Back in Magnolia City, things were quiet. A few days had passed since the battle at Catena, many miles away. But Fairy Tail was largely unaware of that, and they were all trying to go about their lives as usual. Currently, at the Fairy Hills dormitory, in her own private room, Evergreen was also trying to live her own life. More specifically, she was getting ready for a date.
Evergreen was sitting on a leather cushioned chair, looking into a vanity mirror. She had put on a nice dress, and was now applying makeup. She worked hard on her appearance in general, but that was especially true if she was going out for a romantic evening. Although, she wondered if Elfman would appreciate it. "He better." She muttered to herself. She wasn't sure what had attracted her to Elfman in the first place. She did appreciate a man with a good physique, true. But his personality and way of talking were so blunt and crude. And he was always talking about "being a real man", whatever that means. And yet, she found him oddly charming somehow. She couldn't explain it.
After finishing applying some red lipstick, she stood up and admired herself in the mirror, satisfied. She then put on a coat, since it was cold out. Of course, it was a nice looking coat, both functional and stylish. She picked up her purse and walked to the door, preparing to meet Elfman at the guild, where they would leave for their date.
I wonder if he spent half as much time getting ready as I did. This thought came to Evergreen with doubt, but also some hope. She knew he wasn't sophisticated, but she hoped he at least cared enough to put in some effort for her. "Here's hoping." she said. She opened the door, and left for the guild hall.
A short distance away, at the guild hall, things were livelier than they had been in a while. Master Makarov hadn't made any big announcements since returning, and many in the guild seemed to take this as a good sign. Of course, there's also the fact that a large part of the guild had grown tired of being on edge all the time, and wanted to relax for a change. So tonight, several of the mages had made plans to go out and have fun.
Presently, Elfman was sitting in the guild hall along with his sister Mirajane. Sitting in a loose circle were also Lucy, Cana, and Levy, who had made their own plans for the evening. Gray and Wendy were there as well, and Macao was nearby teaching his young son Romeo some magic techniques.
"So, you guys are going out for some fun tonight?" Mirajane said this, addressing Lucy, Cana and Levy.
"Yep, just us three girlfriends." Cana said. Truthfully, Cana and Levy were more like acquaintances than friends. They were mostly only friends through Lucy, and had never spent any significant time together before. But they both had wanted to do something with Lucy, and she couldn't choose between them, so Cana suggested the three of them head out somewhere together.
"Yeah, we're kind of having a hard time agreeing on what to do, but we'll think of something." Levy said.
"Its been a while since I've gotten to do something like this. It'll be fun." Lucy added.
"I bet. And what about you Gray? Got any plans?" Mirajane said. Gray didn't look interested in chit chatting, but he looked up when she spoke. "Oh uh, yeah. I've got a job tonight. Nothing big, but it's something to do."
"Neat! And what about you, Elfman? What are you doing tonight?" Mirajane asked him. Elfman looked at her. He noticed she was acting more upbeat tonight than she had been lately. He knew that she had been feeling down lately, so this shift in her demeanor surprised him. But he wasn't going to complain about it. He preferred seeing her happy over seeing her sad, whatever the reason.
"Well actually, yeah. I've got a date tonight." He said.
"Really? You have a date? With who?" Cana was the one who said this. She couldn't help being a little nosy about it.
"Well, actually-" Elfman started, but was cut off. "Actually, he has a date with me. Don't you, Elfman?" Evergreen said, walking into the hall from the cold. The gathered mages turned to look at her. Elfman had already told Mirajane about him and Evergreen, so she wasn't surprised. But everyone else was.
"Elfman, you didn't even bother getting dressed? I went to the trouble of putting on these nice clothes. I didn't do that for myself, you know." Evergreen's voice was a mixture of annoyance and disappointment. Elfman stood up. "Relax, I got some nice clothes. Just watch." Elfman said. He reached behind a chair and pulled out a dress jacket, and put it on. It was fairly nice looking, although it had a little wear at the cuffs.
"That looks nice Elfman, where'd you get that?" Mirajane said.
"Thanks, I got it secondhand. But it fits well enough." He said. At this point, Cana decided to speak up again.
