Chapter 196: Getting Acquainted
Shortly after Gildarts Clive left the guild hall to return to his private quarters, Natsu Dragneel couldn't contain his excitement any longer. He eagerly rushed through the streets of Magnolia, heading straight toward Gildarts' house on the outskirts of town.
To Natsu, Gildarts was more than just a powerful mage; he was a father figure, a mentor, and the idol he had chased after since childhood. After three long years apart, Natsu had a mountain of stories he wanted to tell him.
"Hehe! I bet he brought something awesome back!" Natsu grinned, his scarf fluttering in the wind as he sprinted. "Could the gift be some rare foreign flame?! Maybe a fire from a volcano in the Northern Continent?"
Natsu excitedly speculated about what souvenir Gildarts would give him. It was a tradition, after all.
"Aye! What could it be?!" Happy, flying beside Natsu with his wings beating rapidly to keep up, was equally curious. "Maybe it's a giant fish from the deep sea! Or a souvenir made of fish!"
They arrived at a small, somewhat secluded wooden house perched on a hill. It was humble for a mage of Gildarts' stature, but it suited the wandering ace perfectly.
"Yo! Gildarts!"
"Excuse us!"
Natsu and Happy burst into the house without knocking, their energy filling the quiet room.
Gildarts was sitting on a wooden crate, unpacking a meager travel bag. He looked up, his rugged face breaking into a warm, welcoming grin.
"Oh, Natsu! Happy! You're here." He gestured for them to sit. "It's been a while. You've grown taller, Natsu."
The older mage leaned back, a nostalgic glint in his eyes. "So, how have things been with Lisanna since then? Before I left, I personally heard Lisanna say that she wanted to be Natsu's bride when she grew up."
Gildarts laughed heartily, scratching his unshaven chin. "Now, three years have passed in a flash, and you and Lisanna must have both grown up. I was a little curious if the two of you were still together. As an old father figure, I'm very interested in such things. Don't leave me hanging!"
The air in the room instantly froze.
Natsu's smile vanished. He lowered his head, his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes. Beside him, Happy's ears flattened against his head, and he clutched his small green pack nervously.
"What?" Gildarts blinked, misinterpreting the silence. "Why are you shy?! Gahahaha! Did you two have a lovers' quarrel?"
Seeing Natsu feign ignorance by staring at the floor, Gildarts slapped his knee, thinking Natsu was just embarrassed.
"Lisanna died two years ago."
The words were spoken softly, but they hit the room like a physical blow.
Gildarts' laughter died in his throat. His eyes widened, the color draining from his face.
"...R-really?! How... how could this be?!" Gildarts stammered, his voice trembling. "I'm so sorry! I had no idea!"
He ran a hand through his orange hair, genuinely shaken. "Lisanna... such a gentle and considerate little girl... she actually died like that? No wonder Mira had become the way she was at the hall. I saw her... she looked so different."
The guilt weighed heavily on him. He had been jaunting around the world while his family back home suffered such a tragedy.
"If that's all you wanted to say, I'm going back."
Natsu stood up abruptly. He had lost all interest in souvenirs or catching up the moment Gildarts brought up Lisanna. She was his best friend, his childhood partner, and the wound of her loss, though scabbed over, was easily reopened.
He turned toward the door, his fists clenched.
"Wait, Natsu!" Gildarts' voice suddenly turned sharp, stripping away the jovial uncle persona. "I met a Dragon at work."
Natsu immediately stopped in his tracks. His entire body went rigid. Slowly, he turned around, his eyes wide with a mix of desperation and hope.
"A Dragon...?"
"I don't think it's the red one you're looking for," Gildarts said solemnly, his expression darkening as he recalled the memory. "It was a black Dragon."
"Wh-where?!" Natsu rushed forward, grabbing the edge of Gildarts' cloak. "Where did you see it?!"
"At the Sacred Mountain, Mount Zonia," Gildarts replied, his voice low and gravelly. "Thanks to it, the job—the Century Quest—failed. Damn it."
