The Fourth Timeline

Time To Stand

Town of Kaycen, Fiore, May-15-X798

It was a quiet evening; the sounds of chatting and laughter filled my ears as I was trying to write down something in my notebook. I frowned a bit trying to squeeze some thoughts out of my mind and into the paper. Suddenly, the heavy metal doors of the hall were slammed open, causing everyone to quiet down.

"The roosters of each guild are all here! We're the only guild in all of Fiore that hasn't signed up yet!" Came in the voice of a well-known friend.

Well, there go my concentration efforts. I peeked at the mage that was sitting lazily beside me, my partner. His long legs extended atop the table, his back rested comfortably against a pilar that was behind us; his hands intertwined behind his head to pass as a pillow, his eyes closed. I smiled softly against my better judgement and returned my attention to my notebook for two more seconds before someone else spoke out.

"What's that you are waiving Bain?" The soft yet strong voice of our Master spoke out.

Bain, startled by her sudden appearance just stood there absent-mindedly.

"Well? You frozen in place boy?" The sweet grandma asked out and Bain finally snapped back to reality.

"Haha because I'm the Ice Dragon Slayer I am frozen, right. Your puns are getting old Granny, kinda like you" He said.

Two seconds later the Master had smacked the same papers he had been holding against his head. The guild erupted in laughter.

"He was asking for it." I heard my partner say in a mocking way.

Granny Blossom, or rather Master Granny Blossom, was one of the sweetest yet evilest old ladies I have ever met. She would physically abuse us with whatever object she could reach from her surroundings and then bake cookies at the end of the day as an apology. Only to hit us with the tray almost immediately after. I've been a target of her mood swings on several occasions because I do tend to say stupid stuff when she's around. Nobody's perfect after all.

Reading through the bundle of pages she had spanked in Bain's head, the master made her way back into the guildhall. The rest of the mages following her with their eyes and Bain trailing behind her. Once the Ice mage took notice of me and my partner, he drifted away from the Master to our table and slid in the spot in front of me.

"All of them big guilds are there. Saber, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, all of them!" He said with excitement.

"What are you getting all excited about? If we compete, we compete. That's all." My partner said, his eyes slightly opened.

"I personally think it'd be really fun." A female voice came from our right.

A green haired girl approached us, her strides confident and her tone a little arrogant. Trailing behind her was another mage, one that scraped almost two meters and ten centimeters.

"We don't get to do this often since it only comes once a year and getting to go against other guilds might help us see where we stand." She continued as she moved around the table and sat beside Bain.

"It would be a good way to show off how strong our guild really is." The taller guy following her said.

"Axel being all fake though. We all know he wants nothing more than to electrify them all to crisps." He followed with a bit of an evil smirk.

"I won't lie and say it's not on my bucket list." My partner answered back with a smirk of his own.

"Specially if those-" he tried to follow but a hand slamming against the middle of our table silenced him.

We all blinked twice at the hand and the pile of papers below it, which Bain had been waving around a couple of minutes ago. Another thing about Granny Blossom is that she has no idea what putting something down "softly" or "gently" means.

"What do you think? Those people, the names in here." She said as her eyes met mine.

I didn't need her to elaborate on what she was talking about. I took the bundle of papers from below her powerful hand and read through them as fast as I could, until the name of that guild caught my attention.

All those names, in clear black ink at top of white paper. No surprise they are the representatives of their guild. But that last participant's name on one team was kind of... Nonetheless, they are all there, two teams. Just like in the last games they... we participated in.

"So? Those bastards competing?" My partner's voice called out, his eyes darkening with negative feelings.

I firmly nodded in response, to which he immediately sat up and took the bundle of papers form my hand and grabbed the forgotten pen I had been trying to use earlier.

"Then let's not waste another minute." He said.

He flipped a couple more pages and scribbled something down at lightning speed. Once he was done, he passed the paper and pen to the tall guy beside him.

"I think we will enjoy this very much. When was the last time we visited a big city?" The guy said as he scribbled something down and passed the bundle to the green haired girl.

"I just hope we can peek some interest to get better quests." She commented as she wrote something and passed the bundle on to Bain.

"And just think! We get a go against all those big guilds! I wonder if they will be good enough competition." He said happily and extended the papers and pen back to me.

"Your turn." He said with a smile.

I took the papers and the pen, but my thoughts were elsewhere. In the past I was pushed away without second thoughts, by those I thought would always care and be there for me. All because I was not strong enough; because I couldn't fight like they could or withstand the craziest conditions like they could. Because I wasn't as blindly stubborn as they were, I was considered the dead weight that held them all back.

I've spent every single day of the past three years doing everything in my power and beyond to become stronger. I found friends who supported me wholeheartedly every step of the way. They knew I was weak, and they were there to give me pointers and advice on what to do better or how to react more efficiently. They stood by me when I was dismissed by the person who I thought I could trust my life on.

I read through their names, this new family of mine; they are all from a guild thar truly values the strong and the weak. They value the mages as themselves and not as objects of strength or trophies. I once thought that Fairy Tail was that type of guild, but I was wrong.

A big, warm hand grabbed my own in a gentle manner. I looked up to meet those dear green eyes of my partner. The one who made sure I got stronger because he genuinely cared, who was there for me and helped me get back on my feet when it was too much for my mind and body to handle. The one who taught me with patience and military discipline the art of his magic.

I moved my eyes from his to meet the rest of the team. Their looks determined and warm; telling me that it was ok, that the time had come, and they will stand by me no matter what. I smiled at them and directed my attention to the last remaining spot of the page.

"Let's show these bastards that revenge is one cruel and non-forgiving bitch." I said with a smile as a wrote my name in the list.

"You got that right, Lucy Heartfilia." My partner says and smiles at me.