Today's chapter will be important and pretty interesting, so let's get into it!

Enjoy!

Steph got to stare at her roof for all of a few seconds before her eyes widened.

"Shit! She shouted, sitting bolt right up in her bed. "I'm late for work!" She sprung from her bed and sped to the closet, flinging it open frantically. She looked around it a panic, and growled. "Where the hell is my uniform?! Fuck!" She looked around the floor of her room, but still couldn't find her work uniform. Cursing again, she stormed around her room for a bit, cursing, before she paused. She slowly backed up and looked out the window, her eyes widening.

"Oh, right." She murmured, feeling incredibly stupid and apprehensive at the same time. "I'm...I'm back home."

The sprawling city of Magnolia lay outside her window. Catching a glimpse out if as she stormed around had caused her to remember what had happened.

Just the day before, she had returned home to Magnolia, her family and the guild, after an eleven year absence. The whole day had been full of tears and happiness and Steph had managed to completely forget it all in one night, at least temporarily. Sighing, she turned and looked around the room, realizing it was the room she used to have in her parents house. The room, or even the bed as it was small and uncomfortable, should've tipped her off that she wasn't still in hiding, but, she'd still managed to ignore that.

As Steph stood in the room surrounded by the life she used to live, she felt a wave of happiness flow over her. She was home. She really was. Although it could be said that technically the village she'd been hiding at would've been her home, Steph had never really looked at it like that. She loved those that she'd met and befriended there but, all the while she knew one day she'd leave. That kinda of twisted her view on the topic. Looking down, Steph regarded the floor at her feet as she thought about what she was going to do. She knew full well that her parents were downstairs, and that was fine and all, but the very thought of walking down the stairs made her nervous.

Ugh, I'm such a wuss...

Steph swallowed her pride and decided to walk downstairs. She slowly opened the door to her room and walked towards the stairs, before slowly descending down them. She felt lightheaded as she reached the bottom and slowly walked towards the kitchen, and she stood in the doorway watching her parents.

Her mother and father both looked up as she appeared in the door, and silence came over the three of them. Steph really couldn't find the words to say, and apparently neither could her parents.

"Uh..." Steph started, looking down at her feet for a moment before looking back up. "...Morning." She said. After a few more seconds passed, her mother smiled widely.

"Good morning, sweetheart." She said, starting to get teary. As much as Steph loved her mother, the tears needed to get reigned in soon. "Did you sleep okay?"

"I suppose." She replied. "The bed doesn't really work for me anymore." Her father laughed.

"I suppose it wouldn't. It wasn't made for teenagers." Steph nodded at this with a smile, but silence came back over the three of them. After Steph realized this, she coughed.

"So, uh, what's for breakfast." Her mother smiled.

"Whatever you want, sweetheart."

The bustling street of Magnolia was slightly overwhelming to Steph. She gotten a pretty good look at it the day before, but Damien had whisked her right to the guild hall before she could really look around any.

"You okay?" Steph looked up at her father as he put a hand on her shoulder. She nodded.

"Yeah, just...Soaking it in." She said, looking back at the streets. She didn't really have enough memories to really recall anyone specific, so it was really just a blur of people she didn't know. As she and her parents proceeded through the crowd towards the guild hall, however, people started to look.

"Hey, who's that girl?"

"She loos a lot like Damien..."

"I was thinking Lisanna, but Damien looks like her too..."

"Wait, is that Steph?!"

"Don't be an idiot, she's dead!" Steph chuckled weakly as the rumors started to fly about her identity. She knew they'd all get it eventually, but for now she really didn't want to go through the hassle of introducing herself as the long supposedly dead Stephanie Dreyar. She'd get a riot on her hands before long.

"Don't worry about the townspeople." Her mother told her. "They'll figure it out soon enough."

"Don't say anything, though. They'll lose their shit." Her father warned. Steph chuckled.

