Here is the tenth chapter of this story released when I wanted it to be in keeping with my self-imposed upload requirements for this series. Everything is set, the Black Bulls are going to observe a mission that Fairy Tail is engaging in from the background as they have the chance to do so so why not. Plus, it is a magical ball so it's going to be fun regardless. This will be the last chapter before the Grand Magic Games arc begins (though there is still at least one before the games actually start) and so anything that is officially canon between now and the games such as the whole Celestial Spirit World thing will occur but as there is still a canonical debate on the Key of the Starry Sky arc the events of that arc will not occur in this story. That is all the administrative stuff I have for you and the previous sentence answered the only question that needed an answer while there are also no guest reviews that require a response so I will end this here. Do keep the reviews coming as I enjoy hearing from those who enjoy my work. Anyway, that is it for pre-chapter note so it is time to end it so that y'all can sit back and enjoy the tenth chapter in Black Bull Banishment.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.
Chapter 10: Observing Fairies in Action
The day of Count Balsamico's magic ball arrived and Noelle, Mimosa, Asta, and Finral stepped out of one of Finral's portals and appeared on the path that led up to the front doors of Count Balsamico's ostentatious estate. Nero had already gone on ahead as a bird and snuck in to give them a report using a com device she'd made by fusing her knowledge of magical devices with what she'd learned here. They were on the early side but according to her Fairy Tail had arrived several hours ago before the party started and were now getting ready as the party was already starting so they were fine.
Thankfully Finral had secured them 4 tickets to this, but they specified that they were here as guests of the Count and not members of a Legal Wizard Guild. The Count had been clear that the only active Guild present and with authority to try and capture Velveno was to be Fairy Tail but that in exchange for some of the more unique devices that Finral had brought him, some personal merch depicting the Black Bulls, and a preorder on the next big thing that the Black Bulls had in their pipeline, the Count had given Finral 4 tickets to the event.
Yami been pleased with the result as it had gotten them the tickets even if it cost them a fair bit to get them. That was because the fact that the Count had the items would pay off in the long run as it would get others in his circles to want one just because he had one and thus further the business interests of the Black Bulls in Earth Land.
After that Finral had returned to Crocus where he'd dropped off Asta and the girls before he'd gone to see the Count to tell them the good news about the ball. It was coming up in a few days so right afterward Finral told them they'd all gone shopping for clothes, Vanessa joining the girls to help them while also suggesting some rather racy underwear to go with them and Gordon went the boys though both Zora and Gauche didn't want to and would get those clothes in their own time. Overall, the results had been surprisingly good.
It had taken a while but in the end the girls had found the perfect outfits for themselves that looked good, were fitting of their station, and fit them personally perfectly. Part of that had been Vanessa's influence, she was about as insistent as she had been with Noelle during the whole bikini buying outing, and part of it was just that it took a while for them to find what they wanted but both royals were pleased with the results in the end.
Mimosa had gone with an ankle length pale green, sleeveless dress with a halter top to completely cover her cleavage, though did nothing to hide how well-endowed she was, with the slit up her right leg to the mid-thigh so as to not reveal her Guild Mark that was on her left thigh but also give her some ease of movement. She accentuated it with a vine and flower covered belt that had a special matching bag from it on her right hip where her grimoire was but just looked a specialized purse, matching pale green gloves that came to her elbows and low healed pale green shoes.
The whole flower motif, a play to her Plant Magic, continued with her accessories as Mimosa had a pair of vine bracers on her biceps with a gold flower on one and a black on the other to represent the Golden Dawn and Black Bulls and to top it all off she wore a woven vine circlet with various flower in it around her head like a crown. It was a very good look for Mimosa that Finral got his usual self over while Asta complemented her which made her blush and Noelle jealous. That only lasted a few moments before Asta complemented her as well because Noelle had made sure that she wasn't outdone by her cousin.
Noelle had gone for a more House Silva style outfit rather than play on her magical attribute with a flowing white dress that came to mid calves with a pink bodice over her chest in the center of the skirt part that hugged her body in all the right places, according to Vanessa at least. She paired it with open toed, formal, sandals that worked with the outfit and white gloves that came to her biceps with gold borders.
To hold her grimoire she wore a gold belt with a similar purse style as Mimosa's to obscure what it actually held. She did have her wand on her on the other side of her belt where it hung against her hip but as this was a magic ball the presence of a wand on her belt just added to it as it showed that she was a magic user.
However, just like Mimosa, the most impressive thing was on her head, which in Noelle's case was a five point silver tiara with pink and blue stones in the points alternating that rested right where the water one would had she been in her Valkyrie Armor. It served a secondary purpose as it also held her hair back as Noelle had decided to let it flow down to fit with her outfit but which Asta had really complemented along with her look that had made her happy and Mimosa jealous while Finral had no idea what he was looking at. Still, he and Asta also looked good in their own ways.
Finral had gone full fancy, and apparently full current Earth Land men's formal wear, with a green tunic with gold buttons, epaulets and accents, black pants and thick brown belt with his grimoire back on his lower back and black boots. He hid the bag by wearing a black cape that fell to his ankles and had even gone as far as to add a black mask over his eyes as that was what was in with certain high circles in Earth Land. It was a bit much for the girls, but Asta thought it looked cool which at least helped Finral's battered ego after the girls called it gaudy and excessive.
As for Asta himself, he wore a pure black suit complete, matching black shirt, and formal boots with no tie mainly because they'd struggled to find a comfortable shirt for his thick neck, so they'd opted for none of that as the rest looked good on him. To ensure that his grimoire bag, which was black to match the suit, wasn't notice Asta's jacket had tails down the back that fell to his knees with a fork in the middle to hide it but it all went well with the look.
Both girls had agreed though only Mimosa had openly complemented him while Noelle simply said he cleaned up well for a commoner though internally she did really like it. That caused it's own issues with her of course but she pushed them down as they had an observation mission to focus on and not how great Asta looked all dressed up and formal.
Asta actually found the whole get up a bit much, but it was for the mission, and he may need it again in the future, so he toughed it out and now they were finally here as Finral knocked and an attendant opened the door. There wasn't any words as Finral just produced the 4 tickets to show that they'd been invited, which the attendant inspected before fully opening the door and leading them into the estate and through to magnificent ballroom that even the royals gaped at for its grandeur.
It was hard not to as it was a multistory space with a balcony, stairs, and red velvet curtains and a large platform with a massive clock with pipes coming from it that was clearly the center piece of the room where the Count would no doubt appear when it was time for his grand entrance. The floor was checkered marble and there were floating dance platforms all over the room which just added to everything and really used all the space possible for dancing.
Of course, a lot of this was quickly lost on Asta as he saw the food tables on one side of the ballroom and made a beeline for it. The girls just sighed at that and followed him knowing that they'd have to make sure he was using decent manners unlike when they'd been at the War Merits Ceremony while Finral went off to make the rounds of the women at the ball because that was to be expected from him but in this situation it actually worked for their cover, so they let him do his thing without complaint. Besides, they had to keep an eye on Asta anyway.
"Man, this food is great." Asta said as he loaded up a plate with a wide selection of food on offer and began to eat in his usual fashion, the party not yet in full swing but plenty of guests were already there. "Real fancy as well."
"It is a formal ball." Noelle said. "It has to be though don't eat too much as it is for everyone. Thankfully, Charmy isn't here, that could have been a whole lot worse."
