Early the next morning after taking a train, the group rode in a carriage on their way towards the meetup point, which was further up north beyond Clover Town. Meliodas had a half filled bottle of ale in hand as he looked out the window of the carriage. Slumped over the other window was Natsu, who was nauseated by the ride, with Happy sitting comfortably on his lap.
"Are we not there yet?" Natsu complained as the carriage hit a bump in the road, causing Natsu's cheeks to puff up as he turned even paler with a sick look on his face. In his arms, he started to squeeze Happy up against him. Happy struggled to break free as Natsu held onto him tightly.
"Natsu, don't hurl! Not now!" Happy cried. Meliodas smiled as he watched the interaction between the two.
"We should be reaching there soon." Erza said as she looked at the map, ignoring Happy's pleas for help. "This is our first strategy meeting with the delegates of other guilds. It's important we have good relations with them."
"It's been a while since I've worked with Lamia Scale." Meliodas commented. "They were an interesting bunch."
"So you've worked with Lamia Scale already. That's good. It will certainly make forming relations a lot easier." Erza replied.
"I wonder if Jura will be here. I met him the first time I visited their guild and again when I got detained." Meliodas said as he reminisced about both of his meetings with Jura. From what he could tell of Jura, he was considerably stronger than the other members of Lamia Scale he worked with.
"Jura is one of the ten wizard saints. I would imagine he would be busy but if he were here, then having him help against the Oracion Seis will definitely put the odds in our favor." Erza responded. Meliodas turned his attention back to Natsu as he heard him making strange gurgling noises.
"Gghguwuwh." Natsu groaned.
"Aye, Meliodas! Please help!" Happy exclaimed. Meliodas pulled Happy free from Natsu's grip. Happy took a seat next to Meliodas and sighed a breath of relief.
"So does he always get like this?" Meliodas asked as he continued observing Natsu.
"It's an affliction that Natsu has. He gets motion sickness when he's on a vehicle." Erza answered. "There's nothing we can do until we're off this carriage."
Meliodas and Erza both glanced at Natsu who now had his head sticking out of the window. Out the other window of the carriage, Happy was sticking out his head.
"Aye I see the meeting point!" Happy yelled enthusiastically. Meliodas looked outside the window and saw the building in the distance before raising his eyebrows. It was a large, pink mansion with multiple towers, with a heart shaped window in the middle section tower. The group got off the carriage, with Natsu collapsing on the ground as he walked out.
"Yes! We're out of that torture machine!" Natsu cried. He spread his arms out as he hugged the dirt.
"Get up! We're going inside." Erza ordered. Natsu immediately stood up and his facial expression stiffened.
The group walked inside the building and into a large hall with many pillars adorned by stylized hearts and a large, red carpet that went down the middle. The group looked around in awe at the spacious hall.
"The hell kind of fancy meeting place is this?!" Natsu commented wearily, still feeling sick.
Suddenly, the lights went dark and ahead of them, a spotlight shined down, revealing three figures, two taller ones and a shorter one.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of Fairy Tail. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."
"We are the delegation from Blue Pegasus."
"The Trimens."
"The who?" Meliodas asked.
The three figures were revealed one at a time as the light shined brighter on them.
"Hundred Night, Hibiki." Said a slim young man with spiky, somewhat messy brown hair wearing a double breasted suit with a light blue undershirt.
"Holy Night, Eve." Said a short boy with blond hair styled in a neat bowl cut with a few strands jutting out and wearing a black suit with a pink undershirt.
"Silent Night, Ren." Said a young man with dark skin and black spiky hair that went past his neck wearing a black suit and a yellow undershirt. The three of them stood in unique poses as they introduced themselves.
The three Blue Pegasus members immediately grouped around Erza, separating her from Meliodas and Natsu.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Titania."
"You are every bit as beautiful as the rumors say."
"Please, step this way."
Hibiki and Eve took her to an expensive looking couch and coffee table at the corner of the hall. Erza sat down awkwardly as Ren walked away into a hallway in the back.
"Huh...I wonder if they're the butlers here. You think they'll serve us some ale?" Meliodas asked. He glanced over at Natsu who was leaning against a wall, still feeling some aftereffects of his prior motion sickness.
