章 2: Chapter-2 The Lie and the Truth

Previous day, around the evening;

Natsu and Lucy had successfully brought back Romeo's father, Macao Conbolt, a man in his early thirties with dark-blue hair and a prominent moustache of the same color.

Apparently, he had gone on a job to hunt Vulcans. The ape like creatures, who are famous for their takeover magic.

The man had managed to take down nineteen of the monsters, when he was caught off guard by the twentieth one.

Romeo was proudly declaring his dad's feat throughout the guild.

At present, late morning.

Satoru entered the guild hall in his regular clothing, light-blue shirt with dark-grey pants, black leather shoes and the dark round opaque sunglasses, covering his eyes.

As soon as he entered, he saw Happy and Natsu running outside, with a piece of paper on Natsu's hand.

"Another Job?" Satoru asked to the two who seemed to be in a hurry.

"Humm, humm, gotta make sure Lucy gets enough experience, you know." Natsu replied with a smile.

"Aye Sir! Lucy's co-operation is specially needed for this job-" Happy replied when Natsu shut his mouth, "Muph!".

"Nothing, nothing… Ahaha…" He chuckled a few times then ran along with the cat.

Satoru knew that Natsu's mind was cooking up some new sh*t, but he just shrugged. 'Poor Lucy.' He thought with a chuckle and walked towards the counter where Makarov was seated.

"Yo, master. Good morning." Satoru greeted the old man, who was already drowning in booze.

"Ah, Good morning, Satoru-" He was speaking when the door to the guild hall was opened again, and entered a woman who looked exactly like Lucy but a bit older.

Makarov seemed surprised, but Satoru waved at her with a smile. Recognizing the young man, she walked towards them.

"This is?" Makarov asked to Satoru, even though he had a hunch as to who she was.

But it was the woman, who replied, "I'm Lucy's mother. Layla Heartfillia." She spoke with a smile. The smile enhancing her already beautiful face to a whole another level.

"I see you're doing good, Layla." Satoru nodded to the woman.

"Likewise, Satoru. I hope my daughter isn't giving you guys a lot of trouble." Layla replied.

"Humm… Well, aside from the fact that she flooded half of port Hargeon. All good, I guess." He gave a thumbs up with a grin.

Mira, who was standing behind the counter, smacked his shoulder.

"Hehe… Never change, Satoru." Layla spoke with a chuckle.

"Jokes aside, she'll become an excellent mage. After all, she now carries your keys." Satoru spoke with a smile.

"Yeah, she has an untapped potential, if she can handle Aquarius at such an early age." Makarov added.

Satoru thought, 'I wouldn't call that 'handling' but yeah, passable I guess.' He wanted to say it out loud, but held himself back when he saw the proud and loving look on Layla's eyes.

Layla then said, "Lucy, she…" But couldn't speak further, for some reason.

"Sigh… You don't have to worry. I know that she didn't tell you guys about this. But I'm more surprised, you'd agree on keeping her in there, until now." Satoru knew Jude's mindset a bit but he was definitely surprised that Layla would agree on predetermining her daughter's future.

Layla was silent and she looked a bit ashamed too. Makarov then said, "No matter. It's up to you how you solve your family problems.

But Lucy joined my guild and now she is one of my children. And I will make sure she's taken care of, like my own granddaughter." Makarov spoke and gave a grin at last.

Layla was wide eyed and a genuine smile propped up on her face, "I see. I sincerely thank you all.

And Satoru too; again, thank you for everything." She bowed her head a little.

"Come on, that was ages ago. As I said, no one owes me anything. After all, I did everything that I did, of my own will." He motioned with his hand and a smile on his face.

Satoru looked like a completely different person, a small glimpse of his eyes behind the glasses, and the genuine smile on his face.

It made the woman blush a bit, including the other ladies of the guild that were looking at him.

Layla strictly reminded herself, 'No, no. No improper thoughts. You're a married woman, with a daughter.'

Makarov gave a side eye to the young man, who seemed slightly oblivious to the ruckus he was causing.

"Oh, talking about Lucy." Satoru spoke, bringing them out of their stupor, "She should still be in her apartment, if she hasn't already gone to a job with her friends.

But still, you should be able to catch up to her, if you leave now."

