Past: Evangeline and Gray

A/N:

Next chapter! This is a flashback chapter throwing back to when Gray and the rest joined the guild.

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Year 1

Evangeline sat in the guild hall eating a grilled cheese sandwich while watching older members of the guild argue about who was going to be nominated for the S-Class trials this year. She sighed. Everyone was to caught up with trying to be the strongest that they forgot they were supposed to be a family. The S-Class promotion trials were something Evangeline disliked because of their nature: They pitted guild mates against one another. That wasn't how Fairy Tail was supposed to function. But, Evangeline didn't make the rules. Maybe when Laxus inherited the guild they could change it together.

"Hey Ev," said blonde greeted her as he sat down at her table.

"Hey Laxus," Evangeline replied, smiling at him.

"Gramps said that he'd let us take a job in Magnolia if you wanted to do that tomorrow with me," Laxus told her. Evangeline's eyes lit up.

"Of course! I've been waiting until he finally let you go on your own jobs," she said. Ivan was never around, so Master was Laxus's main guardian. He tended to be protective of his grandson, especially since Laxus had been pretty sick as a kid. After Laxus got his scar, he seemed to get healthier and stronger. Evangeline knew his father had something to do with it, but she wasn't sure what. Laxus never told her.

"Are you sure your parents will be okay with it? I don't want them to get mad," Laxus asked her. Evangeline shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. They let me go on local jobs myself all the time. They just want to look at the details before we go. Anyway, they would never be mad at you," Evangeline said. Laxus frowned.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes, I don't know why we have to have this conversation every time you want to go with me somewhere," Evangeline sighed. Laxus blushed.

"I just… I don't… I don't want them to get mad at me for spending time with you," he said. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Honestly they would prefer me to spend more time with you than everyone else in the guild right now. The adults drink too much," she said. Laxus laughed.

"I suppose. Want to go pick one off the board then?" Evangeline nodded. The two stood and walked over to the jobs board.

The board was organized with jobs within Magnolia being on the lower left part so that younger members could easily reach them. All the jobs in that corner were deemed to not need magic and have minimal risk of any fights. Those were the only ones that Evangeline were allowed to take, and she was happy Laxus was allowed to take them with her now. The rest of the board contained jobs about finding thieves, fighting bandits, defeating Wyverns, and all sorts of fun, and dangerous, things. Someday Evangeline wanted to take one of those.

"How about this one," Laxus said, pointing to a flyer about helping an old woman move furniture to her new apartment. It was only about a block away from her old apartment, so it wouldn't be too hard. It paid 20,000 jewel, so between the two of them they would have some money to spend for the month.

"I think it'll be good," she replied. Laxus nodded to her, then took it off the job board. He brought it over to his grandfather who stamped the request and waved Evangeline over.

"I'll be waiting to hear how this goes for you two. I'm hoping to let you two go outside of Magnolia for quick jobs soon," he said. Both teens' eyes lit up.

"Really?" They both said in sync. Master nodded.

"Your parents are ready to let you go on your own, Evangeline, but I'd like both of you to go together for my own sanity. You will keep him in line, I'm sure," the old man said, winking at Evangeline.

"Why did you wait until now to let Laxus go on jobs?" Evangeline asked him, curious as to why. Master rubbed his chin. Laxus was also interested in his answer.

"I'm not entirely sure. I was just waiting until I thought you were ready," Master said slowly. Evangeline felt him lying.

"Oh really? Then why do I know you are lying?" Evangeline said, crossing her arms. The old man sighed.

"Ah, that magic of yours is a pain, Evangeline," he said. Both teens stared at him until he answered. "Fine. I've had threats from guilds we have had issues with in the past. You are strong enough now to hold your own in a fight with many of the mages who might go after you."

Evangeline and Laxus's eyes widened at the revelation.

"Do you think they'll go after us tomorrow?" Laxus asked. Given that their client was an old lady, he didn't want her to get hurt.

"I doubt it. They won't come around Magnolia because there are too many Fairy Tail mages here, therefore it's safe for you to start building a client base here. I know I have to let you go and face the world on your own, Laxus. You are strong. I must have faith in you. You also are aware so you can spot anything out of the ordinary, and therefore are one step ahead."

Evangeline sensed worry coming off of Master, and she decided to try and dull that emotion. She slowly brought his level of worry down, but he noticed after a while. The old man looked at her and shook his head.

"I could barely feel that at all, Evangeline. You are getting good," he said, proud that she was improving so much. "Now, you two go be kids, have fun. You have your first job together tomorrow after all!"

Laxus and Evangeline went back to the table that Evangeline left her lunch on. Evangeline prodded to read Laxus's emotions. She felt worry and confusion mostly, with a bit of sadness underneath.

Evangeline reached across the table to take one of Laxus's hands and she held onto it tight. She gently decreased some of his worry and confusion. Laxus smiled weakly at her.

"It'll be okay. We will just have to have each other's backs, which we already do," Evangeline said. Laxus nodded.

"Always."

The next day, Evangeline and Laxus met at the guild to walk to their client's house. They arrived a few minutes after they set out. Evangeline knocked on her door when they arrived. A short, old woman with grey hair opened the door.

"Ah, you two must be Laxus and Evangeline. Thank you so much for helping me, dearies," she greeted.

"It's our pleasure, Mrs. Bennett. Where would you like us to start?"

It only took three hours to move all the woman's furniture and set it up where she wanted it. She was an amazing client, but she treated them more like her grandchildren than her temporary employees. Mrs. Bennett made sure they always had something to drink and constantly asked if they were hungry. She had apparently made the two cookies before they arrived because she had recognized their names.

Laxus and Evangeline accepted their payment and left the woman's new apartment after promising to stop by for tea some time in the future. They returned to the guild, as they didn't have anywhere else to go for the rest of the day.

When they arrived, they found all the adults crowded in a circle, presumably around a new member. There was at least once new member a week joining right now, so they weren't surprised. However, when Evangeline felt for the new person's emotions, she felt that it was someone very young, and he was very uncomfortable.

"Hey, everyone take five steps back," Evangeline shouted, getting their attention. Everyone obliged, and stepped back quickly, not wanting the wrath of Evangeline's inner demon to be unleashed on them.

Evangeline walked up to the boy who was standing rigid next to the bar. She used her magic to relax all his emotions. He looked at her and tilted his head to the side.

"How'd you do that?" he said quietly.

"Magic," she replied, winking. "Now, those idiots like to crowd people and don't know much about personal space. Why don't you come with me and Laxus to the pier?" Evangeline followed up, holding her hand out to the boy.

He denied her hand and walked past her and out of the guilt. Evangeline pouted, but she wasn't about to give up on him. He carried a lot of pain in his emotions as well, and she needed to get to the bottom of why. She turned back to Laxus and narrowed her eyes at him, trying to convey that they should go after him. Laxus sighed but nodded to her.

They left the guild to try and find the boy. Evangeline had no idea how to go about finding him, but just knew she wanted to find him. Laxus didn't particularly care, but he cared about Evangeline, so he followed and helped however he could.

They ended up passing Mrs. Bennett's apartment that they had moved her into that day, and she was outside.

"Oh, Laxus and Evangeline, hello again," she said.

