So, to make up for the latest 3 chapter with little-to-none interaction between Dalila and Cobra... A nice, lonf chapter with plenty of these two!
*** Remember the 'M' rate of this story for this chapter! ***
The poison slayer cocked his head to one side. A wicked grin danced on his lips. "Oh, you want things to get wild?" He murmured with a low voice that sent a shiver down Dalila's spine. "With pleasure…"
"Yes… Why not?" Bacchus tilted his head, mirroring the motion of the poison slayer with a mocking grimace. "Just you and I… And the one who wins, will get beautiful here as a price?"
Dalila felt a growl rising in the chest pressed against her back when Bacchus winked down at her.
"Or you are afraid your boyfriend here will get jealous?"
Dalila flinched, babbled something unintelligible, and thought better keep her mouth shut. Cobra growl intensified.
Just the reaction Bacchus wanted to get from the poison slayer. "What? Afraid beautiful will find me better than you?"
Why… When did the conversation go down onto this path? Dalila sweated. Can they just kick each other normally, without taking me into this?
Cobra would have been glad to explain her that Bacchus was in such a wild state that it was a miracle the conversation hadn't already touched much less pleasing tones. More like what this horny bitch is thinking right now…
Exaclty. Because the sole idea of getting 'beautiful here as a price' had sent the Drunk Falcon in a spiral of thoughts that sucked Cobra with such a force that was impossible for him to hear them…
Her half-closed eyelids, and her flushed face were making her even more attracting. The fact that she was wearing a black, tight tong and nothing else, was making him as wild as ever. "Oh Bacchus… Please…" she meowed. "I promise I'll be a good girl…"
Bacchus was sitting in a throne, among soft, huge pillow. "Yes beautiful…" he whispered to the girl in front of him. "Tell me what you want…" He was completely naked, his whole attention focused on the fair dragon slayer knelt in between his legs. "Tell me what you want… And if you are good…"
Cobra stomach churned, and his guts twisted in a knot. He wished he could ignore it, but the fantasy was so powerful, and so immediate, that it flooded his mind in a matter of seconds before he could withdraw.
"Tell me what you want, beautiful…"
Dalila blushed heavily, lowering her eyes shyly. "I want to… I want to please you…"
"And how do you plan to do that?"
Dalila eyes didn't lifted from her lap, but she liked her lips, breathing heavily.
"Maybe… You could start with this…" and Bacchus took his own harness shaft in his hand.
Dalila lifted her eyes, finally. They were shining with desire, and were fixed on the length that Bacchus was invitingly stroking in front of her face. "Yes…" her voice was a strangled moan, like she couldn't contain herself anymore. "Yes, please…"
Trembling impatiently, she closed her delicate hands over it, reverently moving out the soft skin that covered the tip. "Oh, Bacchus…" she whispered once more. "I want it…"
"Show me that you're a good girl…" Bacchus voice was hoarse and rough, and Cobra was flooded with a wave of lust that wasn't his own, when in Bacchus fantasy, he left his own member in the hands of the wind dragon slayer. Dalila parted her thin lips, and closed her mouth over the throbbing length of the mage.
"Fucking stop it."
Bacchus might be dreaming of being sitting in a throne with Tinùviel about to give him the best blowjob he had ever had, but if the drunk was up to that fantasy, Cobra wasn't.
And the worst thing was that Bacchus was hardly aware of what was going on in his own mind. Indeed he stared at Cobra like he was a madman, registering his sudden furious, unease expression with a raised eyebrow. "Uh? What now?"
Passing her tongue over his length, and then circling all around the tip, again and again, moaning softly and breathing heavily, sending shivers all over his body, making him grasp the pillows under his hands so hard he could have torn them… And right when he couldn't take no more, her lips wrapped wholly him again, hot and wet, and she plunged her head on him, deeply and slowly, so slowly Cobra heard Bacchus soul screaming with need and desire. "Yes beautiful…" he moaned "Oh yes…"
Cobra saw Bacchus leaning back on the throne, arching his back against the mouth that was so willing to pleasure him.
"Faster, doll… Go faster for me…" His hand grab a handful of Dalila's hair, pushing her head up and down on him, making her gasp. "Yes… Such a good girl…"
More moans and muffled sounds were coming now from Dalila. One of her hands was massaging Bacchus' crotch, and the other was gripping his tight, scratching him with her nails, right as he liked it. "Yes… Oh, so wild…"
Now, Cobra had found himself in situations way more racy and wild than what was going on in Bacchus' mind on that very moment - but listening to some other male fantasy? No, thanks, that was not his department. And with one of his teammates, even if it was Snow White, it was totally out of question. A loud, bass growl escaped him, making a few costumer turn and the owner of the pub glancing in their direction. "I said, fucking stop it!"
Maybe it was something in the poison slayer tone that made Bacchus realise why Cobra had turned from cool to steamy in a couple of seconds - because right two seconds had been enough to the Drunk Falcon to make up that fantasy on the blowjob on the throne, surrounded by pillows. Such is the ability of the mind of Bacchus Groh!
The drunk mage smirked. His fist pushed lightly against Cobra forearm. Below them, Dalila was totally unaware of what exactly going on in between the two. What had Bacchus thought that has managed to get Cobra so angry in less than a second? Wait, what it is that I am smelling… She turned to Erza, but the Requip mage had significantly paled. Oh no… Oh no, no no!
"Such a good girl!" Bacchus threw his head backwards, howling like a madman, both his hands forcing Dalila engulf him totally in her mouth. He let out a small cry of pleasure when his tip hit the back of her throat, and the half cough she let out reverberated all over him. And yet… "You like it, beautiful?" Dalila hummed, nodded. Yes, she wanted more. She wanted to please him, oh so much…"Yes… Yes…"
"Ehm Bacchus…" from the group of trembling Quatro Cerberus mages, Rocker cleared his throat. The murderous light glinting in the eye of the poison slayer was making him wish he had stayed home that night. "Maybe we should go…"
"And why?" Bacchus didn't tear his gaze from Cobra. He knew that the poison slayer could hear him. And if he truly was not going to enjoy the company of that beautiful blondie that night, he was about to make the poison slayer hear what he had planned for her. Yes, bastard… Take it all…
He was so close, and the lips and tongue of the beautiful girl knelt in front of him, so willing to please him, so submissive, were making him lose his mind. "I know you like it… Show me how much you like it…"
Dalila sucked harder, grazing just enough the skin that he nearly came.
But not, he wanted to prolong that pleasure as much as he could. "Be a good girl… You impatient, uh?"
Below his hand, Dalila coughed, but he wasn't planning to allow her to take any breath. Oh no, things were going to go as he pleased. And he liked it wild.
He started thrusting forwards with his hips, following the movements he was imposing to her head, burying him inside her throat even more now, and making Dalila gasp and gag. "Yes beautiful… Take it all… Don't stop…"
Bacchus looked down at the girl. On that moment, she looked up at him. The sight of her, moving fast over him, the lewd look in her eyes - or better, the look Bacchus wished he had seen in her eyes - was his undoing.
"Yes!" Bacchus groaned loudly, trembling as he came in Dalila's mouth, keeping his shaft buried inside her mouth, her head in her place in between his legs…
Seeing the look written on the poison slayer face, the Drunk Falcol bursted out laughing. " What is it? Do you want to tell us what is bothering you?"
Cobra saw Bacchus resting over the pillows. The Drunk Falcon yanked Dalila's head back. "Drink it all!" He ordered, and the pleasure he felt seeing the wind slayer swallowing his cum, was possibly more pleasing than the act itself. She hummed. "Mmmh…"
Bacchus smirked, licking his lips. He was going to allow himself the last tiny bit of pleasure from the wind slayer. "What do you say now?"
