Chapter 1: Fairy Festival

The first chapter of my new story is here. You asked for it in the vote and I delivered it. It's part of the reason I was delayed with the new "Of Darkness and Light" chapter.

I won't leave you here reading this. Let's get straight to it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Bleach. Shame, it would be great if I did.

Protector Of The Fairies

Fairy Festival

Makarov Dreyar was very small for his age. He stood at a height that made a child look tall, and he was very old. Eighty eight years of age to be exact. He was a very friendly person who viewed all the members of the guild he was in as his family. He was also the Third Guild Master of that same guild, the Fairy Tail Guild.

And he was proud of it. He was currently dressed in less formal clothes than he would sometimes, simply wearing black trousers along with a white shirt with a red vest over it. A high collared cape was over the attire with the mark of Fairy Tail present on the back of it.

Right now though, the man was simply furious. There was no other way to describe his anger.

The only way to understand why though was to look back on what was happening. Because it all revolved around one man currently. His grandson.

Fairy Tail was found in the city of Magnolia. With a population of over sixty thousand, it was a busy place. At this time of the year though, there were thousands more. People from all over had come to Magnolia for one purpose. They wanted to see the Fantasia Parade.

It was a yearly event held by the guild, a chance to show off with their magic in more creative ways or even just to have some fun. Makarov himself was part of the latter group as his main Magic wasn't the type to be creative compared to other Mages.

The moment he heard that his grandson Laxus was back in town, he felt like something was wrong. Was it premonition? Was it simply his mind exaggerating his grandson's actions recently? All that he was certain of was that something was off, that danger was close by.

But Laxus was his grandson so he repressed that feeling, a hint of guilt seeping into his thoughts at doubting Laxus. The boy had been distant lately and his attitude left something to be desired but he was still a member of Fairy Tail and he shouldn't doubt family.

Time passed and he heard of an incident with Laxus and one of their new members, Gajeel Redfox. It wasn't too unexpected knowing how Laxus thought. Gajeel had attacked Fairy Tail when he was a member of Phantom Lord and most of the guild had been hostile to him when he joined. Laxus just took it a bit too far, that's all. He certainly didn't want to believe the rumours that Gajeel had jumped in front of an attack meant for Jet and Droy purely because that meant that his grandson would have meant to attack a fellow guild member.

So once again, he repressed his doubts and focused on the upcoming parade. They always liked to outdo the previous year and they had a few new members who could put on quite a show. Gray and Juvia could be a good pair together for one of the floats.

The Miss Fairy Tail Contest happened then, something akin to an opening for the festival later on. A lot of the female members had joined. First was the local drunk of the guild, Cana Alberona, the Card Magic Mage. She was one of the first members of the newer generation and was fairy skilled. She had been put up for S-Class multiple times though she hadn't made it yet. She was close though.

After her was Juvia Lockser, a former S-Class Mage of Phantom Lord before it was disbanded. She was known for her use of Water Magic though he himself wondered if there was more to it. She could make her body into a form that was completely made of water and that wasn't something a normal Water Mage could do.

Mirajane Strauss was next. She used to be known simply as 'The Demon' due to her Take Over Magic being used to control the power of a variety of Demons. She was an S-Class Mage but due to the incident with her sister… well it wasn't good to think about. Mirajane hadn't been the same since she returned. Sure, she was nice and friendly now, but she had lost that something that had made her Mirajane. She lost her will.

Next was one of the guild's strongest, Erza Scarlet. She was one of the four current S-Class Mages of the guild, the others being Laxus, Mystogan, and Gildarts Clive, and she was incredible strong. Natsu and Gray fought each other all the time yet her mere presence sent them cowering and acting like they were the best of pals. She even scared him sometimes.

Her little performance involved using some manipulation of her own Magic, Requip. Sure, any Requip Mage could do such a thing but everyone there knew hers was superior to any other. The speed she could use it at along with being able to requip both weapons and armour at the same time, even while fighting, made her well known. Titania, the Queen of the Fairies.

He had snapped out of his thoughts with the appearance of the one of their quieter members, Levy McGarden. She made a short show using her Solid Script Magic before disappearing once again. He hadn't helped but notice that she still glared at him but after what happened all those years ago with 'Him', he couldn't blame her. They had been good friends after all.