"Yeah, I figured." She said. As they reached the guild hall, Steph stopped and looked up. The building itself was huge, and right in the center was a huge Fairy Tail flag. Steph smiled up at it as it came down on her that she truly was back at home.

"Steph?" Steph looked down as her parents called to her. "Coming?" Steph nodded and followed them inside. Once she was inside the threshold of the guildhall, she was greeted by the sight off all the guild members sitting around talking, drinking, and laughing. It reminded her heavily of the bar back where she used to work, but roughly quadrupled in size.

"I've got a lot of work to do." her father said. "So I should go and do that."

"And poor Kinana and Lisanna have been serving without me all morning." Her mother said with a giggle, before looking back at Steph. "Will you be okay?" Steph nodded. Of course she would be right?

But as her parents walked away from her, Steph felt alienated. Of course she could do whatever she wanted to, but being without a guide in the guild made her feel out of place. Steph scanned the guild, looking for a specific mop of white hair. She soon found it, and watched as her brother cackled at something Drake told him from across the table. Steph watched with a smile as the group of five talked among themselves, and Steph recalled what that would've looked like eleven years ago. But now, she could tell that the group had changed.

Ultear didn't appear to have changed much. Steph could tell the girl was still the mediator of the group to a large extent, along with Simon of course.

Simon, who was seated next to her, seemed to be enjoying himself as well, and he said something that made Ultear face palm.

Her brother she found hard to read. He seemed to be enjoying himself, but he seemed a bit apprehensive.

Steph could tell, even from a distance, Drake was still very much the kid she remembered. The joker. Even so, she could tell his friendship with Nashi hadn't changed. He still stayed by her side.

And, of course, Nashi. As Steph watched the girl talk to the others, she couldn't help but notice that the girl had come out of her shell incredibly so over the course of eleven years. She no longer acted shy or introverted, and Steph founded that good. After all, she seemed happy now.

Steph was thrown from her thoughts as Nashi turned and made eye contact with her. The two stared at each other for a moment before Steph raised her hand a bit and gave the girl a small wave. Nashi watched her for a few more seconds before a wide smile broke over her face.

"Steph!" She called. "What are you waiting for? Come over here!" Steph blinked in confusion a few times at this, before she nodded and walked over to the group. As she reached them, with all of them staring, she felt out of place again.

"Uh, hey." She said. Damien smiled at her.

"Morning sis." He said. "How are you?"

"I'm good." She replied. she looked over as Nashi side shuffled into Drake on the bench, moving over and patting the bench next to her.

"Sit down." She said, looking very happy. Steph did so, still feeling like she was intruding or something.

"I still can't believe you, Damien." Ultear said, breaking the silence. Doing something so erratic." Damien laughed weakly.

"Aha, sorry. It was an impulse. But hey, I didn't mess anything up did I?"

"Not that we can tell." Simon said. "Still, it was a risky thing to do."

"Who cares?" Drake asked, making everyone look at him. "The outcome is worth it in my opinion." Steph smiled at this and nodded.

"I hope my presence doesn't mess anything up." She said warily, and Nashi brushed her off.

"We'll see." She said. "Right now, though, we have to make sure you get settled back in as soon as possible."

"Right." Simon agreed. "Plus, and i hope I'm not assuming here, you'd the seventh team member." Steph raised an eyebrow at this.

"Team?" She asked.

"We're a team." Ultear said. "We were hoping that you'd like to join it. What do you say?" Steph looked around at the others, and smiled.

"Of course I will." She said. "Sounds like fun."

"Awesome!" Nashi said. Steph nodded, but then turned to look around the guild hall in confusion.

"Where's Elise?" She asked. Her question went oddly unanswered, and when she turned back to her friends, everyone wasn't looking at her. Nashi and Ultear seemed to be having a silent conversation.

"...She hasn't been in the best shape mentally lately." Ultear said. "...Just give her time."

