A/N: I wasn't planning on posting this story until it was completed because who knows how long this will be. It's a short story, I can tell you that for sure. I'm betting either on three or four chapters (maybe it will be a two-shot, I didn't plan it that far). It was originally going to be a one-shot but like always, I went into long-term mode. So this first chapter will be 4.5k+ words. Rated T because of paranoia.
I hope you enjoy and I'll see you in the next one! -808Lionfire
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail (c) Hiro Mashima
Summary: Under the care of Fairy Tail once again, Asuka generously brings her doll house to play with everyone! Much to her delight, someone accidentally reads another foreign spell off of a job flyer and, surprisingly, it wasn't completely Natsu's fault. Only Mavis knows how to fix it. Literally
Pairings: Mavis/Fairy Tail family, Azlack/Bisca/Asuka family, Asuka/Mira/Cana partnership, Gajeel/Levy, Natsu/Lucy, Grey/Juvia, Bixlow/Lisanna, implied Jellal/Erza, implied Happy/Carla, implied Natsu/Lisanna, implied Bixlow/Erza, implied Natsu/Gray, implied Bixlow/Lucy, Asuka/Lucy/Levy/Erza/Mira/Juvia/Cana sisterly and Fairy Tail being Fairy Tail.
Asuka's Dolls
"Look! Look!" A young, black-haired child cried happily as she burst through the guild doors.
Heads turned towards the source, some peaking past the cloud of dirt and bodies that currently occupied half of the guild hall. Some smiled and waved at her while others eyes widened as she obliviously ran straight through Fairy Tail's recent brawl. People jumped up from their seats and rushed over to stop them, getting sucked in then spit back out with bruises and minor injuries. A second later, the child somehow exited the cloud without even a scratch on her head. The women (and others who weren't injured or convinced to fight) let out a large breath of relief. The child's cowboy hat bounced on her head as she ran towards the group of girls that collected near the bar.
A shocked expression crossed the child's face before she face-planted straight into the ground, her boots getting caught on a unleveled plank. Four women rushed over, cooing at the girl to stop the tears that were already streaming down her face. Two white-haired women, one with short hair and the other with long hair, gently lifted the girl back to her feet while a blonde-haired girl gently wiped away the child's tears. The tiny, short blue-haired woman smiled kindly as she patted the child's hat back onto her head.
"Asuka!" A spiky, black-haired man cried after the child, worry shining in his eyes.
He carefully inched around the brawl, trying to get to his daughter. He would have made it too if a foot hadn't shot out (purely by accident) and caught him off-guard. The man fell, his butt harshly hitting the wooden floor of the hall. A hand shot out of the cloud of feet, dirt and heads, to pull the man in. His eyes widened and his nails scraped against the wood as he tried desperately to grab onto something.
Before he was dragged in completely, his eyes caught on a tall, green-haired beauty he had the honor to call his wife. She stared at him helplessly as tears pricked the corners of his eyes, a hand desperately reaching out to her.
"B-Bisca," He called out pitifully before disappearing in the brawl.
"A-Azlack," Bisca, the green-haired woman, sweat-dropped after seeing her husband disappear, "I'm sorry. Good luck."
She easily walked past the brawl (the mysterious pull not willing to drag in women) with a large box in her arms. By the time she reached the bar, the four women had stopped Asuka's tears and sat her on a stool. Erza Scarlett, a red-headed woman wearing her usual Heart Kreuz armor, had given the child a slice of her strawberry cake. It would have been surprising, but the red-headed woman had a soft spot for Fairy Tail's only child. Bisca sighed heavily as she gently placed the large box onto the countertop, sliding it it forward just in case.
"Did you thank them, Asuka?" Bisca asked, a motherly tone entering her voice.
"Ah!" The black-haired child gasped around a mouthful of cake, swallowing heavily when she heard her mother's groan of disapproval. She scrambled off of her seat and dropped to the ground, bowing gratefully to the girls. "Thank you, Mira-nee, Lisa-nee, Levy-nee and Lucy-nee! And thank you for the cake, Erza-nee!"
