Hot Mess Queens:
Laxus grumbled to himself the whole way back to the guild hall. He meant what he'd said, he'd deal with Mace and Phoenix Grave, but this was the last thing he needed. The Harvest Festival was coming up, which mean the Magnolia Parade was coming up, and the Ms. Fairy Tail Pageant (and Farrah was finally old enough to join, which meant of course she had, and he was NOT ready for it), and now Ms. Mini Fairy Tail (a venture Evergreen had been trying to twist his arm into since Lorelle was born, and she'd finally worn him down.)
As he marched along the sidewalk he reached into his pocket and pulled out his communication lacrima, dialing up Warrod.
"Why, hello young man, how can I help you?" Warrod asked.
"Yeah, how come a prison bird is sending threatening messages to one of my guild members?" Laxus asked.
"Um…" Warrod murmured.
"Mace Orlando, he got locked up about 3 years ago for domestic violence, money laundering, and sexual harassment," Laxus explained. "He's been sending abusive letters to one of our girls. So tell me what the deal is."
"Give me a moment," Warrod said. Laxus kicked at a pebble as he kept walking along. "Yes, here, says Mace has been allowed monthly job days based upon good behavior."
"Good behavior?" Laxus scoffed.
"Yes. Apparently he hasn't caused a lot of trouble in jail. Because of that he's allowed to take one job a month with any guild willing to work with him to help pay his fines."
"Lemme guess, Phoenix Grave," Laxus said.
"Yes," Warrod answered.
"And when is his next job?"
"According to these records he left to go to Phoenix Grave today."
"Perfect. Thanks old timer."
"Wait. What are you going to d-"
Laxus hung up, put his lacrima back in his pocket, and kept walking. As he drew near the Guild Hall he could hear a chorus of "AW!" Arching an eyebrow he pushed the door open.
The Dragneels were back. Lucy and Natsu had barely even made it in the door before they had been swarmed by aunts, uncles, and cousins eager to meet the newcomers. The older three children were still hanging about their parents, smiling at everyone fighting to get a glimpse at their new little sisters.
"Salamander," Gajeel said as he approached the fire wizard, arms crossed.
"What, metal-brain?" Natsu asked, eyebrow arched, a tiny baby girl with peach colored hair in his arms.
"You know you're gonna have to hand her over," Gajeel answered, holding his arms out.
"You drop her I'll kill you," Natsu said half-jokingly as he passed his new daughter over.
"I'm a dad too, ya know," Gajeel grumbled, before turning to the baby, face cracking into a smile. "Aw, little at this wittle missy. Aren't you a cutie! What's her name?"
"Kyri," Natsu answered, smiling.
"Well, hiya Miss Kyri!"
Kyri just let out a small coo, cocking her head to one side.
"I want to hold one! I want to hole one!" Juvia shouted as she all but plowed her way to Lucy's side, arms open for the black-headed baby she was carrying. "Gimmee!"
Lucy gigled. "Alright, here you go. Luna, meet your Aunt Juvia."
"Oh, she's so precious!" Juvia beamed as she held Luna to her shoulder. "Oh, makes me miss the days when mine were this small."
"Don't get any ideas, babe," Gray said in a warning voice as he walked to his wife's side, bending down to get a better look at Luna. "Aw," he crooned, running a hand over her head.
Somewhere in one of the crevices of the guild hall a fight broke out. Luna jumped at the noise, and then began to whimper.
"Oh, it's alright," Juvia said, patting her back, but she burst out crying.
"C'mere," Lucy sighed, taking Luna back. "Sorry, guys. She gets scared easy."
"Oh, it's okay," Juvia assured Lucy as Max and Vijeeter came tumbling by, wrestling with one another over…
...actually no one was sure what they were fighting over.
Luna's cries only turned to screams.
"Sh, she, sh," Lucy tried to comfort her.
"Yeah, I don't blame you honey," Gray said, patting Luna's back. "Those two can be a bit scary. In an odd...confusing...sometimes disturbing way…"
"Luna," Igneel called as he walked to his mother's side, tugging on Lucy's skirt. "What's wrong with Luna?"
"She's just nervous because she's not used to all the noise," Lucy explained.
"Hey, Luna, Luna, look," Igneel said, holding his hand up. "Celestial Dragon Star Shimmer."
