Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
October 6, x789.
Around three months have passed since Yoruichi met with Alfonzo and his girls in Crocus after the conclusion of the Grand magic Games. And two days after that, they met again at the banquet held by Fiore's Royal Family. However, while Yoruichi found herself not knowing how to proceed, Alfonzo and Elicia made it a point to talk to her. Though, the same could not be said about the rest of Alfonzo's wives and girlfriends.
But at least Alfonzo made it clear that he truly held no grudges over what happened. So, Yoruichi allowed herself to relax a little wit that information. Sui-Feng, on the other hand, actually confronted Alfonzo and all but ordered him to take Yoruichi as a wife so that she would be allowed to come and go from her home as she pleased. An order that Alfonzo ignored.
The day after the banquet, everyone returned to their guild halls and got back to wizarding as usual.
A little more than a month later, Amar'e's second birthday came and went. And like they did the previous year, they had a party for the toddler. However, unlike last year, it was a more private affair, with only family and guild mates invited. There were even a few visitors from other worlds that showed up. But that happened when there were no other members of the guild around.
Alfonzo and Elicia also took the opportunity to finally tell everyone about the miraculous messages they received a little more than a year ago that led them to become multiversal travelers. They still did not let the secret of their reincarnations slip, though.
Other than those two things, not much of note happened. Though, there were a few things on the horizon to look forward to.
First, Shizuka was due to give birth any day now. And she was absolutely glowing at the thought of having her baby. Like Elicia and Mirajane, she also forewent learning the baby's gender before the baby was born. So, she was happy to know that there was a surprise on the way.
The next thing everyone was looking forward to was the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament, which for the first time since x785, Team Steel Threads would be participating. Of course, that did not completely overshadow the rest of the Harvest Festival, as the Fantasia Parade is, and always will be, the day's main event.
As for the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament, though. Everyone had one question on their mind. Who would be Team Steel Threads' fifth member. Because, the rules of the tournament have changed from a four on four tournament to a five on five tournament.
In fact, even the members of Team Steel Threads, Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, and Sun were having the same issue. And they were currently seated in Elicia's room and playing Uno while talking about that exact problem.
"Seriously, what are we gonna do about the fifth member of our team?' Marin asked in an annoyed tone. "I mean, just about everyone is already on a team. Maybe we could poach someone?"
"But if we did that, then the team we take someone from wouldn't be able to participate. And that would be sad, wouldn't it?"
"Skip." Alfonzo said as he grinned at Elicia, who only had two cards left in her hand. He then turned to look at Sun, raising his free hand to comb his fingers through her hair as he continued. "It would be sad for them. But what else are we supposed to do?"
"I dunno." Sun replied while leaning into Alfonzo's hand with a contented smile on her face.
"Well, let's take a look at the teams." Elicia said while lightly glaring at Alfonzo. "Then, we can pick from who's left."
"I guess that's the best idea." Marin said as she drew a card from the deck. "first, is the Thunder God Tribe. They're made up of Laxus, Saya, Fried, Bickslow, and Evergreen." Then, there's Team Strauss. Mira, Lisanna, Elfman, Juvia, and Saeko."
"There's Team Old Guys, too." Sun added as she placed a card on the discard pile. "That's my dad, Maes, Macao, Wakaba, and Gildarts."
"I'm actually still amazed at how well Maes is keeping up with those wizards and a merfolk. Oh, and draw two." Alfonzo said, grinning at Elicia once again. "There's team Ultear, too. And that's Tear, Meredy, Cana, Laki, and, I don't' know how they got Gozaburo to agree, but Masa, as well."
"Yeah, my dad was strangely agreeable to that." Sun added while nodding her head.
In actuality, Gozaburo had tasked Masa with throwing a match in a believable way if the two teams were to ever face each other in the tournament. However, that has not happened yet. So, the ruse has not been seen through, yet.
"Fonzie, are you picking on me?" Elicia asked after drawing her second card from the deck.
"Me? Never?" Alfonzo replied as his grin widened.
In response, Elicia did the most mature thing she could think of and blew a raspberry, which made everyone else laugh.
