Disclaimers: I do not own Fairy Tail

A/N: Okay, another chapter I had written out on my phone while I was doing stuff for my job for the past few months that I decided to upload. This was just to help pass the time during that period since I didn't have my laptop with me.

Elemental Homecoming pt.5

He sat there with his arms cross in his large fur coat while tiny surges of lightning dances across his body. This wasn't meant to actually harm anyone but instead meant to tell everyone in attendance to keep quiet until he was done thinking. To be completely honest he would rather be helping his son with his magic right now but as Guild Master, he was obligated to care for the safety of his guild and the town they were located in, so here he was questioning the "baby" of the guild.

...

Well, at least the "baby" of the veteran guild members.

"And that is all you can tell us about what happen last night?", Laxus asks from his desk inside the guild master's office on the second floor of the building with Asuka in front of him, her father next to her as well as two more veteran mages of Magnolia. He had sent Pantherlily to investigate the outskirts of town earlier today after Alzack inform him what happen and he reported back that there was indeed a field of slaughtered Vulcans outside of town being feast upon by the vultures. He then sent him out again to circle the surrounding area for any sign of this person.

Asuka found herself having a hard time not sweating bullets, no pun intended, underneath Laxus' gaze. Sure she knew that he wasn't trying to scare her or anything, he was just taking the matter seriously but did little to make her feel better.

"Pretty much. I didn't get a good look at his face and he only spoke once and that was to tell me to go home before he disappeared into the woods", Asuka answers.

"I see", Laxus says as he leans back and turns to look at the mage next to him, the guild's advisor, "How do you think we should go about this, Freed?"

Other than cutting his hair short, not much has changed about the Rune Mage although he was now dual-wielding two sabers instead of one. On a more personal level, he also realizes years ago that there will never be more than friendship between him and Laxus and so he moved on. Anyway, when it was suggested by Makarov that Laxus take up an advisor, the Lightning Dragon-Slayer immediately chose the leader of the Thunder God tribe without even bothering to interview anyone else.

This wasn't all that unexpected in the slightest but most of the guild thought he would at least put more thought into it and it worried a few that Freed would be nothing more than a "yes man" for Laxus.

But it seems like Freed has grown up in more ways than one for he has publicly disagreed with some of guild master's decisions including his most recent ones that would only allow non-veterans to be in the upcoming Grand Magic Games as well as change up the S-Class trials.

"Hmmm", Freed ponders as he cups his chin, "We have yet to establish this stranger's intention or even confirm that he is still in the area. For all we know this man could have just been passing through the area and happen upon Asuka and the Vulcans."

"Or he was scoping out the town and decided to have a little fun before the main event", the daughter of Wakaba Mine spoke up.

The Ash/Smoke mage was a strange case for Fairy Tail as she was part of the guild but in another way she wasn't. Officially, she was the liaison between Fairy Tail and the other guild in town, Twilight Ogre, though she could be found most of the day at the former's guild hall. While Fairy Tail numbered around three hundred strong in terms of members Twilight Orge was around half of that. To prevent a possible guild war from breaking out, Lindsay, who had a connection to both guilds, was elected to be the middle man between them and bolster the peaceful relationship between them. Her father admits that there was a distinct change in her attitude toward Fairy Tail the day the "incident" occurred thirteen years ago and she hasn't been the same since. In fact, more than once her parents have caught her staring at old pictures for hours that included a certain Rainbow Fire mage within their contents. But unfortunately, she has also avoided speaking or even making eye contact with members of a certain magic team due to personal reasons.

"There hasn't been a major dark guild attack in Ishgar since the invasion", Freed was quick to point out, "Just minor incidents here and there."

"Doesn't mean they just disappeared. He could be one of those Zeref's Zealots or maybe one of those Acnologia's Rebirthers", Lindsay retorts, "Midi and Bosco have been dealing with them in increasing numbers over the past few years."

"That is true", Laxus spoke as he places his hands on his desk, "We have had run-ins with them as well but they were always straightforward with their intentions."

"This one may be different. I advise that we keep our vigilance up and keep an eye out for anything suspicious", Freed spoke, "If this man is indeed a Zealot or a Rebirther, I fear his chief weapons will be subterfuge and sabotage first before making a move out in the open."

When Pantherlily went scouting around Magnolia as Laxus asked him to, there were a number of things he was expecting.

He was expecting to find a field of Vulcan bodies, which he did.

He was expecting to find possibly some trace of the person responsible for the field of bodies which he didn't.

