Past: Live

A/N:

Back to the past! Next chapter! (Disclaimer. I own none of the songs. There.)

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Year 3

Evangeline was sitting at a table with Gray and Laxus when a small red-haired girl walked into the guild to join. She felt incredible sadness coming from the girl. She also noticed the white eyepatch covering her right eye. The girl was also very thin and had scars all over her body. It didn't take a mind reader to figure out the gist of what had happened to her. Evangeline tightened her grip on her cup to the point that it shattered. Laxus, who was sitting next to her, carefully took the remaining shards of glass from Evangeline's hands and checked them over for cuts. After not seeing any, he drew her close to him.

Laxus had seen too many kids like the one who had just entered the guild. Abused by sick people who couldn't find anything better to do with their time. It made him angry. He and Evangeline had gone on enough jobs to stop child trafficking rings that they had both become accustomed to the signs. He just hoped this new girl hadn't had anything too horrible happen to her. He turned back to look at the girl who was now talking to his grandfather. He gave the girl her stamp signifying she was a member, then she stalked off to a table in the corner. He gave his grandfather a questioning glance, and Makarov shook his head.

Gray was confused. He knew the girl who just joined looked rough, but he didn't know why Evangeline and Laxus reacted the way they did. Laxus glanced back at him, and sighed.

"Ev, let's go home for now," Laxus said quietly to her. She nodded. "Gray, you come too. We will explain." Gray nodded. The three stood and left the guild. Evangeline didn't want to leave yet, but she knew that she couldn't approach the girl right away. It didn't take long for the group to get back to the Hastings house.

"So why did you react that way, Ev?" Gray asked as soon as they were all sitting on the couches in one of the living rooms. Evangeline sighed.

"Gray, as you get older, you learn things you wish you didn't have to know. This is one of those situations. The past few jobs that Laxus and I have gone on are to fight against people who do bad things to kids," Evangeline started to explain. Gray frowned.

"Like what?" he asked. Evangeline smiled sadly at her still decently innocent little brother. Laxus took over.

"They beat these kids, Gray. They hit them and kick these kids, and they do other terrible things to them. The new girl looks like she got out of a situation where she was abused. She's missing an eye, and she has scars all over. She's gone through a lot," Laxus said. Gray kept frowning.

"How could they, though? I don't understand," Gray said.

"They are terrible people, Gray. Some people do terrible things and they need to get put in jail," Evangeline said. Gray nodded.

"They shouldn't be able to do that to kids," Gray said. "It's not right."

"It's not. Now, the new girl might seem odd at first because she doesn't feel safe in the guild yet. She might need some time to open up to people. Don't force her to do or say anything she isn't comfortable with. If she opens up to you, don't tell us what she tells you unless she's in danger, okay? If she trusts you, then make sure you keep that trust," Laxcus explained. "It's like you when you joined. You were combative because you were hurting and lost. Then you found Ev, and she made everything better."

"Okay," Gray said, nodding. "I can do that. Can we go back to the guild now?"

"Not until we finish our stupid math homework Mom and Dad left," Evangeline huffed. They were out on yet another job, and they decided that Evangeline and Gray needed to start subject study. That included math. Laxus also joined in because Evangeline made him.

Thankfully, their homework didn't take long to finish. Gray was actually really smart; he just didn't like to show it. He was good with numbers and could talk anyone around a situation. Evangeline thought that if he wasn't a mage, he would have been a good candidate to go to university and study law. The group then returned to the guild. The new girl was still sitting quietly in the corner of the guild. Evangeline decided to slowly approach her table alone to try and get the girl's name.

"My name is Evangeline. Welcome to Fairy Tail," she said softly, a small smile on her face. She felt a lot of hesitance in the girl, but she tried to gently sooth it away. "What's your name?"

"Erza Scarlet," she answered. Erza was tense. Evangeline decided to not take a seat across from her just to give her space.

"It's nice to meet you, Erza. Have you eaten yet today?" Evangeline asked, already knowing the answer because she could feel that the younger girl was hungry. Erza shook her head.

"No, I don't really… Have any money," she said quietly, her head dropping.

"That's okay, Erza. What would you like?" Evangeline asked her. Erza frowned.

"You don't have to," Erza said. Evangeline put a hand up and shook her head.

"I want to, Erza. Anything you'd prefer to have?" Evangeline asked again. Erza shook her head. Evangeline nodded and went to the bar to order some food. She decided to get Erza a burger, fries, chocolate shake, and a piece of strawberry cake. Evangeline ordered the same for herself. She went back to Erza's table after ordering.

"Would you like to meet some more kids around our age, Erza?" Evangeline asked the girl. Erza thought about it for a minute but shook her head.

"Maybe tomorrow?" she answered quietly. Evangeline nodded.

"Whenever you are ready," Evangeline said. Erza stared at her in confusion.

"I don't understand you," Erza said bluntly. Evangeline blinked.

"What about me confuses you, Erza?" Evangeline asked. She was genuinely curious.

"You're too nice," Erza said. Evangeline smiled sadly at her.

"Ah, Erza, you'll learn that almost everyone in Fairy Tail is like me. We always try and be nice to each other. We are family here," Evangeline said. "You don't have to get to know everyone right away, but I'd like you to meet Gray, Laxus, and Cana tomorrow if you are up to it. We are the youngest four. We might be able to all go out on a job in Magnolia in a few days to get you some money, too." Just then, someone came by with the girls' food.

"You can sit, Evangeline," Erza said as she stared at her food. Evangeline sat down across from the girl.

"Thank you, Erza. I ordered us the same thing, since I wasn't sure what you would like. The strawberry cake is great," Evangeline said. Erza grabbed the piece of cake and a fork, then cut off a piece and put it in her mouth. Her eyes lit up.

"This is amazing," Erza said in awe. "I've never tasted anything like this." Evangeline smiled softly at the girl.

"I'm glad you like it. You can call me Ev by the way. It's faster than saying Evangeline every time," she said. Erza nodded before devouring her cake and then turning to the rest of her food. Evangeline dug into her food as well.

Meanwhile, across the guild, Laxus and Gray were watching Evangeline interact with Erza.

"I see what you mean now," Gray said.

"About what?" Laxus asked, confused.

"Evangeline isn't getting too close to her. She has been talking to her for a long time and only sat down when the new girl invited her to," Gray said. Laxus nodded. He was glad Gray had picked that up. Undoubtedly, he would be dealing with abused kids in the future and knowing how to make them comfortable was a big deal.

"I'm glad you picked that up," Laxus told him. "Sounds like Ev wants us to meet her tomorrow if new girl is ready. Sounds like her name is Erza."

"You could hear that from here?" Gray asked, curious. Laxus panicked for a second internally since Gray didn't know he was a dragon slayer.

"Might have been wrong, too," Laxus said, trying to cover for himself. Gray shrugged, not really caring.

"We'll find out later from Evangeline too," Gray said. Laxus nodded.

