After that whole fiasco with Zareb, he was arrested and things were returning to normal. Now that they were, Maru and the others could start taking jobs again.
"So, you ready to get back to work?" Maru asked as he and Mary were on their way back to the guild.
"I suppose. Let's just try and a get a decent job this time. Something that holds some sanity." Mary said. They arrived at the guild and saw the others were already there.
"Hey. You guys made it." Yukina said.
"Find anything good?" Sandy asked.
"A few here and there that we can split the money." Aster said.
'Great. If I have to split the money with these people, I'm going to make even less.' Mary thought as she so didn't want to do that.
"I'm a little more curious on what's going on over there." Gin said. He turned to the bar and could see Master Velvet talking to someone over a lacrima.
"Why? It's just Master Velvet talking to someone." Mary said.
"It's who Master Velvet is talking to that makes me interested." Gin said.
"That's awfully kind of you to check in on us, but we're doing fine, Makarov." Master Velvet said because that is who he is talking to.
"Good. I'm glad to hear that." Makarov claimed.
"Why so interested? I've never known you to be interested in any guild other than your own." Velvet said.
"I heard all about what happened and I was quite surprised." Makarov said. "I would have expected my own guild to be involved in a situation like that, but I'm glad to hear you handled it. You did a fine job, and I'm not sure my guild could have done much better."
"That's awfully humble of you to say." Velvet said with him being flattered.
"Plus, the girls I've seen! They might rival the girls in my guild!" Makarov said.
"And goodbye." Velvet said as he just ended the call before the talk could get anymore disturbing. "Dirty old man. He makes it hard to respect him when he acts like that. I'm starting to wonder if he was ever married to have a child and grandchild."
"Who was Master Velvet talking to?" Mary said.
"That was Makarov, a fellow guild master." Aster said. "In fact, he's the master of what is considered the strongest guild in all of Fiore, maybe all of the continent of Ishgar: Fairy Tail."
"Fairy Tail? You mean a guild named after children stories?" Mary said as she thought the name was a little off.
"Wrong kind. It means like the tail of a fairy." Aster cleared out.
"That's a little odd. I've never seen a picture of a fairy with a tail. Do they even have tails?" Mary said.
"I hear that's kind of the idea for that guild." Yukina said.
"And you're saying this guild is actually the strongest in the whole country and maybe the whole continent?" Mary questioned.
"That's right." Maru said. "Fairy Tail wizards are quite powerful. I've heard that they value the bonds they have with each other. They treat everyone in that guild like family, a bond that's thicker than blood. There's nothing they won't do for each other."
"Yeah, but I've heard that guild can be rather reckless and can be rather crazy." Gin claimed. "Despite their good deeds, they do cause a lot of damage. It's like they don't care that much for anything as long as they have their guild and each other. At least that's what I heard."
"Yeah. I've heard some council members aren't fans of them because of that." Yukina said. "Fairy Tail seems like a great guild, but I hear that they do cause a lot of trouble."
"You keep saying that. Have any of you ever met them?" Mary questioned.
"No, not really. The only who has had the chance to meet a wizard from Fairy Tail is Master Velvet with Master Makarov during meetings of the guild masters." Maru said. "Although, some of their members are pretty well known."
"Yeah, like this Erza "Titania" Scarlet. They call her the Queen of the Fairies because she's considered the strongest female wizard in her guild." Aster said. "She's also a master swordswoman. She isnt just a wizard, but holds the qualities of a knight as well."
"And I've heard about this one guy named Gray Fullbuster." Gin said. "He's one powerful ice wizard. Although, I heard he's also known for walking without clothes, but that part can't be true. No one could be that nuts."
"And I've heard they've got pretty powerful celestial wizard that's also quite the novelist." Yukina claimed.
"But there's one other thing about Fairy Tail, especially their most infamous member who was nicknamed Salamander." Maru said. "Fairy Tail holds about four wizards that can use what is considered the strongest form of magic there is."
"The strongest form of magic? What would that be?" Mary questioned as she could actually feel a knot forming in her from hearing all of this.
"Dragon slayer magic, a type of magic that gives one the ability to slay the mighty beasts themselves." Maru said.
"Are you serious?! Magic that actually allows you to kill a dragon?!" Mary said as she didn't know a magic like that would actually exist. "And you're saying this Fairy Tail has four wizards that are capable of doing that?!"
"Yeah, and the most well known is the one named Salamander." Sandy said. "I heard that his real name is Natsu Dragneel, but I've also heard that he's the most reckless and destructive member of the guild."
"Oh man. For a guild that has weird name, it sure sounds like they've got a lot of power." Mary said.
"They sure do. I've got to admit that I would love to meet them one day." Aster said. "If we're going to make our guild better, we've got to..." Aster didn't finish that sentence as he noticed something else.
"Aster? What is it?" Mary said. All of them looked to the door to see someone enter. This man carried a mysterious feeling to him. He appeared to be older than them. He wore a blue cape with a blue outfit with him having sandals and wearing bandages around his arms and legs with gloves. He also had blonde hair standing up three ways with a small tail.
"Frio..." Aster said. Everyone was looking at him like he was a surprise to see, but he paid them no attention. He just took a flyer from the request board and walked right over to the master.
"I'll be taking this one." Frio said.
"Leaving so soon? You just got here. Why not stay for a while? You're hardly ever here." Velvet offered.
"I can't." Frio said as he just turned away and headed straight for the exit. No one dared say anything until he was gone.
"That was a little eerie. Who was that guy?" Mary questioned.
"That was Frio. He's actually one of our S-class wizards." Gin explained.
"S-class?! You mean like Aster?!" Mary said.
