Wishfull-star: („• ᴗ •„)
Ace noticed quickly that Gray and Natsu hated each other, but that they were both wary of making Erza angry. Ace wondered why, since Erza seemed perfectly polite if not a bit strict. He didn't understand the fear, so when he asked Max about it, he said she beat them up when they were little and never got over it.
"It doesn't help she's still scary," the sand magic user sand in an undertone. Ace couldn't see Erza as scary, personally. She was very welcoming and accepting of him just showing up with severe amnesia.
Ace was sitting at the bar and had brought a huge batch of cookies Thatch told to share with his friends, so everyone were eating them, and Natsu kept glaring at Ace between fights with Gray. Finally, Ace went and asked what his problem was. "Why do I gotta struggle with food money while you get free good food?"
"Life isn't fair," Ace said cooly, munching on another cookie. "I was just lucky, I guess. Though I don't think Thatch would want to room with you and Happy. So there's no way you could have been in my shoes. Perfect food, ah," he said with a smirk.
"You jerk, you keep rubbing it in!"
"You're the one that made a big deal outta it first."
"You two aren't fighting, are you?" Erza asked in firm voice. Ace looked over and said they were having a heated debate. "Oh, I see." And she walked away. Natsu was shocked, and demanded to know what his secret was. "Huh?"
"You made her go away without getting hit!" Natsu hissed. Gray looked shocked, too. Ace rose an eyebrow and said he'd only changed the words of fighting to sound more… proper and organized. "Teach me."
"Ace-sensei!" Happy cheered. Ace was surprised and kind of amused. He couldn't teach them manners, it was a moot point. And when he said this, Happy agreed. Natsu and Gray both swore in irritation. It really was funny. Erza came back over, and Natsu stiffened. "I have a job I want you three on."
"Why me?" Ace wondered. "I have fire, Natsu has fire. Wouldn't one of us suffice?" he asked, being very honest. Natsu claimed his fire was a lot better than Ace's. Gray looked to have trouble not taunting and demeaning them, before both seemed to realize Erza wanted both of them. Who hated each other with a passion for… reasons? Ace didn't really know.
Surely hating each other because of their contrasting magic was stupid. Erza responded, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Just having similar magic doesn't cancel the other out. Mirajane can change her appearance like Elfman but they worked together." Ace hadn't seen Mira how she was on jobs, but also didn't ask because he felt it might be rude.
Ace did wonder if he'd be useful at all. Last time, he was pretty useless. He did the task of burning something, but was then sucked into a frying pan and needed help. "You can say no, but I do want you to come, too," Erza said calmly. Ace asked what the job was. "I'll explain on the way."
She was traping him into doing it even if he didn't like the job. "You'll get to prove yourself to the guild."
"He already proved he could be the boy version of Mira!" Happy said. Ace scowled, and said he was in. The four of them, three of them were very strong already. Sure, Ace could beat them up physically, but he wasn't so good with his magic. Not used to it, feeling he'd only gotten it recently. Ace proudly said he had to go pack his things. He found Thatch coming in with the groceries. Ace took a few bags to help. The man asked if Ace was leaving.
He nodded. "I'm going on a job. I don't know when I'll be back, or really what to pack for a longer job. I know to pack a few pairs of underwear and maybe some socks. But you can sleep in the same clothes you wore before," he said. "What else should I bring?"
"Cookies. Take some of my cookies with you. You should bring a water purifier if you're going out to camp. A compass, all that cool survivor stuff. Like a rope, as well." They put the food in the cupboards or fridge, and Ace packed his things. He had two blankets, and asked which one was better.
It took him much longer when he packed things that he probably wouldn't need. "I'll see you later!"
"I'll make sure there's goodies for you to come back to. Good luck!" Thatch cheered from the doorway as Ace went running back to the guild, his backpack pretty heavy now. But thinking about it, he wondered if bringing rope was overdoing it, or a compass and water purifier. What about the wire he'd packed? Well, he'd find out on the job wouldn't be?
He found Lucy there, too. "Are you coming, too?"