"Say Elfman, how'd you get Evergreen to go out with ya? I would've figured she's too stuck up for that." Evergreen turned to look at Cana and responded. "First of all, rude. Second, if you want to know why I'm going out with him, why not just ask me directly?" she said.
"Okay, why are you going out with him?" Cana said.
"None of your business." Evergreen replied. Cana blew a raspberry at her.
"This is actually our first real date. We only had a few drinks before." Elfman said.
"Yes, that's right. At any rate, the jacket will do, but it would've been nice if you'd gotten a tie as well." Evergreen said, changing the subject back.
"Got that covered too!" Elfman said. He pulled a tie out of the jacket pocket. A clip-on tie, to be exact. He clipped it onto his shirt, and put his hands on his hips, waiting to hear what Evergreen thought. She folded her arms and put her head down for a moment, as if contemplating something. She then looked up and said, "Elfman… Let's just go. Now, please." She said. He shrugged his shoulders, and together they left the guild hall to go on their date.
"Well, I didn't see that coming." Levy said.
"It was unexpected." Lucy said.
"I give 'em a week. Two tops." Cana added.
"Cana, that's not nice." Lucy said.
"What, you think they'll stay together and get married?" Cana asked. Lucy shrugged. "Well, you never know."
"Anyway, maybe its time we got going, instead of hanging around here gossiping." Levy said. "Good idea." Cana said. She stood up and stretched, preparing to head out, and Lucy and Levy got ready to leave too.
"Have fun you guys." Mirajane said. "Sure will!" Cana called back, already halfway out the door. Lucy and Levy quickly followed her, and the trio left.
Just then, a small fireball shot over at a table just a few feet away from Gray. "What the…?!" Gray said, startled by the attack. Romeo came running over. "Sorry Gray, didn't hurt you did I?" the boy said.
"No… It's fine, just be more careful." He said. Macao quickly came over as well. "Man, I'm sorry. I'm trying to teach him some spells, but he's just a beginner. He's got a ways to go." Macao said.
"I'll do better next time, dad." Romeo said. "I'm sure you will. Maybe we should practice someplace with fewer people around though." Macao said. "So, nobody got hurt, right?"
"I'm fine." Gray confirmed.
"Me too. No harm done." Wendy added. Romeo walked up to Wendy just then. "Hey Wendy, want to practice with me?" the boy said. "Uh, thanks Romeo, but I can't. I have other things I need to do." The girl replied. Macao touched his son's shoulders. "Come on Romeo, we'll find someplace a little more private. It'll help you to concentrate anyway." The kid reluctantly obeyed his father and walked off with him.
"Well, guess I'm going to be heading out too. See ya." Gray said, getting up and starting to walk away. Before he could leave, Wendy walked up beside him and said, "Hey Gray, would you mind if I came with you? I mean, if you aren't teaming up with anyone, maybe you could use the help?"
"No offense Wendy, but I'd prefer to do this alone." He said. Wendy looked a little discouraged, but persisted.
"Its just that I'd like to have someone I could learn from. I tried asking Gajeel, since he's another dragon slayer, but he doesn't want to." She explained. Gray paused, looking uncomfortable. "Maybe you could hang out with Romeo, since he's closer to your age?" he suggested.
"He's half my age." Wendy replied drily. "Besides, I want someone more experienced. I thought it was great how we all teamed up to fight the Oracion Seis. Why can't we get Lucy and the others and do that again? Maybe not tonight, but…"
"Wendy, I hear what you're saying, but I don't think that'll happen. We're all kind of doing our own thing these days."
"But why? I heard you were part of a team. You, and Lucy, and some other people. What happened to that?" Wendy looked disconcerted, and was trying to understand the situation. Gray wasn't sure what to tell her.
"Why don't you just take her with you, Gray? It could be good for both of you." Mirajane said this. She had walked over to them without Gray noticing. Gray shuffled.
"Look, it's just that I wanted to do this alone. That's all." He said.
"Is that really what you want?" Mirajane said. "Besides, you said yourself this job wasn't a big deal. Would it be so bad bringing her just this once?" Mirajane persisted. Gray closed his eyes.
"Fine. Just this once. I guess that'll be alright." He said. Wendy looked pleased. "Great! I'll do my best, Gray. I promise. Oh, and one more thing; can I bring Carla along too?" Gray put his hands on his hips and looked down at her. "If we bring Carla, then Happy will probably want to come too."
