Chapter 25: Daybreak Part 1

Beta read by Shigiya

.

.

.

-???-

For the most part, Magnolia was quite a diverse town. There was little to nothing people couldn't find here, beautiful scenery, welcoming locals, and the birthplace of Fairy Tail.

Broly could see why Lucy, Natsu, and Erza loved this place. The first came from an empty home where despite having all the riches, couldn't get along with her estranged father. She told him many times that the mansion felt hollow, cold, and suffocating. With Natsu, he grew up here after losing his father and finding Fairy Tail. And in Erza's case, Broly knew the reason better than anyone. Coming from the Tower of Heaven where each day was a struggle to survive, a place he feared what could have happened to her if the Saiyan hadn't crashed landed there and made things more bearable for the redhead and her friends.

The place was growing on him bit by bit, though his small shed in the mountains held a special place in his heart — he had to admit that it lacked in certain cases.

Now he enjoyed his free time before their mission in a remote area near the town. A small forest separated by a large field where there were no sounds but that of nature. Magnolia could become too noisy for him at times, though he enjoyed the new experience, Broly just needed to go somewhere quiet just to relax.

The sun towered over him, his body caught in the glow of its rays as he rested against a tree. His eyes closed while letting the wind ruffle his hair.

Chirp!

Cracking his eyes open, Broly spotted a small green bird resting on his knee. Chirping and looking around it didn't seem to be afraid of the Saiyan as it continued to hop on his leg. Looking up, he found more birds flying around him, some even landing on his hair. Being as careful and gentle as possible, Broly slowly brought his hand near the green bird and gestured it to get on his finger.

"Hn," he grunted, a smile forming on his face after meeting his new little friend. "You're not scared of me?" He asked, watching the small avian clean its feathers without a care in the world. He wanted to pet the bird's head but was afraid of accidentally hurting it.

It started tweeting again, almost as if playing music that the Saiyan hummed along with. It was a peaceful atmosphere that he enjoyed for a few more minutes before his ears picked up the sound of someone approaching. Every bird around him flew away at the figure's approach, leaving him a bit sad.

"Ah, didn't mean to disturb you and your friends." An elderly voice spoke behind him. Broly looked behind and found the master of Fairy Tail — Makarov Dreyar. He still wore the same clothes as before along with his weird joker hat.

"It's okay, you didn't do it intentionally." He accepted his apology, though a part of him wondered what this person was doing here and if Makarov wanted something from him.

"Broly, right? Forgive me for not having much time to talk to you before. The whole Macao case was weighing down upon my consciousness more than I expected." He spoke calmly, his right hand holding a staff which he waved around mindlessly.

"So you did care, I almost believed the words you said to the small kid back at the guild." The scene still replayed in his mind, at first Broly found it bizarre how harsh the Master acted, given how Natsu described him as being very caring and protective of his guildmates. Though after the whole quest and fight against the Vulcans, bringing Macao back alive, Cana's beer contest, and then the nightmare, the matter slipped out of his mind. Though he was glad that the old man did care and just didn't want to show it. "Why are you here?" The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Oh nothing in particular, just wanted to go for a walk, away from my children's crazy antics and just happened to come across you here with nature. I must say, I didn't expect the birds to take a liking to you, they sure as hell don't like me with how often I get shat on." He waved his staff at some of the birds in a threatening manner, they all chirped in unison, as if laughing at his attempt and one even tried to do it again only for Makarov to dodge it at the last second.

He sighed. "Life is so unfair."

What a weird but funny old man. Broly honestly wondered how such a person could be called a strong person when he showed such childish displays. But then he remembered the time Natsu got stomped on by a single foot and admitted that Makarov hid a lot of his strength behind a harmless image. This a stark contrast to what he's been taught by his father, that to earn respect, one needed to uphold a certain standard as both a warrior and a Saiyan. That being kind and caring would only bring disorder and contempt to the lower-class Saiyans.

