And finally, after a short but intense adventure, there they were both, standing at the entrance of a large building that had a sign with the words Fairy Tail written on it.
"So? This is the famous place huh?" Said Jean looking at the guild symbol.
"Yes, I'm really excited, I hope they accept us"
"Don't worry". Jean said waving his hand to dismiss Lucy's concerns. "We've overcome crazy things before, compared to the anti-wizard forest, whatever this place tries to throw at us will be light". He finished saying taking a step forward while he pushed the door a bit, but before doing so, a figure flew out from inside the guild, landing on Jean.
"Urg". Jean complained, and when he looked up, he saw a guy around his age on top of him, but most alarming of all was that this guy was in his underwear.
"What the fuck?!" Jean yelled as the boy got off of him.
"I'm sorry about that". The stranger gave a quick apology before looking towards the guild and shouting in an exasperated voice as he raised his fist.
"I'm going to kick your ass, bonfire brain!" And after that, he jumped in as the air around his hands grew cold.
"Bring it on, stripper!" Another voice called from inside as some flames rose.
"..." Lucy just looked at this scene with a lost look, not knowing what to say.
"Hey, Lucy". Jean spoke as he stood up. "This really was the guild of your dreams? Because if your ideal is to see a half-naked guy on top of me, we're going to have a looong talk tonight until you get rid of that weird ideas"
"What?!" She responded a bit in a panic, after all, after they formalized their relationship, Jean's slightly perverted jokes turned into suggestive statements that she had no doubt he would follow through on.
"I'm kidding". He said with a teasing expression, which calmed her down a bit, or at least until he quickly leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Unless of course you want me to keep my word~"
"L-let's just go in once". She hastened to say as she stepped forward and flung open the guild doors.
And when they both saw what was happening, Jean whistled in surprise while Lucy was just stunned, because, in front of both of them, something was taking place that couldn't be described with any other term than a bar fight.
"Well, they're lively people, I can give them that". Jean said, looking in various directions, moving to the side when another guy flew in his direction.
"OMG, they kick Jet!" Shouted one in the crowd.
"You bastard!" Another yelled back.
Among the crowd, Jean noticed that the only place where the chaos had not spread was the bar counter, where he could see a white-haired girl, so he took Lucy's hand and moved forward, dodging the poor wretches who flew from different directions from time to time.
"Hello?" Lucy asked when they both sat down at the bar counter.
"Oh? Hello welcome". The girl greeted cheerfully as she turned around to see Jean and Lucy.
This girl gave Lucy the impression of being quite friendly, and she also seemed slightly familiar.
Jean, for his part, while he kept a calm face, couldn't help but exclaim in his mind. 'What is one of the Trinity Seven doing here?'
"I haven't seen you two around here before, are you new?"
"Yes, we came to Magnolia last night, and we came because she wanted to know if she could join this guild, by the way, a completely random question, by any chance your name isn't Yui and you can put people to sleep with your magic?" Jean asked as he watched the girl from the bar with a hand to his chin.
"Eh? ... no?" The girl seemed taken aback by the question.
"Don't worry, he was just asking weird questions, he does from time to time". Lucy intervened apologetically, but the white-haired girl smiled and shook her head.
"No problem, maybe you confused me with someone else, my name is Mirajane, but both of you can just call me Mira, it's a pleasure". She introduced herself graciously, though Jean didn't miss the fact that she had neither denied nor accepted what he had said about her magic.
"Jean Faure, nice to meet you, and sorry for the weird question". Jean introduced himself before bowing his head for a couple of seconds in apology.
"My name is Lucy, just Lucy, it's a pleasure"
"And about your question about how to join, you can talk to the Master about it, right now he's not here, but he should be back in about 10 minutes"
"I see, it looks like you'll get your chance soon Lucy". Said Jean to which Lucy nodded.
"Only her? Don't you plan on joining too?" Mirajane asked Jean.
"Well, I haven't decided yet, my initial plan was to travel around to many places and see what I could find, you know, like an adventure-seeking trip, but someone managed to convince me to at least come to take a look, isn't it, Lucy?"