"The more the merrier." Mirajane said, smiling.
"Ugh." Was Gray's only response.
Elfman and Evergreen had decided to go to a pasta restaurant. It was small, but nice. Evergreen ordered angel hair shrimp pasta in a white wine sauce with a bruschetta appetizer. Elfman ordered spaghetti and meatballs. They sat in a booth together, and made small talk in between trying the appetizer. After a few minutes, Elfman decided to try asking her about herself.
"So, Evergreen. That's a nice name. Kind of makes me think of plants. You like gardening and stuff?" he asked. Evergreen looked up at him.
"Gardening? No. Sitting around in the dirt and digging up weeds isn't my idea of fun. Although, I do like flowers. Pretty ones. What about you? You like pretty flowers?" she said. Elfman rubbed his head. "Pretty flowers? Well…"
"Not manly enough?" Evergreen suggested.
"I mean, pretty stuff can be nice too. I guess not everything has to be manly." He replied.
"I'd hope not." Evergreen said with a small smile, while resting her chin on her hand. "Anyway, my parents named me for my everlasting beauty. But what about your name? Why are you named Elfman?"
"Hmm. I remember when I was real young, before my folks died, they told me that they wanted a girl. Especially my mom. She had her heart set on having a girl, and naming her 'Elf'. But she had me instead. But she'd gotten attached to the Elf name, so they just added 'Man' to the end of it. Elfman."
Evergreen smiled. "That's funny. Good story."
"It's true though." Elfman said.
"I know, that's why its funny." Evergreen said.
A minute later the entrees arrived, and they ate. Elman noticed Evergreen twirling her pasta with a fork as she ate it. She somehow managed to make eating look graceful, or at least Elfman thought so. He also noticed how pretty she looked. He wanted to tell her, but he was uncharacteristically nervous about it. He cleared his throat. She looked up at him expectantly.
"You know, Ever, I just wanted to tell you…" She blinked as she waited for him to finish. "… this restaurant you suggested was a pretty good idea." He finished. She smiled. "Why thank you. I honestly didn't know if you'd like it or not." She said warmly.
Damn it, why didn't I tell her she was pretty? Next time. Elfman thought to himself. Nonetheless, Evergreen seemed happy with what he had actually said.
Lucy, Levi, and Cana had gone out for the night. The three of them had had some trouble deciding on where to go. Cana suggested a bar, but Levy pointed out that Cana drinks all the time anyway. Levi wanted to go to a book fair, but Cana said that was boring. Lucy didn't have a strong opinion either way. They compromised and went to a play on the edge of town. It was a comedy. An unfunny one. They walked out halfway through.
Having gotten out of the play, the three girls walked along the street, seeing various shops, and deciding whether or not to visit. It was cold out, so they were dressed warmly, although Lucy still wore a skirt. They walked along at a casual pace for a few minutes. Eventually, Cana spoke up.
"Man, that play sure sucked, huh?" Cana said.
"Maybe if we had stayed till the end it would have gotten better." Levy suggested.
"That would have taken a miracle." Cana said.
"It was bad, but in a way I kind of enjoyed it." Lucy said. "It reminded me of when we were in that play together. By 'we' I mean me, and Gray, and Natsu, and Erza. The Strongest Team."
Levy turned to Lucy, who was looking up at the sky, remembering another time. "Yeah, I heard about that. Wish I could have seen it." Levy replied. Lucy laughed.
"No, you don't. It was awful. Then again, maybe you would have gotten a laugh out of it. At us." Lucy sighed, and looked at the sky again. "It wasn't that long ago we were in that play. But it feels like a hundred years ago now." Lucy said this in a quiet, wistful tone. They continued walking, saying nothing for a minute. Finally, Cana said, "Mind if we change the subject? Lucy?" Hearing her name called, Lucy turned her head.
"Oh, yeah sure. What do you want to talk about?"
"Actually, I want to talk about you." Cana said.
"About me? What about me?" Lucy said. For a moment Cana said nothing. Then, "The other day, I got a weird vibe off you. And I still kind of do. You seem different somehow. Did something happen?" Lucy became quiet again, and looked at the ground. Levy walked over to Lucy and stood beside her.
