Chapter 11: Erza Returns
Today was a normal day in Fairy Tail. A brawl showing up occasionally and people taking jobs. One person who was currently looking for a job(No it wasn't Nab, he never takes any.) was Lucy Heartfilia. After not getting paid on their last job(The one from Everlue.) Lucy was determined to find a job as she needed to pay rent.
"Hrmmm, Search for a magic bracelet...remove a spell from a cursed stick...fortune telling love with astrology...Exterminating a devil on a volcano! That sound like one Natsu would do…"
Christopher sighed, Natsu had yet to arrive at the guild once and he was wondered if he would have to go into town and fix something he damaged. That was something he found himself doing more often than going on jobs. He was sent out after someone had completed a job to fix the mess that they had caused. Watching as Mirajane cleaned the bar he wondered if she had been able to keep that fighting will of hers how different things would be and how much destruction she would have caused.
He shuddered at the thought, she was bad enough as a young teen, they certainly didn't need that now. He saw Lucy looking at the job board, he supposed that she would eventually pick one, unlike Nab, as he had already theorized that the main reason being that she needed to pay rent. With how they earned nothing on their last job, something she was rather upset about, she needed the money.
"There are so many different types." said the blonde teen out loud to no one in particular.
"If there's anything that interests you, let me know. Since the masters not here right now," said Mirajane giving her a heads up.
"Huh? Oh yeah, you're right," she said noticing that the elder wasn't there.
"He has to attend the regular meeting, so he'll be out for a while," said Christopher explaining why the master wasn't there in a monotone voice.
"Regular meeting?" asked Lucy curious as to why the master would have to go to a meeting.
"It's a meeting where guild masters from different provinces come to report about their guilds. It's different from the council meeting but…..Ummm I guess it can be a bit confusing." she turned her head to Christopher,
"Christ do you have a light pen on you?" she asked politely.
"Nope."
The girl turned to Reedus, "Reedus, can I borrow one of your right pens please?" she asked sweetly.
"Oui," he answered handing her a white light pen without looking away from his drawing. Happily humming a pleasant tune Mirajane began to draw. She drew a chart that would help her explain to Lucy how guilds and the council work.
"The ten council members who have connections to the government hold the highest position in the mage world. They exist to protect order in the mage world. They also try mages to commit crimes in the guilds." began Mirajane as Christopher shook his head and took a sip of his chocolate milkshake.
"They also are constantly annoyed at Fairy Tail and act like major arses about it." added in Christopher. Mirajane gave him a scolding glare as he held up his hands in defense before sipping his milkshake once more.
"Guild masters are right underneath them," continued Mirajane, " their job is to smoothen communication between guilds in every province and to notify their guild members about council decisions."
"Although Gramps doesn't give a shit half the time unless it's really important." added in Christopher as Mirajane giggled, as much as she hated the comments he was making what he said was indeed true.
"Continuing on, the guild masters are also there to bring the mages within the guild together. It is quite the hard job to do." finished Mirajane as Lucy gazed at the chart Mirajane had drawn taking in all of the information.
"I had no idea that each guild has a connection with one another." Said Lucy in admiration.
"Connections between guilds is important. If you neglect these…" Mirajane quieted towards the end.
"People from the darkness will come and get you!" said a voice creepily from behind Lucy.
"EEEEEKKKK!" she cried jumping around only to see Natsu laughing his ass off.
Mirajane giggled as she was Christopher spit up a bit of his milkshake trying not to laugh. She knew that despite Christopher's emotionless display he does feel emotions and sometimes he shows them when he thinks no one is looking or when something unexpectedly hilarious happens he tries to hold in his laughter.
"But Natsu is right Lucy, those people actually do exist," said Mirajane taking a more serious tone from the hilarity of the moment prior.
"We call whatever guild that doesn't belong to the league, a dark guild." she finished getting back to cleaning the bar as the writing that the light pen made began to fade.
"They don't follow the law, so they're scary," said Natsu.
"Aye." agreed Happy.
"Then they'll come and recruit you one day," mumbled Lucy thinking of how many times Natsu had destroyed things, which would count as breaking the law.
"Either way, choose a job already!" complained Natsu.
Aye! We chose one without consulting you last time, so it's your turn to pick." said Happy as the blonde turned away from the pair.
"No way, we're splitting up," she said waving a dismissive hand at them.
