Arslan P.O.V.
Pretty soon after the mood was lifted, the doctor came by and kicked everyone out besides Evergreen, Elfman, Lucy, Daryun, and Arslan, saying that too much noise disrupts the patients. The guild left the hospital room, waving happily at their five guildmates still in the room before the doors close.
"Now, Arslan. I wanted to let you know a few more things I discovered after looking at your file more. During your fight, Bacchus focused his most brutal and hard-hitting attacks at your legs, along with just hitting them a bunch. I assume his motivation for that was to cause you problems and knock you down so he could keep you down easier, but that didn't work very well while you had your spirits help. Because of this strategy he used, Your muscles suffered repeated bruising, along with tearing in several places. Because of my healing magic, you were able to be healed in a manner of days when it could normally take months to heal. But even so, some of the damage couldn't be fixed.
"Like I said earlier today, there will be times you will randomly trip and fall, or your legs will cramp up and make you fall. You will not be able to walk for long distances for a while, and you won't be able to run for even a longer time. Do not do anything to strenuous on your legs or you could injure them again. Running and jumping around constantly will likely cause you tons of pain, so I recommend you don't do it for a while. There might also be days you can't even move because your leg muscles are either in too much pain, they just won't cooperate, or cramp up every two seconds.
"While with time you will get better and you won't have the symptoms as often, they will never really go away, just become fewer and further apart. I recommend putting this on the back of your legs every night before you go to bed to help with the cramping and pain you might feel. You can also use it whenever your legs cramp up. Make sure to sit down or stop walking, running, or jumping, if you feel any kind of pain and use this, put a washcloth or paper towel of warm water on your legs, or massage them to help lessen the feeling." The doctor finishes her explanation and hands Arslan a large cloth pad. "This is a heating pad. To use it you need to send a shock of magic into it and it will start heating up and stay heated for up to six hours." Arslan nods his head, smiling his thanks.
"Thank you very much for helping me and giving me this 'heating pad'." He says. The doctor nods and smiles.
"I'm just doing my job. Now, feel free to stay or to leave, your choice. I will be right back for the two of you." She says, looking at Lucy and Elfman when she finishes speaking. The doctor then walks away to her office. Arslan stands up with a soft grunt of pain and stretches, Daryun next to him prepared to catch him if he falls.
"Wow, Arslan, I didn't think your injury was that bad." Lucy says, looking at him concerned. Arslan smiles.
"I'm fine, mostly. Besides the occasional leg pain, nothing's really wrong. I didn't want to falsely worry anyone." He says sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
"Your Highness, any injury could be detrimental in the long run, no matter how small it may seem. It is important that your friends know just in case something happens so that they will know how to help you." Daryun speaks, resting his hand on Arslan's shoulder. Arslan sighs.
"I- you're right Daryun. I'll have to tell everyone later." He says. Daryun smiles at Arslan, ruffling his hair.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Daryun says. Arslan turns to look at him and smiles. "Now, we should get going or everyone will start to worry about you." Arslan nods.
"Alright. See you later, Lucy, Elfman, Evergreen." Arslan waves at them as he and Daryun leave the hospital room, closing the door behind them. The two walked down the hallway, heading towards the exit of the arena and out of the building, going towards the inn the team is staying at. Arslan stumbled a couple of times on the way there, each time being supported and helped by Daryun. They reached the inn quickly, giving small nods and smiles to people who recognised them from the Grand Magic Games. When they reach the inside of the inn, they take the elevator up and walk into the room the Team is staying in. When the door creaks open to the room, they are greeted by Natsu and Erza's hellos. Arslan smiles at them.
"Hello!" He responds, walking into the room.
"Why did the doctor keep you?" Natsu asks, Happy sitting down on his lap.
"She wanted to tell me more she found out about my injury." Arslan says. He sits down onto his bed and Daryun places the heating pad onto his legs, injecting a magic jolt into it. The cloth starts heating up making Arslan sigh in relief. "She told me that because of the extensive damage to my legs Bacchus did, they have been permanently damaged. I will not be able to walk long distances for a while or run or jump for even longer. She told me that sometimes I will have days where I am in a lot of pain, and some days I can't even stand up. She told me that using this 'heating pad' or warm water on cloth on my legs will help relax my muscles and release some of the tension in my legs, helping dim down the pain." Erza and Natsu look at him, concerned.
