The Next Year

{February, X777}

After one year, it's time for me to show the fruits of my training under one of the Gods of Ishgar. I will finally see how much I have truly improved from the me of last year.

That said, I would have thought that he would assign me with something more simple like being a guard or hunting some large, yet manageable, beast, not perform a task such as the eradication of a dark guild that has recently popped up on the Magic Council's radar.

How did it turn out like this again?

[Two weeks ago...]

"I trust that you understand why you need to do this?" Draculos had asked me as the two of us were seated across from one another at the dining table of his home.

Due to my young age and the fact that I would be more focused on training and studying under the Wizard Saint, Draculos had thought it necessary for me to stay as a guest in his home. Honestly, the practicality of it aside, that was very kind of him to let me stay at his house. So long as I followed the rules and kept the rooms I am in clean, I was welcome to stay at his house. That said...it wasn't like I really ever got the chance to actually enjoy living there since I started my studies and training right away. And let me tell you, I can see how he ended up getting the title of a God of Ishgar because the anime and manga did not do this man any justice whatsoever.

The studying wasn't bad since learning about more kinds of magic interested me and allowed me to learn more spells that I could add onto my repertoire or counter spells that I would happen to come across in my travels and missions. If anything, the studying was probably the most enjoyable part of my apprenticeship. It also helped that I was a very studious person.

The practical and physical portion on the other hand. Well, it definitely helped to show how much I have improve through the past year. But to be honest, I did not have fun with it whatsoever. I honestly lost track of how many times I had been trapped by his Vampire Magic, albeit at a lower power that even I could break through. Of course, it would end up with me kissing the dirt just as many times, sometimes very literally with the number of times he sent me flying across his training grounds like some sort of ragdoll.

So in short, it was very punishing, yet at the same time extremely rewarding, since he helped develop routines to improve my body, I received a lot of combat experience, and I had many chances to actually use my magic against him however I liked, not that it actually worked on a man of his caliber. And this trend will go on for a few more years with an increasing difficulty level.

Joy.

That said, he truly was what every teacher should strive to be. While he was strict, he was fair. Whenever I failed, he didn't berate me, instead allowing me to fix my mistakes. He provided me ample amounts of time to recuperate and rest if needed so that I wouldn't end up burning myself out. He was quick to reciprocate the effort that I put into learning under him as well. It really provided for a good student-master relationship between the two of us, while allowing us to respect the other's privacy.

All that aside, it led to this point and why we are having the conversation we're having now.

"Yes I do Master Draculos. While you have put me in situations that provided me a great amount of experience in fighting, it doesn't change the fact that I need to be able to incorporate my learning into a real-life scenario, such as a mission or facing off against Mages that are actually closer to my skill level rather than one of your caliber."

"Indeed. That is why you will be taking this mission on your own in order for us to see how much you have actually grown. That said, I will still be supervising you and will intervene should the need arises."

[Back to present time...]

And so here I am, standing in a forest near a Dark Guild headquarters by the name of Red Scorpion. What kind of name is that anyways? And honestly, I feel somewhat obligated to take out the guild on principle since I can't help but be reminded of Sasori of the Red Sand, and a small dark guild like this would not do any justice.

Well that aside, I suppose it's time to get started. It's a good thing that Master Draculos only said to take it out in a straight-forward manner.

I placed my hands together as if in a prayer and watched as a large magic circle opened above the building. Seriously, just because these smaller dark guilds think they can get away with their crimes, it doesn't mean they should be so complacent with their security because the devil will always get his due.

Well, all the same I suppose. I may as well use this chance to show off some of my power. Though I should make sure I get everyone so loose lips don't sink my ship.

"Light God's Endless Genesis."

[Narrator POV - Red Scorpion Guild]

It was just another day for the guild Red Scorpion as all of its members were merely enjoying the day with one another, thinking that it would quickly pass by before they get back to business with some more assassination contracts that were asked to be carried out, one in particular that would bring in a very large amount of Jewels. They were so relaxed at that moment due to not being caught by the Magic Council since establishing themselves as a dark guild, that they honestly thought that they were turn out fine and rising up the ranks. It was the height of hubris indeed.

