For those (two) of you who requested a description of Ember, just know I get it and thank you! Even if you don't draw her, it's really cool to know there's interest. If you have any other questions you can always feel free to message me. I'm always more than happy to answer.

Description of Ember Thorn:

- Long Black hair that fades to red towards the end (Think Obre or Balayage or whatever it's called)

-She tries to keep her hair in a braid that falls over her shoulder, but her hair will not be tamed and more often than not falls out by the time noon comes around... It's almost always a bit ratty.

- Scarlet red eyes that are naturally narrow and just a tad bit closer together than is normal.

-She always looks like she's glaring, but that's just her face, you would know if she was actually glaring at you because her glare is so much worse.

- She has scars all over her body from fights she's been in, now she has some really prominent ones on her wrists and face after fighting.

-Her Fairy Tail mark is on the right side of her neck and is red with a black outline.

-Her outfit is tightfitting, but still easy to move in. A red tank top with a loose-ish black crop top over it, black pants and a thick leather belt, combat boots.

- She always has her long sword and dagger on her belt, in sheathes because our girl knows how to take care of her weapons (Though you know there are at least ten other blades on her body at all times, you just can't see them). Her belt also has pouches that carry bandages and whatever potions and lacrima's she decides are needed for each mission.

-She bleeds... A lot. It could be that her magic forces her body to adapt to having more blood in her veins than normal people, but she is always bleeding somewhere, she doesn't even notice it anymore.

-As such, she almost always has trace amounts of blood circling around her due to her magic. It's just a part of life and people have slowly gotten used to it.

If you would like to add any details, feel free. If I haven't mentioned something, there's a good chance I don't care too much how it's portrayed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laxus was truly shocked that I was so nonchalant about going to Era when we docked. I kept shrugging and saying that I was excited to see the old guildhall again, even if it was the last time I saw them before I was arrested and/or killed on sight.

He had a point... I wasn't sure I was entirely sane either.

Either way, it was amazing to see Magnolia again, I could even see the tower that was Fairy Tail's guildhall in the distance. I couldn't stop the grin that covered my face as I jumped out of the ship, ignoring any concerned cries that called my name. Sorry, but I was home, no one was going to stop me now.

 "Ember! Wait!" One person was going to stop me now. 

I turned with a grumble to face one of the gun duo (Biscuit? Basket? And here I was thinking that I had gotten so much better with names) who was leaning over the edge of the ship, an apologetic look on her face as she motioned at me to stop. "Could... Could you please wait?" She stammered out, her face oddly red, "There's something we still need to tell you."

Well, that didn't sound good. My sigh was only half-hearted as I turned around, my shoulders slumped and a dejected look that I knew was out of place on me. 

Hopefully, the emotional extremes would die down after a while. I was a bit sick of being all over the place like this. 

I shot glares to Ever and Bickslow as I reentered the ship, they had immediately started to snigger when they saw me coming up the ramp, and I knew exactly what they were thinking, those idiots. It's not like they were any different. I could see the excitement to be home shining in their eyes. The hypocrites.

Laxus immediately made his way over to me and twined our hands together without hesitation. He tried not to show it, but I could see the pain in his eyes after he found out about the seven-year gap. Was he blaming himself? I certainly hoped not, there was nothing he could have done to change it.

There was a certain shame that came with knowing something bad happened to someone you cared about was hurt when you were helpless to do anything. I understood that fact and knew exactly how it felt.

We stayed where we were as Biscuit and her husband (Sack? A Lack?) explained to us that Fairy Tail no longer had the same situation as it did before. Apparently the bills had been too much to pay with many of the guild's core members being out of the picture and they had to declare bankruptcy and move out.

It tore a hole in my heart to hear that. After so long of dreaming about returning to my home, remembering how it looked... It was gone. I squeezed Laxus's hand, trying my best to keep a straight face. 

Was my home gone?

"We found another place." Biscuit said finally, and some of the weight was lifted off my chest, but not by much, "It's a bit... out of the way, but it does the job."

