The air here was different. It wasn't just cleaner, it was too clean, unnaturally so, sharp like bleach in the back of his throat. It stung faintly when he breathed it in, yet there was something invigorating about it, like every breath scrubbed him raw from the inside out. The wind carried no trace of the world below, no familiar scent of earth, dust, or magic residue. It was sterile and foreign, and yet it filled his lungs easier than any air had ever.
Aelius felt the air flow around him from the flight. His fingers twitched slightly, reflexively trying to draw magic to the surface. He felt it within him, he always did, but when he reached for it, it slipped away like water through open hands. It was there, just out of reach, mocking him. He tried again, focusing harder, but it was the same. The connection wasn't gone, just untouchable, the threads severed from his control.
And yet, instead of fear, there was something else. A warmth in his chest, slow and spreading, something that almost felt like peace. The absence of that constant pull, that endless hum of sickness under his skin, was gone. The silence where his magic should have been wasn't empty. It was quiet. Blessedly quiet.
He exhaled slowly, and the sound turned into something close to a laugh. It wasn't bitter or strained, it was… free. The corners of his mouth twitched upward, and for once, he didn't force the smile that followed. It came naturally, unbidden. He had spent so long fighting to suppress what he was, to restrain it, to pretend that carrying a power like his was normal, that living with the constant weight of it was something he could endure. But here, for the first time in his existence, the rot was silent. The corruption didn't whisper in his veins. His presence didn't poison the air around him.
For a moment, he forgot everything, the storm, why he came here at all. His purpose was gone, hollowed out by the sudden realization that this world had stripped him of what cursed him most. It wasn't numbness. It was clarity.
He flexed his hands slowly, marveling at how light they felt. No heaviness, no pulse of power beneath his skin. Just the movement of a normal muscle. Lungs expanded fully for once, without resistance or the faint stench of decay lingering in his senses. The others were still speaking around him, voices blurred by the strange wind, but he barely heard them.
He turned his head, looking out across the expanse of this new world. The sky here was strange, shifting colors like it couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Islands floated lazily above rivers that defied gravity, flowing upward in silver ribbons. Birds or things that resembled birds moved in flocks, their wings leaving trails of gold light in their wake. Everything about this place screamed unnatural, yet to him, it felt almost divine.
It was ironic. He had crossed worlds chasing the source of a storm, driven by duty, by necessity, by the remnants of a curse that bound him to the cycle of decay. And now that he stood here, stripped of everything that defined him, all that remained was a feeling he had almost forgotten existed. Freedom.
The word felt foreign in his mind, almost wrong, but he couldn't deny it. He felt it in his limbs, in his breathing, in the absence of power clawing under his skin. This place had stolen his magic, stolen the disease and ruin that came with it, and he could not bring himself to be angry. If anything, he wanted to stay in this silence forever.
For the first time in a long, long while, Aelius wasn't a monster. He was just a man flying in an impossible world, breathing air that didn't hurt to breathe, and smiling for no reason other than the fact that he could.
And then he fell.
It took him a second to register it. The ground wasn't supposed to be moving that fast. The others' shouts were barely words, just muffled noise whipped away by the rushing wind. His stomach lurched as the world tilted and the sky swallowed him whole.
Right. If his magic was gone, then the cats' would be too. And since they were flying…
He felt the air rip past him, the pressure tugging at his clothes, flattening his hair against his face. The clean, sharp air that a moment ago had filled him with awe now burned his throat with every breath. His arms flailed for balance, more out of instinct than hope. His body was weightless, helpless, just another thing plummeting toward whatever waited below.
"I can't believe this is how I'm going to die," Aelius muttered through clenched teeth, his voice flat, the faintest hint of dry amusement seeping through. "Falling. Not a battle, not a spell gone wrong, not even a curse taking me apart. Just… gravity."
The absurdity of it sank in, bitter and ridiculous. For years, he had lived in constant tension, waiting for the day his own power would be the thing that killed him, and now it seemed the world itself was going to finish the job instead. He turned slightly mid-fall, catching a glimpse of the others tumbling nearby, Wendy clinging to Carla's neck, Natsu shouting something at Happy that got lost in the rush of air. Vanessa's scream echoed faintly, more panic than pain.
He should have been terrified, but the fear never really came. There was something strangely calm about it, watching the clouds blur and twist around him. The sensation of weightlessness, of complete lack of control, mirrored the feeling he'd just had, the absence of power, the silence inside him.
