Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Akane Beach.
January, x781.
In the canon of the anime where the Seto Group appeared, My Bride is a Mermaid, the only ones in the Seto Group who accepted the marriage between the protagonist and Sun were Ren and Masa. The rest distained him because he was weak and had little in the way of backbone.
In the current situation, however, no one seemed to disagree with Sun marrying Alfonzo. All of the men in the room had seen his strength on the ship. And after hearing what Erza had to say about him, they believed in his character. Even Gozaburo, who was now mumbling in comprehensible words to himself in a daze, would find him worthy to befriend, if Sun were not involved.
"*Sigh*" Alfonzo exhaled in exasperation. "This is the only way, isn't it?"
"Yes." Ren replied, not losing her smile. "It's just how merfolk laws are."
Sun, on the other hand, started getting nervous. No, that would be inaccurate. She had been nervous from the moment she saved Alfonzo. She already knew what the consequences would be for doing so. So, she expected to be in a situation like this. The fact that Alfonzo did not agree immediately, however, is what brought out her nervousness.
'Maybe he doesn't like me.' Sun thought to herself. 'Well, he doesn't really know me. So I can see why he would hesitate.'
"Fine, I'll accept." Alfonzo said in an exasperated tone.
With that Sun raised her head and looked into Alfonzo's eyes.
"Don't look at me like that, Sun." Alfonzo said with a wry smile. "Although I'm not really into jumping into a relationship with someone I barely know, I don't want you to die, either."
"You make it sound like you would not die." Masa said while trying to snap Gozaburo out of his stupor.
"That's because I wouldn't." Alfonzo said. "Neither would Lici or Erza. But a lot of you would have while we escaped. And that would have led to the merfolk going to war with Fairy Tail. Something I'm sure that none of us want."
"I see." Ren replied. "I applaud your ability to think through the whole situation in such a short time."
"Oh, and could you tell the little one in the ceiling to stop aiming her weapon at me? It's not made of metal, so I can't do it myself."
"Oh, I'll take care of her!" Elicia said excitedly.
A moment later, one of the panels on the ceiling moved slightly. Then, Maki, who had her conch shell aimed at Alfonzo from the moment the Setos entered the room, was bound in threads. Separated from her conch shell, she was hanging upside down with only her head exposed as she was slowly lowered from the ceiling.
"Maki?" Sun asked after seeing Maki being lowered from the ceiling. "What were you doing up there?"
"Hehe…" Maki let out a hollow chuckle. "Hi Miss Sun."
"Maki… a conch shell…" Erza muttered after hearing Sun and seeing the hidden attacker. "She must be Maki the Conch. I've seen bounty posters for her arrest over the last few years. But there was no picture. Apparently, she's quite the assassin.
"Assassin? Maki is that true?" Sun asked, not believing what she just heard.
"Miss Sun, I---" Maki said, beginning to make an excuse.
"There's no need to hide it anymore, Maki." Ren said before looking at Sun. "It's true. Maki is the Seto Group's liquidator. I'm only telling you this because you're getting old enough to know more about the Group's secrets. You'll be an adult next year, after all."
'So, she's fourteen in this world, huh?' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'And since she said next year, that means she just had her birthday in the last week or so.'
"Now, Maki." Ren said, shifting her attention back to Maki, her eyes narrowed with a dangerous glint in them. "Why were you in this room? I don't remember anyone calling for your presence."
Maki immediately began to shudder In terror.
"Th-The B-B-Boss told me to keep an eye on him." Maki said, pointing her head in Alfonzo's direction. "He told me not to let him do anything inappropriate or get too close to Miss Sun."
Hearing that expected answer, Ren exhaled an exasperated sigh. Then, with the same expression on her face, she turned toward Gozaburo and approached with slow, measured steps.
"Oh, shit…" Alfonzo muttered with a small smile on his face. "he's not gonna have a good time."
Masa, on the other hand, quickly took his distance from Gozaburo when he saw Ren approaching. A moment later, Ren grabbed her husband by the front of his kimono. Then, she dragged him out the door of the medical room. After a few more moments…
*Smack!*
… A loud smack echoed through the halls of the Seto Group HQ. Following the slap was an exclamation of pain. Then, there was a scolding for the ages. Though the people in the medical room could not hear it clearly, they could make out a few phrases. Like, "… first, that little bitch from the pub." Or, "… will the next time be with Sun?" And finally, "… act together, I'm leaving!"
"Damn, shit just got real." Alfonzo said while shaking his head.
"Well, his unhealthy obsession with his daughter is really creepy." Elicia added.
"Indeed." Erza continued with a nod. "It was quite disgusting."
Though Masa, Maki, and the ten elites were not happy to hear these people talking bad about their boss, they could not retort. Even the twelve of them thought his affection for Sun was a bit overboard.
Meanwhile, Sun, as innocent and sheltered as she is, could only look on in confusion.
"Anyway, you said you should have told us you were awake earlier." Elicia said, shifting her full attention to Alfonzo now that the conversation with the Setos was on hold. "When exactly did you wake up?"
"Oh, it was when Erza slapped you." Alfonzo replied. "That slap was loud enough to wake the dead, after all."
Immediately, Erza lowered her head in shame. Elicia, on the other hand, rubbed the still red handprint on her face with a pout.
"And it really hurt, too." Elicia said.
"Well, I'm not gonna lie…" Alfonzo replied. "You needed that. And I could never do it."
At that moment, Sun, Masa, Maki, and the ten elites had the same thought.
'Did they forget we were here?' the thirteen members of the Seto group thought to themselves. 'I can't believe they're having this conversation with us in the room.'
