Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, its characters and in no way associated to the franchise. Any circumstances found in this story are fictional. Fairy Tail rights reserved to Hiro Mashima, creator and illustrator.
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For the Happiness You Lost Chapter 4
PREVIOUSLY:
Erza Scarlet dragged her entire team into a night full of broken furniture, flying swords, dirty diapers and an entertainment very inappropriate for young eyes. The best phrase to describe their night was biting off more than they could chew because the following morning when they went back to the guild lifting a finger proved to be a struggle. With the aging potion still too far from their hands, Erza was left no choice but to force his comrade to find a solution.
Knight tore his bored gaze away from the half-finished blue sky Bolognese and to the woman gripping at his collar. He studied her for a second and considered the S-class mage who was giving him a threatening glare. The dark circles under her eyes just emphasized the deadly look she was giving him.
"Fix it. Now." There was a sound of finality in her words.
The aggravated new member pushed Erza's hands away, stood up his chair and tried to flatten the crease on his perfectly ironed coat.
"Alright. I will look for those ingredients." He spoke casually as he made his way towards the table where little Ultear was enjoying herself playing around his dead-tired comrades. When the toddler on top of the table saw the familiar tall blonde approaching her, she immediately crawled towards the end of it. Knight caught her before she actually fell off.
"Papa!" said Ultear with an immeasurable excitement.
"EH? PAPA?!"
Knight van Cartier, twenty-one years old, never imagined himself fathering a child this early. He almost dropped baby Ultear in shock.
"Wahaha. He called you Papa!" Regaining his energy, the cherry-haired Natsu rose from his seat and began teasing Knight. He hit the younger mage in response.
"That hurts, Blondie! Wanna go at it?" Natsu challenged. It seemed like Knight was ready to heed his childish antic only to be stopped by the agonized and obviously pissed off Erza.
"ENOUGH!"
"Fine, fine." Knight walked away casually, secretly scared of what Erza might do to him if he stayed. "Just give me the list of the missing ingredients." He turned to Fairy Tail's medical expert.
"You're bringing the baby too. It's your turn to take care of her." The demon-summoner decided not to fight Erza with the new order. As much as he was happy that she looked like one of those ugly, rotting creatures who walked around mindlessly (to put it plainly, like a zombie), he was sure what the requip mage was capable of. Especially that she was lacking sleep and obviously having a bad day.
"Erza-san…" Juvia called out. "This is still considered a mission so Knight-sama cannot go alone."
"Then you're coming with me Rain Woman."
"EEP!"
Juvia could not understand. First, she was at the guild slumped on a table like a dead woman, with the rest of her friends who pulled an all-nighter watching over Ultear. Now, she was sitting opposite the new Fairy Tail recruit in a three-hour train ride. How it all happened, she could not understand.
"Oi, Juvia."
Juvia bolted up, surprised.
"YES KNIGHT-SAMA?!" She responded in an unnaturally ecstatic manner. The water-mage became all jumpy after losing too much sleep because of Ultear. She apologized after seeing the confusion registered on Knight's face.
"You can sleep through the entire ride if you're tired."
The water-mage sheepishly thanked him. The next thing she knew Knight had already moved over to where she was seated. He pulled her sleepy head to lean against his shoulder. Juvia suddenly felt a chaos in her chest. Both her heart and breathing were out of norm. When she finally realized the symptoms, she quickly dashed over to the opposite seat.
"Ju…Juvia is… is… f-f-fine here… K-K-Knight-sama." Juvia stuttered, feeling like she was betraying her Gray-sama.
"Ah. Is that so?"
Knight made sure he sounded as casual as possible, even letting himself a small smile as he spoke.
Juvia bumped her head against the window-glass. She rubbed her sleepy eyes then scanned her environment. She was still on the train and traveling. There were no noise other than the deep sound of the train's wheels hitting against the railway and a soft, indistinct chatters. Her eyes scanned the roomful of other travelers and stopped at the group of women chuckling in excitement, not too far from where she was seated. She noticed the reason for their exuberant atmosphere and almost jumped out of her skin when she realized that the cause was little Ultear. Knight picked that moment to walk out of the comfort room.
"Knight-sama left Ultear with strangers?" She was almost mortified.