Another Requip Mage appeared next, only she used Gun Magic instead of Sword Magic. Bisca Mulan was a great shot with a rifle and managed to shot through all four coins she threw up with one hit. He could even hear the sound of Alzack over the crowds, cheering for her. It always made for a funny joke on how everyone knew they liked each other but neither knew that their feelings were mutual.

Lastly was one of their newer members, a girl called Lucy Heartfilia. While her Magic was widely heard of, it was rare for someone to pick it up due to the strongest abilities being restricted. She was a Celestial Spirit Mage after all and there were only twelve Golden Zodiac Keys. She was lucky enough to have six of them in total. It made you wonder what could happen if you managed to possess them all.

And that's when everything went wrong.

Every one of the girls that were competing had been turned to stone. And it was her doing. Evergreen. She was known for her Secondary Magic being able to turn her enemies to stone, and for some reason she had decided to use it on her own guild mates.

Over at the side had Freed Justine and Bickslow, sitting above them all. He didn't even know when they appeared but he knew that something was up. Together, they were known as the Thunder God Tribe, Laxus's personal bodyguards.

And then Laxus had made his appearance. There three were acting under his orders and he declared that the battle of Fairy Tail was beginning. If they didn't comply, the frozen girls would die.

Every member of the guild got the message. They ran for the exit and began to scour the city, searching for the Thunder God Tribe and Laxus himself, determined to defeat them.

They should have all split up and not worked together. Freed had prepared the battlefield perfectly for them and the guild continued to get caught in trap after trap, where guild members were forced to fight amongst themselves to proceed. He could feel his heart breaking from the damage his grandson was causing among his guild.

Then Laxus showed his hand. He wanted to be the Guild Master of Fairy Tail, and was determined to do anything to get it.

He would have gone out to stop him if it wasn't for the runes blocking the exit for anyone over eighty or if they were stone statue.

The Guild Master sighed as he looked up towards the runes by the door. "Only two people are left."

"Why the hell can't you get out, huh? Stop copying me."

"Like hell I know Salamander. I'm not doing anything here."

Makarov frowned as he looked towards the two voices arguing. One was Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer. The other was Natsu Dragneel, the Fire Dragon Slayer, also known as Salamander. The two were an odd pair but they were definitely some of the guild's strongest members. Dragon Slayer Magic was very destructive due to its immense power, and it was rare to find users of it as only Dragons could teach Humans the Magic.

A thought crossed his mind as he reread what the runes had said again and again and again until…

"Two?" He looked towards the two Dragon Slayers who stopped speaking as they felt his gaze land on them. His mind slowly connected the dots until he sudden realised what that meant.

"Don't tell me it's just these two left!"

"Why am I not included?" shouted Happy, a strange blue cat that could use Magic to fly.

Makarov could feel the despair closing in. It couldn't be. The entire guild had been defeated, both through each other and the Thunder God Tribe. Natsu and Gajeel were trapped in the guild by the runes, for reasons no one knew of. There was no one left to battle and he wasn't allowed to escape the barrier either. Was this the end of Fairy Tail?

"No choice then." Makarov spun round to see Natsu walking away towards the stone statues. "I'll have to go and revive Erza. And here I was looking forward to beating her."

"WHAT!"

Makarov tried to calm himself down. "Wait a minute Natsu. What are you talking about?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Natsu seemed to be staring at him like he was stupid. "If I burn the stone, it will come off right?"

"Are you an idiot?" Makarov screamed at the pink haired boy.

"Well we won't know until we try."

"Yes we do. Are you trying to kill her or something?"

Their arguing halted as the sound of cracking appeared. They took one look at the crack forming on Erza's head and went into full out panic.

"Oh crap," said Natsu in panic as he turned to Happy. "We need clue. Hurry Happy."

"Aye sir."

"You idiot. You think that will help her?" Natsu looked towards Gajeel who had turned his right arm into iron. "Melt my Iron down and we'll weld her back together."

"You're both fools!"

The cracks kept happening though, Natsu praying in the background for Erza's safety and for her not to kill him.

One more crack and suddenly the whole thing shattered. Instead of breaking into a million pieces however, they saw Erza perfectly fine, dressed up in the goth outfit she was wearing earlier.

Erza took one look around the room before glaring menacingly at Natsu. "I feel hot... Was that your doing Natsu?"

She slowly stood up, dusting a few specks of stone of her before she brought her fist back and smashed the two Dragon Slayers towards the walls.

"What the hell were you playing at?"

