Chapter 10: Reunion in Crocus

Riku staggered off the train and leaned against the wall, inhaling deeply to try and steady his stomach. The train was certainly better than a carriage, but not by much.

"Get off of me," snapped a voice, loudly enough to catch Riku's attention.

Peering over his arm, Riku could see a slim, yet muscular young man with messy, spiky blond hair pushing his friend's hand off of his shoulder angrily. The blonde's face had a greenish quality to it that Riku recognized as motion sickness. He was sure his own face had a similar tint. The kid staggered away in a huff, his friend shaking their head behind him as if this was a normal occurrence. The blonde's slanted dark blue eyes scanned the area around him before catching sight of Riku. He paused, arms out to his side as if ready to fight and narrowed his eyes even more.

"You got a problem," he called.

Riku pushed himself from the wall and looked behind him. There was no one there. The blonde took a step towards Riku, who was not enjoying the idea of fighting so soon off a train, when a dark haired kid behind them called out, "Sting, let's go!"

Sting stopped, the earring on his left ear swinging back and forth. He glanced back to Riku before making a disappointed tsking sound and turning. There was a white guildmark on his left shoulder- a sabertooth tiger.

Riku crossed his arms and watched Sting and his friend leave, not hiding his gaze. After they disappeared and his stomach had fully settled, Riku moved out of the train station and into the city of Crocus. Glancing around he could see the rocky mountains surrounding the city with the closest housing on hills near him. Riku wasn't too surprised by the size of the city- it was the capital, after all. He began to move down the street trying his best to be invisible in the crowd as he took in his surroundings. His invisibility had become much harder to maintain in the last year or so thanks to a late growth that had added half a foot to his height. As if on cue, he ran right into a low hanging vine, covered in flowers of orange and red. In his attempt to untangle, he pulled part of the vine off.

"You'll have to pay for that," snapped the merchant who appeared as if by magic at Riku's elbow, nearly giving him a heart attack.

He looked down at the vine in his hands, then back to the merchant. "Seriously? It attacked me."

"It's twenty-two jewels," the merchant said holding out their greedy hand.

Riku was just about to snap back when Cana appeared and dropped the jewels into the merchant's hand. She turned, beaming up at Riku.

"I was wondering if you'd make it," Cana said, a glint of evil dancing in her eyes. "I bought you those flowers, so now you owe me a drink."

Riku sighed with relief, "Lets get five."

"Boy did I miss you," Cana laughed taking Riku's arm and tugging him towards the closest pub.

...

It took three drinks for them to fully catch up on what Riku had missed- the Edolas adventure (as best as Lucy had explained to Cana, anyway), the S-class trials, the reveal of Cana's relation to Gildart, and their being asleep for seven years. Riku did his best to fill Cana in about his last seven years, though he wasn't able to give many interesting details (in his opinion). He'd just been wandering about Fiore, then Ishgar, and finally Alvarez and the areas around it. Behind them, a few people snickered as they passed, muttering about Fairy Tail: the weakest guild in all of Fiore. Riku and Cana exchanged a look before taking another swig to prevent themselves from getting into trouble, for now.

"Hey, let's see our fortunes," Cana offered, pulling out her cards.

"Cana, you know I hate that," Riku grumbled, motioning to the bartender to refill their cups.

"How about I see you and Erza's future," Cana teased, making heat rush to Riku's face.

"It's been seven years, Cana," RIku grumbled. "Give me a break."

"Seven years for you, maybe," Cana countered, laying her deck on the counter for Riku to cut. "Time didn't pass for us at all. In fact, now you're older than me."

"I'm not sure that's technically how time works," Riku said cutting the cards as the two new drinks reached them. "Just look into my future and leave Erza out of it."

"Mira would be so disappointed to hear that," Cana said with a sideways glance. She shuffled the cards again and laid five of them face down in the formation of a lowercase t. She reached for the first card in the center, but paused and drew her hand back, looking at Riku again. "Did something change for you? Did you get married or something?"

"Cana," Riku groaned. She held up her hands in surrender.

"Okay, have it your way," she said taking a swig of her drink before turning back to the cards. "But I can't help what the cards say."

She flipped them over in the order she'd laid them down: center, left, right, bottom, and then top card all turned to show colorful pictures and titles. The moon, the devil, the five of swords, the ten of swords, and then judgement. Cana surveyed the scene before her with furrowed brows. Riku glanced from the cards to Cana, then to the cards again.

"Come on Cana," he said after another swig. "It's never good when you're quiet this long. You've gone two whole minutes without a sip of alcohol. Am I dead or what?"

Cana looked at him strangely before smiling at him and waving her hand in the air. "No,no, don't worry."

"Well, now I'm more worried so just rip off the band-aid while I have a drink," Riku sighed.

"Hmm, okay," Cana agreed. "This card, the moon, it represents your present situation. This says that you are in a test of your soul's integrity. You're in a state of indecision about something, but right now you're ignoring the facts and suppressing something important you need to deal with. Then the devil here represents the past. Whatever is causing you uncertainty now is related to the core of your being which you haven't or maybe can't tame. In a sense you could lose your soul to this shadow if you don't address it. This card on the right here represents the future. It's the five of swords which refers to a figurative or literal fight that hasn't happened yet, but has the potential for great loss. You need to rethink your plan and regroup, perhaps reach out to allies or friends to help cover your blind spots or weaknesses. If you don't, you may regret the losses you face."

