Chapter 1 The Rise of a Warrior: Fairy Tail by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Hey guys,

I didn't want to bother anyone so I just left this note knowing that Natsu, if no one else, would break into my room to try and drag me out and get me to stop feeling sorry for myself.

You keep saying that what happened wasn't my fault, you've told me that at least a dozen times over the past few days, but I disagree.

She's gone now, and it's because I wasn't strong enough to protect all of them. I know the Master said that it was an accident, and I know that it was.

But as brutal as this may sound, this was a wakeup call that I obviously needed. I'm not cut out for this kind of thing, at least not as I am right now.

You once said that part of being an S-Class mage is making mistakes, so that you can learn from them and then move on, and become stronger both in body and in mind.

But face it, there's no moving on from something like this. Sure Natsu and Gray and the others have made a lot of mistakes, but their mistakes never hurt anyone. She's dead because I couldn't save her, and her brother and sister have to live with that for the rest of their lives.

Tell the others, especially Cana, that I'm sorry but they deserve a better friend and comrade than what I could possibly be.

I'm not gonna put any of you, especially not her or Natsu, in danger like that ever again, at least not if I can help it.

As for my S-class rank, take it and give it to someone more deserving. If I had to choose then I would give it to Cana, she's the most deserving of it.

I know that if I tried to say this to your faces then you wouldn't let me, but the fact here is that it's not your choice to make. It's my choice, and I've made it.

I need to leave the guild for awhile, I don't know where I'm going or when I'm coming back or if I'm coming back at all.

All I know is that I have to get a lot stronger than I am right now.

My teacher, my father Kaminari, taught me that no matter what happens I have to keep pushing forward through every obstacle in my path, to look in my heart and show just how brightly that fire in my soul burns, and to roar like a true dragon and speak of the future.

Because that is where the power of life truly lies.

I'm really sorry you guys, but I have to get way stronger before I can show my face to any of you again.

So that I know that I can protect all of you.

So until that day comes, no matter where I may be, no matter what I'm doing, know that I will always be thinking about all of you…

My family.

Spread your wings Fairy Tail, spread your wings.

Until we meet again,

Luke Drako

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(Year 782)

The rain poured down endlessly over the skies of Magnolia.

A young man with short brown hair, teal colored eyes, a pair of glasses and a sword strapped to his side glanced over at the large guild building in the distance, then looked down at the grave in front of him with the word STRAUSS carved into the tombstone in big letters, and he let out a sigh "I doubt there's really anything I can say to make things any less somber, but at least let me say this. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to protect you. But I promise on the sacrifice you made today that I won't let anything like this happen ever again."

A small, yellow, cat like creature looked up at him "Hey Luke are you sure that this is how you wanna do it? Just leave a note like that?"

"You know that I've never been good at goodbyes Bolt, I think this is for the best. Besides, knowing what they're like they'd probably try to stop me." Luke turned around and prepared to walk away, only to stop when he noticed her standing there "And this right here just further proves my point, what are you doing here Cana?"

Sure enough, before him stood Cana Alberona, looking increasingly pissed off and holding up a note "Were you really just gonna leave without saying anything, just leaving behind some crappy note?"

"I've never been good at goodbyes Cana, you know that. My place isn't with the guild, not right now at least. I have a lot of growth lying ahead of me and I can't do any of it here."

"Don't give me that. Look Luke I get it, you're upset about what happened on that job, we all are, but you don't realize that you're not the only one kicking yourself over it. Besides get it through your head, what happened was just an accident."

"I know that, I really do, but that doesn't change the facts. I'm not cut out to be an S-class mage, not at my current level."

"Well even though I know that part of being an S-class mage, or even a mage at all, means that you have to make mistakes and learn from them and then move on, not just bail at the first mistake you make. I've made mistakes too you idiot!"

"Oh believe me I know, but you know the difference? Your mistakes never hurt anyone, at least not in a way that wasn't kind of funny. She's dead because I wasn't strong enough to protect any of them, and her brother and sister have to live with that for the rest of their lives."

"So that's it then, you're just gonna give up and leave without saying anything to anyone? What about us? I thought we were a team!"

"Cana you deserve a better team, or at least you deserve a better team member. I'm not gonna put you or anyone else in the guild in danger ever again. Tell the Master to take my S-class status and give it to someone who deserves it more." he knelt down, picked up Bolt and placed him on his shoulder "Come on little buddy, it's time we get going." he started to walk away.

Cana grabbed him by the arm and forced him to stop "There is no way in hell I'm just gonna let you bail on us like that."

"See this is exactly why I didn't wanna say anything in person, what nobody in the guild will get is that it's not their choice. It's mine, and I've already made it."

Instead of replying to that right away, Cana slowly released her grip on his arm "So when are you coming back?"

"I don't know."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know."

"Do you even have a plan?"

"Not really no. All I know is that I have to get a lot stronger than I am right now, or I won't be able to face any of them again." he looked back at the grave for emphasis, then pulled Cana into a tight hug "I'll be thinking of you the most while I'm gone, and tell everyone else in the guild that I'm sorry for letting them down." and with that, he departed, disappearing from the cemetery, then from her sight, and then from Magnolia entirely.

Cana said nothing, she just watched him go in silence with tears streaming down her face, before she departed from the cemetery in silence.

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(18 months later, year 784)

Now we truly begin our story in the port town of Hargeon, as a certain train pulled into the station.

Luke, now a few inches taller with a 5 o'clock shadow, pulled himself out of the door of the train practically gasping for air, and he gave a weak thumbs up once he made it onto the platform "Yay, we made it…" and his head hit the pavement with a loud thud.

Bolt kicked him in the side just to be safe "Hey Luke you're not dead right?"

"Haha very funny, you know you don't have to do that every time I go on a train."

"You don't have to act like this every time you go on a train either, now look where we are big guy."

"Hey I can't help it, motion sickness is part of being a Dragon Slayer." he hurled into a nearby bush for emphasis "So what's the ETA on the info we got?"

"Well in our source is reliable then we should be able to find that Thunderclap somewhere in this town."

"That narrows down the search a crap load." he hurled into the bush again "Just… Just give me a few minutes."

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Meanwhile…

"Say what now?" a young blonde girl by the name of Lucy shot the shopkeeper an incredulous look of disbelief "You mean to tell me there's only one magic shop in this entire town?"

"Yeah I'm afraid so." the shopkeeper gave a shrug "The people around these parts are more fishing folk than they are magic folk. I reckon that most people in this town don't even know how to use magic, I built this shop to sell to the wizards who happen to be passing through on other business."

"Oh man I came all this way for nothing."

"Now now there's no need to say that young lady, I happen to have all of the latest goods. Let me show you a few of them." he pulled out a magic card for example "This color magic happens to be quite popular, all of the young girls really seem to like it. It lets you change the color of your clothes anytime you want." he changed his shirt from green to purple to demonstrate "Like what you see?"

"I already have one of those, what I really want are some powerful gate keys."

"Gate keys huh, you know not many people request something like that." he pulled out a silver colored key.

