บท 52: The Straus Siblings

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

May, x778.

Over the last six months, Cana had been living in Alfonzo and Elicia's mansion, despite Gildarts' vehement protests. Unlike the way Gildarts expected things to go, however, Cana slept in the room that she shared with Elicia when Alfonzo and Elicia moved in.

There were actually a simple reason for that. The first was that Cana had yet to build up the courage to confess to Alfonzo. She still felt a little weird about sharing him with Elicia, after all.

Other than the living arrangements, nothing else changed for the trio. Well… Other than Gildarts training regimen for Alfonzo growing much harsher. Something Alfonzo never complained about. As a result, Alfonzo's progress began to surpass Elicia's, who was more or less equal to him in strength before the change in his training routine.

Another thing to take note of was that the younger members of the guild, excluding Alfonzo, Elicia, Laxus, and the Thunder God Tribe, who were already eligible to take A-Class quests, were all allowed to take quests a rank higher than before, when the calendar rolled over to x778.

Meaning, Cana, Ultear, and Erza were qualified to take A-Class quests. Laki, Alzack, and Gray could take on B-Class quests. Meanwhile, Levy, Jet, and Droy were cleared to accept C-Class quests. However, if Jet and Droy had not been so fixated on questing with Levy, there was no doubt that they, too, would be qualified to take on B-Class quests as well.

So, now that Cana was finally allowed to take A-Class quests, she tagged along with Alfonzo and Elicia right after their thirteenth birthday party for an A-Class quest to slay a group of orcs, numbering in the hundreds, that had destroyed two villages. And now, they were on their way back to Magnolia after completing the quest.

Approaching Magnolia's south gate, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana were riding in the Escalade with Elicia behind the wheel and Alfonzo riding in the passenger seat. This naturally left Cana to ride in the backseat. However, Cana was not alone. In the backseat with her were a pair of young girls with white hair and blue eyes. Also, in the storage space behind the backseat was a boy, also with white hair and blue eyes. It was plain to see that the three new faces were related in some way based on their similar hair and eye colors.

While the younger of the two girls, Lisanna, was looking around curiously, having never come this far from home, the older of the two, Mirajane, wore a cloak that covered one of her arm while shes looked out the window, determined not to interact with Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana any more than necessary. The boy, Elfman, on the other hand, sat in silence with a timid expression on his face.

"We should be there in less than an hour." Elicia said while tapping her finger on the steering wheel. "I'm sure Gramps will be able to help you three settle down."

"You mean your guild master, right?" Lisanna asked with curiosity brimming in her eyes.

"That's right." Elicia said with a smile. "He's a really smart old man. So, he should know how to make that arm go away, too."

When Elicia mentioned "that arm," Mirajane visibly flinched. The arm in question had been a source of trouble ever since the day her and the other two's parents died. Ever since then, Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna, the Straus siblings, had been left alone and hated by the rest of the people living in their village.

Mirajane's arm, sporting dark purple scales and long sharp claws at the tips of her fingers, changed its form after a demon attacked the village the siblings lived in and killed a number of the villagers, including the siblings' parents. Then, when the demon was about to kill the siblings, Mirajane, unbeknownst to her, awakened her magic, [Take Over Magic], absorbing the demon, and making its power her own.

Unfortunately, due to her unfamiliarity with, or rather, ignorance of her magic, she was unable to stop the partial [Take Over] that caused the change in her arm. This led to the villagers believing that she had been cursed to turn into a demon.

By the time Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana drove by the village, all the surviving villagers were surrounding the Straus residence, ready to burn it down with the three siblings inside. Luckily, the trio arrived to put an end to the villagers violence before Mirajane, who seemed as if she was about to lose control of her magic, could act to defend herself and her younger siblings. In the end, they were able to convince the Straus siblings to follow them back to Magnolia, where Mirajane could learn to control her magic.

"That means Mira's arm will be back to normal soon!" Lisanna cheered happily.

"Hmph!" Mirajane snorted. "Like some old man we've never met could get rid of the demon's curse."

