Colors of the Will 'o' The Wisp Chapter 2

Some people say that you don’t know what you have until you’ve lost it. I say you don’t know what you’ve lost until you’ve taken it back.

Opening the doors to Fairy Tail was a heady feeling. It was early days yet and there was still that vague feeling that we might lose everything again, but… here and now? Just sheer happiness, full of pride that Fairy Tail had finally reclaimed her home.

“I’m back!” I shouted to an empty room.

…Though that joy was tempered with melancholy at how lonely the guild was right now. Still, like I said, it was early days. One day soon, there’d be more mages, more noise, more of that special something that was inherent to the Fairy Tail of old.

The old place was still being fixed right now. Seven years of neglect will do that to a building, but at least we owned it again. It’s a wreck, but it’s Fairy Tail’s wreck.

First floor was a bit barren right now. We had to throw away all of the old tables and chairs because they were rotten. The bartop was salvageable, but the shelves behind the bar were not. Second floor was flat out a write-off with the gaping hole in the middle of the floor and the lower half of the stairs leading up to it missing. Surprisingly enough, the roof was as intact as it was back then.

SO full of holes from the last brawl that never got fixed. Still fun to reminisce about though. The first day back? Well, lots of tears, but also lots of fun. While we were ostensibly more responsible than the Fairy Tail of yore, we had decided to indulge in some old-school rough-housing and just brawled to destruction the entirety of the second floor and the roof.

Laki Olietta, our resident Wood-Make Mage, was leading the reconstruction bit of renovation. Not just because of her magic and her experience with working with wood, but also because she had the mythical ability of long-term planning. The current plan was to rebuild it from the ground up while destroying the broken bits. Not sure how that worked since the floor and roof were already gone, but Laki knew more than any of us.

As it was, the roof had already been replaced while I was gone, so who knows what the plan was now? All I know for sure was that it was nice being able to walk along the ground floor without having to worry about stepping to and through a rotting plank. Laki must have replaced the floor too along with the roof while I was gone on my mission. Wish I could compliment her, but… Laki wasn’t here today.

Actually nobody was here except my old man, nursing a drink at one of the few tables left. Even his assistant and best friend, my Uncle Wakaba, wasn't there to accompany him.

…Fuck, it was that time of year, wasn’t it?

“Welcome back, Romeo.” Dad raised his mug in greeting.

“Hey, Dad,” I returned, joining him at the lone table. A quick snap of my fingers, and a cup burnt into Mist-Blue existence. A flick of the hand and a Night-Black flame burnt a hole through which an amber stream of mead flowed through.

Technically speaking, I would have to pay for this since this was from the guild’s stash. Technically speaking, my old man was the current Guildmaster of Fairy Tail. What’s a bit of nepotism between family?

“You’re paying for that, by the way” he grunted.

Shutting off the portal and cutting off the stream of mead, I grunted back my displeasure. Fucking cheapass. I call him that affectionately. Dad was only looking at the bigger picture after all.

Dressed in a classy but casual style, Dad preferred simple colors for his attire, preferring a simple cloud-violet undershirt as the only splash of color. His white coat-jacket went down to his knees, accented by a darker hue of cloud-violet at the edges. A trimmed mustache, a carefully combed hair, Dad exuded the aura of a Guild Master with a cool glare nowadays.

It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I styled a bit of my outfit after him. Not much, I just decided to pick a suit, and I kept it cheap with a simple suit-jacket instead of the large coat-jacket, but I did decide to wear a suit because of Dad. He made it look clue. I made sure he didn’t notice that he had influenced my dress style by choosing a black color-scheme instead and adding a fedora.

The few splashes of color on my outfit were all mine, carefully chosen as a bit of a self-indulgent reference to the Flames I had inherited from the Greatest Seven; a red button-up shirt for the Fighter, an orange scarf for the Dreamer, a yellow ribbon around my black fedora for the Hitman, green-tinted shades for the Scientist, a blue fingerless gloves for the Soldier, an indigo chain around my neck for the Fortune-Teller, a small violet piercing on my right ear for the Stuntman.

Other than that? Well, just a classy suit similar to Dad’s.

While there was a distance between us nowadays, it made me happy to know that there was a connection between my fathssed. A smaller and I in how we dre one that I hoped he didn’t realize. Not out of any real logic, just…

…It’s kind of embarrassing to admit that you want to dress up like your dad, isn’t it?

After a long silence where the both of us simply nursed our drinks, Dad eventually asked,  “How’d your mission go?”

“Magic Council messed up,” I grumbled, sipping my drink. Nice and sweet, just the way I like it, “It was another demon. Not that they’re going to admit it. Again”

Dad took a sip, “Anything we need to prep for?”

“Nope. No collateral damage, so the Magic Council won’t have an excuse to fine us to oblivion like last time,” I sipped. Then, biting the bullet, I asked the question I already knew the answer to, “Where’s everybody else?”

