July 16th, x778

In the peaceful city of Clover, a collection of the most critical figures in Fiore's magic community were gathered. The respective guild masters of hundreds of Light Guilds spread around the country were converging, including the famous Bob of Blue Pegasus, Ooba Baba of Lamia Scale, and Goldmine of Quatro Cerberus. The town's residents were always buzzing this time of year, with murmurs flying through the streets as one of the more popular guild masters walked through their quiet streets.

"It's them..."

"They're here..."

"I can't believe it..."

However, the murmurs skyrocketed whenever the most famous, or infamous, depending on who you asked, of these guild masters were spotted.

"Not one..."

Jose Porla, the Master of Shade Magic, grasped Phantom Lord in his iron grip at 14 and ascended to the ranks of Wizard Saint in his 20s, younger than almost any who had come before him.

"But two Wizard Saints..."

Makarov Dreyar, the Titan of Eternal Light, had shielded Fairy Tail for decades and was one of Fiore's oldest and most well-respected wizards.

"What are the chances..."

It was strange. Even seeing a glimpse of one of them would be a pleasant surprise for the passersby of Clover, a sight they could bring home to the dinner table and tell their family over a warm cooked meal.

"That both of them would be together?"

But seeing both of them at the same time was enough to cause a stir. People's eyes would follow everywhere they went, and soon, everyone in town was trying to sneak a peek at the two Wizard Saints that strolled through town, parting crowds and turning heads without the slightest indication that they cared about the peeping eyes. They were already embroiled in their conversation.

"I must say, Jose, my boy," Makarov said with a slight chuckle, ignoring the ever-present frown on his younger acquaintance's face as they walked. You seem different from the last time I saw you. Did you stumble upon some trouble recently?"

Makarov pointed towards the thin, nearly invisible scratch that had recently healed on Jose's cheek. The man in question only scoffed as he moved his finger and covered the scratch in a slight illusion that blended it with his skin tone.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, you old windbag." Jose muttered as he glared at a few of the gawking crowd, scaring some bystanders as he tried to devise a way to ditch the old man child, "I don't recall you saying you needed something, Makarov."

"Of course I do! I would never bother you if it weren't important!"

"What is it then?"

"...company," Makarov said with a small pout, bursting into a fit of laughter as he ignored the eerie magic pressure that fell on him like a slight breeze. Makarov chuckled as he flawlessly ignored the weight of Jose's ire and continued walking with his hands behind his head. "In all seriousness, though, Jose, my boy, I was hoping to discuss a few things with you. If that's all right with you."

"Can't this wait for some other time," Jose scowled as he retracted his magic pressure that had slipped accidentally. He was already pissed about being in Clover for the next few days, at least. The last thing he needed was wasting an afternoon listening to Makarov's ramblings, "I'm busy."

Especially since his ghosts were already getting restless, and it had only been a few minutes.

"Call me after this shitty meeting is over." Jose replied offhandedly as he forced a lid on his magic container, his dismissal ignored as Makarov continued bugging him, "You're no fun, you know that? You should lighten up some."

"I'll lighten up when I'm dead."

"See! That's what I'm talking about," Makarov exclaimed with a dramatic sigh, continuing to pester the irritable man next to him as they walked towards the chapel-turned-conference hall at the far edge of town, "You should have more fun! Before you know it, you'll be old and gray like me. Then it'll be too late."

"If I'm ever anything like you, I'll have Aria execute me."

"...so mean," Makarov murmured as the two approached the market in the center of town, passing a few pedestrians as a crowd parted from their path on instinct. How is that ace of yours, anyway? I heard he took down a dark guild by himself recently; he must be impressive."

"He's adequate," Jose replied, a smirk on his face as he recalled their little parting spar before he left Oak Town—the one that left him thoroughly pleased and only mildly surprised. "Although he'll need to make up his mind soon. At the rate he's growing, it'll become too big a problem to ignore."

"Oh, magic dilemma, perhaps?"

"More of a moral one, but they go hand in hand," Jose replied offhandedly, refusing to elaborate as they left the marketplace and passed through a few smaller streets heading towards the far end of town, where the chapel stood on a hill in the distance. The distance was just far enough that Jose decided he could entertain the old fool since it would be a while.

