Third Person's POV

Magnolia: September 16, 13:04 EST.

Marin and Raven had arrived to Magnolia Marin's hometown

"So this is Magnolia" Raven commented.

"Yeah... I would've never thought of returning here after so long; but I still haven't completed the job" Marin said looking down with disappointment "How can I explain to the master?" he asked himself "I'm sure everyone will be disappointed" he sighed.

"You did everything you could" Raven tells Marin "Marin, you've been training in Azarath for so long that I could tell that you've grown as well not as a magic user but as a person" she adds.

Marin chuckled "Maybe, I'm still not sure how to explain it to the master, though" he said.

He could hear people muttering while looking at the hooded duo more specifically, at Marin.

"Is that Marin?"

"It's him!"

"Marin's back"

"He looks even beautiful than what I remember"

Marin and Raven continue on walking down the streets of Magnolia until they're facing a familiar building in front of them.

Marin smile with pure joy "this is it...Fairy Tail" Marin stated before getting teary eyes and wipes his tears quickly and he slowly opens the door, and he could tell that the guild was literally empty.

Raven looks around "where is everyone?" she asked.

Marin looks around before feeling something hitting his feet and picks the paper up and his eyes widen with shock.

"What!?" Marin questioned out of shock.

Raven startled "what's wrong?" she asked.

"Seven years had gone pass here while we were in Azarath for five!" he stated out of shock before reads what says "Grand Magic Games? In three Months" he said reading out loud what the paper said.

"Grand Magic Games?" Raven repeated.

"The Grand Magic Games is an annual competition held to determine the strongest guild in Fiore, which is the continent we're currently at. An event held in Fiore, where participating guilds compete for the title of being the strongest Magic guild in all of Fiore. Additionally, the winning guild gets a thirty-million Jewel prize" Marin explains before sitting on a near table. "At some point in time, the Grand Magic Games were once called The Dragon King Festival, which was a "banquet" of Dragons, Humans and Magic" he added making quotation marks with his fingers "Judging by this guild hall being empty, I'm guessing everyone went off to training" he finishes.

"They sure are training for the grand Magic Games" A familiar voice echoed through the guild hall Marin looks at the guildhall and his eyes widen with shock when he sees who's he source of that voice.

The two of them see an extremely short, elderly man. He has black eyes and is growing bald with only the outer rims of his head containing white hair. He also has a thick white mustache as he dressed only in Hawaiian Shirt and black shorts.

"M-Master Makarov" Marin mumbled with shock.

Makarov smiled at the whitette male "welcome home, kid" he said.

Marin looks down and sobs "I-I'm home, M-Master" he responds.

"You know just because you came back doesn't mean your job's over, that's why Nabu sent Arella to send you here, to improve your magic power in a familiar area; if everyone else in the guild were here, they would shower you with hugs especially Elfman and Lysander since they miss you dearly, but they know that you were going to be okay since Cana informed us about your where about so we weren't that worried" the Guild Master said.

"You know about Doctor Fate?" Marin asked out of shock.

Makarov nodded "yes, Nabu was once a former member of Fairy Tail; he was my right-hand man in my first years of being active GuildMaster" he answered.

"Even the Lord of Order has his own secrets" Raven commented.

Makarov looks a the young girl with sadness "You're Trigon's daughter, are you?" he asked making Raven look down in disgust of being called Trigon's daughter but nods "my condolences for your mother, I promise that her sacrifice will not be in vain" he says with a reassuring tone.

Raven nod again "yeah, thank you" she shyly thanked the master.

"Makarov may not appeal, but he's actually one of the strongest Guild Master I know" Marin explained to the younger dark magic user "don't forget what I told you" he reminded the female.

"My Magic is mine, not his" she said.

Marin nods "Exactly, now chin up, we'll going to crash a place to rest and maybe we could catch up with the others and train for ourselves" Marin suggested before looking at Raven "there's a Library for you can see and find some books that would catch your attention" he tells Raven before guiding her to the library.

Makarov chuckles lightly "Even with years passing by you're still the same Marin James I remember" he said.

-time skip-

Both Marin and Raven are meditating in the middle of the field, and they're surrounded by purple aura.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos" They both mutter.

Marin tries to concentrate before seeing the glowing yellow eyes making Marin gasped snapping himself out for the meditation.

Raven looks over "are you okay?" She asked with concern.

"I-I'll be okay, don't worry too much" he reassures "I just have another Trigon vision, those glowing eyes are so hunting" he confesses.