Knight was just wiping his hands clean when he heard Juvia. He addressed her with a confused look and turned to where she was pointing her finger at – to the giggly group of women in their fifties who the clueless boy entrusted the baby with when he needed to attend to his necessities.
"They know what they're doing." He shrugged.
Knight got the chills when little Ultear called out to him as 'Papa' and pointed to him. He just smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, your Papa is back." One of the women said and carefully handed over the excited Ultear to the blushing blonde.
"Such a cute, young couple."
"EH?!" Juvia tried to deny the accusations, even flailing her hands comically. The middle-aged women just giggled at her way of doing it and actually found it cute. Even thinking she was just being too shy about it.
The wheels of the train screeched and pulled to a sudden stop. The light-weighted furniture in the moving carts tossed around the room. The passengers held on to their couches to keep their balance. Juvia was not able to grab on to something and her inertia sent her flying to the other side of the room. Good thing Knight was able to grab her before she smashed at the end of the cart.
They felt the floor vibrating before a big explosion dazed and deafened the two Fairy Tail mages. The young, blonde mage felt his protective instinct kick in. He willed himself to recover quickly before covering Juvia and little Ultear with his body, blocking a few flying debris from hitting the two. The demon-summoner felt the floor shake again, but no blasting noise came after. He turned to where the explosion left a big gap on the train's cart and saw a number of men in black habits enter. Their robes bore a cross-shaped crest familiar to the young mage and he realized these were the same people who used some dirty tactics to persuade him to join their guild.
"You just don't give up, do you?"
The men wore white porcelain masks and one of them stepped forward and spoke through it, giving the words a sinister feel. "If you do not wish to endanger anyone else in here, then come with us peacefully."
Knight's response was a humorless chuckle. He was about preparing his summoning stance when Juvia beat him to it. From behind him, he heard her name her attack.
"Water Slicer!"
But the high-pressured, water blades dissolved before they even reached the opponents.
"Sorry Knight-sama. Juvia has not yet recovered from her lack of sleep."
Without turning to face the humiliated water-mage, Knight ordered her to take Ultear and the rest of the passengers to safety, saying after that he would take care of the situation. Juvia followed his order with urgency and gathered the others behind the blond mage. He placed a round magical sphere around Juvia and the others, the same one he used to concentrate the effects of the Lost Ages magic within its bounds. That way, whatever magic would be released from him or his attackers would not reach the people inside the sphere.
Knight van Cartier was once again surrounded by a whirlpool of intense magic. His golden hair swayed along the strong force that surrounded him. A glowing circle formed around the boy before he began his summoning.
"I call upon the demon of eternal darkness: Oblivion!"
"Knight-sama."
A girl around the height of Juvia appeared out-of-nowhere and bowed before the blonde mage. Her long, silky raven hair framed Oblivion's beautiful face that wore a neutral expression same as her master. Her black traditional Kimono with violet accents gave off a serious and intimidating air around her.
Knight and his attackers engaged in a standoff. The Fairy Tail mage was greatly outnumbered and Juvia felt the need to help him out. She tried to get out of the safety sphere but her efforts were in vain. The men in black habits, members of the Knights Templar, began their first strike. They extended their hands collectively towards the blonde mage and released hundreds of silver daggers simultaneously. That was their strategy: to use their number against him. Some of the daggers bounced against the sphere that the demon-summoner placed on the innocent passengers and dropped to the floor. Oblivion formed a round black sphere with some sort of purple lightning charge surrounding it. It literally ate all of the silver daggers that came its way.
"My turn."
Knight sent a glance to his demon. Oblivion read the signal and nodded. With the gentle and elegant move of her left hand, the black sphere dispersed into multiple smaller versions of her earlier black sphere. They flew towards the members of the Knights Templar and released the assailant's own daggers back to them.
Knight van Cartier just wiped out the entire Knights Templar members by himself. But the fight was far from over. A slow clapping sound echoed inside the cart. Behind the piled bodies of fallen soldiers, a lone man materialized.
"Of course, I did not expect Knight van Cartier to go down that easily."
The mysterious man, donning an elegant cape that also bore the Knights Templar's crest, walked towards him with a taunting smirk. His eyes were green and his hair was a disheveled raven. His boyish smile was full of confidence that annoyed the demon-summoner.