"Magic and will are intrinsically intertwined."

Besides, Makarov was one of the few people who would actually understand what he was saying. For as annoying as he was, magic was his specialty.

"As long as his will is hampered, he'll be weaker than he should be. I'd rather him come to a choice, even if it's the wrong one than stay conflicted," Jose said as he tilted his head at a nearby cloth store and added, as an afterthought, "I'd also like it if he didn't rub his bad tendencies off on his little apprentice."

"Oh? When did this happen? He got an apprentice?"

"In all but name, yes," Jose said with a roll of his eyes, offering a halfhearted wave to keep up appearances as they passed a group of children. After this, he muttered, "Although I guess sparring partner is also an apt term."

"Sparring is learning, as far as I'm concerned! Good on him," Makarov exclaimed agreeably, shooting the group of wandering kids a goofy smile before they, too, rushed past. The two Wizard Saints came towards the edge of town, where Makarov asked noisily, "So what about your little apprentice, Jose?"

Makarov was curious; sue him.

"Any developments on the little celebrity of Oak Town?"

"...please don't remind me," Jose murmured irritably as he tried and failed to forget the horde of paparazzi that had only been driven off by Vera's absence and some mild threats. It took far too long to get those bloodsuckers out of Oak Town, "I should have duck-taped his mouth shut during that interview. Would have saved me so much trouble."

"Now, Jose, he's a kid. Let kids be kids; it's the only time they're able to." Makarov stated with his infinite wisdom, only earning a scoff from his counterpart in return: "Hypocrite."

"I'm an old man," Makarov stated with a shrug, skipping for good measure as they arrived at the bottom of the hill to the chapel, "I get to be a kid because I'm closer to death than they are."

"Not what I meant, but whatever," Jose replied blandly, ignoring Makarov's confused look as he started walking up the hill. Talking back to the old man as they tracked up the gentle dirt slope towards the chapel, Jose said, "Regardless of how the rodent made Oak Town feel cramped for a week or two, his results in training so far have been passable."

"So strict," Makarov said teasingly with an exaggerated shiver. "He must never hear a compliment from you as a teacher."

"He'll get one when he earns it," Jose replied dismissively before adding, as an afterthought, "Unlike the brainless press, I'm not going to fool my student into thinking his magical abilities are better than they are. It would be a detriment."

Unlike the god-given talent, Jose had observed from runt number two, or the 'enemy of all trees' as he had personally dubbed it; his student was shit at magic. It wasn't Jose being cruel or anything; it was just true. Anyone who couldn't use more than one type of magic was garbage, and anyone who couldn't even understand or master the one kind of magic available to them was even worse.

"The rodent is a lot of things, but he's no prodigy—not in magic, anyway."

Magic was about will and will always influenced magic. More than anything, Innate Magic could even be said to be the purest reflection of a mage's will, but the rodent didn't understand his magic. He didn't even understand his own will. That made him inherently worse than other mages, even if his bustling magic container mitigated it.

"That being said..."

The rodent was among the worst students he could ask for regarding magic potential. With his strange body that left no room to grow past his innate magic, he was a dead end in the making.

"I think the mindset he has adopted is..."

Still, Jose had chosen to train him not for his magic but for his mind, which could adopt Jose's way of life.

"Acceptable."

So far, he was satisfied with the developments he'd seen.

"Unlike your disappointing lineage, Makarov."

Jose glanced at Makarov in judgmental fashion, watching as the old man's pleasant expression fell for a glare and his old knuckles clenched. "Do not overstep yourself, Jose. Laxus may be troubled, but he is not a disappointment."

"Not gonna defend your fugitive of a son."

"Jose," Makarov said with a growl, his footsteps stalling and his magic slipping in response as the two stopped in the middle of the path. Makarov glared threateningly, only for Jose to roll his eyes dismissively before the Master of Shade Magic commented offhandedly, "What?"

Jose had been scared of a few things in his life.

"Hearing so far gone you can't listen to the truth?"

Makarov had never been one of them; just the sight of the older man grinding his teeth as magic slipped from his control and thickened the air made Jose restless. It made his magic come out in response, his magic pressure clashing with Makarov's as he walked up to the old fool and whispered in his ear with a shark-like grin.

