Episode 002: Arrival at the Guild
Looking at the fabled Fairy Tail guild for the first time Ragna had expected to be struck with an immediate wave of awe or something, but he instead ended up feeling a slight twinge of disappointment. That wasn't to say that the place looked like a total dump, it just… it didn't look too different from the other buildings in town. The shape might've been a little weird and there were a banners hung outside, but honestly he felt that he would have completely missed this place if he didn't know what it really was.
'Maybe there's something majestic about it, something that you need two eyes or a history of this place to see,' he thought to himself as he turned towards Lucy, who's eyes were sparkling bright as she saw their destination. '...Or I might need to be a total Fairy Tail groupie…'
"I can't believe we're finally here!" Lucy said excitedly. "The whole town looked amazing, but the guild really puts it together." Again, Ragna had to question his view on the guild's design. "I… I can finally join," Lucy continued, nearly in tears.
"Hey c'mon, it's not that big of a deal," Natsu told her with a very laissez faire demeanor.
"Well it's obviously a big deal for her; so let's not ruin the moment," he told Natsu before sighing to himself. "Unfortunately though, it looks like this is where we part ways guys."
"Eh? You're leaving?" Lucy said, seeming to be disappointed that she had to say goodbye to Ragna even though she'd just met him yesterday (hey, when someone looks out for you to saves you from a love spell and slavers you tend to befriend them rather quick). "Don't you want to join the guild?"
"Can't," he told her bluntly. "I might be a tough son of a bitch even when I'm like this, but I don't know any magic. 'Sides, I'm more of a drifter anyways; staying in one place just ain't my style."
"If you like being a drifter so much, why'd you follow us?" Happy questioned.
"It was either I follow you or I was stuck to deal with the army and hope I could explain the mess you caused," he reminded before turning to the disheartened blonde. "Hey, keep your chin up. You'll do fine here, I know it."
"Thanks," Lucy said trying to keep her bright smile up. "I'll do my best."
"You want to at least come inside?" Natsu questioned. "Come on, you came all the way here with us. You might as well see what the place looks like."
'I guess there's no real reason for me to refuse,' Ragna thought before shrugging. "Whatever."
Smiling, Natsu opened the doors to the guild and the group slowly piled inside. There were several people there with some bizarre features about them. People were talking, drinking, and laughing with one another; a great sense of camaraderie filled the room.
"We're back!" Natsu called out. Everyone around the guild gave him a friendly wave except for one buck toothed wizard who simply laughed.
"I heard you went all out and destroyed Hargeon Natsu," he mocked slight, right before getting pummeled by Natsu and sent flying into a nearby wall. Angrily he picked himself out of the rubble. "What was that for!?"
"That salamander info you gave us was completely bogus!" Natsu shouted getting ready for a fight. "Igneel wasn't there at all! It was just some poser!"
"Well I just passed along the info!" the victim shouted as the two then started to exchange blows, sending several wizards flying. The guild of Fairy Tail already had a bar fight on its hands.
'This… is not what I expected,' Ragna thought as he gave a familiar anime style sweat drop. Turning to Lucy, he clearly saw that she was still smiling without a concern in the world. 'She must still be starstruck, it's the only way.'
"So Natsu finally came back did he!?" an angry challenger shouted. Ragna saw a dark haired teen stand from the table to engage in his own fight… wearing nothing but boxers.
"Eek!" Lucy screamed with a deep blush on her face as the challenger headed towards Natsu.
"Hey fire breath! Fight me!"
"Not before you put some clothes on Grey!" Natsu shouted as he sent another three people into a wall.
"Is-is it usually like this?" Lucy thought aloud.
"Aye!" came Happy's himself-go-lucky response.
"Seems like a damn pain in the ass," Ragna groaned. "...I need a drink."
"You and me both," said an alluring woman with brown hair and light skin sitting at a table a short distance from them. "The men here have absolutely no class." Which was ironic because she immediately started chugging her booze out of a massive barrel.
"On second thought, day drinking has its own problems," Ragna decided with a cast over expression.
"You're right, I wouldn't copy what Cana's doing if I were you," came yet another new voice as large silver haired man with a scar under his right eye said. "It take a real man to know when not to drink. Just like it takes a real man to know this bickering is pointless."
"...You don't say," Ragna awkwardly answered as the large newcomer headed over towards Natsu and Grey.
"Hey Natsu! Grey! If you want a fight then come take on a real man!"
"BUTT OUT, ELFMAN!" the two shouted in unison as they blasted him away unison strike from their fists.
"Well that didn't last very long," Ragna sighed as Lucy gawked at the scene before them while the brawl continued. "Is there no one normal around here?"
"In the Fairy Tail guild? I honestly, doubt it. Everyone besides me can't help but get into a fight the first chance they get." The tone that the voice had spoken in was one that Ragna unfortunately knew quite well. Cringing as he turned his head, his emerald green eye landed on a light haired young man with a girl on each arm, both of them clearly swooning over him. "Hi there, I'm Loke. Haven't see either of you around before."
'Another ladies man, AMATERASU WHY!?' Ragna shouted internally right before Loki was stuck in the head by debris from the fighting.
"On second thought, I'll gladly step in… only if it's to protect the maidens fair," Loki said with a charming smile that Ragna was sick of seeing everywhere he went.
