Fairy Tail Rises

In Era, the magic council was in session.

"This is baffling," Org stated as he looked over a report, "Phantom was defeated."

"Yes." Belno stated. "And what's worse is the reports that we're receiving." Belno turned to face the man. "People are saying that a lone wizard destroyed every branch of the Phantom Lord Guild."

"Impressive." Ultear said. "Was it the mysterious wizard that they call Salamander."

"No." Michello said.

"This one is simply known as Mystogan." He told Ultear. "It's still unknown if Salamander was at the battle."

"Along with the four wizards who stopped Lullaby." Belno states, "We have confirmed that they were there."

Org stroked his beard again, "And what of the recording we received." He said,

"The wizard saints will oversee Jose's punishment." Yajima said. "It's quite troubling."

"Yes." Org spoke again. "To think someone bested a wizard saint in battle." Org looked up. He could see the massive amount of energy that was unleashed. Witness reports state that it seemed to come from the source of the battle; to this, Yajima nodded.

Siegrain, who was quiet, was thinking.

*'They've still to realize that Salamander was at the battle.'* Siegrain said to himself. *'Looks like the plan was a success.'*

Above them, a concise balding man watched over the meeting. He had a mustache and wore wizard saint clothing; his name was Makarov. He gave a weak smile before walking away.

Later he could be seen sitting down with Yajima, and both stared into the distance as Yajima sighed. "She did it again."

"Yes." Makarov said. "Mavis should be here soon."

"Have you thought of a replacement?" Yajima asked. He chuckled when Makarov grunted.

"I'm serious, Maki." Yajima told his friend. "While you may be powerful, you are not getting any younger." He let out a sigh.

"All these politics and magic." He said.

"Cannot be good for a man your age." He sighed. "You remember what happened with Rob."

"Yes." Makarov said. "That was how I met dear Erza." He sighed as he looked to the ground.

"I have." Makarov stopped his sentence and looked up. "I have a few candidates." Yajima nodded as Mavis appeared in front of the two men.

"Hello Makarov, how are you?" She asked.

"I'm fine." Makarov told her.

"I'm glad you could make the trip." Makarov told her as Yajima smiled behind him. "I thought you'd like to know what's going on."

Mavis nodded as Makarov explained. "After the recording that one of your wizards sent us, Jose will be stripped of his title of one of the Ten Wizard Saints." Makarov told her. Mavis smiled during their fight. Erza had fortunately found a video of Lacrima and could show the magic council what Jose had told her.

"And Phantom Lord is being disbanded." Makarov told her, who got an I brow raise from Mavis.

"Why?" Mavis asked as she sat between the two men.

"Well, you see." Yajima explained.

"After the war the Magic Council got a hold of some of the activities the Phantom Lord guild was up too." Yajima said, "it was a unanimous decision to disband the guild."

Mavis nodded.

*'It looks like we have time.'* She thought. "And I take the council is looking into our city."

"You bet." Makarov told her. "They might end up doing a full investigation if need be."

Mavis looked into the distance. Her eyes narrowed. She sighs. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

**Fairy tail Rises**

Lucy and Mira walked around the construction zone; a little shop had been built for the wizards to relax.

"Attention." Mira called out.

"As of right now, we're taking job requests." Mira said. "You'll have to excuse the mess, but at least you can get back to work."

Then, a large group surrounded the request board, everyone trying to grab a job before they all disappeared again.

"Man." Lucy laughed. "Normally, these guys are lying around."

"Well, with everything that's happened." Mira told her; she looked back and smiled.

"Hey Mira." Lucy asked. "Have you seen Loke?"

"Don't tell me you have fallen head over heels for Magnolia's resident playboy." Mira teased, getting a blush from Lucy.

"What, no." Lucy told her, pulling out her gate keys. "It's just he was the one who found my gate Keys, and I wanted to thank him."

Mira smiled.

"I'll let him know when I see him." Mira then leaned over the counter.

"So, were your spirits mad at you?" Mira asked. "For dropping your Keys."

