September 17th, X792
Fairy Tail Guildhall
Nashi:

"Let's have a toast!" Lucy announced. "Fairy Tail is back in business!"

"Cheers!" We all shouted and slammed our mugs together happily. After finally making it back to Magnolia, we found the guildhall was completed and our paperwork had been approved for us to officially reinstate as a guild.

It was a great day to celebrate the official reinstatement of the guild and the return of Master Makarov.

"Hold on," Kali pointed out. "If Erza's our master, what are we supposed to call him?"

"Mister Makarov?" Happy tried.

"Call him master," Erza said happily. "because I'll be stepping down,"

"Looks like I'll be guild master until I die this time around," Makarov muttered.

"All right let's crack open the booze and get this shindig started!" Canna cheered, her face already red from the alcohol.

"So you guys have been here a year?" Levy asked. She, Lucy, Gale, and I were sitting together at a table on the side of the rambuntious hall.

"Yeah," Gale scratched her head. "Sorry we didn't tell you, but we wanted to lay low and train,"

"Hey I get it," Levy smiled. "I'm guessing the guild being disbanded for a year was supposed to happen. You guys were just trying not to screw up the timeline, I get it,"

"Thanks for understanding," Gale sighed.

"So where have you been staying this whole year?" Lucy asked me. I quickly swallowed my mouthful of beer and wiped my chin.

"We rented a place not far from the guildhall," I answered happily.

"So you all live together?" Levy asked.

"It's not like they do anything alone," Lucy joked.

"You'll have to come by some time," Gale offered.

"That is if Reiki and Storm will ever clean their rooms," I laughed. "Speaking of, where are they?" I asked. I looked around the guildhall and finally found them playing a drinking game with a few other guild members.

As I surveyed the room I saw guild members interacting like old friends with one another. Natsu was already fighting with Gray and Gajeel, no surprise there. Kali was bragging to the other exceeds about how strong she had gotten and altogether everything was normal. Everyone was content and happy to be together.

Just then there was a bang on the floor. We all turned our gaze to the stage where Master Makarov was asking for our attention. The room fell silent at his forlorn expression.

"Children. Let me apologize. I'm not going to make any excuses for myself. I took your home and your way of life away from you. That was a mistake on my part."

"Don't worry about it, Mest explained the whole thing,"

"You were trying to protect us, we understand,"

"Besides, we're all back together now,"

Everyone was so forgiving of the Master's actions. They were genuinely happy to be together and it didn't matter that we had been apart for so long. Makarov stepped down from the stage and approached a table with the map of Ishgar and Alacatasia.

"This is serious," He explained. "Because I wasn't able to negotiate for our safety, there's no doubt Alvarez will invade. They are a true superpower, and they will throw everything they have at us."

"So what?! I'm ready!!"

Everyone turned to see Natsu storm to the front of the room.

"Time and time again, we've put everything on the line for the sake of the guild. No matter how tough our enemies may be, we fight for what's most important to us. That's what makes us so strong! It's not that I'm not scared, but no matter how I feel, I can't let go of my responsibility. Plus, I know I can count on everyone else. What I'm most afraid of is losing what we all have together. So we can't run away from this. We have to fight! For our family, and for the bond we share. We gotta make a stand! And it's not just about winning! This time our fight is about living!"

The guild let out a shout of agreement as Natsu burned the part of the map with Alvarez.

"I think everyone's made up their minds old man," Laxus said.

"As have I," Makarov grunted. "Listen up, we are going to make them rue the day they chose to mess with our family! Let's take them down!!"

The guild roared with cheers.

"I'm all fired up now!"

The room was brimming with confidence as every wizard cheered and saluted to our cause. Even I was getting fired up from this energy. I shouted happily and toasted with my family, knowing that in the end, we would come out on top.

Makarov tapped his staff on the stage, calling our attention back to him.

"Before we get too carried away, there's some extremely important information I must share with you. It's concerning the Lumen Histoire or rather what it's formally referred to as the Fairy Heart,"

"I think perhaps I should be the one to explain this to them, sixth - or excuse me - eighth master,"

The girl who walked on stage looked young with wavy blonde hair to her ankles and peaceful green eyes.

"First master," I whispered.

"It's likely you've not heard of Fairy Heart," Mavis explained. "For many years it's been our guild's most closely guarded secret, and for good reason. Because the world must never learn exactly what it holds. However, I believe it's crucial that you know why Zeref would go to such lengths to get it. And also... about my own sin. This is the tale of a boy and a girl, of the curse they shared, and the primordial magic that they sought together."

Author's Note:
(07/18/2020)

Dear Reader,

          Sorry this chapter was so short! It didn't really fit anywhere in the previous chapter, nor did it fit anywhere in the next chapter. Sooo, I decided to let it stand alone and release it early! Don't worry, you'll still get another full chapter update on Tuesday (07/21/2020), this was just a bonus chapter that needed to be released before what comes next.

          I know the past couple of chapters weren't as good as what I usually produce, but I promise that ends here. The next couple of chapters are my favorite. They're really special and I enjoyed writing them so much! They also contain a few surprises that I know you'll all enjoy. 

Anyway, I hope to see you all on Tuesday! Until then, thanks for sticking with me and my story :D

Sincereley me,
Blue_Stars_919