Earth Land, Ishgar, kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
June 29, x787.
After receiving his and the other's compensation from Hiruzen, Alfonzo left the Hokage Tower. Then, he returned to his residence with Kakashi. Along the way, he mentioned the chakra papers and Kakashi handed them to him without hesitation and explained how they worked.
Then, after arriving at the house, Alfonzo told Elicia, Irene, and Ikaruga about the compensation they received. And they were all curious to find out what their elemental affinities were according to the style of magic used by the shinobi on the continent.
So, after each of them received a piece of chakra paper, they all pushed a sliver into them. Then, they watched as each of their slips of paper reacted in different ways.
It should be known that the shinobi generally possess one or more of seven different affinities, Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, Yin, and Yang are the seven affinities. This does not include any advanced affinities that may come about thanks to bloodline Kekkei Genkai, which come about due to a fusion of two of the seven base affinities.
First was Ikaruga, whose piece of chakra paper split in half before one side was shredded to bits and the other was burned to ashes. This signified that she had wind and fire as her elemental affinities.
Next was Irene, whose paper had three different reactions. The first third of the paper turned a pure white color. The next third turned pitch black. And the last section burned to ashes, much like Ikaruga's, signifying Irene had Yin, Yang, and Fire affinities.
After that was Elicia, whose chakra paper only showed two variations. The two halves of her paper turned pure white and pitch black, signifying that she had affinities for Yin and Yang.
And finally, Alfonzo's paper also showed three different reactions like Irene's. A third of his paper turned pure white. Another third turned into dust. And the final third began to crinkle. These reactions showed that Alfonzo had affinities for Yang, Earth, and Lightning.
Before the four could discuss the changes in their chakra papers, however, Naruto and the others arrived. And different from usual, Alfonzo decided to take their training into his own hands, letting Ikaruga spend time with the other ladies.
And thanks to Alfonzo's haul from Danzo's base, he had a much better idea of how they should be trained. And that would lead to the group of nine youngsters improving even faster than with Ikaruga's training. Unfortunately for the children, Alfonzo was also a much harsher trainer than Ikaruga, as well. As a result, some of the kids, mainly Shikamaru, who was the laziest of the nine, would have preferred to continue training with Ikaruga.
And for the rest of the month, each day followed the same schedule. And eventually, the day Alfonzo, Elicia, Irene, and Ikaruga would leave the Village Hidden in the Leaves arrived. Luckily, there were no tearful or overly emotional goodbyes. Well, for the most part. Guy, in his youthful way, almost seemed heartbroken when he found out his friends from Fairy Tail were leaving, as a result, he cried loudly as they left. And his disciple, Rock Lee followed his teacher in his youthful display.
Everyone else could only roll their eyes at the green spandex wearing duo's antics. Especially since at least Alfonzo would be back before the end of the year. On top of that, Hiruzen, Kakashi, Guy, and all the twelve youngsters were invited to Alfonzo's wedding with Erza and Sun.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
June 30, x787.
Currently, the wizards of Fairy Tail were packed into the three military style vehicles they used when they stormed Phantom Lord's guild building three years ago. And they just parked outside of a hotel in the middle of Crocus.
"They are coming, right?" Marin asked as she hopped out of the back of one of the trucks. "I mean, I thought they would come back to Magnolia so they could ride with the rest of us. You know, to, like, show a united front."
"They'll definitely be here." Erza replied, hopping out of the truck behind Marin. "They would not miss the opportunity to root for the guild in a situation like this."
"Erza's right, Marin." Mirajane said with a smile as she approached, having just gotten out of a different truck. "There's really no need to worry."
Before Marin could respond, Natsu, who had been flying with Happy, landed next to the group. And he had overheard the conversation.
"Oh man, they had better be here!" Natsu shouted loudly. "I can't wait to show them how strong I've gotten since they left. I'm definitely gonna beat Alfonzo next time we fight!"
"Dream on, Flame Brain." Gray said as he approached the group as well. "You're just gonna get your ass kicked like you always do."