"Reverse." Marin said as she placed a "Reverse" card on top of the discard pile. "Next is team Natsu. Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Wendy. There always gonna be a strong team."
"Yeah, and so is Team Alzack." Elicia said, happy to finally be able to play a card for the first time in three turns. She then played a "Wild Card" as she continued. "Red. Alzack and Bisca are both S-Class in strength and skill. Then, there's Max, Rika, and Kota. There a little long range heavy, though."
"That's true." Alfonzo replied as he played a card. "But they make it work. Plus, both Alzack and Rika can fight in close range. So, it's not so bad."
"Who's left?" Sun asked as she drew a card from the deck.
"Let's see…" Marin said as she dropped a '"Skip card on the discard pile, causing Elicia to start pouting. "It's Team Shadow Gear. Levy, Jet, Droy, Gajeel, and Lily."
"Man, I'd love to see Lily show up in the GMG." Alfonzo said with a smile as he played a "Draw Two". "Just imagine what everyone's faces would look like when the cute little black and white cat turns into his battle form and starts swinging his sword around at blinding speeds."
"I think some people will straight up faint." Elicia said while watching Sun draw two cards.
"And it would be hilarious." Alfonzo said in a clearly amused tone.
"Uno." Marin said excitedly with only one card remaining in her hand. "And I think that's everyone. There have only been seven teams for the last few years. No one else was confident enough to compete with the strongest members of the other guilds."
"Yeah, someone got a bye every year In the first round." Elicia said as she dropped a "Reverse" card.
Seeing that, Marin pouted, as her last card was blue, instead of red.
"The question is, who do we pick?" Sun asked as she dropped another "Reverse" card.
"Seriously?" Marin asked in an exasperated tone as she drew another card before putting it on the discard pile immediately.
"You're lucky." Elicia grumbled as she reached out to draw two cards.
"Hmm…. I'm not sure." Alfonzo replied as he played a yellow "Draw Two." "I mean, the only person I can think of would kind of make this over kill. But it might be fun, though."
"Who's that?" Sun asked as she drew two more cards while tilting her head in curiosity.
"Fonzie, you're not serious, are you?" Elicia asked with wide open eyes as she figured out who Alfonzo was talking about.
""Who is it?" Marin asked as she dropped a card. "Oh, and Uno again."
"Irene." Alfonzo said while watching Marin start to pout as Elicia dropped another "Reverse " card.
"Yeah, that would be overkill." Marin said as she drew a card before dropping a "Draw Four. "Blue. But I like it."
This time it was Sun's turn to pout as she still had the most cards of the four players. Still, she drew her cards without complaint.
"I think it's a good idea." Sun said. She then smiled as she continued. "I like Irene. I learn so much about magic every time we talk."
"But will she agree?" Elicia asked as she watched Alfonzo drop a card before drawing one of her own. "Draw Four. Green."
"You gotta be kidding me." Marin groaned.
"Honestly, I'm not sure." Alfonzo replied while shaking his head as Marin drew her cards. "but it doesn't hurt to ask. The worst she could say is no."
"that's true." Elicia replied as Sun played a "Skip." She then played a "Draw Two" as she continued. "Uno. And if that doesn't work, we could ask Naruto, Sasuke, and Jiraiya. They're all at least B-Class in strength, now."
"We could ask Brandish, too." Marin suggested.
"Those are good ideas." Sun said with a smile.
"Well, we'll see." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "I'll ask Irene later. We can think about the rest after she says yes or no."
"Okay~." X 3
Like that, the game of Uno continued. And in the end, despite having the most cards when the conversation about who they would invite to their team ended, Sun won. And with her win, she got to decide what they would be having for dinner tonight. And Alfonzo would naturally be the one to cook it.
October 7, x789.
Just as Alfonzo said he would the day before, he intended to ask Irene if she would join their team in the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament. So, he called her up. However, before he could ask his question, Irene invited him over to her house to help her come up with a new sigil sentence to add to her house's defenses. And since he had nothing else to do, Alfonzo wasted no time heading over to Irene's house.
