Saber Tooth, 9:58 PM
"This." Sting felt another newspaper join the stack in his arms. He currently held a collection of articles that—if he set them down on the floor—came up to his waist.
Lector grabbed a recent magazine and flipped through it. "This too." The White Dragon Slayer shifted the growing weight while his best buddy searched through various news articles in their guild's library. "Definitely these!" Lector added as he dumped a handful of Sorcerer Magazine issues onto Sting's load.
This time, the young guild master's knees buckled under the weight of the article stack. When was paper this heavy? Sting thought as he wobbled away, trying to find a surface to set his burden down on.
Why was this necessary? In the fine words of Rietta, when Lector asked the very same question: "You want to prove that Fairy Tail shouldn't be allowed near Hestia?"
"Of course we do!" Lector had defended indignantly. "Everyone knows that Fairy Tail is filled with irresponsible people! Who knows what would happen to Tia-kun if we let them have her!"
Rietta smiled in agreement. "Well then," she said with an evil chuckle, which disturbed Lector. Without warning, the chef slapped a Sorcerer Magazine issue against Lector's face lightly. The Exceed read the page that Rietta left open, which happened to cover Team Natsu's latest destruction of a town hall. "I want you to dig up every bit of dirt on Fairy Tail, especially the dirt on Salamander! The dirtier it is, the better chance we have of keeping Hestia with us!"
And that was how Lector was tasked with finding large-scale property damages made by Fairy Tail, but the dust on some of the news articles made the Exceed wrinkle up his sensitive nose before proceeding to sneeze. This usually made Lector drop whatever he was holding, which forced him to pick them back up before the cycle continued. Enter Sting, and the White Dragon Slayer immediately relieved his friend of his task by carrying the collection of papers for him.
"Lector, can you tell me where I'm going?"
"Sting-kun, go left! There's a bookshelf in front of you!" Lector called to his partner who couldn't see due to the stacks of journals in his arms.
"Thanks, Lector!" Sting replied as he followed his best friend's directions while he tried to navigate his way over to an empty table that he couldn't see while an armful of articles blocked his sight.
The guild master cursed when he ran into a table, hurting his upper thigh in the process. The scratching of a pen stopped while Sting heard Rufus chuckle lightly. It took the White Dragon Slayer everything he had not drop the collection of news articles on Rufus and strangle him for that.
After setting down the stack of old newspapers and Sorcerer Magazine issues, Sting watched Rufus' pen fly across sheets of paper, stopping occasionally when the masked man needed to think. From what he could see where he stood, complex terms that Sting possessed no comprehension of dominated every paper.
"How long has he been at this?" Sting whispered to Lucy, who watched Rufus' progress from the moment he began.
"Ever since Hestia arrived," Lucy said, remembering the spark of determination that lit within her boyfriend's dark green eyes when he saw Hestia enter the library. "For him to be like this…Hestia's father must be that horrible."
Sting winced at Lucy's words, hoping the blonde didn't notice. No matter how many times he heard Hestia's name roll off Lucy's tongue, he could never get used to Lucy treating Hestia like she wasn't her daughter. And Lucy had no idea that her own daughter might be taken away.
Lucy looked at the clock and blinked in surprise. "It's already so late," she murmured. "I should be going now."
"Be safe, Lucy!" Sting called after the departing Celestial Spirit wizard.
"Good night, Sting! And make sure Rufus doesn't pull an all-nighter!" Lucy shot back.
Before Sting could come up with a sarcastic answer, Rufus chuckled softly as he lifted his pen. "Don't worry, my dear. I know my limits: I just want to exceed them."
"...Show-off," Sting muttered under his breath. Rufus shot him a sideways glower, indicating that he heard Sting's remark.
Once Lucy disappeared behind the other side of the doors, Rufus set his pen down after hours of writing notes that would help them keep Hestia in their custody. Sting watched the Memory-Make wizard gather every sheet of paper he wrote upon, which was enough to create a book.
"Evidence," Rufus murmured as he rubbed his hands together. "We need to prove to the court that the Salamander is not a suitable parent."
"Well, if we looked at collateral damages caused by Fairy Tail," Sting began, gesturing to the stacks of old newspapers and Sorcerer Magazine issues that buried the table next to him, "wouldn't that be enough to convince the judge?"
