"No way, Cana!" Ryker exclaimed.
"What? You don't believe me!?" she protested.
"That's not what I said," he defended himself.
"Cane, you always get your predictions right," Lisanna defended the Card mage.
"It saw! I didn't tell you," Cana bragged.
"But reading the future? That to me is kind of unlikely," Ryker continued to protest.
"Believe me, she is very good at what she does. So far she's always been right," Elfman said.
Ryker, Cana and the two Strauss brothers were sitting together at a table talking animatedly throughout the day. It was a quiet day at the guild and there weren't many quests that were interesting for them to do, so they decided to spend the time talking and having a drink.
"Then? Are you going to let me read your future or not?" the brunette asked, looking at Ryker.
He looked at her and grunted something indiscernible. "You can read people's futures, but I personally don't want to spoil my life. Then no!".
"AH, you insufferable bore," Cana crossed her arms and sulked.
"Yeah, I love you too, Cana," he scoffed.
Lisanna laughed at the two, she realized that over time they grew closer and became good friends. Even though she doesn't know their intimate past. But at the moment they were like good friends and nothing more.
"Don't laugh, Lisanna," Cana complained.
"You two are funny together. It's good to see you've become good friends." Ryker and Cana looked at each other knowingly and smiled discreetly at each other.
"Yeah, I think so. After all, you get used to the hassles of life," Ryker joked.
Cana punched him in the shoulder, forcing him to fend off Alberona's fury. "So I'm a nuisance, you idiot!?", she kept hitting him. "I'll show you who's the nuisance here!"
"My God! You guys look like husband and wife," Lisanna commented jokingly.
They looked at her, sweating cold. "Shut up, Lisy!" he protested.
"That's right, be quiet!", Cana followed him.
Lisanna laughed at the two, it was fun watching their interaction. It even seemed like they had known each other for a long time.
Lucy was sitting at the bar talking to Mirajane and looking at the table where her brothers were.
"I didn't know Ryker and Cana were that close," she commented. "I've always seen him with you and your brothers, and he seems to like Lisanna a lot, too."
Mira smiled, seeing her boyfriend, her family and friends together. "He and Cana got closer little by little from day one. I think her manner ended up winning him over. As for Lis, she's always liked him from the start, and he's taken a liking to her, even if he doesn't always show it."
Lucy was glad to see him looser and lighter in the guild. "He's changed a lot since he got here," she observed. "He still has his eyes a little cold, but I can see the life in them now."
"It is true. He still has a long way to go, but he'll get there," she smiled sweetly, seeing them together.
"With you by his side, I'm sure of it," Lucy smiled happily at the waitress. Mira looked at her angelically and smiled.
At that moment, Erza came striding across the guild hall, straight from Makarov's office. She had a mission paper in her hands and a determined look. She glanced around the guild and saw Lucy's golden head, along with Mira. Immediately she went there.
"Erza, what do you bring here?", the white-haired mage asked affectionately.
"I came to talk to Lucy," she said.
"With me!?", the blonde was scared, even more with Erza with that imposing and determined pose that she was.
"Yea. Have you seen Natsu around?", the redhead asked.
"He must be coming, why?"
"We have a mission to fulfill and we need the whole team," she explained.
"Ah yes. But I don't know where Gray is, or Wendy."
"Gray went to help Juvia with some stuff, so he should be back," Mira warned.
"Perfect, but what about Wendy?" Erza asked.
"She's in Fairy Hills," Ryker said from behind Erza, putting an arm around her shoulders. "How are you, Red?" he greeted her.
Immediately Erza's expression softened a little, with a slight smile on her lips. "Perfectly, Ryker. Hope all is well with you too", the Requip mage greeted him back.
"For now, yes," he replied.
Mira looked at him deeply, and a slight shadow hovered over her face at how close he was to Erza. Ryker glanced at her nonchalantly, signaling her to relax.
"You and Wendy have been very close lately," Lucy commented, as he knew of the young Dragon Slayer's location.
"It's part of it," he shrugged. "And what is that?", Ryker took the mission paper from Erza's hand and looked at it, still hugging her. "You will have to take down a dark guild. Interesting, but it shouldn't be too much for you."
He handed the paper back to Erza and left her, going to sit on a nearby bench at the bar. Mira immediately hugged him from behind, almost protectively. He smiled slightly at her touch, which was possessive and motivated by jealousy.
"Will we have to attack an entire guild?", Lucy asked worried and distressed.
"That's why we're going with our full team," Erza said and looked at Ryker. "Would you like to come with us?"
