[X784, Fairy Tail Guild Building]
— Dannis Martell —
News of the attack on the Ring shocked all of Fiore, a feeling of trepidation swallowing the entire guild as Dannis watched them from the second balcony.
The Magic Council's prison was supposed to be one of the most secure places on the continent. It was where the Council put the people it considered too dangerous to execute and too dangerous to leave free. Guildmasters of dark guilds, serial killers, cultists of Zeref. Mages whose crimes had become so severe that even the more liberal laws of Fiore could no longer tolerate them.
The Balam Alliance getting more aggressive was something many people did not expect. It wasn't long ago that Oracion Seis was defeated, and there was no doubt in Dannis' mind that this was retaliation. It hadn't even been that long since Edolas, and already they were making moves.
All of Ishgar was now waiting for the other shoe to drop. Even here, there was an uncertainty in the guild that hadn't existed before. Ever so often, Dannis caught fragments of conversation.
'Did they really free the prisoners?'
'How many Rune Knights were killed?'
'What does this mean for us? You think Grimoire Heart is gonna go get revenge?'
'Do you think they're coming here?'
That last question was the one nobody wanted to answer, and Dannis couldn't blame them.
The victory against Oración Seis had felt like a turning point. The Light Alliance had proven that the independent guilds of Fiore could stand together against one of the Balam Alliance's members and win.
But the Balam Alliance wasn't some monolithic organization.
Grimoire Heart, Tartaros, and Oración Seis had cooperated only when their interests aligned. They weren't friends, at least not in the conventional way. Dannis had no doubt whatsoever that the attack on the Ring served more than just vengeance.
Hades was too intelligent to waste an opportunity merely because of revenge. There was intent behind the attack, and purpose. The question was what.
Master Makarov had just returned a few days ago from the Guildmaster's meeting, and now the old man held a meeting of all available S-Class mages. Unfortunately currently, that was just Dannis, Mira, and Mystogan.
Gildarts was on an outing with Cana in a supposed father-daughter bonding time, while Laxus had left the guild on a mission just days ago with the Thunder God Tribe. Erza meanwhile, was helping Jellal get back on his feet, getting him back used to civilization as well as the instincts of once again being flesh and blood.
"How was the meeting, master?" Mira's voice drew his attention as the meeting began.
"Difficult," Makarov shook his head from behind the table. "Grimoire Heart's assault caught every guildmaster off guard. But the response from the new Council has been even more complicated."
Dannis frowned. "The new Council?"
Makarov nodded. "Saint Draculos is spearheading the reformation. They're attempting to restore the Council's authority while also investigating everything that led to its collapse."
"Which means Jellal." Dannis stated, to Makarov's nod. "While Ultear was the hand that dealt the strike, it happened because of Jellal's actions as Siegran."
Mira's hand tightened around Dannis' shoulder, and he put a hand over hers. Truthfully, the resurrection had been a miracle, but that didn't really change history.
Jellal Fernandez was a criminal. As far as the public was concerned, he had been responsible for the Tower of Heaven. He enslaved people, killed people, and destroyed thousands of lives.
The fact that Ultear had manipulated him from childhood did not erase what those people had suffered. Dannis being able to access Jellal's memories didn't change what the outside world knew.
"His case is rare," Makarov continued. "Not only is the Council questioning the legitimacy of your ability to raise the dead, Dannis, they're now bringing Jellal's entire criminal history into the public eye."
"On what grounds?"
"Several." Makarov sighed. "His resurrection, for one. The Council wants to know precisely what you did and whether or not to confirm that this Jellal is truly the same man who committed those crimes."
"That would be difficult." Dannis leaned back, on his chair. "It's not like I can show the council my memories."
"Perhaps not, but we might know someone who could." Mavis' expression became thoughtful as she looked at Makarov.
Makarov nodded once again. "Perhaps it's time to pull Mest back into Fairy Tail. I'd feel much better as well with him close rather than with the council with everything that's happening."