"Maybe its something she doesn't want to talk about. Something personal. Its okay Lucy, you don't have to talk if you don't want to." Lucy looked up at Levy and smiled. "Thanks Levy. But its okay. I can talk about it. But I'd appreciate it if you don't tell anyone else about it. Not because I'm ashamed or anything, I just… don't feel its anyone else's business."
"I won't tell anyone Lucy. I promise." Levy said.
"Yeah, me too. Promise." Cana added. Lucy nodded, while Cana looked at her expectantly.
"Okay. Well, let's see. The other night, as I was walking home, I got attacked by a bunch of guys in an alley." Lucy said.
"Holy shit." Cana said. "Oh my god, Lucy." Levy added. Lucy quickly held up her hands.
"Its okay, nothing happened. Loke came and saved me. Like a knight in shining armor." Lucy said.
"Well, thank heaven for that." Levy said.
"Yeah, that's good. So, you got attacked, and Loke came to the rescue. That must have been shitty, but at least it had a happy ending." Cana said.
"There's more." Lucy said. "Remember, I asked you not to tell anyone." The other two nodded. "Okay then. So… after Loke showed up, he walked me back home. And then I invited him inside. So, we went up to my apartment, and talked a little. And then…"
"And then?" Cana asked.
"…We had sex." Lucy finished. Cana and Levy stopped walking. Lucy turned around to look at them. They both looked like they were having trouble comprehending what they just heard. "You… what?" Levy said. Lucy smiled a little bashfully.
"Loke and I had sex in my apartment. It was my first time. It was nice." Lucy finished, and looked up at them. The other two girls exchanged glances. Levy looked uncomfortable, and was blushing a little after hearing this information.
"Does this mean that you and Loke are a couple now?" Levy asked. Lucy shook her head. "No. It was a one night thing. That's all." Levy looked even more uncomfortable now. Cana on the other hand started laughing. She walked over and hugged Lucy. "That's great, Lucy. Your cherry's been popped. Congrats." Despite everything, Lucy couldn't help blushing a little at the bluntness of Cana's words. But Lucy still hugged her back. "I guess your story really did have a happy ending then. Good for you." Cana said. After that, the three of them started walking again, to nowhere in particular. While it was cold out, it wasn't so cold that they couldn't stand to be outside for a little while.
As they walked along, Lucy couldn't help but feel that the atmosphere around them had changed. Levy was quiet, and looking at the forest outside the town, her head turned away. Cana was looking straight ahead, with a casual and pleased look on her face. Maybe it was just her imagination, but Lucy sensed that Levy might have lost some respect for her, and felt less comfortable around her now. But maybe Cana had gained some respect for her. Lucy wasn't sure how to feel about either of those things, assuming they were true.
"So, what made you decide to do this, Lucy? Sleep with Loke, I mean. Did it have anything to do with what we talked about before? Did I get you to do this?" Cana said this while side eying Lucy with a smirk.
"I guess you did put the idea in my head, but that wasn't the main reason I did it." Lucy said.
"What kind of conversations are you two having?" Levy said with a troubled expression. Cana just laughed. Lucy ignored Levy's question. "There were actually a few reasons why I did it. I guess it was partly because of everything that's happened these past several months. Erza dying, Natsu leaving, my team breaking up. And a bunch of other horrible things that happened since then. I felt bad about everything. But it also started to make me wonder about who I am, and what my place is. I felt like everything was changing, and I wasn't sure about anything. That was why I wanted to start training harder. But that wasn't enough. I didn't just want to get stronger. Somehow, I just didn't feel comfortable in my own skin anymore. I felt like I needed to branch out, move in new directions. Is this making any sense?" Lucy finished.
"Sort of." Cana said.
"Not sure." Levy said. Both answers sounded non-committal. Lucy shrugged. "Maybe I'm not explaining it very well. Or maybe it doesn't make sense. But it was fun, all the same. I thought that doing that with Loke would make me feel like a completely different person."
"But you don't?" Cana said.
"I feel different. In some ways. But I'm still me. Still Lucy. I guess I just have a different perspective on some things." Lucy paused, and they kept walking, but slowed the pace. After a minute Lucy spoke again.
