Traveling took on a different intensity with the new lead. Milliana. Gisela was pretty sure that she liked cats.
A lot.
Something she totally understood.
And that she would eventually wear a totally fan service costume because shonen manga was like that.
But none of that was really relevant to the plan. The fact that both Milliana and Kagura were characters she remembered more or less from the manga meant that it was likely she knew something.
Gisela hoped it was good news. She had had a brother Before, they hadn't been the closest, no, but even so, she missed him.
It will go well. It's Fairy Tail. All we have to do it follow the trail, and we are doing that as fast as we can.
Gisela knew that if not for the exhaustion factor they would be flying. As it was they woke early in the morning and walked until just before the sun set, leaving only the time necessary for setting up a quick camp.
"Did I ever tell you about Rosemary Village?", came the quiet question as they sat by the fire, eating camp rations.
"Is that where you're from".
"Before they came and burned it down. It was", she paused for a second, searching for a word, "nice. It was a farming village so the adults would be gone all day. I would go out and play with the other kids. Simon was great. Most of the older siblings wouldn't let us come along but he would. He always did his best to include me".
"Sounds nice. Do you want to go back there once you find Simon?".
Kagura thought about it for a moment. "No. I like fighting and I like my swords and my magic. I just want to have my family as well. Do you want to go back home?".
"I can't go back home". Let Kagura assume she meant Caelum, it was true either way.
Of course, saying something like that was a great way to kill the conversation, and true to form that one was over.
Still, it was a break from what was otherwise a monotony of traveling.
It was kind of nice to be on the road with a new destination. With a new plan. Gisela had liked working with the Southern Wolves, yes. But it was interesting to leave the territory that they had worked in for the past year or so.
It was also getting warmer. Gisela wasn't quite sure how she felt about that.
But there were no bandits on the route home, something Gisela felt almost proud of. Even though she knew that she hadn't really taken care of all the bandits she had certainly fought some of them.
And even better, when they took the railway the final step of the way to Dawn City there were no hold ups or raids on the train.
Because apparently those were a problem. Gisela vaguely remembered people worrying about them from her first train ride.
Luckily there were no bandits on this train ride either. Gisela wondered if that was because this was a passenger train and didn't have that many valuable things on it.
Then she wondered if people had enough valuable things on them to make it worth the risk.
She shoved that through to the back of her head. It didn't really matter either way. It was just one less thing to deal with before Kagura got to see her brother again.
Dawn City was loud. That was Gisela's first impression as she stood on the steps of the station, glancing around for some sort of cover.
The smell of the sea hung heavily in the air, another uncomfortable reminder. Gisela forced her mind away from a very different port city.
Even if this one wasn't quite pleasant either.
There were just so many people. How are we supposed to find our way around in this. Gisela thought wildly.
"There's the map" Kagura said as she started walking.
That's why Kagura is the sensible one. Gisela tried not to flinch as a stranger brushed past her, instead focusing on the different districts. "I think it's there?", she offered, pointing to an ornate symbol. It looked like it had been added into the old map.
"Let's get going".
Somehow, it was easier to navigate a forest than a city. Gisela was tempted to go up into the air and get an eagle eyed view, however there were rules about magic use in cities and as a non guild aligned mage in a guild claimed city Gisela didn't feel like pushing it.
It was lucky they had gotten to Dawn City so early in the morning, if this was how crowded the train station was now, Gisela had absolutely no desire to see what it would be like later.
It was a relief when they got closer to the sea, the cool breeze that came off the water was the first comfort since they had gotten to the city.
And the crowds had died down as well, outside of the funnel of people created by the arrival of a train the city felt far more spacious.
The city wasn't even too hard to navigate in the end either. By the time they made it to the guild hall Gisela was feeling cautiously optimistic about how the rest of the day was going to go.
The idea that they could know where Simon was in less than an hour was exhilarating, even after all the false leads.
Gisela wasn't quite sure what she had expected from the Guild Hall of Mermaid Heel. Unicorn's Mane was a simple bar, so maybe something like that?
No.
Mermaid Heel's building had that strange effect of something new trying to look old. If Gisela focused on the wooden posts she could see the artificial weathering. Even so, the thatched roof of the mostly open restaurant bar did create a beachy feel.
Inside the building part Gisela was pretty sure she would find the job board and all that. It was interesting how every guild she had seen, all two of the, had restaurants. From what she remembered Fairy Tail had had a bar as well.
"Can I help you two? If you are here to make a job request than I can put you on the list", a voice called out.
"I'm here to talk to Milliana", Kagura replied as Gisela saw the owner of the voice. It was a green haired girl in a skin tight, what fabric did she use, costume
"Why?".
