Time to get started on the next arc!

Enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 134

A New Request

Over the next few days or so, things went as they usually did. Nothing extraordinary or exciting, like with the showdown with Laxus and Natsu. Although, there were a couple of people who hadn't been to the guild as of late. Laxus was most likely still somewhere in the Everfree Forest fending for himself, and Gajeel hadn't been located yet despite Macao and his search party looking for him.

As for everyone else, including me, it was business as usual. I would train and go out on jobs, but not as much as I did before, thanks to Mira's dancing lesson the other day, and due to the dry spell of employment as of late. I was still deadset on wanting to find out who Finn's killer was, but at the same time, I didn't want anyone else to worry about me, so I've been mostly hanging around the guildhall. I had just come back from finishing for a job, which turned up nothing, and I was looking forward to getting a good rest as I entered the tavern and welcomed by the members that were inside.

I sat down at a table and let out a sigh feeling relieved that I was taking a break. Then, Mira came over, setting down a cup of water catching my attention.

"There you go, Willy," said Mira. "One ice-cold cup of water."

"Thank you, Mira," I said. "But how did you know I was going to ask for water?"

"It's all you ever drink," Mira said. "Had a feeling that you could be wanting one, when you came back from your job."

"Thanks, although I have yet to find one thus far," I said as I drank from my cup, savoring the taste of the water from my cup. "Man, that hits the spot."

"You know there are other drinks you can have, Willy," Mira said. "Although, since you're a water dragon slayer, I suppose you got to drink plenty of water to keep your magic up."

"You got it," I said, setting my mug down. "Besides, the water's good enough for me.

Then Lisanna and Elfman entered and came up to our table.

"Hey there, you two," Lisanna greeted. "Didn't find a good job again, Willy?"

"Not really. The job itself was easy enough, but I didn't get much of a reward," I said. "What about you two?"

"We haven't had any requests either," Elfman said. "If anything, the requests we've gotten so far were the un-manly ones too."

"And the only request that had a high reward at all was the Velveno one," Lisanna said. "Natsu and the others took that one, and they didn't even get the reward."

"How come?" I wondered. "I would have thought something like that would be easy. And weren't you there that night, Elfman?"

"Yeah. I was, but a lot of crazy stuff happened," Elfman said. "It turned out, Velveno wasn't all I heard about him."

"I heard from Erza that Velveno was the son of one of Count Balsamico's, of which he fell in love with his daughter, Aceto, when they were little," said Mira. "Naturally, like all fathers, Balsamico didn't approve and kicked him out, and prevented him from seeing her. Because of this, Velveno turned to a life of crime until that night Natsu and the others encountered him that night at the ball."

"And what happened then?" I wondered as I took a sip from my cup.

"Something quite unexpected and pretty manly," said Elfman. "Despite everything that happened, the guy proposed to her."

I choked on my water a bit, almost spitting it out in my mug, but luckily I was able to swallow. "He did what now?"

"He proposed to her?! That's wonderful!" Lisanna gushed gleefully. "Tell me she said yes, Bro!"

"She did with the condition that he had to go to jail for the crimes he did," Elfman went on. "But he accepted it just like a real man should. Although, her dad wasn't happy with us for not catching the guy, so he refused to pay us."

"You got to admit, it sounds so romantic," sighed Lisanna. "It just goes to show that no matter how rough and scruffy on the outside someone looks, the inside is what matters, and Velvino sounds like such a sweet guy. Although, I bet you wish that Aceto was marrying you, right, Elfman?"

"Come on, Lisanna. No teasing now," said Mira. "Besides, if Elfman was going to be marrying anyone, it has to be Evergreen. After all, the two of them did tell me that you were both getting engaged."

Elfman immediately became flustered. "It's not like that, Mira! We're not engaged at all!"

"Oh my, Elfman. I didn't think you liked Evergreen that much," Lisanna teased. "And you two just partnered up on Tenrou Island for the S-Class Trials too."

"Lisanna, knock it off! I told it's not like that!" Elfman cried as his face flushed bright red. "We were just saying that!"

"So this girl ended up accepting his proposal, and now the two are married?" I asked, sticking to the subject. "That's something you don't expect every day."

"I think it's wonderful," Lisanna said. "I mean, who wouldn't want to have that special guy pop the question? I certainly wouldn't mind having a special someone do that for me."

"Of course you'd say that, Lisanna," chuckled Mira. "Then again, every girl dreams for that special guy to pop the question to them. Even Erza, for example."

