Chapter 14

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Fairy Tail guild

"Alright! Now, this is a party!" Yelled Natsu as he battled with Gray while everyone else, barring a few, was fighting each other.

"*Sighs* Truly this guild is like having multiple copies of my sister around." Thought Naestra as she kept her son away from all this violence so he doesn't get hurt. Along with him was his friend Daxter, who was looking at all this with amusement, but was also on guard in case an attack came his way.

The party that was occurring right now was in celebrations of the Strauss siblings, the newest members of the guild, arriving at Fairy Tail and becoming members. Realistically, it should have been a small party, but if there was anything that Naestra knew of this guild, it was that they tended to go overboard with everything. And she meant everything.

At first, everything went well. It was normal, as normal as it can go for this guild of magic users, party until Natsu decided to demand a fight with Gray. Though the ice-mage declined at first, when Natsu insulted him, calling him a chicken, Gray fought back, thus starting a brawl that brought nearly everyone into the fold. Arahan was absent as she was training Erza in the forest. Makarov was just shaking his head as the brawl continued, allowing it to happen as it wasn't going overboard as of yet. And Naestra was tending to the Strauss siblings, her son, and Daxter, the latter two visiting from school after it was over for the day. Now, Naestra was making sure the children were safe from harm as none of them were ready to face such a threat to their lives yet.

Mirajane was shy and withdrawn, a result of her magic. Makarov had explained to Naestra that Mirajane's magic is called Take-over magic, a type of magic that enabled a user to take over the powers of something and use it as if it was their own power. Mirajane's particular version of Take-over magic, however, allowed her to absorb and control demons, enabling her to use their strengths to augment her own. At first, Naestra was alarmed at this, remembering the demons of her world, but Makarov assured her that this particular magic was not dangerous to the user. He knew of the stigma behind demons and knew this would cause some controversy with some people, even those in the guild, but Makarov will not abandon Mirajane because of her magic, even more so when it was clear to him that she was able to fully control it. After calming Naestra down over Mirajane's magic, he asked her to take the Strauss siblings, Mirajane and her two siblings, Lisanna and Elfman, under her wing like what Arahan did with Erza.

He explained to her that, on account of her kind and considerate personality, he believed that she was best suited for tending to the needs of the Strauss siblings. Mirajane was shy and withdrawn as a result of her magic, believing it was making her less human. It also didn't help that she and her siblings were forced out of their original home by the townspeople of said home when she absorbed a demon into her, thus taking some of its appearances as she was unable to control her magic at the time. Thus, he asked Naestra to take care of her and her siblings because he believed that she was best suited to giving the young woman what she needed. A loving embrace from someone that cares for them, regardless of their magic.

Naestra, sympathetic to the Strauss siblings and Mirajane, agreed to the request and took them under her wing, taking care of all of them while she was not taking care of Diederick.

As a result of them being under her care, Naestra did whatever she could to help them be more interactive and social with the other members of the guild as well as try to get someone to help them with their magic, with some assistance from Makarov of course. She also did her best to help them with interacting with kids of their age, mostly only succeeding with Natsu and the other kids of Fairy Tail as, much to the disappointment of Makarov, many of the non-magic children were afraid of the Strauss siblings on account of Mirajane.

With all this assistance from Naestra, the Strauss' saw her as a surrogate mother, something that many other members of Fairy Tail saw her as well. Naestra, being the kind-hearted and selfless person that she was, cared for all of the children in Fairy Tail. She helped cooked their meals. She tried to teach them important life lessons. She tried to dissuade them all from fighting amongst themselves, something she had to do a lot with Gray and Natsu, and even when they fought, she was there most of the time to tend to their injuries. And perhaps most important of all, she was there when one needs a shoulder to lean on when they're feeling down. She can always be counted on to help those that were down or just wanted someone to talk to, something that, more often than not, helped prevent brawls between Fairy Tail members, much to Makarov's relief.

As a result, Naestra had become a sort of mother figure to many of the younger members of the guild, especially the children. Though Gray and Natsu still dislike her sister for being a jerk practically all the time, they still loved Naestra for her kindness and ability to empathize with pretty much everyone in the guild. Where Makarov was considered the grandfather, or even father, of the guild, Naestra was the mother.

