Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
August, x784.
Three weeks have passed since Alfonzo and Sun have recovered from their apparent food poisoning. In that time, not only has Mirajane agreed that she should taste her own food before serving it to others, she had also started taking cooking lessons from Alfonzo.
On top of that, she's also decided to move in with Alfonzo, Elicia, and the others. Though she has yet to actually move in. Deciding that she would move in officially after Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana came back from their most recent quest.
And today is the day the three wizards return from their quest. However, as they pulled into Magnolia, they could feel that the atmosphere in the town was not the same as usual.
"Is it just me? Or does something feel… off?" Cana asked from the Escalade's passenger seat.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Elicia asked as she sat up from her sprawled out position in the back seat. "The people are moving around like… No one's smiling…"
Elicia, who was exhausted from running into Darkness once again when handing over the dark wizard they were tasked with catching, took almost no time at all to notice that everyone in the town looked to be in a worse mood than usual as soon as she sat up.
"And I'm pretty sure I know why." Alfonzo said in a solemn tone, drawing the attention of both girls. "I can feel some big ass pieces of metal sticking out from where the guild hall should be."
Hearing that, the girls reacted differently. While Cana wore an expression of shock, Elicia only narrowed her eyes. Still, one emotion that all three wizards had in common was the anger they all felt.
It was clear that someone attacked the guild hall based on what Alfonzo just said. And they would make sure that the responsible party would pay dearly.
A few minutes later, the Escalade pulled up in front of the guild hall. What they saw was exactly what Alfonzo and Elicia expected to see. Cana, on the other hand, looked on at the completely destroyed building in disbelief.
"Who would do this?" Cana asked with barely concealed rage.
Instead of replying, Alfonzo and Elicia got out of the vehicle while thinking the same thing.
'So, it's that time already, huh?'
Shortly afterward, Cana also stepped out of the Escalade. Then, the three weaved through the large iron rods that had all but destroyed the Fairy Tail guild hall. With their [Magic Power Detection] and [Thread Detection] spread out, the trio noticed that most of the guild was gathered in the guild hall's basement, more precisely, in the library.
At the same time, Alfonzo allowed his magic power to analyze the large metal stakes that destroyed the above ground floors of the guild hall.
'If I can analyze this metal completely, will I be able to add the Dragon Slayer property to the metals I create?' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'I mean, other than that, I can't see any difference between Gajeel's metal and regular iron. I know he can create steel if he eats enough carbon, too. But I think he gets sick after doing that…'
A few minutes later, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana reached the library. And just as expected, everyone who was not currently out on a quest was present. From what they could see, almost everyone, other than Makarov, Levy, and Lucy, was champing at the bit, ready to bring the same level of destruction to their enemies.
"Ah, Alfonzo, Elicia, Cana, you're back." Mirajane said, her usual smile seeming quite forced. "How did the quest go?"
"Without a hitch." Alfonzo replied.
"Yeah, it was a piece of cake." Elicia replied with a smile. "We'll tell you about it after we talk to Gramps."
Nodding in response, Mirajane went back to tending to the quest board, which somehow survived the sneak attack.
"Hey, Gramps, we're back." Alfonzo said as he, Elicia, and Cana approached Makarov.
"Welcome back, Children." Makarov replied, looking noticeably more tired than usual. "How was your quest?"
"Now isn't the time to talk about the quest!" Cana shouted, no longer able to suppress the rage she was feeling. "Someone attacked our home, and we know who it is. Why haven't you given the order to attack?"
With Cana's outburst, all the angry murmuring that could be heard around the library stopped. At the same time, all the wizard's gazes were drawn toward Makarov.
Just as Cana said, everyone in Magnolia who had seen the destroyed guild hall, and knew the guild marks of the most powerful guilds in Fiore, knew who had attacked Fairy Tail. And the reason was quite simple. Hanging from the tallest of all the stakes that destroyed the guild hall was a flag with the guild mark of the only guild in Fiore that could compete with Fairy Tail for the title of strongest… Phantom Lord.
