was wandering his way throug the streets of Magnolia, only to stop and let out a sigh when he noticed Lucy brooding on the side of the street "Should I even bother asking what this is about?"

"5,880,000 Jewel." Lucy muttered "That's how much my landlady wants me to pay her before I'm allowed back into my apartment. How the hell am I supposed to get that kind of cash?"

"Don't count on any of the other girls in Fairy Tail to help you out, I heard from Cana that the chicks staying in Fairy Hills had to pay for about 7 years worth of back rent too, so if all of you have to be broke then at least you get to be broke together."

"Yeah I know, and it's not just that. We were gone for so many years, and we've missed out on so many important things. Romeo has grown into a handsome young wizard."

"Been at it for three years and he's already worth a metric fuckton more than his dad."

"Alzack and Bisca are raising the next generation of the guild."

"I finally told her to pop the question since there wasn't a chance in hell of him every having the guts to say or do anything about it."

"And on top of that, everyone else is still recovering from the bombshell that Gildarts and Cana had dropped."

"I knew about that for about as long as Luke did."

"Still though, all of that can't help but make me think about my dad. The poor guy, it's been a full 7 years since he heard anything from me. I can only imagine that he must be worried sick about me. Maybe it's time I paid my old man a visit. You know Bolt, this might actually be the first time I've actually missed my dad. Pretty stupid isn't it?"

"Whatever you need to tell yourself blondie."

"But don't think I'm going to see him to ask for money, because I'm not."

"Not like it would do you any good, last any of us heard he didn't have a single fucking Jewel to spare."

"Yeah that is true. Hey know that reminds me, I noticed that there were a few faces missing from the guild during the party. You know, Jet & Droy, Nab, Laki and Vijeeter. Were they out on jobs or something?"

"...Yeah, yeah that was it. I'm sure they're on their way back even as we speak. Well I'll leave you to your brooding, and if you want then Luke and I are more than happy to go with you to see your old man. Well, later." and so he walked away from Lucy and down the street, gritting his teeth furiously as he did so 'Dammit, I knew it was only a matter of time before they actually noticed. I'd better tell Luke about it before he gets the wrong idea, the same going for the rest of them too. That's not the only problem though, between the stuff with Jellal and Zeref, shit has really been hitting the fan since you've all been gone.'

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About 2 days later, in Acalypha…

Soon enough, Lucy was making her way through the streets of Acalypha, and she glanced back to where Bolt and Luke were walking behind her "You know you guys could've just ridden in the carriage like I did, and Luke I thought you said that you weren't as bothered by your motion sickness as Natsu is."

"I'm not, but keep in mind that we've been gone for 7 years, which means that I've lost out on 7 years worth of training." Luke pointed out "For the time being, I'm gonna have to micromanage in any way that I can."

"And not that I don't appreciate it, but why did you guys tag along anyway?"

"Actually it was Bolt's idea."

"Oh really, how come?"

"Well like Luke said, micromanaging for starters." Bolt told her from where he was currently draped over Luke's shoulder, now back in his cat form "And for another, I didn't want to have to deal with the inevitable shit storm that's probably happening back at the guild."

"Why do you say that?" asked Luke.

"Well for starters, Natsu and Happy's place got raided about 6 months after you guys disappeared on the island, so chances are they're losing their shit over having no money for food. Plus there's some developments in regards to certain prisoners and wizards from a long disbanded dark guild from the Balam Alliance."

"Uh huh. Anything else I should know?"

"Not much, aside from the fact that Zeref is still alive."

"...I should've figured as much."

"You don't seem surprised by that."

"I met him back on Tenrou Island, and I'll tell you this: If and/ or when he decides to raise a hand against Fairy Tail, I'm gonna make sure I'm ready for him."

"I figured you'd say something like that. I hate to break it to you though, but there are some things in life you just can't be ready for."

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It took a little bit more walking, but the group eventually arrived at the Love & Lucky guild.

Lucy was quick to go up to the receptionist for information "Excuse me, do you mind if I ask you something? You wouldn't happen to know if a Mr Jude Heartfilia will be coming in today, because the last I heard he was still registered here, isn't he?"

"Oh, um…" the receptionist started cringing considerably hard "Just out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to be Jude's daughter by any chance would you?"