Out of everyone, the old man was taking this new news the hardest. He, along with a few others, were the ones to create the guild, he'd been instrumental in building it up to what it became. This had to be heartbreaking for him.

It didn't take long after that for everyone to make their way off the ship, and this time, instead of energy and excitement, our group had become something of a grim processional.

We made our way through town and I could feel my breathing becoming stilted. It wasn't anything to worry about, at the moment, but it was a bit distracting to be surrounded by so many heartbeats... This was just as bad as when my power was first 'recharged' if you will. The urge to reach out and grab something, if only to relieve some of the pressure, was immense.

Other than that the walk was fine. Everyone around us was speculating and gossiping and I know I heard the word 'weak' in conjunction with Fairy Tail.

Natsu nearly blew some people up, Juvia clutched Grey's arm the entire time (I'd like to mention that he didn't look particularly upset about this), and Laxus was buzzing with electricity the whole way... But that was basically the norm for us, so it was probably better than the mayhem that could have been made.

By the time we got to the small farm outside the city, I could practically see the nerves radiating off everyone. We were all excited to be home, some more than others, but there was a slight amount of apprehension... 

If the guildhall had changed so much, what else had changed?

There seemed to be a slight commotion inside the hall, which didn't sound as friendly as Fairy Tail commotion normally would. I could feel my body tense and prepare for a fight, but Natsu beat me to the punch. With a flair only he could possess, the doors were kicked open and he walked through.

It was nice to know that someone was enjoying this whole thing. His energy made me smile if nothing else.

Amidst the faces of shock and maybe a little bit of terror I stepped through the doors, fading into the background of the moment, where I was most comfortable, and noticed two men that I didn't recognize. Sure, one would think that was to be expected, given the seven years we were gone, there had to be some new people, but that didn't seem to be the case.

There was an air of aggression about the place that told me that all was not as it seemed. I could feel my eyes narrowing as I slipped my longsword into my palm, wincing as I did so.

Nothing hurt, don't get me wrong, but my familiar weapon felt like a total stranger in my palm. I didn't have to try and fight to realize that I had lost all the muscle memory I once had. Laxus looked down at me in surprise and I grimaced, but I just shrugged and put my weapon away.

As I was, I would be of no help to anyone in a fight... It was a hard blow and I already knew that if I didn't go to jail in the near future, I would be spending a long time in seclusion, getting my fighting skills back up to where I expected them to be. 

Fuck. If I didn't have my fighting skills, what did I have going for me? The terrifying ability to manipulate blood and stop people's hearts on a whim? A beast inside of me fighting for control?

Yeah, that was super useful... At this point, they might as well just replace me with a grenade that had it's pin halfway out.

The men were kicked out of the building quickly enough, and the truth came out how Fairy Tail was in debt to another guild, who acted more like loan sharks than anything else. It was unfortunate, but I had seen this exact same situation many times throughout the years. 

If anyone thought that I would allow my family to be destroyed in such a pathetic manner, they were sorely mistaken. 

With a silence befitting the Ghost I had been named after for so long, I slipped out of the guild, making sure that no one knew, with the exception of Laxus, who followed behind me after a moment.

I made my way back into town and towards where I knew the train station had been once upon a time with Laxus in tow. 

I was on a mission, and Laxus knew me well enough to guess that in a heartbeat.

As I bought a ticket to Balsam Village and boarded the train, marveling at the new technology that had come during the gap. There were natural lights in all the cabins, and in ours, there was an interface that allowed us to call the snack cart. It was incredible, but also just barely n my mind.

"Any particular reason we're heading to your home?" Laxus asked, finally allowing himself to speak. I knew he had the questions ever since the ship, but this was the first time he had said anything.

At least it was a question, but I knew for damn sure that it wasn't the question he wanted to ask. I shot him a mocking grin, "Obviously. Our guild is in debt, Spark Plug, if anyone thinks that I'm going to let that stand, they're crazy."

His brow furrowed for a moment, first at my mocking tone, then at my response. I could practically see the questions building up like steam in his head, "...Our guild?" He finally asked tentatively and I genuinely snorted. 

The poor thing was so confused.

