"Cana!" Running directly to my best friend I flung my arms around her neck and hugged her from behind as she indulged in an early afternoon drink, and when I say indulge, I mean she had already been drinking for the entire day. "You'll never guess what Cana, I ended up going to another world, a lot of crazy stuff happened, but then we won a big battle against the other world's army and their king, saved a kingdom of flying cats, came back and brought Lisanna with us, she's alive!"
"Wait…what?" Utterly confused, Cana twisted around and clapped a hand onto my forehead to check my temperature. "You have a fever or something? Or did you eat something weird? Please don't tell me you mixed up wild mushrooms again, I told you not to eat things when you don't know where they came from!"
"I'm not crazy Cana, look. Lisanna is right over there." Pointing to where the guild had rushed towards Lisanna to welcome her home with floods of tears, Cana's eyes widened sharply before quickly grabbing at my arm.
"Whole story. Now. Sit, drink, spill." Ordering me rather directly, I chuckled as Cana pulled me down into the seat next to her and poured me a drink whereby I began to relate the entire story to her with excitement, going over all of the events in full detail whilst Cana just stared at me blankly in disbelief. "Jeez, if Lisanna wasn't standing over there right now I don't think I could believe anything you just said. Then again, you're not one to lie, so I guess everything must be true. So if I was over in that world too, what was I like?" I started to laugh, remembering the prim and proper appearance of Edolas Cana as opposed to the one sitting beside me in her bikini top and bad drinking habit. "Come on, don't leave me hanging Zee, spill it already!" Giving a grin, Cana began to tickle me until I was shrieking with laughter and almost crying from the effort, trying to push her off me.
"Alright! Alright I'll tell you, but you definitely won't believe this." Leaning forwards, I told her about the Edolas Cana and sure enough, my Cana burst into a fit of disbelieving laughter, smacking a hand to the table as she chortled.
"No way! Me? A lady? Pft!" We grinned at one another before clinking our drinks and draining them all in one. Having drank with Cana since I was sixteen, I could handle my alcohol fairly well so I allowed myself to unwind and join in with the celebration of Lisanna's return, drinking apace with Cana until I couldn't even walk in a straight line, laughing freely as the boys continued to fight incessantly. Eventually everyone simply passed out in the guildhall and I curled up next to Cana, one of her arms flung over my waist and I dreamed pleasantly, though in the morning I woke up with an excruciating hangover. I felt like my head was going to explode so I somehow managed to get myself and Cana home, though instead of taking her to her room I just brought her to mine where we had a hot bath together, drank several litres of water then snuggled up in my large bed together. About half an hour later, my sister joined us.
"Move over a little, Zera, I feel awful…" Erza complained weakly, grasping her head as she lifted my quilt cover and slid inside next to me. "Snuggle with me for a while."
"Hey, there's two in here already Erza, find your own bed!" Cana complained, grunting as she was disturbed from her sleep but I only giggled.
"There's plenty of room Cana if you stop stretching out so much. Here big sis, come snuggle with me. You'll feel better after some sleep." The three of us were all wearing the cosiest pyjamas and I smiled as my sister hugged me against her whilst Cana hooked one of her legs through mine and stretched out as much as she could. One of her arms somehow ended up sprawled across my chest whilst Erza continued to use me as a human pillow until eventually, I was completely wrapped up between Cana and Erza. I was fine with that, in fact there was no better feeling and soon enough, I too had fallen asleep once more.
The rest of the guild were of a similar disposition, however in a few days after some recovery time, everyone was back on their feet and getting to work once more. In fact, people were working much harder than usual, going off on solo missions in a bid to impress Master Makarov and I was no different. Since the S-Class trials were fast approaching, I was determined to finally make it into the shortlist this year. I wanted to catch up to my big sis, but each year I ended up disappointed and continuing to fall behind the others. Even Mirajane, who joined the guild after me, was already a long term S-Class wizard.
I'd been to one or two of the trials when the participants had required a partner as Cana, who had made the list every year for the past five years, had always chosen me to go with her but ultimately, I always let her down. This year was going to be different, I had a good feeling about it, and although I could only just about handle the lower ranked quests on my own, I was doing my very best to push the boundaries. The only thing was…I still sucked at solo jobs. Even when I tried to pick the easy ones, I ended up screwing up somehow.