Eventually, Erza left the guild hall and went to her room in Fairy Hills. Evangeline went over to the boys and told them that they would meet Erza tomorrow if she was comfortable. Evangeline also said she wanted their generation to take Erza on a job in Magnolia to get the girl some spending money until she was more acquainted with how everything worked in a guild. Gray and Laxus agreed. They went back to the Hastings house for the night.

Gray had gone upstairs and gone to bed already while Evangeline and Laxus were in Evangeline's room. They were sitting on her bed.

"She was in a place called the Tower of Heaven," Evangeline told him. "I was digging around through her memories over dinner."

"Some name for a slave project," Laxus said. Evangeline sighed.

"Poor girl went through a lot there. There were a lot of other kids there too. Rob was also there," Evangeline trailed off. Laxus looked at her in disbelief.

"Rob? That's where he's been? We gotta go help him," Laxus said, moving to get up. Evangeline grabbed him. He looked back at her and saw her shake her head with tears in her eyes.

"He's gone, Laxus. He sacrificed himself to save her and the other kids," she said. Laxus frowned as he scooted back next to her and put his arms around her. They both stayed quiet for a while after that.

"Are you gunna tell Gramps?" Laxus asked her. She shook her head.

"It's not my place to tell. Erza needs to be the one. I shouldn't know," Evangeline said. Laxus sighed but agreed with her judgement. He leaned back to lay down on the bed, pulling Evangeline with him. Evangeline shifted in his arms, so she was resting her head on his chest.

"Why does this always happen," Evangeline mumbled. Laxus rubbed circles on her back and kissed the top of her head.

"That's how life works, Ev. We can't control everything. Just have to live for each day. Rob knew what he was doing," Laxus said quietly.

"I know," Evangeline said. "I just… I wish no one had to die like that. I wish I got to say goodbye."

"Me too, Ev," he said as he tightened his arms around her. He looked over to the clock on her wall and saw it was getting late. "We should get some sleep, Ev."

"Probably should," Evangeline said as she yawned. "You're not going anywhere, right?"

"Never."

The next day came and Erza had agreed to meet Laxus, Gray and Cana. Erza was weirded out by Gray's stripping habit, but Evangeline said they had already tried to make him stop and it just wasn't going to work. She thought Laxus and Cana were alright as well. Erza found herself clinging to Evangeline, though.

Evangeline asked Erza if she wanted to do a quick job in Magnolia that afternoon since she had already agreed to one with Gray and Cana. Erza thought about it for a while before she decided to tag along. The job was to help run a silent auction benefiting the hospital in Magnolia by announcing the winning bidders. It was incredibly easy. Evangeline and Laxus didn't actually participate but were there just incase someone decided to be an ass. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Erza had a lot of fun even though it was an easy job.

More weeks went by with Erza taking jobs with Cana and Gray, and slowly the red head started talking to more members of the guild. Evangeline couldn't be happier because now she felt like she could take a larger job again with Laxus for a few weeks. Her parents were still off on another job for the council. Evangeline went to the request board and picked out one to take out a small dark guild terrorizing a small down west of Sunset Town and brought it to Master for approval.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" he asked as he approved the job for her and Laxus. Evangeline shrugged.

"Up to two weeks. We might be better off getting some information about them first to see who their most powerful members are so we can try and wipe them out first," Evangeline said. Master nodded.

"You kids be careful. Let us know if something happens," he said, and Evangeline walked back to the table Laxus was sitting at.

"Approved?" Laxus asked. Evangeline nodded.

"Dark guild terrorizing a small farming village. I gave us a two-week timeline," Evangeline said. Laxus raised an eyebrow at her.

"This shouldn't take us any more than three days tops," he said. Evangeline shrugged.

"They might have a few stronger mages. I want to investigate as much as possible, so we avoid any difficult situations," she said. Laxus rolled his eyes.

"We can take out Gildarts ourselves. We'll be fine against almost anyone," he said. "Why did you really give us two weeks?" Evangeline sighed.

"Must you do this every time?" she complained. Laxus laughed.

"I will whenever you do things like this. Now why are we going to be gone for two weeks?" he said more seriously. Evangeline sighed again. "Stop sighing."

"Fine. I wanted to take one week to do the job, one week for more training. We get pretty destructive usually so we can go to our old clearing," Evangeline said.

"And we couldn't have just left for a week after we got back?" Laxus asked. Evangeline didn't know why he was making this so difficult.

"Do you want more train rides?" Evangeline glared at him. Laxus paled.

"No. Thank you," he rushed. Evangeline smirked.

"We can always come back right after we get done, I don't mind. Gives me more opportunities to flash my fancy free pass," she said. Laxus got even paler.

"Please no, let's not. I'm sorry, I won't do it again," he begged her. Evangeline laughed.

"Good. We leave tomorrow morning," she said. "Let's try and catch the 9am."

"We'll have to set your alarm for once," he said. Evangeline sighed.

"I guess so. I hate that thing," she said bitterly. Laxus nodded. Evangeline's alarm clock was terrible. It was too loud and obnoxious and hard to turn off.

"I'll buy you a new one when we get back?" he offered. Evangeline nodded.

"Given it will benefit us both, I don't see why not," she said. "Do you she'll be okay while I'm gone?"

"Erza will be fine. She's got Cana and Gray. They will protect her. Stop worrying so much," Laxus told her.

"I can't help it," Evangeline said, pouting. Laxus leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"You're cute when you worry, just don't make such a habit of it," he said as Evangeline flushed.

"Hush you," she told him.

Erza was watching the two interact from across the guild hall. She was sitting with Gray and Cana. Gray seemed to notice she was looking in Evangeline and Laxus's direction and she must have been confused, so he decided to clarify.

"Those two have been unofficially officially together for a few months now. Honestly, probably before they left to train with Gildarts. They always liked each other. Now they are just more open with it," Gray explained. Erza blinked.

"And you are okay with them together?" Erza asked him. "You are her brother."

"They were kind of like this even before I joined a few years ago," Gray said. Erza seemed even more confused. "Oh, yeah, Evangeline is more like my adoptive sister. I've lived with her family for years now."

"Oh, I thought you were actual siblings," Erza said. Gray shrugged.

"Blood doesn't really matter in Fairy Tail. While we are all family in this guild, some of us are closer in our own little families," he explained.

"I came here after my mom died. Evangeline kind of became my big sister too," Cana said, jumping in. "I just wish a few younger kids would join so I could try and be to them what Ev was to me." Erza was amazed.

"She's something special, isn't she?" Erza remarked, fascinated by the older girl. Both Cana and Gray nodded.

"That she is."

Laxus hated trains. He expressed this every time he had to ride one.

"Why can't we just teleport there," he complained. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"It's too far, and we both know you are absolutely terrible when it comes to directions," Evangeline said. "Now put on your sound pods and sleep. I'll wake you when we get there." Laxus groaned but did what she said. He passed out not long after. After making sure he was asleep, Evangeline closed her eyes and started meditating when something happened. She didn't go to her usually internal realm with Aspen. She was at the guild, but it looked different. It was destroyed.