"If I'm being honest, there is another reason why I did it." She said.
"What's that?" Cana said. Lucy hesitated. "I'll tell you. I mentioned earlier that I was attacked by those guys. But that wasn't the first time something like that happened."
"It wasn't?" Levy said. Lucy shook her head. "No. Months ago, there was this other incident with these two guys who tried to kidnap me. Loke saved me there too. I told you about that."
"Yeah, I remember that." Levy said.
"And that's not all." Lucy continued. "There was also that time I was abducted by that guy calling himself "Salamander" so he could sell me, and a bunch of other girls, to a sex slave trade in Bosco. Natsu saved me there, thankfully." Lucy said this almost casually, despite it being a heavy topic.
"Oh yeah." Cana said somberly, remembering hearing about that.
"Anyway. These things keep happening to me. I've had some close calls. And it just made me think… anything can happen. That was part of what motivated me to sleep with Loke. So now, even if something happens in the future, at least my first time will always be a good memory. So there's that." Lucy said.
"Wow." Levy said. They walked together in silence another minute. Then Cana spoke. "Alright, time for another change of topic. So… heard any news lately?"
"Like what?" Lucy said.
"Like anything." Cana said.
"Did you guys hear about the new travel restrictions across Fiore?" Levy said.
"I think I heard something about it, but not much." Lucy said.
"Nope, didn't hear about that." Cana said. Levy turned to them, feeling more comfortable with this new topic. "Well, apparently it's because of that group from Bosco that attacked us before. They've been attacking other guilds, and they've even been showing up in towns. Not always to attack. Sometimes to 'convert' people, and get new flunkies or what have you. But things still erupt into chaos. People who join them will often become violent and attack their neighbors who wouldn't join up. At any rate, the military and the kingdom have gotten pretty wary about this, so they're putting all these restrictions on moving around the country, and traveling into or out of Fiore. They do background checks and everything. At least in some places."
"Wow, really? That bad?" Lucy said. Levy nodded. "Yeah. It might make things more difficult for us in the near future, especially if we want to do jobs that require us to, you know, go places other than Magnolia."
"So, what are you saying? We're stuck here?" Cana said.
"No, not necessarily. We should be able to travel with the right credentials. I'm sure the master could help with that. It would take a little longer though, and would be inconvenient.
I guess I've been focusing so much on what's been going on in Fairy Tail and in my own head that I wasn't paying enough attention to the outside world. I guess that's another thing I need to work on. Lucy thought to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by Cana.
"Hey, what's that?" Cana said, pointing at something. Lucy turned to see what Cana was indicating. It was the forest. Or rather, a specific point in the forest.
"Is that smoke?" Levy said. Lucy looked closer, and realized that there was a plume of smoke coming from the trees in the forest, down the hill. They all stopped to stare.
"Think it's a forest fire?" Cana said.
"At this time of year? I doubt it. There's too much smoke for it to just be a campfire though." Levy said. At that point, another plume of smoke came up through the trees. And another. "What is going on down there?" Levy said.
"You don't think someone might be intentionally starting fires down there?" Lucy said.
"It's possible, I guess." Cana said. But now, noises could be heard. What sounded like impacts into the ground, and cracking branches.
"There's definitely some kind of trouble down there." Lucy said.
"Yeah. Where there's smoke there's fire. I'm guessing some kind of battle involving mages. We should avoid it. We don't need the trouble right now." Cana said. But her words made Lucy pause. A battle involving mages. Near Magnolia. Fire…
"Lucy, you okay?" Cana said. Lucy turned to Cana. "I… think we should go down there." Lucy said.
"What? Why?" Cana said. Lucy blinked. "Because… Because I just think we should. I mean, someone might need our help. They could be hurt. We can't just leave-" Lucy stopped midsentence. She took a breath. "I want to go down and see if someone needs our help. You don't have to come with me. But I feel like I should go." Levy and Cana exchanged a look, and then turned back to Lucy.
"If you feel that strongly about it, then I'll go with you." Levy said.
Cana looked at Lucy for a moment, trying to read her mind. Although Cana didn't know exactly what Lucy was thinking, she did have her suspicions. "Alright Lucy. I'll go with you. But if we run into trouble, then just follow my lead, okay?" Cana said. Lucy and Levy both agreed to this. Someone should take charge, after all.