"Oh my, but you don't have to worry, after all, we get requests from all over the continent, one of our members even does what you want, comes back every once in a while to take a mission, and goes to far away and exciting places". She said as she clasped her hands.
"Oh really? That doesn't sound so bad"
"Besides, that way you could go to places where you're sure things are going on, and you wouldn't need to visit as many until you find something interesting, don't you think?"
"Well, I think it's a good argument, but before making any decision I'd still like to talk to the guild master, after all, people say that a leader is a good reflection of those who follow him, though..." Jean said, turning to see how the relentless fight continued without showing signs of stopping when a tall white-haired man grabbed another by the foot and throw him against another.
"The guild master isn't one of those people who punch you in the face if you ask too many questions, right?" Jean asked, after all, if someone tried to do that to him, Jean would hit back, which could put him in a sticky situation if he punched a guild master in the face while he was inside his guild.
Mirajane giggled as she covered her mouth with one hand in a graceful motion. "Don't worry about it, for all of us the master has been like a father or a grandfather, he is the kindest man I know"
"That calms me down". Jean answered, if the man leading all these people was like a father figure to his guild, then he was sure someone he could talk to easily.
"Are there always fights like this?" Lucy asked.
"Um…" The waitress thought for a moment before answering. "I wouldn't say every day, but every once in a while they do it to release some stress, and everyone holds back just enough that no one gets hurt too much, so it's no problem"
"What a habit". Jean said.
"It doesn't seem to me that they hold back too much". Lucy added watching as another guild member flew away.
"Would you like to drink something while you wait for the master?"
"Sure, do you have mint soda?" Jean asked.
"Yes, and you Lucy?"
"I would like a lemonade with a little liquor"
"There's a lemonade with liqueur and a mint soda coming". The white-haired girl answered before walking away to get the drinks leaving Lucy and Jean alone.
"And what do you think of the guild so far?" Lucy asked, after all, she noticed that Jean still wasn't sure if he would join or not, and if he did, she wanted him to be completely on board with the idea.
"Well, Mirajane is very pretty, that is a point in favor for me to join". Jean said, crossing his arms while he closed his eyes and nodded.
Jean continued to nod until Lucy grabbed his ear and tugged on it. "Ouch, no wait, it was a joke, sorry sorry". Jean begged until his poor ear was released.
"God, to think that even the amazing Jean would suffer from domestic violence"
"Crybaby, besides, it's not okay to tell your girlfriend how pretty seem to another girl to you, especially if you do it with the intention of annoying her". Lucy said, and Jean couldn't reply because it was true that his words were intended to upset Lucy a bit.
"Ok ok, if you want my honest opinion I'd say it's not a bad place, a bit noisy, but nothing that puts me off too much, and if the guild master is as good a guy as Mirajane said, then I think I would have no problem joining"
####
Lucy POV
A short time after our conversation, Mirajane returned with our drinks along with the guild master, Makarov Dreyar, he was a very nice man, and for some reason, he seemed to get along with Jean from the start, although my bet was that the magazine with models in bathing suits that the master had in his pocket had a lot to do with it.
The master grew in size, and with a shout he stopped the fight in the entire guild before introducing us as possible members and then going to his office to chat with Jean, leaving me alone for many guild members to come to introduce themselves.
Although a bit overwhelming, it was also very exciting, everyone had friendly or happy smiles, and they asked me a multitude of questions, like my name, my magic, and similar things.
I had to admit that the conversation flowed so naturally that I didn't realize how long I had been chatting, because before I knew it the guild master and Jean had already left his office, Jean agreed to become a member, and I couldn't be happier about it.
The crowd that had gathered around me now also gathered around Jean to introduce themself, he took everything with a smile and answered all the questions to the best of his ability, although when he was challenged to a fight after saying that he had never lost one, he refused, saying that at least for today he still had things to take care of, like finding a place to stay and unpacking his luggage.
So we both said goodbye before walking through the streets of Magnolia, shortly after we found a comfortable medium-sized apartment where we could easily fit in, after all, we had known each other for many years, and although our time as a couple was relatively short we had advanced enough so that living together was not a problem.
Although when I suggested this idea, the fool did chuckle a bit as he said that I was a pretty bold girl to suggest something like that.