Speaking of her sister, Arahan was quite fond of training Erza. She developed something of a kindred spirit with the little girl of Man. There was a fire in her that was similar to Arahan's own. A fire that really made the two bond, enough that Arahan both trained her well and taken helped her whenever she was down. This caused the redhead to see her as a mother figure as well as Naestra. It pleased the black-haired maiden that her sister was so loving to someone that wasn't either from Athel Loren or part of their small family. It made her feel like this mission by their queen was something that was beneficial for Arahan. She always was too reckless and too aggressive towards most people, even their own kin. Perhaps this world can teach her the values of restraint and diplomacy. Until then, she was just glad that Arahan was so loving to some people beyond their little family.

Stroking the hair of her son, she looked at the human, as she learned the Men of this world were called, a child that he was friends with.

She was overjoyed that her son had made a friend in his school, especially one of the non-magical nature. She knew, to her regret and Arahan's rage, that he was bullied for his affiliation with Fairy Tail. If it weren't for Naestra, Aragor, and Makarov stopping her, Arahan would have stormed right into that school, confronted the bullies, and stopped them her way. Her way involving a lot of threats and perhaps someone being severely injured, even dying, which was something that Fairy Tail really didn't need. Fortunately, most of it was stopped as people began to see that they were getting nothing from Diederick, much to Naestra's relief and approval. Now, only a few remained, and even they were starting to ignore Diederick, especially after the last bullying that ended with Diederick acquiring a new friend.

Although she wished they met under different circumstances, she was pleased with the boy. This Daxter was quite a nice boy. Always so polite and respectful, a far cry to the human children that Naestra used to deal with. And his parents, she meets them once before with Arahan when she was called to deal with the bullying attempt that made them friends, and she loved them. So polite, if a bit strange, but Naestra has learned a long time ago that the people of this world are not anywhere as sane as those in her old world. She supposed that was the result of there being any Chaos taint in this world, which is a very fine trade-off.

Although, deep down, she had a very bad feeling that the Chaos Gods were searching for their Everchosen this very minute and when they do, they'll bring their corrupting influence to this world, corrupting everything with their touch. If they do come, what are the Sisters to do?

Will they abandon their new home like they did their old one? To keep running until there was nothing left to go? She wasn't exactly appealed to such an idea and neither would her sister. And Diederick would never stand to abandon his friends and all that he knew to four gods that had no right to exist. And to be frank, neither would she.

Many did not want to admit it, but Chaos was growing stronger every day. Their numbers swelled as more and more people fell to the temptations of the Chaos Gods. Drawn in for a variety of reasons. And while the forces of Chaos grew, the forces that opposed them were growing weaker. Either because of irreparable damages caused by fighting the Chaos forces or because they have been fighting amongst themselves rather than the ultimate evil of the world. One day and Naestra hated to admit it, Chaos will win and everything will become nothing more than a playground for the dark gods. For, as far as she knew, nothing can permanently defeat the Chaos Gods. Nothing.

She was taken from her dark thoughts when Diederick tapped her knee. Looking at her son, Naestra waited for him to reply.

"Mother, I wanted to ask you if it was acceptable if I sleep in Daxter's house for the night." Said Diederick with hope in his eyes. Naestra blinked in surprise as she processed this.

"I do not see why not." Said Naestra. Arahan may not approve, as she didn't really like Daxter's parents or Daxter for that matter. The former for being so weird when they first met and the latter for being so…cowardly, even if he's just a child. "Have fun with your friend. Just be sure to do well in your classes the following day."

"Yes, mother." Said Diederick, catching Daxter's attention.

"So formal." Commented Daxter. "My grandparent would like you." With that, both Diederick and Daxter left, with Diederick saying goodbye to his mother, leaving her alone with the Strauss siblings.

"You have a good son." Said Mirajane, finally speaking up. Naestra looked at her with a small smile.

"Yes." Said Naestra as she looked to see both Daxter and Diederick leaving quickly to avoid anything from hitting them. "Yes, I do."

"You remind me so much of our parents." Said Mirajane as tears formed in her eyes. "Before they died." Naestra frowned at that before taking Mirajane in her arms.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Said Naestra as both Lisanna and Elfman came around her to comfort their older sister. "While this guild cannot fully replace your fallen parents, and we should never do so, we can provide you something that can help fill the void left behind by the death of your parents." She then placed an arm on the other Strauss siblings, bring them closer to her. "You just need to open up and interact with the others in this guild." Upon seeing the reluctant look on Mirajane's face, Naestra spoke up again. "If you need someone to be there while doing it, then I will be there for you. But please, do interact with the others. Form bonds with them. You will in the days ahead. Trust me on this." Mirajane looked up at Naestra, seeing the truth and merit in her worlds. Adding into the conversation, Lisanna spoke in favor of this.

