Situated at the heart of Fiore's southeastern region lay the thriving merchant town of Magnolia, home to a population nearing 60,000 residents. The majority of the town had been constructed along the serene banks of Lake Sciliora, its architecture embracing the lake's gentle curvature. Crisscrossing the town in a neat, deliberate grid were broad, cobbled roads—arteries that divided Magnolia both horizontally and vertically, lending it an organized, almost regal appearance.
One of the most iconic landmarks anchoring the town was the grand Kardia Cathedral, a majestic structure positioned precisely at Magnolia's center. It stood not merely as a place of worship, but as a cultural and ceremonial beacon—host to numerous parades, public gatherings, and significant events throughout the year.
To the west of the town bloomed its liveliest quarter, a bustling district teeming with activity. Here, hotels, taverns, restaurants, and shops stood shoulder to shoulder, vying for the attention of locals and travelers alike. This commercial hub never truly slept, its streets alive with chatter, laughter, and the clinking of coins.
Exiting from one of the coffee shops named Tomas's Coffee, was Rades sipping on coffee from a disposable cup which was given to customers opting for the takeaway. He held the coffee cup in his left arm and in his right hand, he held a cloth bag, filled with something heavy.
Wendy was walking right by his side, sticking up as close as possible. She did not want to get lost in the crowd of people, making things more difficult for Rades than it already was. In her opinion, she felt like she was being an unnecessary burden for him as he had been tasked to have her admitted in a guild by Jellal.
But contrary to Wendy's worries, not once did Rades view her as a burden.
He saw his own reflection in her. A child barely old enough to fend for themself, left alone in the vast world, with no one to look after her. Whosoever she got attached to, left her sooner or later without any explanation. Firstly, it was her mother, Grandeeney, followed by the first friend she made, Jellal. Both of them just disappeared from her life without so much as a goodbye.
Rades wouldn't have minded keeping Wendy as his traveling companion. In the weeks they had journeyed together, he had unconsciously assumed the role of an older brother, a protective figure she could lean on. And yet, it was the promise he made to Jellal that brought him to Magnolia—to keep his word, and perhaps, in doing so, trying to give Wendy the family she so deeply deserved.
"Hey Wendy, look at that." Rades said, halting mid-step and motioning toward a boy, perhaps no older than twelve, walking along the same path. The boy wore a refined black western suit layered over a crisp white shirt, his unruly bowl-cut hair as pale as snow. Cradled carefully in one hand was an unusually large egg.
"He's carrying one too. Just like ours." Wendy remarked, her gaze darting between the egg in the boy's grasp and the cloth bag that Rades held in his own. "What are you doing?"
"Stopping him." Rades replied simply, then flung his empty coffee cup toward the boy's head to get his attention.
"Ow!" The boy rubbed his head, while still holding the egg firmly in his hand. He turned around to see the culprit walking up to him with a cloth bag in his hand. Alongside him walked a little girl, trying her best to match the walking speed of her companion. "W-why did you hit me?"
The sheer height difference between himself and Rades, had already made the boy take a cautious step back. Even though he simply stood there and did nothing, he could feel an incredible aura, akin to that of his older sister from the teen in front of him. There was only one word to describe him. Strong.
"It was the quickest way to get your attention." Rades answered bluntly. Without another word, he unfolded the cloth bag to reveal an egg identical in size to the one the boy carried, though adorned with a different pattern. "I saw you carrying this and thought you might know something about these eggs."
"You have got a dragon's egg too?" The boy exclaimed in shock. He hadn't expected someone else to find a dragon's egg too like his friends did.
"This is anything but a dragon's egg buddy. I know it all too well." The brunette raised an eyebrow. Just because the egg's size was bigger than regular eggs, it wasn't necessary that it would turn out to be a dragon's egg.
"But Natsu was saying it's a dragon's egg." The white-haired boy didn't seem pleased with the knowledge. While he wanted to trust the words of his friend, he himself too wasn't sure of the fact that it was a dragon's egg.
After all, dragons are nothing but myths and tales of the past era.
Then again, his friend was trained by a dragon nonetheless, or so he claims.
"Anyways, where exactly are you taking this egg to?" Rades inquired, his tone laced with curiosity. He silently hoped that this boy might know someone—or something—that could offer them some help regarding this peculiar egg he and Wendy had been safeguarding for weeks.
He had no plans of getting rid of the egg, given the fact that Wendy had somehow grown fond of it and wished to take care of whatever would be hatching from that egg. The concern lay with the fact that none of them had any idea what would be coming out from that egg. If there was one thing he was certain of, however, it was that the egg did not contain a dragon.
