Episode 013: Image of the Fellowship
'Guess I was worried over nothing… weird, back home I would've either have been too pissed to care what anyone thought about me or… actually, that was really it. Kind of nice that they're not all around upset with me for the most part,' Ragna thought as he headed around the tables of Fairy Tail on one end while Mira handled the other. '…Key phrase is for the most part.' "You guys need anything?"
"Nah, I'm good," Macao said, not even bothering to look the Reaper in the eye.
'Okay, that man's a father. I wouldn't blame him if he's just trying to look out for his kid here.' "What about you?"
"Don't worry about me. Had my fill of booze for now," Wakaba answered, not eyeing Ragna either.
'Bullshit, there's hardly a time where you two aren't drinking. Most of the guys here aren't giving me the time of day.' "Mira, this side's clear. I'm gonna go on break for now."
"Right, I'll call you if I need you," she promised. She was keeping up with her usual smile, but something about it still seemed off to Ragna. The Reaper also notice that Levi hadn't come into the guild today (not that he could blame her after the day she had yesterday). "Something wrong?"
"Nah, just tired," he lied as he headed over to one of the empty and seated himself before pulling his book out of storage. Everyone still seemed uncomfortable at the sight of his reequip magic, so that much hadn't changed. Speaking of which, Ragna hadn't seen Erza since he'd left for his job… and was all but certain that she'd have words for him when she did return. He'd only opened his book on magic when Lucy entered the guild. Everyone seemed to brighten up at the sight of her, even when the first thing she did was head over to Ragna's table. "Morning."
"Good morning, though I guess we're closer to noon at this point," the summoner admitted. "You come to a decision after our house hunt yesterday?"
"That third one looked pretty alright for what they were asking, but it's going to be a while before I save up to afford the first few months," Ragna decided. "I think for now I'll have to keep staying at the guild, at least until I have this elixir ready. That's my priority right now." Lucy didn't seem to complain so Ragna took that as a sign of approval… and knew he needed to ruin it with his next question. "So… how are you holding up?"
"I'm doing okay; you're the one I'm really worried about," Lucy said as she glanced behind him at the other members of the guild who had gone back to their normal discussions. "You realize that you didn't have to tell Makarov in front of everyone?"
"No, I did. It's better that I brought it out on my own terms instead of having everyone find some dark secret on me," the Reaper admitted. "They haven't done anything aggressive but…" He then noticed Wakaba heading over to Mira at the front desk. Along with his usual flirting with the young lady (Ragna could've sworn he'd heard the guy was married) it wasn't too hard to tell he was getting his drinks from her after turning Ragna away. "I kind of wish they would, just get it over with so things can go back to normal all the quicker."
"I can try talking to them, make sure they understand the position you were put in," Lucy offered.
"Don't worry about it; I just think it's going to take some time to move on," the Reaper answered maturely. "At this point, all we have to do is be patient and thing will go be to some semblance of normal sooner or-"
"ALRIGHT! JOB TIME!"
Natsu had come in out of nowhere and slammed a request down in between the two with enough force to crack the table.
"Aye! And this job will even have one of the last three ingredients you need!" Happy declared as he flew in from behind.
"It will? Didn't see anything like that when I got in this morning." 'Believe me, I checked. I wanted the best way to get out of here I could find.'
"That's 'cause we snagged it yesterday when we got back, make sure no one else beat us to it today," the Dragon Slayer declared proudly. Ragna and Lucy had to both share a grimace at that. "Come on, you've gone on a mission with just about everyone else. I need a chance to really let loose with you on a team up!"
"Sorry that you felt neglected, but are you sure that now really the best time for this?" the Reaper had to ask. "After what happened on yesterday's job, several members have been giving me dirty looks. It might be better for you if I do this one alone and-"
"That's not why they're angry at you," Happy interrupted.
"…It's not?" Ragna was taken aback. "Then what the hell is it?"
"Something else they heard you say yesterday; I only heard about it after the fact," Natsu told him with a mischievous smirk. "Hey Mira! Ragna's too embarrassed to say it out loud, but did you give any thought to the date he asked you out on!?"
…The earlier contempt the Reaper had detect earlier had now evolved, nearly to the point of bloodlust.
"This was all because of my sweetheart comment yesterday?" No one around the guild seemed to be in any rush to correct him, though Lucy seemed especially surprised. "I can't tell whether I should be relieved or disappoint right now."
"Boy. And you keep calling Gray dense," Happy mocked with a laugh.
"It's not like he doesn't deserve it," Natsu countered, more to the Ice user's detriment than Ragna's defense.
"You know what? Screw it, let's go. I didn't need to be here today anyways," Ragna commanded with a huff before today's trio left through the front door.
"At least he's his usual annoyed self?" Lucy decided… rather unconvinced.
"Good morning, Lucy," Mira said as she headed over to the blonde's table with an empty tray after bringing Macao and Wakaba their orders. As usual, she had only her most welcoming smile. "Anything I can get you?"
