Chapter 1
Edolas was alive with people happy with the revolution. Humans had begun to get used to having a life without magic, but the change was slow going. Edolas' new King had been leading the way, despite forgetting about being unable to use magic whenever he felt the need. Having the faith of the people, thanks to 'Dark King Dragneel' and his sidekicks 'Redfox' and 'Marvel', had made a big difference, and they've been following his steps to adjust.
Faust was defeated and exiled, and all his plans and conspiracies fell to the floor and turned to dust. No one seemed to know where he was, but there were sightings of him occasionally, mostly in places far from groups of people. He mostly seemed to have hidden from society and tried to keep his location secret. Two years after Fairy Tail had left Edolas and returned to Earthland, the Edolas Fairy Tail were back to their usual selves. Lucy was still terrifying, and Natsu was quiet and rarely got 'fired up'. Gray was still in love with Juvia, and Cana was a polite and elegant lady.
Erza Knightwalker, Sugarboy, Hughes, Byro and Coco had been put to work and had been humbled by their experience helping to return the Royal City to its former glory and make some improvements. Erza, Sugarboy and Hughes were now working in the guard, as they used to be, but they had spent the last two years showing proof of their worth and trustworthiness. They had shown that they'd learnt the error of their ways and wanted to work together with the King to create a new, happy world without magic.
The King, who used to be known as 'Mystogan' now had to get used to using his actual name once more. Except everyone referred to him as 'King' so it didn't really matter anyway. It had been years since anyone had called Jellal, except for the Fairy Tail Master, and he hadn't been able to see them in years. His wishes for them to be safe and happy were hopefully able to get through, but he wasn't sure what was going on in Earthland, and knowing how much chaos Fairy Tail got into, they might have made a mess or gotten into one since he'd left. Probably many messes, considering how trouble seemed to find them.
It was hard for him to adjust to all the changes considering he had grown up in Earthland, but he was slowly getting there. He had to show his people the way, after all. They didn't have a higher authority than him now that the Exceed were gone too. Things were strange, but it wasn't the worst situation to be in. He had joined Fairy Tail out of a desire to be helpful and found that the guild was a fantastic community of people who felt the same as he did. Their loyalty and commitment to the guild had been so inspiring that he knew it would be a place he could belong. Although he figured that someday he would return to Edolas, in the meantime, he knew that he could do some good in Earthland by being with Fairy Tail. Getting used to being back in his homeland had taken a while, and he still didn't feel that he was quite settled in as part of the Royal Family, despite it being his birthright. Going to Earthland hadn't stopped him from being a Prince in Edolas, after all.
A few visits to the guild that both was and wasn't the same definitely helped him get by the last few months. The members of Fairy Tail were different, but they were still people he couldn't stop himself from caring about, even though they weren't the Earthland Fairy Tail. His love for the guild went beyond that; they had been instrumental in assisting the Royal City in getting rebuilt. He'd felt bad for a while like he was using Edolas Fairy Tail as replacements, but they had shown him very quickly that he wasn't using them like that. They were their own people, and he cared for them all the same. They were truly wonderful people, just like their counterparts in Earthland.
A lot of work needed to be done, and being the new King of Edolas, he knew that these things would not happen overnight. As many people as there were that couldn't be happier with the changes, there would always be a few that weren't satisfied. Some people struggled to adjust without magic, especially those merchants whose businesses specialised in selling magic tools, vehicles and the like. Most of them had to completely close their business, and some had become destitute. Still, he had worked hard to ensure that they would be able to resurrect their business, remain merchants to continue trade, and keep the economy stable. Some had begun working for other merchants or merging their business knowledge and creating something new. Others had just started selling different products instead, and selling food and goods had become incredibly important without magic to assist in these processes.
Changing minds, hearts and souls was a hard thing to do, but as quiet as he could be, he did a decent job of swaying everyone towards his cause. He had been flat out for the last few weeks, and all his assistants were begging him to take a break. He knew he needed to, or he would get burned out. There was a new project he was working on, which was to create a university in the Royal City, to allow people to learn new skills and branch out into the world. It would also have accommodation for students who came a long distance to study there, as well as gardens and some shops to allow students convenience while living on campus. It was a massive project, and he'd been stressed about it since its inception.
So, Mystogan, or Jellal as it were, decided to make a quick and short trip to Fairy Tail.
It was much closer to the Royal City now that he allowed people to make guilds, even though there were only rare traces of magic. Most of it was simply areas with strange weather or crops that grew much better than all others. It was in nature, but not in people or objects anymore. Of course, the important thing about the guild was the camaraderie and friendship that truly mattered, not who had more potent magic. So people had made more guilds, but they were offering their services to assist people, such as farmers who needed help with their harvests, merchants who required transport goods, or even security and protection.
Despite being the King, he rarely brought anyone with him to guard him, especially to Fairy Tail. He was more than happy to look after himself and didn't want people to feel obligated to obey his every whim. Jellal didn't plan on being a tyrant, so he would not allow himself to treat his people like he was one.