How wrong their thoughts would turn out to be when they noticed the destruction that suddenly rained down from upon them. Endless black, yet white-tinted, missiles showered their headquarters, causing an uproar as its thirty seven members rushed to exit the building before it inevitably collapsed, and even then, those beams of lights would still strike what used to be the guild base for a brief amount of time before stopping, leaving nothing but rubble. What followed after the revelation that their guild base was torn to the ground was nothing but sheer outrage and anger.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Who attacked our guild?!"

"I don't know who did it! Stop asking stupid questions"

"Someone must be around here right now to have done that! Split up and search for the bastard!"

"Whoever it was, they're dead meat!"

"Well well. I'm glad to see that you're all alive."

Realizing the last voice seemed too young to belong to anyone in the guild, everyone turned to see a young boy walking out from behind a tree with a faint smile on his face. He was wearing a black long sleeved button-up shirt, a black decorated-with-white vest, black slacks, and a white neck tie. Over his clothes was white hooded cloak with gold designs and, unseen to everyone's eyes, a star on the back reminiscent of a certain necklace.*

This boy is the cause of their problems right now?!

"Seriously!? It's a damn kid who attacked us?!"

"You got a lot of guts attacking Red Scorpion brat!"

"You better tell us how you found us, and we'll make your death quick!"

The damn brat didn't even seemed concerned at all, if the polite smile on his face was of any indication. How most of them wants to wipe it from his face right now.

"My death, quick? I'm afraid I will have to refuse. Besides...you sealed your fate the moment you crossed paths with me."

It was then they noticed the numerous number of magic circles in the air around them all, all of them seemingly prepared to unleash whatever attack that the boy was going to use.

"Light God's Heavenly Gate."

Oh no...

[Atro's POV]

I calmly watched as my Heavenly Gate pierced through the lower body of the majority of the guild who were too slow to react to the beams of light being rapidly shot at them, as the ground was stained with their blood, some of their legs even being destroyed by my attack. I could only stand in my position watching as those who I debilitated cry in pain as they are injured in such a state that the act of trying to get up brings a great amount of pain. It was a good thing I didn't put so much power in it that their legs would be torn off instead.

Honestly, just watching all this blood being shed sickens me, yet I find myself hardening my heart at this sight, not showing any visible reaction to this carnage. I'm not sure if it is because of my physical age affecting my mentality, because I kept thinking of this world as one that I knew from a manga and anime, or maybe a bit of both, but in this moment I truly became aware of the burdens that I would have to carry in the future for the sake of my goals.

How could I be so naive as to think that being a Magic Council member or a Wizard Saint would not involve paving a path of blood and bodies, big or small, metaphorical or literal? But seeing this scene reminded of the cruelty of life and what I may have to do in order to make my ambitions a reality in a new one that was granted to me.

But I have to strive onward. I knew what I would be getting myself into when I told Draculos that I wanted to be a Magic Council member and a Wizard Saint, something that Jellal had managed to pull off within the next seven years. So all I can do is accept the consequences of my decisions and push forward if I want to change the future.

Because what I do, I will do for them. I will carry the weight of the world on my shoulders if I need to in order to secure their future.

Lucy's future and by extension, the future of Fairy Tail.

Yes, I will do this to one day ensure the happiness of my unknowing sister, knowing full well the trials that she will undergo. Of my mother's flesh and blood.

'Mom...forgive me.' I mentally plead as I slowly brought my hand up to my chest, where the necklace Layla had given me hid underneath my shirt.

I watched as the few members who were relatively unharmed, which was comprised of six people and their guild master, prepared to fire off spells at me. Very well. If they won't surrender even after that, I guess I'll keep going.

'Light God's Barrier: Rho Aias!'

Projecting out of my outstretched hand where a magic circle lied, a black translucent seven-petaled shield formed before six more circles formed in front of the initial shield, just as black and translucent. All seven layers were tinted with white lines and 'cracks' that denoted this spell being one of my God Slaying Spells.