"Why?" asked Natsu and Happy at the same time confused as to why she wanted to split up.
"We teamed up last time because you needed a blonde for the job, you would have done it to another blonde but I seemed like the best choice," she said angrily.
"She had a point, Natsu, Happy, the way you two asked her to team up with you two last time was through tricking her. Had you asked normally I'm sure that she would've come." pointed out Christopher to the pair as they nodded their heads in understanding.
"I heard that you did an excellent job last time. I bet you'll get plenty of recruitment offers," said Gray from a table near them. Said ice mage was currently not wearing a shirt but did have pants on.
"Gray, your shirt." pointed out Christopher as Gray looked down and jumped surprised that he was missing his shirt.
"Lucy, together we could make the team of love. Just you...and me, what do you say?" flirted Loki. Lucy sweatdropped nervous that he was getting so close. Christopher sniggered knowing how Loki felt about celestial mages. He was just waiting to see Loki's reaction. Mirajane also noted this and smacking him on the shoulder and shaking her head in minor disapproval.
"You're absolutely gorgeous, just looking through the shades of my sunglasses you're still so beautiful." Sparkles seemed to fly around him as he spoke.
"If I were to look at you with my naked eye, I would go blind. Your beauty is radiant," he said getting a little bit closer as Lucy began to get even more nervous than before but still managed a witty answer.
"If you'd go blind, then please, by all means, take them off," she said as he noticed the key holder hanging off of the side of her belt. Jumping back five feet away Loki began to shake.
"Y-Your a celestial mage!?" he cried out as he began to run away, "What a quirk of fate, forgive me but this is the end of us!" he said running as far as he could go.
"There was never an us, " deadpanned Lucy as she watched him run off.
"Hey Lucy, you defeated two mercenaries and a gorilla-like woman right? Man you're amazing," said Gray.
"Actually, it was Natsu and Christopher that did that," replied Lucy.
"It was you, you bastard?!" asked Gray getting up in Natsu's face.
"Got a problem with it ice queen?" Shouted Natsu getting fired up.
At this point in time, both Mirajane and Christopher decided that it was time to give Gray a reminder, "Gray, your clothes." they said as he jumped up.
"Again!" he shouted looking down as his body.
"What a pain in the ass," said Natsu looking at the ice mage. Gray, however, did not like this.
"What did you say you falling piece of shit!?" shouted Gray.
"A massive pain in the ass you perverted punk!?" retorted Natsu as the pair began to brawl with one another.
"Bastard!"
"Punk!"
"Asshole!"
"Flame brain!"
The two tumbled on the floor grabbing and punching each other, Lucy looked at them as somehow they ended up standing once more. Loki ran back into the guild with a horrified look on his face. One even more terrified than when he found out that Lucy was a celestial make just minutes ago.
"Crap! Natsu! Gray! Erza is back!" he shouted as the two stopped fighting, paled and began to scream.
The whole guild went quiet as they heard a loud thumping from outside, there was a clank of an unmistakable metal armor as the doors to the guild swung open. At the entrance a woman wearing armor, a skirt, a small handbag and carrying a large horn. Her hair was a scarlet red.
"I'm back, is the master present at the moment?" she asked setting down the large horn. Christopher got up and began to examine it, trying to guess exactly which monster it was from.
"Welcome back!" greeted Mirajane along with Christopher who was examining the jewels on the horn.
"The master is attending the regular guild masters meeting in Clover," informed Mirajane.
"I see…." contemplated the redhead.
"E-Erza-san, what exactly is that thing?" asked a guild member as she and Christopher shook hands in greeting and gave a half hug before separating.
"This? The local townspeople decorated the horn of the demon that I subdued, It was so pretty so I thought to bring it back as a souvenir." she said before giving a glare to the entire guild, "Will it be a nuisance?"
"N-No not at all!" cried the members of the guild except, Lucy, Mirajane, and Christopher.
"Anyway, guys….I've heard that you've all been causing trouble again. Even if master forgives you, I won't," she said as everyone who had destroyed one thing or another began sweating.
"W-who is she?" whispered Lucy to Happy.
"That's Erza, she's really strong!" explained Happy still shaking slightly.
Cana, That's an inappropriate drinking posture," the brunette in question froze at this, "Vijeeter, If you're going to dance do it outside, Wakaba get rid of that filthy habit you leave cigarette butts all over the floor." both men in question froze as she addressed them.