*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*
About twenty minutes after the phone call with Irene ended, Alfonzo was standing outside the front door of Irene's house and had just knocked. And it did not take long for someone to answer the door.
"Good afternoon, how can I help--- Oh, it's you." Heine said, her cordial tone dropping after recognizing Alfonzo.
"It's good to see you, too, Heine." Alfonzo said with a smile. "I'm here to see Irene. Is she available."
"Yes, she's in her office." Heine replied. She then stepped aside and bowed slightly while gesturing for Alfonzo to enter. "Please, come in, I'll show you there."
"Thanks." Alfonzo replied as he stepped into the house.
A moment later, Heine closed the door. Then, she led Alfonzo througt the house, climbing stairs, as Irene decided she did not want any elevators in her home. Then, after a couple of minutes, the two reached the door leading to Iren's office.
*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*
"Lady Irene, Master Alfonzo has arrived." Heine said in her usual tone.
"Let him enter." Irene replied from the other side of the door.
Nodding in response, Heine then opened the door before gesturing for Alfonzo to enter,. Then, once he was inside, she left to tell Juliet that she should prepare tea for Irene and Alfonzo.
"Hey, Irene." Alfonzo said as he made his way over to Irene's desk, where she was sitting and looking over the schematics for her home's defensives.
"Good, you're here." Irene said as she raised her head and smiled at her much younger lover. "I hate to bother you with this, but as much as I hate to admit it, you're better at arranging sigils than I am."
"Don't mention it." Alfonzo said with a smile as he arrived next to Irene, leaned down, gave her a kiss, and turned his head to look at the schematics. "So, what do you wanna do ?"
"Well, I wanna add a function that will teleport any intruders outside… No, to the torture chamber I'm going to build… if they try to access something they're not supposed to." Irene said, a sadistic grin spreading across her face.
"*Sigh* You can take the dog out the fight but you can't take the fight out of the dog, huh?" Alfonzo said while shaking his head. "but sure, I can do that."
Alfonzo then opened an [Archive Magic] screen before bringing up the blueprint of Iren's house.
"Just tell me which room you're gonna turn into your torture room." Alfonzo said whilelooking at the sigil matrix that was already present.
Irene then pointed out a room in the basement of her house before the two started rearranging and adding sigils to the defensive matrix of the house.
A couple hours later, Alfonzo and Irene were sitting across from each other while drinking tea, having completed the changes to the defensive matrix.
"So, why did you call me, Alfonzo?" Irene asked after taking a sip of her tea. "I didn't exactly give you the chance to say when we were on the phone. Though, it would be nice if you called just to say hello because you were thinking about me."
"Well, it's true I was thinking about you." Alfonzo said with a smile while lightly shaking his head. "But it wasn't so romantic as to just say hi. I wanted to ask you something"
"Oh, then what was it?" Irene asked in an interested tone.
"Well, you see, Lici, Marin, Sun, and I will be participating in the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament this year, and…" Alfonzo said, but when he reached that point, he saw all the interest in Irene's expression basically evaporate. "That's about the reaction I expected when I brought it up."
"Sorry, Dear." Irene said while shaking her head. "But I'm simply not interested in participating in those games for the entertainment of others."
"I figured." Alfonzo replied with a shrug before taking a sip of his tea. "But the worst you could have said was no…. Which you did. So, I asked anyway."
Irene could not help but giggle at that, raising a hand to her mouth to cover it as she did so.
"I think you should ask Brandish." Irene suggested. "although she has never come out and said it, she is quite interested in participating in the Grand Magic Games."
"Really?" Alfonzo asked in a slightly surprised tone. "She's kind of hard to read with that perpetually bored expression she's always got on."
"Yes, I'm certain." Irene replied. "But you can think about that later. "
With that, Irene stood up, walked around the coffee table, and stood in front of Alfonzo. She then slipped off her left boot, and raised her foot before placing it on Alfonzo's crotch and rubbing gently.
"It's been awhile since the last time you came over." Irene said with a seductive smile on her face. "So, why don't we have a---"
*Ring!* *Ring!*
Before Irene could finish, Alfonzo's lPhone started ringing. Then, after giving Irene an apologetic smile, he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID.
