This chapter ended up so much longer than I wanted it to me, so I ended up cutting it short of where I wanted it to end. Sorry it ends on a more serious note than the previous two chapters.
There was absolutely no way that Mystogan was going to be able to fully process what had just occurred in the short span of time since it had, but there was equally no chance of Mystogan not trying to catch up to Makarov and wring a proper answer out of the old man. Swiftly pocketing both the keys and the pen (which Makarov had failed to reclaim as well), Mystogan reached for the door and wrenched it open.
In hot pursuit of the guild master ("former" his brain traitorously reminded him), Mystogan could see him already at the end of the hall near the stairs. How in the world had he gotten down there so fast?! Either Mystogan had been in motionless shock longer than he had thought, or Makarov was so eager to be done with the position (and aware that Mystogan would want to rescind it) that he had booked it the second he was clear of the door. "Master Makarov!" he shouted at the old man. "Please, I beg of you! Wait! I need to talk to you!"
To his great surprise, Makarov waited for him at the end of the hall. But as he approached, Mystogan soon saw that he was not, in fact, the reason for Makarov's immobility.
"Hic!" Cana hiccupped, her face already flushed despite how early in the day it still was. "So like I was – hic! – saying," she told Makarov, haven't not yet noticed the other occupant of hall skidding to a horrified stop not far away. "I ran out of booze already – hic! – and Mira isn't here. Can you open up the storage room?" She hiccupped again.
Makarov grinned at her, and pointed behind him. "Sorry Cana, I just retired! Mystogan has the keys now."
It was at that moment, as Cana glanced over at him and her eyes lit up, that Mystogan realized something important.
He'd forgotten to put the disguise back on.
His face was in full view…
…of Cana.
As if that wasn't enough to curdle his blood, to Mystogan's utter dismay, the old man then patted Cana on the arm and left him there.
Goddammit, Makarov!
Cana whistled appreciatively at him. "So that's what you look like under the face covering, huh?" Hiccupping once more, she stalked closer to him. "Not bad, not bad. So I guess congratulations are in order on your appointment, Mr. Guild Master Mystogan."
"…Thank you," he wheezed, all the air having escaped from his chest, completely displaced by the horror and dread that had taken up residence there instead.
"Soooo…" Having reached him, she threw an arm around his shoulders and dragged his face down to her level, getting way too much in his personal space. "Liss-ten. I need… a favor. You see… no Mira, no booze for Cana. Make Cana unhappy." She nodded to herself. "You understand?"
Honestly, Mystogan wasn't sure why she wanted more booze. She seemed well on her way to fairly sloshed already. But if that was the cost of getting her to forget that she ever saw his face… then he was more than willing to let her drink through the guild's entire inventory if it pleased her.
"I have the keys," he confirmed. "Let me cover my face back up real quick, and then I'll open up the store room for you." Makarov could wait a moment. This was a new emergency that needed prompt handling or it would snowball out of control. More so than it already had, at any rate. It was a minor miracle that there was no one else on the second floor at the moment. If Erza had been there… it didn't bear thinking about. And honestly, Laxus would have been just as bad, but for a different reason altogether.
Oh fucking hell. Laxus. He'd forgotten about Laxus.
Cana may have readily accepted the new change with nothing more than a minor threat, but Laxus was a whole different story. Once the man found out that his grandfather had passed the guild leadership onto someone else… and someone younger than Laxus, to boot?
Goddammit, Makarov!
As he replaced his head covering under the keen and too bright eyes of Cana, Mystogan tried to console himself that this was just a temporary problem. First, he'd deal with Cana. And whomever else Makarov might have told already. Then then he'd get the old man to rescind the leadership transfer, and… oh, no the letter. He'd forgotten about the letter as well. Even if Makarov did take back the change, it was all moot if that letter reached the Magic Council and made it official! It would all be so much easier if he could just put everyone to sleep again, but using that spell so soon after the last had worn off might be dangerous for his guildmates. And now that they were technically under his care (no matter how short a time that might be for) that would be an unacceptable action for him to take just because his disguise might slip again. Which brought up the issue… how was he going to maintain it if he wasn't able to stop Makarov? And how was he going to be able to stop the Anima portals whenever they appeared if he was tied to the guild hall?
Mystogan's life had just become much more complicated. Which was saying something, because it was already a pretty gigantic mess to begin with.
But first, Cana, he reminded himself. Cana he could handle.
Probably. Best handle it sooner rather than putting it off, no matter how much Cana's knowing smile unnerved him.
