Having listened to Levy, Jett and Droy fill me in on all the missing details, as well as Gray chipping in every now and then so that I got the full story, I folded my arms and pondered for a moment. "So Laxus was trying to take over from the master. Hm. What a moron. He should have known that to take the guild by force was impossible, I can't believe how much I missed. We've even rebuilt the guildhall, this is crazy!" Gripping my head I wailed. "I feel like my head's going to explode!"
"Well, you were gone for a long time." Levy smiled in understanding. "How did the job go?" Bashfully I blushed and rubbed the back of my head, squirming slightly in guilt.
"Actually…I totally failed that quest. Four months and it was all for nothing, I just couldn't do it." The people surrounding me all exclaimed and face planted something, groaning my name in exasperated unison. I really was a low level wizard, I'm not very good at doing anything when I'm on my own. "But hey, you said we've got a few new members. I already met Gajeel, so who's Juvia and which one is Lucy?" Hearing their names, both women lifted their heads respectively and I quickly zeroed in on them. Juvia was a very beautiful looking person with bright blue hair and dark oceanic eyes, blinking at me as I tackled her with a hug. "Welcome to the guild! It's so good to have you here, let's be friends from now on, okay?" Grinning, I grabbed Lucy by her arm and dragged her into my rather bone crushing hug as well. "And you must be Lucy, I heard your little pep-talk earlier through Warren, you sure do have the Fairy Tail spirit, welcome!"
"W-Who are you?! Stop hugging me so tight, I can't breathe!" Lucy wailed as Juvia just looked perplexed and a little unsure of how to respond as I nuzzled the both of them with my cheeks.
"Aw, you're both so darn cute! I can't wait to work together with you both and get to know you better. It's going to be one heck of an adventure!" Holding them both, I blinked and looked down to their rather voluptuous chests, staring before all at once I wailed in despair. "No fair! How come you both have such curvy figures? Why can't I be busty like that? I'm so jealous, you're both so beautiful…" Lucy seemed rather pleased at the compliment whilst Juvia looked a little embarrassed, so I hugged them chokingly once more against my painfully flat chest.
"Now, now Zera, don't get carried away. If you scare them off now then Fairy Tail will lose two very promising wizards." Erza told me with a warm amusement in her tone, placing her hand on my shoulder so I let go of both Juvia and Lucy so that they could suck in a deep breath and slump slightly, recovering from my rather forward display of affection. I grinned, stepping back to my sister's side and placed my arm around her waist.
"Sorry, but you know I can't help it. I love hugging people." Blinking, Lucy looked at the two of us with her eyes flickering back and forth before her jaw dropped.
"Huh?! Erza, there's two of you!" Both of us laughed and Erza placed her hand around my head so that we leaned against one another with affection and sisterly love.
"But of course. Lucy, Juvia, allow me to introduce my younger twin sister, Zera Scarlet. Please forgive her lack of consideration for personal space, but she loves things that are cute and hugs practically everyone. It's just her way of showing affection and properly welcoming someone to the guild." Erza explained as I stretched out my hand towards them.
"That's right, Erza is my big sis. Glad to meet you both."
"Oh my, there is such a striking resemblance. It is quite remarkable." Juvia said, touching a hand to her lower lip. "It is also a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Zera. As I am still new here, I'll be in your care." Juvia bowed herself politely and instantly I gasped, heart fluttering and before I knew it, I'd flung my arms around her and brought her head crashing into my chest.
"So adorable!" I fussed over the two of them for a while, unable to help myself until Gray told me to knock it off, so of course I leaped on him. "Gray! It's been so long I missed you, but you still need to work on keeping your clothes on. At least wear a shirt or something!" Laughing, I hugged him from behind and squeezed so tightly I almost completely lifted him off the ground as he protested and tried to push me off him but without success. Behind me I felt a rather ominous aura whilst Lucy squeaked in fear.
"Uh oh, Juvia's mad!"
"Love rival!" Hm? Love rival?
"Will you let go of the stripper already Zee? Jeez, you just can't keep your hands off people can you?" Cana grinned at me, already exceedingly intoxicated and currently nursing a large flagon of ale. "Been a long time, am I right?"