"Now, let's stop playing games."
The mysterious man, who Knight assumed the leader of the capture party, spread out his hands just like what the other members of his guild did and a number of shining daggers attacked the blonde mage. When Knight thought Oblivion's black spheres would catch them, he thought wrong. The shining daggers neutralized the black spheres when they hit and the latter dissolved upon contact.
"Knight-sama!"
A wave of terror overwhelmed Juvia when she saw the shining daggers hit her comrade. Oblivion disappeared when Knight fell on the ground and cried out of pain. The protective sphere began to wane and flicker out. Juvia wanted to use this chance to help with the fight but before she could the demon-summoner, with the safety of the innocent passengers as his priority, used his energy to reinforce the shield. The water-mage screamed at him, her eyes watering with unspent tears, ordering him to let her out to help. The fallen mage ignored her cries and pushed himself up back to his feet.
"You're right. Let's stop playing games."
A new wave of determination shone on Knight's blue eyes. The way his strong gaze was filled with anger told the mysterious man that the easy round had long been over.
"I summon you, Demon of the Thousand Faces: Imitre and Demon Secret Art: Agrand!"
"Hai! Knight-sama." The girls greeted in unison.
Juvia never knew Knight could summon two demons at a time. She couldn't believe her eyes when a girl the height of Wendy and another with a cherry colored hair appeared before the demon-summoner. The leader of the Knights Templar, recognizing the progress in his target's powers, wasted no time and began his attack. It took Knight by surprise that when his attacker's left hand glided forward, instead of sending daggers his way, the mysterious man released hundreds of magical grenade. The purple-haired girl, who Juvia assumed to be Imitre, jumped in front of him to block the attack with an ice-shield familiar with the water-mage.
"Gray-sama's magic?"
The magical grenade exploded upon contact with the shield and was powerful enough to break the ice.
Juvia recognized this kind of magic. Just like one of Lucy's celestial spirits, Gemini, Imitre could mimic the abilities of others but with the addition of not needing to assume their physical appearances. But to what extent could the imitation demon copy one's magic capabilities? She did not know. Her attention was pulled by the sudden appearance of Imitre in possession of a long silver sword replicating one of Erza Scarlet's.
"And Erza-san's too?"
Knight did not need to voice out the magic he wanted to reproduce. He shared a telepathic sense with his demons so the latter would be able to take action without consulting their master, just by reading his thoughts. The demon-summoner completed his combination attack with Agrand's Amplify Magic.
"Amplify Magic: Excelsior!"
A group of swords began to circle the imitation demon and spun in a disc formation. With the requip mage's infamous attack command, the blades launched at the enemy.
"Dance, Titania's blades."
Only the sound of the mystery man's howling of defeat could be heard in the train and Juvia almost sympathized with him. The magical protective sphere had vanished and the people inside it were freed. The demon-summoner took measured steps towards the defeated mystery man. The latter lied on his stomach, too wounded to move but when he saw Knight a few inches from him, he feared for his life.
"Knight-sama!" Juvia called, trying to stop Knight from taking anymore action against the fallen man.
The mystery man slowly extended his hand to grab on the Fairy Tail mage. He looked up to the victor; a croaked plea for mercy escaped his cracked lips. But Knight van Cartier did not have any expression on his face. No remorse, no mercy. He stared down at his dishonored attacker and through the silence, the mystery man braced for his impending fate.
"What is your name?" Knight asked.
"S-S-Seneschal."
"Seneschal, make sure you get all of your comrades to seek medical attention."
Tears brimmed on the eyes of the Knight Templars' commander. When the demon-summoner turned to leave, he hugged his departing foot and clung to him.
"Thank you my Lord! You are very kind!"
"Get off me!"
There was still sunlight, albeit low, when Knight and Juvia returned to Magnolia. They were on foot, heading to Porlyusica's house as per Erza's instructions. The new member of the guild carried with him the asleep little toddler while Fairy Tail's water-mage lagged behind, wallowing in her own sorrow. Juvia hanged her head low in both shame and disappointment for not being useful during the fight in the train. Knight's reassuring words had not effect to her at all.
"Juvia, I told you it's alright. You were kind of out of it and you're tired."