"The storage room is…" Mystogan wracked his brain for the answer. Where the heck was it, again? It had been a long while since he'd spent any decent length of time at the guild hall. And he'd never really needed the storage room anyway, except for one instance where he'd needed a quick hiding place from Erza, only to get accidentally locked in it overnight.
…Now that he thought about it, maybe his mind had blocked it out for his own good.
"You can follow me," Cana volunteered, her hiccups having largely vanished. Mystogan nodded and accepted her offer, but he kept a careful eye on her back as she turned around, leading the way down the stairs. He had his suspicions about her, and how she might not be as drunk as she had played off earlier. That threat of hers had been way too coherent, even if she'd partially slurred the first part of it.
Sticking close to the far railing of the stairs, and then to the wall, Mystogan tried not to garner any further attention than he'd already received from Makarov and Cana. Stopping to deal with all of the inquisitive and congratulatory members would be a hassle. However, he did spare a moment to take a quick look around. To his relief, Makarov had yet to leave the guild hall, and was instead talking to a member of the guild Mystogan didn't know very well – a woman wearing an outfit patterned in tiger stripes.
They were soon blocked from sight as Cana led him down a hallway past the kitchen. "This is it," she informed him, coming to a stop and indicating the door. "Open her up, boss."
Somehow, Mystogan found that being called "boss" was almost as unpalatable as "guild master" was. It was admittedly a smidgen better, but not by a significant margin. A shudder still rippled through his body at the sound of it. It didn't fit him.
Just like "prince" hadn't.
Cana waited expectantly, staring straight at him. Mystogan shifted uncomfortably. After a long minute of silence, Cana gestured at the door impatiently. "Are you going to open it or not?"
Ah, right. Flushed under his wrappings from both the heat and embarrassment, Mystogan fumbled with the keys as he withdrew them from his pocket.
Only to find that it contained dozens of keys. That all looked the same.
And… none of them were labeled in any sort of fashion. Because of course they weren't. That was just the way his day was going.
Resigned to his fate, and hoping to get lucky and find it quickly, Mystogan decided just to start trying them. One… by… one.
He was going to have to make a mental note to ensure that the keys were properly labeled going forward, as this was…
No! Mystogan mentally slammed the brakes on the thought. That would mean acknowledging his new position as guild master, which was something that he staunchly refused to do. Not until he absolutely had to, that is. There was still hope that he could stop this in time.
Cana let out a snort, leaning against the wall and observing as he underwent the painstaking process of figuring out which key was which. After a minute, she suddenly commented, "You're actually pretty handsome, you know."
Mystogan nearly dropped the whole batch of keys at Cana's unexpected words. Cold sweat ran down the back of his neck at the thought that he'd very nearly needed to start all over again. He shot the brunette a quick glare, the woman shaking with repressed laughter at his reaction. "…Thank you?" he replied slowly, unsure of where she was going with the highly suspect praise.
"Isn't it – you know – hot under that disguise?" she continued, apparently too bored by the slow progress and needing some mental stimulation.
"Yes, it is." His voice came out terser than he'd intended, as he was trying to concentrate.
"Then why do you wear it? No one will think less of you here if you take it off every once in a while. In fact, I'd bet you'd get a lot of positive attention."
He sighed heavily. It was hard not to feel irritated with his guild mate, even when he knew that Cana didn't mean anything by it. She didn't know the full situation, after all. How could she?
It was then that he finally found the right key, the lock giving way and the door to the storage room swinging open. When he turned to look at Cana, he was surprised by the expression on her face. It wasn't one he could readily place. Her lips were pursed, and her eyes narrowed, but somehow it didn't seem like anger. It was more… searching, more knowing than that.
It was moments like these that fiercely reminded Mystogan about Cana's magic being the ability to read objects, people, and even the future. Cana liked to play the role of a sloppy, happy drunk, but underneath that lay a very talented mage with a keen intellect and powers of observation who had been a candidate for S-Class more than any other Fairy Tail member. And it was altogether unnerving to have the full force of her attention directed squarely at him.
Actually, now that he thought about it, he knew very little about Cana herself. She'd been a member of Fairy Tail longer than any of the other kids, even Laxus. She never talked about herself, even in the depths of her cups. Cana was flirtatious, sure, but that was about it for what Mystogan knew about her.
"You know what?" she said, with a small shake of her head and breaking Mystogan out of his musing. "Nevermind. Keep your secrets." She turned away from him and strode into the room. "Just gimme my husband, Mr. Barrel."
Grateful for the excuse to make his escape, Mystogan nodded. "Lock the door behind you," he told her.
Then, leaving her to her self-proclaimed husband in peace, Mystogan turned away and headed back to the guild proper.
Hopefully he could still catch Makarov, and make him see that this was all a huge mistake.