Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
January, x781.
That night, The four members of the Seto group were invited into Alfonzo and Elicia's home. Usually, in this situation, Alfonzo would prepare a meal for the guests. However, between the condition of his arm and the fact that it was so late at night, the group decided to forego a meal. However, Gozaburo did try to shame him for his lack of hospitality.
While Alfonzo did not pay Gozaburo's mockery any mind, causing him to be annoyed and ramp up the intensity of his insults, Elicia and Cana glared at him with enough heat to set him a blaze should he receive their stares for too long.
Sun, on the other hand, felt nothing but embarrassment from her father's behavior. This was actually a new experience for her. Usually, she did not even realize that her father was doing anything wrong since she had grown up with him always acting like that. However, after seeing the way Gildarts acted with Cana, and the way everyone reacted to his antics, she finally understood that Gozaburo's actions were even worse.
Masa and Fujishiro did not really do anything. While Masa was impressed to learn that Alfonzo and Elicia were the ones who designed the mansion from the ground up, Fujishiro was sad that Alfonzo was too injured to cook anything. At the same time, he wondered how Alfonzo tasted in comparison to his cooking.
One thing that had not been mentioned previously is that Fujishiro let his human form slip once when he got worked up during Alfonzo, Elicia, and Erza's stay in the Seto Group HQ. As it turns out, he was an anthropomorphic Great White Armored Shark, a strong A-Class aquatic magic beast. Though Alfonzo and Elicia expected that, to some extent, Erza looked at the transformed Fujishiro with confusion. Then, she slapped her right fist down on her left palm and exclaimed.
"Now I get it! That's why he wanted to eat us!"
Back to the present, Eventually, after a quick tour of the house, the group ended up in the living room. Since they had something important to discuss, they thought that being comfortable was necessary. However, Gozaburo was intent on barraging Alfonzo with insults, even now.
Naturally, Ren was reaching her breaking point thanks to her husband's antics. During the time Alfonzo was recovering enough to travel, on top of making sure that he would be good for Sun, she worked hard to get a deal in place with not only Alfonzo but also Elicia. The Seto Group was going to be the sole distributer of their products on the other two continents. But it seemed Gozaburo was doing everything he could to ruin that deal.
"Enough!" Ren roared before punching Gozaburo on the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.
While Alfonzo and Elicia watched that display without even flinching, Cana was completely dumbfounded. Ren was a beautiful, slender woman who did not even look strong enough to hurt a D-Class wizard. Meanwhile, Sun wore an expression that said this was nothing out of the ordinary. It was clear that she had seen her mother knock out her father on more than one occasion in the past.
"Anyway, now that the disturbance has been taken care of, we can get down to business." Ren said with a sharp glint in her eyes that were directed at Cana.
Seeing that, on top of the visual impact Ren's punch had, Cana straightened her back. Some of the alcohol induced blush on her face disappeared as well.
"Now, I'm sure you're wondering why Alfonzo was suddenly engaged to our Sun, right?" Ren asked, letting the sharpness in her gaze soften as she spoke. "I'm sure it makes you at least a little uncomfortable, right?"
Instead of responding verbally, Cana nodded with a serious expression on her face.
"Well, the answer is quite simple." Ren said with a smile. "Alfonzo, Elicia, and Erza saw Sun's true form, and by extension, the Seto Group's secret. So, Alfonzo eventually marrying Sun was the best way to stop a war, ya see?."
Naturally, Cana was confused by this explanation.
"Sun's true Form…? Seto Group's secret…?" Cana asked in bewilderment. "What does that mean?"
"Well… Sun's not human." Alfonzo replied with a shrug.
"Huh?" Cana asked, even more confused by Alfonzo's short explanation. "But she looks human to me."
"It's not just Sun, Cana." Elicia said while wrapping her arms around her confused best friend. "Ren, Gozaburo, Masa, and Fujishiro, not one of them are human."
"If they're not human, then what could they be?" Cana asked with her eyes darting from one person to another. "I mean, other than that guy having really sharp and pointed teeth, they're no different than any person I've ever seen."
"We're merfolk." Ren replied. "Creatures form the sea that can take on a human form."
With that, the confusion in Cana's eyes turned into pure shock.
"Seriously?" Cana asked in disbelief.
After she muttered her question, Cana turned toward Alfonzo and Elicia for confirmation.
"Seriously." Alfonzo replied. "If Sun wasn't a merfolk, there's a good chance I would have drowned after the Leviathan bit off my arm."
That explanation was enough to make Cana look at Sun with gratitude.
"Thank you for saving him, Sun." Cana said while bowing her head.
"There's no need to thank me, Cana." Sun said with an innocent smile. "Back then, he was my friend. So, of course I would help in whatever way I could. And now that he is my fiancé, I'll work even harder, ya see."
"Anyway, because you are a part of Alfonzo's family, we decided that it was okay for you to know about us." Ren said, bringing the conversation back on track. "But it is imperative that you keep this a secret from the other humans. Otherwise, merfolk law says that either the human or the exposed merfolk has to die."
That last declaration caused Cana to be shocked once again. However, in the next instant, her expression turned resolved.
"I understand, I'll keep your secret." Cana said in a serious tone.
"Good." Ren replied with a nod. "that's all I wanted to hear. Now, it's quite late. We'll take our leave. We still have a lot of unpacking to do, after all."
With that, Ren stood up from the couch she was sitting on, quickly followed by Masa, who picked up the unconscious Gozaburo and carried him over his shoulder, and Fujishiro. Then, Elicia and Sun also stood up and walked the guests to the front door.
