Chương 361: First Impression

After everyone had been properly introduced, they had all found themselves crowding into the Fairy Tail guild building as Alex and Lucy sat down to talk with the guild masters. Meanwhile around them the members of all five guilds gathered at the various tables while the sole waitress Mirajane, a beautiful woman with white hair that extended to the middle of her back while her bangs were tied up with a band, rushed to bring them all drinks. Naturally Grayfia went to help her while even Yami and Shia lent a hand due to how many people were crammed in the single building, for which the white haired woman was extremely grateful.

While that was going on though, Lucy shared her entire experience ever since she left the island with the guild masters up until the point that they left Hargeon, most of the stuff after that was private. She went over how she had been drugged by her contact, stripped and locked up while she was asleep, and how she could only tolerate the ogling, prodding, and groping until Alex arrived to save her. It had also been during her imprisonment that Lucy learned of the forces on their way to attack Tenrou, and completely wipe them out.

When she finished recounting what happened Markarov sighed heavily, before turning his gaze to Alex and asking with a not so subtle edge in his voice, "So how do you fit in to all of this?"

Alex, who had been drinking ale from the mug Mirajane had brought him, cocked a brow at Markarov's question since he was sure he could sense some hostility in it, something he didn't quite understand. Seeing the way Alex was looking at him, Markaraov stated,

"I'm having hard time believing that you just so happened to show up just in time to free Lucy, and then to come aid us right when we are about to be attack while also claiming you intend to defeat the Dark Emperor. And with the way Lucy's been acting, you can't blame me for being at least a little bit suspicious." When he got to the last part Lucy's entire face turned red as she tried to look away embarrassedly, however Alex didn't even flinch as he plainly stated,

"I don't know what to tell you regarding the timing of all of those except to blame fate. As for Lucy," Alex then made Lucy practically yelp as he suddenly pulled her into his lap and and gave her a passionate kiss, making her turn even redder due to everyone watching in dumbfoundment around them.

It was only after several seconds passed that Alex drew his lips away from Lucy's, and said as she tried to hide her face from embarrassment, "She fell for me naturally along the way here after I saved her life. It probably didn't help that the person she originally wanted was too dense to even notice, or care, about her feelings."

When Alex said that everyone turned as one towards a certain person, Natsu, who immediately declared, "What?! Lucy had some guy she liked and he didn't like her back?! Who was it? I'll kick his ass!" There was one large collective sigh at Natsu's declaration, as it was fairly obvious who Alex was referring to. (A.N. If anyone finds Natsu's density weird, just remember this is the same guy who heard that someone in the guild was pregnant in the continuation, and automatically asked if the kid was his due to basically having no clue how that works.)

Markarov couldn't help but to sigh in acknowledgment of Alex's claim, as it was fairly obvious to everyone present just how dense Natsu could be, before nodding to Alex and saying, "Very well I'll welcome you now, but betray our trust or hurt Lucy and I'll make sure you're sorry." As he spoke the room around them started rumbling as Markarov's magic power started increasing and bearing down onto Alex, making him smile widely in response before saying,

"Now that I'll take more seriously than when Loke said the same thing." Markarov snorted when he heard that, but didn't do anything other than take a deep drink from the mug in front of him. Alex then proceeded to do the same as he drained the entire thing, before saying,

"I don't know how you want me to go about earning your trust, but how about a gesture of goodwill?" As he finished speaking Alex proceeded to toss a ring to Mirajane, making everyone deadpan at him before he explained, "Thats a Spatial storage ring, inside you'll find enough food to last all of you several years of need be, all of which will remain perfectly preserved inside the ring." Just as everyone's eyes widened in awe at the ring, he then proceeded to toss another one at her while saying,

"That one has about one thousand barrels and jars with different types of alcohol in it, all of which have magic circles on them to chill them if you wish." Alex then proceeded to toss yet another ring at someone else this time, a woman with long brown hair that wore only a bikini top and a pair of pants that were cut shortly past her knees. The woman, Cana, looked at the ring expectantly after what Alex had said was in the other two, and wasn't disappointed when he said,

"That one has a few hundred barrels of alcohol as well, to keep you from draining the rest away from your fellow guild members." As if she didn't hear the second half of what he said, or the collective sigh of relief from everyone else, Cana smiled widely and proclaimed as she pulled out one of the barrels,

"Now there's a man who knows how to treat a lady! Better be careful Lucy, or I might try to steal him from you if he keeps this up!" Though Cana started laughing boisterously at her own joke, Lucy only gave her deadpan in response.

Though she didn't actually believe that Cana would, or even could, 'steal' Alex since she was a part of his peerage, Lucy had heard all about the ridiculous number of women waiting for him back at his home. Again, as a member of his peerage she wasn't too concerned about them, but she also couldn't help but imagine Cana somehow joining his harem in some way after her earlier comment.