Which he found confusing given he was born as a lower-class Saiyan, but Paragus mentioned multiple times that with his power level, these things no longer applied to him. With how he managed to defeat Vegeta back then, a high-class Saiyan, even whilst drowning in his fury — he could see how this classification system didn't work anymore.

"Young man, I heard from Erza that both of you were in the Tower of Heaven? Something about you crash landing inside at some point." He took a seat beside Broly, continuing to smoke with his wooden pipe. "Granted this is quite hard to believe so I wondered if you could confirm her claim."

"It's the truth," he admitted, not bothering to hide that part of the story. "I was in the middle of a battle with a powerful opponent, I don't remember what exactly happened in the end but someone saved my life, and the next thing I know — I found myself surrounded by Erza and the other slaves." Broly didn't find it comfortable to mention anything about him being from another world. First, there was little chance he would believe him and that there was no need for Makarov to know about such a thing. Neither Lucy or Erza knew about his past aside from the time he spent with his father.

"...Someone tried to kill you?"

"No, we were fighting each other… I was ordered to kill him. He just turned out to be someone far stronger than almost ended me instead." Prince Vegeta and Son Goku, two characters he ordered to battle and defeat by both his father and Frieza. Each of them was powerful, far surpassing him in the beginning but the Great Ape strength grew stronger each second, and now that he was facing opponents that could actually keep up with him — it only served to make that power inside of him more restless and grow even faster. Yet what he gained with power he lost in control, his memories grew murky at times that he barely remembered most of the fight, but he did remember the Son Goku guy asking him to join their sides and that he didn't need to fight if he didn't want to.

"If you're wondering, I don't hate them for that." Broly couldn't, there was no reason to. He was the one that attacked them in his rage.

But by that point, he was already too late and there was no stopping him anymore.

"My god…" Makarov couldn't bring himself to imagine what kind of past this boy must have had. "Young man, this is not a matter that should be taken lightly, who is this person who forced you to kill someone? If you know where they are, then I can have the Council look into this incident and capture the perpetrators."

There were many Dark Guilds around the world, many of them having cruel practices and taking the lives of innocent people. Broly could have been one of the children they trained from a young age to become an obedient killer to their cause. Now that Broly was a Fairy Tail wizard, Makarov saw him as his own child and would not let this stand.

Many of his children came from a tragic background, Gray, Erza, the Strauss siblings, and even Natsu who lost his only father figure. It was a shame that the world was still a cruel world where such cases continued to appear from time to time, though Fairy Tail would make sure to give them a new home and family.

"Unfortunately, you won't find them because they are not in this world. I tried to find a way to return, but I don't even know how I got here."

Makarov's eyes widened, shock surfacing on his face as he understood the implication behind his words.

Broly, he... Did he kill those people before running away? Or maybe someone else did? He must have escaped at one point from where he lived and then somehow ended up near the tower, there were many magics specialized in escaping so it was very possible that the usage of such a spell could have had the boy inside the tower.

But from this world? Was he from Edolas? That couldn't be possible, he had shown the ability to use magic on his own without needing an external artifact. "Where did you grow up? Is it perhaps Edolas?"

"Eh, Edolas?" Broly was confused by that name and shook his head, destroying Makarov's theory about his origin. "I'm from Vampa, grew up there my entire life, it was in the middle of nowhere and with scarce resources. Even getting water was nearly impossible with the dry and arid climate, so our only source of water was the liquid found inside the monsters we catched and ate." The planet Vampa was in a corner of space rarely visited by anything, according to Cheelai. So secluded that the closest living civilization was a many days trip away by spaceship.

The master's face turned sickly green from the mental image Broly's description brought. Could Broly have been a resident from Alvarez? That place had an enormous desert with roaming beasts and barely any water from what he learned. There was also Desierto near Minstrel — it would make sense for him to have grown up in such a region as it matched his description. "W-What about your parents? Surely they must have objected to such a thing."

