Chapter 53

Playdate


Wendy


It's been two days since I first met Katja. Despite her shy demeanor, she was nice girl and we were getting along really well. So well in fact that one day after school, I was invited to dinner by her parents! I happily agreed to the arrangement.

That is what led me to the Neville family dining room table with Carla. It was just me and Carla who were attending. The others didn't want to get in the way of me having fun with Katja. Katja had a little sister Nina too. She was around six years old and was absolutely nothing like Katja. Where Katja had long blue hair, Nina had short brown hair. Where Katja was shy, Nina was outspoken. It was odd that two siblings could be so different. In fact, I couldn't see a strong resemblance between Katja and her parents.

Either way, her parents were very nice to Carla and I. Nina was fixated on Carla while Katja and I hung out. I felt a little bad for Carla, the younger girl wasn't nearly as gentle as me, but it allowed me to spend some quality time with Katja.

"Girls, time for dinner!" Mrs. Neville called to us.

We all came running into the dining room to see the table completely set. There were six table set up for us. We all took our seats and began filling our plates.

"So, Wendy, Mrs. Neville and I would like to know a bit more about you." Mr. Neville began.

I was chowing down on my food as he asked that. I hastily finished what was in my mouth and responded, "Sure, what do you want to know?"

"How about what it's like being in a mage guild?"

I smiled at them. It was an easy question, "It's amazing! Everyone's like family and I get to work with my big brother Mystogan and my best friend Carla!"

Carla blushed at my statement and looked away embarrassed.

"Oh, so you have a brother?" Mr. Neville continued, "What's he like?"

"Oh…um he's not really my real brother. He's more like…an adopted brother? A self-appointed brother?" I looked at Carla for confirmation, who nodded her head.

"So, you two aren't related?" Mrs. Neville asked.

I shook my head no, "No, he found me after Grandine disappeared. He's been taking care of me ever since."

Everyone, minus Carla, looked at me in confusion. Before I could expand upon my statement, Mr. Neville asked me, "Who's Grandine?"

I smiled, but it wasn't the same kind of smile as when I mentioned Mystogan and Carla. There wasn't as much joy in it as when I mentioned them.

"Grandine is the dragon who taught me Dragon Slayer Magic. She's also the one who raised me when I was really little."

"You were raised by…a dragon?" Mrs. Neville asked me, with a hint of doubt in her voice.

I didn't let that bother me and told her, "Yeah, as far back as I can remember, I was living with Grandine."

There was silence at the table before Mr. Neville spoke up, "Excuse me for asking, but do you know who your real parents are?"

I didn't find anything wrong with the question he asked and wasn't offended in the least bit. I answered with a quick, nonchalant, "Nope".

Mr. Neville nodded his head in understanding, "So what do you think about this whole Tower of Heaven incident? Fairy Tail is well involved in that case."

"William!" Mrs. Neville shouted at her husband.

I was kind of taken aback by Mrs. Neville. I really didn't have a problem giving my opinion on that subject, not that I had much to say. It's not like I was involved in that in any way.

"What?" He asked, before realizing his question may be viewed as inappropriate, "Oh, sorry. That case has been all the talk at work. You don't have to answer that."

"Okay." I replied, "Where do you work?"

"I work for the Fiorean Magic Council. My wife here works for a Merchant Guild."

My eyes widened, "Are you okay? I heard the entire Magic Council building blew up!"

The man smiled at me in appreciation, "I wasn't in the office at the time that happened but thank you for the concern."

I let out a breath of fresh air, "I wasn't involved in the incident at all, so it hasn't really affected me."

"I see." Mr. Neville said with a nod of the head.

I expected him to question me further, but he never did. I expected for questions about Erza, or how the guild was taking it, but he never asked those questions. That was fine by me, I was rarely in the guild anyways, so most changes haven't really registered with me.

We finished dinner while making small talk. Once we were finished, Katja summoned Virgo to help her parents clean up after dinner. Katja, Nina, Carla, and I went out back to the swings in their backyard.

"Cute kitty!" Nina cried in glee as she chased a flying Carla around.

Carla had a smile on her face while she entertained the little girl. Meanwhile, Katja and I were on the swings chatting.

