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Chapter 12: The Quest: The Conclusion!
Location: Unknown
In a small room filled with cabinets and books, there stood two figures in the room with one of them being a small girl with short brown hair and the other was a middle-aged man with black hair.
The little brunette was staring down at the floor, clutching the hem of her dress tightly as she bit her lips, doing her utmost best to not cry.
"Did you get in trouble again, Aoi?" a deep tone, which suggested that it was a male, said as he leaned down to face the small girl.
"Could you tell me what happened this time?"
"It wasn't my fault…" Aoi muttered softly under her breath, though from the rue smile on the man's face, it would appear that he had heard her.
"Now, I wasn't asking if it was your fault or not, I was just asking if you caused trouble again."
"But it wasn't my fault! It was those jerks that started it! They were the ones that stole my toy! I only wanted to get it back from them!" she cried out in defence.
"I understand that, but you must know that your magic is strong enough to be able to do more than just harm to the people around you." He explained causing shame to fill the girl's eyes.
"But I would never want to harm anyone…" she frowned as she looked down at her legs.
The brunette smiled and placed a gentle hand on the girl's head, patting it slowly as his lips began uttering a couple of words to her.
Location: Libel City
Flames erupted through the city of Libel as the citizens of the city all yelled out in horror and fright due to the chaos that unfolded in their precious city.
"Run away!"
"Those bastards are right behind us!"
"What are those fools from the Magic Council even doing?!"
"That's right! Run away from the mighty Sora from Neo Elements!" The blue-haired man laughed maniacally as he witnessed the chaos unfold right before his eyes.
Yet, despite the destruction occurring happening right in front of him, Sora looked up and noticed that he couldn't detect as much destruction on the other side of the city.
'I thought there was supposed to be more chaos at where Kai is at? I wonder what's going on?' Sora thought before shrugging it off.
Perhaps he was just behind on schedule? It wouldn't be the first time when the brunette missed something.
Though, that was when the blue-haired man noticed something odd.
'Hmm? Are those…dogs?' He thought as a horde of wolves began to appear within the city.
"Who would have thought that this place had a ton of dogs here? Now, who's a good boy?" Sora kneeled down and gestured for one of them to get closer towards him.
And get closer they did. Until one of them proceeded to bite his hand.
"Ouch! You stupid dog! How dare you!" Getting up, the blue-haired man shook the wolf away from his hand before proceeding to kick it out of the way.
"Stupid beast…" he muttered, but that was when he felt an immense pressure up ahead. Shakily, Sora looked up and his face began to pale.
Standing in the distance was a large silhouette of a much larger being, one that he couldn't tell from the smoke. However, Sora knew full well, that he had just angered a being he had no chance of beating.
Location: Rito Kasuga's Mansion (Laura's Room)
'This little girl is an admin of Neo Elements?' Yuki thought cautiously as she gripped her sword.
'Is she just messing around…or is she really strong?' Under the tutelage of the greatest swordswoman in history, she knew better than to underestimate her opponents and the ravenette knew full well the consequence of such actions.
"I told to find Rito Kasuga and his daughter. If you tell me where he is, I won't hurt you." Aoi threatened in an emotionless tone.
"Well, I apologise. However, even if you are just a child, I'm not going to let you get through me and get to them." Yuki said as she unsheathed her sword and stared cautiously at the girl in front of her. She turned to face her Exceed, giving her a nod and Eara understood it immediately and flew to the back of the room.
'Just remember what Natsu said…' The ravenette thought to herself as she recalled the Dragon Slayer's words during one of their training sessions.
Flashback
"That's all for today." The Dragon Slayer said, yet he looked perfectly fine, though the same couldn't be said about his training partner, Yuki, who was on all fours, panting heavily.
"If things continue the way they are, you truly will be a liability in battle." Natsu sighed, ignoring the glare he received from the girl.
"Well, it's not like I'm not trying to improve! Besides, I've been using Aunt Erza's fighting style and it never failed me before!" Now this caught the Dragon Slayer's attention.
"What has she taught you before?" The pinkette asked.
"She mainly taught me how to wield and fight with a sword. Ah, and she also taught me about different methods of fighting adjusting to different enemies." Yuki recounted the lessons she had learnt from the scarlet-haired teacher.