Not knowing how seriously her friend took her joke, Cana continued laughing as she poured some of the ale from the barrel into a mug to sample before getting right to guzzling the rest down. As she raised the mug to her lips though, Cana paused slightly once the ale touched her tongue before slowly lowering her mug. Her face was an expressionless mask as she slowly made her way towards Alex, every single person around her wondering what was going through her mind.

She then surprised everyone present by getting down on her hands and knees before performing the perfect dogeza, and declaring,

"I may be inexperienced but please take care of me husband!"

CRASH!

The moment those words left her mouth, every single person in the guild hall fell to the ground in astonishment as Lucy alone stood and demanded, "What's with that Cana! How do you go straight to husband just from drinking beer!?"

Seemingly unperturbed by Lucy's tone, Cana looked at her seriously and asked, "How else can I repay someone who gifted me several hundred barrels of such wondrous alcohol than with my own body?" This time Lucy was genuinely at a complete loss of words, as, while she did think think that the alcohol Alex had given her before was good, it surely wasn't good enough to sell yourself off for.

Even Alex was dumbfounded at Cana's reaction as, while he did think that the alcohol brewed in Asora was better than the vast majority that was available in the worlds he visited, he didn't think it was good enough to sell yourself for. Before he could say as much though, there was a sudden crash as someone roared,

"LIKE HELL I WOULD ALLOW THAT!"

Everyone turned to see the strongest member of Fairy Tail, Gildarts, stand suddenly while directing a murderous glare at Alex, making the latter sigh in undisguised exasperation. Knowing there was probably no way to get Gildarts to stand down though, Alex stood while taking one last swig of his drink, and said while facing him,

"I don't typically have a habit of fighting cripples, but I think I'll make an exception for the strongest member of Fairy Tail." Gildarts face twitched notably when he heard Alex's words, as he snarled,

"Who you callin a cripple?!" Alex cocked a brow but didn't say anything, instead glancing pointedly at Gildarts's left arm and leg, both of which were prosthetics after losing them in a battle with Acnologia. Getting even more annoyed at Alex pointing them out, Gildarts lunged forward with his right arm raised to attack with his signature Crush magic.

As he did so everyone was quick to get out of his way since Crush magic, combined with Gildarts's own thick-headedness, was a very dangerous combination. Though Crush magic could be considered fairly harmless to other people unless he deliberately wanted to destroy them, the entirety of Fairy Tails home city of Magnolia had been remodeled specifically with Gildarts in mind, due to his tendency to accidentally walk right through buildings and destroy them.

Instead of worrying about Gildarts's charge like those around him though, Alex simply smirked before sidestepping fast enough that he left an afterimage, and sweeping his good leg out from under him. Finding himself suddenly trying to catch his balance on his prosthetic leg, Gildarts's eyes widened in surprise as Alex placed his hand on the back of his head, and planted Gildarts face first into the floor beneath them.

The next several seconds were filled with complete silence as everyone took in the fact that one of their strongest fighters was instantly defeated, while Alex kept his hold on the back of Gildarts's head without uttering a single word. Eventually Gildarts slammed his hands into the ground on either side of himself, and started to push himself up while stating,

"Let. Me. Up. Damnit!" Alex smirked at how Gildarts hadn't seemed to notice yet, and released his hold on the back of his head before backing away suddenly. Gildarts them jumped up and spun around suddenly while jabbing his left hand at Alex and demanding,

"What's the big idea you bas...tard....?" It seemed as if Gildarts, as well as all of those within the guild finally noticed what was different after a moment, while Alex simply retook his seat with the same smirk on his face as he grabbed his mug once more.

"What...did you do?" Markarov asked with an incredulous expression on his face, as he stared at the regenerated left arm of Gildarts while he also stood on his newly regenerated left leg. Alex however simply finished off yet another mug of ale while Gildarts proceeded to lift his shirt to examine the scars that no longer existed. It was only after Alex drained his mug completely that he said,

"It's a type of time manipulation magic called Regeneration magic. Unlike Arc of Time it can influence even living beings to be used to 'heal' their injuries by rewinding time on them until the point before they even existed. It can even be used to revert a person's age to make them younger." With Alex pointedly looking at him when he mentioned the last part, Markarov's eyes widened when he understood the implications.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Markarov suddenly let out a boisterous laugh that surprised everyone in the guild hall after the previous tense atmosphere, before declaring, "Thanks for offer, but I'll have to turn it down! As inconvenient as it is, old age suits me more than becoming a young buck again! Besides, how could I hold my head up around my guild members if I suddenly became younger than half of them?"