As soon as Gildarts finished speaking, Natsu spun around and bolted for the door. "Mount Zonia! I'm going!"
"Natsu, wait!" Gildarts barked.
"What are you going to do?"
"Why ask? Of course, I'm going to ask it where Igneel is!" Natsu shouted back, fire igniting around his fists.
"It's not there anymore," Gildarts said, shaking his head. "That black Dragon... it flies all over this continent. No, it roams the entire world. It has no nest. It is a calamity that moves on wings."
"Even so, there might be some clues!!" Natsu insisted, his voice cracking with emotion. "I've been looking for Igneel for seven years! I can't let this go!"
He had finally received genuine news about a Dragon; how could he give up?
"Natsu. Look at this."
Gildarts stood up slowly. With a heavy sigh, he unfastened his dark cloak and let it slide off his shoulders, revealing his body to Natsu and Happy.
"HIIEE!!" Happy screamed, covering his mouth.
Natsu's pupils constricted to pinpoints.
Gildarts' torso was a roadmap of agony. Fresh bandages were wrapped tightly around his chest, stained with seeping red blood. But that wasn't the worst part.
"My left arm... and my left leg..." Gildarts muttered.
Where his left arm should have been, there was a mechanical wooden prosthetic. His left leg, too, was gone, replaced by an artificial limb. Even from where Natsu stood, he could sense the missing magical pathways, the sheer damage done to a man who was supposed to be invincible.
"It happened in an instant," Gildarts whispered, looking down at his prosthetic hand. "A flash of black. My left arm, left leg, and even my internal organs were crushed. I didn't even have time to cast a spell."
He looked Natsu dead in the eye.
"I don't know what Igneel is like... but that black Dragon is undoubtedly an enemy of humanity. And humanity... cannot defeat it."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
"Th-then..." Natsu's voice trembled, trying to find his bravado. "Then the one who defeated him must be a Dragon Slayer Mage, right?! With my magic! A black Dragon or whatever... I can..."
"If that's what you think, I won't stop you," Gildarts said indifferently, turning his back to Natsu to put his shirt back on.
Natsu stood there, frozen. His instincts, usually so sharp, were screaming at him. He looked at Gildarts—the strongest mage he knew—broken and maimed.
He lost an arm and a leg in an instant? Gildarts did?
Natsu's body trembled uncontrollably. It wasn't anger; it was primal fear. He knew deep down he was no match for a Dragon. No one understood better than a Dragon Slayer just how absolute the power of a Dragon was.
The only possible outcome if he went to face that monster... was death.
"Damn it...!"
Natsu shouted in frustration, tears of impotence pricking his eyes. He slammed his fist into the doorframe and ran out into the night.
"Natsu!"
Happy, looking terrified, quickly chased after him. "Wait for me!"
The next day, the sun rose over Magnolia as if the heavy atmosphere of the previous night had never existed.
Ren arrived at the guild hall as usual. The place was bustling with noise, laughter, and the clinking of tankards—the standard Fairy Tail morning.
"Ren-niisan!"
A cheerful voice greeted him. Wendy Marvell, the young Sky Dragon Slayer, waved from a table where she sat with Lucy.
"Wendy, good morning," Ren smiled, walking over.
"It's not morning anymore, it's already noon!" Lucy pointed out, resting her chin on her hand.
"Morning and noon are pretty much the same for a mage. Time is relative," Ren joked as he pulled up a chair. "What are you all talking about with such serious faces?"
Lucy tapped the table. "We're talking about Dragons. Ren, isn't it a coincidence? I was looking at the archives... Natsu's Dragon Igneel, Gajeel's Dragon Metalicana, and even Wendy's Dragon Grandeeney... they all disappeared on the exact same date."
"July 7th, X777," Wendy added softly, looking down at her juice.
"Oh? That is quite a coincidence," Ren replied smoothly, though his expression remained neutral.
Internally, Ren thought: Because that day, all of you were sent through the Eclipse Gate. It wasn't a disappearance; it was a time travel departure. And incidentally, that's the day I arrived in this world too.