"What sort of methods did she teach you?"
"Hmm, mainly it's to identify and observe the various attack patterns of my enemies before countering them in order to make the flow of the battle go my way." The ravenette explained as Natsu sighed.
"So that's what she taught you, huh? Why am I not surprised?"
"Why, is there something wrong with what she taught?" the ravenette asked curiously as the Dragon Slayer closed his eyes.
"She's not wrong that you'll have watch out for certain patterns in your enemy's attacks, but even that's not enough to overcome an enemy. If anything, that method works best against monsters and low-levelled mages." Natsu explained as he picked up Yuki's sword.
"Fighting that way is bound to put you at a disadvantage, especially when you fight passively trying to identify your opponent's fight patterns. Heck, if your enemy is able to overcome you straight away, there'd be no point."
"So, what do I do against other enemies then?" That was when Natsu handed over the sword back to Yuki.
"Fighting passively only works if you have a strong defence, but in your case the only method for you is-"
Flashback Ends
"-to go all out on the offensive!"
With that, Yuki lunged towards the girl, swinging her sword downwards, ready to strike down Aoi. However, the girl was surprised when she saw a lance appear right in front of her, blocking her attack before another one emerged striking her gut which sent her flying back.
"This magic…is it Re-quip?" Yuki questioned as she pushed herself up after the attack.
"N-no it's not. T-this is my magic, Weapon Creation. I'm able to create as many weapons as I'd like and I can even control them to attack my enemies." Aoi explained before creating several more lances and firing them at the ravenette.
Yuki managed to use her sword to slice through the lances that headed her way before she immediately charged in for an attack on the little girl.
However, before she took another step forward, Yuki noticed a magic circle appear beneath her, to which she quickly jumped back, just in time as a giant lance emerged from the ground where she once stood.
"The battle would have been over if you didn't dodge it." Aoi pointed out as she continued her relentless attack on Yuki, who was forced to be on the defensive as she repeatedly swung her sword to avoid the attacks thrown her way.
However, as she had put too much of her focus forward, Yuki hadn't noticed the magical circle from behind, as a lance emerged striking the girl, causing her to sent flying to the other side of the room.
Yuki coughed out and moaned in pain as she looked up at the girl who wore an emotionless expression on her face.
"Yuki!" Eara yelled out in concern as the ravenette slowly pushed herself up.
"W-why is someone like you working with the Neo Elements?" Yuki asked as she wiped away the blood from her mouth, staring at the little girl as she asked.
"Why…?" the image of her father laying on the floor in a pool of blood appeared in her mind as she glared at the ravenette, her eyes filled with fury.
"It's because of Rito Kasuga that my life turned upside down! And until I see him take responsibility for what happened, I will never stop!" Aoi yelled out as she created another magic circle which fired another torrent of lances at Yuki's direction.
'Damn it!' Once again, the ravenette was forced to deal with a barrage of attacks and the girl gritted her teeth in frustration at the position she found herself in.
'If only I could use magic-, no! It wouldn't matter if I could use magic or not! Just like Natsu said, I wouldn't have control of my magic and could do more harm than good!'
Clenching her fists tightly, Yuki continued to deal with the onslaught of attacks as Aoi looked on with a bored expression on her face.
"Now do you see how pointless all of this is? All you have to do is just tell me where Rito Kasuga is and I'll let you go."
"Don't underestimate me!" Yuki yelled out as she managed to duck under the attacks this time and lunged straight at Aoi.
"Haven't you learned already? Your attacks are pointless as long as you're in my sight." The brunette sighed, as she summoned several lances in front of the girl, already expecting the same result as before.
However,
"Eara, now!" Yuki yelled and in an instant the Exceed picked the girl up, which helped her avoid the weapons which sprouted from the ground before Eara threw the ravenette at her opponent's direction, much to her silent shock.
"Take this!"
Yuki proceeded to strike Aoi with the blunt edge of her sword causing the brunette to cough out some saliva, but she quickly recomposed herself and glared at the ravenette before firing off several lances at Yuki.
