I! Have Returned!

Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen – The S Class Quest

When we left the guild, all of the newer fathers were still busy fighting over their 'powerful' babies. As we left, Macao was winning because none of the other kids had shown signs of magic yet, and according to Zeref, Romeo was guaranteed to have Planetary Magic.

Laxus was extremely confused. I didn't blame him.

"So…did you adopt him?" he asked.

"Romeo?" I asked. "No. I'm like his mentor now."

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Besides, Yukino and Orga are already our children."

"Elle!" he cried.

I cackled, grabbed his arm, and teleported us closer to the forest.

We had already spoken with the mayor of the town, who had explained that there was an extremely large monster terrorizing their forest, and would come into the town once a month, usually at night. They didn't know a lot about it, but they think it might be a demon.

Ever since Deliora, people tend to think whatever is attacking them is a demon.

This one though, actually sounded like one.

"Do you think it's really bigger than a Vulcan?" I asked Laxus as we stood at the forest.

"Don't change the subject!" he shouted, blushing furiously. "They're not our kids!"

"As good as," I said, rolling my eyes. "I've been taking care of Yukino since she was two. And Orga acts much younger than he is, and they both look up to both of us."

"Yukino doesn't look up to me that much," Laxus said.

"She barely reaches your knees," I said.

"You know that's not what I meant!"

I ran ahead, snickering.

"Elle!" Laxus yelled, chasing after me.

We had talked about a plan earlier. Make noise, lure out the demon, and then teleport away for some more planning.

So, you know…this worked, right?

Three hours later, we were very tired, and there was no demon.

"Do you think it's waiting for us to wear ourselves out?" I asked Laxus, lying on the ground in a clearing next to him.

He grunted, before asking, "Do you think it understands human speech?"

I hummed. "Maybe."

"Do you think we should just yell around asking it to come out?"

"Nah," I said, before saying slightly louder. "It's probably too stupid to understand human speech."

There was a loud crashing sound, and then an inhuman roar.

"Would you look at that?" I hummed.

"Should we go now?" Laxus asked, sitting up.

"Nah," I said, eyeing him, and he understood that we should throw a few attacks at the monster before we left so we had a basic idea of what we were up against.

Which is good, considering the monster definitely understood English.

Was still pretty stupid though, since it reacted to the taunt so fast.

It started getting darker, and Laxus and I both looked up. A giant monster was blocking out the sun, mid-jump, before falling to the ground.

I teleported Laxus and I out of the way, and we stared at the giant monster that was standing where we had been. It slightly resembled a silverback gorilla, if gorillas were the size of a two-story house.

"I think they need to learn how to measure things," he muttered next to me.

I think Laxus was right. This monster was much bigger than a Vulcan. It was actually only about a head smaller than Deliora.

Great.

I grabbed Laxus and teleported us out of the way right as a fist came for us. Laxus flailed a bit as I moved us onto a tree branch so we could see the monster from above.

I grabbed the back of his shirt (which was hard, considering how he was still nearly a head taller than me) and pulled him back into balance, putting a finger to my lips.

He glared at me, but obeyed.

We glanced down at the monster, which roared and tore a large tree out of the ground.

Luckily it wasn't ours.

Laxus and I exchanged a look, and I realized that we should probably learn basic thought projections and telepathy. We spent most of the last year helping everyone learn basic Tertiary Magic (remember, things like Teleportation, or Transformation Magic or Requip because it's helpful. But we never actually took the time to try and learn some new magic for us. The thing is, most powerful wizards can do Thought Magic easily – we've seen it in the series, Laxus and Jellal tossing around Thought Projections, Jellal talking with other wizards in his mind, etc. It falls under a natural branch of magic that just about anyone can do, so it's a bit stupid that we never took the chance to learn it.

Then again, I did manage to project thoughts to Erik when he can't read my thoughts normally.

LAXUS! I mentally shouted at him.

Nothing.

Yeah, that'd be too easy, wouldn't it?

For now though, we should just have to focus on killing this thing.

I let go of Laxus, and summoned my newest spell – or a new take on an older spell.

"Venus's Spears!" I shouted.