Dannis shook his head. Makarov had divulged to all of the S-Class mages yesterday regarding the secret spy he had implanted in the council. It was certainly a surprise, Dannis remembered seeing Mest in the aftermath of both the Phantom Lord business and Oracion Seis. Truthfully, he didn't expect Master Makarov to be so sly. According to him, only Gildarts knew of Mest's true nature, and he was the one responsible in allowing Mest's magic to affect Dannis and the other S-Class mages.
"Even so," Dannis continued. "I might not be the right person to bring this to the council. Most people aren't going to trust a necromancer when he says the dead guy he brought back is innocent."
Mira gave him a look. "You're not a necromancer, Dannis."
"Technically—"
"Don't." At her hard look, he conceded.
Makarov coughed. "As I said, while Saint Draculos is spearheading the reform of the magic council, it's a slow process. The people have lost faith in the council, especially considering the culprit was both a council member and a Wizard Saint."
"Ultear's actions brought much repercussions to all of Ishgar." Master Mavis chimed in. "If this was the plan made by Grimoire Heart, then this Hades is a much more formidable opponent than we realize."
"What can we do?" Dannis questioned.
"Right now, we continue as we are. The truth of Jellal is now known, so he has no choice but to live in the shadows. At least until we can say for sure that his previous victims won't try to find him for vengeance." Makarov answered.
"Great…" Dannis sighed. "Then what about me?"
It was here that Makarov pursed his lips. "Saint Draculos has been asking questions…and he is less tolerant of mages now after Jose Porla and the Phantom Lord debacle."
Dannis' brows furrowed.
"However, another Wizard Saint, Warrod Sequen, spoke on your behalf, which was enough to at least slow down the pending investigations." Makarov sighed with relief, making Dannis blink.
"Warrod is a good man," Mavis spoke with a small smile. "With him on the council now, things should at least calm down somewhat."
Dannis nodded in relief as Mira's hand slid from his shoulder down to his arm, giving it a squeeze. His smile turned forlorn. Whenever the world seemed determined to pile another problem onto his shoulders, Mira was always there.
Mavis cleared her throat. "On the brighter side…perhaps we should discuss another change we've been implementing within Fairy Tail."
Makarov nodded. "The S-Class leadership system."
Dannis' attention sharpened. The idea had started as something relatively simple.
S-Class mages were the strongest members of the guild. Rather than having them remain isolated at the top of the hierarchy, Mavis had proposed that they take responsibility for training the next generation.
"Levy has grown leaps and bounds now that she is under Dannis' tutelage. The same could be said for Natsu and Gray under Erza, Elfman under Mira, and even Freed and Bickslow under Laxus." Mavis continued. "The results speak for themselves. The younger mages are becoming stronger, more disciplined, and more capable of operating independently."
Mystogan, who had remained quiet and leaning against the window, turned his head.
Mavis looked toward him. "So?"
"I've identified several candidates." Mystogan stood and put a single lacrima crystal on the desk. "I will take Cana. Along with Wendy, Carla, Alzack, and Bisca as my team."
"A good team." Makarov rubbed his beard. "That gives us another registered team. With Team Natsu, Team Shade, the Thunder God Tribe, the Strauss Siblings, and now Team Mystogan. That's five teams registered to Fairy Tail."
"So are we to continue with the S-Class trials?" Mirajane asked.
"There's no reason not to." Makarov shrugged. "In fact, we might need it."
"Excellent!" Mira's eyes brightened cheerfully, clasping her hands. "I'll get the initial preparations ready!"
The discussion continued as details and ideas were shared. Rules, participants, proctors, potential candidates, whether the trial should remain focused on individual combat ability or expand further into leadership and teamwork.
Dannis contributed where appropriate, but eventually his attention drifted. He looked toward the window where Magnolia stretched beyond it.
The town was bright beneath the afternoon sun, ordinary and peaceful.
Out by the pool, Lucy and Juvia were lounging as they spoke animatedly about things before falling into a fit of giggling. Elsewhere, Gajeel and Natsu stuck in an arm wrestling contest as the other guys continued to egg them on.
"You're cheating!"
"I'm not cheating, salamander!"
"Your arm is made of iron!"
"That's called winning!"
"That's called cheating!"
It was just another day in Fairy Tail, and Dannis smiled.