"You forget, Sting. The judge is supposed to be impartial, no matter what the case and the parties involved. Collateral damage will only go so far." Rufus ran a hand through his now short hair. "It will prove that the Salamander is irresponsible, though," he added.
Fairy Tail
Levy yawned as she set down her pen. Before her, sheets of paper with complex terms written upon them buried the table. "It took a while…but I think we have enough to secure a visit, Master. If we act quickly, then we can set a date for this week."
"That's good," Makarov said, though his voice and grim expression didn't agree with him.
The Solid Script mage noticed this and took off her Gale-Force Reading Glasses. "Master, is there something wrong?"
"…No." Makarov took small sips of his drink, unable to shake off the feeling of dread. The feeling that something would go terribly wrong if they went through with this. He wanted Natsu to know Hestia, but he never wanted to tear her away from the family she loved to fulfill that. "Anthea," Makarov murmured quietly as he set his mug down. "Forgive me...for my children are about to commit a grave crime against yours."
Saber Tooth
Rietta burst into the library with a Communications Lacrima in her hand. "The master of Fairy Tail has just called, Sting," she informed, holding the crystal ball out to him.
"I'll take it." Taking a deep breath, Sting took the Lacrima from the chef, turning the crystal slightly so he could see Makarov's face. "Hello, Dreyar-san."
Makarov shifted a little uncomfortably. "Sting...I never wanted to do this to your guild—and I fully intended to let you keep Hestia—"
"Try to spare the sugar-coating, Dreyar-san, and cut to the chase," Sting interrupted as he sat down with his legs crossed. "You have bad news for us and you're trying to deliver it gently. Frankly, I'm not in the mood for that."
Makarov sighed, shaking his head. "It was that noticeable, wasn't it?"
"He's Sting-kun, of course he would notice!" Lector cut in proudly.
"My children have set the date for this Friday," the elder master informed grimly. "I believe they are hoping to catch you off-guard with the sudden deadline—"
"And we're more than prepared for that," Sting said. "Whoever helped you prepare your case really shouldn't have underestimated Rufus."
On the other end of the connection, Makarov gave a small smile. "I expected as much."
"Sting-kun is the strongest without a doubt," Lector stated smugly, "but when it comes to brains, never look down on Rufus!"
"Sting...can't we just drop this case while we still can?" Makarov wondered hopefully. "I'll try to convince Natsu to reconsider for visits so that—"
"I meant every word I said the other day, Dreyar-san," Sting shot coldly, sitting up. "Natsu called the shots; we're simply returning fire. Hestia isn't his child anymore, she's ours. If he stuck to visits, we would have been fine with that. But I have no intention of handing Hestia over to him."
"But Sting—" Makarov's image faded from the crystal ball once Sting cut off the connection.
Sting glanced at Rufus, who had watched and listened to the exchange between guild masters. "Did you catch that, Rufus?" he asked.
"Friday the seventh," Rufus murmured as he scribbled the date of the court trial on one of the papers he wrote out. "That gives us two days of rehearsal, and then..." he trailed off, unable to find the right words. "...Depending on how it goes, Fairy Tail will either be granted visits...or even custody," he finally voiced.
"No way!" Lector shot into the air angrily. "Tia-kun stays with us, there's no way we'll let her go to Fairy Tail!"
"Lector, calm down!" Sting grabbed his Exceed partner and patted his head. "Of course we won't let them have Hes. She's happier with us...except when it comes to Lucy."
"Frosch!" Sting's ears twitched when they caught Rogue's voice. Before he knew it, the Shadow Dragon Slayer entered the library. "Have any of you seen Frosch?" he questioned.
"Er..." Sting tried to remember the last time he saw Frosch, which was hours ago when he greeted Hestia home.
"If I recall, isn't he with Hestia?" Rufus piped in.
"So where's Hestia?" Now none of them could come up with a good answer, as they somehow lost track of the purple and white-haired child.
"She didn't leave the library, did she?" Rietta suggested hopefully.
"I have no recollections of Hestia leaving the library earlier. Which reminds me..." Rufus glanced at the clock. "It's past her bedtime."