"Yeah."Nashi agreed. "Just give her time." Steph didn't know what was wrong with Elise but she hoped the girl got better as quickly as possible. After that topic left the conversation, Steph felt the need to say something.

"You guys were incredible in the Grand Magic Games." She said, making everyone perk up. "I got to watch it."

"Thanks." Simon said. "We did our best."

"I could tell." Steph then turned to Nashi. "Especially you, Nashi." The girls cheeks turned pink.

"It was nothing, really." She said, shaking it off.

"Are you kidding?" Steph asked, bewildered. "The you that competed in the Games was not the same one I knew from before."

"Lots happened." Nashi replied. "Dad came home and after that it was adventure after adventure. But thanks regardless." Steph nodded and looked towards her brother to complement him, but he was staring down at the table. He seemed to be lost in thought.

"Onii-chan?" She asked. "Are you okay?" He looked up at this and met her eyes, before he smiled.

"I'm okay." He said. "Just thinking."

"About?"

"..."

"Damien?" Drake asked. "You okay bud?"

"...Let's get out of here." Damien said, standing. "Some stuff around town we should show Steph." Nashi, too, jumped to her feet.

"Right! We should get her acquainted with town." Steph watched as the others got up from their seats, and she too stood.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt." She said.

"I'm still not sure." Steph said.

"I think you should." Ultear said. "Moving into the dorms makes you closer to Nashi, Elise and I."

"Yeah, but..." Steph shrugged. "I'll think about it. Probably should stay with my parents for a bit. Just to make them happy."

"That makes sense." Drake said. "But I'd do it." Steph nodded and looked around, making a face.

"Where'd Onii-chan go?" She asked. The others looked around at this, also realizing that while they'd been walking around, Damien had disappeared.

"That's weird." Simon said. "I could've sworn he was right behind us."

"Huh." Drake said, scratching his head. "I didn't even hear him disappear." Ultear shrugged.

"He keeps doing that." She said. "I just don't get it." Steph didn't know what her brother was doing, but she had to admit she was curious. She was curious about a lot of stuff, really.

"Hey, guys?" She asked. "What is wrong with Elise, if you don't mind me asking?" The group seemed uncomfortable at this, but Nashi sighed.

"I guess it doesn't matter if you know." She said. "It happened a few months ago. She, Drake and I were captured by a dark guild and while we were there...She went through some rough shit." Steph felt bad knowing that Elise had gone through those things. "We had her memories erased, and she recently regained them. She's doing her best to deal with it."

"Oh..." Steph said, looking down. "That's what happened during her fight with that guy from Sabertooth during the Games."

"Yeah..." The group went silent, before Drake snapped his fingers.

"I got an idea." He said, making everyone look at him. "We should totally introduce Steph to all the others. I'm sure they'd love to meet her."

"That actually is a pretty good idea." Nashi said. "How about it Steph, want to meet our other friends?" Steph nodded.

"Sure." She said. The others walked ahead of her, and Steph followed slowly. She couldn't help but feel meeting these friends would be rather interesting.

Damien stared down at the useless tombstone in front of him, deep in thought.

Steph was alive, meaning that the tombstone really didn't serve a purpose anymore. They'd probably have to get rid of it at some point.

"Troubled, Damien?" Damien closed his eyes as he heard Xisplate show up behind him. The demon walked up next to him and regarded the tombstone. "Doesn't really serve a purpose anymore, does it?"

"..."

"Laxus will probably get it removed, so no need to dwell on what this represents."

"I've got a question for you." Damien looked up at Xisplate, who regarded him quietly. "What did you mean by me knowing the full story?"

"Be more specific, Damien."

"When I rescued Steph, you said that we couldn't move past our differences unless I knew the full story. Tell me the full damn story." Damien and Xisplate maintained eye contact for a few seconds before Xisplate sighed.

"I suppose it doesn't hurt know that she's been rescued." He said. "So I'll just come out and say it." Xisplate crossed his arms and watched Damien closely. "Steph was never dead."