Taking a longer draught, he set his mug down with a sigh, “Blue Pegasus thinks they made a new breakthrough in finding Tenrou Island. The others have all gone out to search the area again.”

Well, at least this time they actually had something to go off of other than baseless rumors. Smiling blandly, I shrugged, “.Huh, well, I hope it works out for them.”

“You could help, you know. Your Flame-Radar could help a lot,” my dad commented.

I swirled my mug, admiring the lacquer on the handle, “I guess.”

It wasn’t really anything special. Just extending a thing layer of my flames, preferably Cloud-Purple ones for the maximum range, and reading the disturbances. Anybody could replicate it really just by expanding their magic thinly.

…None quite like me, so I guess if I joined on those expeditions, we would have a better chance in finding them. Not much, but the chances would be better.

“...Do you not believe they’re coming back?”

Now, I never said that. I quickly clarified to him my thoughts.“There never were any bodies, so they could still be alive.”

…In retrospect, that wasn’t clearing up my thoughts on the matter so much as committing to being as non-committal as possible.

“But you’re not trying to help find them,” Dad didn’t quite accuse.

“We have more things to do nowadays,” I explained, trying my best not to imply that there were better things to do, “Missions, working with the Exceeds on the various projects we’ve got to do, planning things”--I shrugged with as much casualness as I could-- ”I don’t know. I just always seem to be busy when these searches happen.”

“Seem to be, or plan to be?”

…Why did Dad always get perceptive at the worst times?

“Romeo. I’m your father. I…” he hesitated for a bit before laying a hand on my shoulder, “don’t know what you want, but I know that these searches always bother you.”

“They don’t bother me,” I denied, only slightly lying. I didn’t begrudge them, the older mages who lived through Fairy Tail’s glory days, but I… Huffing a sigh, I tried to work out my feelings aloud, “...We’ve gone out for seven years searching for them.” It’s something of a morbid anniversary at this point. We go out around this year, spend a week searching for them, and then come back. We haven’t found a sign of Tenrou Island.”

“Do you think they’re dead?” he asked again.

“There never were any bodies,” I repeated.

“Romeo,” Dad stated.

…Fuck it. We’ve been doing this weird dance around for years now. I’m clearing the air now.

I took a deep breath, killing my initial response to snap. Anger was useless and passion was a luxury to the weak, and control was the duty of the strong. Looking at the empty wall of trophies, once filled with the pride of generations of Fairy Tail mages, now an empty and bleak reminder of all that had been lost seven years ago, I laid it all plain to my father. “I don’t want them to be dead, Dad, but at some point, I decided I wouldn’t live waiting for them.”

“But we’re not waiting for them,” Dad squeezed my shoulder, sounding genuinely confused. I pitied him. I pitied everyone still searching for them.

I took a fortifying sip. Then, deciding that wasn’t enough, I downed the whole mug, barely tasting it. Placing it gently back down, I gave up on being gentle in my explanation. “We weren’t waiting now. Not now, not anymore, but seven years ago, when we first lost them, when we started to lose everything, you all… we all just waited. Waited while the Magic Council fined us to near-bankruptcy, waited when we lost the guild hall, waited when we went into debt with Twilight Ogre, and waited as our reputation plummeted, and we just waited.”

Standing up and slipping my shoulder away from his hand, I walked towards the empty trophy wall and placed hand on the smooth wood. Here. Here, alone was the only place unmarred by time and it was that much more painful to see proof of how stagnant we as a guild had begun.

Taking a deep breath, I continued, “It took a meeting with Zeref, it took me dying to finally realize none of us were living, Dad. It’s better now, but everytime the rest of the guild goes out to hunt for the lost members, it feels like we were just looking for a reason to grieve again, and… I decided I’m done with that.”

“But we don’t do that.”

“Not anymore, but early years was just stagnation and waiting and--,” I burnt Rain-Blue flames internally to keep my anger contained. It was pointless, and like I said, the guild was trying again, “I remember how Nab kept on ditching quests halfway through, how Droy just drowned himself in food, you and Uncle Wakaba just drinking and drinking and… It was little things. Just little things, big things, just things that we all did to pass the time for the sake of not living then. It all felt so stagnant and dead, and I hated those days. It felt like we were just waiting back then.”

I didn’t yell, but glancing at my father, I think he would’ve preferred it to these dispassionate, not-quite accusations.

“Romeo…”

“If they come back,” I said, not quite cutting him off, “they come back.”

“If they don’t…” I trailed off, trying my best to voice my thoughts. Eventually, I gave up and snapped my fingers, burning Night-Black flames to summon Jormungandr’s fang. Before it could drop to the ground, I kicked it, spearing the fang point first into the trophy wall.

