May 1, Year 777

Oak Town was a natural town that took advantage of the landscape and the hill it rested on. It was a town where, no matter where you lived, you could always catch sight of the castle towering overhead. Its giant arches and tall walls overlook the city like a silent Gaurdian, housing its loud and restless guards. Most days, you could look up and see the castle and feel safe, knowing nothing below would be strong enough to topple the guild that rested its throne in Oak Town.

"Hey, what are they doing..."

"Aren't those the two kids that got in..."

"They eat at my restaurant all the time..."

"Why are they up there?"

However, that morning, in particular, no one found comfort in looking at the castle. The only thing they felt was confusion and slight worry, ever-present as they noted two kids standing atop the guild hall. One had black hair, and one had blue, standing near the edge with contradictory expressions.

"This is stupid," Siegrain said plainly, crossing his arms with a judgmental expression as he watched Vera lean his head over the edge. Looking down at the drop without hesitation, "What are you talking about? My plan is foolproof."

"That's the biggest lie you've ever told."

"Oh ye of little faith, when I get this first try, you owe me lunch."

"When you're a puddle on the ground, I'll owe you nothing," Siegrain muttered with a disappointed sigh, walking next to Vera to glance at the drop below. The castle was large, and they were at the top, so the drop had to be at least 60 feet to the ground. It was probably more, but that didn't make a difference; it was still enough to kill Vera if this entire thing went south.

"Do you seriously have to test it this way?" Siegrain asked, turning to Vera, who nodded firmly. Vera shrugged as he hopped up and down on the roof tiles to prep himself, all the while explaining his insane decision, "I'm never gonna know until I try it, and I want to try this now because I don't want to find out if I can do it or not on a mission."

Siegrain only frowned in response, keeping his disgruntled comments to himself as he conceded a point to Vera. What he was trying to do was stupid, but it would be helpful if it worked, and a mission in the middle of nowhere was not the place to find out if it didn't work.

I can't believe I'm letting him do this...

Siegrain put his hand to his face remorsefully, bracing himself to be a bystander as Vera stretched his arms before adding on with a slight, admittedly nervous laugh, "Relax, I've already done it, jumping off of trees and houses, but it isn't useful that way. This is the best way to test it without me finding a cliff in the middle of the mountains."

Vera closed his eyes and took a deep breath, stirring his magic as he muttered, "Besides..."

Vera glanced back, giving Siegrian, who was watching with a slight frown and a hidden nervousness, as Vera shot him a reassuring grin and took a single step forward, "Sho's got my back."

Then began plummeting straight towards the ground.


Jose was sitting in his office, already in a lousy mood because Aria was away on a mission. Aria was Jose's extra set of eyes, and the fact that he was gone made it so that most of the things he could shove off on his emotional but functional ace were on his shoulders now, especially since he couldn't trust any of the others idiots under him to handle important matters, at least not to take them as efficiently as Aria.

I could force Totamaru to do some of this... he is in S class now.

Jose had given Totamaru the trials, and he had passed with flying colors. His partner Sol couldn't do the same, but Jose figured it would only be a year before the sand mage was in the same class as his partner. In Phantom Lord, being in S class was a mix of being powerful and uniquely valuable; the sand mage was almost to the point where he could be considered both.

Hm... decisions, decisions.

Jose tilted his head at the stack of papers on his desk, all signed and ready, just needing a ferry to the mayor's house. Jose glanced out the window, admiring the town's view and the falling human while he debated getting Tota...

Hold on...

Jose took a second to replay the very human, very alive teen that fell past his window a moment earlier.

That was the runt, wasn't it...

Jose pinched his nose, turned to his desk, and ignored the gasps of surprise and horror echoing from a few civilians outside. Jose turned on his CL and got Totamaru on the phone, his newest S class mage answering without hesitation.

"Hey boss, what's up? Do you-"

"Bring the rodent to my office. Now."

"Yes, guild master."

Totamaru hung up with a quick hand, leaving Jose in his office to stew over what he was going to do the runt for probably scaring half of Ok Town shitless. Jose's eyes quirked as he looked at the paperwork table and gained a malicious smile, "That should be a suitable punishment."

Aria wasn't coming back for a few days after all.


