1 Present: The Intro

A/N: Hi everyone! This is a completely new story from me! Thanks for coming and checking it out. Note: This story does have an OC and may have more in the future.

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Evangeline Aspen was annoyed. Nothing at the guild hall had caused her annoyance. It wasn't that there were multiple large iron rods sticking out of the main part of the guild hall. It wasn't that Mira was fuming, even though she was very much affected by the white-haired demon's emotions. No, this was more about who wasn't at the guild hall, and who had just refused to return to help fight against Phantom Lord.

As an S-Class herself, she knew the responsibility that all the S-Class mages had to protecting the guild, especially since Guildarts wasn't anywhere nearby. Laxus was breaking one of the unwritten rules that all S-Class mages followed by not returning.

"Ev," Mira said from behind the bar, pulling her out of her thoughts. Evangeline looked up at her.

"Hmm?"

"Ev, you were scaring people. You know how your magic gets when you get upset," Mira lightly scolded. Evangeline stopped her magic flow immediately. She didn't even realize that it was leaking from her.

"Mira, I thought I told you not to call me that anymore," Evangeline sighed. She was trying to get away from the nickname that Laxus had given her when they were younger, back when they were still innocent kids. Things weren't the same anymore. They never would be.

"Sorry, Evangeline. It's a lot to get used to after calling you that the whole time I've known you," Mira said, smiling sadly at her. Evangeline smiled softly back at her.

"I'm okay, Mira. In all honesty, I'm not mad about him not coming back now. It's nice to have space after everything that happened," she said quietly. She turned to look behind her at the new blonde girl in the corner. She was so young, and Evangeline could feel she had already faced a lot of trauma in her life. Evangeline could also tell by her magic that she would be very powerful in the future.

"I hope she'll be okay," Mira whispered to her, looking at Lucy in the corner as well. Evangeline turned back to face Mira.

"She will be, but the next few days will be a lot for all of us," Evangeline whispered back. Mira frowned at her.

"You can already tell how this plays out, huh?" Mira asked her. "It's been years since you've seen something like this, and almost a year since you've seen anything else. Why now?"

"I saw it a long time ago, Mira. Back before the issues with Laxus started, before everything else. When I was genuinely happy. My magic is so tied to emotions that all of the issues really messed it up," Evangeline told her. Mira nodded while keeping her eyes on the woman sitting in front of her.

"Have you had other issues, or just this part of your magic?" Mira asked, curious now as to why Evangeline was bringing this up now.

"It's affected every part of it. It's gotten a lot darker, and some parts I just can't use at all," Evangeline said gravely. Mira looked down at the bar top. "Anyway, I think new girl needs a strawberry milkshake. Can you make one for her real fast?"

"Of course," Mira said as she started preparing the drink. Evangeline turned back to face Lucy, who was staring at an empty milkshake glass in front of her. She tried to access part of her emotional magic that had been weakened for a while in order to try and sort through the girl's emotions that she couldn't see on the surface. Unfortunately, she couldn't dig into that more intimate part of her magic.

Mira placed the strawberry milkshake on the bar right beside Evangeline, and Evangeline picked it up, then stood and walked over to Lucy's table in the corner. She sat down at the table in front of the young blonde, who looked up at her, surprised by Evangeline's sudden appearance at her table. Evangeline slid the strawberry milkshake across the table to Lucy, who slowly moved it closer to her.

"Thank you," Lucy said quietly, carefully eyeing the woman in front of her.

"Anytime," Evangeline told her. She smiled at Lucy.

"I don't think I've officially met you yet," Lucy said. This was true, they hadn't introduced themselves yet, but Evangeline at least knew who Lucy was.

"I'm Evangeline Aspen Hastings," she said as she reached her hand across the table.

"Lucy Heartfilia," Lucy said as she took Evangeline's hand and shook it.

"Other than unfortunate recent events, how have you gotten settled in here at the guild? I hope everyone has been welcoming," Evangeline asked her. Lucy smiled slightly at her before answering.

"It's been amazing, honestly. I'm sorry about the guild getting destroyed. They are after me," Lucy said, bowing her head a little to look down at the table.

"It wasn't you that ordered the guild be destroyed. It was not you that sent iron rods through the building. This is in no way your fault, Lucy. I need you to understand that. When you joined Fairy Tail, you became our family. Your struggles are our struggles. Your pain is our pain. Please, allow yourself to share that with us. It's much easier to cope with our emotions and our demons when we have the support of others who have experienced the same. Everyone in the guild has faced a major trauma at some point in their life. Over time, everyone will let you know theirs. Remember to let us suffer this with you and let us help you be stronger after this is over," Evangeline said as stared at Lucy, directly in the girl's eyes. Evangeline stood from the table and left the basement of the guild. Lucy stared at the empty seat in front of her, thinking about what the woman had just said.

Mira stood at the bar, looking over at Lucy. She had overheard the whole conversation and smiled slightly to herself. Evangeline had readily accepted the girl into the guild, and, unknown to Lucy, into her inner group. She called the younger members she cared about the most her ducklings. Some of her ducklings included Natsu and Gray. It wasn't surprising that Evangeline would accept Lucy into her group as well.

Evangeline had been Mira's rock after Lisanna died. Evangeline, when she had complete control and access to her magic, was able to read Mira's emotions and was able to help her figure out what they were and how to work through them. Evangeline wasn't just able to read emotions, though. She could experience other people's emotions and their memories tied to the emotions. She was also able to give emotions to others. This helped Mira start to find a new normal, but unfortunately, she hadn't been able to work through all her fears with Evangeline before Evangeline lost her magic. Mira still couldn't use her magic, at least, not to a point where she was able to be very useful. She hoped that one day she'd be able to use it again, but there was a large part of her was afraid of what her fears told her would happen should she use her Satan Soul again.

Evangeline was walking around Magnolia. It was now dark outside, and the street lights didn't help light up the whole road. She didn't mind, though. The darkness comforted her. It had been her friend for many years now.

"Well, look who we have here," a gruff voice called out from behind her.