"Mrs. Bennett! Have you seen a boy with dark hair and a white coat pass by here? We are trying to find him," Evangeline asked. Mrs. Bennett nodded.

"Yes, he came this was a few minutes ago. He was running towards the shopping district, but I don't know if he actually knew that's where he was going," she explained. "Now go, find that boy and bring him back home to your guild." She winked at them both, and they thanked for the information.

Evangeline started running in the direction of the shopping district, and Laxus followed after her. They arrived at the edge of the busy market a few minutes later.

"I'll start on the right you start on the left?" Evangeline said. Laxus nodded, walking to the left side of the market. Evangeline started walking through the market on the right side. She was looking into the different stalls to see if she could see the boy whose name she didn't even know yet. She was getting a decent way into the market when she heard a commotion.

"Hey, kid, stop," a shop owner yelled. Evangeline saw the boy from the guild running with a new black leather jacket and some food. Thankfully, he was running her way and she grabbed him. The shop owner ran after and stopped in front of Evangeline and the boy.

"You need to pay for that, brat," he scolded the boy. The boy grimaced at the man, but Evangeline felt he was very scared.

"It's okay, sir. I can pay for it," Evangeline told the man, trying to calm him down. "How much?"

"The food is 7,000 jewel," the man said. "The jacket is made of real leather and would be 95,000 jewel. I can't have someone stealing that now, can I?" he said impatiently. Evangeline held onto the boy with one arm and grabbed the money she had made that day out of her pocket. She gave the man 10,000 jewel and told him to keep the change for the trouble.

"Give the man the jacket back, kid," Evangeline warned. He didn't let go of it. Evangeline wrestled it out of his hands easily and handed it over to the shop owner. Just then, Laxus rounded the corner and saw Evangeline with the boy being confronted by the shop owner. His eyes narrowed as he walked over.

"Is there anything I can help you with, sir?" Laxus asked harshly. The shop owner turned to look at Laxus, then looked back and forth between Laxus and Evangeline.

"Oh, you two were the one's my mother said helped her move today, aren't you," the man said, his tone much happier now. "Then please, keep the jacket. Thank you for helping my mother when I was unable to. Now, please make sure that boy learns that he has to pay for things." The shop owner left, and Laxus grabbed the boy out of Evangeline's arms and threw him over his shoulder.

"Hey, put me down," the boy protested.

"No can do, kid. We have a reputation to hold up, and you could have tarnished that. Be happy that Evangeline and I were looking for you," Laxus growled. He never got mad except when people threaten Fairy Tail's reputation and name.

"My name is Gray," the boy pouted.

"Gray, why didn't you just buy the food? You know you could have also eaten at the guild, right?" Evangeline asked. Gray muttered something that Evangeline couldn't hear, but she felt embarrassment rolling off of him. "What was that? Speak up."

"I don't have any money," he said, loud enough for her to hear. Evangeline frowned.

"You're all alone aren't you," Evangeline said, her face morphing into a sad smile. Gray stopped struggling against Laxus and went limp. Laxus sighed loudly, now feeling bad for the kid.

"I don't want your pity," Gray said quietly.

"How old are you, Gray?" Evangeline asked, not sure if she would get an answer.

"8," he said. Both Laxus's and Evangeline's eyes went wide.

"Only 8 and all alone? Well we will have to fix that. You're coming home with my and my family," Evangeline said, making up her mind.

"I don't want-" Gray started, but Laxus sent him a small zap. Evangeline walked in front of the two.

"When she makes up her mind about something, don't try and fight her. She's got a demon sealed in her," Laxus said, warning him. "She beat my ass over a cookie once, don't try her." Gray gulped.

"Okay," he said. "Can you put me down now?"

"As long as you don't try and run away again," Laxus said. Gray nodded. The boy didn't want to incur the wrath of Laxus or the half-demon that was walking in front of them.

The group got to the guild and Evangeline went straight to her parents' usual table, where they were now eating dinner.

"Ah, Evangeline, did you find him?" her mother asked. Evangeline nodded, and motioned for Gray to come over.

"Mom, Dad, I was wondering if Gray could stay with us for a while. He doesn't have anywhere else to go," Evangeline explained. Her parents looked at each other, then examined the boy.

"You stole that jacket and Evangeline paid for it, didn't she," her mother said. Gray's body went rigid. Her mother started laughing.

"Yes, of course he can stay with us. I have a feeling he's got a lot to learn," her father said. "And son, do relax. We don't mind. We all make mistakes, and we have to move past those. You made a mistake today, and all that matters is that you learn from it. No one got hurt, after all." Gray was speechless. He was about to ask a question when her mother beat him to it.

"You were wondering how we knew what happened?" she asked him. He nodded. "Well, Evangeline's father and I are both in tune to thoughts. We can read thoughts that people have, and sometimes even memories when they are very prominent in someone's mind. We can't influence other's thoughts, however. We mostly take reconnaissance jobs," she explained.

"And what can you do," Gray asked, his question targeted to Evangeline.

"I can feel people's emotions, experience other people's emotions, and influence other people's emotions. I have other magic too, just as my mom and dad have. It's good to have offensive and defensive magic just incase you ever get into a fight," Evangeline said. Her parents both nodded to this.

"What magic do you use, Gray?" her father asked. Gray put his hands out in front of him and made a Fairy Tail symbol out of ice.

"Ice Make," he said. Evangeline thought it was beautiful.

"That's wonderful, Gray," Evangeline's mother said. "Now, how about you two sit down and order some dinner." Evangeline took a seat at the table and waved Laxus over. Gray was still hesitant.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Evangeline's father nodded.

"When you joined Fairy Tail this morning, you became family. A family takes care of each other. Now, sit down and pick what you want, we'll call over the waitress." Gray sat down next to Evangeline's father. Laxus sat next to Evangeline.

Hours later, Laxus had gone home from the guild and Evangeline's family was preparing to leave as well.

"Gray, are you ready? We are about to go home," Evangeline's mother asked. He nodded.

"Alright, lets go family," Evangeline's father said. The group of four set off.

Gray was floored by how big the Hastings family house was. It looked like a mansion to him. He was even more amazed when he went inside. Everything was clean and bright, even though it was now very dark outside. There were two living rooms, a massive kitchen, an indoor pool, and more rooms than he could count.

"Gray, come with me," Evangeline said, walking up the stairs. Gray followed her up the stairs and down the hallway to the east side of the house. Evangeline stopped in front of the farthest room on the north side.

"This is my room. If you need me at all, just come on in. Your room will be the one right across from mine. There's a bathroom attached to the room. We will have to find you some changes of clothes to wear tomorrow," she said. Gray nodded. He opened the door to his room and saw a large room with a queen-sized bed in the middle of it. It had a navy blue comforter on top of it. He closed the door behind him as he ventured further in.

Evangeline went into her room and sat down on her bed. It had light blue blankets and mint sheets. She decided to shower before bed. She showered quickly before changing into a matching set of purple pajamas. She was just about to fall asleep when she felt Gray's emotions go haywire in his room. He was asleep, but he must have been having a nightmare. Evangeline got out of bed and went into his room and woke him up.

"Gray," she said, shaking his shoulder. He woke with a start and had tears in his eyes.

"Gray," she said again, her voice soft. "It's okay. It was just a dream." Gray wrapped his arms around her.

