"This is Fairy Tail. And I am Mirajane," Mirajane said, pointing to herself with a smile.
"Oh! Now that I take a closer look, you do look familiar. You have become so ladylike. Are you in love?"
Gildarts took a good look and realized she really was the Mirajane he knew. Then he finally noticed the familiar atmosphere around him.
"Come to think of it, the guild looks completely different too. And there are a lot of new faces~" He remarked with genuine surprise.
Lucy: You are just noticing now? How airheaded can you be?!
"Gidarts! Fight me!"
A loud shout interrupted Lucy's internal complaints.
Before Gildarts could respond, Natsu had already charged up to him, clenching his fists and leaping into the air.
"Yo, Natsu. Long time no see."
Gildarts greeted him while raising his arm to catch Natsu midair. He spun him around a few times before tossing him aside like a ragdoll.
THUD.
The ceiling cracked under the impact. Natsu, embedded in the plaster, was out cold.
"Sorry. Maybe another time," Gildarts said calmly.
"Aye~ It is over already," Happy said, waving a white flag he had assembled from chopsticks and napkins.
Though he was concerned about Edolas and his own origins, the blue cat was not one to fall into a long depression. He had bounced back in a day. He was back to making fun of people and chasing after Carla.
"As expected, he is super strong!" Natsu quickly regained consciousness, smiling brightly.
"Gidarts!" Makarov, sitting at the bar, had noticed the serious injuries on Gildarts's body. His expression was very grave.
"Ah? Yes, Master!" Gildarts immediately stood at attention.
"That quest. How did the 100 Years Quest go?" Makarov asked heavily.
"Ahahaha!"
Gildarts let out a hearty laugh, then suddenly stopped. He sighed deeply. "Sorry to let the guild down. I failed."
The lively hall fell into dead silence.
Everyone, whether old-timers like Elfman and Gray who knew how strong Gildarts was, or newcomers like Lucy and Juvia who had only heard of Fairy Tail's strongest mage, stared in disbelief.
"I see. Do not dwell on it. As far as I know, you are the first to come back alive from that quest. That is enough," Makarov said.
"That is strange. Why does this scene feel so familiar?" Lucy muttered.
She remembered the first time she met Chase when she had just joined the guild. A small smile appeared on her lips. She was full of emotion.
So much had happened, without her even realizing it.
"If it were you, Lucy, you probably would not have come back at all," Mirajane said, a little mischeviously.
"Lucy! You have indeed become stronger. But a Ten-Year Quest or even a Hundred-Year Quest is still far beyond your reach!" Erza said, giving her a serious warning.
To be so cared for by the guild's two strongest female mages, Lucy was moved to tears. "Thank you. You are giving me way too much credit."
A figure stepped forward, blocking her view.
"I have heard a lot about you, Gildarts!" Chase greeted the man, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.
Setting aside his airheaded uncle persona, the pressure Gildarts exuded was even greater than he had expected.
If he could have a serious fight with this man, there was a good chance he would get some decent new cards.
The fight with Oración Seis had been unsatisfying. And he had been stuck in Magnolia recently. The moment he saw Gildarts, the Duelist Soul inside him had begun to burn. He could not wait for a fight.
His strong desire to fight erupted in a storm of magic power, startling everyone in the guild.
"Wait, come to think of it, Chase has never met Gildarts before, has he?"
"Oh no! If these two monsters start fighting, they will tear the guild apart!"
"Run!"
Startled, everyone scrambled for cover.
Lucy and Happy, having plenty of experience avoiding danger, were already under the bar counter.
This magic power?!
Gildarts frowned. After a moment of surprise, he straightened up and walked slowly toward Chase.
The others, now at a safe distance, held their breath.
But the earth-shattering battle they had feared did not happen.
"I have been wanting to meet you, Chase."
Like an old friend he had not seen for years, Gildarts put his arm around Chase's shoulder and pulled him into a hug. He laughed. "Not bad at all. A Card Mage who uses summoning magic, and you still keep yourself in such good shape!"
Everyone, including Makarov, Erza, and Mirajane, was shocked.
"Eh? EH?!" they all exclaimed.
"They are an item~" Happy's blue head popped out from under the bar.
That was what they called professionalism. Knowing how to work a crowd even when the situation was far beyond their understanding.
"Professional my foot!"
Lucy jumped out of the frame. "I thought Chase and Gildarts had never met before! Why do they seem so close?!"
It was not just her and the others. Even Chase, who was being manhandled, was confused. His fighting spirit evaporated in an instant. For some reason, he felt a chill run down his spine.
Wait, wait, wait!
If memory served, Gildarts, who flirted with every woman he saw, should not have had that kind of preference... right?!
Seeing the strange, knowing looks everyone was giving him, Gildarts suddenly realized what it looked like. He quickly let go of Chase and stepped back.
"Do not get the wrong idea! I just heard a lot of rumors about this kid on the road. I was just showing my approval as his senior!" he explained hastily.
Hearing this, Mirajane and Erza quietly breathed sighs of relief.
Anyone else, they doubted Gildarts would pay special attention to guild members. But Chase was a different story.
He had certainly done some shocking things lately.
Everyone else also looked relieved. It made sense.
Chase, however, was not so sure. He felt things were not as simple as Gildarts made them sound. The man was sometimes even more oblivious than Natsu. He would not remember someone just because they had made a name for themselves.
Unless... there was something more memorable. Something more impactful.
A misunderstanding about his orientation was out of the question. The only thing that could have made Gildarts act so strangely was...