"Redfox, pleasure seeing you here," Evangeline said. She knew he had been tailing her for a while now. He walked closer to her, but she wasn't afraid. After all, they did know each other, and she knew he wasn't going to hurt her.

"I have a feeling you won't be too happy when you find out what happened," he said. She was reading frustration coming off of him. There was also guilt, but he was trying to bury it.

"I know. I forgive you," she said softly. She could feel his frustration increase.

"Why?" he demanded. "Why, after everything I've done to your guild, why do you forgive me? After everything that's happened on jobs before that?"

"Because you feel guilt," she said. He was going to lash out at her, she knew. But she was capable of protecting herself, and she knew he would. Not. Hurt. Her.

"Guilt? I don't feel guilty," he denied. "I've never felt guilty about anything in my life!" He shot iron rods at her. She didn't move as the went past her.

"You do. You know this is wrong, and you know that you aren't happy where you are. You are missing something."

"Stop doing that," he pleaded with her. His frustration turned to desperation.

"Doing what? Being honest with you? Never. Someone has to tell you the truth when you won't admit it to yourself," she said firmly.

"You should hate me for all I've done," Gajeel said as he dropped down to his knees behind her. She turned around to face him. She walked towards him and stopped in front of him.

"Gajeel, look at me." He looked up at her, tears in his eyes. "I will never hate you. You need to learn to not hate yourself."

Gajeel looked back down at the ground. Evangeline turned away from him and started walking away from him but stopped after 20 feet.

"Remember that if you need me, I'm here. You know where to find me," she said, then walked off into the night.

Gajeel stayed on his knees in the dimly lit street for a while thinking about what Evangeline had said. The woman somehow had a profound impact on him every time their paths crossed. She was able to read him perfectly with her magic, but it was weaker now than when they met the first time. He knew it had something to do with someone else in Fairy Tail. He couldn't remember the name of the person that hurt her. Started with an L? He was sure that he would make whoever hurt her feel pain. However odd his relationship was with Evangeline; he was protective of her. She always helped him regardless of if he was technically on the opposing side from her. She confused him. She made absolutely no sense at all. That was the wonder of her.

It was almost midnight by the time Evangeline finally reached her apartment. It was small and mostly empty. She didn't bring much with her when she left her old home; just her clothes. Thankfully, she had more than enough money from all the jobs she'd taken before the incident. She had lived in this small apartment for almost a year now. She only had a bed, a table with one chair, and a few kitchen items. She hadn't cooked for herself in a very long time.

She decided that she was going to shower before bed. She walked into her bathroom and stripped off her clothes, then turned on the shower tap. While the water was heating up, she looked at herself in the mirror.

There were dark purple circles under her green eyes. Her cheeks seemed a bit hollow as well. She decided she needed to probably eat more, and at least attempt to sleep tonight. The nightmares would come back, but she needed to sleep. She scanned past her face down onto her neck, then to her chest and shoulders. She had small scars on her chest and arms from different jobs over the years. They didn't bother her much. There was only one scar on her body that she cared about, and it was the one Laxus gave her. Speaking of that scar, the scanned down to her stomach. On the upper left side of her abdomen, there was an uneven, red and purple scar that spread across her skin. It was about three inches across. She gingerly ran her fingers across it and it still felt like lightning had zapped her every time she touched it.

The mirror started to steam up, so Evangeline decided to get in the shower. The water was very hot, almost to the point of scalding her, but that was how she liked it. Her light blue hair almost reached her hips when wet. She usually had her hair up in a bun on top of her head to keep it out of the way. She figured she might as well get it cut now, as there was no reason to keep it long. After all, she only kept it long for her ex-husband, and their divorce had finalized a few months ago.

She quickly finished her show and wrapped a towel around herself. She wiped off the mirror with a hand towel and grabbed a scissors from one of the drawers in her sink vanity. She quickly combed through her hair before chopping it all off right above her shoulders. After she was done, she grabbed her hair from inside the sink and threw it in the trash can. Evangeline looked in the mirror one more time before nodding to herself and leaving the bathroom.

Evangeline walked into her room a short way away from her bathroom and grabbed a nightshirt out of her dresser, which was across the room from her bed. She flicked off the light in her room and crawled into bed. She curled up in her covers and waited for sleep to take her. It didn't take long until she fell into her first dreamless sleep in almost a year.

The next morning, Makarov declared war on Phantom Lord. Levy, Jet, and Droy were found pinned against a tree with iron in Magnolia Park. Of course, Evangeline already knew this would happen. The Phantom Lord guild war was the last major event she had seen.

Evangeline took her time getting ready to head to the guild. She wouldn't be partaking in the battle of the day. She felt like she had something else she needed to do. For the first time in a long time, she actually made herself breakfast. It wasn't really food, just cereal in water. She didn't even have milk in her fridge due to not ever eating at home. After breakfast, she dressed in a pair of skinny black pants that was distressed at the knee. She also grabbed a white tank top and put on her signature leather spiked vest. She'd worn that vest for almost 10 years. It had been with her after her parents died, during her S-Class trial, and also during her divorce. It was one of the only reliable things in her life.

Eventually, she decided she had to go to the guild. She needed to be with her injured guildmates, as Lucy had most likely already been taken. She couldn't interfere. Whenever she had visions as vivid as when she saw this event, she knew she could take no action that could impact the way the events turn out, or else there will be massive consequences. She knew from experience what could go wrong. After all, her interference in her parents' job caused their death. She saw them get injured and tried to change the future she saw, which led to both her mother and father dying.

Evangeline arrived at the guild and set up near Levy's bed. She liked Levy. Levy was very smart, but she was also very innocent. She wished she had her full magic power back so she could help Levy to recover from the trauma she just experienced. But alas, her ability to change other people's emotions was still gone. At this rate, she was worried she would never get it back. That's not to say she thought she was weak now, but she just liked to have many tools in her arsenal. Very few people could fight back against her emotional manipulation magic.