"Well then..."

Jose had always wanted to test himself against another Wizard Saint; the ghosts under his control practically screamed in agreement.

"I'll leave that touchy subject for you to stew over."

Sadly, it was forbidden.

"Just don't blame anyone but yourself when that Thunder brat ends up like his shit stain of a father," Jose whispered with confident snark as he leaned back and retracted his magic, watching as Makarov frowned but this time with more of a pensive expression. Makarov's magical pressure faded as the two began walking again like nothing had happened, only this time, Makarov's voice had lost its joy.

"I was unaware you held such a..."

Makarov's age was indeed etched in his face.

"Personal dislike for Ivan."

Makarov glanced suspiciously at Jose, who merely scoffed dismissively, "Dislike is a tamer word than I would use."

Jose had met Makarov's son once in his life.

"He came to me asking for something once."

One time was all he needed to form his own opinion.

"I told him if he came back, I'd hang his corpse outside the castle walls for Halloween."

Jose may find Makarov annoying and see his grandson as a disappointment in the making, but in comparison to the absolute loathing he felt for their relative: the coward Ivan Dreyar and his disgusting attempts to be anything more than a failure.

"So yes, you could say I dislike your son, Makarov."

Well, it wasn't all that comparable.

"Does that answer your question?"

"...yes, I suppose it does," Makarov murmured with a small frown and a bitter sigh, deciding to try to move on from the previous pothole because, for as much as he didn't like the picture Jose painted, he was appreciative that Ivan wasn't dead currently.

"Thank you for not killing him the first time."

Makarov knew enough about Jose's more violent tendencies as a Wizard Saint to realize it could have ended very differently.

"For as much as he's done wrong, he's still my son," Makarov murmured with a bitter expression, trying to push past the memories of Ivan's childhood when he was pure and innocent. As they got halfway up the hill, Jose commented idly, "You blind yourself when it comes to blood, Makarov."

"...yes, I suppose I do," Makarov admitted because he understood that truth about himself, "Although I'd argue that I'm more blinded by family than blood."

To Makarov, family was as important, if not more important, than blood. Fairy Tail wasn't a guild connected by blood, but he loved his children as if they were his own. He would care for them for as long as he could, and if anyone tried to hurt one of them, as Ivan did, he wouldn't forgive them. Blood be damned.

"What about you, Jose..."

Makarov loved his family more than anything, and he could admit that, at times, it blinded him.

"You're in the same position as me."

To Makarov, the alternative seemed much worse.

"Does your family blind you as well," Makarov asked with a curious glance, watching with interest as Jose stiffened before an icy look fell over his face and eerie magic slipped from his control. Makarov's intrigue shifted to slight surprise as Jose leveled a harsh, violet-hued glare and hissed angrily.

"Watch yourself, Makarov."

Jose had never once thought of Phantom Lord as his family, not a single time.

"My reasons are not nearly as noble as yours."

Not since he became guild master.

"Don't assume them to be," Jose finished with an icy breath. His magic fell under control, and his eyes flickered back to normal as he walked away from Makarov's stunned expression and into the chapel at the top of the hill. He moved towards a random seat and pushed past the riff-rad guild leaders before taking a seat. His feet kicked back on the table before him as he leaned back and shut his eyes to nap through the conference.

"Jose, my boy! I have a wonderful idea!"

If only this persistent old bastard would take a bloody hint.

Can't this old fool have a heart attack or something...

Jose scowled as he opened his eyes and glanced at Makarov, sitting in the chair next to him. Makarov's face returned to its goofy grin, like there weren't a hundred other chairs to choose from, and they didn't just step on personal landmines a few minutes, no, practically a couple of seconds ago.

"Let's go for a drink after this! My treat!"

Jose must be getting a case of karma for when he slaughtered those idiots back in Oak Town.

"Why in the world," Jose muttered with a growing frown as he gave up on his nap and sat back up, "Would you want to do that?"

The conference would last a couple of days, and as much as Jose might want to drink till he forgets this shitty conference, he wasn't irresponsible enough to do it. Especially with how many people were probably keeping an eye on him, if he got blackout drunk, it was bound to get back to the press.

"Because it'll be fun, Jose, my boy! Why else!"