"You're late!" Gray accused. "You have no belongings, what took you so long?" But Erza shut him up when she appeared with a huge amount of luggage. Ace didn't feel like he overpacked anymore, which was nice.
"Are you fighting?"
"No!" Gray said. Ace said they had a confrontation, and the ice user looked at him in fury. But his voice was calm and light, clearly not agitated or anything. They were all gathered there, and Happy got onto Ace's shoulder. He was very light, so it was no problem. They walked to the train station, and finally asked why Lucy was coming along.
Mira told her she would be a good mediator between the three. "But I'm here," Ace said.
"Mira thinks you'll get in fights with Natsu and Gray, too," she replied honestly, sounding pitying. "You and Natsu got in arguments on the job, too."
"Only for normal things. Like when he spit food all over me," Ace said slightly defensively. She just shrugged. There were five of them plus Happy. It would be a crowded train car. They all got on for free of course, and sat in the carport area. Ace sat across from Natsu, not wanting him to risk vomiting on him. Erza sat beside him and Lucy was on the other side. Ace sat next to Gray. Happy was in Ace's lap.
It was only surprising for Gray and Erza for Ace to fall asleep so easily, and he unwillingly and unknowingly napped through the whole explanation. When he did wake up, they were leaving, and Natsu was there. Ace stood up, and shook his shoulder. "Dude, get up, we're leaving."
"B-Bathroom," Natsu said. He couldn't actually get up, still dizzy. Ace put on his backpack from the overhead cart and helped Natsu limp to the train bathroom. He went deeper in the train and got Natsu's luggage. Ace still couldn't believe Erza packed so much junk. How did it fit anyways? And did she actually bring all of that stuff on trips that weren't places with flat ground? It just seemed impractical. Maybe she was secretly a hoarder.
He retuned to the bathroom and helped Natsu off of the train some more before the doors were shut. He dropped Natsu to run to the front of the train to let them off and not run off with them still there. Damn Natsu. But once the train stared to move again, Ace got very sleepy, and stumbled to the door, but it was locked and he couldn't reach the train guy, the captain. Shit!
The moment he sat down to think, he fell asleep to the rhythmic motions of the train.
He woke up when the train ride was over, and hurried out of the train car he was in, looking out the window to see they weren't in that city station they should have been. He'd fallen asleep again. Why? Was he like Natsu and the train was his enemy? He's handled a carriage before just fine. How annoying.
"Oi! Natsu!" he called, walking up and down the vehicle before finding he was the only one there. Fuck. He got his thing and jumped out a window he forced open, since the doors were locked. He jumped down onto the tracks, seeing this station was completely deserted. He heard all the noise from the outside. It would be nice to have super senses so he would know where his friends were, and the jerks who just left him there. He was mad at Natsu the most, though. He left Ace on the train when Ace had stayed behind to help him get to the freaking bathroom.
Well, maybe there was an incident. He hoped that he was put under a spell and he didn't honestly fall asleep on the train. If that were the case, he and natsu wouldn't be able to go to jobs as a pair. Happy was useless, too, it seemed. Ace walked up some stairs into the busy area, his hands in his pockets. His guild mark was out of view.
He found a huge crowd of suspicious looking individuals, and headed to the side of the station building, jumping on the veranda and breaking into the window. He made his way around the building, and then back to the opposite side and joined his friends. He just showed up in their area. "Yo. Why'd you all leave me?"
"What happened to you?! We thought you were kidnapped!" Lucy exclaimed. Ace said he wasn't good with trains.
"Oh no, now there's two of you," Gray groaned.
"It's Natsu's fault, he had to piss so I stayed behind to help him. Then the train started going and when I woke up I was at the station, even Natsu was gone!" he argued. Natsu laughed at him and Erza punched his head, yelling at him for not thanking Ace for his help. "Oh, and there are some creepy looking dude inside, and everyone else is asleep.
Suddenly there was a huge, bright flash that broke open the windows of the station in front of them. They all got down and covered their heads as glass fell down. Ace jerked up, and ran to the area that was debris. There was someone standing there, while everyone else looked gray. They looked almost dead.
