Disclaimers: I do not own Fairy Tail
A/N: So here is another chapter for Elemental Homecoming. I'm almost done with work and soon be back home to start back on my other stories. So in case anyone was wondering, this is a separate story from Elemental Spirit Mage. But yes, Rhew will pop up in that story. I guess it is a spoiler but oh well
Elemental Homecoming pt.2
"So how do you want to do this, Kit?", Kasai asks.
"Well, I can't exactly just walk in and say hi. I died on a job right in front of my dad. I didn't get kidnapped, frozen in time, sent to another world like Lisanna, I died. I saw the other side and everything", Romeo says, " Who knows what all has changed since then? Everyone has probably moved on and whatnot and started a family; I recall Elfman and Evergreen getting pretty close along with Max and Laki getting quite serious in their relationship and those are just the ones that were obvious to me, Alzack and Bisca could have already had another kid by now."
"I neither know nor care who these people are but you are wasting time standing here", Rhew butts in, "At noon, your time here starts so I suggest you go down there and get all the greetings and such out of the way as the previous summoners have done in the past so that we can carry on with our duties."
Romeo and Kasai both turn to look at the icy wolf with displeasing looks.
"How the previous summoners learn to deal with you, I will never know", Kasai says to which Romeo nods in agreement.
"I have you know that my alpha summoner greatly enjoyed and appreciated my manner of speaking", Rhew retorts.
Kasai places a large paw on Romeo's shoulder, though the lad felt no heat from it, "Well, my alpha summoner here finds it quite annoying and as the alpha spirit, for this time around, I must insist that you cease and desist such behavior, my dear beta spirit."
"Annoying might be too strong of a word, but I am definitely not a fan of it", Romeo corrects the kitsune as he notices the displeasing look on the wolf's face at the mention of the word "beta spirit".
"Hmph", came Rhew's reply, "While I can not completely do away with my forwardness and such, I will attempt to restrain myself in the future, if only for your sake, Summoner."
Kasai takes his paw off and slaps it into the ground, "See, how hard was that?", he laughs before turning downward at Romeo, "But in all seriousness, Frosty had a point. You need to either go see daddy and them or move on for I sense an unbalancing not too far from here and I know that you can sense it."
Romeo closes his eyes and shakes his head, "Yeah, yeah, I've been sensing it ever since we got off of the boat. Look, I'll deal with it within the week, okay?"
"If that is your wish, Summoner", Rhew answers, "As long as it is dealt with in a timely manner."
"You know what? Go back to calling me Pup. For some reason when you say summoner it sounds more degrading", Romeo complains.
Rhew merely nods his head and Romeo turns back to the problem at hand, aka Magnolia.
"Okay, it seems I wasn't as ready to come home as I thought I was", he announces to Kasai and Rhew before focusing on the forest to the east of town, "But if I'm lucky, there's a place that we can stay at until I am."
"Lead the way, oh mighty Liberator of the East", Kasai chuckles, earning him a glare from Romeo.
It had been worn away by time and the environment, been ransacked by traveling vagabonds and animals, and looks like at one point was the site of a battle no doubt between Florian forces and those of the Alvarez Empire.
But somehow all four walls and at least three-quarters of the roof were still standing on the building that used to be Fairy Tail's second guild hall, granted there were far more holes in it than Romeo remembers.
"This place is a dump", Kasai comments, "I have seen mountains of corpses, which I had a hand in creating, that were more appealing than this place. In fact, I even slept on those very mountains but I doubt I'll be sleeping here."
"I must agree with Kasai, this place is highly unsuitable for someone of your prestige, Pup", Rhew says,
"Only Rhew could insult and praise someone in the same sentence", Romeo thought before speaking, "Okay, I'll admit that this place has seen better days, but I spent the better part of my childhood here and it's like a third home to me."
"Well, that explains your manners. Bad homes produce bad children", Kasai snickers only to outright laugh once Romeo lightly swatted him across the head.
"My dad did the best he could with me along with juggling the responsibility as guild master, I was just too childish to notice it", Romeo states, "I'll ask you nicely this time not to bad mouth him, but next time I'll order you too."
"Geez, well sorry, looks likes I struck a nerve", Kasai laughs as he steps forward and began to inspect the building, being careful so that the flames from his tail don't set something alight.