Hearing their older sister's grumbling, Elfman and Lisanna lowered their heads, as they, too, thought that that Mirajane had been cursed by the demon that killed their parents.

"*Sigh* How many times do we have to tell you that it's your magic that made your arm like that?" Alfonzo said from the front passenger seat, annoyance seeping into his tone.

"And what would a kid the same age as me know?" Mirajane snapped back, turning her head from the window toward Alfonzo with anger in her eyes.

"A kid the same age as you that is already a high-ranking wizard." Alfonzo corrected. "A high-ranking wizard that can feel your magical reserves, clear as day."

"And why should we believe you?" Mirajane countered. "Just because you saved us? What's stopping you from using my curse to your advantage?"

'Ugh… I almost forgot how bitchy Mira was before something happened to Lisanna.' Alfonzo thought to himself while he shook his head, trying to dispel the annoyance. 'I hope that trait doesn't stick, since we don't plan to let anything happen to her this time around.'

"You know what…" Alfonzo said in a fed up tone. "You got it. I'm done trying to convince you. You can see if I'm telling the truth or not when we get back to Fairy Tail."

With Alfonzo's response, Mirajane glared at Alfonzo smugly, thinking that she had won there little argument. And Alfonzo, feeling Mirajane's smug glare, could only remind himself that Mirajane was still scared and confused after everything that happened. Otherwise, he would have started a shouting match with the stubborn, hot-headed girl.

Elfman and Lisanna, on the other hand, could only look between their sister and Alfonzo with trepidation. They were afraid that Mirajane would anger the people that saved them with her ungrateful attitude, and they would be abandoned.

Meanwhile, Cana was glaring daggers at Mirajane for being so rude to Alfonzo. She, too, could feel Mirajane's magic power. So, she also knew that her magic was to blame for her arm being in the state it was in.

"Hmph!" Cana snorted. "You've never even seen someone use magic. But you're telling a wizard that he's wrong about what's going on."

"What did you say?" Mirajane snarled, shifting her attention to Cana, who was sitting on the opposite side of the backseat.

"Cana, stop." Elicia said calmly.

"But Lici!" Cana exclaimed indignantly. "She's being so rude."

"It's only because she's scared, confused, and uncertain about the future." Elicia said. "You know what that's like, right?"

Immediately, Cana lowered her head, remembering how she felt when her mother passed away. Then, she turned her head and looked out the window on her side of the vehicle.

"Fine, I'll let it go." Cana murmured.

"Who did you say was scared?" Mirajane barked at the same time.

In response to the girls in the backseat, Elicia simply smiled. Meanwhile, Lisanna looked at Elicia with admiration. She had already come to like the cheerful older girl during the drive. But seeing her defuse the situation like she did, Lisanna was in awe.

"Oh, I always wanted to ask about this, Fonzie." Elicia said. Changing the subject quite obviously. "But how are the rides in the cars so smooth? I mean, I've walked on the roads of Fiore before, and they're really uneven. But it feels like we're riding on a completely smooth road in the cars."

When Elicia asked about his prized creations, Alfonzo's annoyance all but vanished in an instant.

"That's because of the suspension." Alfonzo said in an excited tone. "Using some special sigils that react to changes in the terrain, the car automatically adjusts itself to keep the ride as smooth as possible."

Like that, with Alfonzo chattering on and on about the technical aspects of the cars he created, the rest of the trip went by relatively peacefully. Then, after an hour or so, Elicia parked the Escalade outside the guild hall.

"Okay, we're here." Elicia said as she pulled the key out of the ignition.

With that, everyone disembarked from the vehicle. While Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana made their way toward the doors of the guild hall, The Straus siblings stared up at the large, slightly intimidating building in front of them.

"This building is huge." Elfman muttered quietly.

"Yeah!" Lisanna said excitedly. "Is this where the Fairy Tail wizards live?"

"It's just a big building, why are you two so excited." Mirajane said even though she was also unable to look away from the large building.