"Could that day have been a picnic day for Dragons?" Lucy guessed with a serious expression, trying to find a logical explanation. "Maybe a Dragon summit?"
Wendy giggled, covering her mouth. "Sometimes Lucy-san says strange things."
"It's a reasonable deduction!" Lucy protested.
At that moment, Happy ran over excitedly, holding a fish wrapped in a green leaf. "Carla! Carla! Look! This is a delicious fish I caught in the canal this morning! I want to give it to you!"
Carla, the white Exceed, sat on the table with her arms crossed, looking elegant and distant. She glanced at the fish with disdain.
"I don't want it. Fish... I hate them the most. They smell."
"Really?" Happy drooped, his ears wilting. "Then what do you like? Next time I'll catch a mouse? Or maybe some fruit?"
"So annoying! Don't always bother me, tomcat!"
Carla stood up, flicked her tail, and jumped off the table, walking away with her nose in the air.
Wendy looked distressed. She called out to her partner: "Carla!! Wait! You're being too mean! Happy was just trying to be nice!"
Happy stood there, holding the rejected fish, looking like his world had crumbled.
"Ren..." Happy looked up at Ren with watery, wide eyes. "Does Carla hate me?"
Ren reached out and gently patted Happy's blue head. "No, Happy. You are so cute and reliable; how could anyone hate you?"
"Aye..." Happy sniffled. "Then why is she so cold?"
"Maybe she has something on her mind," Ren said, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched Carla retreat. He knew Carla was burdened by her fragmented memories and her subconscious 'mission' regarding Edolas. She wasn't just being mean; she was scared. "Give her some time, Happy."
"Ren!"
A booming voice cut through the guild's noise.
Ren looked towards the bar and saw Makarov sitting there. Next to the tiny Master sat a large, imposing figure swathed in bandages and a fresh cape—Gildarts.
Makarov waved to Ren, signaling him to come over.
"What is it, Master?" Ren stood up and walked over to the bar, sensing the gazes of the other guild members following him.
"Gildarts, let me introduce you," Makarov said, beaming with pride. "This is Ren. He joined the guild about a year and a half ago. Don't let this brat's youth fool you; he is currently the strongest Mage in Fairy Tail and my designated successor as the next Guild Master."
Makarov introduced him without a shred of hesitation.
Gildarts, who had been drinking a tankard of booze, paused. He looked Ren up and down, his sharp eyes assessing the young man.
To Gildarts, Ren looked incredibly young—about the same age as Erza or Mira, perhaps twenty years old at most. Yet, Makarov, who was stingy with praise, called him the strongest.
Stronger than Erza? Stronger than Laxus? Even... stronger than me? Gildarts wondered.
He knew the Master very well. Since the Master said Ren was the strongest Mage in the Fairy Tail Guild, it wasn't just grandfatherly boasting. It meant Ren's magic power and combat ability were truly in a league of their own.
Furthermore, the Master had actually designated a successor. That was big news.
"Nice to meet you, Gildarts-san," Ren nodded politely, not intimidated by the ace's aura.
"A year and a half, huh?" Gildarts smirked, extending his remaining hand to shake Ren's. "You've climbed fast, kid. Welcome to the family."
After the handshake, Gildarts turned back to Makarov, his expression becoming serious. He lowered his voice so the rest of the guild wouldn't hear.
"Master, if he's the successor... then what about Laxus?"
Gildarts asked quietly. He had watched Laxus grow up. He knew how desperate the Master's grandson was to inherit the position of Guild Master, to prove he was stronger than Makarov.
Hearing Laxus's name, Makarov's face darkened. He slammed his empty mug onto the counter.
"Don't mention that brat! I expelled him from the guild!"
Although separating from his grandson had broken his heart, recalling Laxus's attempted coup during the Battle of Fairy Tail still made his blood boil.
"Expelled from the guild?!"
Gildarts was shocked, his voice rising slightly. "Laxus?! He's your own flesh and blood! And a Dragon Slayer! Why on earth did this happen?"
What the hell had happened in the guild during his three years away?
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