"Yes Asta, the food is just for snacking on and to replenish your stamina when you need a break." Mimosa said also glad that the little woman wasn't present, they'd made extra certain as she could be a problem with how much she ate, though she wasn't sure why Noelle had been so insistent on checking any possible hiding spots for her. "There are more important things to do here."
"There are?" Asta asked as he swallowed. "Like what?"
"Like looking out for the Fairy Tail Wizards." Noelle said quickly as she had a gut feeling that Mimosa was about to do something that she wouldn't like. "We have to watch them."
"But we need Nero to point them out, only she and Grey actually know what the ones who are here look like." Asta said as two stunning women, one with red hair the other blonde, and a cute girl with dark blue hair in twin tails appeared on the balcony and began to make their way down to the dance floor. "So, we can't until she appears."
"Well, there's also dancing." Mimosa said not looking at Asta and blushing as she spoke while nervously fidgeting with her hands in front of her. "We should do that, Asta, it would be expected of us."
"Dancing?" Asta asked. "But I..."
"Don't worry, I'll show you." Mimosa said as she finally got up the courage to make her move as she'd been dreaming of dancing with Asta at this ever since she'd found out that they'd be going to a formal ball. "Come on, just don't tread on my feet."
"Huh?" Asta said but Mimosa just grabbed his left hand and dragged him to the dance floor causing Asta to thrust his half-finished plate at Noelle who took it with a shocked expression on her face. "Um sure ok."
"Why the nerve of her." Noelle said as she put the plate down on the table and folded her arms across her chest as she watched Mimosa take Asta's hands, his left one in her right while guiding his right hand to take her left waist before putting her right hand on his shoulder as she began to instruct him on how to waltz while making sure that they weren't near anyone around them. "Taking Asta from me when I wanted to…wait, no, I don't want to…I mean yeah I'd like him to ask as this is a ball but only because we're friends…right? Gah why does this keep happening to me?"
"Probably because you're so deep in denial about it that you have no idea what's going on." A voice said to her side as Noelle had her mini freak out over Asta dancing with Mimosa, which he was slowly getting passible at as she watched, thus causing Noelle to jump and look to her side. "Once you get over that and accept the truth you'll understand, and it will be more entertaining for me when that happens. Right now, it's just frustrating watching you explain it away to yourself."
Standing next to Noelle with her usual expressionless look was Nero. The girl had snuck in as a bird hours earlier to get a report on the situation and then when the ball got underway found a private place to change back into human form and just walk into the ballroom like she belonged there. She even wore a good outfit, so no one questioned her.
Noelle had to admit, Nero looked very cute in the simple dark blue, strapless dress that she wore which came down to just below her knees with only a little lift to the skirt part with a black ruffled hem, matching black shoes. To obscure her Guild Mark which was on the back of her right shoulder blade the dress had a black folded thing with a slight ruffle to it over her chest that attached to her upper arms and went around her back and over her Guild Mark there.
Beyond that the girl didn't accessorize but for a black belt with a purse bag for her grimoire like the other girls had. It was simple yet elegant, fitting for the girl and made Noelle jealous because Asta might fall for Nero in it, not that she minded who he fell for but one look at him still dancing with Mimosa told her that she really did mind but couldn't accept that just yet.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Noelle said quickly in response to Nero's statement.
"Remember I watched you lot for a while before my seal was broken, you know back when you all just thought I was an anti-bird and nothing else even though I didn't look like any other anti-bird out there or had no issues with your magic." Nero said simply and when she laid it out like that Noelle did realize that they should have noted that something was off about the bird before it was revealed to be a person sealed in that form but pushed that to the side as Nero continued speaking. "I remember that day in the common room where you had that heart to heart with me."
"I was just frustrated ok." Noelle said recalling it well and going bright red at the memory as she'd only been open because she'd thought that Nero was just a cute bird not a cute girl sealed into the form of a cute bird. "Don't read too much into it."
"Fine, I won't press you as this is something you need to accept on your own." Nero said before deciding to give her Squad mate and at this point friend some advice as she'd been watching Noelle deal with this for more than two years, well to them it had been what with being in Earth Land, so it was getting to the point where Nero wasn't sure if Noelle would ever realize it herself and thus needed a little nudge. "But take it from me, don't let your insecurities over the one you love prevent you from accepting it and telling him how you feel about him. Take it from someone who never got to do that, it's not a pleasant thing to lose your love before you can tell him how you feel."
"I, I don't like Asta like that." Noelle denied though she wasn't sure what Nero was getting at. "I…"
"Would either of you lovely ladies care for a dance." Finral suddenly asked them having struck out repeatedly with basically every woman present and decided that at least Nero or Noelle would dance with him as his teammates, he was already jealous that Asta was dancing with Mimosa, so came over to them and this provided Noelle with the perfect distraction. "This is a ball after all, and I am an expert at dancing."
"No." Nero said simply.
"Begone insect." Noelle said a little harsher than usual though with the whole situation she was in thanks to Mimosa's audacity to dance with Asta and Nero's words it was more just to cope than actually meaning it, not that she actually wanted to dance with Finral either however.
"But…" Finral said.
"I'll dance with you sir." An attractive black haired woman in a blood red dress and matching mask said from behind Finral.
"You will, you're a lifesaver." Finral said turning and almost weeping as he looked at her. "And man, you are a real cutie."
"Why thank you, you are rather dashing yourself." The woman said with a cute, alluring, smile as she held out her hand to Finral. "Show me that your dance moves match your looks."
"With pleasure." Finral said with a grin as he took the woman's hand and led her out to the dance floor.
"A woman asked Finral to dance?" Noelle asked shocked. "That doesn't seem normal. He's usually terrible with women despite his claims."
"It's not." Nero said looking at the woman. "Did you notice her magic?"
"It's hard to in this situation." Noelle said though her fine mana detection wasn't something that she was great at. "There is a lot of magic is around and it's rather powerful so it's hard to pick up individual sources."
"Agreed but that woman had a fair bit, and it was a little mixed in a way and felt a bit like Grey's." Nero said. "Odds are that's Velveno in disguise."
"So Finral is dancing with another man who just called him dashing." Noelle said unsure how to take the situation. "Shall we tell him?"
"Later, let him have his fun." Nero said shaking her head. "It's more entertaining this way."
"It does serve him right for being such a sleaze." Noelle said as she looked around the room that was quite full now and doing her best to avoid seeing her cousin dancing with Asta, but it was just so hard for her not to and feel uncomfortable at that. "So, changing the subject, who are the Fairy Tail members here?"
"Sure, this is actually important so you should know who they are." Nero said agreeing to change and at least inform Noelle of who they were watching as she lowered her voice so that only Noelle could hear her. "Let's start with the strongest in terms of combat, not raw magic wise as I'd say that Natsu has more, but she's got the best versatility and apparently has a quick mind that is great in battle which makes her the strongest of the members here."
"Good place to start." Noelle said. "So where is she?"
"The redhead in the purple dress currently dancing rather intensely with her partner on one of the floating platforms." Nero said and Noelle looked around as nonchalantly as she could to find what Nero was referring to. "That's her."
It took her a moment but eventually she did see the dancer, a stunning redhead who Noelle instantly wanted to keep from Asta in a purple ball gown with a cross strap design that showed off her more than ample cleavage with some designs on it and bicep length white gloves. She was currently not waltzing with her partner but, well, spinning him around as she clearly took the lead in the dance.