Makarov didn't seem to have those same worries.

"You're going senile," Jose muttered as he looked towards the center of the conference and counted down the time till the meeting started, trying his best to ignore the old man to his right nagging him, "Come on, you need to lighten up, and I need to tell someone stories about my children. Natsu and Grey have the best rivalry going on and-"

"Tell someone else."

"They never listen, though!"

"I wonder why."

"Come on, Jose, please," Makarov said with clasped hands as he attempted the killing blow. "If you do, we can even discuss your boys. It'll be a win-win!"

"First, their not my boys, their runts, sometimes rodents, most of the time a pain in my ass," Jose countered with a single finger before adding another with a lazy dismissal, "Two, that's not what I would consider a good use of my time."

"Even if discussions involved the incident from last year," Makarov added sneakily as he glanced up to see Jose looking at him with rapt attention, "Are you suggesting that you found something, Makarov?"

"No," Makarov admitted, rushing his words as he noticed Jose's gaze return to the center, "But! I would be a better person to bounce ideas off of than most, wouldn't I!? I am a Wizard Saint, after all."

Makarov flashed his badge, which matched the badge on Jose's chest, as Jose seemed to frown harder if that was even possible. The seconds ticked by before Jose huffed and leaned his elbow on the table. His chin rested on his palms as his eyes pointed towards the center of the conference room, and he muttered with an almost resigned acceptance, "Tomorrow."

Jose didn't like to admit it, but Makarov had a point. He would be a better person to bounce ideas off of about what happened a year ago than others, and considering Jose still wasn't certain what that thing had done to his student, a possibly wasted night seemed to be a good trade-off for progress.

"Now leave me alone, you senile old fool."

Still, Jose would probably have to spend the rest of the day reigning in his ghosts if he wanted to try to keep up with Makarov's drinking habits. Jose's ghosts loved to play on his emotional state, and when he was inebriated, they had an easier time whispering ideas in his ears than others.

"Your voice annoys me."

Jose wouldn't want to turn Clover into a ghost town by accident.

Oak Town

In the ghost town of Fiore, two S-class mages had just returned from a mission of honor and redemption and were expecting a feast.

"I got twenty jewels for Siegrian! Anyone want to challenge!"

Sol and Totamaru weren't expecting a betting game in the middle of the guild hall, with a giant chalkboard rolled out and tallies going for who would make S class first.

"Ten jewels on Vera!"

What they expected even less was the current pool.

"That's ten jewels on Vera! That makes our pot thirty thousand for Vera and fifteen thousand for Siegrain!" Bob said as he tallied another better under Vera's growing umbrella. His attention caught as a burst of sand howled beside him, and Sol appeared with a bag of jewels at the ready, "Seven hundred jewels on masseur Siegrain, if you will?"

"Uh... sure," Bob said, scratching his head as he took the jewels and made another tally under Siegrain's name. Turning back to ask for the next rounds before a bag of coins smacked him in the face, Totamaru called out from the crowd with his bet: "100 jewels on Siegrain! Don't forget Bob!"

"Screw you asshole! I liked you better injured!"

"Good to see you too, Bob," Totamaru responded seamlessly with a small chuckle. Glancing to his left, Sol reappeared in a gust of sand. The two made their way past the growing crowd in a surprising bet before making their way towards the back stairs.

"Well, that'll be a big payday."

"Oui oui, masseur Totamaru!" Sol said with a glint of his monocle, nodding to himself as he spoke with a determined expression, "This bet will make me wealthier than any before it!"

"Before you lose it all again."

"...oui," Sol said with a set of sagging shoulders, sulking towards the guild master's office where they opened it and were met with a sight they were not expecting.

"I'M SO SAD!"

Aria was at the desk subbing for Jose, and he cried, which was expected, but Pause and Doronbo were also there. They were there and looked incredibly uncomfortable on the couch, staring at Aria's new wardrobe, which was shocking enough to be worrisome. Still, they were probably too shy to say anything or ask questions.

"What the hell happened to you, Aria!?"

Totamaru, for one, was not, so he didn't hesitate to call out the absurd number of bandages wrapped around Aria's figure. They lined him from head to toe; he practically looked like a mummy, but somehow, his tears still escaped into leaky streams that trashed his desk full of paperwork. He must have been genuinely sad if he didn't even acknowledge Totamaru's shout.