"Oh wow it's a little doggy!"

"Yes but that one isn't very powerful you know."

"I know but I really really want it, so how much?"

"A solid 20,000 Jewels."

"...I'm sorry but how much was that?"

"I said a solid 20,000 Jewels."

"Oh come on now." she started posing in what she thought was a seductive fashion "So how much is it really worth? Surely you and I can work out some kind of deal." and she winked for good measure.

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7 minutes later…

Now thoroughly pissed off, Lucy stormed her way through the streets of Hargeon "I can't believe that stubborn old geezer only knocked off 1,000 Jewels, he would have to be blind to my inner and outer beauty! That trick usually works, so much for using my feminine wiles." she glanced down and noticed a large crowd of women gathering on the street "What the heck?"

"Are you serious?!" a bunch of girls bolted past her "It's Thunderclap, he's really here?!"

"Thunderclap?" Lucy lit up at the name "As in the Thunderclap, the wizard who uses insanely powerful Lightning magic that you can't even buy in stores?! Wait why would he be in this dead end town?"

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Luke and Bolt continued wandering their way through Hargeon "I can't believe I spent I spent two hours hunched over a bush like that."

"Better a bush than a toilet." Bolt pointed out "But either way you've gotta get over my motion sickness."

"Tell me about it, now I'm starving to the point where I could even eat you." he paused and glanced over at Bolt, only to earn a kick to the shin "Okay I deserve that."

"We've been over this, think about eating me and I piss in your mouth. But speaking of food do we even have any money left after our last job?"

"Unfortunately no, we used the last of it for breakfast this morning but we can deal with that problem later. In the meantime this Thunderclap we're looking for, it has to be Kaminari don't you think?"

"Well it has to be Kaminari, he's the only Lightning dragon that I've ever heard of. Either him or some jackass trying to make himself look good to the chicks."

"I don't need any leeway with chicks, I have you to do that for me."

"Thunderclap!" girls started screaming in the distance "You're so dreamy, you're so hot, I want you inside me, I want to have your babies!"

"Army of delusional and potentially homicidal fangirls, mention of Thunderclap, probably leaning towards the second one but I'm not taking any chances. Kaminari always did fancy himself to be a ladies dragon."

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Thunderclap, really just some sleazy asshole trying to make himself look good, was in the process of wooing a crowd of gullible fangirls "Now now my dears, I have enough room in my heart for all of you." this left all of them swooning.

Lucy actually wasn't that far off herself 'Why is my heart beating so fast? What's gotten into me all of a sudden.'

"You ladies are all so sweet." he glanced over at Lucy, nearly causing her to squeal.

'He looked at me! Is it because he's a famous wizard? Is that why I can feel my heart throbbing out of control?' and cue the hearts in her eyes 'Or is it that he's the one, that I'm actually really in love?'

"Kaminari is that you-" Luke shoved his way through the crowd and paused when he actually laid eyes on Thunderclap, which also caused Lucy to snap out of it "Okay I was picturing something entirely different, also who the hell are you?"

"Who am I you ask?" Thunderclap started posing "I am Thunderclap, I'm sure that you've heard of me before-" he paused when he noticed Luke and Bolt just walking away "Hey wait a minute, where are you going?"

"Don't know who you are, don't care who you are-"

"YOU'RE SO RUDE!" the fangirls started beating the ever loving shit out of Luke in a comical fashion "THUNDERCLAP HAPPENS TO BE A GREAT WIZARD FROM ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS GUILDS, YOU'D BETTER APOLOGIZE TO HIM OR WE'RE GONNA RIP YOU TO SHREDS!" and then they pinned him to the ground.

"What the hell do you mean gonna?"

"Now now that's enough my lovelies let him go." Thunderclap called them off "I'm sure this poor deluded young man didn't mean anything malicious by it." he was met with swooning from the girls, unaware of the stink eye that Lucy was now giving him, and he signed a posted and held it out to Luke "Here's my autograph young man, now you can brag about it to all of your friends."

"Thanks but no thanks."

3 minutes later…

Luke was now lodged head first through a nearby wall, his voice extremely muffled "Add this to the list of reasons why fangirls are both an unnatural force of nature and a disastrous catastrophe of epic proportions."

"And I guess that wasn't him after all." Bolt noted.

"Definitely not, even he wouldn't be able to tame an army of fangirls."

"Well I'm afraid I must be going ladies, I have business to attend to." Thunderclap got their attention, causing them all to swoon "Now then, I believe time for the grand finale of my appearance here. But before then you should know that I'm having a soiree on my yacht tonight and you're all invited!" he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of lightning.

Luke pulled himself out of the wall and scowled looked at the spot where Thunderclap once stood "Who the hell was that guy?"

"I don't know but he was a real creep." Lucy made his way over to him "Oh and I wanted to say thanks for your help."

"Uh… sure I guess, also what the hell did I do?"

"Well we could talk over lunch, my way of saying thanks."

Luke shared a look with Bolt and gave a shrug "Sure why not, why bother to turn down free food right?"

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So with that in mind, Lucy led Luke and Bolt to a nearby restaurant "My name is Lucy by the way, it's nice to meet both of you." she sweatdropped when she saw exactly how much they were eating "So your names are Luke and Bolt right? Yeah you know you can slow down, it's not like we're in any kind of hurry. Besides food is kind of flying everywhere. And there goes any of the money that I saved at the old geezer's shop. Anyway that Thunderclap guy was using a magic charm spell in order to hypnotize all of the girls in town into thinking they were in love with that creep."

"Probably the only way a guy like that could get a girl." Luke didn't even bother looking up from his food "Charm spells have the ability to attract someone against their will."

"Yeah but they've been banned for years, no one even sells them anymore."

"And probably for a good reason."

"Which means that he must have gone through a lot of trouble to get his hands on one of those things."

"Probably illegal stuff too."

"Wouldn't be surprised, anyway I totally fell victim to his spell too but I snapped out of it thanks to you guys barging in when you did so I really can't thank you guys enough."

"You bought us food, that's enough for us." he dealt Bolt a fist bump.

"You know I might not look like it but I happen to be a wizard too."

"Is that right?"

"Well it's not like I've joined a guild or anything, oh that reminds me I should probably explain right? You see guilds are these organizations where wizards come together to share information and find work and things of that variety, but unfortunately you can't be considered a full fledged wizard until you actually officially join a guild, but there are tons of them all over the world and I heard that it's really tough to get into the more popular ones and the one that I want to join is the most popular one of all. Oh yeah they're the greatest and they're always featured in Sorcerer Weekly magazine, oh my god if I could actually convince to let me in then I think I'd just about lose it!" she had steam coming out of her nose.

"What the hell do you mean just about?" that snapped her out of it.

"Oh I'm sorry I guess all of this wizard talk must sound like a bunch of gibberish to you guys right? But I'm telling you now that I'm definitely gonna join that guild someday, and then I'm gonna take all kinds of exciting jobs and make a crap load of money!"

