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"Yes, I had thought about that, too, but when you did not mention magic once, I simply assumed he was not a mage,"
"He could still have accomplices who are – I think we should have a look at the scene of the crime," Jellal proposed. "I doubt the police has a professional branch for detecting magic and runes,"
"Are you saying the family could still be inside their own house, only trapped?"
"It's a possibility," Jellal shrugged. "We don't know whether the inspector is the mastermind behind the robbery and disappearance of the family – he might never have been in the house at all-"
"He was – the police were complaining to me about his 'useful hints' he served them right and left and unasked most of all," Ambrose forced down the urge to roll his eyes.
"In any case, he's in on the whole shenanigan, and I would like to see his behaviour around the scene of the crime – any clues on site are a bonus, of course," Jellal received animated nodding for his idea. "What exactly do I do now?" He looked down into the pan. With a spatula, he gently prodded the stiffening dough. "It looks like a giant pancake," he frowned.
"Is the underside golden brown?" Ambrose asked, throwing a curious glance at their dessert. Jellal lifted the finely vanilla-flavoured, fluffy pancake of sorts up at the side. "Then you can turn it around, take it apart and let it sit until we fry the other side before serving,"
"Take it apart?" Jellal asked. "You were serious about that?"
"It's the whole charm about it," Ambrose proudly said. "But first, let's eat," he turned off the oven, transferring the salmon to a large plate for them to take from. Meanwhile, Jellal went upstairs to call for the others. Erza had been playing with the boy for hours, the two having disappeared up the second storey. When they emerged from the bedroom, she seemed exhausted, though had a broad smile plastered across her face.
Oh, she was going to mother Wendy once they were back in Magnolia, Jellal foresaw. She was discovering more and more how much she enjoyed caring for children, and for a second, Jellal felt the hint of a sting of jealousy. He dismissed the thought as soon as it had knocked on a tiny door inside a tiny area of his brain he called ridiculousness. Still, it had come.
Why could he not be the mother…?
Shoving the notion aside, telling himself that he was being silly and that he would have all the opportunities he would want to bond with his own child, he denied the sudden surge of desire to have it be born already, hold it in his arms and spend time with it day and night.
After dinner – and dessert, Ambrose's foreign countryside recipe hitting home with Erza to the point of her asking Jellal twice whether he had noted it down, and then writing it down herself while Ambrose dictated – they sat down for tea. Talking about something other than the case at work was refreshing, Erza's presence forcing the two diligent workers to relax and let themselves be distracted.
The boy did not thaw to them any more than he had at the Council: not at all. He squeezed himself between Erza and the wall during dinner, held on to her in the parlour, then insisted she leave the door of the bathroom open whenever she or he had to use it.
He must have inwardly rejoiced that the bathroom was connected to the bedroom and not the hall.
Once the lights went off, gentle moonlight filtering through the curtains, Jellal cautiously neared the Erza's side of the bed. To his surprise, the boy was not clinging to her, but hiding himself inside the sheets. She had of course pilfered several from other guest rooms.
"That looks comfortable," Jellal smiled at the two eyes peering out at him – disappearing as soon as being looked at. "Perhaps a little warm," he chuckled.
"I know you prefer the cold, but you won't stop cuddling me on hot summer nights, right?" Erza fell halfway onto her back to meet her husband's eyes.
"I will never stop cuddling you," he trailed his hand from her cheek down her nape to her back and she smiled. "If it wasn't for you, I could have never gotten used to sleeping with anyone or anything near – it bothered me," he said. Then he continued, having noticed the smallest of agreeing nods from the blanket roll. Not to mention his wife's warm smile. "With you, I needed the proof of you being there," he rubbed her arm. She offered her hand and he took it in his.
"I've always needed that proof – remember back in the tower?" She reminded and he nodded. "Ever since then, I don't think I've let a whole lot of opportunities slide to sleep around friends, rather than by myself. I even crawled into Lucy's bed once during the Grand Magic Games," she chuckled.
"Nightmare?" Jellal crouched down next to the bed. It lured the boy out further, if only a tad for his fringe to appear from the blanket.
