Chapter Forty One - The More the Merrier

After Laxus was all cleaned up, I went back to my spot and requipped the key and my book, which I had dumped on the ground in my hurry. Slowly, I went around the rest of the site, collecting everything we found, before I was called over again.

"Ella-sama, Laxus-sama," Freed said. "I'm a bit curious about this…"

I followed is voice and met up with Laxus to find Freed bending over something. "It has such an odd magical presence…" Freed was saying.

Laxus put a hand on his shoulder. "Freed, back away. We don't know what it is."

Freed moved back, and I finally got a good look at what it was; a sword. But not just any sword.

"Archenemy," I breathed.

What was it doing here? What did it even mean?

"Elle?" Laxus asked.

"It's safe," I said. "Just…something I thought we wouldn't be seeing in a long, long time."

I requipped it and hung it on the weapons wall in my storage space. I would make sure that it would find its way back to Kagura.

Eventually everything was in my requip space, leaving the cove empty.

"We're done here," I said. "I'll be right back for you guys."

I grabbed the unconscious guy, who would eventually wake up (since we switched him from Freed's runes to a Sleep Card) and dropped him with the other guys asleep on the shore. I grabbed the Sleep Card I had left there and teleported back to the cave, where I grabbed Laxus and Freed's arms and took them home.

By that time, Laxus's wound was already gone, and it was all just a bit of a bad dream.

"How did it go?" Makarov asked.

"Pretty well," I said. "We had to knock out some of the natives so we could take everything – I don't think they actually knew that the site was even there, they just didn't like us on their territory."

"Are any of you hurt?" Erigor asked. He had offered to join us, probably because he was already considered one of the stronger mages of our generation, both because of his age and his powers. He would probably be participating in the Games next year since Laxus and I would be absent.

"I got scratched," Laxus said. "But it's gone now, thanks to my Dragon Slaying healing."

Makarov looked a bit wary, but he nodded. "As long as you're all alright."

"We're good," he said.

I mentally winced. I still needed Laxus for next year, and if I couldn't keep him safe under my watch...

I shook it off and smiled. "Yeah, and there was a lot of stuff at this one!" I said. "I wouldn't consider this one the biggest site – that was probably the last one – but this was probably the second biggest, and it also had a lot of keys. More than normal. Usually I only get three or four silver, but I got a bunch this time. I also found the Argo!"

"What's that?" Cana asked.

"The Argo Navis is a flying celestial ship," Makarov answered, "comparable to Blue Pegasus's Christina, though I'm not sure if it's a magical bomber. It is made by linking three keys together, to form a large ship, and summon three spirits which man it. It hasn't happened much."

"Lucy-san's magic is very special," Juvia said quietly.

I smiled at her warmly, and picked her up, spinning her around. "All of our magics are special. But yes, Lucy does have a large variety of options. While that helps her, it also hinders her. She has a larger option of people to summon, but she also has to make her decisions quicker, on who would be the right person to summon."

"Elle is right," Makarov said. "That's what's so tricky about Celestial Magic. Most magic is instinctive, but Celestial Magic requires thought, tactics. The larger variety of magics that are available, the more difficult it is. Elle, for instance, has a large variety of options, and it might become hard for her to juggle all of them; though she seems to be doing pretty well."

"Thank you," I said. "I usually depend on my Planetary Magic for battle, but sometimes I'll teleport out of the way almost automatically. If there's someone behind me, though, I'd rather make a shield."

Makarov nodded. "Even deciding between the different elements available to you can be a bit tricky."

I nodded. "Of the ones I used, I probably prefer Earth and Venus, honestly."

"You don't like Juvia's magic?" Juvia said quietly.

"That's not what I'm saying at all, Juvia!" I said, spinning her around again. "I love Neptune, and sometimes, especially depending on the environment, I prefer it. But on a general basis, I can use Venus and Earth just about anywhere, and it's a bit easier for me to use. I'm stronger in those magics. Neptune feels like I won't always be able to hold it – it's water, so it's harder to grasp. Pluto is a bit tricky, too – slick, and a bit oily, sometimes. And I feel like Mars is going to get away from me; like it's alive."

Makarov nodded. "Some people, even after learning the magic, can still have difficulty adjusting to certain elements. Earth is probably the easiest for you because it's solid, and dependable."

I nodded. "That makes sense. I understand."

Erigor smirked. "Ready to learn another element?"

"Nope," I said. "But we should get started, shouldn't we?"

He nodded and laughed, and we said goodbye to everyone else and teleported home.

"Now, I want you to relax, and begin to meditate," Erigor instructed.

We were sitting outside in the backyard, and a small breeze was drifting through my hair. I didn't know if it was Erigor who did it, or if it was natural, but it was something that could help.

Erigor must have felt my magical energy pick up, because he continued. "Do you feel the air around you? I'm meditating, same as you, and resonating with the wind. Do you feel it blowing through your hair?"

"Yes," I intoned, concentrating on the feeling.

"Wind is all around you," he continued. "You can feel it everywhere. Listen to its song on your skin."

The wind picked up around me, and my magical energy pulsed, wanting to be set free.

I didn't know whether or not to do this with or without the cuff, but it seemed to be working, even with the cuff on.

"Good," Erigor continued. "You mentioned having trouble with the other elements – but you're not going to grab the wind, you're going to ride it."

Ride it.

Ride it.

Suddenly, for a small moment, I seemed to perfectly resonate with the wind.