What he was not expecting was to find a strange man attacking Nashi and Ur with the former being held upside down in his grasp, but he did.

He was also not expecting the man to hear him diving down at him in Battle Mode with his sword drawn, but somehow the man did

And most of all, he was not expecting the man to turn around in time and block the downward slash with just his forearm and the blade not cleave it in two but instead completely stop the attack.

CLANK!

But he did.

"Oh, come on now, this is just getting stupid! Pantherlily! Really?!", Romeo thought as his arm holds the Musicia Blade back, "Well at least he looks exactly the same! I wonder how Happy and Carla are doing?"

The exceed, seeing that he was getting nowhere with his deadlock, pulls back his blade and jumps away. This allows him to put some distance between himself and the stranger as well as place himself in front of Nashi and Ur.

"He seems to be wearing some gauntlet of sorts around his arm. Too bad I couldn't get a good look at it due to it being covered by his cloak", the former commander of the Edolas Army thought.

"Nashi, are you okay?", Ur asks as he helps her up after she got thrown over to him.

"I'm fine!", the girl snaps as she stands straight up with fire in her eyes, "But he won't be! Wait until I get my hands on him!"

"Negative, Nashi!", Pantherlily shouts, his eyes never leaving the man in front of him, "I need the two of you to get out of here!"

"What?! Why?! I can take him!", Nashi screeches as flames once more engulf her fists.

"That wasn't a suggestion! Get out of here now!", Pantherlily barks ad he stares back at the stranger, who was simply standing there with his arms hidden underneath his cloak, not even taking a combat stance, "Does he not see me as a threat?"

"I think there had been some sort of a misunderstanding", he spoke all of a sudden, "How about you take the kids and leave and I'll forget this ever happen?"

"Please take the deal and go away. I really don't want to fight you, Pantherlily", Romeo thought, remembering that the exceed was one of the only few people that acknowledged his talent for magic seeing how he learned Rainbow Fire magic, an extremely versatile and difficult magic to mastered.

For a moment, Pantherlily considered the deal. Fighting while also protecting someone else was always an extremely difficult task and one that the exceed didn't want to partake in. But another thought plagues his mind.

Could he trust this man to keep his word? Could he believe that he wouldn't stab to former commander the minute his back was turned?

His eyes spot something in the skies behind the man and he almost smiles at the impeccable timing that his friend seems to have of showing up at the right time.

Romeo notices Pantherlily's eyes looking at something behind him, only they were looking upward.

"What is he staring at?", Romeo wonders before feeling a strange sensation flow through his body. It was one he knew all too well for he has felt it quite a number of times throughout the years he has been gone.

He hated this feeling.

For it meant whatever plan he had was about to go out the window.

Sure enough, a figure dives out of the sky from above, grabs both Nashi and Ur, and once more take off into the sky, heading toward the Fairy Tail guild hall with the children flailing in its paws. Romeo was able to make out the creature having blue fur while also noticing that it seems to have a large scar running down his back.

"Aye! That was close! Good thing I was in the neighborhood!", Happy laughs as he carried a struggling Nashi and docile Ur away, "Pantherlily doesn't need any distraction when he's fighting!"

"Hey, let me go, Uncle Happy!", Nashi screams, "I can take him!"

"That's probably a good idea in your head but that I don't see that happening in real life seeing how high up we currently are!", Happy laughs before looking down at Nashi as she struggles in his scarred arms, yet the blue exceed's grip could not be broken no matter how hard she tried. Meanwhile, Ur kept quiet and still as his eyes stay on the stranger until he disappears from sight.

"Damn it, why now of all times does he have to save the day?", Romeo thought right before he rolls out of the way of Pantherlily's devastating slash which cleaves two trees in half.

"Okay, since there has been a change of plans, how about you and I call it a day and go our separate ways?", Romeo tries again as he recovers, hoping to avoid a fight since he now knew that reinforcements would surely be on the way in due time now.

The exceed says nothing and merely points his blade at Romeo.

"It is customary for two combatants to tell each other their names before a duel", he states.

"Oh, this is a duel now?", Romeo questions, "From what I recall you were trying to pull a sneak attack beforehand. Not very honorable if you ask me."

"You have no room to speak of honor since you attacked a child", Pantherlily counters.

"For one, she attacked me first so let's just get that out of the way. I was minding my own business.", Romeo explains,

"If that is true then how you explain the Vulcans last night?"

"So you're saying I should have let them have their way with the girl?", Romeo asks, "Sorry, but that sort of thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But at least the wolves will be well fed for some time."

