Just warning everyone, I posted two chapters today, so make sure you read the previous! :)
Chapter Forty - The Last Site
Erigor ended up standing in our training room later that same day, looking completely shocked at his surroundings, though he tried to hide it.
"Hello, Erigor!" I said happily, glad he came early. "Now, listen, do you want to join the guild, or just help me train?"
His eyes widened. "You'd let me join? Just like that?"
"Of course!" I said.
He nodded eagerly, smirking a bit. "My dad kept saying that it would be difficult, but finally!"
I wonder how he changed so much. He was only three years older than Laxus, which meant he was twenty six when the Eisenwald incident went down, and other than being a bit bitter over his father, he seemed great.
"Now, there's a place that boys from the guild can stay, but you're over thirteen, which is the age they start asking registered guild members for the usual rent. Instead of staying there, you're perfectly welcome to stay at my house, if you want to."
"And…" he said slowly. "What if I want to stay here permanently? I turn sixteen at the end of the year, and I'll legally be an adult."
I shrugged. "I wouldn't necessarily mind a roommate, but you might want a bit more privacy. We'll see. Maybe you'll eventually get an apartment, maybe not. You can definitely stay with me until you get a steady income, though."
He nodded. "Alright. Thanks, Elle."
I hope that I never find out what changed him so much.
Though he's pretty resigned, he's still a cute and sweet kid.
Even though, mentally, he's only four years younger than me.
My head is going to start to hurt if I don't stop overthinking all of this.
Anyway, I led Erigor around the room, introducing him to the rest of the generation, along with Reedus, Macao, and Wakaba. Enno was the one who led him to the training room.
Erigor decided he wanted to be in our generation, and we decided that the cutoff date for the youngest generation was going to be in between Reedus and Erigor – who seemed to get along well enough, but mostly avoided each other. They really only got along when they were both being quiet next to each other.
He easily joined our training regimen, which he said was a lot stricter than his, but he was still fine with that. I pinned him at lower B class, and decided to put him on the previous timeline chart, too (after all, Brandish wasn't a member of Fairy Tail, originally), pinning him in high S Class.
He came home with me that evening and settled into the spare room, and I discovered he could cook pretty well, so we decided we'd take turns.
A day later, on July 12th (before Erigor and I could start training) it was Cana's birthday, and it was time to celebrate.
It passed without much fanfare. Cana mostly wanted to test out some of her prank cards, and we had what was seemed like a water balloon fight, except with paint and silly string and a few other really odd things.
At one point, Reedus ended up with a picture of Macao and Enno rolling around on the ground, practically covering one another in the things produced from our cards, as well as a picture of Erigor dive-bombing us with crazy cards from the sky.
After that, Erigor got along with us pretty well.
A day after Cana's birthday, the article came out, and I had to say that I was pleased with it. I turned to Makarov. "You'll monitor how everyone else is doing at your meetings, right? Ask if there's any improvement?"
He nodded. "I'm sure some of them will take your words to heart. That Lamia Scale mage seemed to respect the group of you."
"Jura? Yeah, he's always been awesome," I said.
"Ella-sama?" Freed asked. "When are we going to get Pisces? It is nearly two weeks into July."
Oh. So it was. It was July 13th.
"We'll go tomorrow, alright, Freed?" I asked.
Though it was putting off my training another day.
He nodded eagerly.
"Where is Pisces?" Makarov asked.
"On another island," I said. "It shouldn't take us too long, though. Galuna took long because Phoenix's key was buried really deep, and I wanted to save some energy and do it the next day."
The next day, Laxus, Freed and I set out to collect the last Celestial site. Before we left, however, Freed inscribed some runes directly onto our skin (which kinda stung a bit) preventing us from falling under any black magic. I don't know why Laxus and I had been spared from the spell last time, but we had to be careful. For that reason (and the fact that I'd be requipping a shit ton of stuff) I also took off my bracelet, which had my magic humming eagerly.
So I felt like we didn't need to take Gildarts at all.
"Wow, we're a lot closer to the shore this time," Laxus said as we appeared on the island.
"Yeah, I think it's hidden somewhere along the cove," I said, as I let the thumb tack spin around on my palm. It slowed to a stop and I started off in that direction. "This way."
The boys followed my lead as we walked along the beach.
"Ella-sama? Laxus-sama?" Freed asked.
"Yeah, Freed?" I asked.
"Are we allowed to be here?" he asked. "Because those men look angry."
Following his gaze, I turned and saw a group of men, men who looked very, very, angry, and were carrying spears.
I teleported between them immediately and threw down some of Cana's cards from my requip space.
The men all collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.
There was a reason I kept asking Cana to make Sleep Cards – they were very, very, handy.
I put a Constant Sleep Card on the ground – it let out Sleep Magic within a certain radius. I'd collect it on the way back.
Because of all the training we did, especially with the Sleep Cards, we have all slowly gotten immune to the strength level, though Cana was trying to find a way so it wouldn't affect Fairy Tail members, so she could up it's strength.
"If that didn't answer your question, Freed," I said, returning to the boys. "Then no, we're not allowed to be here."
Freed nodded solemnly.
We continued down the shore, until we reached a small cave hidden in the cove. "This is it, everyone," I said, and we walked inside.
Like the one on the mountain, this one seemed to mostly be full of gems, though there were a lot of weapons and instruments, and Laxus and Freed looked at them and organized them while I went straight to the keys.
