"I'm back!" Alice announced herself.
"Welcome back," Ryker said as he opened the door and stepped onto the porch.
Alice was driving a horse-drawn wagon, at the back of which was a mountain of supplies she had bought in town that would last them for some time.
"How was the trip?" asked Ryker, helping Alice off the wagon.
"Well, as far as possible and in that time," she replied.
"There is not much snow and spring is coming, at least in the mountains. Next time I'll go with you."
"Fine by me, if you're fine."
Ryker rolled his eyes, tired of her worry. "I'm fine, I can't stay in this cabin for the rest of my life!"
"Okay, bitch, whatever you like," Alice retorted with a shrug. "What about things around here? It's been seven days since I left, is everything in order?" she asked.
Ryker looked at her with boredom. "Who do you think I am, a teenager? It's okay!" he replied. "You're not going to like it, but I took a chance and explored the area a bit."
"Ryker!" she called his attention.
"I was careful and there wasn't much snow," he defended himself.
Sighing and placing a hand to her forehead, Alice shook her head in defeat. "All good. Let's go inside, it's cold out here", she crossed the door and entered her residence.
"I'll put the horses away and then I'll get the groceries and put them away. You rest, you're not 20 anymore," he said in a slightly mocking tone.
"Are you calling me old!?", she looked at him with intensity and irritation, resting her hands on her hips.
"No, but you're not young either", he laughed sadistically and went to guard the horses, leaving Alice astonished and angry.
As soon as he was out of her sight, Alice slammed the door hard and irritably, walking towards the sofa, stomping her feet angrily with each step. The inside of her house was warm and comfortable with the fire burning and that smell of burning pine. She was surprised by the cleanliness. It was the first time she had left him alone for so long and having experience with men living alone, she imagined her house would be a mess. It was a pleasant surprise that she was wrong. Settling down on the sofa, she relaxed.
Outside, Ryker took the wagon to a covered area and untied the horses from the wagon, taking them to the stables and leaving each one in the respective stall where it belonged. He fed them hay and changed the water for the horses. Returning to where the wagon was, he removed Alice's purchases. He had to make a few trips to account for everything she bought. Once he was done packing up he settled down on the sofa beside Alice, who was sipping a hot drink in front of the fireplace watching the wood crackle and the flames dance.
"See anything interesting on your adventures?" asked Alice.
Ryker shrugged. "It is a very beautiful region. It is very isolated and from what I understand there is a good observation point of the valley further down. If there's anyone coming it's easy to see ahead and prepare," he replied.
She looked at him sideways. "Did you learn all this in the army?" she asked him.
"Like that… Fiore is to the west, and there are only mountains and the river you found me comes from there. It must be very turbulent going through them," Ryker commented.
"It's impassable, just like those mountains," replied Alice, her eyes fixed on the flames. "I still don't understand how you survived," she looked at him.
"Divine Providence," Ryker said with a slight smile. "You must be hungry. I'm going to fix something." Ryker got up and went into the kitchen.
"Do you know how to cook?" Alice asked in astonishment.
"I'm not a master, but I do my best," he replied.
Alice smiled as she watched him go to cook. Ryker didn't have much experience in the kitchen, but some of the things he'd trained himself to cook for Mirajane were still on his mind. He saw what he had and tried to prepare what he could, however he could to make the best meal he could. Hours later he managed to finish a decent meal for himself and Alice. Once everything was ready he took everything to the dinner table.
"So, how were you?" Ryker asked once they'd finished eating. He had a certain expectation of Alice's answer.
Alice stopped and thought for a moment, creating an air of anticipation that Ryker was hating. "It was very good! Better than I could have imagined," she smiled.
Ryker sighed in relief. "It didn't have to create so much tension. I've had enough of that in my life," he complained.
She laughed at the frown he made. "And what fun would that be?" Alice laughed. "You can get married now. Mirajane must be happy," she teased, causing Ryker to blush slightly.
"Mira cooks much better, the dishes she cooks are incredible," he commented, remembering the meals she made for them. "Her brothers cook too, but nothing compares to Mirajane Strauss," he said with some pride.
"Bloody hell! It must be really amazing", Alice said seeing his excitement towards Mira.
"NO!", Ryker woke up screaming and all sweaty and the bed was soaking wet. He got up and sat down, putting a hand to his face noticing that she was shaking. "Another nightmare," he told himself. He knew he wouldn't sleep the rest of the night.
For the rest of the night he stared out the window at the light snow falling, the last of early spring. He saw the first light pass over the mountains, casting a long shadow. It was dawn, he could hear Alice walking around the house and doing something in the kitchen, sighing he got up and left the room.