"I think what I really need right now is some context. What's the story between you and Ragna's sweetheart comment?" she all but demanded.
"Oh, it's nothing like that. Your dad wasn't trying to flirt with me; I'm pretty sure he doesn't know how," Mira said while not dropping her smile for an instant. "In fact, he's scared of me!"
"…Now I just need more context!"
Later -Dig Sight-
"You're… all Fairy Tail wizards?" the head of the archeology dig asked with terror in their eyes. He wasn't the only one, every other man there seemed genuinely horrified at the trio that had arrived. "The same guild known to take entire cities off the map if things get too intense?"
"Sounds like our reputation precedes us," Ragna sighed.
"We do blow things up a lot," Happy admitted.
"It's not a Fairy Tail job until something is destroyed." …Again, Natsu was saying this like he was boasting. The way the crew was acting, Ragna knew they were weighing their options on whether or not they should fire the group immediately. He decided to step in for little more reason than he still needed the offered ingredient.
"Look, the job you posted isn't paying us much for such short notice, so good luck finding other help. I'll do my best to keep this one… these two in line." Ragna wondered how much he needed to worry about Happy and desperately hope he wouldn't have to. "Just tell us where you need us and we'll stay out of your way until you need some muscle or magic."
"That… will hopefully have to work," the head of the dig admitted. "The situation as things currently stand is that we've finally uncovered the ancient, buried ruins and we've nearly pinned down our way inside. The only issue is if this place has any magical barriers protecting it or if it has a monster guarding the treasure. Hopefully, we'll have simply paid you to show up here and stand ready for the worst while we find the legendary treasure."
"Legendary treasure? What kind?" Natsu asked, showing genuine interest.
"Maybe a long-lost recipe of the perfect fish stew!" Happy considered.
"Probably not, I just hope it doesn't end up being dangerous," Ragna sighed, knowing how his luck would take this job.
"If it exists it'll certainly earn its status as legendary; we just have to hope it measures up," one of the diggers noted with a chuckle.
'Okay, why the hell did they say it like that?'
"Either way, you'll have a good couple of hours to yourselves at least. So… stay at a safe distance and don't get involved unless we need you."
"Right," Ragna agreed before turning to Natsu. "Up for some light sparring?"
"Uh…" The head of the dig was NOT put at ease.
"I said light sparring; you'll be fine," the Reaper promised as he and Natsu headed out of the site and back into the surrounding forests. It didn't take them long to get to a decently sized clearing that would do for their match (as long as they didn't go too far) "Happy, you joining in?"
"Nope. I'll just stick to being a ref for the fight!" the cat declared. Ragna had to wonder what they'd be doing, but hopefully the cat would at least prove to be the voice of reason if Natsu got too heated. "Are we putting any stakes on this?"
"I got one," Natsu thought as he got the same mischievous smile as before. "You lose to me, then you need to ask Mira out on a date. For real this time. And in front of the rest of the guild."
"…That's just sadistic," Ragna said with heavy disapproval. "There's no way I'm going to make that situation worse, not when things are already this tense for me after yesterday's job. Hard pass."
"You know that they understand, right?" the Dragon Slayer asked, now turning rightfully serious. "Killing at all is a rare event and it's pretty dark, but they get what happened to get you there. You didn't have any choice; it was either you let Lucy, Levy, and Kaby die or you kill the guy. If I were your position, I… I dunno know what I'd do, but you made the only choice you could and saved some members of Fairy Tail. I can't hate you for that."
"…Glad you think so." Ragna was trying to stay neutral, but he knew that there was a part of him that needed to hear this from someone.
"The rest of our guild understands too, but…" Natsu grimaced. "I honestly can't say I know what Erza's going to say or do when she gets back. You're probably going to want to be on her good side leading up to her finding out. Maybe even do something to soften the blow."
"…Like throwing both of you at her first?" Ragna suggested giving a sharp smirk that made Natsu and Happy's blood go cold. "You want to make this a high stakes match? That's all I'm willing to accept for a gentlemen's gamble, so you better be ready to play ball!"
"…You kidding? Now that I know I can't possibly lose, I'M FIRED UP!" Natsu shouted as his fire magic exploded outward as a violent aura. Ragna raised the eyebrow that he could (glad that his hair wasn't burning off). "Let's do this!"
"Aye! I'll quickly go over the rules!" Happy declared as he thrusted a paw into the air. "Since we're on a job right now, the goal of this fight isn't to Knock Out your opponent, but to score points! Each clean hit on an opponent is a point and the fight will end when one participant has both at least three points and a two point or great advantage over their opponent! After a point is scored, both of you must return to a ready position. Am I understood!?"
"Just one more rule to add on," Ragna said seriously. "We can't let this fight get out of hand, so we gotta keep the destruction to a minimum."