A burst of yellow, sparkling lights appeared all around Lucy and Luna. Luna stopped crying and looked about. Cooing as she reached with her tiny hands towards the lights. Lucy smiled and knelt down to Igneel's level. He grinned as he held a shining, star-like ball of magic in his hands for his little sister to see.
"Layla!" Bianca called as she pushed through the crowd to greet her friend.
"Bianca!" Layla called, running to hug the older girl.
"Come see what's new!" Bianca said, taking Layla's hand and dragging her to one of the back walls of the Guild Hall. Nashi decided to follow along, curious as to what the big deal was.
"Ms. Mini Fairy Tail?" Layla asked when she saw the flyer.
"Yup. Now us kids have our own beauty pageant!" Bianca said.
"Cool!" Layla beamed. "Are you going to be in it?"
"Yup!" Bianca said with a nod of her head.
"Us, too!"
Layla turned and smiled at the sight behind her. "Eva! Minette!"
The two Fernandez girls beamed as they higged their friends. Minette's hair was tied up in a high, messy ponytail, while Eva's was parted down the middle and woven into two braids. "Good to have you back, Layla," Eva grinned.
"You gonna be in the beauty pageant too?" Minette asked.
"Sure," Layla nodded, before turning to Nashi who was still hanging about. "What about you, Nashi?"
"Nah," Nashi said. "Not really my thing."
"So what is your thing?" Eva asked.
Nashi shrugged. "I dunno."
"Hey, Nashi!" a loud voice called.
"Persephone, hi!" Nashi waved.
"You need to come quick!" Persephone called. "Koree and Cato are about to have a hot sauce drinking competition."
"Sweet!" Nashi cheered as she ran off after Persephone.
"Why is my big sister such a weirdo?" Layla grumbled.
"Hey, Portia, you gonna be in it?" Minette called as Portia approached Layla to give her friend a hug.
"Oh, I don't know," Portia said. "I don't really have anything to wear…"
"You can borrow some of my stuff," Bianca offered. "You and I are about the same size, aren't we?"
"Really?" Portia gasped. "But your clothes are so pretty! Are you sure it would be okay?"
"Sure," Bianca nodded.
"We're all gonna look like princesses!" Layla cheered.
"Even me?" Portia asked.
"Pfft! Win a beauty pageant with borrowed clothes?" a mocking voice called.
"Oh, great," Bianca grumbled. "And here comes the evil queen!"
Lorelle walked straight out of the wall, turning her body back to normal once she'd exited. "I was expecting that you ruffians would try to join, so in anticipation I decided to wait here for your arrival."
"Ruffians? Anticipation? Arrival? Careful Lorelle, it can be dangerous using your entire vocabulary in one sentence," Bianca scoffed.
"Heh-heh! Good one Bi!" Minette chuckled as she high-fived Bianca.
"Silence you!" Lorelle shouted pointing at both Bianca and Minette.
"Eh, no," Bianca replied as Minette stuck her tongue out at Lorelle.
"Minette, play nice!" Erza's voice rang out from across the guild hall.
"She can't even see me how does she do that!" Minette shouted.
"Haven't you learned?" Eva asked. "Mommy knows everything!"
Lorelle sighed as she pulled out a fan and began fluttering it in front of her. "It doesn't really matter, anyways, because none of you are going to win."
Lorelle snapped the fan and then began pointing at each of her foes, staring with Portia.
"You're so poor you can't even buy a dress. Who ever heard of a beauty queen winning in a borrowed dress!"
Portia awkwardly hugged herself as Lorelle then turned on Bianca. "You're nothing but a twig with two mops attached to the top for hair."
"As opposed to what? You? A piece of plywood in designer garbage with a hole in the knee?" Bianca asked.
Lorelle arched an eyebrow, then looked down to find that there was indeed a hole in her tights. She gasped, and slapped a hand over it to cover it up, but everyone had already seen and began snickering behind their hands.
"And you two!" Lorelle turned to Minette and Eva. "I mean, do I even need to say anything. You've both got giant birthmarks right on your faces!"
Lorelle narrowed her eyes at Minette. "I mean, at least your's is on your forehead. You can at least cover it up with your bangs, but you?" She pointed her fan in Eva's face.