"No, I was raised by my father for the sole purpose of his revenge. He trained me since birth, taught me how to hurt and kill on command." He touched his neck, "He made sure to have absolute control over me with a device strapped around my neck."

"Your father made you go through such a thing!?" It was worse than he expected, being a father and a grandfather, he could never imagine pushing one's own child through such a hellish life. But as he thought of that, the image of Ivan came to his mind.

He sighed.

'Guess such people are more common than I expected.'

He patted the Saiyan's back, "I'm sorry boy, no child should ever go through such a thing. Your father didn't deserve you, I promise we'll bring him to justice."

Broly chuckled, much to Makarov's surprise with how unbothered he sounded. "No, there's no need for that. I don't hate my dad, he taught me everything I know today. If it wasn't for him, then I'm not sure I would have survived till this day." His gaze went up to the sky, taking a deep breath before continuing to speak. "Even if you wanted to hunt him down, that's impossible, he's already dead."

'By my hands.' That part was left unsaid, the vision from his dreams continued to haunt him as he grimaced at them.

"Paragus was harsh, cold, and distant at times, but he was still my father and as his son, I'll love him no matter what. He was my only family, back when I had no one he stood there by my side."

He couldn't stay stuck in the past, and he thought that doing so would just hurt him in the long run. For now, the best he could do was focus on the present and enjoy his free life. Though the only wish he had was to bring the only friends he managed to make, Cheelai and Lemo, into this world with him. He did consider trying to fly outside the planet with an Erasure Shield large enough to allow him to breathe in space for a good while. But he didn't know if it would work and he never brought himself to try it. Why? Because Broly didn't know where to start his search in the first place.

What planet were Cheelai and Lemo on? If he wandered around aimlessly then he could easily die if the air inside ran out while he continued to search for them — if the shield worked as he expected it to in the first place.

"You are very mature, Broly," Makarov said. "I'm both glad that you have a heart big enough to forgive your father but also saddened that there is nothing I can do to change the past."

The giant shrugged, "There's nothing you could have done. What happened, happened. I have the power to protect those close to me, I just need to learn how to control it."

"Hoh, if it was Natsu then he would have talked about gaining more power and getting stronger instead." The Dragon Slayer was known for his lust for battle and an unquenchable thirst for power that kept him going every day and his desire to find his father. Erza could attest to how driven the boy was, given that even after getting his face pounded to the floor hundreds of times or having his face get covered by black and blue bruises by the red headed knight — he never gave up and kept coming back.

"Heh, I can see him saying that. Unfortunately for me, I was born with power and strength, there is no point in growing stronger if I can easily lose control." Not to mention that deep within him, he still desired to fight without holding against an opponent who could keep up with him. A primal hunger that grew stronger with how much he kept holding back every single day.

To just let loose, in a way that won't endanger his friends and fight someone who could take him at his strongest without it ending up in a battle to the death like against the blue-haired man. Maybe… maybe if he met him again, they could have a friendly spar this time and Broly could test his own power without losing control.

'Haa… who am I kidding, this wish of mine will never come true.' So far, he hadn't met anyone in this world who gave him the notion they could take him on. Even the master who sat next to him didn't feel as powerful as he liked him to be. Granted, his sensing ability didn't really work that well with magic and even less so with Celestial Spirits like Aquarius — but it gave him a vague idea. There was a possibility that Makarov would surpass his expectations, but he couldn't exactly ask for it in the first place.

"You know," the old man pondered. "Your words remind me of someone else. He's the last one you'll see ever training as his power has already reached a realm that makes it hard to control. The simple act of touching anything, walking, and even hanging around with other people is controlled in order to not damage or hurt anyone."

Oh, this caught Broly's attention. Could there truly be someone with too much power that they had to learn to control it their entire life?