"Understood! The fight must be kept at a street fighting level or lower! Are we agreed!?"
(Cue Guilty Gear XX Get down to business Extended)
"Not a problem! This time I'll have all of my attention on kicking your ass, dad!" Natsu declared.
"You can talk whatever game you want; just make sure you can back it up. Otherwise you'll just look like a cocky idiot," the Reaper warned.
"Fighters ready!" Happy declared. Natsu did the classic fighter's nose wipe with his thumb and his personal implementation of flames coming off. Ragna didn't do anything of the sort, only standing at the ready.
"What? No weapons?" Natsu sounded genuinely insulted.
"I'm working with a different kit today, don't worry about that and focus on fighting me," he ordered.
"GO!"
At Happy's call, Natsu made the first move by rushing forward with a flaming fist. Ragna took the attack and guarded with his forearm, but had to lean back as Natsu nearly connected with a follow up flaming kick. Landing from the attack, Natsu tried to go into a backhand on Ragna's blind spot, but the Reaper saw the move coming and countered with a high roundhouse kick that blasted his opponent back. Though it had overpowered Natsu's own attack, this was more of a clash meaning Ragna wasn't granted a point.
Gathering up two fireballs in his hands, Natsu threw the first at Ragna who managed to block it with a wall of ice that he'd conjured. Not as strong as any of Gray's creations, but enough to take the attack. Instead of preparing another to block the follow up or dodging, he managed to catch the attack and keep it from exploding by containing it in a sphere of wind magic. Using the two projectiles as an opening, Natsu had rushed forward with a flaming lunge only for Ragna to throw his own fireball back at him.
"You added your magic to mine! This just gives me a free meal!" he declared before opening up for a bite… only for the wind containing the ball to pick up after it left Ragna's hand, mixing the magics so badly that it created a powerful flash bang. Natsu powered through it (even eating a bit) regardless, but the attack still blinded him, didn't allow him to track Ragna's dodge, and earned him and uppercut straight under the jaw that sent him flying.
"Hope you liked your knuckle sandwich," the Reaper said as Natsu landed. The fire breather was immediately on his feet again to continue fighting.
"That's the first point!" Happy declared from the sides. "But you really had to add a dad joke?"
"…Everyone's a critic. And here I thought you'd like me being on brand for once."
"Puns later, match now!" Natsu declared as he took the first move again.
This time he leapt in wide right hook which Ragna easily leaned back to avoid. As Ragna went for an easy strike on his opponent's exposed back, Natsu let loose a burst of fire magic from his leg that propelled him high into the air. Looking down at Ragna with a smirk, he brought his hands together.
"Fire Dragon: ROOOOAR!"
"HAPPY SAID STREET FIGHTING LEVEL!" Ragna shouted as he brought up a shield of wind to protect him.
"Aye! This would completely annihilate a large street, so it checks out!" Happy declared, flying to stay safe as flames ravaged the ground.
'What was I expecting?' Ragna thought irately as the attack died down. Natsu wasn't in the air, so figuring that he was using his own fire as cover (and to stop the potential forest fire) Ragna cast a powerful water spell and flung it around him and extinguishing the flames… only to see that Natsu still wasn't hiding there either. He did take note of a molten hole in the ground. 'Then that means-!'
"BELOW YOU!" Natsu declared as he erupted out of the ground with a flaming punch aimed straight for Ragna's head. It almost made it mark as Ragna grabbed his forearm and stopped him mere centimeters from his face. "Damn!"
"Next time, don't announce your-"
FWOOSH!
"…attack."
A powerful column of fire had shot out of the hole and caught them both, though it was only damaging for Ragna. The Reaper had been fairly cooked by said attack, but was still fighting fit as he glared at Natsu who only looked too pleased for himself. Throwing him a short distance, Natsu easily landed on his feet ready for the next encounter.
"That counted as a point for Natsu. One all!" Happy said, fulfilling his role as score keeper.
'Okay, let's see how he likes playing defense for a change,' Ragna thought as he took the first rush forward, attacking fast enough to stir up heavy winds behind him. Unable to conjure a spell to counter him in time, Natsu was forced to guard by bringing both of his arms up as Ragna launched him flying back. Outspeeding the opponent he'd just launched, Ragna came from behind with a screaming roundhouse kick that Natsu just barely managed to turn and counter with his own flaming punch. The resulting clash sent the both of them sliding back, returning them to the neutral.
As Natsu landed, he worked to quickly conjure up a massive fireball in front of him. Ragna himself quickly channeled his own water spell to extinguish the attack, but as he launched his own attack Natsu smashed his fist into the fireball to create many smaller ones that avoided the deluge and homed in on Ragna from all directions.
'Not bad, he's giving this fight some thought,' Ragna thought, unable to help but feel a little proud. Though he despised the technique's user, he tried channeling his wind magic again, this time to completely cover his body. The winds were enough to extinguish Natsu's multi-fireball attack. 'Not a great casting, but at least it'll keep me safe from-'
He couldn't finish as a new purplish flame broke through his barrier and struck him square in the face.