Evangeline felt like she was watching a dream. There were iron rods sticking out of the guild hall. The scene jumped to showing three people bolted to a tree in Magnolia park. Then she saw a fight at a guild she knew as Phantom Lord from the symbol. Then she was transformed into Aspen, but she was older than she was now. Then she was shaken awake.

"Ev, what happened?" Laxus said, sounding worried. He was sitting next to her now.

"What do you mean?" Evangeline asked.

"Ev, you were like, glowing," he said. Evangeline's eyes widened.

"I was trying to meditate to maybe talk to Aspen for a while, but I wasn't pulled to that part of my mind. I saw Fairy Tail destroyed by Phantom Lord," she said. Laxus looked at her with wide eyes.

"They attacked us? Now? In a guild war? We gotta-" Laxus started, but Evangeline cut him off.

"It was in the future, Laxus. Not right now," she said. "I don't know why I saw it, though. That's never happened before."

"Let's talk to gramps after we get back," he said. "Or my dad, he seems to know a lot about random things." Evangeline frowned at mention of Laxus's father. She didn't like the vibe that man gave off. He was also very harsh with Laxus.

"We'll talk to Master. Probably also my parents," she said. Laxus nodded, accepting her answer. The train shook a little harder than normal and Laxus turned green.

"Rest your head in my lap and sleep," she said. Laxus did so without hesitation. Evangeline stroked through his hair, eventually lulling him to sleep. Evangeline decided against trying to talk to Aspen lest she get pulled into that odd future space again without knowing what it actually was. Aspen's single pull on her mind told her that Aspen agreed.

A short while later, they arrived in Sunset Town. Laxus was excited to be off the train, and Evangeline was excited to have feeling back in her legs. They had gone numb about fifteen minutes after Laxus had fallen asleep on her. They had to walk the rest of the way to the farming village their job was in. That itself would take about three and a half hours, thus why Evangeline suggested taking the early train.

Evangeline quickly found herself tired of walking.

"I'm bored," she said. Laxus had his sound pods on, but he still heard her.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it," he sighed. Evangeline sent a half-hearted glare at him.

"Entertain me," she said. Laxus rolled his eyes.

"Requip your sound pods, Ev," he said. Evangeline stopped walking and blinked. Noticing she stopped, Laxus stopped as well and looked back at her.

"Why didn't I think of that earlier?" Evangeline asked before doing what Laxus had suggested. Laxus laughed and continued walking once she had caught up to his side. They walked next to each other contently for another hour before Evangeline, unfortunately, tripped over her own foot and twisted her ankle.

"Really, Ev?" Laxus sighed. Evangeline pouted.

"It's not my fault," she said. Laxus rolled his eyes.

"Yes, it was, Miss Clumsy," he said. He helped her stand back up, but she started walking with a limp. Laxus stopped her before making her get on his back so he could carry her.

"Are you sure? I can probably walk it off, and we have another two hours at least," Evangeline said.

"Just get on."

Laxus carried her the whole way to the town their job was in. Evangeline actually fell asleep about half an hour after she climbed onto his back. Laxus was glad she hadn't tried to walk the whole way. He went to the only inn in the small town and decided to wake Evangeline up.

"Hey, Ev, we're here," he said Evangeline buried her face into his shoulder.

"Already?" she said as she yawned. "You can set me down, my ankle feels a lot better." Laxus set her down and they went to get a room. They only ever got one room now since Laxus always slept in her bed now anyway. After checking in, they got settled into their room for a while before trying to find dinner. They walked around the small town and found a diner. About an hour and a half later, they were back in their room.

"When are we checking in with the client again?" Laxus said quite loudly to Evangeline, who was in the shower.

"Noon, so we will have some time to walk around in the morning," Evangeline replied.

"Ev, you've been in the shower for almost 45 minutes," Laxus said. He heard her turn the water off. He could practically feel her glaring at him through the wall and chuckled to himself. A few minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom with her wet hair up in a towel.

"Fine, I'm done, go ahead," she said. She sat down on their bed and started combing through her long blue hair. She wasn't finished working through all of it yet when Laxus came out of the bathroom with his pajama bottoms on. He sat down behind her on their bed and grabbed the comb out of her hand. He loved her hair. He finished working through the knots in her hair and then braided it for her.

Evangeline enjoyed it whenever Laxus did her hair. She knew he loved her hair. She would catch him playing with her hair at the guild and at home all the time. She found it calming. Of course, Laxus never braided her hair at the guild because he didn't want the older members to make fun of him. Evangeline thought it was cute that he had her teach him how to do it.

"We should probably get some sleep," Laxus said as he finished braiding Evangeline's hair. Evangeline nodded and they both stood to get under the covers. Laxus put an arm protectively around Evangeline and they both fell asleep.

The next day consisted of the teens meeting with the mayor of the town and traveling to different farms getting information about the dark guild. They found out there were at least two stronger mages, but a majority of the mages weren't terribly strong. They just had destructive magic. After that, they settled at the same diner that had eaten at the night before for some food.

"So, what's the plan?" Laxus asked. He generally went along with whatever Evangeline said.

"We should be fine to go in guns blazing honestly," Evangeline said. Laxus gave her a weird look.

"You never say that," Laxus said suspiciously. "Why now?"

"Think about it. The second we attack they will be attacking. Most of them have fire magic. Their guild hall is made of wood. Also, from the descriptions we've had of most of them, we won't need much magic to take most of them out. The two stronger ones we will take on after we take out the weaker ones. We shouldn't let them stay conscious because they could become a problem later on," she said. Laxus shrugged.

"If you think that's best, then that's what we'll do. It'll be fun regardless," he said. Evangeline laughed quietly to herself.

"Sure, fun. When do we want to go after them?" Evangeline asked.

"Tonight. I want to take them out as fast as possible. Word has probably already reached them that there are mages here to get them. They are probably going to underestimate us because we are younger than who they would usually send on this kind of a job. We have all the advantage except that we don't know how their guild hall is organized," Laxus said. Evangeline nodded in agreement.

"Tonight then," she said. A few minutes later, they paid for their food and went back to the inn. Evangeline summoned her swords one by one to sharpen them for the battle ahead. She might not use them, but if she needed to, she wanted to make sure they were as sharp as possible.

A few hours later, just before sunset, they went to the guild hall. It wasn't big, but just as Evangeline expected, it was made of wood. She felt for how many different people there were in the hall based off their emotions. She felt lots of nervousness, but also several people were excited. In total she felt about thirty.

"Thirty. About four are excited, the rest are nervous. I'll start with their emotions," Evangeline said quietly. Laxus nodded. It wouldn't take long for her to take a hold and make them all nervous and doubtful of themselves. She also boosted their positive emotions so they would fight better. A minute later, she nodded to him. She was ready for phase two.