"But what if it was Gray-sama? How can Juvia protect her beloved if she cannot protect even Knight-sama?"
Of course she was thinking about that. Knight thought.
"Like I said, you were out of it."
The demon-summoner noticed how the weather paralleled with Juvia's mood. The dark clouds rolled in on them and he told the water-mage to hurry. It was probably because of the atmosphere or the long way back that made the golden-haired boy appreciate the extra miles he had to take with his baby-sitter, Erza Scarlet, when coming back from a job. The silly and petty banters and the endless disagreements with the impatient woman made it non-monotonous. And seeing her twitch a nerve at his defiance was an added bonus.
Knight van Cartier stopped dead in his tracks and the sulking mage, so preoccupied of her internal battle, slammed against his back.
"Is Knight-sama alright?" Juvia asked, nursing her throbbing forehead. She didn't receive any reply from her companion and rushed in front of him to check.
"Knight-sama?" She nudged but the guy didn't budge. Juvia even flailed her hands in front of him to get his attention but he was frozen, transfixed. His face was pulled in an expression of both shock and disbelief.
The boy with the golden hair, who exuded regal air, could not believe the realization dawning upon him. Erza Scarlet? A woman who did not know the concept of mercy, who was as reckless as the pink-haired, idiot Natsu, who had no finesse, refinement or anything of the high-class maidens he was used to had grown on him.
"Geez! What took you so long?"
Knight looked for the owner of the voice and the maiden of his thoughts materialized in front of him. The rest of the team also appeared behind the requip mage simultaneously. He stopped the smile that almost formed on his lips and maintained it in a straight line. He also dismissed the warmth he suddenly felt in his chest and turned away from the group to hide his burning cheeks.
"Lucy and I could have been back in no time." The celestial mage hit the back of Natsu's head.
"That's not even possible with you around."
"It's Juvia's fault." Juvia said, disheartened.
"We got caught up." The new member did not like pointing fingers and most definitely did not want Juvia to take the full blame.
"Caught up with what?"
The voice came from the raven-haired boy at the furthest back of their circle. Gray made sure he sounded as casual and uninterested as possible.
"Something."
There was an edge to the demon-summoner's voice. To an outsider, it sounded like he was challenging the ice-mage and wanting to end the conversation with him at the same time. The silence that dawned upon them was filled with tension. Tension broken by a joyful laugh of a little angel.
Little Ultear had awoken from her great slumber and was already stirring in Knight's arms. She turned to the requip mage and extended her chubby little arms towards her in an open embrace.
"Mama!"
There was a collective gasp. Natsu popped out-of-nowhere, his eyes as big as saucers, and a tone with much accusation. "She called you mama!"
Albeit being mortified of the implications, Erza quickly recovered from her state of shock, put a fist on top Natsu's head and masked her blush with an angry expression. She then walked over to the equally surprised blonde mage and heeded Ultear's call.
"She didn't even deny it." Natsu nursed the bump on top of his head, care of Titania, while Lucy and the rest of his team picked up their jaws from the ground.
"Aye!"
Erza nestled little Ultear against her body and led the group to Porlyusica's house. It was rather a silent walk as the tension between Knight and Gray, although minimal, still hanged in the air. Little Ultear entertained herself by giggling at his 'Papa' who walked behind Erza. Occasionally reaching out to him and hiding her chubby hands away when he held out to her. It became an entertaining game to Ultear and a good distraction for the team.
When they reached the medicinal advisor's house she didn't invite them in. Instead, after taking the ingredients from Knight, Porlyusica slammed the door on his face. The old woman did not like humans that much and Lucy advised the new member not to take it personally. When she opened her door again, she shoved the newly brewed potion to their faces.
"Now stop disturbing me, you brats!" She slammed the door to their faces again.
Erza placed little Ultear on a table which conveniently happened to be there. She took the lavender-colored potion and let the uncoordinated toddler drink directly from the glass. Then, the requip mage backed-off, giving the drink sometime to work its aging magic. The team waited with anticipation. They heard her cute little chuckle through the white smog that started to envelop the little tot.
When the smog finally cleared up, seven jaws dropped. Seven pairs of eyes grew wide in shock. The rest of them were struck dumb while only Natsu voiced out what they were all thinking.
"Ah… a… a kid?!"
Author's Note
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