"Oh, he's so brave," one girl sighed.
"And such a gentleman," the other giggled.
"Yare yare daze," Ragna groaned as Lucy wrote something in one of her magazines. "Are you sure you want to join this guild? No offense, but I don't think your sanity would last an hour here."
"Excuse me, can I help either of you?" a lady asked from behind them. The Reaper turned to see a ravishing girl with long white hair elegantly carrying a tray of drinks in her hand. Something about her seemed oddly familiar.
"Oh. My. Gosh!" Lucy squealed right beside Ragna, causing him to grimace as she did so right into his ear. "It's THE Mirajane!"
"Miraja-?" he repeated before realizing. "Oh right, the one wearing the bikinis in that pinup book you have."
"Pinup book?" Mira repeated with innocent confusion.
"BE QUIET!" Lucy shouted as she kicked Ragna into a nearby pillar causing the Reaper yelled as he smacked into it face first. "I'm so sorry! Don't pay any attention to him, he doesn't know what he's talking about."
"Alright then," the model said, appearing to be mostly unfazed… at least she was before Elfman's ragdoll body slammed into her.
"Mirajane!" Lucy screamed as her idol appeared to go unconscious. "Don't die! You can't die! I just met youuuuuuuu!" In the background the battle was starting to get more chaotic as the fist fights were starting to become even more fierce, Cana started drinking even stronger alcohol, Loke started showing off for the girls, and Natsu for some reason stole Grey's underwear.
"Alright, that's it…" Ragna growled before tensing his body. He then roared his simple demand and slammed his fist down into the floor with enough force to make the entire guild rumble. "SHUT UP!"
All at once the fighting seemed to cease; the guild member's turned their gazes to the half paralyzed, silver haired, red coated man whom they'd never seen before in their lives that had just broken several floorboards when he quite literally shook their home. Feeling uncomfortable with the attention and looking for a way out, Ragna grabbed Lucy by the arm and brought her forward.
"Hey! What're you-!?"
"Who's in charge here!? This one's looking to join your guild! ...And Natsu, give the guy his trunks back, alright?" He carried a harsh glare, almost as if he was daring the guild to resume their fistfight. Not accepting the daring glare everyone's attention turned to Lucy while Natsu (begrudgingly) complied.
"Uh… Hi e-everyone, I-I'm Lucy," the blonde said nervously . Ragna rolled his good eye and poked her in the middle of the forehead. "Hey!"
"Loosen up a bit, eh? I don't think they're going to bite you," he said with a sigh. "Well? Is the guy in charge here or not?"
"HE IS." That monstrous voice was shortly followed as a massive foot slammed to the ground. Ragna and Lucy were immediately dwarfed by the shadowy giant that towered over the rest of the guild.
"Oh, I didn't think you were still here master," Mira (apparently quick to recover) said, causing Lucy to scream.
"SO…. YOU'RE LOOKING TO JOIN FAIRY TAIL ARE YOU!?" the giant demanded as it leaned towards the blonde.
"Y-yes sir…" a cowering Lucy admitted as she shivered with fright. "I-I'll prove to you that I'm worthy of Fairy Tail!"
"Oi, if you're going to try and put on a brave face…." an annoyed Ragna began before glancing behind him. "You can at least stop using me as a shield."
The giant then gave a massive roar as power flowed out of it. Lucy screamed while Ragna tried to brace himself should it attack… only to watch as the giant shrank to a rather miniature man, cartoonishly miniature at that.
"Some kind of size spell?" Ragna thought aloud. "Are you really the guild leader?"
"Of course he is!" Mira said with a beaming smile. "Allow me introduce the third guild leader of Fairy Tail, Makarov."
'Damn, I'm not getting a reading on this guy's power,' Ragna thought as the tiny old man leapt to the second floor. 'Is it because I lost control of my arm, or is it because this magic doesn't work like Ars Magus?'
"You clots are going to be the death of me," Makarov grumbled as he grabbed out a large pile of paper from the second floor. "Look at all of these complaints! Grey, you've been charged with stripping in public. Elfman, you verbally assaulted your client for saying that real men don't need muscles. Cana drank the shipment of beer she was supposed to escort. Loke had to go and flirt with his client's wife again. And Natsu… YOU'VE DESTROYED AN ENTIRE TOWN! And these are just the tip of the iceberg!"
'Is this really what the Fairy Tail guilds known for?' the Reaper thought as he saw the guild members with guilty looks upon their faces. 'Jeeze, what a place. They must have to shovel out fees like-'
"But to hell with 'em!" Makarov shouted as he lit the complaints on fire.
"SAY WHAT!?" Ragna shouted as the guild master tossed away the burning complaints (which were devoured by Natsu). "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!?"
"If we allow a few complaints to get in the way of our magic, who are we to call ourselves true wizards?! Magic doesn't exist because of some pesky set of rules, it exists by the creativity, passion, and spirit of its user! If we don't give it our all we can't achieve that which we strive for, our very dreams would be forever out of reach! Believe in yourself and your guildmates to strive forward! That's all you need… AS A FAIRY TAIL WIZARD!"