"This library is by no means small," Rietta interjected. "Where would Hestia be in this place?"
"..." All eyes turned to Rufus for a plan. The blond wizard sighed as he stood from his chair. "...Split up," he said.
Rietta and Sting stormed up to the second floor of the library while Rogue and Rufus stayed on the ground floor, accompanied by Lector. Sting just reached the second floor when he caught sight of Hestia's purple and white-hair. "Found her!" Sting called down to the searchers below.
"That quickly?" Rufus wondered out loud.
"Where's Tia-kun?" Lector asked.
Sting narrowed his eyes to get a better look at Hestia's location. "The kids' section!"
Lector flew ahead of Rufus and Rogue, who ran after the Exceed. Rogue could see Hestia's tiny shoe just beyond a bookshelf before he heard Lector sit down somewhere.
Rogue reached the children's section first, only to be given a silent warning by Lector, who sat on a smaller bookshelf. The Shadow Dragon Slayer wondered why until he examined the sight before him—which made him laugh softly.
Hestia lay curled up on a beanbag cushion, fast asleep with a book left open beside her. Frosch sat on her head, snoring softly with a book about fish set down on the top half of Hestia's face. The book slid off her face, but it didn't interrupt her slumber. Seeing the child and Exceed sleeping like this just seemed...adorable.
Rufus arrived at the scene, only to be given the same hand signs that Lector flashed at Rogue. Confused, the Memory-Make wizard looked around until his eyes landed on Hestia and Frosch, both of whom fell asleep reading.
"They look so peaceful," Lector whispered, trying not to wake them up with his normally loud voice.
"This is one of the rare few moments where I remember her like this," Rufus added quietly.
Rogue tilted his head. "As much as I don't want to disturb them...a beanbag isn't the best place for a child to sleep."
"I can vouch for that," the memory wizard agreed.
Rogue came forward and scooped up his foster child and Frosch in one move. After making sure Frosch wouldn't fall off of Hestia's head, the Shadow Dragon Slayer walked away with the two in his arms.
This left the task of cleaning up the books to Lector and Rufus. But some of the books left near the bean cushions were heavy enough that Lector could only carry one at a time. So Rufus ended up carrying nearly all of the books back to their proper place.
Rufus' hand reached out to pick up the last book but stopped when his eyes landed on the pages where the book was left open to. The left page was dominated by the picture of a formidable man wrapped in a large cloak with a helmet that covered his forehead. At the top of the page was the man's name, which was a difficult name to forget in the magic world. Rufus chuckled to himself as he recalled that memorable day.
~Flashback~
X787, May 8
Saber Tooth's head chef looked at the clock before glancing at Hestia, who sat on her usual stool with an empty box and letter tiles scattered before her. "What is your mother up to, Hestia? And where's that pot roast, Faust?" Rietta yelled into the kitchen while one of Saber Tooth's wizards waited for their order.
A man's voice shouted something back to her, which made the navy-haired woman's eyebrow twitch. "What do you mean we ran out of meat?"
At the bar area of the guild, Lector and Frosch sat on the counter while Hestia watched them arrange her letter tiles from her stool. Not too far away, a younger Rufus read a book on history while he tried to ignore the screaming cooks on the other side of the counter.
Sting rubbed his ears tentatively. "Rietta, just forget the roast. I can go without it as long as you stop screaming," he mumbled softly, but his plea fell on deaf ears.
Lector finished arranging his tiles before pointing to the completed word. "Fi-o-re: Fiore, Tia-kun."
The toddler was only just beginning to learn to form sentences, despite almost being two and a half. She knew the vocabulary; she just needed to put it in the correct form. "Fi-o-re," she repeated.
"And Fiore is...?" Lector prompted.
"Home." Hestia pointed to the tiles before her. "Fiore is home."
"Yay!" Lector flew around in celebration, causing Sting and Rufus' heads to turn.
"It's only three words, Lector," Rufus reminded as he turned a page in his book. "But it's a start."
"Fro's turn!" Frosch arranged several tiles until he formed his desired word.
Hestia squinted as she read off the letters on the tiles until she formed the complete word: "Short."
"Yay!" Frosch shot into the air as well, flying around happily until he bumped into his partner. The green Exceed held his head as he floated back. "Ow..."
