Author's Note: Chapter Five! This may be the longest chapter in the story...Idk exactly. It was fun because I got to use more characters from the guild.
Also, I do not own Fairy Tail.
Chapter Five - Fun with the Guild
The next day, the members of Team Natsu and the other guild mates began to head back to Magnolia. It would appear that Nigel ran out of tasks for them to complete, and told them he would seek their help later that week.
"Man that Nigel turned out to be pretty cool! I hope he takes our invitation and shows up for the Guild pool party later this week. I wanna show him my Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu shouted out with excitement at the thought of being able to work with Nigel and teach him some new spells.
"I'm sure he'll consider it." Responded Gray. "Although, its kinda funny Cana chose to stay back with him for another day."
"Yes, it appears they hit it off quite nicely." Carla commented with a raised eyebrow. "I hope she knows what she's getting herself into."
Lucy interrupted without letting the judgement go any further. "I'm sure they'll have a great time. After all they both seem to enjoy drinking, so they do have that in common. What's even better is the reward we're set to have after we finish up!"
Gajeel commented on that note. "Yea, but I'm kinda pissed off that he couldn't just go ahead and give us part of the money now. That was some load of work yesterday!"
"Indeed." Erza replied. "But there's no reason to be angry. Nigel appears to be true to his word. Besides he was nice enough to give us dinner and a place to sleep."
"No kidding! Wendy chimed in with a quick reply. "Those bunk houses actually turned out to be pretty nice, and we each got our own bed!"
Natsu agreed in relief after his stomach started getting upset."Yea I'm just glad they were on the dock and not on that boat!" After a while I could feel my Troia spell wearing off."
Eventually, they all made it back to Magnolia and headed in to the guild and their homes for a relaxing evening after a long morning's travel.
When they finally woke up, the entire guild began to fill with excitement as they prepared for their last pool party of the summer.
"Finally, we get to have a guild-wide pool party, without having to worry about everyone being out on jobs!"
Lucy spoke openly with relief as she just left her bathroom from changing into her white and pink swimsuit. She headed towards the door with Natsu in his fiery red swim trunks, and Happy sporting a new pair of green trunks and a new green swim cap following right behind her.
"No kidding!" Natsu agreed as he held a bag of chips from her kitchen in his hands. "I've been looking forward to this ever since Mira suggested it. I hear Gildarts may even show up! That Ol' Geezer hasn't been around since we left for the Grand Magic Games!"
"Yea, I can't wait to show off my new swim cap!" Happy shouted in excitement as he gave his head a quick glance in the mirror heading out the door. "Carla's gonna love it! I just know she will!"
As they made it to the guild, the group of three noticed the back yard was buzzing with energy, but there weren't many people in the pool.
Confused, Lucy looked to Levy, Jet, and Droy, who were floating around in the pool wearing their normal swim attire. "Hey guys, why is everyone over at the bar and not in the water?"
"Oh it's because that Nigel guy decided to come by for a visit!" Levy gave Lucy a smile and pointed over towards the end of the pool "I wanted to see him, but it got kinda crowded. So the three of us just decided to jump in."
"Yea, he seems to be the real deal." Jet added on as he laid back in a float and relieved a breath of air.
"Yea, I guess him and Cana have been spending the past few days together. Maybe she'll talk him into donating money to the guild!" Droy suggested as he took a sip from a topical drink. "We can always use the cash whenever we break things around the hall!
"That would be amazing!" Lucy added on. "but we can't expect him to fork over all his money to some wizard guild he just met." She turned to address Natsu, but he wasn't standing there anymore.
"Natsu?" She said in confusion as she tried looking for her missing friend.
"Lucy jump in! The water's amazing!" Happy suggested as he was now enjoying the water inside a yellow swimming tube.
"Um...yea, why not?" She shouted and ignored her previous thought as she jumped in to join her guild mates.
Meanwhile, Natsu began to make his way towards the bar, but stopped to talk with Gray and Juvia on the outside of the huddle. Gray was wearing black swim trunks, while Juvia wore her regular purple and white swimsuit.
"Hey guys what's the deal here? The pool's that way!" He yelled as he pointed to the water. "I came to have a party not stare at a crowd of people!"
"Calm down Natsu, everyone is just trying to meet Nigel. After all he did just get here." Gray explained the situation while also trying to calm Natsu down.
"So he decided to show up, huh? Hehe, look at these vultures trying to act all friendly to see him. They probably just want a loan!" Natsu said while laughing as he collected the scene altogether.
"I'm not sure, but it appears that he's quit the social fellow." Juvia commented with a serious smile before losing her mind and grabbing a hold of Gray's arm. "At least that's what my hunk, Gray told me! Isn't it, my love?"
"Yea, sure." He made no effort to seriously reply. "Anyway it looks like he's really hitting it off with everyone."
Natsu peaked over the crowd. "Huh, no kidding! Good for us I guess. Landing a rich donor like that means more money for us!"
