As a well-known S-class wizard of Lamia Scale, job requests specifically asking for Lyon's assistance was not unusual. The nature of them sometimes varied; they were either extremely difficult and dangerous—possibly life-threatening if taken by a wizard of lesser power— or they were unusual. And weird. Not that he minded, they usually provided him with generous rewards which otherwise sustained his daily needs and wants, if not excessively. Although, most of his excess money were spent on the clothing department lately...
He blamed Gray for this.
For the past years he had trained himself to lose clothing only when necessary. Such as when battling. Wherein he needed to channel the cold better with his exposed body, as taught by their Master Ur.
However, that did not seem to be the case as of late. One time, when he was walking by the streets, he found himself unknowingly unbuttoning his top, only stopping midway when he heard Toby's voice asking what he was doing.
"I was simply practicing my skills in buttoning and unbuttoning my shirt," Lyon replied as he enveloped his best poker face, hopefully masking the embarrassment of being caught stripping. Almost.
"Out in the streets?"
"Yes," he replied, glaring icily at him, "Is there a problem?"
Toby squeaked like a scared puppy and shook his head nervously. Thankfully he dropped the whole issue.
That asshole Gray, bringing back unwanted habits. Lyon felt he should avoid him like he was some sort of infectious disease. That's how people should treat him to be honest, with that ugly face of his. Lyon snorted.
But of course, rewards were not always monetary. Sometimes they were items of great value...or things that piqued his interest a lot.
Such as the one written on his request form.
Please search and hand over to me the best ice creams in Magnolia. In return, I shall give you a memento of the Great Ice Wizard, Ur.
Never mind the oddness of the request, because Lyon greatly questioned its authenticity. Now who on Earthland would have something from Ur? A friend, perhaps?
Lyon shook his head.
While he was not aware of the specifics, he knew that Ur pretty much lived her life as a hermit before she took them in with her. He never heard of her husband either, and Lyon assumed he was either dead or went to a faraway land and never returned. Besides, he was pretty sure the reason why she chose to be in solitude was that she did not have any family left. Maybe it was a friend, no matter how much of a loner his master was...
Wait.
Ur did have some family left. Granted, this hunched person was a wanted criminal, but she is alive and well, right?
Lyon further scrunched his eyebrows, burying a hand under his chin in deep contemplation.
Nothing was making any sense.
Because why would she, Ur's only daughter, give out a memento of her own mother to the latter's student? Did something happen...?
Just when he thought that things could not get any more complicated, he suddenly noticed that there was another confusing thing to the equation. Shouldn't Ultear be with Meredy and Jellal and the other former criminals in that shelter in the woods? Now that he think about it, he never recalled an instance wherein Meredy mentioned something about his master's daughter recently. Or maybe it was just a coincidence that there was nothing to share about Ultear at the moment?
One thing left to do to find out.
After packing up some necessary items—money, the request form, and extra clothes, just in case, he ventured to Magnolia for his job request, but before going over the markets and ice cream parlors, he opted to visit the Fairy Tail guild house to talk to Gray regarding the questions that lingered in his mind earlier. However, his idiot brother was nowhere to be seen. Apparently he also received the same request and was similarly embarking on the quest for the best ice sweets in town.
So much for answered questions. Guess it's time to start his journey too. But where to begin?
He surveyed the streets outside the guild house, and spotted a particularly pink shop decorated bright pictures of cupcakes and flowers and jackpot, ICE CREAM.
"Stop number one, here we go," Lyon said to himself, producing an ice box with a trolley as a container for his goods. As he approached the shop, he noticed a tall figure with a blond mohawk sitting on one of the chairs in front of the establishment, with some paper bags full of groceries around him. That particularly long nose, he wouldn't forget it easily of course, not when he shared an almost death-defying stunt with him years ago. It was just a stunt that involved a dangerous lacrima time-bomb and jumping off cliffs, after all. Nothing big, nope.
Seeing him turning his head towards Lyon, the ice mage knew his presence was not ignored. He was still wearing his sunglasses, yet Lyon was sure he was looking at him. The scowl on his face was the sign.
"Fancy seeing you here again, of all places," Lyon decided to greet him, thinking there was no point in feigning that they did not know of each other's existence at present, not when their eyes clashed.