"Hmm? Mey-Rin?" Alfonzo asked himself as he pressed the answer button. "Hey, Mey-Rin, what's going on?"
{"Master Alfonzo, Madam Shizuka's water just broke!"} Mey-Rin shouted in a somewhat panicked tone.
Immediately, Alfonzo tried to shoot up to his feet. However, at the last second, he realized that Irene's foot was still rubbing his crotch. So, he calmly moved it to the side before shooting up like he originally intended.
"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." Alfonzo said in an excited tone.
Alfonzo then hung up the phone, pulled Irene into a hug and gave her a kiss.
"Go." Irene said with a smile after Alfonzo broke the kiss. "She needs you more than I do right now."
"Okay, I'll make it up to you later." Alfonzo said as he kissed Irene once more.
After that, Alfonzo walked over to the nearest window, opened it, and flew away before using his [Metal Magic] to close the window behind him.
Meanwhile, Irene sat back on the chair she had just been sitting in, and fell into deep thought.
"Maybe having another child wouldn't be so bad." Irene said as she slowly rubbed her abdomen. "But if I have one with Alfonzo, what would the baby call Erza? Sister or Auntie? Hehehe. That might be fun to see."
Thanks for reading. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. If you are, drop some comments, throw some stones, and leave a review.
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Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
October 10, x789.
After leaving Irene's house, Alfonzo rushed home. By the time he arrived, Shizuka was just about to leave with Maria driving her to the hospital. And he naturally joined them.
After that, it did not take long to arrive at the hospital. Nor did it take long for Shizuka to be admitted. However, once she was in the delivery room, things started taking their time. And it took a little more than sixteen hours before the sound of a baby's cries echoed.
The new born, a brown-skinned boy with blond hair and hazel eyes, was given the name, Calvin Edward Marcus. And although the labor was quite long, he came out as healthy as could be.
And after getting the chance to see the child for a while, the rest of Alfonzo's wives and girlfriends made him go home and get some sleep, as he had been awake the entire time Shizuka was in labor. And he listened. Because despite the fact that he wanted to spend more time with Shizuka and Calvin, they had both fallen asleep shortly after the delivery.
The next day, after getting a good night's sleep, Alfonzo spent the whole day with Shizuka. But the following day, he went to the guild hall to fulfill some point requests and to try and find the fifth member of Team Steel Threads.
"Finally, I'm done… for now." Alfonzo said as he came out of the guild hall's kitchen with a bacon cheeseburger and an order of jalapeño poppers. "This was a lot more fun when I was a kid."
"It's probably because everyone is more used to you after so many years." Laxus said from his seat at the bar.
"You're probably right." Alfonzo replied with a shrug as he set the order in his hands down in front of Laxus. "They still act like the same pack of animals if I go too long without cooking for them, though."
"Well, can you blame them?" Laxus asked as he picked up one of the poppers. "You are the best cook in Ishgar, maybe even the world."
"That's a bit too much." Alfonzo said with while shaking his head.
"Maybe." Laxus replied while chewing his food. "By the way, did you find your last team mate yet? I'm really looking forward to facing you guys in the tournament."
"Looking forward to getting your ass kicked again?" Alfonzo asked with an eyebrow raised. "Did Saya and Chico turn you into some kind of masochist? No, that's not it. You've been like that since I was six or seven. Could never get enough ass kickings, could you?"
"Shut the hell up." Laxus replied, the word masochist making him shiver while remembering Darkness.
Alfonzo could not help laughing at Laxus reaction. Meanwhile, he glanced in the direction where Elicia and Marin were sitting with Brandish, undoubtedly trying to convince her to join Team Steel Threads.
Sun would have joined them, as well. However, she was at the hospital with her mother visiting Shizuka and the baby.
"So, I noticed you have a theme going on with your kids names." Laxus said after swallowing a bite of his burger.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Alfonzo asked, Laxus statement bringing his attention back.