Like when I was supposed to steal back a treasured and very delicate heirloom from a thieving guild which they had stolen from an upper class family of Dukes and Duchesses, I accidentally tripped over one of their trap wires and ended up caught in a net which I then had to cut my way out of, fight through the entire guild and ended up breaking the crystal vase after I dropped it by accident. I had to pay them back out of my fee and more from my own savings which only just about covered the value of the vase, but the historic and sentimental value was beyond priceless.
On my next job, all I had to do was protect a field of rare herbs from scavenger birds and wild animals, however when I had had attempted to place a barrier enchantment around the feel, I messed up and somehow attracted practically every herbivore and insect which ate through the crop in minutes. It only got worse from then on, so in the end I just gave up with those kind of jobs and just stuck to manual labour as it was something I could do. When I came back to the guild, utterly exhausted, I practically dragged myself up to the bar and collapsed against it. "Hey Mira, how many days do I have left until the contestants for the trials are announced?" I asked in a defeated voice, face down on the worktop as Mira giggled sweetly.
"You still have a few days left so don't give up just yet, Zera. I have a job here which is just perfect for you." Mira told me so I lifted my head with interest, eyes brightening with hope.
"Really?!"
"That's right! There's no violence, no manual labour, no breakable objects or wild beasts for you to fight. It's a simple mission to gather information in secret, and since reconnaissance is one of your strengths, I thought I'd hold this job back for you to take." She explained to me as she pulled the paper out from behind the bar then handed to me as I took it eagerly, reading the request carefully. "I have absolute confidence you will do an excellent job, it's right up your alley!" Smiling brightly at me, I gave Mira a widespread grin.
"Thank you Mira! You're the best, this is exactly what I needed and there's no way I can fail in this. All I have to do is sit somewhere in my scouting gear and hide out of sight. I can do that, I can absolutely do that, and it pays a lot too!" Invigorated, I leaped to my feet as I read over the information once more to commit it to memory, however several of my guild mates had been listening in on our conversation and began to snigger.
"As if she could ever pull off a job without screwing up somehow. I don't know how she does it, but Zera holds the record for the most failed requests and most of the time, it's Erza who always cleans up after her mess."
"It's a wonder the two of them are sisters, let alone twins." They hushed their voices in order to talk behind my back, but I could still hear them perfectly clearly and as they continued, I felt my spirits wilt despondently and my excitement quickly diminished. "Remember that time she and Erza captured that bandit leader, but then Zera got captured and Erza had to give the bandit back in order to get Zera home? She came back covered in dirt and leaves, she looked like she'd been dragged backwards through a bush!" They all laughed and I remembered that time all too well. I had been trying to help my sister by patrolling the area, intending to find the location of the bandit camp but had got caught instead.
Those bandits had dropped me down a cavern and forced my sister Erza to release their leader and she had to rescue me before I got eaten by a giant Pit Snake. It was humiliating and terrifying, I'd cried incessantly for hours as she practically carried me back to the surface herself. I never really thought about it before, but they were right. I just did not compare in any way to my sister. "Don't let them get to you. You have many strengths and great things about you, Zera, just because some people don't recognise them, does not mean that their value is degraded." Mira said to me gently, leaning against the bar and looking at me sympathetically. "You can't help being nervous and clumsy when out on a job, it happens to the best of us."
"I know, its fine. I'm alright." Putting on a fake smile, I lifted my hand to give Mira a wave. "Well then, I'll be going. I'll be back as soon as I can, so keep your fingers crossed for me Mira." She smiled back at me like a little angel, waving me off as I turned to leave.
"I will! Stay safe Zera!" Drawing up my hood I pulled it low over my face as I passed the group who had been talking about me, avoiding their gazes and left the guild as quickly as I could. If I hurried I could catch the next train out of here and be on my way to the client. I cannot screw this job up, it's the last chance I'll have before the master makes his decision on who'll be joining the S-Class trials this year. I was worried about Cana, knowing that she got very depressed this time of year, however I knew very well her frustration and disappointment each time she failed to make it, as I also failed to even make the candidate selection. This year. Definitely this year. I can do this.