(sighs) Yup. Yup. Yup. To those of you that guessed it, you're right. I can't stop writing about Adamine. Help! I've fallen in love with Adamine and can't get up. Someone call Life Alert! So, yes. This is it. This is the fourth story I've written for the Estranged Princess Adamine Terra. Her story should be over with this one. I think. Maybe, more likely than not. It just didn't feel finished given the position I left it in the last time. Yeah, she got the guy, but what of her country? Ya know.
To those of you who are unfamiliar with Adamine and her series, here is some important information.
This is the Dragon Princess Series with Adamine Terra as the main star. While this chapter is cut and fluffy, her life is most definitely not, so don't let this turn you off to her many stories.
Her stories in order are 1. Hunt and be Hunted, 2. Tablet and a Tome, 3. Magical Massacre, and 4. Magical Prerogative
I do have a spin off of her stories that aren't with her as the main character. Those are about the rather interesting OCs she meets on her journey with our fabulous Raijinshuu. See my page for those.
Letter of Recommendation
Diamond hard nails dug inside of a stone wall. With just the slightest amount of pressure the single blade that was no wider than a woman's slender finger easily dug inside of hard bespeckled granite. The nails made smooth, determined tracks in the granite of this underground cave, but these nails didn't belong to any old creature.
The diamond faceted lengths belonged to one creature in particular, a woman. For months this woman had been carving her history and the history of her homeland inside of this granite cave. It was a cave dug out by her own hands, and it was a cave that the woman had yet to be able to call perfect.
Most females that were twenty-one years old didn't live inside of caverns dug underneath a town named Magnolia. Most females her age didn't even think that a random hole in the earth was suitable for human habitation, and they most definitely didn't carve artwork into caves using their fingernails.
But, Adamine Terra wasn't most women.
As a matter of fact, she didn't really see herself as a woman at all. Adamine viewed herself as a female, a female dragon slayer. A young girl who had once been princess of a kingdom just across the pond from Fiore had given up her gender roles and her title to become nothing more than a simple wanderer, but here lately, her wandering had been slowing down.
Nearly a year ago, Adamine had wound up in the arms of old friends. She had tumbled at their feet unconscious and with hunters on her back, hunters that craved her dragon goddess mother and other hunters that had craved the crown Adam had worn on her head when she went by the title of Erianna.
Now though, those hunters were gone. For the first time since she'd been kidnapped from her princess bed at age five, Adamine could rest, and how did she rest? By joining the most powerful guild in all of Fiore, of course!
Grinning to herself, Adamine moved her arm in an arc to form the wings of an angel. Ever since formally joining Fairy Tail, Adam had searched for a home other than the Murphy bed that sat in the living room of Freed Justine's townhouse. After coming back from a job with said man, Adamine had found the perfect spot—a rock outcropping that was near enough to a stream that currently ran through her cave home. She'd been carving away at it ever since.
So far, Adamine's home consisted of four bedrooms, two and a half baths, a spa, game room, and a theater space—along with other miscellaneous rooms. Currently, Adamine stood in a large, round space that she and a man named Gajeel Redfox had carved out. Using his iron body and her diamond body, the two mages had easily carved into the rock with Levy McGarden directing them through a set of plans Adamine had drawn up for the underground structure.
Each mage that Adamine was closest to had a part in the creation of this place. Adamine and Gajeel had carved out the granite. Levy and Freed had been the demolition crew. Using Solid Script and Freed's runes, they had blown away at chunks of stone to let Adam and Gajeel get to the raw material they had to smooth down. They weren't the only ones to help Adamine set everything up in her home, though. Old friends that went by the names of Evergreen, Bickslow, and Laxus had done their part as well.
Laxus had hooked up a theatre worthy sound system within every inch of Adamine's house. With just the flick of her wrist, Adamine could summon rock, reggae, electro, and other genres to play all throughout her house. Currently, Adamine was hacking away at the granite walls of her home to the sounds of a band from Fiore that called themselves the White Stripes. The song "Seven Nation Army" pumped inside of her home while Adamine dug her claws into the walls.
After Laxus had hooked up the electrical system, Evergreen and Bickslow had done their part. Using a talent not often mentioned, Bickslow had hand-crafted jointed furniture to go inside of Adam's underground cavern, and Evergreen had taken care of the interior design. With Elfman to do all the heavy lifting for her, everything had taken shape quickly.
Lastly, Adamine's personal companion—a Hellhound that went by the name of Black Pearl—had scorched their signature into the granite to forever mark this home as Adamine and Black Pearl's abode. A crescent moon with a single star dripping off its tip hung right overhead of Adamine's cave.
So much had changed since Adamine had joined Fairy Tail, and amazingly, all of it was for the better. As someone who hated asking for help and hated putting other people in danger, the idiots in Fairy Tail had run headlong after her to force themselves at her side.