"FAIRY TAIL!" the guild shouted as a whole, many members raising an arm and pointing a single finger skyward. Lucy's eyes sparkled as she realized that this was the guild spirit that she had heard of. The connection between each member, the chaos caused on the mission; it was all she had dreamed it would be.
...Ragna was merely at a loss for words.
And then
"Annnnnd that should do it," Mirajane happily told Lucy as she brought the stamp off of her hand revealing a Fairy Tail marker on the back of the blonde's hand.
Lucy then gave a squeal of excitement as she ran off to show Natsu, leaving Ragna by the front desk.
"Is it really that easy to get in?" he asked Mira at the front.
"It's not supposed to that hard, we're not a completely exclusive guild," she replied. "Besides, she came in with a recommendation from Natsu and that's worth a lot."
"Any particular reason you're asking?" Makarov questioned.
"Well… when the three of us met, there was this Bora creep who kept telling everyone that he was the famous Salamander of Fairy Tail. He even promised Lucy that he could get her into the guild if she went to his stupid party." Ragna grit his teeth at the memory. "Bastard turned out to be a damned slaver with a ship full of hired thugs."
"Is that right?" Makarov's voice had a heavy touch of suspicion in it. "I take it you helped in the ensuing fight?"
"I took out the goons no problem sure, but Bora was all Natsu's doing… which is why the town was blown to hell," he admitted with a sigh. "Probably shouldn't have let him do the fight on his own like he'd wanted."
"Master Makarov, has my dad come back yet?" a young voice questioned the head of the guild. Seeing that this was guild business, Ragna got out of the way and headed to find Lucy.
"So… this is goodbye then?" she asked as Natsu looked over the board. Ragna paid attention to what she was saying, but he couldn't help but overhear the kid that was begging to the guild master, something about his dad who hadn't come back.
"Yeah, I guess…" he said before smirking. "Take care of yourself alright? Life in this guild isn't gonna be any breeze, but I have a feeling you can take whatever comes your way."
"Well, if you think I can do it then I really have no reason to fail do I?" she asked right before she heard Makarov yelp in pain. Turning her head to the front desk she saw the guild master with a broken nose as the boy from earlier ran for the exit crying. "What just happened?"
"That boy…" Makarov groaned. "When will he learn that all he's endangering is his father's pride?"
"Pride?" Ragna repeated before hearing Natsu's slam his fist into the request board, cause nearby wizards to scold his behavior. "So… his dad's MIA?"
"Yeah, for a while now," Mira explained sadly from behind the front desk as the Fire Dragon Slayer grabbed his supplies and left the guild.
"And Natsu's going off to find him," Makarov said with a sigh. "Of course he would, those two have more in common than they let on."
"What does that mean?" Lucy asked.
"It means that they've both lost someone," Mirajane explained. "Romeo's missing his father and Natsu doesn't want him to lose him like he lost Igneel."
"The dragon?" Ragna said with slight doubt. "...Were they close?"
"Yes, Igneel found Natsu when he was just a baby; he raised him, fed him, taught him… and then he vanished. Natsu tries not to show it, but everyday he gets just a little more hopeful that he'll be able to find him…"
"Damn," Ragna said simply before turning to Lucy. "Go follow 'im, he could use a good friend now."
"...Yeah," she agreed with a sad smile before running off after the pink haired mage. "Thanks for everything Ragna! I swear we'll see each other again!"
"Count on it!" Ragna called after her as she left the guild. He gave one last long sigh. "Guess it's time for me to finally leave then."
"You're not here to join the guild then?" Makarov questioned.
"I can't; you had a rousing speech an' all, but I don't know any magic. I'd probably be better off doing freelance work or living out in the woods. A nice quiet life like that sounds nice."
"Hmm…" Makarov hummed to himself as he looked at the contents of his tankard. "Are you letting that stand in your way or are you simply trying to leave?"
"Come again?" the Reaper questioned, not sure what the old man was suggesting. The master didn't answer him immediately, first taking a long drink of his beer.
"...Even if you don't know magic, that doesn't mean you can't join this guild," he finally said.
"Wha-!? Master are you serious?" Elfman demanded. "No offense, but that seems like a pretty large exception to make for one person that we don't know anything about!"
"Perhaps, but he certainly seems able if he managed to assist Natsu," the elderly man began. "Besides, when was the last time someone besides me or her was able to stop a brawl at the guild?"
'Her?' Ragna thought as he saw everyone's expression turn uncomfortably pale. 'Looks like this place has its own resident demoness…'
"So my offer… Take one of the jobs on the board, I think there might be an easy local one or two on there. Prove that you can accomplish that much and you can join. We can help you get started with some basic lessons afterwards."
"I get it," Grey began as he got a grasp on Makarov's thinking. "And if he doesn't learn magic for whatever reason, he's probably strong enough to still head with other guild members as back up on their jobs."
"Grey, your clothes," Cana called him out again, causing Grey to gag as he realized he'd unintentionally stripped to his boxers again.
'He wants me here for some reason, and stopping fights in the guild ain't the full story,' Ragna thought to himself as he caught where Makarov's eyes were really pointed, his paralyzed right arm. 'He knows something about my arm… or he knows that something's up with it at least. If I walk away here am I just admitting something or…?'
"Not to mention," the old man began once more. "It might be possible to find some way to heal your condition, given time." It was a tempting offer, one that made it all the more challenging for Ragna to get a proper understanding on the guild leader's true character.