"Are you alright, Arslan?" Erza asks. Arslan nods, smiling.
"I am fine as of right now. Daryun as given me this heating pad and I am sitting, so I will be alright. I thank you for your concern, though. If I am ever in need of anything, I will ask. Promise." These words seem to put the two others at ease as they untense and sit back on the beds.
"Alright. Now, what should we talk about?" Erza asks. Arslan laughs at her sudden change in topic.
"Well, This isn't really a subject to speak about, but I would like to meet all the spirits I can right now. When I was in the wheeled chair and Lucy got hurt, one of my spirits summoned themselves next to me and told me that the other spirits want to meet me, so that's what I plan on doing. Do you want to watch?" Arslan asks. Daryun nods almost immediately, and Natsu, Happy, and Erza, also nod.
"That sounds like a good idea, Arslan." Erza says. Natsu makes an agreeing noise. Arslan smiles and pulls out the key ring he was given, the jade colored keys glinting in the light. Arslan pulled all the keys off the chain and set it off to the side, pulled one key out from the pile, and held it in his fist in front of him, looking like he's going to unlock something. He turned the key, no incantation needed, and blue light flashed from the tip of the key, shooting out and landing on the ground, growing; forming something within the light. When the light dulled, a young woman stood there, short curly black hair, black eyes, tanned skin, black mouse ears, a thin black tail, and whiskers. The woman was dressed in black dress shoes and pants, a white vest over a light gray shirt, and a black coat.
"Hello!" The woman squeaked, nose twitching. "I'm Squeak! Are you the one who holds the keys?" She faces Arslan as she asks the question. Arslan nods.
"I am. My name is Prince Arslan. It is a pleasure to meet you." Arslan responds. Squeak smiles brightly.
"The pleasures mine! I've waited so long for a key holder once again! It's been years since any of use have been out!"
Arslan tilts his head, curious. "Why's that? That is, if you do not mind me asking."
"A long time ago, all the Zodiac's of the jade keys were the most powerful keys. Because of this, sometimes our keyholders would have trouble summoning us because of how much magic it took, so the Celestial Spirit King thought it would be best for us to wait until the proper key holder comes around for us all to share so that we won't ever accidently harm our key holders again." Arslan nods at her explanation sadly.
"I'm sorry you spirits had to go through that. I'm going to fix it, though! I plan on summoning all of you so that we can meet." Squeak looks up, excited.
"All of us? You have enough magic to do that?" She asks, frantic. Arslan nods hesitantly.
"I-I believe so. I plan to do my very best, at least." Squeak smiles a blinding smile.
"Thank you! I would like to be your first contracted spirit, if you would like." She says. Arslan looks at her confused.
"A contracted spirit?" Squeak nods.
"Mhm! In order to officially have us as spirits, we have to make contracts with you, otherwise any wizard will be able to pick us up and summon us." She explains. Arslan makes an understanding noise.
"Alright. How do I do it?"
"Well, I have to tell you what days I'm available on, and what my magic is! But because I am a jade Zodiac, I am available on all days."
"Oh, okay. So, what's your magic?"
"Well, all us jade Zodiac spirits have two types of magic. Our regular magic, and magic we have when we merge, like you did with Rufus during your fight. Because of his magic, he was able to influence you to ask him to help you, even before you knew about it. Because he did that, you had the information in your mind, but you never knew where it came from. Because you had never done it before and didn't know how to do it, you ended up getting you hand't done it, though, you would have been hurt way worse than you were. Anyway, my regular magic is having enhanced intelligence, and persuasion and charisma. My merged magic helps you with stealth. It makes your body lighter so you don't make any noise when you move. When you merge with us, your body will also be affected by the merge, and you can not merge with more than one of us at a time. We also can not tell you what will happen when you merge with us, because it is different for each wizard-spirit merge, so when we merge it will be different than if I merged with a different mage."
"That makes sense. Thank you for telling me all of this. Is the contract done?" Arslan asks, furrowing his brows in confusion. Squeak nods and twitches her nose.
"Mhm! That is all that is needed when you make a contract. I'll go now so you can summon the others." With that, she disappeared in a flash of blue. Arslan blinks, startled at the sudden disappearance and looks over at his friends who look just as startled as he does.