During my time with Master Draculos, I always found the concept of helping others more interesting than always fighting. I'm not some battle junkie like what Natsu and company will be in the future, so I wanted to explore other ways my magic could possibly be used. It was then that I delved into support and defensive magics and developed a strong affinity for them, just as strong as my affinity for offensive magic. Who would have thought? Maybe if I meet Wendy in the future, I can help give her some advice. After all, she has one of the highest potential out of any Mages I can think of in their generation.

Needless to say, through my studies, I had managed to recreate my own Rho Aias, which had blocked the spells that were fired at me, but not without difficulty, as five of the seven layers were destroyed by the combined attack, the sixth one close to giving way. Seeing this happen, the guild master had signaled the six members with him to attack me, both from up-close and from a distance, no doubt trying to find an opening to study and take me down. Well, thankfully I don't have to fight him.

As three of the Dark Mages approached me, I recreated the object that I had started forming before my master had taught me for the first time, putting my fists next to each other before creating a dull 'blade' as my left hand moved out to my side while my right hand held the hilt.

'Light God's Darksaber.'

And I fought them, using my physical skills that I developed with Master Draculos as I dodged the much slower enemy Mages before striking at them with my sword, essentially bludgeoning them down much like I had done to a particular tree, while the three in the rear fired their next spells at me.

"Light God's..."

'Sorry Sting, but I'm going to take inspiration from you.' I thought to myself in the form of a mental apology for young Dragon Slayer as I prepared my spell to counter theirs.

"..Bellow!!"

My voice echoed in the forest as what was essentially a large black laser shot out of my mouth, impacting and drilling through those spells before reaching my targets, where a small explosion took place, blowing the three back, leaving the guild master as the last remaining target, who was watching me in what I assumed was shock, since I took out his men in essentially three spells and some physical combat.

He isn't my problem anyways.

"Master, I'm done."

And with that, the guild master of Red Scorpion found himself falling to the ground and clutching at his neck before he soon lost consciousness.

Footsteps were heard as my master approached me from behind the trees. I need to learn how to hide my presence like that.

"Did you notice Atro?"

Of course I did. Those Dark Mages were somewhat easy to take down, mostly due to being prepared ahead of time, though their strength was definitely not lacking since they nearly broke six of the seven layers of Rho Aias, one that I used with my God Slaying Magic no less. I voiced those thoughts to him.

"You would be correct. While I admit that they are no less dangerous than any other Dark Mage you will come across in your travels, Red Scorpion was still a guild that dealt with assassinations, and as such any average Mage would have struggled against even one person. But as you know, you are no ordinary Mage. You are my student, one who possesses an extraordinary amount of magic power that it is quite shocking even to myself. It goes without saying that in spite of being eleven years of age, you possess a raw strength and ingenuity that many others lack. It was no wonder that you were able to defeat them so easily."

That was honestly somewhat heartwarming to hear, but I knew that there was more coming.

"That said, I must admit that the way you handled them today was quite messy, to be frank. I suppose that's more a matter of experience combined with your youth though. This is quite understandable, since I would not want you to take a life at such a young age, so you resorted to the next best option. After all, while it is frowned upon, we legal Mages are somewhat within our rights to take the lives of any Dark Mages who engage in crimes that may warrant death, though we don't make it such a habit as to not paint ourselves as killers with power, nor would I want you to confront such an issue until you are closer to being of age. Now come. The Rune Knight should be approaching soon and they will capture these Dark Mages upon our departure. We will discuss this further when we find some privacy."

"Yes, Master Draculos."

And with that, we left, leaving Red Scorpion to its fate of being imprisoned for the rest of their lives.

{July 5th, X777}

It's been almost five months since that mission. While I had still been trained by Draculos in that time, I was also being sent on more missions, one per month in fact, as it allowed me to go out of Era and spread my wings with some self-study to boot, while providing me with more experience on missions in general. Thankfully, I no longer needed to inflict harm on such a level as I did that day, only using any form of restraining magic that I had in my repertoire to capture any targets I would have, even if they require a good old beating into the ground before doing so.

Honestly, it was quite nice being able to do such a thing. I had gotten so used to being the one being knocked down in my year of training that in the first three missions, I felt very cathartic in being the one to put other people into the ground, before that feeling eventually died off in the following mission.