"*Sigh* This is nuts." Cana said, getting up from her seat and walking over to Alfonzo. "I never thought I would be entrusted with a secret like this."
As soon as she finished speaking, she sat down on Alfonzo's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I'm just glad you're alright." Cana said, pressing her forehead against Alfonzo's. "I don't know what I would do if you didn't come back."
"Well… I can't say there was nothing to worry about, since I ended up like this." Alfonzo said, wrapping his remaining arm around Cana's waist. "But I'm back, and I'll do my best to never let anything like this happen again. I don't want you, or anyone else, to have to worry about me, after all."
"No matter what you do, or how careful you are, you're gonna make us worry." Cana replied. "That's a girlfriend's privilege. But we'll always believe that you'll come back to us, too."
With that, Cana leaned forward a little more and stole Alfonzo's lips. And due to their current heightened emotional states, it did not take long for the kiss to grow in passion and intensity.
With their tongues dancing, Cana's hands had found their way under Alfonzo's shirt, and she began caressing his pecs and abs, At the sam time, Alfonzo's hand had slipped down from Cana's lower back to her thick, round ass. However, just as Alfonzo squeezed the delightfully soft flesh, they were interrupted.
"Wow! They're so grown up." Sun said from the living room's entrance with her hands covering her eyes. Although, there was a large gap between her fingers, allowing her to see everything.
"Cana, I know you're glad to see him, but he's still not fully healed." Elicia said with a mischievous smile. "I hope you can wait just a little longer. Besides your fifteenth birthday is only a month away."
Breaking the kiss due to the interruption, Cana glanced at Elicia with annoyance.
"Fine!" Cana said with a huff as she stood up from Alfonzo's lap. "But that night there will be no excuses. And he'll be all mine."
Cana then looked back to Alfonzo and bent down, giving him another peck on the lips.
"Good night, Fonzie." Cana said as she straightened her back once again. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Good night, Cana." Alfonzo said while smiling at Cana before licking his lips.
Then, Cana walked toward the living room's entrance, intending to head up to her room. However, as she passed Elicia and Sun, Elicia's whisper caused her to pause momentarily.
"He'll be all yours for as long as you can handle him." Elicia said in a voice that only Cana could hear. "Then, when you're exhausted, I'll swoop in and give you enough time to recover. After that, if you're still up for it, we can all have some fun together."
Hearing Elicia's whispers, Cana could not help but look at her in surprise. However, when she saw Elicia licking her lips, she put on a smile filled with lust before walking out of the living room.
'Ever since they forgot to put on the silencing sigils for their first time, I always knew that Elicia was wild in the bedroom.' Cana thought to herself as she made her way toward her bedroom. 'But damn… I didn't think she would be that wild. Still, that sounds so fucking hot. Mmm~ I'm looking forward to my birthday even more now.'
With Cana's departure, everyone else decided to go to sleep as well. While Elicia showed Sun to one of the empty rooms on the second floor. Meanwhile, Alfonzo, without even taking a shower, threw off his clothes as soon as he reached the master bedroom and jumped into bed. Due to his fatigue, he fell asleep shortly after his head hit the pillow. Not long after, Elicia entered the room, got cleaned up, and joined him in the bed for the night.
The next morning, Alfonzo slept much later than usual. He was not surprised, though. He had already discussed with Makarov, and it was decided that he would not be taking shifts in the kitchen until he had a new working arm. Meanwhile, Elicia and Cana accompanied Sun to the guild hall for breakfast and her rank assessment.
"So, other than your [Voice Magic] what else can you do?" Cana asked curiously. As she, Elicia, and Sun walked through the guild halls front entrance.
"Well, I've been trained in swordsmanship using a katana." Sun replied. "Plus, I can use my [Voice Magic] as offense, defense, and support."
"Oh, you use a sword, too?" Cana asked. "I would have never expected that."
"It looks like Erza is gonna get a new sparring partner." Elicia added.
"I don't think I'm good enough to cross swords with Erza, though." Sun replied with a gentle shake of her head.
"Sun~~~~~!" A rough male voice called from the bar.
"Dad?" Sun questioned, recognizing the voice without issue.
Looking toward the sound of the voice, the trio saw Gozaburo sitting at the bar with Masa. In front of them was Makarov, in his usual spot on top of the bar.
"Damn, he's everywhere." Cana muttered.
"I told you he makes your dad look cute." Elicia whispered.
"Yeah, you're right." Cana replied in a whisper of her own.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Sun asked as she started jogging toward her father.
"Oh, I just wanted to see where my baby girl would be spending her time." Gozaburo said with a big smile on his face. "I can never be too careful with my princess' well-being."
"Now, that's a man after my own heart." Gildarts said as he approached the bar. Then, when he arrived, he placed a hand on Gozaburo's shoulder. "I totally agree, there's nothing more important to me than seeing my Cana happy."
After feeling the hand on his shoulder and hearing the agreeable words, Gozaburo turned his head to see who was talking to him. When he saw Gildarts, he recognized him immediately. Then, after gazing at Fairy Tail's ace with appreciation, he nodded in agreement.
"Gozaburo Seto." Gozaburo said, introducing himself.
"Gildarts Clive." Gildarts replied with a smile.
"Well, let's ignore the doting daddies for now." Makarov said after watching the spectacle in front of him. "Sun, why don't you order yourself some breakfast. Then, after you're done, we'll get to your assessment."
"Yes, Master Makarov." Sun replied excitedly.