Before Makarov could respond, Alfonzo placed a hand on Cana's shoulder, drawing her attention toward himself.
"I get where you're coming from , Cana." Alfonzo said with a solemn expression. Then, he let his gaze wander over the faces of everyone in the library. "Believe me, I'm just as pissed off as all of you. But we can't start a guild war over this."
While Makarov nodded at Alfonzo's statement, the rest of the guild looked at him in disbelief. No one thought he would be the first to say something like that.
"And why the hell not?" Natsu shouted in protest. "They attacked our home! And we should make them pay!"
"Yeah!" Most of the wizards in the room agreed with Natsu's statement loudly.
"But if you're too scared to do it, I'll---"
*Bang!*
Before Natsu could finish his sentence, Alfonzo disappeared from his spot in front of Makarov. When he next appeared, he was holding Natsu by his scaly scarf after slamming him into a wall.
"Alfonzo, calm down." Erza shouted, the first to react to Alfonzo's high-speed movement. "Natsu was just speaking without thinking."
"Before spewing all that bullshit, Natsu." Alfonzo said, completely ignoring Erza's completely obvious statement while staring Natsu in the eyes. "Why don't you use your fucking head."
"Ugh… What are… you talking about?" Natsu groaned, clearly in pain from being slammed into a wall so forcefully.
"Most of the mother fuckers on the magic council fucking hate us." Alfonzo replied. "What do you think they will do if we go and attack another legal guild?"
"But… They destroyed our… guild hall…" Natsu tried to argue.
"Yeah, something we can rebuild." Alfonzo replied. "Bu no one was hurt. Our family, our home, is just as strong as it was before the attack."
With that, Alfonzo let go of Natsu's scarf and patted him on the shoulder. Then, he turned around and addressed all the surprised Fairy Tail wizards.
"It's true that this guild hall is our home." Alfonzo said in a serious tone. "But it's not the building that makes it our home. The building is just where our family gathers. And without family, no building, no matter how important, can ever be called a home."
While most people were still in shock over how quickly Alfonzo moved and subdued Natsu, those who were paying attention to what he had to say had calmed their bloodlust significantly. Meanwhile, Makarov looked at Alfonzo with appreciation.
'I really should start grooming him to become the next guild master.' Makarov thought to himself. 'Unlike most of these brats, he has the ability to see the bigger picture.'
Meanwhile, Elicia, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, and Sun were looking at him with lust filled expressions. Even Marin stared at Alfonzo with a certain determination in her gaze. Lucy, on the other hand, was amazed at the way Alfonzo was able to manage the situation.
'It's just like what Lici said when we first talked about Alfonzo and the fact that he's got more than one girlfriend.' Lucy mused. 'The more time I spend around him, the more I understand why so many girls have feelings for him and are willing to share him.'
Even Laki, who was once rejected by Alfonzo and had since moved on had the desire to have him all to herself once again after hearing what he said. However, she quickly shook those thoughts away and simply smiled at him.
"Alfonzo is right." Makarov said, drawing the attention back to himself. "Although our guild hall was destroyed, it can be rebuilt. And it will. We'll build it bigger, better, and more domineering than before. Remember, Fairy Tail is the strongest. And that won't change just because our guild hall was destroyed in a cowardly sneak attack when no one was even here!"
By the end, Makarov was roaring his words at the top of his lungs. This complimented the effect Alfonzo's words had on the members of the guild perfectly, raising their enthusiasm and pride as Fairy Tail wizards to an entirely new level.
After that, Makarov dismissed everyone, reminding them to always move in groups. Something that everyone agreed was a good idea. On their way out, Elicia even convinced Marin and Lucy to stay at the mansion until this whole mess with Phantom Lord was over.
"Alright, Gramps, I'll start drawing up plans for the new guild hall tomorrow." Alfonzo said from the driver's seat of the Escalade."
