Erza slapped the paperwork down in front of Kai. Iggy distributed pens to the two of them as Erza sat down across from Kai, Requipping a pair of reading glasses.
"I think we've whittled it down to three options," Erza said.
Kai wriggled his nose. "What about—"
The fiery look she shot him told him not to bring up the place by the park. "Three. The problem is the pricing. Things have gotten quite drastic since I last looked for a home."
"You were house hunting before Tenrou?"
Erza shrugged. "I dabbled. I got curious. It's always good to keep a pulse on the market to see how things changed." She pursed her lips. "Suppose that wound up not being all that helpful."
"Thank you, Acnologia," Kai muttered.
"We should go here first," Erza said, pointing to a location on the southern end of town, just opposite the river. It had a nice backyard and balcony overlooking the canal that ran through the city. Each of the places they looked for also had plenty of room for Iggy, something that was a deal-breaker. The cat was pitching in twenty percent and thus demanded twenty percent of the space be dedicated to her.
Kai wondered if she was going to somehow write in a clause in their unspoken contract for when they managed to get her human form back to add in more space, but also figured that not bringing it attention may help in their future proverbial court of law.
"Sounds good," Kai said. "When do you need to be back with Master and Mirajane?"
"Later this afternoon, but that won't take long." Erza smiled, quite cheekily, and stood up. She shuffled the papers around in her hand, no doubt to put them in the order she wanted to visit them.
They'd kept their money safely in Laki's hands. Mirajane and Lisanna were too irresponsible to hold all of that, Macao and Cana would spend it immediately, and they didn't want to burden Master with all of that as he caught up with the rest of the world and worked to officially reinstate himself as Guild Master. Lucy would have been their first option but she was still away with Natsu and Happy to see her father.
Iggy floated alongside Erza while the two went into town, taking the nice scenic route. The weather was immaculate this time of year. Erza was back in her armor while Kai was in some more appropriate clothes, still wearing his hoodie as always. He also left his sword behind, but that he felt comfortable leaving in Gray's hand in case he wanted to try out any neat tricks with it.
They arrived at their first location. Their hands were locked together. Iggy stopped and walked up to the door next to them, with the receptionist letting them in. They met with a pudgy little man with a long moustache wearing fashion-forward suit and trousers.
"Splendid to have you back," he said. "I was hoping a nice young couple like yourselves would come back, we need more of it in the town. Too many young people renting nowadays, we're more than happy to give you a loan to buy."
"You have such a lovely lot," Erza said, not putting the charm on but more the kiss-ass attitude and expression. "One question we had was regarding the price."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Lovely as it is, we couldn't help noticing that it's a bit…expensive, compared to similar homes in the area."
Kai grinned as the fruits of Erza's research prepared to bloom, but he just chuckled and shook his head.
"I assure you, Ms. Scarlet, our prices are quite competitive, particularly for our area." He pursed his lips. "I'm wondering what numbers you're showing?"
Erza shrugged and told him. The loaner mulled it over for a moment, even speaking into a tiny lacrima to his receptionist. Then, he nodded.
"Those are old prices," he said. "I'm not sure how you may have procured those, but they're almost a decade old at this point. We've had to increase our price as…demand has also gone up."
"Demand?" Kai asked.
"More people have come to Magnolia, more people have been born and need jobs here," the man said. "Simply the natural progression of time." He tugged at his collar. There had to be another reason for this.
And they got that answer at their next stop, a bigger office in more west Magnolia near a few rolling hills. They met with a lanky blonde woman with an oblong nose and a pointy dress who was all too happy to meet with the young couple.
She didn't seem offended at the price but did look straight down at Iggy when she talked about how prices were just so high.
"We're more than willing to accommodate a closing cost," Erza said. She loved this location out of all three of them, particularly because of the garden already planted in the backyard and the beautiful view the house had of the sunset. Perhaps most important of all, though, was the baker just down the road. Not her favorite, but still a baker.
"You can certainly place an offer, Ms. Scarlet," the loaner said. "Unfortunately, with our company there may be a few…complications."
It wasn't until their third meeting, near the edge of town to the north, that Kai at last vented his frustrations.
"No, we don't understand what your problem with our misunderstanding of the town's inflation and our friend here is," Kai said, gesturing at Iggy. "She literally has her own money, she's more independent than certain humans I know!"
This loaner, a businessman through and through, merely dipped his chin. He didn't mean to have a pompous air about him, since he had quite a generous tone, but Kai's frustrations clouded his thoughts too much.
