A/N: Yas! A new chapter!
I don't own Fairy Tail!
Please enjoy!
Chapter 6: Put Your Money on Me
February 10, X803
An alternative song began playing in a dimly lit room, hazy green curtains hanging over the large circular dorm room window cutting down on the amount of light coming through it. A mound of green and gray sheets and blankets slowly began to move. A hand snaked out of them, patting up and down along the bed until it smacked against the thing making noise.
Quinn's head popped out of the blankets to stare down at the silver laptop playing the music she used to indicate that someone was calling her via facetime. She yawned as she pushed the blankets down to her waist and opened the laptop. Her eye twitched upon seeing the stupid, smiling face flashing at her. Deciding it was better to answer now rather than let it ring for the next three hours, she clicked the button to connect them.
"What do you want, Laz?" she grumbled, pushing her messy hair out of her face.
Dark gray eyes stared back at her in disbelief, "You seriously got a picture with a cliff cat?!"
Quinn was certain that if the platinum blonde was in front of her, she would have punched him, "Why are you shouting? Yes, I took a picture with one. You saw it, right?"
"Yeah, but you could have photoshopped it!"
"Stop yelling!" she snapped, huffing in satisfaction when he went silent, "Why would I photoshop that picture? And I swear if you say to beat Jace in our competition I will come down to Rainbow Serpent and punch you."
There was nothing but silence for an answer.
"You asshole!" she shouted, reaching to end the call.
"Wait! I'm sorry! It's just that it seemed unbelievable. Those things can be real nasty."
"Yeah, well it was real. Just as real as the ram and wyvern we had to fight at the same time with it."
"We? Who'd you go on a mission with? Was it those two idiots you always hang around with?"
"Like you have room to talk," she said with an eye roll before moving into a stretch.
"Just let me come up there and meet them already! I'll see just how competent they are to be teammates with you!"
"What did I say about yelling!"
"What do you think you're do-"
Quinn quirked an eyebrow when he stopped talking, "Laz?"
A dusting of red suddenly appeared on his cheeks before he looked upwards, "You could at least be decent when I call."
Quinn looked down to see that one of her tank top straps had fallen off her shoulders, but all that could be seen was bare shoulder. Her eye twitched again, "Oh, grow the hell up! It's your fault for calling me at…" she looked down at the clock on her computer, her eyes going wide in anger, "AT EIGHT IN THE FUCKING MORNING! GOODBYE, LAZARUS!"
She saw him cringe before she shut her laptop. She was certain that he would not call her for the next few days at least. She had used his full name, and she only did that when she was really pissed off at him.
"He really should have known better than to call me so damn early," she said with a huff before turning to her window and throwing open the curtains. It was doubtful that she was going back to sleep now.
The wintery scene before her made her mood lift slightly. She moved to sit in the window. She had covered the large carved out circle in pillows and blankets, creating a comfortable outlet for her to sit and relax in.
Everything outside the window was covered in glistening snow. The roads, the town, everything. While she did admit to enjoying the autumn months more, winter had that picturesque vibe to it, especially in Wintergreen. Her hometown of Crocus had winter, but it was nothing like what laid before her now, and it often brought out the child in her and had her staring at it in awe.
With that thought in mind, Quinn turned away from the window, deciding to get ready for the day. Angelo would be awake by now to serve the members of the guild breakfast and she figured a cold, snowy morning deserved a nice, hot breakfast.
After quickly getting ready, she stopped by one of her bookshelves that covered her room. She scanned over the titles for a moment before pulling out one by her favorite author – Kameron Parker. It was the first in his Mardius the Mage Knight series, Quinn feeling like it was about time she re-read that series again.
She made her way out of her room after that. Upon entering the dorm hallway, she was surprised to see another face staring back at her. Outside the door next to her room stood Zander, his dark blue eyes giving her an unamused stare.
"What's with that look? And why are you up so early?"
"Oh, I don't know," he grumbled, "Something about it being eight in the morning and goodbye Lazarus."
Quinn laughed nervously, "Ah, so you heard that?"
"Pretty sure the whole floor heard it."
"Why not just go back to sleep?"
"Kinda hard to do when it jolts you awake and causes you to fall out of bed."
Quinn only laughed nervously again, "Well, why don't you join me for breakfast?"
"You paying?"
Quinn felt her eye twitch again. She had to wonder how she traded one idiot for another when she left home to join Thunder Stone. It was more like five other idiots if she counted her whole team. She promptly turned on her heels and began making her way towards the elevator that sat in the middle of the guild.