The irony made him laugh, though it came out rough and breathless. "Figures," he said to no one, eyes half-closing against the wind. "The one time I feel alive, the world reminds me I can still die."
The air tore at him harder, colder the farther they fell. He squinted downward, trying to make out what they were heading toward: land, water, or something else entirely, but the haze below was too thick to tell. His mind raced through possibilities, instincts flaring to life despite himself. If he couldn't use magic, maybe he could brace for impact, maybe catch someone, maybe No–. All he could do was fall, maybe hope that somehow he would be caught.
Aelius tilted his head back, watching the sky pull away from him, the color fading as the world turned over itself. For the briefest instant over one of the floating islands, he thought he saw something, a flash, maybe metal catching the light, maybe something else entirely. Then it was gone, swallowed by the blinding blur of movement.
He barely had time to process the thought before a strange sensation crawled over him. It was like a hand brushing across his entire body, something there but not there, something that rippled through him without resistance. It pushed him; he could swear it right before he hit the surface below.
The impact never came the way he expected. Instead, his legs broke through something soft that clung to him like half-solid air. It was jiggly, pliant, but oddly dry, like stepping into a bowl of starch left too long in the sun. The texture defied logic, neither liquid nor solid, thick but without weight. His knees jammed to a stop mid-sink, and for a second, his entire lower body was suspended in the strange, trembling surface.
He blinked, breath caught, sword still tight in his grip. Around him, the others crashed down in a symphony of confusion and curses. Carla and Happy slammed into the mushroom next, their small bodies hitting like darts, their upper halves sticking out of the surface as if someone had planted them there. Their wings hung limp, twitching faintly before disappearing. Wendy fell a heartbeat later, bouncing once before the strange material caught her, leaving her sprawled awkwardly but alive.
Then came Natsu.
The dragon slayer hit headfirst with a dull thunk, legs kicking wildly as his body stuck upside down. His muffled shouts could barely be understood through the layers of mushroom, his voice coming out like he was yelling underwater. The sight almost made Aelius laugh, not because it was funny, but because it was so utterly stupid that it almost broke the tension in his chest.
Aelius grunted, shifting to pull his legs free, but the stuff clung stubbornly to him. Every movement caused the entire surface to wobble and hum faintly beneath him.
He looked down at the sword in his hand, the polished steel reflecting the faint shimmer of the strange air around them. It was a good thing he'd kept hold of it. First rule of weapon combat: never let go, or you're already dead.
He tested his footing again, muscles tense, the odd material stretching but not giving way. His breath came steady, measured. He turned slightly, scanning the expanse of the mushroom beneath them. It stretched far, massive and uneven, pulsing faintly under the shifting light. Above, the hole they had fallen through was closing, storm clouds twisting, sealing them off from the world they came from.
"Everyone still breathing?" he muttered, not loud but enough that the others could hear. The sound of groans, rustling, and Natsu's still-muffled swearing answered him.
"I'll take that as a yes," Aelius said with a long exhale, the words carrying more fatigue than relief. He let himself fall backward, landing flat against the soft, shifting surface of the mushroom. It gave slightly beneath his weight, humming faintly, like it was breathing along with him.
"We… nearly died," Wendy said, her voice trembling but steadying with each word. The panic was still there, clinging to the edges of her tone, but muted now that they were alive and mostly unbroken. She sat up slowly, brushing off bits of the mushroom from her clothes, her eyes darting between them, probably checking to see if everyone else was alright.
Aelius didn't answer. His eyes stayed fixed on the strange, shifting yellow-green of the sky above them. The clouds didn't move right here; they swirled inward, like water draining from a basin, the light filtering through them warped and uneven. It wasn't the sky of Earthland that was painfully obvious.
Carla had started speaking, her tone sharp and clipped as usual, explaining something, plans, direction, maybe what they should do next. He didn't catch a word of it. Her voice was just noise against the pulse of his thoughts.
He didn't want to disassociate, not this time, anyway. But he found himself slipping anyway. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt like that. Maybe he never had. Maybe that brief, impossible sensation was the first time in his life he'd ever truly felt free.
His thoughts lingered on that feeling, weightless and alien, for what he guessed were minutes before the strange sun above dimmed. A shadow passed over him, soft at first, then more distinct, until it framed a small face looking down.
Wendy. Her blue hair caught the greenish light, strands floating slightly in the air of this world. She'd managed to pull herself out of the mushroom and was now leaning over him, her brows drawn together in that worried way only a kid who's seen too much too early could manage.