"...Fine, I'll give it a shot," Ragna eventually relented as he headed back to the notice board. "I could use the money anyways."
"As good of a reason as any," Makarov agreed. "But I imagine that if you put your effort into your work you'll start to look forward to the jobs themselves more so than the rewards they offer. Cana, if you could make him a quick set of the basics. Two of five types of spells, just so he'll have something to get him through safely."
"Yeah, sure," the heavy drinker answered without conviction, yet she still pulled out a few blank cards and began writing on them. While she worked on that Ragna looked over the notice board for a job that he could take.
'Let's see… there's a job to find a sacred sword that's offering a decent clump of cash, but I'll probably need a ton of magic for it. There's another one that's asking me to wipe out a group of thugs, but I don't know the city that's its being held. There's no telling what's out there right now, so I oughta stick close.'
"Do you want some help?" he heard Mira offer from besides him. "I often set up the notice board, so I can help get you they type of mission that you're looking for."
"Yeah, that'd save me a headache," Ragna admitted with a nod. "I'm trying to find something that's local, doesn't take too much magic to do, and shouldn't take more than a day to take care of… points if there's some fighting to be done."
"Those types of jobs don't pay out that much money, but it should be alright if you're just doing it to prove yourself to Makarov," she told him with a pleasant smile as she looked over the board. "Oh, this one should be perfect. It's a gathering mission."
"Gathering? You mean I need to head into the wild and get find some basic odds and ends? Sounds easy enough, but why would they need a wizard for something like this?"
"Some items can be easier to find if you're a wizard, other times the patches that they use for gathering have monsters around them. This request looks like it's more of the latter, so you'll get into a fight or two like you wanted."
"Looks like we've got a winner then," Ragna agreed.
"Excellent, I'll write up a note from the guild for the client so they can understand why you don't have the official Fairy Tail sigil on you," the young lady told him as she headed back to the front desk. While she got the paperwork settled, Cana headed over to Ragna with a few magic cards in her hand.
"Here," she said handing the majority of them to Ragna. "They're not strong, but they'll help get you started. Just act like you're channeling magic into the card and they'll take care of the rest of the incantation. Just channel and throw."
"Alright…" Ragna said as he looked over the cards. "I… I think I've got an idea how this works."
"Might as well play it safe," Cana told him. "Hey Grey, you mind?"
"Nah, it's not a problem," Grey said before putting his hands together and creating a blue magic circle. "Ice Make: Wall!" A thick wall of ice appeared between him and Ragna, causing the temperature to go down several degrees in the guild, Leaving the barrier in place, Grey got out from behind it.
"Alright, try out one of the Fireball cards that I got for you," Cana told him. "Remember, just channel and throw. It's as basic as you can get."
'I'd rather have a sword to swing,' Ragna thought to himself. 'Well, beggar's can't be choosers.' Pouring his power into one of the two cards with a flame on it (similar to how he used the BlazBlue), Ragna flung the card towards the ice wall and created a massive explosion of flames. When the fire faded, the ice wall was completely gone and the floor beneath was badly charred. "Did I do it right?"
"You… your fireball was a bit… stronger than I was expecting," Cana told him with some surprise on her face. "And you've never used magic before?"
"...Beginner's luck," Ragna lied as he tried not be unnerved as Makarov continued to analyze him and his arm.
And then what happened
"Looks like this is the place," Ragna noted as he stood in front of the shop that would be desiring his services.
Like the Fairy Tail guild, the building didn't stand out much from any other building in the rest of the town. A simple two story brick and wood home that looked like it'd had its first floor remodeled to act as sort of a shop. The wooden sign outside showed two sword-crossed sewing needles placed on top of a piece of fabric while the needles were connected by a string tied around each of the loops. In the shop's right window there was a set of silk wear and dresses while the window left of the door showed off leather jackets and the like. Dramatically different styles, but he assumed it was to cover a broader range of customers.
'Yeah, this is the clothes shop alright. At least it was easy finding the place,' he thought before turning the guild note over revealing the instruction on the back. 'Would've taken me forever if Mirajane hadn't told me how to get here, plus she helped me find this job in the first place, and there's the fact that she's the most levelheaded person I've met here… Maybe Lucy could use her as a role model after all…'
Pushing those thoughts out of his head for the moment, Ragna opened the door to the shop inside he saw a young woman sitting behind the desk looking bored out of her mind since she didn't even look up at the sounds of a door ringing at the front. Her hair was a strange shade of violet and it was shaved down on the left side while long and spiky on the right. She was dressed in biker leather and was tapping a fingerless-gloved knuckle on the desk in a rhythmic order like she'd already grown impatient with him just walking through the front door.
"Welcome to the Punk and Chic fashion salon," she said with boredom as if she were reading it from a card. "Our special sales for today are the Buy a punk get a chic at half off and a free store tee with every outfit. If you try to leave without buying anything I get to wreak your face at least once."
'No wonder they don't have any customers. With that kinda attitude it's a wonder they're not already out of business,' Ragna thought as his good eye narrowed into a glare. "Yeah, well I'm here about the request."