"Too slow!" Countering the blades that appeared before her, Yuki sent a kick at Aoi's direction, which sent her stumbling to the ground.
"This is the end!" Yuki ran towards Aoi, ready to end the fight. However, before she could deal the final strike, Yuki noticed the look in the girl's eyes.
It was filled with fear…and regret.
With much hesitation, Yuki somehow managed to stop her attack, her sword just an inch away from the girl's face.
Aoi's eyes, which were tightly shut, slowly began to part open as she saw the sword right in front of her before it began to sheathed by Yuki.
"You should probably head on back, I'm sure you can be pardoned for what you've done if you just apologise." Yuki claimed as she began walking towards Eara.
'Why did she?' Aoi, confused by what had happened could only stare at the girl incredulously before rage filled her body.
'Is she showing me mercy because I'm a child?!' Angered by this notion, a surge of magical power began to surround the brunette, causing Yuki to turn back at the girl.
"Aoi, stop it! The fight is over! You don't have to keep fighting!" The ravenette yelled.
"Shut up! I already told you that I won't stop until I find Rito Kasuga…and if you continue to get in my way." Her eyes glared heatedly at the ravenette.
"Then I'll end you as well." Just as she said that, a magical circle appeared and one of the lances managed struck the ground near where Yuki stood, causing it to explode as the ravenette jumped to the side. She made an attempt to get back up but flinched in pain as she stared at her right leg.
'Damn it! Not now!' The girl cursed her luck as Eara quickly picked her up, in the nick of time, to avoid another barrage of lances headed her way.
"This is starting to look bad, Yuki. She won't stop her attacks." Eara muttered in worry as Yuki couldn't help but agree as sadness filled her chest.
While she knows that the girl was her enemy, she couldn't find it in herself to hurt her after seeing the look in her eyes.
This continued for the next few moments as Aoi used her magic to the best of her abilities, using whatever method she could to attack Yuki and Eara. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, they managed to avoid every thing she threw at them. On the other hand, despite being in a free position to strike the brunette, Yuki showed no action of wanting to do so.
If anything, the only thing she did was dodge or defend against the attacks fired at her.
"Why…? WHY aren't you fighting back?!" the little girl yelled out as she watched Yuki get attacked repeatedly by her lances, yet no matter how many times the ravenette gets struck, she always gets back up with no hint of retaliation.
The ravenette slowly began to push herself up, wobbling slightly as she did so, but she still succeeded in doing so, as she panted heavily.
"It's because I know you're not actually a bad person at heart." The ravenette smiled warmly and Aoi's eyes widened in shock when she heard that and her body begins to shake.
A younger Aoi looked up to her father who placed a gentle hand atop her head and smiled, "After all, you'll always be my angel with a heart of gold, alright?"
Her father's warm words suddenly appeared in the girl's mind.
'Shut up…'
"That's why no matter how difficult the situation is, just know that I'll always be with you to support you."
"I said shut up!" Aoi screamed out in rage as her magical power erupted, the sheer force of it was enough to push Yuki back.
"Nothing you do or say will stop me achieve my goal! Because of Rito Kasuga my father was killed in an experiment! He was the only person who loved me! Who cared for me! What do you know about being lonely anyways?!" Aoi yelled out as what seemed like an endless number of weapons appeared in front of the brunette before they were all fired at Yuki.
Bruises and scratches began to form around the ravenette's body as she faced a relentless attack from the brunette.
"You'll never understand my pain!" Aoi roared in adulterated anger as she endlessly began firing off blade after blade, weapon after weapon at Yuki and Eara, who were slowly beginning to slow down after the attacks.
"Yuki…I don't know how much longer I can last." Eara whined and the ravenette could understand, seeing as she was feeling exhausted from everything as well.
"Don't worry Eara, you can leave it up to me now." While the Exceed was feeling concerned over her partner, she decided to do as she was told and dropped the girl.
"Just give up, you'll never defeat me." Aoi glared at the girl, who chose not to respond and maintained her battle stance. Annoyed by this, the brunette raised her hand and pointed at the ravenette.
"It's to finish this once and for all!" she announced and activated her magic, ready to impale Yuki with multitude of weapons.
