POV: Elior
Three years.
That was how long it had been since Gildarts returned to Magnolia.
Three years since Laxus had finally trusted me enough to tell me about his past.
And three years of training, missions, growing stronger, and simply living together.
When I looked back at X770, it almost felt like another lifetime.
I had been seven then.
Now I was ten.
Laxus was twelve.
Erza was eight.
And Cana was seven.
We had all changed.
Some more than others.
The first thing I noticed about those three years was just how much stronger everyone had become.
Makarov continued to train us in magic, focusing on control, efficiency, and understanding our own abilities.
Gildarts focused on combat.
He taught us things that couldn't simply be learned from practicing spells.
How to fight when exhausted.
How to adapt when a plan failed.
How to use the environment.
How to recognize an opponent's habits.
How to keep fighting when things became unpredictable.
And the gravity chamber Irene and Makarov had built had become a regular part of our training.
What had started at twice normal gravity had gradually become much more demanding.
We never increased it recklessly, but over the years, our bodies adapted.
Our strength, speed, endurance, and physical control had all improved dramatically.
Laxus had changed the most physically.
The frail child he had once been was long gone.
His body had finally caught up with the enormous magical power he had possessed since childhood.
His Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic had also become far easier for him to control.
He no longer avoided using it around me because he was afraid of losing control.
Instead, he had learned to use it as naturally as his Lightning Magic.
And he had become terrifyingly strong.
At twelve, Laxus was already far beyond what most people expected from someone his age.
His Lightning Magic could overwhelm powerful opponents.
His Dragon Slayer Magic gave him even greater physical strength and endurance.
And his combat instincts had improved tremendously through years of fighting beside me and training under Gildarts.
Then there was me.
Honestly, I had no idea what people expected from a ten-year-old.
But whatever it was, I was probably already beyond it.
My Light Magic had become considerably more refined.
I could shape it more precisely, maintain stronger barriers, heal more efficiently, and use far less mana for techniques that had once drained me.
My swordsmanship had improved as well.
I was still developing my own style, but years of training had given me a much better understanding of how I wanted to fight.
My magical perception had also become sharper.
I could sense changes in magical flow, body movement, posture, breathing, and the subtle shifts that happened just before someone attacked.
But it was still perception.
Not future sight.
I wasn't seeing what would happen.
I was simply becoming better at understanding what was happening around me.
Gildarts had spent years making sure I remembered that.
"Stop trying to predict everything!"
He had shouted at me more times than I could count.
"Fight what's actually in front of you!"
Annoyingly, he was usually right.
Erza had grown tremendously too.
At eight, she was already a serious swordswoman in training.
Her balance was better.
Her footwork was sharper.
Her reactions were faster.
And most importantly, she had begun developing her own way of fighting.
I had never wanted her to become another version of me.
I'd always told her that she needed to become strong as Erza.
Not Elior.
She hadn't forgotten that.
But she hadn't forgotten her promise either.
"I'll surpass El-Ni san."
She still said it.
Often.
And honestly, I was starting to believe her.
She still had a long way to go.
But the determination was there.
Then there was Cana.
At seven, she was no longer the little girl who needed to be taught how to fall safely.
Her training had gradually become more serious as she grew older.
Gildarts still adjusted it according to her age, but Cana was stubborn.
Whenever he told her to stop, she asked for another round.
Whenever she succeeded at something, she immediately wanted to try something harder.
And Gildarts couldn't have been prouder.
He still spoiled her too.
Actually, he'd somehow gotten worse.
"Papa, I want this."
"Okay."
"Can I have this too?"
"Sure."
"What about that?"
"Take it."
At some point, I'd simply stopped trying to convince him otherwise.
Gildarts was ridiculously wealthy.
If Cana wanted something and it wasn't dangerous, he saw no reason to say no.
Cornelia occasionally tried to put limits on him.
She rarely succeeded.
Their relationship had also grown stronger over those three years.
They were slowly rebuilding everything they had lost.
The years they couldn't get back were still there, but they weren't allowing those years to decide their future.
And Cana had a father who adored her.
