INTERLUDE 3: MELANCHOLIES

The Country of Fiore, Present Day

(Gildarts POV)

Gildarts Clive, the strongest mage of Fairy Tail, should have been travelling through Fiore to once again continue the hundred year quest that he failed to accomplish thanks to Acnologia getting in his way and tearing him apart.

No, he did not really fail. He was simply delayed. Though the dragon is more powerful than him, Gildarts is a Fairy Tail mage. Not even something like Acnologia can stop him from accomplishing his mission.

At the moment though, he was being delayed further, forced to head somewhere else due to certain complications that he knew only a certain someone would be able to fix.

Just a bit more.

Now, Gildarts is a man who is excellent, not just as a mage, but also as a charmer and smooth talker. He is quite charismatic. He has not yet lost his touch, and is still quite capable of wooing the opposite sex.

And it wasn't just because of his speeches. For some reason, despite his age, women still find him to be quite attractive.

Of course there had only ever been one woman who had conquered his heart, and the reason why he sleeps with other women, surprisingly enough, is not because of his physical needs but rather, his magical ones.

Although it is natural for anyone to feel lust and pleasure during such affairs, Gildarts does not actually do it because he wants to but rather, because he needs to, a fact which both his wife and daughter understood.

A man who possess enormous amounts of magic, as well as using one of its most powerful and unstable variants, Gildarts has to do the 'ritual' in order to help him keep his energy in check. In fact, he had to admit that he somehow envied mages like Makarov who, despite their enormous auras, were not compelled to such things in order to keep their magic under control.

If he had never fallen in love with anyone, such activities would have remained as truly pleasurable.

For Fairy Tail's strongest mage, however, that was no longer the case.

Had he any other choice, even though he still had perverted tendencies (which was only natural), Gildarts would have never slept with another woman after he met Cornelia, the love of his life.

True, it was fun and pleasurable for him and his partner-at-the-moment, but while no one ever noticed it, under his mask of warmth and smiles, was the face of a man who was disgusted with himself.

At the moment though, even though he did not really like it, Gildarts truly appreciated the importance of being able to do it with someone at least once in a while.

Almost there.

Due to not having done it for quite a while, Gildarts was finding it extremely difficult to control his magic, and it was taking his entire focus just to keep himself from wrecking things around. In fact, he had no choice but to go through unpopulated areas.

His worse than usual lack of control had already cost him a large amount of money, having been forced to pay for the damages he caused left and right that was much more than the destruction he normally caused.

Now, one might wonder how someone like him, who is easily able to seduce woman as if it was natural, was unable to have sex with anyone. However, if one knew who exactly it was he pissed off, they would not be surprised.

In the past few weeks, Gildarts has been experiencing a trail of bad luck with his escapades. For some reason, whenever he tried to make it out with the opposite gender, something would happen to interrupt it.

Ever since he resumed travelling alone, ever since he parted ways with his student who decided to return to her 'country,' for some reason Gildarts could not understand, he suddenly lost the great luck he had with women.

Strangely enough, even though he had not lost his charms, he would end up losing control of his magic at the crucial points of seduction, which he suspected was somehow caused by his student, who was undoubtedly cursing him to the high heavens. Not that he blamed her of course, but still, talk about ungrateful.

Moments of bad luck, however, do come to an end and after a while, Gildarts successfully managed to bring a girl to bed.

And that was when he realized, that something much worse has been done to him.

Even though Gildarts did not like it, Gildarts is without a doubt, a Cassanova.

A Cassanova with a malfunctioning weapon though, is a pathetic Cassanova.

The moment he tried to place his 'thing' into the girl's 'tunnel,' his 'thing' suddenly shrunk. A bit drunk at the time, Gildarts thought he was imagining it and tried again... only for it to shrink again...

And again...

And again...

To put it simply, his 'thing' would deflate whenever it makes touches the female body, regardless of which part it makes contact with.

Panicking, Gildarts tried his best to find a solution.

Nothing he tried would work.

Jogging his memory, Gildarts tried to find out just who could have been responsible to what happened to him.

After a while, he realized.

There was no doubt, she was the one responsible. He did not know when it happened or how she managed to inflict it on him but there was no doubt about it. It couldn't have been anyone else.

And to make matters worse, she was also the only person who would be able to undo his curse.

After all, the creator of a poison is bound to have an antidote.

For days the S Class Mage travelled, as fast as he could, to her home.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the pride of Fairy Tail," A female voice stated with a note of sarcasm.

Gildarts had finally arrived at his destination, an isolated tree house on the outskirts of Magnolia, where Fairy Tail's medical advisor, the anti-social Porlyusica, was wearing an uncharacteristic friendly smile on her face.

"I've been expecting you."

