Chapter 9: predicaments
Inside the Fairy Tail guild Ryu watched the usual routine of his family. A natural time of conversations with everyone enjoying their being in the crowd
Then the natural brawl of Natsu making a mess of thimgs with Gray followed by everyone for the next moment
He smiled at how carefree everyone is before ducking from the random plates thrown his way
'Oh you guys...' he shook his head when Makarov stepped using his titan magic forcing the mages to stop instantly and stomp on the fire dragonslayer for making the ruckus
"I see that you have enjoyed the show" Mira smiled as she placed Ryu's order on the counter
"I did" the rider nodded as he ate his food "I'm more surprised that you actually have the energy to serve everyone here"
"Oh don't worry about me Ryu" the female Strauss giggled "some of them helped me with work voluntarily"
"Which got me wondering" he hummed "how can you handle the attention thanks to being the top wanted model in Sorcerer's Weekly?"
"It was hard to believe at first" she replied "but over time I was able to handle their advances"
"Your beauty alone must be considered deadly if you had been modeling for years" Ryu lightly teased
Mirajane had to cover her mouth to stop as she went into a giggle fit at his words since that line usually got the guys sent to the hospital back in her teenage years at the starting model career
"Hold it right there!" Elfman's voice roared
The rider moved to the side avoiding the guy's fist aimed at his head making the muscled man stumble a bit at his missed attack
"Did I do something to anger you Elfman?"
"Yeah you did!" the beast soul mage pointed at Ryu "it's unmanly to flirt with my sister!"
"I did no such thing" the rider raised his arms in defense "I'm merely exchanging words with her, that's all..."
"A likely story..." the guy growled ready to make another punch
The rest of the guild watched curiously since Natsu was always picking a fight with Ryu and the guy was always on the floor laughing hysterically for a few minutes. How will he handle Elfman Strauss?
Mira was about to stop her brother but, one look at Ryu's smiling face, stopped and the fist was halted with the rider's hand grasping his large hand
"I can understand that you're protecting Mirajane from guys who would take advantage of her" Ryu hummed "but I doubt my interactions with your sister would be suspicious enough for you to attack me"
"Yeah right!" the male Strauss grunted trying to push his fist forward "you just wanted sis to-!"
Elfman's words stopped upon feeling a sudden chill in his spine. Gulping a bit he turned to see his sister smiling menacingly at him
"Elfman..." she spoke as her demonic aura flowed throughout the guild "please don't hurt Ryu"
"But I-!" the beast soul mage tried to reason out
"He has made us feel good ever since joining our guild" she pressed as her scary aura moved toward her brother "and for you to jump on him like that..."
Elfman and the rest of the guild, minus Ryu, shivered in fright seeing the beautiful Mirajane Strauss become a bit of her past self
The Demon of Fairy Tail
'So this is who you are back then...' Ryu thought after letting go of Elfman's fist as the guy was unable to shake off the fear in him 'Makarov must've had a hard time paying the damage when when you and Erza battled like Natsu and Gray'
After most of the Fairy Tail Mages calmed down from Mira's sudden fury. She quickly apologized to Ryu for that and he simply waved it off saying that he was glad to see a glimpse of the S-class power he heard about from the others in the guild
Making the barmaid relieved and happy at the same time then she was internally surprised at her own thoughts
Along with the other mages in the guild...
'I don't know whether Ryu should be lucky or unlucky in our guild' was their thought at seeing his interactions inside the building
On one hand, he didn't cause the usual ruckus they were really familiar with Natsu jumping him
But on the other... the guy was at point blank range of feeling the demonic aura Mirajane flushed out as she scolded her brother for his jumpy conclusions
Ryu went out of the guild, deciding to not do a job for the moment and wander around Magnolia Town and have some fresh air
"Juvia is pretty shy when it comes to romance" he chuckled at the water mage's mumbling when she asked about her love interest Gray Fullbuster "Then again, that guy was the first person that showed her warmth"
His thoughts stopped when he bumped into someone
"Sorry Ryu" a male voice apologized
The rider got his bearings and saw a familiar hair of orange
"Loke?" he blinked "why looking so glum?"