"I think she might know where my brother is".
The girl seemed to think about it for a moment before shrugging, "Milliana has the afternoon shift, you can probably catch her in a few hours.''
"Thanks".
"Want anything to drink or eat, our prices are pretty reasonable and our menu's right over there", she offered with a grin.
Gisela was about to say know when her stomach disagreed. Loudly.
Luckily she only had about two seconds of humiliation before Kagura's joined in.
"I'll take that as a yes", the green haired girl said as she walked back to the counter. "So what will it be?".
"I'll take a scone", Gisela said, pointing to the pastry case as Kagura glanced at the menu before deciding to do the same.
Apparently they were more interesting than manning the counter when there was no one else around.
"So what's your stories", the girl, Gisela really needed to ask her name and to do that she needed to find a way to fit it into the already started conversation, asked.
"We're looking for my brother. I was able to get a list of people who might have known him and Milliana was on it so we came here to talk to her. I'm Kagura Mikazuchi. '' Apparently Kagura had noticed the lack of names too, that was nice.
"Gisela".
"No last name?".
"No last name. You?. "Hopefully that went over well. People were hard but she seemed friendly and-
"Araña Webb, mage of Mermaid Heel", she proclaimed proudly.
Gisela reached back into her memory, trying to see if she remembered someone with that name.
Blank.
That probably just meant she was a minor character if she had been mentioned at all. Not for the first time Gisela wished she had the story memorized. It would have made her life so much easier if she had more than a rough outline of major events.
But she didn't.
The silence was getting heavy. "Nice to meet you", Gisela offered, reaching out with her hand before she remembered to bow.
Araña grabbed it gracefully shaking for just a second longer than what Gisela would have preferred before releasing. "Nice to meet you too. Is the scone good? Those are Terry's specialty and she was trying a new recipe".
"They have a nice crumb too them", Gisela offered as she finished the last bite of her chocolate chip pastry. "There is a bit too much sugar for me but that's just a personal preference. I tend not to like sweet things".
"Do you want to try my soup than?".
"Your soup?".
"Yeah. It's a natto oden. I really love oden and wanted to try and make my own new type. How about it?".
Gisela dithered. Oden was sea food, not one of her great loves. But Araña really wanted her to try it and-
Gisela thought of an out. Or at least a way around. Or a better way through it. "Kagura? You still hungry.
"A little. Why".
It was funny how spacy Kagura was being. Normally she paid way more attention. Gisela was tempted to be sympathetic. Even so, she really didn't want to have to try this soup alone. Time to close the trap. "Then lets try it together". If she was going down than so was Kagura.
Kagura started to say something when Araña summsalted out of her chair and raced into the back room. Gisela was pretty sure she was launched web helping her with the movement.
"We just agreed to try Araña's oden", Gisela explained, having decided to take pity on her zoned out friend.
"What type?".
"Natto apparently".
"I haven't had natto for awhile. This should be interesting.
Gisela was just about to ask what exactly natto was when Araña arrived back with two smallish bowls.
Out of the corner of her eye Gisela saw someone else take up the counter. Another member of Mermaid Heel?
"Here you two go", Araña practically trilled before taking her own seat at the table, resting her head on her hands as she watched them.
Gisela looked at the bowl of soup in her hand.
It looked… interesting. Sort of gloopy and lumpy. And slimey.
She looked at Kagura.
Looked at Araña.
Here goes nothing.
She looked away from the soup as she brought the spoonful up to her mouth.
The taste was not too bad. A bit to fishy and a bit too pickley but edible.
It was the texture that got her. Something about the soup was just, stringy. Like eating half dissolved pasta in a bowl of fish something and as soon as she had swallowed the broth it started to glue her mouth together as a funky aftertaste got even more pungent.
Luckily she had some water, otherwise Gisela suspected that her mouth would have been glued shut permanently.
Which actually might not have been a bad thing.
Think of something nice to say thing of something nice to say.
"It's not bad", Gisela offered, hoping it didn't sound too much like a question. "I'm not a huge fan of natto", that was probably true, "and I think that is part of the problem". Gisela braced herself. She didn't want to hurt Araña. It just… wasn't to her taste. That was all.
"The stringiness is too much".
Araña just huffed. "I've been getting that a lot. Thanks for trying it".
"Really. Thanks. Meant I didn't have to try this time". A voice shouted over too them.
"Thanks a lot Terry", Araña shouted back, sounding rather huffy. Glancing over her shoulder Gisela could see a red haired girl in a corset outfit.
It looked vaguely like a maid's costume. Just a bit more upscale.