The three girls ran down the hill towards the forest. There were now flames visible in the night sky above the trees. As they got closer to the trees, the temperature gradually began to shift from cold to warm. It became warmer still as they entered the forest. They stuck close together, but moved at a brisk pace. They weren't sure what or who they were going to find. Both Cana and Levy had doubts that they should even be there. But Lucy felt this was something they (or at least she) needed to do. Although she had a hard time explaining why. There was just a feeling, a possibility.
As they moved further in, the smoke nearby started to get thicker. They did their best to remain upwind of it. But that's not all. They began to notice shapes in the distance. Figures moving through the trees and smoke. They were hard to make out. Not knowing if they were friend or foe, the girls readied themselves for a possible fight. Cana drew her cards, and Lucy pulled a few keys out. They slowed their pace a little as they saw fleeting glimpses of something. They appeared to be men dressed in heavy clothes. One figure came just a few yards in front of them, dashing by, perhaps not noticing them. Upon seeing the figure, it became clear that it wasn't wearing heavy clothes. It was armor. Dark armor with a helmet and mask.
"Shit." Cana said. She was fairly sure who they were dealing with now, and as she looked at Levy, she guessed the smaller girl was too. She appeared nervous, but still ready to fight. While Lucy noticed the figures too, part of her mind was still distracted by something else. Suddenly, more flames erupted in a clearing not far from where they were. There was some shouting coming from that direction. The way the flames were shooting up, they definitely weren't natural. These flames were the work of a mage. The armored figures seemed to be chasing whoever was causing the fire.
"It's them, isn't it? The ones who attacked us before. They came back." Levy said.
"Well, we'll just kick their asses. We've beaten tougher." Cana said.
"Fairy Tail as a whole, sure. But us three specifically?" Levy said.
"Hmm." Cana hated to admit it, but Levy had a point.
"So, what are we going to do? They're chasing someone. Shouldn't we help? Lucy said.
"Yeah. Maybe not the smartest thing to do, but it is the right thing to do." Levy said. "Hmm." Cana reiterated. The three of them moved forward.
"Just stay close together. And don't let your guard down." Cana said. They kept low, and moved closer to the source of the fire. It appeared to have stopped just ahead of them. They entered a small clearing and found a lone figure surrounded by flames twirling around. With the fire and smoke, they couldn't see who it was. The person at the center of it started moving forward.
"Wait!" Lucy said suddenly. The figure stopped. "Lucy!" Cana hissed, but Lucy stepped forward toward the lone mage. As Lucy stepped closer, she said, "Who are you? Why are they chasing you?" After all this time. Could it be… she thought to herself.
The figure slowly turned, and the flames began to die down a little. There was still fire here and there though, and the forest was hot and red. Lucy took a step forward, and so did the other person. As the flames eased, Lucy could now see who it was.
"You…" Lucy began. Cana and Levy could also see who it was. "Oh my god. What are you doing here?" Levy said. The person they were addressing smiled.
"Wait… who are you?" Lucy asked. Lucy did not recognize the person in front of them. But Levy and Cana did.
"It's Flare, from Raven Tail." Cana said. Flare Corona stood in front of them, in her trademark red dress. Her hair was loose and fiery. "Hey, I know you two! But I don't know you, blondie." Flare said.
I thought… Lucy couldn't help feeling disappointment at this turn of events. She had been expecting something else.
"You're with them, aren't you? Was this all a trap?" Cana said. She raised her cards, preparing to attack.
"No, wait! I'm not with them, I promise. I'm trying to escape from them. Really! C'mon, I could really use some help. They've been chasing me for a while. I tried to set fires to lose them, but…" As she was talking, armored figures emerged from the trees around them. About half a dozen of them. They had swords drawn. Without another word, Cana launched a group of cards at two of them, creating an explosion beneath them. Lucy, quickly weighing her options, decided to summon Virgo. The maiden appeared before her. "Get rid of them Virgo!" Lucy said.
"On it, princess." Virgo confirmed. The samurai charged with their swords, making their deadly intent clear. Virgo used her tunneling ability to burrow beneath them and pull them underground, trapping them in the dirt. She reappeared above ground. Levy used her script magic to send a blast of air at the remaining samurai.