"..." the ring mage stayed quiet since his recent interaction with the blonde celestial mage made him look stupid
He looked to Ryu "just... having a little problem with Lucy"
"Is this about her having celestial spirits?"
Loke went stiff and looked at the rider with wide eyes at his words
"Mira told me about your first interaction when Lucy joined the guild" the rider crossed his arms and sighed "look, I know it isn't my business to pry on your personal life, Lucy is not the type of mage to abuse her magic"
Ryu placed his hand on Loke's shoulder "if you don't at least interact with her yourself" he sighed "then you'll end up just drowning in your doubts"
After an hour of walking, Ryu went back to guild and saw it messed up. Well... not the typical mess that it usually has with Mira doing her usual routine of cleaning up and Makarov drinking his beer mug to cope with the recent mess while the rest of the members groaned at going, or more likely pulled, in the mess
"Yeesh" the rider walked through the broken door and looked around "looks like the culprit or culprits came and left the crime scene"
"It's fine" the barmaid smiled "at least the door is the only one broken this time"
"Maybe I should help clean up the mess" he said picking up a flipped over table
"Oh you don't have to do this" Mira shook her head
"Oh I insist" Ryu argued "after hearing you have a second job, you're going to need a bit of rest if modeling requires you to change into different outfits"
"Oh you" Mira giggled feeling a bit flattered that there was someone in the guild with the personality of a gentleman "I'm surprised that there aren't women following you like Loke"
"I don't take rewards for granted" was his simple answer
Making the elder Strauss member smile warmly 'it's almost like you are meant to be part of our guild'
Meanwhile Team Natsu was in Spa Town Hosenka having a nice relaxing moment in the hot spring after completing their mission today
However Lucy wasn't enjoying much of the relaxation thanks to Natsu and Gray's rough housing which got Erza to jump in and all three of them threw their pillows at each other with a few hitting the celestial mage sending the poor girl crashing outside
"When will there be a time of actual relaxing?" the celestial mage whimpered
Behind a rock Juvia peeked out and saw her beloved looking love dazed as usual
'Oh Gray...' she thought lovingly 'even though big brother told Juvia to control her feelings' she looked at the ice mage pressing his pillow on Naasu's head while Erza did the same on his 'she can't stop feeling this way at seeing her lover'
In another part of the town Ryu was enjoying his moment in the hotspring alone
"Mmm!" he stretched a bit feeling the soaking warmth around him "I should've asked Mira about this place a while ago! This place is wonderful!"
He then recounted some of his interactions with his fellows of Fairy Tail
FLASHBACK
Ryu looked around the guild seeing the hustle and bustle around. He decided to... mingle with his fellows and see if he could learn what type of magic they use in their lives
And his sights landed on a particular group of mages...
Team Shadow Gear with the leader reading her book like always
"Hey Levy!" Droy spoke "you wanna go on a job I found?"
"Hold it!" Jet stepped "what makes you think she'll say yes?"
"Ugh...!" the solid script mage rubbed her temples from the upcoming stress 'I know they are proving themselves capable, but they don't seem to realize about personal space...'