"Yeah that's me, is there something wrong? He's not out sick or anything is he? If that is the case, then do you think you could just give me his home address or something."

"Actually, here's the thing… I'm very sorry to have to tell you this… but Jude passed away a little bit over a month ago. It was a shock to all of us." that was enough to leave Lucy frozen in place.

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About an hour passed, one very uncomfortable and quiet hour.

Luke and Bolt watched from a distance as Lucy placed a bouquet of flowers down on the newly dug grave of her father in the city cemetery "I was afraid of something like this. I guess the weight of those 7 years just keeps piling on doesn't it?"

"I'd like to say that this is the worst you're going to see from it, but miracles aren't the kind of thing you get on a daily basis." Bolt breathed a deep sigh, his voice low enough so Lucy would be unable to hear him "This is just a sample of the pain that comes with you guys being gone for so long."

"What are you talking about?"

"Let's just say that there's something waiting for us back in Magnolia, something you won't like to see, but you still need to learn about either way."

"Should I bother guessing?"

"No you shouldn't, you'll find out soon enough. You won't like it though."

"As you've said already."

"Alright, I'm done. Come on you guys, let's get going." Lucy placed down the flowers on her father's grave and then started walking away down the path out of the city, with the two of them following quietly behind her. They continued like that for a few moments, until she finally spoke again "You know you don't have to whisper around me. I'm sorry for putting the two of you through all of this trouble."

"It's no problem at all, that's what friends are for after all. Are you gonna be alright?"

"Yeah it's alright, I'm just shocked about my dad is all, but I'll be just fine. I know that more than a few years have gone by, but it feels to me like it's only been a few months since I saw him alive and healthy. It's kind of hard to accept that I'll never get to see him or speak to him in this life again. It's weird, when I think back I never actually did get along with my dad I was growing up, though the problem mostly started after my mom passed away. He just became cold and aloof after that, like he didn't even care, and the whole thing with Phantom Lord certainly didn't help with that matter. But then, after what happened when I heard the guild here in Acalypha had been attacked and I came to try and save him, I truly felt as if my relationship with him had been changed for the better. I shouldn't be surprised by this though, it's just like him to work himself until he gets sick. I guess this time it just proved to be too much for him to handle. But what bothers me most about this is that even though I feel sad about him being gone and I miss him, I haven't even cried, or more like I can't yet. It's like the tears just aren't there for me to start shedding. Does that mean that in the end, he didn't mean anything to me?"

"I know exactly what you're trying to say Lucy, but that's not the case. I didn't cry a single tear back when Kaminari left me. I'm not really sure if I can explain this properly, but I don't think whether or not you actually shed any tears means that you cared any less about him."

"...Thanks Luke, and you're right, I know that. I already feel just a little bit better." she was lying when she said that last part, and they all knew it, but on one commented on it.

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About another day went by, and things were about to get hectic back in Magnolia, specifically within the guild hall of the wizard guild known as Twilight Ogre.

"I'm done playing games with you and your chicks old man, the fact is that I don't have a single damn thing else to say to you, you got me? There's no way in hell I'm gonna back down until you and your guild pay back the debt that you owe us." that firm declaration had come from none other than Banaboster, the master of Twilight Ogre.

"Oh believe me my good man, I would like nothing more than to pay you." Makarov told him in a surprisingly calm fashion "But I'm sure that you're already well aware of the financial rut that we've found ourselves in."

"And does it look like I give a shit?"

"Your business records have a lot of holes in them too." Mira pointed out dryly "That's the sort of thing that makes you wonder if we're paying more than we actually owe you, so do you want to elaborate on that point?"

"Shut your hole you little slut, are you accusing me of fraud or something?"

"Not at all my good man, you can be assured that we fully intend to repay whatever we owe to you with proper interest." Makarov told him "That is, we intend to someday."

"You're really starting to get on my last nerve you little pissant!"

"Forgive me, that came out wrong. What I meant is that we should start by renegotiating our rate of interest."

"What the fuck was that?! I don't negotiate with deadbeets who rough up my boys and don't pay their debts, you got me?! You think you're tough little man, but I'll make you pay for not showing is the proper respect we deserve! Me and my boys have got a reputation that we have to maintain!"

"I understand that. Truth be told we only came here to discuss money, but we're more than happy to discuss your reputation as well. I have no problem with telling you exactly what I think at the moment."