"She has a good point, sis." Said Lisanna. "These are our new friends and family. We should be interacting with them and making friends with them. They're our new friends and family. We should get to know them, right?"

"Yeah." Said Elfman meekly. "I mean, we're in a guild filled with people with magic powers like us, baring two. We should get to know them. Maybe we should get to know them. Then maybe you won't be as lonely as you are now."

"I guess.' Said Mirajane meekly before looking at Naestra with pleading eyes. "Can you…can you be there for us when we talk with someone. For support." Naestra just smiled at that.

"Of course, child." Said Naestra. "I do recommend doing children of your age first. How about the dragon slayer and Gray Fullbuster. They're both, despite their flaws, are good people that will no doubt wish to befriend you in order to help you to be more comfortable in this guild. I do not think that you will need assistance with them, but if it makes you comfortable, then I do not see why not." Mirajane gave a small smile at that and thanked her. With that in mind, the group stayed clear of all the fighting that was happening and waiting for it to settle down so they can talk with Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster without getting hit by a stray punch or magic attack.

Meanwhile

"That's it." Said Arahan as she saw Erza perform a well-coordinated slash on a practice dummy before stabbing it through a chink in the armor it was wearing. "Good. Exploiting weakness' in your opponent's defenses is something that must be done if you wish to live longer. Never think that your opponent will not do the same. They will not care if you're being honorable. What matters in a battle is winning. Is that understood?" Although Erza understood what Arahan was saying, she asked a question.

"But what about protecting my fellow guildmates?" Asked Erza, not wanting to abandon her friends, even if it was to win. "What if I have to surrender or lose a battle because my friends are about to die? What then?" Arahan just pursed her lips before speaking.

"Then you'd be just like my fool sister." Said Arahan, though there was no real malice in her tone. "Someone that risks their own life to protect their loved ones. But, sometimes, you may have to do so if the ones you're protecting are more valuable than your own." Erza frowned at that, not liking that answer. She remembered the cruel life she had when she was taking from her village. And with that remembrance came back memories that Erza would very much like to remain at the back of her hands for all the pain and suffering was too much for her to bear at times. Crunching her face, she then remembered the betrayal of someone that she thought would never betray her and their friends.

Seeing this reaction from her pupil, Arahan asked Erza what was wrong. When the girl replied that nothing was wrong, Arahan scoffed.

"Do not try to hide what is bothering you, child." Said Arahan as she crossed her arms. "That only serves your enemies by making you weaker." Upon seeing the confusion in Erza's eyes, she explained. "What if whatever you're hiding from me is a weakness that our enemies can exploit? Upon finding out what it is, they'll use it against you. If they have any strategic minds worthy of mention, they'll use it during a critical battle, thus giving them an opportunity to take you out of the fight, either costing you your life or those of your friends if they can't win that battle without you. Understand?" Horrified at that image, Erza looked down in shame, causing Arahan to sigh.

"Better to be ashamed of your attempt to hide it now, thus giving you an attempt to rectify the problem, than to regret doing so in a battle, even more so when it costs you your life or someone else's." Said Arahan. She had experience dealing with these things from her son when he was younger. Thus, much as it pains her to say, she's learned that most of the time, it was better to be nice to children than it was being aggressive and strict with them, although a fair amount of strictness was needed at times. "So, you acknowledge what you did wrong, that's good. Now you need to rectify it. What is the problem?" Erza sighed at that before speaking.

"Can we sit down somewhere nice?" Asked Erza. "The memories are too painful to bear." Arahan sighed at that before nodding. With that, the two left the training area behind the guildhall to sit down underneath a nearby tree. Once they did, Erza began to tell Arahan her problem. "I was taken from my village when I was really young. It was a small village called Rosemary. I was taken by a group of bad men that worshiped the legendary black Mage, Zeref. They used me along with many others, most of them children to construct an awful tower that they said will revive Zeref, making us slaves." Arahan simply stayed silent as she let Erza continue.