"No, I just did," Erza grinned. He returned it. "I do like to hold Wendy though – she used to have so many nightmares after the disbandment of her guild. She once came to my room at Fairy Hills, and afterwards, I went to her to see if she was only being too shy to ask for comfort," she retold with a fond smile. Perhaps she had always been good with children, Jellal assumed, though it might have just been her big heart and tireless compassion. The way she had watched over her friends in the Tower of Heaven had proven that early on.
"I go to my mama when I have a nightmare," they both looked on in surprise when the boy piped up. The attention promptly led him to vanish within his blanket again, but when Jellal turned his head as not to stare at him directly, he could feel the curious eyes return. Erza reached out a hand.
"Yes, nightmares can be very scary," she trailed over the mould that was his head, and he wiggled out with his whole face.
"And thunderstorms," he added meekly. Smiling mellowly, she brushed the backs of her fingers down his cheek.
"You're welcome to seek comfort anytime you need," she promised, and he nodded.
"It's not as if anything will wake her up anyway," Jellal teased, and Erza bit her lip playfully as she shot him an amused glare.
"And you wake up from everything," she countered.
"So I do," Jellal leaned down to kiss her goodnight. She raised her head to meet him, but then he froze. Redirecting, Jellal remembered in time not to risk her catching his cold, choosing her forehead instead to plant a loving kiss. She hummed at the touch, though he shared the slight disappointment in her eyes.
With a last squeeze to his hand, she let him return to his own room. It did not take her long to fall asleep, though she did wake up a few times that night – not just the prospect of the coming day, but the lack of Jellal by her side made her restless.
"I see you're all here and well," Jura gladly assessed, "and is that a face I'm seeing?" He smiled friendlily, though of course it scared the boy who promptly hid in Erza's neck again. She rucked him up gently where she balanced him on her hip, giving Jura an apologetic smile.
"Yes, we've had a calm night and pleasant morning – I was graced with two whole glances," Ambrose wiggled his brows, joking though not lying. Jellal tutted.
"I'm afraid you've lost this round, old man," he smirked slyly. "I was looked at for seven whole seconds," he nodded to himself self-complacently, "seven," he repeated. "In a row," he boasted, and Ambrose clapped at that, pretending just as much to be deadly serious. Jura stared at them with bewildered amusement while Erza rolled her eyes. She nudged Jellal's shoulder with an equally amused scold.
"You two," Jura shook his head as if reprimanding two teenage class clowns – the frown on his forehead mirroring his bemusement about one of them being four decades older than himself. "I talked to the others and everyone approved to take a closer look at the mansion," he said.
They had not come as far as Jellal's office when the Wizard Saint had spotted them, relief written all over his face. He had been more than content with their idea of another investigation, seeing as clues were sparce and the Council was running out of ideas – and patience with the inspector still prancing around the building.
Right now, however, Jura's features distorted into slight discomfort.
"We're leaving in a few minutes – if you'd like to wait up, I'll have someone posted here, but it might take a while," he addressed Erza. She tilted her head in puzzlement.
"That's… very considerate of you," she said, not quite understanding why but finding it kind to leave the boy behind to spare him the trip to where he had been scared so much. Still, if they wanted to solve the case anytime soon… "But wouldn't it be more beneficial if you took your only witness with you?"
"We are," Jura said. Her brows creased immediately.
"I highly doubt that will work," Jellal cut in, and she knew it was in order to have her remain calm; at least appease the rising storm she had blown them all away with the day before. He heard her exhale sharply, taking his unspoken advice.
"He doesn't so much as speak unless to her," Ambrose reminded more gently. Jura sighed, his lips a thin line of discontent with his role.
"Perhaps he will when triggered by a familiar environment," he argued. "Look, you know I'm not against your coming, but this is still a case and we have to absolutely keep our guidelines of secrecy and limited involvement," he explained. He did have a point – they were new as Council after all. They needed to keep from committing mishaps or slipups at all costs, and regularly hosting a member of Fairy Tail, not to mention having hired someone still belonging to a guild, was not doing them any favours.
"We can draw up a contract," Jellal suggested regardless. He was keen on keeping his superior's face, but he knew that hormone-imbued Erza becoming emotional could easily burst that bubble. He agreed with her, yet there were formalities and policies to respect. "A one-time oath of secrecy within the extent of the case," he proposed. "We wouldn't do it any other way should he have a psychologist or to the case unrelated family member present with him,"
"And even if he were to come and look around, he might not tell us anything at all," Ambrose chimed in. "He will need no additional guards either," he smiled at Erza. They were well aware how she could kick anyone's behind with some five months pregnant with ease.