"Well, that wasn't too hard." Cana said. Flare smiled at them strangely. "Thanks, hehe. Eh, sorry about that whole attacking your guild thing. I'll try to make it up to you, somehow. Especially now that I owe you." She said in a strange voice.
"Yeah, yeah. Look, what are you doing out here? Why were they chasing you?" Cana said. Flare tilted her head. "Well, that's kind of a funny story. Maybe we could go someplace that isn't on fire to talk about it." She maintained that strange look most of the time, which the others found unsettling.
"I don't know if we should trust her." Levy said. Levy was clearly uncomfortable around Flare. Before the other two could respond, something leapt out of the trees. It was a huge tiger. Three times the size of a normal one. Flare staggered back and fell. The other three took a step back. The huge beast growled at them.
"What the hell is that?" Cana said, grabbing some more cards.
"It is my pet, and you are right to be afraid of it. It will devour you all." A deep voice said. It stepped out from behind the tiger. It was another samurai, but dressed more ornately then the others. He wore a black helmet and a gold colored mask with a demonic face. It was the shogun Yoshimoto. His magic sword was drawn, and two other samurai followed behind him. "Surrender or die."
"This is starting to feel too familiar." Cana said.
"That's Yoshimoto, the samurai general." Levy said.
"That's him? I thought he'd be taller." Lucy said. The samurai lord turned his gaze toward her. "You mock me?" he said. He raised his sword. The tiger unleashed a frightening roar, causing the girls to cover their ears. At this point Virgo stepped forward. "I'll deal with this." Virgo said. She started to go underground again, but suddenly the earth around her liquified and erupted, and she was blown out of the ground , hitting a tree face first. She fell to the ground below.
"Virgo!" Lucy said.
"Nice try, little girl." Another voice said. "But your part in this fight is over. Oh yeah!" A tall man emerged from the trees beside the samurai. He had a rather strange, blocky appearance, and orange hair. "You must be Fairy Tail. We were supposed to battle earlier on, but circumstances prevented that. But here we are, together at last! Oh yeah! And by the way, you can call me Hoteye." The man said, introducing himself.
"He's one of the Oracion Seis!" Lucy said.
"Those super powerful mages who can take on a whole guild? Great." Cana said drily.
"I'm starting to think this was a bad idea." Levy said. Hoteye stepped forward. "We just want the red-haired girl. That's all."
"She defied us, and others joined her. They're all dead, and now she dies too." Yoshimoto said.
"Well, we can't go along with that." Cana said in a low voice to her companions.
"Hey Levy, you said that samurai guy uses illusion magic, right? Do you think that big tiger is an illusion too?" Lucy said in an equally low voice. Levy looked uncertain. "Even if it is, can we really take them all on?" Levy replied. As she said this, the samurai soldiers she had knocked down were starting to get back up, and readying their weapons again. There were still about half a dozen of them, plus Yoshimoto and Hoteye and the possibly illusionary tiger. The girls weighed their options.
While this was going on, Yoshimoto and Hoteye were having a private talk of their own. After a moment, Hoteye spoke again. "Actually, we've decided we don't just want the red head. We want all of you. Oh Yeah! If you surrender now and come quietly, we may forgive your past sins. Or maybe not! Its really not up to me."
"Well, that sounds shitty." Cana said.
"Got a plan, Cana?" Lucy asked.
"Actually, yeah. You two distract him with some spells. I'll 'talk' to them." She said. Cana took a step forward with her hands in the air. She was holding no cards. "Okay, look. We can work something out. Is there a leader we can talk to?" she said.
"I'm the only one you need to talk to." Yoshimoto said. "Lay down your weapons, prepare to be bound, and come with us. You could be of some use." Cana nodded. "Oh, okay. Cool." At that point Levy used her script magic to create a boulder above Hoteye and Yoshimoto. It dropped, and Hoteye caught it, although it knocked him off balance. The various samurai immediately went into attack position. At the same time, Lucy summoned another spirit. It was Taurus the bull, who quickly charged at the enemy with his axe. Lucy didn't expect Taurus to actually defeat them, but that wasn't the point. Cana just asked for a distraction.