Layla gently shook her head, "Not now. I believe she needs some more time with herself." She sounded unsure of her own statement.

'Heh, you say that… But I think it's you who needs more time.' Satoru thought to himself.

"More importantly. I have a request for you, Satoru. It's… A job, if I may say. And I am ready to pay up front." Layla seemed more serious now.

"I'm all ears." Satoru spoke.

"You know my friend Grammi, right?" Layla asked and Satoru nodded, remembering the green haired woman.

"Grammy and one of my servan- friends, Zoldeo; both had gone away in order to search Grammy's missing daughter, Brandish.

It was six years ago and they had been keeping in contact with me until recently. But that too stopped about a month ago.

I worry something might have happened to them. I'm willing pay any amount, Satoru. I just request that you find their current whereabouts and see if they are doing ok." Layla finished explaining.

Satoru thought for a bit, he remembered the man named Zoldeo and asked a question, "Were you in contact with both of them, or only one of them was keeping in touch with you?"

She just seemed to realize something, but she refused to acknowledge what she was thinking, "It- It was Zoldeo. I trust both of them with my life, so I-" Satoru didn't let her finish and asked her another question.

"When was the last time, you spoke to Grammi?"

"Fiv- Five years ago." She mumbled.

Satoru didn't say anything anymore, he didn't want to make assumptions just yet, "Tell me the place where they were supposed to be, the last time you talked to them- him."

"They were back on Isghar, somewhere near the border of Bosco and Stella. It was about a month ago." She replied.

"And, any news about Grammi's daughter."

"They- Zoldeo said that they were still searching. And they were coming to Fiore for a short rest." She replied.

"And by his description, they should have been here by now." Master Makarov, who was listening until now, spoke.

Layla nodded and Satoru cupped his chin, thinking about something. "Alright, give me a few days, I'll be back." He spoke then immediately disappeared from the hall.

"And, he's gone." Makarov commented, as Satoru's presence vanished from anywhere, that he could sense.

'I have a feeling, that things have already gone south. Ah well, Satoru's going to find out anyways.' Makarov shrugged to himself.

Layla returned to her estate afterwards. And Satoru was already on the trail. Mysteries and adventures always made his heart throb and whatever this was, this smelled of a mystery and a story worth putting his time on.

Sometime Later:

Somewhere near the border of Bosco and Stella kingdom. Satoru suddenly appeared near a big chasm.

Taking his sunglasses off, they disappeared from his hand. His Azure eyes shined a bit as he scanned the entirety of region.

Satoru had a special pair of eyes, they could do and accomplish many things and one of them was, being able see even the faintest of Magic signatures, that would have been left here even from the past.

In his mind Satoru was actively separating the different magic signatures from the one he remembered, that matched with Zoldeo or Grammi.

After a while, there was subtle smile on his face, "So, only he was here huh. About a month ago." He thought to himself, as his hyperactive senses filled his brain with a butt load of information.

Putting on the sunglasses back, he then followed the trail of magic back to the kingdom of Stella and with an almost silent implosion in the air, he teleported away from the place.

A few hours later:

Walking along the trail of the magic signature and into the kingdom of Stella. Satoru came across a small town. He was now wearing his regular attire; the dark clothes and his signature blindfold.

He didn't have much hope of getting any info from the town, but he asked around nonetheless.

After a while, he came across an old tavern master, who had an interesting answer, "Now, now. Young man, you're expecting me work for free?

Any kind of info requires payment, you know. Even if it is a useless one."

Satoru smirked at the man and pulled out a gemstone from his dimensional sub-space. "Will this, suffice as a payment."

"Now that's what I call, doing business." The man took the gem and said, "And for your answer. Yes.

I saw the man; he stayed in my inn. It was a month ago."

"Was he with anyone else?" Satoru asked.

"None, he was alone. And kind of a crazy guy, if you ask me. And I don't know if I was imagining things or actually feeling what it was, you know… Cause I was absolutely shit faced, not that I'm ever sober… But it was more on that day.

Anyways, I sensed some dark-magic from him. I could recognize it, because I have had some horrible experiences in the past." The man explained.

"I see. Anything else, like whether he ever talked about where he came from?" Satoru asked.