"It wasn't a dream, though," he said, sniffling. Evangeline sat down on his bed and Gray clung to her.

"Gray will you let me see the memory then?" Evangeline asked. She didn't want to see it if he didn't want her to. He nodded to her. She carefully pushed her magic into his mind and found the dream that had just happened, and the memory it linked to.

To say she was shocked was an understatement. The poor boy had lost his whole family to a demon, and then lost his master to the same demon. He felt responsible for their deaths. Evangeline wrapped her arms around the boy and held him tight as he cried on her shoulder. She felt him slowly start to drift off to sleep, but every time she tried to un-attach him from her, he held on tighter. Eventually, she decided to just stay there for the night. Gray loosened his grip on her long enough for her to lay down before he clung to her again. He finally fell asleep. Thankfully, she fell asleep not too long after.

Unbeknownst to both of them, Evangeline's parents came to check on Gray after hearing his basically screaming in his thoughts but heard them quiet down and focus on Evangeline. They opened the door to Gray's room and found the two kids sleeping in his bed. They smiled to each other, then went to bed themselves.

Year 2

"Oi, Ev, get out of bed, it's almost noon," Gray said while banging on her door. "You have a job with Laxus today, don't you?"

Gray then heard Evangeline fall out of bed and run frantically around her room trying to pack everything up for her job. A few minutes later, she opened the door.

"Time?" she asked in a hurry.

"11:50, the train leaves at noon," Gray said. Evangeline screamed in horror, then ran out of the house and off to the train station. Gray sighed. For as put together as Evangeline usually was, she was very forgetful when it for to jobs sometimes.

Gray wandered around the house, not sure what to do. Evangeline would be gone with Laxus for a few days, and Evangeline's parents had been gone for almost three weeks on a very important job for the council. He decided to go to the guild.

Upon his arrival at the guild, he saw Cana sitting alone at a table. He went over to her table and sat down. She looked up at him.

"Oh, Gray, hi," she said, surprised to see him.

"Hey Cana," he replied.

"I suppose Ev left this morning, then? So that leaves you all alone for the rest of the week, eh?" Cana said. Gray sighed.

"More like I woke her up 10 minutes before the train left because I realized I never heard her leave the house. And yes, I'm bored out of my mind for the next week probably," he pouted. Cana giggled.

"Maybe Master will let us do some small jobs around town to pass the time?" Cana suggested. Gray nodded.

"I think that'll be great. I have to save for something, anyway."

Meanwhile, Evangeline had barely made it to the train before it pulled out of the station. Thankfully, there was a very kind, rich woman who was traveling with her daughter who saw her coming and asked the conductor to hold the train. She thanked the blonde woman for helping her. She then found Laxus's train compartment and went inside.

"It's about time you got here," he said, eyeing her. "You just woke up, didn't you," he deadpanned. Evangeline nodded.

"Gray woke me up, sorry I'm late," she said, taking a seat across from Laxus.

"Aren't you hot? It's warm in here," Laxus asked her, looking at her black leather jacket that Gray had stolen a year beforehand.

"Not really. You know I'm always cold," she replied. Laxus rolled his eyes at her.

"You're only cold all the time because Gray sleeps in your bed every night," he said. Evangeline sighed.

"He stopped having nightmares three weeks ago and has since slept in his own bed every night, thank you very much," she snipped. Laxus laughed.

"I'm just glad he's not having the nightmares anymore," he said more quietly. Evangeline nodded in agreement.

"I was worried they wouldn't ever go away, but I guess he grew out of them."

"Anyway, you remember which stop we need to get off?" Evangeline nodded.

"Clover Town," she said. Laxus nodded.

"Good, I'm going to pass out now. Damn motion sickness is getting to me again," he muttered as he put on his sound pods. Evangeline smiled. She took out her own set of sound pods that Laxus had bought her for her birthday a few weeks ago and put them on. She wouldn't fall asleep; she just enjoyed having something to listen to on the trip.

About two hours later, a knock came from the door to their cabin. Evangeline went to open it and saw the woman from before standing there with her daughter.

"Oh, good, I was hoping I would find you," the woman said. "My name is Layla Heartfilia, and this is my daughter Lucy. What is your name, dear?"

"Evangeline Hastings, Miss. My companion is Laxus Dreyar. I apologize that he is asleep right now, should I wake him?" Evangeline said, not sure about why the woman had shown up.

"Oh, no need dear. I just wanted to check in and make sure you made it aboard fine. My husband owns this rail line and I would hate to tell him that his company left a very kind young woman behind at the station in Magnolia," she remarked. Evangeline's eyes went wide. This woman wasn't just rich. She was a rail baroness, and therefore, one of the most powerful people in Fiore.

"Thank you so much for your help, and I apologize for any inconvenience I caused," Evangeline started to say, but Layla waved her hand.

"It is no inconvenience at all, dear. Please, have safe travels and be careful on your job," she said as she smiled at Evangeline. "We will be off at the next stop, but please, if you ever need to get a ride and have no money, or need to hold a train for any reason, use this card," Layla said, taking out a white card with golden embossing.

"Thank you, Lady Heartfilia. I cannot repay your kindness," Evangeline said, accepting the card, knowing that Layla wouldn't let her not take the card.

"You can, just by making sure you are safe and healthy. Fairy Tail has wonderful mages, but many times they get into trouble," Layla said. "Now, Lucy, can you say goodbye to this young woman?"

The small blonde girl was the spitting image of her mother.

"Goodbye, Miss Hastings," the girl said with a small curtsy. Evangeline would have squealed at her cuteness if she was anyone except an heiress.

"Goodbye, Evangeline Hastings. I hope to see you again someday," Layla said. Evangeline nodded.

"Goodbye, Lady Heartfilia, Miss Heartfilia," she said as the mother and daughter left.

"Who was that?" Laxus asked, his voice low from just waking up.

"The owners of this rail line," Evangeline said, eyes still wide. Laxus's eyes snapped to her.

"You're kidding," he said in awe.

"Nope. And guess who doesn't need tickets to get on a train anymore," she said, showing him the card Lady Heartfilia had given her. Laxus just stared at it.

"Well damn," he said.

"Well damn indeed."

They arrived in Clover Town a few hours later. Six months prior, Master had decided that Laxus and Evangeline would be able to take any job on the main job board they wanted, so long as they went together. Evangeline's parents agreed, knowing the two would be perfectly fine together.

"So, find and wipe out a band of bandits… I wonder what instruments they play," Evangeline said. Laxus sighed.

"Ev, this is no time for puns, please," Laxus pleaded. He hated puns. With a passion.

"Fineee," she conceded. They continued walking around town to find a place to stay for the night. They had already met their client for more information. The governor had actually increased the reward from 100,000 jewel to 200,00 jewel. Evangeline got a bad feeling about the job.

"Laxus," Evangeline started.

"Yeah, Ev?"

"I have a bad feeling about this job," she said. Laxus frowned. Whenever Evangeline got these feelings, they were always right.

"We'll be careful, then. Never leave each other's side," he said. Evangeline nodded in agreement.

The two arrived at an inn and were able to get a room with two beds. It was the last room left in the inn for the night, so they were glad they arrived in time. Evangeline took the shower first and brought her pajamas in the bathroom with her. Laxus, meanwhile, was looking at a map of the town marked with places that the bandits had attacked to try and figure out a pattern. There was always a pattern.

