"We are home! Argus, Argus, look! This is Magnolia!"
Asuka dragged me along excitedly as she pointed up ahead at the sign that said 'Welcome to Magnolia' to all passengers alighting from the train. Till now, I am still not certain if accompanying the Connells was the right thing to do.
We had taken the night train to Magnolia from Hargeon and since it takes about eight hours or so, we spent the night on the train and woke up bright and early in the morning to alight at Magnolia. The sun is just starting to rise.
"Come, come, we go to the guild! You will like it!" Asuka laughed happily as she continued to drag me along. Alzack and Bisca sent me apologetic looks as Asuka dragged me further and further away from them and closer and closer towards Fairy Tail.
"Asuka, I can walk on my own."
"Nuh uh! You will run the moment I let go of you, I just know!" Asuka shook her head and continued to march on ahead. I could easily free myself from her grip but at the same time, I do not have it in me to make a child like her cry. A part of me is also curious about the Fairy Tail members that I had once read about when they were still fictional characters and I do want to see what they are like.
Maybe, just this once.
Asuka led me through the paths of Magnolia Town that soon led us to a small hill at the edge of the town. Right on the top is a small tavern and the sight of it confused me. Wasn't Fairy Tail's guild building supposed to be… I don't know, larger?
Oh wait, could this period of time be the blank period after the Tenrou group disappeared and haven't returned? Fairy Tail did almost fall into ruin during those seven years, right? Could this be it? I have heard of passing rumours about the Tenrou incident during my travels but I never paid much attention to whether they have returned. Have the Tenrou group not returned yet?
"We are back!"
My train of thoughts came to a halt when Asuka opened the shabby wooden doors with a bang. There is barely anyone in here other than two middle-aged men and a boy in his teens.
"Asuka!" The man with dark blue hair greeted happily as the girl ran up to him for a hug. The man indulged her for a moment before turning his eyes back at me.
"And you are…?"
"He's Mr Argus! He's really, really strong! He defeated a giant squid! This big!" Asuka gestured excitedly with her arms that elicited a laugh from the two men who I now identified as Macao and Wakaba.
'Doesn't look like much in here.'
'Tell me something I don't know.'
Unaware of the conversation taking place within my mind, Alzack and Bisca entered the guild that very moment.
"Hey there, Master. We are back. I see that you have already met Argus," Alzack said with a smile before turning back to face me. "So, what do you think? Well, sure, we have definitely seen better days, but Fairy Tail is a place where we call home and would not trade for anything in the world."
"I've heard about it," I nodded. "My condolences."
The boy that had been sitting quietly in a corner the entire time stood up and walked out without a sound. Macao let out a sigh at the sight.
"Sorry about that. That was my son, Romeo, and he… He still hasn't walked out of it yet."
"I understand," I assured the man. "If there's nothing else, I will take my leave now."
"There's no need to feel so out of place, you know? You can stay here for as long as you like," Alzack said with a laugh as he placed a hand on my shoulder just as I was about to turn and leave. "Well, and also we would like to do something as thanks for helping to take care of Asuka back at Hargeon."
"Yes, please do stay," Bisca added. "We will be happy to have you around."
"Yeah! You can join Fairy Tail too Mr Argus!"
"Wait, he's an independent mage?"
"Never saw a need to join a guild," I muttered under my breath, only to have my muttering broken when Wakaba shoved a mug right at my face.
"Here ya go, Argus! A drink on the house!"
From the expectant looks on the faces of those present, I guess I wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.
"Oooh, so you are from the west!"
"What a coincidence, Bisca was from the west too! Hey Bisca! Guess what? Argus is from the west too!"
A short drink with Wakaba, Macao, and the Connells soon ended up with the rest of the guild joining in when they started to arrive at the guild one after the other. Laki, Kinana, Jet, Droy, Max, Nab, Reedus, Vijeeter, Warren, they all ended up joining in the conversation.
"Really? Where are you from?" Bisca asked excitedly, probably excited at meeting a fellow immigrant.