The turned to the other side of the guild where the request board was, "Nab….pick a job damnit! Don't stand there all day! And Macao…." the man in question froze.
"Think she found out about Mt. Hakobe?" whispered Cana not so quietly.
Macao whimpered, "Man, she's going to kill me for that!"
Erza looked at the man, she knew about the incident but it was an accident. There was nothing for her to yell about after all he at least took out all but one of them before messing up, that had to count for something.
"Macao, I have nothing to say." she finished making him more on edge.
"That's even worse than chewing me out!" he cried in terror.
"Man you all give me such trouble...I won't say anything else for today." she finished scratching her head. She certainly was terrifying however Lucy wondered what she did to gain the fear of everyone in the guild. She was honestly surprised not to see Natsu hadn't already run up to her to try and fight her she seemed like a strong mage, someone who he would normally try to fight.
"Is she the disciplinary enforcer?" Lucy asked the blue cat.
"Aye! That's the way Erza is," said Happy.
"By the way, are Natsu and Gray here?" asked Erza looking around for the pair. She hoped that they weren't fighting again after all their fights end in lots of destruction.
"H-Hey Erza….We're being good to each other...a-as always." said a nervous Gray whose arm was wrapped around Natsu. Natsu in turn also had his arm wrapped around the ice mage.
"Aye." agreed Natsu as both sweated bullets.
"Natsu became Happy!" shouted Lucy as her jaw dropped at the rare sight.
"I see….Best friends do fight once in a while...but I'd rather see you being good to each other like that all the time," stated Erza a quite happy that the pair were getting along.
"It's not like we're best friends or anything like that…" said Gray trying to keep the fear out of his voice.
"Aye," said Natsu agreeing.
Lucy wondered if in that state if Natsu was capable of saying anything other than "Aye." wondering out loud, "I've never seen Natsu act like this." she said.
"Both Natsu and Gray are scared of Erza," said Mirajane drawing a chart to explain.
"What!?" exclaimed Lucy in shock as she wondered why Mirajane decided to draw an entire chart to explain it.
"Yes, Natsu picked a fight with her and got beaten up, and she found Gray walking around naked so she beat him up too," informed Mirajane all with a smile.
"Don't forget about Loki. He was hitting on her and nearly got himself killed." added in Christopher from behind Lucy. Lucy jumped turning around to see said dragon slayer looking at the girls with an expressionless face.
"Natsu, Gray I actually have a favor to ask of you," said Erza taking a serious tone. This caught everyone's attention, either Erza was going to ask them something unreasonable or something utterly ridiculous.
"I heard something troubling on my way back to the guild. Usually, I would consult master about something like this, but this is an urgent matter that cannot wait," she looked at both teens with utter seriousness.
"I need your help, will the two of you help me?" she asked as everyone in the guild was shocked. She never asked for help on missions and if she did it was only Christopher whom she asked. Murmurs and whispers began to sound throughout the guild. Both teens were nervous at what she had asked.
"Chris, would you mind tagging along?" she said to the alteration mage who had fallen asleep. Everyone in the guild sweatdropped as most had already noticed that said mage had fallen asleep and that Erza would think that he was awake.
"Sure, but I'm only doing damage control," he said with his monotone voice.
"Natsu, Gray, we leave tomorrow. Prepare yourselves. I'll give you the details on the way." she said dismissively to the protests of not agreeing that came from Natsu and Gray.
"Natsu, Erza and Gray all on the same team...I never imagined it but…..It might just be Fairy Tail's strongest team." said Mirajane as Lucy was shocked. Although she glanced at the sleeping dragon slayer next to them as she noticed that despite going on the mission as well Mirajane hadn't included him.
"What about Christopher?" asked Lucy pointing at the sleeping man.
"Oh...he doesn't count," said Mirajane sweetly.
"Oh? Why not?" asked Lucy curious as to why Mirajane wouldn't include him who was a very strong mage.
"Chris is in a league of his own. He avoids using magic whenever possible. Actually, from what he told me, fighting is one of his least favorite things in the world." she said placing her finger on her chin. In the background of their conversation, Natsu and Gray had begun arguing and fighting once more as Erza had left the guild. Although to everyone's discomfort she left her devil's horn at the guild.
"He must be really strong then," said Lucy looking at the sleeping mage.