Again, Jura sighed, this time in defeat.
"One of these days, you are going to make me buy a years' rationing of cheese crackers or a washing machine – I don't know whether to keep you apart for my own safety or sit down with you; you're outarguing me each and every time," he flashed his glance from one to the other. The two grinned innocently, and Jellal could not help but notice just how much Ambrose was enjoying their friendship with childish delight.
The mansion was almost as palatial as the Magic Council itself. No wonder they had been targeted to be robbed, Jellal pondered.
Behind the massive entrance, up the double stairs, they started in the most important rooms: the office, library and reception room of the head of the family. Jellal had thought his own office to be impressive, but its size was nothing in comparison. His theory of the family perhaps merely being locked into their own cellar was not too implausible – there was certainly enough space.
The reaction of the inspector, however, was lacking in nervousness for Jellal's taste, rather giving the impression of drawing a red herring across their track.
The shelves were full of old tomes, most of them looking ancient yet unused – encyclopaedias, outdated law books; nothing screaming 'magic' or 'suspicious'. On the desk, it was rather tidy as well, none of the stacks of letters and documents seeming too insightful. Jellal knew they would have to check them all anyway. He prayed they would find another, more helpful clue instead.
"Well, is anything different?" Warrod smiled at the boy. Too closely, however, or perhaps being addressed was already too much as the child hid in Erza's neck where she still carried him.
"Don't bother," Wolfheim growled. The inspector – screwing up his nose as if to sneer – watched the scene from afar, something between satisfaction and tension sparking in his eyes. Definitely satisfaction, Jellal noted when the boy gave a whimper into Erza the more heads turned to him.
"Oh, there, there," Erza soothed, rocking him lightly. "How about we leave the grim faces to their work, hm?" She went over to the small balcony overlooking the estate. Opening the glass doors was not problem at all seeing as the boy held on to her of his own accord. "Tell me, where do you like to play the most?" She gazed out into the hundreds of metres of garden, neat hedges lining pathways, fountains and statues as if growing out of the ground as much as the purely bread roses did.
It reminded of the Heartfilia estate, though not even a property as vast as this one could hold a candle to that.
Wolfheim grumbled something unintelligible but undoubtedly annoyed when the boy quietly answered his protector's question, pointing here and there. Warrod only chuckled. Jellal on the other hand could not stop staring.
It suited her damn well. The way she balanced him on her hip, eyes soft as her lips moved, and a constant caress to his back with her thumb… His hair changed before Jellal's inner eye to match Erza's, then his own, the latter something he did not quite know how to feel about. A strange mixture of pride, guilt and insecurity sloshed through his stomach.
What was their baby going to look like? A part of him, even though afraid, could simply not wait anymore, making him gulp while at the same time drying out his throat. She was so beautiful – it would have been a shame if her traits would not be inherited. Then again, what would it be like if he could hold someone in his arms looking the way he did…?
"I hope your thoughts are of appropriate nature," Ambrose startled Jellal out of his distraction. Again, he swallowed, having to clear his throat instead when there was no saliva left.
"That they are," he said, ignoring the tinge of red on his cheeks, "just in no way conducive to work," he admitted.
"I would imagine your mission together was quite the challenge," Ambrose smiled knowingly. He ran a hand over the lithic bust of some old man's head where it stood on the edge of the desk.
"Sometimes," Jellal conceded. They were a marvellous team, but if he closed his eyes, he could still see her gaze telling him how she had remembered to bring her nurse's costume. And that she would with certainty not let him forget until having put it to use.
"She's doing a splendid job with the lad," Ambrose praised, "but I unfortunately doubt he will help us much."
"I'm starting to think we'd have better luck picking at each and every book in the shelf – something to activate a switch and miraculously lead us into a dungeon," Jellal joked. He had not read many novels in his life, but even he knew some typical mystery stereotypes. With nothing more to sketch and remark about the office, he tapped his pen onto the parchment of his notebook.
The Council had been watching him expectantly ever since he had gotten it out, and he had fleetly hidden his previous jottings from view – his blood-drawn runes. Most of them were smeared since he had been trying to be cool in front of his wife, having closed it too quickly.