"Two-one! Natsu's lead on match point!" Happy declared as Ragna's Storm Armor dissipated.
"You like that? It's called Purple Fire. Might not burn like the regular stuff, but it can't be put out by wind or water," Natsu said proudly. "Had to go back to Macao for help on mastering it, but what do you think?"
"It's a good tool, but let's see how you deal with this!" Ragna shouted as he charged forward once more.
This time Natsu was ready and leapt over the Reaper's wide haymaker. While Natsu tried to go for another Purple Fire attack, Ragna backflipped over the move and performed an impressive axe kick that sent Natsu barreling down, though the Fire Dragon Slayer had managed to guard it before he crashed and slid on the ground. He barely had enough time to ready himself before Ragna was on him again and rushing forward with a lunging punch. Natsu leapt back to get barely out of the attack's range as he readied a flaming kick to Ragna's face.
"Not happening."
Ragna had casted a quick spell with a white magic circle, but Natsu figured he'd be able to destroy whatever the attack was. The problem was that the spell wasn't an attack and Natsu felt himself starting to slip as his back foot hit the suddenly frozen ground below him. It wasn't enough to make him fall over completely, but the kick still went wide and Ragna's punch made solid contact and slammed the Slayer in the ground with enough force to cause a powerful tremor.
"Two all!" Happy called, securing a point for Ragna. Though Ragna had hit him pretty hard, Natsu was back on his feet in no time. "If either of you can grab two points in a row then, that'll be the match!"
"You're not half bad, keeping me on my toes for sure," Ragna commended as neither wizard had gone for the opening charge. "Got any other tricks for me?"
"I'm sure I'll pull one or two out," Natsu promised eagerly before tensing up for a charge. "I ain't losing today!"
"One of us has to and it sure as hell won't be me!" Ragna shouted in return as the two of them surged forward with powerful lunges (Natsu's engulfed in flames) that clashed at the center and sent out a destructive wave from the impact.
Natsu leaped up and flipped forward to deliver an axe kick, but Ragna caught that attack before turning and slamming Natsu to the ground. Natsu managed to soften the blow as by catching the impact with his hands, but Ragna also noticed the flames emitting on the ground where he's slammed him. Letting go of his opponent's leg and leaping back at the last instant, he managed to dodge the flaming pillar that had erupted beneath him. Natsu sprung forward with a flaming kick to chase after him, but Ragna froze the ground beneath him to slide further back as soon as he landed and avoided the attack. Delivering a heavy punch forward, he struck Natsu's crossed forearm guard that his opponent had set ablaze but Ragna didn't even seem to notice the fire as Natsu stumbled back before retaliating with his own flaming punch that clashed with Ragna kick and send both of them sliding back.
While both of them were eager to continue the encounter, the sudden rumbling forced them to stop.
(End theme)
"You… didn't cause that with your digging, did you?" Ragna asked worriedly.
"I don't think so; I wasn't going that deep with my burning," Natsu answered before the rumbling became more intense. "Either way, it's coming from the dig site."
"Shit, that's exactly what I was afraid of. This match is going to have to wait until later. Work calls," Ragna ordered. Natsu and Happy nodded as the three headed back to the dig site.
Once there, they saw that the dig team had already broken into the ancient building and had entered without them (likely because they were worried that they would have blown the structure up). The full team emerged just then carrying an old worn-out wooden chest and screaming their lungs out as the rumbling increased behind them. Thankfully they'd made it to a safe distance before the entire structure erupted behind them and a giant stone statute in the shape of a giant solider complete with a massive shield and curved sword emerged behind them.
"That's a golem…" Happy said worriedly. "Not as big as the Lullaby demon, but it still looks tough."
"Maybe it is, but at least we have a contest decider!" Natsu declared. "Whoever takes that thing down first gets the win from out match!"
"No," the Reaper outright refused. Natsu looked to his father figure with a sense of confusion. Thankfully the golem below was still scouring for the dig team as they cowered in fear, so Ragna didn't have to worry about them just yet. He created a small but dense fireball for the Dragon Slayer to consume for power and energy. "I want you to take that thing out in one shot… with one condition; no collateral damage."
"…You're asking the impossible." Happy was less optimistic here, but the cat was in the right here.
"That chest that they're carrying looks like it could get alit with the smallest spark and that means that we don't get payed and I need this ingredient. So I'm asking; can you deliver?" Natsu was silent for a moment ad he shifted his gaze back to the golem who was getting ever closer to finding the dig team.
"…I have something that might work, but I want a second to charge it up to make sure it's strong enough," he explained. "Can you keep it busy until I'm ready?"