"Hohoho, I see that you're interested!" Makarov laughed at the Saiyan's eyes lighting like a child's at the possibility of meeting someone powerful. "Unfortunately for you, he isn't here. I don't know when he'll be back to the guild, he took a rather dangerous quest — so you'll have to wait."

Oh… well that was a bit disappointing.

"In the meantime, why don't you try to spar with Erza? I don't know your exact level since I haven't seen anything, but Macao and Wakaba swore that you're in fact strong enough to give an S-class wizard a run for their money."

"S-class?" Broly felt like he heard that term somewhere… he must have forgotten.

"Ah, let me explain it to you, lad. In the Fairy Tail Guild, to become a wizard that stands above the rest, there is a trial only a selected few can take. The S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial is an event that is held every year, where I select the most prominent members to participate in a trial in order to be promoted to S-Class. Every year the trial is different and the location is also randomly chosen to keep the candidates on their toes. In the end, only a single wizard comes out victorious, those are counted as the strongest and most qualified to move up to S-class. They are the only ones who can get access to certain quests deemed far too deadly and dangerous for anyone below S-class, and even then it is still considered dangerous for them as well. There are also other benefits that one receives as a S-class mage. They are recognized by both the guild alliance and the kingdom Fiore as the best that a guild has to offer."

To be honest, Broly only understood half of what Makarov just said. But he did understand the basic point and nodded his head in understanding.

It was a test where strong people could become stronger.

"And do you know who's in it?"

"Erza, Mirajane, and that other boy upstairs," Broly stated without hesitation, making the old man faceplant, not expecting the young boy to make such accurate answers, especially from someone who didn't know what an S-class wizard was a few seconds ago!

"Wha… you knew this the entire time!?"

Broly nodded, "I took a guess after you said the strongest. The only ones I remember whose power felt quite high were those three. I wanted to add Natsu but wasn't so sure after our last battle and there is a big gap between him and the other three." Again, he didn't exactly know their power levels and just took a vague guess which turned out to be correct. "Oh, you did mention that one person, but I don't know his name."

"..." He would have liked to see Broly's reaction to Erza's status as one of the guild's top wizards, but he decided to let it go for now. "His name is Gildarts," Makarov said, grabbing some dried herbs from his pocket and adding them to the lit pipe.

"Gildarts?"

"Yes, he's currently known as the strongest Fairy Tail wizard, even in all of Ishgar, I'd say he's right there amongst the top Wizard Saints and is in my opinion, can be comparable to one of the Four Gods of Ishgar."

Four Gods of Ishgar? Wizard Saints? The more he kept learning about these new people the more he kept getting curious and hopeful.

"His magic is not a secret to the masses, called Crash Magic, and is one of, if not the, most dangerous magic around. It serves one purpose and one purpose alone without exception — and that is pure destruction. Gildart has reached a realm of mastery that turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing. He can't exactly walk around without paying extra attention, accidentally bumping into a wall would just destroy the entire building. If he was well then his magic would create a crater around him. He hasn't hurt anyone close with his magic thankfully, but still prefers to remain at a distance if possible."

'This sounds just like me…'

He recognized it as the description of someone who had to do everything in their power to control themselves with their magic. Broly wondered… if he could get to meet this person, would he accept a simple spar?

'Hn, I'm starting to think like Natsu.' Though this wasn't a spar to prove himself as the better, just to see if he was as powerful as Makarov claimed and if Broly could actually stop holding back just for a fraction since arriving here. To experience that same feeling he never was familiar with but wanted to see if it was worth it.

"If you'd like, I can send a message and ask when he's coming back. I'm sure he'll be glad to meet you and help you with any problem you have. But in the meantime, I want you to try to work things out with the others as well if you can. The Erza you know from the Tower has grown up into a fine warrior and Natsu will never get scared of your power. See how it goes, if it works out, then good."