And, as much as Mina would loathe to admit it aloud, she was thankful. All those years on the run from her kingdom, on the run from people who wanted to extract her mother's soul from her body, and chasing after the man that had murdered her parents, it was nice to know that Adam had a place to lay her head every night. With Fairy Tail around she could actually have a… home.
A goofy grin crossed her lips for what felt like the millionth time, and Adamine finally finished drawing the legacy of her cousin—the man she'd handed the throne over to when she'd gone back to Lancet. No longer did Adamine have a bunch of psychotic Normans, what mages from Lancet called Normal Humans, trying to force her into marriage over her crown, and no longer did Adamine have to worry about another group of psychos that had hunted her down for the dragon soul that Zeref had preserved within Adamine's body.
Yes, the only living dragon other than Acnologia himself had been preserved by Zeref, a man that Adam hunted for the murder of her parents, inside the body of a five year old girl, and now that a Seith Mage who specialized in exorcisms had restored the Dragon Goddess Firmalione back inside of her human form, Adamine felt even more determined to hunt her mother down one more time. But, there was a catch. When Adam found her mother this time, she wasn't going to let Firmalione get away.
After she'd handed over her crown to her cousin Isaac, Adamine had vowed that she would hunt Firmalione down, but she wasn't going to be able to do it alone. She knew that much by the fact that Laxus and the Raijinshuu would hunt her down if she ever tried to sneak out on them. Adam would know. She'd been sneaking away from them ever since she was fifteen years old.
Once she was fully finished with her latest carving, Adamine moved her way to a diamond lacrima in the center of the floor. Inside of this space there were bookshelves that fully lined the walls from floor to ceiling. Adam had books on architecture, interior design, mythology, and legends of her home country, but even though the room was slammed down with literature, there were four stone slabs that remained completely blank aside from symbols Adam used to signify which room was which.
For the master bedroom there were the three symbols that Adamine had gotten tattooed from the base of her neck and down her spine. Those three symbols were the guilds she was a part of. Two of them were from Lancet, but the one at the very top of Adam's spinal column was Fairy Tail. Under that one was the very first guild that Adamine had joined, Kindred Spirit. It was a set of twin, tribal scythes that crossed between her shoulder blades. Beneath that mark was the mark of her cousin's Royal Guard. The symbol was a simple, hollowed out round shield with a tribal raven in flight appearing to shoot up her backbone. That symbol marked her as the third in line to take the throne should something happen to her cousins Isaac and Urian. It was likely the most important tattoo Adamine had on her body aside from the one that stretched the length of her left eye.
That mark had been the one that she'd gotten when she was kidnapped. It was the mark that had labeled her as a sacrifice to the Dragon Goddess, but now Adamine just viewed the tattoo as a permanent inking placed within her skin to show that she was the daughter of the Adamantine Goddess.
Even so, Adam frequently covered the tattoo up with a glamour. The only people that had ever gotten a good look at it was Team Natsu, Laxus, Black Pearl, and the Raijinshuu. The former only seeing it because Adam had to explain to them that she wasn't the bad guy when her presence had gotten Levy and Gajeel kidnapped.
With so much trouble she seemed to cause the guild, it was a wonder they permitted her to stay at all. Every time that Adam had wanted to leave, she'd gotten stopped by Laxus. He would snarl, "You're one of the most powerful mages around. The last thing I'm going to let you do is run off without joining Fairy Tail."
Shaking her head at how bossy the Lightning Dragon Slayer was, Adamine tapped her foot down three times against the diamond lacrima in the eye of a dragon carving. The four stone slabs shifted by unseen forces, and soon enough Adamine revealed her two guest bedrooms, the master bedroom, and a winding hall where the spa was. Why have extra bedrooms when Adamine was an unmarried woman with no children running about? The answer was simple. The Raijinshuu bunked here when they weren't harassing Laxus.
Well, there was the fact that although Adamine wasn't married… she did have a certain mage that she couldn't quite get rid of. Not that she was truly interested in getting rid of him…
Nibbling on her bottom lip, Adamine made her way inside of her master bedroom. She was merely on the search for a broom to sweep up the stone she'd tossed all over the library space, but there was something about the fact that Adamine wasn't the only one sleeping in the master bedroom that caused scarlet to light up her face.
She couldn't help the feminine mannerisms that seemed to arise every time she saw him laid out unconscious and graceless on their California King size round bed. It was a strange feeling for a woman who was always fighting her way through hell to suddenly get coy and girly at just the sight of a black and blue haired Seith Mage sprawled out on her massive bed. As a matter of fact, the feeling was almost distressing. Since she was getting more feminine and shy, did that mean that this man's presence was making her weaker?
Adamine roundhouse kicked that thought to the back of her skull as she padded barefoot into her master bedroom. Sure enough, as soon as she stepped past the thick, granite slab, she saw Bickslow tossed out on her bed.
For someone who always wore layers of clothing, Bickslow didn't hardly wear anything when he was asleep. Only a thin, black sheet kept his torso covered up, and Adamine bit down hard on her lip to halt the ridiculous grin slipping up her face at just the sight of him laying in her bed.