…
…
…
…
…
Yet, nothing happened.
Confused by this at first, Aoi's eyes widened in horror.
'I exhausted my entire magic container!' The brunette thought as she desperately tried to summon more weapons, yet she could only watch as nothing took place.
Noticing this, Yuki limped over towards Aoi, who noticed this fearfully.
"Stay back!" Aoi yelled out in fear as she curled herself up into a ball as she shut her eyes, waiting to feel pain from her opponent.
Yet, it never arrived. Instead, all she felt was a gentle sensation atop her head which caused the brunette to slowly open her eyes to see Yuki gently patting her head.
"I know how you feel…because I'm exactly like you…" The ravenette smiled as she stared at the girl whose eyes widened in surprise.
"I'm unable to use magic at all…" Yuki revealed causing Aoi's eyes to widen in shock at the revelation.
"B-but how?"
"I have no idea, and frankly I would love to know the reason why…but I don't. That's why I can understand your feelings of loneliness…because as much as I'm surrounded with my friends and family…I could never be like them." Yuki admitted with a tearful smile.
"It's always painful to be compared to my family members, especially when they're such legends and you're considered as the odd one out…" The girl bit her lips when she mentioned that.
Being the daughter and granddaughter of well-known public figures hadn't made the pressure on her any lighter, especially when her magical prowess was practically non-existent. She was not unaware of all the comments and criticisms made about her in the guild, especially for those who thought she wasn't listening. It had genuinely hurt, but fortunately she had her family and friends to not only reassure her, but to assist her in her training.
However, even then, would she always go through moments of uncertainty, of anxiousness about her biggest flaw. She would be unable to relate to her closest friends about their hardships about learning magic or even experience the feeling of learning various spells. All because she was still unable to tap into her magical abilities.
She was just Yuki Fullbuster…a fraud.
"Why…? Why would you tell me this?" The brunette asked in confusion. Unsure why the ravenette was telling her all of this.
"Because you're not alone in this world, Aoi." The girl's eyes widened.
"You may think that you're alone in this world, but I can assure you that you're not. There'll always be someone that will care for you, even if you don't know it yourself."
"Why would you help me? I've already committed many wrongdoings while I was at Neo Elements…I don't deserve any shred of kindness!"
"Because I know that deep down, you're a kind girl. You'd never want to hurt anyone…I don't need to know you to understand that." Yuki smiled through her pain as Aoi's eyes widened at her words before tears began to form.
"I'm sorry…" tears slowly began to stream down the girl's face as she sobbed into her hands.
"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" she repeated.
Yuki smiled as she petted the girl's head with a gentle smile on her face.
"It's okay, you're not alone anymore, Aoi." The brunette slowly looked up at the girl, and for the first time in years, let out a bright smile.
"Thank you, Yuki. For helping me remember my father's words after all these years." She smiled tearfully as she hugged the ravenette, who was surprised by this, but quickly returned the hug.
The heartwarming moment would have continued…had it not been for one lone Dragon Slayer.
"So, you're done on your end too, huh?" The ravenette looked up to see Natsu standing by the door with an emotionless look on his face as he stared at the Aoi.
"Hold on Natsu, she's-"
"I know." He interrupted before she could defend the little brunette.
"I was outside the entire time. I waited to see if you would be able to deal with your opponent by the time I got here, but it appears not."
"Well, why didn't you say that sooner? I was worried all for nothing!" Yuki sighed in relief. Though that was when his words registered in her head which caused her to face him incredulously.
"Hold on a minute… Natsu, didn't you say you had to deal with the person who was pretending to be a butler?" Yuki asked in confusion.
"Yeah, I did." He nodded his head.
"Then… how are you here already?"
"Huh, can't you figure it out already? I defeated him." Natsu announced nonchalantly as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Wait, b-but Nakamura was the strongest out of all the Neo Elements Admin, how did you manage to beat him that fast?" Aoi asked frightfully as she hid behind Yuki as best she could.
"…He was strong?" Natsu questioned, placing a hand on his chin, recalling the 'fight' he had with the blue haired male.
Flashback
"Take this! Elemental Blast!" Several colours began surrounding Nakamura as he extended his palm out before firing off orbs of different colours at the pinkette.
