Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail as it and the canon characters rightfully belongs to Hiro Mashima.

The OCs belong to me.

This story is co-written with a friend of mine named Insane Dominator.

Yes. This is my first fanfic with a story and the first one that isn't a reaction based one. I have became a Fairy Tail fan and decided to make my own story here. But I am still devoted to my two other stories. Don't worry. I won't be working on this as much as my other two fics because it takes time for this. (I'm more than halfway done with Samurai Jack while I finished this, so don't get upset).

I've seen the Grand Magical Games Arc and I decided to tweek some parts here and there to make it more likable…. after some events that were hard to see. There is also some shipping here and there.

This Chapter will be kinda short but they will be longer once I go further in future chapters.

Chapter 1 - Lost and Found.

July 7th, X777

Somewhere in the forests of Fiore, it's already high noon as thick trees blocked the sunlight but with only a few beams of the sun able to sneak through the cracks. It's quiet as no birds or insects have made any sounds. It's so quiet that even a drip of water would be pretty loud. No wind either to make the plants rustle.

"Grandpa…!" A voice that shouted from the distance. It sounded like that of a child screaming at the top of his/her lungs as the voice grew nearer and nearer.

"Grandpa!" It was closer again as it was louder and sounded like it belonged to a boy.

"Grandpa! Where are you?!" A young boy, who looks like he's around the age of a 6 to 7 years old, has shown himself as he was trudging through the thick woods and appears extremely worried as he's searching for someone he calls his "grandpa".

The boy is a bit taller than the average boy for his age with a slim, slightly muscular torso with some muscles in his limbs, along with some messy brown hair that covers his left eye as the color of his two eyes are green. His attire isn't much as he wears nothing but green shorts with leaf symbols on it. He's shirtless but he does wear a lot of necklaces with beads, feathers and even some animal teeth. Being alone in the woods for so long can make you look like some tribesman.

"Grandpa!" The boy shouted once again. His constant calls to his grandfather is making him more frustrated and sad by the minute. He has been searching across the whole forest since this morning, even using his magic tracking his grandpa taught him, and still not even a trace of his missing grandparent.

After walking for so many hours nonstop, the boy collapses to his hands and knees out of frustration and slight exhaustion.

"Why…. why did you go…? Why did you leave me without even a sign?" He asked in complete confusion and frustration. He didn't understand, he couldn't grasp the concept as to why the one grandparent he looked up to would just straight out leave him during the night. It makes no sense.

He started remembering the night from yesterday and the last words his grandfather told him as they echoed in his mind.

"The world is not an easy place to accomplish for what's to come, my child. There's no predicting what you will come across in your adventures when you are ready to be what I trained you to be.

"But grandpa." The boy answered as the stars twinkled above him and the figure he looked up to and he also started feeling worried. "What if I'm not ready? What if I fail and disappoint you? I tried so much to perfect the techniques you showed me but I can't even get close!"

"And look where you are now." The elder answered in a calm tone without a hint of disappointment but the words of being proud. "The first day I trained you, you didn't know a single thing. The day after that, you learned the basics and knowledge of forest magic and how to control a flower, and make it bloom rapidly.

The boy heard the words of wisdom and then started to have deep thoughts that he's right.

"And as I kept teaching you more and more for the past 3 years, not only did the magic of your power grew, but also your will and knowledge as well. You have far exceeded my expectations when you kept training hard and under my guidance."

The boy's doubts and worries were being washed away by his grandfather's wisdom.

"You may not be perfect but that doesn't make you any weaker when you just need to believe in yourself." The elder finished.

After hearing everything, the boy's confidence has now risen back to normal and feels relieved. He does in fact believe in himself that he can accomplish many wonders and capable of crossing just about any obstacle as long as he has faith in himself.

"Thanks Grandpa." The child says in happiness as he diverts his attention to the stars as he sees millions, it not billions, of stars and bits of galaxies in the night sky. But after staring at the sky for a while, he sighs and feels another slight concern. "But…. what will I face out there? What's my purpose? Will I ever join a guild someday and be a wizard to do what's right?"

But his grandfather said one thing that he will never forget for the rest of his life.

"My child, you are too concerned for what's out there and what will be. There's a saying; 'Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift.' The elder begins walking away as he's ready to slumber. "That is why we call it the present." He whispered as he slowly moves away and heads back to his hut.