Pantherlily is silent for a moment. He was half-expecting the man to deny he had anything to do with last night but instead he did the exact opposite.

"Regardless of why you did what you did, I'm bringing you in for questioning by our guild master, Laxus", the exceed states.

"Holy crap, Laxus is in charge now? I mean, it's not that surprising but still. I wonder if Gramps is even still alive", Romeo thought, "Well, I can tell you straight up that that isn't going to happen."

"Then you leave me no choice", Pantherlily states as he retraces his blade and prepares to lunge at Romeo, "My name is Pantherlily! King of the Ishgar's Exceeds and Husband of Queen Shaggote! I wield the Musicia Blade!"

"He married Carla's mom?", Romeo thought before shaking his head, "Focus, Romeo, now you're at a crucial moment! Do I tell Pantherlily the truth and hopes he believes me so I can get this whole mess out of the way or do I try another route?"

As if he had the ability to see into the possible future, Romeo quickly realizes just what the consequences of his action would be if he chose to go down that road. He still had a lot of work to do before he got there point.

"You can call me Yamio, Yamio Konboruto! The worst person that you can make an enemy of! I wield whatever I need to see another day!"

"Very well then! Here I come!", Pantherlily declares as he charges and as Romeo watches him raises the Musicia Blade above his head he realizes something.

He was not a fan of swords in any way whatsoever.

He never has been.

True, he has used them during his travels and adventures and he was actually quite skilled with them, but unless they were unique and such he never kept them around for long. His reasoning behind it would have confused his more warlike companions, including Erza, but it was actually quite simple.

It was a weapon for war and nothing else.

Axes could be used for war but also to chop wood and thus provide a heat source or help build a shelter. Hammer could be used to build. A bow and arrow, along with a spear, were hunting tools to provide food. Plus even the gun was mostly a recreational tool nowadays than one used for combat and that too was used to hunt.

But a sword had one purpose and one purpose only and that was to cut down another person on the battlefield. It was an instrument of death. Sure there were fencing competitions and whatnot, but those were nothing but a means for military officers and nobles to keep their skills sharp until the next conflict broke out.

At its core, a sword was a tool of warfare, nothing more.

...

It reminded Romeo of himself, that he was nothing more than a tool that had a single purpose whose time was coming to an end.

But even though he did not appreciate the sword like some people, he did respect it and those who wielded one regularly.

So as Pantherlily got closer and closer to him, Romeo made a promise that he would let his fight with the combat veteran last a little bit longer than it should if only to pay him back for showing him the respect he always wanted from the guild even if it was only for a brief moment back in days gone by.

CLANK!

"Just so you know, I really was trying to resolve this peacefully, Pantherlily", Romeo said as he once again blocks the giant sword with his forearm.

"Just so you know, I actually believed you were but you refuse to come along to meet my guild master to prove your intentions, Yamio, so that is why we find ourselves at this standpoint", Pantherlily answers right before he pulls back from the deadlock and delivers a right slash to Romeo's mid-section.

Without missing a beat, Romeo backflips out of the way, landing on the trunk of a tree behind him for a split second before launching himself off of it at the exceed, his leg extended forward to deliver a kick to which Pantherlily brings up the flat of his blade to block.

With a powerful impact, Romeo's foot collides with the sword and Pantherlily finds himself suddenly pushed backward by the force of the impact nearly three yards.

"Impressive!", Pantherlily shouts out as he recovers, "I must say it has been a while since someone had force me back like that!"

"Wow, I wasn't even trying with that kick", Romeo mentally thought as he rushes the exceed, dashing in a zig-zag pattern before vaulting upwards to put himself high in the air directly above him, his right leg extended outward.

"Coming at ya!", he shouts as gravity takes effect and he plummets down toward Pantherlily who brings his sword up to block the heel drop. The impact proves to be far more powerful than the earlier kick and a crater forms underneath Pantherlily's feet as he was literally pushed into the ground.

"Ugh!", he shouts as he strains to keep upright underneath the sheer might that was being thrown at him. Eventually, he was able to summon the strength needed to force the man back and send him soaring into the air.

Romeo performs a backflip and lands gracefully a couple of feet away from Pantherlily who recovers and launches at him. Using the forest surrounding them, Romeo ricochets from tree to tree, barely having any time to let gravity take effect on his body before he was moving again, a giant sword slicing through the tree a moment later. Eventually, after pursuing this game of cat and mouse for a time, Romeo lands on the ground and swings his leg out to intercept the blade that was coming at him, kicking it away and almost out of its wielder's hands. While Pantherlily fought to once more regain his balance, Romeo lunges at him, driving his left foot into his gut and sending him flying into the forest. His improvised flight is stopped by him slamming into a tree, the momentum behind him being so great that it nearly uproot it. The exceed then hits the ground and instantly grabs his ribs, even foregoing his sword in the process.