She had heard of this Zeref. A powerful dark mage that had brought ruin and despair hundreds of years ago. Although he was long dead, his legacy remained. Countless mages and people have tried to restore or recover artifacts of his time as they still contained great power, a power that they can use to great effects to rule the world or something akin to that. At first, Arahan thought this Zeref was a Chaos sorcerer, but that was immediately squashed down when she heard more about this black wizard. He was simply a powerful mage that nearly brought destruction to this world. A powerful mage, yes, but was not a follower of Chaos. Otherwise, from the sounds of this mage, Chaos would have taken this world if he was indeed a Chaos sorcerer. And even if it hadn't, the taint of Chaos would be in the very air, something she was, unfortunately, used to in her old world. But here…nothing, thank Isha.

"And we worked. Worked and worked." Said Erza as she remembered those days. "But, not everything was bad. I became friends with some of the other workers. Their names were Simon, Shô, Wally Buchanan, Millianna, Rob, and Jellal." Upon saying the last name, Erza's expression turned to one of hurt, catching Arahan's attention. This Jellal must be a sore subject to the girl. If so, then it must be dealt with quickly in order to prevent it from becoming a weakness that can be exploited by whatever enemies this girl must face. Though she wanted to target this weakness now, she waited until she had more information to go on.

"And I take it you worked on this tower for some time?" Asked Arahan, causing Erza to nod.

"I don't know how long we worked on that tower, I lost track of time, but eventually, we decided to escape. I came up with a plan that would see us all free from those monsters, but fate had different plans." Said Erza with pain in her eye while one of her hands went to her missing one, covered by bandages. "They caught us escaping and we were punished for it. The others went three days without food while I lost my eye." Upon hearing that, Arahan felt a familiar rage building up inside her. She may be cruel and aggressive to many, but even she had limits. She drew the line on harming children, even more so when it was clear they didn't deserve it. If she ever found any of these monsters, she was going to kill them all, slowly and painfully.

"But that wasn't everything, was it?" Asked Arahan, knowing that she was right. Erza nodded before speaking up, this time tearing up.

"I would have lost more than just my eye if it weren't for Jellal." Said Erza, trying to hold in the tears, but failing. "He rescued me from my captives, but he was captured in the process. So, I waged a revolt against our slave masters. At first, everything was going well, but then our slave masters brought their magic users and everything went downhill. It got so bad that Rob had to sacrifice himself to save me from an attack. Although, Rob's sacrifice made me summon my magic for the first time. It turned the tide of the battle and our revolt was a success. While everyone was leaving the island on the only boat, I was rescuing Jellal. At first, everything was going well, but then…Jellal attacked me." Tears flowing down her only eye, Erza continued to explain. "He used to be so kind and gentle, but now he became insane and evil. He claimed that he was possessed by Zeref and that the only way to attain true freedom was to complete the tower and revive Zeref. I refused to help him, so he made me the villain. He destroyed the boat, claimed it was me that did it because of me going insane because of my magic, and everyone believed him. So, with no way off the island, they continued to build the tower. And I, the only one that knew the truth besides Jellal, was exiled, abandoned by all my friends because of a lie. Eventually, I came to this guild and you know the rest." Arahan, who for the most part, stayed silent during this whole confession watched as Erza continued to cry in front of her. When she was certain that Erza was done, Arahan spoke.

"Are you certain that this boy was possessed?" Asked Arahan, causing Erza to look up at her. "That he wasn't simply hiding his true nature from you." Upon hearing that question, Erza grew angry at Arahan.

"No, Jellal wasn't hiding his true nature from any of us." Said Erza, glaring at Arahan. "He was a kind and considerate boy that wouldn't dare hurt his friends. He was the one that gave me my last name. Scarlet." She then touched her hair. "So that they wouldn't forget it and me." Arahan, seeing that this Jellal was something of a weakness for Erza, wanted to eradicate this weakness, but suspected that she couldn't. It seemed that Erza was in love with this boy, much to her annoyance.

Love was something that Arahan has a very mixed feeling about, much like most things in life. Love, on one hand, can be a wonderful emotion that can motivate warriors to fight harder. For example, she loved her old home of Athel Loren and she would fight to the bitter end to prevent it from falling by either the Bretonnians or the forces of Chaos. But on the other, it can lead to one's own destruction. Too many times, she's seen love turn people into a corrupted version of themselves or caused their own demise. It can even cause one to fall to Chaos for a variety of reasons.