It had been three days since Siegrain had last seen his friend, three days since a severe punishment, outlawed in several countries, had been sentenced on Vera's shoulders. It had been three days, and as such, he felt it was time to give him a proper funeral, as his fate had already been sealed. Vera was in a place worse than death; it was time to celebrate the life he'd lived before that.

"Does anyone want to say a few words?" Siegrain asked blankly, looking over to Pause and Doronbo in their finest sweaters and pajamas. Pause, giving a nod as he went to the paper shrine they made in the corner of the library and bowed, "He was a jerk, but a thoughtful jerk. He will be missed."

Pause walked back to the mourning table, after which Doronbo walked up with his pristine green pajamas and a tear in his eyes, "We didn't always get along. I honestly thought he was a bit of an asshole sometimes, but he was fun and usually bought us lunch. For that, I hope he is in a better, curry-filled place."

Doronbo nodded sadly, walking back to his seat as Siegrian gave an appreciative nod before returning to the shrine and saying farewell, "Thank you for everything, Vera. I hope-"

"I'm not dead, you dickheads!"

"SHHHHHH!"

A round of silencing from the three funeral guests shut Vera's mouth shut against its will. Vera was internally fuming as he watched his friends turn back to his makeshift funeral. Their murmurs made him want to jump over the mountain of research that Jose had given him as part of the punishment and strangle them.

"Seriously, we're mourning here," Pause muttered with a shake of his head, fighting back the twitch of his lips.

Doronbo added with a thinly hidden smirk, "This is a library, too. How rude."

"I'm sorry, Vera, some people are just inconsiderate."

That Vera in question, watching as Siegrain talked to his shrine, reached his breaking point. Grabbing the nearest book, he tossed it at the shrine, only for a shadowed hand to jump out of the nearby wall and catch it before it made an impact. Vera's eyes widened in rage and betrayal as Sho put the book down and looked at him with a blank face...

Sho, I swear to everything holy...

Vera watched in scathing silence as Sho put a shadowed finger to where his mouth would have been and returned to the shrine. Sho offered his silent condolences as Vera plotted how he could end everyone quietly and painfully. His scheming halted as two others, one S class mage and his partner, walked in with a soft intention, "I heard his funeral was here..."

"Oui, we would like to say our condolences."

"Right this way," Pause said solemnly, leading Totamaru and Sol to the shrine as Vera watched with downright murder, his eyes twitching as Totamaru and Sol gave a short and admittedly sweet eulogy. Vera had to take a deep breath to calm himself down as he turned to the work Jose had shoved off on him and attacked it with a vengeance.

Shitty Jose... making me his assistant till Aria gets back... this is child labor... bastard.

Vera ground his teeth as he worked on the History of Phantom Lord report that Jose was forcing him to write in his place. Something about the 100th anniversary of the guild's founding coming up in 9 fucking years, and the guild master is expected to write an article for Sorcerers Weekly on it. In short, an elaborate way to say that Jose chose the most tedious and obnoxious thing on his agenda for the foreseeable future and made Vera do it instead.

Petty bastard...

Vera grumbled curses under his breath as he focused on the books he'd found on the matter. Most were dusty and old, but some were still useful; Vera read them thoroughly because the other option was watching his funeral, which was depressing.

Let's see... Phantom Lord was founded in the year 686 by a man named Geoffery. Their last name is unknown, and they were rumored to be a guild leader before that. They said they chose Oak Town because it was the least noisy and good for war...

Vera thought that was a little on the nose for a castle town, but whatever, the founder seemed to have his own thing going on anyway. With a blue skull painted on his face and a portrait that screamed pompous and annoying, listing 'war' as a public reason for building in a guild was the most minor concerning thing about his profile. Especially considering this was back when Fiore had taken part in a shit-ton of trade wars, guilds probably had to be prepared if they were dragged into the mix.

Well, at least he chose a cool town, even if he looks like a creep...

Vera actually thought he looked familiar, but it was hard to tell with all the face paint. It didn't seem amnesia-related either since the fog wasn't budging. The most Vera could assume was that he'd seen a picture of the weirdo somewhere else and had just forgotten about it.

Whatever, this dude's a bit of a prick anyway. Let's move on to the next one.

