[X784, Fairy Tail]
— Dannis Martell —
"Is this really happening?"
"It sure is."
"You think Natsu stands a chance?"
"Of course not, this is Laxus we're talking about!"
The voices continued drifting across the guild's newly restored training yard, with much excited chatter and laughter echoing as more and more members of Fairy Tail gathered to watch the spectacle.
Dannis leaned against the railing of the second floor balcony, arms folded, watching the two mages below.
On the left side was Natsu, grinning and excited as he stretched by the field. On the right was Laxus, his posture relaxed as he matched the Fire Dragon Slayer's grin with a smirk.
"There he goes, challenging the S-Class mages again." Lucy sighed, resting her chin in her hands.
"You'd think he'd learn after the last time with Erza," Gray muttered, shaking his head. But Dannis knew he was just as excited as anyone else. They were Fairy Tail, after all. If someone wasn't fighting, something was wrong.
Apparently, Laxus had promised Natsu a fight during the Tower of Heaven. The bets were all already in place, and people were just waiting for it to begin.
Obviously, everyone bet on Laxus. No one in their right mind would vote for Natsu.
"Hey, Dannis!" Cana's voice rang out as she appeared beside him, carrying a jingling box full of cash. "Stop brooding around and have fun! Who you got in the fight?"
"Are you kidding? Ten thousand jewels on Laxus."
"Now that's more like it!"
Mira came up beside him, a faint curve on the edge of her lips. "Do you think Natsu could put up a fight?"
"It's hard to say." Dannis replied, studying Natsu's stance. "He's definitely gotten a lot better, but we'll have to see just how much he improved."
Their match began immediately, with Freed being the referee. Natsu lunged forward with a roar of fire, getting the crowd even more excited. Laxus just lifted a forearm, blocking Natsu's kick.
"You're going to have to do better than that, Natsu!"
With a crack of thunder, Laxus swept his arm and sent Natsu flying back. The pink-haired dragon slayer flipped in mid air and landed with both feet, the soles of his feet igniting into flames as he rocketed forward.
"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"
Laxus dodged to the side, knocking Natsu down with a downwards chop. "Don't be too predictable in your movements!"
Dannis raised an eyebrow as the fight continued following the same pattern. Natsu continued being on the offensive as Laxus was content in merely dodging and countering. But everytime, he kept giving short critiques whenever he spotted a mistake in Natsu's combat style.
"Utilize your surroundings!"
"React faster, Natsu!"
"Pull in your magic quicker! Don't wait for your enemy!"
They were quite the rough and tumble kind of lessons, but it was obviously working. It might not look like it, but Natsu was quickly improving. Behind the loudmouth were instincts made for combat. Dannis didn't doubt that Natsu would be a real monster in the future.
Especially if that monster was trained by another monster. By Mavis, the world wouldn't survive.
Laxus certainly changed. The old him would've just punted Natsu to the ground and be done with it. But now, he was calmer, measured—still just as powerful, but no longer trying to prove it with every blow.
"You know," A sudden voice had him and Mira turn to see Master Mavis sitting by the railing, swinging her legs in a childlike manner. "Makarov had told me once about the whole thing with Ivan and Laxus. He confessed that in his long life, fatherhood was the one thing he could never figure out. He struggled in finding a way to mend the broken relationships. Looks like Makarov never really needed to worry, huh? You two make a good team, Dannis. With you and Laxus as the pillars of the next generation of Fairy Tail, I have no doubt that our guild will blossom under both of your leaderships."
It put a smile on Dannis' face. Dannis always believed that Laxus would be the most worthy to take up the mantle of the next Guild Master. Now, it seems everyone else was seeing it too.
The fight went on for another five minutes when Laxus decided to end it. A lightning-clad fist buried itself into Natsu's gut and sent the pink-haired Dragon Slayer crashing to the ground in a thunderous heap.
Everyone cheered, and Dannis collected his meagre winnings with a nod. Apparently some people had bet on Natsu, believing that the pink-haired mage would defy all logic and come up victorious against all odds like he did numerous times in the past.
Well, sucks for them.
Everyone was back in the guild hall partying the good Fairy Tail way, and that is by drinking and fighting as another brawl started on the first floor.
Natsu was of course the instigator once again. That kid has crazy endurance, even after the whole spar with Laxus, he still had enough energy to go toe to toe with Elfman.
Dannis didn't bother joining in. He'd had enough chaos lately. And after the Tower of Heaven, he'd learned to savor the quiet. Or at least, whatever passed for quiet in this guild.