She felt like she'd won a massive battle at the fact that he stayed with her. As someone who was always so busily running from anyone that tried to get close to her, the fact that Bickslow had waited for eight years to finally have Adam on his arm was… awesome.
Sure, he wasn't the nicest. He wasn't the strongest. He wasn't even the richest or the most handsome, but what he had was more important than anything a woman looked for in a guy. He always kept her laughing. In a world where threats lingered in every shadow, laughter was something Adamine couldn't get enough of.
She felt her feet moving towards him of their own accord, and before she could tackle him awake, Adamine hissed, "Gotta get that damned broom."
Forcing herself to keep her mind on the task ahead, Adamine made herself do something that she secretly enjoyed doing—playing the housewife. She stepped into the master bath where her favorite thing in the whole house rested.
That thing was a massive tub that could likely fit three men the size of Elfman. Adamine had a certain secret thing that she did in that tub, and it was filling the entire thing with bubble bath then soaking to her heart's content. Occasionally, Evergreen would come over, and while Bickslow snickered something likely naughty about the two of them bathing together, the girls would relax in the giant tub to gossip and fix each other's hair.
Recently, Adamine had learned how to braid people's hair. As of currently, she had her hair twisted into a long braid that fell all the way to the small of her back. After joining Fairy Tail, Adam had thought she would lose the long hair she kept merely because she had no time to chop it off, but Bickslow had pitched a bloody fit, mentioning something about how long hair was sexier for something. Adam wasn't really sure what he said because Evergreen had backhanded him before he could explain the entire sentence.
Bare feet stepped around the giant tub, and Adamine opened up the closet to show off a massive storage space for all of her favorite big, fluffy bath towels and a whole bunch of skin creams and makeup Evergreen had thought Adam would like. She didn't know what antioxidants did, but Adam did know that she liked the tingling feeling the face wash made when she took those long baths.
Snagging the broom from the closet, Adam shifted around. She was headed back on her way towards the library when the only thing keeping intruders and animals from getting into Adam's house—Freed's runes—flashed to say Black Pearl had just come inside.
An icon of Black Pearl in her more Exceed-like Heaven Soul popped in the air. It faded away as soon as Adamine pushed her finger on a word that read, "Acknowledged." There were two words that came up when people entered the house. Those words were "Acknowledged" and "Block". If Adamine had pressed Block, Freed's runes would send the intruder flying catapult style out of the cave. So far, Adam had only done that once, and it was purely because she was an evil woman who wanted to see Bickslow get catapulted across Magnolia.
Snickering to herself, Adamine walked right back into the library. Her hands adjusted the broom in her grasp, and just as she was getting into position to rid all of the stone shavings from the ground, Adam heard clawed feet clicking against the granite floor. The footsteps sounded rushed like Pearl was running. Sure enough, when the Hellhound went round the bend of Adam's spiral staircase, Black Pearl was running in her Mortality Soul towards Adamine.
Black Pearl wasn't a normal Hellhound. At an early age she had been subjected to all kinds of strange experiments with her race. Zeref had tampered with a certain pack of Hellhounds and had miraculously found a way to store souls inside of them. It had been that experimentation that had given Zeref a way to store Firmalione's soul inside of Adamine. Through the storage of souls inside of the Hellhounds, Zeref had wound up putting the soul of a heavenly being and a mortal being inside of the canine monstrosities, and the Hellhounds had kept their Hell souls. Black Pearl could shift between her original, demonic form of a ravaging Hellhound that stalked on all fours, or she could become a five foot five inch humanoid canine similar to Panther Lily's transformation. If she didn't want to be either one of those, she could use her Heaven Soul to appear more like the Exceeds.
When Black Pearl came round the bend, she was barefoot in her Mortality Soul. A pair of knee length shorts covered up her legs as her bushy tail swished behind her. Toned, furry black arms pumped out of a simple tank top that she'd likely stolen from Adam's closet. The Hellhound may have been a whole five inches shorter than Adamine, but the beast insisted on stealing Adam's clothes.
Huffing and puffing Black Pearl raised her crimson eyes up to her companion. Her left eye had been marked with Fairy Tail's insignia. She had placed it there in order to copy Adamine's slave tattoo. Right now, that marking stared at Adam as Pearl puffed with her hands on her thighs.
"What's the rush? I thought you were training with Panther Lily," Adamine questioned. Ever since joining the guild Panther Lily and Black Pearl had taken a liking to each other. The Hellhound and the Exceed often tried to prove which weapon was better in combat, a bow or a sword.
Black Pearl's longbow was draped off her back, and her quiver hung loosely at her hips. It was odd to see the hound with her longbow instead of her typical crossbow, but Black Pearl liked to switch it up when she was training.
Stretching out to her full height, Black Pearl breathlessly explained, "I ran all the way back here after a courier met me in the woods. He gave me this." Black Pearl extended her claw tipped hand out to show off a letter slightly crumpled by Pearl's running with it in her fist.