"...You've got a rich fantasy life don't you?"

"Oh yeah that reminds me, didn't you guys say that you came to this town trying to find somebody didn't you?"

"Yep, looking for old Kaminari himself and when we heard that rumor about a Thunderclap coming here through Hargeon we came here to verify whether or not it was true? Unfortunately it turned out to be that flamboyant jackass, I bet that poser is just some rookie trying to make himself look good and doesn't even know how to fight like a real dragon."

"I don't think I follow, your friend Kaminari looks like a dragon?"

"No don't get the wrong idea, Kaminari doesn't look like a dragon."

"Oh."

"He is a dragon."

"...Come again?"

"Even in this magnificent world of magic, dragons are considered mystical creatures and it's been ages since one has last been seen by the human eye."

"Are we talking like fire breathing dragon?"

"No Igneel is the Fire Dragon, Kaminari is a Lightning dragon." Luke told her like it was a normal thing.

"Why the hell would a gigantic dragon show up in the middle of town?!"

"How the hell should I know, I heard a lead so I checked it out and it's false."

"Because it's totally ridiculous- And I'm officially out of brain cells that I can spare on this conversation." she laid down some money "Well anyway I should get going, enjoy the rest of your lunch and maybe I'll see you around." she started walking away, only to glance back and sweatdrop even harder "Oh come on."

"Sad thing is this happens pretty often."

As it turns out, Bolt was bowing to her in a comical fashion "Thank you for the food oh kind and noble goddess!"

"For f*ck's sake Bolt get up off of the floor, we can't afford for you to humiliate us in public again, neither figuratively or literally. Besides she said it herself, we helped her out before and this was just her repaying us for it."

"Well we weren't even trying to help her, we owe her something."

"...Light lacrima (Fairy Tail version of light bulb)." Luke held out the autograph from Thunderclap over to Lucy, and ended up getting it shoved right back in his face "Yeah you know that seems about right."

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"Sorcerer Weekly is a well known wizarding magazine quite popular throughout the kingdom of Fiore."

Lucy looked at the latest issue in awe "Well what do you know, looks like the Fairy Tail guild is out there raising all sorts of hell again. The Demon Bandit clan wiped out in a matter of minutes by the mysterious wizard Thunderclap bearing the mark of Fairy Tail, talk about awesomeness at its utmost finest. And as usual the centerfold is Cana herself, she's so beautiful. I just wish that I knew how to get to be a member, do you have to apply or maybe interview or something? Well either way I am so gonna join Fairy Tail someday, they're totally the coolest guild ever!"

"What was that my dear?" that was when Thunderclap popped out of the bushes "You said you wanted to join Fairy Tail?"

"What the hell?!"

"I'll have you know my dear that I've been looking all over for you, I wanted to personally invite you to the party that I'm having on my yacht tonight.

"Forget it, your charm spell isn't gonna work on me. The weakness of that magic is awareness of its victims, it doesn't work on people if they know you're using it!"

"Just as I had suspected, I had anticipated that you were the wizard the moment I laid eyes on you. But that doesn't matter anyway, the invitation still stands."

"Well you can take it and shove it, I wouldn't be caught dead at a party being thrown by a creep like you."

"...A creep, why would you call me that?" he was comically offended.

"That spell of yours, using it to make yourself popular."

"No need to be mad my dear, rest assured it's all in good fun. I just wanted to feel like a celebrity of my own party, can you blame me?"

"And this just proves that even famous wizards can be big idiots."

"...Ignoring that, you said that you wish to join the Fairy Tail guild didn't you?"

"Uh… maybe?"

"Well then tell me have you ever heard about Thunderclap, one of the top wizards of the Fairy Tail guild?"

"Well yeah who hasn't, but are you telling me that you're that Thunderclap?!"

"That's correct my dear, and if you do wish to join so badly then I could probably put in a good word for you." and that sent Lucy fawning all over him.

"Well in that case then I would love to go to your party tonight!"

"Well that was even easier than I thought it would be."

"So you really think you can get me into Fairy Tail, are you serious?"

"I don't see why not, but you can't say anything about the charm spell."

"I won't say a word!"

"Excellent my dear, then I'll see you at the party tonight." and then he departed in a flashy way using his Lightning magic.

"You got it Mr Thunderclap sir!" and once he was gone she felt the realization kick in "Dammit he got me, that son of a bitch pseudo-charmed me! But then again, he's gonna get me into Fairy Tail! So silver lining, now all I have to do is keep my mouth shut and try to be nice to that jackass until then!"

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Nightfall came, and the stars were aligned along the night sky were shining brightly over the town of Hargeon.

Luke and Bolt stood on a higher up the street in the city, gazing out at the ocean "It's been about a year and a half since then."

"You think it's about time for us to head back?" asked Bolt.

"Do you think I'm strong enough to protect them?"

"You won't know if you spend all of your time training or moping." Bolt looked out in the distance "Hey isn't that where the Thunderclap guy is having his party?"

"At least the thought of modern transportation doesn't make me hurl, thank god we're not on that thing."

"Oh my god!" some fangirls were gushing over the yacht not far away "That's Thunderclap's yacht isn't it? Oh man I wish I could've gone to his party, I wish I could've met someone like him in person! He's so cool and he must be so strong to be a part of Fairy Tail!"

"...Bolt did they just say what I think they just said?"

"If by that you mean that they said that this Thunderclap guy is a member of Fairy Tail then yes, yes they did." Bolt glanced up at Luke "So does this mean that the fire in your belly is finally back?"

"First of all, that's Natsu's thing. Second of all, if that means going to beat the ever loving shit out of a power misusing the name of Fairy Tail, then hells to the yeah." and he leapt off of the terrace.

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The yacht party was in full swing.

Thunderclap was currently in the process of trying to woo Lucy "So you told me before that your name was Lucy did you not? That's quite a lovely name."

"Oh yeah, thanks." needless to say Lucy wasn't impressed.

"I would like to propose a toast to your beauty." he snapped his fingers and small bubbles of liquid started to rise into the air "Now be sure to open up wide Lucy, savor the taste of each flavorful drop as it enters your mouth."

'Okay that's creepy. No focus Lucy, you are strong. You can get through this- Wait hold on a second.' she swatted the liquid bubbles away "And just what in the name of hell do you think you're doing? I know what you're up to, you're trying to use sleep magic on me."

"So you noticed, very impressive my dear."

"Look I don't want to give you the wrong idea, yes I really want to join the Fairy Tail guild but I'm not gonna date you to make that happen."

"You're quite a handful aren't you?" Thunderclap glanced over to see his thugs holding the rest of the unconscious women captive.

"What's going on here?"

"Welcome aboard my ship, and you would be wise to behave yourself until we make it to the kingdom of Bosco. You don't want to make me angry."

"Wait a second, we're going to Bosco? You told me that you would get me into the Fairy Tail guild!"

"Not a chance, I only said that so that I could lure you here and make you into one of our slaves."