Inside the huddled mass at the bar, Nigel, who was dressed in a white button up shirt and dark blue swim shorts, appeared to be entertaining a crowd that consisted of a large portion of the guild. This included the regular bar hawks Makarov, Mirajane, Kinana, Macao, Wakaba, and Cana, along with several other faces including Erza, Laxus, Freed, Gajeel, Lily and Lisanna (who all seemed to be wearing their usual swim attire as well.)
While sitting at the bar, the resident guest appeared to have a projection similar to that of Archive Magic out in view for his hosts. This projection, however, seemed to be a map of sorts, and he had them all focus in on regions around the continent of Ishgar.
"So basically when you get all the way over here it's pretty much just sheets of ice. Not the best place to travel. As a result we have to claim ports along these coasts in order to spread out our businesses, without having to rely on that icy sea shelf."
They all seemed amused and intrigued. Following his presentation, Erza responded. "So what exactly do those regions have to offer for Fiore? I was under the impression this kingdom had a large amount of our own valuable resources."
He explained in his reply. "Well it's pretty much just supply and demand at this point. Certain clients and businessmen want different materials or goods, so we have to be open to shipping out units all over the continent."
Freed made a comment on the explanation. "So are these gentlemen really that greedy with their demands?"
Nigel laughed and grabbed his drink. "To be completely honest most of them are asses. But for the most part we have to cooperate with whoever it is just to shut them up. We sorta have a monopoly on the continent's shipping, so it not like they have any other large spread options."
Makarov scratched his chin. "Impressive. You truly seem to have a complete grip on the world's trading economy. I'm glad you decided to open up shop so close to Magnolia. With your expansion into Hargeon I imagine the region will begin to experience some growth over the next few years?"
Nigel replied with a smile. "That's what I'm hoping for. When I first moved to Fiore I got one of my first dock working jobs down at Hargeon. That's what led me to traveling up north to begin business training at Acalypha. I have a lot of connections in this region of the kingdom and I was hoping to begin some growth."
He smiled faintly as he took a sip from his drink. "Not to mention my love for you all. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't rooting for Fairy Tail in those Grand Magic Games."
Makarov smiled with satisfaction. "Well we're glad we could make you a fan of our work. You appear to be quite the magician yourself."
"Yea, he knows all kinds of different spells." Cana said as she sat on the bar stool right beside him in a bright red swimsuit. "I lost count after the first 30 he told us."
Gajeel interjected. "Yea you shoulda seen some of his spells the other night! The guy knows how to use fusion magic."
Laxus Dreyar looked amused as he sat on the corner of the group. "Ooh, you don't say? Well lets here an explanation."
Nigel began to explain the concept of fusion spells and Prism Magic to the group. Everyone seemed to enjoy the conversation, and eventually lost track of time. Over the course of the afternoon everyone at the party was starting to enjoy themselves with food, drinks, music, and the fun at the pool.
It was here that Lucy headed into the guild hall for a break in the action.
"Man. Why can't they just fix the bathrooms outside? We just got all that new money and everything..." She complained to herself as she exited the restrooms and entered the main hall. The blonde began to head back outside when she noticed Nigel and Mira were also inside looking through the cabinets in the indoor bar. They appeared to be gathering more bottles for the guests outside.
"Jeeze, Mira. You realize how long some of these bottles have been aging for? These could be worth a fortune!" Nigel exclaimed as he read the labels on two bottles in each hand.
"Well Nigel, as you can see our guild master is quite the fan of drinking and celebrating. It only makes sense that he would keep a prime collection in storage." Mira held in a giggle, but enjoyed seeing Nigel's enthusiasm none the less.
"Yea I guess so…Cana mentioned you all enjoy your drinking but my god, I think I've died and gone to heaven!" He took the bottles and shut the cabinet doors behind him.
"Haha, Well coming from any visitor that's quite the compliment! I'll go ahead and bring these ones outside. You can keep browsing if you'd like." She took his selections and left for the other outside door.
Lucy laughed from the other side of the bar and yelled over to the lone Nigel. "Well I see you've made yourself right at home!"
Nigel looked over and smiled back once he noticed who it was. "Lucy! It's good to see you again. I didn't notice you were there." He waited until she made it over to the bar to finish. "Are they always this chatty?" He asked while laughing as they could both hear the ruckus outside.
Lucy smiled and looked amused but embarrassed. "Well let's just say they're a very animated bunch. Hey Nigel can I ask you a question?"
Nigel grinned and gave her his attention. "Sure, but let me guess...It's about your father isn't it?"
She nodded. "I was just wondering what he was like over those seven years? Since I never got to see him I've always been curious...I-I heard a few things back before the Games started, but I'm not sure what all was truth and what all wasn't."
Nigel grabbed the last few bottles and walked with Lucy toward the door. "You're father was practically my mentor. Sure at times he came off rather serious and a little hard to read, but after we got to know each other he really helped me learn the practicalities of business."