"Well, I guess I should move on to the next one then." He says, placing Squeaks key back onto the ring and then picking up the next key in line. He set his arm in the air again like he's unlocking a door, and a yellow light comes out, forming a large, muscular form inside the light. When the light went away, there stood a very muscular man with a bull head. He had browned skin, matching the color of the bulls fur and hair perfectly. He wore blue leather armor and had a golden ring on his nose. Horns came out from both sides of his head, decorated with leather curling around the horns. He has a tail that swings back and forth, matching his skin and hair.
"Hello! I'm Prince Arslan. You are the Ox Spirit, correct?" Arslan asks. The bull-man nods.
"I am Minos, the Ox Zodiac Spirit, moo. I take the form of a Minotaur, moo." He says. Arslan glances at Daryun, Erza, and Natsu, confused, before looking back.
"I assume that is a man and a bull?"
"You assume correctly, moo." Arslan smiles.
"Alright. Now, would you like to make a contract with me? Squeak helped me make my first one, and it seems fairly easy to do."
"I have a few conditions before we settle on anything."
"Yes? I am open to whatever you need."
"Good. The first thing I wanted to say is I want you to treat all the spirits in your possession with care, and never force them to do something they don't want to, moo. And second, I want to have sometimes where we are not summoned to fight, moo."
"Alright. I can do that. I would never treat anyone in a less than human way or force them to do something they do not want to. I also think it would be fun to have a day where I can summon all of you to hang out with me and my friends." Arslan smiles at Minos, who relaxes slightly.
"Thank you, moo. I would like to make a contract now, moo. My regular magic is barriers and traps, moo. My merged magic is increasing your strength and the ability to slow time, moo." Arslan nods.
"That is very cool! Your magic is very useful. I thank you for wanting to share it with me." He says. Minos nods gruffly before disappearing in a flash of yellow light.
"That went very fast." Arslan mumbles, placing the key on the key ring.
"They have both had different personalities. I wonder how the others will also differ from these two." Daryun speaks. Arslan makes an agreeing noise.
"I'm excited about it." He says. He pulls up the next key, and an orange light appears, forming the next spirit. When the light faded, a pale young man stood in its place. He has cat ears and a tail, long braided white hair going down to his mid thigh, piercing pale blue eyes, and fangs. The man wore white and silver clothing, silver spiked knuckle coverings that go down his arms like gloves, and had decorative black tattoos swirling around his body. The man looked at everyone in the room curiously before narrowing in on Arslan.
"You are the key holder, yes?" He asks. Arslan nods with a comforting smile.
"Mhm! It's nice to meet you! I'm Prince Arslan." The man makes a purring sound and sits down next to Natsu, cuddling up to him.
"You're warm. I like you." He says. "I'm Mufasa, the Tiger Zodiac Spirit."
"Would you like to make a contract with me?" Mufasa nods, ear twitching.
"Yes. We all would, although some are more wary than others." Mufasa says, inspecting his sharp nails. "My regular magic is persuasion and emotional manipulation. It can be very effective depending on how stable the other person is. My merged magic is speed and strength increase."
"Amazing! Those are really useful to have!" Arslan exclaims. Mufasa blinks at him slowly and turns away.
"I guess. Anyway, I want you to have enough magic to summon the others, so I'll go." He disappears with a poof of orange and Arslan puts the key back on the ring and picks up another. A red light this time, and a girl stands in its place. She has pale skin and long white hair, bunny ears and tail, and has purple eyes. She seemed to be shifting from foot to foot and ringing her hands together, looking down and around the room, anywhere except at the people in front of her.
"Hello." Arslan greets her gently. "I'm Prince Arslan, the holder of you key. It's nice to meet you." He offers her a comforting smile and she glances up at him before diverting her gaze again.
"H-Hi. I'm Taima, the Rabbit Z-Zodiac Spirit. It's a pl-pleasure to meet you!" She bows deeply at Arslan and pops back up quickly, shuffling some more. Arslan giggles.
"It's alright. The pleasures all mine." He smiles. "I was wondering if you would like to make a contract with me? You do not have to if you do not want to." He assures her. She nods hesitantly.
"I-I think I would. All the spirits that h-have met you so far think you're n-nice, so I'll t-trust you." She smiles. "M-My regular magic works t-to pacify the enemy and make th-them less likely t-to attack you, and m-make it harder for them t-to approach. M-My merged magic is a-agility increase, and i-it lets you j-jump higher and run f-faster." She finishes, lifting her head slightly to make eye contact with Arslan before turning her gaze back down again, ears twitching.