I couldn't help but snort while I scolded him a bit, this shameless had the guts to say something like that to me after everything he had been doing to me since we became a couple.
He just laughed more before jumping on me, picking me up bridal style, and walking to the bathroom as he talk on about how we should "celebrate" having a place to stay and being part of a guild.
I could already feel my cheeks heating up in embarrassment, but I didn't do anything to stop it from happening, instead, I wrapped my arms around his neck, because to be completely honest, I loved this fool and everything he made me feel when we did that.
The way he caressed me, the feeling when we held each other, the way he looked at me and kissed me.
We didn't stop until day turned to night.
The time went faster and faster, a week turned into a month and then that month into a year, of course, it wasn't all happiness, there were moments when we fought, especially when I found out that Jean made the wizards who attacked us during our trip to the anti-mage forest tell him why they persecuted us and he never told me.
Knowing that my father was the one who tried to keep me at home to the point of hiring wizards to kidnap me hurt me a lot.
I was upset with both my father and Jean, to the point that I didn't let him sleep in the room, that It was the first time I'd slept alone since Jean and I had started our relationship, and I could only sleep after crying for a while.
The next day I went on a mission with some friends from the guild to clear my mind, but when I got back, I found out that Jean took advantage of this moment to go to my house to "talk" with my father.
And of course, I caught the first train back home, only to find Jean and my father arguing, I didn't say anything and just listened to the conversation while hiding.
Jean never attacked him, but I clearly heard how he told him that if he hated him so much for "taking his daughter away" he should have treated me as such.
'Because that way she wouldn't have had to rely on someone selfish and mediocre like me'. That was Jean's words.
Then he said that the only thing that I always want, and still wanted, was a family.
That my father could continue to hate him for the rest of his life, that it didn't matter to him, but that if I cried over his guilt again, he could start hiring every wizard in the continent as his private army because no one was going to stop him from kicking his ass.
After that, Jean left the studio and the house, and if I had to guess I would have said that he went to the place where he trained when he still lived here.
But I didn't follow him, I knew he needed time alone to think, so I turned around, I came out of hiding, and entered my father's study.
I could see him sitting in his chair, looking down and frowning, it was obvious that he was upset with Jean, but somehow I sensed that he was also upset with himself.
Needless to say, when he looked up and saw me, he was very surprised, but he still collected himself after a few seconds, tried to use his authoritative tone on me, telling me that he never wanted me to see Jean again, that I had to leave Fairy Tail and go back "home".
I could clearly see how disbelief and shock overwhelmed him when I told him that I would do absolutely nothing of what he told me.
What followed was a discussion that lasted for several minutes, everything I had kept inside of me, I let out that day, every scream, every unwarranted reprimand, every birthday ignored, every scraped knee ignored, every important moment in the one that he was absent, I claimed him for each one of them, until in the end, the pain of each remembered moment overcame me, and I ended up crying as if I were a little girl once again.
Maybe it was because he realized his flaws, maybe it was because I looked like mom, and I knew he would never ignore her while she cried, but in the end, he came over and hugged me, apologizing for what he had done, little by little we both calmed down, and in the end, we talked, for the first time in my entire life my father and I talked for what seemed like hours.
And at the end of it all, even though my father said that he would never accept or acknowledge Jean, he would never do anything to harm him or me again.
Hours went on, and of course, I ended up reconciling with Jean at the moment I found him in his secret training place, and we both returned to Magnolia with our bonds strengthened, after all, we both reconfirmed how much we cared for each other.
The missions and enemies didn't stop coming either, actually, it was the opposite, dark magicians, assassins, and followers of Zeref, many Things happened, but in the end, everything seemed to work itself out.
Until HE showed up.
#####
X̢̢̘7̙̺̪?̵̸̡̠̦͍͚̦͖̙̼̐͛̓͛̐͒?̵̵̢̢͇͖̻̝̝̘̝̾̓͐̈́̀
I couldn't get up, my left leg was too injured, but my attention was fixed on the figure in front of me, dressed in black armor and red patterns that glowed with energy.
