First Steps VII
[Arvid Sawyer]
"Come in," came the muffled response after Conbolt knocked on the door he said led to the Master's office. Arvid gulped as the door was opened and they shuffled inside. Sure, Conbolt and that girl, Cana, had made it sound like it was easy, but they were already Fairy Tail mages. Maybe it was easy for them.
But they had sounded so encouraging and what Cana had said, that they didn't have many members because few dared to go… It gave Arvid hope. Maybe they could join. Reading over the form as they got to the office, he'd searched for anything that sounded like a deal breaker that would get them rejected for whatever reason. He had found nothing of the sort. It almost reminded him of the forms he'd filled to register as a mage. Personal information, information regarding his magic and a few more things here and there.
"Master," Conbolt greeted, sounding pretty casual. Maybe he was a friend of the Titan? Arvid certainly couldn't imagine talking like that to a Wizard Saint, of all people. "It seems we have two new prospective members," the blue-haired man explained, waving his hand towards Saulus and Arvid.
The man, who looked shorter than most children, sat with his back resting against a chair that was far too big for him. He could imagine that his legs dangled nowhere near reaching the floor, hidden behind the desk. The man's head was bald at the top and a big mustache hid most of the lower side of his face. He looked a bit comical, but Arvid couldn't gather the will to think that even one bit.
Even if he didn't already respect the man too much for that, the feeling of power he sensed would have stopped him anyway.
It hit him like a tide as soon as he took his first step inside the office. Power rolled off the diminutive elder in waves so big that threatened to both blow him away and crush him where he stood. He had imagined that someone occupying one of the ten Wizard Saints seats had to be powerful, but not even in his wildest dreams did he imagine that said power could feel like it did at that moment. It was like an entire mountain cast its shadow upon him and threatened to fall all at once on top of his shoulders if it so wished.
There was no escape, as soon as one had gained this… giant's wrath. All one could do was stand in place and look in awe. Arvid realized that he wasn't looking at a person then and there. That was a natural disaster shaped like one.
The man's title as The Titan made so much sense in his mind at that moment, and that was without taking into account his magic.
"... Pleasure to meet you, sir," he greeted after gulping, holding back the urge to wave his hand shyly as if he were a child. Steeling his resolve for what felt like the hundredth time that day, he continued speaking. "I'm Arvid Sawyer and I'd like to join your Guild."
"Pleasure to meet you," his friend said from his side in an uncharacteristically polite tone. He spared a look at Saul from the corner of his eyes and noticed that he looked a bit spooked. Not that he could blame him. "I'm Saulus Lambent."
"None of that "sir" thing, child. Just Master is fine, Master Makarov or Master Dreyar works too, if you must," the tiny old man behind the desk replied with a warm smile that Arvid had seen in grandparents often. His power seemed to be suppressed instantly, letting them breathe for the first time since they had entered the room, Arvid realized.
A small apologetic smile appeared behind the tiny man's mustache, almost as if ashamed about not reigning his power in before. He still could feel it though, but it wasn't as oppressive. It was as if someone had managed to hold back the mountain itself and now the thing held a more welcoming nature to it. No longer did it threaten to fall and crush him with its sheer presence alone. Now it invited them to rest and relax under its shadow, to partake under the bounties that grew under its care and protection.
Arvid wasn't particularly good at sensing magic, a skill he didn't really have that much time to practice given that, without counting Saul, he had only met a handful of mages up to that day. However, he could tell that the man had suppressed his natural power just for their sake. If that wasn't telling enough, then he didn't know what would be.
"So you two wish to join my Guild?" the Master said, pulling Arvid out of his reverie.
"We do, s-Master," he replied, stumbling on the word. It felt odd, to call him Master though. It made Arvid feel like he was already part of Fairy Tail and he didn't want to get his hopes up. He'd already fallen for that well enough after talking with Conbolt and Cana. If he kept going down that rabbit hole and it turned out that they still failed…
He didn't know how he'd take that.
"... Mr. Conbolt–" the man behind them snorted at the honorific. "–said that there wasn't any test or anything, but that we would be judged by you, so I am not sure what to expect here, sir," Saul commented from his side. Immediately, he winced as he realized that he'd just used the title he had just been told not to. Who would have thought that being polite for once would bite him in the ass?
Somehow, that was just like Saulus.
"None of those stuffy tests whatsoever, not here at Fairy Tail. We don't judge someone by their power, but by their heart. It is not about your abilities, it is about what you do with them, after all," Makarov said with a chuckle as he waved the "sir" away with his hand. He'd evidently recognized the mistake for what it was.
Arvid guessed they were lucky. There were rumors of what Jose Porla – another one of the Wizard Saints and Master of Phantom Lord – would do to those that made him repeat himself. None of them were pretty.