"Very good." Makarov replied with a nod. "Thank you, my boy."
"I'll even give you a discount." Alfonzo added with a smile.
With that, Makarov almost fell face first to the ground.
"Hahaha! I'm just fucking with you, Gramps." Alfonzo said cheerfully after seeing Makarov's reaction. "This time, it'll be free. Don't get used to it, though."
Meanwhile, Elicia was talking to Team Shadow Gear, Levy, Jet, and Droy, on the other side of the car.
"Are you guys sure you don't wanna crash at our place for the night?" Elicia asked with concern. "It's pretty late, after all."
"Are you saying we're too weak to defend ourselves?" Jet asked in irritation.
"Of course she isn't, Jet." Levy said, patting Jet on the back. "She's just worried about us."
"Hmph!" Jet snorted. "Well, she doesn't have to be. We may not be S-Class like them, but we're still pretty strong."
"She never said you weren't, you idiot." Cana said from the back seat. "She only said it's late, meaning it's dark. Which means that the chances of you getting ambushed on the way home is much higher."
Hearing that, Jet wanted to get angry. No one like being called an idiot, after all. Especially in front of the girl they have a crush on. However, he had not considered the chance that someone might get ambushed when he spoke, so he simply shut his mouth and looked away.
"We'll make sure to be careful on our way home." Levy said with a smile. "Besides, it's not like any of us will be alone, right?"
"That's right, we'll be there to make sure Levy stays safe." Droy said while puffing his chest out.
"If you're sure." Elicia replied.
After her reply, Team Shadow Gear left and Elicia felt a hand land on her thigh while watching them go. Looking back, she saw Alfonzo smiling at her. As soon as she made eye contact with Alfonzo, a short conversation took place. Then, Alfonzo spoke.
"Hey, Lici, since you can use [Camouflage Magic], do you think you could run down to the hotel bar and buy a bottle of whiskey for me?" Alfonzo asked. "I doubt you'll have to worry about being attacked while you're camouflaged, after all."
"Really? You get the urge to drink now?" Elicia replied while rolling her eyes. "Why didn't you think about it while we were driving through the town."
"Because I didn't know that our guild hall had been attacked back then." Alfonzo replied with a wry smile.
"*Sigh* Fine." Elicia said, giving in to Alfonzo's request.
"Thanks, Lici, you're the best." Alfonzo replied with a smile.
"And you better not forget it." Elicia said while waving her fist in Alfonzo's direction.
With that, Elicia leaned over and stole a kiss. Then, she opened the door and hopped out of the Escalade before quickly disappearing from everyone's sight.
Before anyone could react, Marin climbed from the middle seat in the backseat, over the center console, and into the seat Elicia just vacated. Then, she closed the open car door with a smile.
"Alright, let's go." Marin said. "Erza and Ultear already left a while ago."
Smiling in response, Alfonzo started the engine and pulled away from the guild hall.
"Hey, why did you send Lici on an errand like that?" Lucy asked in a curious tone. "I mean, I get the fact that you might want a drink after what happened but is it really safe to let her go alone?"
"You're so innocent it's cute, Lucy." Cana said with a smile while patting Lucy's thigh from across the back seat.
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked in confusion.
"It's obvious that Lici was worried about Levy and the guys." Marin said with a smile. "So, Alfonzo gave Lici the excuse she needed to follow them and make sure they get home safely."
"Really?" Lucy asked, making eye contact with Alfonzo through the rear view mirror.
"What are you talking about?" Alfonzo asked with a confused expression on his face. "Whether I gave her an excuse or not, Lici was gonna go and follow them home. I just asked her to pick up a bottle for me on the way. I mean, we just got back from hunting down a serial rapist dark wizard. On top of that, when we get back to Magnolia, we find out that the guild hall had been destroyed. I seriously need something to take the edge off."
With that, Cana, Marin, and Lucy stared at Alfonzo with dumbfounded expressions while the rest of the drive to the mansion continued in silence.