"Erza!" Happy cheered, Gajeel meanwhile wondering why he was thrown as well.

"Erza." The red haired woman looked down towards the Guild Master as he called her. "How…"

"I… don't know," she finally admitted. "Perhaps it was my right eye?"

Makarov gave a swift nod. It was entirely possible. The Magic of Stone Eyes worked by eye contact as many types of Eye Magic did. Erza only had one real eye though, the other being destroyed before she had arrived at Fairy Tail. The artificial eye Porlyusica had made for her must have cut the power of the spell in half as it only affected her left eye.

"Do you know what is going on?" asked Happy.

"Yeah. I heard everything."

A smile grew on Makarov's face. They had a chance now. Erza was free and with her, they could strike back. She could freely exit the runes now and take on the Thunder God Tribe.

"These runes really are impressive." Makarov turned towards what Erza was referring to as she walked towards the door of the guild. "They realised I can fight and so added me to the roster. So with three people, I assume that is me, Natsu, and Gajeel."

Before anyone could say anything, the runes changed again, the number increasing to four.

"It went up…" muttered Gajeel.

Natsu spun round the room furiously, looking for the culprit. "Who?"

Makarov was doing a similar thing. "All the girls are still frozen."

Erza though smiled as she realised what had happened. "It looks like that man has decided to take part in this little battle of ours."

The Guild Master looked up at the runes before he realised what Erza was implying. Gildarts was still away on a mission. They would know when he returned, there was a city wide alarm after all. Erza was here and Laxus was an enemy. That left one man. Mystogan.

Protector Of The Fairies

Far away in the centre of Magnolia stood a large cathedral. This place was known as Kardia Cathedral, and was the current headquarters for Laxus while the guild fought amongst themselves. He was currently waiting, letting what he referred to as the trash get wiped out until only the strongest remained.

Right now though, he was bored. The numbers had dwindled down too much. No one was left except for Natsu and Gajeel. He couldn't believe the nerve of Gramps, letting in that Phantom Lord trash. Gramps was quick at letting someone like that into the guild but he didn't even believe in 'Him'. Disgusting.

He had hoped at least one of the Thunder God Tribe would have lost. Maybe then, they could have proved to him that the guild was strong. Elfman and Gray had seemed promising but in the end, they had failed. Sure, they put up a better fight than most of the others, yet they still lost in the end.

His only other source of amusement had been watching Alzack's progress. He took down member after member when they were caught as he searched relentlessly for them. He failed when he reached Freed though. Shame in a way. The Gun Mage had a lot potential with that much dedication. Similar to 'Him'.

He had recently made his little announcement to his grandfather, demanding the title of Guild Master be passed over to him. With it, he would remake Fairy Tail. He would make it stronger.

An alert on the runes nearby caught his attention. He turned to it and smiled in anticipation. Erza and Mystogan were both into the tournament now. Disregarding Gildarts, that was almost all of Fairy Tail's strongest members. Mirajane was out of action even if she recovered. She didn't have that edge she had as 'The Demon' and even if she recovered it, she wouldn't be effective after so long of inactivity. And as for 'Him', he was far away somewhere. He hadn't heard from him in a while but he was definitely still alive. He was too stubborn to die after all.

There was those Dragon Slayers to consider as well but they weren't worth his time. They had potential, he couldn't deny that, but it wasn't complete yet. They would have a long way to go to force him to get serious against them.

"This is just like what a festival should be." No one heard his soft mutterings but no one needed to. He chuckled as he tried to imagine who would reach him first. Would Erza find him or would she get caught up with someone and allow Mystogan to have first shot. He knew the man's little secret however so he could always use that to unbalance him. And Erza if she was there with him.

"Just a bit longer. I'll create the perfect guild. I'll change Fairy Tail, and make it recognise your strength. Just wait a bit longer."

Protector Of The Fairies

Makarov could do nothing but pace. He didn't know what to do while he waited. Erza had gone out and not long after, the runes had show that a fight had begun. Erza was fighting Evergreen. It was the Queen of the Fairies against a user of Fairy Magic.

Had Evergreen grown stronger than last time he had seen her. It had been quite a long time and if the Stone Eyes were anything to go by, she was tougher than before. Last time, the eyes' effect didn't last as long as it did when held on too many people. She must have worked hard to increase the limit. It made him proud-

He cut of that line of thought quickly. She was an enemy right now. He couldn't be proud of her improvements despite her still being a member of Fairy Tail. Right now, they had the girls still frozen to worry about. They were still hostages under her will.