"No… Well, he was saying something about someone being in Alvarez Empire. I don't know if he said anything about being there himself, but- oh yeah, I remember one more thing…

He was looking for a guy named, Kurust." He spoke.

"I see… Do you know anyone named, Kurust?" Satoru asked.

"What- No, of course… Not. Sigh… Alright I don't know why someone like 'you', is searching for that crazy guy. But I do know someone named Kurust."

Satoru raised his eyebrow, "You know me?" He asked.

"Who doesn't? I don't live in caves, you know. And, wouldn't be much of a tavern owner, if I didn't know even that." He replied.

"Heh… So, you told Zoldeo about him?"

"What? Gods no. You should have seen the look in his eyes. They were definitely waiting to kill, whoever he was searching for. So, I couldn't. Even if he was offering me a lot of Jewels.

That was a loss. But I'm fully sure, that I saved a poor bloke from dying that day." He replied.

"Well then, tell me about this Kurust Guy." Satoru asked.

"Wait, you're not planning to kill him too, are you?" The man asked.

"Sigh… You said you know me, didn't you?" Satoru asked and the man nodded.

"Then, would I go asking around, if I wanted to kill this guy?"

The man shook his head and spoke, "He's a friend of my friend. That's why I even bothered risking lying to that crazy man.

But yeah, Kurust now lives in Pergrande Kingdom, somewhere in the Corneus region, maybe in the main city. He lived here nearby. But something happened five years ago.

He was adamant on not telling us about it. And he's been there ever since then, we've talked to him a few times after that.

But I'll tell you, he was definitely running from something. Maybe his life was in danger, but I'll never know."

'Five years ago huh. Coincidence? I don't think so… This is getting more and more interesting. What did you cook, Zoldeo?' Satoru smirked to himself.

The next day:

Satoru couldn't directly teleport to Pergrande Kingdom as he had never been there before. So, after teleporting back to his home in Magnolia and taking a rest, he set out for Pergrande again.

He teleported to the farthest place that he had ventured to, the other day. He was currently in the Iceberg kingdom.

He was casually walking through a heavy snowstorm, along the wide and seemingly endless snowfields.

He didn't seem bothered by the cold nor the storm as nothing was even coming in contact with his body.

'Though, this storm is a bit annoying.' Satoru thought as a bluish-purple aura started emitting from his body.

Soon enough, a torrent of a ridiculously insane quantity of magic erupted outwards, thwarting the storm and its corresponding clouds.

The sheer force of the magical wind, was strong enough to clear out the storm within an entire region.

The sky was clear and the snow storm was gone, as if it was never even there in the first place. Fully satisfied with his work and now getting a proper sense of direction, he continued walking.

A bit far, the three individuals who were following him had a scared and dumbfounded looks on their faces. One was a dark-skinned woman with long silver hair and bunny ears, another was a young dark-skinned man with spiky blue hair.

And the last one was a tall burly man with slightly tanned skin and long green hair, that was tied on deadlocks.

All three individuals realized that the previous display by Satoru was a warning. They knew they would be dead if they tried to confront him.

So, they abruptly stopped following him, even though they had been trailing him, back when he was on the Stella Kingdom.

The spiky blue haired guy gritted his teeth. But he knew better than to foolishly continue pursuing the man who could swat away a big snowstorm with his magical pressure alone.

(A/N: I believe you already know who these three are.)

"Let's go back. We'll need to report to the king. I believe he was just passing by our kingdom." The green haired man spoke and started walking away.

The other two nodded and followed him.

"I think so too. That man from the tavern said that he might be headed towards Pergrande. And it seems true." The bunny eared woman spoke.

The next day:

Fairy Tail Guild:

"PFTTT!!!" Makarov threw off all the booze that was in his mouth. "What?" He shouted as he heard the news of Natsu, Happy and Lucy, destroying the entire estate of Duke Everlue.

The poor old man collapsed on the floor after the town mayor had sent him the bills for repairs, the zeros in the bill didn't seem to end.

Ok that was an exaggeration, but still, the repair bill of several million Jewels was too much to handle for the old man.

"Damn you, Natsu!"

Team Natsu had just finished their job in count Everlue and were heading back to their guild. They also had a run in with Gray Fullbuster.