Ryker smiled out of the corner of his mouth. "I'd like to, but I'll pass on this one. I'm thinking of going on another mission with Mira if she wants to," he leaned back looking into his beautiful girlfriend's face.
"Another mission!?" Mira was taken by surprise.
"And why not?" he smiled at her. "You choose. Class S or ordinary, I don't care."
Mira smiled back. "I'll see what we have."
"Well, whatever. Let's gather the team and leave as soon as possible", Erza ordered.
Once everyone was present, Erza explained the situation. A request addressed directly to Master Makarov, which was passed to Team Natsu to carry out. A city was being taken over by a dark guild called 'Black Souls' and was extorting the local population. Fairy Tail's mages should defeat them and bring them to justice. The mage Requip warned that they would be leaving at the end of the day and everyone should be ready and meet at the station as soon as possible. She set it at four hours. Everyone went to their respective homes to prepare for the trip.
"So we're not going to the city dominated by the dark guild?", Gray asked Erza.
"No. Let's go to another city to find the contractor first," she explained.
They were on the train heading to a town away from their main objective. Lucy and Natsu were sitting together on one bench and Erza, Gray, Wendy and Carla on another, in front of them. Natsu, as usual, was sick and took little part in the conversation. Wendy, was relatively well, to everyone's surprise. Ryker had given him that horrible green juice made from herbs he'd made for Gajeel at work earlier. That helped the young Dragon Slayer a lot. There would be enough for the round trip.
"Ever heard of this guild?", Lucy asks, affectionately stroking Natsu's head in her lap.
"Never before. After the Balam Alliance was disbanded, the black guilds were scattered, not knowing what to do, acting alone and without supervision. This one must have appeared recently," Erza said.
"Well, we just have to wait," Lucy sighed. "I hope they're not too strong, not too dangerous," she moaned.
"We have to face whatever comes our way, and not whine about anything," Gray said callously, not even noticing the look of disappointment that Lucy got.
The rest of the trip was normal, they slept most of the time, until the train arrived at the station where they were going to stay, in the middle of the night.
"I'm starving, I'd like to eat something," Natsu whimpered.
"I don't think there will be anything open at this point," Wendy said not wanting to hurt the Fire Dragon Slayer's feelings.
"Don't say such a thing!" he yelled desperately. "There must be something out there."
"I'm hungry too, Natsu!" Happy cried, his stomach growling.
"What idiots," Carla commented in disgust with both of them.
"I'm afraid to say that Wendy is right, Natsu," Erza said. "We'd better find a place to stay. Tomorrow we will find the person who requested us and maybe there will be something for you two".
"Do you think?", Pink Hair looked at her with hope and a sparkle in her eyes.
Gray looked at them and huffed angrily. "I wouldn't have so much hope that way," he frowned at them, making the two hungry men wither. Lucy looked at them defeated and sighed.
They walked around the city looking for a hotel they could stay. Even though it was dawn they were able to find something in the center of town. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it would do for at least one night.
There weren't two rooms available in that place, so the mages were forced to share a room and tidy up as best they could. Unfortunately for them, there were only two beds, which of course Erza forced them to sleep on the floor while the girls took the beds. Lucy shared a bed with Erza, and she couldn't explain why, since the bed that Wendy and Carla were in was much bigger than hers. Apparently, the redhead liked to sleep clinging to other girls.
It didn't take long for the day to arrive and they got ready for the activities they would have. The girls took their morning shower, getting dressed properly before anything else. The boys just waited for them to get ready, which, in their opinion, seemed to take a lifetime. When everyone was dressed, they went down to the hotel lobby.
Erza asked where they could have a good breakfast since there was no restaurant in that place. The receptionist informed them that two blocks down the street was an excellent cafe where they could indulge themselves as much as they wanted.
The mages left and went in the indicated direction, soon they found the aforementioned establishment and entered. Natsu ordered half of the menu, as usual, while the others acted like normal humans. As usual, that group had a lively meal, full of conversation and laughter.
"When are we going to meet as this contractor?" Gray asked Erza. They had finished their breakfast and were now arguing about work.
"I believe we can go see him. It's not a bad time," she said.
"Is there a specific location?" Lucy asked.
"No, it's in the job description to find him in a house in this town. She must be around here somewhere. But we will have to search a little."
"If there's the address, we can ask someone where it is," Wendy reasoned, knowing full well that people who live in the city know better than visitors, and asking a local is always smarter.
"That's true," Lucy smiled at the little girl.
"So what are we waiting for!? I want to end this guild as soon as possible", Natsu smiled with excitement, with the possibility of a confrontation.
"Typical, isn't it Natsu?", Gray looked at him and smiled along with his friend, greeting him with his fist.