"Good morning", Alice greeted him as he left the room and arrived in the kitchen. The sun was already up, Ryker sat at the kitchen table picking up something to nibble on. "Is everything okay?", she asked noticing that he was acting strange.
Ryker grunted some unintelligible reply, not wanting to be disturbed. Finished eating he left the kitchen and went outside. Alice looked at him worriedly, she already knew him relatively well, enough to know when something wasn't right with him.
There was no snow, except in a few places where it accumulated more, but overall it was good enough and the plants were already sprouting with the onset of spring. Ryker stood on the field breathing and feeling the cool air, trying to clear his mind and calm down. He needed to distract his mind, focus on something else and even though he wasn't fully recovered, he was already strong enough to do some exercises.
For the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon, Ryker walked up and down hill after hill across the country. He did push-ups, sit-ups, and squats as hard as he could, until his muscles ached and he couldn't move anymore, tired he decided to go home, exhausted and sore, sure he had torn some ligament.
"It was out all day. Did you get what you wanted?", Alice said looking at him seriously and with her arms crossed over her chest.
Ryker looked at her and shrugged. "That was enough," he replied.
"The first word I hear come out of your mouth today."
"What do you want?", Ryker said irritably and looking at her with an angry frown.
"Are we going to get back to this, or are you going to tell me what's going on?" she said firmly.
Ryker had a worthy opponent, who wouldn't be intimidated by him, he had to admit. Snorting he rubbed his head intensely and sat down on the sofa and lowered his head, he had learned from Erza and the others that it was better to talk than to keep to himself, even though he didn't like to share certain things. But he admitted that sometimes opening up helped.
"I had a nightmare last night actually… memories of the war. I'm scared that everything will go back to the way it was before, with my seizures, headaches and frequent nightmares," he said. Alice sympathized and sat down next to him and pulled him into her lap, stroking his head.
Taken aback, Ryker was speechless. He just let her do what she wanted, it was all very strange to him, he didn't know what to do or how to behave. Only Mira had that freedom with him, but he was nice and welcoming. He relaxed.
"Tell me," asked Alice.
"I got better, I really got better. I was addicted to pills that kept me sane. All ex-combatants took medication for sleep, pain, anxiety, antidepressants and more. But Fairy Tail helped me to stop, to control my traumas as much as possible. However, this has no cure. I still had nightmares and tremors and seizures. They became rare, it's true, but I still used drugs from time to time, without others knowing", explained Ryker.
"Why didn't you tell them?"
"They wouldn't understand and it wasn't that serious. It was under control."
"Not anymore?"
"War leaves irreversible scars on you. They come in vain. Since I've been here I feel like it's progressing, without my meds it's harder to control," Ryker explained.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I could have bought it when I went to town", Alice questioned him.
"The medicines I take are not sold without a prescription. I bribed the pharmacists in Magnolia to get them."
Alice sighed, but sympathized with him. He told her everything and she knew it was hard for him and nothing was that simple. "There are some plants that can help. If you hold out tonight, tomorrow I can walk through the woods and look."
Ryker stood up and looked at Alice hopefully. "Certainty?". Alice confirmed with a nod and a gentle smile.
The next day, Alice spent all morning looking for the herbs Ryker would need and half the afternoon crafting them into medicines he could use. In the whole process he helped her in any way he could. At the end of the day he had what it took and he took them in hopes they would help him.
Despite being simple and homemade, the natural remedies had a satisfactory effect, allowing Ryker to spend a good night, without seizures or nightmares. Over the subsequent days and weeks he continued to take them and they continued to work, leaving her relieved. From time to time he still had nightmares and seizures, but it was under control and nothing he couldn't handle.
After a while, Alice asked how he was doing and he confirmed, to her relief, that he was fine and the medicine was working.
"I'm happy about it, Ryker. And how's your training going?" she asked.
"Good. I still have some pain and discomfort, but I think I can take it slow. Every day I get stronger, but I'm still far from recovering."
"Take your time," she advised him. "Anyway, you have to help me clean up the house today. Then move!" she ordered.
"Yes ma'am..."
"Hey Mira, bring more beer!" shouted some mages at a table.
"I'm on my way," replied the white-haired mage, smiling as always and with a happy face. Whether there was something behind that expression or not was hard to tell. However, she was going back and forth as the requests kept coming in from the other mages.
"Looks like Mira-san is feeling better. I'm glad she's getting over the loss," Lucy commented.