"Oh yeah?" Natsu asked in a challenging tone. "Then, why don't I show you how strong I am first?"
"Any time!" Gray shouted back.
*Bang!* x 2
"That's enough, you two." Erza said sternly after punching Gray and Natsu in the head. "How many times do I have to tell you two not to fight."
In response, Gray and Natsu could only fall silent while holding their aching heads. However, they continued to glare at each other with the will to fight swirling in their eyes.
"Did I not make myself clear?" Erza asked, her tone growing even sterner.
"Aye!" Gray and Natsu replied simultaneously after feeling Erza's oppressive aura.
"Those two will never change." Cana said before she started chugging a bottle of ale as she and Ultear approached from the last truck.
"Like you're one to talk." Lucy said as she, too, hopped out of the first truck. "But seriously, I'm kinda worried for Crocus. I mean, when this many members of the guild are gathered in one place, things don't tend to stay in one piece for very long."
"You don't need to worry about that, Lucy." Sun, who just climbed out of a smaller magic vehicle with her parents and Masa, replied with a smile. "Everyone knows how far they are allowed to take things."
"Sun's right." Ultear added. "besides, if they take things too far, Mom will get angry, and no one wants that."
Hearing that, everyone, even someone as thick headed as Natsu, nodded their heads in agreement. And Ur's punishments when she was angered have only gotten worse ever since she managed to break the first seal on her [Soul Armament], Yuki-onna.
"Alright, is everyone here?" Ur asked loudly, her voice cutting through all the noise of her guild. Then, after spreading her [Magic Power Detection] and feeling the magic power signatures of all her wizards, she nodded her head before continuing. "Good. Well then, after we get checked in to the hotel, you all are free to do what you want for the rest of the day. But the team competing in the tournament must be back at the hotel by midnight. That's one of the rules of the Grand Magic Games. So, I don't wanna hear any complaints."
"Yeah, we understand." Laxus replied from his place among the rest of his team.
Naturally, the rest of Laxus' team consisted of the Thunder God Tribe. However, that would only make a total of four members and the Grand Magic Games were for teams of five. However, to the rest of the guild's surprise, the fifth member of the team was not someone considered to be very strong. In fact, they had not even been training their magic for two years. And that person was Saya Takagi.
In fact, ever since Alfonzo left for the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Laxus decided that he would try to get Saya's attention. And at first, all his attempts were a complete and utter failure. However, when he started showing that he was more than just a muscle head, he manage to gain Saya's attention. And although it took him a few months, he eventually got her to join the Thunder god Tribe.
There were even hints of romance in Laxus' and Saya's interactions. However, their relationship had not become official yet. And that was mostly thanks to Saya's tsundere nature. The thing that surprised everyone the most about this relationship, however, was just how patient Laxus was being with Saya. Especially those who knew just how overbearing he could be.
"Good." Ur replied. "Now, let's go inside and get our rooms. The entire city is gonna be like a festival while the Grand Magic Games is going on, and like you , I wanna enjoy myself."
"Yeah~~~~~~~~~!" The wizards of Fairy Tail shouted excitedly at Ur's declaration.
The, the entire guild began moving towards the hotel, which was owned by Sixth sense Holdings. Meaning, the entire guild could stay for free since Fairy Tail was a shareholder of the company.
Eventually, Ur, with Gildarts by her side, reached the front doors of the hotel. But before she pulled them open, she turned back to speak to her guild one more time.
"Oh, and I'd suggest you guys try your damnedest not to break anything in the hotel." Ur said in a warning tone. "I'm sure none of you want to pay for anything you break. And you will pay for it if you break anything, trust me. Sixth Sense Holdings has a way of getting their money. And if you don't believe me, you can ask Gildarts about when he destroyed the entrance to the Sixth Sense Restaurant and Lounge and ran away."