Raven sigh and nod "been there" she agreed.

before the two of them could go back into meditating a voice interrupted them "I knew you would come back, Marin" Marin looks back and sees a smiling Cana standing before him "It's been a while, wasn't it?" she asked.

Marin smiled and went to one of his best friend and gives her a warm hug "I'd missed you" he tells the brunette female.

Cana chuckle and hugs Marin back "Me too, and so did everyone else" she said before the two of them then let go "we have a lot to catch up on" she said.

Marin rolls his eyes "You have no Idea, to start off" Marin turns to Raven and gesture her to walk toward him "Is okay, she's a friend" he reassures the shorter female

Raven shyly walks up to the two older mages "Hi" she shyly greets Cana.

Cana smiles "Hi there, I'm Cana Alberona, I'm a friend of Marin's, well one of his closest friends to be specific; you can just call me Cana" she introduces herself.

"I-I'm Raven" she responds timidly.

After Raven and Cana introduce themselves, Marin and Cana began to tell everything that has happened for the past years that they've been apart Marin learned that the guild had new members and they've been MIA for seven years stucked on a island while Cana learned about the situations and mission that the Team had to face and the new year kiss.

"So Artemis and Wally, huh?" Cana asked with a hint of sadness.

"Yeah" he responded looking down with sad eyes.

Cana looks down "If only I had more time" she muttered.

Marin looks at Cana confused before realizing "Cana, did you have a crush on Artemis?" he asked out of shock.

"Well, I wasn't as obvious as you Marin, I mean, You like five guys and two of them are clones, and you confessed on a bad timing" the brunette said.

Raven looks sorry for the white hair male "I didn't know that" she commented.

Marin shakes his head "I try not to think about it too much so I can focus on being strong enough not just for the Grand Magic Games, but also for Trigon" he tells the two females.

"Well, we've all gathered together so Why not come by to the guild and surprise everyone" Cana suggested.

Marin pulls up his hood "I would love to see everyone again and meeting the new faces, that you've mentioned before Cana" he said with a smile.

Cana nodded "Yeah, and even we can make Raven a member of the guild if she wishes to" she adds.

Raven think for a moment and nod "I think I can" she mutters

Cana chuckle before hanging a arm around the younger female's shoulder holding a bottle of booze in hand "Alright that's what I'm talking about!" she cheered.

"SHE'S A MINOR! AND SINCE WHEN YOU START DRINKING!?" Marin questioned out of panic.

-scene change-

A group of wizards are gathered outside of a reconstructed building they're mostly chatting about their improvements well except for a certain group until they hear Makarov's voice calling out to them.

"Good work everyone!" Makarov walks up to the group.

"Oh, hey gramps!" A young man with Salmon pink colored hair greeted the Guild Master

"It appears that you all trained very hard to prepare for the Grand Magic Games

A blonde female with pigtails sweat drops at the comment 'I wouldn't go that far exactly" she thought.

"Right now I like everybody to join me inside" Makarov entered the guild hall as he sees Marin standing at the bar nervously "You'll do great" he whispers.

Marin nod and pull up his hood and goes upstairs before anyone else could noticed him.

"Listen up, kids; is time to announce the five members the five that will be representing Fairy Tail in the Grand Magic Games" The Guild Master informs "But before I do that, I would like to announce that Fairy Tail will be having a brighter day as a member of our family had made their return just exactly three months ago and he was aware that you guys were training he wouldn't stay back with his arms crossed while you all do the heavy lifting" Makarov tells them which made the members look curious; Makarov looks up the stair "you can come out now" he yells.

Marin slowly walks down the stairs no one would recognize him at first due to having the hood over his head Marin stand next to his master and slowly takes off his hood revealing his face; most member are shocked to see the person, while others were a bit confused two blurs run tackled the white hair male.

"Big Bro!" two voices yelled at the same time tackling him down to a hug while sobbing with tears of joy.

Marin smiles "Hi, Ly, Elfman" he greeted them while hugging back.

Ly or his full name, Lysander is shown as a young man, like his older brother he has white hair and blue eyes and pale skin. his has slim body but not as curvy as his older brother. Marin's hair is shorter in comparison he is also seen wearing pink spaghetti shirt with a ribbon in the middle and long jeans with flower patterns on it.

His other Elman however is a large, muscular man with tan colored skin, whose height causes him to tower over most of his fellow guild members. His long white hair is kept styled upwards in long, wavy spikes, his dark eyes possess no visible eyebrows, and his rectangular, elongated face has a stitched scar running down its right side, crossing his right eye. His black Fairy Tail stamp is located on the left part of his neck.

Marin looks at both his brothers and see that they've grown "You're both so big" he stated smiling at his brothers.

