Fairy Tail is not mine. Nor will it ever be.
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They actually ended up with quite the little gathering under the tree doing 'tea stuff' after a while. Frosch worrying about Ryos brought Levy, Gajeel, Juvia, and said exceed out to look for them. Of course Gajeel wouldn't be caught dead doing 'pansy ass bullshit' like they were, but he did stick around and give them pointers, adjusting their limbs and such when they were doing something he saw as wrong.
"If you actually punched somebody like that, you'd break your damn hand!" Was a repeated phrase from him with several variations. "The fuck is that shit?" and "Woman you are such an idiot" were also heard. Thankfully Juvia was quick to inform Levy that Gajeel didn't know how to be nice and was just trying to help, otherwise Levy might have actually broken her hand on his face.
"So Erza said Lu should be watched at all times by at least two people. Most of us think that's a bit much, but Natsu and Erza are a bit paranoid and Gray isn't much better. Lu's more than a little peeved with them."
"Better a pissed off Bunny than a dead one. Bend your knee more. You'll fall right over if you stand like that." Levy silently complied.
"You really think Phantom would kill her?" Gajeel seemed to flinch a bit at the little blunette's question and met Juvia's solomn gaze.
"No tellin." Alanza felt her stomach clench at what that look indicated the two ex Phantoms had been through and seen.
"We'll just need to make sure poor Lucy's bodygaurds get rotated out so she can breath a bit. I know her team can be a bit to intense sometimes."
That was actually something she needed to talk to Makarov about. Some of the Fairy Tail wizards weren't just crazy they had real issues that in turn caused even more issues in the people around them. The Pradesh clan was well adjusted despite going through some rough shit. Maybe she could ask Arman for advice once the whole... Zen thing was taken care of. Or better yet have Makarov ask him for advice. Gramps was supposed to be the boss around here after all. It wasn't her job to fix everything.
"Girls night out maybe?"
"Oh! Juvia has never experienced a girls night out! Juvia thinks that is a wonderful idea!" Ryos and Gajeel both had pained looks on their faces. Alanza felt basically the same way they did.
"Actually, what about a girls night in?" The blunettes blinked at her. "I mean, we can pick somebodys house or something and have a sleepover. Pillow forts and icecream and shit like that." She really preferred that to going Out.
"Juvia wants a sleepover!" Juvia abandoned her fighting stance and began bouncing up and down clapping her hands.
"Sounds like a plan to me! We haven't had one of those in ages. Not since... I think... Lisanna was at our last sleepover." Levy had a really sad look on her face. Alanza bit her lip to keep from saying something about Lisanna not really being dead. It wasn't time yet.
"Juvia does not know who Lisanna is."
"Mira and Elfman's younger sister. She died a few years ago." Ryos reached out hesitantly and touched Levy's shoulder. He gave her a tiny smile. Frosch lacked the boy's bashfulness and simply launched himself into the script mage's arms to hug her.
"Frosch is sorry Levy Lady's friend is gone."
"Awww! You guys are so sweet. I'm ok. It was a long time ago." Gajeel ruffled her hair on his way to plop down under the big tree, but avoided eye contact and said nothing. Alanza smirked. These people were even more socially inept than she was. And that was saying something.
"I should probably head back to the guild now that the war council seems to have broken up. Gramps wanted to talk to me about some shit. I'll see you guys later." Gajeel snorted at her.
"Ha! No. We're walkin ya back. Ain't nobody supposed to wander around by themselves right now. Groups of no less than four unless an S-class is with em. Me an Juvs count since we know Phantom and were S-class there."
"Juvia will walk her sister back to the guildhall!" Alanza found herself caught uo in a hug. "Gajeel and Ryos still need to find themselves a place to live."
"Fro too!"
"Want me to help? You guys don't really know your way around Magnolia yet."
"Gihihi. Sure, Shrimp." Gajeel stood and walked off. "Keep up!" Levy looked at the rest of them and rolled her eyes, then followed. Ryos chuckled softly.