At that moment, Alfonzo pushed the front doors open. And when he did, the group of six were greeted by the sight of a scarlet-haired girl, clad in a silver chest plate and matching gauntlets, standing between two boys, one with black hair and one with pink hair, who were charging at her with their fists cocked back and ready to fight.

However, just as the two boys were only an arm's length away, with lightning speed, the girl brought her gauntleted fists down on their heads, causing them to slam face first into the floor.

"How many times do I have to tell the two of you not to fight?" The scarlet-haired girl, Erza, asked with her hands on her hips. "Now, you two should make up and be friends."

"Even when I worked with the ice cube, we still got beat up." Natsu said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Like I'm ever gonna be friends with the fiery mouth breather." Gray muttered.

"What was that?" Erza asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

Immediately, Gray and Natsu jumped to their feet. Then, they slung their arms over each other's shoulders and put on the widest smiles they could muster.

"Of course, Erza." The boys said in unison. "We'll be the best of friends."

Nodding in satisfaction, Erza then turned around to see who had opened the doors to the guild hall.

"So, they finally started working together, huh?" Alfonzo muttered, staring at Gray and Natsu with amusement in his eyes. "I guess getting their asses kicked solo so many times finally made them change their strategy."

"Ah, Alfonzo, Elicia, Cana, welcome back." Erza said with a smile after realizing that the newcomers were people she knew. "How did the quest go."

"We completed it!" Elicia shouted happily.

"Yeah, the quest was easy compared to keeping Cana from destroying stuff." Alfonzo said with a smirk and a shrug.

"It wasn't that bad." Cana said with a pout. "I only accidentally set an uninhabited forest on fire."

Hearing that, Fairy Tail's resident pyro maniac's, Natsu's, eyes lit up.

"I've never eaten a forest fire." Natsu said with a dreamy expression on his face. "I wonder how it would taste."

Natsu's magic, [Dragon Slayer Magic] gives its user near immunity to the element they wield. In Natsu's case, fire. On top of that, Dragon Slayers are able to devour their element to restore their magic power. However, they cannot eat any of the element created with their own magic power.

"Anyway, is Gramps around?" Alfonzo asked, not seeing Makarov when he looked at the bar.

"Yes." Erza nodded. "Master is in his office. He's preparing for the annual meeting of guild masters."

"Oh yea, that's next month, isn't it?" Alfonzo mused aloud.

"Yeah." Elicia nodded. "But usually, he doesn't start getting ready for it this early."

At that moment, the Straus siblings finally walked up behind Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana, entering the guild hall and taking in the sights.

"He probably wants to brag about all the young, promising wizards in the guild." Ur said, approaching the group. "I'm sure he wants to rub it in the Phantom Lord guild master's face."

"That makes sense." Cana said with a nod. "From what I've heard, Master Makarov and the guild master of Phantom Lord have been rivals for a long time."

"That's right." Ur replied with a nod. "By the way, who are the three kids?"

With that, all the attention was shifted to the Straus siblings, causing Elfman and Lisanna to hide behind Mirajane nervously.

"Oh, them?" Alfonzo said, looking over his shoulder at the siblings. "On our way back we helped them out of a sticky situation. Plus, the girl in the middle is having trouble controlling her magic. So, we thought we'd have Gramps take a look and see if he can help."

Alfonzo's explanation quickly caught Ur's attention, causing her to look at Mirajane. After detecting the magic that was flowing in the arm hidden by a cloak, she stepped forward toward the siblings. Then, before Mirajane could react, she grabbed Mirajane's transformed arm, pulling it out from behind the cloak, and began to inspect it.

"[Take Over Magic], huh?" Ur said after inspecting Mirajane's arm for a few moments while ignoring the girl's attempts to free her arm. Then, she released Mirajane's arm, causing the girl to fall on her butt after the counterforce disappeared. "I'm not too well versed in that kind of magic. So, the master will have to take a look."

"Well then, we'll head up to Gramps' office." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "You three, follow us."