Fairy Tail - Eyes of Ice

Chapter 37 - X791 Pt. 1

It truly wasn't until the boat neared the shores of Hargeon that reality dawned on Kai, and probably the others. The town hadn't just been rebuilt, it'd been almost entirely restructured, with defensive walls set up and several more buildings erected, some with shiny new paint and stone. Everyone gawked at the sight of it.

The awe did not stop there, as they took the train from Hargeon across the Fiore countryside, where dozens of new homes, farms, and little villages had popped up. As Magnolia neared, a knot formed in Kai's stomach; what else had changed? What had happened in seven years? He glanced back toward Team Shadow Gear.

Nothing good, by the sounds of it. Fairy Tail had been deposed from their guild hall by Twilight Ogre, and sent to live in a little shack outside the city on the opposite side of town as Boundary Forest. And those punks had kept coming back for more, bullying Fairy Tail into handing over all their earnings.

Kai gripped the handle of his sword tightly, and, next to him, he saw Iggy holding a bit of a glower in the train's reflection.

When they got off the train, it was to the amazement and surprise of many townspeople, but nobody in Fairy Tail slowed up or said hello to anyone. The entire group marched, following Jet and Droy outside of Magnolia toward the new guild hall.

The door was open, and five figures stood, laughing, in the doorway. Natsu snarled and sprinted toward them, with Erza, Gray, Kai, and Gajeel in pursuit.

Natsu slammed into one from behind, and as the other four turned, they were swiftly dealt with, knocked out in a single blow. Kai withheld little remorse for not holding back on the one he hit, too, and they ran away crying as everyone else in the guild hall burst into tears.

Kai just couldn't believe the difference in appearance: not just for the guild hall, but for everyone: Alzack looked put together, Wakaba and Macao had significantly aged, Romeo had shot up in height, Max looked like a real man, and Laki like a real woman. Others had just let themselves go a bit, like Droy and Nab.

Makarov helped fill in what'd happened: that First Master Mavis Vermillion appeared to them after they'd all woken up and explained that the power of their bonds and friendship allowed them to cast one of the three Great Fairy Spells: Fairy Sphere. It saved them from Acnologia's blast but the consequence of using the spell forced them into stasis for seven years, not aging them at all.

Nobody seemed discouraged by it at all, and the festivities began almost right away, with Romeo clinging tight to Natsu's side the entire time, trying to tell him all about his advancements in magic. Kai was still just getting over their victory over Hades and how much of a tribulation that'd been, let alone celebrating they were back.

To him, it didn't feel like seven years had passed. He believed it was still X784, that he'd just been knocked out by Acnologia's blast. He did wonder how his power stacked against the other wizards of the time, like if he were to fight against someone like Erigor how they would match up, or the Oracion Seis.

The party raged on for a long time before at last it slowed down when everyone got quite tired and some new faces appeared, faces Kai barely recognized: Lamia Scale. They didn't look more grown-up like Romeo or Laki, just more mature. Gray was surprisingly content with seeing his old rival, Lyon, who shared similar feelings. Kai could feel the significant amount of power coming from Iron Rock Jura, confirming that, indeed, the seven years had helped everyone else bridge a gap in power Kai didn't even know existed.

Lamia Scale helped settle everyone down and get them all acquainted with the way of the world: their guild had risen to Number 2 in Fiore, and every other guild in the kingdom quickly surged in strength to catch up to the missing Fairy Tail, who had fallen significantly down in the ranks. Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus were constant allies of Fairy Tail but mostly in the way of trying to find Tenrou Island.