"Um…" Noelle asked confused. "What is she doing?"
"Dancing, at least in her mind she is as that's just what she did in the practice I observed Fairy Tail having for this." Nero said simply. "That is Erza Scarlett, she's one of Fairy Tail's S-Class Wizards with a strange kind of Spatial Magic. From what I've gathered she's built a fearsome reputation as a warrior, tactician, and leader. From what I've felt while spying on Fairy Tail she's probably second in terms of magical power of the 6 here but her versatility and brains make her the strongest. In fact, while I've not seen it, I wouldn't be surprised if she has an armor, or armors, that would give her an edge against people with stronger magic reserves than she has."
"That can do it." Noelle said. "So, what's unique about her Spatial Magic?"
"It's not as cut and dry as what we know Spatial Magic to be." Nero said. "Back home Finral's style of Spatial Magic is the norm, his brother and father's offensive variant is actually an exception, though there are other kinds of Spatial Magic in our world as well, but here Spatial Magic is a much broader term and refers to any kind of magic that can influence space in a sense. You saw Minerva's Territory in the last games, that is just one example of the Spatial Magic here while Erza uses another kind that is called Requip."
"I'm sure I've been told what it is, but it's slipped my mind." Noelle admitted.
"It's fine, we don't have anything to compare it to though Gordon has researched it and explained a fair bit of it to me." Nero said. "It is a spell that allows the user to store items in a pocket dimension only the user has access to and when using it they instantly get their items. Most use it for either clothes or weapons. In fact, that woman you met on the first day here, Bisca, uses it for her weapons, those gun things we kinda have back home for magic bullets at festivals but are much more versatile and dangerous here."
"Right here they have more uses here." Noelle said. "And danger to them."
"Correct, I'm in the process of reverse engineering a few of the one's I've acquired in spare time as they could be a big use on the battlefield for those with less mana if I can figure out a way to incorporate our magic into their designs." Nero said before getting back on topic. "Erza is unique though as she stores both weapons and armor, as well as clothes from what I've heard, in her dimension and seems to have no limit to its size. She can change in an instant and her items aren't magic though I am sure that many have magical properties to them."
"So even Asta can't get rid of them with his swords." Noelle said. "Though he could negate their effects."
"Correct." Nero said with a nod. "And from what I've overheard her speed of change is very fast which adds to it. All that combined is why she's the strongest of the Fairy Tail members present. If we have to face her in the Grand Magic Games I'd say only Asta really has a hope against her in battle. The Captain could beat her but that's it, the rest of us are likely outmatched by her at the moment."
"You wouldn't think someone like her would be so warrior-like." Noelle mused as she thought on Nero's words, but she had complete faith in Asta that he would best her in combat. "She's stunning in that dress."
"Despite her reputation, Erza is rather feminine at the same time." Nero said. "Grey mentioned she bought all the sweets at the Magnolia branch and all the variants of Rouge and a Swallow plush because she found them cute. Not sure how I feel about that myself but I do get a cut of any Swallow plushies sold which helps me fund my work, so I guess it's not too bad."
"Interesting." Noelle said trying to figure out the juxtaposition of this Erza woman and failing to see it though that was in large part due to how she'd not yet seen Erza in her armor. "Ok, who's next to pay attention to."
"Probably best to focus on their raw power next and that would be the two men being danced with by some enthusiastic middle aged women, one of whom could be Velveno as Finral is now dancing with another woman." Nero said and Noelle looked to see a pink haired teen about their age in a white shirt, black pants and waistcoat, and scarf and a black haired man in a dark red shirt and black tie dancing with two older woman though clearly none knew how to dance. "The pink haired boy is Natsu Dragneel, the Fire Dragon Slayer though he can apparently also use Lightning Dagon Slaying magic as well and is arguably the strongest in terms of raw firepower. I'd put him on par with Fuegoleon in terms of power and he has the advantage of complete immunity to fire."
"I see." Noelle said looking at the boy in question. "That is some strong magic and isn't it a lost magic."
"It is." Nero confirmed. "He's a hot head who tends to settle things by hitting them with overwhelming firepower rather than strategy from what I've heard though he's not above adapting in battle. He's one of the most destructive members of the team but with a drive like Asta's. He's a lot like Asta in fact."
"That's either good or bad." Noelle said. "Though if he uses fire and is immune to it I shudder to think of what would happen if he met Mereoleona."
"It would have to be in that volcano, nowhere else would survive the ensuing testing Mereoleona would put him through because she would really test that fireproof ability." Nero said.
"Yeah she'd have a field day with him." Noelle said. "And the other guy?"
"Gray Fullbuster." Nero said. "An ice wizard who specializes in maker magic. He and that Lyon guy from Lamia Scale that I've seen in action during my observations of that Guild were trained by the same master, an ice wizard allegedly on par with the Wizard Saints who died many years ago, so I already have a baseline for what he can do. Power wise he's probably just below Erza, but his creativity and range of ice really show and as it is larger than Natsu's repertoire he can really keep pace with Natsu. Those two have a rivalry that is very much like Luck and Magna's from what I've heard."
"Ok fire and ice don't mix so I can see that." Noelle said. "The only really notable Ice Mage I've met was that monster who attacked Saussy Village and then killed himself before we could bring him in, well him and that assassin girl from Diamond who was skilled in Ice Magic as well, so I've got no comparison in our world, but I recall the name Lyon. Isn't he's one of the top at Lamia Scale and if this Gray is as good as him I can understand now."
"Yup he's talented for sure though eccentric in his own way." Nero said. "Hopefully though he doesn't show that here."
"Good to know." Noelle said not sure what Nero meant but leaving it at that. "Who else is here then? There should be three more, right?"
"There are." Nero said looking around and finding one. "Two are more worthy of note as they were also present when Grey met them and the best one to start with the busty blonde in the burgundy dress over there."
Noelle looked and found who Nero was referring to. It wasn't hard to miss the attractive blonde woman in a low cut burgundy dress with straps and a halter that really showed off her impressive assets that were around the same size as Erza's if Noelle had to guess. She was actually dancing normally with a man in a mask, the first of the Fairy Tail members to be doing so and there was an element of class to her like she came from money so Noelle could respect that.
"I see her." Noelle said. "Who is she?"
"Lucy Heartfilia, one of the three newest members before the incident on Tenrou Island having been recruited by Natsu from what I heard as he basically just showed up with her and she joined though I think a large portion of Hargeon was destroyed by them in the process." Nero said matter-of-factly. "She's the strangest of the lot as she is a Celestial Wizard who summons contracted Celestial Spirits to aid her in battles using her keys. From what I've gathered she's the strongest of that kind of wizard out there based on her keys, but this is a magic that is one we don't have at all so it's the hardest to gage by our understanding of magic."
"Right, we've heard of these Celestial Wizards but not seen one in action because that Yukino girl wasn't part of Sabertooth during the last games." Noelle said recalling the latest report of Fiore's number 1 Guild that Nero had given the Guild. "I still don't understand that kind of magic."
"The closest comparison we have is devil pairing which is kind of a contract based magic that is forbidden in Clover." Nero said. "I know very little about it and it's not the same as a Celestial Wizard but it's the closest that I know of. This is much purer of course though it does make Lucy the hardest of the them to judge both in terms of skill and magic power levels. She also has some solid hand to hand abilities apparently and in terms of brains she's the smartest of the Fairy Tail members present."
