Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Worth Woodsea.
July 7, x777.
Walking through a dense sea of trees, a boy with blue hair and a tattoo under his right eye, around the age of twelve, carrying a staff on his back, led a young girl with shoulder-length dark blue hair and brown eyes along a mountain wall. While the boy wore a resolute expression, the girl was crying quietly. It was clear that she was rather distraught about something.
"Grandeeney, please come back…" The young girl said while sobbing.
Hearing the girl repeating the same words for the umpteenth time, the boy could not help but sigh. He did not know who this Grandeeney she spoke of was, but he knew that they meant a lot to the girl. And the fact that no one was near her when he found her made it obvious that she had been abandoned.
'Why would anyone abandon such a young girl in a forest?' The boy thought to himself as he continued leading the girl by the hand. '*Sigh* If I weren't an outsider to this world, I would keep her with me and take care of her. Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury.'
What the boy did not know, considering that he did not posses any magic power in his body, was that the girl he was traveling with simply appeared in the forest after a flash of light, that originated from the Eclipse Gate, impacted the ground. Having seen that light, the boy walked in its direction and found the girl, thinking that she had been abandoned by someone.
The boy, having passed through a portal that led to Earth Land, was on a mission to stop the people from his original world from plundering all the magic power of this world. Originally, in his world, known as Edolas, people were unable to store magic power in their bodies. So, everyone who used magic used items powered by lacrima.
Unfortunately, the ethernano in the atmosphere was not dense enough to create lacrima quickly. So, the finite magical resources of the world were being depleted. In a bid to not lose the use of magic, the king of the boy's country and all his advisors came up with a way to syphon magic power from another world, Earth Land.
'Just because magic makes life more convenient, it doesn't mean we need it to survive.' The boy thought to himself as he clenched his free hand.
At that moment, the girl looked up at the older boy. When she saw his expression, even though she was quite sad, she tugged on his hand, gaining his attention.
"Are you okay?" The girl asked in a timid tone.
Feeling the girl's concern, the boy shook his head gently. Then, with his free hand, he rubbed the girl's head.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." The boy said.
At first, the girl flinched when the boy's hand landed on her head. However, after he began rubbing hit, she relaxed slightly.
"Um… Where are we going?" The girl asked after mustering the courage to do so.
"I'm going to take you to a village." The boy said. "There, maybe we can find someone who knows who you are. And if we're lucky, we'll find someone who can take care of you."
"I can't go with you?" The girl asked, lowering her head as she did so.
"unfortunately, I can't take you with me." The boy said. "I have a lot to do. Which means that I won't have time to take care of you."
Although the girl wanted to stay with the boy, the first person she saw after waking up in the forest, she was too meek to voice her desires. On top of that, she could tell from both his tone and expression that he would not take her with him no matter what she said, causing her to simply lower her head and walk alongside him in silence.
Eventually, the duo reached a run-down village. However, because the girl kept her head lowered and simply allowed herself to be pulled along, she never saw it. However, the boy saw everything. It was clear to him that no one had lived here for a long time. Only intending to stop here because the sun would be setting soon, The boy led the girl toward the largest building in this ruined village.
To his surprise, however, the figure of a man appeared in front of him just before he could reach the doors of the large building.
This man was short, slim, an elderly. Sporting a long white beard that connected with is mustache and sideburns, he had a tattoo on his forehead consisting of a dot surrounded by two semi-circles that did not connect. He was dressed in a manner reminiscent of a tribal chief with a feathered headgear on his head, feathers attached to the back of the cloth wrapped around his waist, a pair of dark pants, and a pair of simple shoes.
On top of that, his chest was bare while he wore a necklace that seemed to be made of large teeth around his neck, a large bracelet on his each of his biceps and cloth wrappings around each of his forearms.
"How curious." The elderly man said, looking over the boy and girl. "Why would two children as young as the two of you be here in the middle of nowhere?"
Like the elderly man, the boy also observed him. Even the girl glanced up at the elderly man occasionally.
Feeling that the elderly man meant them no harm, the boy answer the old man's question a moment later.
"We were intending to stay here for the night." The boy said. "We were looking for a village or a town. Then, we would hopefully be able to find someone who knows who this girl is."
Gesturing to the girl with his free hand, the boy drew the old man's attention to her. When the old man focused on her, he felt a magical signature that he had not felt for a very long time.
'Has it already been four hundred years?' The old man thought to himself. 'To think I lasted long enough to meet another Dragon Slayer.'
"Ahem… If you don't mind, I think, I and the rest of my guild might be able to take care of her." The old man said as he spread his magic power into his surroundings.
Hearing the man mention his guild, the boy looked at the old man skeptically. In reply, the old man winked at the boy. Meanwhile, the little girl tightened her grip on the boy's hand continuing to keep her head down. So, she naturally missed the ongoing spectacle.
The boy, on the other hand, was dumbfounded by what he saw. Before his very eyes, the old, run down village began to morph into a freshly built village. Then, people began to walk out of all the newly restored buildings and go about their business as if they had always been there.