"You really took down a monster like that!?"

I nodded my head. I was telling her another story about the missions I had been on with Mystogan. This one was one of the missions where I single handedly took down the target.

"So how did you become a Celestial Spirit Mage?"

"My dad's a celestial spirit mage. He actually gave me my first key. It's a silver key of the Canis Minor."

"How strong is that one?"

Katja breathed in deeply, "He's more for hugging…"

I fought the urge to laugh out loud. I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but I thought it was hilarious that a Celestial Spirit's main gimick would be to cuddle with.

"I mean, he's also pretty good at tracking."

I let a chuckled at that and told her, "Lead with that next time."

"Yeah, I guess hugging makes him sound useless."

"I'm sure in certain situations that would be useful."

"He's really cute too. Nina usually plays…with…him." Katja slowed down her speech as she finished her sentence, "Is…is Carla okay?"

I looked over to my exceed best-friend and noticed that she was standing like a statue looking at the sky. Nina was standing right in front of her, waving her hands in front of her face. I wasn't all too worried; I had a feeling I knew what that was about.

I did one last swing before leaping off the swing set. I gave myself a little gust of wind for some flair…only to trip on the landing and land face-first on the ground.

"Wendy!" Katja yelled.

I heard her jump off the swing herself and land on the ground, gracefully I can only imagine. She ran up to me and helped me up off the ground.

"Sorry, I can be a bit of a klutz sometimes."

Katja breaks a smile, "And here I thought you were perfect."

I laughed at Katja's joke. It wasn't the first time someone teased me about my seemingly inability to walk in a straight line.

We ran over to Carla, who was just coming out of her trance.

"Everything okay, Carla?"

She looked back at me with a concerned expression, "Yeah, I'm just getting a migraine."

"How bad?"

"It's pretty big."

I gulped, "We should probably get back then."

Carla nodded her head in agreement, "Sorry."

"It's okay." Katja said, "Thanks for coming!"

I smiled at my new friend, "Thanks for inviting me. We'll be in touch, promise!"

Katja gave me a big smile, "Can't wait to see you again!"

Carla and I finished saying our goodbyes and were swiftly on our way.


William Neville


I was at the front door waving goodbye to Wendy and Carla along with the rest of my family. I was very happy that Katja had made a new friend. We offered Wendy a ride back to her hotel, but she said it wasn't necessary.

Katja and Nina went their separate ways, while my wife Ella and the Celestial Spirit Virgo followed me back into the kitchen.

"She seems like a nice girl." Ella said.

"Yeah, she reminds me of Chelia."

Chelia was Katja's old friend. She was an honor student at Mildian who specialized in wind magic. She was so gifted that she was actually awarded a tome with information on Sky God Slayer Magic. The girl, proving she was a child-prodigy, went on to learn that magic. She was so promising, her cousin ended up recruiting her into the mage guild, Lamia Scale. She couldn't just pass up that opportunity, and she ended up leaving Mildian Academy.

"I do wonder who's stronger." Ella wondered aloud, "But you know who Wendy also reminds me of?"

"Katja?"

Ella nodded her head, "Virgo, how about you go attend to the girls? We'll finish up the cleaning."

Virgo bowed to us and left to go find Katja. She was very helpful to have around, but she is contractually obligated to report anything she hears to Katja. Sometimes the conversation goes somewhere that we don't want Katja to hear about.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Katja's mother…" she began in almost a whisper.

A chill ran down my spine. In truth, Katja wasn't Ella's child. We were fairly certain she was mine, but we did know for certain who her mother was.

"You don't think they might actually be related?"

I didn't want to immediately throw the idea out the window, but it seemed unlikely, "I doubt it. If they were, I'd imagine they're only half-sisters."

"I just…the resemblance is uncanny, and they seem to be the same age." Ella continued, "I just wouldn't put it past her to keep something like this from us."

"I'll admit, both of them look just like her." I agreed, "And Wendy shares her last name."

"And she had no part in her childhood?"

I nodded my head.

There was a brief pause in the conversation before she spoke again, asking me to do something I really didn't want to, "I think you should give her a call."


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