"Yup." I said simply enough, popping the 'p' as obnoxiously as I could, "No matter what, you belong to Fairy Tail, so do it. It's a guild that gets in your blood."

It seemed that I had hit the nail on the head, as he looked at me with shock. He must not have thought about that before as he immediately sunk into his shell and began brooding on my response. It was just like him to do this, but unfortunately for his realization, I was in the mood to talk. A rare thing for me.

I leaned forward with the hints of a teasing smile pulling at my lips, "You remember all that valuable shit I had around my house when we first met? I asked carefully, not wanting to give it away just yet.

He nodded, still distracted, "All that gaudy stuff that Bickslow and Ever nearly broke every day? Yeah, why?" He paused for a moment and his eyes refocused on me, "You said you gave it back to the people they originally belonged to when Ever forced you to redecorate." He was totally unsuspecting and I just shot him an innocent smile, waiting for what I was implying to sink in.

"You returned them... Right?" Laxus asked, becoming far more suspicious as I didn't answer, "Ember? That crap was all stolen and fucking expensive! You said you returned it!"

No doubt he was expecting more... or less, one of the two, but I just smiled, something I had been doing quite a lot of, and leaned back in my seat. Laxus, on the other hand, leaned forward with sharp eyes and every intention to start grilling me.

It was actually a bit adorable the way he kept getting closer to me, all the while insisting that I give him answers. 

I kind of forgot to listen to what he was saying as I watched him (no doubt with a dopey, stupid smile on my face), and before long we arrived at our station, getting off quickly, all the while with Laxus grumbling about how illegal this was, and how I had betrayed their trust.

"Don't worry honey," I cooed as I walked over to the stone wall, looking around carefully to see if I could spot anyone looking our way, "Just think of it as an investment I made for our future."

For some odd reason, my words made him trip over his own feet and he just stood back a little way, gaping at me as I opened the hatch and walked over to it. 

"I'll probably need some help choosing which items to give them... Unless the Rune Knights were able to get in here... Shit, do you think this could be a trap?" I mused this more to myself than anything as Laxus stood stock still in the train station. Who knows what I did, but apparently it was enough to stop all his brain functions. I looked back up at him and shrugged, disappearing into the hole and leaving him up there as the door slid shut. 

If he couldn't get out his own panic long enough to come with me, then he could stand to wait in the train station for thirty or so minutes.

To be honest, I was just glad no one had changed the password to open the sliding door. If even one of those rocks had changed in the seven-year gap, I would have been forever barred from my home.

Of course, that didn't mean that someone else hadn't gained access to my home. My mentors couldn't get in because I changed the password as soon as I joined Fairy Tail, but if they had told the others where to find me, they would have had a long time to figure it out.

I reached the bottom of the stairs and unlocked the combination password that opened my house... And then?

Well, then I immediately sneezed. 

The house was absolutely coated in dust. Sure, the lights turned on just fine and the fireplace was able to cough its way to life, but the additional light only highlighted the fact that my home bad become dust central. I could feel my eyes watering with horror as I covered my mouth to avoid breathing in. If this was how this looked... I didn't even want to see the kitchen.

With a grimace, I walked through the house to one of the back rooms, one that had been locked for around two decades now, the room where I kept all the things I told everyone that I had given back to their original owners. Jokes on them, I didn't even know who their original owners were in the first place.

I grabbed a few items I remember my mentors mentioning a few times, almost everything in this room was worth a not so small fortune, so unless Fairy Tail had wracked up enough debt to sustain a small country, I was probably overdoing it, but I didn't want to take any risks.

With that, all I had to do was take one more disapproving look at the state of my home (I wasn't sure I could look at my weapon's display without crying) and head out.

Laxus was a right old ball of sunshine when I came out, grumbling and glaring at me for leaving him behind, which I ignored, and together we jumped back on the train to Magnolia. It would be a cold fucking day in hell when I cared more about decorations than my family.

***

"And you're saying that this... Thing is worth enough to pay off all Fairy Tail's debts." The guild Master of Twilight Ogre (A stupid name for a stupid guild) said disdainfully, staring at the vase I placed in front of him.

