Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
May 1, x785.
A few days have passed since Lunar showed up in Magnolia. And to Alfonzo's surprise, Sun did not come to him and ask him to take in her best friend. But what truly surprised him was the reason why.
"Wait, Lunar already has a boyfriend?" Alfonzo asked in a shocked tone while he stopped his hands that were checking the contents of the material delivery that arrived a few hours ago. "That guy must be a fuckign saint to deal with the Budget Terminator."
"Yup." Elicia replied with a smile while sitting on top of one of the crates and swinging her legs like a child. "And you'll never guess who."
"Well, it can't be that hard to figure out." Alfonzo replied, lowering his head to return to his work. "It's gotta be Nagasumi, right?"
"Boo! You're no fun." Elicia replied with a pout.
Hearing that, Alfonzo smiled without letting his hands slow down.
"Anyway, our birthday is coming up." Elicia said, changing gears completely. "Aren't you excited?"
"Hahaha… You're just excited that you won't have to spend your points to eat my food that day, aren't you?" Alfonzo asked in a teasing tone.
In response, Elicia's pout returned to her face as she glared at Alfonzo lightly. And after feeling Elicia's glare, Alfonzo looked up once again with a teasing grin.
"Oh, come on now, don't look at me like that." Alfonzo said with a smile. "You know I was joking."
"Yeah, well, it wasn't funny." Elicia grumbled while flopping backwards to lay down on top of the box. "You know, I've run out of points completely three times in these past two months. I've even had to take a lot more jobs to feed my habit."
In response, Alfonzo could only smile wryly. Although he really did feel bad for her, it would not be much of a punishment otherwise.
"Well---" Alfonzo said, wanting to console Elicia. However, he was interrupted before he could barely get started.
"And what's up with that cruel torture Erza came up with for the other part of the punishment!" Elicia shouted as she threw a tantrum, flailing her arms and legs around.
With that, Alfonzo's wry smile could only widen.
Elicia's second punishment, being present while restrained and blindfolded whenever Alfonzo had sex with the other girls while having her mouth available for any of the girls to use at any time, had been carried out more than a few times since the punishment was announced.
But nothing went as she expected. In fact, she thought that being used by the girls would make the punishment bearable. However, not once did any of the girls use her.
"I swear, Erza is just a red-haired demon!" Elicia continued with her tantrum. "She said they would use my mouth as they please. But they haven't used it at all. Not. A. Single. Time!"
'Yeah, I have to admit, that was pretty devious.' Alfonzo mused while watching Elicia with amusement. 'They dangled the possibility in front of her. Yet, they never made it a reality.'
["Devious Indeed."] Bedlam chimed in. ["I approve."]
["You should be outraged for her."] Riot said, clearly trying to keep his anger in check. On top of that, Alfonzo felt like he was glaring at Bedlam. ["She's put up with so much for us---"]
'Sorry, Riot, this time I can't agree with you, even subconsciously.' Alfonzo chimed in. 'Although I wanted to forgive her immediately just because she's Lici, I know that what she did angered a lot more people than just me, this time. And she hurt a lot of people who trusted her implicitly.'
In response, Riot fell silent.
Meanwhile, a different conversation was going on in Elicia's head.
["I don't' know why you're acting like that."] Scylla said disdainfully. ["Stop acting like you haven't had some of the best make up sex in either of your lives since then."]
'You just don't' get it, Scylla.' Elicia replied. 'I---'
["You feel left out."] Scylla said, interrupting Elicia. ["Yeah, I already know what makes you tick."]
In response, Elicia stopped flailing around and simply pouted while looking away from Alfonzo.
["But so, what?"] Scylla continued. ["You deserve it."]
'I know…" Elicia said.
"Anyway, it's about time for me to go." Alfonzo said while taking a look at the watch on his wrist. "I've got a date with Lucy in about an hour."
"Huh?" Elicia exclaimed as she sat up. "Is it that time already?"