They walked to the doors of the dark guild and Laxus sent them open with a bolt of lightning. Mages inside started screaming, and several lashed out with fire attacks. Laxus and Evangeline started sending a barrage of lightning towards the mages inside the guild, succeeding in knocking most of them out.

"Oh, looks like the kiddies are here already," a deep voice said from inside the smoke that was inside the guild hall.

"I guess so, Arashi, shall we dispose of them?" another voice, this one more feminine, said.

"Yes, my dear. Let's show them the power of the Dark Duo," the man, Arashi, said. Laxus snorted.

"Dark Duo? What kind of pathetic team name is that," he said.

"You are a fool to insult us," the woman said.

"I think you need to both get knocked down a few pegs," Evangeline said. She requipped one of her swords. This one was a gift from Gildarts after their training trip was completed. It was a beautiful steel blade with blue cherry blossom inlays.

"Slicing Winds," Arashi yelled. Evangeline used her lightning body to appear in front of Laxus and sliced through the attack. Arashi and the woman he was with saw her slice through it because the wind made the smoke dissipate.

"How?" the woman said in disbelief.

"This is a special blade. It has the ability to slice through any attack," Evangeline said. "Unless, of course, you are a dragon."

"And here I thought you two were supposed to be stronger," Laxus said, sounding bored.

"Now, Laxus, don't be rude," Evangeline said as she rolled her eyes. She had been expecting a better fight as well.

"Demon Bomb," the woman cried out, sending a dark orb of magic their way. Evangeline sliced through it as well.

"Go ahead and take them out, Laxus," Evangeline said. "I had all the fun last time." With that, Laxus sent powerful bolts of lightning at both of them, knocking both mages unconscious. Evangeline felt for anyone that wasn't asleep and didn't find any who weren't.

"It'll probably take a while for the rune knights in Sunset to get here," Laxus said. "Should probably bind them."

"Obsidian Binding," Evangeline said, casting the spell on all the enemy mages. The black rock wrapped all of them so they couldn't use their hands. No one would be able to break out of it, either. Evangeline dismissed her blade.

The rune knights arrived five hours later. Evangeline and Laxus were bored out of their minds, especially because some of the mages had awakened from their slumber and were squawking at them about how they wanted a real fight. Evangeline eventually extended the binding to close their mouths. After all the mages in the dark guild were accounted for, they were allowed to go back to their inn and rest.

"Well, I guess we will have more than a week for training. What were you hoping to work on?" Laxus asked when they were getting into bed.

"Thoughts. I want to read thoughts. I need to get it eventually," she said. Laxus chuckled at how stubborn she was. When she made her mind up, it was easier to make a mountain move than change her mind.

"We'll see. If that doesn't work out, let's work on more lighting," he said. Evangeline nodded.

"Sounds good."

Evangeline still couldn't get reading thoughts. Over a week wasn't a lot of time for training, but it was something. They sparred with each other, each critiquing the other on form and magic output. Laxus struggled with needlessly expending more magic than he needed to, while Evangeline tended to underpower her attacks for their size. Laxus had a huge amount of magic, as did Evangeline, but they wanted to increase their magic containers, so they made sure they were running low every day. Evangeline wanted Gildarts to teach her his continuous flow but Gildarts said he refused to teach them.

Finally, they were back in Magnolia. They arrived back at the guild to find Evangeline's parents had returned.

"Mom, Dad," she said, walking over to their table.

"Ah, Evangeline, it's been a while, hasn't it," her mother said. Evangeline rolled her eyes, and both her parents laughed.

"Yes, yes, we have been gone a lot. You were also gone for a number of months if you can remember, Missy," her father said. Evangeline huffed.

"Can we at least take a family vacation for a few days? Please?" she asked. Her parents sighed, and Evangeline's head dropped.

"We are doing delicate things for the council right now. We were allowed home for the past few days and tomorrow as well before we return. Now, there is something else nagging your mind that you wished to speak with us about?" her mother said. Evangeline nodded as she sat down with her parents. Laxus joined her.

"Basically, I was trying to talk to Aspen on the train to Sunset, but then something happened. I didn't go to that place in my mind where I can usually find her. I found myself at the guild hall instead, but it was destroyed by iron rods. Then it flashed to another scene, and I looked older. Phantom Lord was at war with us, that's really all I can remember," she said. Her parents frowned in unison.

"While that was happening, her magic started leaking. It was bad to the point it woke me up," Laxus added.

"Premonition? I suppose. It's rare, but it could happen. If possible, try and go back to that place again while we are gone. I don't think it's dangerous, but there have been instances of Hastings having this power in the past," her father explained. Evangeline nodded.

"Just don't do it alone if you can help it," her mother said. Evangeline felt concern growing in her.

The doors to the guild hall opened again to show the three younger kids coming back from another job in Magnolia. All three of them spotted Evangeline and went to tackle her as she stood from the table she was at.

"My gosh, guys, I didn't know you'd miss me this much," Evangeline laughed as she held all three in a hug.

"You're squishing her. Get off," Laxus said bluntly. The kids didn't listen.

"Oh, let them be, Laxus," she laughed. Evangeline's parents shook their heads at the kids' antics, and also their thoughts.

Year 4

Evangeline sighed. She was bored. It was early July now and her parents had been gone for almost 7 months this time. Laxus had been taken somewhere by his father to do God knows what, and the newly named Team Next Gen were away on their first job outside of Magnolia. It turned out that Erza was a magnificent fighter. She'd make S-Class in a few years easily. Gray and Cana were also getting stronger.

Suddenly, Evangeline found herself pulled into her mind by Aspen, who happened to be freaking out.

"Evangeline, something just happened. Something called the Eclipse Gate was just opened. Several children were just sent through," Aspen rushed out.

"What's the Eclipse Gate? I'm confused," Evangeline said.

"The Eclipse Gate is a powerful magical door that requires celestial magic to open. All twelve zodiac gate keys must be opened in order to open the gate, and that was somehow done," Aspen said. "The door links periods in time. I heard of this plan many years ago, and I don't know all the details, but several children are now in this time period that are not supposed to be here."

"What do you want me to do, then?" Evangeline asked. Aspen sighed.

"Nothing. There's nothing we can do. I just wanted to pull you in here and explain. These children are dragon slayers, all trained by real dragons. They aren't like Laxus," Aspen said. "They are very powerful. Should you ever have one join this guild, make sure they are nurtured and cared for just like other children."

Evangeline nodded, still confused as to why Aspen thought it necessary to pull Evangeline away from the conscious world but went along with it anyway. Aspen dismissed her and Evangeline was suddenly awake again. Just then, the guild doors opened to show Master with a pink haired boy wearing a scarf.

"Listen up, everyone! This is Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer," he announced. The guild went into an uproar and cheered. Evangeline stayed quiet as she looked at the kid. He was probably around the same age as Gray, but they were opposite elements. She would have to see how they got along. Master and Natsu went to the bar and Natsu got his stamp.