Zander smirked before moving to catch up with her, "Quinnie, wait up."
"If you're trying to butter me up, you're doing a poor job of it!" she said as she smashed the button to call the elevator up to their floor.
"You're gonna get the button stuck…again."
She quickly yanked his beanie down over his eyes in response.
"Tch, can't you just punch me like everyone else?" he asked, irritated that he now had to fix his beanie back into place.
"No," she answered, now being the one smirking as she stepped into the opening elevator, "You get more irritated this way."
Zander pulled off his beanie, freeing the mop of dark red hair under it. He looked up while running a hand through his hair to slick it back just in time to see Quinn stick her tongue out at him before the elevator doors closed.
She grinned the entire way down and into the Thunderdome. As she entered the bar, her eyes landed on Walker who sat at one of the bar stools, talking with Angelo.
"Ah! Good morning, Quinn!" Angelo said with a beaming smile, "Though, I wasn't expecting you so early!"
"Yeah, well, I was woken up by an idiot," she said, taking a seat next to Walker, who smiled at her as well.
"Was it the same one you shouted at because it was eight in the morning?"
She sighed, "You heard that too?"
"Of course, the entire floor probably heard it," Walker said with a laugh before taking a large bite of the waffles that sat in front of him.
Quinn eyed the fluffy, syrup covered food before looking back up at Walker, "Did you lose another challenge against Angelo?"
"Yeah, but totally worth it! You know his food is the best!"
"Would you like to take the challenge today?" Angelo asked.
"Actually, how about a bet on that challenge?"
They all turned to see Zander standing behind them, his beanie back in perfect place. He took a seat on the other side of Quinn, nodding a quick greeting towards Walker and Angelo.
"What would this bet be?" Quinn asked.
"The person whose meal that Angelo gets right first will have to pay for both meals."
Quinn looked thoughtful for a moment before sticking her hand out to the redhead, "Deal."
He shook her hand in return before looking over at Angelo, "You ready?"
"Of course!" the bartender answered, glancing between the two.
The trio went silent while Walker ate and watched the interaction. Angelo simply smiled at the pair while they both wore concentrated looks on their faces. They had many challenges with Angelo and his mind reading abilities to pick up on a few tricks to keep his mind at bay from what they were really thinking, but it would only be a matter of time before one of them slipped and he figured out what they were wanting for breakfast.
The trio stayed that way for a few minutes before Angelo had a knowing glimmer in his eyes. They knew one of them had messed up as he turned to enter the kitchen that was attached to the bar. It was another twenty minutes before he returned with a covered platter. Quinn and Zander stared down the silver dome covering the food, each hoping it was the other's dish.
Angelo uncovered the food in a dramatic pose to reveal a steaming bowl of miso ramen with a sliced pork cutlet on top of it.
"Ha! You lose!" Quinn said, looking over at Zander with a victorious grin.
"Dammit," the redhead grumbled as he took the bowl of food.
"How do you always manage to last so long against him?" Walker asked.
"That's my secret!" Quinn answered. Honestly, she found it easy to evade Angelo's probing mind long enough to beat someone in a challenge like this. All she had to do was go through each of Kameron Parker's novels. She would name the title in her head, when it published, and go over a brief synopsis. With the author having thirty-five novels out currently, it was not hard for her to find ammo against Angelo.
"You never let these boys win," Angelo said as he set down a fresh mug of black coffee in front of her.
"Definitely not! I'm not gonna go easy on them, and especially not when there's a free meal on the line," she said, "But you do know what I want, right?"
"Biscuits and gravy coming right up!"
"Thanks for breakfast, Zander," she said, turning a cheeky smile towards him when Angelo had disappeared into the kitchen.
"Yeah, well, don't get used to it. You'll lose one of these days."
The trio settled into their usual comfortable atmosphere after that. Zander and Walker spoke about their previous mission and possible upcoming missions with Quinn commenting on things every now and then between reading and eating breakfast.
It was during this moment that Milada approached them, with Cline in tow.
"Good morning, you three. It's quite surprising to see you all up so early."
"Well someone thought it was a good idea to answer an early call from an idiot," Zander said as he pushed his empty bowl away from him and turned to face Milada. Zander had never met Lazarus, but he was already certain that he'd find the man annoying when he did.
Quinn only rolled her eyes in response as she and Walker also turned to face Milada, "Morning," she said with a soft smile, "Is there something we can help you with?"
"Yes, there is," Milada said, "This is Cline Downey and he came asking for our help. Normally, I'd take his request on my own, but it's a bit of a mystery and I thought getting some help this time around might be good."