The boy watches him go as he continues to sit there and watch the stars. "Huh. I like that motto."

That's all his grandfather told him that night. When morning came, he's nowhere to be found and the boy was extremely worried.

"But why did you give me that quote?" He asked as he thinks in deep thought. "Is it like a sign or something?" He shrugs and decides to keep searching.

4 days later

It has been four days… and still no sign of his grandfather.

The young boy drops to his knees as he feels he may never see the one and only grandparent who raised and loved him. He tries to hold back the tears as he tried to stay focused but ends up crying as he lays in the grass as he let it all out due after holding it for days.

"Where are you?!" He shouted to the sky as it echoed across the forests that also scared away some birds and nearby animals. He laid there as continued to shed tears that felt like hours. After ten minutes of letting it all out, he finally calms down and now is sitting down calmly and uses his Forest Magic to absorb some of the sunlight to feel more refreshed.

He still doesn't understand why on a day such as the past days as to why he's left alone to fend for himself. Was it something he did wrong? Was it something his grandpa knows that he doesn't? So many questions are brought up that relates to the disappearance.

"Even if I did figure it out as to why I was left behind, that doesn't answer as to where he would be and where I would find him." After a few more minutes of recuperating and thinking, he stands back up and takes a deep breath as he pulls a piece of paper out of his backpack he is carrying with him and unfolds it. It's a map of Fiore as he tries to pinpoint where he is, thanks to his grandfather's tutoring on maps and locations.

"Dang…. despite my navigation skills and knowledge of this forest…. it's still kinda hard to know where I'm actually going. I must practice more to get better at this." He's been travelling through the forest for quite some time as he's still not out of the woods yet…. literally and figuratively. A normal six-year-old wouldn't survive out here, but he knows what he's doing as he keeps his wits and sanity in check to stay alive and find a way out.

He folds the paper back into his backpack and decides to do a technique that he learned through his training. He stops and takes a deep breath as he empties his mind and focuses as his eyes glow a bright green and feels the living energy and magic around him, but thanks to his training with Forest Magic, he can also feel the energy from all the plants and trees around him as he expands the radius of his senses to a couple more miles. This is called Forest Aura. He can also sense the presence of several animals, from a small mouse, to a large vulcan, that is until he felt another presence that felt similar to his.

"It…. feels similar to mine. Could it be a… person like me?" He said as he further focuses on that known presence that resembles a blue light in his field of vision. The boy has never seen another human before so he wonders what may happen.

"This may not be my biggest concern as I'm supposed to find grandpa…. but he would be disappointed in me if I ever turned my back on someone. And besides, whoever the person is out there is alone and sad." He said as he's about to head off. "And why am I talking to myself a lot?" He finished as he heads off in the direction.

Somewhere, few miles away

There was the sound of crying as the forest was dark and gloom in these parts. Next to a nearby waterfall, on the shore, sits a young girl as she was hugging her legs and crying as tears shed from her eyes. The girl was somewhere between 6 and 7 as had black hair that was messy and her violet dress was torn and dirty from the environment she endured.

She's crying because she's forced to endure this harsh "training" until she gets stronger and will be able to go back home. Her father left her here for now and says he will return to see if she's improved her ability and power. If she doesn't, then he will order her to work harder until she succeeds. But this constant torture of training is too much to keep going as she easily gives up and cries here with no hopes of escaping this nightmare.

Nearby

The boy starts taking slow and quiet steps in hopes to not be noticed. He also hears the cries that are slowly becoming louder as he gets closer with every step.

He peers over a large rock…. and finds a crying girl who looks helpless and lost. The first thing he feels is sympathy at seeing this poor child being alone with no parent, which leads to confusion what happened to her parents. Are they dead? Did they abandon her? None of that matters now as he needs to help the poor girl right now.

He jumps over the rock and slowly walks towards the girl with her back turned and she's not aware…. until she sensed his magic and turns around as she stands in her defensive stance that she learned through her early training.

Despite not being around a girl before, he couldn't help but admit her face and eyes were pretty and even get lost by those eyes. He snapped out of it and focused on helping her.

"Hey…. you okay?" The boy asked as he realized he must have startled her but he means no harm for her. She stared at the unexpected newcomer for a second and remembered something. A voice echoes in her head.