Evangeline emerged from the bathroom and sat down on Laxus's bed, looking over his should at what he was doing.

"They attack at 5:45 every time, and they alternate sides of the city," Laxus said. Evangeline looked at the map, trying to figure out what else there was in the pattern that they were missing to be able to predict where the bandits would attack next. She noticed something almost instantly.

"They attack across from tea shops," she said. Laxus blinked.

"You got that already, while I've been working on this for over half an hour while you showered," he complained. Evangeline giggled.

"Sometimes you need a second set of eyes to see something that you couldn't," she said. "What does that mean for possible attack points for next time?"

"All the tea shops are branches of the same chain, Ev," Laxus said as he looked closer. There were twelve tea shops in the city, 8 of them being a chain. "There is only one left that hasn't been hit across from yet."

"Then that's where we wait tomorrow. What is the business across from that shop?"

"Haru's Magic Supply," Laxus said. Evangeline sighed.

"That doesn't bode well. Did any of the reports say that the bandits used magic?"

"Not that I've seen, but just because they don't use it usually doesn't mean they won't when they are in a shop full of magic items."

"True," Evangeline trailed off. Laxus looked over at her and saw a worried glint in her eyes. He folded up the map and put it down before lifting his right hand to rub Evangeline's back. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and took a deep breath.

"I really don't like this," she murmured.

"I know," Laxus said softly. "We'll get them tomorrow, maybe the next day, but we will be okay, I promise."

The next day, Evangeline's worry was only getting worse. She couldn't stop pacing around the room at the inn, and it was only 10am.

"Ev, you gotta stop pacing," Laxus said. "It's really loud."

"Oh, my pacing is too loud, is it? I'll show you loud," she said as she stomped harder. Their room was on the ground floor so she wouldn't be bothering anyone else.

"Fine, point taken. Still, come sit down," Laxus said. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to sit down next to him. Evangeline sighed. Laxus looked at her, concern in evident in his eyes.

"If you are that worried, maybe talk to Aspen?" he suggested. Evangeline nodded, then closed her eyes. She felt herself sucked into her mind where she came face to face with her inner demon.

"Evangeline, I have told you time and time again just to come to me when you have problems," Aspen said. "Why can't you remember this?"

Evangeline sighed.

"I don't know. I didn't want to bother you," Evangeline said. Aspen rolled her eyes.

"It's not like I have anything else to do with my time," Aspen said. Evangeline's shoulders dropped.

"Something is going to happen. I don't know what it is. How fast can you trade places with me if my magic isn't enough?" Evangeline asked.

"If you think of me, I'll know to take over. You just have to let me take over, or else things could get ugly," Aspen said. "What are you planning on doing? Your emotion magic won't be terribly helpful in combat if these people are hardened criminals."

"Gray has been teaching me basic Ice Make. I can freeze them if need be," she said. "I'll try and make them more docile at first, then go in for a freeze, but if that doesn't work, I'll turn it over to you." Aspen nodded.

"That's a plan. Remember that I'm part of you," Aspen said as Evangeline left her mental plane and back to the physical world. Laxus was still sitting next to her when she woke up.

"Well?"

"Aspen will take over if I ask her to," Evangeline said. Laxus nodded.

"Not to diminish your magic, but Aspen is more useful in combat most times, at least for right now while you learn more forms of magic to defend yourself," Laxus said. Evangeline wholeheartedly agreed.

"We aren't leaving each other alone," Evangeline said. Laxus nodded.

"Never," he agreed. Evangeline took another deep breath then relaxed.

"Ready to go get some food?" Laxus asked her. She nodded.

"Let's go."

The pair ended up at a small diner near the center of the city. Laxus was trying to keep Evangeline's mind off of the impending battle. He wished that he had her magic so he could feel what she was feeling. He hated it when she worried.

"Want to go walk around a bit," he asked her. Evangeline hesitated, then nodded. They had already paid for their meal, so they left the diner. They wandered around going between different small shops looking at souvenirs and other random items. Evangeline stopped and looked at a necklace for a while. She thought Laxus wasn't looking, but he was. After Evangeline moved on from looking at the necklace, Laxus came around and looked at the necklace to figure out what about it was so special. Evangeline wasn't a big jewelry wearer, so it had to be something special. He wasn't let down.

The necklace had a fire opal pendant on a plain silver chain. The fire opal was carved in the shape of a dragon. He looked next at the price tag. It was 100,000 jewel, which was probably why Evangeline walked away. Evangeline didn't like spending money, but she liked it, so Laxus decided he was going to buy it for her after their job was over.

It was nearing 5pm by this time, so Laxus and Evangeline made their way towards the magic shop and walked around inside. They wanted to be inside first to get the upper hand. Evangeline alerted the shop owner that there would likely be an attack in the building soon, and that she and Laxus were mages from Fairy Tail hired by the city to take care of the bandits. The owner thanked her for the information and started removing his expensive merchandise that was easily breakable. Finally, the owner retreated to his hidden room within the shop to stay safe. With that, Evangeline and Laxus waited. They didn't have to wait long before the bandits poured in.

The bandits were dressed all in black with masks covering the bottom part of their faces. Evangeline started pushing her magic out to take hold of the emotions of the bandits. She felt greed, nervousness, and pride. Not a single one felt guilt, which made Evangeline harden. She could be vicious to them with no remorse herself. She started by dampening any emotion that would help them, such as confidence, and flared any emotions of nervousness. This process only took a few seconds to start, but sometimes it took a few minutes for her magic to fully take over a large group of people. She also picked out Laxus and flared his confidence. He nodded at her, then started lightning attacks against the bandits.

Unfortunately, the bandits had a mage with them, and that mage happened to be able to nullify the effects of Evangeline's magic. He was what one might call an anti-invasion mage: His magic made the people he used his power on immune to mind manipulating magic. He was Evangeline's worst nightmare in a fight.

"Ev, let her take over," Laxus said quickly between attacking the bandits. Evangeline nodded, then called for Aspen in her mind. She started sinking back into her mind to allow Aspen out as fast as possible.

"An anti-manipulation mage, huh," Aspen said as she took over Evangeline's body. "It's been many years since I've fought one. I'm taking the mage first."

Aspen appeared behind the enemy mage and kicked him forward into a shelf. This sent the shelf plummeting to the ground.

"Oh ho, guess the little chick has more powers. Boss didn't tell us the blond kids partner had more powers," the mage said.

"Signal for backup?" one the bandits asked while dodging one of Laxus's attacks.

"Yeah, we might need it," the mage said. Aspen narrowed her eyes. This was why Evangeline was worried. Part of this was a setup.

"Laxus, hang back," Aspen commanded. Laxus turned to glare at the demon.

"Why?" he sasked. Aspen shook her head.

"No questions. Just move," Aspen said as she dug through her mind to find a good spell to cast to stop more of the bandits.

"Sudden quicksand," Aspen said, and the floor beneath the bandits turned to quicksand. This was a handy entrapment spell that she had learned about two hundred years before. It was too late, though. A large, dark haired man burst through the door of the magic shop.