"Magnolia gained a certain negative reputation in recent years," the loaner said. "People could not upkeep their homes as much. The issue I have is not necessarily with you purchasing the home but selling the home. Animals leave fur, hard to get fur, and as such it may be difficult for me to sell the home after you're gone."
"What if we promise not to leave?"
"Can you?"
Kai pursed his lips and relented, sighing.
He sagged his shoulders as the three took a break near the park, standing near the tree where Kai first fought Gajeel ages ago. Really, it was years, but to him it was little more than a few months.
"I think I know the real reason we're unable to get a place," Erza said. "And why we're only just able to afford a few things."
"What is it?"
"Twilight Ogre." She leaned against the bench. "They've run the prices in Magnolia up. It's not that there are more people and more homes, there's just more people and less people buying homes. Nobody really wants to live in this town with a gross guild like them."
"So we get rid of them we may have a good chance of getting back in the game?" Kai asked.
Erza nodded. "I think it's time I met with Makarov and Mirajane."
"We still have about an hour."
"Kai, like I said, it really won't take too long."
Erza, Mirajane, and Makarov vanished into the Twilight Ogre guild hall. Kai stood outside with Iggy, who rested on his shoulder, and Macao and Wakaba.
"This can't end well," Kai muttered.
"For them," Wakaba said.
"And they'll certainly have it coming to them," Macao said. "I just hope we don't have any murders on our hands."
"I feel like they'll hold back," Iggy said. "They can't just go in and trash another guild, right? I don't think Makarov's gotten that level of authority from the Magic Council."
Macao scoffed. "The Magic Council's all but abandoned Magnolia at this point. They had their eyes all over us before Tenrou but after the island was destroyed they backed off, figured we wouldn't do anything, really."
"And they were right." Wakaba kicked up some dirt.
"Unfortunately."
Kai opened his mouth to speak but a rumbling voice came from within the building, quickly followed by concussive blasts of magic tumbling about the building, shattering windows and sending surges of power out.
"Oh," Kai muttered. "Wow."
"You know, I have to wonder what Twilight Ogre thought would happen," Wakaba said. "Did they think this would go well?"
"They've never met those three," Macao said. "To be fair, Erza's the only one of the three that's outwardly threatening." He nodded to Kai. "No offensive."
"None taken, she's still threatening."
Iggy purred a laugh. Natsu strolled by and Kai waved to him and Happy, the two of them looking a bit somber. Kai let them go on, since they were still lost in their thoughts.
After a few moments, the three strolled, unscathed, out of their little guild hall. It really wasn't anything impressive. Kai wondered why they hadn't made a home in the old guild hall (which Fairy Tail had to work toward getting back, needing to pay off a ton of money to reinstate themselves back in the building).
"Things went well?"
"Fairy Tail will be the only guild residing in Magnolia moving forward," Makarov said. "Twilight Ogre will no longer be a concern to us."
"Well that's good," Macao said. "I'm hungry, want some grub?"
The three old men sauntered off. Mirajane brushed off some dirt but kept her smile on her face.
"I heard you two are having house hunting problems," Mira said.
Kai rolled his eyes. "Those morons were making things quite a problem. Hopefully things will be easier."
"Much easier," Erza said. "Because I have an idea."
They sat down at sunset with one last loaner, someone who was working late but who had been a big constituent of Fairy Tail's back in the day. Kai did an odd job or two back in the day for this one, a woman with curly brown hair and deep blue eyes. She looked quite haggard but happy to see them.
"It is going to be difficult to get the loan," the woman said after Erza presented their information. Iggy was standing tall on the arm of Kai's chair, but the woman didn't seem to care much. There was a map of the property on her desk, and Kai recognized the lot: it was just up the steps from the main town square and was maybe a hundred feet from the old guild hall.
"Please, we—"
"There's been so many complications recently," the woman said. "Erza, you have to understand, things are just so expensive now, I don't know if—"
"Twilight Ogre is gone," Erza said, leaning forward and grasping the woman's hand. "Mira and I just sent them packing."
"You're serious?"
Kai nodded as she incredulously glanced at him, and the woman beamed. She glanced down at her paperwork, and a certain pride befell her face.
"So Fairy Tail's back?" she asked. "It's good to have you back."
Something swelled in Kai. He hadn't heard someone actually say it. Maybe because it still didn't feel real to him. He'd only just come back from Tenrou Island, but to others, they'd come back from the dead. They carried with them a certain hope, a certain shine about them that inspired others. He'd never truly seen that.
Until now.
The woman spoke with them into the evening, after the sun had set, and when Erza handed the pen back to her for the last time, the woman sighed. She was tired, worn down from a long day, but maintained her grin.
