Kapitel 126: Erza Returns with Urgent News

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

June, x784.

After returning from their quest in Shirotsume, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Lucy took some time to relax. Deciding not to take any quests for the time being. However, the day before Gray, Erza, Natsu, and Happy arrived, Makarov asked Alfonzo to drive him to the Guild Master's Annual Meeting in Clover Town.

For the last few years, Makarov drove his own Escalade to the meeting, becoming the envy of all the other guild masters. However, on one of his recent joy rides, Makarov was angered by a troll that almost destroyed it while he was driving.

In the end, he used his [Giant Magic] to grow large enough to fight the troll, killing it n the process. Unfortunately, he let his anger get to him and destroyed the vehicle by growing while he was still inside of it.

So, not only did he destroy his Escalade, but he also had to walk back to Magnolia. When he eventually arrived at the guild, he begged and pleaded to Alfonzo to make him another one. But Alfonzo refused, stating that this was the third time Makarov destroyed his vehicle.

On top of that, Alfonzo, still feeling a bit indebted to Makarov for taking himself and Elicia in thirteen years ago, gave him the second and third Escalades for free. But if he wanted a fourth, he would have to pay.

Naturally, Makarov did not have that kind of money lying around. So, Makarov was now without a vehicle, something Ur teased him about daily.

In the end, Alfonzo agreed to take Makarov to the meeting. To both of their surprises, however, Ultear asked if she could ride along. Since Gray and her mother, Ur, were on quests of their own, she was bored at the house by herself, since she was not yet ready to move in with Alfonzo, Elicia, and the others.

"Hey, Happy." Natsu said as he walked through the guild hall. "Erza's coming back, right? Why don't we take another quest before she shows up?"

"Aye!" Happy replied. "Erza is scary, after all."

Over the years, Erza had beaten up just about every member of the guild at least once. However, Gray and Natsu received most of her attention. She just could not stand all the fighting they would do on a regular basis despite being members of the same guild, the same family.

Even more than Gray, however, Natsu had received beatings every time he challenged Erza to a fight as well. Leaving Natsu with not only a healthy fear of Erza but also a desire to surpass her in strength.

"Ha! You're such a coward, Flame brain." Gray mocked from a nearby table.

"What did you say, you wintery flasher?" Natsu asked angrily, turning away from the quest board as he did so. "I dare you to say that again!"

"I'll say it as many times as you want, you cowardly mouth breather." Gray said, standing up from the table.

"Gray, put on some clothes!" Cana shouted from her spot at the bar.

"There's no time for clothes right now!" Gray replied without looking in Cana's direction.

"*Sigh* I wish Fonzie was here." Cana said, taking a swig from her mug of ale after speaking. "Even when it's noisy, I feel like I can drink in peace when he's around."

"Wow, Cana, you got it bad." Mirajane said from behind the bar with a pleasant smile on her face.

"Hmph!" Cana snorted before taking another swig from her mug. "At least I had the courage to tell him how I feel."

Instead of responding with anger, Mirajane maintained her pleasant smile.

"Tch!" Cana clicked her tongue after not getting a rise out of Mirajane. "You were more fun to mess with before, Mira. But I guess this is better than acting like you're the best all the time."

"I realized what was truly important after that day." Mirajane said, closing her eyes gently. "My old attitude almost caused me to lose everything. If it weren't for Alfonzo, I don't know what I would do."

"Then, you should tell him." Cana said. "He won't make the first move unless you do. He's got this weird thing about not wanting to influence our decisions. I don't get it, though."

"He's just giving me time to make sure I'm ready." Mirajane said, smiling brightly.

Usually, there would be more people to add to this conversation. However, at the moment, Elicia, Ultear, Erza, and Sun were all away for different reasons. Elicia went to Hargeon early in the morning to check on her store. Ultear, as previously mentioned, went with Alfonzo and Makarov to the Guild Master's Annual Meeting, Erza was on her way back from a quest, and Sun took a quest with Marin in Crocus.

While Gray and Natsu were arguing and about to fight any moment, and Cana and Mirajane were talking about Mirajane's love life, Lucy was sitting off to the side completing a contract with a Silver Celestial Spirit.

"Ooh, you're so cute!" Lucy squealed looking at the small white a creature with carrot shaped nose.

This creature was summoned by a key Lucy bought in Hargeon's magic shop. Because of everything that happened since she bought it, she had yet to sign a contract with it. But since she had some down time, she decided to do so now.

"Hey, Lucy, what's that?" Happy flew over and asked.

"oh, this little cutey came from the gate this key opens, [The Gate of Canis Minor, Nikora]." Lucy explained. "And we were just about to hash out our contract. Wanna see how it works?"

"Sure." Happy said, landing on the bench next to Lucy.

Like that, Lucy began discussing what days she would be able to summon the little dog spirit. Though, it looked nothing like a dog. Meanwhile, Happy, who decided to watch the process, found himself extremely bored by the time it was over.

"Now, we need to give you a name." Lucy said with a smile after the contract negotiations were complete.

"But isn't his name, Nikora?" Happy asked curiously.

"No, that's his species." Lucy explained. Then, she looked at the little dog intently for a few moments. "How about Plue?"

The little spirit, now named Plue, made a few happy sounding noises and began to shiver in excitement.

"Plue it is then." Lucy said happily as she reached down and picked up her new Celestial Spirit.