'Better help that girl before she decides to leave her team' Ryu thought as he went to Levy's rescue
FLASHBACK END
Ryu shook his head while holding in a laugh at seeing the duo's shocked faces when he gave his time to the solid script mage as the girl asked about his equipment and cards
'If only those guys think of a training plan' he hummed 'then I can believe Shadow Gear would be noticed as strong like team Natsu'
After soaking in the spring Ryu decided to walk around since his time there made him forget about eating earlier. But on his way to find dinner, he bumped someone and saw it was Loke
"Ryu?" the ring mage blinked in surprise
"Well, well" the rider smirked "I never thought we'd meet like this again"
"Sorry, I just talked to Lucy earlier" Loke looked down at his feet "and I... didn't want to involve her in my affairs"
"That explains the hand print on your face" Ryu wondered at the red mark "and you saw that she is different from other celestial mage in your past"
Loke flinched a bit since his interaction with Lucy showing how different the blonde was from...her
"I'm not going to berate for what you did to Lucy" the rider sighed "but you at least got the idea that the idea of not jumping into conclusions without experiencing it yourself first"
"Yeah..." the ring mage nodded
"I'll leave you now" Ryu patted the guy's shoulder "I need to get dinner"
Loke looked at his hand and saw it was fading a bit 'Ryu you are such a nice guy' he smiled a bit 'I just wished you were in this world a few years earlier' he tightened his hand into a fist 'then perhaps, I wouldn't go through this ordeal'
Ryu ate inside the Super Express restaurant hearing soft calming music as he thought about his second encounter with Loke
'You sure are able hide yourself' he thought quietly before reached for his second barbecue stick 'but I know who you really are... Leo the celestial lion'
He wasn't sure about the familiar magical energy upon contact the first time, but after the recent meeting with the ring mage. It was certain the Loke is Leo in disguise
The rider remembered his time visiting the Celestial King during his travels learning about Earthland's history and it's magical essence
FLASHBACK
The rider was walking on the dirt road recalling his growing knowledge about magic
'So much variety of using magic' he thought 'and yet there's only so much energy one person can use, it would be considered miraculous for a mage to use more than one type of magic'
Just then the wind stopped and he saw leaves being suspended in the air
'What's going on...?' he looked around before a bright light shined in the sky forcing him to cover his eyes
Once the light dimmed he rubbed his eyes and saw a giant figure floating in the sky
"Hello young one" the voice of the figure spoke in a calm and regal tone
"Who... what are you?"
"I am the Celestial Spirit King"
Ryu was gobsmacked that the leader of the celestial plane would enter another realm so calmly... then again, he is the king of celestial spirits
He coughed a bit regaining his composure and looked calm before the king
"What is it that got you to visit Earthland oh king of spirits" Ryu spoke in a formal tone
"I wish to ask you a simple favor young one"
The rider blinked curiously and asks why
The king spoke of an incident caused by Leo the lion zodiac spirit involving the death of his contract holder
"Hmm" he hummed at the story "and this favor involves me finding him"
"Yes" the celestial king answered "but along with that I wish to see that he could redeem himself of this incident"
"I see" Ryu nodded "but I don't think that I could be useful in this favor"
"On the contrary, you are qualified" Kind insisted "not to mention that a person that isn't from this world will make a better scout than an actual mage"
"So you know..."
"Indeed" the spirit acknowledged "at first I thought it was nothing, but after a moment your magic energy is potent enough to reach into my realm
'I never realized that my curiosity of learning and magic would get the attention of beings in another dimension' Ryu looked at the celestial king "alright King, I will accept this request" he raised a finger "however... I have one condition for this job"
"Hm?"
"Since Leo involved himself with a celestial mage" Ryu looked at the king "then the same type of mage should be heard after learning Leo's crime"
"The condition is acceptable"
FLASHBACK END
Ryu was outside walking after dinner and looked at the sky seeing the stars twinkle
"Loke" he said firmly "you've interacted with Lucy Heartfilia, a celestial mage, in this problem of yours... no doubt that she'll catch something off about you and find out who you really are"
He shook his head a bit and focused at the request the Celestial King in his first meeting back then 'better give my report to King right now before I go to bed'
The next day in Fairy Tail guild, Natsu and Gray argued who's strong as usual they turned to Lucy shouting to the girl who's stronger
But said person turned to the duo with with an Erza-like glare "shut it you two..."
The ice mage and fire dragonslayer cowered in fright at Lucy, they almost could see Erza in the girl's stead, apologizing to her before looking glum and walking out
Ryu yawned as he walked toward the guild feeling the effect of late sleeping, but when he got close he bumped into someone but ended up spinning a bit getting him to finally be awake completely to hear girl's scream
"Okay..." he blinked at the moment "that was unexpected"
Upon reaching the guild he saw group of women looking sad and slightly frustrated mumbling about Loke as they tried to cope what happened to them
'So Loke's time is finally reaching the end' Ryu thought 'definitely a strong celestial spirit to last this long outside of his realm'
The rider went into his guild getting some breakfast and a few jobs to earn a bit of Jewels for the day
At night Ryu just finished a couple of jobs earning himself Jewels in a total of 400,000 today
'I'm really on a roll right now' he hummed as the pile of money in his requip space 'out of everyone in the guild, other than Makarov, I'm perhaps the only fairy in the guild to not have destruction or have people complain about my actions...'