"Juvia agrees. Mira-san seems more cheerful since returning from that job with Lisanna and Elfman- san ", the water mage said looking at the Take Over mage. "But she feels sad that Mira-san has lost the love of her life. This is so sad", she whined and leaned against Gray, who sighed resignedly looking at his girlfriend.
"Mira is strong, I had no doubt she could pull it off. Besides, it's been more than 5 months, enough time to get over a loss, after all, life goes on and Ryker wouldn't want to see her depressed", commented Erza.
"That's a way of thinking, but don't you think it's too pragmatic?" asked Gray.
"Certain things need to be pragmatic, Gray. I liked him too, more than you know, but I had to get over it. Wendy is also doing the best she can", Erza said looking steadily at the ice mage.
"Juvia doesn't know how she would react if Gray-sama died", she sighed thoughtfully and shook her head vigorously to get the image out of her mind.
"But you two are already dead," Happy commented casually.
"Don't remind me of that!" growled Gray. The image of Juvia sacrificing herself with him still troubled him.
"Neither is Juvia!" she screamed, remembering her dying love for the dragons and his sacrifice against Invel .
"Stupid cat! Look what you did," Lucy yelled indignantly.
"What did I do?" asked Happy innocently.
"You pissed them off! It reminded them of painful things," Lucy yelled again at the blue cat.
"Natsu!", Happy ran behind the fire mage protecting himself against the fury of the celestial mage.
"You're a very noisy bunch," said Cana, bringing a keg of beer and joining them at the table. "What are you talking about?" she asked.
"We're just glad Mira is feeling better," Erza replied.
"Ah, about that…", Cana took a long drink from her keg and wiped her mouth with her hand. "It's pretty impressive, especially given that it's been almost a year since Ryker arrived in our world."
"What? It's been a long time! I had no idea," said Lucy in surprise.
"Me neither. I didn't remember that", Erza said and everyone else nodded.
"Time passes quickly," Cana laughed.
"It must be difficult for Mira-san. It's an important date," Juvia commented sadly.
Cana and the others at the table looked at the white haired mage. "She's taking it," Cana said with a shrug. "What about you guys? Are you going to just talk about it or are you going to do something interesting?"
"Tomorrow we are going on a fun mission. Aye !" said Happy.
"Exactly," Erza stated. "I hope everyone is prepared, it will be a long job."
"Can not wait. I'm all excited already", Natsu had that peculiar twinkle in his eyes.
The water mage clung to her boyfriend. "Juvia wanted to go on this mission with Gray-sama so much", she whimpered, angering the ice mage, who didn't know what else to do with her. He would never admit that he liked her that way, even if it drove him crazy sometimes.
"Calm down Juvia! It will only be a few days", he tried to calm his girlfriend, without any effect. Everyone smiled at the couple.
"And may I know what it is?", asked the brunette.
"We have to recover a precious stolen object. Then we'll have to infiltrate a criminal organization," Erza replied.
"Oh, that looks pretty dangerous," Cana said with some excitement.
"That's what I said. I don't like this mission at all", commented Lucy.
"Juvia will follow Gray-sama wherever he goes to make sure nothing happens to him!", she said determinedly.
" Ahh …," sighed Gray in defeat. "What do I do with you?" he wailed.
Natsu, on the other hand, smiled determined and excited. "But that's precisely why it's so much fun," he beat his flaming fists together. "I don't want to go on an easy simple job. I want something that challenges me. Come on Happy! Let's get ready."
" Aye , sir!" Natsu and Happy ran out of the guild, full of energy.
"It's always refreshing and exciting to see how Natsu reacts to difficult missions," Erza said with a smile. Lucy sighed, she knows what usually happens when the Dragon Slayer gets too excited. She could see the dollar signs going away.
"What about you, Cana. Going to work?" Gray asked.
Cana shrugged sloppily. "Gildarts is back and he wants me to go on one of his jobs with him," she commented. "But I already said I don't want to go on one of those endless missions, so we're going on a month-long job abroad"
"I'm glad you and Gildarts are spending time together. You've always wanted this, haven't you?", Erza said happily.
"Ehh , I think so...", the brunette said looking to the other side.
They continued talking for hours until they each went to their respective homes and prepared for their missions.
In Seven ...
After an intense workout all day, Ryker was lying on the grass looking at the sky at the end of the day, enjoying the painting that the sun's rays were doing on the clouds and relaxing. Alice calmly walked over and sat down beside him on the grass.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said.
"It is," he sighed.
"Something is bothering you. What is it?", Alice asked worriedly.
"It's been a year since I arrived in this world," Ryker replied, "and I've been here over five months. I wonder how Mira is doing."