"Yeah." Lucy admitted, "one, in particular, was both happy and pleased." As a mental image of an angry Aquarius filled her mind, she shook off the thought as he felt a sting on her butt.

"If you want, I could cool your butt off." Gray offered.

"That sounds like sexual harassment Gray." Lucy told him.

"Can you show me how red your butt is, Lucy?"

"And with that, you've crossed the line, fur-ball!" Lucy screamed.

"I wonder how she would feel If I reminded her." Natsu thought, an evil grin appearing on his face.

"What are you, the devil!" Lucy screamed.

"Man, you kids are sure are loud." a voice called. The group turned, and much to their surprise, Mavis stood at the entrance with Makarov.

"oh, hey, Gramps." Natsu called.

"Hello, my boy." Makarov called, walking up to Natsu.

"I hope you've been behaving yourself." He asked with a grin.

Natsu whistled as Mira laughed behind him.

"We've been doing all right so far." Mira told him as she smiled.

"You look well too. I might say, Master Makarov." She gave him a warm smile.

Makarov laughed as Erza approached him.

"Sir, it's a pleasure to see you again." She said formally.

"Oh, drop the formalities, my dear." Makarov told her as he eyed around. "I see Phantom did quite the number on this place."

"Yeah." Mavis told him.

"Hey, gramps." Natsu said. "Have you heard from him."

"Who Laxus?" Makarov asked.

"I haven't seen that boy since." Makarov stopped looking at the present company.

"Well, we haven't spoken in years." He said. Anyone could hear the sorrow in his voice as he looked away. "I doubt he'll be coming here anytime soon."

"Who's Laxus?" Lucy asked as Gray and Erza leaned in

Mira clenched her fist as she thought about him.

"He's an old friend." Mira said. Lucy raised an eyebrow, and Mira continued, "He's Makarov's grandson, too; we grew up together."

"Oh." Lucy said. "So where is he now."

"I don't know." Mira explained, "we had a falling out a while back." Mira told her. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"Gramps." Natsu said, pulling him over to Gray and Lucy.

"I'd like you to meet my partner and best friend, Lucy." Lucy blushed.

"Ni...Nice to meet you, sir." Lucy waved.

"And this is Gray." Natsu told him. Gray just waved his hand.

"Natsu, Mira." Mavis called, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"I need to speak with you two." Nodding Mira left behind the bar and followed Mavis and Makarov out of the pub.

"So how do you know Makarov Erza?" Gray asked.

"He helped me a while back." Erza informed them. "I was in a dark place, and he was an old friend of a former mentor of mine."

"Oh?" Lucy asked. "I wonder what they wanted to talk to Mira and Natsu about."

"Who knows." Cana said.

"All I know is I can't get any liquor." She moaned as she face-planted on the bar.

Lucy laughed at the girl's situation as she stared at the doors. Makarov had started checking on everyone; people seemed excited to meet him. She had heard many stories about the wizard saint, and compared to Jose, he felt warm, like a bright light shined from him. *'I mean, it makes sense.'* Lucy thought. *'Mavis trained him.'*

"What." Natsu and Mira asked in perfect unison, "Phantom Lord's disbanding."

"Yes." Mavis said. "Turns out some Erza revealed some sensitive information to the council."

Natsu nodded as the trio continued through the forest. "So, what now."

"We wait." Mavis said. "Someone made pawns of us until we have more information; we must simply be patient."

"You know patience isn't my strong suit." Natsu grunted, getting a laugh from Mira.

"Mavis is right." Mira told Natsu. "Until we know what's going on, we can't help it."

Natsu grunted again as the trio continued there to trek through the woods.

"But that's not what's important." Mavis said as they came to a lake.

"With the defeat of Phantom Lord, the magic council now has eyes on Magnolia." Mavis said. "Which means another guild will try where Phantom has failed."

"Not to mention the infighting that will break out between the remnants of Phantom." Mira said, "They could try to use Magnolia as a point to gain fellowship."