"Your's is right on your cheek. No hiding that! How are you going to win with a red tweezer or knife on your face?"
"Y'know, that reminds me," Bianca began to muse. "I was thinking last night that maybe some tweezers could help you with that unibrow, Lorelle. But then I decided you'd need a knife to trim to forest."
"Are you sure your magic is angelic!?" Lorelle snapped as she whirled around to face Bianca. "Because you're acting more like a-a-a savage!"
"Thanks for noticing!" Bianca said in a cherry voice, with a too-sweet look on her face. "You're too kind!"
All the other girls began to snicker, except for Eva who ran a hand over the mark under her eye. Sensing that she'd hit a nerve, Lorelle burned and turned back to Eva.
"Even without that mark you'd still have no chance. I mean, look at your hair," She grabbed on of Eva's braids. "Braids are so last year! And your teeth are crooked!" She added grabbing Eva's chin and turning it towards her. "Not to mention all those ugly freckles on your nose! Plus, you haven't even found your magic yet, have you? Pretty embarrassing if you ask me! Even that shrimp of a little brother of yours is training to be a dragon slayer with Uncle Natsu, what have you got? Just an ugly face, huh?"
"That's enough, Lorelle!" Layla shouted, stepping between the two girls.
"Ugh! And don't even get me started on you!" Lorelle exclaimed, bopping Layla on the nose with her fan. "You've got freckles everywhere! Gross! And you're so tanned you look like leather! Not to mention that bird's nest you've got on your he-"
"Iiiggnnneeeeeelll KICK!"
Whack!
Before Lorelle even had time to activate her magic Igneel came flying seemingly out of nowhere and kicked her straight in the gut and onto her back. Lorelle bounced once before toppling onto her back. Igneel put his foot on her chest and leaned over into her face.
"HOW MANY TIMES I GOTTA TELL YOU NOT TO TALK LIKE THAT TO MY SISTERS!?"
"Igneel, stop it!" Layla said, pulling her brother off Lorelle.
"Ugh!" Lorelle grumbled as she stood up and stomped her foot. "Hmph! You're all nothing but a bunch of buffoons! Like I said, you won't win, because you're all just a bunch of hot messes! In Fact you're the queens of the hot mess!"
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Bianca said.
"Because it is!"
"Says who?"
"Me!"
"You and what army?"
"ERGH! You know what, go ahead, sign up for the pageant, make my day!" And with that she stormed off.
"Yeah, well be sure to bring extra make-up!" Bianca called. "Some for your face and some to eat."
"Eat?" Lorelle stopped and turned around to give Bianca an odd stare.
"Yeah, then maybe you'd at least look pretty on the inside. But I dunno. If the outside's anything to go off of there's no helping you."
"EEEEERRRGGGGHHHH!" Lorelle stamped her foot and then stormed off.
"So...what exactly happened?" Igneel asked.
"We are the hot mess queens and we are proud," Bianca answered.
"We are?" Portia arched an eyebrow.
"Yes, we are," Bianca nodded.
"So, is that, like, our team name?" Minette asked.
"Is it?" Bianca arched an eyebrow. "Sounds kinda silly."
"I mean, why not?" Layla asked. "Our older brothers and sisters are 'The Birthday Gang,' and that's a pretty silly name. Why not call ourselves the Hot Mess Queens?"
Bianca thought for a while. "Eh, why not," she finally shrugged.
"Well, count me out!" Igneel said, raising his hands. "I ain't being on a team with 'Queens' in the name! Only thing worse would be if it was 'Princess!'"
"Nobody asked you, Igneel!" Minette shouted after him, then turned back to the girls. "So, great! Now me, Eva, Bianca, Portia, and Layla are on a team, huh?"
"Yup," Bianca nodded, setting her hands behind her head. "The boys are on their own."
"Not unless we get them to be on a team with each other," Portia suggested.
"Igneel and Meeko on the same team?" Bianca arched an eyebrow. "Don't make me laugh!"
"Well, maybe Von can keep them in order," Minette suggested, before frowning and turning to Eva, who still had her head downcast. "Hey, Eva, where'd we leave Von?"
"Guys!" a small voice called from above the girls. They all looked up to find Von…
...on a chandelier.
"Why'd you leave me!?" Von questioned in a teary voice.