The cracking of stone caught their attention causing all the occupants not turned to stone in the room to turn towards the sound. One by one, the girls unfroze, returning to their normal selves.

"What's going on?" asked Lucy.

Juvia looked just as confused. "What happened to Juvia?"

"Ah!" Everyone turned towards Natsu. "You're all back."

A flying cat crashed into Lucy. "Lucy. You're okay."

Makarov looked towards the runes in pride. Erza did it. She defeated Evergreen and, with her loss, the girls had been released from the spell. The question waiting now was what would Laxus do now? He wouldn't give up after going so far. His hostages were gone thought so would that make him more desperate. That wouldn't be good if it did.

He noticed Natsu was currently filling the girls in on what was happening. Levy was still glaring at him, probably blaming him for the whole mess. She really was hard to deal with when she wasn't acting like her usual nice self.

"Laxus pulled something like that?" Makarov approached them just in time to catch the end of the conversation.

"It doesn't matter anymore," he said. "It's all over. None of you are petrified anymore so Laxus has no hostages left. This ridiculous game of his is over."

"But Master…" Makarov turned towards Mirajane, her face looking down at the ground in sadness. "What about everyone who was caught in Freed's traps. Some of them would have gotten seriously hurt."

"That's right," joined in Bisca. "Laxus needs to be punished. He's gone too far."

Makarov couldn't help but agree with them all. "Don't worry about him. I'll be talking to him about what he had done later. I can't understand why he has gone so far as he has."

"I can," muttered Levy, her glare never wavering from the Guild Master. He could practically see the anger in them. Before he could say anything however, Natsu cut it.

"Hold it."

Everyone turned to him, Natsu holding up one of his hands to reinforce the effect he was going for. He waited until they were all focused on him before he crossed his arms and continued.

"I know all you think what Laxus did was wrong, and I have to admit the way he did it wasn't right, but is there anything wrong with finding out who is the strongest in Fairy Tail is there? So just don't be too hard on the guy will you."

Makarov couldn't help but look at the pink haired Mage in front of him in amazement and shock. Natsu was simply something else. To him, everyone had that speck of light in them, that piece that made them good.

"Now let's start the Second Battle of Fairy Tail!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly. "Let's begin."

"WHAT!" The entire guild left in the building was perfectly in sync.

"Come on, I haven't fought anyone yet. Bring it on."

Lucy just shook her head at Natsu's antics. "Please stop. Coming from you, it's hard to tell if you're joking or not."

Cana took a swing from one of the bottles at the bar before smiling towards Natsu. "If you really want to go, then bring it on. I'll take you down."

"Don't encourage him Cana," said Bisca.

Makarov sighed in relief before he stopped something odd happening with the runes. Levy had noticed it too and finally took away her relentless gaze to point it out to the others. The runes all gathered towards the centre of the room before they formed a giant skull of runes. Then Laxus's voice spoke.

"Can you hear me Gramps? What about the rest of you in the Guild?"

"What do you want?" Natsu demanded. Laxus carried on, ignoring Natsu's demand.

"It seems one of the rules will no longer work. You'll all need a new incentive to keep playing. So to make things more fun, I've activated the Thunder Palace."

Makarov felt his entire body freeze in fear. "The Thunder Palace! You can't be serious?"

"One one hour and ten minutes left Fairy Tail. Can you win? Or will you hand over Fairy Tail to me? Choose well."

The runes scatter back to their original places, Makarov shaking in anger.

"What are you thinking Laxus! Are you planning to drag innocents into this?"

Pain filled his body as his hands grasped his chest. It happened in slow motion to everyone as their Guild Master fell to the ground, clutching his chest at where his heart was.

"Old man!"

Mirajane rushed over to him. "This is bad. He needs his medicine."

"What's Thunder Palace old man? Old man?"

Makarov couldn't answer no matter how much he wanted to. He was simply in too much pain.

"Up here," called Bisca from the stairs.

Natsu got his answer soon enough though. While Mirajane took the Master to the infirmary, he and the others had gone to the roof. They could see what Bisca had spotted there. All around the town were positioned were Lacrima Orbs filled to the brim with Lightning Magic. They understood what Laxus planned to do now. When time ran out, the Lacrima would release the energy stored within them in the form of Thunder, pouring down towards the town. The city of Magnolia was now his hostage, and they would never be able to evacuate in time, especially if Freed had edited his runes to stop the Civilians from escaping.