Mavis nodded.

"Which is why I have a plan in place." Mavis told them as they nodded. "it's time we go back to an old strategy that we had a few years back."

"so, tell me, child." Makarov said as he and Erza sat down in a corner.

"how have you been doing all these years." He smiled.

"I haven't heard from you since." Makarov stopped.

"Well, in a while." He sighed. "And your last letter wasn't persuasive." He said.

"Yes." Erza said. "I apologize; I've just had a lot to do," Makarov nodded. "And I feel guilty for calling you for help."

"It's all right, my dear." He said. "Your letter was concerning. That is why I sent you to Magnolia." He smiled. "I figured not only would it give you a place to stay, but you could also probably make some friends here." He said, a smile coming to his face. "And I see that you have."

"You could say that." Erza said. "But there is the matter with Natsu."

"Ah yes." Makarov said. "The whole Salamander business." He laughed. "The boy has his issues, but he's a good kid." he said," I take it you already know that."

"Yes." Erza said. "I feel guilty that I had this preconceived notion about him," Erza admitted.

"It happens." Makarov said as he stood up.

"And Mavis, what is your opinion of her." He said.

"She is very wise." Erza said. "I can see why you trust her so much."

"She can help you in ways that I can't, my dear." Makarov admitted.

"I can see she cares about you. Give it time. You will fit in here." He smiled. "And you will find the home you've been looking for."

The next day Natsu, Happy, Gray, Lucy, and Erza are walking through the streets.

"We haven't been here since the Lullaby incident." Lucy stated as the group walked through the town, "Man, it's hard to believe it's been that long."

"So why are we here again?" Gray asked.

"Simple." Erza told him. "We've been doing nothing but fighting recently, so I decided we should take an easy-going job."

Gray raised an eyebrow as Lucy started to explain.

"You see, there's a theater in this town that needs to increase its audience." Lucy told him.

"So Natsu will wow the crowd with his fire; you will make amazing Ice sculptures." Lucy told him winking. "I will have Lyra sing a wonderful song, and Erza can re-equip into one of her armors."

"Sounds simple." Gray said as he looked ahead; Natsu had his arms crossed; his mind seemed elsewhere.

"Yo flame-brain." Gray said, hoping to get a reaction, but nothing happened.

"Natsu." He tried again. Natsu looked up.

"What?" He asked.

"You all right?" Gray asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Natsu told him as he continued to walk his mind was in deep thought about his conversation with Mavis yesterday.

"You need a team Natsu, people who will watch your back." Mavis's words rang through his head; he looked over at Lucy, Gray, and Erza sure he thought of them as his friends even the stripper, but Natsu shook his head can't think about that now.

"Here we are." Lucy cried, pulling Natsu out of his thoughts; he looked up to see a large theater.

"Wow." Happy said, amazed. "I've never seen a play before."

"Excuse me." A voice called. He was a short man with purple hair; his name was Rabian. "Are you the wizards from Magnolia?"

"Yep." Lucy told him.

"Thank you so much for accepting the job request." Rabian told them.

"But I've found myself in a bit of a pickle." He said as he came from the side of the wall; he led the group to a back room before he explained the situation. "You see, all my actors up and left." this got a look from the rest of the group.

"What, why?" Lucy asked.

"You see, all my shows have been complete and utter failures." He said, tearing up. "Thank you very much." which caused the group to sweat drop' what is he thanking us for?

"The reviews have gotten so bad to where no actor wanted to be in my play, so they left me just like my wife." He groaned. "But I won't give up on my dream."

"I thought actors were the dramatic ones." Gray muttered.

"Well, you know what they say." Erza said, grinning. "The show must go on." Erza began warming up, shocking the group.

"That's some warm-up." Happy muttered as Erza began to glow and stars formed in her eyes.

"Yeah." Lucy said, agreeing with Erza.

"This could be so much fun, you guys." Lucy told them.

"You think so?" Natsu asked as he shifted.

"Well then, okay." Gray smiled and turned to Rabian.