The women let out a chorus of 'Don't worry about it' and 'You're welcome's. Bisca smiled gratefully at the girls before bending down and helping her daughter back onto the bar stool. Mira handed the green-haired woman a glass of water to which Bisca accepted thankfully.
"What's in the box?" The long, white-haired barmaid asked when she was handed back the glass.
"Oh, that?" Bisca inquired, pointing back at the large box she had placed on the counter. At Mira's nod, the green-haired woman smiled, "It's a doll house. Laki made it after we helped her on a mission a while back."
"A doll house?" Lucy, the blonde woman, smiled, leaning against the counter, "I used to have one when I was I child. My mother had made a replica of our house-"
"Mansion," Levy sang out teasingly.
"-house," Lucy stressed, giving her friend a half-hearted glare before turning back to Bisca and Asuka, "And I had mini dolls of everyone who lived there. I loved it."
"That's just like my doll house!" Asuka cried happily, wiggling in her seat, "Show them, Mama!"
"Okay, okay," Bisca laughed, pacifying her daughter as she pulled the box closer.
The women surrounded the box, peering intently at the unveiling. The green-haired woman smiled, purposely pulling the box off as slow as she could. When the entire wooden structure was revealed, Bisca heard a chorus of gasps coming from every single one of their mouths. She could relate; the first time she saw the doll house, she was in awe and shocked to silence. Looking around her now, she could see a couple of teary eyes while other stared in heavy nostalgia.
Mira gasped, her eyes filling happily, "I-it looks exactly like-"
"It's beautiful," Erza commented in awe, her fork dropping out of her hand and clattering to her plate, the sound falling on deaf ears.
The doll house was large, causing a wonder to how the cardboard box fit all of that within. It's bright colors contrasted against the dark wood of the bar, standing as proudly as the old guild building once did. The design of the replica was so intricate, it was like looking one of Reedus's paintings of the hall before it was destroyed in the Phantom Lord fiasco. Bisca smiled happily, glad to see the old guild once again and happy to see that the girls loved it almost as much as she did.
"So nostalgic," Lucy breathed, her hand gently tracing the banners that hung at the top, "It's like it was never destroyed."
"And who's fault was that, Lu-chan?" Levy asked teasingly, her finger gently wiping away a stray tear.
"Your boyfriend's fault, Levy-chan," Lisanna giggled, the blue-haired woman flushed deeply before stammering a indignant protest. The girls shared a well deserved laugh, any and all of the negative memories flowing out with it.
"Laki told Asuka that she could choose however she wanted to design it," Bisca informed, smiling down at her daughter who returned it, "Asuka asked for this version of Fairy Tail."
"But Asuka wasn't born during this version of Fairy Tail," Erza inquired, curiously eyeing the Connell mother and daughter.
"I wanted to see the old Fairy Tail!" Asuka smiled.
Erza smiled fondly at the young child, "I see."
"And that isn't even the best part," Bisca pointed out, "Everything in the doll house is functional. The doors, windows, curtains, you name it!"
The green-haired woman demonstrated each of the functions, pleased when the girls 'ooh'ed and 'aah'ed. She then turned the entire structure and flipped a latch that was on the side. With built suspense, she slowly opened the building. Unlike actual doll houses that opened up from the middle of the structure, the old guild building only opened the front face, giving perfect view into the entire canteen area but the other rooms both on the top and bottom floors (ex. Infirmary, kitchen, Master's Office, etc.) had either been blocked off or had a door.
The canteen was completely stocked with tiny plastic bottles that replicated the wine bottles and glass mugs. The tables and the stools were also completely functional but the tables were wisely infused with the floor. Bisca carefully twisted the knob on the infirmary door and the women carefully peeked inside. There were beds that were completely soft to the touch (Lisanna and Levy would back that up) and even the detailing work in that room was perfect. Master's Office was locked, of course, but Bisca informed them that it looked exactly like how it did before. There were nicer tables on the second floor for when the S-class mages were the only ones allowed up there.