Then with a gang of wizards from the dark guild Eisenwald. And during their short clash with the dark guild members, they heard an interesting name, "Lullaby".

They couldn't hear more though, as those people were immediately killed by someone in the shadows, before they could reveal any more of their plans.

Satoru, who had already reached Pergrande Kingdom, the day before. Was now nearing the region of Corneus.

It took a bit of time to finally get to the city of Corneus and he hoped the man he was searching for, actually lived here.

Or at the least, he hoped he was still alive. There could be a chance that Zoldeo had already found him.

Back in the Guild.

Natsu, Lucy, Happy and Gray had finally arrived back home. Natsu, Gray and Happy, all three of them were terrified of the woman that was returning to guild today.

As they were muttering to themselves, Natsu's foot suddenly got tangled with Gray's and they both fell face first to the floor.

"The f*ck? Why did you do that for?" Natsu complained, grabbing Gray's collar.

"Me? That was all you flame brain!" Gray replied, smashing his forehead against his.

"What was that, you stripper?"

"You! Take this." Natsu got punched in the face and Gray was met with the same fate. Their silent walk had suddenly turned into a brawl.

It escalated so fast that Lucy was watching from the side, with a stupefied expression.

"What is with these two? It's like fate itself, is trying to make them kill each other." She commented, as she watched the two duking out with each other.

"Aye!" Happy chimed in.

"Oh, Lucy. Forget about those two. Come on, let's take our blossoming love to another level." Loke came forward as he spoke in his "seductive" voice.

'What do you mean, another level? This is our second time talking.' She thought to herself.

Loke was getting close to her, when he saw the Celestial Spirit Keys, holstered on her waist. "Wait, you're a celestial spirit mage?" He asked, a bit averted and backing off from her.

Lucy seemed confused as to why he seemed terrified of her now, when Happy said, "Yup, she has a perverted bull and a tasty looking crab too."

"Oh, what a terrible twist of fate. Sorry Lucy, but it seems we were never meant to be together." Loke announced as he hightailed away from her.

"Huh? When did we even became a 'we'?" She asked and then said, "And why is he terrified of a celestial spirit mage?"

"Well, Loke has always been bad at handling celestial spirit mages." Mira commented as she walked forward.

"I bet it involved a woman or something." Happy spoke in a teasing tone.

"TANG!!!" Suddenly they heard a loud noise throughout the hall.

It was none other than Loke, who smacked his head onto something metallic as he was running blindly.

"It's Erza. She's back!" Someone shouted in a terrified voice, as if their life was at stake.

There she stood, the woman known as the Titania. Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail; A young woman about nineteen to twenty years old, with long scarlet hair and brown eyes.

She was wearing a metallic, silver plated chest armor, with shoulder guards and gauntlets, a blue skirt and black boots.

She was also carrying a gigantic horn on her shoulder, which she abruptly put on the floor shaking the entire hall.

She then spoke, "I'm back. Is master here right now?"

It was Mira who replied, "Welcome back, Erza. Master is off on the regular guild meetings today."

"I see, I was hoping to discuss something with him. But anyways…. You guys!!!" She suddenly spoke in a loud voice, and then started complaining about how everyone was going around sullying Fairy Tail's name.

"Listen up! Master might forgive you, but I won't. So, stop acting like children and get your acts together.

Speaking of children, where are Natsu and Gray?" She asked.

It was happy who immediately flew towards her and pointed her to them, "Aye, they're here!"

"Yo Erza. How're you doing?" Gray awkwardly spoke as both Natsu and Gray were now acting all buddy buddies. "As you can see, we're still getting along very well." Gray spoke with a strained smile

"Aye!" Natsu nodded his head.

"Natsu became Happy!" Lucy was gob smacked.

"Aye!" It was Happy who spoke this time.

"Hey, Is Erza an enforcer for the guild or something?" Lucy whispered to Mira.

"Well, Erza is Erza. And this is her acting like herself." Mira replied, confusing the blonde even more.

"Wait, you said master was on a regular meeting. Is it in the council?" Lucy asked.

"No, actually. Annually, the guild masters from different regions, affiliated with the council, get together and discuss various things." Mira replied.

"I see. So, there are non-affiliated guilds too?" She asked.