Romeo merely glares at Kasai's retreating figure before noticing Rhew watching him out of the corner of his eye.
"What is it now?", he asks the spirit.
"How long do you plan on staying in such meager accommodations?", Rhew answers, "Every moment you spend here is a moment you are wasting not spending with your love ones."
Romeo takes a deep breath before answering, "Look, give me like...a day or two, okay? I know that I couldn't stop talking about how I couldn't wait to come home and all, but now that I'm here I just feel like-"
"Your presence will uproot everything that your loved ones have establish in the time since your disappearance? That you will be afraid to fully reconnect with any of them due to the fact that you may be leaving again after your time here is up.", Rhew shoots out.
Romeo rolls his eyes, unable to find a better response for Rhew despite knowing deep down that he was right.
"Was it right for me to come home after being away for so long? I could have written a letter or something during my years of travel but I didn't, not for lack of trying though", Romeo thought, remembering all the times he has walked into a post office and just sat there with a pen in hand staring at a blank piece of paper for hours, wondering just how he was going to explain everything that has happened to him in writing.
By the Nine Hells, more than half of the things he has done had to be seen to be believed and half of the places he has been to have only ever been visited by a handful of other people.
He has learned at least a dozen languages including draconic and undercommon.
He has helped so many people along the way and done more than his share of good things that would no doubt make his father, Natsu, and the others proud.
Unfortunately, he has also done a number of things that would no doubt go against the moral fiber of Fairy Tail and would be frowned upon, if not outright cause more than a few of them to be angry with him.
He definitely didn't consider himself a hero, but he also didn't think of himself as a villain, he was just somewhere in between. He only did what was absolutely necessary at the time and always saw both sides of the story.
He learned the hard way that sacrifices had to be made sometimes and that not everyone lived happily ever after.
Long story short, the Romeo Conbolt that everyone knew in X791, a boy full of naivety and innocence, was gone, and in his place was this young man. This Romeo has seen the worst that life had to offer along with the best while also learning that the world wasn't all black and white, good and evil.
And now he was questioning whether or not someone like him truly belonged at Fairy Tail anymore, especially considering the guild's high moral standards and unstoppable urge to always do the right thing no matter what the cost.
"I wonder if Gildarts ever felt like this? A man like him must have done some things that he didn't want to talk about", he wonders before shaking such negative thoughts from his mind.
"Everything will be all right. They are still my family", he thought right as Kasai came back from his inspection of the former guild hall.
"It's an even bigger piece of crap than I previously thought but if you're really serious about staying here, then I guess it will do", he announces.
Romeo gives him a nod, "I am serious about staying here, at least for a little while."
Kasai merely shrugs, " Hey, you're the boss, Kit."
"What will you do for nourishment?", Rhew question, "I doubt the forest around this area is plentiful enough for hunting."
"I have some food rations left over that should last me for two days. After that I'll go into town and use the remaining money from that freelancer job I did in Enca to shop around.", Romeo answers as he made his way toward the entrance of the building.
As he puts his hand on the door a flood of memories coming rushing out from the deepest depths of his mind. Through the murky waters of his past one such memory rose to the top of his mind; it was regarding the day Natsu and the others finally came home from Tenrou.
It was that day that led him down the path that would change his whole life, for better or for worse.
He shakes such thoughts from his head and pushes open the door, using the sunlight seeping in through the hole in the roof to see around the room.
All of the tables and chairs were either gone or broken beyond repair, the tavern was a crumbled mess and barely suitable enough to be firewood, and the place was covered in cobwebs. As soon as he takes a step in his foot kicks up a cloud of dust that causes him to cough up a storm. Through the sneezing and waving of his hands, he ends up in the middle of the room.
Once he regains his senses he starts to slowly look around, taking in every nook and cranny. Every corner, every floorboard possesses a memory of days long past. It wasn't the original guild hall or Conbolt's residence, but to him at this very moment, this was the closest thing to home.
Kasai and Rhew both peek their heads in and watch their summoner as he basks in the past; their close proximity to one another generating condensation.
"Can't say I have ever seen a summoner do something like this when they came home", the fire spirit states.
"None of our previous summoners were as young as him when they were brought before us", Rhew reminded his sibling.
"Aye, I guess that's true. Still, I got a feeling that this period of freedom is going to be way different than any of the other ones."
