Phe·nom·e·non
noun
a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially one whose cause or explanation is in question.
Phenomenons were common on Earthland, as most magic did not have a proper explanation. The unexplainable happened all the time, and in some cases, no one questioned it. In other cases, it went questioned for years at a time.
In one particular instance, it was three years. Three very long, very hard years for two, and three very sad years for the rest.
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Fairy Tail was known for their penchant of attracting trouble and odd situations.
One of their members was transported to another world, and the rest had believed them to be dead.
Frequent etherious attacks, including, but not limited to, Lullaby, Deliora, and all of Tataros.
Attacks by dark guilds.
Being trapped on a island for seven years.
In short, no one was ever surprised to hear that whatever new, insane phenomenon had taken place had happened to Fairy Tail.
That fact didn't make it any less horrifying.
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When Natsu and Gray had once again destroyed a significant portion of a town while on a mission, Makarov decided he'd had enough.
"Both of you are going to transport this box to Blue Pegasus for me." The duo looked at Makarov as if he'd grown a second head. The box was empty besides a small slip of paper. "You are not going to take the train, and if anything, and I mean anything, gets destroyed on your way there, you will not go on a single mission for the next three months. Do I make myself clear?" Several of their guildmates burst into raucous laughter at the predicament the two rivals had gotten into.
"Yes, Master," they said in unison.
It wasn't even an hour before they had left through the woods, and it would not be a day before they were far out of Fairy Tail's reach.
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It had been a week when Makarov had finally decided to call Master Bob.
"Maki, they never showed up," his best friend told him, "I can have some of my mages look around the area if you'd like?"
"I would appreciate that." Within minutes, every mage at Fairy Tail had spread out to find their most destructive mages.
There were jokes of how they probably got into another contest with one another, or how Erza was going to murder them when she found them.
Fairy Tail had always been a jovial place, but not one of them could crack so much of a smile when they were led to a clearing by their dragon slayers.
The wooden box lie in splinters, and the note had been too thoroughly covered in dirt to read. All of the trees in the area were cracked and splintered as if a single force had decided to rip away half of their trunks and roots. The found Gray's pendant, the last remainder of his blood family, in pieces, and Natsu's precious scarf had been torn to shreds.
And the worst part of it all?
There scents stopped in one spot, just above a few droplets of dried blood.
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Gray was panicking. Everything had been fine fifteen minutes ago. Everything had been fine, and then there was a shrill sound behind them and their feet left the ground. His pendant had caught on a branch a busted into pieces as he flew backwards too fast to realize what was happening. Natsu's grip on his wrist had stopped him with enough force to nearly dislocate his shoulder. They were both still in the air, only grounded by the tree branch Natsu had wrapped his scarf around.
He had watched with fascinated horror as the trees began to uproot themself with the force of the odd, swirling gateway that had opened behind them. The force had finally snapped an entire chunk of a tree loose, and Gray was forced to watch as rammed Natsu directly in the head.
The moment the dragon slayer had fallen unconscious, they'd been ripped back into the unknown.
The gravitational pull of the portal as they'd gone through made his head spin and caused his vision to darken in spots, but he never let go of Natsu's wrist.
At least, not until they'd hit the ground. The force with which they'd been ejected on the other side had caused the pinkette to skid at least fifty feet, whereas Gray slammed back first into a tree.
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All of Fiore was horrified to learn of the the disappearance of two well known mages, and even more so when they were told there were no leads.
Just like the Tenrou incident, it would not be long before Fiore's people forgot about Fairy Tail's famous rivals, but just like the Tenrou incident, Natsu and Gray's family would never stop looking for them.
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The things they had noticed first about the desolate land they had ended up on, was that it never seemed to go above forty was alway cold, and the sun never seemed to make an appearance through the ashen clouds that never rained. There was no distinction between day and night; it was always just light enough to see, but too dark to be comfortable.
The landscape was completely different to anything there were used to, and everything seemed to have a grey tint to it. The exception, of course, were the few people they'd come across.
They were full of color, and unfortunately not in a good way. Every person they'd come across tried to raid them for the supplies they didn't have nor need. There were plenty of lakes and rivers with fish, and Natsu's ability to sniff out what was and wasn't poisonous left them with all sorts of fruits and berries.
Their true advantage however, was that they could access their magic.
Where ever they traveled to, Gray would build an ice house, and when the left the area, Natsu would melt it down.
The plan had been to find out about this world and to see if anyone knew how they could get home, but not one person had any interest in helping anyone.
They learned that when they watched a child slit open the throat of a sleeping adult for a box containing who knows what.
While they had yet to see anyone else use any form of magic, they refused to leave the others sight anymore.
In a world without the sun, that had become each other's personal patch of sunlight.
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A year had passed, and just as predicted, the people began to forget. The guilds, however, did not. Not one mage in all of Fiore had forgotten the duo or the things they had done for not only the country, but the entire world.
Princess Hisui herself had begun to call in favors outside of Fiore. Mages from around the world had received help from Fairy Tail in the past, and many had gotten it from Natsu and Gray themselves.
It didn't take long for other incidents to start being linked together.