"What's his request?" Walker asked.
"People from his village in Larkspur have been disappearing and the people in his village are afraid to ask for help, so he decided to do it for them instead. There's not much to go on, but after five people gone missing it seems like something to look into."
"We were actually just talking about some possible missions to take," Walker said.
"And it sounds like you could use some extra hands on this mission to help out," Zander added.
"Thank you, boys, but I was actually hoping to just take Quinn with me this time," Milada said, smiling at the young woman in the middle of the trio.
"Just me?" Quinn questioned, "Why just me? Wouldn't it be better to have more hands on a mission like this?"
"I used to take your brother on missions with me before he became S-Class and it was good experience for him. Plus, you and I haven't spent some time together for a while and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to fix that," Milada said, "And we are just going there to check things out and see if we can figure anything out. If it becomes too much to handle for the two of us, we can call in for back up."
"When would we leave?"
"In the next day or two. I wanted to give Cline some time to rest from his journey here and for us to get ready for the mission."
"And how much does it pay?"
"We haven't quite decided on that. He tried to give me his own money, but I feel payment should come from the mayor himself. I can explain more on that later. Do you want to come with me?"
Quinn weighed her options. If she stayed at the guild and took another mission from the board, she'd be guaranteed money, but probably not much, especially if the whole team went and they had to split the reward. If she went with Milada, there was no set price on reward, but the look in Milada's eyes told her that she'd make sure the mayor would pay up. Then there was the bonus of mystery to the mission.
"Yeah, alright, I'll go with you."
"Great! Be ready to go in a couple of days. We'll be leaving early and make sure to pack warm."
"Got it."
"Why don't we get you some breakfast now, Cline," Milada said, looking down next to her only to see a now blank spot where the teen had previously been standing.
"Yeah, the kid that was with you walked over to Samuel's table and left with him, Rey, and Raina," Walker said.
"Oh no…" Milada said, thinking of the quiet teen mixed with the boisterous Samuel.
"And isn't this about the time they usually go out for morning practice?" Zander asked.
"Dear god!" Milada said before running out of the bar.
"Poor kid, he didn't even make it past his teen years," Walker said before the trio turned back around to face the bar and Angelo.
. : + : .
"Are you sure about this?" Cline asked.
He had already been made to climb a rather steep and dangerous pathway up to a large arena far above the guild and town. He had spied a safe-looking lift before their ascent, but the trio he was with had refused him to use it.
"It'll build strength and character for you to walk the same path we do!" Samuel had said.
"I'm not even a mage!"
"That makes no difference!"
After feeling like he was going to puke up his heart and lungs after the climb up to the arena, Samuel had moved him to the center of it and placed an apple in each of his hands and one on the top of his head. The apples were targets and all he had to do was stay still.
"Don't worry so much," Rey said, Cline having learned that he was the nephew of Samuel on their climb up. The young teen worried over the feral glint in Rey's dark eyes, "You just need to stand right there. No moving. No flinching."
"Even a flinch could get you a nice looking scar," Raina said, Cline also learning she was Rey's older sister. She also held a glint in her eyes that worried Cline as she lifted up her arm to show a faded scar on it, "Got mine was I was much younger than you for flinching. But it's not all bad, you know."
"Scars attract the ladies," Rey said with a smirk.
"Or the men, if that's what you prefer," Raina added with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
"I prefer not to die!"
"Is that all you're worried about?" Samuel asked, stepping in between his niece and nephew. A huge grin that did nothing to calm down Cline in the slightest was plastered across his face, "We're simply going to slice the apples in your hands and on your head. It's child's play really, but it teaches precision!"
"Just no flinching," Rey and Raina said, again with smiles that only caused Cline's heartrate to rise.
"This will be over quickly," Samuel said. His bright blue eyes changed to glowing red when he placed his black helmet on, and Cline was certain those shining orbs would be stuck in his mind long after this exercise was done with.
Cline then saw Rey and Raina preparing for an attack on the apples as well, shadow swirling around Rey while green lightning was popping along Raina's arms.
'I'm gonna die!' Cline thought as he watched the huge frame of Samuel beginning to charge towards him with his niece and nephew following closely behind him. Cline squeezed his eyes closed, waiting to be taken out by a strike of lightning or being swallowed up in shadow or being smashed to death by black armor.
"STOP!"
To Cline's surprise and relief, Milada came to his rescue, the black-haired woman standing directly in front of him. Raina easily came to a quick stop upon hearing and seeing Milada, but Samuel and Rey did not act as fast.
