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A checkered floor surrounded by four pillars sat unsupported within the empty void of what could only be a dream. Standing in this specially designed meeting area were two figures with the appearance of young men. One wore a white suit, his age undeterminable due to the butterfly mask adorning his face. The other, in his early teens, wore grey, a pierced ear visible beneath his mid-length dark hair.

"Do you believe in fate, young man?" the masked man asked his young guest without preamble.

The young man blinked his surprise away before answering. "I think so. It's nice to think there's a reason things happen the way they do. That in the end it'll all make sense."

A checkered floor surrounded by four pillars sat unsupported within the empty void of what could only be a dream. Standing in this specially designed meeting area were two figures with the appearance of young men. One wore a white suit, his age undeterminable due to the butterfly mask adorning his face. The other, in his early teens, wore a black suit with white strips and a blue tie, his hair and eyes an identical shade of brown.

"Do you believe in fate, young man?" the masked man asked his young guest without preamble.

The young man blinked his surprise away before smiling as he answered. "Not really, but it sure makes a nice excuse when things go wrong."

A checkered floor surrounded by four pillars sat unsupported within the empty void of what could only be a dream. Standing in this specially designed meeting area were two figures; one with the appearance of a young man, the other a young lady. One wore a white suit, his age undeterminable due to the butterfly mask adorning his face. The other, in her early teens, had auburn hair and red eyes. Her clothing was similar to a school uniform.

"Do you believe in fate, young lady?" the masked man asked his young guest without preamble.

The girl blinked her surprise away before answering. "No. Believing in fate means accepting things couldn't be different. That any moral crises you come across don't matter because your choice was predetermined."

A checkered floor surrounded by four pillars sat unsupported within the empty void of what could only be a dream. Standing in this specially designed meeting area were two figures with the appearance of young men. One wore a white suit, his age undeterminable due to the butterfly mask adorning his face. The other, in his early teens, wore black smart casual clothing with white lining and a checkered collar on the jacket. His grey hair stood at odds with the apparent age of his face.

"Do you believe in fate, young man?", the masked man asked his young guest without preamble.

Surprised by the odd question, the young man blinked before deciding to answer the question with a question. "In general or as a reason why I'm here now?"

If the masked man displayed any emotion at the non-answer, it was hidden behind the mask. "Either. Both."

"Well for why we're here now, I'd say that's because you brought us here if you have the presence of mind to ask a question of me out of the blue. So was that fate? Well I couldn't have done anything to stop it happening so you could say you fated me to be here by bringing me here. And I guess that gives an answer for in general as well. Fate only exists for those incapable of freeing themselves from it. Fate is a prison for the weak."

A silence came over all four instances of the dream space before the four identical masked men spoke as one and were heard by all involved. "Excellent." The four spaces fused together, four masked men and four guests all together on the same checkered floor. The four replicas atomised before coming together to form a single masked man. "Dreams. Wonderful things, aren't they? Great and terrible things where anything is possible! Moreover, they are where your inner selves, your true selves come out to play."

"I have a proposition for you all."

The boy with the piercing looked around and was surprised by the others' presence, having not noticed their sudden and silent appearance. The brown-haired boy glanced at the others' reactions curiously. The girl was still puzzling over the trick with the merging clones. The grey-haired boy just stared at the masked man, waiting for him to continue and mostly ignoring the others.

"I was a savant of mind magic, you know. Truly mastered the craft. I could destroy most of the Wizard Saints before they even knew they were in a fight. But to manipulate the mind is a cheap parlour trick, compared to truly understanding it. Such was my ambition. I sought understanding of a subject of both one and one thousand questions. I set up my own guild for this very goal, dedicated to research in my field, going above and beyond anything a mage had done before. And in the name of discovery, I broke one rule too many. I attempted to see into the collective unconscious, the realm where all minds are connected. While I succeeded, it was not the great breakthrough I imagined. I did not so much 'see' into it as I did dive in head first, my conscious mind leaving my body to do so."

"That was four years ago and I have been trapped here since, my still living body the only thing keeping my consiousness from dissolving into the ether. While I'm not a fan of the consequences I don't regret my decision. The things I've learned... I digress. The problem has become what to do now. I have perhaps a few years left of my life and I would like to leave behind some kind of legacy. My research... It has gone beyond what man was meant to know so it cannot be that. That leaves my guild. It still operates, mostly my assistants earning money for the purpose of keeping me alive. I offer you the opportunity to join my guild."

The four guests glanced at one another to gauge each others' reactions. None looked overly enthusiastic. The girl spoke, inadvertantly speaking what all of them were thinking. "Thanks but... I'm not a mage, and I'm not too thrilled with pursuing a career in magic research."

"Oh? You misunderstand. Research was the original purpose of the guild. And in that it served it's purpose, so it needs a new one don't you think? What that will be would be up to its members. As for not being a mage... We are in the collective unconscious. I have brought your minds here, where all minds are connected."

Faces appeared around the outside edge of the 'room'. The masked man pointed to each in turn. "Mirajane, of the 'Take-Over Trio' of Fairy Tail." he announced, pointing to a white-haired, angry looking woman, "Totomaru, or 'Totomaru of the Conflagration', fire manipulator of Phantom Lord.", a black and white haired man with markings on his face, "Karen Lilica, celestial spirit mage of Blue Pegasus.", a green haired woman, "'Death God' Erigor, wind mage of Eisenwald.", a sinister looking man with spiky silver hair, "Ul, master of ice creation magic." a dark-haired woman.

"Hold it!" the brown-haired guest interrupted. "I know for a fact that Ul is dead. She died fighting that Deliora monster."

"True. However, her mind remains intact. Such is the true price of using Iced Shell. Were I so inclined, I could summon her mind here. I could summon any of their minds here, and, should they agree, could teach you as you both dream."

Grey hair was convinced. "I accept." He'd already had an interest in magic and wasn't about to let a golden – no, diamond – opportunity slip through his fingers.

"I do too." and "Me too." was said by the pierced boy and the brown-haired boy, respectively.

The girl looked pensive. "You can get anyone to teach me, right?" she asked.

"Provided their minds are alive, I can summon them here, yes. Whether they teach you is up to them." The masked man knew he could force them to agree but he was beyond that now. There was nothing in it for him anymore.

"... Okay. I'm in too." she agreed with a tentative small smile.

"Excellent!" the masked man exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. "Get yourselves to Hargeon. That is where our guild building is located and where you receive your guild marks. We will meet again the next time you dream and your training will begin."

"Welcome to Fate Butterfly."

A/N: Yes, yes. FEShadow, I know. This idea wouldn't leave me alone, and frankly there aren't enough Fairy Tail fics out there. So what we have here is a Personaverse guild. I may include other SMT personalities but they won't be in the guild. Or rather, not in Fate Butterfly. And before you ask, these characters aren't FESverse. I knew you were gonna ask.

What was that? This is just Reapersona with the Fairy Tail universe? Hush you! I'm aware of that. Wanted to write it so I wrote it! Thbbbbt!

This is also another 'when I feel like it' fic like Reapersona. But I actually still feel like it. So I'll keep going for a bit and try to crank out a FEShadow while I'm still on a writing high at some point.

Incidentally, should this be considered a crossover? Technically the characters are the same but the concept of personae would only get a minor nod at points. Not crossover = more readers sooooo... Thoughts?

Thanks for reading!