Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
August, x784.
Around the time that the sun set on Fiore, Elicia, driving the Escalade, Marin, and Lucy drove through Crocus' city gates. Though this was not the first time for any of the girls to come to the capital city of the Kingdom of Fiore, it would be the first time that Marin and Lucy came here for a quest.
"So, what do you wanna do now that we're in the city?" Marin asked. "Should we find a place to spend the night and see the client in the morning? Or should we go see the client right now?"
"Since we've been on the road all day, I'd like to find a place to sit down and have a nice meal." Lucy suggested.
"I agree with Lucy." Elicia replied. "Sitting down for a hot meal sounds great after eating nothing but cold leftovers all day. The real question is... What do you two feel like eating?"
With that, the car's interior fell into silence. Honestly, neither of them had given it any thought while on the way to Crocus. A few seconds later, Marin was the one to break the silence.
"Let's just find a buffet." Marin said with n unsure smile. "Those kind of places usually have a big selection of foods, right? Then, we won't have to choose just one thing."
Once again, the car's interior fell into silence while Elicia and lucy mulled over the idea.
"Sounds good to me." Lucy replied with a shrug. "I've never been all that picky when it comes to food, anyway."
"If that's what you two want." Elicia replied, shrugging as well. "It's not like it will compare to Fonzie's cooking, anyway."
"That's true." Marin and Lucy said in unison.
With the decision made; the girls continued to chat happily as they drove through the capital city of Fiore looking for a buffet style restaurant. Luckily, it did not take long to find one.
Parking the Escalade, the three girls wasted no time disembarking and entering the restaurant.
"The Feeding Bowl." Lucy commented as she looked around the restaurant from its entrance. "What a strangely fitting name for an all you can eat restaurant that caters to wizards."
"Seriously, it kinda reminds me of the way Natsu and Elfman eat." Marin replied with a chuckle.
"Elfman wasn't always like that." Elicia said with a wry smile. "Before the incident two years ago, Elfman was quiet and polite. Not to mention, his table manners were impeccable."
Elicia's last statement was mostly meant for Lucy's benefit. Still, Marin also wore an expression of nostalgia after hearing it. But before their conversation could continue, a decent looking man approached with a professional smile on his face.
"Good afternoon, Ladies." The man, a green-haired man with pink eyes and his long hair worn in a low ponytail and dressed in a white dress shirt, black vest, black pants, and black leather shoes, greeted politely. "Table for three?"
"Yeah." Elicia replied with a nod.
"Then, please follow me." The man replied as he made a half turn and gestured towards the restaurant's interior.
Shortly afterward, Elicia, Marin, and Lucy were seated at a table and the man that greeted them was explaining the way the restaurant worked.
'It's just like Fogo de Chão.' Elicia thought happily. 'I definitely have to bring Fonzie here next time we're both in Crocus.'
Once the explanation was over, Elicia, Marin, and Lucy got up and approached the salad bar. After making their plates the way they wanted, they returned to their seats and flipped over the cards on the table to signal the waiters walking around with large sizzling platters of meat that they were ready for the restaurant's main attraction.
"Wild!" A loud shout came from the restaurant's entrance.
Looking over in the direction the shout came from, the three girls saw a tall man with slicked back black hair, a bare chest, and armored arms and shoulders leading two other men into the restaurant.
"Ugh… It's Bacchus." Elicia groaned in annoyance.
"Bacchus? The ace of Quatro Cerberus" Lucy asked curiously. "Why do you sound so annoyed."
"Because he's a drunken pervert." Marin replied. "And for some reason, he thinks Elicia is into him."
Lucy had just taken a sip of water when Marin started speaking, resulting in a splendid spit-take. Unfortunately, that drew the attention of the three men who just entered the restaurant.
"Well… If it isn't Elicia Taylor." Bacchus Groh, the leader of the Quatro Cerberus wizards that just entered the restaurant, said with a smile after looking in the direction of the spit-take. It's been a while."
"Ugh… Hi, Bacchus." Elicia said flatly as Bacchus ignored the greeter and started walking toward the girls' table.