"No, I didn't forget you were here." Alfonzo said, responding to their unasked questions. "And it's not like you all weren't eavesdropping on the conversation before. So, I'm too lazy to keep this a secret from you."
'Can he read minds?' The thirteen thought in unison once again. 'Wait, he knew we were there? How?'
"No, I can't read minds." Alfonzo said with a small smile on his face. "But I can read your expressions. Your questions are written clear as day on your faces. And I knew you were there because I spread out my senses as soon as I woke up. I didn't know where I was, after all."
The thirteen members of the Seto Group could only stare at Alfonzo in awe. Even Maki gained a healthy amount of respect for him.
"Anyway, where was I?" Alfonzo asked, turning his attention back to Elicia. "Oh yea, I couldn't give you the wake up call you needed. I had no right to. I mean, I had to make up for the way I treated you before."
Alfonzo then released Elicia's hand, causing her to pout, and reached toward Erza.
"Thank you for helping Lici see that things have changed, Erza." Alfonzo said, extending his hand for a handshake. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Think nothing of it." Erza replied, gripping Alfonzo's hand as she spoke. "both of you are…"
At that moment, Ren, with a bruised up Gozaburo following behind her, opened the door and entered the room again.
"Did I miss something?" Ren asked as she dragged a barely conscious Gozaburo back into the room.
"Nothing you need to worry about." Alfonzo replied, still grasping Erza's hand.
"If you say so." Ren replied with a shrug. "We do have a problem, though."
With that, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Erza all looked at Ren questioningly.
"It may be fine for you and Elicia to know Sun's and the merfolk's' secret because you are in a relationship." Ren said in a solemn tone. "I'm right to assume the two of you plan to marry, right?"
In response, Alfonzo and Elicia both nodded. However, they both frowned slightly.
"That's what I thought." Ren said. "The issue is Erza. She is only a member of the guild the two of you belong to. Even though Fairy Tail has a reputation for seeing all their guild mates as family, it's not the same."
Immediately, Erza's expression turned into one of concern. At first, she thought that the matter had been solved when Alfonzo agreed to Sun's proposal. Alfonzo and Elicia on the other hand, smiled as if it were not a problem in the first place.
Before Erza could react, Alfonzo, still holding Erza's hand, pulled her on top of him. Although she could not react to the sudden pull, Erza did manage to [Requip] out of her armor, once again, before she landed on top of Alfonzo.
"Alfonzo, what are you---" Erza began to asked before she was interrupted.
"Erza, will you be my girlfriend, too?" Alfonzo asked while looking into Erza's eyes. "I mean with the intent to marry, of course."
Hearing Alfonzo asking another girl to be with him even after accepting Sun's proposal, Gozaburo was ready to cause a problem. However, just as he started to move, he was slapped in the back of the head. When he looked at Ren's expression, he calmed down immensely. However, he still glared at Alfonzo with the desire for murder in his eyes.
"Alfonzo, are you sure?" Erza asked with shock in her tone. Then, she looked to Elicia. "And Elicia, are you okay with this? What about Cana? Then, there's Sun…"
"Stop making excuses, Erza." Elicia said, grasping Erza's free hand with both of her own. "We've all known how you feel about Fonzie for a long time now. And now that he's asking you to be his, you should just accept.
"I don't mind either." Sun said. "I mean, I'm in the same boat. Besides, if ya don't accept, you'll have to die. And no one wants that, right?"
With the encouragement from Elicia and Sun, Erza fell silent. After struggling with her feelings for a while, Erza climbed off of Alfonzo and finally looked into his eyes.
"If you're willing to have me, I'm happy to be yours." Erza said.
After she finished her sentence, Erza's face blossomed into one of the most beautiful smiles anyone in the room had ever seen, causing Alfonzo to smile back in return.
"Although I can't say that I've fallen in love with you yet, Erza." Alfonzo said, speaking from the heart. "You've become someone important to me over the years. I know I'll fall in love eventually, but for now all I can do is promise that I will never hurt you and do my best to make you happy. Naturally, I will make the same promise to you too, Sun."
"I'll try my best, too, Alfonzo." Sun said with a smile.
As the happy atmosphere settled over the room, Gozaburo, who was still salty about Sun finding a man, said something to break it.
"It's really too bad that you'll have to retire as a wizard, with your arm gone and all." Gozaburo said, an unrestrained gleeful smile on his face.
"Oh, that?" Alfonzo said, glancing down at his missing arm. "I'll have a new one in a week or so."
"A new one?" Sun asked curiously. "Can you regrow limbs like a reptile?"
"Hahaha!" Alfonzo could not help but laugh at the innocent question. "No, I'll just build a new one."
"Build?" Ren asked. "As in a prosthetic?"
"Yeah, He already made one for Aunt Ur when she lost her leg." Elicia said with a smile and a nod. "We call it Automail."
"Wait! Automail? Those new, super advanced prosthetics?" Ren asked in shock. "You hold the patent for that, too?"
"Wait, really?" Elicia asked, looking at Alfonzo in shock.
"Yeah, I do." Alfonzo replied nonchalantly.
"When did that happen?" Elicia asked.
"Not sure." Alfonzo replied while scratching the side of his head. "One day, when I was working on the cars, Master Goldstein threw the patent at me and said she got it taken care of for me."
Instead of asking any more question, Elicia simply nodded in understanding. A moment later, however, her expression turned gloomy.
"Elicia, what's wrong?" Erza asked after seeing Elicia's expression.
"*Sigh* We're gonna have to rush back to the guild with Fonzie's arm like this." Elicia said with a pout. "That means no trip to the resort."
Everyone could only look at Elicia with a bit of disbelief in their expressions.
"*Sigh* If nothing else, Lici has her priorities in order." Alfonzo said sarcastically while shaking his head.