His piece said, Markarov proceeded to laugh once more while Mirajane filled another mug of ale for him, except this time it was some of the stuff Alex gave them. Alex and the girls were then treated firsthand to a welcoming party from one of the loudest and most rambunctious guilds in the kingdom of Fiore, an affair that quite surprised those amongst them from more proper noble backgrounds.

Several hours later, when the sun had already set, people finally started filing out of the guild hall in drunken stupors, singing and laughing as they went even though several of them had marks and bruises from any fights they had partaken with each other. Amongst them Alex and the girls also left, with him taking care of most of them along with the few that didn't drink, Yami, Lucy and Yue; while Rias, Shizuku, and Moka only had a little bit, and a single sip had been enough to take Sun out for the entire night. Meanwhile Grayfia had been tricked into taking a drink by Kuroka, which led to its own brand of trouble while the naughty cat also drank her fill, and then there was Shia, Kurumu, Anne, and Lala, who had all decided to cut loose for once as well.

With Alex supporting most of those who drank with his 'Telekinesis', they said goodnight to the rest while the white haired Mirajane led them through the dark night.

"I'm sorry that we don't have enough rooms for everyone, we didn't expect anyone else to join us out here." Alex waved away her apologies and said,

"It's ok, we never travel without thinking at least that far ahead. Is this clearing taken?" Mirajane showed some confusion at Alex's question, as when he mentioned thinking ahead she thought he was referring to simply staying on their ship. Nodding slowly she said,

"That's just an empty area that we use for training, but with the impending attack I doubt it'll get much use in the next few days. You can use it as you want." Alex nodded gratefully as a small object suddenly appeared in his hand, which looked to be a a large pill. Mirajane looked at it carefully as Alex suddenly pressed the button-like thing at the top, before throwing it right in the middle of the empty clearing.

POOF!

There was a cloud of smoke a second after it hit the ground, and when it cleared Mirajane lightly exclaimed in surprise when an entire house now stood where there was nothing seconds before. Alex turned back to her with a smile and explained,

"It's a portable home that we've been working on for a while. I explained the idea to Lala along with a few other improvements that I thought could be made, such as keeping it in a 'capsule' form when not in use, and she immediately jumped on it. Even I'm constantly amazed at her progress when creating things." As he said the girls that weren't drunkenly unconscious nodded in agreement, while Lucy joined Mirajane in staring dumbfoundedly at the portable house.

After opening the door and using his 'Telekinesis' to bring the girls inside, Alex turned back and asked Mirajane with a teasing tone, "So, are you going to stay there all night, or should I invite you in as well?"

Mirajane's eyes narrowed at Alex's in invitation, as she felt that if she accepted she'd be like a small rabbit walking right into the lions den for dinner, unknowing that she was actually the main course. She then plastered a large smile on her face before saying, "Thank you for the invitation, but I really must be going to see to my brother and my sister, good night." Without another word Mirajane turned to leave as she headed back towards the guild hall, while Alex's gaze wandered down to admire her nice ass as it shifted from side to side.

Suddenly there was a slight pain on both of Alex's sides as both Lucy and Yami pinched them, before the petite assassin said, "Lewd thoughts are not allowed..." Lucy nodded in agreement before saying,

"Yeah, I don't want you making passes at my guild mates!" As she said that Lucy thought back to Cana from earlier, who thankfully hadn't seriously pursued her earlier declarations. Alex however didn't seem to take their words seriously, as he suddenly grabbed both girls and tossed them up onto his shoulders before saying as they yelped in surprise,

"Well, I guess I'll just have to take out my 'lewd thoughts' on the two of you then!" He then proceeded to drag both girls into the bathroom to clean up while getting dirty, leaving Rias, Shizuku, Moka, and Yue to get everyone else changed and in bed for the night.

***

The next morning Lucy awoke to find almost everyone else gone from their large bed, with only herself, Kuroka, and Shia being present. Releasing a large yawn as she sorely got up after the abuse Alex made her body go through the night before, Lucy made her way through the house, admiring everything she didn't get a chance to look at the night before, until she found Alex and the others in the kitchen.

"Good morning." She said somewhat cheerfully, to which Grayfia, Sun, Anne, and Lala could only groan in response from their seats around the table. Meanwhile Alex, Rias, and Shizuku expertly danced around each other in the kitchen as they prepared breakfast, while Yami was using her transformed hair to help set the table up for everyone to eat.

