Get Up and Fight [Fairy Tail Quest]

Making your decision, you confidently walk over to the bar. There's an empty high stool over on the far left side, the chair nearly as tall as you. You pull out the stool and clamber on top of it. Making yourself comfortable, you look up to see the bartender give you a genial smile and a polite nod, motioning you to wait a moment.

After a few minutes of waiting, during which you aimlessly stare at nothing, you look up to see that the bartender is not on the counter anymore. Instead, he is rooting through one of the coolers some ways away from you, his feet the only things sticking out of the magical device.

"Where… maybe… aha!" he exclaims, pulling out a small tub of something and removing the lid.

Slamming the door shut, the man leaps onto the bar counter again. He then slides the tub down the length of the bar, somehow miraculously avoiding all the plates and drinks that clutter the countertop. It comes to a stop right in front of you.

Mango. The holy ice cream flavor. Extremely rare outside of Stella. Your favorite!

As you stare at the tub of magnificent dessert, salivating over the beautiful orange-yellow sheen, footsteps approach. A spoon is dropped into the icecream, and you look up to see the bartender standing there, about a foot or so away.

"You were staring straight it." the bartender says, a twinkle in his eyes. "And it's the least I can give for making you wait."

Immediately you feel warmth flood to your face. Curse your subconscious! Why did it zone in on delicious treats! You start to give weak protests. You weren't even a part of the guild! And you probably couldn't even afford the ice cream right now!

The small man laughs heartily. "Don't worry about it kiddo. Money's just a thing!"

That doesn't stop your objections, but the bartender just refuses to listen! No matter how logical and sound your argument is, he doesn't seem to care in the slightest. The bartender stands there, and he just keeps on smiling in the face of your growing frustration. You were trying to be polite dangit!

Eventually, you give up. Exasperated, you grumpily reach for the spoon under the bartender's widening grin. The moment the delicious treat passes your lips, your irritation fades away. You feel like melting. You hadn't been able to have this type of ice cream in a long long time!

"Was that so hard?" the bartender asks.

You suppress an eye-roll, instead choosing to give the man a small smile. "Not actually… I guess… But really! Thank you so much for this. You don't know how much it means to me!"

The bartender just waves off the thanks with a kind smile, watching you take a couple more bites before asking "So what brings you to our humble guild?"

"Um… I'm looking for the guild master. Do you know him?" You take another spoonful of ice cream.

"Of course I know him!" the bartender says proudly. "He's me!"

You nod politely at the answer, continuing to eat the ice cream. Then the words register. Your eyes bug out of your head, and you nearly choke on your frozen treat. The guild master watches with worry as you hack up a lung, going so far as to grab you a glass of water.

Downing the whole thing, you flash the guild master a grateful smile. "Thanks for that," you say, after you recover your composure a bit. Great. Three for three guildmasters probably saw you as some ignorant little kid. You wanted to cry.

"Don't mention it kiddo." the guild master says, before crossing his arms. "So… what does a youngin' like you want with Master Makarov?"

You reach into your satchel and pull out a familiar package. Presenting it to Makarov, you repeat the same general phrase that you have said to the two previous masters. "It's from Madame Monique! I'm on a quest!" Yeah! You were important! On important business! Not a little kid in the slightest!

Reaching out to grab the package, which is nearly as large as him, Makarov smiles. "Ah. So your one of the witches she railroaded into 'helping' her, eh? I guess I should have expected that."

"Oh no it was nothing like that!" you respond, waving your hands in front of you. "I chose to do this!"

"Oh please," Makarov says with a chuckle. "When she sets her sights on 'helping' someone, Monique isn't going to stop until that person is helped to the best of her abilities. If you had refused this quest, I don't doubt she would've tried assisting you in more… discrete ways."

At this you pause. You didn't think Madame Monique would have taken things that far! She really was crazy about helping people, huh? Shaking your head, you focus back on Master Makarov. It doesn't really matter anymore anyway.

The master holds the package up to his ear and gives it a shake, listening to the sound of muffled clanking that comes from within. "Hmm… I wonder what it is this time." He looks up to you and gives another smile. "Well, thank you for delivering this to me. Enjoy your ice cream!."

And with that Makarov makes to jump off the counter. At his retreat, a flash of pain flies through your brain. Dreamdreamdreamfairyhopelove. You can't believe you almost forgot! You never would have been able to forgive yourself if you didn't ask right now!

"Wait!" you half-shout.

The elderly guildmaster turns back to look at you, eyebrow raised. "Yes?"

Well, now that you've gotten his attention again, your question seems almost kinda stupid. But that wasn't going to stop you. You had to ask. It was important to you, after all.

Even then, you hem and haw under Master Makarov's questioning gaze. Eventually, you manage to get your question out. "I… well someone I knew… they always wanted to know... what does it chasing your Fairy Tail mean, exactly?"


At your simple words, Makarov grin returns, and grows even wider than before. "I was wondering if you'd ask that."

The man turns to face the rest of the room, taking in a deep breath. He shouts "HEY! YOU LOT! LISTEN UP!!"

The entire guild goes silent. Everyone (except the drunken dude whose still passed out) turns to look at the guildmaster, and by extension, you. You fight to resist the urge to pull down your hat to cover your face. Thankfully, most of the attention was on Master Makarov.

Planting his feet and squaring his chest, the man yells a question to the crowd. Your question. "WHAT DOES IT MEAN, TO CHASE A FAIRY TAIL!?!"

The silence continues to grow, as everyone just stares at Master Makarov. Then, a cough from the side. Everyone, you included, turns to the quest board, where the yellow-haired kid is standing.