As soon as Ur brought up that incident, Gildarts began to shudder. And none of the wizards present missed it. So, they decided to keep Ur's warning in mind. Though that probably would not make much of a difference in the long run.
After giving her warning, Ur finally pulled the hotel's doors open. And when she did, the entire guild froze with surprise written on their faces when they saw what lay beyond the doors.
Past the doors was possibly the most luxurious lobby anyone from the guild had ever seen. However, that was not what surprised the group of wizards, as most of them could care less about luxury. Instead, what surprise them were the four people standing in the middle of the lobby and smiling at them cheerfully.
"Hey, what took you guys so long?" Alfonzo, flank by Elicia and Irene with Ikaruga standing behind the trio at a respectful distance, asked while smiling happily at his guild mates. "I almost thought you guys weren't coming."
"Hey everyone, it's been a while." Elicia said while smiling brightly and waving at her guild mates. "Did you miss us?"
Irene, on the other hand, remained silent while smiling. Though, her gaze mostly lingered on Erza. Ikaruga, on the other hand, carried herself in a manner befitting her role as a maid.
Eventually, the guild snapped out of their dazes and started moving forward to greet the guild mates they had not seen in months. However, just as they all started to move, a blonde-haired blur shot past all of them. Then, she latched onto Alfonzo, hugging him with both her arms and legs.
"Fonzie, I missed you!" Shizuka shouted happily while hugging Alfonzo tightly.
Then, surprising everyone, Shizuka leaned forward and kissed Alfonzo passionately, even though she did not use her tongue. And after about a minute, Shizuka separated her lips from Alfonzo's and smiled.
"This means we're boyfriend and girlfriend now, right?" Shizuka asked while tilting her head cutely.
And for the first time, even though he had been kissed out of the blue plenty of times in both his lives, The wizards of Fairy Tail saw Alfonzo at a total loss. He knew that Shizuka had feelings for him before he left Magnolia for his job. However, he knew they weren't so strong that Shizuka would do something like this.
"*Sigh* I guess the saying is true." Alfonzo said after rebooting his brain. "Absence really does make the heart grow fonder, huh?"
"Uh… I guess?" Shizuka replied, her tone making it clear she was not familiar with that proverb.
In response, Alfonzo could only smile. Then, he leaned closer and pecked Shizuka on the lips.
"Sure, this means we're boyfriend and girlfriend now." Alfonzo replied to Shizuka's earlier question.
That answer caused Shizuka to smile brightly.
"Yay~! Now I can ask you to stroke my hair and cook for me, and sing for me." Shizuka said, listing all the things she'd like Alfonzo to do. "Oh, and now I can live in the big mansion on the lake, too, right?"
"Sure, if you want to." Elicia said, cutting into the conversation. "It will be great to have you, Shizuka."
Hearing that, Shizuka finally seemed to register that Alfonzo was not alone. And when she looked in Elicia's direction, her eyes lit up. Then, she let go of Alfonzo and hopped over to pull Elicia into a hug. Though, she made sure to be much gentler when she did so.
"Wow, Lici, I'm so glad to see you again!" Shizuka squealed excitedly. "I really missed you! Oh, and look at you, it's almost time to have the baby huh?"
Then, before Elicia could answer any of Shizuka's questions, Shizuka started dragging Elicia towards the hotel's interior.
"Come on, let me give you a checkup. Since I'm Alfonzo's girlfriend now, I'm gonna be an auntie when you have the baby. I wanna make sure my little niece or nephew is okay." Shizuka said excitedly.
And just like that, Elicia and Shizuka, with Ikaruga following them, moved into the hotel's interior with Elicia eventually leading Shizuka to the suite that was book for Alfonzo and his harem.
"*Sigh* And there goes Hurricane Shizuka moving at her own pace." Rika said with a smile.
That statement was enough to get everyone out of their dazes. Then, the rest of the guild entered the hotel and greeted the guild mates they had not seen for months and booked their rooms. After a while, the guild split into groups and went out to explore Crocus and enjoy the festival-like atmosphere.