Bisca found out the protection they had soon enough as well. She had fired a shot at one of them and destroyed it easily. Then she was hit by the same amount of damage she had inflicted. The Lacrima had been protected by Organic Link Magic.

Natsu was completely furious. He was slamming himself again the wall, trying to break free and putting as much power as he could into breaking through. He could swear he could hear Laxus laughing at them and the situation he had put them in.

Levy meanwhile was stuck in a dilemma. What Laxus was doing was wrong, that much was certain. She didn't like it and she wanted to stop it. He may listen to her. But then, she also understood why he was doing this. He didn't just want control over Fairy Tail. He was trying to make Fairy Tail accept 'His' way of thinking and not reject 'Him'. Should she help stop Laxus?

The answer was simpler than she thought. As much as she saw what Laxus was doing, and god knows she would want the same, his method was wrong. People were getting hurt and she couldn't accept that.

"Natsu," she finally said, finding her voice. "Stop."

"Like hell I will. Damn it, why can't I get through."

"I said stop." Levy couldn't believe how much force was in her voice currently. Some of the other guild members were looking at her strangely due to the lack of her normal attitude. Even Natsu had stopped to look at her. She didn't have time to ponder their reactions though. She had a job to do.

"Freed's Magic is a type of Letter Magic," she explained slowly, making sure everyone was following her. "The runes surrounding the guild and the city are a style known as Jutsu Shiki. They can take a while to set up but they have absolute rules. They are almost impossible to break out of but their weakness is that they can be edited."

Levy looked towards the rune barrier surrounding the guild. "All of you go on ahead. I'll stay back here with Natsu and Gajeel and work out a way to free them. It will take a while but I can free them if I deconstruct the rune formula. Leave it to me."

"Can you really do it Shrimp?" Gajeel wasn't completely convinced but she seemed confident. She might be able to do what she said.

"Of course. I'll have you two free in no time."

Protector Of The Fairies

It took a while for Levy to rewrite the runes. Makarov had been moved to the guild's infirmary along with Bisca to recover. Everyone else has left following Levy's advice and had moved into the city to find others and search for the Thunder God Tribe.

Natsu smashed himself against the runes once more, flames licking his body unconsciously in his anger at Laxus. "How much longer?"

Levy looked up at him. "With a few changes here, a switch of languages then at different rates to finish here and… Done!"

Gajeel looked at her in surprise. "Really? I expected there to have been a fight before you had finished. You haven't been working on this as long as I would have expected."

"Maybe in a different world." Levy sighed as she looked out the door. "But when you hang around 'Him' long enough, you can't help but grow stronger, just to try and keep up. I'm not a powerhouse like you guys and I never will be. What I can do is to increase my skill with my Magic to help support the team."

Gajeel frowned. Him? Who was this person she was talking about?

"I agree with you there," Natsu said. "That guy, he was ridiculously strong. Laxus level strong."

Gajeel let out an involuntary shudder. As much as he could try and hide it, he was slightly afraid to fight Laxus. He had heard the rumours about him and when he blocked that one attack of his, it had hurt like hell and Laxus hadn't even been trying. And this guild had another monster?

"You think he's still alive?" asked Natsu. "It's been three years."

Levy nodded. "I never lost faith in him like the Master did. Neither did Laxus. He'll be back someday."

"Good. I want to fight that guy."

Levy held out a hand to the runes and the others could only watch as the runes began to rewrite themselves, letters from the pages in Levy's hands flowing off the paper and into the runes, changing forms as they went.

The letters glowed for a moment after all the letters had been transferred before going back to their normal colour. Levy smiled at the result.

"It worked. The Jutsu Shiki accepted the new rule. Now, Dragon Slayers are permitted to leave the guild."

"Why not the Master?" Gajeel couldn't understand why they couldn't just remove that rule for when the Master recovers.

Levy just shook her head in response. "It doesn't work like that. I can't remove the rule completely, only add in a cause or two. In this case, I allowed Dragon Slayers to be able to exit but the over eighty rule still stands for the Master."

Natsu smiled reassuringly at her. "That's enough, don't worry Levy. We'll deal with Laxus. You look after the Master."