"Besides, Macao trusted you guys enough to bring you here, after all. That means that he finds you two likable enough, which is already a good point in your favor," the man indicated to the two seats in front of his tall dark wood desk which held piles of documents that were as tall as the man himself. "I see they gave you the forms already. Have you completed them?"
"No, I-We-" Arvid stammered. What was he even supposed to answer to that? 'No, we haven't. Could you wait for a bit, please?' This wasn't an impatient customer, this was the Master of Fairy Tail. His nice and polite carpenter smile wasn't going to cut it this time.
"I took them here before they could and then I gave them a quick tour. I didn't think you'd mind if they go over that with you quickly. I think you'll like these two, Master." Conbolt thankfully answered for him as he tried to come up with what to say. "And also that you would like a break from the paperwork too," he added then with a joking smile that still managed to look sad. Arvid was really wondering what was going on, but that didn't seem like the right thing to ask, all things considered.
"You thought right," Master Dreyar replied with a short weak chuckle, right before looking at the piles of documents with a glare that told them he would set them aflame if he could. "You can go now, Macao. Thank you." And with a nod, the fire magic user left through the door, leaving Saulus and Arvid alone with Fairy Tail's master. "Well feel free to make yourselves comfortable, you can fill the forms here while we chat for a bit." The old man held an inviting smile, as they took the empty seats in front of the desk before extending his arm to the side and taking two pens that he passed at them.
It was a bit awkward to sit there as they wrote down the information needed. Especially because Arvid could almost feel The Titan's eyes on them while they did so. Fortunately, the silence didn't last long.
"So, do you mind if I ask where you came from?" the Master asked curiously.
"We are both from Wintergreen. You probably haven't-"
"By Willowherb, right? I think I remember hearing about that village once," the man commented idly, looking up as he reminisced. Arvid was too surprised that Fairy Tail's Master had heard of their backwater settlement, quite honestly. He thought no one would know about them besides their neighboring villages and towns, really.
"Yeah, that's the one," he replied, not quite able to keep the surprise out of his voice.
"I believe that Gildarts had a mission close to there once," the man mused while scratching his chin, almost like he was thinking out loud to himself. An apologetic look on his face as the memory clicked on him. "Sorry about that…" Makarov said while reclining his head.
He remembered that.
It was around ten years ago, and it involved a rather huge group of Harpies making nests at the top of the mountain. An S-Class quest, the newspaper had said when Willowherb sent a quest to the Council. Apparently they would sweep in and grab merchants and supplies and drag them up all the time. It was pretty much killing all trade in the zone. So, Fairy Tail took the quest and sent Gildart Clive, their Ace, to clean the mess.
Now that same mountain on their mountain range… Well, it didn't have a peak anymore. Nor did the mountain next over. More than half of it had been annihilated in less than five minutes and a big trench had been made at the side. It was quite a mess to reroute the entire caravan trip after the landscape literally changed.
Incidentally, that was also the first time he heard about Fairy Tail and the time he decided that was the guild he would go to if he ever had the chance.
"Ah… No problem?" Arvid said, out of words on how to accept the apology. He noticed that was happening fairly often since he entered this office. Then again, he didn't know what to do with himself in general, then and there.
"I don't think I've heard of a mage coming from there before," the Master commented, trying to move the conversation along, and Arvid's excited smile twisted into something else. The same feeling he had when his eyes finally landed on a magic book worth something rushed through him. It was also the same feeling he had when he'd taken his first step outside Wintergreen, or into the first bigger town, or with their first unofficial and official jobs.
"I don't either and I'm from there," he replied, grinning widely. "It's not surprising though, the place is… not known for being exciting."
"I'll take your word for it then," the Master said with a smile of his own, this one looking more honest. If nothing else, the shift in his expression seemed to be something the old man liked, if the way he returned it was any indication. "There are Guilds closer than Fairy Tail though, why do you want to join ours, specifically? Why cross basically half of the country to get to us? What do you hope to achieve here, young man?" the Master asked, his gaze sharpened like a hawk. Arvid felt a smile forming on his face even through his nerves. For the first time since this conversation started, he was confident in his answer.
"I decided to become a mage to see the world, to experience new things, interesting things," he answered, now familiar excitement bleeding into his voice. "And from what I know, there's no better option for that than Fairy Tail," he said, almost unable to stay seated as he spoke. A conviction that had been building in him through his life seemed to suddenly decide to course through him without restraint. It reminded him of circulating his magic to strengthen himself, but much, much better. The words came from his mouth with a determination that seemed to come from the deepest part of his heart. "I will see everything I can, experience everything I can. I'll enjoy everything this world has for me."