"Well, aside from the merchant and some solo mercenary guilds, who still abide by the government's law. There are those who refuse to go by the rules and involve themselves in crimes and such." Mira spoke.

"Oh, the Dark Guilds?" Lucy asked and she nodded her head.

"By the way, Erza. What is that thing?" Droy, one of the guild members asked to the red-haired girl, pointing at the giant horn on the floor.

"Oh, the villagers on my last job, decorated the horn of a monster I killed and gave it to me as a souvenir." She replied with a smile, reminiscing the generosity of those people.

Who would tell her that they were just scared sh*tless of her and didn't want to get on her bad side?

"Is that being here, causing any problem?" She asked with a straight face and all of them shook their head.

'Another scary one.' Lucy thought to herself. 'But I guess, she is beautiful huh.' She thought as she took a closer look at Erza, especially the bright silver earrings, that went perfect with her red-hair.

"Everyone seems really scared of her huh. Even these two." Lucy looked at the two most noisy guys of the guild, who were still acting like a longtime reunited couple.

"Well, I'd say especially these two." Mira added with a chuckle.

And Happy explained, "Yes, Natsu once challenged her and got beaten to a pulp, then she did the same to Gray, because he was running around Naked.

And Loke was sent to a hospital, because he tried to court her but poor loke didn't know he was… courting death…" Happy snickered.

Erza who seemed to be thinking about something until now, finally spoke, "Natsu and Gray. I'm glad to see you two doing well.

I actually have a favor to ask of you. It's about something troublesome, that I heard on my way back.

And, is Satoru here? I was hoping he would join us too." She asked.

Mira shook her head and said, "He went out on another job." She then looked at Lucy but didn't say anything, as Layla had requested not to tell Lucy about her being there.

"I see. It'll have to be only us then… Natsu, Gray. I need your help, you'll come with me, right?" Erza spoke to the two.

The rest of the guild members were surprised that Erza was asking for help and if it was these three, then it was definitely something serious, more so because Erza was willing to take Satoru too.

"Wait, you're saying I have to team up with him?" Gray looked at Natsu with an irritated face.

"Took the words right out of my mouth, pervert!" Natsu replied.

Ignoring their bicker, Erza said, "Alright, I'll fill you in on the details later. We're heading out tomorrow so, prepare yourselves."

"Wait, we never agreed to-" Both Natsu and Gray were about to refute when Erza just gave them a side eye and they both shut their mouths. She then walked away and out of the guild hall.

"These three as a team huh." Mira mumbled to herself and Lucy Looked at her.

"I never thought about it, but I guess they could count as Fairy Tail's strongest team. Sigh, master's going to have a heart attack if he hears about this." Mira then looked at Lucy.

'Oh, no… I know that look.' Lucy shuddered. And yes, she was again asked to go along with them, mostly to take care of Natsu.

She couldn't refuse Mirajane's request anyways.

The Next Day:

The team of Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy and Happy, went out to do the job that Erza requested. More than a job, it was now a fight to stop the dark guild Eisenwald and whatever their sinister plan was.

Around early evening:

The town of Corneus, Pergrande Kingdom:

A man in his late thirties was silently walking towards his home. He was about to go inside his house, when he heard a voice behind him.

"Kurust, right?" It was Satoru, who was standing right behind the man.

Kurust was immediately alerted, because he could never sense Satoru's presence. He just suddenly blinked into existence behind him.

It terrified him more, because as a wizard himself, he knew how hard it was to accomplish that.

"Wh- Who are you?" He asked as he looked the young blindfolded man.

"Doesn't matter who I am. I'm here to ask you some questions about, what happened with you, five years ago." Satoru spoke.

"You! Damn… I- I'll have you know; I won't go down without a fight. And you won't walk away unscathed either." The man suddenly got defensive, fear evident in his eyes.

"Haha… I believe you. Haah… But I'm not here to kill you. Although, Zoldeo might be coming here, soon enough."

He was wide eyed hearing the name. "I- I'll talk. But please, I- I don't want to die."

"Tell me the truth and I might be able to help you out of your, situation." Satoru spoke with a smile.

Heartfillia Estate:

Layla was still restless. She had no idea what was happening. Zoldeo was out of contact for more than a month. She didn't know about Grammi's situation.