Evangeline looked over to Jet and Droy in their beds. She didn't feel fear coming from them, but hatred. Hatred was the darkest emotion that one could feel. Evangeline disliked that emotion. She promised herself that she would never allow herself to feel hate for anyone or anything. Erza asked her if she hated Laxus, and truthfully, she didn't. She was afraid of him now. Terrified even. That didn't mean she didn't get frustrated with him over things still, but she was now too afraid to confront him about it. In the past, she was able to challenge him and the things he said or did. He listened to her. But that Laxus was gone. He'd showed her that much.

The rest of the guild members returned from Phantom Lord with Makarov looking very ill. Evangeline was worried but knew he would be fine. This was one of the only advantages of being able to see the future. Well, when she was once able to.

Everyone seemed a bit beaten down, but no one was ready to give up. Fairy Tail never gave up. Evangeline knew that Phantom Lord would be here again soon, and they had to get ready for battle again. This time though, they had an advantage. They were on their home turf. They also had her. It was time that she broke out a magic she tried to suppress due to its nature but knew that she had to protect her family. That was what she saw herself doing all those years ago. Her last major vision. She had to make sure everything went according to her vision.

Cana was at the bar trying to get into contact with Mystogan. He didn't answer. Evangeline was one of the only people in the guild who knew what he looked like. She knew more than that, and he knew it. He sometimes called her via lacrima at random times when he felt he couldn't take care of an anima alone. Cana sighed after the third time trying, and failing, to connect to Mystogan's lacrima, and then turned her focus to try and call Laxus. Evangeline sat up straight. Her hair was up again today, so she decided she would take it down to show everyone in the guild that she was free.

Laxus actually picked up the lacrima and Cana tried to convince him and his group to return to help. Evangeline sat with her back straight and her now short hair hanging just above her shoulders. Everyone went quiet, watching Evangeline and how she would react in the situation. Laxus saw her and narrowed his eyes, but then said there was no reason for him to get involved, just as he had said the first time when Mira had called him. He then hung up. Cana scowled in frustration, and Evangeline stood from her place at a table in front of the bar and walked over to her.

"Cana, we don't need them," she said. "We'll be fine." Cana sighed, but nodded to the older woman.

"If you say so, then I'll believe you," Cana said. Cana went back to her drink and Evangeline exited the basement of the guild hall. She ended up on the first floor and made her way into the storeroom. No one would bother her up there.

Evangeline sat down and closed her eyes. She reached up to her right ear and removed the crystal earring she wore. After it was gone, she felt her darker magic return. It sucked her inside of herself to confront the power.

"Well, well, Evangeline. And here I thought you would never use my power again, dear," a figure said from the darkness in her mind.

"It's time for me to face reality. Reality is that your power is a part of me, and I get to choose how to use it. I'm sure you know everything that's happened over the past year, so I will spare you the details. I know I used to use your power, and I think I'm ready to again," Evangeline said, her voice serious. The figure appeared in front of her in the dark expanse of her mind.

"Then I will help you, Evangeline. I was always partial to you," it said. The figure was a mirror image of Evangeline, except her hair was black and her eyes were red.

"I will trust in you, Aspen. Save my family, you know what we've seen. You know what to do," Evangeline said, holding her hand out to her mirror. Aspen took her hand.

"I will. Thank you for taking my name as part of yours, by the way," she said as she faded. Evangeline was losing her consciousness and control over her body, and Aspen was in control. Evangeline didn't try and watch what was going on actively. She would know everything after she regained consciousness.

In the physical world, Evangeline's physical appearance changed to be Aspen's look. Aspen was a demon, or at least, that's what she thought. She had existed for such a long time that she forgot what she was. Ever few hundred years she would be sealed into a new human. This time, she happened to be sealed into a host that she actually liked. Her host was something that Aspen had longed to have her whole existence. Evangeline was a pure soul, the opposite of Aspen. Where Evangeline was peace, Aspen was chaos. At least, in the beginning.

When Evangeline was younger, she freely went to Aspen when she needed help. Aspen took over and viciously struck down anyone who stood in her host's way. However, there was a job where Aspen lost control over herself and Evangeline ended up getting lost in her consciousness. Aspen ended up staying in control for an extended period of time while she got back to the guild. Porlyusica was the one who ended up figuring out how to bring Evangeline back, then advised Evangeline and Aspen that it was unwise to combine their power while Evangeline was still growing up, and especially for an extended period of time. She created an earring that would seal Aspen away until Evangeline was ready for her power again.

Aspen had opened her eyes to look around her. She felt the guild hall shaking, like something large was walking very close. She exited the storeroom and went out the back of the destroyed guild hall to find the Phantom Lord guild hall walking on massive legs through the bay. She flared her magic to get the rest of the guild to notice something was coming. Quickly after, members of the guild started pouring out of the guild hall and taking positions to fight.

Unfortunately, the Phantom Lord guild hall was a massive magical machine that was capable of firing a massive cannon called Jupiter. The machine started to write the magical seal for Jupiter as many members of the guild panicked. This magical cannon was very powerful and could easily kill them all. Erza, of course wasn't going to let that happen.

Erza requiped into her adamantine armor and set up in front of the guild. Aspen walked up behind Erza and placed her hands on Erza's armored shoulders.

"Aspen, stay back. This is something I must do," Erza said, trying to get her to back off.

"No, Erza. Let me help you," Aspen said as she pushed magic into Erza's armor, strengthening it even more. Aspen had learned many things over her many centuries of existence, one of them being how to strengthen anyone's attacks or defenses.

"Alright," Erza resigned, allowing Aspen's magic not only to flow through her armor, but also through Erza herself. She knew that blocking Jupiter would be dangerous, and she needed all the help she could get.

Jupiter struck the magical shield of Erza's adamantine armor and pushed both her and Aspen back. Aspen increased the magic flow into Erza's armor to attempt to keep it from breaking, but the strain as too much. Thankfully, just as the armor broke, Jupiter had finished firing. Erza collapsed in front of Aspen.

"Rest, Erza. We will take care of the rest," Aspen said, and Erza nodded as she laid on the ground.

Shades started to fly around the group of Fairy Tail mages behind Erza and Aspen, but no one was afraid. They all knew that they had to fight for their family. Aspen started walking towards the edge of the bay, and apparently Natsu and Happy had the same idea. The only way to win this was to make it aboard the mechanized guild hall. Aspen took a magic skill she had learned from Laxus and transported herself onto the ship with a bolt of lightning. Natsu and Happy arrived not soon after.