"Anything or anyone comes in your way, kill it, to become stronger."

A second after that, she lunged forward with a kick that forced the boy to block since he always keeps his guard up. He was genuinely shocked and surprised that this girl just attacks him. Then again, he thinks she's likely defending herself, which he could understand when you are all alone in a place like this and you're trying to stay alive. But he's trying to help her so he's gonna try the simple sense of reason… otherwise he's gonna have to use force if she can't cooperate with him soon.

"Hey! I'm trying to help you!" The boy now shouted in hopes the girl can listen to reason but she kept attacking him which forced him on the defensive. She keeps throwing punches and kicks that appear very well aimed with precision and accuracy. The boy was forced to go on the defensive since he didn't want to make the situation at hand worse then it's already getting.

"Man. If she wasn't trying to attack me and I'm not trying to help her, I would be impressed for a girl her age to be this skilled… and strong even." He said thoughtfully as her attacks are also strong that he can feel the mighty impacts from a girl on his arms that he uses as a shield to prevent getting hit in the vital areas of the chest and head She backed him up into the wall of the cliffside of the waterfall where he can't step back any further as she now goes on the offense again. She lunges forward with punch that caused the young boy to duck and roll out of the way in time to gain distance. What shocked him was that her punch was strong enough actually create a fairly large crack into the wall that also sent several smaller pieces of debris fly everywhere.

'She's THAT strong for her age?!' He thought in shock. 'I can imagine how strong she could be if she reached adulthood under a tutelage in training. I better stay focused to stop her before things get out of hand.' He added as he recalled his grandfather mentioned most children begin to learn to training their magic at a young age. But this girl takes that to a new level.

Despite being strong enough to crack stone, she still felt the impact and pain of her punch but she tried her best to show no reacting to the impact or else her father will see that as a weakness and may punish her for it, despite that he isn't around. She then turned around and decided to jump in the air as she flipped forward and thrusted her foot forward as a flying kick which forced the boy to duck again. She flew over him and gracefully landed as she turned and faced him again.

"Can you please stop attacking me so we can have a talk here?! I just want to help you!" But the plea fell on deaf ears as she attacked again with another set of punches and kicks that forces him to dodge and block again. Then she got him off guard as she thrusts forward with a palm strike that nearly knocked the wind out of him as he skidded back a few feet.

"Alright. You leave me no choice." He thought as he used the skid to help him flip back to gain some distance. He then closes his eyes and takes a deep breath and activates his Forest Aura mode. His eyes glow green as he takes his stance and focuses on the girl. He takes notice her magic level is very high for her age and he can tell she feels determined to beat him.

"Something's not right. I felt her being so alone and sad before she saw me…now she wants to defeat me as if it's her goal. I need to end this pointless fight and get some answers."

Both stare at each other and waits for the other to make his/her move as they make their stances. Both slide their right feet slightly and lunge forward as they trade and block their attacks. The boy struggled a bit because he stayed on the defensive and looked for an opening, due to wanting to reason with her.

When the girl missed her punch that was aimed for the head, he leaned forward and tackled the girl as he intends to pin her and also calm her down, unaware their skirmish got them near a steep hill as both tumbled down the hill like a crumpled ball as they were still locked together. They kept going down as they felt the impact and pain of hitting what felt like sticks, rocks and possibly some other hard materials in the forest as they reached the bottom in a loud thud.

As the dust cleared, the boy has been able to pin the girl down as she's struggling to break free, due to the fear being seen as weak. The boy could already tell since he still has his Forest Aura on and can feel her emotions; he can feel the desperation to break free and beat him, but he also feels sadness and fear of a different reason. The boy clearly understands she's in a desperate situation and decides to take a gentle and calm approach.

"Look…. I know you likely want to fight me for desperation of whatever you are going through. But I want you to end this pointless fight and tell me what's the matter and why you are out here all by yourself."

His words mixed with calmness and not being a threat. The girl slowly stopped struggling and started shedding tears of hearing that this boy wants to help her. She finally stops as the boy let's go, he takes a few steps back and the girl now sits down with her arms wrapped around her knees as she sheds a few tears.

After a few minutes, the girl finally stops crying and stares at the boy.

"Okay. I think to start things off easier if we introduce ourselves. What's your name?" The young boy asks.

The girl heard his words and he's being honest without being threatening.

