Fairy Tail

Gerald was surrounded by darkness until five figures made of light illuminated his surroundings. Four taller and one shorter with long hair. Two of the tall ones also had long hair. Besides that, he wasn't able to distinguish their facial features except for their warm smiles. Everything else was shrouded in light.

Despite that, he had a feeling he knew who those people are. But when they stepped closer to him and wrapped him in a hug, he was more than sure. They were his family. Both families. He tried talking to them. To ask them what is he supposed to do, but nothing came out of his mouth. In the end, he could only hug them back and enjoy their warmth.

Gerald didn't know how long he stood there with them, but the scenery suddenly changed. His family disappeared and was replaced by multiple figures. Some were big, and some were small, but all of them were shrouded in darkness except for one.

Celtic Guardian, dressed in his green armor, was standing in front of him. The elf warrior dropped on his knee and bowed to him. Gerald tried to stop and to make him stand up, but he had no control over his body. Celtic Guardian raised his head and stared at him with his piercing black eyes before saying something he wasn't able to hear.

Gerald had so many questions he wanted to ask, but no sound came out of his mouth, no matter how much he tried. Celtic Guardian then stood up and began practicing with his sword in front of his Master. Since Gerald couldn't do anything, he just stood there and watched the elf warrior swing his sword with expertise. He didn't know how long he had been there, but at some point, he was covered darkness before he opened his eyes to the real world.

The first thing that greeted him was a wooden ceiling. Gerald blinked a few times to adjust his sight before looking around. He was in a small room that had a table, with his deck of cards on it, and a small wardrobe. He tried remembering what happened, and his eyes widened. His last memory was that of feeling extremely fatigued and losing consciousness in front of a bandit.

Quickly, he grabbed the deck when he heard some noise outside his room. Celtic Guardian was in his hand, and he was prepared to summon him at a moment's notice. However, he certainly wasn't prepared for a small old man with grey hair that made Gerald look like a giant to enter the room.

"Ah, I see you are awake, my boy. Porlyusica did say you will be waking up at about now." The old man said in a gentle tone and stepped closer to him.

"Stay back!" Gerald called out, clutching his card and prepared to summon it. He still didn't know where he was, and his last memory was that of a bandit meeting him. The old man grimaced but stayed in place.

"Who are you, and where have you brought me? What do you want from me?"

The old man shuddered and clutched his hands into fists. No kid should react like that. In a second, he calmed himself, stopped trembling, and released a deep breath.

"I'm Makarov Dreyar."

The name sounded familiar to Gerald, but he wasn't sure where he knew it from. Was it from his memories from Earth or the ones from Earth Land?

"And I'm the third Guild Master of Fairy Tail, where you currently are. Gildarts, one of our S-class Mages, had found you before you passed out due to Magical Exhaustion. He brought you here so our resident healer could help you out."

'Fairy Tail?' Gerald's eyes widened in realization. 'Fairy Tail? You've got to be kidding me.' He couldn't believe it. He was in a fictional world. 'How in the hell did I come here? Scratch that, I will find an answer for it in the future, but what am I supposed to do here? What do I even remember about the anime?'

Gerald tried remembering anything he could about Fairy Tail. The only thing that came to mind was the name of the Guild and a few major characters. He had loved watching anime and reading manga when he was in middle school and the start of high school, but he had stopped and focused on studying shortly before graduating. He barely had time to relax, and when he entered college, he didn't have any free time at all. He knew he had watched about 50 episodes of Fairy Tail, but he had vague memories of what happened in them.

'Damn it, if I knew that this would happen to me, I wouldn't have even bothered going to college! How many years did I waste studying?! Calm down, I have to calm down and figure out what to do now.'

Makarov watched as the boy's face morphed from surprise to horror, and finally, a deep frown. The surprise and frown were understandable, but why did he look scared for a moment? He knew that his Guild is known to be a bit more rough and destructive, but it shouldn't warrant such a reaction. He would ask him later, but now he had to find out who the boy is, and where he is from. Makarov waited for a minute or so until the boy finally looked towards him.

"What's your name, my boy?"

Makarov started with that. He would ease him in, make him feel comfortable before asking anything more serious. He wouldn't push too far, though. There were plenty of kids with bad pasts in the Guild, and he had learned how to deal with them. Pushing for answers never worked out. It's best for them to open on their own when they feel comfortable.

"Gerald. Gerald Nore," The boy answered while staring at Makarov with his emerald orbs.

"Where are you from, Gerald?" Makarov noticed that the boy flinched at that question.

"Hyacinth."

Makarov nodded at that. "I remember that's a village near Mt. Hakobe. Pretty close to where Gildarts had found you."

"Was." Makarov cocked an eyebrow at that. "Was a village near Mt. Hakobe. It doesn't exist anymore."

