Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
January, x781.
A few minutes before Gildarts and Gozaburo slammed into the barrier surround the property, Elicia, Cana, Erza, and Sun were all seated in the bathtub in the master bathroom. While Elicia and Erza were sitting casually and enjoying the hot water, Cana was sitting next to Sun, who's legs had transformed into a pink scaled fish tail, and running her hands over sun's lower body.
"Wow!" Cana exclaimed in wonder. "So, your legs transform like this whenever they get wet?"
"Yeah…" Sun replied while squirming under Cana's touch. "Do ya think you could stop, Cana? My tail is really sensitive."
"Bu your scales are so smooth and nice to the touch." Cana replied. "On top of that, you have a great rack."
Cana then let her hands slide up Sun's tail before they ran across her abdomen. However, just before they reached her breasts, Sun's hands shot out and caught Cana by the wrists.
"Cana, don't do that!" Sun shouted in embarrassment.
"Aww… Don't be shy, we're all girls here." Cana said with a smirk, enjoying the act of teasing the innocent girl sitting next to her.
"Cana, I think that's enou---" Erza began to say.
Before Erza could finish her sentence, however, they all felt a disturbance in the ethernano in the air.
"What was that?" Erza asked as she jumped out of the bathtub.
"I think something tried to get through the barrier." Elicia said as she also stood up. "This hasn't happened in a while, though. I wonder what's going on."
"Barrier?" Sun asked, tilting her head to the side with Cana's wrists still in her grasp.
Elicia quickly answered Sun's question and explained about the barriers Alfonzo set up around the mansion.
Before the girls could all get out of the bathtub, Alfonzo's voice rang out from outside the master bedroom.
"It was just Gildarts and Gozaburo." Alfonzo said calmly. "They probably had some stupid idea and decided to come and visit their daughter's unannounced."
With that, Erza, who had just [Requipped] into her standard armor, and Elicia who was about to start drying herself off, stopped in place when they heard Alfonzo's explanation.. Then, Erza [Requipped out of her armor again. Then, the two girls stepped back into the bathtub before sitting down.
"Anyway, since Fonzie said he'd take care of it, we can just enjoy our bath." Elicia said with a smile. "Oh, and let me show you what Fonzie added to the bathtub the week before we left."
Elicia then reached over to the side of the tub. Then, she placed her hand on a sigil carved into it. A moment later, the water began pulsing around the girls' bodies, gently massaging every part of them that was submerged in the water.
"Ooh, that feels amazing…" Cana muttered as she pulled her hands away from Sun and enjoyed the relaxing feeling.
Meanwhile, outside the mansion's gates, it took a few minutes for Ren to get her laughter under control. However, when she did, she approached the unconscious Gozaburo.
"Maybe that will teach him to think before doing something like this in the future." Ren said as she looked down on her husband. Then, she shifted her attention to Masa as she continued speaking. "Masa, take this moron into the house. I've gotta finish my shift at the guild."
"That reminds me, did you all join the guild?" Ur asked as she approached as well. "I know that everyone who works at the guild hall isn't a member, but I was just curious."
"Gozaburo, Masa, and I did." Ren replied with a nod. "But Fujishiro is too… Volatile. So, we thought it would be better if he didn't, ya see."
'In that atmosphere, there's no way he wouldn't lose control of his transformation after getting worked up.' Ren thought to herself. 'We pretty much banned him from even coming to the guild hall unless it's an emergency.'
"So, that Fujishiro guy is the type who takes a brawl too far, huh?" Ur muttered. "Well, that kind of life really isn't for everyone."
"Exactly." Ren replied.
With that, Ur reached down and grabbed Gildarts by the collar of his cloak. Then, she started walking back toward the guild while dragging the injured man.
"hey, Ur, can't you be more gentle?" Gildarts asked.
"Nope." Ur replied bluntly. "Someone who does such stupid things doesn't deserve to be treated gently."
While Ur and Ren returned to the guild, dragging Gildarts with them, Ur looked over her shoulder at Marin.
"Well, the show's over." Ur said with a smile. "Go see your friends and have fun like young people should. We'll see you later."
"Okay…" Marin replied, still in a daze.
After Ur and Ren left, Marin turned around and approached the gate. Pressing her hand on a bump next to the gate, she injected a bit of her magic power into it just like she was taught. A moment later, the gate opened, and Marin stepped through it.
With the gate closing behind her, Marin approached the mansion's front door. Then, just as she stepped on to the doorstep, Alfonzo opened the door.
"Hey Marin." Alfonzo said with a smile. "How ya doin'?"
"Hey Alfonzo! Long time no see!" Marin said energetically. "I saw Lici and the others earlier."
"Oh, I'm surprised you didn't come back with them." Alfonzo replied, stepping aside so that Marin could enter.
"Well, I was with my dad." Marin said with a smile.
"Oh, today was the day, huh?" Alfonzo mused aloud. "Well, judging from your expression, I guess the talk went well."
"Yup!" Marin said excitedly. "Where are Lici and the others? I wanna tell them the good news."
"They're taking a bath right now." Alfonzo replied.
As soon as he mentioned that, Alfonzo's expression changed. He just remembered that Sun was with them, and Marin was not someone who was supposed to be in the know. Luckily, after Alfonzo closed the door behind Marin, she turned around and gave him a greeting hug. However, she quickly realized something was wrong.
Placing her hands on Alfonzo's shoulders, Marin looked up and down his body. Then, when she noticed that his left arm was missing, her expression changed for the worse.
"Alfonzo, what happened to your arm?" Marin asked as she waved her right hand through the spot where Alfonzo's left arm should be.
"*Sigh* I made a mistake on my last quest, and it got ripped off." Alfonzo replied.
Immediately after his explanation, Alfonzo saw Marin's eyes reddening and filling with tears. After seeing that, he began to panic.