"I think he likes it here. He seems... I'm not sure if happy is the right word. He's definately less pissed off." He gave Alanza one of his subtle smiles. "Thanks for this." Then he ran off after Gajeel and Levy with Frosch flying overhead. Alanza nudged Juvia with her elbow and grinned.
"They make a cute family don't they?" Juvia giggle and sighed dreamily.
"Yes. Juvia is so glad Gajeel is learning to be happy."
"Me too. He's a good guy. Come on." She tugged her chosen sister toward the guild. "I really do need to talk to Gramps."
"Will Alanza be busy with the Master for a long time?"
"Not sure. Why?"
"Laki and Juvia were talking about going shopping for Juvia's new apartment after lunch, and Juvia was wondering if Alanza wanted to go with them." Alanza cringed internally at the idea of more shopping.
"Laki?"
"Yes. She asked Juvia if she had everything she needed. When Juvia told her she left almost all of her belongings in Oak Town she said 'I would consider it most gratifying to accompany you on your quest to procure new furnishings and trappings for your dwelling.' Juvia thinks that means she wants to go shopping with her for furniture and dishes and things like that."
"Actually, Juvs, yesterday was more shopping then I usually do in a month."
"Juvis noticed her sister was quite tired last night. She slept quite soundly."
"Yeah, well the alcohol didn't help." Juvia had a dreamy look on her face and didn't respond to that. "What are you thinking about?" Juvia blinked and then blushed.
"J-Juvia wished Bickslow would carry her the way he carried Alanza." Alanza's eyebrows went up at that.
"Oh really? Do you like him?"
"Maybe. Juvia isn't sure. Bickslow was very nice to Juvia."
"He was. He's a nice guy."
"He is. Does Alanza's magic know when the Thunder Legion will return?" She shook her head and Juvia pouted. "Oh. Juvia hopes their mission goes well. Pergrande is a very dangerous place."
"I'm sure they will be fine. They have lots of other people helping them with this mission."
"Juvia will be glad when they get home safely." She smiled brightly. "Does Alanza need anything for her new home? Juvia could get her some things since she doesn't like shopping." Alanza started to say no, but then remembered this morning.
"Actually I could use a towel and a cup."
"Just...one?"
"There is only one of me." Juvia gave her a narrow eyed look as they entered the guildhall.
"What colors does Alanza want in her home?"
"Ummm... Purples, blues, and gold? Does that sound pretty?" Juvia beamed.
"That sounds lovely. Juvia and Laki will find some nice things for Alanza's home. Maybe some of the other girls will want to come shopping with them!" She gave her a big hug before heading in Laki's direction. Alanza tried to avoid drawing attention to herself as she headed upstairs.
Gramps had a 'do not disturb' sign up so she headed for the Hall of Secrets. She found Cana there surrounded by cards. She was...painting more cards. Up until that moment she had never really thought about where Cana's cards came from. The basic fortune telling type cards she had gotten as a girl were probably purchased, but the newer ones were personalized, therefore not purchased, therefore Cana had to have made them.
She stood in the doorway and watched as Cana carefully added black to an adorable chibi version of Ryos and Frosch. She then set the card aside and capped the black paint. She started adding grey to Gajeel's grinning and glaring chibi. No, she wasn't adding it, she was repainting already grey areas. Why was she doing that? She waited till the brush came off the card before she spoke.
"Whatchya doin?" Cana eeped and jumbed a bit.
"Oh. Hey. Ya startled me. I'm adding their magic to their cards. I had them infuse the paint earlier." She waved Alanza closer before continuing with her grey paint. "See by making their magic part of the card I strengthen the link. Makes them more powerful and more accurate when I'm using them for prediction type spells. I just added lacrima dust to the paint and it absorbs any magic that gets pushed into it." She capped her grey, swapped it for light blue, and reached for Juvia's card.
"That's super cool."
"Yep. I'm gunna try to get the whole guild. I can use these cards for location spells, predictions, fortunes, readings on how and what they are doing, all sorts of things. I just need a good solid connection for any of it to be accurate. Since I've got their magic in the cards now that's a pretty damn good connection." She seemed... sober today. It was weird.