And trembling, smiling with lips red and swollen, Dalila said: "Thank you… For letting me please you…"
He caressed her cheek. "Good… I knew you were a good girl…"
Bacchus leaned over Cobra, until their faces were just an inch apart, and whispered. "Such a good girl…"
Dalila wasn't sure she had heard well, but she hand't time to dwell into what Bacchus had said, because the second later she was yanked to the side, as a drunk, laughing mage was being dragged outside the pub from a furious poison dragon slayer.
Cobra had lost his temper, not really for the sight of Dalila giving a blowjob to that idiot - really, Snow White could have done it and Cobra would have not cared a bit - but because Bacchus had taken up that fantasy simply to piss him off.
Succeeding completely. Thought the poison slayer, opening the back door and throwing the drunk in the backyard of the pub. Behind him, he heard the soul of the owner of the pub screeching, trying to stay calm and impede that the other costumers reached the two fighters outside.
The slayer ignored Erza and Dalila tailgating him, shouting things he had no intention to hear, followed by the mages of Quatro Cerberus, that, despite Bacchus being one of them, were well decided to stay as far as possible from the poison slayer. Pussies. Shitting in their pretty pink panties already.
The thought of poisoning heavily them later, just for the fun of it, was extremely appealing for Cobra. But before, he had to take care of the sneering mage in front of him.
"This is so wild!" Bacchus was howling, elated for a reason only he could see. "The wildest thing I have ever seen! But enough talking!" Bacchus shifted elegantly his weight, going into what Dalila recognised immediately to be a fighting stance. The face of Bacchus turned darker, even if his smile didn't change. But now he looked much less drunk, and much more dangerous, than a minute ago. "Shall we being? Or do you want to give a goodbye kiss to your girlfriend first?"
And without giving time to Cobra to react, the Drunk Falcon jumped forward, his hands moving so fast Erza and Dalila couldn't even see them.
Dalila didn't even bother to point out that Cobra and her were all but boyfriend and girlfriend. "Cobra!" She cried in horror, preparing to see the poison slayer unconscious on the ground.
But Cobra had heard Bacchus whole strategy attack as well as his fantasy, and the poison slayer was quick to dodge the attack, grab Bacchus by the wrists - where he knew Bacchus magic power was weaker - and exploiting the force of the assault Cobra lifted him and slammed him on the ground as hard as he could.
"Ouch!" Bacchus gasped, and looked up at Cobra with wonder. "Wild…"
The poison slayer allowed himself a moment to make small smirk. "So…"
A moment too much. Using the ground as a support, Bacchus pushed himself up, taking Cobra by surprise. The poison slayer was too slow moving, and the palms of the Drunk Falcon reached him, hitting him hard on his chest and stomach.
Cobra groaned loudly. "Bastard…"
"Oh, this is not the nicest thing to say… What will beautiful think of you?"
He… He hit him! Dalila forgot how to breath. He managed to hit Cobra! Was Bacchus that strong?
Fucking not, Snow White… Cobra gritted his teeth. He wasn't Cobra for nothing. Being able to give a good hook is useless in a fight, if you are not able to take it as well…
The Drunk Falcon chuckled. "So, what were we saying?" And with a jump, he was already on Cobra again.
"Cu-cu!"
But this time Cobra was waiting for him. The slayer moved as if to punch him, and Bacchus leaned down, dodging his fist… and ending up with the knee of the poison slayer right under the chin, right as Cobra had foreseen.
Bacchus backed, blinded for a second, losing his balance, with his nose bleeding.
"Bacchus!" Cried his guild mates.
"Ah, it's just a scratch!" Laughed the Falcon, sniffling, even if Dalila was sure she had heard the bone cracking. "We are about to go wild~!"
What was he finding so hilarious in the whole situation, Erza couldn't tell. Maybe the alcohol has finally got into him… Or he had gone completely mad at last!
She was about to intervene - even if that meant using her own magic and maybe getting into trouble herself - when the back door opened and Lucy rushed out in the backyard.
"What is happening?" Cried the Celestial mage looking around with eyes wide open. "What…" she gasped, seeing Bacchus Groh with a broken, bleeding nose, jumping and laughing in front of the poison slayer.
In a moment everything was clear to her. "Erza!" She breathed. "The owner of the pub has just called the Rune Knights… Saying there are people using magic… We must go!" Luckily Natsu and Gray haven't seen this! Otherwise they would be outside in a moment!
"What?" Everyone gasped - Everyone but Bacchus, that started to laughing uncontrollably again.
Dalila looked at Cobra. The homicide anger around him had subsided, but had been substituted by another type of anger. An impotent, powerless anger.
"Erza!" Cried Lucy, eyeing the door worriedely. "We must do something!"
"I am thinking!" Erza hissed.
"So pathetic, Titania!" Bacchus bursted into laughing. "You defending a criminal? That is new!"
"He is not a criminal!" Cried Lucy, now perfectly sober. "You are one!"
Bacchus smirked widened even more, and Cobra would have given all that he possessed in that moment to have the chance to poison him for real.
"Oh, maybe I am as well, my dear!" The Quatro Cerberus mage cooed, winking at his astonished friends at the far end of the yard. "But I am not on parole… Yet!" He laugh boomed in the night. He then turned to Cobra. "What are they going to say when they find your pretty ass here, uh?" He asked. "Do you think they will make you say goodbye to beautiful here?"
"You piece of shit…" growled the poison slayer. But Bacchus was damn right, and Cobra knew it. Not about Dalila, of course. His parole put him in a more delicate position than the one of the mage of Quatro Cerberus. And Lahar needed only that much to bring him back to his cell in Era.
In the meantime, Dalila's brain was working fast to find a way out. We have less than a minute to leave… If we manage to leave…
A whiff of wind brought her a smell she now knew how to recognise too well. A smell of dirt, of the fear of a caged animal… and of a dark hole in the ground, and sneering faces, looking closely among bars… and cold, cold nights, even in summer…
She clenched her fists, eyes fixed on the poison slayer. No… Not again! She thought with all her strength. I won't allow it!
'If they find him here' Bacchus has said… If they find Cobra here…
Then we will make sure they do not find Cobra here.
And she knew exactly how to do it.
The ears of the poison slayer trembled, catching her idea immediately. He turned his head, half surprised, half preoccupied, and ready to poison her if she dared to put her plan into action. "Tinùviel…" he growled.
Lucy was trembling. "Dali-chan?" She asked, but Dalila had no time to explain. She could hear the guards already entering the pub, rushing to the back door.
"They can't arrest him if they don't find him!" She said out loud.
The wind slayer exchanged a glance with the Requip mage… And Erza understood. She threw a glare at Cobra, glanced with an anxious air at the back door of the pub, and finally she nodded. "Alright. Proceed."
"Titania!" Cobra hissed, but the look Erza gave him was meaningful enough. "Tinùviel, don't you fucking dare…"
Cobra might have liked it or not, but it was too late.
Dalila had sprung forward, and even if the poison slayer could have dodged her, he was maybe - maybe - preferring what Dalila had in mind than being arrested and put into custody, and had his parole revoked.
So, he didn't oppose any resistance when the wind dragon slayer's small arms close around his waist, and didn't do anything but hold onto her with all his strength as she stomped hard with her feet on the ground.
On a moment they had been in the back courtyard of the pub, and a few seconds after they were already drifting above the roofs of the nearby houses.
The hiss of the wind was deafening, and a shiver run over Cobra's spine as he saw, from behind Dalila's back, the yard of the pub growing away from them.
