The single word, uttered with such perfect, childlike innocence, landed in the raucous guild hall with the force of an extinction-level event.
"Father."
The party didn't just stop. It died.
A tankard, tossed by Macao, froze in mid-air and clattered to the floorboards. The music screeched to a halt as the player's hands locked up. The sound of Wakaba counting his betting money ceased.
A pin-drop silence descended upon Fairy Tail. It was a thick, heavy, terrifying silence, broken only by the drip... drip... drip... of orange juice from Laxus's stunned mouth onto the table. Makarov, who had been raising his mug for another celebratory gulp, froze, his arm shaking slightly, ale sloshing over the rim.
Gildarts Clive, the S-Class Ace of Fairy Tail, the man who smashed mountains and took on 100-Year Quests, looked utterly, profoundly terrified.
His face, which had been weathered and jovial, went pale. The color drained from his cheeks, leaving him a pasty, shocked white. His easy-going smile twitched, broke, and fell completely.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh..." he managed, a long, high-pitched sound of pure, undiluted panic.
He scrambled off his barstool so fast it toppled over with a crash. He lunged at Blake, grabbing the boy by both small shoulders, his grip frantic.
"Wait... what?! What did you say?!" he stammered, his eyes wide and unblinking. "So you are saying... you are my son?!"
Blake, for his part, maintained his flawless, wide-eyed, innocent expression, though his Observation Haki was having a field day with the sheer spike of terror rolling off the S-Class mage.
"It... it is hard to believe, ha?" Blake whispered, as if he himself were afraid.
Gildarts's mind, which could process thousand-step battle equations in a nanosecond, was now a catastrophic, blue-screening failure.
"My son... a son... I have a son..." he muttered, his gaze becoming distant and horrified. Then, a new, more pressing panic set in. He shook Blake gently, his voice cracking.
"Wait! Who is your mother?!" he shouted, a new wave of fear hitting him. "Okay, okay, think... think... It's Sarah from Hargeon, isn't it?! The one with the hat! No, wait, she had red hair... Clara? The barmaid in Oshibana?! Naomi?! Oh gods, not Naomi, her brothers were terrifying... Fina?! Mary from the port town?!"
Gildarts let go of Blake and staggered back, clutching his own head. The guild members watched, their jaws dropped so low they were practically resting on their chests, their eyes popped out like cartoon characters. Laxus looked like he was trying to remember how to breathe.
Gildarts, lost in his spiral of romantic flashbacks, began to pace frantically.
"No, no, the hair colour is all wrong!" he yelled, pointing a shaking finger at Blake's black hair. "This... this is dark hair! That means... oh no... Emma! It has to be Emma! The librarian! Or was it Lyla?! The dancer! Sydney! Kate! Wait, that trip to Minstrel... oh gods, was it the Yugo sisters?! Both of them?! No, that can't be right... I... I think?"
He looked around the room, as if pleading for someone to help him solve the mystery of his own past. He found no help, only a sea of stunned, silent faces. The pressure was too much.
With a final, heart-wrenching groan, Gildarts Clive dropped to the floor dramatically, landing on his knees. He raised his face to the ceiling, a look of profound defeat on his features.
"It's no use... It could be any of them..."
The silence that followed this final, tragic admission was absolute.
And then, it was broken.
Pfft.
It was a small sound, almost a squeak. Blake, who had been holding his innocent pose, twitched. His shoulders shook. He tried to hold it in, his face turning red, but the sight of the strongest man in Fiore having a complete meltdown over a two-decade-long list of romantic conquests was simply too much.
Pfft-hee...
A snort escaped him. Then a giggle. Then, losing all control, Blake burst out laughing. He doubled over, catching his stomach, his small body shaking with the force of his mirth.
"Hahaha! I can't! I can't hold it!" he gasped, tears streaming down his face. "The Yugo sisters?! Hahahaha!"
For a beat, the guild just stared, confused. Then, like a ripple turning into a tidal wave, the realization hit them.
They had been had. By a nine-year-old.
The explosion of laughter that followed was, even by Fairy Tail standards, legendary. The guild hall, which had been as silent as a tomb, erupted into a chaotic, screaming, howling mass of hysterics.