"Don't worry, sir, we won't let your dream die." Gray told him as Lucy and Erza started to squeal excitedly.

"Well." Rabian looked away. "What do I have to lose."

"This is the part where you should be thanking us." Gray told him.

**[##Lucy Ganbaru Ost##]**

"I'm Prince Fredrick, and I have come to rescue the princess," Erza said, practically glowing as her eyes sparkled.

"Wow." Lucy said in amazement.

"I had no idea Erza was such a good actress." Lucy said as Happy stood next to her on the other side. Natsu and Gray were working on the set.

"We can't let her show us up." Gray said as Natsu only grunted, getting a look from the Ice to make wizard. "You okay, man."

"Aye, Sir!" Happy shouted as he passed out flyers to anyone who would take one, and others were being dropped over towns that they could find; the group would either work on the set or rehearse depending on what they felt they needed to do.

"Excuse me." Rabian said interrupting them one day. "You have some fans waiting outside."

"We have fans?" The group asked in shock; they went outside to see a large group filled with people they had interacted with within the past month.

"Like I'd miss your big debut." Mira called.

"Break a leg." Makarov had also come along with Yajima; behind them were the four Eisenwald wizards that tried to eat Happy.

Goldmine stood beside the large chicken man and smiled. "I just came to hassle you guys."

Natsu and Lucy turned to see a familiar face. "Oh, hey, it's the fake Salamander."

"How ya been, okra?" Natsu asked, causing Lucy to giggle.

"That would be Bora." Bora told the pair.

"After getting a lesson from your blazing fist, I decided to change my ways." He informed the two. "And give up being a model scout."

"A model scout." Lucy asked. "that's why you wanted all those girls."

"Well yeah." Bora informed her. "What did you think?"

Lucy just looked away.

"Oh, nothing. It was just bothering me; He he." Bora just laughed it off.

"Anyway, I hope you two do wonderfully at your play." Bora told them.

Sue, who liked Happy, was currently giving the small cat a piece of raw meat. "Hey, this is for you." She handed the heart to Happy, who grinned wide,

"Aye, sir."

Gray was trying to stay away from the Galuna Island girls as they tried to swarm him again; though they were in their human forms, Moka was also chasing Gray, asking when they would destroy the moon.

After all the commotion, the group sat down. "I can't wait till this is over."

The next day the theater was filled; people had to stand up as more people filled the room. Rabian looked over with wide eyes. "I can't remember the last time we had a packed house."

Overlooking the props, Lyra gushed in excitement.

"I've never sung in front of a crowd this big before." She mused as Lucy patted her.

"Don't worry, you'll be great." Lucy told her as the lights turned off.

As the curtains went up, Lyra started to sing.

"Ages ago, there lived a prince."

Yajima and Makarov smiled as Lyra sang.

"The girl has such a beautiful voice." Yajima said as the light turned on, and Erza walked onto the stage. Erza let out a breath of air before she tried to speak.

"She's frozen." Lucy said.

"Talk about a bad case of stage fright." Natsu said.

"This isn't good."

meanwhile, the crowd started to notice. "meat gone bad."

"What a stiff performance." Bora said.

"Naw, man." Boze told him. "I bet she is just acting like she's nervous."

"Yeah, she probably doing the Lamaze method acting." Sue said.

"You two aren't bright, huh." Bora said.

"I willed the power of-" Erza froze again.

*'Damn it, this is embarrassing.'* She thought to herself.

"With my ten swords!" She shouted as she launched ten of them into the crowd.

"This isn't good." Lucy said.

"Yeah." Natsu said, arms still crossed.

"We'll just have to improvise around her." Lucy shouted moments later. Lucy was lowered down, tied by a rope.

"Oh, Prince Frederick, save me." She begged.

"Wait, what."

"This play makes no sense."

"But they're such good actors."

"Not so fast!" Gray shouted as he came into view.

