Decades Gone By Series: Two Sides to Serenity - Book 2 (Fairy Tail)

Chapter 1 - Aftermath

Nowadays, it felt like the Grand Magic Games never even happened.

Magnolia was the town it's always been, quiet and normal, save for the screams and shattering dishes that constantly take place in the Fairy Tail guild. The other guilds that had participated, like Sabertooth, didn't speak much about what had taken place. Many lives had been lost and Sabertooth were the lucky ones for they didn't lose anybody. No one in Fairy Tail really knew the other guilds very well but apparently Diamond Rouge and Tally Ride lost the most people. Only two girls are left from Diamond and no one from Tally has been seen, most of them having been pronounced dead except for Zenith Maryland who had disappeared. 

No one from Fairy Tail could walk through the streets of Fiore without being stared at. Disgust, pity, surprise, wonder and more that couldn't be thought of were the most common facial expressions from the townspeople. However, no matter how hard they stared, Wendy didn't falter, even now as her feet shuffle against the pavement and the many heads turn to watch her walk towards the guild building.

The bluenette was accompanied by Carla, who walked alongside her glaring at anyone who tried to make eye contact with her friend. Wendy kept her eyes glued to the ground, watching as the stones beneath her flew by the longer she walked.

It's been an entire month since the Games and everyone was still on edge. Wendy couldn't help but think back to Sherria's death. It was in her dreams mostly, but sometimes the event would flash behind her eyes while she's at the guild and she would just start crying and vomiting into a trash can Mira gave her. She's been visiting Lamia Scale almost everyday and she was welcome with open arms. She knew they lost many people as well but just the thought of it made Wendy dizzy.

She suddenly felt Carla's paw on her leg and glanced up to find the guild looming high above her. She entered through the doorway and descended the stairs, making no eye contact with anyone as she takes a seat in her usual spot. Carla climbs up and sits beside her on the table. It was when Mira showed up with a strawberry smoothie that Wendy finally snapped out of her reverie and looked up from the table.

The white haired wizard just smiled at her, sticking in a straw. "How are you, Wendy?" While she isn't the only one trying to recover, Wendy was the only person in the entire guild to have actually witnessed someone killed in front of her, other than the bartender at the hotel. The rest just saw the aftermath.

"The usual," she muttered, taking a small sip from the smoothie. Mira didn't say anything else, just rubbed her on the shoulder and went back to stand behind the bar. The guild was mostly empty, the mission board almost entirely bare. Besides Wendy, Carla and Mira, there were only two other people. Jet sat at the table directly in front of the board, spinning a coin that was scratching up the wood the more he did it and he leaned on his free hand with boredom. The other person was Juvia who sat at the bar, both her hands rubbing the glass of her empty beer cup.

Wendy watched as Mira refilled it and Juvia took such a tiny sip, she was unsure if the water wizard even got anything. They didn't speak a single word to each other, Mira just glancing between her and Wendy occasionally.

Wendy knew Juvia wasn't taking the mess lightly either. Rumors had begun to spread throughout the guild that she was slowly drowning herself in alcohol, the irony pretty strong in that idea. She fought Lucy during the Games and the blonde did almost kill her. She hadn't been bugging Gray lately either but he has been on missions with Erza and Natsu recently.

Dragging her attention away from Juvia, Wendy focused her attention on drinking her smoothie, at least until her mind wandered to Lucy. She had been taken by Serenity Asylum last month, along with her comrades Nothing Blue and Ruby Valentine, the latter having been the one who murdered Sherria. Everyone was on edge thinking about what they could be doing to her in there, since Zeref hadn't bailed her out and the asylum is known for the torture methods they called "curing". Not only that but two of her comrades, Lissa Alexander and Xavier Tachibana, disappeared and haven't been captured.