Meliodas looked back at Erza sitting uncomfortably on the couch as the two Blue Pegasus members continued to bombard her with compliments. He turned his head over to the hallway where he saw Ren returning with a tray of drinks.
Meliodas began to walk towards Ren to ask him for a drink when a sickly, sweet voice echoed across the hall, coming from the direction of the main stairway.
"My friends...that is quite enough of that."
The three Pegasus members stopped what they were doing and stared at the stairwell. Erza looked over with widened eyes as she began to tremble.
"S-so you're participating in this…" Erza commented shakily. Meliodas looked back at Erza with a puzzled look on his face before looking back up at the stairwell, curious to know who could cause Erza to lose her composure like this.
'That man?' Meliodas thought as he saw a figure walking down the stairs. The man looked familiar to him. He was a short, stout man, shorter than Meliodas. He had a rectangular face and long orange hair styled upwards. He wore a full white suit with an orange undershirt. Wrapped around his waist and falling to his right upper thigh, was a sash that contained vials filled with a strange liquid.
"Ichiya…?" Erza commented. Ichiya struck a pose with his hands raised up and his elbows out as he walked down the stairs. He looked at Erza with salacious eyes.
"Yes my honey, I have come here for you." Ichiya responded as he slowly walked down the steps, putting unnecessary flare into each step. The trimen immediately lined up next to Erza and bowed their heads respectfully as they faced her.
"We apologize for our conduct. We had no idea you were the lover of Master Ichiya." The three of them said simultaneously.
"I deny everything!" Erza exclaimed.
Ichiya continued walking down the stairs but stopped as he noticed Meliodas looking at him. He changed directions and immediately began to walk towards Meliodas, much to the trimen's surprise and Erza's relief.
Meliodas gave him a puzzled look as Ichiya approached Meliodas. He tiptoed and moved his face closer to Meliodas. His nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply.
"Mennnn…" Ichiya mumbled to himself.
"Something wrong?" Meliodas asked, still baffled by Ichiya's action.
"I remember this parfum...You possess a one of a kind magic. I have never smelled anything like it." Ichiya commented, remembering his short lived encounter with Meliodas when Meliodas had traveled to Blue Pegasus very briefly. His face began to gravitate closer to Meliodas's as his nostrils continued to flare wider.
"Sorry, but I don't swing that way." Meliodas replied. He raised his right hand up, pushing Ichiya's face away from his. Ichiya rolled backwards from his spot, tumbling across the mansion's floor until he stopped right in front of Erza.
"Mennnn…" Ichiya mumbled as he looked up at Erza. He quickly regained his composure and stood back up, kneeling down on one knee as he reached for Erza's hand.
"Forgive the minor detour, here I am now, my honey."
Erza could not hide her appalled expression as Ichiya grabbed her hand. The three trimen turned towards Meliodas and glared at him. Meliodas ignored their angered expressions and approached them.
"So since you guys are the butlers here, could I get some ale?" Meliodas asked.
"Get it yourself." Ren replied with a scowl.
"No, we're not letting this one get away, not after what he did to Master Ichiya." Eve added in. "It would be wise to not underestimate us."
Natsu jumped up from his slump against the wall. He looked enthusiastically at the group of mages as his sick demeanor vanished.
"Alright a fight!" Natsu shouted across the hall.
Hibiki glared at Meliodas but didn't say a word as he observed him. Meliodas returned an unfazed gaze at him. 'That guy looks familiar, have I seen him before?' Hibiki thought to himself. Erza walked in front of the trimen and glared at them.
"Now isn't the time to be picking a f-" Erza stopped as she felt a shiver go down her spine. She felt the warm breaths of another person hitting the back of her neck.
"My honey, your parfum is amazing as always." Ichiya whispered in her ear.
"Stay away from me!" Erza yelled. She quickly turned around and delivered a solid punch to Ichiya's face. Ichiya's face contorted as he flew gracefully through the air.
"MENNN!!!" Ichiya yelled as he was launched across the hall towards the entrance. Meliodas turned his head to where Ichiya was being launched. His eyebrows raised as he saw a familiar figure standing at the doorway. The figure raised his hand up, catching Ichiya's head in his palm. As Ichiya's head made contact with Lyon's palm, his head was suddenly surrounded in a block of jagged ice.