It hadn't taken long to find their headquarters when we got back to town, the first person we had asked rolled their eyes and pointed out the most ostentatious building on the street. None of the townspeople seemed to like them, and from the little I had seen, it was obvious that they were more bullies than anything. It was pitiful.

The moment we had walked in and said who we were, Laxus and I were separated (a bad idea on their part, Laxus made up about 75% of my self-control and vice versa) and I was shoved into a dark, smoky room.

It smelled of burning roses and feet and I didn't like it.

After that, it was a good few hours before the most idiotic person I had seen to date walked into the room and sat down as though he had all the power. He also smelled of roses and feet and his face was begging me to punch him, especially with his disgusting yellow suit and pompous purple cape.

I hated him on sight.

Unfortunately for me, I had to at least try to solve this civilly before I could jump to my preferred tactics, so I plastered on my award-winning smile and produced one of the items I had taken with me.

As he dissed it, I pulled in a deep breath and tried my best to count to ten. I didn't need to go off on him right now. I didn't need to go off on him right now. He deserved it and it would feel so good to get some of the stress out, but I didn't need to go off on him right now.

"Yes," I said, my tone still light. Do you remember all the times I said I should get an award for my acting? Well, I take those back, they were nothing compared to this performance I was giving right now, "It's a third-century pure lacrimal vase. Last time it was on the market, it was sold for 20 billion jewels."

The man's jaw went slack as I spoke, as it should have, this thing was a national treasure to the Alverez Empire. It had been stolen before my time, but I knew that it took a whole team of thieves to get it out of that country.

Most of them had lost their lives in the attempt, but one made it through with the vase as their prize.

I watched as greed sparked in the man's eyes, but it was covered and I fought the urge to roll my eyes, "I find it... Difficult to believe that such an insignificant nobody such as you would have something like this. I should kill you for trying to sell me a fake."

Uh-hu. Sure, and that small amount of drool was nothing more than a memory of lunch.

Biting back my internal thoughts, I smiled again, "I assure you, it's quite real, if you would like to have someone come and appraise it, I'd be happy to oblige. After all, I would never endanger my family by trying to dupe you."

He shrugged and rubbed his oddly shaped chin, "And say I do what you want me to and drop all Fairy Tail's debts to me on the basis that this could be valuable if I find the right person. It sounds like quite the gamble if I'm being honest."

Deep Breaths... Come on Ember, just take deep breaths.

"I would never ask you to do that," I simpered, sure, I was overdoing it now, but I needed to overcompensate to hide my desire to smack this guy around a bit, "I actually have contacts that would allow you to sell this for the best price in just a few weeks." Assuming Gavin was still alive and hadn't killed himself with some weird shit, of course.

So long as I didn't mention that he could be murdered just for this being found in his possession, we were all good.

He was still wavering, so I leaned forward and grinned even wider, "I understand, of course, that I am asking you to choose between the offer of more riches than you could ever use in your lifetime and the guarantee of a pittance from a nearly dead guild every week, but the answer does seem obvious to me."

"Think about it, how much longer do you think Fairy Tail can survive with you draining their resources? Your guaranteed paycheck won't be guaranteed for much longer." The smallest threat was hinted at in my tone, but I made sure to keep it to the minimum as to not raise any suspicions.

He only thought about it for a moment longer before a very salacious smile covered his face. 

I groaned... Seriously? We could have done this the easy way.

He waved a hand and his people poured into the room, not all of them were armed, but this wasn't a kiddie puzzle, I knew exactly what was about to go down.

"I think you overlooked an option here," He drawled, his tone so prideful that I couldn't wait to pound him into the ground., "How about I keep the vase and keep getting payments from your pathetic guild?"

No doubt he expected me to start quivering in fear, or at least be confused and protest what was about to happen, but he was about to be surprised.

This man was due for a wakeup call, one I was very excited to give him.

With a short bark of laughter, I leaned back in my seat, the sweet yet confident smile I had been portraying up to that point vanishing and it's sadistic counterpart replacing it, "Oh hun," I said pityingly, "I was being nice. I offered you a national treasure to pay you for your troubles and all would have been well. After all, it is thanks to you that Fairy Tail didn't crumble without funds. Unfortunately..."

