Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
January, x780.
A little more than two years have passed since Alfonzo and Elicia's house was built. In that time, a lot of the younger members of Fairy Tail have spent their free time, outside of training, having fun at the house. And today was no exception.
Sitting in the house's living room, Cana, Laki, Ultear, and Erza were sitting on the floor playing aboard game, "Sorry!", that Alfonzo and Elicia recreated to give their friends something to help them unwind after a long day of training. Meanwhile, Elicia was sitting off to the side at a table with a pencil and several pieces of paper.
"Looks like you came in last, Ultear." Cana said as she moved the last of her pieces to her home space.
"*Sigh* Fine…" Ultear said with a bit of frustration in her expression. "I'll pay for the snacks next time we hang out."
"Hahaha! Yeah, free snacks!" Cana cheered.
"Indeed." Laki added with a nod. "Feeding your stomach is always better when someone else's wallet suffers."
"Yeah, yeah." Ultear replied while shaking her head.
At the same time, Erza's attention was focused on Elicia. Usually, she would be one of the first who wanted to get in on the little gamble the girls made. Today, however, she was more focused on drawing something.
"Elicia, what have you been working on all this time?" Erza asked with curiosity.
"Huh?" Elicia asked, Erza's voice pulling her out of her own thoughts. "Oh, I'm designing a shop."
"Really?" Cana asked. "I know you said you wanted to own your own store. But you're really doing it, huh?"
"Yeah." Elicia replied, putting her pencil on the table. "I finally think it's time to expand my business."
"If you do that, when are you going to have time to do quests?" Erza asked.
"Yes, You would be slaying the time you were allotted." Laki chimed in.
Happy to hear her friend's concern, Elicia could not help but smile.
"You don't have to worry about that." Elicia replied. "I'm not gonna be running the store by myself. I just intend to provide the designs. I'll hire people to run the store and produce the clothes for me."
"So, other than creating the clothing designs for the shop, nothing will change for you, huh?" Erza asked.
"That's right." Elicia said with a nod and a smile. "Besides, I don't plan on opening the store in Magnolia."
"huh? Why?" Cana asked.
"If I had to guess, it's because of the potential for business." Ultear replied instead of Elicia.
"That's right." Elicia said, nodding once again. "Magnolia is a prosperous town, but there aren't really that many new people that come here. But Hargeon, the town where I'm thinking of opening the store, is a port town."
"And there will be people and vessels from all over who stop there for many reasons." Erza said, finishing the thought for Elicia.
"Right again." Elicia replied, her smile growing wider.
"But finding someone to run the shop for you could be tough." Cana said, a bit of worry in her tone. "You have to find someone you can trust."
"Yeah, that could be an issue." Elicia said. "But I plan to advertise that I'm the owner and a member of Fairy Tail. So, that should keep anyone with bad intentions away… I hope."
"Me, too." Cana, Laki, Ultear, and Erza replied simultaneously.
"Anyway, enough about my store." Elicia said, standing up from the table. "Why don't we go see what the boys are up to."
"Sure." The other girls replied.
With that, Elicia led the other girls outside into the backyard through the double doors in the nearby hallway.
Over the two years since they built the house, Alfonzo and Elicia had quite a bit of work done on the backyard. They wanted it to be a place where they could entertain their friends and have fun. The first thing they had built in the backyard was an Olympic sized swimming pool. During the hot summers, it became the group's favorite place to hang out.
Second, to the left of the pool, was a covered basketball court with lighting so that the sport could be enjoyed at night. Surprisingly, The younger members of the guild came to love this sport. As a matter of fact, the boys, Alzack, Jet, Droy, Gray, Natsu, and Elfman, were playing a game right now while Levy, Mirajane, Lisanna, and Bisca watched and cheered. Meanwhile, Happy operated the scoreboard that Alfonzo built with sigils.
The next thing they built, to the right of the pool, was a tennis court, thought not quite as popular as basketball, the active group of youngsters enjoyed this sport as well. The biggest issue with that was creating rackets and balls that could withstand the young wizards' s raw physical strength.
And last was a training field used to improve agility and balance. In a corner of the massive yard, there were many poles of varying sizes standing up straight with others suspended horizontally.
"Yeah! Go Natsu!" Lisanna shouted as Happy changed the score on the board.
"Haha! You guys should give up." Natsu said with a smile. "There's no way you're gonna beat us."
"Keep dreaming, fire breather." Gray retorted. "We're not even close to done."
Hearing the boys' voices, the girls sped up curious to know how their game is going.
"What are the teams?" Elicia asked as she and the others approached the basketball court.
"My brother, Natsu, and Droy against Gray, Alzack, and Jet." Mirajane replied.
"Didn't expect to see you here, Mira." Elicia replied with a smile.
"Don't call me that. Hmph!" Mirajane snorted in reply. "I'm only here to look after my brother and sister."
"Well, if you don't wanna be here, you don't have to be." Erza said, scowling at Mirajane. "It's not like anything could happen to them here. So, why don't you just go home?"
"What was that?" Mirajane said as her head snapped toward Erza. "Are you picking a fight, Red? You wanna go?"
"Any time." Erza replied. "I'm always up for a challenge."
"*Sigh* And there at it again." Ultear said in an exasperated tone.
"Well, what did you expect?" Cana asked. "There like a pair of cat and dog."
"Erza's definitely the dog." Laki added. "She's so loyal. Just like man's best friend."