The best part were the lights. It was completely powered by a small lacrima, giving the realistic glow that the guild once had.
"It's perfect," Mire claimed in awe, "It's exactly like how I remembered it!"
"You said Laki made this?" Lucy asked, completely taken aback. At Bisca and Asuka's nod, the blonde smiled, "It's even more detailed than how I would have done."
"Laki always had a impeccable memory," Levy commented, a sweet smile on her face.
"Did you bring you doll house here to show us, Asuka-chan?" Lisanna asked the black-haired child.
"Yep!" Asuka confirmed, a large smile on her face as she nodded excitedly, "Mama was really happy when she saw it and I wanted everyone to be happy too!"
"We are extremely happy, Asuka," Erza smiled, gently patting the girl on the head, "Thank you for showing this to us. We shall treasure this precious memory."
"Ah, so you showed them the doll house," Azlack's tired voice broke through, causing all the girls to turn.
"Oh, Azlack," Bisca cooed at her husband's ruffled appearance, the others tried to hold back her laughs.
"Papa!" Asuka cried, jumping into her father's arms, "Where did you go?"
"Just had to do some..." Azlack trailed off before continuing tiredly, "Stuff."
Lucy and Levy were the first to crack, trying to hid their snickers behind their hands. Erza smiled in sympathy while Lisanna excused herself to the kitchen, her face red from keeping in her laughter. Mira smiled politely and offered a drink to the man. Azlack flushed, gratefully accepting the drink that the white-haired barmaid offered. Erza excused both herself and Lucy before they stood up and walked towards the request board. Levy smiled politely before leaving with a wave.
Azlack sighed, sitting heavily on the stool that Asuka once occupied. Never will he ever participate in another guild brawl, not that he willingly joined this one. He was sure he had vowed that a hundred guild brawls ago though. The only thing that got his mind off of him, once again, almost losing his life was the black-haired child that snuggled comfortably in his arms. It's all for her, after all.
"Are you two going out on a job today?" Mira asked, pulling a glass from under the bar and started to polish it.
"Yeah," Bisca smiled, "We were wondering if we could leave Asuka in here for a day."
"Of course!" Mira exclaimed, a bright smile adorned her face, "We love watching her!"
"It's just until this afternoon," Azlack informed, pulling the poster out of his pocket, "We chose it yesterday, but we had to figure out some stuff before we registered."
"Oh, you're going to Onibas?" Mira asked, gently placing the glass onto the wooden countertop, "I'll log it, are you leaving now?"
"As soon as possible," Bisca smiled before kneeling in front of her daughter, "Mama and Papa are going out, sweetie. Mira-nee and everyone else is going to stay and play with you alright?"
Asuka pouted, drawing her large eyes on her mother. When the green-haired woman continued to smile, unfazed, Asuka turned her pleading eyes on her father. Azlack stared down at his daughter, blankly looking back. Mira knew that was all an act though because not even a second later, the black-haired man started to sweat. His daughter always had been his greatest weakness, that's how fathers usually are. Unfortunately, Asuka also noticed this seeing that she widened her eyes even more. Bisca's slight whack to the back of her husband's head caused him to lurch forward.
"W-we'll be b-back tonight," Azlack smiled shakily, forcing himself to look away. He reached back to grasp his wife's hand in his own, tugging her towards the entrance, "C-come on, B-Bisca. We'll miss the t-train!"
"Mama and Papa loves you, sweetie!" Bisca called back with a wave right before the doors slammed shut.
"You have him wrapped around your little finger," Cana's drunken laugh made both Asuka and Mira turn to the brunette.
"Cana!" Mira scolded when the brunette lifted the barrel of wine to her lips, "Don't drink in front of Asuka! You're setting a bad example!"