Makarov's eyes softened with pity as he looked at Gerald. He didn't need to hear more to know what had happened. Especially when he saw the quivering eyes of the boy that were starting to water.

"I'm sorry to hear that, my boy."

Gerald didn't respond to that and looked down. His body had reacted on its own while his mind was conflicted. He had memories of living on Earth and memories of living in Earth Land. Which of those were his own, or are they both his own? He had so many questions he couldn't answer.

He is in a supposedly fictional word, but is he a fictional character as well now? Should he leave, or should he ask to join Fairy Tail? If he stays, then he would surely experience hardships in the future. The anime was named after the Guild, so both bad and good things would happen to it. If he leaves, where is he supposed to go? Can he go somewhere where he couldn't be caught up in the problems of Fairy Tail? From his experience with anime and manga, the problems at some point ended up encompassing the entire world. Can he even live on his own and built a stable life for himself?

Joining Fairy Tail sounded like a smart choice since whatever happened, they should be able to deal with it. He didn't remember anyone dying in the anime, but that didn't mean he couldn't die. He was weak, he knew that much. Gerald also knew from the memories of his current body that he should be 14 years old. How old were the other characters that he knew about? How old were they when the show even started?

Still, the most important question was whether he could survive the future. The only thing that he had going for himself was his cards. He looked at the deck in his hand and looked through the cards. All of them were blank except for Celtic Guardian. There weren't any stats on them, no description, no stars. Nothing. Only the image of the elf warrior. The back was a simple design. Brown with a black circle in the middle.

"Those cards seem special," Makarov remarked as he observed him. "You were clutching them hard when Gildarts brought you here. Cana, our Card Mage, was interested in them, but she wasn't even able to pull them out of their holster."

"They saved my life," Gerald said softly, and Makarov nodded.

"So, you are a Card Mage as well?"

Magic Card was a type Holder Magic which revolves around the use of Magic Cards, which can produce a variety of effects. It's a versatile Magic, but not that popular. Very few use it.

"I don't know," Gerald answered honestly. He knew the cards from an entirely different show and didn't believe he had ever seen them in Fairy Tail. He didn't know if he was a Card Mage or not, but he knew that he could use them at least. The question was how to "unlock" the rest of the cards. He didn't believe that he was given a deck of blank cards with only a single usable one.

"What are you going to do now, my boy?"

Makarov asked him a question that he was already thinking about. If he wanted to grow strong to try and survive the future, he should stay. If he wanted to have a peaceful life, he should leave.

"You could always join the Guild, you know? Fairy Tail would be happy to accept you."

Gerald looked at Makarov's black eyes, which were filled with kindness. He thought for a moment before answering.

"If you would have me, I would like to join."

He wasn't sure, but he felt there was something that was urging him to accept. The moment he answered, he heard a feminine giggle in his head. 'That was a good choice, Master.'

Gerald's eyes widened in surprise. Makarov said something else, but he wasn't listening. He quickly looked through his cards and noticed that one of them was no longer blank. On it, there was a blonde girl with large blue eyes and a blue magician outfit. The girl winked at him from the card, and he heard the feminine giggle in his head again.

That somewhat answered one of his many questions. The rest of the cards would probably be unlocked with certain actions and accomplishments. 'You are correct, Master.'

Gerald had to physically restrain himself from blushing like a hormonal teenager after hearing the sweet voice call him Master. 'Come to think of it, aren't I a teenager, right now? Oh, God, please don't make me go through puberty again.'

"Gerald, are you okay, my boy?"

Makarov shook him with his small hands. He blinked a few times and realized that he had been ignoring the Guild Master.

"Um, sorry. Something just happened with my... Magic?"

Makarov cocked an eyebrow, but he didn't question him.

"I asked if you would like to come down to meet the rest of the Guild. We also need to give you your Fairy Tail mark. I could also help you check what's your natural Magic affinity."

"Yeah, I would like that," Gerald answered. He wanted to see the members of Fairy Tail and see whether he could find out where he stands. He remembered that the show started with a blonde girl called Lucy joining, but he didn't know how old she was when she joined. Hopefully, he would figure that out soon.

Makarov led him to the Guild Hall, which looked more like a tavern than anything else. People were drinking while laughing and telling stories. Most of those looked to be at least in their early twenties.

A girl, wearing a white dress with shoulder-length blue hair and reading a book, was sitting a distance away from the others. She looked to be around 13 to 14 years old. Next to her were two boys that looked her age and acted like lost puppies. There were two other boys, in the middle of the hall, that were butting heads. One had pink hair while the other had raven hair and was only wearing boxers.

'Those two are one of the main characters, but they look younger? I think they were called Natsu and Gray?'

