A large, muscular man sat opposite of Ivan. He had a menacing scar stretching from the corner of his right eye to his cheekbone. His crossed arms bulged threateningly, he made for a frightening figure as he stared at Ivan intensely.

 

Ivan, on the other hand, was a tad nervous as this was his first time in another person's home. It felt different, more… lived in he supposed. At least, compared to the restaurant he and Erza had stopped by the day before, or the guild itself even. It was a kind of warmth that felt intimately familiar to him.

 

The thoughts of the guild led Ivan to remember how Makarov had helped him earlier that day, guiding him to the empty voidspace inside his spirit. This eventually allowed Ivan to uncover a part of himself he never realized was missing, thus opening his eyes to the world and its beauty. Even now, Ivan could feel the connection with vivid clarity. A constant stream of energy flowed into him from nature itself. Where it went he had no idea, but it seemed to serve a purpose of some kind. Ivan put his thoughts to rest when he saw Mirajane walking in from the kitchen. 

 

The beautiful woman sat down on Ivan's left, positioned between the two men innocuously. "Elfman, this is Ivan. Ivan, this is Elfman." She picks up a cup of tea and sips at it impishly.

 

Elfman gave a short grunt before grabbing a large sandwich in front of him, taking a large chunk of it in a single, massive bite. He chewed angrily, his displeasure palpable. His eyes refused to leave Ivan's the entire time. "Wha ih he doing here?"

 

Mira sighs and rests a hand on Elfman's thigh. "I told you, this is just temporary. Ivan will just stay until he has things figured out. I understand this is very sudden Elfman, but I couldn't just leave him alone. He reminds me too much of… of her. Of us, when we were younger.."

 

"I don't like it. This is our home Mira. For our family. Not him." The man says, pointing at Ivan. After a moment, the tension leaves Elfman's shoulders as they sag with grief. "I-I don't know. It feels wrong to have him here when she isn't."

 

"Elf, back then we had each other to rely on. But Ivan doesn't. He's alone. But he doesn't have to be. We can be the family he needs."

 

Elfman drops his sandwich back onto the plate. He erupts into a standing position. "That's the thing Mira, he isn't family!"

 

"I can leave." Ivan suggests. "If it makes you feel better, I can just leave. I don't want to impose on you or your sister's kindness. Not if it's going to hurt your relationship."

 

Mira turns to Ivan in worry. "But where will you go Ivan, where will you sleep? Outside, in the cold? You’re too young to do that, you could get hurt!"

 

Ivan shrugs in response. "I’m not as young as you think Mira. Has the Master not told you? I'm sixteen. Besides, I've slept through worse."

 

Elfman visibly struggles with his thoughts until he finally relents. "Okay fine! You can stay. But only for a bit! It wouldn't be manly of me if I let you sleep in the dirt anyways." He grabs his sandwich and scarfs it down quickly, washing it down with a tall glass of milk.

 

Mira squeals at the news, jumping up and giving Elfman a tight hug in appreciation. "You're the best brother a sister can have!"

 

Elfman rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. "Heh, more like the only brother." He turns back to Ivan, a stern expression on his face once more. "You. Don't make Mira cry or you'll be hearing from me, understand? Be a man!"

 

Elfman stomps out of the dining room after warning Ivan.

 

Once he leaves, Mira and Ivan finish their meal in companionable silence.

 

Later, Mira watches as Ivan cleans the dishes. "You don't have to do that, you know."

 

"It's the least I can do Mira. You're letting me stay here after all."

 

"Well, yes. But it still feels wrong to me…"

 

"Just think of it as payment then, for letting me stay." He replies, with a shrug.

 

When Ivan finishes, Mira takes him to a storage room and pulls out some clothes. "Here, you can change into these. They're some of Elfman's old clothes. Your room is down the hall on the left."

 

"Thank you Mira, for everything."

 

"Good night Ivan." She says with a smile.

 

"Good night."

 

---

 

Ivan wakes up refreshed. Looking out the window, he saw that the sun had barely risen. He leaves the room in the same condition he found it in, neat and tidy.

 

As he walks down the hall, he notices Elfman exiting the washroom. Elfman freezes for a moment before realization dawns on his face. Elfman gives Ivan a nod.