"You want me to rip you apart you old geezer?!"

"Get paid back for what is owed, if memory serves then that is the creed for Twilght Ogre, am I correct? Much like an eye for an eye when you think about it."

"Indeed it is." Erza's body started glowing red with magic power, and with a flash she requipped into her Purgatoey Armor "And when you actually stop and think about it in those terms, that means your guild and everyone in it owes us for 7 years worth of property damage and abuse."

"Indeed."

"So when you think about it…" Mira's body glowed with dark energy, and in a flash she had activated her Satan Soul "That means you owe us, so it's only fair that our guild be paid back for each and every claim during that time."

"The suffering that my children were forced to endure at your hands, all of the years that I wasn't able to help them… Those who died while having to live under your oppressive boot…" and to top it all off, Makarov entered his giant form and started looking incredibly intimidating "All of it brings tears to my eyes, and it makes my blood boil worse than anything that I've ever felt before, do you hear me?! So if it's a war that you want, then it's a war that you're going to get!"

And that was enough for all hell to break loose.

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Meanwhile, outside the Twilight Ogre guild hall…

Macao and Wakaba could only catch a glimpse at all of the hell breaking loose from outside the guild hall in question, and yet both cringed at the sight "Oh for crying out loud…"

"Well we shouldn't be surprised." Wakaba gave a shrug "Truth be told, I never expected them to go the diplomatic route in the first place."

"I know what you mean, I'm surprised that they held out for as long as they did."

"You know, hearing the lot of them go to war in there honestly makes the past 7 years seem almost as if it was nothing more than a bad dream."

"I'd like to agree with you on that one, but considering what happened… It's only a matter of time before they find out."

"It's less than that actually." this was when Bolt and Luke showed up on the scene, the latter's expression looking uncharacteristically grim "I already agreed to tell him about it when we got back from Acalypha, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the others already found out, so it's now or never as far as I'm concerned." and so the two of them just walked past the scene, towards their intended goal, leaving Macao and Wakaba stunned and in silence.

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It took about another 10 minutes before they arrived at their goal: the Magnolia Cemetary.

Bolt stopped himself and Luke just outside the entrance to the cemetery, where he found a certain petite girl with blue hair standing in front of a few certain graves "Shit, I was afraid that this would happen. Levy, I-" he didn't get to say anything else as Levy bolted away from them, tears visibly streaming down her face as she bolted past them "I was afraid of that."

"Just like I'm sort of afraid of what I'm going to see." with a deep breath, Luke slowly stepped forward and looked down at the graves in front of him, his fists clenching until they bled and his teeth grinding as he read the five names out loud "Jet… Droy… Nab… Vijeeter… Laki… All of them…"

"Yeah, all of them are gone." Bolt's voice was quiet.

"Tell me… how did this happen?"

"It's not exactly pleasant, but nothing about this is… It was about three years after you guys disappeared. Makarov's son Ivan and a bunch of those elemental creatures you told me about showed up at the guild, he said that he was looking for something called the Lumen Histoire. I still have know idea what that is. I was training up in the mountains back then, but when I got the word that Fairy Tail was being attacked I rushed back to the guild as fast as I could. When I arrived I made quick work of those Elementors, but Ivan himself was the real challenge. He had this strange kind of magic working for him that allowed him to eat lightning in the same way you and Laxus do, he called it Lightning Demon Slayer magic. Luckily for me, Shatterstorm is able to use more than just lightning magic. I was able to drive him off, but just barely, and not without cost. Even before I had gotten there, Ivan and his Elementors had blood on their hands. Jet, Droy, Nab, Laki, Vijeeter, all of them got ripped apart by the Elementors before I got there. They didn't make it. A lot of our members left after that, something about not signing up for a death sentence or some bullshit like that."

"...I see. So five of them died and a lot of other members left all while we were sealed away, and we had no idea and couldn't do anything to help them."

"Do you feel guilty about that?"

"To be honest, a little bit yeah."

"Luke listen, I know you're probably wondering if you could've saved them if you hadn't been sealed away, but even so, you shouldn't-"

"You don't have to say it, I know. It doesn't help for us to think about what might have happened, because it will never be able to change what did happen. Maybe I could've saved them if I had been here to stop Ivan and his Elementors, or maybe I would've ended up being killed by them just like the others. Either way, it's not going to do any good for anyone. I might not have been here to saved Jet, Droy and the others, but I'm here now, and I'm going to do everything in my power make the most of it."

