Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
September 2, x786.
"It looks like Fonzie and Master Unohana are done, too." Elicia said with a smile as she waited with Cana and a restrained, unconscious Brandish at Magnolia's south gate.
"Yeah…" Cana said while looking in the direction Alfonzo, Gildarts, Ur, Tsunade, and Retsu were approaching the town from. "But what the hell is that giant blob of magic power their bringing with them? I mean, it feels like Irene's magic power signature. But there's no way in hell she's that big, right?"
"Who knows…" Elicia replied with a shrug. "But I bet Fonzie will need to work off some energy after a fight with something like that."
As she spoke that last part, Elicia licked her lips seductively. Cana, on the other hand, could only smile at her best friend's antics.
"I swear, Lici, the only things you ever think about are clothes and having Fonzie in side of you." Cana said with a giggle.
"Nuh uh!" Elicia shot back strongly. Then, she smiled proudly as she continued. "I think about Fonzie's cooking, too."
In response, Cana could only shake her head.
"Is that all I am to you, Lici?" Alfonzo, who overheard Elicia and Cana's conversation from a distance, said in a tone of mock disappointment.
Before Alfonzo could finish, however, Elicia's expression fell. Then, she empowered her body with as much magic power as it could handle before vanishing from where she stood in front of the gate. In the next moment, she hugged Alfonzo like a koala while rubbing her cheek on Alfonzo's.
"So, how was the fight, Hubby?" Elicia asked in a loving tone.
"Not bad." Alfonzo replied with a smile and a shrug. "I actually didn't do much. Master Unohana took care of all the heavy lifting. But I did get to test the dragon slaying metal I had been working on ever since Gajeel destroyed the old guild hall."
"Really?" Elicia asked in a tone filled with anticipation. "And how did it work out?"
"It was a success." Alfonzo replied with a proud smile. A moment later, however, his expression turned into one filled with disappointment. "Unfortunately, I was too week to do any real damage."
Seeing Alfonzo's disappointed expression, Elicia found it absolutely adorable. So, she rained kisses all over his face.
"Don't worry, we'll keep training until that's not an issue anymore, right?" Elicia asked after her rain of kisses came to an end.
Hearing that, Alfonzo smiled back.
"That's right." Alfonzo said happily as he reached up and started combing his fingers through Elicia's hair. "And your encouragement has made me feel a lot better, Lici. At first, the stress from fighting a dragon had made me so tired that I thought I would have to go straight to bed… alone… after getting everything settled with our little guests."
Hearing that, Elicia started dripping cold sweat down her back.
"But all your love has rejuvenated me, Lici." Alfonzo said with a loving smile. Though, Elicia did not miss the glint of mischief hidden in the depths of his eyes.
"Anyway, you two can have your lovey dovey moment later." Tsunade said in an irritated tone. "For now, can we just put these prisoners somewhere where they won't break out and cause a ruckus?"
'Seriously, do these two have to flirt like that?' Tsunade grumbled to herself. 'They do know I'm single and lost my fiancé a long time ago, right? And the only other person who shows interest in me is a raging pervert. God damn it, why can't he stop peaking on women in the bath and be romantic like Alfonzo? Then, maybe I would give him a chance. Fucking Jiraiya!"
At the same time, somewhere in Fiore, a tall, middle-aged man with a mane of spiky white hair sneezed, accidentally dispelling his stealth Jutsu in the process and alerting the women he was peeking on. Then, he quickly ran away as his position had been compromised.
"*Sigh* I can feel it, a beautiful woman was just thinking about me." The white-haired, middle-aged man, Jiraiya, said to himself as he ran away. "You're such a sinful man, Jiraiya. So many women have been smitten by you. Unfortunately, the only thing I can truly dedicate myself to is my research."
Meanwhile, back on the road just outside of Magnolia, Alfonzo and Elicia nodded at Tsunade's words. Then, Elicia hopped off Alfonzo before she wrapped her arms around his left arm as the group started walking towards the south gate.
Eventually, after the group reached the gate, they met up with Cana, who immediately hugged Alfonzo's other arm. At the same time, Elicia controlled the threads wrapped around Brandish and levitated her behind the group. Meanwhile, Alfonzo, while bending the light around her, levitated Irene much higher above the town. The last thing they wanted was to cause a panic after a dragon appeared in the town, after all.
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll meet you all at Alfonzo's mansion." Retsu said while smiling gently.
A moment later, with the use of the [Flash Step], Retsu vanished. However, everyone, other than Tsunade, knew she was heading towards the guild hall.
"I guess she wants to get her bike, huh?" Cana muttered. "I bet she was really pissed that her ride got interrupted, huh?"
"Most definitely." Tsunade replied with a nod. "I'm just glad that woman did not damage her new favorite toy. Otherwise, things could have gotten much worse… for the surroundings."
Gildarts, and Ur, who had seen the aftermath of the battle could not help but pale rapidly after hearing what Tsunade had to say. The aftermath of the battle left a few craters and several deep gashes in Magnolia's countryside. Yet, Tsunade had said that it could have been a lot worse.
Alfonzo, on the other hand, shuddered at the thought. Being the only one to have actually seen Retsu's fight with Irene, he was scared. Scared to see what kind of damage Retsu might have done if she were even angrier. And even more scared of possibly getting caught up in such mayhem.
'Retsu had basically taken Irene apart with surgical precision. Despite that, so much damage was done to the countryside.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'If she had been anymore pissed off, I would have turned right the fuck around and waited for the news of the fight.'
["Yeah, but if you weren't there, she probably would have killed Irene."] Bedlam pointed out.
["Then again, she might have killed him, too. Especially if he tried to talk her out of killing Irene."] Riot replied. ["And I'm not sure if it would have been an accident, or not. I mean, did you see the look she gave you when you brought Irene down from the sky?"]