The person standing in the middle of it all had fancy clothes and a hood on. He turned to Ace, and the teen got in a fighting stance, knowing this guy was powerful. Ace was suspicious and brought his fire out. Erza was just as suspicious when she saw what happened, but instead of anger anymore, it was transformed into joy and relief.
"Sabo!" she called. "You got back from work!" Ace relaxed, assuming this was someone from the guild. He took off his hood, and Ace noticed he was the same as them, a teenager. This guild sure had a lot of teenagers. He had wavy blonde hair and wide eyes with a burn scar on his face.
"Erza. Oh, did I just ruin a job for you again?" Sabo asked with an awkward laugh. "I just sensed nasty magic so I erased some people. Are they worth turning back?" he asked, holding something wrapped in cloth. Erza said they were from a dark guild. They could be put back in the feeble way.
Lucy asked if there was someone stronger than Erza that hadn't heard of. Ace was curious, too! Erza was showing respect to this man, with a bright smile. Gray and Natsu both looked sour. "That's Sabo. The first person to become an S-Class wizard while still just a kid."
"Whoa! Awesome!" Ace cheered. He thrust a fist in the air. "I wanna be S-Class, too!" Happy said it was very hard, only a handful of people were S-Class in their guild. "Wait, does that make Sabo the strongest? If he became S-Class as a kid, he has to be hella strong now!" Ace exclaimed.
Sabo looked past Erza with a smile. "I see new faces," he said brightly. Ace ran up to him, glancing at the gray people, and introduced himself. Sabo's face went white, and he swallowed thickly. "Where are you from, Ace?" He sounded awkward. Ace bluntly shrugged. "You don't know?"
Well, that was true, but he'd be more honest, "I don't remember anything or anyone. I woke up in Magnolia with no memory. Haha, it sucks, but I met nice people. They let me join the guild. Hey, you should train me how to be strong. But what's your magic anyways?" he wondered. Ace poked his booted toe to the face of one of the gray bodies. Sabo blinked a few times and, instead of responding to what Ace had said and asked, Sabo questioned if he had family he could remember.
"I don't remember anything, but I had said I had brothers that died. But I don't really remember any brothers. Kind of shitty, though, huh? But you should train me. To be super tough. My fire is strong, but I'm not very used to using magic yet. It feels a bit out of control."
Gray said, "No way is Sabo gonna teach you when I've been asking for any help since I was ten!" Sabo laughed awkwardly and then surprised them by saying, "Don't worry, Ace. I think you'll become super strong. Besides, you should work your way up. Don't rush it. Erza, help me tie these guys up." Ace was bummed he was declined, and moped back to he group.
"Told you," Gray said, though he had his arms crossed in suspicion as Sabo seemed to return the lives to the gray people, but only so they instead turned white, submissive and easy to tie up. Lucy wondered what they would do about the lullaby, and Ace had no idea what she was talking about. "Whatever went wrong or was going wrong, Sabo fixed it."
Natsu was pouting about not getting to take revenge on the guy that humiliated him on the train. "While you were busy snoozing the whole time."
"We would have gotten off the train fine if you hadn't need to piss or shit," Ace snarked. He watched Sabo take the stick he was holding, and have it turn a red before black and then dissolved. "What did he do? What was that?" Nobody that knew would answer until Happy explained that Sabo could manipulate colors, and they meant different things. So he had erased the flute into nothing. Not even leftover magic. "Whoa…"
Natsu stormed past them and back to the train to pout angrily. Sabo just watched with a bit of amusement. He seemed so responsible, like Erza. Well, Ace had thought he was responsible until he fell asleep on the train and separated from everyone. He was ashamed. He sat down on the steps.
"What's wrong?" Lucy asked, sitting next to him. He sighed.
He didn't stay silent long before he ranted about how useless he was. Even worse than Lucy, who wasn't even there to help. "I fell asleep on the train and then I woke up and instantly the problem was over. What was the problem, anyways? I didn't even know."