It was an alternate take on Venus's Sword, where I could summon beams of light and throw them like spears or javelins, rather than just creating one

I could try using something like Arms of the Earth, but I worried that it wouldn't be strong enough, or that if I used Venus's Reflective Shield, it would affect me like it did when I fought Deliora. But Light Magic is stronger against Darker Magic, unless there's a large power difference.

The two lights pierced through the monster's hands, pinning him to the ground.

He roared loudly, trying to get up.

The stakes didn't budge, and he didn't bleed, either. And not because Light spells cauterize the wound – Sting's magic would do that, but mine wouldn't. Venus connects to bodies through magic – it wouldn't work on anything nonmagical.

Which proves that this is a demon, yeah.

Laxus jumped off the tree, shifting his body to aim his fist at the demon's face. "Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!"

He pounded the demon's head back into the dirt, creating a small crater and causing a shockwave to ripple through the forest.

The demon laid stunned for a bit, before he shook it off and roared. With a yank, he pulled himself out of the ground.

Not out of the spears – the lights were still embedded in his hands. But the ground had been weak enough he could dig it out.

Laxus, who had still been slightly on the monster, was tossed aside and hit a tree.

I winced from my position. This just got trickier.

I decided to switch gears. Light Magic didn't seem to harm him much, and neither did Lightning Magic.

"Uranus's Arrows!" I shouted, letting loose a series of ice arrows on the demon. It roared as it was pelted with the icy shards, but batted most of them away easily.

Not that I was really trying to harm him, just see if it affected him. No use in using a lot of magic to power something that wouldn't work.

The monster turned to face me and roared, grabbing me with one of his giant hands.

For a second, I totally felt like I was in King Kong, before I remembered that I'm not an idiot, and teleported next to Laxus.

I stumbled a bit as I fell, adjusting to the difference in position and momentum. Laxus grabbed my arm, hauling me away as the monster angrily threw a tree in our direction.

"What about water?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, electricity doesn't seem to work much. But what if it's in water? Not just a puddle, but like a river? I think it would overwhelm it and penetrate its skin."

I looked at him before nodding. "Is there a river nearby?"

He winced. "There's one that's kinda close, but we'd still have to lure the monster over to it. I was hoping you could make a trench and fill it with water?"

I rolled my eyes. "The things I do for you…"

But I was smiling, and it was a teasing tone.

The monster ripped out the tree we were hiding behind, and Laxus and I split, me going around behind the monster while Laxus played the distraction in front of him.

As I knelt on the ground and thrust my hands against it, I closed my eyes. In the background, I could hear Laxus taunting the monster and, from the sound of it, jumping around in his Lightning Form trying to get the thing to catch him.

I let out a breath.

The thing is, I don't have a spell specific for creating a trench. Could I make one, in time? Yeah, especially with Zeref's help.

But I didn't have one specifically right now, which means this would be a little more difficult. Spells help direct magic, and the words specifically help magic figure out what to do. Up until this point, I've only ever manipulated small balls of elements without an incantation. This would be the most Earth I've ever tried to move silently.

My mind wandered down, following my magic as it touched the earth underneath us. I could feel the earth, pinpoint any weak spots and where to break it.

I pushed.

It was difficult. Different. I was moving a trench through the ground, trying to separate it beneath me as I concentrated. But moving the entire area of ground is a lot harder than manipulating small balls of elements.

Especially since I kinda wanted the ground to stay firm where I and Laxus were.

I took a deep breath and slammed my magic into a weak spot under the monster.

The ground shook, and I could feel the movements of the monster stop as it regained it balance.

Laxus distracted it again before it became suspicious.

I huffed, took another deep breath, and slammed my magic into the weak point, quite similar to how I'd slam my shoulder into a door if I was trying to incorrectly break it down. (Fun fact: It's much better to kick at the place of the door handle. Using your shoulder will probably just break or dislocate it.)

Focus, I told myself.

Third times the charm.

I took one more breath and it was like everything around me stilled. I suddenly felt free, almost how I'd feel if I was just floating in water with no care.

And with a shove I pushed my magic.

I crashed back down to Earth and the ground around the monster cracked before falling to pieces, the monster falling down into a hole.

I felt lightheaded, (and had a few questions for Zeref and/or Corvus) but my job wasn't done yet. Luckily, I didn't have to do much to fill the hole. It was a cloudy day, and I had just the spell for this.