"I can, but don't take too long," Ragna ordered as Natsu took the fireball and swallowed. As a powerful red circle started to form beneath his feet, Natsu focused in on the giant construction to find its best point of attack as Ragna got its attention. "HEY STONEHEAD! OVER HERE!"
…Not his most impressive or vulgar insult, but he wasn't even sure it would register with his target. It merely glanced his way, but with Ragna striking it with a quick casting of ice needles he at least had its attention. Swinging down its oversized sword on the comparative minuscule target, Ragna managed to deflect the attack with just his working arm. It then tried to step on him, the Reaper easily dodged to the side a struck the thing's ankle hard enough to create wicked cracks.
'Ragna could probably bring this thing down without much trouble. Not to mention he could probably do it without causing damage to the surrounding area like most of us do,' Happy considered as he watched the golem continue to go after the Reaper with little success. 'Is he just trying to make sure that Natsu can finish a fight without damaging the surrounding area? Did he do this as some kind of test?'
"Happy, I need you to fly me to the back of that thing's neck," Natsu told his feline friend as he'd finished his charge and now maintained his spell. "Just get me there and pull back as far as you can; I've got one chance to get this right."
"Aye." 'Natsu's treating this pretty seriously. I guess he wants to make sure Ragna knows he can count on him. I have to make sure he's able to do this.' Following through with his friend's plan, Happy sprouted his wing and quickly flew Natsu up to the back of the golem's neck before letting his friend go and booking it out of there. 'What's he using anyways, I don't think I've ever seen this spell before.'
"HERE GOES NOTHING!" Natsu said as he closed in on the construct, the creature still fully focused on Ragna. "JUST MADE THIS ESPECIALLY FOR YOU! FIRE DRAGON: INTERNAL! COMBUSTION!"!" Natsu then slammed his fist on the target and while the was a brief and small blast of flames where his fist impacted it, there wasn't all that much damage.
'Just made it? Hell of a time for a field test,' Ragna thought below as the golem hadn't even registered Natsu and went for another downward sword swing on him. Ragna got ready to deflect, but the attack didn't even reach it as the golem's sword stayed suspended in midair. He saw that the Natsu hadn't moved from the spot he'd struck and still seemed focused on his magic. It was then that the monster started shaking so violently that the entire area started was caught in the rumble. "NATSU!"
"Part of the plan! Just hold on a second!" he shouted before leaping up and delivering and axe kick to the top of the golem's head. It was a powerful enough to crack it and the spot started glowing red before it erupted and shot a massive column of fire high into the sky, but leaving the area around them safe. Happy managed to catch his friend as he fell and brought him to the ground near the Reaper. "Since all of its gears are on the inside, I though it made more sense just to burn it out from there. All I had to do afterwards was make sure I could release all of the built up fire magic before it went off like a bomb."
"Smart thinking, and you kept the damage to a minimum after all," Ragna commended. "How does it feel that you can pull something like this off?"
"Knowing that I improved? Great!" Natsu said with a cocky smile… before grimacing. "The act itself though? Sick to my stomach, like something's wrong with me."
'These damn wizards act like they're wired differently,' Ragna considered, disappointed but forgiving at the moment. He headed over to the diggers who were trying to undo the look on the chest (thankfully unburned) with little success. "Move."
A well-aimed chop from his usable arm and the lock was in pieces. The dig team tensed up as they slowly lifted the top of the chest. Ragna, Natsu, and Happy couldn't help their own curiosity as they got their own look in the box. Inside they found a collection of ancient parchment with… crude ink drawings of young lady. They were rather crass drawing too, with the woman barely covering herself and posing seductively to make her large breasts seem even bigger.
"…A porn stash…" Ragna concluded grimly. "An ancient porn stash, but still… sorry that you wasted-"
"IT EXISTS!" the lead digger shouted as they brought out several piece of the paper while the rest of the group let out a loud cheer. It was then that Ragna and Natsu started to notice how old these diggers actually were. "THE LONG SOUGHT AFTER CENTERFOLD OF PRINCESS ALIANA THE FOURTH! WE FINALLY FOUND IT!"
The men were in a complete frenzy as they scrambled for their own pieces of paper. Fawning over the drawings, blushing harshly, and Ragna could swear he saw steam come out of their nostrils once or twice. Since they hadn't been paid yet, all the Fairy Tail wizards could do was stand back and watch until they got it all out of their system.
About an hour later -The road back to town-
"Anyone at the guild asks what we found; we tell 'em it was an ancient peace treaty that barely stopped a war from happening. Got it?"
"Aye!" Natsu and Happy said in unison. Since the dig hadn't been that far away, to save money (and keep Natsu from getting motion sickness) the trio had agreed to walk both ways on the job.
"I still can't believe that was what those idiots were going after. All that time and money they spent digging, just for some crap you could probably buy in the store," the Reaper continued to grumble. "The pay on this was barely worth it, and that's including the ingredient that I needed."