"Well, at least now we know a weakness for you. Right? It won't surprise anybody." Ace huffed, and then Lucy explained about the dark guild possessing a weapon from the book of Zeref. Sabo destroyed it, so their job was over. "It all ended out okay and nothing bad happened from you being on the train." Erza had explained that Zeref was the black wizard, the most powerful and evil wizard to exist. His books contained dangerous spells that could manifest in real life. It seemed the thing Sabo destroyed had been an evil object, too.
Happy walked over and asked Lucy if she'd ever had a baby. "Why would you ask that?!" she demanded awkwardly. "Oh… I see. Ace, she's taken already." Lucy kicked Happy away and stormed off. Ace couldn't help but start laughing loudly. "Yay! I made Ace happy!"
"Was that your intention?" Ace asked through his laughs. Happy grinned and said it wasn't, but he was lucky like that. "Well, thanks for making me laugh." He stood up, and asked Erza if they were going back now. Their job was completed, even if it wasn't by them themselves. She was all smiles. She seemed to really admire Sabo. He must be super cool and strong to do that. His way of magic was super strong, too, if he easily destroyed something as evil as the demon flute.
Erza asked Sabo if he was on his way back. "Yeah. I didn't complete the job."
"You've been away for three years, it's good to have you back." Ace was shocked to hear Sabo had been on a job since he was fourteen! Amazing! Sabo grinned, and said it really was good to see them. "Would you like to accompany us back?" she asked. Ace did wonder if she was upset the job was finished before they could even do anything. She didn't seem to be. Sabo agreed to accompany them back home.
Ace was excited to get to know someone so strong. After reporting everything to the authorities, they headed to the train, which was fixed again after there was a breakage in the tracks. It was such a fast repair! The six, now, plus Happy, went into the train and didn't fit in one compartment, so Ace went into another one with Sabo.
He warned him he'd probably fall asleep, and Sabo just smiled and nodded. Seemed like a happy guy. Ace wanted to talk with him, but did indeed drift off to sleep when the ride started. They both had their things on the seats beside them. It wasn't the most comfortable thing to sleep on, but it was fine. He was laying down on his seat, not sitting up this time.
When he woke up, he was being carried by somebody on their back. He was confused, and saw it was the powerful S-Class, carrying him. It was strange, but he was very nice to do that. "I'm awake," Ace said, and Sabo put him down. "You could have woken me up, you didn't need to carry me." Sabo smiled and said it was no problem.
Ace had his things on his back already, so he only got off and they continued on their way back. The other four were a bit ahead of him. Gray had a bump on his head, so Ace assumed one of the other two hit him. "Do you have a place to stay, Ace?" sabo asked conversationally. Ace nodded, saying he had a roommate who was really nice and good at cooking. "That sure is convenient."
"Yeah! He's really nice, I like him," Ace said, arms behind his back. They walked into the guild, and Sabo went to the Master and told him about his failed job, which the old man was not upset about, and didn't seem surprised. Ace was so interested that the wizards with the S-Class titles were all teens. Though there had to be some adults with it.
Ace went to the table with his friends, eating food. When he sat down, Natsu said, "Hah, Ace you were pretty useless!" Ace felt like shit after that, and glared at him in annoyance and left to use the bathroom. When he went there, Ace closed the door and looked in the mirror, glad he wasn't crying.
He had been totally useless. He shouldn't have even tagged along. Just Gray and Natsu would have been fine. Natsu was taken on the train, too, but he got off and knew what was happening. Ace had no idea what happened by the time he was at the train station alone. At least Sabo took care of it before any of them could do anything. He was fucking useless and humiliated.
He went home after that, and locked himself in his room after eating some pie. Thatch wasn't there.
Natsu and Happy are so insensitive sometimes in this. We all know cannon Ace has a lot of insecurities, so this might be a problem! Uh oh! And Sabo is crazily overpowered in this. Like super super strong. One of the S-class wizards and stronger than Erza but weaker than Gildarts. See you next time!