She felt like a failure as a friend. Back then, when Grammi blamed herself for her sickly situation, she had no words to console her friend.

They forgot about their whole situation, when a boy came as a blessing on her life. She honestly didn't know, how she could ever repay him for bringing her back to health.

And now, two of her most loyal people had completely vanished from her life. 'Sigh, how did things become like this-' She was thinking, when she suddenly felt someone behind her.

She calmed down when she turned around, as it was none other than Satoru, but he'd brought along a man with himself.

"Sorry for barging in. But I don't think announcing my arrival is good for what you're about to hear." He pointed towards the man.

"Layla. This is Kurust. And Kurust, this is Layla Heartfillia. I believe you know her. And Layla, he has the answer for all your questions." Satoru spoke out.

"Answer?" Layla seemed confused and was already having a bad premonition.

"So, why don't you tell us everything from the start." Satoru looked at the man who gave a nod.

Kurust then started explaining, "My apologies, Mrs. Heartfillia. I should have done this soon enough, but I was a coward... I still am, but here goes nothing.

I'm currently living in Pergrande but six-years ago, when I was in Stella. I found a lost girl named Brandish.

She was sick at first and couldn't even speak much, but after I took care of her and she came back to her senses. She suddenly became very adamant on finding her mom.

So much so, that even after I had promised her that I would help her. She ran away from my home.

I… I could do nothing. I searched for her, but I couldn't find her. And after few weeks of her disappearance, two people came searching for her.

Ms. Grammi and Zoldeo. I- I felt guilty. It was partially my fault that she had went missing again. And Ms. Grammi was kind enough not to put any blame on me.

So, I had to help them out. And thus, I decided to journey with them. Everything was going fine and five years ago, we even found Brandish again.

She was not in a good condition, but we had found her and that was all that mattered. But then, as we were returning to stella.

Zoldeo was starting to act strange, it's like something was happening to him, he never told us what it was, but that was when he had started to change.

He kept rambling about magic this and magic that, and how celestial spirit magic had an untapped potential.

He started having many arguments with Ms. Grammi. I don't know what they talked about, but Ms. Grammi was clearly against whatever ideas, Zoldeo had.

And one day, I saw him- He had finally gone just beyond madness.

Ms. Grammi, she- Zoldeo ripped her heart out, in cold blood. I could see it in his eyes. He didn't seem satisfied at all.

I knew me and Brandish were next. So, I ran… I ran along with the girl, I don't how I was able to escape that monster.

But I did. And my plan was to come straight to you as I'd been told about this place. But then, I lost Brandish again.

She was already devasted when she saw her mother getting killed. She hadn't spoken a word even to the very day she disappeared again.

I- I didn't know, what to tell you if I came here. I didn't know if you'd even believe me. I don't know if you believe me even now and that's why I was afraid.

So, I hid. I stayed away as far as I could, not being able to forget the thirst for blood in Zoldeo's eyes and the guilt of losing that child again."

Layla remained silent; as if lost in her thoughts, she of course had listened to all of this man's story. But her arms and legs were starting to feel cold.

If this was true, 'no- no, no…. Zoldeo. Why? And why was he keeping a contact with me? Continuously lying to me for five whole years.

And how could I be so blind?' She didn't know what to say. She felt so ashamed… Angry? She didn't deserve to be angry.

She was here, living a life of luxury, while her dear friend suffered and another betrayed her. She looked at Satoru, hoping he would say something like, 'This is all a lie.'

But nothing came. Satoru could clearly tell, that the man wasn't lying. And this wasn't just a guess. He was sensitive to people's emotions so, it was pretty easy decerning a lie from a truth. And this wasn't a lie.

"I'm sorry, Layla. I did some extra searching, but I couldn't find neither Brandish nor any signs of Grammi's remains." Satoru spoke.

"N- No. You've already done enough, Satoru. I ask for your forgiveness that I brought you into this mess." Layla replied.

Satoru suddenly perked up as he looked straight, 'Dark Magic?' He thought as he sensed the magic anomaly.

"Satoru?" Layla looked at him with a confused expression, tears filling up her eyes.

"I'm sorry, you two will have to continue this conversation by yourselves. Layla, I'll be back tomorrow.

We can discuss further, then." He spoke and after she reluctantly nodded, he disappeared from the room.