"Well, my boy, this is Fairy Tail."

Makarov's words were like a command. The moment he said that, Natsu punched Gray in the face and sent him flying. The nearly naked boy hit into a man carrying a jug of beer. Said man stumbled and spilled the drink on top of another man. He was then punched and crashed into another table. The people from said table punched him back, and in mere seconds, the Guild Hall turned into a massive brawl.

Gerald looked towards Makarov, who was trembling from anger and embarrassment. For once, the Guild members were acting peacefully, and he thought they would make a good impression on their newest member. That turned one to be only wishful thinking.

Makarov didn't even dare look at the brown-haired boy. He took a deep breath before saying. "I'm sorry."

Before Gerald could ask what he was apologizing for, the Master suddenly increased in size.

"Stop fighting, you damn brats!"

Makarov's voice bellowed throughout the Guild Hall. All the members turned at him with embarrassed looks, but none of them seem scared of the giant of a man. Now that everything had quieted down, he looked towards Gerald.

"We have a new member joining our family today! This is Gerald Nore."

The spotlight was on him, and he was a bit uncomfortable with all of them staring at him. He weakly smiled and tried giving them a friendly wave. For a moment, there was complete silence before the older members erupted into cheers. ""PARTY!""

They were fighting each other a minute ago, and they suddenly started partying and drinking. That was definitely something he wasn't used to. Before he could make heads or tails of the situation, Natsu ran up to his face.

"Fight me!"

"I'd rather not," Gerald bluntly refused, and Natsu's eyes opened wide as if he was never expecting that answer.

"Fight me!" Natsu demanded once more. Any new members had to fight him. That was like a tradition.

"Natsu, give him some space." Makarov slapped him away with his giant hand. He then shrank back to his normal appearance.

"Come with me, my boy. We have to get you your Guild mark. And we are going to check your natural Magic afterward."

Gerald got a blue Guild mark on his right forearm before Makarov led him to the archive of Fairy Tail. He grabbed a crystal ball and presented it to him.

"Place your hand on the ball and use your Magic. It will show us what your natural Magic is."

"I'm not sure how to do that," Gerald said. The only time that he had done any kind of Magic was when he had summoned Celtic Guardian, but he only needed to call his name and nothing more.

"Close your eyes," Makarov said. "Now, look inside you. There should be a container, a power source there. Focus on that and try to guide the Magic Power to your hand."

It took him a moment to locate his container and another to summon his Magic Power, but he succeeded. However, there was no reaction from the crystal ball.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No." Makarov shook his head. He felt the boy use his Magic Power, but nothing happened. "This just means that you don't have a natural Magic."

"Is that bad?"

"Not necessary," Makarov replied. "Those that have a natural Magic have an easier time learning it. Take Natsu, for example. His natural Magic is fire. He learns Fire Magic at least twice as fast as other mages, but any other kind of Magic, he would learn far slower."

"So, I don't have any advantages, but I also don't have any disadvantages?"

"Precisely, my boy," Makarov said with a smile. "I wanted to give you a book from here to help you out on your natural Magic, but that would be a bit pointless now. My best advice is to check out all the Magic books that we have and to select one that you find to your liking."

Makarov then left with the crystal ball in hand before turning with a pair of red glasses. "Here, this should help you out."

"I don't have a problem with my sight. I can see perfectly fine."

"Those are Gale-Force Reading Glasses," Makarov said with a laugh. "They would help you read faster. 32 times faster to be exact."

"Wow," Gerald exclaimed. If only he had them when he was studying for college. That would have saved him so much time. He carefully received them in his hands.

"Now, let's try and find you a Magic book. Ask away if you have anything specific in mind, and I will guide you."

Gerald nodded, but he decided to look around first. He didn't take even a single step towards the bookshelves before he heard the feminine voice in his head.

'Please, summon me, Master. I also want to help you!' She said with an excited tone before saying sheepishly. 'And I want to check the books, as well.'

He couldn't say no to that, so he picked out his newest card and said. "Dark Magician Girl."

After a flash of white, the beautiful girl appeared in front of them. She twirled in place before winking seductively at Gerald.

'Damn my teenage body!' He cursed out while trying his best to suppress his blush and not look like a tomato. The fact that her outfit was quite revealing wasn't helping him out.

A look to the side showed that Makarov was drooling while looking at her. Without even questioning his Magic, he turned towards Gerald. "If you can summon others like her, you will become my favorite member!"

Dark Magician Girl giggled sweetly at that.

"Nevermind, you already are my favorite member!"

She giggled once more before turning towards the shelves. It didn't take her more than a moment to pick out a book and present it to Gerald.

"Master, I think this book would suit you!"

Gerald took the book from her and heard a thud from the side. Makarov was already on the ground with blood coming out of his nose.