"Makes sense."
"Oh! C'mere." Cana tucked her paint and brush away and dragged her to the other side of the table where she had cards laid out in a pattern of some sort. "How much do you know about my cards?"
"There is a tower, some sort of magic fountain, lightning, and sexy ladies." Cana blinked at her.
"Sexy...ladies?"
"I only saw you use that card during the Tenrou thing."
"I attacked dark wizards with pin up girls?"
"Nope. Freed." She snorted.
"Uhh. OK. I'll take your word for that. Anyway!" She sat in front of the cards and gestured for Alanza to sit next to her. "If I'm doing a reading it's all about what order the cards are drawn. The meaning changes depending on how they are placed. The cards tell me what needs to be known and don't always give me what I ask for. I was basically wondering what your little friends were up to and why they were so interresting to you. What you were planning to do with them. What I got instead was... This. Which... Do your little friends have, like, a group name? Is Nirvana their name?" Alanza felt a bit of panic. She couldn't just tell Cana they were the Oracion Seis. Cana knew that was a dark guild, and the Chess Club hadn't talked about it yet.
"Uhh... We can call them the Witches." That worked. They were two thirds of what would have been Crime Sorciere after all.
"Ok. So. This first card is the current situation card, the Five of Cups right side up." The card looked a bit... sad, depressing even. A man in a black cloak stood with bowed shoulders facing three broken wine glasses. Behind the man were two that still stood upright and intact. The faintest hint of ginger colored hair could be seen around the man's hood. "This card means greif, loss and many regrets, loss of relationship with a disappointment in love but strength and spirit to endure. Hope glimmers for the future. It basically means the low period was just that a temporary setback. Shit happens we move on. I see that a lot around here."
"Except it just keeps going after that! The second card is the obstacle or support for the first card, or you. Ten of sword right side up." Alanza winced at the picture on this card. There were literally ten swords sticking out of a dark humanoid shape. Cana had even painted bright red blood pooling under the person.
"Shit. Overkill much?" Cana shook her head, brown waves moving with her head.
"That about sums it up. More trouble on the way. Plan in jeopardy. Anything in your life was open for conflict. Girly do you wanna tell Mama Cana who's wheaties did you piss in to bring this much trouble?" Alanza just snorted and shook her own head.
"These two are the foundation card, or what happened in the past that leads to the future, and the recent past. Lovers and Knight of Cups. Both inverted." Which card was which was pretty obvious. The Lovers card had a white cat and a black cat hugging with a big red heart. Surprisinly tame compared to what she would have expected from Cana. The Knight of Cups had a knight on a horse hoisting a mug of beer high above his head. Alanza blinked.
"Is that...Bickslow?" Cana waved the comment away.
"Not important." She pressed a finger under Alanza's chin. "You ever wanna get drunk as fuck and tell me all about the no good cheating bastard these cards are talking about I'm all ears. K?" Alanza gave her a wry smile.
"I'm pretty much over it." Cana snorted.
"Yeah, right. Just know you deserve better baby girl." Cana grinned and tapped the next card, a picture of a barrel overflowing with something she was guessing was ment to be alcoholic. "And this Ace of Cups card says you just might get it. This represents the possibilities that can lead to the future. Intense friendships, beginning of a great new love. Love and Friendship. Lots of good stuff." She sobered as she tapped the sixth card. "Pretty sure you're gunna need all the good stuff you can get."
"The card of the future." A shiver went up Alanza's spine. It was a grey skeleton riding on a horse that looked as though it was made of white smoke. The black and red background added to the ominous feel of the card. That couldn't be good. "Death." Yep. Not good. "This card can mean many things, rebirth, renewal, personal growth, simplifying your life but it can also mean what it is. Death could be coming on a white horse, either for you or for someone we know. Doesn't sit well with the me. I don't pull this card often." Cana reached over and squeezed her hand. "Be careful." Alanza squeezed back.
"I will. Hopefully it's talking about Brain. He's an asshole and nobody will miss him." The look Cana gave her said she doubted that. Cana flipped the next card. "Is that Elfman hopping on one leg?"