"Oh….right, we were using the chandeliers as a swing before we saw Layla," Minette said sheepishly.
"WHY THE HECK WERE YOU THREE DOING THAT!?" Bianca thundered.
"I dunno. Looked fun," Minette shrugged.
"Guys, help!" Von called again.
"Coming," Minette said as she raced off to help her brother, just as, from across the Guild Hall, came two voice crying out in pain.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"AUGH!" Cato shouted as he clutched at his neck. "Oh, it burns, it burns! The heat burns!"
"Well, yeah, that's what heat does," Persephone said plainly as she watched Cato and Koree roll about in the floor in agony, Nashi and Storm busting a gut as they watched on.
"Oh, the pain! The pain!" Koree cried as she pulled herself up and grabbed a bottle of hot sauce. "I'm still going to win, though."
"No you're...ack...no you're not," Cato said also taking up his bottle.
"Oh, man, you guys are nuts!" Storm laughed, shaking his head as Cato and Koree stared at each other, teeth gritted. They then, at the same time, took a swig from their bottles and then collapsed back onto the floor in utter misery.
"Oh pain! Oh agony-nee-hee-hee!" Koree cried.
"My stomach is no longer there," Cato lamented. "It is a pile of ash and soot burning inside my tummy."
"Ash and soot don't burn, dummy," Persephone scoffed as Nashi and Storm held their stomachs and laughed behind her. "That's what's left after the burning."
"Oh, shut up, Persephone!" Cato snapped, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Roman!" Koree screamed as she crawled to where Roman was seated in a chair in the corner next to the Birthday Gang's table, nose buried in a comic book. Koree pulled herself up on the chair legs, grabbed Roman's shoulder and began to shake him.
"Why did you let me do this, Roman!?" Koree shouted.
"I told you not to," Roman said nonchalantly, never taking his eyes off his reading, completely unfazed by the angry and pained dragon slayer violently shaking him.
"Promise to never let me do anything like this again!" Koree begged.
"I will make no such promise," Roman answered as he turned the page.
"Storm!" Koree said as she released him and began crawling to Storm.
"Nope!" Storm said. "I told you both that if you did this I wasn't going to use Cleanse on you."
"Storm, please!" Koree begged.
"Does this mean I win?" Cato wheezed.
"No!" Koree shuffled back to the table and picked up her bottle. Cato picked up his as well.
"Don't do it! Don't do it!" Storm warned.
"They're gonna do it," Nashi grinned.
"Don't do it!"
Cato and Koree both took a swig, then collapsed back in the floor in a coughing a sputtering mess.
"You idiots!" Storm guffawed.
"Oh, look at 'em!" Nashi laughed. "They're dying! You wimps!"
"Oh yeah, let's see you try it!" Koree shouted.
"Fine," Nashi shrugged, grabbing a bottle and chugging it down. "Done."
"Wha-HOW COME IT DOESN'T BURN YOU!?" Koree screamed.
"Seriously?" Roman asked, finally looking up from his comic. All of the Birthday Gang members stared at Koree, wearing a 'you've got to be kidding' look on their face. Koree just stared back in confusion for about ten seconds, then she gasped.
"Oh, right! Fire wizard..."
"So not fair!" Cato lamented.
"I think you need to stop. All that spice is going to your brain, sis," Persephone said.
"No, I'm winning this!" Koree insisted, taking her bottle back from Nashi.
Cato groaned, but grabbed his bottle as well.
Storm chuckled. "Look at Roman! He's so done!"
Everyone turned to glance at the purple headed boy who just shook his head and clicked his tongue as he went back to reading. "Tsk. Tsk."
"Roman is not amused," Persephone concluded.
"No, he is not," Roman confirmed without looking up from his comic, that was, until Erza approached him.
"Roman?" she asked.
Roman put his comic away and stood up. "Yes, Mommy?"
"Laxus has called me, Natsu, Gray, and Mirajane to assist him in some...negotiations with another guild," Erza explained. "I know there's plenty of adults around but try to keep an eye on your siblings. You know how...rambunctious they can be."
"Yes, ma'am," Roman nodded.
"Hey, Aunt Erza, think you can hold your hot sauce better than these two?" Nashi asked, pointing to Cato and Koree laid in sobbing and pained heaps in the floor. Erza arched an eyebrow at the sight.