They paid the bill and left the establishment. As they looked for the house, where they were supposed to meet the contractor, they asked passersby where the address marked on the paper was. Some people didn't know, others gave some indication. As time passed they, after getting lost once or twice, found the address.
It was a simple one-story house on the outskirts of town. A small, well-kept garden at the front and a staircase with three steps led to a small porch and a simple green door. Erza knocked on the door and waited for her to be answered.
An elderly man with thinning white hair answered. He was short and had a prominent belly and wore glasses.
"Who would?", he asked looking at them with his weak eyes.
"We are Fairy Tail mages. We were sent to this address to speak with Mr. Oswald," Erza replied.
The gentleman's eyes gleamed and he opened a smile. "Ah yes yes. Please come in", he said, allowing the wizards to enter his house.
She was as simple on the inside as she was on the outside. A small room with a three-seater sofa and an armchair, which overlooked a fireplace, Erza noticed a hallway that led to the other rooms in the house, but that room seemed to be the center of everything. It was simple but very welcoming.
The gentleman sat down in the armchair, and motioned for the others to settle in as best they could. "I am Oswald. I was the one who requested the job. I'm so glad you came so quickly."
"We came as soon as we were given the mission, sir," Wendy said politely.
"Just call me Oswald, dear", he gave a kind and warm smile to the little Dragon Slayer, she smiled with the welcome he gave her and everyone in his house.
"You could tell us what happened, Oswald," Lucy said.
He looked down, crestfallen and sad. "It's been a few months since they arrived in our city. It is on an important trade route, so there are a lot of people and a lot of money. When they realized this, they took over the city and started extorting all our citizens. And everything was staggering. Damn guild..." Oswald summed up the story.
"So they're basically thieves," Natsu pounded his fists and smiled excitedly. "I'm going to finish them off and give your city back to you," he said excitedly.
"Calm down Natsu! We need to know more", Erza scolded him, making him sulk. "Tell me more about this guild, Oswald. How many are they? Could you tell me what magic they use?", she asked him.
The old man stopped and thought for a while, trying to reason and remember anything useful. "I'm sorry my dear," he apologized. "I don't understand magic and it was hard to say for sure how many there were. But they were enough and they were strong."
"We're much stronger, don't worry about it!", Natsu got excited again.
Oswald looked at him and smiled kindly at his antics.
"Want to be quiet, flame brain!" Gray got his attention.
Natsu glared at him angrily. "Shut up, Snow Princess!", he countered the ice mage.
"You two better calm down, or I'll take action," Erza spoke authoritatively and with an enviable posture.
Oswald laughed at the situation, having fun with them. "Don't worry, young lady. Youth has these things, I remember when I was your age. We were wild," he smiled.
"I understand, but if I don't control these two, they could destroy the lord's house," she crossed her arms and legs, looking seriously at the two bickering mages.
"What happened to you? May I ask?" Lucy, ignoring the other two, asked the old man.
"I was a community leader. I have always been against that guild, but many people have joined them, out of corruption and selfish power-seeking. The situation got complicated and I had to flee. That's how I ended up here and, with no other alternative, I had to ask you for help".
"I'm sorry about that, Oswald," Wendy said, crestfallen. Oswald looked at her and smiled warmly at her.
"You did very well," Erza said. "Don't worry, we'll rid your city and bring those mages to justice."
Oswald shed tears of happiness from his face and shook hands with each of the wizards present in genuine happiness. "Thank you, thank you!" he would say, happy as ever and full of hope.
The mages said their goodbyes and left for the next town and their main target. Oswald said that there were no railroads there, that they should take a wagon or carriage and that would take at least 12 hours to travel. Hearing this, they hurried, saying goodbye to that nice gentleman.
Oswald walked through his house, passing through the living room and into the hallway that led to the kitchen, bedroom and other rooms in the house. Stopping in front of a door, he opened it, revealing a staircase. He lowered it and reached the basement, he went straight to a translucent sphere in the corner. As he got closer, it began to glow, revealing a man with dark features.
"Report?" he asked.
A glow washed over Oswald, transforming him into a tall, young man, strong features with shoulder-length blond hair and a cold gaze.
"They're on their way. They must arrive in the middle of the night," he smiled sadistically.
"Perfect. I will warn the men there," the man spoke with a cold, strong mouth. "Good job Vinland. Keep an eye out and be ready for anything."
Vinland transformed back into Oswald. "You can count on me, my lord," he bowed. The communication teardrop disconnected and Oswald/Vinland smiled sadistically, heading back upstairs to the residence, waiting for any further orders.