Gajeel shot to his feet, banging his knee on the table in the process. Levy sent him a strange look.
"Is he okay?" Belletokia whispered to her partner, to which Levy shrugged, never looking away from the now frantic Gajeel.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," The Iron Dragon Slayer hissed, eyes snapping around the room.
Across the guild, Juvia burst into giggles, her hand going up to cover her mouth. Monmo sent her a confused look, which made her laugh harder.
"G-Gajeel-kun is in trouble," She got out between giggles, "Because Erik knows about what he did!"
Mirajane smiled as she wiped down the bar. "So they found him. I was wondering when he would show up," The white haired woman glanced up as the guild doors open, Gray's eyes snapping towards Juvia when he heard her laughing.
"This should be interesting," Levy grinned, crossing her arms on the table as Gajeel looked for an exit.
Just as the older man took a step forward he froze. The rest of the guild all silenced at the growl that ripped through the air.
"Where are my brothers?" A girl exclaimed, flying into the guild hall. She zipped around the room before landing in front of the guild doors, arms crossed and a frown on her face.
"Natsu, you said they were here," She whined, eyebrows pinching together. Her face lit up when she spotted the frozen Gajeel. "Gajeel!" She zoomed over, hovering so she was face to face before glowering. "Where are my baby brothers?"
"Probably at the nest, girly, how the f-" He was cut off by a table being thrown at him, sending him crashing into a wall.
"That," Erik said, "Is for my house. But next time you try and fight me to the death I'm getting him to disown you,"
"I- deserved that," Was the muffled reply, one hand in the air with his pointer finger up.
"Hi Erik!" Juvia grinned, waving wildly at the man. Erik nodded in acknowledgement, grinning back slightly.
Natsu nudged his brother before grabbing Wendy's ankle-the girl still midair- and walking toward Makarov.
Erik's eyes turned to slits when he caught on a scent, snapping his head to Mirajane. She raised an eyebrow, and he inclined his head slightly, and she smiled softly at him before the man turned to the guild master.
"Cobra. My friend in the council speaks highly of you," Makarov said, face impassive.
Erik nodded, feeling slightly awkward. "Wasn't much else I could do. Tower of Heaven's a pretty fucked up place,"
"What?" Mirajane said flatly, arms crossed. Erik looked like a deer in headlights while Erza simply stared at the maroon haired man, mouth parted.
"Who is that?" Makarov zeroed in on the snake around Erik's shoulders. "They have a very powerful spell on them,"
Can- Makarov is one of the Ten Wizard Saints, Erik, can- Do you think he can help me? Cubellios blinked at the short man.
"I don't know. But it's worth asking, right?" He murmured.
"Should this be discussed privately?" Makarov asked lowly, hopping from the bar when the maroon-haired man nodded.
"Privacy?" Wendy asked, dropping down from the ceiling and hanging upside down- making Wakaba shriek.
"Yeah. Alpha can give you your mark, and Sting and Rogue are in town- I heard them," Wendy beamed at the words and nodded, flipping and landing on her feet gracefully.
"We'll wait out here and keep everyone at bay," Gajeel grumbled, sitting beside Wendy at the bar and affectionately ruffling her hair- though to anyone else it appeared he was being harsh.
Erik nodded and followed after Makarov, entering the man's office.
He doesn't appear threatening. And he is Drake's grandfather. Cubellios hissed and slithered to the ground, but stayed close to her friend.
The man locked eyes with the Fairy Tail master. "Her name is Cubellios- In this form, at least. She was changed into a snake when she was younger by some dick of a mage. I've been trying to change her back,"
"This is your third party. Who Oracion Seis used to blackmail you," Makarov noted, to which Erik nodded stiffly.
The old man studied the snake. "I can change her back. But it will not be pretty. I can't say what her memory will be like afterwards,"
"I will help her, and stay with her," Erik answered immediately, flexing his fingers nervously.
o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o
"He knows about the Tower of Heaven," Erza said softly, she and the rest of her team sitting at a table.
Natsu nodded, arms crossed. "Yeah. And I can tell you that after everything I know, it's good we destroyed it when we did,"
"Why's that?" Gray asked, dragging his eyes away from a smiling Juvia who was chatting with Cana.
"Because if we hadn't Laxus would've- And he would've killed every person on that island," Natsu answered, looking directly at Erza.
She grit her teeth. "You still won't-"
"It's not your business,"
She slammed her fist on the table, drawing people's attention. "We're your friends. Your nakama. Do you not trust us?"
"With everything else, yes, but not this," Natsu answered. "This is too important and too dangerous. Beat my ass if you want, Erza, I don't care," He bit down on his tongue to keep from growling.
"Calm it, Salamander. You don't wanna burn this place down," Gajeel growled over his shoulder.
"Meh. I could put out his flames in a second anyway, he's fine," Juvia pointed out dismissively.
"You two should spar. My bet's on Juvia," Levy commented, not looking up from her book.
Natsu shot to his feet. "Done,"
"You wanna fucking go, pinky?"
"Bring it on you slippery piece of shit!" Natsu grinned, pulling his fist back and sprinting forward when-
"Not. In. Side," Mirajane glowered, having caught Natsu's fist and with a hand on Juvia's forehead, pushing the two away from each other.
"A-Aye!" Juvia and Natsu chorused, but both shared matching grins when Mirajane turned and walked back to the bar.
"Oi," All the dragons' heads snapped up at the word, and the Exceeds and Mirajane turned to look when Erik reentered, Cubellios around his shoulders and Makarov at his side.
"Master has offered to turn Cubellios back. But her memory's not gonna be all there. We're gonna have to stay cooped up for a few days while she heals," Erik growled.
Wendy beamed, floating around. "Then we'll make sure the humans keep away while she recovers,"
"Erik, come here. Mark," Mirajane ordered, getting out the stamp. Erik glanced at them all before getting a purple stamp on his back, at the top of his spine, centered between his shoulder blades.
"Hurry up! I know I can fly but just because you're walking doesn't mean you should be so slow!" Wendy yelled, zipping around before disappearing out the door, followed by the fast-flying Exceeds.
"I'll be back soon, don't let Cana drink all the beer," Mira said before changing out of her uniform and into a black vest top and violet leggings. In the blink of an eye, the pride was gone, leaving a pissed off and confused Erza.