"I think she's like a cat." Elicia said with a smile. "have you heard her purr when Fonzie gives her a strawberry shortcake?"
Immediately after Elicia's words fell, although she did not lose her fighting spirit, Erza's face turned as red as her hair.
"Elicia, do you really have to say that out loud?" Erza asked.
"What's wrong, Erza?" Elicia asked, tilting her head cutely to the side. "It's so~~~~ cute, though."
"Ha! You really are a cute little girl." Mirajane added, clearly mocking Erza.
"Oh, yeah?" Erza asked, refocusing on Mirajane. "At least I don't dress like some kind of harlot."
While Erza wore a long-sleeved white blouse with a blue ribbon tied around the collar and a knee-length blue skirt, black leggings, and brown leather shoes, her contrast with Mirajane, who wore a black tank-top-that exposed most of her stomach, a pair of black short-shorts, black stockings, and short black boots, was obvious.
"You take that back!" Mirajane shouted.
"The truth hurts, does it not?" Erza replied.
As time went on, the two's shouting match devolved into a pair of children calling each other names. However, the amount of magic power they released grew.
Just as the two reached a point where their release of magic power caught the attention of the boys playing basketball, an even larger magic power washed over both Erza and Mirajane.
"Hey, if you two wanna settle this, go to the tennis court." Elicia said, showing her rarely seen strict side. "The last time you two fought here, we had to repair the whole backyard."
Feeling Elicia's magic power, Erza and Mirajane first glanced at her. Then, they stared each other down for a few more seconds. Eventually, they seemed to come to some kind of understanding. While Mirajane started walking toward the tennis court, Erza was covered in light as she [Reequipped] into a white and pink tennis outfit with a white visor and her hair pulled back into a ponytail.
"*Sigh* Every time I feel her magic power, it amazes me." Ultear said. "She's got even more than Laxus, who is four years older than us."
"Yeah, and Fonzie has even more." Cana added with a nod.
"But you're no slouch either, Cana." Ultear said. "You're a year younger than us, but you're magic power is on par with Erza, Mirajane, and I's."
"It actually surprises me how much magic power Mirajane has." Cana said. "She hasn't trained nearly as much as we have. But she's still at the same level."
"I think it has something to do with her magic." Levy said, inserting herself into the conversation.
"What do you mean?" Ultear asked with curiosity.
"Well, you know she uses [Take Over Magic], right?" Levy asked rhetorically.
Though a response was not needed, everyone listening to the conversation nodded.
"Well, whenever she [Takes Over] a demon's soul, I think she gains some of it's magic power." Levy continued. "It hasn't been proven yet. But that's the theory in the magical community."
"But she's only got, like, two [Satan Sols] right?" Cana asked. "How does that make her so strong?"
"That's because demons, like dragons, though not as strong, are creatures at the top of Earth Land's power scale." Elicia said. "So, even absorbing just a little bit of a demon's power would boost her power significantly."
*Honk!* *Honk!*
Before the conversation could continue, the distinctive sound of a car horn could be heard from the other side of the mansion. And immediately upon hearing it, Elicia's eyes lit up. Then, after pumping magic power into her legs, Elicia bolted toward the doors that led to the kitchen.
It was not long afterward that Cana also took off toward the sound.
"I guess he's back." Ultear said with a smile.
"That was faster than I expected." Levy said. "I thought n S-Class quest would take longer than four days."
"If you want to know, you should ask." Laki said, turning toward the house.
As Laki walked away, Ultear and Levy exchanged glances before shrugging simultaneously. Then, they followed the lilac-haired girl with a strange speech pattern into the house.
Meanwhile, the six boys and two girls on and around the basketball court continued their game. Although they were curious to hear about Alfonzo's quest, they were too competitive or too interested in one of the players to stop.
At the same time, Erza and Mirajane, who had started a high intensity tennis match, had not even heard the car horn. Instead, they were too focused on their match and hurling insults at each other.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Era.
Around the same time Alfonzo returned from his quest, The members of the Ishgar Magic Council were meeting in their headquarters in the town of Era. They had just received the report on Alfonzo's successful quest.
"Damn that Fairy Tail." The Chairman of the Magic Council, Crawford Seam, said after reading the reports from both Oliver Cromwell and Lahar. "How does such a menace keep raising such talented wizards."
Crawford Seam was a wide and tall man with a long bushy white beard styled into two buns on either side, a nearly bald head with a small bun on top, small ears, high eyebrows, droopy eyes, and a snub nose.
"Yes, this Alfonzo Marcus could be a real problem for the citizen's of Ishgar." Org, a grey-haired, grey-bearded man with only one eye open, added.
"But according to the report, he did not cause any damage to the town of Freesia." Yajima, a short, old man with thick, light-brown eyebrows and a small matching mustache, pointed out.
"That's just a coincidence." Org replied. "He's a Fairy Tail wizard, after all."
"But there were others who kept property damage to a minimum." Yajima argued.
"Yes, there were exactly two." Crawford chimed in. "And they are both no longer among the living."
"But this Alfonzo is one of their children." Yajima continued to argue. "And according to the records, on all the quests he's taken over the last five years, he's never caused any property damage."
"Like I said, he's a Fairy Tail wizard." Org said. "It's only a matter of time."
'*Sigh* It seems they won't listen, yet again.' Yajima thought to himself. 'Maki, my old friend, I've done as much as I can to keep the Council off you and Fairy Tail's back. But there's only so much I can do. As a former member of the guild, I can't speak out too much on your behalf.'