"Natsu, we have to take out the Element 4," Aspen told Natsu, and he nodded.

"I guess I'll take their fire mage. It'll be nice for a meal," Natsu said, smirking. Aspen nodded.

"I'm going after Jose," Aspen said. Natsu turned to her and narrowed his eyes.

"You saw what he did to Master," Natsu started. Aspen held up a hand to stop him.

"Natsu, I'm centuries old. I have many more tricks up my sleeve than Makarov. I'd like to have a word with him," Aspen smirked. Natsu nodded to her, knowing she would be fine. After all, Aspen owed her host to keep her body safe.

"Let's go," Natsu said to her before running away to find his target. Aspen started walking to a large staircase to find the Phantom Lord guildmaster.

Meanwhile, Gray and Elfman made it aboard Phantom Lord's guild hall. The two went to find Natsu to help him defeat Totomaru, the fire mage of the Element 4. They found Natsu getting motion sick just as Totomaru was about to attack him, so Gray quickly froze the enemy mage while Elfman went to attack him. Thankfully, the guild hall stopped moving and Natsu recovered. With Totomaru defeated, the three mages went their separate ways to find the other mages to stop a much deadlier skill, called Abyss Break, from casting.

Back down on the ground, Mira, who was transformed into Lucy, attempted to give herself up to stop the fight. However, Jose saw through it. He sent one of the mechanical arms of the guild hall to grab Mira. Elfman was fighting Sol, who was the earth mage of the Element 4.

Aspen felt Elfman's transformation into a full-body takeover with his beast soul, and she felt him actually keep control. The demon smiled. He might finally find peace with his magic now. She hoped Mira would follow soon.

Aspen also felt Gray engage in battle with the water mage, Juvia. Aspen had seen Juvia a few times through Evangeline and almost pitied the poor girl. She had never seen the sky, the stars, the sun, or the moon. Juvia only ever saw rainclouds.

"Well, well, what do we have here. A little Fairy that strayed too far from her friends," a male voice said from behind Aspen. It was Jose, master of Phantom Lord.

"Just the person I was searching for," Aspen said, her voice icy. Jose was not intimidated.

"Someone seems to be underestimating me, then," Jose said, taunting her.

"And I am under the impression, Jose, that you are underestimating me," Aspen said, a dark aura forming around her.

"Who knew that Fairy Tail held a dark mage," Jose laughed. "The council will get a kick out of this, but it'll be fine. You'll all be dead in no time."

"Now, Jose. It isn't polite to insult a demon by calling her a dark mage," Aspen said, an eerie smile forming on her face. Jose's face twisted in a bit of confusion, but then restored his mocking smirk.

"A demon? An innocent weak thing like you? Oh, this will be fun," Jose said as he summoned shades to attack her. Aspen waves her hand and the shades stopped moving. They looked at her, then turned to attack Jose.

"Never underestimate me, Jose. I control all types of dark creatures, your shades included. Just because they come from your magic doesn't mean they are always loyal to you," Aspen said. Jose panicked.

"What do you want from me?" he asked her, trying to get away from his shades.

"Leave. Stop practicing magic. Be afraid. And never go after my host's family again," Aspen said. She vanished the shades and started walking away from the now terrified guildmaster.

"I'm a Wizard Saint! I can't fall to you," he said, now determined to beat the demon.

"Oh really? You think your measly title will do all the work for you? I never intended on actually fighting you, you know," Aspen said. She turned around and walked towards Jose, stopping right next to him. "You could practice every day for a thousand years and you still wouldn't beat me," she whispered menacingly in his ear. Then, she vanished from his sight.

Aspen stood on the top of the enemy guild hall and scanned the area around Fairy Tail and also within the Phantom Lord hall as well. She now felt Erza, and the scarlet-haired mage was fighting Aria. She felt Aria's magic wane and knew Erza had won. The war would soon be over. Natsu would face Gajeel, and Makarov would make Jose pay. Aspen sighed to herself and decided that now was the time for her to return control over her body to Evangeline.

Evangeline came to quite peacefully given the situation. She didn't feel like she was ripped into her body again like she did when previously using Aspen's power. She remembered everything that had happened while Aspen was in control of her body. She decided to climb down and face Jose. She had to face him herself, at least once. She wanted to scare him with her own power.

Evangeline quickly made her way back into the room she had last remembered Jose being in. She found him, along with Erza. Erza was captured by Jose's magic, and Evangeline bent down to pick up one of Erza's swords.

"Jose," she said, her voice dripping with anger. The man looked at her and smirked.

"Ah, Lady Demon, how kind of you to join us. Of course, you aren't a demon right now, are you?" Jose said. Evangeline stalked forward.

"Just because she isn't in control of my body doesn't mean that I cannot fight like her," she said as she gripped Erza's sword tighter. Jose readied himself to attack her, but the doors to the room opened again. Makarov had arrived.

"Evangeline, leave this to me, child," he said, his face stone cold. Evangeline stopped moving and nodded.

"Are you ready to face death, old man? You almost died once already, so eager to have it all end?" Jose taunted.

"You attack my home. That I could forgive. After all, a guild hall is only a building and it is replaceable. What I cannot forgive, however, is that you have hurt my children. It is a parent's job to make sure that their children never have to suffer at the hands of others, and you have made them suffer. For that, I shall make you pay," Makarov said menacingly as he prepared to cast Fairy Law.

"Face judgement, Jose. Fairy Law," Makarov said, finally casting the first of the three sacred magics of Fairy Tail. A bright yellow-gold light enveloped everything Evangeline could see. A few moments later, it was gone. Jose looked extremely pale and had no ability to cast magic any longer.

"Evangeline, help Erza back to land," Makarov said as he walked out of the room. Evangeline walked over to Erza, who was now sitting on the floor. Erza made the sword in Evangeline's hand disappear. Evangeline then helped Erza stand and supported her as they made their way out of the room and then out of the guild hall.

