Finding My Way - Fairy Tail

Arrival

The room was much more spacious than I had expected it to be. It had a number of storage containers and filers. There were also many lamps placed throughout the room so it was fairly bright. There was a desk in the center of the room and behind it sat an old man in what appeared to be a mobile chair. He was fairly small but he looked to be fit. If Saxe had to guess, he would think that this was the guild master of Fairy Tail. He seemed to be writing a report on a sheet of paper but he looked up once he saw the three of them. He seemed to look at all of them at once and his eyes locked onto Saxe who found himself staring right back at him. The gaze he held was strong and prideful, despite the mobile chair.

The man cleared his throat and spoke in a gruff tone, eyes still fixed on Saxe, "Who're you, kid?"

Saxe was slightly surprised that that was all he had said, but he answered nonetheless, "I'm Saxe Todarin. You're Makarov Dreyar, yes?" He asked this in return to the man's previous question, taking an educated guess as to whether this man was the master of Fairy Tail. He certainly seemed to be him and Saxe hoped his hunch was correct.

The man closed his eyes and let out a strong, bellowing laugh. "You're a smart one," his laughing seized and he looked back to Saxe. "Yes I am Makarov Dreyar, but everyone around here just calls me Gramps. But you, Saxe Todarin, you're the Violet knight, correct?"

Saxe actually had to take a step back and the girls both looked confused as to what was happening between the eight-year-old and the old Guild Master. Saxe was just dumbfounded. 'How did this man know? How could he tell who he was? This wasn't good. If he knew, would he refuse to help with the collar, knowing what secondary magic he favored?

Saxe gave a slight nod while Elpis and Eliana were both looking back and forth at the two in confusion. "How could you tell who I was, Makarov?"

The old man's eyes crinkled and he smiled, "You're aura flared brightly as soon as you walked in, but I didn't sense any magic on you, so I found that odd. Then it all made sense once you came in here with that collar on. It isn't surprising that none of my children knew what you go by when you fight. I'm also guessing you can't use your battle form right now since it is Transformation and Requip magic, right? So I would assume this is your regular form. Another thing I know about you is that you aren't in a guild. Surprisingly enough you aren't even from a well known line. I've read about you in the papers recently, actually. You were the one who took down Midnight Venom, right? The Dark Guild? It was all in the paper, every single bit of it. And they mentioned you without knowing too much. Where, do tell, did you find him, Elpis and Eliana?"

The two girls looked between each other sheepishly before Eliana stepped forwards, "Well Gramps.. We found him on the return journey of our S-class job, which we completed fully. We saw a wooden wagon being pulled by two men on horses. It was a fully enclosed contraption and we found it odd. When we stopped to ask the men what they were doing and where they were going, they attacked the two of us. We went a little overboard and Elpis killed one of them while I knocked the other one unconscious. It wasn't too hard to do and we later found out that they were part of a dark guild anyways, so no harm done really. It was later when we went to take a peek in the wagon that we found Saxe-chan tied up and collared in it. Elpis wasn't able to freeze anything off with her two magics even though any regular metal would've been completely frozen off. So the two of it decided it would be best to bring him back here and get the collar removed because if we weren't able to do it, one of our guild members would be able to. Also, we didn't want to just leave him out there all alone with anybody to care for him. We had no idea he was a strong mage."

Saxe looked at the two of them. While he didn't know them very well, they had saved him from whatever his fate would have been had he not been rescued, and he was very grateful for that. Then again, he wasn't sure what would happen to them or if the old master would punish them. He watched as the old man scratched his beard, a pensive look on his features.

He looked at the twins for a little while before sighing, "Well done on the S-class quest. Be sure to collect your reward for that. If you would please leave I would like to speak with little Saxe here alone. Thank you for bringing him up to me."

Eliana and Elpis began to leave but not before, to Saxe's surprise, the two of them each hugging him. "It'll turn out fine..." whispered Elpis in his ear. Her soft tone instantly put him at ease and he felt his muscles relax. She ruffled his hair once more before exiting the room with Eliana.

Saxe turned back to face Makarov, a neutral look on his face, "What is it you need from me, Makarov?"

Makarov sighed before looking at Saxe once more, "Please call me gramps, kid. Makarov makes me seem old. I also do have a proposition for you, Saxe," Makarov paused and studied Saxe's expression. Saxe was indeed intrigued as to what this proposal could be but his face betrayed not the slightest emotion. Makarov slowly closed and opened his eyes before continuing, "I will remove that collar for you, and in return, you will join Fairy Tail. I hate the idea of an eight year old walking around by himself on the continent, no matter how skilled they are, no offense, of course."

Saxe's right eye twitched. 'Join a guild?', he thought, 'I can't say it's ever appealed to me... but I do need to get rid of this stupid collar... '

Saxe sighed, "I don't really have a choice, do I?"