Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
October, x785
The day after the duel, Alfonzo woke up in his bed with all his girls using him as a pillow of some sort. Then, after removing himself from all their embraces, he went down to the training room to train, thinking he would not have time to train at the guild hall and prepare lunch for the ladies from Mermaid Heel before they left to go home.
Not long after Alfonzo left, the girls also woke up. And because Alfonzo had already told them his plans for the morning, they all returned to their rooms before heading to the guild hall for morning training.
Around noon, the residents of the mansion, accompanied by the ladies of Mermaid Heel, Tsunade included, showed up at the mansion. And when they arrived in the dining room, they could not help but start salivating.
On the table were plates of grilled chicken sandwiches, onion rings, and salad, with a wide variety of salad dressings for the consumers to choose from. Surprisingly, there was even a plate for Tsunade, which almost made her tear up.
Then, after having lunch in a positive atmosphere, Alfonzo and his girls walked with the ladies of Mermaid Heel to bid them farewell at the train station.
Like Mermaid Heel, the wizards from the other guilds were also present at the train station. So, after a round of goodbyes and promises to meet again, everyone went back to where they came from. Meanwhile, the wizards of Fairy Tail could finally go back to business as usual, as well.
On the other hand, Alfonzo, Elicia, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, Sun, and Lucy returned to the old mansion to clean up. And with the use of magic and magic items, they were able to clear everything they wanted to take with them out of the mansion in a single afternoon.
Then, after throwing away everything they did not want, including all the mattresses, and leaving the kitchenware behind, Alfonzo called Ur to discuss the price of the mansion with him and Elicia. And just as Alfonzo thought, Elicia had no issue selling the mansion to Ur at cost. So, Ur, Wendy, and Carla moved into the mansion the next morning.
After that, a little more than two weeks passed, and everyone was in the swing of Harvest Festival preparations. Well, almost everyone.
"Are you two really gonna take a quest at this time?" Ur asked Alfonzo and Elicia from behind her desk.
"That's right." Alfonzo replied.
"Yeah, it's been a while since we went on a quest with just the two of us." Elicia added with a smile.
"*Sigh* You do know that the two of you are the main event for this year's Phantasia Parade, right?" Ur asked in an exasperated tone. "With your recent marriage, you two are perfect to play the role as the king and queen of fairies."
"I really think Erza would make more sense for that role, though." Elicia replied. "I mean, she is called Titania, right?"
"That's not important." Ur said sharply, gaining a giggle from Elicia in response.
"Yeah, just as long as they don't start calling me Oberon, I'm fine with it." Alfonzo said with a shrug, causing Ur to shift her glare in his direction. "Besides, all we have to do is wear costumes and stand on top of a float while waving at the crowd. How much practice could we possibly need, Ur?"
"*Sigh* I know you're right, kids." Ur said while shaking her head. "But you know how the rest of the guild is. If they break one of the floats or damage any of their costumes while preparing for the parade, I would feel a lot better having the two of you here."
"It's not like we're gonna be gone all that long, Ur." Elicia said in a soothing tone. "Besides, I can't be gone for too long, anyway. I still have to make all the girls' outfits for the pageant."
"Yeah, and we definitely can't miss the time to train for the tournament, either." Alfonzo added. "So, there's nothing to worry about."
"Fine, I trust you two." Ur said.
"Anyway, how are things between you and Gildarts?" Elicia asked excitedly with the light of gossip shining in her eyes.
"That's none of your business." Ur shot back with a blush on her cheeks.
In fact, after all the wizards from the other guilds left Magnolia, Ur finally found Gildarts to apologize for the way she acted.
Naturally, that surprised Gildarts to no end. But what surprised him even more was the fact that Ur told him that she had developed feelings for him over the years. She also told him, in no uncertain terms, that if he could stop his womanizing, she was willing to give him a chance.
"I guess Gildarts hasn't given her an answer yet." Alfonzo said after examining Ur's expression. "Well, I guess that makes sense, Gildarts isn't jumping around like a fool and bragging about how he got her, either."
*Bang!*
"Shut up, you brat!" Ur shouted as she slammed her fists down on her desk. "You two are supposed to be leaving for a quest, right? Then, get the hell outta here, already!"
Smiling in response, Alfonzo and Elicia waved at Ur before turning around and heading into the elevator.
"Damn, those brats can be so annoying." Ur said while a smile crept onto her face.
A few minutes later, Alfonzo and Elicia, after saying their goodbyes to their guild mates, climbed into the Escalade before heading for the town gates.