"Not really expecting you to be at this place, either, to be honest," Racer replied, shrugging, still with the unamused look on his face. He raised one of his weirdly-shaped eyebrows and gazed at the ice trolley behind him, which was not unnoticed by the ice wizard.
"It's for a job request," Lyon answered, to which the other shrugged again. "I heard from," Lyon paused, unsure how to regard Meredy exactly, "an acquaintance that you live among the woods now. I do hope your living arrangements as of the moment are suitable for your needs."
"It is. A bit stuffy sometimes but it's enough for all seven of us."
Hmm. Seven? Minus him, Meredy, Jellal, and Richard, there are three more... Was Ultear among them?
Lyon lowered his head, pondering.
How many were the members of Oracion Seis again?
Before he was able to process it, he saw that Racer was giving him a weird look. Lyon coughed.
"I see. Good to hear, then."
He debated whether to ask him of his other companions just so he could have a peace of mind, but the sour look on the ex-criminal was already an indication that he didn't want the conversation to press further. Looks like someone is still bitter about his defeat 8 years ago. Lyon sniggered, in his mind only of course, because he still had lots of questions on his mind and this guy may be a way for them to be answered. For that, any wrinkles in the past should be straightened.
"Look, I know our first interaction was not exactly friendly, but I see no point in being hostile towards each other now that we are both considered legal citizens of this continent."
The frown seemed to lessen from Racer's face, but it was still there. Lyon sighed, trying again.
"I'll be honest, I do find you a formidable opponent, Racer. I would not mind if we were to fight once more, in friendlier terms, of course."
The ice wizard reached out his hand, and Racer only stared at it. Come on, take it, Lyon thought, fighting the urge to tap his foot impatiently.
And finally, he did, much to Lyon's relief.
"Fine," Racer said, the corners on his mouth turning upwards. "You do have a point. Jellal did say we should make amends with whoever we wronged in the past. You can just call me Sawyer, by the way."
"Alright, Sawyer," he replied, as he brought his hand to back to his side after the handshake. "I don't think we've had proper introductions in the past. I am-"
Without warning the door of the ice cream parlor opened with a loud SMACK, hitting Lyon hard on the face before he could utter his name. The jiggling of the bell hanging over the door and a female voice frantically flooding his eardrums with apologies were the only sounds registering on his dizzy head. Whoever it was was going to pay-
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"
His eyes met with the face of a beautiful angel, and he knew he must have been hallucinating. She helped pulling him up to his feet and dusted the dirt from his clothes. His head became clearer, and he learned that indeed, she was not a real ethereal being from the heavens.
"Helloooo? Is anyone there?" she snapped her fingers in front of him, totally sending him back to reality. Definitely not an angel. A little she-demon was more appropriate, perhaps.
"I am quite fine, Meredy," Lyon gritted his teeth, trying to mask his annoyance. He rubbed the sore part of his cheek, which she noticed because immediately she slid her hand in between his own and his face, delicately turning his head. Suddenly, whatever anger he felt melted away and was replaced by a warmer, tender sensation, making his cheeks even redder.
"You sure you're okay, man?" Sawyer said, towering behind Meredy who then grabbed a can of half-pint ice cream-wherever it came from. She carefully dapped it on his cheek, and for a moment, he forgot the question Racer raised to him as he observed the genuine worry from the girl in front of him. It lasted for a few seconds before Lyon briskly pushed away the chilly can, recovering from the dumb face he realized he was displaying to both of them.
"I can create my own ice bag, thank you," Lyon mentioned to Meredy, as he covered his own palm with a sheet of ice to relieve his bruise. "Besides, this is nothing serious."
Meredy only pouted, which he somehow found adorable. Lyon turned to her guild mate.
"And yes, I am still quite fine, Sawyer, thank you."
"Oh, I see you guys have already met!" She blurted out, jumping once, okay, twice with glee. Somehow, Lyon also found this quite adorable.
"Actually, we met each other years back," Sawyer pointed out, to which Lyon nodded.
"Oh."
"As enemies."
Lyon nodded again.
"I see!" Meredy also nodded with understanding. "Well, I think that's great though. In my experience, my enemies in the past became my friends at present!"
"Such optimism coming from you," Lyon said, chuckling.
After sharing a momentary laugh with him, she gasped dramatically, and then clasped her two hands in front of her face. "I'm truly sorry for what happened earlier, Lyon!"