"How could you, you're gonna kidnap all these girls? Why you son of a-" Lucy prepared to whip out her keys, only for them to be knocked out of her hand by a blast of Lightning and for them to be caught by Thunderclap.

"These are Gate Keys, so that means that you're a Celestial Wizard. Only a wizard who has a contract can use this magic, so that makes these absolutely useless to me." and so he threw them off the ship and into the sea below "Whoops."

"You use magic to take advantage of others…" by now Lucy had tears of anger streaming down her face "You're the worst wizard alive!"

"Oh trust me blondie, he doesn't even come close!" that was when Luke burst through the roof and landed in front of them, his expression akin to pure rage.

"Hey I know you!"

"Yeah and I know that these guys are as good as- Wait hold that thought." Luke calmly made his way over to the side of the boat and then proceeded to puke his lungs out "I've made a terrible mistake."

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Do I look like I'm kidding you? Oh screw it, Bolt grab her and get her out of here while I clean up the trash."

"Wait what?"

"Hey Lucy!" that was when Bolt dropped down into the boat sporting wings "What the heck are you doing here?"

"Oh hey Bolt, this asshole tricked me and said that he was gonna get me into the Fairy Tail guild! Wait hold on a second, since when do you have wings?"

"Don't question it, just enjoy the benefits and hold on tight!" Bolt quickly wrapped his tail around Lucy's waist and took off into the sky.

"After them!" Thunderclap rounded on his men "We can't let those fools report this to the Magic Council!"

Lucy glanced down at the boat "Wait a second what about Luke?"

"He'll be fine, we do this stuff all the time." Bolt assured her "Besides I've only got the one tail."

"Prominence Whip!" Thunderclap unleashed several crimson colored blasts of Lightning magic into the air after them, only to end up missing which resulted in them exploding across the night sky like fireworks "That cat is quicker than he looks. You know what just forget about them, let's just hurry on towards Bosco."

"Hey assholes." that was when Luke made his way towards them after he finished puking his guts out "I've got a few things that I want to ask you."

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Lucy glanced back at the boat in concern "What about Luke and the other girls, we have to go back for them."

"Actually Lucy, we've got another problem." Bolt told her.

"What do you mean, what problem?" she was answered by his wings disappearing.

"The wings don't come out for very long." and then they fell into the ocean, causing him to hit his head with a loud thud.

Lucy on the other hand wasted no time in finding her Gate Keys on the ocean floor not too far away.

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Luke caught a punch from one of the thugs and promptly flung him overboard "So like I was saying, I have a few questions for you." he levelled his gaze on Thunderclap "So word on the street is that you're a member of Fairy Tail, is that right?"

"Maybe it is." Thunderclap shot him a dirty look "What of it?"

"Then I'm gonna have to wreck your shit."

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Lucy rose up from beneath the waves with a confident smirk "And now is where things are gonna get good. Open gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!"

Sure enough, Aquarius rose up in a brilliant water Thunderclap and shot her a dirty look "What do you want?"

"Yeah you see that cat, that's the power of a Celestial Wizard. Whenever I use one of my Gate Keys I can summon beings from other worlds to help me. Anyway listen up Aquarius, I want you to use your power to push that ship back into the port!" she received another dirty look, much to her annoyance "You're supposed to come from the Spirit World to help me, not to give me attitude!"

"You really think it's a good idea to make me angry? Let's get something straight blondie, the next time you so much as think about dropping my key I will kill you in a heartbeat. You got that?"

"...Yes ma'am sorry ma'am I swear it won't happen again."

"Hope for your sake that it doesn't." and in a comically badass fashion Aquarius used her power to cause a tidal wave, sending the yacht hurtling towards shore and dragging Lucy and Bolt along with it.

"Hey what the hell, don't wash me away with it!" and yet Lucy and Bolt got hurled onto the shore along with the yacht "Hey what's the big deal, you think you could've tried not to sweep me up with the ship?!"

"Oh I could've but that was actually an accident, I didn't mean to get the ship.

"Hey wait a second, that means that you were aiming for me?!"

"Don't call me for awhile, I'm gonna be going on a week long vacation with my boyfriend and he's hot." and then she disappeared.

"Hey you don't have to rub it in!"

"I have an idea." Bolt offered "If the fish chick gives me anymore trouble then just say the word and her tail is mine! Literally!"

"I don't think I can handle much more of you."

"Hey I'm a cat, I like fish, it's just a fact of life."

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Thunderclap pulled himself out of the wreckage of what was his yacht "Okay that hurt a lot- Wait what the heck?"

Luke towered above Thunderclap and the rest of his thugs on top of the wreckage of the yacht, and he hardened his glare "So you said that you were a member of the Fairy Tail guild, is that about right?"

"So what's it to you? Alright men go kill this little punk."

"I would ask if I could get a good look at your face but I don't really have any room to talk since I haven't been there for over a year, but one thing I know for sure is that I never forget a scent once I've caught a whiff of it. And you know looking back I probably should've mentioned this beforehand, but I happen to be a wizard too." he threw off his jacket and swatted aside several of the thugs, revealing the mark of the Fairy Tail guild on his left arm "My name is Luke Drako, I'm a member of the Fairy Tail guild and I know that you're nothing but a fraud. You see I never forget a scent, and every member of a guild carries a small trace of the scents of the rest of their guildmates. I would've recognized their scents on you, but you reek of nothing but booze and malice. Take out the malice and you would've fit right in."

"...Oh shit."

"Oh shit!" a few of the thugs pretty much exploded "This guy is the real deal, what do we do now Bora?"

"Don't call me that you idiot!"

"I thought I recognized your foul stench." Luke shot Bora a look of disdain "You're Bora the Prominence, word on the street is that a few years back you got your ass kicked out of the Titan's Nose guild because of bad behavior. I don't know what it is that you're trying to do and frankly I don't care, anyone who misuses the name of the Fairy Tail guild gets no mercy from me!"

"And what are you going to do about it? Prominence Typhoon!" Bora unleashed a powerful blast of Lightning, engulfing Luke in an explosion as a result, leaving the captured girls to run away screaming "That's the way it goes, the bigger the talk the weaker the man."

"You might wanna take your own advice." Luke emerged from the explosion without so much as a scratch, eating the Lightning right off his shoulder "And another thing, what the hell gives you the right to call yourself a Lightning wizard when the best you've got is an amateurish attack like that one?" this left everyone present except for Bolt comically freaked out "So Poser are you ready to get your shit thoroughly wrecked?"

"What the hell is going on here, who the hell are you?!"

"I could tell you but I suppose I should start with this, Lightning based magic doesn't work on someone like me. Now I've got some major thunder raging inside of my soul that's just raging to burst out of there, and you're in its path." he blitzed past each of the thugs with one arm extended, leaving them all out cold in an instant.

Bora on the other hand managed to escape from the attack on a Thunderclap and studied Luke closely for a moment "Wait a minute, I thought I recognized you. The ability to devour any Lightning magic as you please and the glasses, so that must mean that you're the real one. The Thunderclap of Fairy Tail."