"So, Zombies in Takanosu Town, we're gonna find what we think we're gonna find in this town, right?" Elicia asked excitedly from the passenger seat.
"Probably." Alfonzo replied while keeping his eyes on the road. "But seriously, what's up with this world? I mean, we've already found My Dress-Up Darling, My Bride is a Mermaid, FMA, Bleach, Naruto, and DMC. How many other worlds are rolled up in it?"
"Who knows." Elicia replied with a shrug. "But we might be able to add another one if our hunch is right."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Alfonzo said while shaking his head.
Like that, Alfonzo and Elicia drove across Fiore to solve an emergency S-Class quest about a dark ritual that turned most of the inhabitants of a town into zombies. The objective was to eradicate the undead and save as many people as possible.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Takanosu.
At the same time, a group of teenagers and an adult woman were fighting to escape from one of the kingdom's more prestigious schools that could be found outside of the capital. Unfortunately, most of the student body and teaching staff had already been transformed into zombies. So, getting away was much more difficult than they ever imagined.
*Bang!*
"Come on, everyone, we have to keep moving." A tall, well-endowed, young woman, looking to be about eighteen years old, with long, thigh-length purple hair, blue eyes, and a well-endowed figure wearing a school uniform, said as she smashed a zombie's skull with the wooden sword in her hands.
"I know, but everyone is so tired." A young man with spiky black hair and brown eyes replied while carrying a what appeared to be a baseball bat over his shoulder.
"I'd like to let them rest, Kamuro." The purple-haired young woman said. "But if we don't' get off campus quickly, we could be overrun.
"She's right, Kamuro." A short, well-endowed, bespectacled, young woman with long pink hair tied into twin tails and orange eyes shot back. "If we don't hurry out of here, we'll have to deal with these things at night. And that could be a lot more dangerous than what we're dealing with right now."
"I know but…" The black-haired young man, Kamuro, or rather Takashi Kamuro, replied while looking at the other members of their group of escapees.
Meanwhile, the other members of their group, an overweight, bespectacled young man with black hair and eyes, a well-endowed young woman with long reddish-brown hair and red eyes carrying what appeared to be a broken mop handle, and a tall, extremely voluptuous, blonde woman with brown eyes and a sleepy expression appeared to be on edge while they watched the other discuss.
"If only they taught us magic here." The overweight young man said. "But this is a school to raise scholars, not a magic school, so what else would you expect."
"We don't have time for this, Fat ass." The pink-haired girl shouted in irritation. "We can worry about that later. For now, we need to get out of here and find a place where we can rest."
"Calm down, Saya." The brown-haired young woman said soothingly. "Being that loud will attract them to us."
"You think I don't know that!" The pink-haired young woman, or Saya Takagi, shot back fiercely. "I'm a genius. I'm the one that figured out they only react to sound, remember?"
"But Miss Takagi is right." The overweight young man said while adjusting his glasses. "I can bitch about not learning magic later. For now, we should get out of here."
"But how are we gonna do that?" The purple-haired young woman asked. "I mean, I could probably get out of here by myself with no issue. But I don't know about you all."
"Are you thinking of moving alone, Miss Busujima?" Takashi asked curiously.
"Just call me Saeko." The purple-haired woman, Saeko Busujima, replied with a smile. "And no, I wasn't going to move alone. I was just pointing that out."
"That's not important right now." Saya said, sounding more irritated as time went on. "Stay on topic. How should we get out of here?"
With that, the group of six fell silent while staying on alert and considering their options.
"Um…" The blonde woman muttered in an unsure tone.
"Do you have an idea, Miss Marikawa?" The Brown-haired woman asked.
"Well… What if we used the magic vehicles used to take students to the capital to receive awards?" The blonde woman, Shizuka Marikawa, asked. "The only problem is they are old-fashioned models. So, I would be the only one who can drive. Uing the S.E. Plug"
Unlike the other five members of the group, Shizuka was not a student at the school. On top of that, she was a wizard trained in the use of [Healing Magic], which was why she was hired as a member of the school's medical staff.
"Oh, now that you mention it, you are a wizard, aren't you?" Saya asked while cupping her chin. "You usually act so dumb that I often forget."
"That's really mean, Miss Takagi." Shizuka said while puffing her cheeks out as she pouted.
"Either way, Miss Shizuka's idea is probably the best option we have." The brown-haired young woman said.