All the first guild master had on him was his ironclad stance on 'strength being the only requirement to join Phantom Lord' and his violent dislike for Fairy Tail. A little ironic considering how much his successor seemed to be content with ignoring them, at least for a short while he was in charge. The second guild master seemed like a more interesting case study than the first, especially with how his introduction started.

The second guild master's name is unknown, as he was only in charge of the guild for a few short months. He was reported to stay in his office exclusively before passing the mantle to the third guild master, Mikhail II. He disappeared soon after.

Now, that seemed like an incredible story, the second guild master no one knew about. He only stayed in his office, which Vera may have regretted destroying in hindsight, and disappeared as soon as he appointed a successor. The young upstart Mikhail II took over the guild at 18 and kept it for about forty years before dying of unknown causes.

This must have been the guy Torch knew...

Torch looked to be around 80; Mikhail II was reported to have died at 58, well over a decade ago. They would have been similar ages and could have even been friends, which would have explained why Torch trusted Jose, who was listed as Mikhail II's direct successor.

Jose's the fourth guild master, huh...

The book said Jose had taken the mantle about 17 years ago, the day after Mikhail died. That meant the rough timeline for the Phantom Lord guild was that Geoffery founded it in 686 and died in 720. The second guild master had it for a few months, then gave it to Mikhail II and vanished off the face of the earth. Mikhail II was guild master until he died in 760, after which Jose became guild master and is still in power. Listed in the history books as a young prodigy who conquered Phantom Lord with an iron fist at the unprecedented age of 14...

Wait what...

Jose Porla was 14 when he became guild master.

Seriously?

That was unheard of, especially for a big guild at the time like Phantom Lord was. Hell, it should have been impossible; there were bound to be people who challenged him for it. The fact that Jose kept it meant he handled all of them without any slip-ups. Jose had to have been at least S class level back then to make that happen...

That's wild...

Although Vera did have to remember that Jose was a wizard saint, Vera wasn't sure exactly when he got the title, but Jose had to have had it before thirty. That was an achievement in and of itself since most wizard saints in history didn't get the title until they were well into their thirties or forties after they'd had a lifetime to master their magic. Jose had done it in his twenties, an achievement to be recognized. It was an achievement Vera was starting to understand the scope of since his view of the title Wizard Saint was heavily skewed by the story, where only four ever showed up, and one had a less than impressive showing.

Then again, the Ten Wizard Saints seem to be more of figureheads than an actual group...

The actual group, the Ten Wizard Saints, wasn't made of ten people; it only allowed a maximum of ten members. The four gods of Ishgar were considered the four strongest mages in Ishgar and changed once every century or two if a prodigy of prodigies was strong enough to reach that level. That meant this generation's gods would probably stay there until Vera died of old age.

God Serena, God Hyberion, God Wolfheim, and God Warrod. Barely ever seen in public and almost no pictures on any of them, all that's known is that their magic is impossibly powerful.

Information on the gods was tight-lipped since they were considered Ishgar's ultimate weapons. Any leaks in their magic or appearances to other nations could be detrimental and were usually kept hidden or hard to find unless the gods themselves said otherwise. That rarely happened because the gods were more wanderers than anything and barely stayed in one place for longer than a few months at a time.

Then there were the other six seats, which could be changed depending on the circumstances or if a wizard saint retired. That meant there were at most six open spots at a time, which could be claimed if a mage got a vote of confidence from the chairman of the magic council and at least one God of Ishgar. That was a tall order to make and was why there had never been ten wizard saints simultaneously since Fiore was founded; the highest they'd ever gotten was 9.

Wow... becoming Wizard Saint is a big deal...

Being a Wizard Saint wasn't just a throwaway title; it was an honor only given to the highest order of mages. It was a title only given a few times in the history of Fiore, and Vera's guild master had that title and had earned it earlier than most could ever dream of. He had gotten it earlier than Makarov, who had been listed as accepting the title in his forties.

Dammit... that's actually kind of cool.

Vera was conflicted because Jose was a dick, but apparently he was an accomplished dick. The warring factions of his mind between petty and proud stalled as he felt a tap on his head; he looked up to see Jose looking back at him with a straight face. Vera stiffened before he saw Jose smirking with a smug, shit-eating tone, "I heard you died. I'm here to pay my condolences."