...

"...What?" Damien asked, head spinning violently. Xisplate sighed.

"How do you think time flows, Damien?" He asked. "If you and your friends were able to travel into the past and the future, how do you think it works?"

"..."

"It always flows in sync with itself. There is an infinite number of futures and pasts playing all at once. And they're all playing at once. There is a version of you being born as we speak while a version of you also dies." Damien stared at Xisplate, wide eyed, as the demon explained this.

"So...What you're saying..."

"A future you always returned to the period Steph supposedly died, and always saved her. And the past you involved in the situation would grow up believing he killed her, only to become the very you to travel backwards and save her. There was no way to mess up the timeline because the timeline cannot be interrupted."

"What about the future we saw without us?! Where did that come from?!"

"That is a divergent timeline. Much like Edolas is a mirror world, that is a mirror timeline that only exists for twenty years. That future too constantly plays out from the moment you and the others disappeared to the moment you returned to your own time from twenty years ahead."

Damien felt like he was falling. All of this was so much to take in...

But one thing stuck out to him.

"And you knew this?!" He seethed. "You knew you never really killed her?!"

"I don't need knowledge of times flow for that." Xisplate replied. "I knew I never killed her."

"And you let me LIVE WITH THAT?!"

"Of course I did."

"WHY?!"

"Would you be who you are today had I not intervened, Damien?" This silenced Damien, and Xisplate glared at him. "Would you be who you are had you not thought you lost your sister that day?"

"...What..."

"Because I reckon you'd be very different. You'd still be a reckless, foolish boy who thinks he's the best there is. No child with any semblance of common sense would actually attempt by takeover at that age. You were a fool. Had you not lost Steph, you'd have continued to try, and continue to lose control. And cause more pain, and more suffering. Losing Steph ensured you did not attempt my takeover again until you were forced too against Taisho."

"...You did it to protect me? And others?"

"Of course I did." Xisplate spat. "I minimized the lives and damage taken by doing what I did. You're fucking welcome."

"How did you know she wouldn't die?"

"Because an older you had been teleported to that time with the thought she had been. I knew he'd try to save her."

"But I don't..."

"Remember? You had Mest come over and erase the memories."

Damien felt as thought his skull had been cracked open. He relived every moment of those few days as a child, now remembering every time he saw his older self and his friends there. It made his head hurt.

"It might not make sense." Xisplate said. "But I had no ill will in mind. Al least not like you're thinking."

Damien didn't know what to say. All these years he'd demonized Xisplate, thinking he was a psychopathic maniac of a monster inhabiting Damien's body.

And now, after all that, he learned Xisplate had nothing but good intentions in mind?

"I...I..." Damien couldn't find his words. Although Xisplate's way of doing it might have been off, it still achieved his goal.

"You're welcome." Xisplate said. "Now," Damien looked down as Xisplate extended a hand. "I believe you and I can start over?" Damien stared down at the demon's hand, before he lowly reached out and shook it slowly. He nodded.

"Yeah." He said. "Just this time, tell me everything before you do it." Xisplate nodded, and began to walk off. Damien watched him go, head swimming with what he'd learned. As he watched Xisplate go, however, something else occurred to him.

"Hey." He called. "One more thing." Xisplate stopped and looked over his shoulder at Damien. "You said one of my friends would die after the Games. Kronos came and went and no one died. What's the deal?" Xisplate watched Damien closely for a moment before he turned his head back around.

"As I recall," he replied. "Kronos attacked you during the closing ceremony."

"And?"

"The Games were not technically over." Damien choked on his spit as he stared at the demons back. "Meaning it was not an event meant for a friends death."

"So...?" Xisplate started to walk away, but his voice haunted Damien.

"One of the six...Or is it seven now? One will still die."

If you guys have any questions about this, because I know it's confusing, don't hesitate to PM me about it. I'll do my best to explain it. Anyway I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!