"Haha!" Cana let out a gut straining laugh, dropping the empty barrel onto the bar, "That's classic! This coming from the girl who got Natsu to compete against Asuka in a shooting competition the last time we watched her, convinced Lucy to watch them and told Asuka she would get a whole cake if she got them to kiss each other."
"Cana!" Mira scolded in a panicked voice, covering her friend's mouth with her hand, "Not so loud! They might hear you!"
"And I didn't get any cake," Asuka pouted.
"That's because you didn't complete the job," Mira informed tenderly, "Like when you're old enough to go on missions, you have to complete the job before getting the reward."
"Oh, okay," Asuka sulked, her hat dropping to hide her face. Mira let out a disgusted squeal right when Cana let out another loud, drunken laugh. The white-haired barmaid shot a glare at the brunette before turning to the child whose face light up like a Christmas tree. "Can I try again today?"
Mira smiled happily, "You can try! But I don't think Natsu and Lucy will fall for the same plan..."
"Ah," Cana smiled, "You can leave that planning part to me. I know the perfect route to take. I've been meaning to play a prank on the guild, Mavis knows how long since the last one." This got both Mira and Asuka interested.
"Mind letting us in on this plan of yours?" Mira asked, leaning over the bar.
"I just need to know if you'll follow along," Cana smirked.
The white-haired barmaid and the black-haired child looked at each other. Even though she was young, Asuka knew exactly who Cana Alberona was and what she did on her spare time. There was no secrets within the guild, especially between these three. Turning back to the sobering Card Mage, they nodded in unison. If possible, Cana's smirk grew.
"That's good news," She praised before standing and winking at the pair, "Now the plan is in motion. Just follow my lead, ladies."
"Hey, Lucy! Erza!"
A spiky, black-haired man called out to the blonde and the red-headed mage. The pair turned around curiously, wondering what was so important that they had to stop looking for an appropriate job. The man, Gray Fullbuster, waved as he jogged towards them. The woman sweat-dropped, seeing a missing article of clothing every time they blinked at him. By the time he got to where they were standing, he was already in his boxers.
"Gray," Lucy muttered, face-palming, "Your clothes."
"Oh! Crap!"
"Oh, Gray-sama!" A blue-haired woman cried from behind a support beam, her eyes locked onto her beloved's naked form, "Juvia admires your boldness!"
"What did you want?" Erza asked when the Ice mage returned with a pair of pants on.
"Cana told me to give this to you," Gray muttered as he held out a folded piece of paper, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, "I don't know why though. She just popped up out of nowhere and told me to."
"And you trusted her?" Lucy asked skeptically, knowing exactly how it feels to be caught up in one of Cana's pranks.
"She told me not to peek but I did," The Ice mage shrugged, "It's just a job flyer. She said she would have given it to Levy but she thinks you two have more experience and could decipher it faster."
"I don't think I like the sound of that," The blonde muttered, taking the paper from him and unfolding it. Erza cautiously peeked over her shoulder and stared at the flyer's contents.
"What harm can it do?" Gray asked.
"That's the wrong thing to ask."
"I concur."
"Hey, Luce!" A certain salmon-haired mage greeted as he walked up to the group.
"Oh hey, Natsu," Lucy greeted back, completely disregarding the fact that they met outside of the guild hall earlier.
"What are you guys doing?" The Fire Dragon slayer asked curiously. Once seeing the flyer in the woman's hand, he immediately brightened and peeked over her shoulder, "Is that a job? Are we taking it?"
Before he could see anything though, all three of the other mages slapped a hand over his eyes. Combining all of their strengths, Natsu barely had time to grab something before he flew across the guild and landed on another member. Once he recovered though, he and the other member immediately got into an argument, creating another guild brawl. The group sweat-dropped. Natsu was usually the cause of most of the brawls, but they couldn't help but blame themselves for this one.
"So what do you think the flyer means?" Gray asked, adverting their attention.