The fear of losing a loved one can lead one to pray to Nurgle to save their loved one from death. One's love for bloodshed and warfare can lead them to Khorne. One's love for knowledge and eagerness to acquire more of it can lead them to Tzeentch. And, perhaps worrying of all, love for another can lead one to Slaanesh, the Chaos Gods all elves feared above of the four. So, in many ways, love was an emotion that is very much a double-edged sword. Fortunately, there were no Chaos Gods in this world to take advantage of love, but it was still a weakness that had to be rectified or, at the very least, lessen the advantage it would bring this girl's enemies.

Even without the Chaos Gods, love was still an emotion that people can use. They can use it to make Erza do whatever they wanted, so long as they had the right person under their thrall, thus ruining her reputation and thus the guilds'. Heck, her so-called loved one can use said love to get them to do what they wanted or manipulate them for other things, which is probably what she needed to help Erza with, based on what she heard about this Jellal. Thus, she went to work.

"So, you truly believe he's been possessed?" Asked Arahan. When Erza fiercely nodded, eye gleaming with protectiveness, she sighed. "Very well. If that is what you truly believe, then perhaps we should find a way to remove the spirit within him, so that he returns to the boy that you once knew." Upon hearing that, Erza asked how they were going to do that. "Just look through some ancient tomes or books about removing spirits from a person. Or ask Makarov for assistance. I'm sure the old man will help you if you ask him nicely. So long as you stay in your path, no matter how long it takes, you will achieve your goal. And I believe you have such a drive to do your goals no matter the opposition." Erza smiled at that and was about to thank Arahan when she spoke up again. "However, I must ask, what if he was just hiding his true nature?" Upon seeing the glare return to Erza's face, Arahan rolled her eyes and explained. "Do not give me that look, child. You should know me well enough to know that what I'm trying to say is done out to help you improve as a combatant on the battlefield, even if you don't like what I have to say. I'm not saying this because I believe it to be the case, I say it because you have to consider the possibility that your friend isn't what he seemed when you first meet him. Otherwise, it'll hurt even more when you learn what I suggest is true, no matter how much you want to deny." Erza wanted to retort that she was wrong and that Jellal wasn't a monster, but couldn't find the words. Seeing this, Arahan asked a question. "So tell me, what will you do when it's uncovered he isn't what he was when you first met. What will you do if he is indeed possessed like you believe, but you can't save him? Not without sacrificing countless others to do so. What are you going to do?" Looking at Arahan's expecting eyes, Erza gulped a bit before speaking.

"Whatever needs to be done to save my new friends and home from Jellal." Said Erza with no small reluctance in her voice. Arahan gave a nod of approval at that before speaking.

"Good." Said Arahan. "Keep that attitude up and you'll be a fine warrior when you become an adult." Erza just stayed silent as she processed this. Up until now, she would have been overjoyed to have Arahan's approval, but right now, she didn't want it. She didn't like that she may have to do actions that would make her no different from the slavers that imprisoned her in the tower way back when. She didn't like that she may not be able to save Jellal from the monster that resides in him. And, perhaps worst of all, she didn't like that she may have to kill Jellal in order to save others.

She felt like that wasn't what Fairy Tail should be about. It should be a place where good people gather and perform deeds to bring happiness to others and smite evil from the world. They shouldn't do things that their enemies would do. They shouldn't kill nor consider anyone to be irredeemable. It just doesn't seem right for a Fairy Tail mage. Arahan must have detected this as she sighed and spoke up again.

"I know what you're thinking." Said Arahan, catching Erza's attention. "Let me assure you that nothing is as simple as it seems. Not in reality. You think just because this guild is called Fairy Tail that we're some ultimate source of good? That we are somehow better than those we face in battle? Let me tell you an important lesson, girl. There is no morally superior side and it's foolish to think there is one. What really is happening is that opposing sides are facing each other for something. What that is, is not important. What is important is that, they're fighting and that they must do whatever they can to win. Nothing more. Nothing less. It's that simple." Erza frowned at that.

"Even if we have to do things that make people hate us?" Asked Erza, causing Arahan to sigh. She wanted to be blunt and upfront with the girl about these sort of things, but refrained, an act that surprised the white-haired elf, but otherwise, she pushed through. Realizing that this was something that Naestra needed to do, she was better at talking with children anyway, she ordered Erza to follow her back into the guild. With some reluctance, the little girl did and the two entered the guild. Upon arriving, they saw that the brawl had ended and everyone was cleaning up the mess it made with Makarov staring down at everyone to ensure they clean up the mess. While this was happening, Naestra was around the Strauss siblings as they conversed with Natsu and Gray. From the looks of it, they were having a good time conversing with each other, even Mirajane.