"You'll have to go through me." Gray said as the crowd got more confused. "You'll be facing my Ice sword." He then created a sword of ice as Erza was still panicking, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"You'll face my ten swords!" She shouted as ten swords shot at Gray. As he screamed in fear and ran away,

"Wow." Boze said. "You could hear the fear in his voice."

"I wonder when Natsu will show up?" Bora asked.

As Erza untied Lucy as she leaned down and smiled. "Thank you for saving me."

"Princess." Erza said. "Let us get married and have many children, like 33."

"That's jumping the gun."

"This ends now." Gray said, returning to the stage.

"hey, look, Julies is back."

"Come forth, my dragon and burn them to dust!" He shouted. Seconds passed as the smoke went up.

"Um, where's the dragon?"

Soon the props moved as Natsu, who was in a dragon being flown by Happy.

"I am a powerful dragon. I will destroy you all!" Natsu bellowed as he shot fire from his mouth.

"There he is." Boze and Bora shouted with glee as Natsu appeared on the stage.

"Red doggie!" Sue shouted with stars in her eyes.

"We must vanquish this beast." Erza called.

"You two get to safety." Lucy called.

"Okay." They said before running off.

"Wait a minute." Lucy called as her friends ran off. "That's not my line."

**[##invoke magic##]**

"So heavy." Happy said as he dropped the dragon causing Lucy to panic and run; she looked down to notice part of her dress was on fire. "Oh no, I'm on fire Gray."

Gray came out to freeze the fire, only for Erza to appear and knock him out; she cut Lucy's outfit off before replacing it.

"Are you all right?" Erza asked quickly.

"How'd you get the lead part in this play!" Lucy shouted as Natsu tried to stand up.

"That hurt." he moaned, the fire still coming from his mouth. Gray landed on him, "Get off me, Ice Princess."

"Who are you calling a princess." The two started fighting as Lucy and Erza watched from the background.

"Wow, this is pretty good." someone called.

"Erza." Lucy moaned.

"On it!" Erza shouted before jumping in, only to get involved in the fight. The building started to collapse. Lucy ducked as the building fell.

"Of course." Mira said as she came from the rubble.

"This was interesting." Yajima stated.

"Quite the spectacle." Makarov said.

"The curse of the moon is to blame." Moka said.

Soon the audience was cheering as Lucy gave off a big smile.

Weeks later, the group walks home after doing the same play for around a month.

"I can't believe he made us do that." Gray moaned. They could see Magnolia in the distance, the giant still in the water behind the Fairy pub construction site.

Natsu was still silent.

*'It's been a month.'* He thought. "Maybe I should ask them."

"It was all right, Gray." Erza said. "At least we got paid."

Gray grunted as they kept walking.

"Hey, there's been something I've been meaning to ask." Gray said, facing Natsu.

"Exactly what is your relationship with Mavis?" He asked, which caused Natsu to look back.

"I've been wondering, too." Erza added.

"Me too." Lucy said. "I was going to ask, but I never really got a chance."

"Oh well." Natsu looked up.

"As you know, Magnolia doesn't have a guild." Natsu told them. "That's cause the last guild it had was known as Blue Skull." Natsu told them.

"Mavis got rid of the Guild, and since then, she's watched over Magnolia." Natsu said.

"Really." Gray stated.

"Yeah." Natsu said. "But seeing as she's getting older, she can't do as much as she used to." Natsu explained.

*'I know I'm lying, but they're not ready for that tidbit of information.'* Letting out a sigh, he continued. "Before it was me, Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna."

Lucy remembered that name. "She was the girl who helped you raise Happy."

Aye." Happy said as he flew next to Lucy.

"What happened to her?" Lucy asked as Natsu looked down; a look of sorrow formed on his face.

"We went on a job." Happy informed her. "And she didn't return."

"Oh." Lucy said, realizing what Happy meant by 'didn't come back.'

"After that, Mira gave up wizarding." Natsu said. "She takes requests and sends me where I need to go."

"By yourself?" Erza asked.

"Yep." Natsu said. "The Lullaby incident was the first time I had a team in a while."