The Crash Mage gulped. While the old hag with a perpetual scowl was normally frightening even to Gildarts (despite being technically much more powerful than her), if one ever saw her smile, it would mean the end of the world.

Literally, for whichever poor soul saw it.

But then, what choice did he have?

Dumb if you do, dumb if you don't. Gildarts was doomed.

"You may come in."

Resigning himself to his fate, Gildarts took a deep breath before following the old medic into her abode.

A few minutes later, birds and animals could be seen scurrying out of Magnolia forest as fast as they could, frantically running for their lives, as a semi-manly, very feminine scream of terror echoed throughout the entire area.

Fairy Tail's strongest mage has fallen.

-BREAK-

Why do these things keep happening to me?

A day has passed since Gildarts visited Porlyusica so that he can be cured from his condition and at the moment, had a dark cloud hanging over his head. Having successfully managed to bed a woman, the man has finally gotten back sufficient control over his magic that he no longer has to give it his entire focus.

Unfortunately, by some twist of fate, just as he and the female were at their climax during their seventh round, something crashed into the hotel room they were using and created a large hole on the wall. Familiar with the magic signature of most of the mages in the guild, it came as no surprise to Gildarts when a certain unconscious Fire Dragon Slayer was revealed the moment the smoke cleared.

From what Gildarts could tell, just as it always was, Natsu probably challenged Erza to a fight and at the and, just as it always was, he lost, and was sent flying up in the air, right in the direction of the building where the Crash user was staying at.

Which was what led to the Crash Mage's current predicament.

It is already a known fact to the members of the guild that he was womanizer who was quite skilled in wooing the opposite sex. Thus, even if any of the members would run into Gildarts making his moves or already making out with someone, they would merely shrug their shoulders and turn the other way.

Unfortunately, by some twist of fate, Natsu's 'crash landing' created a lot of chaos, and in the midst of it, the female who Gildarts had been hitting the hay with was knocked unconscious to the floor...

Just as a seven year old girl who Gildarts remembered was staying with her parents on the adjacent room, landed on his lap without any clothes on, having been sent flying straight from the bath tub, which was the exact scene Erza saw the moment she arrived to retrieve the dragon slayer.

"DAMNED PEDOPHILE!" A female voice screamed, belonging to Mirajane in her Satan Soul form as she flew past.

Despite using Crash as his primary magic for offense and defense, Gildarts is not as limited as many believe. He is actually quite knowledgeable with other branches of magic, learning and studying various forms through the years.

At the moment, he could not help but be grateful that he had done so. Among the various spells he had learned is Disillusion, which allows him to camouflage and blend in with his surroundings when he needed to. Otherwise...

"WHERE THE HELL DID THAT BASTARD GO?!"

"FIND HIM!"

He would probably be beaten to a pulp and hung on the tree in the middle of Magnolia Square by the feminists.

At the moment, the Crash Mage was actually half-wishing he was still at Mount Zonia getting ripped apart by the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse. At the very least, something like that would be tragically heroic, not tragically pathetic and humiliating like what would happen to him if he was caught right now.

Regardless of how strong Gildarts is, even someone like him could not possibly win against a hoard of angry females, especially if said hoard includes people like Erza, Mirajane and Evergreen, all of whom had misunderstood the situation.

This is all her fault, sighed Gildarts inwardly.

For some reason, he could not help but feel that the one and only person he had ever accepted as a sort of apprentice was the one responsible for all the cursed lucked he was having.

?!

"FOUND YOU! SATANIC BLAST!"

"FAIRY RAY!"

"HEAVEN'S SWORD WHEEL!"

What have I done to deserve this? The Crash Wizard sighed inwardly, wondering how they managed to locate him, though deep down he knew he deserved it.

Cursed luck indeed...
?!

Though maybe not as cursed as he originally thought.

This feeling... Thought Gildarts as his eyes narrowed in worry and contemplation, a cold chill which had nothing to do with the powerful female mages assailing him running up his spine.

And he wasn't the only who was having this feeling.

-BREAK-

(Porlyusica POV)

Porlyusica, the medical advisor of Fairy Tail, had to admit that she had not felt this good in a long time. Vengeance is a dish best served cold, and she had managed to do exactly that to a certain middle-aged womanizing idiot. With her expertise when it comes to potions, she successfully managed to have her revenge on him with one in particular.

The fact that he had no other choice but to come to her for help made it even better, and while she preferred being alone, the man's screams of pain was enough for her to forget about that notion. Medics have an oath and creed which they follow, but in this case, Porlyusica was acting as a punisher, not as a doctor.

Thus, while she could have treated the Crash Mage in less than an hour, she prolonged his agony, making him suffer for an entire day before finally declaring he was good to go and kicking him out of her house.

At least, this was how she felt until she fell asleep and a disturbing dream visited her thoughts.

...

Everything was in utter chaos.

