CH17: Unexpected Relations

Zancrow's probation had finally ended. He had behaved himself quite well within Fairy Tail avoiding confrontations with other mages, and respecting those who feared him. It was a couple days ago when Makarov announced that Zancrow was not walking on eggshells anymore. He could do as he pleased now within reason and the realm of Fiore law. Zancrow spent the past couple of days partying and sparring with his fellow wizards. He drank with Cana and Laxus, and decided to kick Natsu's and Gray's asses, both at the same time. But what Zancrow really wanted to do was take on an S-class quest. Sure, he had done hard jobs, but never anything this difficult. He looked over the job bulletin board and selected a quest called "Mercurius Raid." Apparently, the royal castle itself has had several soldiers declared missing over time with the posts that they were guarding robbed of anything valuable. The only clues the palace had to go on were several small mounds of ashes scattered throughout the king's property with a spike in the center of each. Each occurrence left behind a creepy graveyard in the guard's stead.

Zancrow was confident he could take on this quest. With his God Slaying magic, he could incapacitate whoever was responsible for the attacks on the royal palace. He ran the job request with Makarov for his approval. Unfortunately for the God Slayer, he still wasn't fully trusted.

"If you think I'm going to let you anywhere near the king of Fiore by yourself you're out of you damn mind!" Makarov said sternly.

"Come on old man, I thought we were past my probation period."

"Your probation has nothing to do with common sense. You simply cannot be trusted to go near his majesty on your own. That is why I have taken it upon myself to assign you a partner whom I trust dearly to keep an eye on you."

"Not Natsu and his band of merry furballs." Zancrow complained.

"No, even better." Makarov responded with a twinkle in his eye. "Oi, Erza, come here a second." He shouted to the scarlet mage.

"You…can't be serious." Zancrow said exasperated.

"If you want to do this job I'm dead serious. Erza will be your partner for the duration of this quest. Should you complete it without dying, you will split the reward with her as well."

"That's bullshit! I don't need a babysitter!"

"You have a problem with me assisting you?" Erza asked with a dangerous tone.

There were several paths the God Slayer could take. In this case he chose to walk the path of life.

"…No, ma'am."

"Excellent. It's settled then. You both can head out to the job as soon as you are ready." Makarov stated smugly. "It's a long journey to Crocus."

…

It had been close to nightfall by the time Erza and Zancrow made it to Crocus. They had disembarked the train and were now making their way to the Mercurius castle. When greeted by the guards, they gladly showed them inside to the waiting room.

"His majesty will be with you shortly." The guard told the young wizards. Soon Erza and Zancrow were left by themselves awkwardly in the massive marble room.

"Must be nice to be the king." Zancrow muttered.

"We need a strategy." Erza said plainly while not making eye contact with the God Slayer.

"Excuse me?"

"We need a plan of attack to combat these miscreants."

"Lady, we don't even know what we are up against. That's what I'm guessing the king is going to go over with us no doubt. Once we have some idea who we are dealing with, then we will formulate a plan. For now, sit your nice ass down and wait patiently."

Zancrow waited for Erza to get mad and respond with a sword to his throat but she didn't. He looked over to see her face crimson red. She was either emberassed, or really, really pissed. At that point the doors flew open and the "couple" was greeted by the king of Fiore himself. He was accompanied by four body guards all in royal armor. They exchanged formalities and the briefing began.

"Wizards, the last couple of nights have been puzzling to say the least. It all started when we found out a couple of our soldiers missing their posts on the south side of the castle. When we were unable to find them, we replaced them with new guards. However, the next night, several more of my soldiers were missing. This time they abandoned the east wing of the fortress which houses several of my most valuable collectable items; Painting, vases, and, well, you get the point. It was weird to say the least, having loyal guards disappear overnight without a trace. But just last night we got a lead. This time, the thieves tried to break into the royal vault. The guards posted there are nothing but elite so naturally they put up a fight and managed to sound the alarm. By the time we got there however, they were presumably killed."

"Presumably?" Zancrow Inquired.

"We found several mounds of ashes not too far from the vault door with a serrated purple spike in the center of each of them. We believe that they were killed quickly with the barb and then burned. But the assailants did not have enough time to hide the ashes."

"And you want us to find these murderers and prevent them from killing anyone else in your castle as well as safeguard your treasures?" Erza asked.

"Please, your guild is the top one in Fiore. If you all can't help me no one can."

"If they keep their current pattern, in theory they should strike again tonight." The God Slayer said. "We need to be shown our rooms so that we may get settled in before our night shift."

"And the location of your showers if you please." Erza added.

The king was more than happy to accommodate the wizards to their temporary sleeping areas. The wizards however were less that pleased finding out that the room prepared for them was in fact that, a room. It was massive. It had three couches all aligned neatly to face the entertainment lacrima which broadcasted real time showings on Sorcerer Central. The bed was a king size with half a dozen pillows. The bath area was about as big as a stagecoach, able to fit more than one person for… fun purposes. Zancrow though he was going to end up in jail what with Erza raising her voice and complaining to his majesty about the accommodations. It took four guards to stop a rampaging, fire breathing Erza from going near the king.

"HOW CAN YOU EXPECT ME TO SLEEP IN THE SAME ROOM AS THIS MAN?" The scarlet wizard shouted referring to Zancrow.

"Milady please, it is the only room in the castle that can accommodate you both with moderate privacy. If you prefer I could have you sleep in the female soldier's quarters…"

With that offer Erza dragged Zancrow into the room and slammed the door behind her. As much as sharing a room with the God Slayer horrified her, she was not sleeping in a little bunk for the duration of this quest. The king decided to let such rudeness pass since he did hire them to solve his problem.

"I hope you realize that you almost got us arrested." Zancrow told her glaring daggers.

Erza might as well have had a demon form like Mira because she looked exactly like a demon at this point. "And I hope you realize that if you try to do anything with me besides talk, I will cut it off."

"It?" The God Slayer asked mortified.

"It's exactly what you think I'm talking about."

"Whatever lady. Not like we are sharing a bed. You can have it all to yourself and I'll sleep on the couch." Erza was taken aback by The God Slayer's remark. She half expected him to at least try to flirt with her and jokingly say they would split the bed. But he merely put his suitcase next to Erza's mountain of belongings and crashed on the couch.

"I suspect we are up against a dark guild and not normal assassins. If the information the king gave us is accurate, they should strike around 1:00 in the morning. Get some sleep while you can, it's going to be a long night."

Erza merely nodded and went to her massive bed, wondering what she had gotten herself into.