He appeared one day out of nowhere, tearing through space itself and followed by a huge army, many powerful wizards faced him, wizards, who were either killed or turned into servants who joined his ranks, it didn't take an hour before he got to Magnolia and attacked with all the might of his armies.
I didn't know where my friends were, all around me I could see only destroyed and burning buildings, while in the distance, the sounds of battles and people in panic resounded.
He walked towards me as he raised his metal-covered hand, I began to hyperventilate as I tried to drag myself back, I didn't want him to touch me, I knew what happened to those he took for their faces, stripped of their minds, being nothing more than slaves who followed the orders of this monster.
My attempt to get away was interrupted when my back collided with the rubble of a wall. "N-no, get away from me, don't come near me!" I screamed in panic as his hand continued getting closer, but before he could touch me, he jumped back a few meters, dodging a bolt of energy that hit the place where he had been a second before.
And a second later, Jean landed in front of me using his Paladin mode, having trained relentlessly all this time, Jean had strengthened to the point where his Paladin mode was even stronger than during the fight with Eclinox, and he could use it for a little longer.
But even in front of all that power, the dark knight began to laugh madly.
"To think this is as far as you could go, you shame me, Jean, who did you think you were? Some kind of savior? A chosen one of some kind? The protagonist of some stupid fantasy story? It is obvious to anyone who can see you that you are just a failure, an idealistic fool unable to reach the top". He said between laughs when his helmet disappeared, and what I could see shocked me to the core, because in front of us was Jean's reflection, but distorted.
His skin was pale, his hair white, and his eyes pale yellow, this "version" of Jean looked at us with a sadistic smile before pointing his black, red-patterned sword at the Jean I knew.
"The existence of the two of us is unnecessary, so before I send you into oblivion, let me show you how far you could have come if you had just freed yourself from the stupid chains you put on yourself". He finished, and before my vision blurred, I could see the black sword crashing into the golden-patterns white sword, causing sparks and violent gusts of wind to fly everywhere.
#####
Swords clashed at breakneck speed, and sparks flew everywhere, wearing white armor with gold details that hugged his body like a second skin and with two swords, each where his arms should be, Jean attacked with all possible ferocity.
However, the one who was in night-dark armor with red patterns pulsing with energy didn't seem to really take any of the attacks seriously, using only a sword and making the minimal movements necessary to defend and dodge.
"So slow". He said with a smile, taking a step back, avoiding a cut aimed at his neck.
Jean attacked again, raising both swords and lowering them in a vertical double slash, which on impact, raised a huge cloud of dust.
"So weak". The voice of the black knight resounded, always with a tone between mocking and disappointed, when the dust cleared, it was clearly seen how he had stopped the attack dead using only one arm while the ground at his feet had been filled with cracks from the force of the blow.
Jean's eyes could not have widened more because of the surprise and horror, but he quickly jumped back, the swords covering his arms vanishing into golden specks, and when he linked his hands, a huge cannon covered them, while a brilliant light was born inside.
The knight moved forward quickly, his words echoing the closer he got. "So-"
And before he finished his sentence, Jean's cannon fired the most powerful energy attack he had produced in his entire life.
"RAGNAROOK!" The super-concentrated power beam hit the black knight directly, and for a second, all there was the attack light, but when the light dissipated the dark knight was seen with his palm raised, holding Jean's cannon from where the smoke was coming out.
"Regrettable". He completed the sentence, clenching his fist and crushing the barrel.
His black sword moved faster than anything Jean had ever seen before, and even as he stepped back in an attempt to dodge, the blade sliced through his armor as if it wasn't even there, leaving a cut on his left thigh.
"!" Pain filled Jean's senses as he continued to try to distance himself, but the black knight didn't give him a second to breathe, reaching out and delivering another slash with a second black sword materialized in his other hand.
Jean's face moved as if she had received an uppercut as the gun left a gash from his cheek to his eyebrow.
"ARG!" A loud growl tore from Jean's mouth, feeling all the skin around this new wound burn in an explosion of pain similar to how it had done on his thigh.
But before he could do anything else, a dark cannon struck him in the chest just before red energy exploded, destroying that part of his armor and sending him flying as a stream of blood sprayed from his nose and mouth.