This made me look up at Mira. "Erza? Wanting to get married?" I asked incredulously. "Surely, you must be joking, Mira. Erza doesn't seem the type to me. I mean, she is Fairy Tail's strongest female, and she scares just about everyone that crosses her."

"That's not true at all, Willy," Mira spoke somewhat scolding. "Even Erza dreams about the day where she can get married. Why do you think that she was flipping out the other day when she found out about Alzack and Bisca?"

"That is true, but Erza doesn't seem to be the kind of gal that would fall in love," said Elfman. "And even if she was, the guy that she likes must be as manly as she is."

I chuckled to myself as I took another swing of my mug. As I did, I couldn't help but feel a little bit envious of Velvino and Aceto, but I kept it to myself. "Anyway, getting back to the topic about the jobs, I wish there was a way to get more requests or at least a high-rewarding one. But due to Fairy Tail's reputation sinking has sunk lower than a holed ship, I don't see any way of getting out of our situation."

"Not unless there was a way to get Fairy Tail's reputation back," said Elfman. "Which in of itself won't be easy."

"Guess, we'll have to work hard to get our reputation back," said Mira. "Until then, we'll just have to make the best of it."

Then Kinana came up. "Say, you guys. Sorry if I'm interrupting, but I could use some help outside with the fields. Anyone want to give me a hand?"

"We can help," said Elfman.

"Yeah. Let us help," said Lisanna.

The two of them then went off to help Kinana leaving Mira and me by ourselves.

"So, what about you, Mira?" I wondered. "Have you been working at the bar ever since we came back?"

"Yes. I mean, there haven't been any other jobs," replied Mira. "I have been trying to get in touch with Jason to see if I can do a bit of modeling, although I haven't heard from anything as of late."

"Then why don't you go on a job with a guild member or something?" I asked. "Surely, with your skills, you'd complete the job in no time at all."]

"Yes, but it's been so long since I've been out of a job," Mira said. "Not to mention that I'm not the wild, rebellious girl I used to be, due to Lisanna's supposed death. It's been a couple of years since I've been outside of Magnolia, but I'd love to get back out on a job."

"It'd be a nice change of pace for you," I said. "See another city besides Magnolia, go out on an adventure. I certainly wouldn't mind if I went on a job with you."

Mira stared at me, and realizing what I said, I sipped at my cup and looked away, clearing my throat. "I mean, uh, you know, since you could use some time away from the bar and stuff."

Mira then smiled. "You do bring up a good point. It has been a while," she said. "But even if I wanted to, there isn't a job that's far away or interesting. It's not like one's going to come right through the door or something."

Then at that moment, the doors opened and in walked Natsu, Lucy, and Happy.

"Alright, let's see what other request we can go on," Natsu said. "If you spot one, be sure to grab it, Happy."

"Aye," said Happy.

"And make sure it's a high reward," Lucy pointed out. "After that fiasco with Velvino, I can't afford to have any more screw-ups! My rent's going to be due in about a week, and I'm a bit short!"

"We know, we know," Natsu groaned. "Just keep your boots on."

Feeling a bit curious, Mira and I went over to them, wondering if then Lucy let out a squeal in delight as she grabbed a flier reading it.

"What's up, Lucy?" I asked. "Did you find a good one?"

"A good one?! This one's a great one!" Lucy said. "It's not as big as the Velvino bounty, but we're going to make big bucks on this one!"

"Careful, Lucy. You have a weird look on your face," Happy warned. "And usually, that's never a good thing."

"What's the job requesting?" wondered Mira.

"It's the same as the one with Velvino, catch a criminal for a big wad of cash," Lucy explained. "Only this time, it's a different person, but the reward is a huge one! However, if we're going to go out on this job, then we're going to have to get everyone on this one! It's time Team Natsu got back together!"

"Do we really need to get Gray and Erza for this one?" asked Natsu. "I mean come on, I'm sure we can handle it ourselves."

"Listen, Coal-for-brains, after what happened with Velvino, I'm completely broke," Lucy scolded. "Whether you like it or not, we have to get the whole team on this. We need all the help we can get, and speaking of help..." Lucy then looked towards me. "Willy, you're not doing anything at the moment, right?"

"No. Not really," I told Lucy.

Lucy's face filled with delight. "In that case, would you mind tagging along for this job? After what happened last time, I could use someone with the skills of a ninja helping us out."

Then as I was about to reply, an idea came into my mind. I looked across to Mira and then looked back at Lucy. "Sure, I'll come along, but will it be alright if Mira came with us, too?"