"Eh, getting the chance to have a one on one with you and show my stuff was worth it enough for me," Natsu said contently. "Plus, I think we can at least look back on this and laugh as an inside joke."
"I don't know what those guys were getting so worked up over," Happy told the two seriously. "Are pictures like that really so important?"
"To some people, I guess. They seemed to be taking it way too far," the Reaper groaned.
"Even still, all's well that ends well," Natsu said joyfully. "But you know, we were at two-all when we finished our match; want to start the tiebreaker now?"
"I'm in no mood for more sparring; I just want to go home," Ragna sighed. "Match is a draw; so the bet's off."
"Aw, you're no fun…" the Fire User whined.
"Hold up a minute! I'm the referee, so what I say goes!" Happy announced, sounding as official as possible. "And my final verdict is-!"
Later -The Guild-
"So I've noticed that Erza hasn't been around for the last few days," Lucy said as she sat at the bar with Mira. Much as she'd planned earlier, the summoner had taken a nice day to herself and caught up on her reading. "Did she leave on a big job?"
"I think she might've taken two jobs from the S-Rank quests upstairs," Mira informed, not having any orders to cook or drinks to serve at the moment. "They weren't any of the most difficult quests you can find up there, but they might keep even someone like her out for a few days. Still, she'd probably be back by early tomorrow."
"…Is she going to have something to say to Ragna?" Lucy asked worriedly. "And… has news about what happened spread around to the other guilds?"
"I don't think so on that second part; I'm pretty sure that the only people who know were those in Fairy Tail and I think we know better than to spread rumors about one of our own," she answered much to Lucy's relief. "As for Erza… he's probably in for a heavy lecture of some kind, but he doesn't need to be worried about getting kicked out of the guild unless our guild master changes his mind."
"It won't come to that," Makarov said as he sat at the edge of a bar with a fresh tankard of beer. "With how upfront he was yesterday as well as testimony from you and Levi, Ragna's shown that he's not running from what happened even if he was hardly given a choice. Still… there's no telling what Erza might do once she finds out."
"What?" Lucy asked worriedly.
"Master! I was trying to keep her calm!" Mira scolded the older man.
"Well lying isn't going to help when she gets back! There's no telling what's going to happen tomorrow! I'd rather be prepared for-!"
Makarov fell silent as the front door to the guild opened, revealing Ragna's trio for that day. Lucy was far from put at ease right now… but had several other questions as Ragna gingerly held a bouquet of pink carnations his good arm. While the Reaper's face seemed unreadable, she could easily tell that Natsu and Happy were both trying their hardest not to laugh.
'…Whatever this is, it's not going to end well,' she quickly realized as Ragna headed over to them. Ragna passed her a side glance, but said nothing to her. He then gave Mira the best smile Lucy had seen on him.
"Just a little something," he said warmly as he offered the bouquet to Mira who didn't even look surprised as she took them with her own smile. Who DID look surprised was Macao, Wakaba, and Makarov whose jaws looked like they'd hit the floor at any moment (Makarov's actually did). Elfman appeared passive, but clearly raised an eyebrow at Ragna's gift to his sister. "I saw these in the market as we passed and… well I couldn't NOT get these for you."
"They're beautiful, thank you so much," Mira answered kindly as she held the flowers close to her.
"Also, I've finally managed to save a bit of cash up after all of these jobs so I have a bit of spending money," the Reaper continued. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining me for dinner tonight and-"
"You lost a bet with Natsu."
Dead silence.
If this had been anyone else, Mira would have stopped them dead in their tracks (to be fair, she almost still did) but Ragna had a better follow through game than that.
"No…"
…not that it was an especially complex or even convincing one.
"In that case you tied a bet with Natsu," she corrected. "And for his part he needs to try to lessen whatever Ezra has planned for you."
"…This is why I'm scared of you, Mira," the Reaper answered honestly, earning a giggle from the bartender.
"Well, I think I'll hold onto these flowers regardless," she decided.
"Please do, and sorry about that," Ragna sighed as an apology. The rest of the guild just seemed relieved as they went back to their own business.
"Aw, that was disappointing. We barely got a reaction out of anyone," Natsu groaned.
"Don't blame me; I put my all into that," Ragna scolded in return.
"THAT was your all?" Happy demanded.
"Quiet you."
"What would you have done if she'd said yes?" Lucy had to ask.
"Take her out like I had said, explain everything to her afterwards, then apologize," he answered. "Probably get a little heat from everyone, but I guess I'd just have to deal with it."
"If the papers found out about this, you might even make the front page for dating a model; with all of the rabid Mira fans there are it might have been for the best that she just turned you down," Lucy said, trying to make him feel better.
"Being honest, I don't exactly feel datable right now anyways," Ragna conceded, trying not to sound too disappointed. "Well regardless of how it played out, that's still my part of the bet done. Now Natsu…"
"Gotcha, gotcha, I gotta think of a way to soften Erza's wrath when she gets back like Mira just said," the Fire User sighed.