"Yup." Alfonzo replied with a nod as he checked off a few items on the packing list in his hand.
In fact, ever since they got back from Tenrou Island, Alfonzo had done his best to make more time for the girls to spend some alone time with him. And over the past four and a half months, he's gone on several dates with all of them individually.
On top of that, Alfonzo and Lucy were an official couple as well. However, it took until the third date before it became official. And that's because Lucy actually repeated her blunder from their first date at the end of the second one, as well. Then, on their third date, Alfonzo took the initiative to ask her to be with him before initiating their customary goodnight kiss. And to know one's surprise, Lucy agreed.
"I wonder when she'll move in with us." Elicia wondered aloud as she hopped off the box she was sitting on.
"No clue." Alfonzo replied with a gentle shake of his head. "But she said she's not quite ready to take our relationship to that step, yet."
"I guess that makes sense." Elicia replied with a nod. "She's known you a lot less time than the other girls, who had known you for years by the time they got together with you."
"*Sigh* And when that happens, we'll only have one guest room left." Alfonzo muttered as he started to leave the storage shed with Elicia following closely behind him. "I guess we'll need a new house, soon."
"Yeah, who would have thought that an eight bedroom mansion wouldn't be enough after only five and a half years." Elicia replied with a nod. "Anyway, I guess I should get going, too."
"Be careful." Alfonso said, turning around with concern in his eyes. "This ruin you're going to was one of the massacred cities Hughes mapped out."
"Don't worry, I'll be careful." Elicia replied with a smile. "I don't plan on letting a single person, more than necessary, see me. We don't need Father and his Homunculi thinking we know what they're planning, after all."
"*Sigh* That's just a matter of time." Alfonzo said as he began combing his fingers through Elicia's hair. "They'll figure out where Hughes and his family are eventually."
"I know." Elicia replied, leaning into Alfonzo's touch. "But we won't' let anything happen to them. They became family as soon as they joined the guild."
"Right." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "Anyway, we should get going, neither of us wants to be late, after all."
"'Kay." Elicia said before standing on her tip toes and giving Alfonzo a kiss. "I'll be back in a few days. There's no way I'm missing our birthday party."
With that, Elicia ran towards the garage instead of the inside of the house. She had packed her necessities for the quest before finding Alfonzo, after all. Then, after hopping into her Z3, she drove off towards her destination.
Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Open Road.
"So, I'm supposed to find some kind of family heirloom that was left behind when the people fled from the attack of a Dark Guild, huh?"
Nearly thirteen hours after leaving Magnolia, Elicia was close to her destination. So, she was looking over the request one more time sheet while taking a break to refill her Z3's magic power supply.
["Doesn't the location of this ruined village sound familiar?"] Scylla asked from Elicia's inner world.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Elicia asked as she looked up from the quest sheet with confusion.
["Well, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but it's similar to the place where Ultear found Meredy, isn't it?"] Scylla replied. ["Unfortunately, the village was unnamed and the only thing she could remember about it was that it was past Clover Town."
"So, you think this might be a trap?" Elicia asked as her gaze sharpened.
["There's a possibility."] Scylla replied.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Elicia said with a nod. "If I remember correctly, Grimoire Heart killed every man, woman, and child in that village, Meredy being the sole survivor. So, there shouldn't be anyone that would want a family heirloom from those ruins. On top of that, it's been years. Yet, the quest was posted not long ago."
["Exactly."] Scylla replied with a nod. ["So, you need to keep your guard up."]
"I will." Elicia replied as she fell silent and continued to charge her Z3's rechargeable lacrima.
Three hours later, Elicia had finished refilling her Z3's rechargeable lacrima and restored her magic power to full. Then, she started her trip to the unnamed village once again.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Unnamed Village Ruins.
After driving for another hour and a half, Elicia finally arrived at the village mentioned in the quest.
"Yeah, Grimoire Heart really did a number on this place, huh?" Elicia said as she opened the car door.