And then my magic exploded, and I blacked out.

I groaned as I woke up. "What happened?"

I was inside, lying on my bed. Erigor sat in a chair not too far from me, wiping blood off of his skin. I realized he was covered in it, and that it was actually his. He cleared some more blood off his arm before stopping and replying.

"I'm not quite sure," Erigor said. "I don't think I've ever seen anything like that. Your magic just sort of exploded, and I think you broke the cuff."

He gestured down to my wrist, where I saw the magic inhibitor cuff. Sure enough, it was split with a large crack through the lacrima attached, and I didn't think it could be fixed.

"I need to talk to Porlyusica," I murmured, before turning to Erigor. "But before that, how are you? Are you alright?"

He shrugged. "I couldn't really get my Storm Mail up in time, but I'm pretty okay. Just a few scratches."

"You're bleeding," I pointed out.

He shrugged. "I've had worse, especially during training, or practice missions with my father. This is fine, Elle. It'll heal."

I deflated. "I'll see if Porlyusica can give me something for you, too."

He nodded. "You should go see her. You don't know what the effects will be, if you go to long like this."

I sighed, and ended up yawning. "Alright. I think I'm going to sleep though, when I get back. I don't know why though; I just woke up."

Erigor shrugged and I teleported to outside of Porlyusica's house. "Hey, Porly," I yelled, knocking on the door.

"I told you to stop calling me that, you brat!" she yelled, opening the door and waving a broom angrily at me.

I held up my wrist. "We've got a bit of a problem."

She paused, and lowered the broom, inspecting the shattered bracelet. "I see." She sighed. "I honestly don't know what to tell you, girl. Wear two bracelets; see what happens."

"You don't think the drain will be too much?" I asked.

"Maybe at first," she said. "But eventually, your magic will settle, and it should be fine."

I nodded. "Thank you, Porlyusica. Do you have any sort of painkillers/regenerators? Erigor got sliced up a bunch when my magic unleashed."

Porlyusica sighed, and grabbed a bottle for me.

"Levy will probably be by in a few days in order to get her cast off," I continued. Virgo wasn't kidding when she said that the Celestial Potions would make it heal faster. "Oh, and one more thing?"

"Yes?" she asked.

"Talk to Laxus," I said, and then popped away before she could retort.

I giggled as I popped back into my room, requipping two more bracelets.

Generally, they came in pairs, and I originally had nine pairs – which mean I had seventeen individual bracelets left, and a broken one.

It was two more days into training – three days after the article was published in Sorcerer Weekly – that two cards went off.

I paused, and stopped meditating. "Erigor, I've got two cards going off. I need to go."

He nodded. "Hurry."

I hated how two cards were going off at the same time, but I requipped them out.

Laki and Max.

Grabbing Laki's first, I sent magic through it and jumped to her location, before pausing.

Sitting in front of me, inside a cute little room, was Laki and Max.

I didn't know that they knew each other before Fairy Tail.

Both of them were sitting, obviously meditating for the first time.

Checking the cards, I realized that I had panicked, and that only their magical activation was going off, not their distress or danger signal.

"I'm so stupid," I muttered, facepalming.

"Who are you? Get out!"

My attention was drawn to Max, who had gotten up and grabbed a chair, trying to use it as a weapon. Both kids had stopped meditating.

"Wait, Max, it's as fine as a new steed!" Laki said.

Max stopped, confused. "It is?"

Laki nodded, grabbing Sorcerer Weekly and holding it up. "She's the girl I was telling you about! What are you doing here, though?" she asked, turning to me.

I paused, a bit stunned. "Why don't we sit down?"

The two kids sat, looking at me, though Max still looked a bit wary – well, as wary as a six-year-old could look.

"Let's introduce ourselves," I said. "My name is Eleanor Rigby. I turned ten in May. You guys can call me what you like, as long as it's not Eleanor. I usually go by Elle."

Laki nodded happily. "I'm Laki Olietta! I turned seven in February!"

"I'm Max Alors," Max said. "I turned six in March."

I nodded, before turning to Laki. "Did you see the GMG, Laki?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it was as cool as liquid nitrogen!"

I blinked. She was seven. Where did these things even come from?

Did liquid nitrogen even exist in this universe?

You know what, nevermind.

"Well, did you hear Juvia talk about how I know some things?" I asked.

She nodded.

I smiled. "Basically, there are a few things that I know about the future. One of those things is people who will join our family – who will be a big part of Fairy Tail. So Cana and I made monitoring cards, so I would know when you guys started learning magic. I'm here to offer you a place in Fairy Tail, whenever you want it. You can join now, you can join later. You can stay with your families, too. It's up to you."

They looked at each other, before Max eventually nodded at Laki.

Laki turned to me. "We want to join, but we'll wait a bit. Maybe we'll come visit in a month or two if we need help, but for now we just want to start building up a good foundation."

I nodded, trying not to freak out about Laki's maturity. It was on a different type of level from Levy's and even Freed's, so I was a bit unsure.

Requipping two Call Cards, I left one with each of them and bid them adieu.

I had to get back to training.

After all...There was barely two weeks left in July.

I'm back from the dead!

Yeah, I'm really sorry about the longer update. They changed my schedule at work, so now I'm working nights, and it fucked up my sleep schedule. I'm addition, I was a bit confused on how to end this chapter, so it was a bit slow in coming.

However, I have the weekend off, so expect more updates! Yay!