"Actually this egg belongs to my friend and my sister. They are taking care of it but sometimes get careless." The boy replied with a genuine grin on his face. "I know they are at the guild right now and are worried about it. So I am taking it to the guild."
"Guild? Are you by any chance a part of Fairy Tail?" Rades asked.
There was only one prominent guild in the town of Magnolia and that was the Fairy Tail guild and their destination. Fairy Tail was the very guild where Rades had in his mind for Wendy. It was one of the only two guilds to have a dragon slayer as their member. With a fellow dragon slayer in the group, Wendy would be able to learn more about her powers and how to utilize them properly.
"That's perfect," Rades said, exchanging a glance with Wendy, whose face had instantly brightened at the mention of Fairy Tail. "We were actually heading there ourselves. Would you mind showing us the way?"
"Yes, definitely!" The boy replied, nodding eagerly. "Oh, I didn't get your names..."
"I am Rades and this is Wendy Marvell." Rades pointed towards the bluenette. "And you would be?"
"Elfman, Elfman Strauss."
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The guildhall of the Fairy Tail guild was chaotic, to say the least. Natsu was already at it, picking fights with almost everyone while worrying about his dragon egg that had disappeared last night. He remembered keeping it beside him before going to sleep but when he woke up, it wasn't there at all.
Lisana was being a worried mess, trying her best to hide her tears. She was blaming her own carelessness on not being able to take proper care of the egg and let it be taken from right under their noses.
Meanwhile, Cana and Gray were deep in debate, their theories growing more absurd by the minute. At this point, their speculations ranged from the egg being stolen by a mysterious thief to the possibility of someone having eaten it in a fit of midnight hunger.
Meanwhile Mira and Erza used this confusion as another excuse to get into a fight.
The adults? They couldn't bother themselves with the kids bickering and simply let them be. It was sort of amusing for them to watch the kids bicker around and pick fights with one another.
"There they go again." Sighed a slim, mildly muscular man with short, straight slicked back dark blue hair, putting his glass down on the table.
Beside him sat a man of average height distinguishable by his brown height kept in an ostentatious pompadour-like style that protruded frontwards from the top of his head in a large, curly and fluffy tuft. He had a pair of sunglasses on him.
"I am telling you the next generation has issues." The man with the sunglasses added with a shrug. "I don't even wanna think about what the guild's gonna be like in a few years."
In front of the two men sat an extremely short, elderly man who was mostly bald, with only the outer rims of his head containing white hair. A magic staff was tied on his back as he sat on the table, drinking along with the two men.
"They fight because they realize that their opponent is worth fighting." He said with his eyes closed. Whenever he spoke, he always spoke with wisdom gained throughout the years. That was the kind of man he was.
"They see themselves clearly reflected in one another." He added, taking a glance at the bickering children. "There is nothing to worry about."
Elfman entered, clutching the egg that was the cause of the argument. However, the eyes of the elders were not on him, but rather on the stranger trailing behind him. The young man held a cloth bag in one hand as he stepped inside, silently observing everyone and everything around him. Perched contentedly on his shoulders was a small, blue-haired girl, marveling at the sight before her from the elevated view.
'Who's that?' While others were hardly paying any attention to the strangers, there was one person whose attention was piqued.
They say that the strong recognize the strong with just a single glance. And Laxus Dreyar believed himself to be the strongest. The strong have a duty. The duty was to find the other people on the same level as them and decide on who the better one among them was.
'Is he here to join? Finally I would have some competition.' Laxus thought to himself, putting down his sound pod around his neck. He leant on one of the pillars on the guildhall, eyeing Rades with a newfound curiosity.
"Natsu, Lisana. I am sorry." Elfman straight up walked up to the group of bickering children with an apologetic face. "I didn't steal it."
"Then what is it doing with you?" Natsu retorted back.
"It was cold at night and you toss and turn a lot and eventually let go of the egg." The white-haired male explained. "I can't use magic very well but I secretly warmed the egg myself."
"So that's what it is. Thank you Elfman." Natsu happily responded, trying to hold back his tears as Elfman handed him the egg. "You are a real man!"
*CRACK*
All heads turned at the sharp sound of cracking—fissures had begun to spread across the surface of Natsu's egg. The salmon-haired boy, wide-eyed, quickly set it down on the floor. At the same time, Rades unwrapped the egg from his cloth bundle and found similar cracks forming along its shell. Without hesitation, he placed it beside Natsu's egg, as the entire guild gathered around to see what sort of beings would hatch from the eggs.
"They're hatching!" Lisana cried out, her voice brimming with excitement, as the cracks deepened across both eggs.
