Year: X784 (Ryo 17, Mira 16, Erza 15, Cana 15, Gray 13, Natsu 12, Happy just hatched, Lisanna 11, Elfman 13, Levy 14)
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Part I – The Guild's Uneasy Cheers
The guild hall roared with laughter, singing, and mugs clashing together.
Bellmare was safe. Another dark guild crushed. Another town saved by Fairy Tail's brats.
Mira strutted around with a smug grin, retelling the fight in exaggerated detail to anyone who would listen. "And then I smashed his face into the wall so hard the whole building cracked!"
Natsu leapt onto a table, flames bursting in his fists. "Yeah, but I hit harder! Did you see me?!"
Gray stripped his shirt off for the third time that night. "Please, my ice spear broke three of them at once."
Erza sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Cana was already drunk, cards scattered across the counter as she muttered, "We're all doomed if this is the future of Fairy Tail…"
But Ryo wasn't among them.
He sat at the far edge of the guild, shadows curling faintly around his boots, golden eyes distant. Every cheer felt like it belonged to someone else. Every smile like it belonged to another world.
Because all he could hear was the curse's voice, laughing in his chest:
You think they cheer for you. They cheer because they don't see you for what you are. A blade. A monster. One day, you will cut them down with your own hands.
Ryo gritted his teeth, forcing the voice down. But it lingered, like poison in his blood.
And Makarov noticed.
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Part II – The Master's Summons
When the guild had finally settled, Makarov called Ryo upstairs to his office.
The boy stepped inside, silent, shoulders tense. Shadows slithered faintly along the floorboards.
Makarov sat behind his desk, pipe smoke curling lazily, though his eyes were sharp.
"You fought well in Bellmare," he said.
Ryo's jaw clenched. "I lost control. Again."
Makarov nodded. "And yet, you pulled back. That matters."
"Does it?" Ryo snapped, shadows flaring. "I could've killed Mira. Or Cana. Or Lisanna."
The room darkened, his magic leaking like spilled ink. Makarov's voice boomed, filling the chamber.
"Enough!"
The shadows recoiled.
Makarov leaned forward, his eyes burning into Ryo's. "Do you think you're the only one carrying a burden, boy? This guild is full of broken souls, cursed hearts, and dangerous powers. What matters isn't the weight—it's whether you let it crush you, or you learn to bear it with others."
Ryo's hands shook. "And if I can't?"
"Then I'll stop you myself," Makarov said firmly. "But until that day, I'll teach you to stand."
The old man stood, tapping his pipe against the desk. "Starting tomorrow, you train with me. More than anyone else. Because if you're to stay in this guild, you'll learn to chain your curse instead of letting it chain you."
For the first time in weeks, Ryo's chest eased. Just a little.
"…Yes, Master."
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Part III – Training Under Makarov
The next morning, Ryo stood in the guild yard, breath steaming in the cold air.
Makarov stood opposite him, pipe absent for once, his face all business.
"Show me your power," he said.
Ryo's shadows burst outward, wolves snarling, blades forming in the air. For a moment, it felt unstoppable.
Then Makarov raised his hand.
In an instant, Ryo's shadows were crushed flat, pinned by a pressure so immense it nearly broke his bones.
"What—?!"
"This," Makarov said calmly, "is control. Power without restraint is destruction. Restraint without power is weakness. You must hold both."
For days, he pushed Ryo to the brink. Every time the curse surged, Makarov's magic forced it down. Every time Ryo lost balance, Makarov struck him until he found it again.
"Again!"
Blood ran down Ryo's arms. His lungs burned. His knees buckled. But he rose every time.
Because when the curse whispered—Give up, let me take it, I'll make you strong—Ryo thought of Mira's bruised arms. Erza's steady eye. Cana's shaken smirk. Lisanna's terrified gasp.
And he roared back: No.
Slowly, painfully, his shadows bent to his will. Not perfect. Never perfect. But his.
By the week's end, he stood in the yard, bloodied but steady, shadows swirling calmly at his side.
Makarov nodded, pride flickering in his eyes. "Good. You're learning."
Ryo collapsed face-first into the dirt.
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Part IV – Mira, Erza, and Cana's Reactions
The training didn't go unnoticed.
Mira leaned on the fence, watching Ryo stumble back to the hall one evening, shirt torn, bloodied but alive. She smirked faintly. "Still standing. Guess you're not useless after all."
Her voice was sharp, but her eyes lingered with something softer.
Erza, on the other hand, met him in the training yard. "You've improved. But don't mistake progress for mastery. Until you can guarantee you won't hurt us, I'll watch you."
Ryo met her gaze, steady. "Fair enough."
Cana cornered him at the bar, thrusting a mug into his hands. "Next time you scare me half to death, you owe me more than one drink."
Ryo blinked at the foamy mug. "I don't drink."
"You do now," Cana said, grinning.
For the first time in a long while, Ryo let himself smile. Just a little.
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Part V – Scars and Lessons
Weeks passed. The guild moved on. Missions came and went.
But for Ryo, everything had changed.
His body bore new scars, his hands new steadiness. His shadows were no longer wild storms—they were blades at his command. Still dangerous. Still cursed. But less consuming.
At night, the curse still whispered.
You think this matters? You will fail. You will break. You will burn them all.
And Ryo would whisper back, gripping the Fairy Tail mark on his shoulder: "Not while they're with me."
The scars would never fade. The curse would never vanish.
But the lessons remained.
And for the first time, Ryo believed he might survive tomorrow.