CH4: From the Inside
When he was first brought to the guild by Laki, he was greeted by an underwhelming force of wizards. It was comprised of a western couple named Alzack and Bisca, a sand wizard named Max, and a couple of misfits named Jet and Droy. "This is Fairy Tail?" he stated blankly.
"I know we look shorthanded right now, but most of our guild including master Makarov are currently on Tenrou Island. This is the time of year we hold the S-class wizard test to determine who will be granted S-class status." Laki responded matter of factly.
"Majority is correct." Zancrow mumbled. He looked around the massive guildhall which currently hosted only a handful of wizards. He then took notice of the bartender whose hair was a darker shade of purple than Laki's. Her name was Kinana and she looked a little young to be in a guild, much less serve alcoholic beverages.
"Hey Laki. How was the job?"
Zancrow located the source of the inane banter and saw a blue haired man in a white coat walking towards them with what appeared to be a buddy of his. His buddy was wearing a pansy ass green Hawaiian shirt with flowers on it smoking a pipe.
"Oh hey Macao. The job went well. There were however some difficulties getting home however." Laki said sheepishly.
She then went on to explain about her encounter with Twilight Ogre and how if it were not for Zancrow, she would have lost her life, or at least her dignity.
"Yea that guild has become more powerful over the years. They even got their guildhall to be relocated here in magnolia giving us some competition job wise." The smoker commented. His name was Wakaba and he seemed to have no manners when it came to smoking in front of guests.
Macao sensed Zancrow's uneasiness and reassured him that anyone who saves one of their own is welcome to join.
"We just need to get Makarov's approval. Like Laki said, he currently is away on Fairy Tail business but he should be back as soon as the S-class trials are over." Macao Explained. "For now Laki will show you around the guild hall, and if you are serious about joining, we may make an exception and let you crash here if you have no place else to go."
Zancrow thanked the guild for their kindness and allowed Laki to show him around. "This is just what I need. A tour of the enemy's base for later exploitation." He grinned evilly.
The tour lasted about twenty minutes. In that time, he had visited the rec area, the kitchen, the food court, the upper food court, and eventually the living accommodations. Laki explained to the God Slayer that their old guildhall used to be smaller but was destroyed when Phantom Lord declared war on them. Since then, they won the war and rebuilt their guildhall to be better than ever.
"Phantom Lord. I remember hearing about them in the papers. They were one of the most powerful guilds in earth land. Didn't they bring their own guildhall right to your doorstep?" Zancrow asked.
"They did. The purpose was to obliterate our guild with one blast from their Jupiter cannon. But Erza managed to block the first shot while Natsu, and several others from our guild dismantled the weapon from the inside." Laki explained. "After the whole ordeal, Makarov kicked master Jose's ass and the guild was dismantled."
Natsu. Zancrow couldn't help but be infuriated at the mere mention of his name. Oh, how he couldn't wait to mop the floor when he saw him again. "It seems Natsu must be pretty powerful to be able to dismantle such a weapon."
"He is, but he is not the strongest in our guild. That honor goes to Gildarts. He's the most powerful wizard in Fairy Tail. And of course, there are others that are pretty powerful as well. Laxus, Mirajane, Erza, Grey…"
"Erza? That's the second time you have mentioned her. What's so great about Erza?" Zancrow asked impatiently.
Laki shot Zancrow a look that he swore reflected a hint of jealousy. "She's only the quickest reequipping wizard in all of Fiore. She has a suit of armor for every situation that may present itself."
'I didn't realize there were so many wizards with power greater than Natsu. If I am to serve this guild a course of revenge, I need to become stronger myself. I don't know how long it will take for them to find their way back here. But until then, I will train myself to death if necessary to be a force to be reckoned with.' Zancrow could see himself kicking all of Fairy Tail's asses in a heartbeat. He just needed to put in the necessary effort to hone his skills.
"So," Laki said nervously, "these are the living accommodations."
Zancrow looked around the room. There were literally rows of beds next to each other with a nightstand separating each one so that the individual sleeping there would have their own personal space. Zancrow was used to bigger beds. His bed aboard the Grimoire Heart airship was custom made. Capable of bedding up to eight women plus himself and leave room for a couple dozen pillows. "These beds are kind of small…" he trailed off.
Laki saw her own opportunity and with her smooth talk she asked "would you rather stay with me? I could be good company and my bed is much bigger than this." She gave him her signature smile.
Hell, if her bed was bigger than these he couldn't complain. He made eye contact with her and saw what was unmistakable for lust. If he went with her to her living quarters, he might not get any sleep tonight. However, anything was better than sleeping in a bed the size of a small park bench. Zancrow sighed, and agreed to go with the wood make wizard.
Immediately Laki blushed and said she just needed to grab a job offer before they left. After that Zancrow was led to Laki's apartment, where no sleeping would be done that night.