"A summoning style of magic will be hard to gage." Noelle admitted. "But if these spirits do different things and work well with her then she might be a real threat. Versatile, loyal, and smart allies aren't something to be over looked."
"I've done some research as we really need to understand her magic the most and yes her top spirits all have different powers." Nero said. "I've gathered that she has one that can use water that easily matches your level, one that uses some form of Transformation Magic, another with sand based powers, then there is also light, cotton, some variant of earth, a pure strength one, and a few that I don't understand like the goat thing I saw which is still the only one I've actually seen physically. She has some limits of course but yeah she shouldn't be taken lightly."
"Noted." Noelle said as an ice slide appeared to get rid of Natsu and Gray's partners, but they just ignored it as they kept talking. "Who else then?"
"The last I'd say is a big focus is the young girl with twin tails in pink." Nero said and Noelle had to scan a bit more intensely until she found the girl who fit the description wearing an adorable pink dress and dark red fur lined robe over her shoulders which was all very age appropriate for her as she looked like she was at best a young teen if not a shade younger than a teenager. "She may look small but don't underestimate her either, that's Wendy Marvell, the Sky Dragon Slayer."
"She's a Dragon Slayer?" Noelle asked amazed as she looked at the girl. "She looks so small and cute."
"She is only 12 so a good thing no man is dancing with her." Nero said which Noelle agreed with. "But she's powerful for sure. From what I've gathered she's an expert in healing and support spells but has begun to learn offensive magic as well, so she's got a lot in common magic wise with Mimosa. An interesting girl for sure. She and her exceed partner Carla were the final new members before the incident. Only that Romeo kid you met has joined since."
"I see." Noelle said. "It's hard to understand this as we don't start service until 15 when we get our grimoires even though we can do magic before then, our grimoires just maximize our potential."
"True but here you can at a younger age though Wendy is probably the youngest of them all." Nero said. "And for comparison her magic is effectively Wind Magic and I'd put her below Yuno in strength but still at the Senior Magic Knight level of power."
"That strong then." Noelle said. "But mainly support and healing. You're right, that is Mimosa for us, but we know she has offense as well so be wary of it and don't let her age fool us."
"Correct." Nero said with a nod as a slight commotion caught their attention and a tanned man in a pure white suit that matched his hair and red tie who had been dancing normally with an attractive woman was punched away by Natsu riding a platform before Gray took over and they floated up on another platform. "And speak of the final one, the man in the white suit that just got punched is the last of the members present at the party, Elfman Strauss. Two of their exceeds, Happy and Carla, and their telepath Warren are somewhere observing but not present as far as I can see."
"That guy looks like the Captain with those muscles." Noelle said.
"He more than looks like the Captain, he even sounds a lot like him only with more emphasis on being manly in a similar vein to how Magna does it." Nero said. "He has some form of Transformation Magic that is called Takeover Magic here which allows him to turn parts of him into beasts or even his whole body, I'm not sure what he has though nor how it works. While I presume his sisters have the same I've not found much about the older one while the younger one seems to be more normal animal attributes based. Basically, it seems like they have a mix of Transformation and Beast Magic but it's very different at the same time."
"I don't get it." Noelle said.
"Neither really so best to wait and see how it works." Nero said as suddenly the woman who Gray was now dancing with used Ice-Make Magic, and they began to engage in a duel of sorts. "Huh, that is probably Velveno."
"How uncivilized." Noelle said as the duel ended the dancing for all those not on platforms and everyone gave them space, which was the opening for Asta, Mimosa, and Finral to return to them though Noelle was not going to deal with the first two at the moment other than thanking this Gray person for ending that dance. "It's just like that War Merits Ceremony though at least this time it's not our fault."
"Still a good way to see what he can do." Nero pointed out as the duel kicked off with both now making large ice canon things. "It certainly helps us see the versatility of Maker Magic."
The others couldn't disagree with that as they'd seen Gray make an ice kite to fly on, an ice prison cage to trap an ice polar bear and now that ice canon that caused the blasts to explode in the air as they met. That cause Erza to step in as she quickly changed into some odd male crossdressing style outfit of a yellow tunic, blue belt and hem, white tights like pants, boots and a green cape with a heavy sword in her hands. She slashed them away to cool the situation down in an instant. It wasn't a moment too soon as a sudden hush passed over the room and they all looked up to balcony to see what it was about.
On the balcony was a stunning woman who appeared to be in her 20s though none of them could hazard a precise guess at her age, with long brown hair and a straight fringe with the excess held up with a fancy bow and two long bangs framing her face. She was escorted by a tiny older man in with what seemed to be a permanent sour look on his face who had the same brown hair as the girl with a large portion quaffed up and tied off, bushy eyebrows and pointed beard wearing an expensive looking purple tunic, pantaloon shorts, tights and shoes who had to be her father.
The woman wore an elaborate and large sleeveless white dress with a large ankle length skirt part that had the entire lower part red with a cream colored frill at an angle separating the red and white parts with a fake flower in the center. She also had a purple addition to her chest with another fake flower there that hid her cleavage entirely. While the dress was sleeveless she was still wearing sleeves that were white with red cuffs and came up to her biceps. Oddly she didn't wear gloves like most of the women present were wearing.
Almost as soon as she appeared she began to walk down the curved stairs to the dance floor and pretty much the whole room stopped what they were doing as they watched her. At the same time almost all the men present, including Finral, were enraptured by her as she made her way to the dance floor.
There was a pause as she reached it and no one seemed to be approaching her, though the guy that Nero had identified as Elfman Strauss called her manly for how she sparkled which really confused the Black Bulls present. She seemed confused by it as well but then turned to Erza who was still in what Nero had decided to dub her 'Prince Charming' armor and asked for the first dance which Erza accepted and they were whisked up into the air on one of the floating platforms as they began to have a nice, proper dance which surprised Nero given how Erza had previously defined dancing.
That seemed to be the trigger to resume the party and in short order couples began to dance again. Of course, Asta took that moment to start eating again and grabbed his half-finished plate that was still on the table near them. Noelle wanted to just grab him and dance, to prevent Mimosa from doing so again she told herself, but she was both too nervous to do so right now and felt that it wasn't the right time as something pretty big had just happened, so she wanted to know what it was.
"Um what just happened?" Mimosa asked Noelle and Nero as Finral decided to go and find another woman to dance with.
"The Count arrived." Nero said simply.
"Huh, that small man?" Mimosa asked. "He's the Count?"
"Yup, that small man was Count Balsamico." Nero confirmed. "I made sure to see who he and his daughter was. The girl he escorted in was his daughter Aceto. I have a feeling that the real reason for this ball has to do with her, but I wasn't able to confirm it."
"Ok that makes sense actually." Noelle said. "But why is she now dancing with Erza? That does seem odd especially if this is some ball designed to show her off and find a suitor as most high class balls tend to be at their cores."
"What do you mean?" Asta asked confused as he looked at the woman on the platform that was apparently the daughter of the Count. "She's got a suitor already, some good looking dude with cool, elaborate, taste and long red hair."
"You weren't here earlier Dorksta when Nero was pointing out who from Fairy Tail are present at this." Noelle said. "Erza, the person dancing with the Count's daughter at the moment, is a woman and she's a member of Fairy Tale, the strongest of them present according to Nero."