"...You've grown a lot haven't you?"

"I spent two years wallowing in sorrow and self pity over seeing a comrade die, and you've spent about four years doing that yourself, so I think it's safe to say we've had more than enough of that for one lifetime. That's the hard part of being a protector though, you learn the hard way that you can't save everyone, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. But even so, actions speak louder than words, and I say the two of us will do everything in our power to make sure that never happens again. We'll do it, and we'll do it together." the two of them dealt each other a fist bump.

"So you guys found it too huh?"

Luke glanced over to see Cana walking over to them, looking about as downcast as the two of them did, though not anywhere near as bad as Levy was "Oh hey, I take it that you already found these?"

"I stumbled across them earlier today, I confronted Macao and he told me what happened. I heard what you said though, and you're right. It's not good to dwell on these things. We let ourselves feel sad sure, but we can't give into those feelings."

"You're right." Luke let out a sigh "So you had to pay 7 years of back rent at Fairy Hills like the rest of them?"

"More like they kicked me out because I can't pay for those years. I should've known the drinking was gonna get to me in some way."

"I could've called that." Bolt told her dryly "I just thought it was gonna be something entirely different."

"Yeah we all did, but at least you were nice enough to keep my stuff safe, or at least put it into a strange unit with your name on it, so thanks for that."

"Forget it. So what are you going to do now?"

"The only thing I can do, find a new apartment and grind for rent before we get to the end of the month. I guess I know what it feels like to be Lucy now. Anyway I've gotta keep looking for now, there's gotta be at least one apartment building that an alcoholic can afford. Well I'll track a place down eventually."

"Or you could stay with the two of us." Luke blurted out suddenly, which quickly drew the attention of both Bolt and Cana "Think about it, Bolt and I have the space, you take the second room, I stay in the main room and Bolt just crashes with me in his cat form."

"Yeah hold that thought Mr Hospitality, get over here for a second." Bolt dragged Luke a few feet away from Cana and lowered his voice "What the fuck are you thinking? Come on man, I'm all for hospitality as much as the next guy, but it's like you're basically trying to get her into bed with you!"

"Do I look like you in that regard? Come on man, she needs a place to stay and I can't and won't just stand by and do nothing when a friend of mine needs my help. Besides…" his cheeks turned slightly pink "You're not the only one who's gone through some changes since we've been gone all this time."

"...You and I are having a damn long talk about this later. Anyway it's her choice, so we have to let her decide."

"I know. So how about it Cana, you in?"

"Well…" Cana gave a shrug "You guys sure you don't mind? I mean if you're serious about offering this then…"

"We are and we don't mind. We've got two bedrooms and Bolt and I only need one of them, and if we go on enough jobs together we can cover your rent no problem."

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Meanwhile, with Levy…

The sun was now setting over the skies of Magnolia, but contrary to the beautiful scenery, the mood was considerably grim.

After fleeing from the cemetery upon finding a certain set of graves, Levy now sat on a bench in some random street in the city, huddled in a ball with tears streaming down her face, with no sign of them stopping anytime soon 'Jet… Droy… they're both gone…'

"Shrimp." a gruff yet soft voice snapped her out of her grief, if only for a moment.

Levy glanced over to see Gajeel sit down next to her on the bench "Gajeel…"

"I saw those graves and Thunderclap told me what happened to your buddies. I'm not really good at these sorts of things, but… I'm sorry."

"All I ever wanted was to have them keep looking after me… I wanted them to stay by my side through thick and thin… but I only showed Jet and Droy the worst and most pathetic, weak and ungrateful side of me… When you offered to help me become S-class, I basically spat in their faces and didn't even look back at them as I left…"

"Forget about the self pity for a minute shrimp, just listen. All those two ever had was praise for you, they admired you in every sense of the word. They kept spouting on about how they were basically in love with you. You know I'm right about this. They had faith that you were gonna come out on top, and that you'd be one hell of an S-class wizard when the time came. I don't really know how to explain it, but they're still watching over you, and they're always gonna be too, just like how I know that Metalicana is always watching over me, you know from wherever the hell he is, no matter where or when that's gonna be. No matter where they might be, I doubt either of them would wanna see you this upset or wallowing in self pity, and they sure as hell wouldn't let me live it down if I just let you wallow like that. Shrimp… Levy… just pull yourself together and go back to being the shimp that they kept praising and fawning over so much. Don't sit hear like this, show off that smile they loved so much, because you might not be an S-class wizard, but you're still the founder of Team Shadow Gear, and a member of Fairy Tail."