At first Lucy wasn't quite sure where to look, what with the group that were nursing a hangover, Alex and the two others who were cooking while still completely nude save an apron, and then there was the various appliances they used that, from what Lucy could see, didn't even use magic to function. She didn't get to admire the view too much though, as Alex suddenly said,

"Moka, can you give Lucy a tour while explaining the modern appliances to her a bit? And Yue can you go and get Shia up already? I want her to 'See' when the dark guilds will arrive." Nodding in affirmation, Yue quickly disappeared the way Lucy had come from, while Moka approached her and said,

"Come on, I'll show you around." Without giving her a chance to say anything, Lucy suddenly found herself being pulled along as Moka went to show her around the house. She soon found herself in awe of the various machines and inventions within the portable house, but what he found most amazing of all was the surplus of books they had available. Moka then ended up having to literally drag her back to the kitchen when breakfast was ready, where everyone now was except for the still sleeping Kuroka.

"Nnnnnnnnn..." Lala groaned as she held her head tightly. "I never want to drink again..." Her words made Alex and a few others chuckle at her expense, making her groan once more at the noise as he placed a plate full of food down in front her along with her favorite black matter seasoning.

"Maybe I should send a recording of you last night to Sephie, I wonder how the former queen of Deviluke would react to her daughter drinking and partying like that?" Alex teased her, making Lala look up suddenly before exclaiming,

"Please don't! Owwwww..." The sudden movement, combined with her shout, made Lala suddenly groan once more as she tried to grab a nearby glass of water.

"I can't even remember what happened last night..."Grayfia groaned as she massaged her temples, to which Moka smiled evilly and asked,

"So you don't remember taking your top off in front of everyone and dancing on the table?" The words were barely out of her mouth when Grayfia's head shot up and she demanded with a pale expression,

"Did I really?!" Not expecting such a reaction from the usually calm and collected maid, everyone who didn't get completely drunk the night before had to suppress their laughter while Alex calmly said,

"No you didn't, Moka's just messing with you." Grayfia let out an audible sigh of relief at Alex's words, before sending a not so subtle glare at Moka for even joking like that, something that was quite a surprise to everyone present.

Eventually, as Anne handed out a hangover cure she concocted from some of the plants she found during a walk around their temporary home, things started getting more lively around the breakfast table until even Kuroka woke up and joined them. Eventually Rias asked,

"So are you going to create a portal now that we've found a relatively safe place?" Alex however shook his head and said,

"We're going to wait until a few days after the attack in order to prevent anyone from accidentally finding their way inside Asora." Though Rias looked partially dejected that she couldn't see Ryoto just yet, she nodded in understanding since his safety was her number one priority. It was then that everyone turned their attention to Shia, who had recently rejoined them after excusing herself to perform the divination Alex asked for. With every pair of eyes on her, Shia rolled her own before saying,

"If everything stays the same as my vision then they'll be here late tomorrow afternoon." Alex nodded in affirmation and said,

"Then we have a little over a day to help them prepare, more than enough time." Kuroka, who had been in the middle of drinking her own portion of hangover cure, looked up at his words and asked,

"Why don't we just go out and defeat them right now~Nya? We can easily find them with the magic compass~Nya." This time Alex shook his head and stated,

"I don't want to become as involved in this world as we have been. Though we will undoubtedly fight as well, let's focus more on supporting the people of this world from the background after we eliminate the other reincarnators and those in their inner circle." With how powerful Fairy Tail's 'fate' and 'power of friendship' was, Alex saw no need to do all of the fighting himself this time unless something drastic happened, as the infamous mage's guild was more than capable of taking care of the vast majority of their opponents if given the chance.

Though the rest of the girls nodded in affirmation, Lucy however looked concerned and asked, "You aren't going to fight beside us?" Again Alex shook his head and explained,

"In the world's I've been to I was the one leading the charge in pretty much every conflict, while those who were supposed to fight ended up being lost in the background. Instead of becoming widely known in this world as well, it's better if guilds like Fairy Tail and the rest are the ones who beat back the dark guilds to help reestablish a sense of normalcy, while we silently support you from the background. This is also better so that the Dark Emperor and his generals won't learn more than they should about me before we actually fight."

Though Lucy wanted to argue about Alex's logic, she couldn't deny it since he could be facing up to five powerful opponents at once if things went wrong, which would only make things worse if they knew what he was capable of beforehand. She also thought back to his actions in Hargeon, which he had completely credited Fairy Tail with despite the fact that they would'nt be able to accomplish such feats even with everyone in the guild cooperating. Eventually she looked up at him and said,

"As long as you don't keep me from fighting alongside my guild mates as well." Alex surprised her then by nodding in agreement, and saying,

"I'd expect nothing less from one of my 'Pawns', especially since you're already personally invested in this fight." With everyone else looking at her expectantly or saying something similar, Lucy couldn't help but get pumped as she hurriedly shoveled down the rest of her breakfast, and declared,

"Then let's go!"