c h a p t e r   t w o
m a s t e r m a k a r o v

Ace's stomach rumbled loudly, bystanders sending him looks as he let out a desperate groan.

He's been walking for an entire two days now, but so far nobody wanted to answer his questions. Assholes was what he'd always mutter as they'd right down ignore him.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Ace hummed and turned to face the young timid blue-haired girl. He looked around before slowly pointing at himself, "me?"

She nodded and smiled softly at him, "Yes. I noticed you look a little out of energy. And you have very dark under bags. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He replied kindly, another rumble coming from his stomach. He laughed heartily and scratched the back of his head. "I am a little hungry though. Say can you help me with some information?"

"Sure! What is it?"

"Do you know if we're in Magnolia? I need to get to this place called Fairy Tail but they left me with no directions."

Her eyes widened at the name, "Fairy Tail? Of course! What do you need to head there for if you don't mind me asking?"

Ace shrugged and scratched the back of his neck, "Uh, I need to speak to the master about a serious matter." He tried to come up with a lie but Ace couldn't really come up with anything quick on the stop. "It's about the government."

Telling by the way his body language switched up and got tense, she could tell he wasn't completely lying. At least he had a very serious face once he mentioned that last part.

She smiled and nodded, "Well, I can definitely take you. I was just heading back from the shop. I'm Wendy by the way."

"You live in Fairy Tail or something?" He said as he took her hand and shook it with that smirk on his face. "Name's Ace."

Wendy laughed and shook her head, "Not exactly. Fairy Tail is just the guild I work for."

"What's a guild?"

Wendy's mouth gaped before she quickly shut it once again, "Uh, y'know– a guild– where mages and wizards get missions and stuff like that y'know?"

"Oh! I see!" He in fact did not. But the girl herself looked confused when she tried to explain so he didn't bother asking any more. Hopefully he could just ask the master or whatever.

"Follow me. The guild isn't too far from here."

Once Ace and Wendy walked through the doors, all eyes were on them.

"HEY! What's that creep doing with our little Wendy?!" Some smoker yelled loudly before being smacked by another older male.

Wendy sheepishly laughed before heading over to the master that was happily chugging his booze at the bar, "Master Makarov, this man wishes to speak with you."

"Huh?" Makarov eyed Ace, who was too busy looking around the guild. He eyed him from head to toe; instantly noticing how malnourished and beaten down he really looked. Those eyes of his held so much sorrow and pain the master of Fairy Tail instantly felt for him. "I see." He nodded and questioned nothing further, for some reason the young man's appearance sobering him up in an instance. "Follow me to the back, young man. Nobody interrupt us, you hear me Natsu?!"

"Awe!" Ace was able to hear the voice of a male from afar complain.

Ace suppressed an amused chuckle and only followed behind the short man to the far back of the guild.

"Now young man," Makarov closed the door behind him once they had entered a room, standing in front of Ace with a firm look. "Please state your name and business. What is it you wish to speak of?"

Ace sighed and scratched the top of his head, "Honestly? It's crazy. I'm still having trouble believing it myself."

The old wizard raised a brow as he tilted his head towards the muttering man before he let out an annoyed sigh, "out with it, boy!"

"Oh, right. Sorry." Ace sheepishly chuckled. "My name is Portgas D. Ace. And in short words, I guess I have traveled dimensions? Something like that. I didn't understand anything that lady said to me."

"Traveled dimensions?" Fairy Tail's master wore a shocked expression on his face. "What do you mean, child? Be more clear and explain everything. How did that lead you here?"

Makarov Dreyar wasn't exactly having a tough time believing he was from another dimension. However, he was having a difficulty trying to figure out whether this Ace persona was good or bad news.

"Right." Ace sat crisscrossed on the ground, a hand under his chin as he let out a long breath. "In my world, I was a pirate. A famous one at that."

Makarov watched as Ace's eyes softened as he continued to speak, "Any pirate the government thought to be dangerous would get bounties and get hunted down. I myself had a bounty of five-hundred-fifty million berries."

"What?" The Gramps widened his eyes. "I don't know how much that is in our currency but that sounds like a lot either way."

Ace chuckled dryly and shrugged, "I guess. For that, I was captured by the Marines, they're the military of the World Government. Anyways, I was their prisoner for quite some time." He leaned back against the wall, his eyes being hidden by his hat. "I was set to be executed."

The old man couldn't help the gasp that left his lips. After all, Ace was nothing but a child to him and he couldn't imagine how much he had to endure after hearing that sentence.

"Not only that, but apparently my father was Gold D. Roger. Also known as the former King of the Pirates." Ace didn't look up once as he spoke. "Me being his son meant I had filthy blood in me and they needed to get rid of his bloodline."

"My goodness."

"I was ready to die." said Ace, before his eyes started to shake slightly. "But then I heard him yell my name. My little brother." He formed his hand into a fist, tears already threatening to spill– and the old man noticed. "The point is, once I was at the brink of death, my body started to literally disappear. Before I fully vanished I heard a lady's voice. She told me to find you and Fairy Tail. That you'd be able to help me."

"Did she now?" Makarov hummed. "Did she give you a name?"

"Uh," Ace looked up, brows furrowed as he tried to remember the name. "Grandish? No, that's not it. Granlinda? Nope, not that either."

Makarov sighed as Ace continued to struggle with the name.

"Oh, I remember!" He grinned as he slammed his fist on his hand. "Grandeeney."