["Yeah, and look over there."] Scylla said, directing Elicia's sight to a decaying sign. ["There's the orphanage Ultear mentioned in her report. This is definitely the same place."]
Hearing that, Elicia went on alert, immediately. Then, just before closing her car door, she activated the car's protective barrier and took the emergency beacon out of the center console.
["Are you sure you want to take that with you?"] Scylla asked after Elicia stored the emergency beacon in her waist pouch. ["What if it were to get damaged?"]
"[Camouflage Magic: Hiding in Plain Sight]." Elicia chanted, turning herself invisible. "I don't know if the Gluttony of this world can eat magic, but if he can, it wouldn't be safe in there, anyway."
["*Sigh* I guess you're right."] Scylla replied.
With that, Elicia slowly made her way into the ruins of the village. Meanwhile, from a distance, two people watched Elicia as she disappeared from view.
"Where did she go?" A fat man with beady eyes and a large nose asked while putting a finger in his mouth in confusion.
"Gluttony, wasn't that like what you told us happened when Hughes disappeared, too?" A beautiful woman, the homunculus, Lust, asked as she began approaching the village.
"Uh huh." The fat man, Gluttony, replied with a nod. "I didn't get to eat him."
"Don't worry, Gluttony, you'll definitely get to eat that woman." Lust said with a malicious grin. "And all her little friends in that guild of hers, too."
"Really?" Gluttony replied with excitement.
"Yes, it's true." Lust replied with a nod. Then, she continued in a somewhat saddened tone. "It's just such a pity that we'll have to kill such a talented clothing designer. But since she decided to get in the way of Father's plans, there's nothing that can be done about it."
Meanwhile, Elicia had arrived at the place where the quest sheet said she would be able to find the heirloom.
"This should be it." Elicia muttered as she looked at the small house in front of her. "The house in the northeastern most corner of the village."
["Be careful, Elicia."] Scylla said in a heavy tone. ["Someone is approaching."]
"I know." Elicia replied. "There are two of them. I guess it really was a trap by the homunculus. I can't feel them with [MPD] at all. It's a good thing I still have my [Detection Threads], though. But how did you know they were coming too, Scylla."
["I can feel the souls trapped in their Philosopher's Stones"] Scylla replied. Then, she asked a question of her own. ["Any idea which ones they are?"]
"Well based on the pressure my threads are sending back to me, one should be an adult woman. So, that's definitely Lust." Elicia replied. "And the other one is pretty heavy. So, either Gluttony or Sloth. But since they're with Lust, I'm betting on Gluttony."
["Why not Envy?"] Scylla asked curiously.
"Because I remember his weight from the time Fonzie fought him." Elicia replied, finding a small pendant with a vibrant red stone. "And he's a whole lot heavier than that. And there's the quest item."
["Got it. Let's grab it and---"] Scylla replied as Elicia picked up the pendant. However, before she could finish, she cut herself off and she shouted at Elicia in warning ["Get out of here, now! They're attacking the house."]
Meanwhile, a few moments earlier, Lust and Gluttony had arrived outside the same house Elicia just entered.
"Can I eat it now, Lust?" Gluttony asked with his index finger in his mouth.
"Not yet, Gluttony, be patient." Lust replied.
A few moments passed with Gluttony watching the house as if it were a sumptuous meal. Then, as soon as Elicia picked up the pendant, which was housing a Philosopher's Stone, Lust smiled maliciously.
"You can do it now, Gluttony." Lust said.
Without a word, Gluttony's face morphed into a radiant smile. A moment later, however, Gluttony's body underwent a change. First, he opened his mouth, far further than what should be possible. Then his torso split open from its center, revealing an eye inside of his torso. On top of that, long, sharp teeth jutted out from the peeled back flesh.
Then, once his transformation was complete, Gluttony inhaled a deep breath. A moment later, everything in a thin, conical area, not even enough to destroy the entire small house, stretching a hundred feet in front of him, was sucked into the eye inside Gluttony's torso.