"And what are you up to, Frosch?" Rogue asked as he rubbed the spot on Frosch's head where it hurt.
"They're trying to teach her how to say full sentences," Rufus chirped. "So far, her longest sentence was composed of three words."
"I'll change that." Sting got up and made his way over to Hestia and her letter tiles. "Hey, Hes." Hestia lifted her head to meet Sting's eyes. The White Dragon Slayer grinned as he took several tiles and arranged them into five words. "Can you say that, Hes?" he asked.
Hestia tilted her head as she pronounced the words slowly. "The...Great...Sting...Is..."
"Oh, dear," Rufus murmured as he covered his eyes, knowing what was likely to come after the fourth word. How many times did he remember Sting addressing himself as "The Great Sting Eucliffe"?
"And that is my partner with the unbelievable ego," Rogue muttered under his breath.
"Go on, Hes. Finish it," Sting urged, pointing to the last word: invincible.
But Hestia, deciding that the last word was too big for her little developing brain, chose to stare at her letter tiles until one previous word caught her attention. "...short," she finished.
Sting's jaw dropped in astonishment; Rogue, however, snickered as quietly as he could while Rufus chuckled behind his hand. They hadn't expected that word to come out of Hestia's mouth. Frosch covered his mouth while Lector shook his head. "No, Tia-kun. You're supposed to say 'The Great Sting is—'" Lector looked at the word after 'is' before frowning. "Sting-kun, I think that word is too long for Tia-kun."
"I guess you're right, Lector." Sting swept away the word 'invincible' with his hand before forming a shorter synonym. "Try again, Hes," he said, refusing to give up. "'The Great Sting is strong,'" he stated.
Hestia looked at her letter tiles again. "The Great Sting is..." The toddler faltered again, for she didn't know how to pronounce three consonants in a row. She looked at Sting and Lector, who stared back with eager eyes; Rogue remained indifferent while Rufus nodded encouragingly. Hestia's eyes fell back on her tiles, catching sight of five letters above 'strong'. It didn't look like a word in her eyes, but it seemed easier to pronounce than 'strong'. So Hestia gave it a go: "The Great Sting is...a...wimp," she finished, which made Rufus and Rogue's mouths open in surprise as soon as she said the last two words.
Anyone near the bar at the moment burst out laughing, with the exception of Lector and Sting, who sat with his head on the counter while his best friend tried to nurse his injured pride. Rufus couldn't help but cover his mouth as he tried not to laugh too derisively. Even Rogue, the ever stoic Shadow Dragon Slayer, held his stomach as he laughed uncontrollably. Only Hestia remained oblivious to the hilarity she caused.
Rietta stormed out of the kitchen with her jacket on and a list in her pocket. She wondered why they were laughing so hard but chose to ignore the hyenas. "Until I come back, the kitchen is closed, boys!" she barked. "Sting, watch Hestia."
"...I don't wanna," Sting grumbled childishly as he turned away from the chef. "Hestia's being mean."
"Don't be such a baby."
"Says the woman who can't hold a boyfriend."
Rietta's eyes flared angrily, but Sting was too busy being depressed to sprint for his life: normally, men would run from the sight of her glower. "If I wasn't in a hurry, I would have your head for that, Eucliffe." She whipped her head towards the other blond. "Rufus, you're in charge of Hestia."
"Very well—" But by then, Rietta was already gone. Rufus sighed tiredly. "Such an impatient woman."
"It doesn't matter if you watch her or not. Someone else always does it anyway," Rogue informed before he approached Hestia and Frosch.
The Memory-Make wizard glanced at Hestia, who played with Frosch and Rogue as they spelled out words while Lector continued to comfort Sting. "Yes...I suppose you're right, Rogue," he said softly. Little did Rogue know how his words affected Rufus, whose mind began to wander. Which reminds me...how is Delphione doing? he thought to himself.
"Um, Rufus-san?" Rufus glanced down at his feet, which Hestia stood near as she stared up at him nervously. "Um...what are you doing?" The blond wizard blinked, amazed that she could ask a simple yet difficult question now.
Smiling kindly at the child, he answered, "I'm reading a book, Hestia."