But then his thoughts upon hearing voices screaming Loke's name
'Sounds like Loke's, or rather Leo, energy is at their final point' he hummed 'better get to them and then find him myself'
After meeting with some of his guild members about their missing friend, Ryu ran to a random direction and looked around ti make sure he was alone
'Gotta find him and see if Lucy found out' the rider placed his hand on the ground 'it's a good thing I learned sense magic' he concentrated to sense Loke's energy 'or else I'll be going around random places to find you...'
After some time was able to find Loke and saw Lucy with him in front of a gravestone, by the sound of their voices... he decided to hide in the trees and let things play out
"Why are you still insisting that it's your fault?!" the latter shouted in disbelief
"I killed her Lucy!" the former cried in grief "it may not be much in your eyes, but I was involved in that incident! And nothing else mattered from that point!"
'So you confessed your crime to her' he then smiled at Lucy's reaction 'and she doesn't seem to see it as your fault' he looked at the gravestone with Karen Lilica marked on it 'after recalling my encounter with the Celestial Spirit King... he was grief stricken when he had to banish you from the celestial realm'
His thoughts stopped upon hearing Lucy's scream, turning to the scene it showed Loke fading out. Even though the guy said it was meant to be, Lucy refused that and did the unbelievable act
She was forcing a contract onto the lion spirit
After a burst of magic, the duo separated and Loke, or Leo at this point, was solid again. But the celebration didn't arrive just yet as another burst of magic causing the waters to rise in the air, the sky swirled with time put to a halt
And the magic stopped revealing the Celestial Spirit King in front of Lucy and Leo
The latter was in shock at seeing the king of celestial spirits enter the human realm, while the former glared at the king wanting to speak her mind about Leo's predicament
"So another mage has come to make a contract with you Leo"
Lucy immediately went onto her feet still carrying her anger after Leo confessed his crime
"YOU!" she growled "what gave you the right to banish your fellow spirit out from his home!?"
The king did not respond to Lucy's outburst at him but had a curious glance at the blonde as she continued to scream at Leo's unfair punishment. The blonde continued to berate at the celestial king without any signs of stopping and said celestial spirit continued to watch in interest of the girl's action
'You have a strong passion Lucy' Ryu smiled 'no doubt that the king was happy you're defending Leo without second thought'
Lucy's heart poured out to Leo and the lion spirit was speechless. He then saw the blonde use her magic, mixed with her passionate feelings, to summon all the celestial spirits in her possession
A second later Lucy collapsed in exhaustion at summoning so many celestial spirits in one go
"Lucy..." Leo said in a quiet tone
"You have shown quite an impressive feat celestial mage" the king spoke "but even with your beliefs, it's still considered a one-sided view"
Lucy growled and was about to go into another rant of how unfair judgement was made
"Fortunately" the celestial king continued "there is another soul with us that will help Leo"
'What is he talking about?' Leo and Lucy questioned
"He's talking about me you guys"
The duo turned, getting shocked in the process, to see Ryu walking toward them
The rider was glad Lucy saved Leo in his last moments and knew that the king would approve her actions. And the deity just needed assurance since the problem came from a celestial mage
"So Ryu" King looked at the rider "did you watch everything from our conversation?"
"I did" the rider "and I'm glad that Lucy did the unbelievable" he looked at the blonde "after hearing Leo's side of the story. He deserves to live" and then looked to the surprised lion spirit "he only wished to free his fellow celestial from unjust treatment of his contractor"
"I see" King hummed "very well, Leo you are hereby welcome back to the celestial realm"
The celestial lion shook out of his shock and surprise and couldn't bring himself to accept his crime being lifted
"If that is what you insist" the Celestial Spirit King hummed "then protect the one who saved you" the spirit started to disappear "you have encountered worthy companions, it's only fitting that you care for them as well"
Leo stood up and turned to his fellow fairies "you guys..."