Screw whatever title Jose earned; Vera still thought he was an asshole.


Aria had only been on a mission for a week, taking a little extra to pick up something on the way back, but he felt like many things had happened while he was gone. Why else would the first thing he sees when he walks into the guild master's office be Vera, on the couch reading a stack of papers and looking like his soul had left his body? Aria tilted his head as he turned to Jose, who was at his desk, having looked up before giving a mournful sigh, "Oh well, I suppose that's the end of your punishment, brat. Get out of my office."

"Yes!" Vera screamed joyfully as he tossed the papers onto the couch and bolted out of the room. Giving Aria a passing, almost grateful smile before the young mage disappeared into the castle halls. The ordeal left Aria confused and slightly curious as he looked at Jose with a tilted head, "Did I miss something important while I was gone?"

"Just the brat giving half of Oak Town a heart attack. What about your mission? Did anything turn up?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle, although I did meet a little girl who could be a potential member. After she's old enough, of course, and hopefully when she's less... sad..." Aria sniffled at the thought, stray tears leaking out of his eyes that matched the rainy skies he'd met the blue-haired girl under. His incoming sobbing halted as Jose intercepted it with a practiced professionalism, "Well, if you're saying it, then she must have potential. Invite her when she's ready; I'm sure you'll be able to find her again."

Jose finished the last of his work, giving a breath of relief as he leaned back on his chair. His eyes flicked toward the bag in his mage's hand as he spoke with a thinly concealed interest, "Were you able to get it?"

"Yes, guild master. Very cheaply as well; the previous owner had been saved by a Phantom Lord mage."

"That's good; put it in a chest or something. I'll give it to the quiet one tomorrow."

"Am I to assume this will be from both of us?"

"Yes, Aria, I'm not that heartless," Jose said with a roll of his eyes, ignoring Aria's slight smirk as he cracked his fingers. Jose glanced at the stack left on the couch before pointing at it mercilessly, "Finish that up, will you? The brat ran off before he was done."

Turns out the rainy girl wasn't the only thing that made Aria cry that day.


Siegrain wasn't surprised when Vera came back screaming for joy the day prior, apparently freed from his fate because Aria had shown up. What did surprise him was that Vera instantly crashed and was gone by the time Siegrain woke up the next day. That meant he had to look for his recently freed friend since he knew today wasn't a training day with Jose.

Where would he go...

Siegrain wondered about it as he walked towards the guild hall, the morning bleeding to noon since he was a late riser. His options of places Vera could be at was the river, which he checked and found a total of nothing at, the local restaurants, still nothing, or the guild hall.

He must be in the library...

Siegrain was heading up the hill to check out that last option, his thoughts humming seamlessly as he walked past the vendors and the shops. His eyes trailed around with a calmness he only ever felt because he was here and not in the lab. He could only appreciate the quiet yet busy town that made him feel like he was walking through a forest rather than a castle town.

This town is lovely...

Siegrain liked this place; he liked this town. He enjoyed waking up late and not worrying about what he would do that day. He liked that he and Vera could spar with nothing on the line except their pride. He liked that he could go to the library, eat the food, sleep, rinse, and repeat for as long as he wanted. He liked the townspeople, too; even if he didn't talk to most of them, that was fine. He had a few good friends in the guild, which was enough.

I'm glad we stayed here.

Siegrain smiled fondly as he opened the guild door. The commotion of the guild was similar to any other day, prompting Siegrain to glance around before moving to the rafters. He ignored the usual chatter as he approached the library where he figured Vera would be. Siegrain was getting slightly concerned as he arrived at the door. Before opening it, he called, "Hey, Vera! Where are you-"

"SURPRISE!"

Siegrain nearly stumbled back as the library erupted in confetti. The combination of congratulations came from Vera, Pause, Doronbo, Sol, and Totamaru, who were wearing cardboard birthday hats. The entire sight made Siegrain's eyes go wide with surprise and somewhat weariness before he spotted a poster held up with Pause's magic that read a simple yet memorable message.

Happy Birthday Siegrain

Oh yeah...

Siegrain had forgotten his birthday; he'd chosen it months ago. Adding to the fact that he and Seven never celebrated birthdays in the lab, the entire ordeal slipped his mind. It was May 7th, and that was Siegrain's birthday.