"Perhaps this fellow has an idea," Ambrose scrutinised the bust, then joined in Jellal's jest by sticking a finger each into the stone nostrils. Jellal spooked when the floor rattled. Dropping his notebook and pen onto the desk, he caught a few of the falling books behind him just in time.
They all gaped when the shelf had actually moved aside, revealing part of a secret door.
"It's a good thing you didn't promise to eat any brooms if this worked," Ambrose quipped, coming to stand next to him.
"Now this is too cliché," Jellal huffed. Having some books taken from him, he and Ambrose stacked them on the desk. Should the documents be brought out of their original order, so be it; they had a better clue now.
"Actually, incorporated bunkers and hidden rooms like these were quite common back in the day – the plaque outside did say the house was built around the X420s," Ambrose said.
The Council was by the door within less than a second, and Jellal noted with interest how the inspector looked equally astonished. Not yet caught and fussed, but his master-of-the-situation attitude waned. He snuffled with the whirled-up dust, the others not even blinking once as they scrambled to grab the handle. Unsurprisingly, the door was locked.
"Jellal," Erza said from behind. Directing his attention away from the men trying to open the door, he found Erza already close to him, the boy still on her arm. "We're going to need a bathroom, but he'll show me," she explained. He could read off her eyes how that was not her primary concern.
"Right," he nodded his understanding. Then he informed Jura, another meaningful glance exchanged as Ambrose and the Wizard Saints minus Draculos had to keep an eye on the inspector. It was a relief to know they could handle themselves power-wise.
Complimenting the interior here and there, Jellal was still not graced with a single word, however a few glances whenever he would not look back directly at the child. The bathroom they entered was huge, and they waited in the connected bedroom which was without a doubt that of the boy.
His bed was bigger than theirs, heavy curtains creating a cave of stuffed animals, pillows and other toys he had amassed inside. The room was almost bigger than the office, spanning more than half their house back in Magnolia, perhaps the whole thing. Erza leaned against the wall next to the window, pointing out a finger over her shoulder.
"Did you see the garden?"
"The hectares you mean?" He cracked a smile. She crossed her arms, eyes trained on her boots. Then she nodded. "Do you think we should investigate there?" He asked, earning himself a shaking, then pensively wavering head.
"It's enormous but still spotless," she said. Jellal frowned, then his eyes widened.
"They must have a gardener," he concluded.
"Not only that, but down the path, there is a small cabin – the gardener's home," Erza repeated what she had been told so innocently. "No one ever mentioned a gardener," she emphasised. His gaze met hers, piercing now, her own flickering with suspicion. "This place is so vast, yet there doesn't seem to be a single servant anywhere," she went on. "They must have at least employed a nanny, a chef, a maid," Erza speculated. It was like a shock of electricity when the reality of it all hit Jellal. "Where are all those people? Why has nobody ever mentioned the servants?" She insisted.
"You're right," Jellal raked a hand through his hair, "the police never even-"
"Don't do that," he stopped short when she snapped at him. Blinking with confusion, he froze in his tracks. She was frowning, biting down on her lip in frustration while all he could do was regard her sudden distress with puzzlement.
"Don't do what?"
"That," Erza pushed off the wall, crossing over to him. He noticed the way her eyes flashed to the bathroom door for merely an instant, checking their present privacy. Reaching out then, she grabbed his elbow, pulling his hand out of his hair. "It makes me want to go home and do things to you," she growled, and he blushed. "On second thought, scratch the going home part," her gaze was darting about again, and he could feel his neck heat up when catching up with what she was doing.
"Erza," Jellal took her hands in his.
"Being in the house and not even sleeping in the same bed…" she lamented. Her voice was by far too whiny for her to have only just now considered his gesture a problem. It must have been gnawing on her since their arrival; since her newest fosterling's attachment. Jellal wondered for the first time whether paying attention to their baby would leave her feeling deprived of him – there was no question as to whether there would be enough love for both, but there was only one of him…
The door to the bathroom opened then, and Erza dutifully yet reluctantly retreated from her husband. He hoped neither of them would become jealous of their son or daughter – or of each other. Adding a third party to their admittedly addiction-heavy relationship might just prove a lot harder than previously assumed.