Later that night, Romeo sat in the middle of the floor near the roaring fire of Kasai's tail watching the stars shine in the night sky. Rhew was laying close by though the icy wolf was considerably further away from his sibling than Romeo was.
"I think the day after tomorrow I'll head into town, find out what all has changed since I been gone", Romeo spoke while still staring up into the heavens.
"If that is your wish, then I will be happy to accompany you, Pup", Rhew comments causing Romeo to laugh.
"Ha! Thanks for the offer but I don't think a lot of the folks down there would like a giant wolf who can summon blizzards walking down the street especially when summer is just around the corner!", he replies.
"I care not for the option of beings that cannot harm me", Rhew responds with a slight snarl, as if the very thought of someone other than Romeo or Kasai telling him what to do offended him.
"Careful now, the majority of Magnolia may not be able to hurt you but I know at least half a dozen mages down there who can", Romeo tells the frost wolf, "The last thing I want is a fight in my hometown due to a misunderstanding."
"Hmph, you think too highly of your former comrades", Rhew says.
"Comrades", Romeo corrects him with a little force in his voice, "There is no former. Fairy Tail is still my family."
"Are you sure about that?" Kasai asks.
"What are you talking about?", Romeo asks.
"I believe he is talking about how well do you believe your homecoming will go in regards to your friends and family. No doubt your father will be overjoyed to see you back but I myself am not so sure about the others", Rhew explains.
"Did you two and the others have a meeting about this or something?", Romeo questions
"We may have had a discussion or two but hear me out", Rhew began, "From what you have told us about this Natsu and the others that regularly did jobs with him, they seem to be extremely prideful."
"Yeah, Natsu, Erza, and the others were proud about how strong they were and they brag about it a bit; so what's your point?", Romeo questions.
Both the fiery kitsune and frozen wolf share a look with one another before looking back at their summoner.
"It's nothing, Kit", Kasai spoke, "Just us reading a little too much into a situation."
And with that, the trio descends into silence as Romeo went back to watching the shine as his mind slowly started to drift away back to the day that started it all.
Flashback
X791
"Oh please, please, please, please, please, Mira!", a thirteen-year-old purple-haired boy beg while on his knees at the tavern of the Fairy Tail guild hall, "There has to be one job I can do by myself that will take me out of Magnolia!"
The S-Class mage/magazine model had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes, especially since the cause of her minor headache so early in the morning was standing directly in front of her.
"Romeo, we have talked about this. You're too young to be going out on solo jobs outside of town."' she told him.
"But Natsu and the others were going off on their own and jobs at my age and Wendy goes on solo jobs all the time, even without Carla!", Romeo counters and Mira could feel her headache slowly growing into a migraine.
"Well Romeo, they have different circumstances in this particular situation", Mira says, stopping herself from saying the real reason why the boy had more restrictions place on him than his counterparts regarding the range of jobs they can do.
That Wendy is at least four times more powerful than him now while Natsu at least five times stronger at the Rainbow Fire mage's age.
But while she was known as the "Demon of Fairy Tail", she was nowhere near cruel enough to tell him that.
Besides, Romeo just needed time to get to a level where he wouldn't need someone watching him on out-of-town jobs. It might that a little bit longer than it did a majority of the guild's mage, but he would get there eventually.
"But Mira, how am I suppose to prove myself to Natsu if I have to have a babysitter on nearly every job I do?"
"Romeo, no one becomes a powerful mage overnight. Even Laxus and Gildarts were rookie mages at one point and had to start small and due to hard work and determination they became the strong mages they are today", Mirajane explains.
"And you and Erza are strong because you both had traumatizing childhoods?", Romeo asks innocently.
...
...
On second thought, maybe there was a job in Haregon that Romeo could take.
"Let's see here", Mira said as she shifts through the jobs that arrived that morning from the Magic Council headquarters, "Bounty hunting, nope. Locate dark guild hideout, save that for Freed and them. Security for a Magic Ball, think Gray's taking that. Ah, here we go!", as she found the last one in the stack and read over it.
"This is perfect for him!", Mirajane spoke aloud but thinking to herself that it would also get the young mage out of her hair for the rest of the day, "Oh, Romeooooo!"