"Evangeline, would you come to my office, please?" Master said a few minutes later. She nodded and followed him upstairs. She sat in the chair across from his desk.

"I've had a request put in for you to do a job in Hargeon. It would be about a month long to do mass crowd control at concerts to make sure no one gets too combative. Fights have been common there recently during concerts, and the organizers would like you to stay for the duration of concert season before they close port for the winter. Pay would be 800,000 jewel. You are free to refuse, of course," Master explained. Evangeline nodded.

"I'll accept. I take it I'll need to take the night train tonight?" Evangeline asked. Master nodded.

"The client would like you to be there as soon as possible. I'll let Gray, Cana, and Erza know when they return where you've gone," he said. Evangeline nodded again before standing.

"Is that all?" Evangeline asked. Master sighed.

"Ivan is up to something. I'm having your parents investigate him. I thought you'd like to know," he said. Evangeline frowned. She knew Ivan did terrible things, but she was surprised that it was to the point where his own father was investigating him for his crimes.

"Thank you for letting me know. Take care of Natsu. Aspen said he'd need it," she said. Master frowned but passed it off as the old demon just knowing more about everything. He knew better than to ask questions by now.

Hargeon was busy. It was a port town, after all. Thankfully, the month of her contract went by smoothly. It was interesting to use her magic on thousands of people at a time. The first several times she was getting exhausted quickly, but she regenerated her magic fast enough to do it every other day. Now, she was able to hold up constant control over other's emotions for several hours at a time. More than once she had to do it while taking out possible disruptors. She took it as she basically got a month of intense training with her magic container.

That being said, Evangeline was eager to get home. She wanted to know if Laxus had gotten back. She had a bad feeling about his trip with his father. She told him she didn't want him to go, but Laxus didn't listen. He didn't understand why she didn't like his father. Evangeline also wanted to see the younger kids, who she had budded her ducklings, again.

The train ride back to Magnolia was much longer than Evangeline would have liked. She just wanted to get home. About an hour into the ride, she put on her sound pods and listened to a song she had recorded with a band after a concert. They had needed an emergency singer, and since Evangeline could sing, and also knew all the bands songs, she was roped into it. The band loved her and let her record a cover with her vocals for one of their songs. She, of course, chose to cover Don't Let Me Down.

She kept her sound pods out and listened to one of her playlists for the next few hours until she finally reached Magnolia station. She all put ran from the station to the guild.

"Ev, you're back," Cana said, spotting her as she came in. She, Gray, and Erza all bolted over to her to tackle her.

"Why do you always have to take long jobs," Gray said. Evangeline laughed.

"Well I got to record a song this time, so there's that," Evangeline said. All three kids looked at her with wide eyes.

"No way! Ev, that's so cool," Cana said. The older members of the guild had started to father around as well to listen in.

"You can sing?" Erza asked, surprised. Evangeline nodded.

"I don't sing much at the guild, but I don't stop at home," Evangeline explained.

"It's true. I have to freeze her to make her shut up sometimes," Gray said. Erza smacked the back on his head.

"It's rude to freeze someone who has a talent, Gray," she said. Evangeline laughed.

"It's okay. He's gotten used to it now," she said. Gray shook his head.

"Don't listen to her. She's obnoxious. At least she's good," he said. Cana laughed.

"Sing for us, Ev," Cana said while she flashed her puppy dog eyes. Gray and Erza copied their brunette friend, and Evangeline had to give in.

"Oh, Fine, I'll sing. What do you want me to sing?" Evangeline asked, mostly directing her question at Gray.

"The one you always sing at the piano," Gray said. Evangeline nodded.

"That would be Hallelujah, then," Evangeline said. "Now if you three get off of me I can do this." All three kids detached themselves from the older girl and watched as she went to the piano on the stage.

Well I've heard there was a secret chord

That David played and it pleased the Lord

But you don't really care for music, do you?

Well it goes like this:

The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew ya

She tied you to the kitchen chair

And she broke your throne and she cut your hair

And from you lips she drew the Hallelujah

The guild hall was silent except for Evangeline. Everyone was enchanted by her voice.

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

But baby I've been here before

I've seen this room and I've walked this floor

You know, I used to live alone before I knew ya

And I've seen your flag on the marble arch

And love is not a victory march

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Erza felt tears leaking out of her real eye. She hadn't ever heard music in person like this. She looked over to Gray and Cana and saw both of them staring at Evangeline with their eyes wide open. Natsu, the boy who had joined just a month ago, was also staring at the blue haired teen on stage. He felt chilled. He never felt chilled.

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Well there was a time you let me know

What's really going on below

But now you never show that to me do ya

But remember when I moved in you

And the holy dove was moving too

And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Maybe there's a God above

But all I've ever learned from love

Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya

And it's not a cry you can hear at night

It's not somebody who's seen the light

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Evangeline finished her song and looked out to the crowd of mages who were now staring at her. She was surprised to see so many members with tears in their eyes. She didn't even need to feel for their emotions to know what they felt. It showed on their faces. Someone in the crowd started clapping and then the sound of applause filled the guild hall. It died down a few moments later.

Evangeline was mobbed after she got off stage by people asking her when she started singing and the like. Thankfully, she was able to escape after a few minutes. She was glad she had finally gotten over her minor stage fright during her job, otherwise she would never have done that on stage in front of all her guild mates.

Evangeline was still upset because Laxus wasn't home yet. She was worried about him. She also wanted her parents to come home because she had had a few more visions about minor things, as well as more fleshed-out details about the Phantom Lord attack in the future. But, alas, they were still gone, and probably would be for several more weeks or months.

Evangeline decided that she was going to try and talk to Natsu, their new dragon slayer. He was the second, but only she and Laxus knew that.

"Natsu?" she asked the kid as she walked over to him.

"How did you do that?" Natsu asked. He looked confused.

"Do what?" she asked, confused as well.

"I got cold while you were singing," Natsu said. "I never get cold."

"Hmm, I think that's your body saying that you liked the music. I get chills listening to my favorite songs. It's not bad," Evangeline explained. Natsu nodded.

"Okay," he said before starting to wander over to the request board. Evangeline followed him.

"What kind of job are you planning on taking? I'll go with you on one here in Magnolia, if you'd like. I've done so with all the kids now," Evangeline said. Natsu grabbed one off the board.

"This one," he said as he gave it to her.

"Natsu," Evangeline deadpanned. "This is an A-Class job. Not for someone your age. You will only be allowed out on these jobs with me or Laxus, or at least the whole group of younger kids."

"Damn, I thought it was in Magnolia," Natsu said. Evangeline paused for a second before realizing what was going on.

"Natsu, you can't read, can you?"

Over the course of the next month, Evangeline drilled reading and writing into Natsu's head. She was making him read simple books and whenever he understood those, she moved him up to longer ones.