That was probably the most important thing.
But the biggest change for Laxus and me came from our missions.
As we grew older, Makarov gradually trusted us with more responsibility.
We started with B-rank missions.
Then came A-rank missions.
And eventually, we had completed many of them together.
Dozens of missions.
Bandits.
Dark mages.
Magical beasts.
Escorts.
Rescues.
Magical incidents.
Anything that required a pair of strong, reliable mages.
We became a team.
Not just two powerful mages who happened to work together.
A real team.
Laxus was our overwhelming offensive force.
I could handle offense, defense, healing, and battlefield control.
We understood each other's movements without needing to speak.
Sometimes all it took was a glance.
Laxus would charge.
I'd already know where he wanted me to move.
I'd create an opening.
He'd take it.
Or he'd overwhelm the enemy while I protected the civilians.
Our teamwork became almost instinctive.
And people noticed.
At first, it was just people in Magnolia.
Then merchants and travelers started recognizing us.
Then other guilds.
Then villages we'd helped.
Eventually, our names started spreading across Fiore.
The Twin Stars of Magnolia.
That was what people began calling us.
Laxus hated it.
I loved it.
"The Twin Stars are back!"
Someone shouted one afternoon as we walked through Magnolia.
Laxus sighed.
"I hate that name."
"It's magnificent."
"It's stupid."
"It's majestic."
"It's embarrassing."
"You just don't appreciate greatness."
He gave me a deadpan look.
"You're impossible."
"And yet you keep coming on missions with me."
"Because someone has to keep you alive."
I grinned.
"See? Friendship."
Laxus rolled his eyes.
Our individual reputations grew alongside the title.
Laxus became known as the Lightning Prince.
Powerful Lightning Magic.
Unusual strength.
A terrifying young fighter.
The title followed him wherever he went.
I, meanwhile, became known as Saint Elior.
That reputation had started years ago when I began healing people.
It had slowly spread as more people experienced my Light Magic firsthand.
Every mission gave it another push.
Every person I healed became another story.
Every village we helped carried the story somewhere else.
Eventually, Saint Elior became a name recognized far beyond Magnolia.
I never asked for it.
I just kept doing what I'd always done.
If someone needed help, I helped them.
If someone was injured, I healed them.
If someone needed protecting, I protected them.
The title came afterward.
And together, the Lightning Prince and Saint Elior became the Twin Stars of Magnolia.
We weren't famous everywhere.
Not yet.
But throughout Magnolia and increasingly across Fiore, people knew our names.
Two young Fairy Tail mages who had grown together.
Two rising stars who had completed mission after mission.
Two fighters who were far more dangerous together than either was alone.
Of course, our missions weren't the only thing happening during those years.
Fairy Tail remained Fairy Tail.
The guild was still loud.
Still chaotic.
Still full of arguments.
Macao and Wakaba still drank far too much.
The veterans still treated us like family.
Erza and Cana had become extremely close.
After Gildarts decided to stay, he bought a villa just beside ours and the whole family shifted there.
There were still peaceful days.
Days when we trained.
Days when we ate together.
Days when Cana dragged Gildarts around Magnolia.
Days when Erza challenged me to another spar.
Days when Laxus and I argued over who won our latest fight.
Normal days.
Happy days.
And those days mattered just as much as the missions.
Because somewhere during those three years, we had stopped being a group of talented children.
We had become a family of mages.
And now, in X773, something was beginning to change again.
Laxus and I had reached a level where ordinary missions were becoming less and less challenging.
Our strength was no longer the question.
Our experience wasn't either.
We had proven ourselves repeatedly.
But what came next?
I didn't know yet.
All I knew was that Fairy Tail had never been short on surprises.
And knowing my luck…
Whatever came next probably wasn't going to be boring.
I looked toward the guild hall.
The familiar sound of shouting and laughter came from inside.
I smiled.
Whatever the future held, I knew one thing.
I wasn't facing it alone.
Neither was Laxus.
And neither was the rest of our family.
X773 had arrived.
And the next chapter of our story was about to begin.