Shun woke to the faint scent of herbs and old wood. He was lying in a narrow bed inside Porlyusica's house, deep in the forest where even birds seemed to speak in whispers. The old healer stood over him, pressing a cool cloth to his forehead with surprising gentleness for someone famous for hating humans.
The moment their eyes met, the gentleness vanished.
"You're awake? Good. Get out." She gave him a light shove toward the edge of the bed. "If you can move, you don't belong here."
Shun just smiled. He was used to her prickly affection by now. Climbing out of bed, he caught his reflection in the small mirror on the wall and froze.
His hair, his eyebrows, everything had turned a stark, ghostly white. His eyes looked sunken, ringed with faint shadows he hadn't noticed before. He looked like a corpse that had decided to get up and walk.
{Shun new appearance picture}
"Thanks for saving me. Again," he said softly.
Bonk.
A wooden staff rapped the top of his head.
"You absolute moron!" Porlyusica snapped, glaring like an angry grandmother. "One more second and you'd have been a dried-up husk. Hair and eyes are just the beginning, next your skin would've wrinkled like old leather and you'd age fifty years in a heartbeat!"
"…Sorry." He rubbed his head, but warmth spread through his chest all the same.
Porlyusica huffed, her anger deflating when she saw his expression. She jerked her chin toward the window. "There's a pack of noisy girls camped outside. They've been coming every single day, sitting there like lost puppies. I let them in at first, but they wouldn't leave, so I threw them out."
Shun peeked through the curtain. Ultear, Ur, Sorano, Yukino, and even Mirajane were huddled together on the grass, looking exhausted but stubborn. The second they spotted him, their faces lit up. He waved.
They bolted to the window like a tidal wave.
Before Porlyusica could protest, Shun pulled a mountain of cakes and pastries from his storage ring, time itself paused inside, keeping everything perfectly fresh, and set them on the table.
"A thank-you gift."
"You little—" She never finished the sentence. He was already out the door.
Porlyusica waited until the chatter outside faded. Then, alone, she took a delicate bite of strawberry cake.
"…Delicious," she whispered, eyes widening with childlike delight. A smile she'd never allow anyone to see crept across her face.
Outside, Shun barely managed two steps before he was swarmed. Arms wrapped around him, tears soaked his shoulder, and five voices talked over each other in a chaotic mess of relief and scolding.
A full month. He'd been out for an entire month.
"I'm fine, really, look—" He started gathering magic to prove it.
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Four voices screamed in perfect sync. Yukino just blinked, confused.
Ultear grabbed his wrist. "You are not using magic for at least another week!"
Sorano nodded furiously. Ur and Mira gave him the universal mom glare of disapproval.
Shun laughed despite himself. "Okay, okay. Where's Mavis?"
"At the guild," Mira said, softening. "She came every day too. Of course the one day she doesn't, you wake up."
"Maybe she was the curse keeping you asleep," Sorano teased, smirking.
Shun snorted. They're already treating her like a rival.
"Let's head back, then."
Before anyone could blink, the world folded, and suddenly they were standing in front of Fairy Tail's main doors.
Ultear stumbled. "Wait, you didn't even touch us!"
"Yeah… about that." Shun scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "Right before I passed out, I kinda maxed out my control. Or rather that was the reason why I passed out."
He could now teleport across worlds if he wanted. He could pop into the Human-god's world and erase them all in a heartbeat.
And yet… he didn't feel like it. The hatred was still there, but it wasn't burning anymore.
I really deserved that title 'the fool' , he thought, amused.
He glanced down at the patient gown he was still wearing and grimaced. "Give me ten seconds."
Ducking behind the guild's outer wall (because he was not stripping in public, he didn't have such hobbies) he activated 'Arc of Embodiment.'
Fabric wove itself from nothing. In moments he stepped back out looking like he'd walked off a high-fashion battlefield.
A high-neck black turtleneck hugged his frame. Over it, an oversized black short cape fell in dramatic folds, stiff stand-up collar, asymmetrical jagged hem, crafted from sleek high-grade nylon that caught the evening light just enough to look expensive. A wide techwear belt cinched high on his waist, straps and buckles dangling like quiet threats.
Below, impossibly wide black culottes billowed like a dark storm cloud, cropped just above the ankle. And on his feet, mirror-polished black patent leather oxfords with a bold sculptural white overlay across the vamp and intricately perforated side panels, sharp, luxurious, and unapologetically extra.
He'd gone all out. Infinite magic plus perfect Arc of Embodiment meant he could dress like a warlord heir on a whim, and today he felt like it.
The girls stared.
Sorano recovered first. "Who are you and what did you do with Shun?" She started poking and prodding him to make sure he was real.
Ultear bonked her on the head. "Stop groping him!"
The two immediately devolved into bickering. Ur and Mira sighed in perfect unison. Same song, different day.
Shun just grinned and pushed open the guild doors.
The noisy hall went dead silent.
A white-haired pretty boy in ridiculously cool clothes had just walked in followed by five beautiful women (one mature, four younger, but still). To the drunk regulars, it might as well have been a harem.
"Who the hell does this guy think he is?!"
"Newbie should learn some respect—"
"SHUT UP, YOU IDIOTS!" Makarov roared from the bar.
Before the master could finish, a tiny blur shot across the room.
"Shun!"
Mavis crashed into him, arms around his waist, face buried in his chest. Her voice cracked. "Your hair… your eyes…"
She was shaking.
The other girls bristled, ready to be jealous, until Shun gently patted her head.
"Hey, calm down, Mom. I'm okay. Stronger than ever, actually."
Silence.
Then—
"W-WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL HER?!" ×5
Makarov pinched the bridge of his nose. "I tried telling you brats for a month, but would any of you listen…?"
Shun just laughed, sat Mavis on a stool, and started feeding her cake until the tears stopped.
"Curse broken, power-up acquired, everybody wins," he summarized with a shrug.
Mavis sniffled, cheeks stuffed with strawberry frosting, and finally nodded.
By the time the moon hung high, the guild was back to its usual chaos. Shun slipped away, paid his overdue rent (plus the 10% late fee the landlady insisted on with a smug grin), and collapsed into his own bed for the first time in a month.
Tomorrow, he decided as sleep pulled him under, he was going to turn the whole world upside down.
And this time, no one would be able to stop him.