"You idiots seriously can't get ahold of two kids? I knew I should have gone after them myself," he said. His voice was low and menacing. He went over to the mage and pulled him out of the quicksand, then crushed his neck before throwing him across the room. Aspen's eyes hardened. She'd have to actually fight.

"Laxus, I need you to stay behind me. This guy isn't someone you can take on right now. Evangeline wouldn't be able to either. Whatever you do, do not leave this place. Remember that what's about to happen is all me, not Evangeline. Remember what happens, and remember what being a mage means," Aspen said quietly, her voice grave. Laxus nodded and moved behind the demon. He wasn't stupid. When Aspen said he couldn't handle something, he listened to her. He also couldn't believe that he'd just watched someone die for the first time he could remember.

The enemy killed the rest of the bandits that were supposed to be his allies. Aspen was happy she had taken over already before this man's arrival, or else Evangeline might have been paralyzed in fear of him. Aspen let her magic power seep out.

"I had no idea Fairy Tail had a half-demon," the man said.

"They don't. I may be part of a Fairy Tail mage, but I'm not bound by their rules, at least not in this case," Aspen said. "It's been many years since I've gotten to actually fight." Aspen then smiled sadistically.

"Then let us dance, demon," the man said, charging towards her. He sent a punch to her face, but Aspen caught it with one hand. The man's eyes widened. Aspen forced magic into her hand and used the power to crush the man's fist. He cried out.

"Bitch," he spit after. He broke out of her grip and retreated. "I guess I'll have to use magic, then."

"Naïve of you to think that you would be able to fight a demon hand to hand. I have many more lifetimes of experience than you," Aspen said, stalking forward.

"Dark Seals: Ribbons of Darkness," the man said, black magic vines erupting from the ground to grab hold of Aspen. Aspen summoned a black blade to her hand and slashed through them. The man gritted his teeth.

"Really? Dark magic against a demon? Are you that stupid," Aspen chuckled.

"Don't mock me, demon," the man said. Aspen laughed again.

"You have no idea what dark magic is capable of. I'll show you, though. I'll strike fear into your heart before I kill you. You do not go after the people my host considers dear to her. Obsidian Seal," Aspen said, casting the spell. Black rock formed a shell around the man with only his eyes out of the rock. He wasn't able to cast any spells to defend himself. Aspen walked towards the man.

"You'll never hurt anyone again," she said as she unsummoned her sword and stopped in front of the man. She made the rock retreat from his mouth. "Any last words?"

"Like you'll be able to kill me," he laughed. Aspen sighed.

"I gave you a chance," she said. "I hope you find hell a nice place." She stopped for a moment, trying to figure out the best way for him to die. She decided to coat her right hand in lightning before driving it through the man's skull. Blood splattered all over her. The obsidian shell surrounding the corpse shattered, spraying shards towards her. Evangeline would be upset about the massive tears in her leather jacket, but she'd survive.

Aspen relinquished control to Evangeline, who sunk to the ground. Laxus came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ev?" he asked, unsure how she was feeling. A lot had happened, and even though Evangeline wasn't directly the one who killed the mages, her body was. Evangeline didn't respond.

The shop owner peeked out from his secret room and saw Evangeline covered in blood, both her own and the dead mage's.

"Oh dear," he muttered. Laxus looked back in the direction of the shop owner. The man frowned, then slowly made his was through his destroyed shop to the teens. "Upstairs there's a full bathroom. I think washing the blood off will be helpful. My late wife's clothes should fit her."

Laxus picked Evangeline up and carried her up the stairs. She was shaking in his arms. There was a chair in the bathroom that he sat her down in. He helped her out of her jacket and set it to the side. He grabbed a washcloth and started wiping the blood off her face.

"I'm sorry," Evangeline said softly. Laxus stopped.

"Sorry for what?" he asked.

"Aspen.." she trailed off. Laxus shook his head.

"She did exactly what she needed to do to keep us both safe. That man was probably an S-Class mage. We couldn't have taken him, especially since he killed his own allies without remorse. It was kill or be killed," he said. He was surprised and a bit traumatized, again, as it was the first time seeing someone die.

"I didn't want her to," Evangeline said, her voice cracking.

"She had to keep us safe, Ev. The bandits were a setup, you know that. They attacked for the purpose of us taking the job, as that was exactly the job we were looking for. Remember what it means to be a mage, that's what she told me. Being a mage means that sometimes we need to do whatever it takes to accomplish the job, but also keep our comrades safe, even if it means we have to take the lives of others," Laxus said. Evangeline's eyes widened, and she sat up straighter. For some reason, this snapped her out of her mindset.

"You ready for me to leave the room?" he asked. Evangeline nodded. Laxus left her to finish cleaning herself up. She stepped in the shower to wash the blood out of her hair and off of other places on her body. Her arms stung in the water due to the cuts made by the exploding obsidian. Most of them were superficial, but there were two that probably needed stitches, or at least to be looked at. She changed into the clean clothes the shop owner had given Laxus to take to the bathroom for her.

Evangeline emerged from the bathroom with her blood-drenched clothes in her arms. Laxus was waiting for her just outside the door.

"The Council is here," he told her. "The last mage was a wanted S-Class criminal who just left Oracion Seis. He had a bounty of 5,000,000 jewel on his head." Evangeline's eyes bugged out of her head.

"5 million? What?" she sputtered. Laxus just nodded, amazed as well.

"What do we do?" Evangeline asked. Laxus tilted his head towards the stairs.

"You gotta go talk to the Council reps. I'm sorry," he said. Evangeline sighed. At least they knew she had Aspen sealed inside of her.

"I'll go take care of that then," she said as she was about to walk down the stairs, but Laxus spoke again.

"Probably want to leave those up here for now," Laxus said, referring to her clothes. Evangeline nodded and dropped them where she was, then went down the stairs.

Down there, she found multiple members of the knights collecting shards of the obsidian seal Aspen had used, as well as collecting the bodies of the bandits. She found the representative talking to the shop owner. It happened to be an actual member of the council, Yajima.

"Oh, Evangeline, why did I know you would be involved," the old man sighed. Evangeline shrugged. "Regardless, I'll have to ask you a series of questions about the actual series of events, if that's alright? I'd also recommend you go talk to someone. The first time someone dies in front of you can be very traumatic, regardless of the circumstances." Evangeline nodded in agreeance to the question and his statement about help after.

"Alright. Firstly, what was the original job?"

"We took a job posted by Clover Town to take care of some bandits. Once we arrived, we learned the reward was increased from 100,000 jewel to 200,000 jewel," Evangeline said. Yajima nodded.

"At that point, was there any indication that there were mages in the group?"

"No, but I did have a really bad feeling about this job as soon as we arrived," Evangeline said. Yajima nodded again.

"This is when you contacted the demon, yes?" he asked.

"I did the next day. Last night, we went over the map to find the pattern and the next attack location, but I realize now it was too easy. They made it easy to spot the pattern. It was even worse because the attack was going to happen here, in a magic shop," Evangeline said.

"There's something else, too, isn't there?" Yajima asked. Evangeline nodded.

"About a year ago, Master said that someone was after Laxus. This is one of the first jobs we've taken decently far outside of Magnolia, but we always knew eventually someone would go after him," Evangeline said. Yajima sighed.

"Why didn't Makarov just tell the council," he muttered.