As soon as Adamine caught sight of the royal insignia upon the parchment, her eyes flew wide. She knew that marking. It was the one on her back, and it was the same one on her master bedroom door. It was the mark of the Royal Guard. In other words, Adamine had just gotten mail from King Isaac Grigori von Kaiser.
"What would Izzy be doing sending me mail in the middle of winter?" Adamine wondered aloud only to get a shrug from her Hellhound. Getting mail from Isaac was normally never a good thing. Even though the royal cousins all tried to keep in touch, it was a little bit more difficult for Isaac given the fact that he ruled a country that was an ocean away. Her cousin and Prince of Lancet, Urian on the other hand was a little bit easier to find. He'd become the bartender for Fairy Tail and was a mage that had formed a team with Adamine and Pearl.
Why was Urian in Fairy Tail? Well, because of none other than Mirajane Strauss. Yes, the infamous playboy of Lancet had fallen head over heels with the demon Take Over Mage when they'd met in battle. Ever since then, the playboy had turned into a complete dork. Just the sight of Mirajane could jostle him so much that one second he'd be hitting on women for tips and the next all the glasses he was juggling with bartending flair would come crashing down. He had it bad.
Even so, Adamine tucked her thumb underneath the parchment. Her fingers broke the seal for one of Isaac's shades, shadow messengers he could control with his Angel Slayer Magic, to rip from the letter and attach itself to Adam's shadow. Instantly, a message was relayed from the intertwining of Adam's shadow to Isaac's shade. Everything that the shade had been sent to tell her was automatically downloaded into Adamine's mind without her having to listen to a word.
"Good evening or morning or whatever time you're reading this letter, Mina," Isaac's shadow greeted. "I'm sending you this in regards to an attempt that Lancet and Fiore have been discussing since the Magical Equality riots started. As you and I know all too well, Norman slavers have been hectically murdering and kidnapping mages. Racism is on the rise between Normans and Mages. And, the dying slave trade is trying to make a comeback. In order to prevent more murders or enslavement, the government is trying to get more active in stressing the similarities between Mages and Normans. King Toma has brought it to my attention that, perhaps, a Winter Grand Magic Games to be held each December would be a good thing. There would be two Grand Magic Games each year. One would be held in Fiore during the summer, and the other would be in Lancet during the winter. Since many Normans enjoy watching the Fiore Grand Magic Games and since the younger generation is more apt to accept mages in their lives, I feel as if this would be the best test procedure. So, in short, I'm pretty much begging you to convince Makarov to come to Capital Lance and let Fairy Tail participate in the games. I've already gotten Kagura and the master of Mermaid Heel to accept, and I'm waiting on word from Lamia Scale. Even if Fairy Tail can't come, I would be appreciative if you and Urian could come monitor the games. Your presences alone would encourage mages in Lancet to partake. Ever since making the notion public that Lance will be holding a Winter GMG, Norman slavers have been sending death threats to the castle. Just the other day, two of my assassins, Katja and Sven, found two dead mages from the guild Grimm draped over the fountain in the city's square. The Magician's Alliance has been wanting to imprison anyone with relations to the slave rink or the Lancet Black Market. Mages are getting antsy. They want something to be done, but I can't risk them enslaving Normans if I gave them special benefits. Every slave would become a tyrant if I gave them a chance. Peaceful protest is the best option, but that doesn't mean that situational murders aren't on the rise. I have precautions listed at the bottom of this document. Those will go over paperwork, entry forms, and anything else that Makarov may need to know. Have him send me a letter via this shade if he has anymore questions. Adamine, I greatly need your and Urian's help. We just won a war, and I don't want another one to break out over this. If I want my kingdom to run smoothly, I know that I'm going to need help from you and the rest of my Royal Guard. We're going to have to pull a Mages of the Round Table on this one."
Just as Adam had suspected. This wasn't good news. Her white teeth found their way to her bottom lip. Nervously nibbling on it, she glanced down to Black Pearl.
The Hellhound had finally caught her breath, and just as Adam looked to Black Pearl, Pearl looked to her. The words that came out of her mouth next were to be expected. "So, what are you going to do?"
Shrugging, Adamine folded the letter and sealed the parchment back away in its paper container. "I'm going to do what any good follower of Laxus Dreyar would do."
"And, that is?"
"Standard issue running to him and asking for the great Dreyar's words of wisdom." Tucking the letter in the back pocket of her camouflage jeans, Adamine added, "Wanna come with?"
Rolling her crimson eyes, Black Pearl pulled her upper torso off the wall Adam had finished carving into. "As if I have a choice in the matter. Are you going to wake up Sleeping Beauty?"
Flush infused Adamine's face at the exact reason that Bickslow was still unconscious in their bedroom. It was safe to say that last night neither one of them had gotten much sleeping done. He'd only gotten to bed recently, but Adamine, being her overzealous self after a roll around, hadn't had any desire to sleep with her favorite cuddle buddy. She'd been at the walls carving ever since. Waves of inspiration had assaulted her.
