A New Life in Fairy Tail

”I also heard Ultear and the others mention that they went through some really terrible things in the past, and it was only with Noah’s help that they escaped,” Lucy added.

During their days at Akane Resort, Lucy had shared a suite with Ultear, Mirajane, Erza, and Sorano.

Naturally, they had spent a lot of time chatting in their room. As the man they all loved, Noah was brought up frequently.

Knowing that Lucy had also met Noah at a young age, and that the Heartfilia family had worked closely with Noah for years, they trusted her. Consequently, Lucy learned a lot about their pasts.

She learned how Erza’s village was almost destroyed and how she was nearly captured. How Sorano’s village was attacked and how she actually was captured. How Mirajane’s arrogance had nearly cost her younger siblings their lives and put her in immense danger. Ultear hadn’t gone into deep detail about her own past, but mentioned it was similar to Sorano’s and generally quite tragic.

All of them had been rescued from their respective crises by Noah.

Through their daily interactions afterward, their initial gratitude had blossomed into deep affection and love. By the time they fully realized it, their feelings were too deeply rooted to simply let go.

After finally confirming their mutual feelings for each other and Noah, they had reached the conclusion to be with him together.

Lucy had been utterly astounded to hear their stories. She hadn’t expected their emotional journeys with Noah to be so complex and fraught.

However, it also helped her understand why they were so devoted to him. It was precisely because they had gone through those life-or-death experiences together that their bond was so unbreakable.

Lucy silently committed these stories to memory, planning to use them as inspiration for her future novels.

”Mhm. Brother Noah saved me and my sister back then too. If Brother Noah and my sister get together, I’d be completely supportive. The most important thing is that my sister is happy,” Yukino-kun said earnestly.

”Haha, well, that’s up to them to figure out,” Lucy chuckled.

”Well, since it’s Noah, there might be a few bumps in the road, but it shouldn’t be a major issue,” Carla remarked thoughtfully.

”Mhm, I also think Brother Noah will handle it perfectly,” Wendy-kun nodded. Then, seemingly realizing something, she lowered her voice. ”But Brother Noah being with all four of them at the same time...”

As she spoke, Wendy-kun’s face turned bright red.

Lucy instantly understood what Wendy-kun was thinking about, and her face flushed crimson as well. ”That’s... haha...”

Meredy-kun, catching onto their train of thought, also turned a deep shade of pink.

Only Yukino-kun was left completely out of the loop. She looked at her friends in confusion. ”What’s wrong with you guys?”

She felt like she was the only one missing an inside joke.

”Just ignore them. They are thinking about inappropriate things,” Carla glared at Wendy-kun and Lucy, before sighing at Yukino-kun.

”Oh.” Since Carla put it that way, Yukino-kun dropped the subject and turned her attention back to Noah and the brawl.

Wendy-kun and Lucy remained quiet, their faces still burning.

Soon, Noah’s fight with Natsu and Gajeel cascaded into the massive guild-wide free-for-all, and the chaos began to spill over toward the girls’ corner.

”Wahhh!”

Forgetting their embarrassment, Lucy and the girls scrambled to dodge the brawling guild members who were being thrown in their direction.

Wendy-kun, Meredy-kun, and Yukino-kun ducked and wove with practiced ease. Lucy quickly mimicked their movements and found that dodging became significantly easier.

”You guys really are pros at this!” Lucy panted as she ducked under a flying chair.

”You could call it an essential survival skill in Fairy Tail. It took us a long time to get this used to it,” Carla said smoothly, casually side-stepping a soaring beer mug.

”Or you could just join the fight yourself. Look at Erza and Mirajane; they’re having a blast,” Carla suggested to Lucy.

”Sister looks really happy too,” Yukino-kun pointed out as she dodged a stray boot.

”No, no, no! That is absolutely not for me!” Lucy waved her hands frantically in terror.

She watched as brawny guild members were literally punched hard enough to fly up to the second-floor balcony. She shuddered involuntarily; a single hit like that would shatter her.

Seeing Lucy’s terrified reaction, Wendy-kun and the younger girls couldn’t help but laugh.

”But... I guess this really is what Fairy Tail is all about!” Lucy laughed along with them, watching the genuine joy on everyone’s faces despite the brutal melee.

”Aye! This is Fairy Tail!” Happy cheered from his safe spot, raising a paw.

”Mhm! This is Fairy Tail!” Wendy-kun and her friends echoed proudly.

The group shared a warm smile amidst the chaos.

The riotous brawl raged on for a long time before gradually dying down.

Most of the members had exhausted their stamina and magic power. They lay sprawled on the floor, draped over broken tables, or slumped in shattered chairs, completely immobilized.

Noah stood in the exact center of the hall. He looked perfectly composed, his breathing entirely steady. It looked as if he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

”If you guys want to beat me, you’ve still got a long way to go,” Noah smiled down at Macao, Wakaba, and the pile of defeated men on the floor.

