Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Shirotsume.
June, x784.
"I thought I asked you to destroy this book." Kaby Melon said with confusion in his tone. "Then, why are you handing it to me?"
Currently, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Lucy were sitting across from Kaby Melon in the same room where they first met him. And the reason for Kaby's confusion is the fact that Lucy is handing Daybreak to him, something he tasked them to destroy.
"I know you want to keep your father's reputation safe, Mr. Melon." Lucy said in a serious tone. "But have you ever read Daybreak?"
In response, Kaby gently shook his head. Then, he breathed out a sigh and accepted the book from Lucy.
"No, I never intended to, either." Kaby admitted. "My father said it was trash."
"Probably to keep you from storming Everlue's place and demanding to have it." Alfonzo said off-handedly.
"Yeah, if he said it was worth something, you would have wanted to get it away from Everlue." Elicia chimed in.
"But even Duke Everlue.---" Kaby said, the confusion in his expression growing.
"Oh, he won't be a duke for much longer." Elicia said with a scary smile on her face.
"Oh… Okay…" Kaby replied while recoiling a little. "Anyway, even Everlue said the book was worthless. So, once again, why should I read it?"
"Because Everlue didn't know the secret it held." Lucy explained.
After that, Lucy touched the book and injected her magic power in a certain pattern. Then, the book in Kaby's hands started to glow before it floated out of his hands.
In the next instant, the book disassembled itself into a cover and its pages. And in real time, all of the room's four occupants could see the letters making up all the words and sentences rearranging themselves. It was a surreal sight, to say the least.
When all the rearrangements were done, the book reassembled itself before falling back into Kaby's hands. However, when he looked at the front cover, it was no longer called "Daybreak." Instead, the title had changed to "Dear Kaby."
"It's an anagram." Alfonzo said, feigning an impressed expression. "It's just like Kemu Zaleon is an anagram of Zekua Melon."
"So, instead of a trashy novel about a trashier, narcissistic, self-centered, short, ugly, mostly bald, long nose haired duke, it was a letter to his son." Elicia said with a smile.
"Why don't you tell us how you really feel?" Lucy asked in a dry tone.
"Oh, there's much more." Elicia said in a cheerful tone. "But I don't use those kinds of words."
"Sure." Lucy said, not sure of what to say.
Meanwhile, Kaby had pulled out a pair of Gale Force Reading Glasses and started flipping through the book. Although his had a much lower amplification than even Lucy's, at 4x, he still got threw a decent amount of the book while the Fairy Tail wizards were talking.
Eventually, after getting about a quarter of the way through the book, Kaby closed it and set it down on the table between the two couches.
"Thank you for showing this to me." Kaby said while bowing his head with tears in his eyes. "Had this been destroyed before I got the chance to read it, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life."
"You probably wouldn't have." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "I mean, until Lucy explained it to you, you didn't even know about it."
While Kaby and Lucy reacted the same way and stared at Alfonzo with their mouth and eyes wide open, Elicia could not help but giggle.
"He's right, you know." Elicia said. "You had no idea it was anything more than a bad action/adventure novel before Lucy explained it to you."
"Did you two really have to ruin the moment?" Lucy asked in a shocked tone. "He was about to pour his heart out to us."
With that, Alfonzo and Lucy started bickering while Elicia just giggled at their interaction. Meanwhile, it took Kaby a few moments to get himself back together.
"*Cough* Anyway, thanks for showing me the truth." Kaby said, trying to brush over the previous conversation. "Here, this is for you. 2,000,000 Jewels and a letter of completion."
Excitedly, Lucy stopped arguing with Alfonzo when she heard about the money. Then, she reached out to take the money and the letter from Kaby.
*Smack!*
Before she could, however, her hand was slapped away by Alfonzo.
"What's the big idea?" Lucy asked angrily.
"Lucy, sweetie, did you forget?" Elicia asked. "We didn't complete the quest."
"Huh?" Lucy exclaimed in confusion.
"We were supposed to destroy the book." Alfonzo continued. "And you decided to give it to Mr. Melon instead."
"But…" Lucy protested. "What we did was better than destroying the book."
"I agree." Alfonzo said with a nod. "But that doesn't change the fact that we did not complete the quest."
With that, Lucy slumped down onto the couch with a defeated expression on her face.
"My rent money…" Lucy said in a depressed tone.
"But since I, the client, am alright with the outcome, then surely it is alright to accept the letter of completion and the reward, right?" Kaby asked, feeling bad for Lucy on top of wanting to reward the team for their efforts.
"*Sigh* Normally I would agree with you." Alfonzo said. "But this case is different. We did not fulfill the quest objective. And that doesn't sit right with me."
"Besides, if it's about Lucy's rent, we can cover for her." Elicia added. Then she turned to Lucy with a smile. "You wouldn't even need to pay us back, Lucy."
"But that would defeat the whole purpose of us taking this quest." Lucy said with a pout. "And I wouldn't have earned the money."
Smiling at Lucy's response, Alfonzo and Elicia exchanged glances and conversed with their eyes for a few moments. Then, they both nodded.
"It's true that we didn't complete the quest to destroy Daybreak." Alfonzo said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a folded sheet of paper. "But we did complete the original quest objective."
With that, Alfonzo unfolded the paper which turned out to be the original quest sheet that asked wizards to steal the book.
"So, all you have to do is write another request to have the quest changed." Alfonzo said with a smile. "Then, once it is changed back to the original quest, we can complete the quest and everyone winds."