Broly understood his reasoning, maybe he could check how far Erza came from back then and Natsu would also get that fight he always wanted. But there was also Mirajane and that other guy he sensed during his drinking competition against Cana — he wondered what kind of person that stranger was.

Checking the sun, Broly realized that it would soon be time to join the others for the quest at Shirotsume Town, so they would need to catch a train or another trip by wagon. Either way, he was looking forward to it.

"Ah, before you go, lad. Do you remember about Bora, the human trafficker?" Makarov asked out of the blue, taking out a poster of that same man he met in Hargeon Port who tried to hypnotize Lucy.

He didn't show any reaction, merely nodding his head with a straight face.

"Yes, he tried to invite Lucy to some sort of party." Though given how Natsu first crashed into his boat while he and Lucy showed up later on — safe to say he didn't get the opportunity to get started with his plans.

"Hmm, well, a few days ago, the boat that was transporting him to his new prison cell disappeared. No, it was attacked as some researchers claim. From what was gathered so far, they expected a large explosion to have destroyed the vessel and the prisoners inside."

"Ah, that is sad," Broly said, genuinely feeling sad about what happened but didn't regret his actions. He learned to look at life under a new pair of lenses, one that showed him what could have become of Lucy if both Natsu and he weren't there to save her. She would have suffered through hell, and Broly couldn't let that pass. He gave him a warning and a chance to hand himself to the Rune Knights, but Bora had to continue with his plans.

"Yes, quite unfortunate I might add. Though he was a criminal, losing one's life still goes over what I believe in. He didn't get justice delivered to him and whoever killed him must be captured as soon as possible before causing any more harm."

"I don't understand," Broly said with a confused face. "Aren't you happy that Bora died? He wasn't a good person, to begin with and made innocent people into slaves."

Makarov frowned, shaking his head in disapproval. "No lad, killing is an unacceptable taboo that only brings harm to both sides in the end. No matter the reason behind it, one should never resort to such an end. It is an act solely taken by dark guild wizards and something that could get anyone thrown out of their guild before getting arrested by the Council. Resorting to killing chips away at one's humanity bit by bit until nothing remains in the end — you shouldn't at any point consider such an option given your background."

"..."

That explanation did hold some merit in Broly's mind. On one hand, he both agreed and disagreed with the master. Killing should never be anyone's first option, but one must be prepared to go that far if faced with a large enough threat to them and those around them. He didn't regret what happened with Bora and would do it again if given the chance, some people just deserve to be taken out as soon as possible.

"I'll be sure to stay careful." He said before walking away, leaving Makarov alone in the background.

.

.

.

"Haa… I don't know if my words got through to him."

The young lad had a genuinely good heart from what he heard from Erza and his willingness to help Natsu rescue Macao was not something anyone would do. Even as he came here, the gentle aura around the giant just further proved his point.

He grabbed two pieces of paper from his pockets. The first one was quite recent and showed the news about Bora's death and the ship's getting destroyed. Thankfully, most had survived the attack but not a single piece of the former Titan Nose wizard could be found. The Council, unsurprisingly, hid this news from the general public and only informed the Wizard Saints like him and the Royal family. This was apparently a decision taken by one of the newer members, according to his old friend Yajima.

The second paper showed a report of the area where one stood the Tower of Heaven, now having turned into a silent sea of water without a trace of land in the middle. It detailed how a mass release of dense energy caused this cataclysmic event to occur all those years ago. Nearly everyone felt it, even those at the very edge of Ishgar managed to detect the burst of magic.

"Trying to control his power, ey?" There was no proof that Broly was behind this incident, as Erza herself refused to provide any details about it. He honestly wouldn't have been suspicious if it weren't for Broly's connection with Erza and the fact that Wakaba mentioned how he managed to destroy an entire mountaintop with relative ease. To hold so much power at such a young age… It made Makarov wonder just what exactly his magic was and where he came from. Energy manipulation magic never showed such potential, but then again… there existed many varieties of this particular magic.

