It was a lovely spring evening as the trio had made their way to the city of the Chaste Tree, it was just before sunset when they reached the church in the center of town for their job.
Romeo marveled at the town as he was reading a pamphlet about the town and its history, he then remarked, "it says here, this town and church were spared during the attacks against Zentopian churches in 791."
"Attacks against the churches?" Zeldris asked, still lacking a complete knowledge of the guild's previous exploits.
"A group of wizards had been attacking churches in a part of a very elaborate scheme, thankfully we stopped the wizards, and they were reformed" Romeo responded.
A man was seen at the door of the church, he was well dressed, donning a silvery vest that matched his hair, white dress shirt, black tie, and pants, he rolled his eyes as he looked at the trio of wizards, "I take it you three are the wizards from Fairy Tail?" he remarked, silently scoffing at them.
"That would be us," Zeldris said; the man grunted, and motioned to follow him inside.
"The higher-ups in the church wanted more protection than what I could offer," the man said, a noticeable chip on his shoulder.
"They thought you weren't adequate and now you're forced to stand on the sidelines while others steal the glory, and the satisfaction you wanted?" Zeldris asked, reading the man like a book.
The quartet stopped in their tracks, the man looked down, grunting quite annoyed, "yeah" he said, then composing himself, "I guess you could say that" he finished.
"We'll incorporate you into the team if we need to really provide protection" Zeldris said, providing some comfort to the man.
In the meantime, a tall man with wire thin glasses and wearing black priest's outfit walked up to the quartet, "ah I see you've met Gabriel, good" the priest remarked as the trio of Fairytail wizards looked at the silver haired wizard that greeted them earlier.
"Father McCartney, it's nice to see you again," Gabriel said, putting on a warm act for the priest.
"Gabriel, I apologize for this, but the strength in numbers will do you well" the father said to the newly acquainted wizard, he then turned to the trio, "the ceremony for the Cardinal will begin at noon, in the meantime, for tonight and until after the ceremony, I'd like you to take turns standing watch, we had an incident a week ago with a disgraced member of the church. We fear that he may be plotting an attack against the church for revenge" the man finished.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow, "you mean the issue that led to the banishment of brother Hendrickson?". The priest nodded silently confirming the suspicions.
"I see, Father McCartney, we'll protect this church with our lives," Zeldris said.
The priest added, "we also have bunks to accommodate the 4 of you so some of you can rest".
"Thank you," Zeldris said before barking orders, "Romeo, Terra Mere, go ahead and get some rest, we'll work on three-hour shifts like we did on the Eden's One job". As the priest walked away, Zeldris whispered to the couple saying, "just don't break the bed making babies, I don't think they would appreciate that". Romeo instantly blushed bright red and walked towards the back of the church where the bunks were located. Terra Mere looked at her feet, pressing her index fingers together and muttered, "gee Zeldris, why did you have to spoil my plans in front of Romeo like that" and she walked away.
Gabriel then broke the awkward silence, "is this normal with them?".
Zeldris shook his head as he led his fellow wizard out of the church, "honestly no, this is more recent than anything, I think it's about that time for her?" he pondered before changing the subject, "since the roof of this church seems to be the tallest building in town, I want to climb up to the top and maintain surveillance of the area".
Gabriel then began to float up to the roof of the church as Zeldris looked on surprised. Gabriel rolled his eyes and remarked, "have you never seen wind magic before?".
Zeldris shook his head, as he began to climb up, finally remarking once he got on the roof, "can't say that I have" as he turned his attention to the surrounding scenery, "it sure is pretty here, are you from around here?" he asked Gabriel.
"Indeed" Gabriel paused, "well, sort of, I was given to this church as a baby, and raised by them, I left when I was 13 and began my journey on the path of wizardry. I always come back here, as it is the only home I have".
Zeldris nodded in understanding, the two conversed until long into the night as it neared time for the swap to happen.
Gabriel then pointed to the forest east of the town and said, "they're supposed to be launching fireworks from over there in celebration of the coronation tomorrow".
The first item was launched into the air, Zeldris looked confused as it looked like a flaming projectile and flew towards the western edge of town. Gabriel was confused too. By now Romeo and Terra Mere were awake and getting ready for the guard swap.
Another projectile was launched, and this time it came much closer to the wizards on the roof.
"I don't like this" muttered Gabriel he said looking quite nervous now.
"I've seen fireworks before in my life and this doesn't look like fireworks" Zeldris said, who was now heightened up.
The screams of citizens could be heard as the aim of the criminals responsible got better and better.
Zeldris pointed towards the growing fire, "we need to settle the fire, will your wind suppress the flames?"
"Yes" he said as he started to get down from the roof, "I'll start putting out the fires" as if he were reading Zeldris's mind.
Zeldris slid then jumped off the roof, "I'll get some help to put out the fires."
Terra Mere and Romeo then looked to Zeldris and asked, "what do you want us to do?"
Zeldris pointed to Terra Mere saying, "I want you to go with Gabriel and help put out the fires", he turned to Romeo and said, "I want you to come with me and we're going to stop the fires from getting here".
"On it!' Terra Mere, as she took Gabriel to fight the fires that were growing in the town.
Zeldris commanded Romeo to start towards the forest towards where the flaming projectiles were coming from. After he then ran to the fountain in front of the church, pulling out a golden key and dipping into the water, then shouting, "open, gate of the water bearer, Aquarius!"