 

Ivan returns the gesture. "Hey Elfman, how does one become strong?"

 

The large man turns to Ivan in surprise. "Why do you ask?"

 

"Because I want to help the people who've helped me. Erza, Master Makarov, Mira… they helped me when they didn't have to. I want to repay their kindness, but I can't. I'm too weak."

 

Elfman looks at Ivan in understanding, finally giving him a small smile. It widens into a large grin as he points to himself with his thumb "I understand. Leave it to me, Ivan! I'll make a man out of you if it's the last thing I do!"

 

Ivan smiles back to Elfman in appreciation when a door behind him slams open with a thundering bang.

 

"Oi, Elfman! Shut up! I'm trying to sleep!"

 

The door mysteriously slams shut after.

 

"Uh, was that-"

 

"Yeah, that's Mira. She, uh, reverts to her old self sometimes when she doesn't get enough sleep." The large man chuckles nervously before slowly edging towards the front door. "Come, I'll show you my gym." he whispers, taking great care in closing the door gently behind him.

 

Several minutes later, Ivan found himself doing pushups on the floor. Sweat beaded his brow as his thin arms struggled to support his weight. "Patience… and… determination…"

 

He keeps going until his arms eventually fail him and he collapses onto the floor, panting heavily, his arms burning furiously. Over the course of several seconds, the burning sensation fades away. When it does, Ivan pushes himself back up with a grunt and continues training.

 

Later, Ivan heads back home to wash up, the sun now visible in the distance. When he does, he sees Mira setting the table, a large plate of eggs and bacon and a salad ready to serve. Ivan's stomach rumbles loudly as he smells the enticing scent.

 

Hearing this, Mira looked up with a smile. "Ivan! Welcome back! Were you with Elfman?"

 

"Ah, yes. We were training in his gym."

 

"Oh that's good. I'm glad the two of you are getting along. Uh, about what happened earlier this morning…I don't know what came over me. How embarrassing! Could you keep quiet about it? Please?" Mira presses her hands together in a praying gesture as she directs doe eyes at Ivan.

 

"Ha, okay. My lips are sealed." Ivan says as he smiles lightly.

 

By the time Ivan came back from washing up, Elfman was seated at the table. The trio ate their meals while trading idle gossip. When Elfman finished, he excused himself and left first while Ivan and Mira tidied up the dishes. The two of them headed to the guild after, where Mira explained how jobs work.

 

"Okay Ivan, this is the job board. As a member of a guild, this is where you will find jobs. Each listing will indicate what the requester wants you to do and the reward you will receive for doing it. Normally, the reward will be in Jewels, the currency of Fiore. Sometimes it'll be an item or object such as a Celestial Key." Mira said, wearing a pair of cute spectacles. "When you find a job you want to accept, just bring it over to me and I'll process the paperwork. This is very important because it prevents other guilds from picking up the same mission after you've already accepted it. Any questions?"

 

Ivan shakes his head. “Not right now.” He turns towards the board and examines the available listings.

 

“Alright, I’ll be at the counter if you need me.” Mira said as her glasses disappeared with a puff of smoke.

 

Ivan goes through the various job listings, ignoring jobs that required him to fight as he was still too weak to complete them. He soon notices a listing asking for help in a kitchen. Just as he reaches out to grab it, a small hand rests on his shoulder.

 

“Why, aren’t you a hard working lad. I would suggest, however, that you refrain from taking on jobs right now. There’s no need to rush things Ivan, just take your time. Focus on your recovery first. We can worry about the future when it comes.”

 

Ivan turns to face Makarov, who had snuck up behind him while he was busy.

 

“I’ll be leaving soon for the Meeting of Masters. Just wanted to check on you before I go. I hear little Mira took you in yesterday, that's good. I was worrying if you had a place to stay for the night. Be good to her now; she's been through a lot, just like you. I've filled Mira in on your situation, as well as your particular constitution. Your meals will be covered by the guild until you're back in shape."

 

Ivan opens his mouth to refuse Makarov's generosity but is cut off almost immediately.

 

"If you still feel indebted, you can always donate to the guild coffers when you start completing jobs. Lord knows we need it… Anyway! I've got to go!" With this, Makarov hops away in a hurry.