Despite everything, Fairy Tail wasn't one to let the sour mood keep them sombre. It was probably one of the best things about the guild. They'd all been through worse, and came out the other side victorious.
But the smile slowly disappeared.
Because Dannis knew something most of the people downstairs didn't.
He could feel them, the souls within him. Racer, Midnight, the others. And ever since the resurrection of Jellal, they had been agitated. And Dannis couldn't blame them.
They had been dead, then imprisoned within his Curse. And now they had watched him drag someone else back across that same boundary.
The restless dead was not an easy opponent to fight against, especially considering Dannis himself was the one to take them in. If one could be risen, why not the others?
'THEY ARE NOT YOURS TO TAKE!'
The voice spiked once again as Dannis let out a grimace. Massaging his forehead, he breathed out and waited as the pain slowly subsided.
The meeting eventually concluded, and Dannis shook away the thoughts from his mind. There was still plenty left to organize, but nothing that required their immediate attention.
"Come on." Mira practically bounced from the room, grabbing his hand.
"Where are we going?" Dannis let himself be pulled as she led them down the staircase.
"To relax." Mira turned, raising an eyebrow. "You think I don't know that look? You're brooding again."
Dannis sighed. "Is it that obvious?"
"It is to me." She replied. "So come on, we're gonna get something to drink, then you're taking me on a walk."
The words made him smile, and a dry chuckle came out of his throat. "Yes, ma'am."
They walked down back to the main hall where Natsu and Gajeel had apparently progressed from arm wrestling to punching each other, and it wasn't long before a full guild brawl erupted within the hall.
A chair flew towards them that immediately swerved away with a wave of his hand. It hit the back of Max's head, who screamed aloud and tackled Warren in retaliation.
Mira just laughed as they grabbed a drink from Lisanna at the bar before moving outside.
The sun had begun descending toward the horizon as the whole of Magnolia was painted in a hue of red. There was a sense of foreboding in the city of Magnolia, as even they could feel that the world was changing.
Looking at Mira beside him as the breeze moved her white hair gently, the weight in his shoulders immediately lessened at the sight of her. She had been there at his worst, supported him with everything she had since the day they met.
Dannis stopped.
Mira took another step before noticing. She turned. "Dannis?"
He stared at her.
'Gods, she's beautiful.'
There was no doubt in his mind that the woman staring at him was the one he wanted to marry. They were still young, but with the way the world was turning, who would blame him in trying to grab fate with his own two hands?
Dannis' heart began beating slightly faster.
Mira tilted her head. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Exhaling a deep breath, a soft smile just appeared on his face. "Come on, you haven't had dinner have you? I'll cook dinner tonight."
Her eyes immediately shone. "Ooh~ can you make me my favorite?"
Dannis laughed as she looped her arm around his. "Of course."
…
[X784, Fairy Tail Guild Building, a week later]
— Levy MCgarden —
The announcement had changed Fairy Tail more than Levy initially expected, not because anyone objected to it. It was actually quite the opposite as the guild had accepted the changes with surprising enthusiasm.
Master Makarov had officially implemented what had quietly been developing over the past several months. Every S-Class Mage would now be responsible for leading and mentoring a permanent team of Fairy Tail wizards. Rather than simply being the guild's strongest combatants, they would now serve as commanders, teachers, and examples for the next generation.
Only one exception existed with Gildarts. As the Ace of Fairy Tail, his work often took him across the continent on missions no one else could complete, making it impossible for him to consistently mentor a team. Instead, his responsibility remained the same as it always had been, to stand as Fairy Tail's final line of defense whenever disaster struck.
Levy couldn't say the arrangement was unfair. If anything, she agreed with it wholeheartedly.
She looked down at the open book resting on the table before her, though she hadn't turned a page in several minutes.
Her thoughts wandered back to the past, when Team Shadowgear had still been together. She smiled fondly at the memory. The three of them had been inseparable for years.
But…Dannis had been right. They had reached the point where they could no longer help one another grow.
She remembered that first S-Class mission rather vividly. Climbing the Tower of Heaven, hearing explosions echo through the structure while entire sections of the ancient fortress collapsed around them.