"Congratulations," she said. "You're homeowners!"
Kai leapt out of his seat with a howl of happiness, toppling Iggy over. Erza shot to her feet as well and clasped the loaner's hand tightly, then she and Kai sucked into their own warm embrace.
"You know, this one was my favorite all along," Iggy said, drawing a laugh from both Kai and Erza.
They walked with the loaner up to the house as the stars dazzled overhead. The lights were off and Kai had noticed the place so many times but never before had it looked so beautiful. A few things needed touching up but they had friends who would be more than happy to help them.
Erza and the loaner chatted about some of the final details regarding monthly payments while something else caught Kai's eye: the Guild Hall, still bearing Fairy Tail's name. Its barren, dark appearance gave it more the feeling of a mausoleum than a home, the home he'd known for so long.
"Kai, are you going to join us?" Erza asked.
"Hmm?"
"Dinner?"
"Oh." Kai turned back to them. "I'll catch up in a second, I just want to look at the house a bit more."
Erza and the loaner nodded. Iggy stayed behind with Kai and the two waited for Erza and the loaner to make their way down the steps before Iggy picked Kai up.
"Glad we're thinking the same thing," Kai muttered and Iggy flew up into the sky and over the gate, at last dropping Kai down before the big doors of the guild hall.
He pulled the doors open, breaking the lock on them in the process, and stepped into the hallow hall. Kai grit his teeth at the sight.
Tables were overturned and knocked over with chairs strewn about the place. Barrels of ale and beer had been destroyed and the job list was completely torn asunder. Paint splotches and graffiti mired the entire guild hall.
Kai strolled through it, taking all of it in, memorizing each defamation. Should he see Twilight Ogre ever again, he would make sure the same fate befell them.
He stopped at the base of the stairs leading to the S-Class area, then jogged up them with Iggy flying right behind him.
This area was largely…untouched. He'd figured that this would've been one of the worst places of all.
A few quests were even laid out on the table in front of him. He recognized two that Erza had taken, the Galuna Island one, and then…a Century Quest. A dragon hunt.
"This is the quest Gildarts took to find Acnologia," Kai muttered to Iggy.
A chair scratched against the floor. Kai spun around toward it, holding his hand out for the sword that wasn't there.
"Didn't expect anyone else to bother sneaking around here." That was Master Makarov's voice.
The little old man pushed the chair back into place.
"Have you been up here?" Iggy asked.
"Cleaning up, yes," Makarov said. "I've been up here for the last few days acquiring some of our permanent records in secret rooms and hoped to start cleaning up downstairs soon. I couldn't bear the thought of our home staying like this when everyone got back."
"And the quests?"
Makarov sighed, standing atop one of the chairs. "Personal memorabilia."
Kai patted his hand on the Acnologia quest. "Why this one?"
"Our first encounter with Acnologia," Makarov said. "After what happened on the island, I thought it important to hold onto."
"I'll take it."
"The quest."
"The information."
"Absolutely not."
Kai glowered at Makarov who held a firm glare on the boy. "Master, come on, you know—"
"I know you recklessly attacked a creature with the power to devastate a magically protected island," Makarov said. "After Gildarts specifically asked you not to. Am I missing something? I know your history with him, now even more complicated. And believe me, I understand the need for revenge just as well as you right now. That monster attacked my family, my children, and I can barely sleep knowing he yet flies these skies."
"So what are we going to do about it?"
"Nothing."
"Master!"
"Listen to me." Makarov folded his arms behind his back. "I came back here not because I wanted to fight anyone or stroll through memory lane but because I want to heal the damage done against my family. Seeking out others for battle, for revenge?"
Kai wanted to roll his eyes and protest but truly understood Makarov's point. He stepped back from the quest and took a seat.
"I thought we had him."
"We threw our greatest strength at him and did nothing," Makarov said. "But like I said, we cannot dwell on that. There are other things we must do. Things that are left unresolved." He gestured at Iggy. "Like Iglacia's curse maker."
"Do you know more on this?" Iggy asked.
Makarov shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, and what I wanted to say was that there has been a significant rise in guilds, and Dark Guilds, since we've been away. Finding him may be even more difficult now."
Iggy purred in contempt and Kai patted her little back. "We'll find him, pal, don't worry."
"I know, but…"
"We will." Makarov's voice was stern. "I'm done with being bullied, or allowing people to push our family around. Fairy Tail will no longer be a joke. Though the Magic Council hated our antics, they respected us, and we earned that respect. It's time we gained it back."
"How so?"
A cheeky grin formed beneath Makarov's mustache. "Have you ever heard of the Grand Magic Games?"