"Thank you..."

Yet the surprise was by far the best one he'd ever received.


A somewhat emotional and memorable moment later, Siegrain was seated at a library table. A stupid cone hat on his head, while Vera stood beside him with a slight smirk, "So what do you think? Pretty cool, right?"

"It's alright."

"Oh, come on, I had to plan this while slaving away under Jose, you know," Vera muttered, shaking his head as he saw Siegrain's lips twitch slightly. Vera knew damn well that was as close as he was going to get past Siegrain's calm facade and accepted it with grace, "Regardless, we all got you present. So now you gotta open them and tell everyone mine was the best."

"Like hell it was Vera! Pause and I got the best gift!"

"I was the one who got the gift, Doronbo! You ran off as soon as I was in the store!"

"I paid for half, though. Besides, we're partners, that makes it our gift." Doronbo said sagely, ducking as a paper plane with the speed of a fighter jet flew past his head. Doronbo chuckled nervously as he held his hands up in appeasement, barely getting Pause's attention off of him as Totamaru scoffed and placed a box on the table in front of Siegrain with an excellent-natured taunt, "Sadly dumb juniors of mine, Sol and I got the best gift right here. Go on, Siegrain, open it."

Totamaru and Sol watched as Siegrain nodded, opening the present with a steady hand and a slight quirk on his lips. The two older mages smirked as they saw Siegrain open the small box and take out a bookmark, with one side holding a spiral design etched masterfully with sand and the other having a small fire petal burned onto it.

"It is magnefique, oui? An excellent way to keep your place when you read your stories."

"I think he knows how a bookmark works, Sol."

"It is better to be clear, no?" Sol said with a shrug, ignoring how Totamaru rolled his eyes as he turned back to Siegrain, who was running his finger over the slip of paper with a slight smile. His fingertips grazed the textured design as he turned to Sol and Totamaru with a grateful, almost bashful nod, "Thank you..."

"Any time, kid."

"Oui. It was fun to make as well. Ask if you want more... for a small fee-" Sol's greed to break even at least once this month fell short as Totamaru elbowed his ribs. Sol flopped to the ground like a deflated balloon as Totamaru shook his head, a small chuckle escaping his lips as he returned to the celebration and watched Pause and Doronbo present their gift.

"Hope you like it, Siegrain."

"Yeah, we worked hard on it."

"Doronbo, I'll throw you out the window."

"Pause worked hard on it, but I helped in spirit," Doronbo conceded, nodding shamelessly as Pause gave a defeated sigh and watched Siegrain open their gift. He ripped open the wrapping paper and lifted a small ball of multicolored yarn. Siegrain's confusion was evident in his face as Pause answered his unsaid questions, "That's magic yarn. It's used to help sewists get a handle on changing the colors of their threads. Look, try to use your thread to unravel the yarn."

Pause watched as Siegrain complied, his confusion turning to fascination as a thread slid from his finger to the ball of yarn. Its usual white color turned red at the end, bleeding into yellow when Siegrain moved it under a yellow portion of yarn. Siegrain did it a couple of times before he pulled it out and had a string with as many colors as the rainbow, all stained with magic. Siegrain could feel the residue blueprints of how to do it through his fingertips.

Wow... I could recreate this.

It would take a few tries, but it wasn't difficult; it seemed fun. It was like a puzzle he could learn to solve, one that got harder with the more complex colors he tried to turn his threads to. Siegrain liked it, so he put it in his requip space along with the bookmark and gave Pause and Doronbo a grateful look, "Thank you, guys. I'll make sure to use it well."

"No problem Siegrain."

"We got you covered, Siegrain."

"Doronbo..."

"Pause has got you covered, but I got you emotionally covered," Doronbo said with a grin as Pause rolled his eyes and gave up. A resigned sigh escaped as he turned his glasses towards Vera, who was shoving the excess wrapping paper and boxes into a trash bag. His efforts finished as he put the trash bag on the ground and turned to Siegrain with an excited grin, "Well, my turn now. This is from Sho, and I hope you like it."