She was speaking words reaching him muffled through the haze still sitting in his heart, but he caught fragments, his name mostly, her voice lined with concern. He blinked, focusing on her face, on the faint smudge of dirt across her cheek, on the tremor in her lower lip she was trying to hide.
For a second, he just stared at her, letting the sound of her voice drag him back from that half-dream state he'd slipped into. The air hummed faintly around them, something foreign pulsing just beneath the surface of the world.
Aelius exhaled, the tension finally leaving his chest. "I'm fine," he muttered, his voice low, rougher than he meant it to be. He wasn't, not really, but she didn't need to know that.
"Uhm… ok. Natsu got out. Carla says we should hurry and move, the longer we wait,t the harder it'll be to save everyone," Wendy said, her voice small but steady as she stepped back slightly and offered him her hand.
She didn't look convinced by his words, her eyes still flicking over him like she expected him to collapse at any second. He didn't care. The last thing he needed was to be lectured by someone barely into her teens. He'd dealt with warlords, daemons, and gods; he could handle falling out of the sky without needing a child's sympathy.
Aelius pushed himself upright, muscles tensing as the mushroom gave a faint, wet sound beneath him. He ignored her outstretched hand completely. "I'm heavier than I look, kid. You try to lift me and you'll find yourself swimming in this thing again," he said, his tone dry as ever.
With a short hop, he pushed off the spongy surface and landed below, boots hitting solid ground for the first time since the storm. The ground here felt strangely firmer than it looked, a mix of dirt and moss that gave slightly under his weight. He straightened his cloak and glanced around.
Natsu was already pacing near the base of another massive mushroom, fingers clenching every few seconds, while Happy lay sprawled nearby, catching his breath. Carla stood off to the side and began speaking quietly with Wendy after the girl landed.
"Let's go then, now that everyone is here," Carla said, brushing stray bits of mushroom from her fur with the same poise she always had, even after nearly dying. Her tone was sharp, prim as ever. "Unfortunately, Natsu is right. Since the Tomcat and I don't know this place any better than you do, we'll have to pick a direction and walk."
"Great," Aelius muttered, stepping forward, his voice flat. "We're following a plan Natsu made, if you can even call it that."
Natsu turned, glaring. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"
"That you don't think," Aelius said simply, brushing past him. "You just charge forward and hope the universe feels merciful that day."
Natsu opened his mouth to snap back, but Wendy stepped in before he could. "Stop it, both of you! We don't have time for this. We need to find everyone else before something finds us."
Happy, who had been slumped over, groaned. "Aye… but can't we rest for, like, five minutes first? My legs still feel like someone filled them with sand."
Carla shot him a glare. "You can rest when we find a safe place, tomcat. This isn't the time to be lazy."
"Not lazy," he muttered, rolling onto his back. "Just dead."
Aelius sighed, ignoring the squabbling as he adjusted his coat and started walking, eyes scanning the odd green horizon. The light here shifted too easily, like the air itself was unsteady, bending and twisting as if trying to imitate the real world. Floating pieces of land drifted lazily above them, and somewhere far off, he thought he heard the hum of something large.
Wendy walked beside him, talking softly, trying to keep her grounded, while Carla was with the girl, and Natsu followed close behind Aelius, grumbling under his breath.
Aelius finally said, without looking back, "Fine. We'll go east. This path heads in that direction. It's our best chance of civilization."
Natsu cracked his knuckles. "Then that's where we're going. Doesn't matter what's there, we'll handle it."
"Of course you will," Aelius said, dry as ever. "That's what you said right before we fell out of the sky."
Natsu ignored the jab this time, his grin widening. "Still alive though, aren't we?"
Aelius didn't answer. He just kept walking, the light glinting off the steel of his sword as they made their way toward the horizon, the strange air of Edolas shifting around them like it was watching.
"He–hey! Where's Miss Vanessa?" Wendy called out, her voice breaking through the low hum of wind that drifted through the strange landscape.
Aelius stopped and turned, scanning the uneven horizon behind them. Right. He hadn't seen her since they'd arrived. The mushroom, the fall, the chaos, she hadn't been there when they landed. For a moment, he replayed it in his head, tracing back through every second, but no matter how far he went, she was missing.
"Perfect," he muttered, rubbing his hand over his face. "Down the one person I actually know I can rely on." His voice carried that familiar mix of irritation and exhaustion. "Does anything else want to go wrong?"
Natsu was already looking around, his expression sharpening. "She must've landed somewhere else. Maybe she fell slower, or in a different direction."