Seeing her sister, Arahan went over there and interrupted the little conversation.

"Sister, I need you to do something." Demanded Arahan as she barged into the conversation, causing Naestra to sigh. Looking at her sister, she asked Arahan what she wanted. When Arahan told her what she needed her to do, Naestra sighed again before smiling at Mirajane.

"There's something that I have to do." Said Naestra as she looked at Mirajane and her siblings. "It won't take too long, I promise." Although Mirajane didn't like Naestra leaving them, she complied and so did her siblings. With that, Naestra took Erza from Arahan and gently went to a nearby table that was far away from everyone. Once they were both seated, Naestra spoke up. "I take it my sister has said something that you disagree with heavily?"

"Yes." Said Erza. "She said that the only important thing is that we win against our enemies. That Fairy Tail isn't a force of good. And that good and evil don't matter at all. Just winning. Is that all true?" Naestra just smiled sadly at the little girl as she stroked her hair in an effort to calm her down.

"I'm afraid that things aren't as simple as Arahan or you deem things to be." Said Naestra before explaining. "Sometimes you have to do things that may cause people to be enraged with you in order to protect them, but in other times, you may have to do things to prevent such things." Said Naestra as she looked at Erza with her tranquil green eyes. "The purpose of this guild isn't to be famous or receive recognition for one's actions. No. Those are just chance rewards given to us for our service to others." Naestra then remembered some job offerings just a few days ago that had nothing to do with war at all and are rather indecent if the elf had to say. "Or are rewards depending on what we do, but enough of that. Our purpose, the purpose you and I have sworn to do, is to help and protect the people from harm. To protect them from dangers that seek to end their lives or bring about the destruction of the people we've sworn to protect. And sometimes to do that, we need to do things that garner the disapproval, even hate, of those we are supposed to protect. They may not understand it, but what we did for them was for their safety and betterment. An example of this is a hunter and the hare. The hunter must kill the hare to survive and take care of their family. Their daughter, however, dislikes them for hunting the hare and killing it because it was so beautiful. The same can be said for us. We do things that cause hated to stir in those that were are supposed to help or protect, but this must be done in order to protect them or to help them thrive. Do you understand?"

"I do." Said Erza. "But wouldn't the daughter hate the hunter too much if he kept doing it? Hunting hares?"

"I was getting to that." Said Naestra. "You're correct, Erza. The daughter may or may not hate the hunter so much that they may never speak to them again. Worse, the hunter's overhunting of hares resulted in them becoming near extinct in the forest area where he hunted. Thus, endangering the local forest and its cycle of life. Do you know how to solve this problem, Erza? One where everyone is somewhat satisfied?" Erza thought long and hard on the solution until eventually she gave up and told Naestra, who simply smiled at that. "The answer here is that balance is key. The hunter, wanting to keep both his family fed, his daughters' love, and the forest's hare population from diminishing, must be cautious on how much he hunts so that his daughter while disapproving of his hunting, is satisfied that he isn't overhunting. And the forest's hare population is strong enough to thrive despite the hunting." She then smiled down at Erza. "That is what Arahan didn't try to convey to you, Erza. Life isn't as simple as some of us would like. The people we face have goals, wants, and needs just as much as we do. Yes, some of those are awful and will bring about the destruction of others, but they are goals, wants, and needs nevertheless. It's up to you if you recognize such things in your enemies and it's up to you if you'll allow them to interfere with what you have to do on an assignment. Do you understand?" Erza nodded in understanding. It was all a lot to take in and she needed time to think things through, but she understood what Naestra was saying. "Good. Now, things are more complex than even I explained so it's up to you and your own beliefs to decide what to do. Understood?" When Erza nodded, Naestra spoke up again. "Good, now let me give you a treat. No doubt you and Arahan trained hard today. Shall we get something from the bar? A cake perhaps?" Upon hearing the word cake, Erza's eyes brightened. Since coming to Fairy Tail, she had a fondness for cake, particularly strawberry cake.

When Naestra saw Erza nod rapidly, she smiled a bit before telling Arahan to take Erza to get cake. Scoffing at this, Arahan nevertheless did what her sister asked and took Erza to the bar to get some cake. While this was happening, Naestra was going back to the Strauss siblings, finding them to be laughing, even Mirajane, at Gray and Natsu as they butted heads with each other.