Layla and Kurust continued talking, Kurust being the one answering most of her questions. Layla needed to know everything that had happened. She needed an answer as to why Zoldeo betrayed all of them.

A bit earlier:

Clover Town, Regular Meeting Hall of the Guild Masters:

A tired and battered up young man with dark hair tied up to a spiky pony tail, holding a strange and ominous flute, was limping towards the building. This was Kageyama from the Eisenwald guild, here to finish what they had started.

"Oh Shit! I'm late. I have to find those three, before a town disappears or something." The young man heard a voice.

It was an old man who was walking past him. 'Makarov? Master Makarov of the Fairy Tail guild.' He thought in surprise as he recognized the old man.

"You, young man. You should go to a hospital or something, you know." Makarov looked at the young man and the strange flute on his hand.

Makarov seemed to have realized something and then started walking away. "Please wait." Kageyama called out.

With a subtle smile, Makarov turned around and Kage said, "Will you listen to a song of mine? The hospital won't let me play it and I haven't found someone who's willing to listen." A friendly smile propping up in his face.

"If you mean with that flute, then I'd rather not. It looks ominous as hell." Makarov pointed out.

The guy started sweating. "Ah- Aha, but I assure you. It will actually be pretty decent." He spoke in an awkward tone.

"Sigh, it's getting late. But fine, I'll listen to your music. But only one, alright?" The old man finally relented.

'I win.' The guy thought then brought the flute closer to his mouth.

Lucy, Erza, Natsu and Gray, who had been chasing Kageyama, finally saw him. And seeing that he was about to play the flute to none other than their own master, they were absolutely terrified.

They were about to stop him and were close to calling him out when someone stopped them instead. It was the Blue Pegasus' guild master, Bob.

"Now, now, wait just a minute, cuties." Bob, the strangely dressed guy looked at them.

"Who is he?" Lucy asked.

"Blue Pegasus' master?" Erza recognized the man.

"My, my, Erza-chan. You're beautiful as always." He spoke.

"Master Bob, we have to stop that man-" Erza was about to speak when another interrupted her.

"Just stay quiet, the interesting part is coming up." The man said.

"What's wrong lad? It's getting late, you know? Where's your song?" Makarov asked to the conflicted man.

'Play, just play the flute dammit.' Kage remembered all the events that transpired today, all the fights, the betrayal and his experience with the Fairy Tail guild members.

'I just to need play this once and everything will change-' He was thinking when Makarov said.

"Nothing will change."

Kage looked at him, surprised. Makarov turned to the side and continued, "Weak will stay weak.

But… Being weak is not bad, you know? Humans are weak to begin with. Insecurity is what comes from being alone.

That's the whole reason we make so many friends. The different guilds and all the people coming together.

True, it may take some people more time to get their lives together. Yet we persevere nonetheless.

But if you keep believing in yourself and in the those who are around you, you'll surely reach the strength that you're searching for, one day.

Without having to depend on such 'flutes', of course." Makarov said the last part with a grin.

Kage was shocked. 'He knew?'...…. 'Heh, of course he knew.' He thought and dropped the flute on the ground.

"I give up." He said as he kneeled down.

Makarov had a content smile, until that turned into a surprise when the heard several voices.

"Master!"

"Gramps!"

It was the ones he was looking for. The three that he was troubled about being in a same team.

"Wait? Why are you three here?" Makarov asked in surprise.

"Master, those were very inspiring words." Erza suddenly grabbed his head and smacked him onto her chest plate, "Tang!"

"You were really incredible, Master." Natsu commented as he kept annoyingly patting his head.

"He needs to go see a doctor." Lucy looked at the battered-up Kage.

"Tsk… A clueless bunch of fools, you humans are. And mages, a bunch of hypocrites." A deep voice suddenly echoes from the flute as a dark-purple smoke started emitting out of it.

"Heh, I can't deal with this bullshit any longer. I'll do it myself then." The flute spoke again.

"The flute is talking, Happy." Lucy grabbed the cat and stuttered in shock.

"Smoke, a lot of smoke is coming out!" Happy exclaimed.

A giant monster, made out of dark wooden roots and circular holes throughout its body, emerged from the increasing smoke.

"Monster, a monster!" All of them were shocked with this development.