"Neptune's Summoning!" I intoned, and the skies above us opened up with a crack.

The monster roared, trying to jump out of the hole as it began to fill with water, but his weight only made bigger indentations in the ground and made him sink deeper. He tried to climb up the side, but it began to crumble and curve under his fingers.

I looked at Laxus, who was across from me, with a bit of a shocked look on his face, before he shook it off and closed his eyes, activating all his magic power.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Roaring Thunder: Zeus's Fury!"

A gigantic lightning strike came cracking down from the sky, enhanced from my own magic that summoned the storm. It crashed into the hole and the monster let out one more roar as it died.

Laxus moved around and sat next to me as it continued to rain. I was still resting on my knees from casting the spell.

"Are you alright?" He asked me, taking one of my hands.

"Yeah. Just tired," I replied. "Why?"

He gave a small shrug. "It's hard to explain…either way, I'm glad you're alright. Sorry for not realizing what I was asking."

"It's fine," I said dismissively.

"It's not fine," he said, shaking his head. "I misjudged the amount of magical power needed, and we need to be able to tell those sort of things when we fight together."

I nodded his point, and squeezed his hands. "You're right. But we won this battle, and that's what practice is for. We'll learn."

He stared at me before nodding, and got up.

I made to follow him and my knees buckled. He quickly grabbed me around the waist and supported me from falling.

"Thanks," I said, steadying, and we looked at the monster. "What now?"

"Put it in your requip space?" Laxus suggested. The mayor had wanted to see the dead demon before payment.

I sighed. "At least I have room."

We moved forward to the demon, now slightly trapped in mud. I made a face as Laxus moved forward to touch the monsters head.

"Hey Elle," he said suddenly.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"They just want to see the body, right? We can keep it?"

"Yes…" I said slowly. "Why?"

He gestured to a drier part of the monster's head, taking my hand and guiding it. "Feel this."

My hand ran its fingers through its fur. It was soft.

"It's soft," I admitted. "And…"

He seemed to be getting a bit excited (well, for Laxus) and there was a bounce to him as he said. "I want to make a coat out of this."

I froze, remember a few things.

One, the fur color did look really familiar. Two, someone had mentioned that perhaps Laxus liked to hoard soft things. And three, it was around now in the timeline that he appeared with his coat.

I guess without me Laxus must have lured the monster to the river. Did he also lug it all the way back to town? That hilarious, he's as tall as the monster's foot is long.

"We can make you a coat, too!" he said, seeing my hesitation. "And a few blankets! And we can save some fur so you can have another coat when you grow again."

I glared at him, before biting my lip. While I did start growing after the thing with Ivan, I still wasn't as tall as I liked. At least now I actually looked my age, rather than looking like a child.

"You really want that coat, don't you?" I asked, amused.

The seventeen-year old boy in front of me was practically giddy.

Dragon hoarding is hilarious.

It was going to be annoying finding the right people who were willing to not only skin the monster but also do…whatever…to the fur to make sure it doesn't rot.

"You're lucky I love you," I said smiling, shaking my head and grabbing hold of the monster to shove it in my requip space.

"I'm lucky for loving you," he said, wrapping his arms around me from behind.

It disappeared in a blink, and I froze as I realized what he said.

"Oh my god," I said softly, turning back to Laxus. "I love you."

Joy overflowed me, and I practically tackled Laxus as I went for his lips. We fell to the ground and were getting dirty, but we were covered in mud anyway.

When we finally came up for air, Laxus had a confused look on his face. "What is it?"

"You love me," I said happily.

"Yes," he said slowly. "And?"

"And you've never said it before!"

He paused. "Oh. Yeah, I've only done it when you've…been asleep…"

He got a focused look on his face before he turned back to me. "Elle, I love you."

I decided he deserved another kiss.

We separated again, and Laxus had a bit of a goofy look on his face. "You're really happy I said it, aren't you?"

"Laxus," I said quietly. "No one has ever said that to me before. Not like that."

It's one thing to love your family, and as much as I do love everyone in the guild (and they love me back), there's a difference between loving someone who's a huge part of your life, and loving someone romantically, completely and utterly accepting them.

And I knew Laxus did. I saw it in his eyes.

"Elle," he said again, this time leaning forward and resting his head on mine. "I love you."

Yeah. Today was a good day.