"Best of luck Natsu, I believe in you," Happy told his friend with a pat on his shoulder, trying to stay encouraging.
"Happy, you're involved in that too," Ragna reminded sternly.
"I am?"
"Yeeeeeeah? The bet was that both Natsu and you would have to soften the blow from Erza."
Dead silence yet again.
"You know what? As ref I've now decided the bet's off."
"IT'S TOO LATE FOR THAT! YOU CAN'T JUST BACK OFF AFTER MAKING ME DO MY HALF!"
"BUT I DON'T WANT TO DIE! NATSU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO THIS! IN FACT HE'D JUST MAKE IT WORSE!"
"IF YOU DIDN'T WANT TO GET INVOLVED WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL THE DAMN THING OFF FROM THE START!?"
"I THOUGHT THAT YOU TWO WOULD FORGET ABOUT ME! NEITHER OF YOU ARE THAT SMART!"
"OH! NOW YOU'RE ASKING FOR IT!"
"So much for believing in me," Natsu said, sounding hurt as Happy was starting to get frantic while Ragna continued to grill him (thankfully, metaphorically). As the two continued to bicker loudly, he barely managed to hear Lucy giggling beside him. "What's with you?"
"Just… relieved he's back to normal after all; even if normal for him is dealing with this chaos," the blonde said. "So you're really going to try and stand up to Erza?"
"I'll give it my best shot," Natsu promised before smirking. "Actually… I'm starting to look forward to it."
Later -After closing-
Much like any other day of the guild, it was only Ragna and Mira there at closing. Wiping down the tables, sweeping up, washing up all of the dishes that had been used, taking inventory, and all the likewise responsibilities. While Ragna had only joined in as a cook during his spare time, he eventually found that Mira was handing him off more and more responsibilities as time went on. Not that she was pushing extra working on him, but it seemed that soon he'd be as good at running the guild as she was with all he was learning.
"That's the last of the pots," Ragna informed as he put the cookware away before eyeing the flowers from earlier that day, now put into a glass vase on the front desk for everyone to see. "…Sorry for making a scene and dragging you down like that."
"Don't worry about it; it's far from the first time someone's asked me out in front of the entire guild," she answered, not missing a beat in her work. "And I'm pretty sure some of those were dares or bets anyways."
"That still doesn't excuse me from doing that. It felt like a shitty thing to do for a silly bet of all things; especially with how much you're gone out of your way to help me get my footing back. I owe ya a lot and sort of just stabbed you in the back."
"Come on, it's not nearly that bad," Mira told him before putting the broom away. "Although…"
"Yeah?" Ragna asked quickly, eager to make it up to her. Mira wasn't smiling like she normally was, it was honestly an odd look for Ragna who was too used to that bubbly beaming face of hers.
"Focus on getting your last two ingredients, make sure you've saved up enough money, deal with whatever Erza has in store for you…" Her smile returned. "Then we'll have a nice dinner together to celebrate your success where it counts."
"…You don't have to pity date me," Ragna refused.
"Just think about it; you'll have plenty to keep you busy before then," Mira told him sweetly (not correcting the pity part) as she headed over and grabbed her list to start inventory of the backroom. "You can leave the rest for me since you've already done more than your fair share. Head to the back and get some sleep for now. You'll have a busy and hectic day tomorrow, I'm sure."
"I work in Fairy Tail, there any other kind?" he answered back to Mira's giggle. "But again… thanks for everything."
"My pleasure Ragna, I'll see you tomorrow," she answered as he left for the beds in the back. Meanwhile she was heading to the pantry to do inventory, but not before getting one last look at her flowers. A long pause as she looked at them. "Ragna?"
"What's up now?" he asked as he turned to face the receptionist… but it wasn't quite Mira he was looking at, at least not the one he was familiar with.
Now most of Mira's hair was standing straight up and most of her facial features had sharpened, almost like glaring was their natural state (Ragna could relate). She was covering up considerably less now in leggings and a front-open leotard that looked like it was made entirely of sharp red leather. The most telling parts though were her long and pointed ears, long reptilian tail, bat like wings, and monstrous clawed hands that looked like gauntlets. The two stood in silence for a long moment, Mira's dark eyes boring deep into Ragna's emerald-green one, like the consequence of whatever that next move was would be earth shaking.
…Only for Ragna to give a high-pitched whistle, breaking Mira out of her serious stare.
"Damn."
Somehow everything was perfectly summarized with just that.
"You don't seem as shocked as I was expecting," Mira admitted. To Ragna, she almost sounded disappointed while in reality she was more confused.
"Well your brother had filled me in on your whole Demoness reputation already, this is just taking things a little more literally," Ragna answered back with a chuckle. "So… this is the magic that makes you an S-Class wizard?"