"Yeah, I agree with Rei." Takashi added. "Otherwise, we'll probably end up stuck in here."
"Of course, you agree with her…" Saya muttered with jealousy in her tone. "Like always…"
"Then, let's get going." Saeko said. "Since they usually keep the magic vehicles locked up, we should head to the faculty office to get the keys."
"We should probably find a weapon for fat ass over there, too." Saya added. "But he'd probably just tire himself out if we gave him a sword or a spear."
"Well, I actually know some [Guns Magic]." The overweight young man, Kohta Hirano, said timidly. "I mean, I was trained to join the ranged unit of the kingdom's knights. But---"
"But let me guess, you were so fat that they didn't accept you, right?" Saya said snappily.
"There's no need to be so hard on Hirano, Saya." Takashi said.
"Either way, if we're gonna get going, we need to go now." Saeko said, putting an end to that conversation. "But before we do that…"
With that, Saeko walked up to Shizuka. Then, she took the edge of Shizuka's somewhat tight skirt in her hands and…
*Rip!*
"What are you doing!?" Shizuka asked in an upset tone. "Do you have any idea how much that skirt cost? It's from the Taylor Shop, and it was a limited edition piece."
"Well, would your rather have you skirt or your life?" Saeko asked after she finished. "Anyway, you can buy another one if we survive this. Now, let's go."
Then, the group of six started running through the halls of their school to reach the faculty room.
"Weren't you listening?" Shizuka asked as she ran behind the rest of the group. "This skirt is a limited edition piece. I can't just go get another one."
Ignoring Shizuka, the group of six ran through the halls of the school, dispatching any zombies they came across. Eventually, they reached the faculty office and immediately started searching for the keys to the magic vehicles.
"Hey! Look what I found!" Rei shouted as she raised her left hand high above her head.
"Rei, did you find the keys already?" Takashi asked excitedly.
"No, but I did find a communication lacrima." Rei replied. "We should be able to call for help with this."
Hearing that, the others stopped their search for the keys and gathered around Rei.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Saya asked impatiently. "Hurry up and call for help."
Nodding in response, Rei focused all her attention on the lacrima. A moment later, however, Re's expression showed confusion.
"Um… How do I use it?" Rei asked curiously.
With that, the room fell into an awkward silence.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, how do we activate this lacrima?" Takashi asked while scratching his head. "Don't you need to be able to use magic to use one of those?"
"If you can't use it, why did you get so excited?" Saya asked derisively.
"There's no reason to get so angry, Miss Takagi." Saeko said, placing a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder.
"Don't talk to me like I'm a child." Saya said while slapping Saeko's hand off her shoulder. "Either way, that thing is useless if no one can use it."
"Um… I can use it." Kohta said sheepishly.
"Oh, now that I think about it, so can I." Shizuka added while placing her right index finger on her chin.
Just then, the other four remembered that Shizuka and Kohta had both been trained as wizards.
"Then hurry up and do it!" Saya shouted as she snatched the lacrima from Rei and held it out in front of Shizuka and Kohta.
"Now how do I do that again?" Shizuka asked, sounding a bit confused and uncertain.
Instead of replying, Kohta gingerly took the lacrima from Saya. Then, he inserted a small amount of his magic power into the lacrima.
*Static!*
Unfortunately, after the lacrima was activated, not much happened. Although it did project a light, there were no images that appeared in the light.
"It looks like we can't connect to anyone." Kohta said in a downcast tone. "I guess that means the knights aren't coming to rescue us."
"There was probably a barrier placed over the town to stop communications from going out." Saeko said.
"And that means this disaster probably isn't natural." Saya added. "So, it's definitely because of some dark wizards."
"Great." Takashi said in an irritated tone. "Now, we have to find a way to get out of the town while dodging the zombies. And I'm pretty sure they aren't only showing up in the school."
"Yeah, when we were on the roof, I saw them roaming the rest of the town, too." Rei added.
"We can worry about what caused this later." Saeko said as she went back to searching for the magic vehicle keys. "For now, we just need to worry about getting out of the school and eventually the town. After that, we can worry about letting the kingdom know what's going on here."
In response, the other five nodded in agreement and also went back to searching for the keys.
Little did the small group of people know, back when everything first went to hell in the town, a team of C-Class wizards, who had a delivery quest in Takanosu, saw the pandemonium as they approached the town on foot. So, they quickly turned around and made their way to the nearest village to contact the knights. And that's where the emergency quest that Alfonzo and Elicia accepted came from.