"I don't see that fiancé of yours anywhere." Bacchus said as he pulled out the empty seat at the table, spun it around, and sat with his arms resting on its back rest. "Have you finally decided to dump him and come be my woman? Ha! You even brought two more to join us. You don't have to try and sweeten the deal."
"Even if Fonzie and I ever broke up, I'd never be with you." Elicia said with little emotion on her face. "Since me leaving Fonzie is impossible in the first place, there's no point in even having this conversation."
Reaching down to his waste, Bacchus pulled a gourde from his belt. After uncorking it, he took a large swig. Then, after setting the gourd on the table, he looked at Elicia with pity.
"Don't worry, Elicia." Bacchus said with a confident smile. "Next time I come to Magnolia, I'll challenge that fiancé of yours for your hand. It's clear by your expression that you'd rather be with me than that sorry excuse for a man. So, I'll liberate you from him."
With that, the table fell silent. While the two other members of Quatro Cerberus, who had sat down at a nearby table were cheering for Bacchus' wild, manly spirit, Marin and Lucy were looking at him as if he had just said something incredibly stupid. Then, they leaned close to each other and started to whisper.
"Hey, Marin, did he just call Alfonzo a poor excuse for a man?" Lucy asked.
"That's what it sounded like to me." Marin replied.
"Shouldn't we do something?" Lucy asked with some worry in her tone. "From what I've heard, Elicia can get kind of out of hand when people insult Alfonzo."
"That's true." Marin replied with a nod. "But I don't think there is anything we can do. I mean… I think it's too late."
As she finished whispering, Marin looked in Elicia's direction, shortly followed by Lucy. When they saw her, at first, they couldn't see anything different about her. However, they noticed that her eyes seemed a little hollow. Mixing that with her bright smile, Elicia was quite terrifying at the moment.
"Bacchus~." Elicia said in a cheerful, sing-song tone.
"Oh, how sweet that sounds." Bacchus said, not noticing the terrifying aura Elicia was releasing. "It seems that I've finally gotten through to---"
"How many times have I told you not to insult my Fonzie?" Elicia asked, cutting off Bacchus' monologue.
Surprised that he had been cut off, Bacchus looked at Elicia with a drunken confusion on his face.
"This is your last warning." Elicia said, her smile growing as she spoke. "The next time you do it, you'll regret it. Trust me."
Hearing that, not only Bacchus, but even the other two members of Quatro Cerberus were surprised. Elicia's tone and words were so contrasting that they were a bit uncomfortable.
Before Bacchus could respond to the threat, however, the door to the restaurant opened once again. This time, five new people entered the restaurant, led by a short, stout man with a distinctively rectangular face, wavy orange hair, and a big, flat nose that seemed to be shining, as well as a beautiful green haired woman wearing an expression as if the entire world owed her something.
"Men!" The short, orange-haired man, Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, shouted as he entered the restaurant.
"Boss/Master/Big Brother, you're so dashing." The three young men in the group said in unison as Ichiya entered the restaurant.
"For God's sake, would you four morons shut up?" The green-haired woman, Karen Lilica, barked in annoyance.
Ignoring Karen's remark, Ichiya began sniffing the air.
"I smell a familiar perfume." Ichiya muttered. "The scent of cloth and textiles. Quite the soothing perfume."
Hearing that, Karen's eyes lit up. Pushing Ichiya out of the way hard enough that he slammed face first into a nearby wall, Karen dashed further into the restaurant while looking at all those present.
"O.M.G. These two weirdos are here, too?" Elicia muttered, no longer interested in threatening Bacchus. "What kind of bad luck is this?"
As if she had heard Elicia's muttering, Karen's head snapped in her direction. Then, she walked toward the table.
Bacchus, on the other hand, finally came out of the shock Elicia's threat put him in. When he saw Karen, however, his eyes lit up as well.
"Well, if it isn't Karen?" Bacchus said before taking a swig from his gourd. A moment later, he continued after wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "It seems that after a few years, you couldn't resist me and came back for more."
Instead of responding, Karen looked at Bacchus with disgust.