'Please, don't make me think about that.' Alfonzo said while shuddering internally. 'I'm really not looking forward to fighting her in a death match.'
Despite knowing that his [Linear Cannon] was fast and strong enough to kill Retsu in one attack, he doubted he would get the second it would take to amass the necessary amount of magic power to cast it. At the same time, all his other spells are strong enough to damage her, even in her [Bankai] state. But none of them are strong enough to kill her before her regeneration could put her back together again.
"Anyway, let's get back home." Alfonzo said while shaking his head to rid himself of any thoughts that involved fighting Retsu to the death. "I wanna get these two into captivity before they wake up."
Nodding in agreement, the group of six hurried through the streets of Magnolia, eventually reaching the mansion on the Lake. And just as they expected, Retsu was waiting outside the front door with her motorcycle. What they did not expect, however, was Shizuka waiting with her.
"Shizuka, what are you doing here?" Ur asked in a curious yet authoritative tone. "Aren't you supposed to be on shift in the infirmary?"
"Oh, Ren took over for me." Shizuka said while tilting her head cutely as she placed her right index finger on her chin. "Master Unohana said that my [Healing Magic] would be needed. So, I came here with her."
"I heard that she was able to heal scars." Retsu replied with a gentle smile that hid her killing intent. "And although I think killing her would be the best course of action, I wanna see what the young man has planned. And I thought removing her scars would be a good place to start."
Nodding in understanding, Alfonzo shot Retsu a grateful gaze. Then, he led the group around to the back of the mansion. A few moments later, after reaching the shore of the artificial island, where he and the guys go fishing to relax, Alfonzo tapped his heel on the ground.
A moment later, part of the backyard raised in opposite directions, without disturbing the lawn, revealing a path leading to a large, underground. space
"Wow!" Shizuka exclaimed in wonder. "It's so big."
"That's what she said." Alfonzo replied with a grin.
In response, Shizuka turned her head in Alfonzo's direction with confusion written all over her face.
"Yeah, I did say that." Shizuka said, her confusion becoming even more evident with the tilting of her head.
While everyone else laughed at the interaction, Alfonzo could only hang his head in defeat.
"You should be used to this by now, Fonzie." Cana said as she patted Alfonzo on the cheek. "Shizuka is just too innocent to understand what you mean."
"*Sigh* I know." Alfonzo replied. "AT the same time, I have to do it. If I don't, my stomach will cramp up in knots."
"I still don't get how someone could have such a weird medical condition." Ur said with furrowed eyebrows. "I don't know why, but for some reason I blame your mother for this."
"That's just unreasonable, Ur." Elicia said with a smile. "But Auntie Bianca did have some weird traits of her own, though."
"You're still calling her Auntie?" Alfonzo asked as he playfully booped Elicia on her nose. "Shouldn't it be Mom by now?"
Smiling in response, Elicia hugged Alfonzo's arm tightly as the group descended into the underground space. Eventually, when they reached the space that would be the hangar for Alfonzo's airship, the floor shook as Alfonzo placed Ireen's unconscious body on the ground.
Feeling the room shake, Elicia, Cana, and Shizuka put on surprised expressions. Though, Elicia, who knew Irene's true form, wore a faked expression of surprise.
"Just what the hell is that?" Cana asked in an astonished tone. "I mean, you went to help Master Unohana against Irene, right? Then why is this big blob of magic power with Irene's magic power signature so big and heavy?"
Before anyone could answer Cana's question, Gildarts arrived at her side before wrapping an arm around her shoulders while smiling wryly.
"Sweetheart, I guarantee that what you're about to see is gonna blow your mind." Gildarts said, disbelief clear in his tone. "I mean, I saw what the Kid is hiding, and I still can't believe my own eyes."
Hearing that, Cana looked at her father with confusion. Elicia, on the other hand, looked at Alfonzo with anticipation, unable to wait much longer. Meanwhile, Shizuka wore a confused expression, not sure what was going on since she couldn't see anything that would make the ground shake.
On a side note, all the most recent members of Fairy Tail, namely members who joined from Takanosu Town, had all learned how to use [Magic Power Detection]. Naturally, that included Shizuka. However, due to her personality, she almost never used it. Even when she was unsure of what was going on. So, until someone reminded her to do so, she would remain in the dark.
"*Sigh* Shizuka's so cute that I can't even find it in myself to get annoyed." Alfonzo said with a smile.
Hearing Alfonzo's compliment, Shizuka's confusion turned into a bright smile. Then, when Alfonzo approached and started combing his fingers through her hair, she completely forgot why she was under his mansion as she melted under the pleasure of his fingertips brushing against her scalp.
"Shizuka, you should activate your[Magic Power Detection]." Alfonzo said while continuing to comb his fingers through Shizuka's hair.
"Okay~~~~!" Shizuka said, basically purring her reply as she followed Alfonzo's instructions.
A moment later, Shizuka's eyes widened as she noticed the giant blob of magic power. However, she did not move her head away from Alfonzo's hand.
"That's Irene." Alfonzo replied as he let the visible light reflect of her again.
"A dragon?" Cana shouted once Irene's form was visible. "No fucking way! She can turn into a dragon?"
"Actually, considering that she's unconscious, I think…" Elicia said while wearing a contemplative expression.
Immediately, Cana, Gildarts, Ur, and Shizuka turned their attention towards Elicia. Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Unohana, and Tsunade, who already knew Irene was not human, looked on in amusement.
"… She's actually a dragon who can turn into a human." Elicia said, finishing her sentence.
Immediately, Cana, Gildarts, and Ur's mouths fell open in disbelief. Shizuka, on the other hand, was too engrossed in Alfonzo's touch to react too strongly.