"What in the…?" The boy began to ask.
However, before he could complete his question, the old man placed a finger over his own lips, signaling for the boy to remain silent while gesturing to the little girl.
Understanding what the old man was getting at, the boy quickly shut his mouth. Smiling at the clever boy, the old man cleared his throat.
"As I said, my guild, Cait Shelter, is willing to look after this girl." The old man said with a smile. "Allow me to introduce myself. my name is Roubaul, and I am the master of this guild."
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
Just like in the cases of Natsu and the little girl with dark blue hair, there were other meetings that took place with those who appeared from the flashes of light that originated from the Eclipse Gate. Meanwhile, back in the Fairy Tail guild hall, the argument between Natsu and Gray continued.
"*Sigh* they just met and their already like this." Alfonzo muttered to himself from the front entrance of the guild hall.
"Well, what did you expect?" Elicia asked. "They're fire and ice. What else would they do but clash."
"That doesn't mean that I have to like all the noise." Alfonzo grumbled.
Elicia could only giggle at Alfonzo. For some reason, she found his current attitude extremely cute. Though, she would never tell that to Alfonzo. He would never take being called cute well.
"Fonzie, Lici, you're back!" A familiar voice shouted from the interior of the guild hall.
A moment later, Cana walked toward the pair with a smile on her face. When she arrived in front of them, she quickly hugged Elicia before tightly hugging Alfonzo and rubbing her face against his shoulder.
"Hey, Cana, we're back." Alfonzo said with an awkward smile on his face.
"Hey Cana!" Elicia said energetically. "Anything new happen while we were gone?"
"Yeah, a new member joined the guild." Cana said, turning her head toward Elicia while continuing to hug Alfonzo.
"The pink-haired kid, huh?" Alfonzo asked while glancing at Natsu.
"*Sigh* Yeah." Cana said, a bit of exasperation in her tone. "Ever since he got here, all he's done is challenge people to fights and argue with Gray."
"That's sounds annoying as hell." Alfonzo said while shaking his head. "Makes me glad we decided to go and see the people at the orphanage today."
"I wish you would have taken me with you." Cana said, looking up at Alfonzo with puppy eyes.
We'll take you with us next time, Cana." Elicia said happily. "I'm sure the kids at the orphanage would love you. The staff, too."
Smiling back at Elicia, Cana dragged Alfonzo into the guild hall with Elicia following closely behind them with a big smile on her face.
"Alfonzo, Elicia, you're back." Makarov said from his spot atop the bar. "Good, there's a new member to introduce you to."
"Hey Gramps!" Elicia shouted in reply. "Cana told us about him. He sounds like a lot of fun."
Simultaneously, Alfonzo and Cana groaned.
"Leave it to Lici to find the good in any and everything." Cana said with awry smile on her face.
"Yeah, it's what makes her so likeable." Alfonzo said with a fond smile on his face.
Meanwhile, after seeing the smile on Alfonzo's face, Cana could only look away and pout.
"Stupid Fonzie." Cana muttered quietly. "Why don't you ever look at me like that?"
"Huh? Did you say something, Cana?" Alfonzo asked.
"No!" Cana replied forcefully before letting go of Alfonzo's arm and stomping away.
Seeing that, Alfonzo could only sigh. Meanwhile, Elicia was smiling as if everything was just the way she wanted it to be.
'I only hope things go as smoothly as she thinks they will.' Alfonzo thought to himself after seeing Elicia's smile.
"Since you've already heard about him, I'll introduce you right now." Makarov said before turning toward Natsu who was about to start a fist fight with Gray. "Hey, Natsu, come here!"
Hearing that his name had been called, Natsu looked away from Gray. Then, after seeing that it was Makarov who called him, he glanced at Gray one last time before he lowered his fists.
"You got lucky, Ice Head." Natsu said as he turned around. "You won't get embarrassed by getting beaten up while you're almost naked."
"Who did you say would… Huh?" Gray exclaimed before he could finish asking his question. "When did I take off my clothes?"
While Natsu walked away, the other wizards laughed at Gray. Not taking this too kindly, Gray quickly got dressed. Then, he threw a punch at the nearest laughing wizard. Naturally, that punch quickly escalated into a brawl.
"What's up, Gramps?" Natsu asked when he reached the bar.
"Let me introduce you to two of the strongest young wizards in Fairy Tail." Makarov said, gesturing at Alfonzo and Elicia. "Alfonzo Marcus and Elicia Taylor."
Immediately upon hearing that Alfonzo and Elicia were strong, Natsu's eyes lit up.
'This is gonna be a pain in the ass.' Alfonzo said to himself after seeing the light in Natsu's eyes.
"Hi! I'm Natsu Dragneel, the Fire Dragon Slayer." Natsu proclaimed excitedly. "Now, let's fight."
While Elicia giggled and Makarov smiled wryly after seeing the same thing play out with everyone he introduced to Natsu, Alfonzo face palmed.