Though Natsu easily avoided his attack before engulfing his fists with flames before sending a direct punch at his enemy who could do nothing but take the attack directly.
The force of the attack was enough to send the bluenette crashing into a nearby wall, which not only caused the man's body to crash through it, but it also rendered him unconscious from the strike.
'Was that all? I expected more of a fight from someone who seemed so confident in his abilities.' The Dragon Slayer thought with a sigh before deciding to head over to where Yuki was.
Flashback Ends
"…And that was about it." He finished causing the three in the room to sweat drop at his nonchalance.
"T-that's crazy…" Aoi exclaimed in pure shock.
"Don't worry, the more you spend time with him, the more you'll find out just how much of an abnormality he really is." The girl said with a gentle smile directed towards the younger girl.
'I'm kinda grateful that I didn't have to fight a monster like him.' Aoi thought with a shiver as she stared at the pinkette who had his eyes on the girl beside her.
'I didn't think she'd be able to talk her way through to her enemies the way she did…' Natsu thought as he watched the ravenette talk excitedly with the little brunette who was shyly responding back to her.
'Guess it's exactly as I thought before… she's still too naïve about the world.' He narrowed his eyes as he watched the two.
There was once a time when he believed that by speaking with his enemies, he'd be able to convince them to stop committing the crimes they were doing.
While there were times when it was effective… most times it proved to be nothing more but a waste of time, and ever since what happened in the past, he had thrown away such a pointless ideology and actually looked at the current society they were all living in.
A battlefield which would swallow the weak if given an opportunity to… Libel City was the very definition of that.
"So, what's going to happen now?" Yuki asked, breaking the Dragon Slayer out of his small trance.
"Well, even if we managed to defeat their admins, our mission isn't over until we capture Suzuki and stop his plans." That was when the pinkette turned over to Aoi, who jolted up the moment he faced her.
"Do you know where your boss is hiding?"
Location: Abandoned Building in Libel City
Despite the worn-out exterior of the building, located inside was a fancy room filled with ostentatious displays spread about the room. Inside the room was a single middle-aged man with green hair as he held a glass of wine in one hand, 'It'll only be a matter of time before Laura Kasuga will be brought over to me…and when that happens Rito will regret ever messing with me.' The man smirked.
However, that was when he faced a rude awakening as the doors to his room was immediately busted open causing him to get out of his seat in shock.
"What on Earthland?!"
It was at that moment when Natsu walked into his room.
"So, you must be Suzuki, our client told us a lot about you." The pinkette said.
"What are you doing here?!" Suzuki jumped out of his chair in shock, as he prepared to make a run for it only for a pillar of flames to surround him.
"You're not going anywhere." The green-haired man looked defeated for a moment before a smirk emerged from his face.
"It doesn't matter that you have here, as long as my men are able to find that blasted Kasuga and his daughter, it'll be my win!"
"Sorry to disappoint but there's no chance that you'd be able to find them." Natsu explained causing Suzuki to laugh maniacally.
"You might think that they'd be able to run away from here, but I've set up a master plan to prevent them from leaving the city. And eventually they'll be found by one of my men!" However, a ghost of a smirk appeared on the Dragon Slayer's face.
"The only reason I'm here now is precisely because all of your men have been defeated. In fact, all of them have already captured by the Magic Council. Face it, you lost Suzuki." Natsu revealed causing the brunette to drop to his knees with a crazed look on his face.
"After everything I've done…I lost?" Suzuki clenched his fists tighly.
"No, I refuse to accept this! The only way you can stop me is by killing-" However, before the green-haired man was even able to finish his sentence, Natsu interrupted him with a single punch, as the man was knocked out unconscious as he dropped to the ground.
'Well, at least we're finally done with the mission and I don't have to stay here any longer.' The pinkette thought as he dragged the unconscious man out the room.
After returning back to the mansion with the unconscious Suzuki, Natsu made sure tie the green-haired man to prevent him from escaping. The moment he was done, Yuki, Eara and Aoi walked up to him.
"So, what will happen now?" Yuki asked curiously.
"After all the chaos done in the city? It's only a matter of time until the Magic Council arrives in order to apprehend everyone involved."