There. Let the fang of the first demon I solo-ed be the declaration of reclamation of Fairy Tail’s glory. Let that be the representation of my passion here and now.

Turning around, I answered my father, “If they don’t, then we live on.”

Silent and stoic, my old man simply walked over and past me. I didn’t realize how tense I was until he placed a hand on my shoulder and murmured, “I’m proud of you.”er.

Grasping it with a hand of my own, I nodded mutely. I had a reputation to uphold and I didn’t think I could pull off a single manly tear right about now.

Dad and I… Well, there was a distance that had grown through the years as I barreled on through life, but he was trying to catch up, trying to force the guild to catch up, and… I saw that and I was trying to reach back, so that had to count for something.

This moment could be the start of something.

“Snazzy place you’ve got here,” a voice filled with smarm, “I like the renovations.”

“Twilight Ogre,” my dad growled, “Why are you here?”

“We’re here for our debt,” the usual arsehole said, the usual two sidefuckers standing menacingly at his sides.

I’d describe them, but that’d be implying I thought them important enough to know, so I’m just going to call them Smarm, Dumb, and Stupid. Smarm was the brains of their little operation, but honestly? Even he was stupid.

Twilight Ogre popped up in Magnolia after we lost our strongest members seven years ago. They took all the jobs, undercutting us in prices, and well…

Fairy Tail coasted on its strength back then, and when that strength disappeared? Well, strength made it so that a lot of things were forgivable, but weakness was unforgivable. Memories were long and grudges longer, and when Fairy Tail buckled under the weight of all the fines, Twilight Ogre swooped in with a loan we couldn’t refuse.

And they’ve been holding it above our heads ever since.

…Fairy Tail took on a more circumspect approach to collateral damage after the Magic Council tried to destroy us via legal attack and financial extortion. That being said, I’m going to help with the reconstruction efforts of our guild by destroying every single rotten support pillar with this fucker’s face.

It’s fine. It’s fine. We paid off the debt. I think we did. Pretty sure, we did.

…Okay, fine. I don’t know for sure if we did, but if I concuss them hard enough, they’ll forget about the debt. Or remember not to ask about it. Either/or, I’m not picky.

Placid smile on my face, I began walking over. As always, no need to be crass about this. Better to be classy.

Unfortunately, my father stopped me, tightening his grip on my shoulder. Stepping past me, he growled, “That’s been done and gone. We cleared all of our outstanding debts before we brought back our guild. It was the only way Magnolia Town would have let us. As the Guildmaster, I am invoking my right to ask you off this property.”

Shaking my shoulder free, I stepped next to him, arms crossed and still smiling to show solidarity. I did give him a side-glare in a silent demand for why the fuck he was stopping me from sending these fucks off.

A small wink and a tap on his nose was all I got. I didn’t know what the fuck that was supposed to mean, but… I’d just trust him for now.

“The debt’s been cleared, but you still have to pay off the interest,” the smarmy fucker raised his arms in a ‘what could you do’ manner, drawling, “And well…. It’s five million jewels.”

Dad nodded along or a bit. For a moment, I thought he was actually going to agree to this bullshittery, but… only for a moment.

Cracking his neck side to side, Dad chuckled, “That’s bullshit.”

Blinking twice, the con-man shook his head, pulling out a deed, “No, no. See? It’s in the contract you signed. Every month you don’t pay, it’s a percent interest that compounds and-- FUCK!”

He dropped the burning scroll. As much as I’d like to take credit for that, Dad was the one who did it. Blowing out the purple wisp of flame on the finger-gun he used, Dad chuckled again, “Nope. That’s bullshit. Shut up about that bullshit. What is it you actually want?”

Choking back a growl, the lead idiot smarmed a smile on, “We want our money, but if you don’t have it? Well, your Guild Hall’s fine too.”

…Fuck being classy.

Stepping forward, just to telegraph, just to let this chucklefuck know exactly how he fucked up, I declared, “Fuck you. This is--”

Dad stopped me with an arm bar. Father. I love you. But if you keep on from obtaining the violence I so dearly crave, we will have problems.

“I had a feeling this would happen,” Dad said, ignoring my glare, “The guild went into debt seven years ago to pay off the Magic Council’s fine on all of our collateral damage in the past. Do you remember that, Romeo?”

“Yeah?” I said. I almost talked about how it was lowkey his fault that we were in debt back then, but to be fair, things were desperate back then. I still wanted to kick somebody’s ass and familial relations may not be enough to stop me from kicking yours, Dad.

“Then Twilight Ogre comes in with all those loans, next year,” Dad sighed, shaking his head dramatically,  “I took it because we had no other choice to survive as a guild, but I made sure to only take the loan after the guild hall was impounded by Magnolia.”