"Wait a minute. His name is 'Lyon?'" Sawyer suddenly interjected with disbelief. Surprised with the change of his tone, Lyon gazed at him, only to find out that he was once again sporting his signature scowl. "So you're the guy who wants to get on Meredy's pants?"
"That's a rather...interesting terminology," Lyon muttered, not really knowing what to say, "However, I do believe there is a big misunderstanding here."
"Don't believe everything that Jellal says!" She was pouting again. He wanted to pinch her cheeks, though he felt like she's the type to pinch back...And considering his very tender cheeks, it would be an unwise decision. "Lyon's just my friend!"
Her friend. Interesting. She considers him as a friend. Perhaps, she is one of the fairies at heart.
"Likewise, I also treat her as a friend." Lyon added. If she was going to consider him as her friend, might as well consider her as one of his too. Besides, they are on each other's CaptchaMon's buddy list, right?
Sawyer huffed. "Fine, if you say so. Maybe Jellal is just a bit paranoid."
Meredy rolled her eyes exasperatingly. "Not a bit. More like, over!" She sighed. "What's with the ice trolley though, Lyon?"
Lyon sneered confidently. "Oh, it's for a job."
Meredy's eyes twinkled with curiosity. "Ohhhh what kind of job?"
"I'm on a quest for-" Lyon stopped abruptly, suddenly realizing the uniqueness of his job request... He was unsure whether he'd be judged by the nature of it. With that, he decided that it should be as vague as possible. Because vagueness is coolness. "I'm on a quest."
"A quest for?"
Ugh. Such a nosy girl.
"A quest for the best," he decided. Still vague and mysterious. Cool sounding yet.
"Quest for the best what?"
A sigh.
"I'm on a quest in search for the best frozen treats that would satisfy the sweet tooth of my client."
Meredy had a hand under her chin. "So basically you're looking for the best ice creams here?"
"...Yes." He said in defeat. Guess there was no escaping this little she-demon. He anticipated the teasing, girly giggliest laugh in 3, 2, 1...
"Wow, that sounds fun! Can I join you?"
Wait, what?
"You're not coming home with me, then, Meredy?" He heard Sawyer ask, as he started gathering the paper bags from the table.
"If it's okay with you. Would you be able to carry them all back at home, Sawyer? Including these cans of ice cream they requested," she said, handing him a bag of cans that Lyon only noticed then. Apparently that's where she took the one she placed on his cheek.
"No sweat. I'll be back home with these in no time. I wasn't called 'Racer' for nothing you know." Sawyer gave a reassuring smile before it faded into a frown. "I'm more worried about you though," he added, glaring at Lyon beneath the sunglasses.
Meredy crossed her arms in a seemingly childish way. "Now you're sounding like Jellal too! Don't worry, you know what I'm capable of, right?"
Sawyer huffed another deep breath and then shook his head. "Okay then. I'll see you later." He turned to Lyon. "Hey. Don't try to do anything funny. Or else, our future fight may not be so friendly at all."
Lyon only smirked at his threat. "I won't. Whatever circumstance it may be, I look forward to that sparring nevertheless."
Sawyer simply huffed again—such a huffy man—before sprinting off with the bags, drifting away like a tall shopping cart on the loose.
"Is everyone like that to you in your guild?" Lyon found himself asking her.
"Mostly it's Jellal. Probably because he thinks I'm still like 12, which is really annoying." She crossed her arms, wheezing. "Sawyer usually doesn't mind what I do although I think Jellal's rubbing on him too much. Richard always gives outbursts of reminders which I don't really mind. Erik's annoying too with his ultra-hearing thing but he usually minds his own business, just like Macbeth, who I think doesn't care at all. And there's Sorano, minds her own business too but gives out advices. She doesn't preach though, thankfully."
"I see. That's rather unfortunate," Lyon could only comment. He then realized that she pretty much enumerated the housemates he was curious about. That makes seven!
And that also confirms the other suspicion: there was no Ultear in the house. Which supports the other hypothesis.
Ultear could be the client.
But again, why would she give out a memento of Ur? And why was Ultear not with them in the first place?
Of course, he knew the key to one of the questions is with the very girl he is with, yet, he felt something rather unsettling about asking Meredy about her mother figure... He knew there must've been a serious reason why Ultear was not there. And he felt should he ask Meredy about it at present, he might be demoted from the friend status, which is definitely not desired.