"What now Cana?" Lucy said. Cana turned to Lucy. "Now, we get the hell out!" Lucy blinked. "We– "
"Get the hell out of here, now!" Hoteye was currently using his liquid earth magic to incapacitate Taurus. Cana turned to run, and the others followed her lead.
"Wait, take me with you!" Flare shouted from behind. Lucy stopped. "We shouldn't just leave her." She said. Cana looked annoyed, but quickly ran over and grabbed Flare's arm, pulling her along without any gentleness. "Don't slow us down or we'll leave you behind." Cana said. All four girls began running back out of the forest.
"Why are you running? We just want to be your friends!" Hoteye said. Somehow, the Fairy mages were not convinced this was true. The girls ran as fast as they could, but not as fast as they would like. They weaved through the trees, heading back towards Magnolia. Cana, still holding on to Flare and pulling her along, said, "Hey fire girl, can you try to keep up?"
"Do you know how hard it is to run in the dirt in high heels?" Flare shouted from behind.
"Actually, yeah I do." Cana responded. The edge of the city was within sight. But then, the ground behind them started to dissolve. "They found us?!" Lucy said.
"Just keep running. Faster!" Cana said. They ran as fast as they could, but the ground behind them continued to sink. As they got close to the road, the ground just ahead of them began to dissolve too. "No." Lucy said. Levy cast a spell. It created a long sheet of metal along the ground, creating a bridge for them to run over. Hoteye's magic didn't work on metal. They ran across, and made it back into the town, and kept running.
"Where are we going?" Lucy said.
"Isn't it obvious? Back to Fairy Tail." Cana said.
"But what if they follow us there? We could be putting the guild in danger, and not to mention other people around." Lucy replied.
"Hey Lucy? Not to sound like a selfish bitch, but I don't want to die. If we have to fight these guys it would be better to do it with the guild backing us up. And those guys back there might call for backup too." Lucy still felt uneasy about it, but she admitted Cana had a point.
Hoteye's magic seemed to have stopped following them. But just in case, they still continued to run through the city, with confused onlookers observing them. Cana said she knew a short cut back to the guild, which they took. After a few more minutes of running, they made it back. They were out of breath by the time they got to the entrance of the guild hall.
"Alright. We… made it." Cana panted.
"So, what now?" Flare said, with a blank look on her face. Cana narrowed her eyes at her, and said, "Good question." Cana didn't like the idea of bringing Flare back here. And now that they had, she was starting to worry that maybe this was what the enemy mages had wanted. Maybe she was in on it with them, and they would show up here at any moment. "We should head inside." Cana said, still keeping a grip on Flare.
"Right." Lucy said. "Agreed." Levy said. They walked over to the front gate of the guild. In the shadows, there was a lone individual waiting for them near the door. They stopped.
"Oh no, what now?" Levy said. Cana let go of Flare to grab a card, momentarily forgetting that she was suspicious of Flare. For a second, they stood there. The silhouette stepped forward into the light, revealing himself.
"Mystogan!" Levy said. It was indeed Mystogan, his face covered by his mask.
"Hello Levy. And you are Lucy Heartfilia and Cana Alberona, though we've never formally met." He said, addressing each of them.
"Uh, hi." Lucy said. Mystogan looked at Flare, but said nothing. She tilted her head and stared back at him warily.
"Nice to meet you and all, but what are you doing coming out of the shadows at us? By the way, a bunch of those samurai guys just attacked us, so they may or may not show up soon." Cana said. Mystogan nodded.
"Yes, the Shadow Kings. I'm glad you're unharmed. I actually have some information about them. In fact, there are some important details that you're all going to want to hear, immediately."
"This is going to be a long night, isn't it?" said Lucy.
Endnotes: As stated previously, I like to do things in this story that you wouldn't see in canon. Which includes showing characters on an actual date with each other. I don't know if the explanations for Evergreen and Elfman's names is close to canon at all. Probably not. Its just something I came up with.
I referred to the restaurant as a "pasta restaurant" instead of an Italian restaurant, since the country of Italy doesn't exist in the fictional world of Fairy Tail. Which is the same reason I refer to Yoshimoto as being "from the east" instead of from Japan.
