She smiled. "Not if the seasons have anything to say about it."

"We're not the same guild we were," Lucy said. "We've lost people. We've changed. But that doesn't mean we stop growing."

It started subtly. The cherry blossoms of spring didn't bloom. Summer sun refused to warm the cobblestones. Autumn leaves fell brown and brittle within a day. Winter brought only a hollow, colorless frost. The world outside Fairy Tail was stuck in a perpetual gray twilight. The Seasons themselves had been fractured, and the magic that once flowed through the land was fading.

Across Magnolia, cherry blossoms erupted in a riot of pink. The sun warmed the river. A cool autumn breeze teased the edges of summer heat. And snow dusted the rooftops just enough to make children laugh.