"Damn it… Please don't cry." Alfonzo said, beginning to comb his fingers through Marin's hair. "There's nothing to worry about. I've already drawn up the design for a new one. It should be ready and attached in the next few days."
Hearing that, Marin hugged Alfonzo tightly again. And although he was not able to stop her tears, his missing arm did make her stop thinking about taking a bath with the other girls.
'Well, at least we don't have to worry about that can of worms getting opened for now.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he continued to comb his fingers through Marin's hair.
"Come on, let's go sit in the living room." Alfonzo suggested. "Then, I'll tell you the whole story."
Not letting go, Marin nodded her head, hiding her blushing face in Alfonzo's chest. Then, while still embracing Alfonzo, the two made their way to the living room.
'What is wrong with me? Marin thought as the two walked through the house. 'Why did I react so strongly? I mean, I know I was sad that he got hurt, but he's my friend, so that's normal. But why did I start crying and hug him? And why haven't I let him go yet? Not that I wanna let go yet. Wait! Does that mean I'm falling for him? But he has a harem. Am I okay with that? Ugh! I'm so confused! I don't know what to think right now!'
While Marin was monologuing internally, Alfonzo turned his head toward the master bedroom's door.
"Hey, Marin's here!" Alfonzo shouted. "We'll be in the living room when you're done!"
Meanwhile, back in the master bathroom, Elicia, Cana, Erza, and Sun exchanged glances after hearing Alfonzo's announcement.
"I'm almost certain that the first thing Marin did was to ask where we were." Cana said with a contemplative expression on her face. "So, does that mean Fonzie didn't tell her?"
"I know what you mean, Cana." Elicia said. "More than likely , Marin's first thought after hearing that we were in the bath would be to join us. But I don't think Fonzie kept that from her."
"I agree with Elicia." Erza added. "That's not like Alfonzo."
"Then why is she going to the living room with him?" Cana asked. Then, her eyes opened wide as she continued. "Do you think she likes him, too?"
"Although that's not outside the realm of possibility, I don't think that's it." Erza replied.
"Neither do I." Elicia added.
"Then why?" Cana asked with curiosity.
"Maybe…" Sun said, causing everyone's attention to be on her. "… because she saw his missing arm."
With that, the other three girls were enlightened. That was a perfectly reasonable explanation, after all.
"Well, since Marin is here, we should get out." Elicia said, standing up in the next instant.
"Indeed." Erza said, following Elicia in standing up. "It would e rude to keep her waiting too long."
Cana, without a word, stood up as well.
"Um…" Sun muttered, drawing attention to herself. "Do you think you could help me out of the bath. It's hard to get out without legs. I mean, I could do it alone, but it would be faster if I had some help. Plus, I gotta dry my tail."
"Although I thought it was cool when I first saw it, that really isn't all that convenient when living on land, huh?" Cana asked as she reached down to help Sun out of the bath. "Will it be like that forever? Your legs transforming whenever they get wet, I mean?"
"I don't think so." Sun replied. "Mom said I'd be able to control it when I become a woman. And since I'll be fifteen next year, I guess it's not that far away."
While Sun innocently took the meaning of her mother's words as she wouldd be able to control her transformation after she was a legal adult, Elicia, Cana, and Erza understood what Ren's words meant immediately.
"So, she has to lose her virginity to stop the transformation from happening automatically, huh?" Elicia whispered into Erza's ear.
"That's what it sounds like to me." Erza replied with a slight blush on her face. "But that could be troublesome, could it not?"
"Yeah, the day Sun's legs don't' transform into her fish tail, Gozaburo is gonna lose it." Elicia said with some worry in her tone. "I wouldn't be surprised if he challenged Fonzie to a duel to the death."
"Then, what should we do?" Erza asked.
"What can we do?" Elicia replied with a shrug. "Unfortunately, that's a problem that Fonzie will have to deal with."
"*Sigh* I guess you're right." Erza said.
"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Sun asked while she and Cana were working to dry off her tail.
"Oh, don't worry about it." Elicia replied with a smile. "It was just a little inside joke."
"Aww… That sounds like fun, can you tell me the joke, too?" Sun asked with n innocent smile on her face.
'Damn, her innocence is so cute.' Elicia, Erza, and Cana thought at the same time.
Meanwhile, in the living room, about fifteen minutes later, Alfonzo was wrapping up his story. He told Marin almost every detail about the quest. Naturally, he left out anything about the merfolk's secret. Instead, he wrapped up his engagement to Sun as having been pushed onto him as part of a business alliance.
"Well, it's a good thing that you seem to like her." Marin said, still having no intention of letting go of Alfonzo. "But still, who would have thought that something could still be alive with most of its head missing?"
"Hey, we're done with the bath!" Elicia shouted as she and the other girls entered the living room.
As soon as the girls entered, however, they came to a sudden stop. They were all shocked to see Marin sitting so close to Alfonzo with her arms wrapped around his torso. Marin, on the other hand, froze as well. Ever since she hugged Alfonzo in the entrance, she had all but forgotten she was doing so.
However, it did not take long for Marin to jump away from Alfonzo with her face completely red. And when she saw the teasing smirks on Elicia and Cana's faces, the shade of her blush deepened.
"He-Hey guys, it's good to see you again." Marin stammered out.
*Smack!* x 2
A moment later, Marin took a deep breath to calm herself. Then, for the second time today, she slapped her cheeks. In the next instant, with a big smile on her face, she looked at the other girls and made an announcement.
"I've got some good news!" Marin shouted, trying to erase her embarrassment with a burst of positive energy. Then, she pulled the collar of her blouse down a bit, revealing a Fairy Tail guild mark as she continued. "As of today, I'm the newest member of Fairy Tail."