Her foot tapped down twice on the diamond lacrima imbedded into the cave floor, and Adamine watched the stone slabs cover themselves back up. "Na. Let him sleep. I think I knocked him out last night."
"I hope the two of you know what happens when you roll around too much," Black Pearl mentioned in a very motherly tone of voice. If there was ever anyone who cared for nothing other than the well-being of her comrade, it was Black Pearl to Adamine. Had Black Pearl not met Adamine a few years after her dragon mother had left her, Adamine would probably be much more ignorant of the human world than a woman her age had respect to be.
Shrugging, Adamine made her way up the stone steps. Her hands ran lovingly against the carved granite, and she traced the veins in the walls with the flat side of her nails. Perhaps, it was odd to say that Adamine finally felt relaxed after all this time, but it was the truth. In the arms of her comrades, she had found sanctuary.
The guild after the Grand Magic Games and the odd climatic changes that had immediately occurred afterwards was… to put it plainly… extremely boring. Laxus reclined in his wooden chair to lazily run his eyes over the guild. A lot of the members were in the guild instead of on jobs. The request board itself was a mighty empty hunk of cork at the moment as well.
He looked on at everything dispassionately. The largest difference that had even been made was likely Adamine's addition to the guild, and she'd almost been here for a year now. That woman added a very interesting facet to his side of the guild. Why? Because she was partly a member of the Raijinshuu.
She had gone out with the group and himself many times until her cousin had gotten involved in the guild, but Prince Urian typically kept close to the Strauss family. That single ebony head stood out in stark contrast amongst the snow toned strands of that group. When Adamine decided to go out on a job, it was oftentimes Urian that accompanied her. The Ice God Slayer and the Adamantine Dragon Slayer were a mighty combo in battle. When the relatives had challenged Laxus and Freed to a battle, they had thoroughly handed the dragon slayer and rune mage their asses.
Right about now, Laxus could go for a brawl, a challenge from Adamine, even a simple task to do. All of this sitting around business was getting him antsy, and when the Adamantine Slayer strolled in with her Hellhound flying beside her, Laxus felt like his call had just been answered.
At least, he felt that way until he saw the look in her emerald eyes. Adamine Terra only had three modes: shy but goofy manga obsessed writer, cold-blooded killer, and calculating strategist. Judging by the firm line of her typically pouty lips and the furrow of her caramel brows, Laxus knew he was about to be approached by the strategist.
As soon as Adamine reached the elevated section of the guild hall, she took a few quick steps to her usual seat, pulled it over between Laxus and Freed, and then slapped a piece of parchment onto the wooden table. "We need to talk," she explained in a short tone.
Curious looks raised from Freed and Evergreen. Adamine was usually upbeat and with her nose buried in manga. The fact that she just said the words every man feared coming from a female's lips was enough to get questionable glances filtering through the air.
"It's from Isaac," Laxus examined as he took in the seal of the King of Lancet. "Is this about another mission to pick up foster kids from the Magic Railroad?"
The Magic Railroad was a system consisting of Safe Houses, pirate ships, wagons, and other forms of transportation that Adamine had been creating since she was fifteen years old. She was titled the Lady of the Railway because the young runaway princess of Lancet had created the railway in order for Lancet mages to get out of a country that enslaved mages for their race alone. It was often used by children, and it was a complex network so much so that only Adamine Terra knew every nook and cranny for getting mages from their once ruled-by-tyranny kingdom and to free countries like Fiore. Now that King Isaac had taken over the country, via a war where he'd enlisted help from mages in Lancet and Fiore, many Lancet families were putting out job requests to have their children delivered back home. Even though, King Isaac was on the throne, though, it didn't mean that mages still didn't ship out to live in free Fiore. Racism still abounded.
Laxus was surprised when Adamine shook her head.
"No, it's something different. Isaac wants Fairy Tail to come back to Fiore, and I want your and Makarov's opinions on whether or not it would be wise to partake in a Winter Grand Magic Games. Do you think you could get your grandfather to see me?" Adamine fingered the piece of paper on the table. Her eyes searched Laxus's for advice.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"Because he's upstairs, and mages that aren't S Class aren't allowed upstairs."
Laxus sighed, "Adamine, I highly doubt that he'd be upset to see you upstairs. You're more S Class than most of the idiots around here." His eyes strolled to a pair of bickering mages. Yes, Adamine was much stronger than Flame Brain and the Ice Queen.
Even so, Adam shook her head. Caramel locks that were a chaotic mixture of waves and spikes flew around the air she encompassed. "Nu-uh. Mirajane and Erza are here. One will throw a rule book at me, and the other will show her inner demon. I'm not in the mood for either."
With a groan like she was really putting him out with this request, Laxus rose from his seat. His hand mussed up the spiky top of her head, and he groaned, "Fine. If I have to. You gonna get your cousin?"