Or better, it was them who were speeding away, carried by Dalila's magic up in the sky.
Dalila took a sharp turn, taking a hidden route behind some chimneys, and disappeared from view.
On the courtyard, Lucy sucked in a deep breath, processing slowly what had just happened. Oh my… Cobra is going to poison her for this. She looked at the men from Quatro Cerberus, that were staring upwards with their mouths half opened. Yes, he is going to poison her. Or main her.
Erza stared blinking at the sky. Had that really happened? Have I really allow something like that, and has especially really Cobra allowed it? It had been all too fast for her to process it. She wasn't one for running away in front of the Rune Knights - Cobra had broken a specific law in Lemel, however…
A booming laugh broke the silence in the courtyard. Everyone turned to Bacchus, who was holding his belly and was bent in two, and was laughing out loud as if he had never witnessed something more funny.
"What is so funny?" Asked Rocker, staring hard at him. "He run away, and now we will have to deal with the Knights!"
"Oh, this is so wild!" Bacchus dried a tear that had escaped his eyes, not listening to Rocker or anyone else. "So wild! Titania, you didn't tell me you had such interesting teammates!"
Erza swallowed. "Ehm…"
The heavy steps of the guards were sounding from the inside, but Bacchus didn't seem to care.
"And that doll…" Bacchus whistled. "She likes him a good deal, doesn't she? Oh well," Bacchus ignored Erza's terrified look. "He has got him a nice piece of ass, lucky him!"
The door of the back yard slammed open and a part of Rune Knights jumped out."What is going on here?"
"Tell him," continued Bacchus, massaging his palms and winking at Erza, "That I would be glad to finish our amiable interchange whenever he wants!"
Dalila was flying as fast as she could among roofs and chimneys, doing her best to orientate herself and find their hotel. But it was difficult while other thoughts were persistently crowding her mind. Erza hasn't said no, which is something… And Cobra has let me do this… Grabbing him and taking him up here… She felt the hands of Cobra almost digging holes in her skin. It's only because he is going to kill me as soon as we touch the ground…
"You are fucking right." Came a snarl right next to her ear. "I am going to make you regret you were ever born."
Dalila swallowed heavily. Maybe if I drop him somewhere…
The pressure on her body tightened. "Don't fucking even think of it!"
The wind slayer sighed and kept riding the wind. Ok, I will deal with a raging, poison dragon later…
After a few more minutes of complete silence, Dalila recognised the neighbourhood where their hotel was located. And indeed, she spotted the building, with its illuminated windows, less than a minute after. She reached it, circled around it nearing it more and more, and finally landed gracefully in front of the main door, putting his passenger safe on the ground.
She didn't turned to look at him after he let her go, and she was half expecting to feel a scaled hand grabbing her arm, twisting it behind her back, and then be invested by a breath of deadly poison… but seconds passed one after the other, and as she took a few, deep breaths - Cobra was heavy to carry! - nothing happened.
Finally Dalila glanced behind her shoulder, and saw the poison slayer standing several steps from her, studying her with that single purple eye of his.
"Ehm… So, here we are." Dalila cleared her throat. "Sorry for… Ehm… Grabbing you with so little… notice."
When Cobra made no answer, she just shrugged. As he wishes. She thoughts, moving towards the entrance of the hotel. I am tired and I need a good night of sleep…
But Dalila had just moved a step, that a hand grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn.
"Snow White."
Cobra face was not happy. Not furious as before, but still…
"You are not wrong." Hissed the poison slayer. "You have won only the second place tonight, in the list of the people that have pissed me off… But make this shitty trick once more, and I will make sure it will be the last thing you do."
"Ehm… Ok." Dalila stared a few seconds more into that single eye, but nothing else came. Cobra was just staring hard at her, and after a few seconds he let go of her arm.
Only that? Dalila was surprised. She was expecting at least to have to escape him. Is he waiting for me to lower my guard? Do I have to lock the door of my room tonight, or is he done just with threatening me? Was Cobra ok or that strange orange drink he had before had effected him some way? Or simply, he understood it was the only sensible thing to do, and just doesn't want to admit it?
"I do not think it was the most sensible thing to do."
"Well…" Dalila scratched the back of her head. No, it wasn't the right moment to argue about it. "In any case… Thank you for stepping in. That Bacchus was quite an annoyance." And what I smelled on him before…
The poison slayer grunted, averting his gaze. "If you don't like spoilt kids and stupid guards, well I do not like men who lands their dirty hands on women without their permission." Or that exploit the fact that I can hear them to make me assist to disgusting, lecherous fantasies I don't want anything to do with.
"Still, I-"
"Don't think too much about what had happened tonight with that dick head." He interrupted her. "What you should think about instead…" And Cobra made a step towards her, lips pressed together, and a hard look in his eye. "What you should think about, is that I don't run away from anything. Even if it is my fucking parole at stake… Don't you dare play the hero once more with me."
And by saying so, he moved past her, motioning to enter the hotel.
Seeing him walking away made something clench in Dalila's chest. Something in between annoyance, and pride. I was not playing the hero.
"Cobra, wait."
Cobra stop, but his back stayed turned to her.
Dalila took a deep breath. I wasn't playing the hero. Maybe she was about to make a mistake - another one, with the poison slayer - but she didn't care.
"I wasn't playing the hero." She said out loud. "And it is true that I don't like stupid guards and spoilt kids, and I also don't like to… Run away from things. But… But I don't like to think of you in the hands of the Rune Knights, either."
Cobra sneered. "Oh, Snow White…" he turned slowly, but before he could speak his mind, and this time for real, Dalila held out a hand in front of her, silencing him.
"What I mean, and I guess you know it already… I don't like the way you smell when you are afraid that they will be taking you back to prison again."
It was the first time that Dalila saw Cobra looking at her with the slightest hint of what seemed surprise. What? Isn't he always complaining that I do smell things too much? In his case the change of smell was so clear that she believed even humans might feel it!
"They… They have treated you badly, in prison." Dalila swallowed. 'Treated badly' was an euphemism, but it wasn't the main point. "Even if you did… Terrible things, this doesn't justify an inhuman, humiliating treatment when you are under custody. It's hypocrite, for the Council, to allow such things to happen in their own quarters." Dalila straightened her back. "Whatever you have done, there is no justification to hit you, make you feel cold and scared all the time… Like not being free isn't enough already. You have been like that for seven years. It is still all around you, even after a year with Fairy Tail…"
Cobra was listening. It was nothing new to him, but hearing Dalila speaking those words was having an effect he hadn't foreseen. Something moved deep inside him, making his breath stall in his chest. Tinùviel…
"And so," concluded Dalila, that had little idea of the effect her words were having on the poison slayer. "No matter what, no matter if you don't want to run away from the Rune Knights and the Council, I will always step between you and them."
Dalila had finished. She was expecting Cobra to say something - something mean - but the poison slayer just stayed there, like under a spell, with his single eye fixed on her and a blank, unreadable expression on his face.
A few seconds of embarrassed silence passed in between them.
"Well…" she cleared her throat. "That was all I wanted to tell you. Goodnight, Cobra."
And by saying so, the wind dragon slayer walked towards the entrance, past to the poison dragon slayer, directed to her room.
Cobra remained out in the night, alone. It took to him a couple of minutes to realise what he had just heard, and when he did, he had to replay all the conversation in his head one more time.
In the end, he looked up at the night sky, feeling the cold breeze of the evening blowing on his cheeks, among his hair.
"Goodnight to you, Tinùviel."
The day after, Magnolia, Fairy Tail guild hall…
He took her hand, and planted a soft, chaste kiss on it. "Dalila..." he whispered.