"Yeah, but he's also pretty mysterious, more so than J." Yukina said. "No one really knows anything about him, and he doesn't stick around the guild. He just comes in, takes a job, and then leaves. Frio doesn't really interact with anyone."
"But he is powerful. Some wonder if he might actually be the strongest in our guild." Aster said. Mary almost couldn't believe that the man she just saw was one of Phoenix Flame's best. However, someone was thinking other wise.
"Give me a break. You think he might be our best?" All of them looked up to the second floor of the guild and saw someone else up there.
"Serenity!" Maru said.
"And there's third member of the S-class club of our guild." Gin said with Mary surprised this one is an S-class as well. The third one appeared to be a woman in her early twenties and quite a beauty. She had honey brown hair parted, but most of it was tied into a wavy tail. She wore lavender leather strapped crop top and skirt to show her black guild emblem on the left of her stomach with her wearing black go-go boots and a black coat draped over her shoulders fur in it.
"Frio might be an S-class wizard, but that doesn't mean he's the strongest." Serenity said. "After all, just look at Aster."
"What's that suppose to mean?!" Aster said.
"What I mean is that if you want to know who the strongest in our guild is, you're looking at her." Serenity said. "Then again, it's not surprising why there are so few S-class wizards in this guild. I don't see how this place is ever going to rise to the top with a bunch of sorry wizards here."
"Serenity! You might be an S-class wizard, but that doesn't mean you get to belittle the rest of us!" Maru called.
"You want to make something of it?" Serenity dared.
"Serenity, that's enough!" Velvet called. The two of them had a bit of a stare down. Clearly, there's some tension between the two of them.
"Whatever. Losers." Serenity said with her just walking away.
"She seems charming." Mary said. "Is that girl really an S-class wizard of this guild."
"Yeah. Serenity Davis. She does have an attitude, but she is one of our best." Yukina admitted. Even Aster was gripping his hands as it was hard for him to admit this.
"I may not like her attitude, but there is some merit to what she says." Aster said. "Although I too am S-class, Frio and Serenity are stronger than I am. They've been S-class much longer than I have been."
"Seriously?! They're stronger than you Aster?!" Mary said as she almost couldn't believe it.
"But between Frio and Serenity, it's actually hard to tell which of those two is the stronger one." Gin said. Not only did Mary not know that there was such a powerful guild in Fiore, but she also wasn't aware her own guild had a couple powerful wizards. Who knows what else can be found out there or right in the guild.
...
The Park
Mary needed a place to think about all she learned. That's why she went down to the park and thought it all over.
"There you are." She noticed that Maru and Sandy found her as they took a seat next to her on the bench.
"You okay?" Sandy asked.
"Just needed to process all of it." Mary claimed. "I can't believe there are a couple of wizards stronger than Aster in the guild. After seeing Aster in action, I didn't think anyone was stronger than him. I guess the same could be said about you and the others. Now I find out about this Frio and Serenity. I don't follow a lot of wizard gossip, but I never knew such a powerful guild was right here in Fiore."
"It does sound like a lot to take in." Maru said. "You feeling overwhelmed or something?"
"Or something. The two powerful wizards are one thing, but this Fairy Tail makes this guild seem rather small." Mary said.
"Well, Fairy Tail has a lot of experience. Another thing about them is that this guild has been around for over a hundred years." Maru said. "Not a lot of guilds like that are still running. By that, I'm not sure some of them have been around for that long. Goes to show how successful and famous they are. Our guild has been around for only about half that time."
"But that seems like a pretty long time." Mary said.
"True. Our guild has been doing rather well." Maru said as he looked up to the sky. "You know, Master Velvet told me a lot about Fairy Tail. I've got to say I greatly admire them."
"Really?" Mary asked.
"Same here." Sandy said. "They might tend to go overboard, but it's only because they care so much about each other."
"They even dropped to the bottom of the barrel for a while, but they managed to bounce all the way back to the top." Maru said. "Their bond, the way they rise to any challenge, and the way they take on anyone no matter who it is. Those all things I admire about them. Even though I never got to meet any of them yet, I really like them. Of course, I do came to love our own guild."
"Almost sounds like you would have joined. What made you decide to join Phoenix Flame yourself?" Mary said.
"I was still just a kid back then." Maru said. "Master Velvet was the one that found me and brought me to the guild. My time here is how I learned about Fairy Tail. You want to know something else I learned?"
"Oh no. What now?" Mary said as she wasn't sure she could take much more.
"I learned that we're really not that different from them. Fairy Tail and Phoenix Flame seem pretty similar." Maru said. "That's why I'm sure of it. One day, we're going to reach the same level as Fairy Tail. Our guild might not be all that well known like them, but we can do it. Catching up to Fairy Tail, maybe even surpass them, might be a challenge..."
"But our guild doesn't back down from a challenge. We take any challenge that comes our way and will take it without fear or hesitation." Sandy finished.
"You really think Phoenix Flame could reach this Fairy Tail's level?" Mary said.
"We'll never know until we do." Maru said. He really thinks his guild can do it. Maybe they can. "As for that whole thing with Frio and Serenity, don't worry too much about it. They're still part of our guild."
"Yeah. We might have a few problems with them, but they want what's best for the guild." Sandy said. "We'll need people like them if we're going to surpass Fairy Tail."
"Well, I don't know much about this Fairy Tail or those other two, so I don't really have a say." Mary said.
"Yeah! Watch your backs Fairy Tail! Phoenix Flame is going to rise to the tops one day!" Sandy cheered. Perhaps Phoenix Flame can. They seem to have some pretty good wizards as well, but only time will tell.