Beaming at him, Adamine chimed, "Course!" She let him get right to the stairs leading to Makarov's office to add, "Thank you, Fetch It."
As Freed and Ever's eyes grew wide at the taunting phrase, Laxus just brushed it off. A few people could get by with playing with Laxus. Adam was one of the rare few. She'd saved his life a couple of times. He'd saved her life a couple of times. A little teasing between comrades was warranted.
So, Laxus made his way up the stairs. Ever since the town of Magnolia rebuilt the guild, everyone had to take a little time to get the layout of the place. The infirmary was much larger, and so was the width of the hallway. Not much had been altered aside from the size of things, but it still had taken a bit of time to adjust. The biggest improvement? The massive spas.
Now, though, Laxus easily maneuvered the length of the hall to rap his knuckles across the master's door. "Gramps, Adamine needs to talk to you," Laxus called out only to hear the sounds of paperwork ruffling and some scuttling along the cherry stained hardwood floors.
After what sounded like a rat had gotten loose in Makarov's office, the man opened the door up to reveal a massive yawn. Peering inside, Laxus saw what he often saw after Team Natsu had gone on a job together. That would be paperwork and lots of it. The title of one document shown out in particular amongst the others. "Fairy Tail at it again. Salamander burns down historical landmark in the town of Iris," the piece read.
"Why didn't she just come up here?" Makarov yawned. Yes, it was apparent he'd been napping instead of filling out paperwork from the Magic Council. Well, could Laxus really be surprised? Makarov often pushed paperwork to the last remnants of his desk. Right when the deadlines to submit came in, he got college student pumped on energy drinks and magic resolutions to reduce tiredness. He truly was no better than any twenty year old in university.
"Didn't want to get snapped at by Mira or Erza for being on S Class territory."
"Mmm," was Makarov's ingenious response. "Should likely consider her for the next trials. I'm sure she'd be successful."
"And not her cousin?"
The snicker crossing Makarov's face was tell-tale. "Boy's too busy chasing barmaids instead of taking missions." Black eyes strolled over to where Urian was mixing Cana some odd concoction while Mirajane made up an order someone had requested. As soon as Mira walked by the former playboy turned Mira's lapdog slipped with his grip on the glass. He nearly dropped the bottle he'd tossed in the air, but as soon as Mirajane was out of his line of sight, he caught it right at the last second. Had no one been watching his starstruck expression at Mirajane, they might have thought the professional bartender was just using extra flair to make the drinking experience more entertaining when in truth Urian Lancet just had it bad for Mirajane Strauss. "Besides, Urian is more of a bartender for the guild than a true mage. They'd likely choose to be partners though."
"That is if Black Pearl or Bickslow doesn't complain," Laxus added in, knowing that the Hellhound was never far from Adam's hip and that the Seith Mage tried to play it off like he didn't always know where Adamine was at all times.
"I would assume Freed and Bickslow would be partners," Makarov mentioned. He was enjoying their laidback conversation until he suddenly got serious. One look at the tense expression on Adamine's face, and Makarov was suddenly matching it. "Do you know what she wants to meet with me about?"
Laxus shrugged his shoulders. Having this easy conversation with his grandfather was a nice change of pace. The tension that used to be between them was still there, but it was lessened now.
"Not really. Adam said something about a Winter Grand Magic Games and having Fairy Tail come to Lancet. She has a letter with the Royal Guard's seal on it."
Makarov's black sheathed feet hit the first step as he nodded his head. "I'd heard rumors of Kings Isaac and Toma possibly holding a Lancet version of the games this fall. What do you think of going to Viking Country before Christmas?"
"Shoulda figured there'd be rumors out about it," Laxus admitted. "I dunno. It beats sitting around here and waiting for something entertaining to happen." A chair suddenly flew his way, and Laxus casually destroyed it with a single bolt of lightning. Go figure a brawl would start at the exact time that a group meeting was about to be arranged.
When Laxus's eyes fell upon Adamine who was staring at the letter with her cousin Urian, he saw a table flying her way. The unsuspecting female was about to get smashed in the skull by the sudden projectile. As soon as Laxus got the idea to destroy the object, Adamine released faceted diamond spikes from the many vertebrae in her spine. The lengths pinned the table to a sudden stop before retracting into Adamine's strategically pleated vest. Yeah, that was Adamine. The princess who never needed to be saved. She was the dragon that guarded the castle. The real damsel in distress in their relationship was probably Bickslow. Speaking of, where was he?
"The kidnappings have picked up ever since Isaac announced for the games. There's no doubt about it. Norman Slavers are pissed that the king is taking away their only occupation," Adamine explained to her cousin and the present members of the Raijinshuu. "The Magical Equality Act has been hard on them. The only livelihoods they had are now illegal, and they're being prosecuted for something that's been legal for ages. If you look at it that way, Norman Slayers have every right to be mad. Without the slave trade of mages, some of their families aren't going to be fed."