 

Out of the corner of Ivan's eye, he could see Mira waving at him. 

 

"Ivan! Master wanted me to bring you to a friend of ours to check on your condition!"

 

"Okay. I'll be right over."

 

Ivan and Mira walked through a wooded forest. The musky scent of fresh pine needles and damp moss in the air. Ivan found the smell rather relaxing. They soon came upon a small villa, where an elderly woman with light pink hair could be seen, sweeping away fallen leaves. She wore a deep red cloak with numerous claws rimming a tall, flared collar. 

 

As they approached,  she turned to them with a stern, no-nonsense expression.

 

"More? Heavens help me, they're endless… Alright, what's wrong with this one?"

 

Mira smiles at the woman. "Hello Ms.Porlyusica! Master was wondering if you could take a look at Ivan here. He has a rather… odd, constitution that heals extremely quickly."

 

"Hmm. Alright, you have my attention. Come here child, let me take a look at you."

 

Ivan walks over to Porlyusica who takes his arm in hers. "I'm not a kid by the way." He says, "I'm sixteen."

 

The stern woman shows no indication of having heard Ivan, her eyes vacant as she focuses on something.

 

A few seconds pass when Ivan feels phantom fingers tracing across his body, her touch was light as they whispered across his skin, occasionally dipping below to alight upon a nerve or muscle. Ivan forces himself to ignore the unpleasant feeling, consciously restraining his spirit so as to allow the woman to work away at her leisure.

 

"Oh…that's odd. Your cells seem to be completely unaged. It's as if you haven't aged a single second, which is obviously impossible considering how you look. Your magic is completely depleted as well, which also shouldn't be possible. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that your body is pulling in ethernano as soon as it's absorbed, then using it to repair the damaged tissue almost immediately. This means you can't use magic by the way. Now, what I want to know is… where does the ethernano go when there's nothing left to fix?"

 

Ivan looks at her with a confused face. "Sorry to interrupt, but what's ethernano?"

 

Porlyusica pinches the bridge of her nose. "It's what magic is made of, boy. My lord, the standard of education these days."

 

"Uh, Ms.Porlyusica, what do you mean Ivan can't use magic?" Mira asks.

 

"It means he can't use magic, Mirajane. Now, are you done here? If so, scram! I have work to do."

 

The stern woman ushers Ivan and Mira away from her home in a rush, broom in hand.

 

As the two walk back to the guild, Mira takes a peek at Ivan to see how he's doing. He appeared to be completely unaffected as he walked along the worn path lazily. "Hey Ivan… are you okay?

 

The thin man continues walking for a few moments before jerking in place and turning to Mira. "Sorry Mira, did you say something?"

 

"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to know what you wanted for lunch today. I can let Narba know when I get back. Narba is our exclusive chef by the way. He's really flexible with his menu and never fails to make a delicious dish."

 

"Oh… in that case I'll have something that has a lot of nutrients. Doesn't really matter what it is."

 

When Ivan arrives at the guild, he spots Levy sitting at a table all alone. Her arms rested on the table, circling her head as her forehead lay against the smooth surface.

 

Ivan walks over to her, a bit curious. "Hello Levy. What's wrong?"

 

"Hey Ivan… nothing's wrong… I'm perfectly fine?"

 

"Mira says it's not good to lie, you know."

 

Levy sighs. "Fine. Droy and Jet got into a fight on our last job and now they won't talk to each other. I don't know what to do…"

 

"What was the argument about?"

 

"We were on an extermination job but I accidentally burnt Droy's plants. He didn't want to blame me so he blamed Jet instead for getting in his way, forcing him to throw his plants in front of my fire. Then Jet got angry at Droy for blaming him for something he didn't do. And it's all because of me… if only I wasn't so weak, maybe things would have been better."

 

"I agree, that was your fault." Ivan said, making Levy whimper with dejection. "But not because you were weak. In my opinion, as the leader of your group, you should be focusing on leading Jet and Droy first and supporting them second."

 

Levy looks up at Ivan with interest, her eyes still red rimmed.

 

Ivan sits next to Levy, nudging her with his leg. "If you're still dead set on getting stronger however… what's your magic?"