Mira was surprised, while Lucy was even happier. "Of course she can! The more, the merrier! I've always wanted to go on a job with Mira, anyway! But is that going to be okay with you?"

Mira was at first at a loss and looked towards me, and I answered a smile, expecting her to go for it. After a few seconds, Mira smiled and then looked back at Lucy.

"Why not? I'll come along."

"Alright! This job's going to be a piece of cake, now!" Lucy cheered as she took off. "With our group, we'll get that reward for sure! Yeah! I'm all fired up!"

"Hey! Don't steal my line!" Natsu complained as he followed close behind.

"Wait up, you guys!" Happy said. "Don't leave me behind!"

"I'll have to let Lisanna and Elfman know what's going on, and see if they want to come along too," Mira said. "And I'll have to tell Kinana to cover for me a bit. But this is pretty exciting. It's been so long since I've felt this way about going on a job."

"Glad you decided to come along, Mira," I said. "Sorry if I put you on the spot like that."

"Not at all. I'm glad that you did," Mira said. "Now I'll get to go on a big job for the first time in a while. Although, I do wonder where we're going for this job."

"I'm sure we'll hear the rest of the details from Lucy," I said. "Until then, I'm going to head back to my place to get ready."

I then walked away, going through the doors to the tavern. No sooner than I did, I heard a small snicker from behind me, causing me to turn around, to see that Elfman and Lisanna were there.

"Let me guess, you two were pretty much eavesdropping, weren't you?" I asked, looking back.

"Well, eavesdropping is a strong word, but yeah. Pretty much," Lisanna said.

"So you and Big Sis are going out on a job together with Natsu's group? Sounds pretty manly," Elfman said. "Especially since you'll be having Mira with you."

"Yep. Way to go, Willy. Didn't think you'd have the initiative to ask Mira on a job," Lisanna said. "You sure you didn't ask Mira to go with you because you wanted to spend time with her?"

"Well, I'd be lying if I said that was my goal," I said, my cheeks warming up a bit. "But it's not the way you're thinking, Lisanna."

"I know," Lisanna spoke, losing her teasing grin. "But seriously, it's great that you got the idea of taking Mira with you. I can't remember the last time I've seen her go out on a job."

"Well, back with what happened with Lisanna, she's mellowed out when it comes to being a fighter, even losing a lot of her magic power," said Elfman. "Even though she regained her magic, she's still a lover and not a fighter, so she never really went out on jobs much. This will be the first job she's been to in a while now that I think about it."

"I had no idea," I said with a hint of surprise.

Elfman then put a hand on my shoulder. "Willy, make sure you show Sis a good time, alright? And make sure to look out for her too."

"Come on, Elfman. Mira can handle herself just fine," Lisanna giggled. "If anything, Mira's the one who should be looking out for Willy."

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit too. "Don't worry, guys. I'm sure things will be alright. I mean, what could go wrong? Anyway, I'm going to go home and get myself ready to go. I'll see you guys later."

I then spread my wings and took off into the air, so I could get ready to go out on the job., feeling a bit excited about things for the first time in a while.

NO POV

As Willy spread his wings preparing to take flight, Lisanna noticed something. The water in Willy's wings had now taken a darker shade of blue, and, though it only lasted for a brief moment, they took a strange color of black. However, before she could say anything, Willy took off into the air disappearing into the sky. Lisanna now couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"That's odd. Wasn't the water in Willy's magic a brighter color?" Lisanna wondered to herself. "Or did I just imagine it?"

Then Lisanna suddenly remembered back when Willy went wild and berserk back on Tenrou Island and attacked. The mere thought alone made her instinctively clutch her hip, where he punched her, which had healed, but the trauma was still there.

Elfman noticed this. "Hey. Lisanna, are you okay? You look a bit pale."

Lisanna quickly put on a smile. "Yes. I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Elf. I was spacing out is all."

"Okay, then. If you're sure you're fine, Lisanna," said Elfman. "Anyway, I'm going to go out in the back to tend the fields."

Elfman then went off. When she was sure that he was out of sight, Lisanna then frowned, feeling a sense of unease bubble in her chest.

"Now that I think about it, I haven't told anyone about what happened with Willy before," Lisanna thought. "The way he went berserk, and the color of his magic. Could it be that Willy's magic power is growing unstable again? And should I be worried about it?"

Unfortunately, Lisanna wasn't able to answer those questions, as she continued to stand there worrying, as her side began to ache.

If you liked what you read, feel free to leave a review, and a follow!

Have any questions, feel free to PM me, and don't forget my Wikia!

Dragomaster, signing off!