Samuel attempted to come to a halt, but his body continued forward by his previous momentum and magic added into that. Milada threw out a hand towards him, and what happened next was hard for Cline to explain. It was like an invisible force hit the hulking man, his body lurching forward hard. His feet came to a slow sliding stop before being forced backwards, a painful expression on Samuel's face as he was stopped and sent backwards. When it seemed certain that Samuel would no longer move forward towards Cline, Milada dropped her hand from his direction before quickly turning it on the last of the trio.
Rey was much quicker than Samuel and had easily sunk into the shadows to help him move smoothly and silently. He was a foot away from Cline and the apple he was about to slice with a shadow blade when he felt the tight aching pain in his entire body that he knew could only come from Milada. Victory had been so close as he was suddenly ripped away from it, being slung across the arena by a hidden, painful force. He landed hard on the rocky surface of the arena, rolling onto his back and letting the ache seep out of his body.
Heavy pants came from both Samuel and Rey, Raina moving to her uncle's side to make sure he was alright while Milada made her way over to Rey.
"Damn," Rey mumbled as he took the hand that Milada offered him.
"I told you to stop," she said as she tugged him to his feet.
"But did you have to be so aggressive with throwing me across the arena?"
"I did when you're trying to use my client as target practice."
"All he had to do was hold some apples and not flinch."
Milada rolled her eyes as she turned towards Samuel, "You should have known better."
"The boy seemed excited about seeing us practice," Samuel said as he rubbed his head to sooth the ache still lingering, "It only seemed right to let him join as well. It would have added character to him!"
"You mean scars," Milada said with a sigh, "You'll need to find someone else to use. Cline will be going back to Larkspur with me in one piece."
"But he's such a perfect height!"
"I will not hesitate to manipulate your skeleton all across this arena, Samuel," she said, her green eyes dark and fierce.
Samuel let out a heavy sigh upon seeing the look in her eyes, knowing he was in a losing battle, "Alright, you can take the boy back to the guild."
Milada nodded at him as she turned to Cline, who had already dropped all the apples to the ground, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, but I'd like to get out of this arena now."
"Of course," Milada smiled gently. She then turned back to Samuel, "Cline will be here for the next day or two before we head out to his village. Until then, he is not to be used in any of your practices."
"Yes, I promise!" Samuel said, "Though, have you found a mage to go with you to Larkspur? If not, I believe it would be good practice for Rey. He could use some help in listening to orders."
"What the hell, uncle?! You didn't stop either when she told you to!"
"Correction!" Samuel said, "I did try to stop. You just kept going forward. You need to work on your listening skills and knowing when to follow orders."
"I have found someone to go with me," Milada interrupted them.
She thought about her trip with Quinn and how much she was looking forward to it, but Samuel had a point. She could mentor two mages at once during the mission and Rey's shadow abilities would come in handy as well. And as a bonus, both Rey and Quinn would learn a thing or two about teamwork during the mission. While they both worked well with the teams they were on, they had a hard time working with other teams and especially each other. It was a learning experience for them that Milada could not ignore.
She let out a small sigh before continuing, "But I think you're right. Bringing Rey with us has quite a number of pros and he'd get some major experience out of it."
"Great!" Samuel said, "You heard her! Go get prepared for this mission!"
Rey rolled his eyes in response but knew better than to try and argue with Samuel. Sometimes it was just easier to comply with his orders. He looked over at Milada, "Who's the other person coming with us?"
"You'll find out when we leave," Milada answered, knowing that if she told him now that he would find a way to back out of the mission, "Just be ready in two days."
Rey eyed her for a moment longer before letting out a huff, "Fine."
Milada smiled and nodded at Samuel as she ushered Cline after a sulking Rey, all three of them making their way over to the lift that Milada had taken up to the battle arena.
Cline looked between the smiling Milada and scowling Rey, wondering if he was going to be able to survive the mismatched team that would be helping him.
A/N: And there we are! I hope you all enjoyed it.
Credits
Lazarus Ryker - MyDearWatson
Rey and Raina Steele – Benthino
I really enjoyed writing this chapter once I got myself unstuck from what I wanted to do for this chapter. Sorry it took me a bit, but at least I got it all figured out. Hopefully it won't take me so long for the next update.
Anyways, thanks for all your reviews, favorites/follows, and PMs! They made me happy as always! I really do enjoy reading them all!
Song Inspiration: Put Your Money on Me by The Struts
There's really not much else to say this time, at least I can't think of anything right now.
So then, until next chapter!
Yours Truly,
MyDearWatson