"And I'm about to show you what a real wizard of Fairy Tail can do." his body began radiating a large amount of Lightning as he drew his sword, revealing the blade to be covered with golden colored dragon scales "Are you ready?"

"Golden Shower!" Bora unleashed a barrage of Golden colored Lightning bullets.

Luke blitzed through the barrage and dealt Bora a sharp kick to the face, sending him hurtling into the cliffside "Yeah I know, I eat Lightning and attack with it and it's freaking everyone the f*ck out right? Well to put it simply, it's called Dragon Slayer Magic. I've got dragon lungs that allow me to breathe in the stuff, dragon scales to help me dissolve the Lightning, and dragon claws for attacking with Lightning. My brand of magic is one that allows my body to take on all of the qualities of a dragon, barely anyone even uses it anymore. Oh and my sword here is made from the scales of an actual dragon, I call it Thunderclap."

"So what?! Hell Prominence!" Bora unleashed a large blast of lightning that shredded a good chunk of the surrounding city.

Luke caught the attack with ease and swallowed it whole "Now that was a pretty good late night snack, but considering you're probably already at your limit I'm gonna go ahead and cut you up like sushi."

"You're gonna do what to me?!"

"Exactly what I said dipshit." Luke blitzed above Bora and slashed him across his back, his sword infused with lightning magic while being backed by a powerful blast of lightning, the force of which also blowing Bora clean straight downwards and sending him to the ground with a loud thud "And that right there is how we get shit done at Fairy Tail, be sure to take notes people."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." that was when a certain figure showed up on the scene, this man having blue hair and a tattoo above and under his right eye (yeah, see if you can guess who this is) "I suppose I do owe you a debt of gratitude Luke, you do the jobs that I don't want to do and you do it well."

"Hey it gets me a decent workout and it gets your shit over with Siegrain, as far as I'm concerned it's a win win."

"Yet another reason why I'm so fond of you and your guild, if it wasn't for people like you then things would certainly be far less interesting." Siegrain hoisted Bora over his shoulder as several of his men cuffed the rest of his thugs "I may call on you again soon enough." and then he and his men disappeared.

"He says that literally every single time."

Lucy stumbled her way over to Luke, her jaw pretty much dropped "Okay all I can really say right now is, that was totally amazing!"

"That's what 18 months of hardcore training, 6 of which were under the living emobodiment of the Hybrid Theory with orange hair shaped like rabbit ears and a complete disappointment of a personality, will do for you." Luke hoisted Bolt onto his shoulder "Alright come on, let's get going."

"What do you mean, where are we going?"

"Where else, you said before that you wanted to join Fairy Tail didn't you?" this caused the look on Lucy's face to light up in excitement "Well I'm about to make your wish come true, so are you ready?"

"Seriously? Oh heck yeah I'm ready!"

"Great." and yet deep inside, Luke felt rather nervous 'Well this is it, whether I'm really ready or not, after 18 months I'm finally going home.'

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A few days passed, mainly used for travel, and the city of Magnolia was soon in sight, the sun shining over brilliantly.

Still rather woozy from the train ride, Luke stumbled his way through the streets, with both Lucy and Bolt tailing behind him, until he came across the massive building of the guild hall and regained his composure "Well here we are, welcome to Fairy Tail."

Lucy looked on in awe "This is it, I can't tell you how much I've dreamt of this day."

"You did, the entire time during the train ride. Lucky me motion sickness helps to drown everything out. Anyway go ahead in and introduce yourself, applying to be a member is pretty easy."

"Aren't you gonna come in?"

"No, I've got something that I've gotta do first, I'll catch up with you later." and he disappeared in a flash without so much as another word.

"What was that about?"

"I don't think you wanna know, not yet at least." Bolt told her "But seriously go in, they'll welcome you with open arms."

"Alright, if you say so." so Lucy slowly opened the door… only to suddenly get yanked out of the way by Bolt "What the heck are you doing?"

"Saving you from what's about to happen next."

Sure enough, a figure with spiky pink hair and a scarf around his neck burst through the door, accompanied by a small blue flying cat of his own "WE MADE IT BACK ALIVE YOU SONS OF BITCHES!" he was met with various nonchalant greetings.

One guy took the chance to start mouthing off "So I hear that you went all out up in Lupinus the other day Natsu, you just had to go starting trouble-"

"YOU SHUT UP!" Natsu wasted no time in kicking the dude in the face, sending him flying into a wall.

"This is Natsu Dragneel, a talented wizard who happens to be incredibly reckless and hot headed and speaks everything on his mind."

"You lied about that Salamander you son of a bitch, I'm gonna kick your ass all the way across Magnolia!"

"Say what?!" the guy bolted to his feet "Hey don't get mad at me I'm not the one you should be blaming here, I was just passing along a rumor I heard!"

"It was just a rumor?!"

"You wanna fight?! Well let's go!" and thus the brawl began.

"Hey now Natsu I think you need to calm down-" a certain blue cat was sent hurtling across the guild hall.

"That would be Happy, Natsu's partner. He likes to run his mouth. A lot."

Despite this, Lucy was left in disbelief "I can't believe it, I'm actually standing inside the hall of the Fairy Tail guild!"

A third figure poked her head out from behind the counter, this one sporting with white hair falling down to her shoulders and blue eyes, and she wore a short, dark red dress with a white collar and bow "You know you guys are gonna have to clean that up, Natsu that means I'm looking at you!"

"This lovely young lady is Lisanna Strauss, a master of Take Over magic who has a close bond with Natsu Dragneel."

"Also Gray, your clothes."

"I don't have time for that!" Gray then proceeded to punch another guy out, then dealt Natsu a quick fist bump.

"Hey now Natsu I think you need to calm down-" a certain blue cat was sent hurtling across the guild hall.

"That would be Happy, Natsu's partner. He likes to run his mouth. A lot."

"So Natsu finally made it back huh?!" another guy with black spiky hair and no clothes on bolted to his feet.

"This is Gray Fullbuster, a very talented wizard like Natsu but he tends to… well he has a bad habit of taking off his clothes without realizing it."

"I say it's time we settle things once and for all!"

"Gray I believe you're forgetting your clothes again." a green haired figure in a trench coat pointed out.

"This man here is Freed Justine, current leader of the Thunder Legion and a man who values honor above all else."

This was when another white haired figure showed up "It's only noon and you fools are already whining like a bunch of little wimps!"

"This brute of a man is Elfman, he's known for being a muscle bound wizard who believes that all you need to solve any problem are two strong fists."

"But of course, such is the way of the guild."

Gray kicked some random guy out of his way "Hey Natsu get the hell over here and fight me already!"

"Not until you put some clothes on!" Natsu barked.

"Yeah I'm a real man, do you want me to prove it to you?!"

Lucy let out a sigh "I can't believe he's encouraging them."

"PROVE THIS!" Natsu and Gray proceeded to punch him out with a double punch, knocking him out in one blow.

"They actually knocked him out that easily?"

"Jeez it can be so noisy around here." a new figure spoke up, this one having spiky orange hair and two beautiful girls cuddling with him.