Then, the battle between three monsters that shook the entire island.
That experience would forever be ingrained in her mind.
At first she had thought she would only get in the way. Instead… She had contributed. Not through overwhelming power, but through knowledge, preparation, and quick thinking.
For the first time in her life, she realized something important. She wasn't a burden, she never had been.
She simply needed the confidence—and the opportunity—to prove it.
Looking back now... that mission had changed everything. She had joined Team Shade in an official capacity, and her Solid Script Magic had advanced at an unbelievable pace.
Words that once required concentration now flowed naturally, complex combinations had become second nature. She had learned how to chain enchantments together. How to fight opponents stronger than herself instead of running from them.
All of it she owed to Dannis and his tutelage. The man had somehow turned studying into combat training, and combat training into studying. She still wasn't entirely sure how he'd managed that.
"This is crazy…" Lucy said, stirring her milkshake absentmindedly while watching another table explode. Wooden splinters rained across the guild hall as Gray slowly climbed out of the wreckage. "I never knew the Dark Mages to be this active. It's a bit scary, isn't it?"
"It is. But I guess that's why the Light Alliance exists in the first place." Levy nodded, watching as Elfman was promptly thrown to a nearby wall by Gajeel. "Besides, we're still taking the fight to them. Didn't Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe just return from another of their Dark Guild extermination missions?"
"They did, and you just came back too, didn't you?" Lucy said, a concerned frown on her face. "I heard Dannis is pushing Team Shade really hard in culling the Dark Guilds that answer to Tartaros."
"You wouldn't know even half of it." Levy groaned. "I'm beginning to think the man genuinely doesn't know what the words vacation or break mean."
Lucy laughed. "It can't be that bad…"
"Think of the worst kind of training you can imagine, and multiply that by a hundred." Levy slumped across the table. "I swear he enjoys making us suffer."
But despite her words, she couldn't deny the results as a smile slowly appeared anyway. Levy was much stronger now, and she could feel it. Working under Dannis was a boon to her magical skills and experience. But damn if the man wasn't a taskmaster.
Lucy smiled knowingly.
"The mission helped too." Levy sat back up, the smile dimming. "Some of the guilds we dismantled recently have all been strange."
Lucy's expression became serious. "The body modifications? I heard a little about it from Juvia."
Levy nodded. One mission immediately came back to her. Team Shade was tasked to exterminate the Midnight Lions, a small Dark Guild operating near Fiore's eastern border.
At first glance, they had looked ordinary, until the fighting started and half of their members were revealed to not even be human. No, they were human, but their bodies had been modified to become more.
One man possessed a grotesque second pair of arms stitched directly into his torso. Another had crystalline growths erupting from his shoulders that fired Lacrima shards. A woman had her eyes into dark red, slitted, viper's eyes that petrified others with but a look. It was eerily similar to Evergreen's magic, but instead of Eye Magic, it used…Curses.
The worst part? None of them had seemed surprised or disgusted, as if they had willingly allowed themselves to become monsters.
Levy still remembered Dannis examining one of the corpses afterward. He had remained silent for a long time, before a fierce frown marred his face. When Levy asked what he found, he merely shook his head and muttered the words.
"Devils…these people were turned."
That sentence still unsettled her. Body modification was an art that had been banned by the Magic Council for centuries, the fact that it returned now when the Balam Alliance was active meant that dangerous times were coming.
Pushing the unpleasant memory aside, Levy glanced across the guild hall.
Near one corner, the sound of steel clashing against steel was vivid as Erza and Panther Lily engaged one another in a light spar of swordsmanship. At least, it was a light spar according to them.
Unlike the guild brawl raging nearby, their movements possessed remarkable precision. Neither combatant wasted a single motion. Their feet barely shifted.
Yet their swords blurred through the air so quickly Levy could barely follow them.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Tiny bursts of sparks erupted with every exchange. The surrounding members wisely gave them plenty of space. Watching Erza spar always reminded Levy why the woman had earned the title Titania.