With sparks of lightning darting along his frame and a gleam in his eyes, the boy answers the question. "It means becoming the strongest. Being undefeatable."

Another person, the blue-haired dunce also speaks up, his hands clenching into fists. "It means being brave. A hero beyond heroes."

"REACHING THE END OF MY PATH!" someone else shouts, their companions cheering them on.

"BREACHING THE BARRIER!!" says a man.

"Freedom..." someone whispers.

"TOUCHING THE HEAVENS THEMSELVES!"

"FINDING THE ANSWER!"

Someone else raises a mug, and is immediately followed by dozens of others. "HUNTING THE DRAGON OF DEMISE!"

The shouts stack upon each other, a thousand and one impossible goals, one after the other in quick succession. You watch in awe as these people scream their dreams, no matter how unattainable, for the whole world to hear. And the crazy thing is… all that they are shouting about... they believe it.

Makarov turns to you. Leaning in so you can hear, he says "...To chase a fairy's tail is to chase an impossibility, something that may or may not even exist! It means daring to dream. Of what? Well, that's up to you! Just make it something worth running after, eh?"

"T-then what's the point?" you whisper back, as the shouts grow ever louder. "Isn't it pointless?"

Makarov winks at you. "So what? Pointless? Worthless? Impossible? Those are meanings that you and you only can apply to a dream!"

He gestures at the window, to the world outside. "Everyone else doesn't matter! So long as you believe in it enough, then isn't that enough? Isn't chasing a worthy goal beautiful, in and of itself?"

You feel at a loss for words. "But… if the goal isn't important, then what is?"

Makarov shakes his head vehemently. "You misunderstand! The goal is important. Why would anyone chase after something not important?"

"W-What?"

"The goal, the dream, is the reason you are chasing! The path is what makes that reason worth it!" the guild master says, a fervent dream shining in his eyes. "Sure, maybe you'll never truly accomplish your goal. But would you be able to say that everything you did along the way wasn't worth something? Something just as important, if not more so than the goal itself?"

"I-I guess not…" you mutter.

The conversation stops there, with the two of you just listening to the guild members screaming their dreams to the heavens, bolstered by the friends at their backs. You close your eyes, just basking in the sheer exuberance and excitement these people are giving off. Each and every one of them was ready. Ready to chase their Fairy Tail, no matter how dangerous, no matter how difficult. No matter how impossible.

"...So?" Makarov says, after a few minutes of you not speaking.

"So what?" you reply, turning to stare at the man.

"What is your dream, kid? The fairy tail that you want to chase?"

"I… uh…" Your voice slowly grows stronger and louder. "I… I..."

[][Tail] "...Want the world to be safe and good and clean. For everyone."
[][Tail] "...Want everything to be happy. Like before."
[][Tail] "...Want to prove that my magic isn't weak."
[][Tail] "...Want to reach the end of my path. Wherever that may be."
[][Tail] "...Want to find a reason to live. To stay living."
[][Tail] Write-In?

Master Makarov gives a solemn nod. "There it is. With your fairy tail crystallized into actual words, you can start chasing it to the fullest!"

"I-I will! No matter what!"


You were standing inside a MagiLink Booth not that far away from the Fairy Tail guild hall. Putting in the required coins, you reach around in your satchel, eventually pulling out a perfectly pristine slip of paper. Reciting the numbers on the paper under your breath, you carefully punch in the Link number that Madame Monique had given you.

A few moments pass and the somewhat grainy screen of the booth crackles to life. Displayed on the screen is Madame Monique herself, though at a much lower resolution than real life.

"Oh!" the Madame says in mild surprise, before immediately switching to a smile at the sight of you. "Hello dear! Can I presume that you have completed the little task that I had given you?"

You puff your chest out in a bit of pride. "Of course! Agnes never disappoints!"

Madame Monique titters behind a raised hand, "...And?"

"And what?"

"Did you forget the true purpose of this adventure that I set you on? I mean to ask, have you decided on a guild yet?"

Looking up at the ceiling, you hum in thought.

Madame Monique clears her throat to recapture your attention. "Though that doesn't mean I am forcing you to chose! Not at all! If you want to explore a bit more, then I am perfectly willing to… let's say… set up some more quests?"

You stand there, looking out the clear glass of the booth at the people of Magnolia walking by. You knew that this was a big decision, one that you couldn't make lightly. While switching guilds was a thing that people did, it was definitely on the rarer side of things. Usually, when someone chose a guild, they stayed with that guild through both the best of days and the worst of nights.

In front of you were four major options. There was the fabulous gated mansion of Mermaid Heel. Cold and isolated from its surroundings, but full of beauty and power on the inside. Master Anna was a scary lady, but you knew that she would help push you to your absolute limits.

Then there was the ominous yet homey castle of Phantom Lord. Full of friendly faces and interesting people, they would help you whenever you needed it. And Master Jose, though he seemed cartoonishly evil at a first glance, did seem to truly care about his guild.

Another option was, of course, the chaotic fun of Fairy Tail. You could chase your dream as far as you wanted, with a group that loved to live life to the fullest right behind you every step of the way. Master Makarov seemed like real fun as well, super compassionate and full of wise sayings.

...Of course, you could also not choose just yet. Instead, you could look around at some of the other guilds in Fiore. There were still places like Blue Pegasus and Quatro Cerberus, places you hadn't actually taken a look at. But, did you really need to?

Coming to a decision, you look back at Madame Monique. You say, "I think..."

[][Guild] "...I want to join Mermaid Heel."
[][Guild] "...I want to join Phantom Lord."
[][Guild] "...I want to join Fairy Tail."
[][Guild] "...I want to see a few more places before choosing."