Riku was really wishing he hadn't cut the deck and had distracted Cana by challenging her to a drinking game. He finished his cup to numb his regret.

"This one on the bottom is the reason for the battle your fighting, maybe now or in the future," Cana continued, unaware (or ignoring) Riku's wishing. "The ten of swords represents betrayal and loss of trust. There is a finality to it, whatever happens can't be undone. And this last one on top is potential or outcome of all of this mess. It's the judgement card or the resurrection. There is the potential for a joyful return, so long as you trust yourself and your actions."

"Oh good," Riku said finishing his drink and waving for the bartender for another. "Just all good news then."

"What were you thinking of when you cut the deck," Cana asked.

"Oh I don't know," Riku said with a sigh. "Nothing in particular. The Grand Magic Games, traveling, meeting up with everyone. Why? Does the good news keep coming?"

"The good news is that this doesn't seem to have anything to do with Erza or your lack of a love life in general," Cana said tapping her chin. "If you were thinking of the games then..." She scanned the cards again, eyes widening as she went.

"Please, Cana," Riku said. "I'm begging you to just spit it out. Put me out of my misery, the anticipation is too much."

"If the cards are about the games then these games are a test of more than just our might. In fact, whatever is happening in these games under the surface are taboo- some sort of shadow is working against us and if we're not careful it will win. We need to work with strategy or we might not make it through. If we do work together and figure it out, then we can have a joyful victory and be stronger from it."

They sat in silence for a minute, staring at the cards before them.

"Well," Riku said awkwardly putting some money on the bar as he stood up, swaying just a bit. "On that note, I think I'll go. Let's catch up tomorrow to watch the games, shall we?"

"Sure, how about the pub next door. This one has some bad luck," Cana agreed. She collected her cards and called to the bartender to bring her a few additional drinks as Riku moved out of the bar and down the street thinking about what had been said.

So if the reading is about me, Riku considered, then there is a test of my soul's integrity, huh? Something I'm not sure about, possibly because a devil in the core of my being. He considered his loss of control at the Tower of Heaven and his inability to find Acnologia for the past seven years.

"You could lose your soul to this shadow if you don't address it," Riku muttered to himself, taking a random right without paying much attention. Last time I did lose myself a bit, didn't I? If Erza hadn't called me back I would have torn Jellal limb from limb or worse. But what about that future card? Some kind of fight is coming up?

"That's obvious," Riku considered taking a left without looking. "It's a tournament and I already almost got into it with that Sting kid and the merchant."

Of course, he considered, neither of those seemed to fit the description of the potential for great loss. He paused at a fork in the road, noted that the castle seemed to be close by, so opted for the left path again, his mind clearing as his body temperature burned through the alcohol quickly.

If there is a betrayal then who is it from and how would it lead to resurrection? Maybe they aren't related, considered Riku. He paused at the gate to the castle garden and turned around, opting not to enter, though not really taking any notice of the people he passed. A man carrying a pile of baskets ducked to the left narrowly avoiding him and sending his top few baskets toppling to the ground.

Somehow the cards for the Magic Games are even more ominous, Riku considered. What sort of shadow would be working behind the games and why would they care about Fairy Tail? Riku stopped suddenly, making a woman with a baby carraige careen around him last minute. He didn't notice as he remembered his encounter with Jellal, Meredy, and Ultear. They had been concerned about something at the games as well.

"Shit," Riku muttered, looking around the street. For the first time he took in his surroundings. On one side of him was a bakery and on the other side was the Honey Bone Lodge. He had to find Jellal, but he also was realizing he was very lost. "Where am I," he asked no one in particular.

Despite this, the universe answered. Four men flew out the window, landing on the cobble stone in front of him, all groaning. They looked like the boys from Blue Pegasus.

"Such... parfume," moaned one, his face against the cobble stone by Riku's foot.

"Ichiya," Riku asked. Yeah, that was Blue Pegasus, alright.

"And stay out," called a voice from the window above. Riku glanced up to see a flash of red hair.

"Erza," Riku said surprised.

The red hair returned to the window and two hands pushed it back into a high ponytail to reveal Erza Scarlet's face, just as it had been seven years ago. Riku felt his stomach jump up to his throat as he caught sight of a glimmer from her neck- a blue jewel on a necklace revealed by her pajama top. The necklace he'd given her.

"Riku," she called excitedly, pulling him from his thoughts. She leaned out the window a bit farther, motioning to the door of the inn nearby. "Come on in!"

Riku gulped, pushing Cana's cards and their ominous fortune telling from his mind as he moved towards the door and entered the Inn. Erza was waiting for him at the top of the stairs in her pink pajamas, beaming with a smile so wide that Riku couldn't help but feel his own mouth pull into a matching grin.

Let the games begin! Thanks for reading & don't forget to review!