Children crying.

People screaming and running for their lives.

Cities burning to the ground.

Soldiers being annihilated by the thousands, uselessly trying to resist against the oncoming surge of terror.

An entire world falling apart.

And in the midst of it all, a lone figure was walking barefoot, her clothes in tatters, her body covered in burns and bruises.

Her eyes blank and lifeless, without any direction, without any hope.

The girl who had tried her best to stop it all from happening.

She was angry with herself.

She was blaming herself.

Thinking herself responsible, despite the truth being the opposite.

Because she failed.

Despite giving it her all...

Despite doing everything she could...

Even throwing away her own heart...

She still failed.

She failed to stop the calamity.

She failed to protect the world.

And worst of all, she failed to protect her friends and loved ones.

She failed to protect her family.

In her hands, the girl held a vial.

A vial that Porlyusica knew only too well.

After all it was the medic who gave her this vial. A vial which contains one of Porlyusica's special mixtures, designed specifically to help the girl should she ever have any seizures.

As Porlyusica expected, the vial was still full. After all the girl's mental health had already already stabilized enough that it was no longer necessary.

And the girl undoubtedly knew this as well.

But the girl still kept it.

The girl still held on to it.

Porlyusica had not forgotten how the girl had burst into tears when she gave it to her, a happy expression gracing her face even though she was crying, at the fact that someone actually cared. It was a sight that actually touched the old medic, and she had to sweep the girl out of the house just to hide the tears that were also forming on her own eyes.

Just like when the girl first received it, tears started falling from her eyes as she held it in her arms, like it was something precious.

The girl's lips tugged up into a small sad smile, as she opened the vial and drank the potion within.

A potion that becomes fatal should a person take more than three drops a day.

And the girl consumed its contents to the last drop in one go.

It was already clear what the girl wanted.

She was tired.

She was exhausted.

She could not take anymore.

She just wanted to sleep forever.

...

While few people know it, Porlyusica, the Edolas version of the Sky Dragon Grandeneey, has powers similar to that which Charles possess: the ability to randomly see into the future.

Or at least, possible versions of the future.

Years before they joined, Porlyusica had visions of three dragon slayers joining Fairy Tail. While Charles doesn't know it, the medic actually had a similar vision to the one that she had during the Grand Magic Games.

Once again, a grave disaster was approaching.

Porlyusica is a misanthropic, a person who by nature, hates the company of humans.

Yet, despite her nature, deep down, she was also a loving and caring person, which is why she chose to become a medic in the first place, to balance herself, as it compels her to enter the company of humans as the only person who could do something to help the sick and injured.

And it is for this very reason, that the old medic, despite her dislike for crowded places, left her isolated abode, and was headed for the Fairy Tail Building.

The future is never set in stone, that much has been proven. Even if one has visions of the future, that does necessarily mean that it will happen. Something like Fate does exist, but that does not mean that it could not be altered.

There was no way that Porlyusica could just stand by and let it all happen, especially not when she was involved.

"That foolish child." Muttered the old medic to herself, as she continued heading in the direction of Magnolia.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Alright, this is another side chapter for my fic The Path of Zero. This is an interlude chapter, and depending on how the ball rolls, the next one might also be an interlude.

Now, as I noticed a lot of you have commented about the Mott scene. Well, just for the heck of it, I edited that chapter. I originally planned to have Mott appear again later during a certain 'reveal,' but I thought it might be better to just sideline him. So I edited that portion and replaced Mott. Wales was instead compared to one of Fairy Tail's clients. For those who already read it if you want to see the edit just go back to Chapter 22 (Title is Chapter 19).

Also, as I've noticed Fairy Tail canon has already gone a long way from the Grand Magic Games, so to accommodate the additional characters, I'm going to do a bit of catch-up reading and try to incorporate some of those changes. It's Tartaros Arc already and so much has already happened. I will still only be faithful to canon up to the Grand Magic Games Arc, meaning I will ignore the next arcs, but the characters there as well as the new forms of magic shown it would be too much of a waste not to see if some could be useful.

To those who do not like very dark themes, the very dark chapters are about to come to an end. Fairy Tail members will soon be appearing in Halkegenia, and I already have this part planned out. All I have to do is write it down.

Well, I suppose that should be enough information for now, though I think you may already have an idea as to who will end up going to Halkegenia first. I don't know how much change is going to happen in FT canon, especially since Fairy Tail Zero manga appeared, but I'm planning to try and fit in some supporting characters into the mix with some surprises, particularly a certain someone.

A certain mage who does not have innate magic power (you know who I'm talking about) was actually S Class before he left the guild which means that someone from the previous generation could have also been S Class even if the situation and limitation is the same. I think some of you may have already guessed who I'm talking about.

But enough about that for now...

And like always, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter...

Later then, people...