She blushed, beautiful as a rose just bloomed in the morning, and smiled silently at him, nodding.
He leant over her, and inclined his head just a bit, in a mute request.
A smile graced her perfect lips, as she allowed him caressing her soft hair, her cheeks. With his heart beating fast, he drew her closer to him.
They were close, and then closer, and then...
"Ouch! What the hell do you-oh, Cobra?" Max had turned sharply when a spoon had hit hard the back of his head, but his bellicosity died as soon as he saw the poison dragon slayer sitting a few tables behind, staring hard at him.
Cobra raised his eyebrows, a face full of understanding and comprehension, and pointed to a naked back right next to him. 'His fault.' he mouthed to the Sand mage.
Max features brightened for an instant. 'Thanks!' he mouthed back, probably forgetting that Cobra could hear what he was thinking. The Sand mage turned his attention to the naked back - that of course, belonged to Gray. "Hey, Gray! Sand Wave!"
"Hey, my smoothie!" cried Lucy, while Gray was knocked over their table, dragging her smoothie with him. "Gray, pay attention!" Hissed Lucy, slapping hard Gray on his head.
"What have I done now?" Gray shouted, looking around angrily. "Lucy, it was Max that-" "I don't care!"
Dalila chuckled. She could understand Lucy's angered reaction, since it was the third smoothie she tried to drink that morning. The first one had been thrown on the floor by a flying Happy, and that had been an accident, but... But then, Natsu and Gray had started to fight, and a fiery 'Fire dragon's elbow' had been the end of her second smoothie. And now, sand. Why has Max hit Gray with a wave of sand, in the first place? Dalila asked herself, eyeing the two mages wrestling on the floor.
"It was you who started! Sand cr-" "No it was you! Ice fist!"
"I am going to have breakfast at home next time." grunted Lucy, kicking them both - and managing to hit one of the two, she didn't know if Gray or Max and she didn't care. "I am covered in sand now!"
Dalila nodded, and grimaced when she saw grains of sand all over her coffee. "Same here."
"A pity the monster has already finished her breakfast." chuckled Cobra, looking at the empty spot on Erza's sit. The Requip mage was actually at the bar, talking with Mirajane and Natsu about some job request were a numerous team of mages was required. "Titania would have them pinned to the ceiling. It would have been fun…"
"I would say Erza has been lucky!" pointed out Charle, folding her paws, studying suspiciously her own crumble eggs and deciding she wasn't even going to try to eat them. "My spoon has vanished, in any case… Where has it gone?"
Cobra shrugged, then interjected a pair of diamond eyes glancing at him. "Don't look at me, like that, Tinùviel."
I saw you! Grunted Dalila in her mind. Why have you thrown Charle's spoon to Max? He was doing nothing, for once!
"If you only knew..." the poison slayer chuckled, but only partially. He was not going to tell Dalila that the Sand mage was fantasising about her. Not in the way Bacchus had done the previous night, of course, But that doesn't mean I have to deal with this bullshit another fucking time!
Once that all the team was back at the hotel, Erza had made sure Dalila and Cobra had arrived safely - mainly that Cobra wasn't on the run after having maimed and hidden the body of the wind dragon slayer. But everything was calm, and Erza was pleased to inform them that the Rune Knights had done nothing but force all the mages to leave the pub, much to the owner's satisfaction.
"They didn't even asked us who we were!" She had said, clearly relieved that for once no brawl or destruction was associated with Fairy Tail. "I guess they are pretty much used to it…"
And then, the next morning they had caught the first train to Magnolia, and there they were, back in their guild hall and with Erza already looking for another job.
"So soon." Murmured Wendy, head resting on the table, sand all over her hair and in her ears. She hadn't drunk the previous night, but the train ride had been enough for her to be unable to eat anything for breakfast. "Can we have a day off? I am feeling tired…"
But Wendy's wish wasn't going to be listened for that day. Right after the you dragon slayer had finished to speak, Erza bellowed from he bar counter. "Yes! Thanks Mira! This is the perfect job for us!"
Later…
On second thoughts, maybe it wasn't the best job for team Natsu. At least, not in the opinion of one of its members.
We took that job request about the dark guild hiding in the hills, alright… Dalila looked around warily, ears ready to catch the smallest crack of the rocks around her. Natsu was very happy, I guess he likes more these kind of jobs than cleaning tables in Hargeon… But why does the job lead us right into a cave?
Next to her, Wendy was just as circumspect. The sky slayer now was wishing a day off more than anything. Even if she felt more scared than tired at that very moment. Trying to govern the tremble in her voice, she cleared her throat. "Dalila-san?"
"Yes?"
"I have to confess… I don't like very much caves…" the young dragon slayer said with a shiver. "It is so… full of rocks from every side… All around, under our feet, and above." Wendy glanced upwards, and quickly went back looking in front of her. "Especially above…"
Dalila swallowed hard. "Yes, I understand." She croaked. She too wasn't feeling exactly safe. "But we are on a mission, right? We must bring those criminals to justice!"
From her spot in Wendy's arm, Charle has hugging tightly herself. "But why couldn't you two stay outside?" She mumbled for the tenth time. "I mean, the sky dragon slayer and the wind dragon slayer… Erza should have listened to Lucy!"
Dalila shrugged, but said nothing. She had thought exactly the same when Erza had forced the whole team to follow her plan, but for the moment all her energies were employed in keeping her terror at bay. It's a cave, but it doesn't mean it will collapse over my head! She tried to focus on this though. It is perfectly safe… We are just walking in the cave made by a dark guild, that is called 'Nera Tellus'… that means something like 'Black Earth', if I am not mistaken… Dalila looked around - avoiding looking above them - and swallowed. Mages that do control earth, and we are right in their quarters… That means we are in a cave underground… But it is perfectly safe…
However, even if it was perfectly safe, and Dalila honestly didn't think it was, Charle was perfectly right too.
Things have gone pretty much in this way: the criminals they were supposed to look for, the mages of the dark guild 'Nera Tellus', were all earth mages. Their guild had been plaguing the villages and small farms around with numerous robberies in the course of the past months.
The only inconvenience is that, using ground-related magic, of course they hide underground! Thought the wind dragon slayer, eyeing the rocks surrounding her. But it is safe, perfectly safe…
She kept repeating herself, taking deep breaths.
In deed the dark guild Nera Tellus was located in a system of caves and tunnels dug deep in the ground, and team Natsu was in the process of hunting them down by attacking them at the heart of their guild, hoping to drive them out in the open air.
The job request had been handed out by a group of farmers living in the nearby area. Some of them had been able to put hands on the coat of one of the dark mages before he disappeared underground again, and using the scent trace, it had been too easy for four dragon slayers to find the entrance of their hiding.
Found where they were hiding, Erza had decided the best way to capture them would have been to go down in the tunnels, and take them by surprise.
"Gray and I will be team one." Had decided the Requip mage. "Dalila, Wendy and Charle will be team two. Natsu, Cobra and Lucy, team three."
"Team one and two will go inside the tunnels. We know for sure the guild is formed by seven member, plus the Master. The Master is a powerful Earth mage. We will be in their territory, so we must be careful."
"Team three will look for secondary exits in the meantime. Catch the ones that try to run away. Cobra, can you hear them?"
The poison slayer had grimaced. "Fucking protection spells. But as soon as they are out of there, I will damn hear them."
Erza had looked at Wendy, Charle and Dalila very seriously. "Dalila, if you three find the Master, try to send a message to me and Gray. We will join you, if possible."
Dalila and Wendy had nodded. "Alright."
"Good. Then it is settled. Let's go!"
