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CHAPTER START---
---November 30th, X769, 9 PM…
Sitting on the second-floor railing, Makarov Dreyar enjoys the sight of his Guild Members enjoying the night on the first floor.
Many people were drinking, some were being extra rowdy while playing cards in the far corner of the Guild Hall.
And at the bar Oberon and Laxus were celebrating their successful mission with a late dinner.
One of the Wizards was using his Magic to fill the Guildhall with a soft merry tune as he played his violin, and in the corner, Macao and Enno were at a table enjoying drinks and a quiet conversation, while some of the other Guildmembers ran the bar.
Seeing this Makarov sighs, recalling the letter he received today, regarding the results of the meeting he attended days ago.
'I hope this happiness will last,' he thinks. 'If we can make it through the nonsense next year will throw at us, then Fairy Tail can survive anything…'
He takes a sip of his beer and sees Gildarts groan before leaving the cards table, sliding his Jewels into the pot and setting down his cards.
The man accepts his defeat, yet again, at the cards table and walks over to the bar, getting a drink as he strikes up a conversation with their youngest Wizards.
For the next few minutes, Makarov observes his children, until Lightning Magic begins sparking in the Guildhall.
"Watch!" Laxus yells at Gildarts. "I can totally fly, you'll see!"
Gildarts chuckles as yellow Lightning Magic begins arcing across Laxus's body, and the people nearby take their drinks and give the boy some space.
"Careful now, don't want you to hurt yourself," Gildarts chuckles as he sees Laxus's frustrated face. "You look like you're about to crap your pants!"
"I can do it!" Laxus yells as his body begins floating off the floor, now completely shrouded in his yellow lightning.
The Guildhall falls silent as the boy hovers above the ground for a few seconds, then almost everyone erupts into laughter as he becomes a bolt of lightning for a fraction of a second, and flickers into the floor.
Gildarts wipes the tear from his eye as he catches his breath, giving Laxus time to get back up, "Damn, you almost had it, hope your underwear is still clean at least!"
Makarov sees the frustration on Laxus's face, and as he's about to go give the boy some advice, Oberon floats off his barstool and hovers above Laxus, lying in the air.
"You're trying too hard," Oberon says as Laxus looks up at him.
"What?" Laxus asks.
"You're trying too hard," Oberon says again. "Lightning is all about power and intent, about focus, but if you want to fly, you need to relax and be free."
Laxus looks at him for a moment, "How am I supposed to do that?"
"Like this," Oberon says as he lifts Laxus off the floor to hover beside him.
Makarov expected the boy to immediately get motion sickness, but to his surprise Laxus was fine, talking like he normally would on the ground.
Over the past few missions together, Oberon had figured out that, instead of trying to control Laxus's orientation by creating artificial gravity around him, he could simply alternate gravity quickly to keep him floating.
He would keep the sensation of falling on Laxus, even while he was hovering in place.
Makarov sees them talk for a moment, drawing some attention from other Guild members, before Laxus cloaks himself in yellow lightning again.
And as Oberon stops holding him with his Gravity Magic, Laxus moves about on his own for almost a minute before he has to land, trying to catch his breath.
The entire Guildhall erupts into cheers, until one of their members asks Oberon to make him float next.
Suddenly everyone was excitedly hounding him to make them float.
Makarov sees a mischievous look on Oberon's face, one that he's seen before, anything the boy thinks of something new to do with his Magic, something that would possibly cause his Guildmaster to get a headache.
"Alright, everyone get ready!" Oberon yells, drawing the attention of the entire Guild hall as he flies up to the middle of the building.
He closes his eyes and clasps his hands together, then as he opens his eyes.
Gravity within the main hall is reduced to almost zero, allowing everyone and everything to float and eventually return to the ground below.
Some women, like Enno, hold their dresses and skirts as they grab onto something to remain grounded, while most of the other members excitedly begin 'swimming' in the air.
Makarov used his Flight Magic to remain in place on the railing, but looked at his drink just in time to see his beer floating out of the mug.
He quickly recaptures it, and looks over at Gildarts to see the man drinking his beer from the air after it had escaped his mug.
Makarov just shakes his head, a light chuckle escaping his lips.
"No matter how old or powerful they are, they're still just a bunch of kids…"
After a few more minutes everyone is back on the ground, aside from Oberon who was still floating in the air while talking to Wakaba and Laxus.
Gildarts moved to a table at the far end of the Guildhall to quietly enjoy his drink and observe the chaos, taking it all in.
Until a voice rang out in his mind, 'Meet me in my office.'
Gildarts doesn't react in any obvious way, he simply gets up and begins walking upstairs to Master Makarov's office.
"So, what's going on?" Gildarts asks as he enters the office, seeing the man sitting on one of the couches, with a letter on the coffee table between them. "May I?" he gestures to the couch opposite Makarov.