"How can you sympathize with them, Adamine? They're tyrants, dictators! They don't deserve any sympathy for the fact that they've been holding people in chains all their lives!" Evergreen protested above the brawl in the room.
Emerald eyes cut towards the fairy. "Because I am the Princess of Lancet. It's my job to see to the well-being of mages and Normans. Just because my race is mage doesn't mean that I should ruin the lives of perfectly good people. If you get down and dirty on the truth of slavery, you'd see that it's not completely awful. A lot of mages that would be running around on the streets or doing acts of crime to feed themselves are given a place to sleep each night and food to eat. Just because they aren't getting paid in Lancet coin or Fiore jewel doesn't mean that they aren't getting rewarded for their work. A lot of free mages in Lancet don't even know where the next place is they'll be sleeping at. Yes, slavery is wrong. I get that, but it's only the large plantations and rich organizations that are cruel to their slaves. If slavery had been so bad for all of the mages, they wouldn't be going to their former masters and asking for their jobs back," she justified as she folded the letter atop the table.
Freed nodded his educated head in agreement. "It's the truth. The problem here isn't in slavery itself. It's more of the delivery and collection of slaves. Then, the treatment done to them by the wealthy is also a key factor. Most Normans don't even own slaves because they're so expensive. A Lancet mage slave goes for about 200,000 jewel. In Lancet coin that's 20,000 coins. The average yearly salary of most Lancet Normans isn't even close to that amount when you subtract everyday expenses."
"That doesn't make it right to put a price on a human being!" Evergreen countered, and Urian nodded his head.
"She's right, Adamine. If I had it my way, we would enslave Normans and see how they liked it," Urian put in with his two cents.
Tensely, Adamine pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked to be trying for patience and not finding it. "And, this is why Isaac doesn't let you govern legal affairs. You're too blinded by your own racism to see that Normans aren't all bad. It's the douche bags like Gatlin that you see when you think of normal humans. Is it not enough that we put them in jail for kidnappings? Is it not enough that we have the death penalty for murderers? These people—people with wives and husbands and children to take care of—have to sit in a dungeon and wait to see if their trial results in the death penalty or if they can be released back after years in jail. No, it's not fair for a family to see the murderer or kidnapper of their child go free after ten or so years, but it's also not fair for the slaver's family to sit at home as the trial goes on waiting to see if Daddy is going to come through the front door after ten years or if he'll never be walking through that door ever again!" Adam was about to slam her hand down on the table to put emphasis on her exclamation point when Laxus snatched her by the wrist.
"I got Gramps like you asked," Laxus mentioned, hoping that the presence of the master would get them to chill on Lancet political strategy for a second.
Adamine spun around in her chair. Her skin, lightly dusted in tan by the warmth of the sun, changed to pink as she gaped embarrassed at the master. Her head dipped deeply, and she apologized, "So sorry, Master Makarov. I didn't know I was in your presence."
Makarov gave an easy-going kind of smile. "Don't worry with it, brat. I was kind of enjoying hearing you act like the Princess of Lancet for once. It's much different from the manga loving brawler we normally get."
"I-uh…" Adamine flushed deeply and avoided Laxus's gaze. He knew why, and it still cut him to the bone every time she dipped out on talking politics when he was around.
Before the war that had landed her cousin on the throne, Adam and Laxus had a rather… heated… discussion on how Adamine should quit acting like she was the princess of Lancet if she was going to keep running away from it. Ever since that day, Adamine never talked about her country when he was around. He had thought that they were okay after he'd apologized, but it was apparent that words weren't enough.
Makarov cut through some of the tension by asking, "So, what's this about King Isaac wanting Fairy Tail to come to Lancet?"
Making a determined nod though still avoiding Laxus's gaze, Adamine explained, "My cousin sent me this letter. I would explain it all to you, but he delivered it through one of his shades. May I connect your shadow to his? It's simpler than me telling you."
While Makarov gave the nod, he questioned, "This isn't going to make me forget that I ever met you. Is it? The last time I let you perform a spell on me, I wound up forgetting your name and face until we met again this year." Yes, if Makarov remembered correctly, he had met Adamine when she was fifteen years old. She had requested for Makarov to add the guild onto one of the stops for the Magic Railroad. Makarov had agreed without really realizing that the deal came with him having to forget that he ever met Mina and her friend Ignatia. One second, he'd been shaking his head in agreement. The next second, he had his mind wiped clean of Adamine's existence.
Looking guilty, Adamine replied, "No, sir. Just standard issue message retrieval tonight."
"I'm ready then." Not knowing what to really do, Makarov extended his hand.
Snickering at his reaction, Adamine simply unsealed the document. Immediately, a black shadow shred from the letter. It looked like it was going in for the kill when it dove straight at wide eyed Makarov, but instead of sending the man to the ground, it assaulted his shadow.
The whites of Makarov's eyes flooded with black as the words of the letter were delivered directly to Makarov's mind. While Makarov was processing the literature, Laxus asked, "Where's your boy toy?"