Several days later, construction on the new guild hall was well underway. Almost everyone in the guild was pitching in to help get the new hall built. This one was much grander than the guild hall before. It also had plans to include a much larger infirmary for the more injury prone members. It also included a large area of offices on the second floor for all the S-Class mages. They also increased the size of the main common area and the bar. Much to Levy's delight, the library was also expanded.

Evangeline was walking around a few furniture shops in Magnolia trying to pick out new tables, chairs, and barstools for the new guild hall. She wanted to make sure they would be durable enough to withstand normal wear and tear, but also easy enough to fix after a party. Fairy Tail parties were known to get way out of hand and majority of the tables usually ended up broken.

After finding the tables she liked, she decided to head back to the guild to see how construction was going. Unfortunately, she heard a familiar voice echoing through the construction site. Laxus was there and was insulting everyone. Evangeline didn't walk any further. She was too afraid to see him again. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long until he left with his team.

Evangeline sat at a table near Lucy and Mira a few moments after Laxus left. Lucy had been asking about Laxus, and Mira had started to fill her in on some of his past. Mira noticed that she had sat down and smiled sadly at her.

"I think I'll leave Evangeline to explain the rest," Mira said to Lucy. Evangeline nodded.

"I know him better than anyone else, at least, I thought I did. We were married for a number of years. Mira already told you that Master is his grandfather, yes?" Lucy nodded. "Okay. Laxus's father was expelled from Fairy Tail years ago because of different things that man had done. I never liked him. He was vicious and cruel, nothing at all like Master. He held no love for anyone, not even his wife or his son. However, even though Ivan was so terrible to his son, Laxus was really mad at Master after Ivan was banished. We were 17 at the time. He slowly started to get more power obsessed over time, but I used to be able to reason with him. We got married at 19, but after that he just started getting worse. Last year, we got into an argument again, but this time it turned into something else," Evangeline said.

Mira knew the story, as did Erza, but few other members of the guild actually knew what happened and why they got a divorce, aside from Laxus's general arrogance. Everyone had stopped working to listen in on Evangeline's story.

"Laxus was talking about his plans of what he wanted to do once he took over the guild. He'd talked about it in the past, but he usually stopped when he realized it made me upset. This time he didn't. He kept going. He said that he would pit members of Fairy Tail against each other to decide who got to stay and who would be forced to leave. He said that only the strong would be allowed to stay, and that they would change the reputation of Fairy Tail to be a band of only the strongest mages. I tried to use some of my magic to calm him down, but he knew what it felt like when I used my magic on him. Then, he blew up at me. He hit me with a bolt of lightning while I was using my magic on him and then everything went dark. When I woke up, I was in the guild infirmary with a large bandage around my abdomen, and it hurt. I wasn't able to use magic anymore. It took several weeks in order for me to use some parts of my emotion magic, but to this day I can't impact other people's emotions. I can read some emotions, but not on the level that I used to." Everyone was watching Evangeline with wide eyes. Mira was looked down at the table.

"I filed for a divorce as soon as I was allowed to leave the infirmary, but thankfully he signed the paperwork. I only picked up my clothes from our house and then I left, and I haven't looked back," Evangeline finished.

Everyone stayed silent for a few more minutes before Erza started ushering everyone back to work. Mira stayed at the table with Evangeline for a while longer.

"Mira, I'll be okay. You don't have to stay here all day," Evangeline said softly. Mira shook her head.

"I want to be here. Everyone else will be fine. Have you gotten the scar checked out recently?" Mira asked.

"No, I haven't. I haven't let Porlyusica touch it since I got my bandages off," Evangeline told her. Mira frowned.

"Maybe you should go check with her. She might be able to do something to help you get more magic function back." Evangeline shook her head.

"I don't think it's a physical thing anymore. For a while it was, but now I think it's more mental. I feel like I'm getting hit again whenever I touch it, but I don't think it's real. We're in the same situation, Mira," Evangeline said as she smiled sadly to Mira. Mira nodded to her, and they both lapsed into silence. Evangeline stood from the table and went back to her apartment.

Evangeline avoided the guild for almost a week. She didn't want to run into her ex-husband again. As bad as she felt about not helping build the new guild hall, she was doing her part in finding furnishings. Today, she was finding furniture for the S-Class offices.

Evangeline decided that she was going to make each of the first few offices different depending on whose office it was to be. Mira, Erza, Guildarts, Laxus, and Mystogan would all get custom offices just like her. Master's office would also get a custom desk, but not as expensive as the rest of the offices. Master was prone to breaking desks, and she didn't want to have him break something that wouldn't be easily replaced. She also decided that for now, she would only work on Mira, Erza, and her own office, as they were the ones around the guild most often. Laxus never spent much time at the guild, something Evangeline was now thankful for. Guildarts was away on a 100-year quest, and Mystogan… No one ever knew where he was. Mystogan rarely stopped by the guild; you were much more likely to find him at Porlyusica's home, and even that was a rarity.

Evangeline set to work finding desks and chairs for her group of three S-Class females. For herself, she ordered an ebony desk with silver inlays on the drawers. She would be able to make a false back in at least one of the drawers, which was always nice to have. For her chair, she chose an ebony wood swivel chair with blue cushions. She left it at that until she knew more about the office space.

For Mira, she got a light wooden desk with silver inlays, similar to her own desk, and a swivel chair with white leather cushions. For Erza, she got a plain oak desk and a regular chair with red felt upholstery. She made a down payment for the order and then left the shop. While on her way back home, she got an odd urge to go to the guild. Deciding to listen to it, she made her way to the guild hall.

Her guild mates were making good progress on rebuilding, but it would be a few more weeks until construction was done. She took a seat at a table near where the doors to the new building would be and waited for a second. A few moments later, Lucy walked in. She had heard from Mira, who had visited her to bring her food, that Loke had abruptly left the guild a few days ago and Lucy had gone after him. Lucy was smiling, but Loke was nowhere to be seen.