"...Someone actually answered that job that pays peanuts? You must've been born yesterd-" she couldn't answer as she finally looked up to face the new arrival. Ragna began to grow rather uncomfortable as she stared with wide gaping eyes at him. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"
"I told you; I'm here for the job request," he explained yet again as she got out from behind the desk and marched towards him. "Hey, the hell's your deal?"
"My DEAL is that I've never seen someone be so uncaring towards a coat in their life!" she shouted as she more or less stole the jacket off of Ragna in one fluid motion. "The very craftsmanship on this is amazing! The material must've taken forever to create, the metal plates have been perfectly smithed, the belts the exact length… And you tear it up in a fight on the schoolyard!"
"...Schoolyard fight?" Ragna repeated as he though back to the titanic battle of how he got those marks on his jacket. 'I doubt Susanoo Terumi would like to be called a schoolyard brat, but what the hell do I care about him?'
"Are you scaring away another customer?" a new voice said as a different girl came down from the shop's second floor. This girl had blonde hair nearly as bright as Lucy's, but had it done into curls. She was wearing an old fashioned silk ballroom dress. "I turn my back for one moment and you have to ruin any chance we get of making a sale!"
"At least I don't cut the price of everything in half just because someone asks me if they can get a special deal, softy!"
"That's called bartering! You're just too thick to know it!"
"Softy!"
"Thick!"
"Softy!"
"Extra Thicc!"
"ENOUGH!" Ragna shouted with rage, breaking up a fight for the second time that day. "I'm not a paying customer, I'm here because of the damn guild request!"
"Hold on, you're from Fairy Tail?" the unnamed blond girl questioned. "Why have I never seen you in town until now?" Ragna handed her the letter which she quickly read over. "Oh, that explains it. Anyways, sorry about Beth's aggressive side, she's usually like that."
"Tch, I ain't apologizing," said the girl now known as Beth.
"I'd be shocked if you did. My name's Annalisa and I work with the leather in the shop."
"Wait, you work with the leather?" Ragna asked the girl in the silk dress with confusion. "That's…" 'Don't question it Ragna, we don't need to know how strong migraine medicine is on only our second day here.' "Never mind, so where am I going and what am I looking for?"
"Just to the forest outside of town, I've got a map that'll lead you to the mushroom patch I need you to find. They've got red caps with pink dots over them. Hard to miss."
"Yeah, with colors like that," Ragna reluctantly agreed. "So what's guarding them?"
"Monsters called Fungoides, they look like giant mushrooms and will try to suffocate you with a spray of their pollen to the face," Beth explained to him. "You… don't use fire magic do you?"
"I can," Ragna told her, remembering the card he'd used from earlier.
"Well whatever happens, don't use it. The pollen on these mushrooms is highly flammable and it'll ruin the entire patch. We only need about ten mushrooms to get us by, so try to get 'em and run out of there as fast as you can."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Ragna muttered. "Now give me my jacket back and I'll be on my way."
"Why, so you can finish tearing it to shreds?" Beth demanded, getting right in Ragna's face with a glare. "I'm not going to let a beautiful creation like this to be ruined beyond imagine!"
"And what about that hakama?" Annalisa as noted as she looked at Ragna's black bloodstained clothes. "That could also use a good washing… Tell you what, as a onetime deal we'll repair both for you while you're on the job."
"Seriously!?" Beth shouted, annoying the Reaper even further with all of the screaming he was hearing. "Why the hell are we doing this for free!?"
"Free? Whoever said anything about that?" the leatherworker rhetorically asked with a cruel smile on her face, unnerving Ragna to no end.
And then
"Dammit, how the hell did I let them talk me into this?" Ragna grumbled as he made his way through the forest just outside of town. "Giving up my clothes for 'em to fix is bad enough, but wearing this through town is pushing it!"
While the outfit that Ragna was wearing wasn't clownish or unflattering in any sense of either adjective, the mere fact that he'd been coerced into wearing them was more than enough to piss him off. He wore a white tee shirt with a black sketch of the shop's insignia on it, the short sleeves continued to allow his artificial arms to be shown off in full. His black pants had been traded for light tan cargo shorts with several pocket where he kept both his wallet and the cards that Cana had given him to get him through the mission. The oddest change, by far had been his shoes. Since the material had been damaged in the fight the girls had still insisted on taking them from him for repairs they'd left him wearing a pair of geta; those wooden sandals you sometimes see samurai wearing.
"There's a reason that I never wear anything other than my coat; I'd look ridiculous in just about anything else. They better keep their word that they're just going to repair the coat, I'll charge them a fortune if they try to change or add anything on it," he promised as he looked at the map he'd been given. "According to this thing I don't have far to go… Heh, if I was doing this with Celica I'd be out here all week and I doubt I'd get anywhere near the patch."
As Ragna continued to travel the path he started to hear shuffling sounds coming from around the trees. Knowing full well that it could be a group of the Fungoid creatures, Ragna reached inside his pocket for the cards.
'Their pollen is supposed to be flammable, so that second fire card's out unless I want to burn this place to the ground,' Ragna thought before taking a card out with a snowflake design on it. 'This should be fine to use, just gotta make sure I don't use it too early.' More shuffling from a bush near him. Ragna watched it carefully as the vegetation slowly began to wither and die before revealing three Fungoides.
