Ren stood in front of the towering wooden doors of the Fairy Tail guildhall the next morning, his heart heavier than usual.
Yesterday had changed everything.
Irene Drakemoor's arrival had left the guild unsettled. Her warning echoed in his mind on repeat:
> "The Anti-Dragon inside you will surface."
Ren didn't know what that meant exactly, but it felt like a fuse had been lit inside his soul.
Still, he wasn't going to run.
He wasn't alone.
With that thought steadying him, Ren pushed the door open and stepped inside.
---
"WELCOME TO FAIRY TAIL!"
A wall of noise hit him instantly—cheering, laughing, shouting. Banners hung from the ceiling, tables were piled with food, and a dozen smiling faces turned toward him.
Natsu ran up, throwing an arm around his shoulder like they were lifelong friends. "About time you showed up!"
Gray—fully clothed for once—nodded from across the table. "We're throwing you a party."
Ren blinked. "Wait… what? Why?"
"Because you're officially one of us now!" Mirajane said as she handed him a cup of cider and a dazzling smile. "Yesterday was dramatic, so we thought a celebration was overdue."
Cana raised her barrel. "To the new kid with the freaky magic!"
"To Ren!" Elfman bellowed. "A real man stands with his guild!"
"To Fairy Tail!" the whole guild roared, mugs clashing in the air.
Ren blinked, stunned at the sudden affection. His heart beat faster—not from fear this time, but something unfamiliar and warm.
Acceptance.
Belonging.
He smiled despite himself. "You guys are… insane."
"You'll fit right in," Erza said with a small smirk as she passed by, balancing three trays of meat like it was nothing.
---
Later in the evening, Ren found himself sitting beside Wendy Marvell and Carla at the far end of the room.
"I heard about your magic," Wendy said softly. "It's… kind of like mine, but reversed?"
"Yeah," Ren admitted. "Instead of healing or boosting magic… mine cancels it. Especially Dragon-type magic."
Carla frowned. "That kind of power could be dangerous in the wrong hands."
"It's already dangerous," Ren said quietly. "That woman yesterday—she called it a curse."
"But even curses can be controlled," Wendy offered. "You just need guidance."
"Easier said than done," Ren muttered.
Wendy smiled. "You're not alone. Everyone here will help you."
Carla nodded, though she remained cautious. "Just don't lose yourself to it."
---
Later still, Ren wandered outside to the courtyard behind the guild. The moon hung low, silver and wide over Magnolia. The lanterns from the party glowed softly behind him.
Erza joined him not long after.
"Overwhelmed?"
"A little," he admitted.
She nodded. "That's normal. When I first joined, I didn't even know how to smile."
Ren chuckled. "Hard to picture."
"I was broken. Fairy Tail gave me the space to become whole again."
She looked at him seriously.
"They're giving you the same chance."
Ren leaned on the wooden fence. "It feels… right. Being here. But it also feels like I'm standing on a bridge to something much bigger. Something I don't understand."
"You are," she said. "But you don't have to cross it alone."
They stood in silence under the stars.
---
Back inside, Makarov climbed onto his usual barrel and raised a hand. The room quieted.
"I'd like to say a few words about our newest member," the master said, voice loud and proud. "Ren may be young, and his power may be unknown, but he has already proven one thing—when faced with fear, he stood his ground."
He looked directly at Ren.
"True strength isn't measured by how hard you hit… but by how willing you are to stand, even when the world says run."
Everyone clapped. Ren's face went red.
"We are Fairy Tail!" Makarov roared, slamming a tiny fist into the air.
"AND WE NEVER ABANDON OUR OWN!"
The hall echoed with the guild's cry, shaking the beams.
Ren stood there, in the center of it all. No longer the outsider. No longer the anomaly.
He was home.
---
As the celebration carried on late into the night, Ren snuck upstairs to the guild's second floor. There, in the quiet dark of the job board hallway, he stared at the high-ranked S-Class missions behind the barrier rope.
Someday, he wanted to be strong enough to take one.
Not to prove anything—
But to protect the people who had already chosen to protect him.
He touched the sigil on his arm.
It pulsed faintly.
Something inside him stirred—not in hunger or fury this time, but in understanding.
For the first time, the Anti-Magic didn't feel like a monster trying to break free. It felt… calm.
As if it, too, had finally found a place to rest.