How stupid I have been… Dalila bit her lips. I need wind to send a message… How on Earthland am I going to do it underground, where blows no wind at all?
But right on the surface, Erza's plan didn't look that bad as it was proving to be in action.
In fact, it had been only Lucy the one to express some concern. "Ehm, Erza, wouldn't be better if team one stays with Cobra outside? Dalila and Wendy feed with wind and air." The Celestial mage had said. "Being underground would make them much weaker."
Dalila had nodded furiously, but before she could have add that she didn't like caves, especially since last time a tunnel had collapsed over her head, Erza was saying that no, with Natsu's nose and Cobra's abilities, team three needed to stay outside.
"Maybe Lucy-san can come with us?" Had asked then Wendy. "It is true what she says. If we are three…" "There is greater chance that the criminals will escape, if there are only two mages outside." Erza had said. "Three outside, four inside. That's the best proportion to catch them."
Now that they were in the shadows of the tunnels, Dalila thought that maybe the criminals, since they were earth mages, might have as well dug another tunnel in the meantime to escape, or even worse, make a tunnel collapse over their head.
Well, let's hope the surprise factor really works! Thought Dalila, flinching when she heard a mouse squatting in the shadows next to her. Let's just hope… Maybe only the Master uses really powerful earth magic… Let's hope we do not meet him at all!
She wanted to talk to Wendy, finding reassurance in her, but she could smell Wendy worry and fear. There is no point scaring her! Dalila was the eldest one, right? Wendy was confiding in her as well, and was looking upon her for reassurance. I must try to think positive! Maybe we will just meet the other members… Maybe in the end their earth magic won't be so… Earth-ous!
"Dalila-san?"
"Yes, Wendy?"
"Do you think we will meet the Master?"
"Wendy!" Charle scolded. "Stop being afraid! You two are strong enough, even down here!" The cat was feeling Wendy trembling, and even if even her was feeling worried about being so far from the surface, Charle firmly believed her young friend was worrying about nothing.
Dalila smiled. "Charle is true Wendy. After all, it is not like…"
"Security line: passed. Identified mages in secretive area. Identify yourself to see the Master." A metallic, registered voice buzzed loudly right next to them.
"Aaah! What's that?" Wendy shrieked so loud even Natsu, Cobra and Lucy must have heard her.
"Who are you?" Dalila jumped and was so scared she stopped mid air, surrounded by thin threads of wind. "Reveal yourself!"
But the only thing they heard was the metallic voice clicking again. "Password 'reveal': correct. Permission to see the Master: accorded."
"The… The…" Charle eyes searched the shadows of the tunnel, looking for the person who spoke. Had really the voice said 'the Master'?
"What was that?" Cried again Wendy looking around frantically, searching darkness with eyes big with fear.
"I don't smell anyone!" Dalila was sniffing the air. There was no one part form Wendy and Charle. And yet, I smell something… Something…
"It was a metallic voice…" Charle glanced around. "And the password… Maybe we have just activated a sensor?"
A sensor? But before Dalila could answer, the walls around them started shaking.
At the same moment, on the surface…
Natsu stopped dead on his track. He sniffed the air, but felt only the scent of Lucy, Happy and Cobra. No wait… It's not a smell… It had been a sound, he realised. More precisely, a loud rumbling, coming right from under his feet. What the hell…
A few steps behind them, Cobra had felt it as well, and was scanning the woods around, with his magic, eyes, ears and nose. But even him had froze when he realised they had felt the ground behind their feet vibrating and trembling.
"Guys?" Lucy, that had felt only a slight vibration, raised an eyebrow. "It's everything alright?"
"No." Natsu bit his lips. Damn. Erza's plan might not have been the best possible.
"Is was the fucking shittiest plan I have ever heard." Cobra hissed. "Not even you could have conceived something so stupid!"
"Hei, what's the point of-" "Do not start!" Lucy grunted. "Erza's plan might is risky, but-"
"But it's a fucking intrusion in the fucking underground home of earth mages." Cobra's eye glinted with annoyance. And worry. The ground trembling right under out feet… Damn, there are four of us down there?
'Of us'? Damn, I am fucking sentimental again!
Happy frowned. "But… Erza said they didn't know that we were coming! That is was safe to go in the tunnels!"
"Titania fucking said that we had the surprise effect, but we had no fucking idea that they hadn't heard us coming!"
Lucy eyes shot open. "Oh my Stars…" she breathed. "If they have caught them…"
"The others are in danger!" Natsu cried. "Quick! We must find an entrance! A way to get down there, before it's too late!"
In the meantime, right below Lucy, Cobra, Natsu and Happy, deep in the ground…
The walls around them had starter trembling, and with horror Dalila saw the tunnel shrinking. They all had been screaming from the top of their lungs at first, but then, something even worse had happened.
The ground under their feet had started melting, and the three Fairy Tail mages had been sucked into the ground, like it was a huge animal made of jelly, ready to swallow them.
"Wendy! Charle!" Dalila saw het friends sinking and sinking, the ground surrounding and slowly submerging them.
"Dalila-san! Charle!" Wendy shouted desperately, and tried to reach the Exceed and the other slayer, but they were too far.
"Someone plea-" Charle didn't even get to the end of the sentence. So small as she was, Charle was the first one to disappear, engulfed from the earth.
"No! Charle!" The scream of horror of Wendy sounded so painful in the darkness of the tunnel, that something clicked in Dalila's head.
She saw again herself running in the tunnel of the mine in Linveland, with Mavis, and Warrod, and Jared and Jean, and saw again the rocks collapsing over her head, trapping her under the mountain…
No, it was not going to happen again. Not this time.
"It is not going to happen!" She cried from the top of her lungs. "I have already been buried alive, and it is not going to happen again! Wind dragon's magic wings!"
Wendy gasped, and saw with wonder strands of wind appearing from nowhere in the tunnel, rushing around the wind dragon slayer, and then taking the form for wings folded around her body.
"It is not going to happen again!" And with all her strength, half buried as she was, coated in her own enchantment, Dalila opened the magic wings made of wind, crushing the ground around her, and jumping out of the earth, flying free.
The wind dragon slayer lost no time exulting. "Wendy!" She cried, reaching the girl with her hands. Wendy was buried in the ground up to the waist, but her arms were still free. "I am getting you out of here!"
Wendy was holding onto the wind slayer for dear life, wiggling and kicking the earth tightening around her.
"Hold onto me!" Dalila grabbed Wendy thin waist and started to pull furiously. "Push as hard as you can!"
The ground, Dalila soon realised, held some sort of mechanism. It activates when we touch it, and tried to swallow you… I must not put my feet on it! She then coated herself in wind once more, lifting from the floor of the tunnel.
"Dalila-san! I think… I think I am getting free!"
And indeed, after a few seconds of pulling and pushing with all their strength, Wendy popped out of the ground.
"We must not touch the floor…" panted Dalila, hosting Wendy on her back. "Or it will suck us back again!"
"But Charle!" Gasped the sky slayer. "We must save her!"
Dalila lifted a few in the tunnel, careful not to touch the walls. "Don't you worry, Wendy." She hissed, staring at ground, and feeling anger and power pulsing in her veins. "We are going to save Charle, and get out of here!"
"Where do we go?"
"We go down, of course…" Dalila inhaled deeply. "Hold tightly onto me, Wendy… Wind dragon's roar!"
Meanwhile, in another part of the bundle of tunnels…
Erza and Gray had descended in the tunnels believing they were going to take the members of Nera Tellus by surprise, but unfortunately for them, it had been the other way round.
Conscious of their presence - under and above the surface - the mages of Nera Tells had opted to stay were they knew they were stronger, and to attack the mages that were already in their territory.