"This is the lady killer Loke, he's known for being ranked high on the list of the most eligible wizard bachelors."

"Seriously I try to show my girls the respect they deserve and then-" and then he got knocked out for a few seconds by a glass to the face, but he immediately rebounded and tried to save some face and look cool "Okay change of plans ladies, I'm gonna go fight but only to protect the two of you. Just wait here until I get back."

Lucy then proceeded to cross Loke out of a book "Well he's definitely off my list of potential boyfriends, god I'm glad no one heard that. What the heck is wrong with these people, there's not one sane person in this entire building!"

"You get used to it eventually." this was when another figure spoke up from where she was sitting at the bar drinking a mug of booze, this one being a beautiful woman with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail, tan skin and brown eyes, her attire consisting of a blue bikini top that somewhat revealed her DD cup breasts, a pair of capri pants and a pair of sandals.

"This lovely young woman is Cana Alberona, a beautiful female wizard who is known for her bikini clad photos in Sorcerer Weekly Magazine, as well as being a formidable mage of the Fairy Tail guild. Oh, and she also holds the title of Fairy Tail's heaviest drinker."

"So what's up?"

Lucy almost immediately had hearts in her eyes and steam coming out of her ears "Oh my god, you're Cana Alberona in the flesh!"

"Look if you do swing that way then let me tell you what I tell all of the other drunk idiots that think that they have a shot with me, you don't." she looked away, blushing slightly "I, uh… I've got my eye on someone else."

"Uh no no no, I'm not like that I swear. I'm just, I'm a really huge fan." Lucy glanced over at the idiots all fighting with each other "Don't you think we should try to stop them before they wreck the place?"

"This is just another Wednesday for us, and besides if you don't let them ruin your afternoon when you're just trying to have a quiet drink it turns out to be kind of fun. Eventually. It takes a lot of adjusting to. So what's your deal, you new here?"

"Uh yeah, I haven't officially joined yet. I still have to meet with the master. You know you're the second member of the guild I've met, third if you count a smartass little cat."

"We have two of those, and they usually spend their time trying to put each other in headlocks over fish." Cana glanced over to see Bolt catching Happy in a chokehold "Like that." she froze when she laid eyes on Bolt 'If he's back then that must mean… Luke, did you finally come back after all this time?'

"Something wrong?"

"You said that I was the third member of Fairy Tail you met, was Luke Drako the first one you met?"

"Yeah, he saved me and offered to put in a good word for me."

"...Nice to know he hasn't changed in the time he's been gone."

"Why, did something happen?"

"...Forget it, it's not worth mentioning right now. Oh and duck." she pushed Lucy's head down and grabbed a pair of boxers fighting overhead "Hey Gray here's your underwear back, don't make me have to touch them again."

"Duly noted." Gray slipped his boxers back on and then proceeded to kick Natsu square in the jaw "The only one around here who gets to strip me is me! Wait a second, that didn't come out right."

"There's no way it could come out right."

"That's enough all of you, I suggest you all cease with the commotion you're causing." this was when Freed had enough and promptly drew his sword.

"Oh yeah, says who?" Gray prepared to unleash a spell.

"You punks can be such a nuisance." Loke prepared his own spell.

Natsu coated his fists with flames "I'm ready for ya, come at me bitches!"

Lucy took the chance to hide behind Cana "So they always fight like this?"

"Pretty much yeah." Cana just kept with mer mug of booze.

"You don't seem worried."

"You get used to it."

"ENOUGH!" a massive monstrous figure appeared in the middle of the guild hall, stopping everyone in their tracks "Would you fools stop bickering like children?!"

"And there be your guy, I didn't even realize you were still here master."

Lucy nearly lost her shit "Wait a second, did you just say master?!"

"That would be the guy in charge of the guild but if you like that, then you'll love what happens next."

Natsu barked out a triumphant laugh "Man talk about a bunch of pathetic wimps, looks like I won this round you guys!" and then he promptly got stomped on by the master.

"You'd think he'd learn by now, but with all of the brain damage maybe not."

And then the master set his sights on Lucy "Well well, it would seem that we have a new recruit."

"Yes sir." Lucy let out a squeak of fear.

"Well then, just a moment…" the master promptly reverted to his true form, that being a short old man with a stupid hat "Nice to meet ya."

"He's so tiny, so this little guy is really the master?"

"Yep." Cana gave a simple nod "That would be Makarov Dreyar, the third master of the Fairy Tail guild."

"Yep!" Makarov leapt onto the second level, hitting his head on the railing as he did so, but he quickly brushed that off and got everyone's attention "You've all gone and done it again you bunch of idiots, just take a look at how much paperwork the Magic Council sent me this time around! This is the biggest pile of complaints yet! Have all of you lost your minds?! All you kids are good for is getting the higher ups mad at me!" he was met with lots of murmuring "But on the other hand…" he burned the paperwork using fire magic and threw it to Natsu since he eats fire stuff "I say to hell with the Magic Council! Now listen up, any power that surpasses reason still comes from reason right? Magic isn't some kind of miraculous power, it's a talent that only works when the flow of energy inside of us and the flow of energy in the natural world are in perfect synchronization. In order to perform magic one must have a strong mind and the ability to focus, it should take over your being and come pouring out of your soul. If all we do is worry about following rules then our magic will never progress. Don't let those blowhards on the council scare you, follow the path that you believe in because that in itself is what makes the Fairy Tail guild number one!" he was met with various cheers "Now in the meantime, we'll be getting a new member today."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Soon enough, Makarov had stamped Lucy with the mark of Fairy Tail guild "Alright there you go blondie, now you're an official member of the Fairy Tail guild."

"No way this is so awesome!" Lucy nearly let out a squeal "Hey Bolt check it out, Cana just put the official Fairy Tail mark on my hand!"

"Hm?" Bolt barely even glanced up from where he had Happy in a chokehold "Oh yeah wait go for you Loony."

"My name is Lucy!"

"I know what I said, and welcome to the guild. If you wanna get started then I say hit up the request board for a job." Bolt grabbed onto one of the requests "160,000 Jewel and you've just gotta punch out some thieves? Makes sense, with a mermaid that's always acting like it's her time of the month that oughta be a snap."

"How come my dad hasn't come back yet?" a new voice quickly cut off whatever anger driven retort Lucy was about to give.

As it turns out, Makarov was dealing with a little kid by the name of Romeo "You know you really are starting to work my nerves Romeo, you're a wizard so just have some faith in your father and wait patiently for him."

"But sir he told me he'd be back in three days and he's been gone for over a week now!"

"If I remember correctly he took the job on Mount Hakobe."

"Yeah that's right and it's not that far from here, so why won't somebody go and look for him already?"

"Listen kid your old man is a wizard, and like every other wizard in this guild he can take care of himself! Now go home, have some milk and cookies and wait patiently!"

"JERK! I HATE ALL OF YOU!"" Romeo proceeded to slug Makarov across the face and ran out of the guild hall crying.