"M-Minerva." She answered. "Minerva Orland."

"Huh. That's a sweet name." The girl slightly blushed at the comment.

"Names Glade." He introduced himself. "Glade Everhart."

The two stared at each other in silence for a minute and waited for the other to say something.

"So, for what I wanted to ask earlier before you started attacking me, why are you out here alone?"

Minerva then remembered every dreadful reason as to why…. and she felt scared again.

Glade takes notice and decides to take a more smooth route to make her feel better.

"Hey. Why don't we go somewhere else that's more safe so we can know each other a little better?"

Minerva nodded as he helped her to her feet and she followed Glade back up the hill and now headed near the waterfall where it felt more comfortable for the two to begin their introductions.

Both kids sat down close to the water as they dipped their feet in the sparkling stream to cool off.

They began to talk as they got slowly got to know each other better.

"So…. who are you exactly?" Minerva asked.

"Well. I don't know my parents, exactly. The only one I've ever been raised by and took care of me was my grandpa."

Minerva continued to listen.

"He was a very kind elder who taught me Forest Magic." He demonstrated as he used a small bit of his magic and created a beautiful flower on the palm of his hand. It amazed Minerva that she heard there are many kinds of magic users in Fiore and Forest Magic happens to be a rare example. She wished she could travel across Fiore and see more wonders and other kinds of mysterious she wants to see…. But her father keeps her in her own guild and focus only on perfecting her own magic.

"Though, Forest Magic is also rare, compared to the majority of other kinds of magic, which takes years to harness and learn in order to perfect it." He explained as he plucks the flower off and hands it over to Minerva who accepts it.

"But my grandpa knows what it is and knows every single detail of it down to the core. He taught me everything he knew and passed it on to me. Someday…. I will be a Dragon Slayer."

That surprised Minerva a lot. She remembered reading a book that involved a war 400 years ago where dragons at two different sides, one with the humans, and the other against them, all went into a war and was said to have caused the dragons to go extinct.

"Wait. That means your grandpa is a-" Minerva was about to say.

"Dragon? Yep. That's what my grandpa is. A Forest Dragon, to be precise." Glade finished for her. Then he started to remember what his grandpa looked like as a dragon.

The forest dragon resembles some other dragons, but his skin and scales are made of extremely durable bark in a woody-brown color that is also covered in moss in some places. He has what appears to be branches on the back of his head and on his chin that resembles hair and a small beard. His wings are wide and broad with the texture and pattern resembling that of green leaves, and his back is covered in thick foliage and even small to middle sized trees. His smiling face with small eyes give him an old and wise appearance.

(Imagine the Dragon resembling the Foreverwing from How to train your Dragon but he's much thinner and has wings too.)

"His name is Sequorra. A forest dragon that has found me when I was just a toddler and my real parents were nowhere to be seen. Whenever if they are dead or I was abandoned, he just found me in the middle of the forest and took me in and raised me like I was his grandson."

Minerva felt even more interested about Glade's grandpa. She wants to know more since she never has friends so her interest keeps her listening as she keeps hearing Glade say more about his adoptive grandparent.

"But I've never heard of a Forest Dragon before. There are no records of them, in the books at least, and were even said to be rumors." She stated as she even wondered if they actually could be real now since she's talking to this young boy who seems obvious that he may be a dragon's grandson.

"That's because Forest Dragons are the rarest and one of the oldest in the world." Glade informed. "It's a reason they aren't mentioned because they are usually secluded and stay away from humans in the forested mountains and blend in as they meditate and practice their Forest Aura and Forest Magic." He informed. "And they are considered the wisest and most intelligent too."

Minerva took in all what she heard. She has become even more fascinated that this boy has come out of nowhere and he's brightening up her day after going through so much hard training that it was no fun and painful to endure. But she also has a small side of herself to get stronger if she wants to impress her father and make him proud…. So she doesn't get looked down upon and seen as weak. It's like he's a guardian angel who came to help her feel better during her hardest times.

"But now…. Sequoarra left me without a trace." Glade also says in slight sorrow as he leans his head down and frowns.

Minerva felt some slight sympathy at hearing that. Being abandoned by someone is something she could relate to since her father constantly leaves her behind until she's strong enough to come home.

Glade's frustration of his confusion why his grandfather left him behind slowly begins to resurface.