"He probably didn't want you involved. Wherever the council is, so is more trouble," Evangeline said. Yajima gave her a look.

"I'd argue that that is true of Fairy Tail and not the council," he said. "Regardless, what happened before the fugitive showed up?"

"The bandits arrived right at 5:45, just as we expected. I was controlling their emotions for a few moments, but then we found out that they had an anti-manipulation mage. There are very few out there, so I assume he was placed with the group specifically to deal with me. Of course, they didn't know about Aspen." Yajima wrote down more notes.

"Continue," he said after he had finished writing.

"Aspen kicked the mage away, then one of the bandits said something about backup. Aspen realized that it was a setup to get Laxus, so she went into defensive mode. She trapped the bandits, including the mage, in quicksand, but the other mage arrived. He killed the original group of bandits himself, that wasn't Aspen," she said, stopping again to let Yajima take notes. When he finished, she continued.

"Then, he decided to be mouthy and attack Aspen with dark magic. Aspen summoned one of her dark swords and cut through his binding spell, then sealed him in the obsidian. Then, she killed him."

Yajima finished his notes, then looked at Evangeline's face. He read the haunted expression in her eyes.

"Evangeline, promise me you will go talk to someone after this? All mages go through this, and I'm sure you and Laxus will be much better off if you just go see someone. Your parents would be wonderful for this as well," Yajima said. Evangeline nodded. "Everything else lines up with the witness reports, not that I expected anything else. Your payment will arrive at your parents' house within two weeks. Now, take care and try not to get into anymore trouble for a while."

Evangeline was dismissed and allowed to go back upstairs. Laxus was still waiting up there for her.

"Can we go now?" Laxus asked. Evangeline nodded.

"I feel bad that the shop had a lot of damage," Evangeline sighed. Laxus shrugged.

"He was talking to me about it earlier. We saved him a lot of money, really. He lost five shelves of merchandise at worst instead of everything and possibly his life," Laxus explained. Evangeline nodded.

"I suppose this is why the older guild members always talk about insurance," Evangeline said.

"Let's not talk about insurance, please. We get enough of that on a daily basis already," Laxus sighed. Evangeline let out a small giggle, and Laxus smiled. He was glad he got her to laugh.

Evangeline and Laxus arrived back at the inn they stayed in the night before. Evangeline dumped her dirty clothes into a plastic bag (the clothes were now dry, at least) and put that into her travel bag. She curled up in her bed. Laxus was sitting on his bed on the other side of the room and took the communications lacrima out of his bag and called the one at the guild hall.

"Oh, Laxus, how'd the job go," Master answered. Laxus's face explained it all. Master sighed. "What happened?"

"Fugative S-Class. Aspen took care of him" Laxus said in short. Master's eyes bugged out.

"S-Class? An S-Class mage?" he sputtered. Members of the guild started to crowd around Master, including Gray.

"Is Ev okay?" Gray asked quickly, having stolen the lacrima from Master. Laxus nodded.

"She's going to be," Laxus said. Gray narrowed his eyes at Laxus but the lacrima was stolen back by Master.

"When you two get home, no more jobs for a month at least. Are either of you hurt?"

"I'm fine. Ev has some scrapes from Aspen being sadistic, but that's normal. We've wrapped them up, but most of them are small," Laxus said. Gray stole the lacrima back from Master.

"Where is she," Gray shouted at him. Evangeline left her bed and sat next to Laxus.

"I'm here, Gray," she said, a small smile on her face. "I'll be okay, just have a piece of cake ready for me when I get home tomorrow."

"Okay," Gray said, this time giving the lacrima back to Makarov.

"We'll see you back here tomorrow. Then we will figure out what to do from there," Master said, hanging up the lacrima.

Evangeline rested her head on Laxus's shoulder.

"I don't want to sleep alone tonight," she said.

"I don't either."

Evangeline was the first of the two to wake up. Neither she nor Laxus and nightmares last night, which was good. Nightmares about the previous day's events would have been bad. She didn't want to get out of bed yet because it was warm, and the air was cold. Laxus was sleeping on the other side of the small bed facing away from her, but he suddenly turned over and wrapped his arms around her in his sleep. Laxus was a surprisingly heavy sleeper. Evangeline felt herself drifting off to sleep again.

Evangeline woke up again a while later, Laxus's arms still around her. She looked at the clock in the room and saw that it was 10am. They had to get going, or else they would miss the only train out of Clover Town that day.

"Laxus," Evangeline said, her voice a bit softer than usual.

"Hmm," he mumbled. He opened his eyes and saw her looking at him.

"We gotta go or else we will be stuck here another day," she said. Laxus removed his arms from around her so she could get up. Evangeline went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and change her clothes. After she was done, Laxus went in after her. Within fifteen minutes, they were checking out and on their way to the train station.

Laxus remembered that he was going to go buy Evangeline the necklace she liked, so he made up an excuse that he had left something behind in the room. Evangeline went to the station. Laxus only had ten minutes to get there before the train stopped boarding. The conductor made the last call for passengers, and with Laxus not there, Evangeline pulled out the card that Lady Heartfilia had given her. The conductor actually bowed to her and said he would hold the train until her companion arrived.

Meanwhile, Laxus was looking for the shop that the necklace was in. It had just opened, and there was no one inside yet except one staff member. He went right up to the jewelry counter and asked for the dragon opal necklace and paid for it as quick as he could, thus spending all the money he had made on the job. Thankfully, the staff member boxed and wrapped the necklace quickly. Laxus realized that he was late and ran as fast as he could to get to the train station, eventually resorting to traveling small distances by lightning. He had only practiced it a few times, but he figured now was a perfect time to test it out. He got to the train station ten minutes after the train was supposed to have finished boarding. However, he saw the train still in station and the conductor standing by Evangeline, who crossed her arms when she looked at him. He walked over to her, and the conductor ushered them onto the train. They found an open compartment and sat down.

"And, where were you? You didn't forget anything, don't lie, I could feel it the first time," Evangeline said, eyes narrowed at him. He held out his hand that had a purple gift bag.

"Open it," he told her. She grabbed the bag from him hesitantly.

"What's in it?" she asked. He nodded to it but didn't say anything. Evangeline stuck a hand into the bag and felt a tissue paper wrapped box. She pulled it out of the bag. The paper around the box was a navy-blue color and was held closed by a silver sticker. She carefully peeled up the sticker and removed the tissue paper from the box. The box itself was black cardboard. She looked up at Laxus, who nodded to her again. She lifted the top of the lid off the box and saw the opal dragon necklace she had been looking at the day before. She picked it up out of its box and held it up to eye level. It was beautiful in the sunlight that was pouring through the train window.

"It's the right one, right?" Laxus asked when Evangeline didn't say anything.

"It's perfect."

They arrived back in Magnolia several hours later. Cana and Gray were waiting at the station for the two to return. When Gray saw Evangeline, he attacked her with a bear hug. Cana waited for Gray to let go of the older girl before she attacked Evangeline with her own bear hug. After the hugging session was finally over, the group of four returned to the guild.

To saw that everyone was happy to see Evangeline and Laxus was an understatement. After the revelation last night, they were very worried about the two. Everyone was checking in on the two, and it was very uncomfortable for both teens. Thankfully, Makarov called them into his office.