Panther Lily, the newest member of Team Shade as Gajeel's Exceed partner, was in his 'battle form', the same one he had been in while in Edolas. While it was rather obvious that Erza held the upper hand, the fact that Panther Lily could hold his ground was nothing short of impressive.
After another minute, the spar concluded, and Panther Lily shrunk back to normal size.
"Whew…" Panther Lily exhaled, resting his massive sword against one shoulder. "I can say without a doubt that you're certainly one of the best swordsmen I've seen in my life. No different than the Erza of Edolas in that regard."
Erza smiled warmly, shaking her head as a small chuckle escaped her. "Compared to Dannis, I still have much to learn. Though I am most impressed at your own skill, Panther Lily. Your swordsmanship is excellent."
Panther Lily smiled at the compliment. "Indeed, the Earthland version of Lord Martell truly resembles his counterpart. The Lord Martell of Edolas was likewise regarded as one of the kingdom's greatest swordsmen."
"Hah!" Gajeel harrumped as he pointed proudly toward Panther Lily. "You hear that?! This is Lily's true power!"
Levy laughed. "You say that like you're the one who won."
"Of course it is!" Gajeel rounded. "It means he's the strongest compared to Salamander's and the brat's cats!"
"Oh yeah?! Then maybe we should have Happy and Lily fight! That'll determine who's strongest!" Natsu shouted.
"Maybe we should!"
"Now now…perhaps there's another way to determine this," Panther Lily sweatdropped as Happy shook in fear next to him.
"I surrender." The blue cat whimpered.
Levy could only giggle at the sight before her eyes turned and saw the cloaked man sitting a few tables away, having watched the same duel. The man had a sad smile on his face, the turning of his head making Levy clock the red markings on one side of his face.
His fingers rested loosely around a cup of tea that had long since gone cold. Occasionally his eyes wandered toward Erza. There was sadness there, and also regret.
Levy couldn't help but feel sympathetic. Jellal's story was a tragic one, but at least he found some semblance of peace here in Fairy Tail. She could only hope that one day Jellal would forgive himself for the crimes that weren't even his own.
"EVERYONE!" The guild doors suddenly slammed open as Macao burst inside. Wakaba followed immediately behind him, both men grinning like children on Christmas morning. "It's finally happening! To the back yard, hurry!"
For a second, the guild remained utterly silent. Then, the entire building exploded into cheers.
"What?!"
"No way!"
"Seriously?!"
"It's today?!"
"Finally!"
Chairs scraped loudly across the floor, people practically vaulted over tables. Even Erza looked genuinely surprised.
Lucy blinked. "What's going on?"
Levy's own heart leapt. She immediately recognized that excitement. After all…the rumors had been circulating for months.
One fight everyone in Fairy Tail had quietly been anticipating. A clash that would determine nothing officially, yet somehow meant everything. The guild's current Ace against the man everyone already believed would one day inherit that title.
Gildarts Clive vs Dannis Martell.
Levy practically shot out of her chair. "We're going to miss it!"
Before Lucy could ask another question, Levy grabbed her wrist. "Come on!"
She barely waited for an answer before pulling Lucy toward the back doors.
Because there was absolutely no way she was missing the fight everyone in Fairy Tail had been waiting years to see.
…
AN: Here we go, another Fairy Tail chapter! With this, there should be around one or two chapters left before we fully go to the Tenrou Arc!
Now, a lot to talk about in this chapter. First off, the reformation of the council. This is the big thing that's being done since I made the destruction of the council a lot more brutal than it ever did in canon.
Draculos is being a lot more aggressive in his moves. No more waiting and prodding. The Four Gods of Ishgar will have a heightened presence in this fic now.
Also, Mest is returning to the council in an official capacity, which is fun. This version of him isn't a perv, and is instead just a pretty solid dude with really cool magic.
I also really thought about who should join Mystogan's team, and thought that Wendy would most definitely join him rather than Natsu's team now that he's actually here and not in Edolas.
I hope you enjoyed this one guys, Dannis is thinking of marriage and there's a fight with Gildarts on the horizon. Cheers!
Advanced chapters on my P-word page. Chapter 116 should be available already if you're interested. Cheers guys!