"Now don't you worry about a thing Leo" Lucy smiled "you just get back home"
"Yeah" Ryu followed "I'm sure your fellow spirits would want to see you again"
The lion spirit looked at them and felt his burden lighten "I may not be able to forget my crime with Karen" his form now slowly fading back into the celestial realm "but now I can at least move forward without feeling guilty anymore"
The last thing both Lucy and Ryu saw was Leo smiling warmly at them as his thanks on being saved and relieved of his burden
"And off he goes" the blonde mage smiled clutching a new key in her hand before turning to Ryu with a questioning glare "Now..." she huffed with her hands on her hips "care to explain how the celestial king knows you?"
"It was when I was travelling around" Ryu recalled his first encounter with Celestial Spirit King
A few hours later in the guild, with the building itself now having walls but no roof yet, a few members were looking at Loke, now revealed Leo, was being scrutinized by Natsu
"So you're a celestial spirit huh?"
"Yep"
"It's a surprise that you were able to hide it so well" Gray crossed his arms
"Looks like you guys are getting along" Ryu spoke as he walked toward the group
"Hey Ryu" the lion spirit waved "I want to really thank you and Lucy" he reached into his pocket and pulled out tickets "but sadly I only have enough for five people"
Lucy, Natsu, Happy and Gray cheered at getting theirs shouting in glee at getting a chance to go into a famous beach like Akane
"Hold it" the ice mage realized "you said five, who's the fifth?"
"Erza of course" Leo hummed "knowing her work as S-class, she could use a break"
"I don't mind" Ryu shook his head "I'm actually thankful you mentioned it" he used his requip magic as a stack Jewels was in his hand "so don't worry about me, go and enjoy yourselves"
"You heard the man" Erza bellowed as she was ready to go "let's move!:
"Yeah!" Natsu, Lucy and Happy cheered as the five took off to Akane beach
Leo smiled at his friends before turning to the rider "Thanks again Ryu"
"No problem Leo" he nodded "you just get back to your home and rest"
Now alone in the guild, Ryu smiled before reaching into his pocket and pulled out out a key. But not just any key... it was a special Celestial spirit key
'I still can't believe that this is my reward for assuring you King...' he chuckled 'then again, if I ever need help then I need to meet the original holders of those spirits and see if I gain their trust to share the contract'
The key in hand is pretty unique; it was platinum color, the bow had a white head but on it was the number 12 instead of a symbol, shaft was designed with a few notches and the bit was shaped like a star
He looked at the sky with his expression turning serious 'though why do I have a feeling that something big is going to happen?'
Meanwhile in a room filled bookshelves and stacks of papers on a desk with a Wizard Saint, blue hair and marked face, finishing his work
Siegrain, or rather Jellal Fernandes, sighed as he looked at the ceiling. He remembered his past torment in the Tower of Heaven, even with his purpose of making a better life...the pain is hard to forget. Not to mention his struggle with the possession magic forced into his body back in his youth
'Even with my power I'm still influenced by it...' he gripped his pen tightly breaking the thing in two before clutching his head 'if that moment ever comes, then I hope Ryu can stop my evil side's plan'
He stopped then reached for a lacrima and it projected a tower that still lingered in his head "the Tower of Heaven is constructed with Etherion, and the land shall see the black wizard once again...!"
Author's notes:
Okay, I'm finished with the filler part of today and I hope you enjoyed it and are excited for the Tower of Heaven arc of the story
Now I know that there things that you want to ask, like him meeting the Celestial Spirit King, but I'll just leave the interpretations to you. (even I couldn't give you everything since I don't look too deeply into a lot of things)
Not to mention it's December now which will be a busy month due to the families getting together and that includes me...
Anyway you want to know Ryu's stats in this universe and all (I checked in manga websites with them being pentagon shaped) so I'll present it below:
Attack power: 5
Defense power: 5
Speed: 4
Intelligence: 6
Magic versatility: 5