"I'm not sure," Erza muttered, crossing her iron clad arms.
"Me neither," Lucy frowned, "I think I might have to ask Levy on this one, even though Cana asked us."
"I don't think she meant that only you two could see it," Gray shrugged.
"But we still don't know what this spell means or does," Erza pointed out, "I say that we keep as many people out of this as we can."
The three stood in contemplative silence before muttering in unison, "Especially Natsu."
"Okay, here's the plan," Lucy announced when they finally got over the nightmare of what would happen in their heads, "Gray, I need you to distract Natsu so he's as far away from the flyer as possible."
The man nodded before turning and bounding towards the settling brawl. Lucy then turned towards the Water mage that was still hiding behind the support beam, only this time, she was glaring at her 'Love Rival'. The blonde felt a chill run down her spine as she went against every single cell in her body to beckon the woman over. Still glaring, Juvia marched over with something that seemed like a deadly intent in her eyes.
"Juvia, I know you're the only one that can distract Gray!" Lucy informed quickly, spilling out her best excuse to pacify the Water mage. Like she hoped, Juvia instantly calmed down, her eyes softening at the Celstial mage.
"Juvia is pleased that Love Rival knows where she stands," The namesake smiled joyfully and trapped Lucy in a bone-crushing hug before releasing her.
"Y-yeah," Lucy choked out, having to hold the railing for support. "Y-you're the only one who can d-distract G-Gray," She repeated, "Natsu knows we're trying to keep something from him so he's going to try and rile Gray to the point where he would confess. I need you to stop Gray from confessing."
"G-Gray-sama confessing to N-Natsu-san?" Juvia stuttered out, a blush taking over her cheeks before a deadly aura surrounded her. Lucy immediately feared for her partner's life, knowing she worded that horribly wrong. Juvia turned her sharp eyes on the two men who were currently starting yet another brawl, "Love Rival!"
Erza and Lucy watched in horror as Juvia started to march angrily towards the brawl. Even though Lucy was planning to take Erza with her to ask for Levy's help, she knew she couldn't do it. The two women shared a look before nodding urgently. The blonde watched as Erza re-equipped her bluntest sword and followed after the Water mage who wanted the head of a certain salmon-haired man.
Lucy quickly turned on her heel and scanned the guild for her blue-haired best friend. She cursed under her breath before switching her objective and looking for a intimidating Iron Dragon Slayer. Once finding him, she peered from where she was standing and cheered when she saw the black-haired man block a stool from flying his way. Usually, when he was alone, if Gajeel had a stool fly at him, he'd immediately attack the one who threw it. But certain cases, like this one, if Levy was by him, he would continue to sit there.
Lucy thanked her lucky stars that he continued to sit there.
"Levy-chan!" The blonde called, quickly making her way over to the pair.
Gajeel glared at her from the corner of her eye, making her give him a defiant look. The Iron Dragon Slayer rolled his eyes with a scoff, returning to his bowl full of screws and metal scraps. Levy, however, leaned back far enough so she could peer around the black-haired man's back. With a smile, the bluenette smiled happily and waved her over.
"What can I do for you, Lu-chan?" Levy asked, unfazed when Gajeel scoffed at her wording.
"I was hoping you'd help me decipher a spell," Lucy replied immediately, snagging a seat in front of the Script mage.
"Did-"
"-Natsu see it?" Lucy finished. Levy nodded. "I don't think so, he might have gotten a peek but not enough to actually read it out loud."
"That's good," Levy sighed in relief, "I really didn't want it to be like last time."
"Salamander is dumb enough to read an unknown spell out loud," Gajeel scoffed, shoving a sheet of metal into his mouth before chewing loudly, "I wouldn't put it past him."
Lucy pulled the piece of paper out of her pocket and spread it carefully out on the table. She then flipped it around and pushed it towards the bluenette with a grimace. Despite his air of indifference, Gajeel curiously peeked over the Script mage's shoulder to peer down at the paper. His pierced eyebrows drew down in confusion as he glared at the foreign words on the paper. Lucy's attention drifted as someone called her name, quite loudly too.