Erza and Gray had found themselves surrounded by the seven members all in once, and even if they both had realised that those mages were not nearly as strong as them, the members of Nera Tells were playing at home. And that was a huge vantage.
Even fighting with all they had, after taking down three dark mages, one of the remaining four had managed to cast a spell on the walls of the tunnel, making them shrink instantaneously.
For the criminals of Nera Tellus, that was hardly problem - weren't they earth mages? A collapse was nothing for them! - but the story was very different for the Fairy Tail mages.
"Erza!" Gray shouted. A large crack had appeared on the ice pillar that was keeping the walls distanced. "I don't think I can keep this for much longer!"
Another crack traversed the pillar, and Gray had to create a new one to impede the walls to collapse one against the other and crush them.
In the meantime, Erza was fighting against the last four members of the guild. But she was growing tired, and her vision wasn't so sharp among the shadows and the dust invading the tunnel.
Even in her Sacred Stone armour, Erza felt that their enemies were going soon to prevail. She dodged a fountain of stones springing form the ground, repairing herself and Gray against her Diamond Stone Shield.
She waited a second, and then counterattacked. "Archer's Stone Bullet!"
An enemy went down, hit by the spell. But three are still on their feet! Panted Erza. Me too can't keep this for much longer!
Gray had to make a third pillar, for now even the ceiling and the floor were getting closer and closer.
"Maybe this wasn't the best of plans…" Erza murmured, drying the sweat that was coming over her eyes.
"I would say it was the fucking worst idea of all times, Titania!" Boomed a voice from the other side of the tunnel, and Erza was never more relived to hear a swear in her whole life. She allowed herself a bright smile, as a torrent of enchantment invaded the tunnel.
"Poison dragon's fangs!" "Fire dragon's crushing elbow!" "Let's go Virgo! Chain them all!"
At the very same moment, much deeper in the hiding of Nera Tellus…
When Dalila had roared against the floor of the tunnel, the ground had broken, revealing a larger, pitch black tunnel, running vertically down.
Without losing a moment deciding how much scary all that blackness was, Dalila had let herself fall in it, with Wendy firmly holding on her back.
They had been falling for maybe a hundred feet, before the vertical tunnel eventually came to an end, and they had found themselves in a huge underground cave, lit with numerous torches hang on the walls.
The air was humid and heavy, and Dalila smelled… earth. The sole thing I can smell is rock and ground… No, wait, there is also…
"Charle!"
Wendy had immediately spot the cat, lying unconscious on the ground. The two dragon slayers descended carefully. Dalila touched the floor of the cave, but it seemed solid enough, not hiding other traps.
The cat wasn't dead, and wasn't even hurt. Just fainted, for the lack of air and probably the terror. It took Wendy less than a minute to bring her back to her senses. "Wendy… You are here!" "Oh, Charle!" Cried the sky slayer, hugging tightly the cat. "I thought I lost you!"
In the meantime, Dalila was exploring the cave. It was huge, and looked much more ancient than the rest of the hiding. Stalactites and stalagmites were parting form the ceiling and floor, uniting midair forming natural, huge columns of stone in the middle of the cave. The dark guild must have found this cave… Or maybe there is even more than one… And built their entire system of tunnels open them!
It was big enough to host several people and provisions for several days. It would be like having a small citadel underground… A perfect way to hide!
She went back where Wendy was helping Charle to her feet. "Girls… I think we are in the very heart of the quarters of Nera Tellus."
Charle looked around, and shivered. "Because it's a huge cave?"
Dalila nodded. "I was thinking that… The tunnels above are juts a way of moving, and to connect with the surface… But such big caves might work as more permanent camps. It is like having a whole city at your disposal underground… Or…"
"A city underground perfectly explains it, my dear!" Said a rasping voice in the darkness, making the three mages jolt. "And I congratulate with you all to arrive here… Alive!"
And under the astonished eyes of Wendy, Charle, and Dalila, a small stalagmite a few steps from them turned and changed shape, transforming itself in a small, ugly man, with skin as white as a sheet and charcoal, wicked eyes.
"Welcome to my underground realm!" He bowed theatrically. "I hope you will like it here… Because you will never get out of here!"
Back on the surface…
The seven mages of Nera Tellus were lying in front of them. A couple of them were burnt, one had fainted, half suffocated by the smoke, another one had a huge bump on his head, another two were weeping, covered in purple poison, and the last one was encased in a giant ice cube, looking at the Fairy Tail mages with hatred, but unable to do nothing more than that.
"Now." Grunted Cobra, grabbing one of the wiping mages by the front of his shirt. "We now the Master is hiding way below us - no, I am not fucking telling how I know this - what I want to know is how to fucking get there!"
The dark mage gaped, looked at Cobra pointed teeth, let out one last, loud sob and fainted.
"Useless dickhead." Cobra tossed the mage to the side, but before he could get to the next one, Lucy stopped him.
"Cobra wait!" She whispered. "The only way to get down there is using a tunnel… And probably there is one, but we don't have time to look for it."
"Then what, Tinkerbell?" Snarled the slayer. "You think you can get there by just wishing it?"
"We can't allow them under the ground. They would escape." Muttered Gray. "We have to dig a tunnel by our own!"
"And how?" Erza bit her lips. Gray and her were in a really poor state. She could have used the magic she had left in her armour, but she wasn't sure she could have built a whole tunnel just with that.
"Natsu could build one!" Exclaimed Happy, pointing at Natsu, that was sniffing the ground and stomping here and there - trying to find the entrance of the extra tunnel Lucy had mentioned a second before. "Right, Natsu?"
"Oh. Yes I could!" The poison slayer was already taking a deep breath, when Lucy pointed to the chained maid at her side. "Or I could use Virgo!"
"Or we could do it together." Natsu grin widened. "Isn't that great?"
"Oh." Lucy felt a burning warmth creeping to her cheeks. Her lips curved in a beaming smile. "Right! Let's do it!"
"Spare me your fucking lovey-dovey shitty plan!" Cobra hissed. "How do you think you can-"
Cobra didn't arrive to the end of his sentence. The ground started to shake and tremble violently, and Natsu had merely time to cry 'Move! Let's get away from here!' before the earth below was torn by an immense force, and from its depths erupted a powerful wake of wind and air and rocks and dust.
Just a few minutes before, still in a large cave deep in the ground…
"You will never get out of here!" Had laughed the Master. "Attack: stalactite maxima!"
Dalila, Wendy and Charle saw with horror one of the huge stalactites pending from the roof waving, cracking, and falling over them.
"Move!" "Aaah!"
They jumped to the side just in time, only for other stalactites to start waving and falling, one after the other.
"Careful!" "On the right!" "Dalila, Charle! Let's fly!"
Right, they could fly!
Charle, now totally herself, was quick to grab Wendy, taking her away from the danger of the falling pillars of rock. A second later, Dalila was next to them.
"We must drag him over the other tunnel!" Cried Dalila, over the clacking of falling stones. "And then on the surface! He won't be that powerful over there!"
"Splendid plan, my dear!" Laughed again the small mage, looking up at them with those black, vicious eyes. "But before dragging me on the surface… you must get me! Attack: stalagmite maxima!"
"Oh no!" Gasped Charle. "Before the stalactites were falling down! Now the stalagmites are getting up here!" "Move! Move!"
Charle, Wendy and Dalila flew desperately in all direction, slaloming among the stalactites pending from the roof, and dodging the stalagmites that the attack of the Earth mages was throwing up like arrows.
Seeing the fairies panting, with nothing else to do but being chased by his own magic, the Master of Nera Tellus cried victoriously. "You might have taken the rest of my guild, but I will take my revenge on you three!"