I found Pisces almost immediately, but right next to it was Libra.
How did Yukino get her hands on it?
I know that Virgo said that all of the sites were found, but it seems that people kept the Zodiac keys together, because Angel ended up with both Gemini and Scorpio, and Yukino ended up with Libra and Pisces.
Continuing on, I saw a worn down box with the words Argo Navis carved into it.
Opening the box, I saw three keys: Puppis, the Stern; Carina, the Hull; and Vela, the Sails.
Looking at the set, I requipped out Spirit's Compendium.
There was a second set of asterisks.
The three constellations, Puppis, Carina and Vela, make up the Argo Navis. The keys can be linked together, creating a steel key, and the ship (as a whole) can be summoned. While Pyxis is generally accompanied as the Mariner's Compass, it does not link with the rest of the ship. Summoning the ship is about the strength of Leo's gate, and has only been done a handful of times, as the three keys continually get separated and cannot be wielded alone (unless replacing a broken part of a ship). The Argo Navis is especially handy because it can be sailed in the sea or the sky.
I sat back, blinking. "Hey guys! I found Lucy a flying ship!"
"The hell does that mean?" Laxus asked.
I laughed. "Apparently, these three silver keys can make a steel key, together, and summon the Argo Navis, which is a flying ship!"
"That sounds quite amazing!" Freed shouted from somewhere. "Lucy-san's magic is quite incredible."
"Hell yeah, it is," I said, requipping away the boxed set. There was a handful of silver keys left.
Crater, the Cup. Drinking from this cup heals miraculously.
Ursa Minor, the Little Bear. Good with snow magic.
Delphinus, the Dolphin. While also another pet-like spirit, is also good for underwater travel, helping its companions breath underwater.
Telescopium, the Telescope. Can see extremely far away.
Cygnus, the Swan. Good for offensive magic.
Wow. While Cygnus's description was a little vague, finding six Silver keys (if I count the Argo as one) is a lot!
But there was one left.
Even before picking it up, I already knew what it was.
Cetus, the Sea Monster. The third strongest Platinum spirit, it is rumored that Cetus is the form of a sea serpent and is approximately sixty feet long. It takes the strength of six Zodiac gates in order to summon him, and the strength of seven in order to fully use Cetus's powers.
There seemed to be a bit of a theme going on here, and it seemed to be the sea. Grabbing the key, I admired the terrifying picture on it, nodding to myself.
Sea monster is right.
"Laxus-sama!" Freed shouted.
Dropping the book and the key, I teleported to their side, Venus's Sword already forming in my hand, before I even cast the spell.
The reactivity of my magic is starting to bother me.
It seems we missed one guy with a spear, and Laxus pushed Freed out of the way so he wouldn't get hit. Unfortunately, Laxus got grazed in the process, and was clutching the side of his arm.
I slashed the sword through the enemy instantly, activating his nerve endings.
But I wasn't tickling this time.
He had hurt my nakama. He had tried to (possibly) kill Freed, and also hurt Laxus.
Even though he was already down on the ground, screaming, I wasn't done. I kicked him in the crotch, and then did it again.
"Elle, stop!" Laxus grabbed me, and I nearly hit him in surprise before I realized who it was. "We're fine, you got him in time! But don't…torture him."
It took me a bit to return to the real world. I had no idea what had just happened.
Slowly, Venus's Sword vanished, and I collapsed to my knees. Freed wrote, "Rune-Write; Sleep," on the man who attacked us, and I semi-collapsed to the ground.
"Elle?!" Laxus shouted.
I barely heard him. It was like I was underwater, or like he was on the other side of the door.
I had tortured someone.
"Ella-sama!" Freed shouted.
It sounded even fainter.
I was too young to torture someone; it didn't matter if I was ten or twenty.
It was the feeling of Laxus grabbing my arms that brought me back. "ELLE!"
I snapped back to reality. "I…I'm sorry, guys. I don't know what just…happened…"
"It's alright," Laxus said. "But you don't need to keep beating on someone when they're down. Fairy Tail doesn't do that."
I know that, but… "He hurt you."
My eyes drifted to Laxus's upper right arm, where blood was slowly staining his shirt. In the position he was, holding onto my arms like this, he was probably aggravating the wound even more.
"Hey, Elle, I'm fine," Laxus said. "Just a scratch, see? Dragon slayer, remember?"
Sure enough, it was starting to close up – while I don't think I could actively see it healing, it was definitely a lot smaller than when I first got on the scene.
"Still," I whispered, requipping out some bandages. "You're hurt."
As I slowly wrapped Laxus's arm, I could've sworn I heard Freed whisper, "I ship it."
But Laxus has better hearing than I do, and if he didn't hear it, then neither did I.
Here's some Ellaxus for ya.
Also, to the guest reviewers who don't really know how to review, or what to say - you should put in general encouragement, pointing out something you really liked in a chapter (for instance, I got a comment mentioning that they loved when Elle declared she was gathering an army, back in chapter nine) and things you are looking forward to that were hinted. I got a lot of reviews wondering what I was doing with Erigor, and the remaining things I would do before Ice Wizards...which might be a little longer. :(
That last part - what you're looking forward to - is generally the most important, because it helps us write about it, and inspires us. It means that we're not the only ones who want the story to move forward, and we work harder so we get there.
I hope I cleared up reviewing! :)