"Tell me exactly what happened from when you got there until the end," he said. His voice left no room to argue. They quickly recounted their tale. Master sighed after the two finished explaining everything.

"My, my, this is a mess," he said, rubbing his forehead. "Evangeline, dear, would you let Aspen through? I'd like her opinion about what to do with the two of you." Evangeline quickly relinquished control over to Aspen.

"They need training," was the first this out of Aspen's mouth. Master stared at her, waiting for her to continue. Laxus interrupted, though.

"More training?" he asked. Aspen nodded.

"The two of you have great potential by yourselves, but you need training. Not the half-assed training you've done before this, but actual hard-core training. Training that will make you feel like you physically cannot go any further. You two will encounter many enemies, and you now have huge targets on your backs because of what I did to that fugitive. I don't regret doing it though. You two have to grow up and face your destiny," Aspen said. Master sighed.

"Who do you want to train them?" he asked.

"Honestly, I wish I could be a separate entity for a while, but that can't happen. Honestly, send them with Gildarts," Aspen said. Master looked like he was going to pass out, and Laxus wasn't fairing much better.

"Gildarts? I'm sorry but they'll both end up dead," Master said. "Isn't there anyone else?"

"No. Gildarts is perfect. He's so unaware of his strength that he will push them both to the breaking point but will make sure they don't die. They need someone like him that won't treat them like children. They can handle it." Aspen was firm in her decision. Master then told them both to stay where they were so he could fetch Gildarts, who was actually at the guild for once. A few moments later, he was in the room.

"So, why am I up here?" he asked. Aspen spoke up.

"Basically, if I hadn't been sealed in Evangeline, both these two would have been dead last night. Someone sent an S-Class mage after Laxus, but also had someone to fight against Evangeline. They are in danger if they don't get proper training. You are the only person who won't treat them like children," she said. Gildarts sighed.

"And I was just going to go on a vacation," he complained.

"Better to miss a vacation than to have two funerals," Aspen said gravely. Gildarts glanced at her.

"You're serious about this?" he asked. He knew the demon was not stupid, in fact, she was probably the smarted person in Fairy Tail.

"100%. They need to start soon. I don't think the danger will stop. Maybe it will, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'm good at protecting Evangeline, but protecting both of them is difficult, even for me. Evangeline's body isn't as strong as I'd like it to be, either. We can't keep them at the guild. They need to learn."

"Then I'll do it," Gildarts said, his voice dropping into his serious tone. "Pack up, we leave in three hours."

Laxus sighed, as he wanted to take a few days to breathe, but that wasn't a luxury he was going to be allowed. Aspen let Evangeline take control once more. Evangeline sighed once she returned.

"I won't get to see my parents get back, will I?" she asked. Gildarts shook his head.

"No. We can't call them either or it might give them up. They will find out where we've gone after they get back. Trust in them, Evangeline," he said. She nodded. She looked over to Laxus.

"I guess we should get ready then."

Gray was furious. This was for several reasons. Reason one being that Evangeline would be gone for months. Reason two was that Evangeline would be gone for months with Laxus. Reason three was that Evangeline was in danger. Reason four was that there was nothing he could do about any of it.

"Are you sure you have to go?" he asked Evangeline for the twenty-seventh time. She sighed.

"Yes, Gray. I had an S-Class mage against me, and if I hadn't had Aspen, I would be dead, and Laxus would be dead. We have to go get stronger, for our own safety, and also for everyone else's. We can't go on jobs with other people when we know that we are putting them at risk, and we can't protect them. We need to get stronger for everyone," she said. Gray sighed, finally accepting that she had to leave him. Again. Except this time for an extended period of time.

"Can I at least go with to the train station?" he asked, eyes pleading with her. Evangeline gave in.

"Fine, but we have to go now," she said. She grabbed her bags and started walking to the train station with Gray.

Once they arrived, they found Laxus and Gildarts already there with tickets. They were heading just one city over to Sunset Town. Gray hugged Evangeline goodbye and the group boarded the train.

The train ride itself was awkwardly quiet. Thankfully, it was over fairly quickly. When they got off the train, Gildarts led them out of the city into the forest. There was a large clearing about four miles outside the city for them to start working in.

"Put your stuff down by the tree line," Gildarts said. The teens did so, then came back. Suddenly, Gildarts started attacking them.

"Hey, wha-?" Laxus was cut off.

"No talking; just dodge. Your best chance against a stronger opponent is to be able to dodge until help arrives," Gildarts said. "Also, never take a hit unless you absolutely have to. Dodge first, defend second, attack third." Gildarts continued going after the teens for several more minutes until they were laying on the ground, completely exhausted.

"I have a lot of work to do," Gildarts sighed.

The dodge training went on for several more weeks until Laxus and Evangeline were able to dodge for an hour without really breaking a sweat. They could withstand attacks for up to three hours, which Gildarts decided was sufficient. He was getting too tired to attack by that point, and the kids had enough energy to attack still after that amount of time.

"It's time to get into offense, kiddos," Gildarts said after their final (for now) dodge test. Evangeline flopped down onto her back and laughed. Laxus rolled his eyes at her antics but was just as excited as she was to get more of their training underway. They'd been gone for over two months now.

"Now, I don't have your magic. I can't tell you exactly what to do. I can help you try and refine different skills, however. Magic is a feeling. Do what you think is right, then go from there," Gildarts said. He turned to Evangeline.

"Yours is a bit different because I can feel the effects of your main magic on me. I want you to get so good at it that no one will be able to tell you are affecting their emotions. I'd like to see if we could push you into thoughts like your parents. It's possible," Gildarts told her. Evangeline nodded. Her parents had meant for many years to train her in their magic but never had time to.

"Where do we start?" Laxus asked, unsure.

"Start with what you know already. Don't worry about hitting dear old me, I'll be fine," Gildarts said. "Evangeline, you can stay to the side for now. I'd like to gauge where each of you are at individually."

Evangeline sat a way away, so she didn't get hit by any stray lightning. She had been before, and it wasn't pleasant.

Laxus basically knew how to throw lightning bolts. Given, they hurt, but they weren't dangerous. Eventually, Gildarts raised his hand up for Laxus to stop. Then, he motioned for Evangeline to come over. Laxus went off to the side while Evangeline listened to Gildarts explain what he wanted her to do.

"Basically, I want you to have a conversation with me, and try in influence my emotions to get it to go favorably for you," he said. Evangeline nodded, and started feeling out his emotions.

"What will we be talking about," Evangeline asked, starting to damper confidence. Confidence was always bad in an enemy.

"How about dinner. For the next month, I think we should only eat fish with nothing else," he said. Evangeline felt mischievousness rise up in him as he finished his statement. She started working to lower that slowly as she responded.

"While fish is generally healthy, the river near here is heavily polluted," Evangeline said, making him feel doubt.

"I never said we had to get it out of this river," he followed up. Evangeline chose to raise his level of boredom.

"It's a long walk to get into town, and then we would have to try and find fish from the coast that were transported in," Evangeline said, adding more power into his feelings of doubt. "We also don't have enough money to buy fish every day."

Gildarts eyebrows furrowed. She had a point. Evangeline spoke again.

"I'd suggest that if we need to have fresh meat, we just kill a deer. It is open season right now," Evangeline said. Gildarts found himself nodding, then Evangeline let go of his emotions. Then Gildarts sighed.