She smiled, while he continued. "He was also very caring when it came to you and you mother. He had pictures of you guys all over his office, and I even found out he kept trying to pay your rent here in Magnolia as each year passed."
She beamed with relief and replied. "Yea I knew he did that. It's nice to know he kept busy over those years."
Nigel smiled and opened the door to the outside. "Well Lucy I'm glad I could help. It's nice to finally meet you, and this group of goofy wizards!"
As they exited the building, the group from the bar yelled over to get his attention. "Hey Nigel! Get over Here!"
As he dragged himself towards the bar, he looked back towards Lucy with a confused look on his face. She looked to see who it was that was new to the group, and followed with a laugh and quickly responded.
"Be extra careful!" She explained as the now confused business man was quickly being led to mystery.
Over near the bar, a new face entered the fray. Sitting next to Laxus and Master Makerov was none other than Fairy Tail's Ace, and Cana's father, Gildarts Clive, who had just joined the party (but wasn't wearing a swimsuit.)
"Hey Dad!" Cana tried shouting out. "Nigel's here! He's our new rich friend from Hargeon!"
Makarov sat up and reminded himself of the new addition. "Oh that is right! Erh, Nigel this is..."
"…Gildarts Clive." Nigel finished his sentence for him, and smiled as he stuck out his hand. "I've heard that name more than once in my life."
Gildarts looked to Nigel with a serious expression on his face, and never took the hand shake. "Oh so I hear you're the one pumping drinks into my daughter the other night?"
Nigel was nearly left in fear, but stayed quick in his response. "We unless you count the one's she fed herself, then yea that might be me."
Gildarts stood up, and immediately hugged Nigel while laughing. "Well I'll be! Glad to meet ya! Happy to see the guild was able to bring in such a famous drinker!"
"Well my reputation is wide spread, but I guess my social life is as well." Nigel laughed as he was being let go. "When you deal with boats you're bound to own a nice one with a bar on it."
"We'll let's sit down and continue talking about that magic of yours." Gildarts directed Nigel to his original seat at the bar. "These guys tell me it's quite the trick! Maybe you'll even know a Crash spell or two!"
As the day wound down everyone seemed to slowly leave the guild hall and pool, with the exception of members from Team Natsu, along with Mirajane and Lisanna. They were all sitting at the inside bar of the guild hall as the Strauss sisters began cleaning up the inside mess left over from the festivities.
"Boy that party was something else! Why don't we do that more often?" Natsu made a case to his fellow guild mates as the others sat around him.
Mira was the first to answer. "Well it's really hard to organize something like that with everyone going off on their own jobs. People have really gotten busy since we've won the Games."
"Yea not to mention guys like Gildarts and Laxus sticking around for everyone to see is pretty rare. It was great that they showed up in the end." Lisanna added on after realizing the full guild was in attendance today.
"Yea we had the whole gang here!" Natsu pointed out as well. "Not to mention Nigel even stopped by to see everyone."
"Yea. Can you believe him and Cana are still hanging out?" Happy asked as he began to chuckle." It's kinda' funny if you ask me. They ran right off to Hargeon the moment the party ended!"
"I don't know if it's really that big of a deal." Lucy point out. "They're both just very lively, not to mention they both love to drink...a lot."
"I don't know…she did introduce him to her father." Erza suggested. "That has to follow some form of relationship protocol doesn't it?"
"Actually, I think the master did that..." Lucy pondered with discomfort, but then laughed it off as Erza was all ready off in her own thoughts.
Wendy interjected. "Either way, I'm just glad he gets along with everyone! He's been really friendly so far!"
Gray added on while finishing his drink. "Yea and maybe he'll give us more money as a bonus if we keep inviting him to our guild parties! The dude's probably looking to donate to the guild since he loves us so freakin much."
They laughed at that honest remark and quickly ended their conversation. Eventually the whole gang left for the night, and began packing their things for the next day, where they would begin another rewarding shift at the docks of Hargeon.
Meanwhile, later that night on the outer docks of Port Hargeon…
"Just go grab those ropes and undo all those mooring lines. We gotta get these ships outta here!"
"Yea the boss was pretty specific. He demanded one of these fancy new ships for his experiments."
"You think we could sail one of these things all the way to Oasis? I bet we'll make it no problem!"
"Are you kidding me? These things are built to sail half way around the world! We can take a few of them if he wants!"
"Don't get too cocky, we don't have a ton of men here. We still need to sail the damn things which takes a lot of guys on deck. Just grab those ships at the edge of the docks and sail 'em down south."
"Man we sure did luck out, there's no one here!"
"Keep your damn voice down! As far as everyone else is concerned we're simple dock workers! We're just lucky this dock's is brand new. Keep going and we'll be outta here within the hour."
Uh-oh...there's suspicious activity afoot!
From this point on, this is where the story starts to turn into your typical Fairy Tail story arc. Chapters Six next.