"That would make sense if gravity cared about direction here," Aelius replied, glancing up at the floating islands and the rivers that hung in midair. "But considering the sky has water in it and the ground's made of clouds half the time, I doubt physics has much of a say."
Carla crossed her arms, her tail flicking. "We can't assume the worst just yet. Vanessa could still be close. Perhaps she landed nearby and lost sight of us."
Happy lifted himself off the ground slowly and very much in pain. "Aelius… your magic is scary and painful. Existing hurts."
"Then stay down," Aelius said curtly. "No point wasting what little strength you've got."
Wendy bit her lip, her worry plain. "We can't just leave her. She must be scared."
Aelius's gaze softened slightly at that, though only for a second. "We're not leaving her. But we're not wandering aimlessly either. We find higher ground, get a view of this place. If she's alive and she should, we'll spot her."
Natsu cracked his knuckles, fire sparking faintly from his hands out of instinct. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."
"Patience, fire hazard," Aelius muttered, starting forward again, his eyes sweeping over the alien landscape. "Rushing here will only get you killed."
He didn't say the rest out loud, but it echoed in his mind anyway. If Vanessa were here, she'd find them. If not, this strange new world had already taken its first blood.
Though he doubted that, there was a reason he said Vanessa was the only one here he could rely on. Natsu was a moron, reckless and thoughtless in equal measure, and Aelius couldn't trust a man who treated every fight like a contest of pride. Wendy was young, her magic built for support and healing rather than confrontation, and while her heart was strong, her body wasn't ready for the kind of fight they'd walked into. The cats–he didn't even bother finishing that thought. They were useful only for flight and little else, obsolete the moment they lost their magic.
Vanessa, though she was different. Small, loud, and an unforgettable presence in and out of combat, but there was something dangerous about her. Something sharp under the chaos. In battle, she was rabid, relentless in a way that didn't rely on emotion or pride, just precision and death. She didn't waste motion or mercy. If she decided to take a fight seriously, she didn't stop until the other person didn't get up again.
She wasn't the strongest. Not by a long shot. Monsters, demons, things that would turn lesser mages to ash just by looking at them existed, all above the girl, but Vanessa belonged to a rarer breed. The kind who didn't measure strength by magic alone. He'd put her somewhere around Erza's level, maybe a little higher depending on the fight. But unlike Erza, whose strength came from bonds and belief and all the other nonsense she preached, Vanessa's came from experience. Cold, ugly, survival-born experience.
Most people couldn't handle her speed. And in the end, it didn't matter how strong you were when your throat was slit, or your heart pierced before you could stop the blade.
Aelius let out a slow breath, eyes scanning the warped horizon again. She'd survive. If anyone from Earthland had a chance of lasting through whatever this world had become, it was her. Still, the silence that followed that thought made something twist in his chest, something close to regret. He'd never admit it out loud, but losing her or losing anyone who actually knew how to think would be a bigger blow than he wanted to consider. Especially after he just got her back
He adjusted his grip on the sword and kept walking, the strange soil crunching beneath his boots. What was done was done. Now he had a different girl to deal with.
"What do you want, Wendy?" Aelius asked without slowing his pace. The girl had been staring holes into his back since they started walking again, fingers fidgeting together like she was winding herself up for something.
She flinched at his voice, the small noise she made almost drowned out by the sound of their boots squelching through the strange terrain. Her reaction told him enough she wasn't scared of him exactly, just startled, like she'd been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. His tone hadn't been harsh, so he figured she'd just been lost in her own nerves.
"Uhm… Mister Aelius, can I ask you a question or two?" she said, her voice small but steadying as she went on. "I know it's not really a good time, but you're never really at the guild…"
Her cheeks were red before she even finished the sentence, embarrassment painting her face brighter than any magic.
Aelius exhaled quietly through his nose, already regretting opening his mouth. He didn't answer right away, and the silence stretched between them like a test she wasn't sure she'd passed.
Even Natsu's ears twitched at that. He didn't turn, didn't say anything, but Aelius could feel he was listening. Of course he was. The bastard couldn't resist when someone mentioned Aelius's name.
Right. He'd forgotten how invested everyone at Fairy Tail was in his past. The way they whispered when he came in, the usual curiosity had that edge of wanting to know what made him the way he was. He wouldn't be surprised if there was a betting pool going around the guild about it. Actually, knowing Cana, there probably was.
He glanced down at Wendy, then ahead again. "Go on," he said finally, voice flat. "Ask. Just don't expect a storybook answer."