I was so surprised at that confession that I forgot to be angry. “That was on purpose?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Dad nodded, grinning like he had just won a date with a nice girl. Creepy grin if I’m honest, “The Guild Hall was classified as a historical site during that time. It cannot be destroyed nor developed upon without the express permission of the guildmaster.” “Even if we didn’t own the land, so long as Fairy Tail existed in some form, the guildhall was untouchable by developers, Twilight Ogre, hells, even the Magic Council couldn’t touch the land until all surviving members of Fairy Tail, former and current, died. Holdover from a little known law from the founding Fiore back when things were much more Guild-centric”

…Okay, Two, no, three things. First, I'm glad that Dad was the one who pointed it out because I was going to do that and I would’ve been so much more awkward about it. And angry. Second. That was on purpose? Three. How the fuck did he make going into debt and losing the guild the smartest sounding thing?

Dad ignored that my view of him had been completely upended in the span of a minute, continuing to explain his madcap plan that… actually fucking worked, holy shit. “Twilight Ogre was waiting for us to buy back the guild hall, letting the debt float uncollected until they could collect what they really wanted. But if it’s a historical site, why do they think they can take it?”

The Twilight Ogre mook reminded me that he existed by coughing, “Because now that it’s in active use again, ownership has shifted back to you guys which means it’s no longer classified as a historical site. Those protections are gone.” “So are we going to do this the easy way or--”

“Hard.” Dad grunted, shaking the hand he had just used to punch the idiot, “I’m going to make it hard.”

Oh, now I see. You weren’t trying to stop the violence, you were curating it to be that much more… fun. The only thing better than violence is righteous violence. Moral is good, but legal preferable.

And this was going to be morally right and legally satisfying. Or vice versa. Who cares. I get to finally, finally tear Twilight Ogre a new one.

“This is illegal!” the idiot blubbered through his bloody nose, “You owe us a debt.”

“We owed you a debt,” Dad cracked his neck, “But the keyword is owed. You see, the Guild entered debt with you seven years ago, a few months after the guild hall was impounded.” “The guild tried our best to pay it back for seven years with records proving that we tried our reasonable best.”

“Wait,” I cut in, tapping my forehead to clear my confusion. If my father kept on dropping these bombshells, I might actually respect him as more than just a father. I might start respecting him as a Guildmaster, “Is that why you had us trawling through those law books way back when?”

“Got it in one, Romeo. Remind me how long the statute of limitations on debt was?”

“About three years, Dad,” that explained the muttered cursing/ dancing four years ago. More importantly, it meant I was still goign to do a bit of creative demolition with this fucker’s face in the morally righteous, legally protected, and economically fantastical way.

Holy fuck. Three for one. Okay, dad. You’ve earned the title of Fourth Guildmaster in my eyes. Took seven years, but you’ve somehow done it.

Sensing he was in danger, the mook signaled for his cronies to stomp forward, babbling, “But if you pay it, it still counts as valid. You revived it when you paid off the debt!”

“Aye, you tricked us four years ago into extending the statute of limitations for our debt. We got stuck having to show that we tried our best to pay for it for another three years,” Dad nodded as he coated his fist in Purple Flare magic, “But this is year seven.”

“And wouldn’t you know it,” I cackled, burning Sun-Yellow Flames underneath my skin.

“The statute of limitations passed again,” Dad stated, punctuating his declaration by pummeling Mook 1 in the face and knocking him to the--- Nope, he went through the wall. It’s fine. That wall was rotting anyways.

Joining in on the fun, I ducked underneath the swinging fist of Mook 2 to grab the collar of his shirt. Pulling down hard, I brought a knee up into his face. “And we didn’t pay it this time this year.”

I let the unconscious mook drop to the floor, grimacing when I saw blood dripping from his face. Fucking hell, that was going to stain. …Actually, I hoped the blood stained. Be a good story to reminisce about in the future.

“Better question is…” Dad sighed softly as he knelt down before the last standing Twilight Ogre henchmen with a small grin, “You want to do it the easy way? Or the hard way.”

We never got to hear his answer. The fucking idiot pissed himself as he fainted.

Annoying. Now Laki was going to have to replace this part of the floor again. Bloodstains were one thing, but the piss smell was eternal.

“Well, that was fun,” I said, clapping my hands off in a show of dusting off.

When he didn’t respond, I adjusted my fedora as I asked, “Anything else we forget?”

Stroking his mustache thoughtfully, Dad mused, “What say you and I have a bit of father-son bonding?”

Following his gaze, I grinned when I saw that he was looking at Twilight Ogre’s guildhall.

“Sure. Let’s get coffee too though.”

Shoving my fedora over my eyes, Dad chuckled, “Sure, my treat.”

Stumbling only a little bit as I yanked my fedora back into position, I jogged with as much dignity  as possible after him.I refuse to admit it, but my dad’s pretty cool sometimes. I’m glad that weird distance is closing.

Yeah. You didn’t know what you’ve lost until you have it back.