"We'll see how things turn out in the end." With a quick flash, the papers burned in his hands before turning into ashes. "I'll need to start preparing for the Guild Masters meeting as well, Erza will chew my head off if I miss it again this year."

{Break}

-Fairy Tail Guild-

It didn't take Broly long to reach the guild, he greeted some of the people inside. Many still congratulated him on his victory over Cana and a few of the weirder ones asked him if anything special happened when he was sleeping in her house.

Confused, the Saiyan just mentioned he quickly went to sleep on the couch and had breakfast the next day. This caused them to sigh in disappointment and even in relief before going back to their regular routine.

Now, where were Lucy and the rest?

"Ah, Broly, you're finally here!" He heard a voice call him from the bar counter. He turned to see Mirajane waving at him with that same warm smile on her face. "If you're searching for your group then they've already left for the train station a bit ago. You just missed them."

Oh, he must have spent a bit too much time talking with the master.

"Thank you, I need to get there quickly th—"

"Wait!" She stopped him at the last second and gestured to him to come by. Curious, he went over wondering what she wanted. Though his curiosity turned into a pleasant surprise when Mirajane pulled out a large box from underneath the counter. The thing was heavy enough that it shook the entire counter when dropped, but she made it look quite light.

He could already smell the aroma of countless ingredients coming from the box. It reminded him of the food he ate yesterday and made his mouth start to salivate already.

"Here, as thanks for taking care of my brother during the last mission and saving Macao — I made you and the others a little something from the leftover ingredients from last night's shift."

"This… can I really take it?" Broly hesitated at first, feeling that the gift was too much for what little he did before.

"Fufufu, just take it!" She pushed the box over to him which he sheepishly took. "Now, now, off you go. You don't want to keep Erza waiting, she's been awfully excited to go on a quest with you and even forgot to scold Gray over his lack of clothing."

Well, given that she took the time to make so much, Broly found it rude to decline and his stomach started growling as well. He took the large box and headed straight for the station.

"Stay safe out there, and give Lucy my best wishes for her first official mission."

"Hn!"

While she waved the Saiyan away, a low cough came from the other side of the counter. It was Elfman looking over the scene with suspicious eyes.

"Hmm… Nee-san, what was that?" He asked, feeling something off about this entire thing that just happened.

Mirajane looked over at her brother with a tilted face. "Ara? I'm afraid I don't follow…"

"Since when did you start packing food for someone else?"

"Hm? That was just a thank-you gift, Elfman. You know I was worried about you and felt thankful that nothing bad happened to anyone." She said cheerfully, preparing her tray of beers for the other people.

"Well, you never did that for either Natsu, Erza, or even me."

Her eyebrow twitched.

"Well, he and Lucy-chan are new guild members, so I also wanted to give them a warm welcome."

Elfman wasn't buying it, his sister never gave off anything for free to anyone, even the master. Last time he tried to get a free beer without her permission, he got himself slapped so hard that the mark wouldn't disappear for weeks! Even Erza never got anything for free!

"Then… Why didn't you just give the box to Lucy instead? She didn't have much luggage and Erza was also willing to help her carry things."

"I didn't want to bother them for such a little thing."

"But you bothered Cana by giving her a list of items you wanted from Shirotsume and Erza even asked you if you had anything else to give when you said no."

"Tch…"

"—!"

It suddenly got all quiet, he and everyone near the bar felt a chill run up their spines. A collective sense of dread washed over them in unison.

"Elfman." She called him, her tone lower than usual and sounding much more threatening.

"Y-Yes?" He couldn't help but gulp in fear, did… Did he say something he shouldn't have?

What came next were words not spoken by a caring and loving sister who always helped people around the guild and maintained a pure and simple image — they were words coming out of the mouth of a terrifying demoness.

"Shut the fuck up will you?"

"Yes Ma'am!"

--------------------

The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 3 other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post monthly commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.