Thankfully, Meredy seemed to be preoccupied with her problems while he was pondering in his own world. "They say it's probably due to the generation gap. Since he's already like 27 and we're almost seven years apart I think."
"Oh, same as me, then." Lyon carelessly thought to point out.
She pointed her index finger up as a matter-of-factly. "Wow, you're as old as Jellal, then!"
Lyon feigned a hurt expression. "You make it seem like being 'old' is such a bad thing… Although, I prefer the term "more experienced" myself."
"Well, all my life I've always been surrounded by people a lot older than me, always treating me like some kid sister even when I'm no longer a teenager." She slouched her back dejectedly. "Somehow it makes me glad that Juvia and the others didn't age for seven years; at least I get to spend time with others near my age."
"You are aware that you are talking to one of the 'adults,' seeing as how you classify us." Lyon shifted his weight and turned to face her, flexing his back forward so he met her eye to eye. "However, I'll have you know that I do not see you as a child, as we did not grow up together, and I will gladly treat you as you desire, and perhaps, even demonstrate to you my experiences should you wish it."
Wide eyed, she stood motionlessly at their close proximity for a few seconds before her face turned bright red, understanding his insinuations. "Lyon! Stop it, you're being creepy!"
"I'm kidding, of course," he chuckled loudly, then pinching her cheeks out of impulse. She growled like an angry little squirrel and quickly pinched him back—just as he anticipated, but gratefully at the unaffected side. At least she was considerate. "Let's go into more important matters, shall we?"
"Oh, right. Sorry. The ice creams, of course! I'm surprised that you let me come along with you, though!
"Given the numbers of cans you were carrying which resulted to the tremendous accident," Lyon emphasized while touching his affected face, "I assume you are quite the ice cream connoisseur."
Meredy let out a rather unladylike snort. "Actually, it's more of me knowing which ice cream flavor each of us likes best. Sawyer simply asked me for help. But thank you for your trust! I will try not to disappoint!" And she gave her thumbs up. "Please allow me, your ice cream specialist assistant, to aid you in your quest!"
Such refreshing optimism.
"And in our quest, I would gladly lead you to my top five ice cream parlors here in Magnolia." She pointed at the frilly pink store in front of them. "'Rainbow Ice and Creams' happens to be number 2. Best known for their six distinct ice cream flavors. The add-ons that you can request definitely makes them more unique and fun!"
Fascinating. She has such enthusiasm for this type of thing that she even has rankings for them, apparently. Lyon wondered to what extent she ranks these types of things… But that would be a question for another day.
For the next few hours they travelled along the outskirts of Magnolia, with Meredy leading the way. He was astonished with her seemingly undying eagerness despite the distance between each place. Along the way they had rather interesting conversations about their guild mates and friends.
One of the topics happened to be Gray.
"You know, there's something I noticed about your treatment towards Gray." She said after going over their second stop.
"Hmm, and what is that?"
"You love him more than you'll ever admit, and... Wait! I'm actually serious now. I don't mean that in a romantic way. You know what I'm talking about."
Lyon raised a thin brow, giving her a weird look. "Okay. So what are you insinuating?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to point that out. I mean, maybe instead of having this I hate Gray act and seemingly wanting to argue just for the sake of arguing, it's nice to also just get along sometimes."
A food for thought eh.
"Hmph, I'll take that into consideration. Let's move on to another topic, shall we?"
And bless the Ishgar gods because she did, and she ended up talking about her living companions instead. Lyon concluded that both of them have a fair share of oddness when it comes to their companions. It went on even towards their last stop near the park, which was apparently the top one from her list.
Unsurprisingly, a denser amount of people were gathering among the spot where apparently the shop was.
"You know, there's this hilarious incident involving Macbeth and the bathroom though. He—" A large passerby hit Meredy on the shoulder, almost sending her crashing into Lyon. He caught her by reflex before she dropped to the ground.
"Rude," Lyon vehemently spat as he glared at the passerby who didn't even look back for an apology.
"It's okay. I'm fine," Meredy said with assurance, standing straight up to her feet. "It's pretty common around these parts, especially since we're near number 1: 'Wonder Ice!' It's a small stall though, but it's the best around these parts, in my opinion."