Alice smiled warmly and reassuringly. "I don't know her, but the way you always talk about her I imagine she's fine. You will meet again."
"I hope so, that's what I want. But at the same time, I wonder if she's moved on with her life."
Alice smirked. "Are you jealous? Imagining that she found another love and already forgot you?"
"What!?" Ryker looked at her in astonishment. "Of course I'm not jealous! I'm just... I'm wondering what she's been up to. That's all!" he roared.
"Keep kidding yourself," Alice laughed, embarrassing him. "Don't worry so much, it's too soon for her to move on like this. But hurry back to her soon."
Ryker looked at her and smiled slightly. "How about you? Is it ok for me to leave you? You are also important
"Mothers raise their children for the world, Ryker. I'll be fine if you visit me once in a while", she bent down and kissed his forehead tenderly. He never knew how to react when she showed affection and care for him, which always made him uncomfortable and, it seemed, Alice always noticed.
Weeks later...
Ryker and Alice were walking through the center of Brun's town, located close to where they were living in the mountains. The weather was fine and they were looking for the supplies they would need for the next few months.
With Ryker's considerable improvement, Alice decided he was well enough to make the journey into town and help her with shopping and whatever else she needed. Also, getting out of the mountains and seeing other people and interacting with society would help his psychological and physical improvement, she believed. Staying isolated for months wouldn't do anyone any good, so changing environments, seeing new things and letting your mind get used to civilization and disorder helped him. Brun was not a big city, but it had a small mountain town charm.
Whenever Alice went into town, she stayed longer than just a day, as the journey was long and dangerous she made the most of the time she had. That time was no different. They were two days in the city shopping, selling what they brought from the mountains and solving problems that could be solved.
"Is there still a lot to go, Alice?" asked Ryker.
"Not so much. We still have a lot at home and with spring we have vegetables, vegetables that we won't need to buy", she replied.
"Okay…I'll have a look around. See if I can find anything interesting," he said and Alice nodded. Ryker wandered through the center looking at the shops and stalls looking for anything that caught his fancy. But nothing seemed good enough until he stopped in front of a newsstand.
It was a knife and blade shop and Ryker looked at them one by one, marveling at all he saw, however one caught his attention the most.
"Did you find anything?", Alice came up behind him, catching him by surprise and giving him a slight scare.
"Damn it, Alice!" he huffed irritably.
She laughed and looked at what he was seeing. "What are you so interested in?"
"It's this Ka-Bar knife, it's beautiful! In my land we call it Damascus Steel. I had a similar one that I got when I served in North Africa, but I lost it. An oversight on my part, unfortunately", he showed Alice the knife. A beautiful combat knife with the blade detailed with beautiful patterns.
"It really is very pretty," she noted.
"And we can do a very good price", the salesman said smiling, he had a characteristic accent.
"I wish I could, but I don't have the money," Ryker lamented.
Alice looked at him and realized that he had admiration written on his face for that knife. "How much is it?", she asked the seller.
"Alice, what are you doing!?", Ryker asked.
"I'm buying this knife," she replied with a shrug.
"What the hell, Alice! I cannot allow you to spend money on something superfluous like a knife," he protested.
Glancing at him, Alice looked at him seriously. "It's my money and I'll do whatever I want with it." Ryker was speechless. "Besides, I want to buy it. It will be very useful to me. The kitchen knives are getting dull, I need a new one"
Ryker couldn't believe what he was hearing, he broke down and felt a twinge in his heart. "This knife is not for that!", he shouted indignantly.
Alice laughed seeing him irritated. She always liked teasing him, it was fun for her. "You couldn't really think that I would do that!", she smiled. "You've been keeping me company all this time, putting an end to my loneliness. Consider it a gift for your future journey."
"Damn it, Alice...", he scratched his head awkwardly. She bought the knife and gave it to him as a gift as he had said.
"I don't know how to repay you, Alice. You do a lot for me", Ryker said happily with this woman he almost considered a mother he ended up finding. Despite everything he was happy to have met her and felt grateful for her.
"No need, dear", she put her hand on his face affectionately while looking at him with affection.
"When I return to Fiore, you can return with me. You will be very well received", he said in the hope that she would accompany him. After so long, Ryker became attached to Alice and deep down he didn't want to leave her alone. He wanted her to go with him, wanted her to be with him. Alice just smiled without saying anything else.
At that moment, a strong explosion occurred ahead of where they were, shaking the whole place. A column of smoke and fire rose into the sky and there were screams of pain and despair echoing on all sides. People started running everywhere in fear and not knowing what was happening.