"Right; Full Body Take Over magic. My various of the technique is called Satan Soul since I take the form of demons," she explained, looking down to seemingly observe herself. "It's been… a bit since I last brought this out."
"Any reason you wanted to show me specifically?" the Reaper asked.
"…I was kinda curious to see if you were going to freak out and how you would," she admitted. Even as a Demoness, Ragna recognized Mira's more playful side poking through her expression.
"Please," he scoffed. "It's the part of you that can read me so well that I'm so damn afraid of. So you've got a form of power that's capable of god knows what; you're still the one driving it." He'd meant it as a compliment, but Mira seemed… sad. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, but… don't bring any of this up to Elfman. Don't ask too much about his own transformations if you can help it either. There's… a hard history behind his style of this magic," she explained.
"I won't say anything, but if either of you have got anything to get of your chests I can at least give you both a willing ear to hear you out," he offered. Mira still seemed downcast, so Ragna gave a cockier smirk to defuse the situation. "Seeing you now though… maybe I'll take you up on that date offer after all. Especially if you went like this."
Mira tilted her head before in more confusion before she let out a laugh that looked and sounded wicked in her current form.
"If I did that, maybe you wouldn't have so many onlookers trying to kill you," she retorted with an almost evil grin.
"Oh, that's what you think I'm doing? Nah, I'm trying to make sure they're all jealous, damn the consequences," he answered back with his own wolfish smile. "I mean you were already cute as all hell, but with this new side of you I'm okay being the most hated man in the world if that's what I get a crack at romancing."
"So you can flirt," Mira teased back before the two gave loud laughs at the absurdity of their conversation as she reverted back to her usual self. "Seriously though, I think you should get some sleep. You'll need it if you'll be facing down Erza's temper tomorrow, whatever form it takes."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm heading to bed," Ragna answered. "See you bright and early tomorrow." Their goodbyes finally said for good now, the Reaper couldn't help but let himself fall to an easy slouch. 'I can get through to Erza tomorrow… I can keep my place in Fairy Tail with Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and the others… I haven't given up on this life just yet.'
Next Time: Image of the Unstoppable
Author's Note
Before we get into the usual skit, I want to make a note of something for the next chapter of this story. While I have very tentative plans not to put it out until at least January it will be the last MAIN chapter of my filler arc. I decided rather than to have you wait longer I could actually combine the last two ingredient chapters into a much more satisfying way. That said there is still one chapter after that before we get into canon events, but that's going to be more for fun than anything else and will be (I hope) an enjoyable low stakes read. Moving on.
Happy: "You're screeeeeeeeeeeeewed!"
Storm: "I know…"
Happy: "What story's up next thanks to the poll?"
Storm: "A Reaper's Awakening."
Happy: "By more than 15 points on your poll at the time of writing this. And how long have they been waiting for a new chapter?"
Storm: "…Too long."
Happy: "So expectations-?"
Storm: "Are high to put it mildly, yes. We get the idea, Happy."
Happy: "Just making sure you knew what you're in for. And hey! At least your YouTube channel's broken through 100 subs and is growing steadily! Especially with those small text skits you post!"
Storm: "You're… plugging for me now?"
Happy: "Face it, I'm pity plugging."
Storm: "Right right; Happy's correct though. YouTube's doing well and I've got a chapter of A Reaper's Awakening planned for November while my last chapter of the year will be a very important entry of A Reaper's Game on December 24th. Look forward to those."
Happy: "Aye! Onto the chapter reviews!"
Storm: "Even with your pity plugging comment, you're being uncharacteristicly nice to me this time."
Happy: "If you dare to screw up November's chapter, I don't want you cursing me at St. Peter's Gate."
Storm: "Son of a…"
Review Responses
Wlyman2009: Yeah, that bit finally caught up with him.
The Unplanner: We had a good conversation about your views on Ragna taking out XII. Needless to say, I think that your opinion in your first impression is still valid.
P3R50N4 & EnteTheSlayer: Yeah, and that's the real point I was going for; showing how strong the bond between the two truly is.
Dragon lord Syed 101: Uh… Azure itself is sort of a… well…
ArmantusCumPinnae: First Ragna has to focus on getting his second arm back before he can think of doing anything too fancy.
GM9000: They'll be coming up soon enough.
Sarcasm Sage 626: Adding follow through context between arcs is kinda of a fun thing to do, not going to lie.
Kitsune No Hi 75: An interesting idea, though I have something different planned for now.
Spartastic 4: Eh… too early.
Masterx01: Yeah, arc's just about over. Finishing up pretty quickly now and I need to make sure the next chapter's good.
Guest: Nah, just rankings.
Mexicananimator: Eh, Gray isn't going to push him just yet. Maybe either after the Demon Island Arc or I could wait a bit. Either way, I have both time and options.
Patrica Louse A. Pena: Soon, Lauxus was introduced at the very start of Demon Island so it's coming up.
Natsu: Here you are.
Until next time everyone! Ciao!