"I have several questions…"
"You don't want the answers," Roman sighed.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Minette looked over her shoulder to make sure no one would see her sneaking up to the second floor. She'd just taken the first step when she heard a voice calling:
"Minette."
"Ack! Oh, hi big bro!" Minette waved a little too eagerly at Roman. Roman's eyes narrowed as he approached her.
"Mommy's going to help Uncle Laxus, Uncle Natsu, Uncle Gray, and Aunt Mirajane with something so she asked me to make sure you three stayed out of trouble. Where are Evan and Von?" Roman asked, arms crossed. He knew that look on Minette's face, she was up to something.
"Eva's at the sign-ups for the beauty pageant. And Von's...um...Von's in the bathroom!"
Roman arched an eyebrow. "Well, alright, don't try anything funny, okay?" he said as he went off to check out Minette's story. He first went to the sing-ups.
There was no Eva to be seen.
"Oh, perfect," Roman rolled his eyes as he went to check in the bathrooms. No Von. "Double perfect!"
Roman grumbled to himself as he stepped back into the hall. Now he was going to have to track down those two little trouble makers and clean up the mess they'd-
He stopped as he passed by outside the girl's bathroom, a noise peaking his interest. Someone was crying in there. Of course Roman couldn't go in there, but he still knocked on the door.
"Everything okay in there?" he asked.
Another sniffle came out of the bathroom.
Roman's brow furrowed, that crying sounded familiar but he couldn't quite place it. He knocked again. "Hey, everything okay in there?"
Another sob came from inside. Roman gasped, now he knew where he'd heard that crying from before. He knocked even harder. "Eva, is that you?"
There was a slight pause. And then the door opened and Eva walked out, wiping her nose on her hand, her braids now gone, leaving her hair a frizzy mess.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Roman asked, being down to her level. "What did you do to your hair?"
Eva covered her face and burst into tears. "I know, I just made it worse!"
"It's okay," Roman said quickly, patting her head trying to comfort her. "We can fix it."
"No we can't!" Eva lamented. "My hair's ugly and there's nothing that can fix it!"
Roman's brow furrowed. "No it's not. Who told you your hair is ugly?"
"Lorelle!" Eva cried. "And she said my teeth's are crooked! And that I got too many freckles! And that my birthmark looks like a knife tweezer used to cut down jungles-"
"Those aren't a thing, Eva," Roman stated plainly, though on the inside he was boiling. He never really liked Lorelle. She was a bully, plain and simple. This, however, was going way too far! How dare she say such things to his little sister and make her feel like this?
Eva glanced up for only a minute, then burst into tears again. "See?" she choked, pointing to a decorative mirror mounted on the wall behind Roman. "I can't even look at myself in the mirror without crying because I'm so ugly!"
Roman didn't mean to, but he couldn't help and chuckle a bit. "What? That's ridiculous! This morning Mommy had to drag you out of the mirror because you kept going…" Roman stood, walked in front of the mirror and struck a rather feminine pose, causing Eva to do a double take. That certainly was out of character for her usually serious older brother.
"Oh, I'm so cute! I'm the cutest ever! Look at me!" Roman said in a mockingly feminine voice.
"Hey, I don't sound like that!" Eva protested, crossing her arms.
"Yes, you do," Roman answered, walking back to her and patting her on the head.
"No I don't, you make me sound silly."
"You are silly."
"No I'm not!"
"You were silly enough to listen to listen to Lorelle."
"Oh, right. Well, she's kinda right…"
"No she's not," Roman bent down to Eva's level.
"But my hair-"
"Is just like Daddy's, or Aunt Wendy's, or Aunt Levy's. Their hair isn't ugly, is it?"
Eva hung her head. "No."
"And so what if you have a little gap in your teeth? Uncle Natsu, Gajeel, Laxus, and Aunt Wendy have pointed teeth, but they're not ugly, right?"
"Right…" Eva nodded.
"And Nashi and Layla have more freckles than you, but they're not ugly, are they?"
"No…" Eva wrapped her arms around herself.
"And your birthmark is just like Daddy's, only split between you and Minette. He's not ugly, is he?"
"No."
