A few hours had passed since Rudra's chaotic "exorcism," and life inside the Fairy Tail guild hall had somehow managed to return to its usual brand of noisy normalcy.
At the front counter, Lucy sat cradling a warm mug of tea between her hands. Her eyes kept darting across the room, landing on the corner table where Rudra was slumped in his chair. He had his heavy boots propped up on the polished wood, leaning back lazily while flipping through the pages of a thick book, completely tunes out the rowdy shouting matches around him.
Lucy let out a long, heavy sigh, resting her chin in her palm.
"Did something happen between you two?"
Lucy flinched, snapping her head around to find Mirajane wiping down a glass with her usual gentle smile.
"W-What do you mean?" Lucy asked, her voice squeaking slightly as she tried to sound nonchalant.
Mira set the glass down with a soft click, leaning her elbows on the bar. "Well, ever since you walked back into the guild today, your eyes haven't left him for more than two minutes. You've been staring at him like he's a riddle you can't figure out."
Lucy went quiet, her gaze drifting back to her tea. Her mind flashed back to the quiet hallway outside her apartment, to the sound of the door clicking shut, and to the weight of his final, unbelievable words
"So?" Mira pressed gently, breaking her train of thought with a light tilt of her head. "Did you two get into another fight on the way over?"
"No... it's nothing like that," Lucy murmured, shaking her head. She took a quick sip of her tea to cut off the conversation. "Honestly, Mira, it's nothing."
Mira observed her for a beat longer, recognizing when to let a topic rest, before offering a polite nod. "If you say so."
She turned back to her chores, but before she could wash another glass, a slurred, echoing voice slammed across the bar.
"Mira! Get me another barrel!"
Both Lucy and Mira turned toward the noise. Two stools down, Cana sat slumped over the counter, clutching the handle of a completely drained wooden keg. Her face was flushed, her hair a wild mess, and her eyes burned with dark, stormy irritation.
Mira set her wiping rag down and walked over, placing a gentle hand over the rim of the empty barrel. "I think that's more than enough alcohol for you today, Cana."
Cana glared up at her, her jaw tightening. "Come on, Mira, don't start! Just give me one more—"
"No," Mira interrupted. Her voice remained sweet, but her blue eyes narrowed into a firm, unyielding gaze that radiated a subtle, terrifying aura. "You've had plenty."
Cana held her breath, opening her mouth to fight back, but under Mira's unwavering look, her shoulders visibly deflated. She let out a frustrated growl and released the barrel, slumping back onto the wooden stool with a heavy scowl.
Sensing the shift, Mira gathered the empty keg and walked back over to Lucy, who had been watching the exchange with wide eyes.
"Why is Cana in such a terrible mood?" Lucy whispered, leaning over the counter. "I've seen her drink a lot, but she seems... genuinely angry."
Mira sighed softly. "Oh, right. You weren't here when it happened this morning."
Lucy raised her eyebrows, her curiosity piqued. "When what happened?"
"Gildarts came back from his mission early this morning," Mira explained softly, making sure her voice didn't carry across the bar. "He was horribly injured. He had this dark, pulsating wound on his chest that wouldn't close, even with high-level medical magic. The Master had to step in, and he asked Rudra to take a look at it."
"Rudra?" Lucy repeated, turning her head back toward the corner table where the man in question was lazily turning another page. "What did he do?"
Mira shrugged, a amused smile twitching on her lips. "You know how he is. He took one look at it, before execrersising it
Both girls jumped as Cana slammed her fist hard against the wood, her face red as she glared sideways at them.
"What kind of insane 'exorcism' starts with brutally kicking a guy who's already half-dead?!" Cana snapped, her voice trembling with a mix of fury and leftover shock. "He threw an S-Class mage into a pile of rubble like he was trash!"
Mira didn't flinch. She simply tilted her head, giving Cana a calm, sweet smile. "Hey now, why are you shouting at us? If you have a problem with his methods, you're more than welcome to go over there and ask Rudra yourself."
Cana's tirade died instantly in her throat. Her eyes flicked toward the back corner, landing on Rudra's quiet, indifferent figure. A cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck as she remembered the chilling, terrifying edge in his voice when he had ordered her to sit down earlier.
Without another word, Cana shut her mouth, grumbled something incoherent under her breath, and turned her back to them.
Mira let out a soft, amused sigh before picking up her rag again.