Suddenly a bright light engulfed the surfaces of the egg before they started floating in the air beside one another. A blue light shone from Natsu's egg while a white glow could be seen from the egg Rades carried with himself.
"Kitties?!" Macao and Wakaba shouted in unison, their jaws nearly dropping as the lights faded to reveal two small, winged cats.
From Natsu's egg emerged a light blue feline with a white belly and pink-lined ears. Its tail, entirely blue save for the tip, swayed as it floated down onto Natsu's head. From the other egg came a slender white cat with delicate, feminine features and similarly pink ears. She drifted gently before landing atop Wendy's head.
"SO CUTE!!" Almost everyone in the guild chorused.
'This one's carefree but what's the deal with that one?'
Rades wondered, noticing the distressed look on the white cat's face right after she was born. Others were so preoccupied with gushing over their appearances that they failed to notice it. Soon enough her face morphed back into normal as she started to take a look around her surroundings.
"Aye!" chirped the blue cat proudly, standing tall on Natsu's head.
"Look Natsu." Lisana whispered, tugging at his sleeve. "Everyone was so on edge before but now everyone is happy. He is like a bluebird of happiness."
"Happiness huh..." Natsu mumbled as the cat landed in his arms once again. "Then I am going to name him Happy!"
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"So, you're asking me to take in the girl and the cat?"
At present, Rades was engaged in a quiet conversation with the short, elderly man seated beside him at the bar. The man was none other than Makarov Dreyar, the guild master of Fairy Tail. From their perch, the two observed the lively bustle of the guildhall. Down below, Natsu and his group had already taken a liking to Wendy, having dragged her away from the brunette's side in no time. They had even helped her settle on a name for the white feline who had hatched alongside Happy, Carla.
Natsu, having learned that Wendy was a fellow dragon slayer like himself, wasted no time in challenging her to a fight, only to be stopped from doing so by a well-placed blow on the head by Erza after she noticed the bluenette's slightly anxious reaction to the challenge.
The redhead realized that maybe Wendy, despite being a dragon slayer, a fact she was still having a hard time believing given her age, wasn't a big fan of fighting.
It was slow but Wendy was opening up to the members of Fairy Tail little by little.
"Yes," Rades replied, his gaze softening as he watched Wendy laugh timidly alongside the others. "I hope I'm not asking too much. She's already been abandoned twice. All I want is to give her the home she deserves. That was the promise."
"I understand," Makarov said, folding his arms across his chest. "Very well, I'll take her in, and I'll see to it that she's cared for properly. In Fairy Tail, we never turn our backs on our comrades."
It was still difficult for the old man to wrap his head around the fact that there was another child like Natsu, who was raised by a dragon and taught the art of slaying a dragon.
Dragon Slaying magic was considered a lost magic and thus there were hardly any wielders of that magic in the continent of Ishgar. Yet right here in his guild, there were going to be two dragon slayers.
"I know. It was one of the two reasons I chose Fairy Tail over Phantom Lord." The brunette added with a faint smile.
"You were actually considering Phantom Lord for that child?!" Makarov shot him a stunned glance.
"Well aside from your guild, Phantom Lord also has a dragon slayer in their ranks." Rades shrugged in response. Makarov's expressions didn't phase him. After all, it was a well known fact that both Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord are considered as rival guilds, always competing to best the other.
"Oh so that was your basis of choosing. What's the other reason?" The old man had a curious look on his face.
"Fairy Tail sounded much better and friendly in my head. Wendy seemed to agree with that too."
This reason made Makarov silently offer his thanks to the founding members of his guild on coming up with the guild name.
"Rades, look!" Wendy called out as she ran up to him, beaming with pride. She held out her right shoulder, where a fresh, light blue Fairy Tail emblem now rested, marking her as an official member of the guild.
"That's wonderful, Wendy!" Rades smiled as he knelt beside her, gently patting her head. "Now remember, make plenty of friends, enjoy every moment, and keep working hard to strengthen your magic."
"And don't you forget your promise." Wendy added. Apparently during their travels, Rades made a promise to Wendy. The promise was that whatever guild Wendy becomes a part of, he will come to visit her once a month without failure. And whenever she would need his help, he would be there for her.
Rades never had a sibling of his own but had started to consider Wendy as his sibling in their few weeks of traveling. And thus, he wanted to fulfill the responsibilities that came with being an elder brother.
"Trust me, I won't." He said with a nod, rising to his feet. "Take care of yourself and Carla."
With a final glance at the girl and the white cat perched on her shoulder, Rades turned towards the guildhall's entrance. Just as he reached the door, he paused. Without turning around, he channeled his thoughts through telepathy, his words directly reaching into Makarov's mind.
"I believe I may have one more favor to ask of you."
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