Their mushroom cap tops came up only to Ragna's waist and the body below was pale and bulbous. They had tiny arms, but long root-like fingers. The creatures tilted their heads and eyed Ragna with a sort of childish innocence.
'These things are going to suffocate me? They don't look like they'd hurt a fly,' Ragna thought to himself before glance to the bush that they drained nutrition from. 'Then again just because something's innocent doesn't mean it's not deadly.'
He didn't throw the card just yet, nor did he channel his energy to activate its effect. He instead decided to continue on his way and pay the creatures little mind. It turned out that was the correct decision, because the group then decided to head off in a different direction to search for more food. Knowing how certain creatures acted having experience in hunting, he figured that as long as he didn't attack any of them they wouldn't respond in kind… at least he hoped that was the case.
Meanwhile Back at the Fairy Tail Guild
"Man, this isn't getting me anywhere…" a young blue haired mage sighed as she looked through the several tomes situated on the table around her. She was busily flipping through page after page of the book in her hands while her eyes beneath her glasses darted left and right as she read its contents at high speed. "No matches here either…"
"I take it progress is slow then?" Makarov asked as the tiny guild leader walked up beside her. "Sorry again for asking you to do this, Levy. It looks like I held you back for nothing."
"No I don't mind, I'm just sorry that I haven't found anything in these texts that could be Ragna's arm… you're sure it can be a magic item?"
"I honestly don't know," he admitted as he took a seat at the end of the table. "I only know that I didn't sense a thing from his arm. Not a piece of his life force, not an ounce of magic energy… yet it almost seemed organic, artificially so."
"...Did you really mean what you said to him, about healing his arm?" the blue haired girl asked him concern as she began scanning a different book.
"That's up to him, depending on his attitude he might have to live with an arm like that for the rest of his life… which begs the question, if it's so useless why has he kept it for so long?"
"Maybe he doesn't have a choice?" Levy suggested. "There could be some sort of curse on it?"
"If there was I'd have noticed," Makarov reminded with a sigh. "He's a mystery that one…"
"Master, if he's such a mystery then why'd you let him into the guild?" Mirajane asked as she approached the two. "You'd never let a threat to any of us into our guild, I know you well enough for that."
"It's to make sure I can keep a closer eye on him," the elderly man admitted. "He's an odd one alright and very irritable to boot, yet he arrived here with Natsu. That young boy seems to have taken an early liking to him and I've never known Natsu to be a poor judge of character. And that girl they arrived with, Lucy, she seems to have respect for him despite supposedly meeting the two of them yesterday… There's just too much we don't know."
"So you're going to be judging him from afar until you can come to a decision?" Levy guessed. "I guess that works, but what about having the guild help him learn magic? Did you mean that too?"
"Indeed," Makarov told her. "I'll start him off with the basic elemental spells and then I'll try to see if there's something more advanced that these old bones can't show him…"
"Eh? You're going to be teaching him yourself?" Mira asked with shock. "But that's almost unheard of from you!"
"Indeed, but then again we've never encountered a situation like this before either; learning spells will be a result of my teachings for sure, but with my select methods of teaching I can try to have it be a trial of his character down the road."
Meanwhile
"ACHOO!" Ragna sneezed violently. "Damn, either the pollen's starting to get to me or someone's saying nasty things about me behind my back." He tried to shake the feeling off as he took another look at the map. "According to this thing I should be getting pretty damn close… ah, here we go."
Passing through the tree line, Ragna finally came across the mushrooms he'd come to the forest to find. The was a giant gathering of patches full of several dozens of mushrooms, but from what he could tell there were only a few that matched what he was after for the job.
"Let's see…Red caps and pink dots," he thought aloud as he opened the small sack he'd brought with him. "Here's one." Reaching his arm out he picked the mushroom and tossed it into the bag. "Damn, I barely touched it and my hand's completely covered in pollen… Hmm?" From within the pile a tiny little Fungoid popped out and stared at him with curious eyes. "...What're you looking at?"
The creature didn't respond immediately and the two just stared at each other in a long moment of silence. Then the creature slowly started to expand causing Ragna to take a step back in concern before it blew a thick cloud of pollen at him. Leaping back he managed to escape the cloud, but the creature leapt through the cover with its long root like claws extended out. Going for the more head on approached, Ragna simply threw a strong punch and blasted the creature off into the forest.
"Annoying little shit…" the Reaper muttered to himself as he turned back to the rest of the patch, only to see dozens more of the tiny creatures. "Dammit, let's make this quick."
Randomly taking one of the cards out of his pocket, Ragna found that he'd pulled out a card with an insignia of an ocean wave on it. Channeling his magic into the weapon like he'd done earlier, Ragna threw the card and unleashed a torrent of water upon the mushroom men that swept several away. A few of the creatures jumped from the trees above him, but Ragna then threw a card with an insignia of a storm cloud on it, striking them with bolts of lightning and incapacitating them. Another mushroom extended it root fingers, but Ragna caught them in his usable hand before roaring as he swung the creature like a ball and chain to send its allies flying.
A large ring of the enemy mushrooms surrounded him and all exhaled their suffocating pollen hoping to cage him in. Ragna then took a card with a tornado drawn on it and held his breath as he channeled magic into it. Throwing the card to the ground, a massive whirlwind emerged and dispelled the pollen with its force and sent the Fungoides stumbling back. The Reaper (safe in the vortex's eye) then rushed forward and delivered a powerful drop kick to one of the creatures and blasted it into a tree and caused a large branch to come loose. Grabbing said branch out of midair, Ragna smirked as he realized that it was just the right size for a makeshift sword.