"See? You're not ugly. Lorelle just said that because she's scared if you join the pageant you'll beat her."
Eva sniffled as she wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Really?"
"Really," Roman said, taking her hand. "Now c'mon, and let's fix your hair."
Eva smiled a bit, but something else was bothering her.
"Roman?"
"Yes?"
"Why can't I use magic?"
"You can," Roman answered. "You have before."
"Just a little, though, and I'm not good." Eva said, awkwardly rubbing at her arm. "I haven't found a magic that works for me. And most the time I do use magic it's on accident when I'm playing pretend. I can never figure out what makes it work for me, I just-"
"But you will," Roman assured her, setting a hand on her shoulder. "You're just a late bloomer."
"I guess so…"
"Hey. Cato and Persephone were late bloomers, too," Roman said. "And now they're two of the strongest members on our team."
"Really?"
"Really, now come on-
As they talked they heard a loud CRASH!
Roman let go of Eva and ran ahead of her. "Guys!"
Eva followed after him and looked up, gasping at the sight before her. Somehow Minette and Von had managed to disconnect the chandelier they were hanging on from the chain connecting it to the ceiling, sending it crashing to the ground where it shattered into pieces. Minette and Von, however, were still clinging to the chain, feet above the ground.
"Hold on!" Someone called.
"We'll get you down!"
"Why is it always the Fernandez triplets?"
Eva watched on in horror as Von's hands began to slip. He fell and Minette had to let go with one hand to catch him.
"Guys!" she screamed. "Oh, this is bad! We need something that can fly to save them!" she exclaimed while waving her hands about. "Like an exceed, or a dragon, or a-"
Click! Click!
Eva gasped at the noise. The pieces of the chandelier began to move. She took a step back. Did she do that?
Roman gasped, an idea suddenly coming to mind.
"Eva, you said your magic only works when you play pretend, right?" Roman asked.
"Mm-hmm," Eva nodded.
"Well, play pretend that there's a dragon here to save Minette and Von."
"Wh-why…"
"Just do it!"
"Okay!" Eva closed her eyes. There was a dragon. A cute dragon! And it had big wings, and it was flying to save Minette and Von from-
"Eva, look!" Roman called.
Eva opened her eyes and gasped. All the pieces of the chandelier had come back together to create a makeshift dragon! The dragon spread its wings and flew up to where Minette and Von were hanging. The two scrambled onto it's back and it flew back to the ground, letting them off before falling apart into a broken chandelier again.
The hall went quiet. Everyone just stared at the shattered chandelier.
"Did...did I do that…?" Eva asked.
"Pfft!" an annoying voice came from behind Eva.
Eva turned to find Lorelle standing behind her.
"How lame! Finally get your magic and all you can do is play dollies with broken stuff. And I though Portia was the poor one! You get to play with trash all d-"
"Shut up!"
SMACK!
Eva gasped and jumped back as Layla slapped Lorelle across the ear.
"Layla!" Lucy gapsed from across the hall. She'd expect this behavior from Nashi or Igneel, but Layla was usually the gentle one of the bunch.
Lorelle yelped as she clutched her throbbing ear. She turned and faced Layla who was practically shaking with anger.
"You've already made her cry once today! Why you gotta be so mean? She didn't even do anything to you! But you make fun of her for not having magic and then when she finally gets it you make fun of her again!?"
"YOU HIT ME!" Lorelle screamed.
"YOU MADE MY FRIEND CRY!" Layla shouted back.
"You want to go?" Lorelle asked.
"Sure, let's fight," Layla said, pulling out her keys.
Lucy gasped again. This wasn't like Layla at all! Lorelle must have really been acting out to piss her off this bad!
"Lay-la! Lay-la! Lay-la!" Igneel cheered as he scrambled to the front of the crowd to watch.
Lorelle grinned evilly as she tried to change her body's density to slip through the floor…
...but nothing happened.
She frowned, and tried again, but still nothing.
She began to tremble, squeezing her eyes closed in concentration. Tears began pouring out from her eyes.
"Lorelle?" Layla asked.
"It's gone!" Lorelle screamed. "My magic is gone!" She frowned and pointed a finger at Layla. "YOU TOOK MY MAGIC AWAY!"