Bonus Chapter for reaching 700 Power Stones last week.
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Comments, Reviews, and Power Stones are always appreciated.
Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Unnamed Ruined Village.
May 1, x785.
Under the light of the moon, in an unassuming village ruin, two people stood among the ruined buildings at the northeastern edge of the village. In front of these two people, Lust and Gluttony, there was a then, conical scar in the ground that widened as the distance from the two increased. And at one point, there were the remains of what used to be a house on either side of the scar. In fact, everything in the path of the scar had just recently been devoured into another dimension by Gluttony.
"Good job, Gluttony." Lust said, reaching over to the side to pat Gluttony on the head. "That's one less annoyance we have to worry about."
In most cases, whenever Lust praised Gluttony, he would exude a sense of happiness that could be felt from nearby. However, nothing of the sort happened this time. Instead, when Lust looked in his direction, she noticed that he was staring at the devastation he just caused with a confused and unsatisfied gaze.
"What's wrong, Gluttony?" Lust asked as her eyes narrowed.
"I didn't taste her..." Gluttony mumbled in a disappointed tone.
Hearing that, Lust's eyes raised in surprise.
"Did she manage to escape?" Lust thought to herself while looking around. 'But how? Did she feel us coming? No, that should be impossible. We don't have magic power. So, we don't agitate the ethernano in the air when we move.'
Although she was unaware of the [Magic Power Detection] most of the wizards from Fairy Tail used, Lust had lived long enough to have a grasp of how other wizards feel for the presences around them. Either way, she was correct about the fact that Elicia had no way of detecting her by normal means.
On top of that, Father and the homunculi were aware that Alfonzo had taken Mayuri Kurotsuchi's Zanpakuto research. However, they vastly underestimated his ability to understand the research's more technical information about the relationship between the soul and magic power. So, they did not expect Elicia to have her [Soul Armament]. They also overlooked the fact that Elicia could spread her threads to act as a spider's web for detection.
"Gluttony, stay alert, she can camouflage herself." Lust ordered sharply. Then, Lust turned her head in a certain direction. "She'll probably try to run away. Hurry up Gluttony, go and--- Argh~~~~~!"
Before Lust could finish giving her orders, however, she screamed and covered her eyes. Meanwhile, blood streamed down her face from under her hands.
"Lust!" Gluttony shouted with a mixture of anger and concern in his tone. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine." Lust replied with a growl as she pulled the objects that impaled her eyes out of her eye sockets.
A moment later, Lust's eyes were healed with the sparking of red electricity. Then, she looked down at the two thin objects she was holding in her hand.
"Needles?" Lust asked, clenching her hand around the two golden needles with dragon motifs. "It was that little bitch from Fairy Tail. She's still here."
"That's not very nice" Elicia's voice echoed from around the area. "You have quite the potty mouth, don't you? I think we should do something about that."
"If you think you can, why don't you---" Lust began to say in a threatening tone.
However, she was interrupted once again. And this time, she felt a number of thin threads wrap around her tongue mid-sentence.
"[Thread Magic: Vibrational Cutter]." Elicia chanted.
In the next moment, the threads wrapped around Lust's tongue began to vibrate at a high frequency, causing damage from the heat generated by the vibrations alone. Then, they were pulled taut, cutting off a part of Lust's tongue as they tightened around it.
"Argh~~~~~~~~!" Lust screamed in pain.
Meanwhile, with bloodshot eyes, Gluttony was searching his surroundings. It was clear by the look in his eyes that he wanted to make the one hurting Lust, Elicia, suffer.
"You're more ruthless than your psych profile would suggest." Lust replied after her tongue regenerated and she spat out a mouthful of blood. "You'd better pray to whatever god you believe in that I don't get the opportunity to sink my claws into you."
As she spoke, Lust extended her fingernails into a battle ready state.
Meanwhile, while under the cover of her [Hiding in Plain Sight] spell, Elicia was watching Lust and Gluttony from atop a nearby building.