"Gajeel, I… thank you…" upon hearing all of that, Levy immediately threw her arms around him and began crying into his shoulder.

Gajeel was left rather dumbstruck by this, but upon snapping out of his stupor, and then making sure that nobody else was looking, he returned the embrace, if only for a second.

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Meanwhile, with Lucy…

Having returned to Magnolia and gone her own way, Lucy was sitting under the big tree in South Gate Park, contemplating recent events, only for the sound of stomping to get her attention, and her eyes widened when she saw what was causing it "Is that the landlady… and is she wearing one of my old outfits?" without receiving a single word of explanation she was picked up by the leg "Hey wait a second, what the heck are you- Stop it! Someone help me, I'm way too pretty to die!"

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About a half our later…

So after being kidnapped by her landlady and then thrown to the ground, Lucy picked herself up off of the ground and looked at her new surroundings "This is my apartment… it looks exactly the same as I left it 7 years ago."

"That's because I've been cleaning it every single week." the landlady told her "Other than a few of your outfits, everything else has held up pretty well over the years. I was even able to salvage some of them. I left all of the mail you've got over on the table there."

"Oh…" she glanced over and noticed what looked like 7 presents on the table.

"Without fail, each of these would show up every single year on the exact same day."

"Really?" she looked at the card attacked to it 'To my dearest daughter Lucy, happy birthday, from your father… He actually remembered…'

"Oh yeah, and that one I put on your bed actually just came this morning, along with that letter too. Read it if you want, it's up to you." and so the landlady took her leave of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Now that she was alone, Lucy opened the letter, and her eyes widened at what she saw when she started reading it 'My dearest Lucy, I wish you a happy birthday. As write this letter to you, I can't stop myself from wondering when you'll get the chance to read it. A long time has passed since I had heard about the news of your disappearance. I am very worried, but I haven't lost faith that you're safe and sound. You're so much like your mother, you're stubborn as a rock and yet you're blessed with luck. I'm sure that you're absolutely fine though, and that I'll get the opportunity to see you again one day. As for me, business is booming and I'm about to close a big deal with the western region. You don't have to worry about me though, it keeps me busy but I'm still living a fulfilling life, both for your sake and mine. I think of you and your mother every single day, those memories are what keep me going. I miss you terribly my dear, and wherever you are I hope you're living life to the fullest, as well as following your own path. And please, no matter what happens, don't ever forget how proud I am of you. I won't dad… I promise… And Lucy, I have one last thing I have to say to you. I love you with all of my heart, that is one thing that will never change.' that was enough to make tears start streaming down her face "Goodbye daddy… I love you too…" and then she finally brown down crying into her bed.

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'The poor kid…' upon hearing Lucy breaking down in tears, the landlady quietly walked away from the door and made her way outside, only to find a few familiar faces waiting.

As it turns out, those familiar faces were Bolt, Luke and Cana, the former of whom was particularly freaked out by the sight of her "Holy sweet mother of fuck you let yourself go, did you eat some old lady and steal her looks for good measure?!"

"You can quit gawking like an idiot, I'm Lucy's landlady."

"Don't bother, he's doing that on purpose." Luke told her dryly "We just came to check in, how's she holding up?"

"I think it's for the best if you guys just left her alone and gave her a little bit of space for the time being."

"Yeah I don't blame you. I thought you weren't going to let her in until she paid you for the 7 years of rent, what made you change your mind?"

"I didn't change my mind, the main reason why I let her in was because a letter came this morning along with 7 years worth of rent that covered her debt. Honestly though, what some parents won't hesitate to do for their children."

"Yeah, but that proves just how much their parents love them."

"And it also proves that idiots 1 and 2, AKA Natsu and Happy, are the only ones in the guild that are screwed in terms of money." Bolt noted dryly.

"That is also true."