And speaking of missions, I had actually finished my most recent one on behalf of the Magic Council, which was to help the Fiore Branch's Rune Knights investigate a series of attacks from bandits.

Needless to say, it went by rather quickly. Say what you want, but those Rune Knights are really good at their job. Honestly, I don't even think I was actually even needed.

I think Master Draculos just wanted to send me back to Fiore in order to recuperate after all the training and missions, so he decided to send me this way in case I wanted to visit my family. How nice of him. That or he is preparing for a mission himself and would not want me to accompany him. All the same, it was thoughtful.

That being said...it leads me to my current conundrum.

It's July 5th of X777.

Two more days until Layla helps to open the Eclipse Gate.

Two more days until the five Dragon Slayers from 400 years ago will arrive with their dragons having 'left'.

Two more days until my mother falls into a state of weakness that will inevitably take her life.

In the year and a half I was gone, I would send letters to both Layla and Lucy, talking to them about my journey, although I would not mention Master Draculos by name, only stating that a trustworthy Mage had taken me under his wing.

To Lucy, I would talk about the many amazing and beautiful things I was witness to in my travels, hinting at towns she should visit if she ends up being a traveling Mage. I even sent her a few books on magic on her birthday, July 1st, just for her to learn about, in case she found something that interested her. Of course, I still plan on her Celestial Spirit Magic being her primary, but backups wouldn't hurt.**

Honestly, with how much I tell her, I'm not even sure if she will even run away a year before the start of canon. For all I know, she may just run away sooner, or ask me to help. I mean, of course I will if Jude doesn't shape up and be a good father, but I still want her to be able to go to Fairy Tail and create those strong bonds that her canon self forged. Maybe I can bring her to Magnolia myself? I'm sure that Lucy would appreciate someone like Levy being her first friend there. Of course, that opens a new can of worms, like her possibly not getting Virgo or Sagittarius because of Natsu and Happy's shenanigans.

I'll have to revisit that later.

As for Layla, I would pretty much tell her the same things that I told Lucy, except adding the things that the former is more suited to hear, like what I had to do on my missions (I kept the details vague though), as well as my concerns that I had following the February mission. And of course, being the adult and mother she was, she was knowledgeable of how the the world worked and knew what I would have to do. She certainly disapproved of me putting myself in dangerous situations. God forbid, she probably doesn't like the thought of me being hurt in general, but she understood that it was something bound to happen and comforted me as such in her letters. I also used the letters to subtly ask what she has been up to while I was gone, knowing full well that she would probably be busy reaching out to other users of the Gold Zodiac Keys.

She's seriously the best. If only she had more time in this world, but all I can do is watch over her in her last moments and promise her that I'll do the best I can for Lucy and Jude, if possible. But still...how cruel.

(Two weeks later...July 22nd, X777)

It's time, isn't it?

I found myself standing outside of the Heartfilia mansion, a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a box of sweets while making sure that I was well dressed. I had received the magic letter only a few days ago from Lucy, most likely with Bero's help, while I was at the Fiore Branch building of the Magic Council, which was a quick letter telling me that Layla was feeling really bad. Of course, Layla wouldn't want to tell me herself. She would want me to happily continue my journey if she had her way. Unfortunately, this was sadly fated to happen. I would have returned either way, being cursed with what knowledge I had of this world.

Is this feeling inside me what Zeref had felt all those years ago? What caused him to design the R-System and the Eclipse Gate? Is this also the same feeling that caused him to be cursed by Ankhseram?

Because if so, I can see why he went to such depths to bring 'him' back. I won't lie when I honestly thought about taking over the Tower of Heaven just to use the R-System to bring Layla back if I couldn't prevent her death.

But as much as I want to in the future, I know I can't. And I know that Layla would never allow me to. And speaking of Layla...

It's time for her son to come back home.

{A/N: Be sure to check out the Creator's Thoughts!}

*Yes, his clothes do in fact take inspiration from Draculos' clothing.

**It's noted [in the wiki] that according to the English translation, Lucy's birthday is July 1st, but it wasn't released in the original Japanese release, but I still wanna use it since there is never a specified date for most character's birthday, only their birth year.