True to Natsu's words, the Rune Knights eventually appeared with a carriage in order to capture the people who were responsible on the attack on the city.
"Is this man truly the leader of the Neo Elements?" The Rune Knights asked, pointing at the unconscious man.
"I'm sure the people you've captured can confirm it." The pinkette responded as he tossed over Suzuki to the Rune Knights who not only caught him but proceeded to throw him inside of the carriage.
Yuki grinned, "Well, now that that's done, we can-"
"We're not done yet girl." One of the Rune Knights exclaimed as he turned his attention to the brunette who stood next to her.
"Aoi Minami, as a member of the Neo Elements and for being part of the destruction on Libel City, you are hereby under arrest." One of the Rune Knights stated with narrowed eyes while Aoi had a nonchalant expression plastered on her face.
"Natsu, isn't there anything we can do to help her? She doesn't deserve this! She's just a child!" Yuki said to her partner who was watching the girl get cuffed by the guards with a frown on his face.
"If we were to do something now, it'd be more or less saying that we were her accomplices and get the Magic Council on US. Now, I don't care what you do, but need I remind you that we're currently on a journey?" Despite his pity towards the girl, the Dragon Slayer hardened his heart and glared at the ravenette who bit her lip in frustration.
"But-"
"It's alright." Everyone turned to face the owner of the voice and it was shortly revealed to be none other than Aoi herself who had turned back to face them.
She turned to face the guards with a frown on her face, and the guards looked at each other before turning back to the girl whom was looking up at them, her eyes clearly pleading with them. The two sighed and slightly moved away from her causing a wide smile to appear on her face as she uttered a soft 'thank you' to them before walking up to Yuki.
The guards watched over her cautiously as the small girl walked up to the ravenette.
"It's alright, Yuki. If this allows me to repent for all the crimes that I have committed, then so be it." Despite the heavy tension within the room, Aoi still managed to muster out a cheerful smile directed at the ravenette.
"By the time I come out, I promise that I'll change to become a better person. A person with a heart of gold." Recalling her father's words in her mind, the girl was determined to see things out, to ensure that it becomes a reality.
Walking into the wagon, Yuki and Eara could only watch her retreating figure with sad eyes before the Magic Council guards closed the door, sealing the girl's fate in prison.
After the entire ordeal with the Rune Knights, Natsu and Yuki went back to the forest where Fenrir and his pack of wolves were waiting for them.
"Thanks for your help, Fenrir. If not for you, there would have been more casualties." Natsu thanked the mythical beast who shook his head in response.
"(You need not thank me, Young Natsu. I was merely repaying a favour to an old friend)." He responded with a smile on his face.
"Even so, this mission would have been more troubling had it not been for you, so I thank you." Fenrir smiled in response to the boy as the mythical beast howled causing every single one of the smaller wolves to howl alongside their leader.
"W-what are they doing?" Yuki asked in shock as she stared at the pack.
"It's time for them to leave, they're just announcing it to the world." Natsu responded with his eyes closed.
And true to his words, Fenrir and the rest of the wolves all began to glow brightly and in a matter of seconds, they could only watch as the mighty beast vanish into the mist, and the moment it cleared, Fenrir was no longer standing in front of them.
"So…what are we going to do now?" Yuki asked curiously after a moment of silence.
Natsu carried on walking for a moment before turning back to face her, "There's still one more group we have to say goodbye to."
Location: Libel City Train Station
After dealing with all of the events that had taken place, Natsu and Yuki were now standing face to face with Rito and his daughter as the two were planning to head out of the city.
"Thank you for saving my daughter and I. We owe the three of you, our lives." Rito said with utmost joy on his face as he bowed down towards the three of them.
"Yes, I thank you all too for actively trying to save my life." Laura added as she too bowed down towards the three of them.
"Here's your reward for the quest. We made sure to add a little extra after everything that took place as thanks." Rito explained with a smile as he handed a large pouch filled with jewels to the pinkette who looked through the contents before accepting it with a nod.
"Thank you very much." He said as Yuki smiled next to him.
"We're just glad that you two are alright!"
"Yeah!" Eara added with a cheer as Rito smiled.