A golden flash of light happened and then the well figured blue haired mermaid appeared, she then began to remark, "hey there ti"- she stopped herself then saying, "on it" as she noticed the situation around her as this was no time for messing around and the trio began to fight the fires as Zeldris ran to help Romeo.
Meanwhile, Romeo was hurrying towards the location where the projectiles were coming from, as he had now stumbled on the camp the enemies had set up.
The wizards in the encampment had now sprang into action.
A flame had shot towards Romeo, he dodged it, and then retaliated.
"Red flame!" and red ball flames shot from Romeo's hand towards where the fire came from.
A voice came from the woods to make Romeo's blood run cold, "hmmmm, that was a nice appetizer." The boy replied, stepping into the light, his black robe concealing much about him except his head and face. His crimson hair stood out most as he grinned.
"You know, young fire wizard; you should never use flame attacks on a fire dragon slayer" the crimson haired boy remarked.
Romeo froze when the boy announced himself and his magic as he thought to himself "how can there be another fire dragon slayer, Natsu is the only one!" his mind going a million miles a minute.
"Fire dragon roar!" the crimson haired boy said as a large column of red and yellow flame came out of his mouth. Romeo still stood frozen in place, unable to move an inch.
Just then, Zeldris jumped down in front of Romeo and shouted as he swung his sword, "full counter!" The red and yellow flame turned from their bright colors to a black and purple color and shot back at the fire dragon slayer.
The overconfident fire dragon slayer grinned and began to inhale the purple and black flames. However as soon as he tried to eat the flames, a blood curdling shriek of agony could be heard.
"Don't let your guard down like that again!" Zeldris barked at Romeo, who stood there frozen in shock.
"Wh what's happening to him?" Romeo said, referring to the crimson haired boy.
Zeldris glared at the boy writhing in agony "he tried to inhale his own element after I used my full counter. Something similar happened in my battle with Wendy when Erza trained me. The wind she used after I used my full counter did damage to herself but not as much as I expected, I believe she held back".
Suddenly, the screaming of the boy stopped, and a massive block of ice formed at his mouth. Then, two well figured ladies appeared from the forest, they both wore black robes like the crimson haired boy.
"Rest easy Apollo, my ice will heal those wounds my dear" the shorter of the two ladies said.
"You really need to tone it down girl" the taller one remarked "we're not raising babies in this guild".
The shorter girl glared at the taller one, "says the one we caught trying to make babies in the guildhall!"
Zeldris and Romeo blushed as Zeldris whispered to Romeo, "don't give Terra Mere any ideas!" Zeldris then coughed, "Excuse me ladies, are we going to battle or are you going to tell us your dirty secrets".
The two ladies quit blushing and their exchanging of eye daggers at each other and turned to Zeldris, "no, we will not battle you. We will battle you again someday, it is in your future and that you will lose to us" the taller lady said. Zeldris raised an eyebrow at this statement.
The ladies picked up their partially frozen comrade, and scampered away, as more footsteps could be heard. Along with shouting from another person. Zeldris and Romeo then hurried to the commotion to find a quite disheveled man in a run-down priest outfit.
Zeldris held out his sword at the man who was furious, "are you the one who has been firebombing the town?"
The man with short silver hair growled and snapped back, "so what if I am! That town should be ashes by now. If they won't make me the new cardinal then no one will be!".
Zeldris then shook his head with a slight groan as Romeo began to shift to his right as the disgraced church member continued to monologue. "I will not be denied! Those fools-'
"My friends have ensured the town will survive," Zeldris said, interrupting brother Hendrickson.
The man went wide eyed, "No! That town is in ashes! We made sure to hit the buildings including the church." The man continued to shout objections to Zeldris's statement.
Romeo then came up from behind and punched the man in the head, and the former priest fell to the ground and went unconscious.
"Well then, I hate fighting dirty like that, but I don't want to wait till June just to let him finish monologuing" Zeldris said in response, "now let's get him back to town, Father McCartney will know what to do with him".
Thirty minutes passed before Zeldris and Romeo made it back into town carrying the still unconscious former priest. The fires were put out and Aquarius had now retreated to the celestial realm.
Father McCartney stood beside Terra Mere and Gabriel when the trio noticed Zeldris and Romeo.
"Ahh, welcome back and I see you brought a visitor" the priest said, "do you two know who he is?" the priest finished.
"Stowaway, we weren't sure what to do with him," Zeldris said in a sarcastic tone.
The priest, who grinned as he looked down at the now conscious former member of the church and played along with the sarcasm, "do what he would do, break his legs and make him walk back" he finished, enjoying the subsequent reaction of the disgraced church member.
The restrained former priest went pale, believing this was going to be his punishment.
"Thank you for your help, and you as well Gabriel. You have been quite a blessing for this church and community" Father McCartney said, "I will take him away and we'll worry about him after the coronation tomorrow. For now, I'd like you four to continue your guard duty please".
The four wizards nodded, Zeldris and Gabriel and went into the church to rest, noting an odd wet and musky smell upon entering the sleeping area that they could not put their finger on. The wizards traded off at the appropriate times until it was time for the coronation.
The coronation itself went to plan and was completed, afterwards Gabriel asked Zeldris if he could join their team. Terra Mere vouched for how well the two fought along with Aquarius to put out the fires. To which Zeldris happily agreed. Upon returning to the guild Gabriel was given a silver guild mark on his back.