"He is although…he has changed a bit from when I first met him," said Mirajane also looking at him.
"He changed? Isn't that what people are supposed to do as they grow and get older?" asked Lucy.
"Chris, unlike Natsu, remembers his real parents. From what he described them as...well as he has put it, they were real pieces of shit," said Mirajane flashing pain in her eyes.
"I remember losing my parents, I was sad I was forced to take on the work of an adult just to feed my family," began Mirajane as she closed her eyes in pain. Lucy knew what losing a parent felt like, it was horrible.
"From what Chris had said his mother was not a kind woman. According to him, she was once a rich woman who was born into a rich family. But somehow their reputation and fortune were lost and she became a woman of poverty. She had eventually met Chris's father who was an enchanter." said Mirajane trying to remember every detail that she could remember.
"Does that mean that Chris is an enchanter too?" asked Lucy knowing how helpful enchantments can be.
"Yes, at least he was," Lucy gave her a questioning look prompting her to go on, "Chris stopped three and a half years ago. If I can remember correctly, it was something about how he didn't need it anymore." Lucy momentarily wondered what he would have meant by that before Mirajane went on.
"Chris took after his father as an enchanter, and he was really good too. Actually, Levy, Erza, Cana and I are the only ones in the entire guild who actually have something that he enchanted," said Mirajane pointing at the necklace she wore around her neck.
"Erza and I have Necklaces, Cana and Levy have bracelets," said Mirajane trying to keep the red out of her face in fear of embarrassment.
"Wow, those are cool. And he made them just for you?" Asked Lucy wondering if she might ever get one.
"Yes, although I think the reason he stopped was because of his father." said Mirajane, "His father was terrible to him. If he failed at anything, he would get a beating. One from his mother and another from his father." Lucy knew what it felt like to have a horrible father but something like that wasn't anything she could have imagined.
"Chris didn't hate his parents. However Christopher didn't love them either, he told me how he felt when they died. From what he told me, their village was raided by cruel people and they slaughtered everyone. Chris was the only survivor. He said that when he cried, he didn't cry because they were his parents, he had never felt love, happiness, sorrow or anything. All he knew was that he was supposed to listen to whatever they said."
Lucy didn't know what to think, she knew that when you have parents like her father you were meant to obey but not feeling anything was difficult to imagine.
"Christopher….doesn't have emotions?" asked Lucy, truthfully it had been a question she had, had for a while yet never had the courage to ask it.
"No, despite common belief he does have emotions. He just buries them, this I know because he himself has admitted to it. And not only to me but to quite a few people when we were younger. He was the first to say things like that. However, I do know for a fact that one of the reasons is his magic." said Mirajane getting more cheerful at the end.
"His magic?" asked Lucy.
"Yup, he said that if he let his emotions loose than he would lose control of them and they could cause a large amount of chaos," she said smiling.
"Chaos seems to be a thing with this guild." deadpanned Lucy.
"It sure is, but I wouldn't have it any other way." finished Mirajane as she began walking away ending their conversation, but before she disappeared back in the kitchen she called out to Lucy, "Hey Lucy!"
"Yes?" asked the celestial mage.
"Could you tag along with Gray and Natsu to keep them from fighting?" she asked kindly.
"Sure!" answered Lucy. Glancing once more at the sleeping altering dragon slayer Lucy began to head home. Tomorrow would be a long day.
Okay, so I got a review asking about Christopher and his character development. While he is a truly underdeveloped character, and while that is true there is also a reason for that. I would like to develop him I really would but in his current state right now I can't. As I have tried to make this clear(although I'm not sure how many people will get it) he doesn't show emotion. This is the reason why he acts so mature, he is blocking his emotions. Without emotion, he can't show his personality, without personality he can't properly be developed. And yes that will change, but for now, he will remain, Chris, the motionless. He is always serious because without emotions there is no other way he can act, without emotions he is forced to judge each and everything with his head and only his head. That causes him to look at everything with logic, a logic that most people cannot use due to their emotions getting in the way. That is why he is always mature, calm and never gets in trouble. He has the ability to be more destructive than even Gildarts. His character is very complex and is only able to be developed over time. There is a reason that he didn't develop emotions while at the guild and the reason why is because...you have to keep reading the story to find out why...hehe don't worry we will find out very soon.
That was a mouthful(although I didn't even speak)
bye~
-TJJProductionsGirl