A few years ago, when Karen met Bacchus for the first time, she spoke to him politely with a smile on her face. Considering that he would be a good connection to have since he would undoubtedly become an S-Class wizard in the future, she tried her best to leave an impression.
Unfortunately, Bacchus was quite drunk and interpreted Karen's politeness for romantic interest, a notion that has stuck with him even till the present..
"Elicia, it seems fate has brought us together again." Karen said as she turned her attention toward Elicia. "Have you decided on a fitting punishment for me yet? I'll admit, the way you tied me up the first time you punished me was one of the most humiliating things I've ever experienced. If I might suggest, I think we should start there."
At the same time, Lucy, a fan of Karen's feats as a Celestial wizard, was dumbfounded when she heard what Karen had to say. Then, she remembered something Alfonzo said a couple of months ago.
"So, she's the third member of the 'Unholy Trinity'." Lucy muttered.
"What'd you say?" Marin asked curiously.
Letting out a sigh, Lucy explained to Marin about the three worst masochists she had ever had the pleasure of meeting and Alfonzo's nickname for them.
"I see you're not with Alfonzo." Karen said with a smile. "Did you finally decide to leave that guy and make me your pet full time?"
Before Elicia could respond, however, her left hand was grabbed, drawing her attention in that direction.
"Ahh… Miss Elicia, your perfume is as exquisite as ever." Ichiya said, lowering his head to kiss the back of Elicia's hand.
Before Ichiya's lips could make contact with Elicia's hand, however, a large number of threads shot out of the tips of her fingers and wrapped around Ichiya's body, leaving only his head exposed. Then, Elicia looped the other end of the threads around a chandelier hanging from the restaurant's ceiling, resulting in Ichiya being suspended in mid-air.
"So unfair." Karen muttered with a bright blush on her face while biting her thumb. "Why won't you tie me up and hang me from the ceiling again, Elicia?"
"How many times have I told you not to do that, Ichiya." Elicia said, clearly annoyed at this point. "I have a fiancé, a man that I love with all my heart."
"Master/Boss/Big Brother." The three young men, Hibiki Lates, Eve Tearm, and Ren Akatsuki, shouted as they saw Ichiya hanging from the chandelier.
"*Sigh* Well at least that stopped them from flirting with us." Lucy said, all the over the top flirting making her uncomfortable.
"Yeah, that was just weird." Marin replied. "But Elicia looks to be really popular with some… unique… people."
"Unique is one way to put it." Lucy replied while letting her gaze run over the three people who approached Elicia. "A drunk pervert, a haughty masochist, and a wannabe host. They don't get much weirder."
Just at that moment, Virgo summoned herself next to Lucy, causing Karen to glance at her for a moment before refocusing on Elicia.
"Virgo? Is something wrong?" Lucy asked in confusion.
"No, Princess." Virgo replied with a smile. "Ther's nothing wrong. But I felt that if I summoned myself to your side, I would see my new friend once again. On top of that, I can feel the presence of another with similar interests nearby. Oh, and Princess, I think you should ask Lady Elicia for tips in rope binding techniques. They would help when it is time for me to receive punishment in the future."
"Your new friend?" Lucy asked in confusion before she paled slightly.
"*Bang!*
At that moment, the restaurant's front door swung open with force, banging into the wall as a stunningly gorgeous blonde-haired, blue eyed woman with a voluptuous figure entered the restaurant. Walking into the dining area without minding the greeter, Darkness' eyes landed on Ichiya who was currently tied up and hanging from the ceiling.
"Who would dare to attack a man in broad daylight like this?" Darkness asked as her cheeks reddened and her breathing became ragged while she stared at Ichiya's tied up form. "I, Darkness, will bring you to justice. Fight me, and I will show you the passion of a night. Even if you were to entangle me like that man, I would not yield. No matter what manner of torture you inflicted upon me. Even if you were to strip my armor and parade me around the city, my fighting spirit would never be broken."
With Darkness' arrival, the chaos in the restaurant reached a whole new level. Meanwhile, Elicia only looked on helplessly.
'I wanna go home.' Elicia thought to herself. 'I miss Fonzie already.'