”Damn it...” Macao and the others glared up at him resentfully, their eyes filled with unyielding, bitter envy.

”Alright, that’s enough. Stop provoking them,” Mirajane said, setting down her guitar and dispelling her transformation, returning to her elegant long dress.

She walked off the stage, approached Noah, and linked her arm through his, whispering softly.

”You’re right.” Noah nodded.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the men on the floor glaring daggers at him. Seeing Mirajane cling to his arm had intensified their resentful glares tenfold, to the point where their jealousy felt almost tangible.

Noah wisely swallowed the retort, ’Your actions are provoking them a lot more than my words.’

”Is Noah really this much of a monster? Is there no one in the guild who can match him?” Gajeel, lying flat on his back and panting heavily, asked Natsu, who was sprawled out right next to him.

His mindset had completely shifted. He had been terrified that Noah would use the brawl as an excuse to severely injure him as payback. But after actually getting beaten down alongside everyone else, he realized it was just a friendly, albeit intense, spar. There was no malice behind it.

”There’s Gildarts. He’s just as strong. He can fight Noah to a draw. Then there’s Ur, Laxus, and Mystogan. They might be a bit weaker than Noah and Gildarts, but they are incredibly strong too. I’m going to beat them all someday!” Natsu declared, a massive grin on his bruised face.

”There are that many monsters here?!” Gajeel nearly sat up in shock, but the throbbing pain in his muscles forced him back down.

”Yeah! They’re all super strong! But I’ll definitely beat them!” Natsu stared at the ceiling, his tone filled with absolute conviction.

Gajeel glanced at Natsu and knew he wasn’t lying.

He had heard the names Gildarts and Laxus before. If Natsu admitted he hadn’t beaten them yet, it meant Gajeel couldn’t either. Gajeel knew exactly how strong Natsu was. If there were multiple people in Fairy Tail significantly stronger than Natsu...

Jose’s decision to launch a full-scale war against Fairy Tail had been pure, suicidal insanity.

Gajeel shook his head, clearing his thoughts. Phantom Lord was gone, and he was a Fairy Tail mage now. There was no point dwelling on the past.

”But Juvia hasn’t seen any of them. Are they not at the guild?” Juvia asked curiously, having overheard their conversation.

”They’re all out on long-term requests. None of them are here right now,” Gray explained, still lying on the floor nearby.

”Gray-sama! You’re injured! Let Juvia heal you!”

Seeing Gray lying on the floor, shirtless and covered in bruises, Juvia’s eyes sparkled. She immediately scrambled over to him, her face flushed with enthusiasm.

”N-No! It’s fine! These are just scratches!” Gray yelped, instantly bolting upright and scrambling backward, waving his hands frantically.

Even after spending days with her at Akane Resort, he still wasn’t quite used to Juvia’s intense, overwhelming affection.

”What a shame,” Juvia sighed, looking incredibly disappointed.

Gray wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.

Nearby, Noah and Mirajane grabbed brooms and began sweeping up the debris. The other guild members who had recovered some strength slowly got up and joined the cleanup effort.

While sweeping, Noah casually glanced over at Gajeel.

Gajeel noticed Noah looking at him, but this time, he didn’t react with sheer terror. He simply met Noah’s gaze for a moment before returning to his own cleaning task.

Noah nodded internally. This was a good sign. As long as the paralyzing fear was gone, the rest would work itself out.

He also noticed that the guild members who knew Gajeel’s history weren’t ostracizing him nearly as much as they had been before the brawl. The shared experience of getting their asses kicked together had surprisingly broken the ice.

It was a positive change that would only improve with time.

Seeing the coast was clear, Wendy-kun and the younger girls emerged from their safe corner and grabbed cleaning supplies to help out.

Makarov sat at the bar, looking at his thoroughly wrecked guild hall with a deadpan expression. He sighed and called out to Noah, who was busy sweeping. ”Noah, you idiot. Did you forget we have a reporter coming for an interview soon? And you still led the charge to smash the place up.”

”I didn’t forget. We still have a whole day. The reporter isn’t coming until tomorrow. There’s plenty of time,” Noah laughed, looking up from his broom.

Given Fairy Tail’s unparalleled speed and efficiency when it came to cleaning up post-brawl destruction—a skill honed through years of constant practice—a single day was more than enough time to make the hall spotless again.

”Ah! An interview?” Lucy, who was cleaning nearby, turned around in surprise.

Ultear and the others also paused their cleaning to look over. Noah hadn’t mentioned anything about an interview to them.

”The Harvest Festival is coming up soon, right? And we’re the guild that hosts the famous Fantasia Parade. So, a reporter from Weekly Sorcerer Magazine requested an interview to do a massive feature article on Fairy Tail,” Noah explained.

~~~

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