"Your magic is very useful! That could be very helpful in fights." Daryun says. Taima smiles slightly at that and glances up at Daryun.
"Th-thank you." With that she disappears with a cloud of red. Arslan smiled and put her key on the ring and grabbed the next one. The next spirit came out of the key without even needing to be called, a swirl of silver light forming around them. When the light cleared, a woman was flying there with half red half white hair, tan skin, green eyes, large dragon wings, and a dragon tail. She has red and white scales decorating her body, matching the pattern on her tail and wings. She looked displeased to be there, or maybe it was the appearance she was summoned in, as she kept staring at her hands in disgust.
"Hello, I'm Prince Arslan." Arslan greets. The woman looks at him and stares for a few seconds before she breathes out heavily from her nose, producing a dark smoke.
"While I thank you for summoning me, please refrain from doing so in small spaces like this. I hate small spaces. But since I'm here, I guess I'll get started. You seem adequate, so make a contract with me." She says. Arslan stares at her, blinking a few times in surprise at the greeting.
"O-oh! Of course! What is your name, and what kind of magic do you use?" He asks. She smirks slightly and gets a confident look on her face.
"Well, my name is Fafnir. I am the Dragon Zodiac Spirit. My regular magic is fire manipulation and control. My merged magic makes you fireproof and lets you breathe and control fire." She turns slightly to face Natsu and Erza. "I can sense your magic, Dragon Slayer. Do not think you could beat me if you tried." Natsu laughs.
"Are you looking to fight me?" He asks. Fafnir turns her head stubbornly.
"Maybe I am." Erza laughs and slaps Natsu's back.
"Friendly competition! That's just like you Natsu." Erza says. Natsu rubs at the spot Erza hit and laughs.
"I guess it is! Wanna fight?" Natsu turns his attention back to Fafnir who smirks.
"Right now?"
"Yea!"
"Let's go, puny human." Arslan quickly stops the two before they can start anything.
"Please, no fighting while in the building. You two can have a duel later, when we are no longer in an inclosed space." Arslan says. Fafnir huffs, a small puff of smoke coming out of her mouth, and pouts.
"Fine. I'll be waiting for us to have that duel, Human." She says, staring at Natsu pointedly. Arslan laughs nervously as Fafnir disappears in a poof of silver, and places Fafnir's key on the ring carefully. Arslan picks up the next key and turns it, black light coming from the key. With the light came a man with dark gray skin, black hair down to his shoulder, and yellow eyes. The lower half of the man was a snake's body, black scales glistening as it slithered behind him. He has black markings on his body and white marking on his tail, sharp fingernails, fangs that peeped out from his lips, and a forked tongue that poked out every once in awhile, letting him smell the area around him.
"You are the key holder, yessss?" He hissed, voice slightly raspy as if he had a bad cold that never went away, or when you just wake up in the morning and are still half asleep. Arslan nods and smiles.
"It's nice to meet you! I'm Prince Arslan. You are?" Arslan asks, tilting his head. The man's tongue flicks out of his mouth before he answers.
"I am Mirage, The Sssnake Zodiac Ssspirit. It isss niccee to meet you, Princcee Arsssslan." He bows his head slightly in a return greeting.
"Would you like to make a contract with me?" Mirage nods.
"Yesss, I would like that. My regular magic isss kind of hard to explain. I can create trapsss for enemiesss and paralyze them with my poisssonousss venom. I can alssso ssscare them away, making them lessss likely to fight you becaussse of fear. My merged magic makesss your blood, teeth, and nailsss poisssonousss, making you immune to poisssonsss." Arslan looks at him in wonder.
"Really? That is very amazing! What does the poison do?"
"Well, it dependsss on what you want it to do, and how much you inflict on the other persssson. It can range from killing, to jussst giving a little nausea." Arslan nods, making an 'ah' sound.
"That's incredible!" Daryun says. Drawing agreeing noises from Natsu, Happy, and Erza.
"Can the poison work on things other than human? And is it toxic to eat?" Happy questions, clearly thinking about how easy fishing would be. Mirage hisses a laugh.