"Better than nothing I guess," he said cockily before swinging it and sending several fungoides flying like baseballs. "Heh, now you're in for it…"
With Ragna's new weapon and his dark look glaring down at them, the Fungoids' earlier innocent expressions turned to ones of sheer fright.
Not Long Later- Punk and Chic fashion salon-
"Wonder how that idiot's is doing?" Beth sighed as she sat with her feet up on the front desk while she looked over Sorcerer's Weekly. "He's probably lost to all hell in the middle of the woods and completely covered in pollen." The bell at the front rang once more, indicating they had another visitor. "Welcome to the Punk and Chic fashion salon. Our special sales for today are the Buy a punk get a chic at half off and a free store tee with every outfit. If you try to leave without buying anything I get to wreak your-Ugh!"
Beth gave a surprised grunt as she was smacked in the face by a leather sack. Gritting her teeth in annoyance she looked to the front entrance and saw Ragna entering the shop with a confident look on his face. He was lightly dusted in pollen, but it could have been far worse as his clothes weren't even slightly torn... though his ridiculous footwear was still killing him.
"You're back sooner than I thought you'd be," Annalisa said as she came down from the second floor.
"Yeah, well I don't like to be separated from my clothes for long…" Ragna told them.
"Yet you don't care if they're torn to shreds," Beth muttered as she looked into the bag Ragna had brought back. "Yep, that's all ten of them. Let me get your cash." Opening the register, the silk worker brought out the paltry amount of Jewels for payment which Ragna pocketed. "These things might not look like much, but if you know how to work the fibers and their pollen you can really make your dresses go the extra mile."
"...You didn't put that stuff on my coat did you?" Ragna asked worriedly. "Mushrooms aren't my style."
"What? You're not a fun-g-" Much as Annalise wanted to finish her horrible pun, the harsh glare Ragna sent her way told her it wasn't worth it. "Your coat's in the changing room, just leave the clothes you have on in there."
Changing clothes with one arm wasn't easy for the Reaper, especially with the unique working of his coat, but he'd put it on enough times that he could do it blindfolded. After taking a few minutes, he headed out and showed himself to the girls. Luckily, it seemed that they kept their word and there wasn't any obvious visible changes to his usual attire. The right half of his clothing was still left down since his limp arm wasn't able to keep it up.
"Oh, that's right I almost forgot that we'd worked a little extra magic on this," Annalisa said, only to see Ragna glaring at her once more. "Don't be such a worry-wort, I just added a little spell to the mix. Just channel you magic and say Bind."
"Um… alright? Bind," Ragna said before his coat glowed only slight. The fabric seemed to waver for a bit before adjusting itself. His arm was then positioned that his sleeve was holding his elbow while his hand stuck out of his jacket's opening. It didn't look his coat would be undone as the magic held it firmly in place.
Author's Note: For reference, look at Auron from Final Fantasy X.
"Not bad…" Ragna had to commend. "This beats the hell out of leaving my arm limp and swinging around. Anyways, the old man said that I had to get a signed note from you saying that I did the job, just this time since I'm not actually part of the guild yet."
"I'll get one ready for you, just give me a second," Annalisa told him as him as she went behind the desk and began writing. "By the way, if your coat ever gets damaged again, come back here and let us take a look at it. I promise that I won't let Beth go feral like she did this time."
"Feral, huh?" Beth said with a groan. "But yeah, I wouldn't mind doing some more work on that thing if you think of it. Also, we've got some pretty good stuff in stock that I'm sure would look great on you, so stop by every now and again even if it's just to see what we've got.".
"...Maybe I'll take you up on that after I've made some more cash," Ragna promised. "Right now my biggest worry is figuring out a place to crash, food for my stomach; the basics…"
"Well then I'd suggest you start taking some higher paying jobs, because it won't be possible to pay rent with this kind of money," Beth told him bluntly.
"Yeah, better get back. See ya ladies," Ragna then grabbed the note, left the shop, and headed back to Fairy Tail with proof that he'd been successful on the job.
"So… think we'll be able to make copies of that jacket?" Beth asked with a smirk on her face.
"We might, but I don't know how happy he'd be if it sells well, he seems to favor both his jacket and its exclusivity to himself."
"Why do you think I want us to make it? This'll mess with him a bit," Beth said with a cocky laugh.
-And then-
"Well we might not have gotten paid for it, but what did you think of your first job Lucy?" Natsu asked with a chuckle.
"I'm glad that I went," she told him with a bright smile. "It was nice to see that Romeo and his father managed to reunite. We did a good thing."
"Heh, now let's go back to the guild and grab something to eat to celebrate!"
"Aye!" Happy cheered.
'They're quick to go back to the table for food,' Lucy thought to herself, wondering what Ragna would have to say about their behavior. She was then disappointed as she remembered that the two had said their goodbyes before she'd left for her mission.
"Don't act so sad, we'll see him again," Natsu told her, like he'd known what she was thinking. "C'mon, Ragna told you to keep you chin up. Some food will put you in a better mood; Mirajane makes some of the best in town."