Jean's body flew through the air until he crashed into the rubble of the destroyed building that until a few hours ago housed the Fairy Tail guild.
"There will be no escape". Said the black knight, calmly walking towards Jean.
"There will be no mercy". He continued to sneer as he advanced, stepping on the carved wooden guild symbol and breaking it effortlessly.
"There will be no hope". He declared, standing in front of Jean, who was trying to get up while he coughed and spit up blood.
The black knight raised his sword, ready to deliver the final blow, when a giant fist covered in wounds hit him in the side, with enough force to knock him back a few meters, taking him away from the wounded Jean, but without causing him any damage.
"But it seems that there will always be idiots who resist even in the end". He said, looking at the newcomer with a smile.
"Brat, you can still move, right?" The guild master stood up straight in front of one of his guild members, all of his magical power blanketing the place.
"B-barely, I… I don't think I can be of much help in a fight against him". Jean said, his paladin mode shattering, revealing a red-hot burn on his chest right where he had received the blast while on his thigh and cheek, the skin surrounding the cut was slowly but clearly turning purple.
"That's perfectly fine because I don't want you to fight anymore". The old man said, and still turning his back to him, he pointed to his side, there on the ground was an unconscious Lucy.
The dark knight took a step when a golden formation appeared at his feet, and several silver chains bound him, holding him in place, though even with this, his sadistic smile never abated, violet smoke began to billow from his body, and at come into contact with the chains these began to deteriorate.
"Take her and run away from here, I sent a message to everyone through Warren, all of you should meet at the pier, Laki is making a ship, and your skill will be of great help to finish it as soon as possible, you have to regroup far away from here, there is something on the ship that will help you stop this nightmare". Makarov said with a serious tone.
"Master, I can't leave you, if you stay, you will-"
"And if you stay, Laki may not finish the ship in time and everyone will die! Is that what you want?! Get out of here brat, our family needs as many members as possible to protect itself!"
Jean clenched his fists and teeth as a tear fell down his cheek, his Ultimate Armor covered him and he picked up Lucy with one of his arms before pulling away as quickly as possible.
Makarov never turned around, allowing himself a very small smile of relief. "That's fine, they will need you much more than I do". He said in a low voice before crushing a small green teardrop he had in his pocket, instantly the runes formed a cube that enclosed both, him and the dark knight.
One last favor that he asked Fried, although, with the little time he had, he could only make a prison with a simple order, one that was connected with the life of the person who activated it, while he was still alive, the dark knight would not touch any of his children.
And though his soldiers were still attacking the place, he was confident that they could manage to get to the ship and flee, they would live another day to stop this evil.
"So this is your trump card?" The dark knight asked before using more force, breaking the chains that held him. "I'm going to have fun with you, old man." He said, emitting a corrupted aura.
######
Lucy Pov
My eyes widened as I felt my body move up and down, the first thing I saw when my senses came back was the ground moving under me, I looked up and noticed that Jean was carrying me under one of her arms while using his Ultimate Armor.
He was running, his breathing was heavy, and he looked quite exhausted.
I turned my head, and behind us, in the distance, was the fake Jean that had attacked us, and blocking his way was the master Makarov.
"Don't forget, brat, no matter what, you must not fail, protect what's left of our family". The older man said when a light began to be born between his hands.
Then the black knight's laughter rang out loudly. "Run, run as far and as fast as you want Jean, because in the end-"
"FAIRY LAW". Master Makarov's voice echoed throughout the place along with the golden light, and for a second I could feel hope that this nightmare would end.
But.
"No one can run away from themselves". Fake Jean's voice overpowered when the light from one of the 3 great guild spells was completely consumed, the world lost its colors, and I didn't dare look back.
And this is the end of this What if, and it serves as a short glimpse of what awaits in the future in the main story.
Believe me, only one enemy will make Jean feel what true fear is, and it will not be Acnologia, neither Zeref, the dragon gods, or any other enemy that the 100-year mission manga introduces.
They will be able to intimidate and corner Jean in different ways, but what edo-Jean will do to him will be worse, what he creates, what he represents, and what he can lead to.
With that said, see you when volume 2 of this story comes out, Ciao