Siegrain watched with slight anticipation as Sho peeked his head out of the ground, giving Siegrain a small wave before pulling out their present. Sho handing Siegrain a tiny, pristine globe with fake snow at the bottom. A small mountain in the middle of it with forests around it, the entire thing fitting in Siegrian's palm as he looked at it with a hypnotized gaze, barely processing Vera's request to shake the snow globe.

Siegrain watched with wide eyes as the flecks of fake snow moved in the orb, fluttering around the mountainside. Siegrain's eyes locked on the snow as a flutter of a memory kissed his skin, and the voice of newly freed children rang in his ears. The image of a door to a new world opened in his mind as he stared at the fluttering snow...

'It's a cool sight, huh...'

The snow was so soft...

'Come on, 8, it won't vanish just because you step on it.'

The world was so whole.

"Shit, look what you did, Vera, you made him cry!" Doronbo's loud and somewhat panicked voice rang out through the room. Siegrain ignored it as he kept looking at the globe, holding it like a lifeline. The growing panic around the table only stopped a Siegrain muttered in a choked voice, "Thank you..."

Siegrain looked up at Vera, who had frozen in concern and slight panic. Vera's eyes widened as he saw Siegrain do something he rarely did, not because he couldn't but because it was hard for him to express himself that way. After years of forcing his face to be a blank canvas, it was hard for Siegrain to do such a simple thing, "Thanks for the gift."

It was rare for him to smile so widely.


Aria appeared after the emotional gift-giving calmed down and Siegrain got his birthday cake. He almost killed Siegrain in a sobbing hug that could have counted as assault in some countries before setting him down and telling him that the guild master needed him for something.

What could the guild master want from me...

Siegrain didn't talk to the guild master, almost ever. He only knew of him through Vera, who trained with the guild master once a week. Siegrain was a little closer to Aria, if anything, talking with the ace of the guild whenever he needed advice or just a relaxing conversation. Aria was a great listener, even if the caveat was that Siegrain almost died every couple of talks when the gentle giant tried to give him a teary-eyed hug.

It could be about a mission.

Siegrain and Vera had recently completed a few missions, and each went smoothly. Siegrain didn't think Jose wanted to talk to him about them, but he had no other guess. At least until he opened the guild door and caught a bag with something heavy in it on instinct; his eyes were confused as he looked up to Jose, who hadn't looked up from the paperwork on his desk, and waved Siegrain off dismissively, "There, that's all you're getting. Now leave, I'm busy."

Siegrain blinked in confusion but complied with the order, closing the door as he stood stunned in the hallway. He looked down at the bag and took out the hard-cover book from inside, his eyes quirking as he read the author's pen name, Kemu Zaleon, before opening it and finding the author's genuine signature on the front cover. The limited edition book by one of the most famous authors in Fiore was not even what surprised Siegrain the most; it was the slip of tear-stained paper with writing lodged into the first page.

Happy birthday, Siegrain; I'm glad you've been well. You look more comfortable than when I first met you, and your name is much better than back then. I hope you like the present, it will suit you.

- Aria

Siegrain blinked slowly at the slip, picking it up and running his fingertips over it. His fingers slowly and methodically turned it over and gave sight to the message in the back that immediately stalled Siegrain's brain.

Congrats on not dying this year; this is your reward. Read it, and don't talk to me about it; I won't care. Don't tell anyone about my involvement in this, especially the rodent; I'll deny it and make your life hell.

Siegrain could only blink, stunned to silence as the slip of paper burst into flames as if on a timer. The ashes of the slip fell to the ground and slightly stained the book's first page, one of Kemu Zaleon's earlier ones, The Thunder Thief. Siegrain was quiet for a few seconds before he burst out laughing, the joyful sound echoing through the halls and lasting almost a minute before he could catch his breath. A smile etched on his face that wasn't stopped in the slightest, even as a thinly annoyed yell rang from behind the office door.

"Laugh somewhere else, runt! You're too loud!"

Siegrain turned back to the door, chuckling as he knocked on the door once as an apology. Siegrian turned to leave before he stopped, putting the book in his requip space, taking out a slip of paper, and writing a quick message on it before sliding it under the door and dashing towards the library. His small 'Thank You' was written on its face for the guild master to do whatever he wanted with it.

Hey, Seven...

Even if the guild master burned it, he wouldn't mind.

I wish we could have celebrated our birthdays together.

Siegrain had already had a perfect day.