Lucy was shocked when she remembered something a real man would own up to moving o-" She shook the thought.

"About that." Erza said, walking up to Natsu. "I think it's time to make it official."

"What?" Lucy and Gray asked.

"Well." Erza started.

"We've been working together since the Lullaby incident." Erza informed them. "So why not become an official wizard team."

"But we're not in a guild." Lucy informed her.

"So." Gray said. "Besides, we've worked with each other this long, and no one complained." Gray looked over to Natsu.

"Actually." Natsu said. "That brings up my next point." Natsu let out a breath of the fresh air before he continued. "After the Phantom incident, it's clear I'm not strong enough to protect. Magnolia when something that big happens."

"So, are you asking for help." Gray teased.

"And if I am Ice Princess." Natsu said.

"Enough." Erza said, getting between the two.

"So let's make it official then, the four of us working together." Erza said.

"Five." Natsu told her. "Mystogan's part of it too, and six if we include Happy."

The group smiled as they all agreed.

"So, we need a name." Lucy said.

**[##Fairy tail is born ost##]**

"Huh."

"Something for people to call us as a group." Lucy said.

"The Honorable Knights." Erza said, her eyes glistening.

"No way." Gray said. "I like the Maker brothers better."

"Both of those suck!" Lucy screamed. "Besides, I have a much better one, the Celestials."

"That one is lame." Happy told her. "How about fishy wishy."

"As If!" The group shouted at the cat.

Natsu looked at the symbol on his shoulder; he smiled as it started to glow.

"I have one." Natsu said.

"If he says Salamanders, we hurt him." Gray said.

"How about Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked.

"Fairy Tail?" Erza asked.

"Okay, why?"

Lucy looked down at her emblem; she smiled as it started to glow.

"Do fairies have tails?" She asked.

"Do they even exist?" Erza asked as she looked at Natsu.

"It's an eternal mystery." Natsu said, smiling. "And thus an eternal adventure."

The group smiled as they all nodded.

"I think we have a name." Lucy said. "From here on out, where are you."

"Fairy Tail!"

Mavis sat on one of the construction beams, her mind smiling at Natsu had a team and now wasn't alone. "If I'm right, Natsu will need all the help he can get." Mavis looked around she noticed the giant still on its knees.

"Hey, Mavis." A voice called. She looked down to see Makarov waving to her. He then climbed up and sat next to her. "I take it our boy is growing."

"Yes." Mavis said. "He's resting after his long job."

"You should have gone there; the play was something else." Makarov told her.

"Plays aren't my thing." Mavis told him. "But that isn't why you came here."

"Yes." Makarov said, looking into the distance.

"First, I wanted to know how you're doing." He said. "Natsu told me you were sick before Phantom Lord attacked."

"I'm fine now." Mavis told him. "Porlyusica's help never fails."

Makarov nodded. He'd have to visit the healer sometime during his time here. "And have you told them yet."

Mavis looked away. A look of sorrow formed on her face.

"No." She muttered.

"They deserve to know." Makarov told her. "With Phantom Lord gone times are changing."

"I know it's just-" Mavis looked down.

"I love them." She admitted.

"I love them as if they were my own." She said. "I couldn't break their hearts like that."

Makarov nodded. "I know old friend, but they should hear it from you, not someone else."

"At least show them." Makarov told her.

"The longer you wait, the more they might get curious." Makarov looked away. "You remembered what happened with Laxus."

Mavis nodded.

"Laxus almost tore their family apart." Mavis said. "He almost made us lose Natsu."

"Yes." Makarov told her.

"There are times when I can't help but think." Makarov said. "That Natsu still wonders about it."

"He wouldn't do that." Mavis told him, a little annoyed.

"He cares too much about Mira," Mavis said. "He wouldn't do that to her again."

"I know." Makarov said. "But still, they deserve to know the truth." Mavis sighed as she looked at the giant, her words ringing.

*'My children.'* She said. *'I love you.'*