"Damn you are good at that already," Gildarts said. Evangeline shook her head.

"You were hungry, and, therefore, much easier to convince," she said. "I've also found that people can get used to how my magic feels after a while. Laxus can vouch for that."

Gildarts paused for a few moments before speaking. "I think your magic is much better as a support than an offensive, but you already knew that. I'd like you to learn an offensive magic, so you don't need to rely on Aspen."

"I know a bit of Ice Make from Gray, but it took a long time to learn it. It doesn't come naturally to me," Evangeline said. Gildarts nodded, then waved Laxus over.

"Okay, so both of you have a lot of work to do. Laxus, you need to diversify. You can't just hurl lightning at enemies and expect things to happen. Evangeline, you need to learn a whole new magic. Perhaps consult Aspen tonight if she has any ideas. She would be able to teach you fairly quickly, I believe. Both of you need to learn hand to hand combat and basic swordplay, just in the event that you have and enemy with a sword," Gildarts said, outlining the next few weeks to months of their training.

Evangeline couldn't get thought manipulation down. It never felt natural, no matter how hard she tried. This was after several weeks of practice. Evangeline was making a lot of progress on her close combat and sword skills, but her magic wasn't going anywhere. That's when Laxus decided to teach her some lightning magic. That came as naturally to her as her emotional magic.

"I don't get it, though. Why is lightning, a whole different type of magic, easier than thoughts?" Evangeline said, frustrated. Whenever she tried to plant thoughts in Gildarts's mind or Laxus's mind, they always knew they were foreign in origin, thus defeating the point of the magic.

"Maybe you just aren't ready for it yet," Laxus said. Evangeline groaned.

"Not ready, my ass. I've been ready to learn more magic since I was eight. I finally have a chance to push to the next part of mind manipulation, and I can't," she complained as she flopped onto the grass in part of the clearing.

"Then maybe it's something with your mind," Laxus said. Evangeline propped herself up on her elbows to look at him.

"Are you suggesting that I am incapable of using thought manipulation because I'm messed up in the head? Well thanks for that," she growled. She leapt onto her feet and charged towards Laxus, who decided that dealing with an angry Evangeline was not something he wanted to do that that moment. He moved all the way to the other side of the clearing, then into the trees. He tried to cloak his fear of her.

"Someone pissed her off," Gildarts said loudly from behind him. Laxus sighed.

"You realize that now she will be after both of us, right?" Laxus said. Gildarts felt the color drain from his face.

"Run?" he said, his voice unusually high.

"Run from what?" Evangeline said in a sickly sweet voice. Both males plastered a fake smile on their faces and turned to her.

"Just going on a run for training," Laxus said. Gildarts nodded vigorously.

"Can never run too much," he said. Evangeline smiled at them.

"Then run from me. I'll give you five seconds before I beat your asses," she said. The males didn't need another warning before they took off as fast as they could, pumping magic into their legs to send them as far as possible away from the crazy female.

This, of course, was useless. Evangeline had learned Laxus's lightning body, which allowed her to move quickly to catch them. She then blasted them both with lightning.

Gildarts, who was unable to move after getting blasted with Evangeline's powerful attack, gritted out, "Never, ever tell a woman there is something wrong with her mind. Or her emotions. Or anything. Don't say there is anything wrong with her. Or else you will die."

"Noted," Laxus groaned out.

Evangeline was back at the clearing working on her sword forms. She knew that what Laxus had said probably had something to do with why she was having trouble. She just didn't want to accept it. She thought she would be able to pick up her parents' magic easily, but instead she felt like a family disappointment.

A while later, Gildarts and Laxus returned to the clearing. Evangeline was still going through sword forms.

"Evangeline, I have an idea," Gildarts said. Evangeline stopped her forms and looked over at the man with an eyebrow raised.

"And?"

Gildarts suggested that Evangeline try and learn requip magic for her swords. It would make it easier to travel since she could also put all her things in her storage dimension. Aspen was quick to agree and taught Evangeline quite quickly. Aspen also wanted to teach Evangeline some dark magic, which Evangeline was hesitant to, but eventually agreed.

Evangeline learned Aspen's obsidian magic. It was basically dark earth magic. Earth and lightning magic in one person were a lot, but Evangeline was a natural to both. She also continued learning from Laxus.

By this point, the group had been gone for six months. Gildarts decided it was time for their final test.

"Laxus, Evangeline. If you beat me in a full out fight, we can go home," he said. He wanted to sleep in a real bed again. And get away from the teenagers. Mostly to get away from the teenagers. Both teens got serious at his statement. The older man smirked. They had learned well.

"Then let's go," Evangeline said, readying her emotion magic. Gildarts still hadn't found his own counter to her magic.

The battle was brutal on both sides. Evangeline's jacket arms were shredded. She had barely repaired the damage from Aspen's obsidian magic all those months ago in Clover Town. There was no saving it now. She had blood dripping down her forehead, as well as from her arms, legs, and stomach. Laxus wasn't faring much better. Gildarts was tired, but he could keep fighting. He was almost disappointed that the kids weren't able to defeat him but remembered that he was much more powerful then them. He was about to call the fight off when the teens stood up again. He watched them walk over to each other and stand back to back, grabbing each other's hands. They were going to attempt a unison raid.

"Unison Raid: Raiko: Red Lightning," they chanted together. Gildarts was floored, literally. He saw the blood red lightning coming for him but couldn't do anything about it. The next thing he knew, he was laying on the ground. Laxus and Evangeline slumped down onto the ground, still back to back.

"Where the hell did you two learn how to do a unison raid, and that spell?" Gildarts eventually said, still breathing heavy.

"We didn't know it would work," Evangeline said. Laxus nodded.

"I kind of made it, but I based it off of my great-grandfather's lightning," he said. "I couldn't use it on my own, so I asked Ev to help me."

Gildarts started laughing. "You two are idiots. You could have killed yourselves." The teens joined in the laughter.

"Yep, but we are Fairy Tail mages. We get away with doing stupid things all the time," Evangeline said. She and Laxus stood. Gildarts eventually got up as well.

"Back to Fairy Tail we go," Gildarts said as he limped towards the edge of the now destroyed clearing.

Master was very mad at all three of them upon their return. First, he was mad that they never made any contact. Second, he was mad that they were all injured. Third, he was mad that everyone was injured because Gildarts made the teens fight him, and that the teens did a unison raid with an untested magic spell. He almost squashed them with his giant magic. Almost. He snapped out of his anger when he realized that the teens weren't afraid of his wrath. He took a closer look at them.

Evangeline and Laxus looked older. They had more defined features and muscles, and otherwise just looked more mature. They were cool and collected. They were also standing very close to each other, to which Makarov was very happy. He wanted to live to see his grandson get married, and he thought that was highly likely.

Makarov looked over at Gildarts and saw the man looking at Evangeline and Laxus with pride in his eyes. Makarov smiled. Everything went according to plan, if even better. All three had grown from the experience.

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A/N:

Okay! Chapter 2! I will be doing a present chapter, then a flashback chapter, and alternating between those for a while until I get caught up to the point where the story started. There's a lot of background to each of the character's stories. Things in this chapter will be clarified in the next chapter, don't worry. Thanks for reading!