I rose to my feet with the same sadistic smile written into my face, holding back the laughter as everyone in the room tensed, "You had to decide to be an asshole, so now you'll lose both."

Two knives practically appeared in my hands  from my pants and everyone gasped, "I told you to make sure she was unarmed!" The guild master yelled and my grin only deepened as the lackey's claimed that they had.

"Well you took my two main knives," I said, my smile far too cocky for its own good, "But you missed the other ten... Or is it fifteen?" They paled quite considerably at that. 

Outwardly it looked like I was doing just fine, I was still intimidating as fuck and I had the knives in my hands like the pro I used to be, but there was a slightly different story just below the surface. If you looked closely, you would see the twin stripes of red running down my arms from where the knives slid into my hands. 

I could probably take out these guys. Nothing about them screamed skill by any means, but that didn't mean I wanted to risk it.

Maybe my magic wanted to take this one on. They would be on their knees in about... Two seconds flat? Probably less? The only downside to that one would be that they probably wouldn't survive and I didn't necessarily want to kill them all.

If sliding knives into my hands was a precarious idea, then throwing the knives was definitely not an option. I settled into a position and raised my knives as best I was able. "Are you sure you want to do this? I'll give you one more chance to think better of fighting the Reluctant Fairy." I hated throwing around my guild name.

Would that even be threatening anymore? I remember that it was apparently a relatively heard of name back in the day, but that was seven years ago. I mean, it would become known quickly enough after this.

"Ooh, I'm really scared," The man mocked, "If I had known I'd be fighting the famed... Reluctant Fairy I would have changed my underwear today!" 

I mean, I saw this coming, but seriously? His ass was mine.

Hastened reflexes were what saved me at that moment. I sensed one of the people moving just in time to dodge, and before I knew it, I had pulled his arm into a painful lock. "You don't have to do this," I muttered into his ear, "I didn't come here wanting to hurt you, but you will get hurt if I have to push the issue."

Hahahahahaha!!!!! I haven't lost it all yet! Quiver before me Plebians! The man in my arms was struggling and I could feel by his heartbeat that he was terrified. God, it'd been so long since I'd felt this.

Whether or not I liked it was a different issue entirely. The man's head began nodding frantically and I pushed him away from me right before brandishing my knife at the leader, "Be as sarcastic as you would like, but it will only get you pain for your trouble. Take the vase and leave it at that, or watch as I break your entire guild down piece by piece."

I was ready to fulfill that promise, and I knew exactly how to do it. This wasn't my first rodeo, and if I destroyed them, it would be just another tally on my relatively long list. The guild leader must have seen something in my eyes because he flicked a finger and yet another idiot lunged at me.

Unfortunately for him, I was done treating him with kid gloves. My knife swung down, missing the man who lunged for me. 

Just as the man sucked in a breath of victory, thinking that it was over, the sound of cracking crystal shot through the room like a bullet. No doubt the idiot never thought I would target something I brought in and claimed to be extremely valuable.

The room froze as a burst of light shot from where my knife pierced. It was a very cinematic moment, the crack spread the longer we watched, and while it felt like several hours, it only took a few seconds for the vase to explode in a shower of light and rapidly disintegrating crystal. Lacrimal was rare, so this being destroyed so callously would bring a tear to any historian's eye.

Unfortunately, I couldn't care less. My eyes shimmered wickedly in the rapidly receding light of the lacrimal vase, "Do you feel like listening now?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You guys remember how I said that this would be the last chapter? 

Sike, the story got away from me, and we get this lovely scene of Ember intimidating Twilight Ogre into submission. She was supposed to go to Era this chapter to chat with Lahar, but that would have taken too much time. The chapter probably would have been 7000+ words if I had decided to take that route.

I really don't want to make the ending feel rushed, so here we are, handing out some more Ember badassery!

I promise, next chapter will be the final one, unless of course, the story gets away from me again, which I don't see it doing.

-Kypso01