"I mean… what's the real reason he left me? Was it something I did wrong? Is it some kind of test he's giving me? Was it some purpose and secret that he's hiding from me and left me without saying goodbye?" Glade's anger slowly begins to rise as Minerva can feel his aura was giving off pulses of anger and frustration. "What's most frustrating and hurtful is that he didn't even leave a note about the reason he left without even saying anything as simple as a goodbye! Tears slowly started to pour from his eyes as his hands covered his face. Glade is aware he shouldn't cry, but the pain he tried to hold on has come back and broke the gates. Seqourra has been with Glade for so long that Glade feels so different and lost without him.

Minerva looked in sorrow of seeing this brave and smart boy break down in tears of losing the only grandparent and parental figure who raised him. Being lonely is a difficult thing to experience when even a goodbye isn't enough. Unlike Glade, her father keeps visiting her out here once in awhile if she improves but doesn't even say a goodbye or hello when he shows up or leaves. Just a simple command of getting stronger.

She scoots closer to him and starts putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

After a few more minutes of letting it all out, Glade started to feel better as he looks at Minerva with a smile for making him feel better.

"Thanks. I needed someone to company me while I feel down." Glade said in a much happier tone.

"No problem." Minerva answered with a smile. "I don't like people being down…. especially when I'm trying to be strong enough to impress my father."

That made Glade wonder as he realized she has a father but hearing what she meant here also made him feel concerned for her. He even felt bits of anger of a father abandoning his daughter out here in the middle of a forest filled with dangerous beasts that could kill her without any supervising.

"Why would he leave you out here in a place such as this?" Glade asked gently but had bits of seriousness.

"From what I could ever understand from my father." Minerva says as she looks slightly miserable. "He and I hail from the Sabertooth Guild and we try to prove ourselves to be the strongest guild there is."

Glade has actually heard of all the guilds from what his grandfather has told him and showed him in the books. There were many guilds across Fiore that is filled with many wizards who live and work together that's lead by a guildmaster. The most famous that Glade ever has his attention on is Fairy Tail. He plans on going there since it's the only other place he can think of for now. But since he found Minerva, he decides to wait for now. It's not like he's any hurry and he has lots of time to spare.

But hearing about the Sabertooth guild trying to be the strongest guild there is sounds a bit too ambitious, and based on her father leaving her out here to fend for herself and make her stronger through dangerous obstacles, it sounds like this guild may be taking things too far, especially if it involves children!

That starts putting Glade in deep thought about this; 'So Sabertooth is trying to prove they are the strongest of all guilds…. and yet they do it in a borderline brutal fashion. That's not how a guildmaster should treat their members like they are soldiers. They should be treated like family'. Glade said in thought as his hands gripped the ground out of slight frustration. He sighs to calm down as he tries to wrap his brain around this. Yes, there are evil guilds out there who do crimes and other despicable things, but at least most of them treat their guild members much better at times since they have to work as a team and even family at times. But a guild only treating their members as soldiers to become the strongest and the best doesn't sound right. And there's another problem about that; Glade also knows there's nothing he can do about it at this age and being all alone. But for now, he needs to worry about helping Minerva deal with her problems right now.

Then, a lightbulb flashes in his head as if has an idea. Some of the best ways to make people, especially young kids, feel better, is a simple game.

"You know. I can see that you have a little tough problem you are dealing with now since you are trying to make you dad proud. But does he do anything in return for you?" Glade asked.

"No…." Minerva said sadly. "He never lets me do anything I want during my free time."

But Glade made a smile at her that got her slightly confused.

"Well. If he won't give you some fun time, then I guess I shall be the one to give you some free time that will make you feel better." He stands up… and taps her on the shoulder.

This confused Minerva.

"Tag…. you're it."

"What….?" Minerva questioned.

"It's just a simple game." Glade simply answered. I tagged you, you're it."

"But… what am I supposed to do?" She asked.

That made Glade mentally slap himself as he realized she likely never played any games due to her father not giving her any fun.

"Alright…. Here's the rules." Glade instructs as Minerva listens closely. "Tag is a game where people chase each other as the one who is 'it' needs to chase the person and touch him or her. Making that person 'it'. The person who got touched now needs to find someone else to make them 'it'. Is that clear?"

