If one looked at the small town of Magnolia seven years ago, they would not recognize it now. Located in the Kingdom of Fiore, this small town with a population of 60,000 was a prosperous merchant city that housed the Guild of Fairy Tail. Magnolia possesses a large built-up area, extending over a large, rectangular surface to the shores of Sciliora. Splitting the town vertically and horizontally is a series of large roads. The whole place is western in style, with its buildings being mildly reminiscent of neat Medieval ones.
Located almost in the middle of the town, overlooking Central Path, a horizontal road where events and parades are held, is Kardia Cathedral, one of Magnolia's most important and distinctive landmarks. In the northernmost part of the city, sitting on the shore of Lake Scilliora, about 4-5 kilometers up the Magnolia central path. At least that's what people were used to in the city. Now it looked more like a small kingdom than a small merchant town. The Kardia Cathedral is no longer the most eye-catching part of the city.
Dominating the skyline stood a tower reminiscent of a tree, whose height looked like it could reach the heavens themselves. The bottom of the tower was built to resemble the root of a tree, with several buildings and other areas arranged in a circle surrounding the trunk. Whose design was twisting around itself, leading up to the canopy of the tree. The top of the tower was a flat base, and then a dome was built to look like the canopy of a giant tree.
This was the new guild base of the guild of Fairy Tail, built in the likeness of their holy ground. Home to some of the most powerful mages of the age.
"How did it change this much?" was the shocked question from the former Guild master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar. Makarov is an extremely short, elderly man. He has black eyes and is growing bald, with only the outer rims of his head containing white hair. He also has a thick white mustache. He has a black stamp of the Fairy Tail guild mark that covers his entire chest area.
"Well, most of the changes began a year or so after you all disappeared, but the town didn't really start to grow until two years after your disappearance." Explained Eve Tearm. Eve was a slim, relatively short boy with longer, wavier, and slightly messier hair. He wore a casual outfit, with a short-sleeved shirt left untucked over navy blue suit pants complementing the tie around his neck, covered in white and blue diagonal stripes, and brown leather shoes.
"Still to think it would change this much in 7 years," Makarov said. "Amazing, simply amazing."
"What's that huge tree building?" Asked Elfman. Elfman is a large, muscular man with tan-colored skin, whose height causes him to tower over most of his fellow guild members. His long white hair is styled upwards in long, wavy spikes, his dark eyes possess no visible eyebrows, and his rectangular, elongated face has a stitched scar running down its right side, crossing his right eye. His black Fairy Tail stamp is located on the left part of his neck.
"Some new guild?" Gray asked. Gray was a young man whose most prominent feature is his spiky black-colored hair. He has dark blue eyes, and his body is toned and muscular. His member stamp is below his collarbone on his right pectoral muscle and is dark blue in color.
"That is the guild hall of Fairy Tail. The guild master wanted to keep the hall the same during the second expansion of the town. However, the members overruled the decision, and everyone voted to redesign it. Eventually, after months of back and forth, everyone settled on an homage to Tenrou Island. So an old drawing of the island was dug up, and the hall was made in that image." Answered Ren Akatsuki. Ren is a slim young man of average height with dark, spiky hair reaching down to his shoulders, with long strands framing his face. Each of his eyebrows juts upwards in a pair of thin spikes, and his dark skin distinguishes him due to the Tanning Lacrima he used on himself.
"Fairy Tail is the strongest and largest guild in all of Fiore, and the guild hall reflects that." Finished Hibiki Lates. Hibiki is a slim young man of average height with spiky, somewhat messy brownish-blond hair framing his face. He has dark eyes and noticeably long eyelashes. He's considered handsome by most girls, many of them being willing to join Blue Pegasus to be near him.
Shock and awe once again filled the faces of the members of the Tenrou group as they looked at the kingdom and the hall with newfound understanding. Makarov could not help but utter amazement as he gazed at the new guild hall, his eyes gathering tears.
He couldn't believe it. The guild survived and thrived. Now he was wondering who was the master. After all, there were only a few senior members left and even fewer who could be strong enough to discourage the magic council from meddling.
"Who is the fourth master of Fairy Tail?" Asked Makarov. "Macao? Wakaba? Did Laxus come back?"
It was Ren who answered. "Well, Laxus did come back and is now the vice-master of the guild. Second in command of all guild operations and right-hand man of the guild master and wizard saint."
"Macao and Wakaba hold elder positions in the guild and are responsible for the new and younger members of the guild before they form teams," Eve added.
"During the third year that you all were missing, Fairy Tail had a restructure of their hierarchy." Explained Hibiki, seeing the confused looks on the group's faces. "Now the guild has a Guild master, two vice masters, a set of elders, then S-ranked members, then the team leaders, and the teams, at the bottom, are new and solo members."
"Since it has worked so well for Fairy Tail, other guilds have copied the structure." Eve once again added.
"You still haven't answered the question." Erza stated. "Who is the new guild master of Fairy Tail?" Erza is a young woman with long, scarlet hair and brown eyes. She lost her right eye as a child and now has an artificial one, which Porlyusica created. She has a slender, voluptuous figure. Her attire consists of custom-made armor by Heart Kreuz smiths, a blue skirt, black boots, and diamond-shaped silver earrings. Her Fairy Tail stamp is blue and is located in the middle of her left upper arm.
"Of course, our apologies. The fourth guild master of Fairy Tail is none other than Natsu Dragneel."
XXX
A few AU changes, but ill explain them as we go. Also, another plot bunny. I've seen read a few guild master Natsu fics, and wanted to give it a shot.
Chapter 2 is out on p=tron.
S95N out!