"It will only harm thossse that Arssslan or I deem a threat. It can work on animalsss, but if it isss not organic, it will not work." Happy nods, clearly happy with the answer. Arslan giggles at him.
"Thank you for answering our questions, Mirage." Arslan says, turning his attention back to the spirit. Mirage smiles slightly at Arslan.
"It wassss no problem." He says, disappearing with a poof of black light. Arslan places his key on the ring, and pauses for a moment.
"I hate to say it, but I do not think I will be able to do any more spirits after this one." He says, pulling up the next key. "I can feel my magic is very depleted." He glances down at the symbol on the key and smiles. He hold the key out and a green light comes from it, forming the half man half horse Arslan met a few days prior.
"Hello, Doreanthus." Arslan greets.
"Hello, Prince Arslan. It's a pleasure to see you again. I assume this is to make the contract?"
"Yes. I was wondering if you would like to make one?" Doreanthus nods.
"Yes, I would like that. My regular magic is transportation, which is why I summoned myself when you were hurt. My merged magic gives you a speed increase."
"That makes sense. Also, I wanted to thank you again for helping me even before we had a contract." Arslan smiles. Doreanthus nods, smiling kindly at him.
"It was no problem, I wanted to help you. I could feel how much you wanted to be with your friends, so I did the right thing and helped. Also, I find it very impressive that you have enough magic to summon me after you have already summoned six other spirits." Arslan smiles.
"I just wanted to make sure I got to as many as I could today. I didn't want to leave any of you guys out. I don't think I'll be able to do anymore today, though. Please give the other spirits my sincerest apologies." Arslan bows his head slightly. Dorenathus winnies a laugh.
"I'm sure they are all very grateful you even gotseven of us out today. I will let them know, though, that you will get to the rest of us tomorrow. Thank you." He says, bowing at the torso and disappearing in a cloud of green. Arslan puts his key on the ring and collects the other keys carefully setting both the ring and the keys off to the side before flopping onto his bed with a quiet huff.
"Are you alright, Highness?" Daryun asks, standing up by Arslan's bed. Arslan nods.
"Yes, I am alright. It was just tiring using all of that magic at once. I will be good as new again tomorrow after I get some rest." He says.
"Get some rest, Highness. I will wake you up if anything happens." Daryun says. Arslan nods tiredly and inches his way up the bed, laying down on top of the pillow and blankets. His breath evens out, and slowly but surely, he falls asleep. Daryun runs his fingers through Arslan's hair a few times before taking off his ever present cloak and laying it over Arslan as a makeshift blanket, seeing how he is currently lying on top of the actual ones.
"Those were some really impressive spirits Arslan has." Erza says, standing up. Natsu, Happy, and Daryun nod in agreement.
I liked the dragon one! I can't wait to fight her!" Natsu exclaims, laughing his fiery laugh.
"Aye! I liked the snake guy! He can help me get fish." Happy says, daydreaming about the yummy fish in his future.
"His Highness has always been very sentimental and honest, so I am not surprised that all of the spirits that were summoned today were willing to make a contract with him right away." Daryun speaks, sitting down on the bed next to Arslan's. "He always tries to make the best decision while also keeping the peace. A while ago, while in our world, I tried to get my… companion to help His Highness take back Ecbatana from the Lusitanians, but he did not agree to it. His Highness made a compromise with him, telling him he could be His Highness' 'Court Painter'," Daryun shudders, "If he helps us in taking back the kingdom. He agreed, of course, and is now a permanent help to His Highness."
"Wow." Erza says. "His negotiations skills must be amazing, then." Daryun nods.
"He does have a way with people, and is skilled with his words. In a short amount of time, he has made our companions loyal to him and his cause, even though he does not realize it. At first, I was only accompanying him and protecting him because my Uncle wished it, but as I grew to know him, my purpose shifted from doing what my Uncle wanted, to what I wanted. I want him to never be in real danger, and I will do my best to protect him because that is what I want for him. His personality has influenced hundreds of thousands of people to help him in this fight."
"I'm glad that the both of you have each other to protect, as well as your other friends from your world. Everyone here at Fairy Tail is very glad to have met you both and to have you both as friends."
"Yea! You guys are family now, even! Being part of Fairy Tail is having one big family. We're happy to have you!" Natsu exclaims happily. Daryun smiles at them.
"I thank you for your kindness. I know I speak for both of us when I say that we are happy to have met you and the guild as well."