Minerva took the rules very clearly and she actually slowly begins to smile that the game actually sounds very fun. She nodded from the instructions.

"Alright. In this case, since I will be 'it', I shall give you a 3 minute head start for you to hide and try to last as long as you can from me."

Minerva took hint instantly and took off running. For a girl her age, she's quite fast. That training must have paid off for her, despite the strain and misery of it.

Minerva has ran as fast as she could to hide herself and see if Glade could find her and see how long it takes for him to touch her.

She took the high ground as she leaped on the stones of the cliff and reached the top and hid in the branches of one of the trees. Minerva knows how to hide from the monsters while also trying to kill them in her training. She sits there for 10 minutes and waits for Glade to show up and see if he can find her.

But after a while, he's still nowhere to be found that she wonders if he's either far away and going in a different direction… or he's VERY close.

She looks around and tries to sense his magic… but she can't sense him anywhere.

"Using the trees is quite a clever trick to hide from most of your enemies, especially against those who are too dimwitted to even look in the trees." Said an all too familiar voice that surprised Minerva as she tried to pinpoint where his voice came from.

"But, unfortunately, the forest is like my personal home field advantage that even the stealthiest wizards will have an easier time running than trying to hide from me." Glade said as he was being slightly cocky but he prefers so when he's trying to make it feel challenging to his opponents. Normally, Glade wanted to go easy on Minerva but his grandfather told him to never hold back against anyone, not even a woman.

"Wait!" Minerva said as it feels like she's been cheated. "Where are you? I can't even sense you! How is that playing fair?!"

"I didn't say any other rules that involves using your magic and anything else to play the game, did I?" He asked.

She realized he got her there good.

Minerva darted her eyes around the place to spot him and even keeps her ears focused to hear even the slightest sound of his presence.

Then… she felt her back get tapped. She turned around and saw an arm sticking out of the trunk… no. It's part of the trunk!

"Tag…. you're it!" Then the arm retracted back into the tree and was gone.

"Wait…. is that Great Tree Magic?" Minerva asked in curiosity. She heard that kind of magic is a Lost Type Magic.

"Well, not really." Glade said as he detached himself from the tree at the bottom as Minerva looked at him with curiosity. "Forest Dragon Slayer Magic makes the user manipulate ANY plant within reach. Making it superior to any plant magic."

"Huh…" Minerva muttered.

"However…." Glade said with a grin. "You're still 'it'." Then he dashes off into the woods. Minerva gave a slight pout that she feels like he's being her teacher when he's also joking with her.

But if he's using magic for this game, then so will she.

Glade has already went almost a half mile very quickly and now he leans against a tree. Sure, he could blend into the trees more easier but he wants to be a little more fair with Minerva so he decides to keep himself open.

He turns his Forest Aura on again to make sure if she's nearby. In fact, she's about a quarter mile away… but she's just standing there. Then… she disappears.

"What?!" Glade thought in shock. Minerva just disappeared from his vision and now she's nowhere to be seen. As he was so much in shock of seeing what should be impossible, a portal with green and blue swirls appeared right in front of him….. and a hand comes out and pokes him in the nose with a boop.

"What the-?!" Glade shouted in disbelief. The portal grew bigger and it was none other than Minerva with a big grin on her face.

"How did you-?!" Glade said before Minerva beat him to it.

"It's Spatial Magic; A type of Caster Magic that I posses is called Territory."

Then her hands are covered in some kind of magic as it slightly distorts the space.

That intrigued Glade since he has been studying a lot back home about all kinds of magic, including Lost Magic and Dragon Slaying Magic. Spatial Magic is another kind he has yet to learn and understand since his grandfather barely had any info on it.

"Now since you are 'it', now you gotta tag me!" She taunted as she used her Territory Magic and went elsewhere. Glade was a bit stunned that this girl he just met at least almost a half hour ago is now starting to be like some friend he knew for years.

But then, he smirked as he knows the game is on.

"If you wanna play that roughly, then so be it."

The game went on for hours as the two children kept using their respective magics to locate, escape and counter each other as they try to tag and hide. Minerva was actually good with her Spatial Magic and she's easily able to hide her presence from Glade's Forest Aura, while Glade is able to "lower" his magic to prevent Minerva from sensing him and uses his Tree Magic to blend into the trees. But he knows she will eventually find him as he's not able to completely hide it from her as being close enough could make her sense it. So that game has lasted for hours as both of the children played and laughed together until they were too tired to continue.