Lucy spotted Evangeline and went over to her. Other members of the guild flocked over to see what had happened to Loke, and Lucy started explaining the story. Apparently, the Loke they all knew was actually Leo, one of the 12 zodiac spirits. He was once a spirit of another mage, Karen, who belonged to Blue Pegasus when she was alive. She was a terrible master to her spirits, always abusing them whenever she could. Leo protested and kept his gate open forcefully. Eventually, Karen died, and Leo was forbidden from returning to the Spirit World. He was fading away, but Lucy saved him. Lucy managed to make the Celestial Spirit King show himself, and eventually convinced him to let Leo back into the Spirit World. Lucy then showed everyone his key, then summoned him.

Loke (or Leo, both were correct) went around talking to different members of the guild before dismissing himself. He locked eyes with Evangeline before he disappeared, and he smiled. Evangeline smiled to herself. She was happy that he was now happy. She had felt it while he was talking to their guild mates. He had never felt happy in the time she had known him.

The rest of the guild went back to construction and Evangeline sat at the same table she sat at before Lucy came in. Erza came over and sat down next to her at the table, taking a break from directing people where to put things.

"Evangeline?" Erza said, bringing Evangeline back to herself and out of her thoughts.

"Oh, Erza, didn't notice you there," Evangeline said. She wasn't sure what Erza wanted but welcomed any discussion with the scarlet-haired mage she befriended many years before. They hadn't gotten too many chances to talk recently.

"Team Natsu is going out to dinner tonight and I wanted to invite you to come with us," Erza told her. Evangeline was surprised at first, but then smiled to her friend.

"I'd love to. It's been a long time since I've been out to eat with any of you," she replied. Erza nodded.

"We are going to The Happy Pig at 6. We will see you there," Erza told her. Evangeline nodded, making note of the time and place so she would remember later. Erza looked around and noticed Natsu was not putting timbers in the correct place, so Erza left her to go correct the error. Evangeline took that as an opportunity to escape the guild hall.

Upon arriving back at her apartment, Evangeline noticed that she had mail in her mailbox. This wouldn't have been unusual, except that she had already collected her mail that morning. Whoever had dropped it in her mailbox didn't actually mail it.

She carefully took the letter out of the mailbox and brought it inside. There was no indication on the outside of the letter as to who it was from. She felt Aspen pushing against her barrier, so Evangeline sat down on the floor and closed her eyes, letting Aspen pull her into their shared space in her mind.

"Evangeline, I don't think we should open that in here alone," Aspen said. Evangeline tilted her head, curious as to why.

"Why not?" Evangeline asked her demon. The demon shook her head.

"I just… I have a feeling, just like you sometimes have feelings. Open it tonight when you are with your friends," Aspen insisted. Evangeline nodded, agreeing to what her demon said.

"I will save it until then. Is it a good thing or a bad thing do you think?"

"I have no idea. I can't see inside of it, I just feel something off about it," Aspen said. "Regardless, I'll let you go now. That's all I had to say. Also, I'm glad your spirit friend is happy. Leo hasn't had a good master in centuries."

Evangeline looked at her curiously, wondering why Aspen never disclosed the information. The demon waved her hand in response.

"It wasn't my place to tell," she stated. Evangeline sighed, then exited her mind.

Once she was back to her normal state of consciousness, she started thinking about trying to figure out a way to let Aspen talk to her through her seal and not have to be basically unable to do anything in the physical world while they are connected. She felt Aspen push on the seal in response, letting her host know she agreed.

Evangeline decided that she was going to shower quickly before changing into shorts and a t-shirt to pair with her usual black leather vest. It was only about 3, so she had time to spare.

Someone knocked on her door. Evangeline went over to her front door and looked out her peep hole to see who it was. Much to her surprise, it was Mystogan. Why he was there to see her, she did not know. She opened the door to let him in.

"Mystogan? What are you doing here?" Evangeline asked him once he was inside. He was looking around her apartment and at how empty it was.

"I need your help with something," Mystogan said, still searching for a place to sit down to talk to her, but she didn't even have a couch. "You need to get some more furniture in here."

"I really do, don't I…" Evangeline trailed off. Only three people really came to visit her: Mira, Natsu, and Gray.

"We are going to go get you some. Now," he said as he turned and left her apartment. Evangeline sighed, then followed the mysterious man. He was blunt, but never meant any harm. Whatever he wanted to talk about, he felt like he needed to sit and talk to her about. Which usually meant that it was something big.

Thankfully, there was a furniture store a few minutes' walk away from her apartment, which also happened to be where she had bought the desks and chairs for the S-Class offices earlier that day.

They went right to the couches and Evangeline picked a simple navy couch with wooden legs. The staff said they could being it to her apartment for her after she paid. Mystogan also told her to buy more chairs for her dining table, as no table should ever only have one chair. Thankfully, she was able to find three chairs that matched the one she already had. She paid for everything then staff delivered her new furniture to her apartment and moved it to where she wanted it.

After everyone else had left, Mystogan and Evangeline were sitting on her new couch.

"You said you needed my help?" Evangeline started, wanting to get this conversation going again. He nodded.

"I've been going all over Fiore over the past several years sealing dimensional tears called Anima. It's a magic that comes from a different version of Earthland called Edolas, where I'm from," he said, then paused to let her take in the information. She started nodding.

"Why are they using Anima to get through to our dimension?" Evangeline asked in return.

"Edolas isn't like Earthland. Here, magic is in everything and anyone could use it. In Edolas, magic is not everywhere. Magic use is restricted by the government and magic guilds are banned. Anima is used to suck magic from this dimension into Edolas. Anima can suck up anything, people included. That's one of the reasons I want to stop them. They are occurring more frequently than they used to, so I'm have trouble getting to most of them before they occur. That's why I need you. I can't do this on my own anymore," Mystogan said, sounding somewhat defeated.

"Why didn't you tell anyone before now?" Evangeline asked him. "I'm happy to help, given you teach me how to deal with them, but everyone could have been helping you for a long time. This isn't just your burden to bear."

"It is my burden to bear because it's my father that is summoning the Anima. My father is the king. He plans on finding dragon slayers from our world and using their massive magic capacities to power Edolas for many years. I have to stop it," he said.

"Why did you come to me to help?"