"Well, you are not wrong about Fairy Tail being the perfect place to achieve that," Dreyar replied with a chuckle. "We do get into some interesting situations quite often, indeed," the man added, but some hurt seemed to bleed into his eyes then. "For better or worse… And you, young man?" he asked then, turning towards Saul while Arvid tried not to gulp again or stiffen. His friend hadn't wanted to come and join Fairy Tail, after all.
Arvid turned to look at him, watching Saul sit there, and for a moment, he worried his friend hadn't heard the man. He just continued to look at his form, all the answers already there. Except for one, the question hanging on top of an empty spot on the sheet.
Saul's mouth opened to talk multiple times, but no words came out of it. Each try made his friend sag more against the backrest of his seat, as if willing it to swallow him whole. His eyes never dared to look up at Arvid or the Master. His gaze was firmly etched on the piece of paper in front of him. On the fill-in question that the Master had just asked out loud.
'Why did you decide to join Fairy Tail?' it asked, followed by multiple lines of dots to write down your answer on.
Saul's was completely blank.
The silence stretched for a few minutes as his worries grew. Master Makarov raised a questioning eyebrow and perhaps with a bit of worry. His eyes moved towards Arvid himself, looking for a different answer this time. He couldn't help but wince, however. At that very moment, he felt even more guilty than when he had been robbed.
The Master nodded at him, almost as if had gleaned something from the lack of answer. Then he directed his attention back to his friend, who remained unaware of the unspoken "conversation", if it could be called that. Dark onyx eyes continued locked the paper, but looking at something only he could see.
Arvid didn't like that.
It reminded him of Saul when they were young. It reminded him of times when he would just stare at the distance and not react even when they talked to him. It was almost as if his friend would disappear somewhere only he could go, a place from where he would have never come back if Arvid or Miko didn't try to bring him back to reality. It had been years since that last happened.
Be it instincts or worry, he didn't know, but he tried to shake Saul's shoulder to snap him out of it at the same time Makarov raised his hand to cough and call the attention back to him. Neither of them managed it before Saul abruptly rose from his seat. The chair wobbled and threatened to topple over at the action. The form fell to the floor along with the pen. The stack of papers on top of the desk swayed dangerously.
"You know what? This is stupid," Saul finally said languidly, but with a hint of something in his voice. "It was a mistake to come here. I am sorry for wasting your time, sir. V, I wish you the best around here. I'll tell Miko you're doing okay and made it in," he continued all but running in the direction of the door.
"Saul-" he went to call in a panic. He'd been an idiot. Of course Saul would react like that. Arvid, had been an idiot. Again. After all that he said to Miko, he just made the same mistake.
"Young man," the Master said, his voice calm and soft, but it made both of them stop where they were, with Saul's hand extended towards the door. "Please, calm down," the man added. "I think," he started then, slowly. "That I'm going to let you both join," Dreyar said then and if what they'd heard at the bar had been surprising, then that was even more so.
"Really?" Arvid managed to say, a grin tugging at his lips before it died a quick death. Something was going on with Saul, after all. If his friend still decided to leave, then…
"I can't-"
"Child, maybe I'm wrong, but I think you want to join, even if you don't think so yourself," he continued then, interrupting Saul before he could say anything else. "You can leave that question blank for the moment. Give me your answer later and if I'm wrong, you'll be free to go then. I do believe your friend would like to have you here, if nothing else."
Arvid turned towards his friend, wanting but not daring to look too pleading or hopeful. The last thing he wanted was to force his friend into something he didn't want. No, this had to be Saulus' choice.
"I don't think I will make the cut," he said with a sardonic tone. "I am not some kind of legend like you, or even those guys downstairs."
"Nobody asked you to be a legend, just to be yourself. I said that before, didn't I?" the Master chuckled. "There are few requirements for joining Fairy Tail, but in my eyes, that one is the most important of them all. It's not about how much you can do or who you are, it is about what you do and who you decide to be. That is the true essence of Fairy Tail, what we truly value in this Guild," the Master said, almost as if he was reciting an old memory. His gaze glazed over for a moment, as he looked at an old picture of a group of people hanging on top of one of the walls. They were all smiling and looked happy, especially the blonde girl at the front.
"Well, I don't feel like doing anything at all," Saul said with a derisive snort. "I can't even fill a fucking question on a piece of paper, so how would I know what I want to do? Why would you even let me in if you don't even know me?"
The Master stayed silent for a moment while staring at Saul.
"Tell me young man, do you know why our guild is called Fairy Tail?"
Arvid blinked at the non-sequitur while Saul just continued staring.
"'Do Fairies have tails?' That is a mystery no one would be able to answer for you. No matter how hard you look at a library or ask people, you will never find it. It is an eternal mystery," Master Makarov said.