"Well, it's kind of obvious." Laxus replied. "Amar'e, Bianca, Calvin… A, B, C. Is the next one gonna start with D?"
As if he had not noticed, Alfonzo opened his eyes wide in surprise. Then, after processing everything, he shrugged his shoulders.
"Who knows." Alfonzo said. "If it happens it happens. But if it does, then I'll follow the theme for the rest of them. As long as their mothers are okay with it."
"I see.' Laxus replied with a nod. "By the way, Saya and Chico are finally ready to have the wedding. They wanna do it on the first of the year."
"You all sure took your time." Alfonzo said.
"That's because no one knew when you were going to take another long term job." Laxus replied snappily. "And since you accepted to be my best man, we had to make sure first."
"And what made you think this would be a good time?" Alfonzo asked in a curious tone.
"Because you're participating in the tournament." Laxus replied. "And I'm certain you think you're going to win. So, you'll be training for the GMG after that. At least, that's what you should have planned."
Laxus then grinned challengingly.
"Too bad those plans will be going up in smoke, though." Laxus said confidently. "But at least you'll be around for a while. It should take a while to set up any big jobs after you find yourself with all that free time, after all."
"You really have gotten confident." Alfonzo replied, a challenging smile of his own spreading across his face. "No, that's not it. You're just angry, angry that you lost to Mermaid Heel, aren't you?"
*Zap!*
*Bang!*
"Damn right I am!" Laxus growled as his lightning clad fist slammed into the bar top. "I'm gonna get back at them and show them that Fairy Tail is and always will be the strongest."
"Good ambition." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "But let the real professionals handle that, alright? Team Steel Threads will bring the title back home. Just sit back and enjoy the show."
Hearing that, Laxus' eyebrow shot up while his expression turned deadpan.
"You wanna say that again?" Laxus asked in a calm, yet threatening tone.
"We'll let our matches in the tournament do all the talking next week." Alfonzo said while waving his right hand dismissively.
"I guess we will." Laxus replied before taking another bite of his burger. "Anyway, have any idea what happened to that chick from the Village Hidden in the Mist? What was her name again….? Whatever… Anyway, wasn't she supposed to come here to form an alliance with us?"
"Mei Terumi." Alfonzo replied blankly. "She's the new Mizukage, the leader of the Village Hidden in the Mist. How the hell did you forget her name?"
"Because I don't make it a habit to pay attention to wizards from other nations unless I have a quest to work with them." Laxus replied with a shrug. "Plus, all my thoughts are on Saya and Chico. So, I don't' have the time to think about other women."
"Good answer." X 2
Hearing those voices from behind him, Laxus quickly turned in his seat. When he did, he saw Saya smiling at him with her arms crossed under her breasts while Chico was standing next to her with her hands resting on her hips. And when he saw his two fiancées, cold sweat started to form on his back.
After Alfonzo reminded him of Mei's name, he remembered what she looked like. And he was about to say something about how good looking she was. But if he had, he knew he would have been in a world of hurt later if Saya and Chico had heard him.
"Hey, Saya, Chico, what's up?" Alfonzo asked, smiling at Laxus' almost unfortunate predicament. "You two just got back from a quest, right? Well, I'm working in the kitchen today. So, I got you if you want anything? Provided you have the points, that is."
Hearing that, both Saya's and Chico's eyes lit up.
"I'll have an open-faced roast beef sandwich with au jus dip, please." Chico said excitedly with drool starting to drip from the corner of her lips.
"And I'll have Steak and Shrimp Hibachi with fried rice and steamed vegetables." Saya added.
"Okay, I'll have that out in a few minutes." Alfonzo replied while wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead.
Though cooking the meals was no issue. Saya had a knack for ordering things that were rather exotic. For example, there was one time she caught Alfonzo cooking in the guild, and she ordered roast venison with a boysenberry sauce.
While that was not a terribly troublesome dish to cook, Fairy Tail's guild hall did not often stock venison… Or boysenberries, for that matter. So, he had to ask Maria to take a trip to the market to see if there was any venison and boysenberries on sale. If there wasn't, there would have been nothing Alfonzo could do about it. But there was. So, Alfonzo had to go through the process of tenderizing the meat before cooking it.