"Because you are the only one I trust with this information. Not even Master knows all of this about me." This surprised Evangeline.

"Why trust me more than Master?"

"You've never once told anyone information that someone told you to hold secret, even though it hurts you. It also has to do with your magic, or, more specifically, Aspen's magic abilities. Aspen already knows the magic to seal the Anima away."

"Would you like to speak directly with her?" He nodded. Evangeline quickly released Aspen from her seal to take over her body.

"Well, brat, it's about time you talked to my host," Aspen said as she gained control. Mystogan sighed.

"I should have known you would do that," Mystogan said.

"Oh, shut up. We already agreed to help you. It's fun messing with humans. You should have also told her that you cannot use magic without your staves, for full clarity. Regardless, she will talk to you about it later. She won't give you as much trouble as me though, that's just her nature."

"I suppose. You know how to find Anima and predict it already, correct?" Aspen nodded. "Can you sense them when you are sealed?" Aspen didn't respond right away.

"I can feel them, but only a few minutes before they occur. My senses are dampened by the seal itself," Aspen said slowly, as if trying to remember what it felt like the last time Evangeline was near one of the Anima portals.

"Okay. That presents a bit of a problem, then," he trailed off. Aspen shook her head.

"I'll teach Evangeline. She's a quick learner. We are going to start working on figuring out communicating across the seal so that I don't have to pull her away from the physical world and leave her defenseless whenever I need to talk to her," Aspen said.

"How fast do you think you can teach her?"

"Give me a week, starting tomorrow." Mystogan nodded.

"I'll be back in a week. If she isn't ready yet, that's fine. In the event an Anima ever opens above Magnolia, she will hopefully be able to seal it."

"Don't leave yet, I have a feeling Evangeline would get mad if I didn't let her say goodbye," Aspen laughed as she relinquished control to her host.

"And right she was," Evangeline muttered. The demon was a bit more free speaking around Mystogan for some reason. "Aspen seems to like you at least."

"So, it seems," he said. "I'm sure you know, but I'll be back next week. If anything happens, you know how to contact me."

"Alright. See you in a week," Evanegline said as Mystogan stood and opened her door, then left.

Evangeline looked at the clock and saw that it was now 5:30, and she could probably start walking to The Happy Pig for dinner with her friends. She walked over to the table where she had placed the mysterious letter earlier. She decided to grab a backpack to carry her wallet and the letter in and placed both items inside. Then she locked up her apartment and left on her way to the restaurant.

It was almost 6 when she arrived. Erza was already there, as was Gray. Evangeline walked over to both of them and hugged each one. She lingered hugging Gray a bit longer than Erza, simply because she had spent even less time with Gray recently than Erza.

The group was seated at a large table far away from anyone else in the restaurant, and for good reason. They had a reputation for being loud and obnoxious. Natsu and Happy arrived next, and finally Lucy arrived at 6:10. Lucy was almost always late for everything.

Lucy was engaged in a discussion with Erza, and Natsu was talking to Happy, so that left Evangeline with Gray. She didn't mind. Gray looked like he had something to talk to her about.

"I assume you heard about Galuna Island?" Gray asked her. She nodded. She knew that Gray had gone after Natsu, Happy, and Lucy who had taken an S-Class job without an actual S-Class mage with them.

"Some, I don't know the details, though," Evangeline confirmed. Gray sighed.

"I ran into Lyon," he said. Evangeline's eyes widened. Gray had told her all about what had happened before he joined Fairy Tail many years before. Evangeline nodded to him to keep going.

"Lyon was on Galuna and had moved Deliora there. He was attempting to melt the ice it was trapped in," Gray continued. Evangeline reached under the table to grab Gray's hand. He was sitting to her right. He tightened his hand around hers.

"Why was he melting it?"

"He wanted to defeat Deliora himself to try and prove he was stronger than Ur. He had a team with him. They caused a massive purple lens of magic residue to appear over the whole island. It made the villagers on the island forget that they were demons, and the chief had tried to kill his son because of that. Everyone ended up fighting, and I took on Lyon. He beat me several times before I won. Of course, the ice around Deliora was thawing and I thought I had to use Iced Shell to reseal it, but I didn't. Ur had killed the demon with her magic. She's part of the sea now," he finished. Evangeline yearned to have her full magic ability back so she could try and cover the pain she could tell was there from his voice. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"She'd be proud of you, Gray," Evangeline told him, her tone soft. Gray rested his head on top of hers.

"I know."

Lucy was watching the interaction between Evangeline and Gray curiously. She decided to ask Erza and Natsu about it.

"Evangeline was the first person Gray really connected with when he joined Fairy Tail," Erza said. "I'm the same, as was Natsu. It was easy for all of us to attach to her, not just because of her magic, but because of who she is as a person. She is kind to everyone, regardless of if they hurt her. She is a very pure soul."

Natsu jumped in. "Evangeline is kind of like our big sister, I guess. Whenever we needed something, she was always there."

"Gray used to get nightmares when he joined, as he was only 8 and he'd been through a lot, just like all of us. Evangeline convinced her parents to take him in, and then Gray stayed with them for several years, even after her parents died. He and Laxus held her together after that. Mira and I tried to do what we could, but we didn't get along the best back then. Gray understood her like no one else, and back then Laxus actually did love her. Eventually, Gray moved into his own place and Evangeline moved in with Laxus. Their relationship never changed, though. He's always been there for her, just like she's been there for him," Erza finished. Lucy looked back at the two and smiled. She wished that she had someone like that in her life eventually.

"You know, Lucy, Evangeline treats you like she treats us," Happy pitched in. Natsu and Erza nodded in agreement.

"She's there for you just like she's there for the rest of us. If there's anything you ever feel like you need to talk about and can't talk to the rest of us for some reason, go to her. She never judges anymore, and she will keep secrets with her to the grave," Natsu said.

Finally, their food had arrived. Natsu had basically ordered one of everything on the menu to inhale, and that had held up their order for a while. Erza ordered pork loin, Happy ordered fish, Lucy ordered a salad with prok, Gray ordered a pulled pork sandwich, and Evangeline ordered eggs and bacon. This was a pork place, after all.