After hugging Plue happily for a few moments, Lucy unsummoned him.

"Hey, why'd you send him back so soon?" Happy asked.

"Because I can only summon one spirit at a time." Lucy explained. "And I still have another spirit to make a contract with."

*Bang!*

Before Lucy could pull out Virgo's key that she got after Everlue was defeated, the doors of the guild hall were flung open and crashed into the walls. When everyone heard the loud sound, they all subconsciously looked in its direction. Then, they all froze and fell silent.

"Erza, welcome back." Mirajane greeted in a pleasant tone.

"It's good to be back, Mira." Erza replied. Then, she let her eyes sweep over everyone in the guild hall. "I've heard that some of you are still causing trouble on your quests. Master Makarov may not make a big deal about it, but I won't have you bringing down the reputation of the guild."

Those who were still having trouble avoiding property damage lowered their heads immediately. Then, Erza began tearing into everyone who was doing something she did not approve of. For example, she told Nab to just pick a quest, She told a wizard who had joined Fairy Tail in the last two years named Vijeeter Ecor to stop dancing in the guild hall, and she asked Cana, in a much gentler tone, to stop drinking so much.

Then, Erza looked at Macao, who started to sweat nervously. After staring at him for a few seconds, she closed her eyes and sighed in exasperation.

"Please, just say something." Macao whispered nervously since he was sure that Erza had heard about his mishap on Mt. Hakobe.

"I don't even know where to start with you, Macao." Erza said while shaking her head.

Before she could start ripping into Macao, though, Cana put her mug down and asked a question.

"Hey, Erza, what is that you're carrying?" Cana asked curiously. "*Burp*"

"Oh, this?" Erza asked as she looked at the large, decorated object she carried over her shoulders. "This is the fang of the magical beast I was tasked to eliminate. The people who made the request were so happy that I got rid of it that they decorated it and gave it to me as a gift."

"I see." Cana replied. "Are you gonna ask Fonzie to make it into a weapon and armor?"

"If he thinks it's suitable to do so." Erza replied. "Speaking of Alfonzo, is he here?"

"No, he and Ultear went with Master to the Guild Master's Meeting." Mirajane replied.

"I see." Erza said, looking around the guild. "What about Elicia?"

"Nope, she's in Hargeon." Cana was the one to answer this time. "She's making a routine inspection of her store."

"Well then, I guess you and Mirajane are the next strongest people here." Erza said. "I heard some bad news on my way back here. And I need some help solving the issue."

"Sorry, Erza." Mirajane said in an apologetic tone. "Master asked me to watch over the guild hall and approve quests while he was gone. But Natsu and Gray are both here. You should take them with you. Oh, and you should take Lucy , too. Alfonzo and Elicia were impressed by her on their last quest together."

Hearing that, Erza once again let her gaze scan over the guild hall. The first thing she noticed was Gray and Natsu standing together with their arms over each other's shoulders.

"It's good to see the two of you are getting along." Erza said, her tone growing a bit more gentle.

"Of course!" Gray replied over energetically. "We're getting along just the way friends should."

"Aye!" Natsu added.

"Why is Natsu talking like Happy?" Lucy asked in a weirded out tone.

"Oh really?" Cana asked, feeling rather mischievous. "I thought you guys were gonna fight not even two minutes ago."

Hearing that, both Gray and Natsu started to shiver. Then, they both glared at Cana who was smiling at them.

"Is that true?" Erza asked with her eyes narrowed.

"No, no, no! Not at all." Gray replied, cold sweat forming on his forehead. "We just had a little disagreement. I mean, we can't agree on everything, right?"

"Aye!" Natsu added, nodding his head furiously.

"Seriously, isn't one Happy enough?" Lucy asked, still weirded out by Natsu's new speech pattern.

"Oh, I guess it was my mistake." Cana said, clearly enjoying the suffering of others.

After that, Erza found Lucy sitting off to the side with Happy.

"You should come along, too." Erza said with a small smile. "If Alfonzo and Elicia are impressed with your ability, then that's good enough for me."

"So, you want all five of us in one team for this?" Cana asked, putting her mug down and looking at Erza with a solemn gaze.

"That's right." Erza replied with a nod. "Get ready and meet me at the train station in an hour. I'll tell you the details while we're on the train."

'Oh wow, I'm gonna go on a mission with the strongest woman in Fairy Tail, Erza Scarlet, also known as Titania.' Lucy thought to herself while jumping up and down in excitement in her head.

"*Sigh* Wherever we're going better have good booze." Cana said before chugging the rest of her drink.

Meanwhile, Gray and Natsu were staring at each other with bewildered expressions on their faces.

'She wants me to team up with him?' Gray and Natsu thought at the same time.

Gray and Natsu held eye contact for a few moments until the atmosphere was broken.

"Stop wasting time, you two." Cana said in a serious tone. "If you're gonna kiss, then hurry up and do it. We don't have time to wait for you two to sort out your feelings. We've got work to do."

"What did you say!?" Gray and Natsu shouted in unison.

"I mean, the way you two were staring into each other's eyes while Gray is half-naked paints quite the picture." Cana said, explaining the meaning behind her previous statement.

"Ah! Where are my clothes!?" Gray shouted as he searched for his clothes.

Like that, the normal rowdy atmosphere in the guild hall returned. Meanwhile, Cana, Gray, Erza, Natsu, Happy, and Lucy left to prepare for Erza's task.