"The best, eh." Thinking back at his job request, it did say that the client was looking for the best ice cream there was. Now why didn't the thought of asking her to go to the top one stall enter his mind earlier, instead of wasting time going through the other four? Although, for some reason, he didn't really feel like the quest with Meredy in the other four stops was a waste of time.
Lyon looked at the crowded park, and then at his ice trolley, which contained four cans from the previous parlors.
Then again, it was probably safer if Lyon brought other back-up ice creams, just in case what Meredy considered as top one wasn't sufficient for the mystery client. Besides, the client did say best ice creams, so it was more than one? Perhaps vagueness is not really cool after all.
"Shall we go then?" Lyon turned to her, and she nodded back with glee.
"Of course!"
They sauntered towards the sea of people, only to be stopped by a commotion happening. From there, a loud, obnoxious declaration was heard from a large man, who Lyon recognized as the one pushed Meredy earlier. The said man began shoving away the people in line. One even howled in pain as they plummeted to the ground harshly. "Shut up! I demand you to give me all of your ice cream!"
Despite the ridiculousness of the situation, Lyon couldn't help but wrinkle his nose in disgust. "Well, looks like that fellow is as ill-mannered as ever."
"No kidding. That's not very nice." Meredy said with hate more apparent in her features. She started stomping towards the man only to be stopped by Lyon.
"Hey. Where do you think you're going?" Lyon uttered, pulling her beside him.
"Let go," she demanded, jostling her arm away from him. "I wanna teach that punk a lesson! Even I want my ice cream fast but I don't hurt other people for it."
Lyon only smirked, much to the confusion of the girl. "Actually, I think someone already beat you to it."
Abruptly an icy blast immersed from the site, making Meredy turn her head towards the source.
"Ice-make: Hammer!"
There was no mistaking it, that familiar, disgruntled voice only belonged to his beloved ice brother.
"Gray!" Meredy exclaimed excitedly, the corners of her lips elevating much as his. They watched as the fairy wizard singlehandedly pound the offender with his frost weapon, defeating him. In seconds the crowds cheered.
"That should give you a dose of your own medicine," Gray smugly said, rubbing his hands together as if dusting off some imaginary dirt.
Despite the thunderous happy cheers from the crowd, Lyon could not feel the festivity as he noted dark auras from ten, no, probably a dozen of men surrounding them. He assumed they were the companions of the rude bloke, who definitely were not amused by Gray's performance. He looked at Meredy, and it seemed that she noticed too.
"Bastard!" One of them grunted angrily, "You'll pay for that!" As the horde came charging towards Gray, the excited cheers were replaced by screams of panic and fear as the civilians fled from the scene, leaving Gray, Lyon, Meredy, and the fearful store owner who was cowering inside his tiny stall.
"WATER SLICER! Don't you dare touch Gray-sama!"
Oh, looks like Juvia was there too, successfully attacking one who charged behind Gray.
"Should we help?" Meredy asked, watching as the fairy duo fight against six of them, appearing capable of holding out on their own.
Lyon closed his eyes. "Actually, I think the ugly goons are personally extending their invitation to us," he said, quickly turning just in time to freeze one running behind them.
In a short span of time all four of them were included in the brawl, and from afar, various magical enchantments including those of water, ice, and floating sensory blades were seen, turning the park into a small battlefield.
Shortly, they emerged victorious, with the goons all wailing in pain on the stone ground, which became slippery from water and melted ice. Somehow, small craters and crevices were produced from their unexpected affray, and almost all of the nearby structures including the fountain and some benches were damaged, as if the place was struck by a massive typhoon.
"What brought you here, Lyon?" Gray asked, looking surprised at his presence.
"Similar to you I also have received a job request regarding the ice cream and whatnot." Lyon faced the ice cream stand with a barely readable sign due to being within the war zone. "Which, I presume, is also your goal here?"
Gray shrugged. "Yeah. So you received it too."
"GRAY-SAMA!" The boys turned to a hysterical Juvia, who was sobbing in a quite comical way. "Juvia failed to protect our collected ice cream! Please forgive Juvia!"
"Lyon," Meredy called, and he looked at her who was scratching the side of her cheek. "Looks like ours didn't survive too." She pointed at the destroyed ice trolley, with splattered ice cream cans surrounding it.