"I want to go do magic now," Natsu whined, again.

"Natsu, knowing how to read and write is just as important as practicing magic. You can't take jobs until you are able to read every job on the board and explain to me what they are for in your own words," Evangeline sighed. "We've been over this."

"But Gray gets to go do fun things," Natsu complained. Evangeline was getting annoyed and started letting out some of her lightning magic, so she started sparking. Natsu shut up right away. "Okay, reading, right. Reading fun."

"You are making a lot of improvement, Natsu. The rest of us have had a long time to learn about reading and writing. Just wait until I make you learn math," Evangeline said. Natsu paled, then started reading his book intently. Gray had complained about math, and Natsu knew he would hate it. He was hoping that Evangeline wouldn't make him learn math if he did well with reading and writing.

A few weeks later, and still no word from Laxus or her parents, Evangeline decided she was going to give Natsu his final test. She just wanted to go on a job again. She didn't care if she had to drag the entire Team Next Gen with her.

"Natsu. See if you can read all the jobs on the board. If you can, I'll take you and Team Next Gen on a job, and you'll be able to officially join them," Evangeline said walking with said dragon slayer over to the request board.

It took about forty minutes for Natsu to read and summarize each request, but he passed his test. Evangeline grabbed a job for Clover Town to take out some bandits that were targeting traveling merchants.

"Gray, Cana, Erza, you three ready to go?" Evangeline shouted as she got the job approved. She had her eye on it the day before and had told the three of them they were going on a job the next day.

"Yeah, Ev," they responded in unison.

"Natsu, you are coming. Let's go, we have to catch the next train that leaves in 40 minutes. We might as well head that way now," Evangeline said as she walked out of the guild with all four of her ducklings in tow.

"Ev, what are the rules for this job?" Erza asked.

"Listen to what I say. I don't want anyone to get injured. Natsu, try not to burn everything down. I'd like to get the reward money," Evangeline said. Natsu sighed.

"That's no fun, though," he complained. Gray smacked Natsu in the head.

"We listen to what Ev tells us to do on this team. You don't want to make her mad, or else there will be trouble," Gray said. "Last time I destroyed something, Ev zapped me so hard that I was unconscious for a week." At this, Natsu paled again.

"Oh, hush, this will be fun," Evangeline said as they arrived at the train station. She presented her card to one of the ticket sales people, who then frowned.

"You are the only one outside the Heartfilia family to have one, Miss. I assume you have heard of Lady Heartfilia's passing?" the woman said sadly. Evangeline felt her eyes widen.

"I haven't, actually. Thank you for letting me know. I will pass my condolences on to her family," Evangeline said softly to the woman. The ticket woman nodded and gave her the tickets.

"Come on kiddos, to Clover Town we go," Evangeline said, her voice sounding a bit sad. Unfortunately, Evangeline learned that Natsu had terrible motion sickness. She had thought Laxus's was bad, but no. His was nothing compared to Natsu's. Erza ended up knocking Natsu out so he wouldn't get sick all over their compartment.

The job itself was straightforward, until a stronger bandit showed up again. Evangeline didn't hesitate to let Aspen take over to dispose of the bandit. The problem came when Evangeline couldn't regain control, and Aspen couldn't pass control back to her.

"Uh, kiddos, I think we've got a problem," Aspen said. Gray blinked at the demon.

"Can you not switch back or something? It's been an hour," Gray said. Aspen shook her head.

"I can't find Evangeline. She's lost somewhere," Aspen said. Gray's eyes widened.

"What do we do?" Gray asked, stripping accidentally because of stress.

"We gotta get to Porlyusica. She'll be the only one that will know what to do since Evangeline's parents are gone right now," Cana said. Erza nodded in agreement. Natsu was confused as to who Aspen was and why Evangeline looked different.

"Uh, guys, I don't understand. Who is Aspen?" Natsu asked. Aspen looked over to him.

"Oh, they didn't explain. I'm the demon sealed inside of Evangeline. We are on good terms, don't worry. I actually like her so I protect you guys whenever she feels like she might need a little more help," Aspen said. "Evangeline lets me take control over her body in those situations, thus why the appearance change. Usually I can give control back to her right away, but I can't right now. She's lost in our mind scape right now. This hasn't happened before in any of my hosts."

"Igneel said something about a demon that was sealed inside of people… Are you the same demon?" Nastu asked. Aspen nodded.

"I remember your dragon. He was interesting, that's for sure. You remind me a lot of him. And before you ask, no, I haven't seen him recently," Aspen said. Natsu was about to get excited since someone else knew Igneel, but Erza knocked him out.

"Erza, you'll give him brain damage," Cana sighed. Erza shook her head.

"He has a hard head. He'll be fine. I will carry him to the train. The faster we get back to Magnolia, the faster we can get Evangeline back," Erza said. Cana and Gray both nodded.

"We have to get our reward first," Aspen said. Erza furrowed her brows.

"Can you go back on the train while we collect the reward? We can get back on our own. We will just make sure Natsu doesn't get into trouble," Erza said.

"I think that's a better idea, Aspen. I'm worried," Cana said, dropping her head. Aspen walked over and put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"It'll be alright, Cana. I'll let you three take care of Natsu so I can get Evangeline back to you," the demon said. The three conscious kids nodded, and Aspen set off for the train station. Thankfully, there was a train just boarding and she would make it back to Magnolia within a few hours.

When Aspen arrived back in Magnolia, she set off right to Porlyusica's house in the woods. It took her a while to get there, and it had now been almost 5 hours since she had taken over. Even the old demon was starting to get anxious. This never happened to any of her other hosts, that much was true. She had also never had a host like Evangeline.

"Yo," Aspen said to Porlyusica when she walked into the old woman's home.

"What do you want, demon?" Porlyusica asked her, annoyance evident in her voice.

"I can't find Evangeline," Aspen said shortly. The old woman turned to Aspen with wide eyes.

"What do you mean you can't find her?" she asked. "And how long have you been in control?"

"I mean I can't find her within our shared mind. That's where she always is when I take control. Just beneath the surface. But she's not there. And I've had control for just about 5 hours now," Aspen said. Porlyusica sighed.

"That's excessive. On the bed, now," Porlyusica said as she milled around her home getting different potions. "Let's figure out where our Evangeline went."

It took another hour for Aspen to find Evangeline. When Evangeline finally reappeared, Porlyusica sighed in relief.

"You sure know how to worry old people, you know that, brat?" she said. Evangeline just looked down at her hands.

"What happened? I don't remember anything, which isn't normal. Are the kids okay?" Evangeline said. Porlyusica stared at her.

"None of Aspen's memory went to you? This is not a situation I like," she muttered. "Aspen took over to take out someone because you wanted to make sure the kids were safe. Then, six hours later, she finally found you in your mind and was able to pull you back to being in control. The kids are on their way back now."

Evangeline furrowed her brows.