"Cana!" Squealing I launched myself at her next, the two of us laughing as I hugged and nuzzled my cheek against hers, beaming happily. "I missed you Cana, how are you feeling? Dummy, you're covered in injuries, you shouldn't be drinking right now!" Scolding her for drinking too much I tried to wrestle the flagon from her hands but she was far too protective over her alcohol. Jeez, I can't believe Cana turned into such an alcoholic, I worry about her sometimes. "Excessive drinking is not good for your health, Cana, you need to moderate yourself! Besides, I can't keep on covering your tab every time you end up drinking more than you can spend. You're costing me a fortune you dumbass!"
"Who're you calling dumbass, dumbass?" I grinned, butting heads with Cana before we both grinned at one another. As my best friend, I didn't mind helping Cana out from time to time as she'd always had my back, but even though I knew the reason why she drank so much, it was still a major concern of mine. "I'll buy you a chocolate cake from your favourite bakery if you let it alone." Instantly I was sparkling all over.
"Cake?" My mouth watered. I hadn't had a decent slice of cake in so long, it was almost like I'd forgotten the taste altogether. "You're the best, Cana."
"You bet I am, Zee." Cana was the only person who called me Zee, and I had to say, I rather liked it. It was personal and unique to us. Sitting down behind her crossed legged on the table, I fiddled and played with her hair for a while as she knocked back her drink. Maybe I should start enchanting water to taste like alcohol, see if that helps her somehow. Only thing is, I'd have to work out how I'd make that happen. Shouldn't be too difficult, though I should experiment a little first to make sure I get it right.
Erza made the announcement that the master was going to make a full recovery thanks to Porlyusica, so I exhaled with relief. That's good, I'd been worried when I heard that the master had suffered a serious strain to his heart. He was a tough old nut, but perhaps not as tough as he used to be. When I sensed the presence of static increase in the air, my head naturally turned towards the door where Laxus's shadow crossed the entrance, followed by his broad shouldered frame.
"Laxus?"
"Where's the old man?" He demanded to know, already patched up and moving about like it was nothing. Everybody responded with hostility, refusing to let Laxus through and started to rant and rage at him with unforgiving glares. My face fell slightly, saddened that this was how things were, however my big sis quickly brought everyone under control with a swift order before telling Laxus that the master was in the infirmary. Good, just like my big sis to be level headed despite her own feelings.
Laxus moved past us all, not looking anyone in the eye however Natsu gave a yell of protest, jumping to stand in Laxus's way, though since his mouth was completely covered in bandages on account of his jaw having been broken, none of us could understand a word he was saying. "Jeez, what a dork." Cana muttered, rolling her eyes. "I swear that boy just gets dumber by the day."
"Well…Natsu is Natsu. He's always been rather…special." I agreed despairingly. Laxus didn't even respond to Natsu's threats, as I assumed they were, however he did lift his hand to wave as he walked towards the infirmary. I couldn't help but be worried, continually glancing towards where I had seen Laxus disappear so once everyone was distracted with getting ready for the parade, I slipped through and walked towards the infirmary.
The doors opened and Laxus stepped through once more, making the both of us stop as our eyes met. "Hey." I could see that Laxus was struggling to hold himself together, finally showing a little bit of what he was feeling. He was finally feeling the guilt and regret as well as near inconsolable sadness. He looked…so lonely. However, as I lifted up my hand to reach out to him, Laxus looked away and moved forwards once more. To my surprise, however, a gentle hand rested itself upon my shoulder, causing the heat from his skin to spread a pleasant warmth there. "Take care of the old man for me." I straightened, turning around quickly as he moved past and his hand vanished once more, the touch altogether far to brief but the gesture was understood.
"I will! You can count on me, Laxus." He didn't stop, but I like to think that he was smiling then. Laxus had always been reserved, keeping his thoughts and feelings to himself, so it was difficult to understand him sometimes, but I still always thought of him as a kind soul. Turning around, I hurried into the infirmary where the master was bawling his eyes out, wailing rather comically with tears and snot. "Master, it's alright. There, there, it's all going to work out just fine." Consoling him softly I knelt down and hugged him as carefully as I could, smiling to try and offer him comfort. "You still have us, and Fairy Tail is still standing."
"That dumb brat of mine, I swear I'm going to live forever just to spite him!" Master yelled and I giggled, placing my hand upon his shoulder and brought out a handkerchief for him to blow his nose. The wet and rather snotty sound was a little gruesome, so when he tried to return it I hastily insisted that he kept it for himself. "You're a good girl Zera, and you're right. Fairy Tail still stands, and that's all that counts. You all did very well today, my children. I am very proud of you all." Glowing with pride, I insisted that Makarov got back into bed to rest a little more. I stayed by his side until he was asleep, not wanting to leave him on his own in case he too became lonely.