Adamine tilted her head. She was about to say her usual phrase of "I don't understand that reference" when Black Pearl whispered, "Bickslow."
"Oh!" Her face flooded with pink that had Laxus cocking a blonde brow. Those two hadn't been playing with leather and chains again. Had they? "I left him at the house. He's still asleep."
"Uh-huh. It's eleven in the morning. He's normally up around now," Laxus replied, thinking of the many reasons Bickslow would still be KOed at this hour.
"Yeah, he didn't do much sleeping last night," Adamine admitted. She bit down on her bottom lip to keep from grinning at something. Between the lip biting and the flushed face, the answer to just why he didn't get much sleep was obvious. The super kinks were at it again.
"Really now," Urian slyly replied. "Do tell. Did you do any of the things that I—" Black Pearl cut him off by shoving her furry elbow into his gut.
"Praise Mavis that someone stopped her before she explained everything," Evergreen groaned in disgust. "Last thing I need to know about is y'alls sex life. After that handcuff present I got for my birthday…" She visibly shivered.
Adamine looked ready to ask some question about why it was a bad thing to talk about someone's sex life when her partner in crime loped into the guild. Immediately, Adamine's head turned to the direction of her favorite prankster. As soon as their eyes met, his totems came flying her way.
"You left!" one complained.
"Where were you?" another questioned.
"Why did you leave us?" the one buzzing around her head asked.
They frantically danced around her even though Bickslow looked embarrassed by the response. He drew up his usual chair then gruffly mentioned, "You weren't there when I woke up."
Hmm. Laxus could just imagine Bickslow's reaction to not finding Adamine in their giant, oversized bed when he woke up. Actually, no. He didn't have to imagine. All Laxus had to do was remember. One time he'd stayed the night at Adamine's house. It had been more to keep from walking drunk through the streets of Magnolia at four in the morning, but nonetheless, Laxus had stayed the night in one of Adamine's sweet guest bedrooms. Around twelve or so, he'd opened his eyes up to Bickslow's dolls freaking out as they tried to find the dragon slayer that had been kidnapped by Evergreen to go shopping during a street festival. Even though Bix would loathe to admit it, he had it bad for the woman he'd been chasing for the past seven or eight years.
Adamine brought Laxus to the forefront of his mind by tapping her nails against the paper Makarov was still downloading. "Isaac sent me some mail. He wants us to go to Lancet for a Winter Grand Magic Games. I'm seeing what Makarov thinks." A sly grin crept up her face, and she teased, "You freaked out again. Didn't you?"
"N-no! Why would I freak out over you?"
His throat starting turning hot when Adamine leaned close to him. She nuzzled her caramel head against his mantle while cooing, "Because I'm so darned cute and you call me your best baby when we're alone."
Bickslow looked like he was getting hot under the collar when he threw his head away from Adamine. Her blatant cuteness was one thing he couldn't handle in public. Open pervertedness, Bickslow could handle that. Teasing, that was cool. Her rubbing up on him like a cat in heat and looking adorable at the same time. No. That was something he couldn't do. It really screwed with his thinking process.
"Your best baby?" Laxus snickered. A grin slipped up his face before he started laughing aloud. "Next they're going to tell me they take long walks on the beach in the moonlight."
Urian was right there with him. "Oh, Adamine, you're my best baby," he taunted. "Ah, I can hear it already!"
"Somebody's whipped!" Laxus added in.
Evergreen though she was giggling behind her hot pink fan defended, "Stop. I think it's cute."
Freed laughingly mentioned, "You haven't heard the worst of it. She calls him Bix Bix, and he falls for it every time."
"Bahaha! I see it. I swear, I see it. Bix Bix, could you reach this shelf for me. It's too high," Urian mocked.
With her head still resting on his shoulder, Adamine explained, "Actually, no, Uri. There's nothing I can't reach in the house because I designed it for a six foot tall human. The phrase you're looking for is 'Bix Bix, please, open this jar for me. I can't do it'." She batted her lashes up at him for affect.
To Bickslow's obvious dismay, Black Pearl added, "To which he responds with 'Anything for my best baby'."
Guffaws abounded until Bickslow growled, "Yeah. Yeah. Laugh it up. While I'm over here basking in a relationship with a beautiful lady, you guys can continue your singles' circle jerk." He leaned his head over to Adamine. In an attempt to be sneaky he whispered, "Don't tell them anything else that could emasculate me. Remember that I'm the guy in the relationship."
Before anyone could respond to that, Makarov coughed into his hand. "I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear any of that. Adamine, could we discuss this in my office?"
"Yes, sir." Adamine pulled herself up from Bickslow's shoulder to rise.
She stood beside Makarov who motioned for Urian and Laxus to stand. "You two come as well. There are some things to discuss before I tell you my decision." His head shifted towards Adamine. "And, Mina, cut it with the sir stuff. I know I'm old. You don't have to remind me every time you speak to me."