"What was that!?", Alice screamed in fright.
"I don't know," Ryker replied. "Stay here, I'll take a look."
"Ryker, wait!" Alice grabbed his arm as he started to walk away. "Don't go, it could be dangerous and you're not in the best shape", she said with concern.
"I'll be fine. If it's something I can't handle I back off," he replied calmly.
She looked at him with irritation and with indignation. "You stubborn one," she sighed in defeat. "If you go, so will I."
"I don't think it's a good idea," he tried to persuade her.
"Shut up! I won't leave you alone. Have you forgotten that I used to belong to a guild too?", There was determination in her voice, at that moment there was no strength capable of making her change her mind. Ryker smiled at the corner of his mouth and shrugged, running after her.
"Take all you can!" shouted a man with a hard and serious face. "Arrest everyone, on the street. We will use them as a shield in our escape."
Other less than pleasant men carried the hostages out into the street and trapped them halfway, preventing any troops from reaching them. Meanwhile, other subordinates took all the money and jewelry and anything else of value they could get their hands on.
Ryker and Alice remained hidden behind a tent watching them. "I counted five of them, they don't seem to be a guild, but a random bunch of thugs."
"No, I know them. They are a small black guild. They're not strong, but they're dangerous enough," Alice warned.
"I think I can stop them, but you'll have to distract them first. If the fight goes on I won't have enough strength to defeat them," Ryker said, working out a plan in his mind.
"And how do you intend to take five wizards by surprise?", she questioned him.
"You get their attention, I'll come around and get them from behind. One accurate hit will be enough," he explained.
"I don't like this," Alice feared, concerned for Ryker's safety.
"I'll be fine, believe me. It's not the first time I've taken mice by surprise," he jokes. Alice doesn't like it, but agrees with the plan without having any other options at that moment. She didn't know him in action, but for some reason she believed him.
"Get ready, when you're ready I'll do my part," Alice stated and Ryker nodded.
He sneaked around corners, always looking for the enemy's blind spot so he wouldn't be seen. As he advanced and the black magicians sensed any presence he would stop and wait for their distrust to go away. With each step the tension increased, both he and Alice broke out in a cold sweat. Not being at full strength, Ryker was an easy target if he was seen. Alice's heart was in pain, and she could hear the pounding in her ears, but she had to trust him. Slowly, sneaking, crawling and hiding behind anything that could hide them from enemy eyes, he arrived and stood behind them, ready to attack at any moment. He just had to wait for Alice to act.
Alice wasn't an attack mage, but she knew some moves that could have an effect. Even because, as a mage, she had to learn to defend herself if she needed to. She chose the best moment, where all the mages were close. When she saw the opportunity, she came out of her hiding place and attacked them quickly, using her magic to create two tornadoes of water that came out of her arms, hitting everyone and knocking them down. Despite the force of the attack, it wasn't enough to injure them or take them out of combat.
"You bastard!", one of them shouted with hatred when he saw her.
"Get her!" another shouted.
"Do your part now, Ryker!" Alice told herself.
Before the dark mages could begin their attack, a strong wave of energy hit them, catching them from behind. The explosion was localized and concentrated, avoiding hitting the hostages. Alice took advantage of the moment and ran towards them, freeing them and leading them to a safe and secluded place.
Ryker ran towards one of them, stunned and wounded by the attack. He picked him up and punched him viciously in the stomach, ducking his head and kneeing him in the face. Then Ryker ran towards another enemy, tripping him and with the black mage on the ground Ryker stepped on his chest causing him to vomit blood and pass out. The third tried to fire his magic, but missed. Ryker turned his body and fired at him, hitting him in the face and causing another explosion that left the black mage unconscious. The other two were no more difficult than the previous ones. Fast, deadly and violent, Ryker cut down the rest, inflicting minor injuries on his enemies such as a broken arm and head trauma.
"Ryker!" cried Alice running towards him.
Ryker was at the center of it all, panting and completely drained and drained. He heard her calling him and looked in her direction, smiling and giving Alice a thumbs up. She looked up at him and smiled, but her expression changed, terrified when she saw a sixth dark mage appear out of nowhere and reach out towards Ryker with a look of hatred.
"WATCH OUT!" she yelled.
Ryker turned in the other direction, but he didn't have time to react. He was trapped in a sphere and couldn't get out.
"Get lost, you bastard", the black magician said and laughed sadistically. He closed his fist, and in that instant the sphere holding Ryker disappeared from view in a flash.
"RYKER NO!", Alice screamed in despair, tears started to well in her eyes while the enemy laughed with pleasure and satisfaction.