That sounded… bad, didn't it? Why name their Guild after something that nobody knew about? It didn't make sense to Arvid, quite honestly. And yet, he learned forward, because he knew there was something coming, an explanation. If he were a betting man, which he most definitely wasn't, he'd say that it was an important explanation.
"And it is a mystery because, in recorded history, no one has ever truly seen a fairy. There is no evidence of their existence and even rumors about them are scarce and spread out, all of them leading to misunderstandings or lies," The man continued, his voice soft but clear almost as if he was giving a lesson.
Saulus snorted again, reclining against the door. At the very least, he didn't seem interested in leaving anymore. He was listening, hanging on the Master's every word, even if he tried to pretend he wasn't. Arvid sure as hell was, for his part, but he knew his friend well enough to know that.
"Then, if no one has seen, heard, or even found trails of one of them, that would just mean that they don't exis-" Saul tried to say, but he was quickly cut off.
"They exist." Makarov said with as much certainty as Arvid felt when he gave his answer. "I can assure you of that."
"How would you know that? You just said that there is no evidence."
"Sometimes, one does not have evidence to believe in something, young man. The heart leads us forward with hope alone even when the world denies it. It is just a matter of finding that hope and letting it lead you. An eternal mystery would lead to an eternal adventure, don't you think? Fairy Tail was made with the intention to answer this very question with no answer. Because the answer and the path we made to find it, it is just as important as the question itself. As long as someone follows what they believe, they will have the strength to do anything."
Saulus remained quiet.
"You asked me why I would let you in, without even knowing you. My answer is rather simple," Makarov chuckled before rising from his chair and walking towards his friend. The difference in size was obvious, but something in Arvid's mind made him feel like the two of them were looking at each other eye to eye. "I will let you in my Guild, because I believe in you."
Saulus flinched at that, almost as if he was struck.
"I believe in the two of you. Even without knowing you. I choose to let you in because I believe you have what it takes," the Master said. "I believe both of you are Fairy Tail mages, at heart."
"We… haven't even given you the forms yet," Saul pointed out weakly, looking down at the paper that was now lying on the floor. Makarov seemed more amused than anything as he heard that.
"I don't need to read those," the old man answered with a smile on his face. "I say you have what it takes to be part of Fairy Tail, young man. I see many things in you, in both of you, and I think letting you join is the right thing to do," he continued, looking very sure of what he was saying, not a shadow of doubt anywhere on his person. "I think I would regret letting you go now," he added then, his expression growing grave. "And I regret too many things, young man. So, would you do this for an old man like me?"
"...Why would you care so much? Why do you want me to join so badly?" Saul asked and there was a hint of desperation there that broke Arvid's heart. He really had been an idiot. He should have known better. He did know better. So why was it that he hadn't seen-
"Because…" The Master made his way back towards his desk, but instead of seating in his chair once more, he fiddled with the piles of documents. Moving them from side to side as if looking for something. The action remained for a few seconds, before he seemed to find whatever he was looking for and turned towards them once again. "Every journey, every legend, has to start somewhere. We will never know what path we will take. We never know where a path will lead us." The Guild Master looked at both with a gleam Arvid couldn't really understand. "Sometimes, it's a matter of taking the first step. And I can't wait to see where you two will go, and what you will achieve." A big goofy smile plastered peaked through the man's mustache.
'Come on, Saul, please,' Arvid thought to himself, still not daring to say or express what was in his mind. 'We can do this, the two of us. Come on.'
"That is, of course, if you would let us," Dreyar said, extending his hand and showing them a small stamp. "So, tell me, young man. Will you search after this mystery with us? Will you join my Guild in its journey and let us join you two in yours?"
Master Makarov stood in front of both of them with the stamp pointing in their direction, showing the glowing symbol of the Guild that they had seen at the banner before.
"Tell me. Would you chase fairies with us?"
Arvid stared at Saul then, and the moment he saw the shift in his friend's expression, he grinned widely.
They were joining.
[} Chapter End {]
The authors you are trying to reach are procrastinating, please leave a review after the sound-
Arc: Wait! We are here!
Adrian: We are?
Arc: Barely, but yes. We managed to finish the cleaning process of the chapter just in the nick of time, but we made it all the same. It was such an important chapter too! Lots of emotions and new beginnings here.
Adrian: I guess you guys could say this is the end of the first actual arc of the story if we don't count the prologue. Hope you all have enjoyed the ride so far.
Arc: We certainly have. Magical Routine is always a nice experience to write about whenever it is its turn in our not-so-little rotation system. That being said, please leave a comment if you enjoyed the chapter and we hope to see you all next time!
Random Adrian Question: Anything you are looking forward to in this adventure?
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