"That's a woman?" Asta asked confused as he looked at the dancing pair. "But she's dressed like a man?"
"I'm not sure if I should be pleased or not at that." Mimosa said as Asta had said that Erza was good looking, but he had thought that she was a man at the same time.
"Probably pleased, Erza may have an intimidating aura but she's still very attractive when she's being feminine." Nero said not helping either Mimosa or Noelle at all though Noelle was worse off right now as she'd seen Erza in a dress and couldn't deny that the woman was beautiful. "As for why I can hazard a guess."
"Why?" Noelle asked quickly moving on from her bubbling insecurities.
"If something is to go down here, which it likely will and I am sure that there is more to this ball than just a fancy party as it is only held every 7 years, it makes the most sense for Aceto to be with one of the Fairy Tail members for her safety just in case she's the target." Nero said. "And of the members present Erza is the best for that and also adds a lack of worry of being hit on as Erza is straight as far as I know."
"I guess that makes sense." Noelle said. "If you're…"
Before Noelle could finish there was a sudden tolling and they all looked to the elaborate clock that was the dominating feature in the room to see that it was midnight, and the twelve gongs were going off from it. That really confused them and Asta was going to make a comment but before he could Noelle shushed him as the Count began to speak.
"The fateful hour is once again upon us; I have waited 7 years for this moment to come again." Count Balsamico announced to the now quiet room. "My clock tolls only once every 7 years and when it does the doors within it open, and the ring is presented for all to see."
That confused the Black Bulls even more as they watched the doors in the clock open and a platform with a ring box on it began to come out on a mechanical belt of sorts. It was a rather fancy way to open it though Nero was naturally curious as to what made it work as an automated system could be of some use in Clover when they returned.
"Whoever takes the ring is granted the right to propose to my beautiful daughter." The Count continued as the box came into view to show that it had no lid and in the center was a fancy ring with a large pink stone cut in a square patter with diamonds around it with two smaller heart shaped pink gems on either side of it just before the band started which actually explained why Aceto wasn't wearing gloves. "It is a Balsamico family tradition that occurs once every 7 years when a maiden of marriageable age is available hence why we host this exclusive ball. Here me, if you want my daughter's hand in marriage you must first possess the ring so have at it!"
"Alright I'm going to land me a real hottie." Finral yelled completely forgetting about Lady Finnis for the moment as he and the rest of the men, including Elfman though not Gray and Natsu from Fairy Tail, charged to the clock as they made a beeline for the ring there.
"Pigs." Noelle said though her inner self was cheering that Asta wasn't moving for the ring even though she wasn't sure why and devolved into her usual confusion over this repetitive and annoying issue she had.
"It certainly is off." Mimosa said also glad that Asta hadn't bothered to go for it though she didn't know why he hadn't. "Can't say that we've got anything like that back home though I could see Mereoleona holding some battle royal for her hand and even then the winner would have to beat her as well which would be hard to do."
"As amusing and interesting as this is, it is likely bad way to choose a husband." Nero said. "Probably…"
Suddenly there was a commotion on the dance floor as a young, pale, blond boy who appeared to be around 13 or 14 years old suddenly leapt up into the air and away from his partner who happened to be Wendy Marvell from Fairy Tail. That got the Black Bulls' attention and they turned to it right away as it was so unexpected though they weren't aware that Wendy had just gotten word in her head from Warren that the boy she was dancing with was Velveno.
"Transformation off." The boy yelled and there was a flash of magic before he revealed himself to be a tall, dark skinned, man with a giant afro and unique beard wearing a cheap and out of place suit of sorts. "Alright, I'm me again and now I'll get what I came here for. Sky Dragon Roar!"
The Black Bulls just stared as the man who was clearly the wanted criminal Velveno as he blew out a swirling gust of air right at the ring from where he was in midair. The air hit the ring and lifted it up out of the box and sent it flying right into Velveno's hand as he landed on a floating platform and announced that it was his now. That would have been something to focus on, but all the Black Bulls were really confused because the spell just used was very similar in terms of words to one that they knew well only replace the word sky with sea.
"Was that Dragon Slayer magic?" Mimosa asked as Noelle stared in complete confusion at what had happened seeing as it was her spell that it had sounded similar to.
"Must be, Velveno was just dancing with Wendy, so he likely copied her magic and she's the Sky Dragon Slayer so that's the kind of magic she's known to use." Nero said. "Still, didn't know that that was what one of the spells was as I've not really seen much of it in action."
"This may cause confusion during the games." Noelle said. "But I think we have bigger things to focus on right now."
Noelle was right because at that moment Natsu had approached on a platform and tried to attack with some of his Fire Dragon Slayer magic, mainly a spell called Fire Dragon Iron fist that seemed to be a flaming punch attack that Mereoleona would likely have been interest in which he followed up with a Fire Dragon Roar. The latter was a fire breath attack which confirmed that the roar seemed to be a staple of Dragon Slayer magic.
However, Velveno showed that he'd also copied Natsu's magic by countering his moves exactly so that he was mirroring and canceling out Natsu's attacks. In the process they both destroyed the platforms that they were on before Velveno taunted Natsu about copying his magic as well.
"Then I'll deal with you." Erza yelled out as she joined the fray while the Black Bulls just watched the show. "Gray, Elfman, protect Aceto."
"On it." The men said as Erza took a stance before Velveno.
"Requip! Purgatory Armor!"
They all watched as there was a brief flash of magic as the space around Erza's body was changed and her outfit morphed into a sinister black and gray ensemble with spikes on her shoulder pads and knees, horn like additions to the sides of her head and a wilder, spikier, hairstyle. What added to it was that she was now wielding what looked like a giant, two handed, spike club of all things that showed she meant serious business as the thing was clearly one hell of a weapon.
She then leapt at Velveno with a two handed over head strike, but he just grinned and showed that he'd also copied Erza's magic as well by reequipping into the same armor as her complete with the skirt part to block the strike. Why there was a spike on the ass part though was really confusing to the Black Bulls though they paid close attention to the fight as this was what they'd come here for and not to ponder the nature or style of Erza's armor.
"Don't you get it, there's nothing that you can do to stop me." Velveno said with a grin as he changed back to normal after he pushed Erza back. "I've already copied the magic of almost every single Fairy Tail wizard that came to this thing and then some."
"You didn't copy mine." Lucy suddenly yelled and the Black Bulls watched as she produced a key from a holder that had to be on her thigh were her dress's slit was as it was the only place that made sense to store something like that. "I was dancing with the same man then entire time. Now, open, gate of the scorpion, Scorpio!"
There was a doorbell sound and suddenly a tanned, shirtless man with half red half white hair in a strange collar, metal bracers to his biceps, and a strange red dress thing over his red paints appeared before Lucy. To add to it all he had a giant mechanical scorpion tail that curled up over his shoulder as he aimed what would be the stinger part on a normal scorpion right at Velveno.
"Been a while Lucy, good to see you again." Scorpio said.
"Yeah same now get him." Lucy said with a grin as she thrust her hand at Velveno. "He may have copied the others but not me or my spirits."
"With pleasure." Scorpio said grinning as well.