Hopefully she could still breathe.
"You're welcome", she called back cheerfully. "So who are our guests".
"Gisela and Kagura. They're here to talk with Milliana".
"Cool", Terry looked cheerfully at the two of them. "Nice to meet you both", before she refocused on Araña, "and you get to work. We have customers now".
"Coming, coming".
Gisela watched Kagura's intense scrutiny of the faces of the new group.
It was a motley family. Two kids darted around as the parents found a table. Thankfully they did not try and interact.
None of them were Milliana.
Gisela looked down at the soup still in front of her debating if she was desperate enough or not to take another drink.
Not quite yet. Not for a while yet.
For all that Mermaid Heel was a new guild, the place looked to be pretty popular. There was a steady stream of people heading in and out.
The house wasn't quiet full no, but it was obvious that the only reason that it was as empty as it had been was the early hour.
Of course, this had the side effect of Kagura not being able to grill anyone on when Milliana would get there.
Through it looks like Kagura might not be the only person annoyed by that. Gisela thought, slightly amused by Kagura's tapping fingers.
She probably wasn't even aware that she was doing it.
About thirty minutes afternoon a tan blur rushed into the space. Gisela recognized that face. It was Milliana.
Kagura got up to try and talk to her. She was blocked by the big party that came through.
She got up to try again.
Araña darted over. "Wait till everything is over. I think this is going to be a long conversation and I doubt the time to have it is during the lunch rush". Then she was heading off again to get another tables order.
"We're almost there". Gisela said awkwardly, trying to comfort Kagura.
Now the seconds ticked by even slower as Gisela watched Kagura watch Milliana. It was easy to see where the mage was, all Gisela had to do was follow the direction of Kagura's eyes.
Really Gisela actually was forming quite a respect for Millianna. For all that she had glanced over at Kagura a few times she didn't see all that bothered by the stareing.
At least it wasn't glaring. Part of Gisela's mind flashed back to the time they were tracking a bandit group and Kagura had spent an hour glowing at the barkeep to get them to spin.
Gisela had spent that same hour standing like a rock in the background, trying not to disturb the match.
It had worked, yes. It still was one of the most awkward yet intense hours in Gisela's life.
So Gisela was both very glad that Kagura was limiting herself to staring.
She was even more glad when Milliana came over.
"So what can I help you with nya~".
The nya sounded totally tacked on. Gisela normally liked cats, loved cats in fact but even she had to admit that Milliana looked a bit over the top. The cat ears looked realistic, even this close up.
"Do you know anyone named Simon. He was from Rosemary Village and taken to the Tower of-".
Gisela had heard the spiel before. Instead of listening to Kagura explain who Simon was she watched Millianna.
It was like a switch had been flipped. One second Millianna had been almost bouncing in her chair, ears twitching and face turing at every motion.
The next she was stock still.
"Why are you asking".
"He's my brother. Why, do you know where he is? Is he around here?".
Gisela could tell from her posture that Kagura wanted to get up and start looking. No one had reacted like this before.
Gisela felt her stomach start to turn. The back of her neck felt hot again, even though noon was an hour back. Why do I feel nauseous.
Milliana looked frozen as Kagura grew quiet.
"I'm sorry".
"No".
"I'm sorry".
"He can't be. How could he be".
"He's dead".
For a moment it only felt like the bottom dropped out, than it really did. The world seemed to flip as Kagura cried, her normally carefully controlled powers going haywire.
"He's not. Simons not dead". Kagura yelled.
Gisela tried to fight against gravity but it was too much. The world had dissolved into noise and color and light and sound.
Simon was dead.
All too late Gisela remembered. That was why Kagura was on a revenge kick when the GMG started.
Simon had died and she wanted to kill Jellal in return.
It's not fair. Gisela wanted to scream as she was whirled around by the gravity magic. No one else died in Fairy Tail. Why does it have to be her brother.
Kagura.
Gisela tried to breath. She needed to talk to Kagura.
Her focus was broken by a starburst a pain. A chair had just slammed into her, breaking against her arm.
A table came next. All of Gisela's focus transferred to dodging the out of control furniture.
Under over under over.
All the time she could hear Kagura's sobbing. It sounded like heartbreak.
Through a gape in the tables Gisela could see Kagura suspended, sword keeping the furniture away from her face while creating a handy supply of shrapnel, adding to the fun.
Gisela opened her mouth.
She didn't know what to say.
There was nothing she could say.
Millianna was trying to say something but it just made everything spin faster, the cracking of wood so loud that it even drowned out the bussing of Gisela's ears.
Then suddenly she was on the floor.
Silence.