 

"It's called Solid Script magic." She says with a sniff. "Basically, I use my magic to write a word in the air, and the word takes on certain properties depending on what word it is."

 

"Do you only use one word at a time?"

 

"Yes, I do. Why?"

 

"Have you ever thought of writing two words at once? For example, instead of Fire you would write Sticky Fire. Is this possible?"

 

"Oh! Um, I… I don't know, actually. I don't see why I can't. I just never really thought about it, hehe. Um, oops?"

 

"Let's try it out then. Since we're still in the guild let's keep things tame. Write something that won't damage the building."

 

Levy thinks for a moment before writing 'Magic Apple'. The words glow for a second before melding together to form an amorphous blob. This blob of energy then shapes itself into a glowing blue apple that hovers aloft in the air.

 

Ivan picks it up, finding that it's extremely light but surprisingly stiff. He takes a bite out of the blue apple with a loud crunch.

 

"Oh! It's pretty good actually." Ivan says, as a rush of warmth courses through his stomach, up to his chest before dispersing to the rest of his body. As Ivan looks himself over, he notices a faint blue glow inside his veins. "It's a bit odd though. There's no juices, just a bunch of pleasant tasting crunchy bits. What is it supposed to do?"

 

"Um, it's supposed to be good for you I guess? I didn't really have a solid image in mind when I wrote it."

 

Ivan grabs the table while still seated. With a short grunt of effort, he manages to raise it overhead before letting it back down. A few minutes later, the warmth fades away and when Ivan attempts to repeat the feat, he finds the table too heavy for him to lift. "Raises strength for sure. If you're expecting a fight, you can make one each for the three of you to give you an edge."

 

Before Ivan could say more, Levy hugs Ivan tightly.  "Oh I have so many ideas now! There's so much I can do with this! Ivan, you're a genius!" The petite woman pecks Ivan on the cheek before rushing away. "I need to find Jet and Droy!"

 

Ivan watches her figure disappear among the crowd of guild members with a smile, some of whom were looking at him curiously. "Glad to be of help."

 

With a sigh, Ivan heads over to Mira, giving her a smile and reassuring her that he's alright. Ivan scarfs down the porridge Narba had cooked up for him before heading out for a walk. Ivan takes his time as he explores Magnolia. His stroll takes him across much of the city, where he comes across the grand Cardia Cathedral. "What a cruel joke. How can I call myself a Fairy Tail mage when I can't even use any magic? What am I supposed to do? How can I help my friends if I can't even help myself?" 

 

Ivan eventually finds himself in front of a large forest and walks in. With each lungful of fresh loamy air, Ivan finds his troubled thoughts fading away. He acts with instinct, allowing his legs to take him away without worrying about the where or the why. He kept going until he felt chilly water around his ankles. The sudden fluctuation in temperature brought Ivan out of his stupor.

 

When he looks around, he sees a wide glade with towering trees all around him. A clear lake sits in the center, leaving only a thin strip of grassland between it and the forest line. Cat tails peek out over tufts of tall grass around the large body of water. The thick canopy blocks out the sunlight, casting a peculiar gloom over the glade. The scarce rays of sunlight that did manage to filter through gave the clear water an enchanting sparkle, the sight of which left Ivan breathless.

 

He kneels next to the water, placing his hands in the clear liquid until it reaches his wrists. Ivan looks into its clear surface and sees his reflection smiling back to him, serene. Peaceful. Ivan closes his eyes and allows his consciousness to sink into his spirit. He traces the ebb and flow of magic, how it flows from the air into the water, where it slowly gathers, growing more concentrated with time. He felt the magic in the water sink into his skin through his hands and wrist, saw how it traveled along his nerves where it dispersed into his muscles. "Right. This morning when I was training with Elfman, I was barely able to outpace my recovery. Elfman says that muscles grow stronger by repeatedly tearing and repairing themselves… does this mean I can train more efficiently than others? And if so, by how much?"

Ivan opens his eyes with a determined smile. "Let's put it to the test shall we?" He places himself into a pushup position and lowers himself down. Then promptly got back up and started to make his way back home. "...Later. Hopefully I can find my way back without issue."