The friends dug into their food and devoured it quickly, then went back to their discussion. Evangeline remembered the letter and took it out of her backpack to look at. Gray glanced at the writing on the letter and recognized whose handwriting it was. He clenched his jaw.

"Ev, when did you get that?" Gray asked, and everyone else at the table stopped their discussion to look at him and Evangeline.

"Today. It was in my mailbox after I had already collected my mail for the day," she said. She didn't remark on the nickname.

"Let me open it instead," Gray insisted. Evangeline furrowed her brows, confused as to why he wanted to read it first.

"Why?"

"I know that writing. You should, too," Gray said. "Let me open it first. I will give it to you, I promise. I just don't trust who sent it." Evangeline gave in and gave the envelope to him.

Gray ripped it open and read over the contents of the letter. Evangeline felt confusion wash over him. Gray gave the letter to her.

"It's not what I was expecting to come from him," he told her after she took it. She looked it over for herself.

Ev,

I'll keep this short since I shouldn't really be sending you anything. Tomorrow, you'll be receiving something from my lawyers about an amendment to our divorce terms, as it's been a year since that day tomorrow. You left with nothing but your clothes, and you left some of those even. I haven't moved them. I haven't stepped foot in that house since you came and got your stuff.

The house is yours to do with as you please. You can sell it, destroy it, I don't care. You'll also see that I'm giving you half of the jewel I made in the past year, since I know you haven't been able to go on jobs. The terms will also include a quarter of my earnings for the next ten years.

Something will happen soon, and I want this to be a way of both apologizing for what happened and what will happen in the near future.

Laxus

Evangeline blinked after she read the note, then looked over to Gray. He was still confused as well. Erza stuck her hand across the table for Evangeline to give her the letter, and Evangeline obliged. The letter then confused Erza, who handed it to Lucy, who was also confused, who then handed it to Natsu, who was also confused.

"What?" Natsu said after he finished reading the letter. Everyone at the table nodded. Happy spoke up.

"What, what? I didn't get to read it yet," he complained. Natsu gave it to him, and the cat was then happy reading it. Happy didn't really understand what it meant but knew something about it was important.

"Basically, Laxus is giving Evangeline a lot of money," Erza said. "And a roundabout apology. And we are confused as to why he is doing it now." Happy "ooo'd" in realization.

"Ev, have the two of you talked to each other at all since then?" Gray asked.

"Not directly. We talked through lawyers about divorce terms but that's it. I have talked to him personally since that day," Evangeline said.

"You were at the guild that day but didn't come in until he left," Erza said, referring to when Laxus had showed up at the construction site of the new guild hall. Evangeline nodded.

"I was afraid to face him, honestly. I don't know if I will ever not be."

"Someday you will have to," Natsu said. "It's not healthy to not face your fears. Confront it head on. Maybe not now, but you have to sometime."

"As much as I hate saying it, I agree," Gray muttered. "I don't trust him, and I don't like him, but you need to be able to at least be around him and be comfortable. You got annoyed the first time Mira called Laxus during the Phantom Lord war and he said he wouldn't show up. Were you ready to face him then?"

Evangeline shook her head.

"You were. You were because you were ready to place the guild before your fears. Next time there's a situation, you will have to face him. Don't think about your fear, think about all of us," Gray concluded. Everyone else at the table nodded as Evangeline sighed.

"I guess. Gray, will you stop by tomorrow when the papers come in the mail? I want another pair of eyes on it and you helped with the first set of papers," Evangeline asked. Gray nodded.

"Of course." A few moments passed and everyone at the table was silent.

"I suppose we've tormented this poor restaurant long enough," Erza said. Gray nodded. They had all paid already, and it was getting dark outside. Natsu, Happy, and Lucy went towards Lucy's house, while Erza went back to Fairy Hills. Gray decided to walk Evangeline home. He lived a few blocks away from her, which was one of the reasons she bought that apartment.

They got to her apartment about twenty minutes later. Evangeline opened her apartment door and went inside with Gray following.

"When did you get a couch and more chairs?" Gray asked when he walked inside.

"Today," Evangeline said as she set her bag down at her table. Gray was silent for a moment, and then Evangeline continued. "Mystogan came to visit today about something. He made me buy a couch and more chairs."

"Odd, but I'm not mad," Gray said, still a little confused. Mystogan never talked to anyone, but Evangeline was different than everyone else.

"He's interesting, but he's very loyal to the guild and everyone in it," she said as she took a seat on her new couch. Gray sat down on the couch next to her and nodded. That was her way of giving her stamp of approval.

"So," Gray said.

"So," Evangeline replied.

"It's been quite the year," he said. Evangeline nodded.

"I don't understand why he's said something now. Why now? There's no reason for him to do it now," Evangeline said, very confused still.

"I don't know either," Gray said. He stood up and went into Evangeline's kitchen and grabbed a bottle of Vodka that he'd gotten her a few months ago. He also grabbed some shot glasses.

"I like your thinking," Evangeline said, accepting a shot glass from Gray. He poured each of them a shot.

"Here's to figuring out why the fuck life has been so fucked the past year," Evangeline said, clinking her shot glass with Gray's before downing it. She would have tapped it on a coffee table before downing it, but she didn't have one.

"Another?" Gray asked her after they downed their shots. She held out her shot glass to him to fill. This process repeated a few more times, the two now getting recklessly drunk, before they stopped taking shots.

Gray was about to leave when Evangeline stopped him.

"Gray, don't leave," she told him.

"Nightmares?" he asked. She nodded. "Alright."

Evangeline crawled into her bed after taking off her leather jacket, and Gray climbed in right after. They fell asleep next to each other just as they'd done for so many years when they were younger, to scare away each other's nightmares.

---

A/N: Alright, that's the first chapter! As stated before the chapter, this story is going to be a different format for me. I want to try and branch out with my writing style and writing a different type of story will help me accomplish that. This story will follow decently close to cannon with the addition of Evangeline and Aspen. I will go more into what Aspen is and why Evangeline named her that. Yes, Evangeline named her demon, and that will be talked about in a future chapter. Thanks for reading!