Both were laying in the grass as they were panting out of exhaustion.

"So… was it…. Fun?" Glade panted but was able to barely say any words.

"Y-yeah... " Minerva answered. "I haven't had this much fun before." She slowly got up and walked over to Glade who just got up on his bottom and was staring at the distant sunset.

Both stayed quiet as they occasionally glanced at each other and couldn't help but blush since Minerva was kinda cute and Glade was also cute for a boy covered in leaves and dirt. Even only knowing each other for half a day, these two are starting to feel very close like they are now officially best friends.

They both continued to stay quiet as they watch the beautiful sun set over the horizon.

"Glade…" Minerva said almost silently.

"Yeah?" Glade answered with a raised eyebrow.

"Thank you…. Thank you for making me feel better and letting me have fun for this once." She said happily as she twirled a finger around her hair. "Thanks for being my first and only friend to make me stand back up and feel happy again when I had no one else to even care about me."

Hearing that made Glade slightly frown. He's still not very happy how the Sabertooth guild itself is being brutal and too aggressive with members fighting for themselves and proving who is the strongest. Why need to be the strongest to prove that when you have friends to care and love? THAT is what true strength means; to be together and care for each other like family. That's what his grandfather has taught him and made him understand.

"I will continue my hard training with daddy, even if it's too hard for me. I want to make him proud."

"But doesn't that still make you unhappy?" Glade asked with a neutral stare. He's completely aware since he even suddenly remembered that a guild that like Sabertooth, who abuses their members, is just plain wrong and despicable. Even his grandfather told him to never let those in lust for power and being the best is a bad example of going down the wrong path. Magic is not suppose to be used as a way to get what you want. It's what makes you who you are and how you use it correctly to make others follow their dreams and beliefs while keeping their happiness too. Even the Magic Council is known to try to make guilds limit guilds of magic and the like. But that's like robbing a part of yourself since the magic within you is literally a part of yourself.

Minerva looked at Glade with slight concern of his sudden behavior but still decides to answer.

"Well…. I don't know. I mean…. He's my daddy, but the way he's treating me to use my magic, it feels like as if he only cares about my capabilities, rather than treating me like I'm his child."

Tears came out again. Then Glade could also feel her pain which feels like almost physical abuse. That started making his blood boil.

"And when we are done, he just tells me to come home, have my meals, and go to bed. Not even a goodnight kiss."

"Then he isn't your dad…" Glade answered with a tone that sounded angry.

"What…?" Minerva said in surprise but shock as well.

"If that's what he does to you, then he isn't even worthy to be your father." Glade answered as he slowly grips the grass in frustration. Not to mention the frustration of his grandpa abandoning him for no reason. "This isn't how a father should treat a daughter such as you. A father is supposed to care and love his child while being there for her and helping her become stronger, but at the same time, taking it to an easier level so the girl can take her time and slowly grow. But no…. he just leaves you here like some stray animal that may get slaughtered by the beasts who dwell here. If I ever met your father right now, I would so punch him in the face and give him a piece of my mind." He finished.

Glade now felt scared that she can't see his eyes since they are covered by the shadows of his hair. At first, it sounds scary for him to face her father who is no doubt powerful and skilled in combat. It feels like she wants to beg Glade not to say things like that or he may be crushed to a pulp by her father's wrath. But Glade doesn't care as his anger of reason is slowly clouding his safety. But at the same time…. He does have a point…

"There are times you should stand up for yourself, Minerva, and tell your so called 'father' that you can make your own choices and be who you want. One day, step up to that blow hard and tell him that you can make your decisions and be who you are." Glade finally finished as he stood up and just stared at the horizon.

That awed Minerva of hearing such words that he put out. He DEFIED her father in a way… that she actually agrees with him… maybe someday… she could make her own decisions.

Before she could say a thing….

Before Minerva could say a word.

"So…. you are telling simple rebuttals about the faults of my guild and me that my own daughter should stop listening to me and abaddon being the strongest guild member of Sabertooth?" Said a voice that was unfamiliar with Glade…. but Minerva knew that voice from anywhere… and she's absolutely terrified.

She could any mutter one word as she realizes things are about to get very bad.

"No…."

To be Continued.