"That doesn't make any sense. I always get memories from her, and I've never been lost in my own head," Evangeline said.

"I think we might need to seal off Aspen's powers for a while, Evangeline. Your body has a lot of her demon energy leftover. It builds up over time, and since you are still growing, you need to get that energy out of you. Otherwise, this will keep happening until Aspen can no longer find you at all," Porlyusica said. Aspen sent a tug on her seal to show her agreement with the old woman. Evangeline felt her shoulders drop.

"How long?" Evangeline asked.

"For as many years as we can get. I have a magic dampening earring, Aspen told me how to make it. Wear this all the time until you are ready to let Aspen take over your body again. Only use her power in emergency situations, and under no circumstances are you to remove that earring for at least five years," Porlyusica said as she gave Evangeline the earring. Evangeline held it up in her hand before putting it down on the blanket of the bed to take out her right earring she already wore. She sent a quick goodbye to Aspen, knowing she had to put the earring on before they could have a longer conversation. As soon as she put the earring in, she didn't feel Aspen's seal anymore. She was still pulled into darkness, however.

Evangeline was watching her parents fighting an army of dark mages. It was a dark guild called Reaper's Blade, one of the various dark guilds her parents had been investigating for the previous few years. She watched as they fought against them. She saw them get injured before the vision stopped.

"Evangeline, what was that," Porlyusica asked, seeing and feeling the magic that was leaking from Evangeline during her vision.

"I gotta go, Mom and Dad are in trouble," Evangeline said as she got up and ran outside before she imagined the place her parents were fighting and sent herself there through her lightning.

She arrived in the forest right where she had seen the battle take place. She felt that there were a lot of people nearby from the number of emotions coming off of different people. Unfortunately, lightning is a very flashy and loud way to travel.

"Evangeline, what are you doing where," a thought popped up in her mind. Well, that confirmed her parents were here. She thought about the vision she had.

"Evangeline, you being here changes it," another thought said in her mind. What do you mean, she thought back.

"You weren't here in the first one. Who knows what will happen now," another thought said. Evangeline's eyes widened. What do we do now, she thought.

"We have to fight. They were coming to us anyway, but now they know our exact location. We lost the advantage of stealth. Come to 4 o'clock, 60 meters from where you are. We should meet before the battle," the last thought said. Evangeline rushed to the spot her parents had put in her head. At least they could have silent conversations in their heads.

"What you've done is dangerous, Evangeline. We are S-Class mages contracted under the council. We know these mages, and they are powerful. We were hoping to hold out for help from Gildarts. I don't think he'll get here in time, though," another thought entered her mind as she got to her parents. Her head dropped. I'm sorry, I saw it and I didn't think. I was stuck, lost in my mind for six hours while Aspen was in control, she thought.

"Dammit, and her power is sealed now. Evangeline, you need to get out of here," another thought said. No, I have to stay and fight, she thought.

Then the enemy mages were on them. Evangeline released a massive wave of magic over them to dull any emotion that would help them in battle. She didn't even both to do it delicately. She hit them with her magic with the force of a speeding train. She tried to force the weakest into a sense of despair, which she succeeded for a few.

Her parents got to work trying to get the weakest ones she had pointed out to fight against one another as a distraction. While their puppets got to work, they were all forced to enter regular combat.

The battle was brutal. Evangeline had her magic nullifying sword and was cutting through spells and bodies left and right. If she stopped her flurry of attacks, she would go down. She knew it. Her parents were also fighting to the best of their abilities. Her father used sticky smoke that would get trapped in the lungs of any enemy that breathed it in. Her mother used her poison darts to paralyze anyone who came near.

After taking out most of the force, she felt her parents' confidence level rise. Evangeline was about to let her own confidence rise, but then she felt a powerful mage nearby. It wasn't Gildarts. She knew his magic from spending so much time with him. This person was an enemy. And her and her parents were basically out of magic.

"Evangeline, run sweetie. You've done enough, now go. We need you to live," a thought said in her mind. No, she thought back. We can fight him together. You said Gildarts was coming. We just need to hold out for him.

It was too late for her to run, anyway. The mage arrived on the battlefield. It was a large man wearing a tattered gray cape. His magic pressure was almost suffocating.

"Breathe, Evangeline," another thought said. Evangeline took a deep breath and got a hold of herself. At least, she thought she did. She wasn't prepared for what happened next.

The man sent two beams of black magic towards her parents. Her mother got hit through the shoulder and her father got hit in the stomach. She felt their magic start to dim. That's when Evangeline snapped. Her magic gathered around her in a swirling cloud of black and lightning.

"So, this is your demon brat, Hastings," the man said as he turned his gaze to her. "This will be fun to take you out too. I'll try and make sure your parents live long enough to see you die."

Evangeline's magic kept swirling, the cloud getting larger around her. The sky got dark with storm clouds.

"Oh, scary, storm clouds," the man mocked. "Is that really all you can do, brat? I wanted to play with you a bit before killing you. I don't think you'll stand up to it. Maybe I'll just end your parents first to give you a bit more motivation." Without any hesitation, he sent dark beams through her parents' chests.

"Live, Evangeline," was the last thought that entered her mind.

Lightning started striking all around the forest, hitting trees and corpses.

"You'll pay," Evangeline whispered in a deadly tone. Her eyes turned red. She took a step towards the man, and rocks started to lift off the ground first. Then larger sticks. Then bodies started to lift off the ground and swirl around her.

"You'll pay," she screamed, sending a bolt of lightning lose at the man. Some of the swirling dark energy around her followed the bolt, as did various other floating objects.

"Oh, here's the demon I wanted to fight," the man said, laughing. "This will be so much fun."

"What demon? My demon isn't needed to kill scum like you," Evangeline said dangerously low. Her lightning was changing color from yellow to blood red, just like the spell she and Laxus had created for their unison raid. The lightning striking from the sky also turned blood red.

Gildarts noticed the clouds forming, then the lightning. He felt a massive amount of magic coming from the center of the clouds, and also felt Evangeline's magic as well. He had a bad feeling he was too late, and something terrible had already happened. He started running as fast as he could to try and save Evangeline. Little did he know the massive magic mostly just Evangeline but mixed with the residual demon energy from Aspen's six-hour control over her body.

"No use lying to me, little girl," the man said. He sent a black beam towards her. Evangeline raised a hand and caught the magic, forming it into a dark orb in her hand. The man's eyes widened.

"How did you catch the demon's ray," he said. Evangeline let out a dark laugh.

"Never mess with a demon host," Evangeline said as she raised her hand to the sky and released the dark magic. "You killed my parents. Prepare for punishment."

"Demon's Curse: Dark Ray of Unholy Magic," the man shouted, throwing more powerful magic at her. Evangeline brought one of the various corpses in front of her and let the spell destroy it.