"Can I see?"
Rufus looked at Rogue for help; the Shadow Dragon Slayer nodded approvingly. Choosing to indulge the child, Rufus set his book on the counter before he leaned down and scooped the child up. He set Hestia on his lap and reached for his book so that Hestia could look at its contents.
"Pretty pictures," Hestia said, staring at the vivid images and not the descriptive words.
"Not all of them are accurate, Hestia," Rufus told the child. "Some of these places existed long before you and I were born. So the artist imagined what they used to look like."
"...Okay."
Rufus knew that Hestia didn't fully understand him, but he knew she would learn later. He turned the page, and Hestia traced a picture of a clock-like fountain. "What is that?"
"It's a fountain from Mildea," the Memory-Make wizard said.
"Mil-Mildea?"
Rufus nodded as he tapped a description next to the fountain's picture. "Mildea was the city of time, where many of its residents devoted their lives to protecting time. If you went out there now, you'd find only the ruins of the ancient city."
"And what is that?" Hestia pointed to a picture of a man with a helmet on his head.
"Who," Rufus corrected. "For a person, you need to use who. And this man, who was born in Mildea, was perhaps the most powerful sorcerer in the world: Haja the Infinite."
"I-infinite?" Hestia repeated.
"He was called that because no matter how much magic he used, he never ran out. He stood fast and conquered his opponents, who feared him ever since."
"He looks scary," Hestia noted.
"Well, power can be scary," Rufus conceded.
Hestia examined the picture of Haja before saying, "Master is like Haja."
Rufus laughed softly. "Oh? How so?"
"Well, Master is big and scary," Hestia began with earnest, which made Rufus sweat at her description of Master Jiemma. Then again, he had to give her points for being brutally honest: many in the guild were afraid to voice their true opinions on the master. "But Master is really strong!"
"Well, I wouldn't say Master is scary, but—"
A large shadow loomed over the two, making Rufus sit up nervously. Only one man other than Orga could cast a shadow of that size. "I'm like Haja, am I?" Jiemma's gruff voice boomed behind them. "No, I'm not like Haja, little girl. For I am Haja!"
"Wah!" A large hand plucked Hestia out of Rufus' lap, seating her on top of Master Jiemma's shoulder. "M-master!" she squeaked.
"Master, please do be careful!" Rufus called to his guild master as he stood from his seat. But the pink-haired child and master paid no attention to the rest of the world as they played out their little game. Hestia cheered on Master, who was 'Haja' right now, while the guild master displayed his strength to the world.
Finally, all Rufus could do was smile. "Memorize," he whispered, preserving this cheerful moment in his memories.
~Present~
"It's difficult to believe...that Jiemma once had a good side to him," Rufus murmured as he closed the book on Haja the Infinite. "Where did it all go wrong?"
"Is that the same book you read when Hes called me a wimp?" Sting asked as he leaned against a bookshelf.
"You cannot deny that it was the most comical thing to leave anyone's mouth without being beaten for it," the Memory-Make wizard mused. "Don't tell me you still hold a grudge?"
"No," Sting shot quickly as he crossed his arms.
"Isn't it better to be honest with yourself?"
"...I still can't believe she called me that." Sting grumbled before he stormed away while Rufus chuckled to himself again.
The young guild master left the library to find the main guild hall almost empty, save for a few that decided to stay and clean up. "Fairy Tail...we may have lost the Grand Magic Games last year, and I'm fine with that. But I will never hand Hestia over to you like some trophy," he growled in a low voice. Sting glanced once behind himself, where he knew Rufus was making sure the library was in order before he left. Then he cracked his knuckles as if preparing for combat. "Ready or not, Fairy Tail...here we come."
Author's note:
Sorry for the long wait, but I ran into a hurdle as I was coming up with ideas for this chapter. Don't get me wrong, I know where I want this story to go. I'm just having trouble mapping its course correctly. I knew what to type before the battle and after. I could never get good ideas for the actual custody battle itself. That, and school is starting to catch up to me. Because of that, I can't write as freely until my homework is done.
So for those of you who put up with me updating my other story while you waited for Anathema, thank you.
So did you enjoy reading part of Hestia's childhood? And the references to Rave Master?