Both Lysander and Elfman looked at their brother with proud smile then a woman walks up to the brothers.

Marin looks up and sees a beautiful young woman with light skin, long curly light brown hair, dark brown eyes and visible pink lips. She wears oval glasses and has a very voluptuous figure paired with very large breasts and curvy hips. She wore a revealing green dress with pattern-like vines and abandoned her purple high heels.

"Hello, Marin; I-I'm not sure if you remember me-"

"Evergreen" Marin cheerfully stated before hugging the female "how could I forget you? You look amazing"

The light brunette chuckled "thanks, you don't look so bad yourself" she complimented Marin.

"Welcome back Marin" he hears a familiar voice as a red hair male with armor standing before him.

"Hello to you too, Ezra" Marin greeted back.

Ezra is a young man with long, scarlet hair and brown eyes, though one of them is a artificial one. He has a slender, voluptuous figure that can described as "amazing"; his most common attire consists of a custom-made armor by Heart Kreuz smiths, a blue pans, black boots, and diamond shaped silver earrings. His Fairy Tail stamp is blue and is located on the middle of his left upper arm.

"Marin!" two guys greeted the white hair male.

One of them's most prominent feature is his spiky black-colored hair. He has dark blue eyes, and his body is toned and muscular. his Fairy Tail Stamp is located on his right pectoral in navy-blue color; he is wearing a white cloak over a a burgundy shirt underneath what's seemed to be a gray vest and black pants and matching boots.

while the other is a lean, muscular young man of average height with a slightly tan skin tone, black eyes, spiky pink-colored hair and has abnormal sharp canines; he has a scar on the right side of his neck, hidden by his scarf. His guild mark is red and is located just below his right shoulder. He wears an open-collared, one-sleeved long overcoat waistcoat, which is tucked in and zipped. The sleeve covers Natsu's left arm with a faux leather brown armband, leaving his Fairy Tail mark, as well as his entire right arm, consequently exposed. Natsu wears a black open-toed sandals and the scale-patterned scarf he received from his adoptive father, Igneel.

"Hey, Natsu, hey, Gray; I better hope you two weren't giving Ezra a problem while I was gone" he responds with a giggle.

The two laughs nervously then a squeal is heard by the older whitette male.

"Is Marin Jame in the flesh!" A female wizard stated.

That female has brown eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair that is usually tied up more often pigtails. Her pink Fairy Tail stamp is located at the back of her right hand. Additionally, the girl seems like she does not consistently wear the same outfits However, she always has a belt that, along with keeping her skirt up, holds a pouch with golden keys and a whip with a heart-shaped end. She often wears black, leather high heeled boots.

'A Celestial Wizard, haven't crossed paths with one in a long time' Marin thought while giggling.

"wow" he hears another voice and is a younger girl which like the other girl she rocks in higher pigtails.

She is a petite girl with fair skin. As of her introduction, she has long, dark blue hair that reaches down to her waist, with two bangs framing her face which reach down to her chest alongside her brown eyes.

"You two must be new members since I don't remember seeing you before, I'm Marin, nice to meet you guys" Marin said with a warm smile.

The blonde girl squeal again but quickly snaps herself back to reality "My name is Lucy is really is a honor to finally meet you Marin James" she introduces herself.

"And I'm Wendy Marvell, and I joined the guild with Carla" the other girl introduces herself to the whitette male

"You mean the white Exceed wearing a cute dress who's hanging out with Happy as we speak?" Marin questioned pointing at the two flying cats interacting.

Wendy nod "yeah! that's her" she confirmed.

"Hey, Marin, who's the little girl behind you?" Gray ask Marin looks oved his left shoulder and sees Raven standing behind Marin.

Now all eyes were on the girl hidden behind Marin "Oh! this is Raven; I basically adopted her" Marin simply answers which made most member look at the older take over brother confused "Story for another time, and don't look at her too much, she's shy around meeting new people" he explains.

"H-Hi" Raven greeted shyly.

Wendy walks up to Raven "is nice to meet you Raven, are you here to join?" she asked.

"I'm basically stuck here, and you guys seem... uniquely welcoming, so I don't see why I should refuse" the purple hair girl replies before looking up at her now guardian who nodded at her.

Hearing this made Wendy's eyes light up and takes Raven by the hand "come on, I'll introduce you to Carla" she said while she leaves dragging a surprised Raven of how strong the dark blue hair girl is.

Marin then looks at Makarov "Are you going to tell us our five representatives master?" he asked his guild master.

Makarov nodded "yes, Natsu..."

"Oh yeah!" Natsu cheered.