Once again, Kaby and Lucy could only stare at Alfonzo in disbelief. Neither one had ever considered doing something like that. But now that Alfonzo mentioned it, it made a lot more sense than lying about the outcome. After all, though unlikely for most, if anyone investigated, it could come to bite them in the ass.
On top of that, with how much of a hate boner the Magic Council had for Fairy Tail, Alfonzo and Elicia were certain that all their quest completions were investigated. There's nothing that would make the Magic Council happier than being able to discredit Fairy Tail, after all.
"That's a wonderful Idea!" Kaby exclaimed after Alfonzo's suggestion sunk in. "It shouldn't take too long to complete. If you don't mind waiting in town for the next few days."
"Not a problem." Alfonzo replied.
"I don't mind." Elicia replied as well.
"Of course, I don't mind." Lucy said happily. "I completed my first quest."
"Very good." Kaby said with a smile. Then, he bowed once again as he continued. "Once again, thank you so much."
"Don't mention it." Alfonzo said as he stood up to leave. "Now that you have all that extra money, you can go back home. Pretending to live in someone else's house is a weird hobby."
"Huh?" Lucy and Kaby let out sounds of confusion simultaneously.
"How could you tell that I didn't live here?" Kaby asked.
"He was right?" Lucy asked, even more confused and surprised.
"Actually, Lici figured it out." Alfonzo replied with a shrug.
"Yup." Elicia said, nodding happily. "Although that suit is nice, it's easy to see just how old it is. I mean, look at all the frayed seems."
"And anyone who can afford to live in a house like this would not be wearing such an old suit." Alfonzo added to the explanation. "If I had to guess, you probably pawned off most of what you own to pull together that 2,000,000 Jewel reward."
"*Sigh* You two have very keen perceptions." Kaby said with a wry smile on his face.
"Anyway, let's go." Alfonzo said as he turned toward the exit. "Just contact us when everything is taken care of. You know what hotel we'll be staying in."
With that, the trio of Fairy Tail wizards left the mansion. A few days later, they were on their way back to Magnolia with the completion letter for the objective of stealing Daybreak and 200,000 Jewels.
"So, you guys did all that so that he wouldn't be in poverty after we finished with the quest, right?" Lucy asked from the back seat of the Escalade.
"Yes and no." Elicia replied.
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.
"Well, part of the reason we did it like that was to keep him from going broke like you said." Elicia said with a smile. "But there's more to it."
"Like what?" Lucy asked with curiosity in her tone.
"From a young age, there was one thing that Fonzie's mom and my dad never let us forget." Elicia said, looking a bit sadder at the mention of their parents.
"what's that?" Lucy asked once again.
"Wizards do not work for free." Alfonzo replied. "That's why Elicia replied with 'yes and no' to your question. We could have just failed the quest and let him keep the money. But we had to be compensated for our efforts."
"I see." Lucy replied with a contemplative expression on her face. "Then, how are we gonna split the reward? By contribution?"
"Oh, you can have it all." Alfonzo replied.
"Huh?" Lucy exclaimed in confusion. "But didn't you just say you needed to be compensated for your efforts?"
"He meant the team needed to be compensated." Elicia corrected with a smile. "But as far as splitting the reward goes, that's a different story."
"Yeah, besides, the whole reason we took this quest was to get you your rent money, remember?" Alfonzo said with a smile.
Hearing that, a warm feeling washed over Lucy's chest. The feeling of friendship and comradery was overwhelming.
"Thanks guys, you're the best." Lucy said with a happy smile on her face.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
A few days later, while on their way back from a quest, Natsu and Happy ran into Gray in the forest outside of Magnolia. During one of their usual arguments, they were attacked by a group of four wizards, who kidnapped Happy in the confusion.
It did not take long for Gray and Natsu to find them, however. And when they did, they defeated the four wizards easily in frontal combat. However, just as the leader of this little group was about to say something that seemed important, a shadow extended from the tree line and enveloped the four wizards.
"What is that?" Gray asked.
A moment later, the four wizards dropped into the shadow before it retracted back into the tree line.
"Hey, stop right there!" Natsu shouted, chasing after the shadow.
Unfortunately, the shadow retracted much faster than Natsu could run. Even Happy was not fast enough to follow it.
"What was that guy trying to say at the end?" Gray asked after Natsu and Happy returned.
"It sounded like 'Lullaby'." Natsu replied. "But what did he mean by that? Did he want us to sing to him?"
"No, of course not, you moron!" Gray said. "It had to be something else."
"Well, if you're so smart why don't you tell me what he meant." Natsu replied angrily. "But you should put your clothes on first."
"Huh? Where are my clothes?" Gray asked while frantically searching for his clothes.
A few minutes later, after Gray got himself dressed again, he turned toward the direction of Magnolia.
"We'd better get going." Gray said. "She should be back today. And if she finds out we were fighting again…"
"Erza's coming back today?" Natsu asked excitedly. "Then let's go. I'm gonna finally beat her when she gets back. Then, I'll beat Elicia, Laxus, and Alfonzo after that."
A few hours later, Erza, with a huge beast fang slung over her shoulders entered through Magnolia's southern gate. And on her face was a solemn expression that could only be matched by the expression she wore when she first escaped from the Tower of Heaven.
Here's anotehr one... Just because.
Shout out to my new Patr3on!
Tyler Treadaway
Read 5 Chapters ahead on my Patr3on at:
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Comments, Reviews, and Power Stones are always appreciated.
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.
Once again, I didn't wake up early enough to write another chapter before work. So there are only 4 early chapters on Patr3on that you can read at:
https://patr3on.com/SixthSense1029
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the story.
Comments, Reviews, and Power Stones are always appreciated.