Despite the differences, he still felt like it was some semblance of home when he arrived at the guild. It was still just as rowdy here as it was in Earthland. There was always someone arguing and sparring with someone else and someone yelling something for no apparent reason. Food and drink were plenty here, so everyone in the guild hung out most of the time. Lucy was basically the scariest member of the guild compared to the sweet and polite Earthland Lucy. Natsu was quiet and was often the target of Lucy's wrath. Gray continued to fawn over Juvia, who would just roll her eyes and sigh at his failed attempts to woo her. Smiling as he entered, everyone greeted him cheerfully. He talked with everyone and asked them to help as much as possible with the construction and overhaul of Edolas. They had been terrific in helping him out thus far, and he needed all the assistance he could get with the construction of the university and its facilities.
"You know we will do whatever we can to help, King of Edolas," said Wendy with a smirk, the Edolas version of the Sky Dragon Slayer Wendy, who never managed to get jaws to drop wherever she went. She was undoubtedly different from Earthland Wendy, who was tiny! He had to remember that she wasn't the Wendy he knew and had cared for in the past.
"Thank you all. You don't know how much I appreciate this from all of you." He thanked them graciously, and even though he never said much, his quiet voice could still command the attention of everyone in the room, which today also included a new face.
She was sitting at the back of the guild, in the far corner, but didn't notice his gaze until everyone else realised what the new King was staring at. He saw that she had long, dark hair that faded to a pale brown, then blonde at the ends. Her slate eyes eventually looked into his dark ones and looked away swiftly after her eyes went wide as saucers as she recognised him and then gave a nod of respect for her King. Most of the others didn't bother with too much formality since he preferred it to be like his own guild hall rather than him being a King visiting his subjects.
Natsu spoke up first. "We don't know much about her, but she helped me when I fell off a wall I was rebuilding. She told me her name was Serana. It seemed she had nowhere to go, so I brought her here. She wanted to join the guild!" Natsu said with a grin, always happy to have a new friend.
"She is quiet but a very nice and mindful girl. She has my approval." Cana commented from her seat at the bar before flicking her hair slightly. "Serana, come over and meet our friend, who is also the King of Edolas."
The girl looked at Cana and at everyone else who was looking at her, and even though it was bizarre and a bit nerve-wracking, she walked over to the group standing around the blue-haired man and bowed politely to him with a small smile, which looked rather good on her compared to her shy expression, Jellal thought to himself before slowly bowing his head in return, smiling back at her. If she was only new, she wouldn't know how frequent his visits were and that he was more like part of the guild than the Royal Family.
"Oi, just because he is the King doesn't mean we can't welcome him properly!" Lucy Ashley bellowed from nowhere and everywhere before appearing just behind Jellal and putting him in one of her famous submissive moves where his arm was bent behind his back, but not too much so it would actually hurt him.
He twisted out of Lucy's hold and laughed with his friends, glad that even though personalities were opposite, things were still pretty much the same here as they were at the Earthland Fairy Tail. He really missed the friends he grew up with in the guild, but having familiar faces made him feel more comfortable.
Even Serana was smiling at him. He spoke to her with a sudden burst of courage that he shouldn't really need, considering he now ruled over these lands.
"Serana, it's nice to meet you. How did you end up coming to the Royal City to join the guild?" he used his most 'kingly' voice to ask her, and the other members of the guild moved away but kept watch from a distance as Serana approached the King and walked with him towards the door of the guild.
"Nice to meet you too, Your Grace. Uhh, I don't really know what to tell you. My village was outside the Royal City, and during the fight between...your father, and the Earthland people, it got destroyed by the falling islands and the rubble." she explained to him. "I wanted to come to the Royal City to find work, and I ended up helping with some of the building. Natsu almost knocked himself out after falling, and I looked after him since I was worried he'd cracked his skull," she admitted with a chuckle.
"I am so sorry to hear that. Do you have family in your village?" he continued the conversation, genuinely feeling for the girl. The change in her expression made him feel worse, as he seemed to have struck a nerve.
"I don't have any family." As she spoke, her eyes were on the floor, and he felt bad for asking.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." his eyes watched the ground, hoping he hadn't upset her.
"No need. I've been on my own for a long time, so I'm pleased to have found Fairy Tail. They've made me feel very welcome." she still spoke quietly.
"They will look after you, and you'll be able to keep up some work in the Royal City with all the city work I have planned. Is there anything you specialise in?" He asked, wondering if there was anything he could do to help her settle in.
"Uh, not really. I used to be in the Army, but I'm nothing special." She offered and held her hands up to make herself appear less interesting.
"I suppose you wouldn't want to rejoin the Army since you've joined Fairy Tail." He gave her a small smile, and she smiled back and nodded in agreement.
Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed that one of his staff had come to fetch him. Clearly, there were matters for him to attend to, and he would need to return to the palace. Coco had come to get him, though she had grown up significantly over the last two years. She had worked hard to make up for her role in Faust's plans but was a sweet girl and only wanted the best for people. That made her perfect to work with him, to help keep him on the right path and tell him what she thought of his decisions and ideas.
"My apologies, everyone. Looks like I need to go. Nice to see you all!" Jellal raised his voice to ensure that all of the guild hall could hear him wishing them goodbye.
They responded loudly and fondly with their own goodbyes and well-wishes. Since he'd been so busy, he hadn't been able to see them very much, and he wouldn't be able to visit them for the next few months. He looked at Serana, standing next to him and smiled.
"Take care, and I'll come back soon. Nice to meet you, Serana."
"Nice to meet you as well, Your Grace." She bowed slightly, keeping her head down to show respect.
As he left, Coco ushered him back towards the palace while the Fairy Tail guild members waved happily to him...