"Alvarez, Nocina Village," I answered before adding. "It's no longer around though."
If anybody was curious as to why the village wasn't around anymore, they didn't prod any further. The Fairy Tail mages must have been more perceptive than I imagined them to be.
"So, Light Magic? I don't think we had anyone with that brand of magic before!"
"We had Loke…" Vijeeter muttered and the mood turned solemn for a second before everyone acted like nothing was wrong and laughed it off.
"How old are you anyway?" Laki asked curiously.
"Fifteen this year."
"Woah, you are pretty good for your age," Bisca whistled. "Especially after how you destroyed that squid back at Hargeon with just a single spell."
"Hey, who knows, he may already be the strongest mage among us, haha!"
"Strongest? We are the strongest here."
An unpleasant voice rang out from the guild's entrance and we all turned towards it, spotting a small gang of hooligans with unkind smirks on their faces.
"Thibault," Macao's voice became stern and unfriendly immediately upon spotting the leader. "It's not yet time for payment."
"We decide when it is time for payment, dipshit," Thibault sneered and with a swing of his club, destroyed a nearby chair in the small tavern that we are in. "Listen here, you little fairies! Twilight Ogres is now the strongest guild in Magnolia! You guys are history!"
My gaze went from Macao, to Thibault, then back to Macao again.
"You owe them money."
"We… were really short on cash back then," Macao admitted. "Times were really bad when we received news that everyone just… you know it."
"Oh, we have a new face here," Thibault cackled before slowly walking up towards me and reached out a hand to remove the hood that had been hiding my face from view the entire time. "What's with that hood? Shy?"
"I would appreciate it if you would keep your hands to yourself," I replied coldly as my left hand grabbed his wrist, preventing him from touching me. This didn't seem to deter Thibault, however. If anything, it only encourages him to take another inch forward.
"Well, newbie, it seems that you are ignorant about how things are run here. Let me educate you-"
"How much?"
"What?"
"How much did Fairy Tail owe you?"
"Oh, that," Thibault's smirk grew even wider. "Let me see… They borrowed half a million about four years back, if we include the interest…"
"Two and a half million!" A grunt shouted out from where he was leaning against a wall, helping himself to the food at the counter without permission.
"Ten million," Thibault mock whispered. "Oh, I know what you are thinking about right now. Regretting joining this pathetic guild, right? How about this? You join us, Twilight Ogres, and be part of the best guild in Fiore!"
"Ten million, huh?" I cannot help but scoff as I let go of Thibault's wrist. "Mages? You guys might as well be loan sharks. I've seen dark mages more reasonable than you guys."
I stood up, drawing curious stares of everyone to myself. If there's one thing I hate, it is how wrong things can be in this world.
"Asuka."
"Yes?" Asuka asked softly from where Bisca was holding her close protectively.
"Close your eyes and cover your ears until I say otherwise, okay?"
"Okay," Asuka obediently did as I said and by now, every single adult in the room had understood the insinuation behind my words. The Twilight Ogre mages had their weapons drawn and the Fairy Tail mages had stood up in response as well.
However, I didn't give either side a second of time to prepare for a fight.
"Blind."
I released a bright flash of light, blinding everyone present as I made my move. Within five seconds, I had every single mage from Twilight Ogre groaning on the floor in pain. I conjured ropes of light as I dragged their miserable selves out of the guild.
"W-Wait!" Macao ran out after me and stumbled every few steps, probably still trying to clear his vision after what I had done earlier. "We appreciate it, Argus, but we cannot afford to-"
"You can," I replied coolly as I continued my stroll. "Where is their guild building?"
"Please don't make things any-"
"We are going to repay the ten million in full."
"What?"
"Y-You… Fights between guilds is prohibited- guh!"
A painful smack could be heard.
"Too bad for you, I am an independent mage. Now let me ask you one more time, how much does Fairy Tail really owe you?"
"O-One… million…"
"Hmph," Argus snorted as he let Banaboster drop limply on the floor. Argus dug for something within his pocket before smacking a large wad of cash on Banaboster's face.