He was stretched out along the bench on the second floor with Mira, resting his head on her lap. Her fingers idly threaded through his hair, soft and careful, as she resumed reading her book.
The sounds of chaos below faded into the background—mugs breaking, fire roaring, Wakaba screaming himself hoarse about someone spilling his ale. But up here, there was peace.
Warm, drowsy, safe.
For a moment, Dannis closed his eyes. His body finally stopped humming with tension. His breathing slowed.
This was the peaceful kind of life he yearned for.
BRRRRRRRRRRR
Of course it had to be interrupted by a city-wide loud alarm that immediately ruined his sleep.
Well, at least there's good news.
Gildarts is back.
…
— Lucy Heartfilia —
BRRRRRRRRRRR
A loud alarm started blaring throughout Magnolia and Lucy nearly jumped out of her seat at the sudden noise. Levy had to steady her friend as all of the members of Fairy Tail looked towards the ceiling.
"Well well, that's a reassuring sound in these troubled times." Macao chuckled.
"It's been years since he was last here." Lisanna noted. "Do you think he completed his mission?"
"What? Who? What's going on?" Lucy asked of the sudden commotion.
"It's Gildarts, Lucy." Cana said with a bit of a shaky smile, one Mirajane noted. "He's back."
"The alarm is the warning for the 'Gildarts Shift'." Gray smirked. "Go outside and see."
"What happened to the town?!" Lucy exclaimed as she saw the change that Magnolia had undergone in mere minutes. There was a long straight corridor leading from the edge of town all the way to Fairy Tail.
"Gildarts is a master of Crash Magic, a magic so destructive that countermeasures needed to be put in place. Before the shift was implemented, Gildarts often wandered around town, accidently breaking walls and destroying buildings. The town found it easier to just make the buildings movable instead of replacing and fixing so many over time." Mirajane explained as a figure could be seen walking through the corridor in the distance.
"That's nuts!" Lucy boggled at the sheer amount of damage Gildarts must've caused over the years. "This guy sounds crazy strong."
Levy giggled. "Of course he is. He's the Ace of the guild after all, even stronger than Dannis and Laxus."
Lucy's head struggled to imagine a person even stronger than those two monsters.
"A few years before you became a member, Fairy Tail was attacked." Evergreen explained as she twirled her hair. "They were targeting Dannis, if you could believe it."
"Erza told me about this." Lucy nodded. "The guys from Alvarez, right?"
Evergreen hummed. "Yeah. The Master didn't want to be caught off guard again, so he sent Gildarts overseas to meet with Alvarez face-to-face. To make sure another war wasn't on the horizon. It's what the Ace does—handle the jobs even the S-Class can't."
Lucy let out a slow breath, trying to wrap her head around it all.
She looked back down the long corridor that stretched all the way to the edge of town. The figure in the brown travelling cloak was closer now and she wondered what the man would look like.
She had learned a lot of the hierarchy of power here in Fairy Tail. The S-Class mages stood above all the others and would always be chosen as the first to lead whenever the Master had business to attend outside the guild.
Among the S-Class mages, Dannis and Laxus were the both the oldest, most experienced, as well as the strongest of their number. Erza and Mirajane had admitted that neither of them stood a chance against Dannis and Laxus in a straight up fight. Mystogan was a bit of an enigma since no one really knows how powerful he really was.
Yet even above the S-Class was Gildarts, the mysterious Ace of Fairy Tail, the man who currently holds the title that Dannis wishes to inherit in the future.
But the one thing bothering Lucy the most wasn't any of this. It was the subtle tension she detected, not from the crowd, but from one specific person.
She looked at Cana.
The brunette was standing near the window, arms folded, expression tight. Her lips curled into a half-smile, but her eyes were clouded as if she was seeing something else.
There was a flicker of something in there. Longing. Sadness. Regret?
She was about to ask—just a gentle question, just a "Hey, you okay?"—when Cana suddenly turned and said brightly, "Well, I guess it's time to welcome home the Ace of Fairy Tail, huh?"
But her smile didn't reach her eyes.
Lucy didn't know what was going on. But she was going to find out.
…
AN: Gildarts chapter next, where we'll learn about all his adventures in Alakitasia.
One of Lucy's greatest strengths is her empathy. She will always be the first to help a friend that needs it. She realizes Cana's secret a lot earlier than in Canon. This'll bring some pretty interesting changes in the future. I can't wait to write them.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, cheers!