"Charle!" "Don't move that much, Wendy!" Dalila saw with horror a stalagmite missing Charle for an inch, as Wendy jolted, risking to fall on the ground.
"Hahaha! You like that, little fairies?"
Dalila reached Charle and Wendy midair. Charle was panting heavily, and looked scared and tired. Wendy wasn't much better, and Dalila knew she too was going to exhaust her magic soon. The enchantments used before, in an environment with no wind to eat, had required the double amount of magic than usual.
"Already tired? You are not having fun?" The Master mocked them "I am having so much fun throwing huge pillars of stone around! Hahaha!
"That…" hissed Wendy. "We must thinking about something!"
Dalila gritted her teeth. "We must find a way to…" And then, Dalila had a sudden idea. She turned to Wendy and Charle, and winked. "If he likes to break huge pillars of stone… Then we will make sure there are no more to break! Wind dragon's howling elbow!"
"Sky dragon's roar!"
"What are you…" Charle gaped, eyes wide in horror. "You want to destroy the cave? Are you two crazy?"
Charle wasn't expecting to see both the dragon slayers putting all their residual energy to break down all the stalactites and stalagmites of the cave. The huge pillars of stone, centuries old, broke with horrid crack and snaps, clashing one with the other in an uproar that, hadn't Charle her paws busy holding Wendy, surely she would have covered her ears.
But the lucky thing was that also the Master of Nera Tellus had been taken by surprise by the attack. And right as Dalila had hoped, the Master had been hit by a flying stalactite, before he had time to think to a counter attack.
"There he is!" Cried Dalila happily, landing among huge blocks of rocks, and rushing over the unconscious form of the Master. "Wow, that's a huge bump!" She chuckled, pointing to a huge lumo of the size of an apple that had just grown right on his head.
"This will keep him quiet for a while!" Wendy landed with Charle next to her. The sky dragon slayer was clapping her hands happily. "We have beaten the Master! Yeah!"
"High five, Wendy!" "Yes Dalila-san!"
Charle looked over at them, shivering. "You two stopped immediately!" Cried the cat. "Don't you realise what… Haven't you thought that-"
A sudden boom echoed in the cave, cutting Charle mid-sentence. The three mages froze, listening.
For a moment, no sound was heard.
But then, much to their horror, a small crack sounded in the cave. Followed by another. And another.
"You have made the cave collapse!" Cried Charle. "All these stones flying around! Oh my tail, we will be buried here!"
"The cave is…" Wendy let out a strangled cry, looking around.
The walls of the cave were covered with cracks, enlarging and growing. Splinters of rocks started to fall all around them, while the noise of breaking stone grew louder and louder.
"Dalila-san! We must do something!"
But Dalila had froze. The world around her had gone black and silent, as she looked the disaster she had just cause.
No… No, not again! She screamed in her head with all her force. No, no, NO!
But she stood powerless, as rocks bigger and bigger kept falling from the roof and the walls.
One almost hit Charle, that jumped aside with a high pitched scream. "We must get out of here!"
There is no way out… Dalila blinked. She tried to breath, but realised the air was stalling in her lungs, and refused to move. There is no way out… No way… We will be buried here…
The images that she had seen before danced again in front of her eyes. Jean, Jared, the black tunnel collapsing over them, Warrod dragging the others away, the scream of Mavis…
"Dalila-san."
Dalila broke suddenly from her vision. The sounds around her reached her ears again, and she heard, over the impossible cacophony of the rocks breaking and falling, the soothing voice of Wendy.
"Uh?"
The sky dragon slayer was looking at her. She didn't look scared nor angry, but was smiling encouragingly. "Dalila-san…" repeated Wendy. "Look at me. Give me your hands." Wendy took both Dalila's hands in hers. The skin of the sky dragon slayer was warm and soft, while Dalila was freezing with terror. "Listen to me. I know you are scared. I smell it. I understand why."
Dalila opened her mouth, wanted to say something, but she made no sound. Around them, the walls started shaking and shaking, like moved by an immense earthquake.
"Wendy!" Charle screamed. "We must do something!"
Wendy didn't pay any attention to Charle. She was solely focused on Dalila. Dalila-san, I see your fear… But I know you are also stronger than this fear…
"I know you are scared." Repeated Wendy. "But we are going to get out of here."
Dalila swallowed. Her sense was numbed by terror. "How?" She whispered. "How can we…"
"We will do it in way Fairy Tail mages do everything." Wendy tighten her grip. "Together."
"Wendy…"
"Together." Stated firmly the young dragon slayer. Her eyes glinted with determination. "In all this time at Fairy Tail, we have always been able to win, and to go back home, because we were together. Our forces, if united, are way more powerful than our single powers summed. I know it. You must trust me!"
Charle had stopped screaming and trembling. Wendy…
"And remember this, Dalila-san. Fighting together doesn't mean only uniting our magic to win. It means also stepping between our friends and their fears, to show them how stronger they are. This is the real meaning of nakama. This means to be part of Fairy Tail."
"Wendy…" Dalila felt a tear running down her cheek. Stepping between…
Over their hands intertwined, Charle put her paws. "Together." She murmured, looking up at the two dragon slayers. "We will return back home. We will return back to Fairy Tail, all together."
Together…
And finally, as if a spell had been cast, Dalila felt her terror dissipate. She turned to Wendy, then to Charle. Together…
Yes, together. Together they could have done everything. Even escaping from a collapsing cave, hundreds of feet below the ground.
The wind dragon slayer's eyes glinted. She felt a wave of magic energy traverse her from head to toe. "Together… Yes. We will do it!"
A huge mass fell a few feet from them, with a thunderous boom.
Charle held tightly the hands of her guildmates. "Yes! Together!"
Dust came from all direction, as the walls crumbled and disintegrated.
"Together!" Cried Wendy. "Because we are Fairy Tail!"
Later that evening…
After Dalila and Wendy had touched the ground, Natsu and Cobra had sprinted to catch the Master. But the small man was unconscious, and less than a minute later Virgo had already chained him with the rest of the members of Nera Tellus.
Seeing them returning after so little time, with all the seven members of the guild and the Master, the farmers had been so happy that, apart from the reward, that had offered them a dinner at the finest restaurant of the town.
Natsu's eyes were burning with expectations, and Erza felt herself too guilty and tired to say that no, they were too dirty with ground, sweat and blood to dine at a restaurant, So, even if the only thing they really needed was a bath and a good night of sleep, they found themselves seated in immaculate, soft chairs, in front of an equally immaculate tablecloth, less than an hour later.
"We can get nice and clean after dinner." Had groaned Cobra. "We freed this fucking place from those muddy bastards, the least they can do is offering us some grub."
The restaurant was so spotless that, even if Erza had scrubbed herself from head to toe trice, she would have still felt too dirty to dine there.
"See?" Chuckled Cobra. "There was no point in showering anyway." In particular, he was enjoying the astonished stares of the other costumers at the sight of the lot of exhausted, famished mages.
"Mmmh… What can I get?" Lucy was studying the menu. "They are paying for this, right?" She asked for the third time.
"I will make them pay if they dare not to do so…" muttered Charle, examining the four forks that where lying in front of her. "What are all for?"
"Each fork corresponds to a course, right?" Asked Happy. "So, I see… Eleven courses!" The eyes of the cat gleamed, and Lucy snorted. But she didn't dare to ruin his enthusiasm. So… What do I want tonight? Ah, the crab soup and the rice with peas, to start with…
"Natsu, what are you looking for?" Asked Dalila, seeing the fire slayer agitating himself on his seat. "I am sure the waiter will come soon."