"Such power!", Pantherlily cries out in his mind before taking a hold of the Musicia Blade and standing up, fighting through the pain as he did so, and charges forward.

"I think I may have gone a little overboard with that kick. Guess I'm still getting used to holding back; though I wonder if Pantherlily was always like this? I could have sworn he was stronger. Perhaps age has finally caught up with him", Romeo thought as he leans back to dodges a slash meant for his neck, courtesy of the black exceed, "You know for someone who wants me to speak with their guild master, you sure are trying pretty hard to make sure I can't!"

Pantherlily brings up his sword in a guard position, "You will have to forgive me, Yamio, for it seems that you have gotten my blood pumping and I am having a hard time restraining myself!"

"You're also having a hard time landing a hit on me so how about we end these charades and you can go home with some of your pride left intact?", Romeo asks, sincerely hoping that Pantherlily would take his offer this time and for a bit moment it seems like he really was with his thoughtful facial expression was anything to go off.

"Don't let your pride cloud your judgment. It has spelled the end for more men than any weapon ever has. It has toppled countries and wiped out entire races. Don't become another victim of it, Pantherlily. It's not worth it.", Romeo tells him.

Pantherlily's face forms into a frown before letting out a sigh, "As much as I hate to admit it, I have no choice but to accept your offer. But I do have one question I like to ask if you will humor me, Yamio."

Underneath his hood, Romeo raises an eyebrow, "Oh? And what would that be?", he asks.

Pantherlily stabs his sword into the ground and smiles, "I saw the aftermath of what happened last night between you and the Vulcans. It seems that you used some sort of blade to cleanly slice off their heads and limbs. But so far you have yet to use any such weapon and I feel that you don't consider me a worthy enough opponent to resort to it."

"Or you just want to gather as much information about me that you can get in order to tell Laxus", Romeo thought before speaking, "Don't take it too personally but I save such methods for when I actually have no choice but to spill blood."

"Are you saying that you could have killed me if you wanted to, Yamio?", Pantherlily asks.

"I'm saying I have no reason to", Romeo replies, hoping he understood his choice of words, "If I really wanted to kill you the kids would have still been here to witness it."

"Hmph, I see", Pantherlily says as he places his sword on his back, "I advise you leave this area today and never return for if you don't I cannot be held responsible for what may happen to you."

" I still have business to attend to around here but I assure you that it will bring no harm to the citizens of this town", Romeo replies.

Pantherlily merely regards Romeo for a moment before his wings reappeared out of his back. While holding his ribs with one arm he performs a single flap and soon found himself a couple of yards off the ground, hovering.

"Farewell, for now, Yamio. I have a strong feeling that we will meet again", Pantherlily says before taking off into the sky and heading for Magnolia as Romeo watches him fade away in the distance.

"Geez, that could have gone better", Romeo says as a fire and ice magic circle appear on either side of him.

"It also could have been over far quicker if you would have just asked", Kasai states as he scans the area, making sure that no more surprises awaited them.

"I am in agreement with Kasai", Rhew voices as he circles his summoner, putting his body between him and any more potential dangers, "Why did you not call upon us to aid you, Pup?"

"First of all, I can handle myself pretty well. Second, because I did it by myself so everyone gets to go home with all their limbs attach. It is not like I wanted to kill Pantherlily", Romeo states.

"He was trying very hard to do it to you though", Kasai points out, "I know daemons who are better at bringing people in alive than him."

"You have also killed those same daemons", Romeo points out to which Kasai merely shrugs.

"Putting aside past exploits for now, why did you not just reveal yourself to the cat-like creature? It would have solved a number of issues", Rhew questions.

Romeo lets out a breath "I already told you, it's not that simple. Mostly because he wouldn't believe me."

"You mortals and your tendency to doubt everything you hear", Rhew grumbles, "I suggest we leave this place before someone else shows up."

Romeo looks toward the guild hall, a thousand things racing through his mind.

"Yeah, between the kids and Pantherlily, I doubt the next group to come out here is going to be lacking in numbers and I rather avoid fighting Natsu and the others", he states as looks toward the direction of the second guild hall, "Let's get going", he says as he takes off with Kasai and Rhew tailing him.

A/N: Well, a few more familiar faces were introduce and the plot moves forward, hopefully.