The parade had been postponed until tomorrow, so hopefully enough of us will have recovered to give the townsfolk a good show. Thankfully the battle of Fairy Tail hadn't caused too much of a disturbance, and for the most part the people just assumed it was us wizards creating a spectacle for everyone with fireworks and the like. It was a miracle there hadn't been mass panic, as with all the visitors and newcomers here for the festival, things would have become rather ugly. Since the master was asleep, I pulled the covers closer to his neck to keep him warm then left him in peace for a while, heading back out to the guildhall where everyone was still nursing wounds and making amends for their fights with one another.
"Is everybody alright now? Is there anything I can do?" I asked aloud, looking around for a means to make myself helpful.
"You could have showed up a little earlier today, that would have been useful." One of my fellow guild members answered wryly, giving me a slight glare as he sat with a group of wizards who I knew of vaguely but not well enough to be on friendly terms. "Where were you when everybody was fighting? You just turned up after and didn't even help out."
"Yeah, no wonder you're one of the worst wizards in the guild. You're nothing like your sister at all. It's kind of embarrassing." They told me and I froze slightly, feeling a cold sharpness penetrate my heart as I bowed my head in shame.
"You're right, I'm sorry. I came back as fast as I could, but I didn't know that anything was happening."
"That's right! You've been away so long, you've missed everything! We even had to defend the guild against Phantom Lord, where were you then?" They pestered me accusingly. I understand their frustration, a lot had happened and they were angry, but without a focus for them to vent their anger on, they chose to settle it upon me. I didn't mind, if it made them feel a little better then they can be as angry as they want, it's not like what they were saying wasn't true. "Where were you when our guild got destroyed? It wouldn't have been so bad if you were on a difficult quest, but then one you were on was easy and you didn't even manage to succeed in that, all you had to do was hunt down a few bandits. You're the worst."
"Totally, compared to Erza, you're such a weakling." I flinched at that. Sure, I knew that I wasn't the greatest wizard, but that's not entirely my fault. My magic was a type of supporting magic. I was meant to fight at a distance and use stealth against my opponents, and my enchantments weren't advanced enough yet to be of any use other than to support others. Working alone for me was hard enough, but still I kept on trying as a means to try and get stronger.
"I'm sorry, I'll do better." I bowed my head lower, apologising to them properly, however when someone growled I straightened up in surprise.
"That's no way to talk to one of your own, butt out." Gajeel said, arms folded as he glared menacingly. Even covered in bandages, Gajeel looked rather scary, so the other wizards immediately squeaked and shied away from him. "Besides, you guys all got yourselves knocked out during the battle, so you weren't any help at all. I don't know much about this chick, but I doubt any of you have the guts to drop kick Laxus the way she did. Think you wanna take her on head to head?" Gajeel gave a grin, towering over them as he exuberated a rather menacing aura. "I'd like to see that. I bet she'd pulverise your asses."
"We're sorry! We won't be so rude ever again!" They all yelled before dashing away from the guild entirely, escaping from Gajeel as I blinked at him. Wow, I hadn't expected that. I'd heard from Jett and Droy that Gajeel was supposed to be this iron nosed asshole of a guy, but he didn't seem all that bad to me. Levy had admitted that although she found him intimidating, Gajeel wasn't as bad as everyone had made out. She'd told me how he had protected her from one of Laxus's lightning bolts, and that he was slowly beginning to change.
"You good?"
"Oh, yes…thank you Gajeel." Relaxing into a smile, I couldn't help but brighten slightly. "Levy was right, you're actually a nice guy deep down."
"Don't be stupid! I'm not a nice guy, I just don't like assholes and…!" Darting forwards, I latched my arms around him in a hug, causing several people around us to gasp and drop everything they were holding as I gave a soft giggle.
"Can't fool me, metal head, so don't try. You're a big softie really, I can tell." Giving a final grin, I let go of Gajeel and turned away with a flick of my hand as my cloak fluttered, swishing aside to reveal my Fairy Tail crest upon my back. "I look forward to getting to know you better Gajeel, welcome to Fairy Tail's family." Gajeel stuttered, completely frozen in place and still processing the fact that I had dared to hug him not only in public, but at all. Guess the guy isn't used to affection, he's going to have one hell of a shock with me in that case. If there's one thing that can be said about me, it's that I'll hug pretty much anything and everything, especially when it's something cute!