Chase quickly guessed the real reason Gildarts knew who he was.
"I am a bit tired. Chase, would you come with me to my place outside town? I would like to ask you something."
As expected, Gildarts immediately asked for a private word.
Chase did not reply. He just nodded.
"Natsu, you come too. I brought you a special gift this time."
With that, Gildarts waved to everyone and left. He did not seem to care about their, questioning looks.
BOOM!
The wall of the guild hall glowed. A hole appeared in it.
"Hehe. I wonder what my special gift is? I can hardly wait!"
Wanting to be like Gildarts, Natsu punched a hole in the wall next to him. Then he swaggered off. "Let us go, Happy~"
"I think I know who taught Natsu his destructive habits..." Lucy said.
"Bastards! This is a guild! Can you not use the door?!"
"Honestly. We just fixed that wall the day before yesterday!"
As everyone was complaining about Natsu, another explosion echoed through the hall. The guild's front door had been blown off its hinges.
Chase, always honest and a rule follower, had used the door. But from a cost perspective, blowing out a wall was probably cheaper.
"You three!!" Makarov felt a headache coming on.
"Oh my," Mirajane said, smiling.
"At least we have Lucy," Erza remarked.
"Eh? What does that have to do with me? I cannot fix walls or doors, Erza!"
"That is why we have the Heartfilia Konzern to foot the bill."
"...Should I be happy or sad?" Lucy's eye twitched.
Since reconciling with her father, Jude, she no longer rejected her family name.
Using her own family's money to fix her own family's wall did not sound so bad... did it?
"It does! The only loser here is me!!" Lucy pointed at herself, exasperated.
Truly Fairy Tail's top complainer. She would even complain about herself.
Gildarts's house was a small log cabin on the edge of Magnolia, far from the bustling city center.
Because he was always away on quests, the interior was quite bare. There were not even any convenient magical appliances.
When Chase, Natsu, and Happy arrived, Gildarts was boiling water over a primitive hearth.
"You are here. Make yourselves at home," Gildarts said, sitting on a wooden stool.
"Hey, Gildarts! What is the special gift? Is it some rare fire from a foreign land?" Natsu asked impatiently.
Chase looked around the clean, empty room and wondered where they were supposed to sit.
"Say, Natsu. How are things with you and that girl Lisanna?" Gildarts said, not yet getting to the point.
The joy on Natsu's face faded. His voice was quiet. "Lisanna is dead. Two years ago."
Gildarts's eyes widened. He dropped the teasing.
"Is that true? I see... so that is why Mirajane changed so much?"
Remembering the cute girl who used to follow Natsu around, Gildarts put a hand to his forehead. "I am sorry, Natsu."
A mage's work was always dangerous. Not wanting to cause Natsu more pain, he did not push further.
"If that is all you wanted to say, I am leaving," Natsu said, turning to go.
"Wait, Natsu."
Gildarts had wanted to start with the lighter topic of Lisanna. Since that had not worked, he would have to get straight to the point. "I ran into a dragon on my job. Because of it, I failed the quest."
Natsu spun around.
"Not the kind one you always talk about. This one was pitch black and brutal. It is the enemy of all humanity. And..."
"There is no way for humans to win."
With that, Gildarts looked at Natsu. He was surprised. "You are calmer than I expected. I thought you would run off without thinking."
"Without enough power, even if I find him, I cannot ask him where Igneel is," Natsu said, clenching his fist, trying to control himself.
"Aye. Come to think of it, Chase ran into a dragon too," Happy said, his eyes full of concern for Natsu.
These few words were enough for Gildarts to under
stand the situation. Which was also why he had wanted Chase to come.
"I see. So you ran into one too, Chase."
"Not the Black Dragon. The one I met has scales like fire. He calls himself the Flame God Dragon."
To confirm his suspicion, Chase offered a key detail.
"Then it is the same. He is the one I was looking for."
Gildarts leaned back in his wooden chair, looking tired. He raised his head slightly, a flicker of light passing through his eyes.
After a moment, he began telling his story.
The objective of the 100 Years Quest was to seal the Five Dragon Gods. While on the continent of Guiltina, he had heard rumors of a red dragon appearing in the Orgasso Kingdom. He rushed there as fast as he could. But he only found a city in ruins, smoke still rising from the ashes.
As he was lamenting having just missed the Flame God Dragon, one of the Five Dragon Gods, a pair of black wings blotted out the sun. Attracted by the scent of a dragon, Acnologia had appeared.
The two inevitably clashed. Remembering what Natsu had said about Igneel, Gildarts politely asked the black dragon about the Flame God Dragon's whereabouts. In response, Acnologia smacked him with its tail.
It was not even a fight. In just an instant, he was severely wounded. He had lost all ability to fight.
Fortunately, the Black Dragon seemed to be searching for something. It had no interest in an "ant" like him. So he had managed to escape and return to the guild.
Because the one who had given him the quest, a dragon, had sworn him to secrecy, Gildarts did not reveal many details.
He did not need to. Chase knew the full story. He quickly put everything together.
According to Gildarts, Acnologia must have caught wind of Ignia's presence. That was why it had appeared in Guiltina.
At that time, Chase, having used Monster Reborn, had already left. Ignia had also slunk back into his sealed space. So they had not met Gildarts or Acnologia, who had arrived later.
It was probably then that Gildarts had learned of Chase's existence. A Fairy Tail mage who had fought a dragon and destroyed half a city.
And with that, all the pieces fell into place.
***
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