"Gray..." Makarov continues

"I'm honored" Gray stated.

"Ezra..."

The redhead male nodded at the old man "I won't let you down" he said.

Marin then stands with his two brothers "of course those three were kind of a shoot in for the team" he hears Lysander saying.

"I guess a lot of things happened since I left, I still wonder who will get the last two spots" Marin commented.

"We're going to need a real man to represent our guild!" Elfman stated clenching his fist with pride making the older Strauss brother sweat drops.

'Even though things changed in such a short time, somethings never changed' Marin thought looking at his little brother.

"And the remaining two will be...Lucy and Wendy" Makarov finishes making the mentioned look at the guild master flabbergasted and disbelief that he chose them.

"How humiliating" Elfman stated while sobbing dramatically

Marin shakes his head as he sees some other Fairy Tail wizards were disappointed that they weren't chosen but one wizard seems to have a interest for Marin to meet 

the person is a slender, young man with short azure blue hair, midnight blue eyes, snow white skin complexion and slim yet muscular figure. He wears a knee-high dark dress coat which is adorned with four, symmetrically placed, light-colored buttons on the chest. The coat is garnished with fur trimmings around her sleeve cuffs and neck. In addition, he wears a matching, dark, Russian-style hat, stylized with a light-colored butterfly clip, which, in itself, is attached to the fur trimming garnishing the hat. he completes his outfit by fastening a light brown belt around his waist and wearing complimenting, dark blue pants, and dark brown, ankle-high boots.

Marin walks up to the blue hair male "You've must be here not too long ago, you must be one of the other newest members along with Wendy and Lucy, I'm Marin" he introduces himself reaching a hand out to the blue hair male.

The male looks hesitant but shakes his hand "Rain's name is Rain" the young man introduces himself as Rain.

Marin looks flattered at the other young male's choice of words "Oh! you speak in third person, Rain?" he asked.

Rain gasped and covered his mouth "S-Sorry force of habit" he quickly apologized with a embarrassed blush.

"Don't apologize, Rain, is a what makes you, you"

Rain looks down "Still Ra- I mean I'm trying to break out of that habit" he said.

"Don't force yourself, just be proud of who you are and if speaking in third person is part of who you are you don't need to change for anyone, and I'm sure Gray would love that" Marin encourages the blue hair male.

Rain looks at Marin with shock "H-How did you-" Rain tried to asked but Marin waves him off trying to calm Rain down from his panic.

"I mean I just met you, true, but I know the look of someone who's in love when I see one" Marin explains.

Rain's face now redder than Ezra's hair looks down hiding his embarrassment "was I that obvious?" he questioned.

"to anyone else, yes, Gray not so much since he's so oblivious with these kinds of stuffs he's still like since our younger years" Marin tells Rain.

"I-I see..." Rain thought 'I mean, is better that way as much as I dislike not being in the same team as Gray, but I'm happy that he's getting a chance to step up representing this new guild' he thought which little did the blue hair male know Marin could hear his thought.

Wendy runs up to the master "But I'm not a fighter, master, can you pick Laxus or Gajeel for the team instead?" she asked pleading Makarov to quickly replace her with someone else.

Marin cringed at the mentioned of a certain blonde man 'He's still a member of this guild, huh?' he thought.

Makarov tilts to the side "I don't really have that option since neither of them had returned yet" he explains.

Ezra then walks up to lucy putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder "we weren't chosen for our individual strength, but our combine strength as a team" he explains before looking at Wendy "so let's make him proud and give it our all" he adds.

Lucy nodded "Yeah, good point" she agrees.

Wendy looks at Ezra moved by the redhead's words "Yeah, I'll do my very best" 

Marin and Raven walks up to the three of them "hey Wendy if you want Raven can help you improve you hand to hand combat" Marin suggested making the shorter cloaked girl looks at her guardian flabbergasted "You'll be fine, Raven don't forget who taught you during my time at Azarath" he encourages her.

Raven sighed before turning to Wendy "I can't promise that my combat tutoring will be perfect, but I'll try the best of my abilities" she tells Wendy.

Wendy bows to Raven "I'll be in your care" she stated making Raven sweat drop.

"Wendy we're practically the same age, you don't need to be so formal" Raven tells the pigtailed hair girl.

Ezra looks at the team "Alright, team, presents the perfect opportunity for us to reclaim the price that we once held, today, Sabertooth is regarded as Fiore's number one guild, let us take that title, Fairy Tail will be the top guild again!" he announces making everyone present cheer.

Marin smiles at the scene "somethings never changed" he thought out loud giggling to himself