"SO! MUCH! MONEY! SO! SAD!"

Although it was tax season...

"TOO CRUEL! MONEY IS CRUEL!"

Yeah, that would do it.

He's too far gone. He's not going to listen for a while... dammit.

Totamaru wanted to know why Aria was covered in bandages, but that wouldn't happen soon, so he sighed, resigned, and jumped on the couch next to Pause, as Sol did the same next to Doronbo. Totamaru pointed at Aria and asked with mild expectations, "How long?"

"Thirty minutes."

"Sweet, he should be done soon," Totamaru murmured as he glanced at Aria. Then he turned back to Pause and noticed the book in his hands. "Ooh, a new book? That's why you came here?"

"No, I just wanted to see if there was anything I could use as a reference." Pause said as he held up his origami studies book before setting it down and sighing, "I was hoping to ask Aria for advice since he was supposed to be good at that."

"According to who?"

"Siegrain."

"Oh yeah, that makes sense," Totamaru said with a small tilt of his head, his ears catching on to the conversation Sol and Doronbo were having as he and Paused turned just in time to hear Doronbo speak. "But I bet 100 jewels on Vera!"

"Oui. It's a fool's error. Mes condolences."

Doronbo groaned as he slumped back against the couch. Pause quirked his eyes and spoke with a small intrigue, "Um... I bet ten jewels on Vera, too. Are you sure we won't win?"

Pause didn't like wasting money, but he thought it would be worth the risk. Vera was being trained by a Wizard Saint, but Siegrain wasn't. Sure, Pause knew that Siegrain trained with Aria, but that wasn't the same thing, not by a long shot. Add that to the fact that Vera was older than Siegrain, and he thought it was just more likely for him to win.

"I figured Vera would have a better chance of making S class first."

Pause watched Sol raise his eyebrow as if judging his intelligence while Totamaru spoke from next to him with a chuckle: "Oh, you poor soul, you fell for the media trap, huh?"

"I did not!"

Pause may have read the newspaper before making his bet, but he wouldn't admit it.

"You readjust your glasses when you're lying, Pause."

"Shit!" Pause cursed as he took his glasses off out of spite before realizing that was dumb and he couldn't see, then putting them on and sulking into the couch as he asked with a small voice, "Can you at least explain why I'm going to lose ten jewels?"

"Hey! What about my hundred!" Doronbo exclaimed, slamming his fist on the couch with a vengeance; "It took me forever to take that from Pause's wallet! I almost died!"

"Page Magic: Paper Dog"

Doronbo's voice rose to a shriek as the book in Pause's hands was freed of its pages. The paper folded together until a dog of paper machete erupted from its depths and started chasing Doronbo out of the office. Pause closed his empty book as he turned to Totamaru and asked without any indication of what he'd just done.

"So anyways, is there a specific reason Vera isn't going to make S class first?"

Pause watched through tinted glasses and gray hair as Totamaru gave him an approving nod before diving into why the bet was heavily skewed in Siegrain's favor.

"Siegrain's a prodigy."

So much so that it was obvious who would win.

"He'll probably be a Wizard Saint one day."

To Pause, though, it was bound to be a shock.

"What?" Pause asked, his eyes wide as Totoamaru opened his mouth to explain before Aria's voice sounded with a slight sniffle that indicated he had just gotten over his crying fit, "It's true."

Aria had seen many talents in his journeys through the continent.

"If Siegrain understands how a spell works and is physically capable of learning it. He has never failed to learn it."

Discounting the guild master, Aria had only seen one with the potential to reach Wizard Saint. Aria's friend, who split ways with him after a conflict of interests, had the potential to be a Wizard Saint. Siegrain's potential dwarfed his friend's by a wide margin. That's why Aria believed Siegrain would reach S class first. It was just a matter of precedence and potential. He could see how it was a hard pill to swallow, though, going off Pause's disbelieving expression.

"If you don't believe me. Ask Totamaru about when Siegrain tried learning his fire magic," Aria said with a sniffle, reaching for a paper to blow his nose with as Pause turned to Totamaru. The fire mage gave a defeated sigh, "It took me three and a half years to learn Rainbow Fire Magic. Even then, I could only use a few minutes to it before I fucked it up."