In the end, it was the longest he had ever taken to prepare a dish at the guild hall. So, he always had a little dread whenever he took Saya's order.
Even so, Alfonzo accepted the two ladies' orders and returned to the kitchen.
Meanwhile, as Alfonzo surmised while talking to Laxus, Elicia and Marin were sitting at a table with Brandish, who was sitting with her arms crossed and staring at them impassively.
"So, what you're telling me is, I was only your second choice?" Brandish asked in a tone that did not display her discontentment.
However, it was easy for people like Elicia and Marin to see through the façade Brandish had put on. Even so, neither of them were deterred.
"That's right." Elicia replied with a smile. "I know it sounds bad, but it's not because we think any less of you."
That sounded like an excuse to Brandish, though. There was only one person in the guild she thought was a better choice than her to join Team Steel Threads. But knowing Irene as well as she did, and as well as the members of Team Steel Threads should, she thought there was no way they would have asked her. So, Brandish was a little upset to think that they came to her second.
"Well, we actually expected our first candidate to say no." Marin added. "But Fonzie told us the worst that could happen was Irene telling us no. Still, that was no reason not to try."
That caused Brandish to open her eyes a little wider.
'So, I was second after Irene., huh?' Brandish thought to herself. 'Well, I guess I can't really be all that mad about that. But still, to think Alfonzo would ask her even though he knew what she would say. I guess he was just trying his luck. There's always a chance that she might have been in a good mood. And then, from what I've heard from Lucy, there's a chance that she might have said yes after they had some of the mind-blowing sex she always talks about, too.'
With those thoughts running through her head, Brandish could not help blushing slightly after thinking about all the rather vivid descriptions of Alfonzo's and Lucy's sex life that Lucy always told her about during their girl talks.
Meanwhile, Elicia and Marin both saw the color float to the surface of Brandish's cheeks and they turned to look at each other. However, neither of them knew what the younger girl could have been thinking. They had no idea that Lucy often bragged about her sex life to the child of her mother's best friend, after all.
"*Cough* Anyway, I can understand why I was the second one you asked to join your team, now." Brandish said, coughing to draw Elicia's and Marin's attention away from her blushing cheeks. "If it were me, I would have tried to get Irene on my team first, too."
"Then, does that mean you'll join our team?" Marin asked with a bright smile.
"On one condition." Brandish replied. "I want to fight Alfonzo. If he can defeat me, I'll join. If not, then you all have to join my team. Sure, the result will be all of us on the same team. But I'll be the leader instead of Alfonzo."
"Hmm… I see." Elicia said with a nod. "I guess that makes sense. No one wants to take orders from someone weaker than them, after all."
"Exactly." Brandish replied. "In fact, I can't understand why no one has petitioned for Irene to take over as guild master yet. You know, since she's the strongest member of the guild."
Just at that moment, Ur stepped out of the elevators and happened to overhear Brandish. And her eyes lit up as she started considering how to convince Irene to become the fifth guild master of the guild while she headed to the bar to place an order with Alfonzo.
"Well, Gildarts wasn't the guild master either." Marin pointed out.
"That's because that would have been a terrible idea." Elicia countered. "Gildarts just can't stay in one place long enough for that to work."
'I can still remember when Macao named Gildarts the fifth guild master in the anime.' Elicia thought to herself while trying not to giggle aloud. 'It couldn't have been more than a few days before Gildarts disappeared, only leaving behind a letter naming Gramps the sixth guild master.'
"Well, when Alfonzo is done in the kitchen, we can ask him if he's willing to go along with your proposal." Marin said with a smile. "But you know he's the publicly recognized second strongest member of the guild after Irene, right?"
"Even so, I want to see his strength with my own eyes." Brandish replied. "And if he is weaker than reported, I'll take control of this team and rename it to something I like."
"Then, we'll just have to wait and see." Elicia said as she turned to look at the door leading to the guild hall's kitchen.
Thanks for reading. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. If you are, drop some comments, throw some stones, and leave a review.
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