"Let's see what this new kind of magic that I copied today can do, it's certainly different but will do the trick to counter a ranged attack." Velveno said not fazed at all as he held his hand out to the side and the Black Bulls gasped as suddenly a green book appeared to his side with the exact same cover as Finral's grimoire showing exactly what it was and who he'd copied as the book began to glow with magic. "Spatial Magic: Fallen Angel Gate."
The book flipped to a page as an intense and powerful gout of sand was blasted from Scorpio's tail and right at a still unmoving Velveno. It never reached him as a portal appeared before him with a glowing gray center that the sand shot into and then vanished only to reappear out of a second portal that had been made right above Lucy's head without anyone noticing and thus dousing her head to toe in the sand that Scorpio had just fired.
"Oh man sorry Lucy." Scorpio said as the Fairy Tail wizards all gaped at the magic they'd just seen as it was unlike any they'd seen before and the fact that it seemed to be tied to a book of all things only added to their confusion as to what was going on. "Didn't expect to see that kind of magic here."
"It's ok, you tried." Lucy said as she dismissed Scorpio and spat out sand hating that this would be a serious problem for a while as sand really got everywhere.
"See, even your Celestial Wizard can't touch me with this magic that I've picked up." Velveno said as the book vanished. "But just stop, I don't want to brawl tonight with you lot as that's not why I risked everything to come here."
"Say what?" Natsu asked stepping forward. "And also, what was that magic? I've never seen Spatial Magic like that, or a book used in such a manner."
"No idea, got it from one of the wannabe Casanova's tonight when I was making my rounds and realized that it would be useful though I'll admit it doesn't feel like any magic I've used before." Velveno said as he held up his hand to stop Natsu and got a serious look on his face. "But I'm here cause I screwed up big time the last time I came to this ball. I've waiting seven long years to ask this so please let me do so before we resume this, if it comes to it."
At that Velveno held out the ring he'd taken showing that it was on a gold band and getting a gasp from most of the women present as they realized what was going on while the men who grasped it groaned in failure. Asta was of course oblivious to what was about to happen but what else was new there.
"Aceto, there's something I've gotta ask you." Velveno said as he held the ring and looked at the Count's daughter. "We've know each other since we were kids and the whole time I've been madly in love with you."
"You were the lowborn child of one of my servants!" The Count suddenly exclaimed as he got behind Velveno to protest the sudden love confession that was going on. "But I still let you play with my daughter, have you forgotten your place?"
"No, you made sure to remind me of my place every time I came to see Aceto." Velveno said with a sigh while both Mimosa and Noelle thought on the situation as they were both in a bit of a reverse boat to what they were seeing even if only Mimosa could admit it to herself at the moment. "You kept telling me that we were from two different worlds and shouldn't mix. Then you kicked me out as soon as you could because trash like me doesn't belong in your palace."
"That's wrong." Mimosa muttered. "A person's social standing doesn't make them trash, it's who they are that does. Just look at Asta and my brother, one's amazing and the other acts like trash a lot of the time despite being royalty."
"Seems like there are still some here who are like the nobles back home." Nero confirmed while Noelle was more conflicted though she had become much more accepting of commoners thanks to the Black Bulls' influence though most of it was down to Asta in particular. "Shame he's a good customer for our stuff but hopefully this whole thing helps him get his act together."
"You never told me Velveno tried to visit me, daddy." Aceto said sounding aghast at the situation and getting their attention back to what was going on before them. "Why? If he had come to see me then surely I should have been the one to decide if I wanted to see him."
"And you don't need to hear this now my sweet, precious, daughter." Count Balsamico said completely ignoring her statement.
"Sad thing is that I started to believe him, started to believe that I was trash and not good enough for you, so I was going to give up on you and how I felt." Velveno said and the sadness was clear in his words. "It made me gave up on myself as well and I just drifted around until I turned to a life of crime to support myself. That got me arrested and sent to jail in the end."
"I ain't buying this bull." Natsu said but before he could move Erza stopped him though both Mimosa and Noelle were also willing to say something, but didn't as this wasn't their place or time to speak on this issue. "What are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying that while I was locked up I had all the time to think about how I never got the chance to tell you how I felt Aceto, that was what I regretted most in my life." Velveno continued. "I realized that I couldn't live without you at least knowing how I felt about you, so I broke out to come to this ball, first 7 years ago when I failed and again now. I won't fail this time."
At that the whole crowd was stunned into silence and Velveno took the moment to walk forward and get down on one knee before Aceto and hold up the ring to her. It was clearly the big moment for everyone and even Asta got what was going on now though only because he'd done the same to Sister Lily so many times before when he'd proposed to her.
"Miss Aceto, please do me the honor of becoming my wife." Velveno said sincerely as he held up the ring which got everyone's attention and more shock from the whole room though no one present spoke other than the Count who protested that it would be a no.
However, everyone ignored the Count as they focused on Aceto as she was the one who'd been proposed to and who was just as stunned as the rest of them. That lasted only a moment though before she walked forward and looked at Velveno before giving him a big smile and her answer.
"I will."
That stunned everyone, even Velveno who's cigar that he'd put in after he'd called a halt to the brawling actually fell from his mouth at that, before a collective 'what!" went out around the room and it was revealed that the Count wore a toupee as it jumped off his head in shock. That had been the last thing that anyone had expected to hear after the proposal.
"You're serious?" Velveno asked now ecstatic.
"Of course, I've been waiting my whole life for you to come back to me." Aceto said revealing her own feelings as well. "I just never thought you would or that these feelings were mutual."
"This is my wildest dream come true." Velveno said still clearly in shock. "I almost can't believe it."
"Well, it is true but there is one thing that I ask of you." Aceto said.
"What?" Velveno asked.
"Turn yourself in." Aceto said. "While I now understand why you went down the path you did, which my father does share some of the blame for, that doesn't excuse your crimes and you still need to pay for them, but I will be waiting for you to get out and then we can be married and start our life together."
"You're right, I can't marry you until I've paid my debt." Velveno said but as he did Aceto held out her left hand and Velveno smiled as he put the ring on her ring finger to the cheers of the crowd.
There were a lot of comments from the crowd at that as they cheered at the sudden turn of events that resulted in a proposal and the criminal turning himself in. However, none of the crowd were more affected than Noelle who's own constant dilemma and denial were waring once again within her because she was now seeing a commoner propose to a noble lady and what's more she accepted it, as did everyone, while also confirming her own feelings for the commoner who was also a criminal to boot. Well that last part wasn't fully his fault but still it added to everything for Noelle.
Did that mean that if she was to marry Asta then things would be fine even though she was royalty, and he was as low born as they come? Of course, as soon as she thought that she instantly had her denial kick in and tell her that she didn't want to marry Asta and was just curious that's all especially because of the classism in Clover was significantly greater than in Earth Land. It was all just so much for her to take in and seeing the situation actually be accepted really threw her for a loop.
Even Mimosa was a bit thrown. While she was more accepting of the fact that she'd fallen for Asta, after some confusion over her budding feelings for him and the still constant shyness around him that had thankfully begun to dissipate over their years in Earth Land together, it was still reassuring to her to see such a situation play out well for both parties involved. Perhaps if she ever got the courage to tell Asta how she felt, and he reciprocated those feelings, then it would work for them as well without any issues regarding their respective social stations.