"HE FELL FOR IT!" Macao howled, falling out of his chair.
"HE LISTED THEM! HE ACTUALLY LISTED THEM!" Wakaba cried, pounding the floor.
Laxus, finally remembering how to breathe, was pounding the bar table, roaring with laughter. "You... you idiot! He played you like a fiddle, Gildarts!"
Makarov was rolling on the bar table, kicking his small feet in the air, his face a deep, beat-red. "My son... oh, my stupid, stupid son!" he wheezed, tears of mirth running into his mustache. "He was... he was actually scared! Hahahaha!"
Gildarts, still on his knees, froze. He looked at the laughing Blake. He looked at the hysterical, weeping guild members. He looked at his Master, who was in danger of suffocating from laughter.
His face, which had been a mask of terror, went completely, utterly blank.
He stood up.
He calmly brushed the dust from his knees.
He straightened his patched cloak.
He cleared his throat, like he didn't know any of the things that had happened just now.
He looked down at Blake, who was just catching his breath, and gave him a perfectly straight, serious, welcoming nod.
"Right. Well," Gildarts said, his voice a calm, even baritone. "Welcome to the guild, kid."
The guild, which had just started to quiet down, exploded again. This second wave of laughter was almost more painful than the first.
"HE'S SHAMELESS!" Maria shrieked from behind the bar, having to hold onto the counter for support.
"ACE-LEVEL SHAMELESSNESS!" Macao bellowed. "He's just pretending it never happened!"
"As expected of our Ace! He fears nothing! Not even total humiliation!"
Gildarts, ignoring the pandemonium he had caused, calmly righted his stool, picked it up, and sat back down at the bar. He ordered a drink from Maria, who was still trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.
He took a long, steadying sip. He turned to Blake, who had finally composed himself and hopped back onto his own stool. A reluctant, grudging grin finally spread across Gildarts's face.
"Good one, kid," he said, his voice low and appreciative. "Seriously. You had me there. My life actually flashed before my eyes. And... it was a lot more crowded than I remembered."
Blake, wiping a final tear from his eye, gave a low, theatrical bow from his seat. "Thank you, thank you," he said, his voice still shaky. "It was a pleasure."
He took a sip of his own juice, then looked at Gildarts with that same, unnervingly analytical gaze.
"But in my defense, Gildarts-san," Blake said, his tone casual. "I heard the rumors from the guild members that you were a womanizer as you were coming back... I just didn't expect proof. That is a long list of names."
Gildarts's head snapped around, his eyes narrowing in a dark, playful glare aimed at the general guild population.
Instantly, Macao, Wakaba, and half a dozen other veteran mages found the ceiling rafters fascinating. They began whistling, studiously avoiding all eye contact, and shuffling away from the bar.
Gildarts just shook his head, that easy smile returning. "Brat. You fit right in." He clapped Blake on the back, this time with genuine warmth. "A kid with guts like that is always welcome here."
The atmosphere, now completely reset, returned to its festive state. The guild members, energized by the prank, started up the party again, though now they were also throwing jokes at Gildarts, who took them all in stride.
Blake, with genuine curiosity, asked, "So, what was the quest actually like, Gildarts-san? The one you just came back from?"
Gildarts leaned back, his expression turning thoughtful. "Ah, that one. It was a 10-Year Quest, up in the northern ice fields. Had to retrieve a 'Sunstone' from an ancient cave. Nasty bit of work, that was. Smashed it. Almost lost my footing and fell into a canyon that didn't have a bottom. Then I got lost for three weeks on the way back. Good times."
Blake listened intently, absorbing the information. This man, for all his comedic timing and womanizing, was a monster of power. A man he could learn from.
The joke had been more than a joke; it was an introduction. And in Fairy Tail, it was the perfect one. The rest of the guild, seeing their Ace accept the new kid so completely, welcomed Blake with renewed vigor.
The party raged on, and Blake, for the first time, felt truly and completely at home. Everyone moved on to their daily work, the prank already becoming a part of the guild's long, chaotic history.