"If it was just one of them, I could probably take care of them with little effort." Elicia muttered as she watched Lust regenerate her tongue. "But dealing with both of them might be a little tough."
["Why don't you use my power?"] Scylla asked. ["Dealing with them would be much easier, wouldn't it?"] Scylla asked.
"It would." Elicia replied with a nod. "But there's a chance one of them might escape. And if that were to happen, the enemy would have more information about our capabilities. Then, they would prepare countermeasures."
["And?"] Scylla asked with a snort.
"I guess you're right." Elicia replied with a smile. "[Mend the Seams of Reality, Scylla]."
In the next instant, the wrist band on Elicia's left wrist started to glow. Shortly afterward, Elicia's left hand was covered in the same glow. And that glow eventually covered her right hand, as well. A moment later, the glow dissipated, revealing Elicia's hands once again. However, instead of her smooth, brown-skinned hands, her hands were now covered in golden dragon scales, while her fingernails elongated into claws.
At the same time, Elicia's magic power sky rocketed to five times its normal amount, dispelling her [Camouflage Magic] in the process.
"Hmm… That's something we'll need to work on." Elicia muttered as she watched Lust and Gluttony's heads whip in her direction.
A moment later, Elicia shot one of the scales on the back of her right hand towards a nearby building. And that scale, when ejected, took the shape of a golden sewing needle. On top of that, the eye of the needle was already threaded with Elicia's [Thread Magic].
Then, with a light tug, Elicia pulled herself from the rooftop she was standing on. Then, the building was sucked away just like the house she found the philosopher's stone in.
"I really need to do something about that." Elicia muttered as she watched Gluttony turn in her direction again. "But I need to do something about her, first."
With Lust's ability to extend and sharpen her fingernails to the point they could supposedly cut through anything, the [Ultimate Spear], Elicia knew that simply binding either of the homunculi she was facing off against would be an exercise in futility. So, she would have to incapacitate one of them before she could do any real damage.
["Well, now that you're using me, you can do exactly what you do best, right?"] Scylla asked.
"Right." Elicia replied quietly. "[Piping]."
A moment later, a number of the threads Elicia released with her [Detection Threads] spell suddenly shot upwards around Lust. ON top of that, the tips of the threads had all turned into the same golden needles as her scales. Then, before either Lust or Gluttony could react, the needles, along with the threads pierced into Lust from all directions.
"Argh~~~~~~~~~~!" Lust screamed in pain once again.
However, instead of just piercing into her, the needles and threads were constantly moving throughout her body, leaving stylized Fairy Tail emblems all over her skin, muscles, and organs.
"Stop hurting Lust!" Gluttony shouted.
"I should be able to do something about you now, two." Elicia said, raising her hands in Gluttony's direction as she did so. "[Straight Stitching]."
With her chant, a large number of the scales on Elicia's fingers were fired towards Gluttony. More specifically, towards the edges of his open torso. Then, before Gluttony could activate his power, they pierced through the sides of his open torso and started stitching them back together.
"Gwargh~~~~~~!" And just like with Lust, Gluttony also bellowed in pain thanks to the feeling of needles and threads stitching his body.
A moment later, Gluttony's torso had reverted to its original state. On top of that, Elicia had left a smiley face with its tongue sticking out on Gluttony's stomach as a point of mockery.
"Huh?" Gluttony exclaimed in confusion after noticing his torso had closed.
Then, he looked down and saw the smiley face on his abdomen, which caused him to tilt his head. However, his head snapped in Lust's direction when she screamed once again.
"Argh~~~~~! I'm going to kill you, Elicia Taylor.!" Lust shrieked angrily.
"I'd rather you didn't." Elicia replied with a smile. "[Thread Magic: Dehiscence]."
A moment later, all the Fairy Tail emblems embroidered into Lust's body were ripped out. As a result, she was left in a heap of blood and gore. On top of that, the Philosopher's stone that was the core of her being was pulled out of her body, as well.