"So... where is Gildarts now?" Lucy asked quietly, glancing up toward the wooden balcony.
"He's upstairs in the infirmary," Mira replied gently. "The parasite is gone, so his body is finally absorbing the healing magic properly. He just needs rest."
Lucy nodded slowly, staring down into her tea as the quiet hum of the guild resumed around them. Her eyes drifted back toward the corner table once more, watching Rudra stretch his arms over his head with a long, bored yawn.
Above them, heavy, sluggish footsteps creaked along the wooden planks of the second-floor balcony, drawing every eye near the bar away from their drinks.
Gildarts slowly made his way down the stairs, his torso and shoulders swathed in thick white bandages. Despite his pale complexion, he managed a faint, weathered grin as he pulled out a stool at the counter and slumped heavily onto it.
"Mira," Gildarts grunted, resting his forearms on the worn wood. "Bring me the strongest stuff you've got in the house."
Mira offered a warm smile, though her hands hesitated over the shelves before she retrieved a tall, dark bottle of aged liquor. She slid it across the counter, her gaze softening with mild concern. "Are you sure you ought to be drinking already, Gildarts? You're still covered in bandages."
"Bah, don't worry about it!" Gildarts waved off her concern, popping the cork with his teeth and taking a massive, gulping swig straight from the bottle. He slammed it down with a heavy sigh of satisfaction. "Ah... I don't know what it is, but guild booze just hits completely different after a near-death experience."
Cana quietly shifted over from her stool, her eyes scanning his wrapped chest with a mix of relief and lingering anxiety. "Are you really okay, Dad?"
Gildarts turned to her, his expression softening as he reached out to pat her head. "I'm fine, Cana, honest. The wound is actually closing up now that the creature's out. It's just—" He winced slightly, clutching a hand over his ribs. "—my chest is aching like crazy from that kick. Whoever that new guy is, he hits like a runaway train."
Lucy, Mira, and Cana all blinked at him in total confusion.
Cana tilted her head, her brow furrowing. "Dad... what are you talking about? There hasn't been a new member joining the guild lately."
"Sure there has," Gildarts insisted, gesturing vaguely toward the back of the room with his bottle. "The guy who kicked me straight into the drywall earlier! I've never seen him around here before."
Mira let out a soft laugh, resting her hands on her hips. "Oh! You mean Rudra. He's not a new member at all, Gildarts. He's always been with Fairy Tail."
Gildarts scratched his chin, his dark eyebrows knitting together as he racked his brain. "Really? Forgive me, but my memory isn't what it used to be. I'm pretty sure I'd remember if we had a white-haired guy with those strange eyes running around the hall."
Understanding dawned on Mira, her expression easing. Right—Gildarts left for his quest almost immediately after we got back from Tenrou Island. That's why he doesn't know.
"Trust me, he isn't new," she clarified gently, pouring a fresh glass of water for Lucy. "You just haven't seen him like this before."
"Rudra... Rudra..." Gildarts mumbled under his breath, taking another small sip as he stared up at the wooden ceiling joists. "Where have I heard that name..."
Suddenly, his eyes snapped wide open, and he slammed his fist onto the counter so hard the glasses rattled.
"Ah! It clicked!" Gildarts declared loudly, a broad grin spreading across his face. "Wait, isn't Rudra that hopeless kid who used to hit on every single girl in the building? The one who went around declaring his undying love to literally anyone who walked through the front doors?!"
Lucy's jaw dropped. Mira didn't say anything.
Before either of them could offer an explanation, a cold, utterly annoyed voice cut straight through the bar's noisy atmosphere.
"Can you stop gossiping about me like a bunch of hens when I'm sitting right here?"
The air around the bar turned instantly chilly. Everyone looked to the corner table, where Rudra had closed his book with an audible snap. He glared back over his shoulder, his sharp eyes narrowing in irritation.
"If you all have so much free time to sit around dissecting my past, go pick a quest off the board and make yourselves useful," Rudra added dryly, throwing a bored, dismissive glance across the room.
The surrounding mages—who had all been sneakily eavesdropping on the legendary S-Class mage's conversation—instantly looked away, suddenly finding their own drinks, cards, and arm-wrestling matches fascinating again.
Since this continues the same scene, here's the pass with the same treatment — tightening the couple of padded lines and leaving everything else as is:
Gildarts blinked, taking another slow swig from his bottle as he watched Rudra lean back and reopen his book. "Well... he certainly grew an attitude."