"This is one and a half million. There, the debt is repaid. If I ever hear anything about Twilight Ogre harassing Fairy Tail ever again…"
"I-It won't h-happen…"
"Good," Argus' voice was silky smooth as he said that. "We wouldn't want a repeat of today's happenings now, won't we?"
"Y-Yes…"
Macao can only watch as the enigmatic teen turned on his heels and left, leaving him gaping at the sight before him.
Twilight Ogre, utterly annihilated and beaten within an inch of their lives, their guild master included.
"T-This… is not a good idea."
"What's done is done. Come on, let's go back."
"One and a half million…" Macao mumbled before he forcefully set his mind back to working order. This change of events means that their new creditor is Argus, isn't it?
"W-We will return the money as soon as we can!"
"No hurry. I'm not in a real need for cash anyway," Argus replied as the view of the tavern soon came into sight. "What is important is that Twilight Ogre no longer has any reason to oppress your guild. If they ever try to pull that stunt again, beat them up until even their momma wouldn't even recognise them."
Argus pushed open the doors to the tavern and was immediately swarmed by the concerned guild members.
"Are you okay?"
"Did they do anything to you?"
"What-"
"He helped repay our guild's debts," Macao blurted out before everyone started to go stir crazy from their own imagination. "We are now…free. We no longer need to be oppressed by them any longer."
There was a pregnant pause of activity and noise.
"Sorry, I think my age is catching up to me. Did you just say that…"
"You heard it right dammit!" Macao snapped at Wakaba, and it was what finally broke the tension in the room.
"Wait, what?!"
"That's at least one million at the minimum, right? The highest paying job we ever received these few years only amounted to ten thousand!"
"I'm not in a rush to collect the debt," Argus spoke up, silencing everyone immediately. "In fact, I don't really care if you guys could never repay it but if repaying it makes you guys feel better, so be it."
"You… You… Waah!"
Laki was the first one to burst into tears, tears of joy, and it was soon followed by Kinana and it wasn't long before the entire guild started to cheer and laugh and cry at the change of their circumstances.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
"We will repay the money as soon as we can!"
"Let's go take on jobs right now!"
"You idiot! We need to first find people to send job requests to us in the first place! The board's empty!"
"Then let's do just that right now!"
"It sure is lively," Argus commented and Macao chuckled, tears still in his eyes from how much he had been laughing along earlier.
"It sure is," Macao agreed. "I don't want to pry, but is there a reason why you cover your face?"
It was only now that he realised that Argus had been using the hood to keep his face from view the entire time. It's probably not a question that he should ask, but his curiosity got the better of him.
Argus froze for a split second, but gave his answer right after.
"I was subjected to a magical ritual against my will when I was very young. The results… they weren't pretty. It's not like I mind letting people see how I look, but I prefer not to scare anyone if I can help it."
"But I want to see what Argus looks like!" Asuka said out loud as she clung onto his leg once more. "Please…?"
"Really? My face really isn't pretty at all, you know."
"Really! I won't cry or laugh, really! Double really!"
"Asuka's right. We are not going to react negatively," Warren encouraged with a smile. "It might not seem like it, but most of us here have pasts that aren't all that pretty too."
"If you are sure," Argus replied before slowly removing the hood.
The first thing they noticed was the silver-white hair that is slightly spiked up. The right side of his face is unblemished and smooth, his slightly tanned skin complementing very well with the colour of his hair and it is not hard to see that Argus is blessed with good looks.
However, what caught their attention next is the large scar that covers the entirety of the left side of his face, almost like the entirety of the left side of Argus's face was nearly burnt off. Even when they had been expecting it, the sight of Argus' scar still drew a few gasps from those present.
Asuka's soft voice was what cut the silence.
"Does it still hurt?"
"Not anymore," Argus reassured the girl with a pat on her head. "You are braver than most if you never cried or screamed upon seeing my face."
"I am a brave girl!" Asuka declared proudly with a puff of her chest, relieving the tension in the room instantly as her actions elicited laughs from those present.
"Yes, you are."