"Ah, crap!" The blonde cursed, quickly standing up, "Levy-chan, I'll be right back. Make sure no one else looks at the spell, we don't know what it does nor do we know what the affects are." With out a reply, Lucy dashed towards the other side of the Guild, "What are you doing you idiots!"
"This is ancient script," Levy muttered absentmindedly, "It isn't that hard to decipher but it will take some time." The bluenette reached towards the pile of books from the seat next to her and pulled a out a notebook. She then grabbed a pen, flipped to a blank page and started to scribble furiously. "This combination loosely translates to 'sole' and 'pair' unless this character is actually flipped. Meaning that 'sole' would also flip, causing the translation to be 'soul' and the last translation to stay as 'pair'. But then why would the next line start off with 'youth'?"
"I don't understand a lick of what you're sayin', Shrimp," Gajeel grumbled, shoving a couple of iron nails into his mouth.
His comment blew right over her head though as she continued to scribble away. The Iron Dragon Slayer frowned, the feeling of something watching them washed over him. When he looked up, he saw a round, freaky wooden thing. It had a face painted on it's front with tiny blue wings sprouting out of the sides. A sense of familiarity shot through him the longer he stared at it. But before he could even get a word out of his mouth, the thing flew away and disappeared as if it was never there in the first place.
"What the fuc-"
"Ah! I get it!" Levy exclaimed, shooting up in delight. Gajeel's eyes shot over towards the tiny woman, surprised. She gave him a determined grin before slouching over her book and scribbling furiously once again, "It's not 'youth' meaning age, it's 'youth' meaning size! That's why the next character translates to 'height' instead of 'time'!"
Once again, Gajeel found himself not understanding a word from the small woman. He just nodded as if he did and continued to listen to her mini-dialogue. None one, not even the ones searching for him, noticed the salmon-haired mage sneakily heading towards one of Raijinshu's members. The also hadn't noticed the words they exchanged or the sly smirk on Natsu's face. No one noticed one of Bixlow's creepy puppets missing nor did they notice the words it had whispered when it came back.
What they did notice was the blinding magic circle that spread across the guild's floor and the terrified screams.
Minutes Earlier...
"Are you sure this is safe?" Mira asked as she watched Levy furiously scribble on the paper.
"Of course!" Cana laughed, taking a large gulp from her mug, "I paid good money for that spell! The man said it's not life threatening at all and the spell will wear off... eventually. That's all I need to know!"
"Cana!"
"Don't wory, don't worry!" Cana reassured the white-haired barmaid, dismissively waving her hand in the air, "Before I bought it, I did a fortune telling with my cards. The future card said it would all turn out fine or to be specific 'How you'd expect'."
"And what about the others?" Mira asked, dropping her voice to a whisper.
Asuka played with her doll house a few seat over but they didn't want her hearing this part of the plan. They did feel a bit of guilt about dragging the small child into their less than honorable plans, but the young Connell did so well last time! Despite the plan not going the way they hoped, even Mira had been proud. And pride from her even when a plan fails... that's saying something.
"The past said that there was calm with a hint of mischievous intent and the two current cards had..." The brunette trailed off before shrugging, "The two current cards had chaos and confusion. But it'll be fine, we're Fairy Tail after all!"
Mira pursed her lips, a sinking feeling in her gut, "I hope you're right, Cana."
"When am I ever wrong?"
"So why didn't you want me to see the poster?" Mira asked suspiciously, placing a hand to her cheek. Cana just shook her head in reply, a large smirk on her face. "I still have a bad feeling, but I trust you."
"Atta girl!" Cana laughed drunkenly, giving Mira a good ol' slap on the back, "It's about time that you admitted you-"
The brunette hadn't had time to finish her sentence because soon, a large, golden light encircled the entire guild floor and chaos ensued.