Layla gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. "I'm...I'm sorry I didn't mean to…"
Lorelle fell to her knees, sobbing. "My magic's gone! It's gone!"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Porlyusica pursed her lips together as she examined Lorelle. Evergreen and Elfman both watched on in worry as the old healer worked. Layla sniffled and trembled in her mother's arms as Lucy tried to comfort her. The rest of "the usual suspects" that hadn't gone with Laxus were gathered just behind her, including Eva.
"You'll be fine," Porlyusica finally said. "Your magic will come back in a few hours, don't worry."
"Well, that's good news, but I'd still like to know what this brat did to my baby girl!" Evergreen insisted.
"Layla a brat? Lorelle was the one making everyone cry!" Lucy snapped.
"It's not our fault Erza coddles her children to the point of over-sensitivity," Evergreen countered.
"Excuse me!?" Lucy thundered.
"Shut it!" Porlyusica whacked both mothers on the back of the head with her cane, then beckoned for Layla. "You, c'mere."
Lucy set Layla down, who then shuffled towards Porlyusica, how set six cups out in front of her.
"There's a magic talisman in one of these cups. Point to the one with the talisman," she ordered.
Layla stared at the cups for a minute, then pointed to the second to the farthest from the left. Porlyusica tipped the cup over and a necklace with a glowing blue charm toppled out.
"Good, now close your eyes."
Layla did so.
"No peeking!" Porlyusica said as she replaced the talisman and mixed the cups up.
"Now point it out again."
Layla thought for a moment, then pointed to one of the cups in the middle. Porlyusica tipped it over and the necklace toppled out.
"Alright, close them again."
Layla did so.
"Now point again."
Layla furrowed her brow as she thought, but said nothing for a long while.
"Well?" Porlyusica asked.
Layla looked up at the older woman shyly. "Is...um...is it in your hand?"
Porlyusica gave a soft smile and opened up her left hand, the necklace sitting in her palm.
"Just as I thought," Porlyusica said as she pocketed the charm and put the books away and turned to Lucy. "Your daughter has a heightened sensitivity to magic energy. Not surprising seeing as she's a Celestial Wizard. You need to be more sensitive to energies in order to find keys and sense when a spirit is injured or running low in a fight. Still, hers appears to be higher than even the average Celestial Wizard."
"What's that have to do with what happened to my munchkin?" Evergreen asked, holding a sniffling Lorelle in her arms.
Porlyusica sighed and shot Evergreen a glare. "I was getting there. As you all know, in order to use magic we have to have magic energy running through our bodies. If something or someone is able to disrupt this flow, then our magic will be blocked for a certain amount of time. It seems when Layla struck Lorelle she hit her right along the path her magic energy takes to travel throughout her body, thereby disrupting and blocking it."
"But I didn't mean to!" Layla cried.
"Really?" Porlyusica arched an eyebrow.
Layla sniffled and shrunk away, clinging to Lucy's leg for comfort. "I mean, she hurt Eva's feelings, and was trying to hurt them again so I...I did kinda want to make her hurt and I...had a feeling hitting her where I did would really hurt. I didn't think it would block her magic though! I'm sorry!"
"Eh, she was asking for it," Porlyusica shrugged.
"How dare you!" Evergreen thundered.
Porlyusica ignored her. "You thought hitting her there would hurt her because you sense that it was a major pathway for her magic energy flow. Obviously you didn't realize it at the time, but that's what happened. As for you…"
Porlyusica turned to Eva.
"It would seem you have Gollum Magic."
"What's that?" Eva asked.
"It means you are able to assemble inanimate objects around you into the creatures, or 'gollums' that will then obey your every whim. Like how you made a dragon gollum out of a broken chandelier to save your siblings."
Eva looked down at her hands. "Really?"
"Yeah. Don't go crazy. Now that my work here is done, if you excuse me, I'll be leaving."
And with that Porlyusica pushed her way into the hall and left.
Bianca pushed her way to the front to stand next to Eva. "See, you got your magic. I knew you would eventually."
Eva smiled. "Yeah, I guess so."
"You're still a bunch of hot messes!" Lorelle thundered from Evergreen's lap.
"Yup, and proud of it!" Bianca shouted back.
Eva's smile widened as Minette, Portia, and Layla joined her and Bianca. "We're the Hot Mess Queens!"