The girl blinked, taken aback by how easily he allowed it. Natsu's steps slowed a little ahead of them, pretending he was just stretching his neck, but Aelius could see the faint grin tugging at the edge of his mouth. The bastard was enjoying this.
"Uhm… why are you so… different compared to everyone else in the guild?" Wendy asked after a long silence. Her voice was small, unsure. "Miss Mira told me a few things about you. You disappeared for a few years, and since you came back, you've been… kind of scary." She looked away as she spoke, her fingers twisting together like she was afraid she'd gone too far..
Aelius didn't answer right away. He just kept walking, the faint crunch of his boots over the dry moss filling the space between them. Wendy's words hung there, awkward and unsure, and though she'd looked away, he could still feel her eyes flicking toward him, waiting for him to snap, or sigh, or tell her to drop it.
Instead, he started to laugh. It wasn't loud or mocking, more like a quiet huff that turned into something real the longer it went on. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair.
"Well, first off, congrats, Wendy," he said, still grinning faintly. "You just called me scary. I can count on one hand the number of people who'll say that to my face."
The girl froze for a second, unsure if he was joking or serious. He was, but not in the way she thought.
"Ehmm. Thank you?" she said hesitantly, her brows scrunching. "I guess I'm just confused. You were nice when we first met, but after we got back, you just disappeared. Then I hear all these things about you. Mister Jet and Mister Droy say you're a bad person, and a few others do as well. Miss Mira seems sad when she talks about you. But Levy seems kind of happy? It's just weird… I'm sorry if I'm rambling."
Her voice trailed off near the end, the apology soft, almost swallowed by the still air of Edolas.
Aelius didn't stop, but his steps slowed. The smirk faded from his face, replaced by something more tired.
He didn't look at her when he spoke again. "No, it's fine. You're not the first to ask that."
The tone in his voice wasn't defensive, just flat, like he was talking about the weather. "Everyone's got their own idea of who I am. Some think I'm dangerous, some think I'm just an asshole who doesn't like people. Strauss…" he paused, his expression tightening slightly before he continued, "just don't listen to what she says. I'm sure she has her own opinions about me, and frankly, I couldn't care less about hers, less so than I do the others."
He let the words hang there for a second, his jaw working slightly as he caught himself, irritation flickering through his eyes, not at her, but at himself for letting it slip. Still, he went on, brushing past it like nothing happened.
"Yes, I'm a 'bad man' as Jet and Droy put it. Yes, I'm scary."
"I don't think you're scary, though," Wendy interrupted softly, almost blurting it out. Her fingers twisted together as she spoke, her voice shaky but sincere. "Not entirely, anyway. You were nice to me when we met. The others talk about how aggressive you can be when people question you, but you're not like that now. And… I don't know. I just don't think you're all that scary."
Aelius blinked once, the faintest trace of something unreadable flickering in his eyes before settling into that familiar calm. He exhaled slowly, the breath carrying just enough sound to pass for a tired laugh. "You really are too kind for your own good, kid," he said, his voice low, rough in that way that came from holding too much in for too long.
"Miss Porlyusica was yelling about you the other day to Master," Wendy said hesitantly, glancing down as she walked. "She said you had… dissociative disorders, depression, and some other things that sounded scary. I know those are pretty bad, so I guess I'm just… worried."
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, the faintest curve of amusement ghosting his mouth before he looked forward again. "You say 'I guess' and 'I don't know' when you're nervous," he said simply. Wendy blinked, realizing he'd caught on to that, but before she could respond, he kept going. "And don't listen to her either. She's barely capable of healing the body. She's far from a psychiatrist. Shouldn't believe everything you hear."
There was no real edge to his voice, no anger, but there was a certainty there that made it clear he meant every word. Wendy opened her mouth to argue, but stopped when she saw the look on his face. Not harsh, just… done. Like someone who'd had that conversation too many times before.
She looked down again, her fingers fidgeting, and for a moment the only sound between them was the faint scrape of boots and the soft hum of wind moving through the strange, glowing plants that lined their path. Aelius didn't say anything else after that, and he didn't need to. Whatever he'd been through, it was clear enough in his eyes, quiet, restrained, but heavy in a way that words couldn't touch.
"But I think she's right," Wendy muttered under her breath, her voice barely above a whisper. If Aelius heard, he didn't react. He just kept walking, steady as ever, hands tucked loosely at his sides and eyes forward like the world behind him didn't exist.