"...Alright, I could use a good warm meal after fighting that pervy ape in those mountains," she agreed.
"If anything I'd say your cow was the perverted one," Happy said as he thought back.
"Don't remind me," Lucy groaned as they made it to the front of the Fairy Tail guild. Giving a cute shriek of excitement as she was reminded she'd been made an official member, she eagerly threw open the doors. "We're back!"
"Welcome back both of you," Mira said with a bright smile as she continued to serve tables. "Looks like you managed to find Macao without a problem if your smiling faces are anything to go off of."
"Lucy got kidnapped by a Vulcan," Happy told her.
"It was really creepy," the blonde moaned. "But I'm glad that's over…"
"Well, I have some more good news for you," Mira told the three of them with an even brighter smile. The three were confused before Mira directed their attention to Makarov and a familiar red coated individual. Once they saw him, the three's complexion almost rivaled Mira's own smile.
"So… like this?" Ragna asked as he looked over the books that Makarov had given him he raised his hand and channeled a slight bit of his energy into it, creating a small red magic sigil and a small flame on his fingertips.
"Not a bad start, but you're a little off in your channeling," Makarov told him as he sat across from the Reaper. "Try altering your magic just slightly, I can guarantee you'll notice a significant difference."
"Alright," Ragna agreed before trying to channel once more. This time the fire magic extended all the way down to his palm and the fires blazed much harder. "You weren't kidding…" He then glanced his good eye upwards and saw his three friends from earlier still looking rather surprised. "Hey guys, how'd your job go?"
"It went well," Lucy told him as she began to grow hopeful. "Does… Does this mean you're here to stay?"
"Well…" Ragna began before smirking and channeling his magic. The right half of his face then began to glow a strong cobalt blue, surprising the three even more. Covering that side of his face including his paralyzed right eye was the glowing sigil of the Fairy Tail guild. Getting a mark that showed itself when he put his magic into it had cost him a bit of cash, but it was worth it to him considering his clothes normally covered up so much of his body and he didn't feel like removing them.
"You joined!" Lucy said excitedly. "I thought you said you weren't going to join because you didn't know any magic."
"Well, turns out that magic isn't as hard to learn as I thought… That or Makarov's a damn good teacher," he admitted before chuckling. "I think I've had enough drifting around for one lifetime; might as well try to see if I can make this crazy place my home."
"Sounds like a great idea!" Natsu said cockily. "Trust me, the four of us are going to be going on some awesome missions down the road!"
"Aye!" Happy chimed in.
'This has been a weird day,' Lucy thought to herself as she smiled. 'But I've never been happier. All of the people here are so warm hearted and kind they even took Ragna in with open arms when he didn't know any magic of his own. They're not as mysterious or exclusive as everyone thinks they are, but they're so strong and heartfelt that I know that I'm going to love it here!'
"All right!" Natsu shouted with vigor. "Looks like it's time for us to celebrate!"
"Ragna's paying for everyone's food!" the blue cat announced leaving everyone in the guild to cheer.
"What the hell are you saying!? I barely got any cash on me!" Ragna shouted with rage.
"Come on, don't be so stingy," Natsu said with a laugh. "You'll just go into debt for a few days, no biggie!"
"I can't go into debt! I don't even have anywhere to stay!" Ragna exclaimed.
"Then just do a dine and dash! Aye!" Happy told him with a cheery smile as he immediately started chowing down on a fish that Ragna had no way of paying for.
"I WORK HERE!" Ragna shouted at the top of his lungs while everyone laughed and dined amongst their teams merrily at his own expense. 'So much has changed… and yet I'm in the same damned place I was before,' he thought to himself with a sigh before heading over to the notice board. If he was going to survive paying for all the guild's food, he'd need to do at least a few more jobs by the end of the day.
Author's Note: I don't own either series.
H: We need to get that barrier up now! Barricade all entrances! Reload all firearms! Arm the landmines! GUARD THE FISH!
S: ...Cat, as much as I'd hate to ask; What the HELL are you doing?
H: I'm making sure that I'm prepared for the ongoing shipping war, aye!
S: Shipping war? Let me take a look at the comments… Wow, 35 for only the first chapter. Looks like people have been waiting for this one. Hmm… Couple of shipping comments, some calling for Kagura, others searching for someone else and a couple of harem requests… Doesn't seem like a war.
H: That's where you're wrong! Whatever girl Ragna gets paired with will mess with who they're supposed to be paired with! You destroy the sacred order of OTP's!
S: OTPs are sacred? I should be surprised, but I can't say I am. Anyways, that's the second chapter of this story. Sorry it took me so long, there was a lot of personal stuff I had to address, but I'm free now. Up next will be the LONG awaited 'A Reaper's Game' chapter and (spoilers) Ragna will be using the copy of Yukianesa that he found.
H: Aye, looks like I'm on break for a while.
S: Also, Happy… why did I get a charge on my credit card for THIRTY-FIVE barrels of fish!?
H: Remember our deal from last chapter?
S: That wasn't a deal! That was just you stating something that you wanted to happen… My credit score's going to hell now… Anyways guys, take care and I'll see you next week (hopefully) and I'll move this to the crossover section next Friday. Ciao!