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It was difficult keeping track of time in a world where the sun was never seen above the horizon. It was honestly a miracle any plants had survived, unless of course, they relied on something other than photosynthesis.
It was honestly better not to wonder. "Hey Na-" Gray's words died in his throat as he turned to face the dragon slayer. Even here, Natsu was never one to stay still. He followed his gaze to a spot beneath an old, crumbling bridge, and his ice could never be as cold as what he felt in that moment. A toddler stared back at them with a haunted look in her sunken navy eyes, and Gray recognized it. It was the same look he saw in the mirror after his parents deaths.
The look of someone who had seen looked death in the eyes and wondered, "Why haven't you killed me yet?"
Natsu moved forwards carefully, and the girl seemed to beg him to end it. She was nothing but cracked, bleeding skin and awkwardly twisted bones, and the torn canvas bag she wore for a dress did nothing to stop her shivering. Natsu brushed the clumps of dirt from her face and swept the filthy hair from out of her eyes. "I'm going to pick you up now, okay?" Natsu had continued to run his hands through the girls hair even as she shook her head no. "Why not?" He asked just as gently as before, and the girl mouthed a single word, probably too weak to actually use her voice.
"Cursed."
The pinkette only smiled at her, "Well, in a way, we are too." He waited a moment for the words to register before continuing, "Besides, we're strong enough to handle whatever your curse throws at us." He scooped the girl up as smoothly as possible as he walked the few steps back to Gray. "This is Gray, he's a tad socially awkward. And I'm Natsu." In the deepest parts of her long dead eyes, a small spark seemed to flicker into existence, and a single tear dripped down cheek. "We're going to take care of you, so you keep fighting, okay?"
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By the time a year and a half had passed, several similar missing people cases had been reopened under the similarities. There were very few incidents that seemed to be exactly the same, but they did occur, and oddly enough, they seemed to follow a pattern.
Levy looked up at Freed and Lucy from her place on the guild's library, and a hopeful smile crossed her face. "I need one of you to go to the magic library and find as many records of missing people as you can. I think- I think there may be a pattern." Lucy was already sprinting for the door, and Freed had come to look at what she'd found.
"Hang on a little longer, guys. We're coming."
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The girl had become much more comfortable around them, and she had healed enough to move around on her own. She still didn't speak much, but neither one of them was going to force her.
They hadn't moved since then either, both of them reigning in their magic to avoid scaring her.
They had managed to find better fabrics at one point, and Natsu had made her a couple outfits. "You know, Little One, I can't keep calling you that." Natsu mumbled to her one day.
Gray was watching him braid her soft, strawberry-blonde hair with his deft fingers, so she made eye contact with him instead of Natsu. "Why not?" Her voice never seemed to raise above a whisper, but the two of them didn't mind. They made enough noise for the entire planet, anyways.
"Because you need an actual name," Gray told her. "Little One is a nickname. Did you have one before, or do you want a new one?" It had taken her longer to warm up to the ice mage, but once she did, she became just as clingy to him as she was with Natsu.
"When we were with other people, my parents called me Iera, but that was before they stopped moving," she said quieter than normal. Natsu wrapped his arms around the tiny three year old as tightly as he could without crushing her. "They also called me useless a lot. Is one of those a name?" Gray ended up joining them.
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Eventually she had decided to keep the name Iera, and the two of them had begun telling her stories about Fairy Tail, and how everyone would love her.
"If you could go back, the would you leave me here?" She asked quietly. She had taken to laying in between them so that she could have contact with them both.
The two mages glanced at one another before getting closer to her, "When we find a way to get back," Natsu told her, "we're bringing you with us."
"Then you get to meet everyone in person," Gray finished.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
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Levy had been wrong. There was no pattern in the times that the anomalies happened, but there was a connection between the how.
"Maybe we can artificially create the conditions?"
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Natsu awoke to the sound of footsteps, he immediately shook Gray and Iera awake. "Wha-"
"Several sets of footsteps heading in out direction. They're about a mile out." The ice mage shook the sleep from his mind and went to find the shirt he'd somehow lost.
When Iera didn't move from he spot, Natsu scooped her up into his arms, "What's wrong?"
She burst into tears as she wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck, and Natsu began running his hands through her hair. Gray bent down enough to be face height with her and brushed away some of the tears. "We can't help if you don't tell us what's wrong."
"They-they found me..." Gray wrapped his arms around both of them and kissed Iera on the forehead. "They'll hurt you. I don't- I don't."
"Iera," Natsu said seriously, "Do you remember what we said? What we promised?" He felt her nod, so he continued, "Then trust us. They won't take you."
"You're a smart kid, Iera," Gray mumbled, "so I know you think that Fairy Tail is just a story, right?" She opened her mouth to apologize, but Gray placed his hand over her mouth softly, "It's okay. We understand, but we need you to understand that everything we told you is true."
Gray removed his hand, and her little jaw stayed open.
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"Well I'll be damned," a rugged looking man shouted as he stared at the sight before him. "There really is a house made of ice out here, and look at the weirdos who live there. A shirtless guy, a pink haired fag, and the cursed child."