"Of course," Makarov says. "I think it's time we discuss the S-Class Promotion Trials, it's almost December, so the announcement will be soon."
Gildarts rubs the back of his head, "Sad to say my opinion hasn't changed since last year, Master."
"Well let's start from the beginning anyway, we should do this properly after all," Makarov says as he elongates his arm and collects the official Guild Member list from atop his desk. "We'll start from the top."
Gildarts sits up as they begin going over every single Fairy Tail Wizard one by one, discussing the number of missions they've completed since last year's trial, their notable achievements or issues, and their personal strengths and weaknesses.
And of course, their raw power and capabilities.
After almost two hours pass, they come up with a list of only six names.
"This year's trial will be just like the last thirteen years," Gildarts says. "You sure you don't want to include the kids?"
"Laxus isn't powerful or mature enough," Makarov says. "And I don't want to place the kind of pressure Ishgar's S-Class Mages are about to endure onto them."
"Well the closest things to passable S-Class Wizards are Macao and Wakaba," Gildarts says. "We can include them, sure, we've done so before. But we sure as hell can't let them pass."
"Obviously not, as in the previous years, this year none of the candidates shall pass, but at least they will experience the challenge and have an opportunity to grow as Wizards and people."
Gildarts leans back and slumps his shoulders, "You know, I always thought Macao and Wakaba would join me, would-be adventurers. But they were more interested in the fame and fortune side of my life, when all I really cared about was the adventure side."
"They actually remind me quite a bit of you, before Cornelia finally got you to settle down for a while," Makarov says. "Maybe Enno will have that effect on Macao."
Gildarts chuckles, "Then we definitely can't let him pass the trials, he won't want to take any big S-Class Missions, being away for that long never goes over well with the wife."
"That I can testify to," Makarov says. "But honestly, even if they were ready to become S-Class, I don't know if I'd allow it."
This gets Gildarts's attention, "What do you mean?"
"Ever since Ivan's betrayal, that damned son of mine. Not only did he risk Laxus's life, he also got info on Fairy Heart, somehow."
Gildarts's eyes wide, "That's impossible," he says. "We don't keep any written record of that outside of the chamber, and the only other person besides us who knows is—-"
"No, that's impossible, Master Precht spent his life protecting our First Master, he'd never reveal such a thing to anyone," Makarov says. "And that's assuming that by some miracle he's alive, and not a fossil in the dirt."
"Warrod is still alive," Gildarts says.
"He is a God of Ishgar, which is an entirely different league of Magic compared to the other six Wizard Saints," Makarov says. "But regardless, my sources confirmed that Ivan mentioned 'Fairy Heart' while he was traveling East"
"How far East? Maybe I can—"
"He was entering Bellum," Makarov says.
"Shit, now way anyone will be able to find him, even the Magic Council would be useless in looking for him," Gildarts says. "But at least we know he's not lurking around Fiore."
"Likely because he had a heads up about what will be happening next year," Makarov says. "The reason I would be hesitant even if they were worthy of being S-Class…"
"Something big is happening huh, something that will make a lot of swords get drawn against our S-Class Wizards, right?"
Makarov pinches the bridge of his nose, "Ever since I became Guildmaster, Fairy Tail has taken steps away from simply researching Magic and more toward becoming a family, because of that our S-Class Mages must have a certain status, along with their power and reputation.
They must also be trusted, trusted to protect our secrets, to protect Fairy Heart if everyone else falls," Makarov says. "But starting next year, they will also be targeted."
"Did someone send you a threat?" Gildarts asks.
"Not yet, but there will be many," Makarov says. "The Magic Council of Ishgar is moving forward with banning Charm Magic, and Assassination Jobs."
"Crap, half the Wizard Guilds will hate that, and most of them are from the stronger half too."
"Yes, and since Wizards Saints obviously had a say in this decision, all Guilds with Wizards Saints will be targeted for revenge."
"I see, and the S-Class Mages will be the next best target," Gildarts says. "Yeah, this will definitely get messy. Aside from you, Phantom Lord's Guildmaster Jose is the only other Wizard Saint that belongs to a Guild, all the others are solo acts."
"Aven is part of a monastic order," Makarov says. "But they are so isolated that I doubt anyone will even target them."
"So that just leaves us and Phantom Lord."
"Which is why I don't want you going on any decade or century quests until this is settled," Makarov says.
Inwardly Gildarts is a bit annoyed, but he understands, nodding in agreement.
"Fiore leads Ishgar, we have the most access to Magic and Mages, much more than anywhere else on the continent. I fear that this decision will cause our nation to become a warzone."
"If it comes to that, I'm sure we'll be fine," Gildarts says. "After all, we've got you as our Guild Master…"
END CHAPTER---
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pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]
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