For reference, the run-of-the-mill fire mage took at least seven years to learn Rainbow Fire Magic.

"I didn't even agree to teach him it. I just showed him a few spells and explained how they worked."

Siegrain had taken that time and ran it into the ground without even trying.

"He copied it in 4 months."

That level of talent made even the gifted mages feel small, so when it came to who would become S class first between the two 'geniuses' of Oak Town, it wasn't a conversation worth entertaining.

"Siegrain is bound to make S class first."

One was just on a different level to the other.

"Vera's too far behind," Totamaru said with an offhand shrug, sparing a glance at Pause's face. He noted the dawning understanding that was a mix of astonishment, fear, and even some admiration before Totamaru tilted his head toward the door. "Enough of that, though. You should go make sure Doronbo isn't dead in the water."

"He won't die," Pause refuted with a shift of his glasses, catching himself in his tracks before he groaned and got off the couch. Walking towards the door with a slight wave.

"See you later."

"See you Pause"

The three S-class mages chorused goodbyes before they settled into a quiet silence. Totamaru turned to Aria, who had wiped his tears. Aria looked at him with a frown and spoke chidingly, "You know you didn't have to put it in such... sad terms."

"That's ironic coming from you," Totamaru murmured with a playful sigh, choosing to shelve the issue of Aria's mummification as he thought back to the young mages in question who were currently out of town, "It's not like I said anything wrong."

Totamaru truly believed Siegrain would surpass him soon enough. He probably already had; it was just hard to tell with the threads he insisted on using.

"Siegrain is a prodigy."

S class was about being vital and uniquely valuable.

"He's a shoo-in for S class."

Siegrain had all that in spades.

"As for Vera..."

Totamaru frowned as he contemplated his old student, who had quickly learned the basics of his swordsmanship—only a year or so—for what had taken Totamaru most of his teenage years to develop. It was good, don't get him wrong, maybe even good enough to call him gifted, but it wasn't a prodigy-level feat like the other.

"He isn't really a prodigy in anything."

He was good at using weapons but not a prodigy. It was the same with hand-to-hand, and he could even be considered flawed when it came to magic. Yet something about him made him stand out enough for Jose to pick him and squeak out a few wins against Siegrain during weapons training. Vera had racked up a winning streak towards the end of their magicless joint training sessions.

Wonder if he's improved any... maybe I'll check in when he gets back.

Totamaru hummed at the thought, dragged out of his head when Aria spoke in an uncharacteristically curious tone, "Then why do you always reject him when he asks to spar seriously, Totamaru?"

However, Totamaru supposed his question was fair.

"I've only ever seen you cross swords with him."

Vera had asked Totamaru several times to have a serious spar, primarily out of curiosity about fighting another sword used with magic. Still, Totamaru declined, and the reason was pretty simple.

"That's obvious, Aria."

Vera once mentioned he had lost his memories a few years ago. Yet he still regularly sparred with a Wizard Saint and a prodigy of magic and survived to tell the tale. That was beyond impressive and the same reason Totamaru didn't want to fight the kid. When Vera fought, he fought ruthlessly, and a spar wasn't worth Totamaru losing his future children over. Even if Totamaru believed he would win in the end, it wasn't worth the risk.

"That kid's terrifying when he fights."

He guessed that if Vera were a prodigy in anything, it would be violence.

Somewhere West of Oak Town

A minor confrontation could be seen in the deep forests through the trees. Two figures exchanged a flurry of glancing strikes that echoed through the woods before a solid punch connected, sending one of the figures tumbling to the ground with a new bruise on her cheek, right above the one that had failed to fade from yesterday's beating.

Goddammit...

A girl with long white hair and blue eyes spit out a wad of blood, scowling as she looked up, and the boy with black hair and taunting red eyes glared back at her. The girl's fists clenched into the dirt, and her teeth gnashed in frustration. All the while, the boy smirked as if begging her to try to get back up.

"What are you waiting for..."

After a whole week of Vera consistently training her in hand-to-hand combat for hours each day, until her legs felt heavy and her arms went numb...

"We're just getting started."

Mirajane Strauss had failed to land a single hit.