"Just hold on a second, I've got this." Bolt stepped to the side and looked up at the one of the window "Hey blondie listen, I know you're up there and I know you can hear me. You don't have to say anything, just listen. I can't even begin to imagine how much pain you must be feeling right about now, and that's part of the problem. You've gotta share your feelings with the people around you. We're your friends, and all of the things that make you happy or sad, you shouldn't keep any of them to yourself or it's gonna do a lot more harm than good. Besides, being there for each other during the hard times is one of the things that make us friends right?" he received no response, and so he let out a sigh "Well you should know, we're gonna be having a movie night at mine and Bolt's new apartment. Not really a movie night actually, we're binging this new show on Netflix called Dragon Prince. If you're feeling up to it, then you're more than welcome to join us." he received no response, and so he let out a sigh "The one time I try to be sentimental and all that crap."

"I don't blame her. Come on you guys, let's get moving." with a sigh, Luke started to walk away from the scene, when…

"Hey guys wait up!" this was when Lucy bolted out of the building with a smile on her face, though her eyes were still red from crying so much and her cheeks were stained with her dried tears "Does that offer still stand?"

"Well keep in mind that Bolt made it less than a minute ago, so yeah totally." and so the four of them started walking down the street, though Luke's mind began drifting with each step he took 'The past 7 years have left a painful mark on pretty much every member of Fairy Tail, though some of them have it worse than others. But even so that's no excuse to stop living. You have to keep living your life to the fullest, if not for yourself but for the sake of those around you.' he shot a glance at Cana, earning a glance back from her, and the two of them exchanged a small smile with each other 'And you don't have to do it alone either, not as long as you've got some good people standing by your side.'

A/N:

And with this chapter, we see the Tenrou Team return after a 7 year absence, only to find many changes have occurred since they've been gone, both for better and for worse. Whether it involves members moving on with their lives, or some having lost them entirely, the world has changed greatly in 7 years, and many more changes are still to come. Also, this story has officially hit 40 chapters, and it's thanks to all of the support you've shown me up until now, so thank you all for that.

So yes, seeing how I had Bolt stay behind at the guild during the Tenrou Island arc, he was around during the 7 year time skip, during which he was able to master Shatterstorm, the weapon that he had acquired as a result of the events taking place in Edolas, and he had also learned transformation magic, similar to what Carla has after the 1 year time skip after Tartaros. With these, he has now become the strongest member of Fairy Tail during the time the Tenrou Team was gone.

Okay, so now I'm going to address the elephant in the room: My decision to kill off some of the b-tier characters, specifically Jet, Droy, Nab, Vijeteer and Laki. I know that a lot of people will probably not be happy about this, and this was a decision I struggled with for some time, but in the end I decided to kill them off over the time-skip for three reasons: One, their deaths add a lot more weight to to the time-skip and shows how much has changed in that time, good and bad. Two, they really don't have anything to contribute to the story, so it doesn't really hurt it in any way. Three, their deaths will also allow for some bonus character development from certain members of the Tenrou Team. Also, don't expect them to be the only b-tier characters that die in this story. There will be at least a few more to come, and these will have an effect on the plot.

Adding onto my point about character development, one primary example of this is with Levy, now the sole surviving member of Team Shadow Gear, as she is clearly devastated to discover. Through this, I was able to give her some genuine character development, as well as develop her relationship with Gajeel. Another example is the scene with Luke and Bolt at the graves of the fallen. If this were him at the beginning of the story, then Luke probably would've blamed himself for their deaths, but now this one knows that he can't just spend years at a time wrapped in the guilt of what happened. He knows that focusing on what might have or could've happened doesn't help, and instead he should just focus on ensuring that what happened doesn't repeat itself.

Just throwing this out there, for those of you who don't remember or didn't read about the Oracion Seis arc, rather than come out unscathed, Lyon lost an arm when he tackled Racer off of that cliff with that lacrima bomb strapped to his chest, so now he has a prosthetic arm to replace his missing one. It adds more weight to that arc.

Now then, just to close out this chapter, I did recently watch all three seasons of The Dragon Prince on Netflix, and holy crap it is amazing. For those of you who are unaware, one its co-creators is Aaron Ehasz, the head writer and co-executive producer of Avatar: the Last Airbender, and since I haven't been shy about how great I think that show is, and I say that Dragon Prince is a very fine spiritual successor, and I totally recommend it to those who haven't seen it yet.