"The waiter? No no, I was looking for the kitchen." Natsu frowned, eyeing the content of the plates on the other tables. "The portions are quite small…"
"You are not thinking of raiding the kitchen, are you ash brain?" Grunted Gray, taking off his shirt and tossing it in the middle of the room. A waitress almost lost her balance - it was not clear if because she was about to trip over said t-shirt, or because she was distracted by the sight of the naked chest of the mage that had just thrown it.
"Popsicle, if Mira served so little food at the guild, we will be all be starving by now." Grunted Natsu. "And do not call me ash brain!"
"And you don't call me popsicle!"
"You two stop it right now." Hissed Erza between gritted teeth. "Here comes the waiter."
And indeed a very stuffy, haughty waiter had just materialised next to their table, with a small notebook and a pen in his hands. "Good evening madams et messieurs…" He eyed pointedly each one of them, taking in their dirt, half torn clothes, and then wrinkled slightly his nose. "What can I bring you? Madame?" The waiter turned to Erza.
"For me… Mmh… I will take." Erza studied the lists of courses, looked over all the pages one more time, then put aside the menu with a big, big smile. "Everything."
The waiter deadpanned. "Ev-Everything, madame?"
"Yes." Erza nodded, beaming with sparkling eyes. Natsu is right… the portion are too small, that it is better to take the whole menu…
And since the waiter had still to recover from the momentarily surprise - 'all' the menu, had said madame? - Erza took the menu and slammed it on the small block notes. "All. The. Menu."
"Mh-Right, sure madame!"
The waiter recovered his composure, put the menu under his armpit, and wrote something on his block notes. He turned to Wendy.
"Mademoiselle?"
"I will take only the first course!"
"Which one would you like, mademoiselle?"
"Oh!" Wendy frowned, went back studying the page in front of her. "I will take them all!"
The waiter gaped, eyed Wendy from head to toe, decided it wasn't worth discussing, retrieved the menu from Wendy, and noted something on the block notes. This order was beginning to become difficult to handle…
"And… for you…" the waiter gestured towards Charle, uncertain if it was the case to call the cat 'madame' or 'mademoiselle'. "… For you?"
"Oh, I will take the timbale, and the chocolate cake, thanks!"
Looking relieved because the order had been a normal one - although made by a cat - the waiter thanked Charle, took her menu, and passed to Dalila.
"Madame?"
"I will take… Uhm… The timbale and the chocolate cake as well…"
"Perfect…"
"… And the crab soup, and the Cesar salad…"
"Alright madame…"
"… And the lamb with the steamed vegetables… And the fried potatoes on the the side… Uh, and the pork rolls!"
The waiter felt his hand trembling slightly, but started scribbling quickly with his pen, took the menu, thanked Dalila with an indecifrabile expression on his face, and turned to Gray. "Monsieur…" the waiter raised an eyebrow seeing Gray's chest naked - thank heaven he didn't noticed Gray had just took his trousers away - but before the waiter could say anything about the dress code, Gray handed him the menu.
"The pork, the lamb, the pure, the vegetables, the roasted peas, and and ice bucket."
The waiter stared, perplexed. "An… ice bucket?"
Gray nodded, still smiling as if he had just asked a glass of water - which, being him an ice mage, was pretty much the same thing, but this the poor waiter didn't know…
"Yes, you know… like the ones you use for the champagne and this kind of stuffs…" Gray pointed to a nearby table, where in fact a bottle of champagne was protruding from a bucket filled with ice cubes.
"Alright, ehm…"
"Pretend you are bringing some champagne, but with no champagne." Gray said smiling, happy he could be more clear.
"Sure!" The waiter nodded, so taken aback that he forgot even to write the order. He collected the menu, and passed to Happy. "And for you…"
"Fish!" Cried Happy with a joyful expression on his face.
"Ehm… Fish?" The waiter swallowed. This order was proving to be extremely difficult, he decided. "We have several kind of fish… ehm, sir!"
"Mmh…" Happy studied the menu in front of him - it was of little use, because Happy had managed to read only the first line, which was not fish. "But do you have fish… Fish?"
"Fish… Fish?" The waiter pursued his lips together, stared at Happy for a moment, then nodded decidedly. "Yes, perfect, sir. I will bring some fish… Fish."
"Yes!" Happy clapped his paws together, and had never looked more satisfied.
The waiter quickly noted 'fish… fish!' in his block notes, and passed to the next occupant of the table. "Monsieur?"
"Alright!" Natsu grinned. "So, the spicy spaghetti, the spicy lamb, the spicy steak, three spicy potato chips, the spicy chocolate cake and the spicy vanilla smoothie!"
"The spicy… Wait, we don't have the 'spicy spaghetti', monsieur, nor the spicy… 'steak'!"
Natsu frowned. "But can you add some spicy stuffs? Like something to make the food hot?"
The waiter gaped. "We do serve the food hot, monsieur, however, I am afraid…"
"Perfect!" Natsu beamed, slamming the menu on the block notes. "As hot as you can! Thanks!"
The waiter was about to protest more - or at least, trying to guess what that strange young man with pink hair wanted as a dinner, when a bored voice reached him. "He wants you to spice his fucking dinner as much as you can…"
The waiter felt a shive running down his spine, and sharply turned, only to find himself scrutinised by a single purple eye. "You better tell the cooker to just use all the chili peppers he keeps in the second shelf of the cupboard." Added Cobra with a meaningful glare. "Otherwise this little scum will be a pain the ass all night."
"Cobra!" Grunted Erza from the other side of the table. "Language!"
The waiter had suddenly paled, gaped and opened his eyes as wide as he could for the surprise - never, in his whole life, he had heard so many bad words in the same sentence!
"Not my fucking problem." Cobra said, ignoring Titania glowers. "For me, monsieur, the whole menu of the sweets. Double, since you like to starve your costumers here. Do the bigne resemble the size of the brain of the one who conceived this fucking nouvelle cuisine or what?"
"Cobra!" Much to the waiter distress, the woman who had just ordered a whole menu dragged a sword out from thin air, pointing it savagely at the one-eyed man's throat. "Language! Do not make me repeat it again!"
The poison slayer clicked his tongue, annoyed. He turned back to the waiter, with a smile so vicious that the poor man instantly decided he preferred the swearing. "And, would you please be so nice to bring me the strongest alcohol you have in this lovely place? I think the ninety-degrees liqueur you keep in the left corner of the bar would do."
The waiter swallowed. Twice. "The…"
"Exactly, the whole bottle."
The waiter said nothing for a second, then managed miraculously to pull himself together once more. "But monsieur, the whole…"
Cobra curled his upper lip, shutting the waiter there and then. "I had a rough day at work." He added in a soothing voice that made the waiter scribble furiously in his block notes the order, before collecting Cobra's menu and passing to the last member of the group.
"Ma-Madame…"
Lucy had paled. Her gaze passed over her teammates. Natsu was trying to light the candles of the candelabra in the centre of the table with flames dancing on his fingers, and Dalila was having fun blowing them out. Erza was sharpening her sword with one of the many knives in front of her - "What am I going to do with all these knives?" She had said to Wendy a moment before - and Gray was being asked by an old man at a nearby table if he could please put his pants back.
Lucy turned to the waiter, and said a very apologetic look, that she knew could do little to make up for her teammates originality: "I will take the crab soup… And the rice with peas…"
"And… And that would be all?" Ask the waiter, trembling.
Lucy nodded slowly. "Yes… That would be all."
Well... The part at the beginning of the chapter wasn't maybe necessary, but I do believe it was a fantasy Bacchus could have conceived!
Soon updates! Be prepared! XOXO