"If it isn't much… we thought we could get your names before we leave, at least to properly thank you for everything you've done for my daughter and I." Yuki turned to Natsu and wondered what he would do.
"Sorry to say, but we have been sworn to secrecy, so we won't give you, our names. As a consolation of sorts, you could call us by codenames instead?"
'Guess it makes sense.' The ravenette nodded her head. After all, despite the fact that they were people whom they've helped, they were still on the run from Fairy Tail and they needed to erase as much of their involvement.
"Well, I guess there's nothing we can do about that if that's the case." Rito accepted with a shrug.
"My name is Fire and the girl is Ice while the Exceed's name is Happy." Natsu announced and the girls turned to stare at him with a confused glance, but Rito didn't seem to notice this as he nodded his head.
"Fire, Ice and Happy, eh…? Well, I'm sure these codenames are in reference to something, hopefully we'll have a chance to figure it out."
"So, where will the two of you be going to now?" Eara asked curiously.
"We have another house back in Crocus where my wife is currently at with her parents, so we'll head over there right now and let her know of the incident that took place here. Though, I'm certain she might never leave our side because of it." The brunette said jokingly with a smile on his face.
Though that was when a loud alarm rang, signalling the arrival of a train.
"Well, that seems like our cue. Fire, Ice and Happy, I've already said it numerous times already, but I sincerely thank you for helping my daughter and I. I'm certain that if we had gotten any other mercenary to help us, we wouldn't have gotten away scot-free like we did today, so thank you."
"…We just made sure to do our jobs, there's nothing praiseworthy about it." Natsu responded as both he and Rito turned to the side and saw Laura and Yuki embracing each other as they say their goodbyes to each other.
The moment they parted, Laura then turned to face the pinkette and smiled before wrapping her body around his, much to everyone's shock. Natsu, to be fair to him, showed no reaction on his face as he allowed the girl to hug him.
"I wish you well on your journey too, Natsu." Laura whispered softly into his ears as he remained unmoving. The girl slowly untangled herself from him before walking back towards her father.
"If you ever need our assistance then please come look for us in Crocus, and we'll be sure to assist you in any way we possibly can." Rito said with a smile.
The two proceeded to enter the train as they waved goodbye to the trio before it began to depart.
A moment of silence passed by the three of them as they could only watch the train slowly disappear into the distance.
"So, what are we going to do now?" Yuki asked curiously as the Dragon Slayer placed a hand on his chin in thought.
While he would like to quickly move on to the next city, especially considering the events which had just taken place within the city may alert those in Fairy Tail, but one look at the girl and it was clear that she was in need of some rest.
"Since we just earned some money, it'd be better to stay here for another day so that we could gather all the supplies we need for our trip. There's no telling how long we'll be on the road for." He explained and while the duo were confused by this, they just nodded their head in understanding.
With that, the group headed towards the city to look for a place to stay for the night.
Location: Unknown
Sitting alone in a dark room was a lone figure, though due to the hood that he was wearing over his head, his features could not be recognised. The figure seemed to be engaging in a conversation with someone through a Lacrima.
"…Are you certain that it was him?"
"Yes sir, while his appearance may have changed, but there was showcases of fire magic that was used within the area, there's no way it could have been anyone else."
"Hmm…, well thank you for your report, you may be excused now." The figure said, getting a nod from the man who proceeded to turn off his connection.
'After so long, we've finally found you… Natsu Dragneel.' A dark smirk appeared on the figure's face as he chuckled to himself.
Side Story: Wherever the Leaves Blows
Delami closed his eyes as the wind softly blew at his face, the trees around him all gently rustling, all the worries that he was dealing with slowly vanishing.
He couldn't help but wonder how to properly fit into human society. His past hadn't allowed him to mingle much with many humans, but now that he had the freedom to do so, he struggled in dealing with them.
Perhaps that was something he needed to work on in the next village they headed to. Though, fortunately they wouldn't be as hard on him as the last.
'I better head back quickly before Nino notices that I'm gone. I would not like to get on her bad side.' He thought with a small smile on his face.
He never would have expected someone so small would have such a short temper as she.
End Chapter
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