"Wait-" A wheezing cough interpreted the Master's voice as he struggled into the room.

"Master!"

"Old Man!"

"I'm… Alright." Makarov certainly didn't feel it but he didn't dare let that show. He had just felt something. Something he hadn't felt in a long time. He needed to see the runes to be sure.

Levy rushed over to him. "Master, you need your rest."

Makarov just waved the girl off. "The runes. I need to see them."

Levy looked at him for a moment before leaning down and putting one of his arms over her shoulder to help him walk over to the exit of the guild. She may hold a grudge against him but he was still their Guild Master, and he was hurt badly. "What do you need to see?"

Makarov didn't answer. He instead just stared at the runes, as if waiting for something.

Natsu and Gajeel waited as well, both curious at what the Master wanted to see.

Then they felt it. The runes showing the number of participants suddenly ticked up by one and as it did, they all could sense what the Master had felt before. The Magical Energy that the new participant was emitting was so high that they could sense him from the guild, and this newcomer had to have been at the edge of Magnolia.

But to Levy, it was so familiar. It was so dense and so great that it reminded her of 'Him'. No one had such dense Magical Energy apart from 'Him'. Could it be… Had he finally returned?

"This energy… Who is it?"

Makarov turned towards Gajeel. "This man is one of our strongest Mages, and he is probably the best friend Laxus ever had."

Levy glared at him furiously. "You can't honestly believe he will agree with what is going on here?"

"I don't know what he will do." Makarov let out a sigh as he stared at the runes. "But his mere presence is a problem. If he is an enemy, we've lost. If he's an ally, then the damage will be catastrophic."

Gajeel felt his jaw drop. "Surely that's a bit excessive?"

Makarov shook his head. "I wish it was. If Laxus had a glaring weakness, it is his pride. You, Natsu, Erza, none of you are worth his time. And the truth is none of you are at his level. The potential is there but it's still only that. Because of that, he won't fight you at full strength. But him…"

Makarov looked out across the town. "He won't hold back if they fight. One of the few people Laxus would fight all out is when he is against him."

"Hey Master." Makarov turned towards Natsu. "Is he really that strong? He never fought me no matter how much I tried."

"This man… He is a man who managed to wound Gildarts."

Protector Of The Fairies

Laxus rested himself on the stairs inside Kardia Cathedral. Thunder Palace. He was ashamed in a way to be forced to resort on such a technique but he had gone too far now to turn back. He was putting everything on the line.

Evergreen may have been defeated but Freed and Bickslow were still out there. They wouldn't fall easily.

Now all he had to do was wait for Mystogan and Erza to show up. They would fall easily enough, as would Natsu and that Phantom trash if they ever got out.

Levy. The girl would free them, he was sure of it. She just wouldn't go to the extremes he would to change Fairy Tail. She was too peaceful in her methods. He wouldn't kick her out when this was all over though. She was 'His' friend after all.

A quick glance at the runes showed nothing out of the ordinary. No new fights had started or ended, and no traps had triggered yet. The waiting game.

He sensed it before the runes recorded it. Such a massive volume of dense Magical Energy. It could only be one person, especially with how familiar it was. He would recognise it anywhere. They had fought alongside one another enough to remember the other's energy signature.

His usual smirk grew into a smile. He hadn't smiled like this in so long, so carefree and happy. He didn't have to fake it and it wasn't menacing in the slightest.

He looked out one of the church windows in the direction where the energy was coming from. How fitting that 'He' would turn up now. Just in time to see the new Fairy Tail, one that would accept him completely.

"So you're finally home are you," he quietly whispered to himself. "Welcome back, Ichigo."

Protector Of The Fairies

Here we go then. How did you all like the first chapter? Events happened similar to canon in the festival except that no battles have occurred since Laxus changed the rules.

Levy is slightly stronger here and I made a lot of references to 'Him' here. I wanted to keep the suspense going till the end. Made a bigger impact I think.

Ichigo isn't going to be Godlike here hopefully. When I said he wounded Gildarts, you will have to see how and in what circumstances. Won't be for a while yet I think though.

And here, Laxus seems to have another driving factor in changing Fairy Tail. Again, a little teaser for the story ahead.

From the next chapter onwards, we go back in time. This was to set it up and I thought it was better to have the opening chapter at this point in time as a teaser of what is to come.

Anyway, till the next time. I've been Takei. Thanks for reading.