In the end, the relieved owner of the ice cream stall (who was still shaking) gave them the last surviving ice cream can which he managed to protect amidst the ruckus. Despite some minor arguments on who got to keep it (which was frowned upon by the pink she-demon), Gray and Lyon managed to have an agreement that the best course of action was to hand over the single ice cream can to the client together.
"Gray," Lyon uttered with a low tone after making sure that the girls were far enough from them, "I've been meaning to ask you about this earlier, but now seems to be the best time."
"What is it?"
Lyon took another glance at Meredy, who was engaging in eager chatter with Juvia, before speaking. "Do you happen to have any idea what happened to Ultear after the Grand Magic Games?"
The other's eyes widened in surprise briefly, before his face was enveloped in a darker expression. "Why did you bring her up, suddenly?"
"Have you ever wondered about the identity of our client? She has a memento of Ur... I have a hunch that it's Ultear, after all."
Gray frowned, though his eyes unreadable. "Why would she give out something from her mother, then?"
Lyon shrugged. "Maybe something happened to her. I don't know, but do you?"
The long pause from Gray seemed to tell that he knew something that he didn't. "We'll just see later on if it is her. If not, we're going to have a long talk later..."
"Given that uncertainty, do you think it's wise if we bring her along?" He motioned his eyes in Meredy's direction, and Gray understood instantly, though the younger ice mage seemed to ponder on it for a while.
"Maybe it's best if we don't bring her. Yet."
Lyon trusted his judgment enough; besides, Gray was a lot closer to Ur's daughter than he was.
Soon, they reached the address written on the request form. It was a simple house situated in a small town beside Magnolia. Before Juvia and Meredy could pass by the gate, Gray effectively blocked the way with his arm.
"And this is where you stay, ladies," Gray said, not minding the protests of the girls.
Juvia held onto Gray's outstretched arm. "Aww, Juvia wants to see the client and her reward!"
Meredy crossed her arms quite stubbornly. "Hmph. I'm curious about the reward too!"
Lyon quickly interjected, seeing Gray's struggle. "My greatest apologies, our lovely ladies, however, our client has explicitly stated in the form that she is a rather private person and would only like to see our presence." He brought out the request form which Meredy tried to claw out from his grasp; luckily he was quicker to swipe it away.
Juvia placed a hand on Meredy's shoulder. "Let us stay here, Meredy, and wait for them. We cannot do anything if that's the wish of the client."
Meredy let out a sigh. "Okay, fine. We understand. But do tell us what happened as soon as you come back!"
"Of course, dear Meredy." Lyon smirked as Meredy frowned with the 'affectionate' nickname, though noticed the blush that formed on her face. It was so fun to tease her.
Afterwards the boys left them by the gate, and wasted no second as they knocked on the door of the house. Lyon could feel his sweat dripping on his forehead in anticipation, and it seems that Gray was equally nervous as well.
Ultear, is it really you?
A few seconds later, it opened. It was rather dim inside, and he couldn't see well the person who pulled open the door. Judging by her voice, however, it belonged to a much older woman, probably decades older than his senior.
"Ah, I was expecting you, boys. Please, come in."
And they did, with the newly-reformed ice trolley behind them. The woman turned on a lamp, illuminating the house better. Immediately he turned to see the identity of the woman, to see if it was indeed the daughter of his teacher, however...
It was someone he never even recalled seeing before.
She was a rather lean woman with her greyish hair tied up in a bun. A rather simple looking elderly woman... But this wasn't Ultear.
Was she?
He turned to Gray, but he seems to be as lost and speechless as he was.
The woman only smiled, offering them some beverages on the coffee table. "You must be wondering who I am... However, I do know the two of you very well. But please, have a seat."
And so they did.
"My name is... Joce."
Joce?
"You could say I am a friend of Ur."
Oh.
OH.
All that nervousness for nothing.
She clasped her hands together with a sweet smile. "Ur used to be a regular customer in my fruit shop, and I remember the two of you very well, waiting for her while she bought from me. You were just this small the last time I saw both of you! And indeed, you two turned out to be quite the handsome men I was expecting you to be!"
Lyon finally mustered the nerve to speak, with everything become clearer. "It is a pleasure to meet you too, ma'am. Thank you for the compliments."
"Likewise..." Gray added, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Also, here's the ice cream you requested."