Lucy just watched with a sad look in her eyes "That's gotta be tough."

"Don't worry about it." Cana assured her "I know it sounds like the master doesn't care but he really is worried."

"Yeah I can tell, sort of."

"Well in the meantime I'm gonna get going." she hoisted Bolt over her shoulder "I'm gonna go up to Mount Hakobe and save Macao."

"Even after what the master said? Why?"

"Who knows? Maybe because it's because I think of Luke whenever I look at the kid and that look in his eyes."

"How so?"

"Just because we're members of Fairy Tail doesn't mean we all don't have our own personal issues too, we've all had our fair share of suffering and loss." and so Cana made her way out of the guild hall, with Lucy right behind her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Soon enough, Cana and the others were taking a carriage towards Mount Hakobe "Okay so I've gotta ask, why exactly did you come with us newbie?"

"I thought maybe I'd be able to help." Lucy told her.

"Well at least I can ride in one of these things without having to worry about a Dragon Slayer upchucking all over the place, Luke gets a crap load of motion sickness. Add that to the list of reasons to feel sorry for him."

"What do you mean?"

Cana glanced out at the landscape "Years ago Luke's dad left him and he never came back, the guy who raised him I should say. He's actually a lightning dragon."

"...He was a what now?! You mean Luke was actually raised by a dragon?!"

"I found it hard to believe at first too, but I had my own father crap going on so I figured I didn't have any reason not to believe him. He found Luke as a little kid and took him in and raised him like he was his own kid, and he taught him about all sorts of stuff including Dragon Slayer magic. But one day the dragon disappeared and never came back."

"So that dragon must have been the one he told me about, Kaminari."

"Luke doesn't talk about it much, but Kaminari abandoning him like that is always really hurting him." Bolt told her "One of his biggest dreams in life is for the day to come when he'll finally see Kaminari again, and for me to meet him."

"You know, as sad as that is it's actually kind of sweet." and then the carriage stopped "So does that mean we're there?"

"I doubt it, these things can only take us so far." Cana told her "We're gonna have to go the rest of the way on foot."

"Wait what?" Lucy opened the carriage door, only to find that they were on a mountain in the middle of a blizzard "What the heck, Cana where are we?! It's a frozen wasteland!"

"Yeah, we're on Mount Hakobe now let's get going." Cana hoisted Lucy over her shoulder and started walking on the path.

"Why the heck is it so cold? I know we're on a mountain but it's summer right now and there shouldn't be a blizzard like this anywhere- Put me down!" she was promptly set back on the ground "Thank you."

"It's what you get for wearing light clothing."

"Oh please you don't even have a proper shirt on, now hand over that blanket!"

"Oh wow you just keep on talking don't you?"

"Hey wait I've got an idea! Open gate of the Clock Constellation! Horologium!" she summoned one of her Celestial Spirits.

"Okay what?"

From the gate emerged what looked like a grandfather clock with a face and a moustache "Tick tock."

"...And again I say, what?" she was met with mumbling "Okay how the heck am I supposed to understand what you're saying?"

"She says "I'm staying in here and I'm not coming out.""

"Then why the heck did you tag along?"

""A better question would be, what kind of crazy job would force Macao to come to a place like this?" she inquires."

"You should've asked that before you came with us. He went to slay a vulcan, it's some kind of big monster."

""I want to go back to the guild!" she proclaims."

"Go ahead and be my guest, I say back- Okay why are we talking like this?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun was shining over the skies of Magnolia.

But in contrast to that, the mood was grim as Luke stared down at a certain headstone with the word STRAUSS engraved on it "I meant what I said before, what happened to you will never happen again, not if I have any say in it." he glanced back and quickly recognized it was standing behind him "Whatever you're going to say won't change how I feel about this, you'd just be wasting your breath… Lisanna."

Sure enough, before him was a young woman with white hair falling down to her shoulders and blue eyes, and she wore a short, dark red dress with a white collar and bow "I think I'll be the judge of that."

"This lovely young lady is Lisanna Strauss, a user of Take Over magic who has a close bond with Natsu Dragneel."

"So when did you get back into town?"

"Just today." Luke just kept looking down at the grave in front of them "You know it's not a good thing for you to be eavesdropping on people having private thoughts, you'll end up turning into Natsu if you do."

"I'd rather be accused of eavesdropping than let you live with guilt you put on yourself for no good reason."

"And now you're just talking out your ass. Why can't you or anyone else just say that you blame me for what happened to her? It would just be a hell of a lot easier on all of us and on me if you just say that it was my fault."

"I don't blame you because I don't see any reason to blame you." Lisanna gave him a small smile "If I were ever to blame you for what happened to her then I know that she would never forgive me. It's no one's fault that she died, sometimes in life the bad things just happen and she understood that all too well. Mira was my big sister, a girl with so much love in her heart for her family that she would do anything to protect them. And remember this Luke. Mira, my big sister that me and Elfman loved so much, was willing to give up her own life in order to protect yours."

"Lisanna…"

"You know Cana, Bolt and the new girl, I think her name is Lucy, went to look for Macao up at Mount Hakobe. If you wanted to see Cana then I think that would be the time and the place to do it."

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Cana and Bolt continued their track up the side of the mountain "Hey Macao where the hell are you man?!"

"WOMAN!" that was when a vulcan dropped down onto the scene, sniffed Cana and shrugged, and then it went over to Lucy inside of Horologium and attempted to make off with both of them "Me like blonde woman!"

"So the thing can talk huh?"

""Don't just stand there, hurry up and save me!" she yells furiously."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Near the summit of Mount Hakobe…

Horologium and Lucy had found themselves taken to the Vulcan's lare near the summit of the mountain, though only one of them was actually concerned ""How did I get myself into this mess, and what's with this giant monkey? Why is he so excited?" she asks tearfully."

The Vulcan started staring at Lucy with a big pervy grin "Woman, woman!"

And it was in this moment that Lucy suddenly found herself abandoned by her spirit and totally defenseless "Hey Horologium where the heck did you go?! Don't you freaking dare disappear on me!"

"Sorry but my time is up, do be sure to take care."

"Just give me some kind of extension! Please!" she let out a scream of terror.

"Hey you big ape!" that was when Bolt charged onto the scene "Where the heck is the old guy who's name I never bothered to remember?!" but then he slid on the ice and ended up slamming into the wall of the cave "Ow."

"...That was almost cool for about five seconds."

"How the heck does Luke make it look so natural?"

"Well that's obvious, it takes practice." Cana slowly walked into the cave and pointed a magic card at the Vulcan "Start talking monkey, where the heck is my friend? You can understand what I'm saying can't you? He's a human man who thinks he's a lot cooler than he is, now where is he?"

The Vulcan stared long and hard at Cana "Man?"

"That's right, now where the hell are you hiding him?"

"Don't you think you might be jumping to conclusions?" Lucy pointed out.

"Probably, but I don't give a damn!...Yeah maybe Natsu has rubbed off on me. Anyway, I'm pretty sure he's gonna shove me out of the cave opening and down the mountain so I won't buy into that crap.