Nero just watched the whole thing in her usual deadpan manner though she knew that the royals had their own dilemma going on with the royals as Erza led the room in a round of cheers before two enforcers from the Magic Council appeared. They slapped on a pair of magic nullifying handcuffs, things that Nero was still experimenting with so that she could replicate them using her own skills but for the moment the Black Bulls were definitely stockpiling to take back as they'd be revolutionary in Clover and led him away. Aceto again said she'd wait for him and Velveno was fine with his fate, so all appeared good.
Well almost all appeared to be good with the exception of Lucy being turned down for the reward money as the night hadn't gone as planned and technically Fairy Tail hadn't caught Velveno themselves because he'd turned himself in so didn't actually complete the requested job. As such Count Balsamico was under no obligations to pay Fairy Tail anything which he made clear to Lucy he wouldn't do.
It seemed wrong to not give Fairy Tail anything just because of a technicality as Velveno had been apprehended so Nero decided to contact Zora to have him subtly release how Balsamico had stiffed Fairy Tail out of at least part of the reward that they were owed. That would teach him because a client who weasels his or her way out of paying at least something for the efforts when the result was the desired one in the end wouldn't be trusted going forward.
That would come later though as now that Velveno had been arrested and escorted away the party was back on. This was declared by Erza who was once again in her Prince Charming outfit and declaring that they should dance the night away to celebrate Aceto's newfound happiness. Erza was also with Aceto again and this time it made a lot more sense that Erza be her partner.
"Well looks like the night is…" Nero began.
"Asta." Noelle said turning to him before Nero could finish what she was saying and using all of her courage to hold out her right hand to him.
"Er what Noelle?" Asta asked confused at the gesture.
"Damnit ask me to dance already Dorksta." Noelle said as she didn't even wait for a response and grabbed his hand causing Asta to thrust his now empty plate of food at Mimosa who took it as Noelle let him away and inadvertently onto a floating platform. "Don't get any ideas, you've danced with Mimosa so now it's my turn."
"Ok." Asta said as he took her right hand in his left and placed his right one on her waist and did his best to dance like the others, his adaptability actually helping as he remembered how Mimosa had helped him and put that to good use with Noelle who was blushing furiously but didn't let go as she allowed herself this one dance with Asta as it was a special occasion, or so she told herself.
"The nerve of her." Mimosa said as she watched her cousin and Asta on the platform dancing for all to see, it was clear that Asta had improved thanks to his dance with her earlier, and feeling a stabbing pain in her chest that she couldn't explain. "Why does this bother me so much?"
"Because you've fallen for him hard and thus whenever another girl, especially one you know has better access to him and at least subconsciously accept as a rival, is around you can't help but get jealous." Nero said idly from her side as she noted that Lucy had dragged Natsu onto a platform to dance with her which seemed like a bad idea as he had just eaten a lot and if Nero recalled Dragon Slayers got motion sick easily but still cute in a way even if Natsu hadn't intended on it. "You see Noelle as a threat to you, which you of course should, and so when she's close to Asta like that you get like this."
"Huh, how do you know?" Mimosa said looking to the other girl in surprise as that was pretty accurate to what Mimosa was feeling she just was hesitant to admit that she was in competition with Noelle for Asta's heart and so she had to confirm that Noelle wasn't such a rival. "But it's not like Noelle likes him like that, right? She's more stuck in her ways and doesn't seem to understand Asta's charm."
"It's not my place to talk on this." Nero said with a shrug at Mimosa's attempt to rationalize the situation. "Even if she wasn't a rival you'd probably feel some jealousy given her access to Asta compared to yours, at least before you joined us for this little banishment. Don't you feel it around me? I'm a girl who's always with Asta, probably more than Noelle is, well before we came Earth Land at least, so you should be jealous of me as well."
"Wait you are?" Mimosa asked her jealousy flaring now and then she recalled how Nero could turn into a bird and that gave her a lot more access to Asta than she'd realized. "I wasn't concerned before but now I am."
"Well, I'll put your mind at ease, though do remember that you danced with Asta earlier so put Noelle in this situation as well, so I'd say you two are even tonight." Nero said. "I have no romantic interest in Asta or anyone for that matter and don't intend to open my heart like that ever again. My reasons are personal and my own, but you don't have to fear me getting in the way of your pursuit of Asta, unless you mean him harm and then you are my enemy, but I know that you'd never harm the guy you love and want to fight alongside as his equal one day. Your cousin on the other hand, she's the second biggest threat to you."
"That doesn't really help me at all." Mimosa said getting confused by what Nero was saying before she picked up on the last bit. "Wait? Second biggest? Who's bigger than Noelle?"
"That I won't say though Asta really needs to get over that issue of his as it's never going to happen and then you and Noelle can be proper rivals when he does manage to overcome that." Nero said as she looked around and noticed something. "Now just mingle and get some intel for the Squad, this is a party after all. I'm going to actually have a dance, get some intel of my own, and hopefully prevent a flashing incident."
The last part really confused Mimosa as Nero turned and left though Nero was a confusing girl most of the time. Still Mimosa thought on Nero's words as she left and knew that there was some truth to them. No matter how Mimosa looked at it, or how much Noelle denied it, she and her cousin were clearly rivals for Asta in a very specific way and Mimosa was going to do everything she could not to lose that.
Nero for her part just left Mimosa to think on her words and headed over to her target. If she was going to be at a ball then she may as well at least have a little fun at it, and this was a good chance to do so.
"Excuse me sir." Nero asked as she reached her target. "But would you do this lady the honor of escorting her onto the dance floor."
Gray had been enjoying some food at the buffet and watching as Natsu tried to avoid throwing up on Lucy now that Wendy's spell had worn off and Erza danced with Aceto with amusement at the dancing pairs. Erza dancing was surprisingly normal and good, but it was the host's daughter so it made sense, while Lucy had made the mistake of dancing with Natsu on a platform that was moving this late in the evening while Wendy was now dancing with Warren on another platform while the final one had a couple that Gray didn't recognize on it.
Seriously though, even he could see that there was something between Natsu and Lucy that went beyond mere friendship. The morons were too dense to realize it themselves, they really needed to work on that as it would eventually get really annoying to watch, and hopefully then at least it would be one less issue to worry about regarding Juvia and her overactive imagination.
Of course, the moment Gray thought about his guildmate, friend, and stalker was the moment he heard the woman's voice from behind him asking him for a dance and simultaneously a shudder went down his spine as he heard the question. His relationship with Juvia was complex and he really tried to avoid dealing with it thought the fact that he'd not outright rejected her yet was telling, even if to Gray it was more just annoying right now, but that girl had a sixth sense for him it seemed and as soon as another girl popped up he had a feeling Juvia would know despite the fact that she wasn't here right now.
Still, this was a party and Gray was going to have a good time, so he turned to the voice to see an attractive but oddly expressionless woman around his own age standing behind him. She had dark hair cut in a bob with a few cowlicks in the center of it and what had to be fake horns on her head, a sharp nose and was wearing a simple but elegant dress.
What really confused Gray though was that she looked slightly familiar, but he knew he'd never met her before, so he wasn't sure why he thought he'd seen her face somewhere before. Add in that her magic felt off in some way, almost like it was tainted or corrupted beyond normal, and this girl was the definition of odd in a way different to the oddness of someone like Juvia. However, this was a dance and she'd asked him so the least he could do was accept it.
"Of course, miss…" Gray said holding out his left hand to her.