END OF FLASHBACK
The snapping of a twig brings Romeo back to the present and he was on his feet in an instant along with both Kasai and Rhew doing the same on his flanks. Both spirits were baring their fangs and while the kitsune's tail rev up, spewing up a column of flames, a frosty mist emitted from Rhew's tail, surrounding the wolf. All this happen while their summoner had his right arm extending forward while his left hand was placed in the middle of his right forearm.
For several moments, no words were spoken as three pairs of eyes scan the forest line through the hole in the wall directly across from them. Within the trees and Romeo spots glowing eyes staring back at him, spread out among the area. They were nearly ten feet off the ground and numbered at least a dozen. There was only one creature in the entire region that was that large and traveled in such numbers.
"Mountain Vulcans", Romeo finally spoke, "Though I have never known them to come this close to town."
"They are observing us", Rhew states
"I doubt they will do any more than that though", Kasai remarks, "Weaklings like them would have attack already if they thought they could take us. I bet if we scare them a bit they'll turn tail and run."
Before Romeo could remark the sound of something akin to thunder went off in the distance to the west followed by a series of roars. In an instant, the eyes vanish and only the sound of the Vulcans' fading footsteps could be heard.
"Hmph, it would seem that they found something else that would prove far else troublesome for them", Rhew comments as the mist dissipates around him and Kasai's tail returns to normal.
"Shame really, I hear burnt Vulcan meat is pretty tasty if done right", Kasai comments.
But Romeo was silent as he continues to stare off in the direction the Vulcans took off in.
"It couldn't be. There's just no way", both the Fire and Ice Elemental Spirit heard him murmur.
"Um, you okay there, Kit?", Kasai asks.
"When I was a kid, there was only half a dozen people that I knew of that owe a gun in these parts and two of them were from my guild and married. Now I may have been gone for thirteen years but I highly doubt that number has significantly changed", Romeo explains.
"Just what exactly are you trying to let us know, Pup?",
"I'm letting you know that we are going to investigate", the young man answers as he takes off in a sprint, easily vaulting over the hole in the wall and dashing into the dark forest. Kasai and Rhew only spare a brief glance at one another before chasing after him, choosing to smash through the wall in order to quickly catch up with their summoner.
Not even a minute later, the trio shows up at the edge of a large clearing that was only illuminated by the light of the moon. Kasai's tail was extinguished in order to not give away the element of surprise for them; as a result, his entire body was now black as coal and his outline could only barely be seen in the moonlight. Romeo notices this and briefly remembers how surprised he was when he found out that the kitsune could do such a thing all those years ago. He was even more surprised when he discovered that all Kasai had to do was inhale a large gulp of air afterward in order to reignite his flames. It really fitted the Fire Spirit's personality of being sneaking.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on such thoughts as Romeo returns his attention to the clearing where it seems that an entire tribe of Mountain Vulcans seem to be attacking a single person.
A young girl who looks to be in her late teens from the looks of it. From what Romeo could see, she seems to be armed with a pair of six-shot revolvers along with a rifle strap to her back.
"Straight Shot!", he hears her cast as she points both her six-shooters at a charging Vulcan, charging her magic into the barrels before firing. Two green streams of light come zooming out, taking the beast in both of its shoulders before coming out the other side of its body and speeding from into the night. Yet this seems to do nothing more than agitate the creature as he stops, pounds his chest while letting out a roar, and continuing his charge, forcing the girl to cartwheel out of the way as it stampedes past her. But her moment of peace was cut short as half a dozen more Vulcans jump at her and she began to bob and weave to avoid their strikes; returning their attacks with shots of her own though they only seem to be aimed at shoulders, legs, and other non-lethal areas."
"Hmmm, it would be more effective if she was aiming for the head", Rhew points out.
Kasai merely nods his head in agreement but Romeo was let focus on the girl's actions and more on her physical features.
"Green hair tied up in a ponytail, cowboy hat, boots, long leather skirt, and a poncho with an all too familiar design. And wait for it...", Romeo thought as the girl step directly into a beam of moonlight while dodging a heavy punch from a Vulcan, "Purple eyes with a Fairy Tail guild insignia on her left hand. Goddammit! Why tonight of all night?", as he pulls his hood over his head and quickly moves out of the bushes and makes a beeline for the girl who was about to be overwhelmed by the tribe, quickly holding up a hand to halt the kitsune and wolf from following him. He then spread his fingers apart and the two spirits took off in separate directions from one another, staying hidden in the woods.
A/N: Soon I will be back to my regular stories.