Joce grinned widely. "Oh, so you did bring it! You are indeed Ur's good-looking disciples!"
The two only smiled sheepishly.
After a brief moment of silence, Lyon spoke again. "If it may not be too rude to ask, Joce-san, but may you enlighten us about this memento of Ur that you wrote in the request?"
"Oh, that..." Joce shut her eyes, the smile not once leaving her face. "That memento is already inside the two of you, the moment both of you entered this house."
When neither spoke another sound, the woman giggled.
"That sounds a bit confusing, doesn't it? Let me enlighten you, as you wish! Ur... Even though she wouldn't admit it openly, I knew she was very much concerned about the two of you. As children both of you tend to squabble a lot, yet kids will be kids, so she understood. However, she was mainly worried about how the two of you would get along in the future, should she not be there to guide you both."
She took a sip of tea from her cup.
"And what she feared the most happened. I heard about the demon that Ur fought and the outcomes of the said fight." Her eyes looked at her tea sadly. "She confided with me one day to keep an eye on you two should that day come, but unfortunately, it seems the two of you went separate ways after Ur's death... And I haven't heard from you ever since. Life went on for me, of course, and I am not a person capable of magic so I continued being a simple fruit vendor."
Lyon gave a slow nod. "However, you never did forget about Ur's last request, correct?"
Joce lightly bobbed her head in response. "Of course. We considered Ur as a hero back in the days, even before she fought the demon, because she defended our village from those who wanted to take advantage of us non-mages. The least I could so is to honor her request. That is also why I moved from the Northern part of Fiore to here, in search for the two of you."
Gray was also listening intently. "I see. So you found out about us during..."
"During the Grand Magic Games, yes. At first, I did not really have any interest in watching it, since business is busy as usual, but the moment I heard that there were ice mages participating, I immediately tuned in to the television and saw the two of you. I could never forget your black and silver locks, of course! However, I had no idea how to contact you, plus, business became very miserable when Magnolia was destroyed months ago. When business became stable and fruits and crops flourished once more, I went back to my search and only recently heard of these job requests..." She clapped her hand happily. "So here we are! I thought of requesting ice cream because of the heat, and after all, ice cream must be your specialties too, right? Tee hee!"
Lyon gave a respectful smile at her comments, though the boys found themselves turning their heads to one another. Both had the same question lingering on their minds.
"Still... Where does the memento come in?" Lyon said.
She grinned cheekily. "Ur's memento is...your companionship. Even after all those trials in life, both of you are here. Ur would really be so proud of what the two of you become."
A warm, content feeling surged within Lyon, and he found himself smiling. He side glanced at Gray, and he knew what she said had the same effect on him.
Eventually they bid Joce goodbye, thanking her for all her efforts in doing Ur's last request. Before they left, she insisted that they bring along some of her fresh fruits, so they went out the house with a fruit basket on each of their hands.
"So let me get this straight... The memento is the fruit basket?" Meredy asked in amusement.
"Yes." The boys both answered immediately. Lyon was thankful for Gray thinking the same. Companionship...is a bit too cheesy for his liking, and knowing Meredy, she'd tease them a lot. And knowing Juvia... Lots of misunderstandings may ensue. Lots.
Juvia seemed to be too confused. "...How?"
"These fruits are what Master Ur used to buy for us, back in the days."
"Yes. My dear brother is correct." Lyon added confidently, "And it represents the importance of keeping one's nutrition healthy, something that Master Ur taught us."
The two girls could only shrug, accepting the odd explanation, somehow.
As they all walked back together towards Magnolia, Gray invited them to make fruit shakes at the guild, using their "reward" from the mission. For one of the few times in ever, Lyon admitted that it was a good idea. Hearing this, Meredy gave him a wide grin, and he only huffed, hiding a smile.
Maybe what Meredy did say is right. It wouldn't hurt too much to try to get along with him. It's what Ur would want too, after all.
A/N: My apologies for the delay in updating! I had a major writing block in my mind and it didn't help that recent happenings in the current storyline on the manga kinda affected my writing spree… Anyway this chapter kinda focused more on the bro-ship of Lyon and Gray, and it was more fun to write than I anticipated, lmao. Just to clarify the setting, this is an alternate storyline several months after the Tartaros arc, where FT did not disband. Thank you again for reading!