"You will pay," Evangeline said again as she held her arms up to the sky. The lightning started collecting in a ball over her head. "Hear me, Oh heralds of the heavens. Grant me the power to rid this place of taint. Let blood run red as your holy lightning. Bend and break the bodies of my enemies. Vanquish them from my earthly plain. Lightning's Heavenly Herald's Purgatory Ray."

The red ball of lightning shot towards the man. His screams echoed throughout the forest, and every town for nearly 50 miles heard the boom from the lightning she had released.

Gildarts had thankfully entered the newly made clearing on Evangeline's side. He watched as she gathered the blood-red lightning in her hands and sent it to the man who had, presumably, killed her parents. The man was being turned to ash gradually as Evangeline's attack ate its way across his body. The man screamed until his body had turned completely to ash.

The storm above Evangeline dissipated as did the swirling black could of energy around her. The corpses of the dark guild returned to the ground. Then, Evangeline collapsed. Gildarts left the tree line to check if the teen was even still alive, and to his relief she was. He surveyed the destruction that she had left. Various body parts were strewn across the area. There were only two bodies that weren't affected. As Gildarts walked closer, he realized they were the bodies of Evangeline's parents. He sighed. He had lost two more friends. Thus, was the life of a mage. He walked back over to Evangeline's unconscious form and picked her up. He knew the rune knights would come due to the sheer amount of damage that had occurred, and they would send the bodies of the Hastings back to Fairy Tail for a proper burial.

Laxus was back at the guild when he heard a massive crack of lightning. He'd had no idea what it could have been, either. So he waited. He was only waiting for three hours before he learned what had caused it.

Gildarts walked into the guild hall with a sorrowful look on his face and Evangeline in his arms. The guild went from noisy to silent in a matter of seconds. Laxus watched as the older man carried Evangeline further into the guild and towards the infirmary. Everyone stayed silent. A few minutes later, Gildarts came back into the main part of the guild hall and sat at the bar.

"Emilia and Luke are dead," he said, his voice low. The guild's collective mood become dark. Gray spoke up quietly.

"Is Evangeline…" he trailed off. No one wanted to ask.

"She's alive. She used up all her magic killing the man who killed her parents," Gildarts said. "Now someone get me a beer so I can explain what the fuck happened, at least from my knowledge."

A few minutes later, Gildarts had chugged several pints of beer to the point where he felt he was able to talk about the day's events.

"Emilia and Luke were investigating various dark guilds for the past few years on a contract with the council. One of them being Reaper's Blade. This was one of more disgusting guilds they investigated. The leader, the man who kill them, had a sick fascination with human sacrifice. He was also a necrophiliac. His power level was comparable to mine, thus why those two contacted me for help taking them out. The council tasked them to wipe the whole guild out. There were over a hundred members. Emilia and Luke were S-Class, but they couldn't have done it on their own.

"Evangeline didn't know about their investigation. I have no idea how she got there. She probably made a huge difference in the fight for the first part of the battle. Then the guild master showed up. Sebastian Lowes." At this point, everyone gasped. They had heard of the cruel man before.

"He killed them for fun. He killed them before even going after Evangeline. I assume probably something to do with her demon. Then she snapped. She wasn't using Aspen's power. It was all her own. A massive storm formed above the forest and it started sending out random bolts of lightning. Evangeline had lightning crackling around herself as well. Not only that, but there was also a dark energy swirling around her. This started picking up everything left in the area, including the corpses of Reaper's Blade members. Then her lightning turned red. I've never heard her use the spell, but the incantation was very long. She channeled all the red lightning into that spell, and it started turning that man to ash. He was in agony until he finally disappeared, thankfully. Then she collapsed, and I brought her back here."

Laxus stood from his spot and went into the infirmary to be with Evangeline. He heard Gray stand and follow behind him. Laxus sat on the right ride of her bed, and Gray sat on the left. They knew she would need them both when she woke up.

"You okay, Gray?" Laxus asked the younger kid quietly. He shrugged.

"I'll be okay. I've been through this before. She hasn't," he said. Laxus sighed. Sometimes he forgot that they kid had already lost his family once, now he lost another one. But, thankfully, Evangeline was still alive. They both needed her more than anyone else in the world.

Evangeline was standing at the cemetery outside of Kardia Cathedral in an long black dress. The service had ended almost an hour ago, but she stayed at their graves. Laxus and Gray were at her sides the whole time. Natsu and Cana had wanted to stay, but Erza ands Gildarts had ushered them away. Evangeline needed her brother and her boyfriend. They would take care of her.

Evangeline was thinking about her vision.

"I shouldn't have interfered. They'd still be here," she murmured. She didn't cry. She'd cried enough.

"You don't know that, Ev," Laxus said. Evangeline shook her head.

"The Gods don't look favorably on those who try and alter the future," she said. "I saw a different future play out. I wasn't there. Gildarts arrived to take care of the strong mage, but my parents were injured. I wanted to help them. By doing so, I killed them." Thunder rumbled in the sky, and rain starting slowly falling on the trio.

Both boys remained silent. They knew she was right. You don't try and alter the future. It isn't the place of mortals to do so.

"Let's go home," Evangeline said a while later. Laxus grabbed one of her hands while Gray grabbed the other, and they made their way back to the Hastings house.

"She'll be fine," Gildarts told Makarov. The two had returned after making sure the other kids stayed at the guild. "She will be in pain for now, and probably push her magic to dangerous points, but we have to let her. They will keep her grounded."

"Agreed. She will sit out the S-Class trials this year. I was going to nominate her, but I think it's best if she stays here. I'd like it if Laxus went, but he is needed here," Makarov said.

"Do you think we should sell the house? Evangeline won't be making enough money to keep it, even with her inheritance," Gildarts asked. Makarov sighed.

"We'll let her keep the house a few more years. I'll pay for it in the meantime. I think taking that away from her would push her over the edge," Makarov said. Gildarts nodded.

"As I said, she'll be fine. Her parents spoke to her before they left. She told me so. They told her to live. That's exactly what she will do. Mourn, then continue living. Hell, I'm pretty sure that sure gave her parents the proper Fairy Tail sendoff before they died," Gildarts said, chuckling slightly.

"She sure is something," Makarov said. "Even without Aspen's power, she is fearsome, and in more ways than one."

"I wouldn't fight her. She'd wipe the floor with my ass," Gildarts said. "I'll look out for her too. Kid's like the daughter I never had. Her parents left me in charge of her as well. I intend on seeing that through for the next two years until she's an adult."

"You're a good man, Gildarts," Makarov said. Gildarts shook his head.

"I'm not. Luke was the definition of a good man. Think of all the people he's lifted up, put into a better place. I can only hope to one day be a good a man as he was. Thankfully, Evangeline is already taking after him. Again, she'll be fine," Gildarts said as he turned and walked away, leaving Makarov alone to think.

"How many more children will lose their parents in this guild? How many more parents will lose children?" he thought to himself. Then, he shook his head. "No matter. They will always have family in Fairy Tail."

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A/N:

Okay, this chapter is done. Thanks for reading!