'Hey, with your powers, is there anything I can do about that thing?' Elicia asked internally.
["Probably."] Scylla replied. ["But there are two issues with doing it right now. First, you have no experience in dealing with souls. And second, if you released the souls trapped in the stone, killing Lust in the process, Gluttony would go on a rampage. I'm not sure the [Cross Stitching] would hold. And I doubt you would like having a completely crazed Gluttony chasing you back to magnolia."]
"*Sigh* I get it." Elicia grumbled as she flicked her fingers a few times. "Then, I'll just get her away from here."
A moment later, a number of thin threads held the Philosopher Stone.
"What are you doing to Lust?" Gluttony asked angrily.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine, I promise." Elicia said with a dazzling smile.
In the next instant, with the use of her threads, Elicia sent the Philosopher's Stone flying in the direction opposite Magnolia. Meanwhile, Gluttony could only stare blankly as Lust's Philosopher's Stone soared off into the distance.
A few moments later, the Philosopher's Stone began sparking with red lightning. Then, Lust's body began reforming around it. And as soon as enough of her body reformed to speak, she shouted angrily.
"Damn you~~~~~~~!" Lust shrieked.
Lust's scream was enough to finally pull Gluttony out of his daze.
"Lust~~~~~!" Gluttony shouted as he started running after Lust.
Meanwhile, Elicia simply watched the two homunculi fade into the distance.
"*Sigh* If either of them was alone, I would have killed them without hesitation." Elicia grumbled.
[I'm surprised you didn't take the opportunity to kill Gluttony after tossing Lust away."] Scylla replied.
"Honestly, I'm not sure if I would have had enough time." Elicia said as she started walking towards her Z3. ["In the canon, Scar killed Gluttony over and over. Like during the whole fight under Central. Yet, he only brought him to the brink of death before Father took him back into himself and kept him alive. And the worst part is we don't know exactly how long that fight took."
["I guess I understand."] Scylla replied with a nod. ["It's the magic of anime time dilation. A fight that actually spanned hours can be shown in the time after the commercial break. Meanwhile, a five minute fight on a dying planet could span several episodes."]
"Bingo." Elicia replied with a smile. "Either way, I'm surprised they actually used one of these as bait. Elicia said, pulling the smaller Philosopher's Stone in the pendant that she picked up in the destroyed house out of her waist pouch. "They have no idea what Fonzie could do with something like this."
["He wouldn't actually use it, would he?"] Scylla asked skeptically.
"No." Elicia replied while shaking her head. "But he would research it. Then, I'm sure he'll find a way to negate the powers the homunculi get from them."
["I see."] Scylla replied with a nod. ["That makes sense. By the way, Elicia…"]
"Yeah, what's up?" Elicia asked as she tilted her head.
["Why haven't you cancelled my release yet?"] Scylla asked in confusion. ["We've been out of battle for a while now."]
"Oh, because I don't want the stitches holding Gluttony closed to disappear." Elicia replied. "I mean, that's what happened whenever Kisuke released Benihime's Bankai, after all."
["*Sigh* Just cancel my release already."] Scylla said in an exasperated tone. ["Those stitches won't disappear, I promise."]
"If you say so." Elicia replied as her hands turned back to normal and the wristband holding the sewing needles reappeared on her left wrist. "Oh, and what about when they return to Father? Fonzie said that all his metal was taken out of Envy's body after they went back."
["In theory, he shouldn't be able to do anything about the stitching we did."] Skylla replied. ["Although the threads used for the stitches are material, they were created with the combination of magic power and spiritual energy. So, those threads are much more than just normal threads."]
"I hope you're right." Elicia replied. "Anyway, let's go home. I still have work to do on the pieces for my summer collection. On top of that, I have to put the finishing touches on Fonzie's birthday gift."
With that, Elicia disabled the barrier around her Z3. Then, she hopped inside and started the drive back to Magnolia.
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