"The hanged man, upside down." Cana picked up the card and flipped it over so Alanza could see it was actually Elfman hanging by one foot. Why would you hang someone by their leg? "Preoccupation with internal battles, lack of insight to problems, overwhelming pressure from society. The unorthodox solution may be the best way." She gave Alanza an odd look. "I'd ask you what unorthadox thing you have planned, but you're from another universe and such. Just, I repeat, be careful."
"Card number eight, the environmental influences. This one gives me the chills no matter which way it falls."
"The tower?"
"Right you know this one. Can you tell me what it was doing when you saw it?"
"You were attacking Freed with it. At least I think it was Freed. Something, reverse tower, lightning."
"Lovers maybe. Thunderbolt's fate?"
"Yeah! That's the one."
"Do Freed and I have some sort of problem in the future? That's the second time you've said I attacked him."
"Oh! No. It was an S-class exam thing. No big deal." That was at least half true.
"Good. Freed's not a bad guy, but I'd sure hate to have him as an enemy." Alanza could totally get behind that semtament.
"Anyway. Back to the reading. The tower, right side up. Disaster, ideas challenged, chaos, sudden crisis and misery. Action must be taken. Trouble will end when someone or something is gotten rid of. So basically more bad news. This sounds like big bad news that gets dropped on your head like a vulcan from the sky. The key word here is disaster." Cana seemed to be glaring at the card as if she were wishing it away.
"This nineth card is hopes and fears. The Hermit card right side up." It was Porlyusica, broom in one hand, lantern in another. "Peace and quiet. Finds the answer to your questions. Decisions must be made cautiously. Follow your heart not the crowd." Cana grinned at her. "Seeing as how you are supposed to follow your heart I won't give you advice."
"Final card, the tenth card, the outcome." Cana let out a releived sigh and slumped back into her chair. This card was pretty simple. Just three yellow pentacles on a field of blue. "The three of pentacles, Teamwork is essential for achieving your goals and hard work will be noticed. Good planning and preparation will pay off. Everything will look right in other's eyes. Im hoping that means the Chess Club was a damn good idea and everything will turn out fine." Cana took a swig from a flask she must have pulled from her bag. The fuzzy blue thing must have been spelled like Mystogan's pants.
"The Tower and Death bother me." Alanza snorted.
"Well I wonder why?" She sighed and studied the cards, not tht she had a clue as to what they ment aside from what Cana told her.
"You painted all these yourself didn't you?" Cana blushed a bit.
"Yeah. I'm no Reedis, but I make do. I started doing my own for combat. Then I replaced my origional deck when cards got damaged. Ive still got a couple from the origional deck left, but I don't use them anymore."
"You're good. They are really cute." An idea struck her. "Who else knows you do this?"
"Reedis, Loke, maybe Mira. Why?"
"Cuz if Pikachu is a thing here then the other pokemon are too, right?"
"Yeeeeaah?"
"Can I commission some stuff from you? I promise it will make drama and be cute."
"What's in it for me." The sparkle in her eye probably ment she would help anyway."
"Pikachu Laxus." Cana's eyes widened.
"Oooo..."
"Can you see it?"
"Yes! Chibi version?"
"Totally!"
"He'll hate that. You can't let him know I made these. You get caught you're on your own. Who else?" The two of them laughed and schemed while they picked up Cana's cards. When Gramps entered the room they were giggling over a series of sketches merging Freed with a kirila pokemon.
"What are you girls doing?" They shoved the sketches into Cana's bag.
"Nothing?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Should I be worried?"
"Nope." She reconsidered that. "Not yet at least."
"Why am I not reassured by that." He mumbled as he took a seat. "Cana if we could have the room please?"
"Sure Gramps. I need to gather more magic samples anyway. Stop by my place later Girly. I may have something for you."
"Thanks Cana! Once Cana was out of the room Alanza settled in for what she expected was going to be some heavy shit. She had a few things she wanted to point out to the Master while she had his attention too.
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To be continued