Just like that, the quiet murmurings and gossiping about Rudra ceased entirely. Lucy went back to her tea, chatting idly with Mira about upcoming rents, while Gildarts remained sprawled out at the bar, content to relax and slowly drain bottle after bottle of the guild's finest booze.
The hours melted away, and soon enough, the golden hues of the setting sun faded into the deep blue of night. Lanterns flickered to life throughout the guild hall, casting warm, ambient light over the boisterous crowd.
Suddenly, the heavy oak doors of the second-floor office creaked open. Master Makarov stepped out onto the balcony, a thick stack of parchment tucked under his arm. He brought his hands together, producing a sharp, echoing CLAP that instantly cut through the chatter below.
"Listen up, my children! I have an announcement to make!" Makarov called out, his authoritative voice commanding the room.
Conversations ground to a halt as the mages gathered near the base of the stairs, looking up with curious expressions. Even Natsu, who had been in the middle of picking a fight with Gray, paused with a flaming fist held mid-air.
"I was going through the mountain of paperwork that accumulated during our seven-year absence," Makarov began, pulling a long scroll from the pile and letting it unroll over the balcony railing. "And while reviewing our administrative records, I stumbled upon a rather baffling metric."
Erza stepped forward, her dark eyes narrowing with serious intensity. "What is it, Master? Has the Council imposed another fine?"
"Worse," Makarov grumbled, his shoulders sagging slightly. "According to the official Fiore Guild Rankings... Fairy Tail is no longer the number one guild in the kingdom."
A collective gasp echoed across the floor, coming almost exclusively from the Tenrou Island team.
"WHAT?!" Natsu roared, stomping his foot so hard the floorboards rattled. "What do you mean we're not number one?! Who took our spot?! Name 'em so I can kick their ass!"
"Hold your horses, flame-brain," Gray snapped, though his own jaw was tight with disbelief. "Master, how far did we fall? Second? Third?"
Makarov didn't answer right away. Instead, his solemn gaze drifted toward Macao, Wakaba, and the rest of the members who had spent the last seven agonizing years trying to keep the guild afloat against crushing debt and rival dark guilds.
"I know how brutally hard these past seven years have been for those of us who remained," Makarov said, his tone warm with gratitude. "You carried the weight of our name when we couldn't. Not a single person in this room blames any of you for where we stand today."
Macao quickly wiped his eye, while the rest of the veteran crew nodded with relieved, appreciative smiles.
"However!" Makarov's voice boomed, snapping back to its usual theatrical thunder as he pointed a finger toward the ceiling. "We do not stay at the bottom! The Grand Magic Games will take place in exactly three months. A grand festival where every guild in the nation competes to claim the title of the strongest in Fiore!"
He leaned over the railing, his eyes blazing with determination. "This time, we are going to take back our rightful throne! ARE YOU WITH ME?!"
A deafening cheer erupted throughout the hall. Fists slammed into the air, magic sparks flew, and wild roars shook the roof.
"Yeah! I'm fired up now!" Natsu yelled, unleashing a plume of fire into the air.
"We'll crush whoever stands in our way," Erza said with a razor-sharp, confident smirk.
"Hold on a second, Master," Gray interrupted, crossing his arms with a doubtful look as he caught the faint, greedy glint in the old man's eyes. "Is this purely about taking back our ranking? Because you looked remarkably focused on the fine print at the bottom of that scroll."
Makarov cleared his throat loudly, shifting uncomfortably. "Well... the winning guild does receive a grand prize of thirty million jewel..."
"I knew it!" Gray shouted. "It's about the prize money!"
"It is about our honor and our financial solvency!" Makarov shouted back, hastily correcting himself as he held his head high. "Therefore, for the next three months, official quest assignments will be drastically reduced! I expect each and every one of you to spend this time training like your lives depend on it! Do whatever you must to sharpen your magic and reach your absolute peak!"
He waved a hand dismissively, turning back toward his office. "That is all! Dismissed!"
As the crowd burst into animated chatter, discussing training partners and secret locations, Lucy sighed softly, leaning against the counter. "Thirty million jewel... that would pay my rent for the next hundred years."
Over in his usual quiet corner, Rudra simply tilted his head back, closing his book as the chaotic energy of the guild swelled around him.