"Secré." Nero said using her real name for once so as to avoid any potential issues as she took his left hand with her right one. "And who may you be?"
"Gray Fullbuster." Gray said as he escorted her onto the dance floor and place a hand on her waist while she placed a hand on his shoulder and they began to waltz, the girl accepting being led but showing that she had been trained in classical dancing to some extent which helped Gray.
"So how did a handsome man like yourself end up at a ball like this?" Nero asked as they waltzed, and Gray felt a shudder again at her words that Nero felt through him so decided to press it as this was the reaction she'd tried to evoke in some way while also using the shudder to hide her own Sealing Magic as she sealed his shirt to his body for the rest of the dance so that he didn't strip. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"
"No Miss Secré, you didn't." Gray said with a sigh as he realized she'd felt his 'Juvia knows that I've been complemented by another woman and isn't happy' reaction. "It's just, well, when you called me handsome I got a chill which as you may have noticed earlier is not normal for an ice wizard as I don't really get cold."
"Yes I did see your impressive Maker Magic." Nero said. "Quite varied, it is what makes maker magic so useful and tough to face, especially if there is a creative mind behind it."
"Are you a Maker Magic user as well then?" Gray asked.
"No, my magic is a little different, but this is a ball so let's not discuss that." Nero said simply avoiding the topic. "I'm more curious as to why an ice wizard got a chill."
"It's not a chill per se." Gray said. "More a feeling that I'm in for it when I get back to Fairy Tail as, well, I've got this slight situation there."
"Ah I see, yes Guilds can have that when you have certain people together for a long time." Nero said pressing for more information. "So, you have a situation in your Guild? Sounds problematic."
"Not really it's just one of my guildmates has a crush on me and while I'm not opposed to her like that, I do find her very attractive and she's a loyal guildmate despite her actions before joining Fairy Tail, I'm still not sure if I am ready to properly reciprocate her feelings for me." Gray admitted. "You see she's got a rather active imagination and perceives any female contact with me as a threat to her if that makes sense."
"Perfectly, I know a water wizard just like that." Nero said surprising Gray both with the reference to water as there was no way this girl could know that Juvia was a gifted water wizard so that had to be a huge coincidence, and the fact that this woman seemed to understand his situation. "The girl I know is very talented with her magic but is hopelessly in love with someone while at the same time in extreme denial about that love and sees rivals everywhere be they real or perceived. Can be annoying at times but other times it is rather amusing for me to just sit back and watch what's going on."
"Well in my case the water wizard is very open about her feelings." Gray said as Noelle sneezed on the platform that she and Asta were dancing on as it just so happened to pass over Gray and Nero as Gray spoke. "But yeah I get it so dancing with another girl can be seen as a threat to her. She's recently gotten even more overactive in that regard as my oldest friend has developed a crush on her that she definitely does not reciprocate."
"Ah I see well then I won't stress her out too much, I just wanted a dance with one of the heroes of this party and I can assure you that that is it so you can tell your beloved that you had no threat from me though a love triangle is always amusing to watch, I've been observing one all night myself." Nero said as Gray spluttered, and Nero used that moment to back away and give him a neat little curtsy to Gray. "Thank you for this dance Gray Fullbuster, it was fun. Your girl is lucky to have fallen for such a talented wizard."
With that Nero turned and left leaving Gray really stunned at what had just transpired with the strange woman. So much so that he didn't notice Wendy approach him until she spoke from next to him.
"Who were you dancing with?" Wendy asked she was curious as she'd seen it while on one of the platforms and decided to come check it out after her dance with Warren because something felt strange about Gray's partner. "And does Juvia know? You know how she gets whenever another woman even looks at you in a way she doesn't like."
"Don't bring up Juvia." Gray said with a groan, that was something he was not looking forward to when he got back. "And I don't know who that woman was. She introduced herself as Secré, a name I've never heard before, and she didn't appear to have a Guild Mark on her, but she was rather covered up so who knows. Her magic was odd though."
"Really?" Wendy asked as she looked around, but the girl was nowhere to be seen now, not that she would find Nero because Nero had snuck into a bathroom, changed into a bird and flown out to land on Mimosa's shoulder and perch there for the rest of the party as Mimosa continued to fret her jealousy over Noelle and Asta dancing and not actual mingle as Nero had instructed her to do. "How so?"
"It wasn't normal if that makes sense." Gray said trying to think on it. "Like it had been corrupted or tainted by something unnatural. Not so much evil, she didn't come off like that, but not fully human in a way that feels off. It was strange and I felt like she wasn't someone to mess with because of it. Well, that and she asked some strange questions but nothing I couldn't handle."
"Huh that is odd." Wendy said still looking for the woman and not finding her. "She looked a little familiar to me though, like I'd seen her before."
"Same but I knew I'd never met her as well which was odd though most likely I've seen a picture or her or someone like her that's why she's a little familiar." Gray said as he shook his head to clear it. "Oh well just another strange thing to a strange night in general."
"You can say that again." Wendy said as Natsu finally lost all he'd eaten, and it had gone all over Lucy's shoes causing her to slap him with a scream as he'd ruined their dance though she shouldn't have taken him on a platform to begin with. "And now we have to deal with that."
"Let's sort it out." Gray said with resignation as he and Wendy went to deal with the latest situation between Natsu and Lucy.
For Fairy Tail that was the rest of their night, dealing with Natsu being sick, Lucy mad, and Erza just dancing the night away with Aceto as she said she would while the others either cleaned up the mess or just had fun themselves. They may not have been paid but it had been a good job to get back into the swing of things and now they could focus on continuing to improve Fairy Tail's name to reclaim the top spot. Soon something would be revealed to them that would give them a shortcut to the top but a new and up and coming Guild might have things to say about that.
Said Guild was of course the Black Bulls who had just watched some of Fairy Tail's best in action and got a vague sense of their skills but that was just the baseline to work off, and none would underestimate Fairy Tail based on what they saw. They'd report it in and go from there with their training for the upcoming Grand Magic Games and their first true encounter with the Fairy Tail returners.
That would come though, for now they were going to enjoy the rest of the ball in their own ways. For tonight at least Noelle would allow herself to wish that her dance with Asta didn't end as the danced the night away.
Well there it is, the Black Bulls have finally got to see some of what Team Natsu could do while also getting to enjoy a ball and Asta had a dance with both Mimosa and Noelle. This was too much fun not to adapt and the chance to have Asta dance with the royals was too good to pass up hence why I adapted it and it also gave them the chance they needed to see some fairies in action and for Nero to have a lot of fun with the royals and mess a bit with Gray. Also I felt it would be amusing to show Velveno copying one of the Black Bulls' magic and Finral's made the most sense especially because it could be used on Lucy (sorry Lucy) as she was the only one in the episode who's magic wasn't copied (she was always with the same partner) and didn't get involved so this way she did and the Black Bulls got to see a bit of her magic as well. As such they now have a better sense of what to expect in the Grand Magic Games which are now finally upon us as the next chapter will officially begin that arc. The only other thing to really mention here is that the reference to Elfman sounding like Yami is because they share the same English voice actor which made his Beast Arm: Black Bull amusing for me to hear as I watched Fairy Tail more than a year after I watched Black Clover though that episode predates Black Clover. Anyway, that is all that I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and I will try to answer any questions posed in reviews and PMs as best I can. Until next time.
Stringdog