"Women…" the Vulcan stared long at hard at Cana, then at Lucy, and then alternating between them, and then it started beating on its chest "No like man, me like woman! Woman woman woman!"

"And just like that this got serious levels of annoying."

"Which is why I'm ending this, stand back." Lucy got to her feet "Alright you pervy monkey you are so going down!" she pulled a golden key off her belt "Now open gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!"

Sure enough, the gate opened to reveal a black and white bull with a battle axe "Moo to the moo missy."

"I should warn you monkey boy, Taurus is the most powerful celestial spirit that I have a contract with."

"Oh wow to the wow Miss Lucy I actually almost forgot what a nice figure you have, why don't you come give me a smooch?"

"...Oh yeah I forgot, he's also a massive perv too."

"Moo to the moo."

"No touch my woman!" the Vulcan let out an outright snarl.

"Your woman? Them be fightin words you moo-nkey!"

"Get him!" Lucy barked.

"MOOO!" with a roar Taurus slammed his axe into the ground, forcing the Vulcan to dodge the shockwave emitted from it as a result.

"BOOYAH MOTHER FUCKER!" Luke suddenly burst onto the scene and aimed a kick at the Vulcan, only to be struck by Taurus and his axe, to which Luke comically retaliated with a kick to the face, sending him flying clear across the cave.

"Looks like this is the end for me… mooo…"

"Call it whatever the hell you want, I call it payback for hitting me with that thing." he noticed the horrified look Lucy was giving him "What?"

"You're oozing out blood by the gallons!" Lucy pretty much shrieked.

"I am?" he glanced at his reflection in the cave wall and noticed a rather large wound in his head bleeding heavily "Huh, I don't feel any pain."

"How the hell are you- Hey wait a second, how did you get here anyway? You were back in Magnolia when we left weren't you?"

"Oh yeah I started climbing the mountain to meet up with you guys but Bolt met me about halfway up and brought me the rest of the way. Thanks little buddy." he dealt Bolt a quick fist bump.

"So you mean you can't handle normal modes of transportation but flying with Bolt is totally fine to you?"

"It's artificial means that make me hurl my lunch from last week, but my little buddy here could never hurt me."

"MY WOMAN!" the vulcan charged at him at full speed.

Luke stopped the Vulcan in its tracks with one hand "Alright let me make this clear to you you furry son of a bitch, I consider every single member of the Fairy Tail guild to be one of my friends. Whether it's people like the Master, or Natsu and Gray, and especially Cana and Bolt, and now Lucy too. Every single one of them are my friends." he drew his sword from the sheath on his back "This sword was created from the scales of my father, Kaminari the Lightning dragon, and the strength of this blade represents my resolve to protect every single friend that I hold dear! I'm not leaving without Macao, and if I have to cut you down to get to him then I'll do it!" he dealt the Vulcan a swift kick to the chest, sending it flying.

The Vulcan rebounded, but when it did it revealed that it had Taurus's axe and a wicked grin on its face.

"Okay didn't see that coming, but that's what makes it fun!" Luke leapt over the attack and threw his sword into the air as he coated his fist with Lightning "Now you'll see what happens to people who mess with my friends! Lightning Dragon… IRON FIST!" he slammed his lightning coated fist into the Vulcan's torso, sending him crashing directly into the wall of the cave "And that's how a Lightning dragon takes care of business."

"Nice but, wasn't he supposed to tell us where your friend is?" asked Lucy.

"He isn't gonna do much talking, not that he actually needs to. See for yourself." he looked away from a massive flash of light, and he glanced back at it once the light subsided "And there we go, we've got ourselves a Macao."

"Wait a second, are you telling me that big perverted monkey was actually your friend the entire time?!"

"Looks to me like he got taken over by that Vulcan through some kind of possession spell, not that I couldn't tell though since the personalities weren't that different. Vulcans survive through possession of peoples' bodies and taking them over. Looks to me like Macao put up one hell of a fight before the thing got to him though. Hey Macao, come on stupid get up. Your kid is waiting for you back in town."

Slowly, Macao opened his eyes and glanced over at Luke "Oh hey Luke, when did you get back into town?"

"Just today, so how many of them did you take out?"

"About 19 of them, but then the 20th jumped me when I had my guard down. I'm such an idiot, I'm so angry with myself. I'm embarrassed to go home and face Romeo."

"Hey beating down 19 monkeys that thought with their penises is something to be proud of you idiot."

"I guess but still, all or nothing…"

"I say take what you can get, and speaking of which…" he glanced back and tried to hide his growing fear "Cana…"

Sure enough, Cana stood leaning against the wall of the cave looking pissed as hell, but her hair was covering her eyes in a very ominous way "You haven't changed at all have you? You're such an idiot, no matter how powerful you get you're always gonna be reckless." she made her way over to him and smacked him upside the head, but then she pulled him into a gentle and tender hug "Welcome home you idiot."

"Good to be home."

Lucy watched the others with a sad smile 'All of these guys are so amazing, I don't even begin to compare to them.'

"Hey Lucy what's with the grin?" Bolt tried to hide a smirk "It's totally like something out of a horror movie."

"I'll show you creepy cat, watch your back."

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Romeo sat on the stairs, curled up in a ball with tears streaming down his face 'Daddy, where are you?'

"Hey squirt."

Romeo glanced up to see Luke, Bolt, Cana, Lucy and an injured Macao wandering towards him, but he didn't give them the chance to "DAD!" he quickly tackled Macao to the ground "You came back, I'm so sorry dad!"

"No son, I'm sorry for making you worry." Macao told him.

"I can handle it, I'm the son of a wizard aren't I?"

"Next time those bullies pick on you here's what I want you to say, you tell them that your old man can defeat 19 monsters all by himself?"

"Right!" Romeo glanced back at the others "Hey you guys, thanks a ton for your help!"

"Whatever floats your boat squirt." Luke just gave a nonchalant wave and started walking back towards the guild hall with the others, and he shot a glance over at Lucy "So how do you like your first day as a member of Fairy Tail?"

Lucy let out a chuckle "Well it was a sunny day followed by a blizzard but it ended up sunny again."

"And yes most of the people in Fairy Tail act like a pack of crack addicts but they're also good people with good hearts who know how to do what's right in the most destructive way that's humanly possible."

"I know I'm still a newcomer around here but I can't help it, I already love being part of this guild."

"And hopefully you will for a long time to come." Luke set his sights on the guild hall in front of them, and as he creaked the doors open and awaited the inevitable bombardment of questions and yelling from the other guild members, he couldn't help but smile 'I know you can hear me Kaminari, wherever you are. Please let me stay with Fairy Tail for at least a little bit longer. I have to become stronger, so much stronger than I am right now so that I can continue to protect my family so nothing like that ever happens again. I have to get so strong I even surpass you, and if I don't… then I'll never be able to face either her or you again. But that can wait until tomorrow, because tonight, I'm just gonna enjoy being with my family here in Fairy Tail.'