The group of people behind him began laughing darkly, and Natsu stepped forwards with Iera in his arms. "You have two options!" He called out. "You can leave willingly, or you can be forced away. Know now that if I have to kill you to protect this kid, then I will." The dragon slayer's voice dropped into a growl, and several people became visibly uncomfortable.
"You'd kill an innocent person to protect the very thing that's damning this world? Your morals are messed up, man." He took a drag from a cigarette as he continued to observe them.
"You'd blame an innocent child for your world's destruction the try to kill them just to let some anger out? Your morals are fucked up, man." Natsu repeated sarcastically. The cigarette snap in half as the man crushed it. "Leave, or else."
"She ain't even your kid, and you're going that far for the monster. You'd doom a whole race for that freak!" He shouted. Those behind him were shifting their ranks.
"They're going to try and surround us. Ametures."
"Listen up fuckers," Gray shouted, and he vaguely hear Natsu tell Iera not to repeat that word, "We may not have made her, but she's our kid now. So, unless you want to fight an angry demon and a pissed off dragon, I suggest you leave."
When they didn't back away, Natsu sat Iera down of the ground, "Thank the gods. I've been itching for a fight."
That was the only warning any of them got before they were surrounded in flames or neck deep in ice. It only took a few seconds for them all to be out of commision.
"Are you alright, Little One?" She stumbled to her feet and reached out to touch the scales that had formed across Natsu's arms. She looked up at him and he smiled encouragingly.
"They're real."
Gray wasn't even worried about what her reaction to him would be; seeing the complete awe on her face was worth any millisecond of fear that could be quelled.
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After two and a half years, not a single one of their experiments had worked, and the only things anyone heard from the library were the sounds of chairs hitting the wall.
"WHY. WON'T. ANY. OF. THIS. SHIT. WORK. ARRRAH!" Levy brought the chair down from over her head, but it never made contact with the ground.
Freed was holding the chair by the back legs, and he eventually wrenched it from her grasp. "I want them back back too," he said softly, "but this isn't going to help. We need to consider anything we haven't done yet as an option."
The bluenette sank to her knees in the spot she was standing. "What haven't we done, Freed? What haven't we tried?"
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Since the news of "The Dragon and The Demon" had spread, not one person bothered them. They had headed back the the place where they'd started anyways, as it was the place farthest from everyone else.
"Better safe than sorry."
Iera had almost become a new person. She was happy and talkative and energetic now that the curse was broken.
At this point, they had figured that their chance at going home may not exist anymore, but it would be okay.
They had each other, and that was something.
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Three years later, and there was only one last idea: try opening a multidimensional gateway in the exact same place.
Everyone was left gaping at the empty air where the gate should be, and several began to walk away in defeat.
A shrill noise pierced the air, and they were suddenly being blown away from the odd, swirling gate.
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A familiar feeling seemed to overcome Natsu's senses as they sat in the world's newly returned sun and drew in the sandy ground, and he made eye contact with Gray.
"NaNa? Gray?" Iera asked, "Why does it feel like I weigh less?"
Gray scooped her up in his arms, and she burst into giggles. "Gray!"
"Hang on tight, kiddo," he muttered, and she latched on just as he felt himself fly back the same way he did years ago.
And the same as the first time, he smashed right into a tree, vision going black.
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The news of the two's return spread like wildfire, but no one had breathed a word about the little girl that had come with them.
They'd been taken to Fairy Tail's infirmary to be checked by Polorushka and Wendy as soon as they could.
The little girl was the first to wake up. She looked around in fear until she spotted Erza at the end of the bed. The redhead seemed to catch her attention. She crawled to the end of the bed and touched the guild mark on the shoulder. "Um... are you Erza?" She nodded, and the little girl smiled and started jumping on the bed. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!"
"Um... you knew what?" Erza asked carefully.
"They told me if they went back then they'd bring me with them and they did and you're one of the people they told me about and I ge to meet everyone they talked about and I knew who you were." She got as close to Erza's face as possible without touching her. "Can I meet everyone?" She asked, voice filled with awe and wonder.
"If that's what you want," Erza told her.
"YAY!" Before anyone could say otherwise, she had sprinted to and out the door.
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The guild's infirmary was empty when Gray and Natsu awoke, and they made eye contact almost instantly. "We're really home, aren't we?" Gray asked, and Natsu stumbled over to Gray's bed.
He wrapped his arms around the ice mage and buried his head in his shoulder. "We really are."
Gray kissed his forehead softly, "So what do they think about the literal sunshine child?"
Natsu pecked his cheek, "They love her already," Natsu snickered. "This is going to be one long ass story to tell."
"I vote we tell them when I don't feel like I got hit by a bus."
"Too late for that. She's coming up the stairs."
Gray groaned. This was going to be a long night.
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I know there are things that don't make sense about this, however, that is because this is basically the most detailed summary of a multichapter fanfiction (that I plan to write eventually) that I could write without giving everything away. I hope you enjoyed!
As always:
Constructive criticism is always welcome, and if you find a typo, don't hesitate to point it out!
Reviews/comments are my 90% motivation.
Love you guys,
-Jinx